In today’s digital age, cybersecurity has become a top priority for governments around the world. With cyber threats becoming increasingly sophisticated and widespread, it is crucial for governments to play a central role in safeguarding their citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
The role of government in cybersecurity encompasses a wide range of activities, including the development and implementation of policies and regulations to protect against cyber threats. Governments are responsible for setting the regulatory framework for cybersecurity, which includes establishing guidelines for securing critical infrastructure, protecting sensitive data, and responding to cyber incidents.
One of the key responsibilities of government in cybersecurity is to create and enforce laws and regulations that mandate cybersecurity measures for organizations and individuals. This can involve requirements for organizations to implement specific cybersecurity controls, such as encryption, access controls, and regular security assessments. Governments also have the authority to impose penalties on organizations that fail to comply with cybersecurity regulations, in order to incentivize adherence to best practices.
In addition to setting regulations, governments play a crucial role in coordinating cybersecurity efforts across different sectors and industries. This includes fostering collaboration between government agencies, private sector organizations, and international partners to share information about cyber threats and best practices for mitigating them. Governments may also establish cybersecurity information sharing platforms, such as Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs), to facilitate the exchange of threat intelligence and incident response coordination.
Furthermore, governments have a responsibility to educate and raise awareness about cybersecurity risks among citizens and businesses. This can involve providing resources and guidance on how to secure personal devices, protect sensitive information, and recognize common cyber threats, such as phishing scams and malware attacks. By promoting cybersecurity awareness, governments can help empower individuals and organizations to take proactive measures to protect themselves from cyber threats.
Overall, the role of government in cybersecurity is essential for ensuring the security and resilience of digital systems and infrastructure. By developing and enforcing policies and regulations, coordinating cybersecurity efforts, and promoting awareness, governments can help mitigate cyber risks and protect their citizens from the growing threat of cyber attacks. As technology continues to evolve and cyber threats become more sophisticated, the role of government in cybersecurity will only become more critical in safeguarding our digital future.
The Trump administration plans to pause some federal government websites in order to remove content contrary to the president’s thinking, administration officials told CBS News.
Word spread quickly throughout Washington that action would be taken to change federal websites.
Politico reported earlier in the day that Agriculture Department employees had been ordered to delete landing pages on climate change across agency websites, according to an internal email, and the directive had come from the USDA’s communications office.
Multiple officials from health departments and nonprofits receiving federal funding say they’ve been told to scrub mentions of gender and equity from their programs, in order to comply with President Trump’s executive order this week, CBS News confirmed. Reuters first reported this directive.
It’s unclear how health departments and nonprofits would be able to comply with the sweeping instructions in many situations, especially given many health programs were explicitly designed to overcome equity gaps or diseases that have disproportionately affected transgender people.
One local health official said that Trump administration officials had said over the long term, grantees might also need to comply with the federal order banning pronouns in email signatures, which had initially been thought to extend only to federal staff.
Letters obtained by CBS News sent to grant recipients cite the “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs” and “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism” executive orders for the sweeping instructions.
President Trump, asked by reporters in the Oval Office Friday if websites would be shut down to remove diversity-related content, replied, “If they want to scrub the websites, that’s OK with me.”
Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.
In a controversial move, Trump administration officials have announced plans to temporarily pause some federal government websites in order to remove diversity-related content. This decision has sparked outrage among critics who argue that diversity and inclusion are crucial aspects of government operations.
The officials have cited concerns about the accuracy and relevance of the diversity-related content on these websites, claiming that it may not align with the administration’s priorities. This move comes amidst a broader push by the Trump administration to roll back diversity and inclusion initiatives across various government agencies.
Critics have condemned this decision as a blatant attempt to erase the progress made in promoting diversity and equality within the federal government. They argue that diversity is essential for ensuring that all voices are heard and that policies are inclusive of all communities.
It remains to be seen how this pause in website content removal will impact diversity initiatives within the federal government. However, many are calling for transparency and accountability in the decision-making process to ensure that diversity remains a priority in government operations.
The Trump administration will put a pause on most federal government websites Friday evening in an effort to eliminate DEI content and any language opposed to President Trump’s agenda, Fox News Digital has learned.
A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that federal government websites are expected to go dark at around 5:00 p.m. Friday evening.
The official told Fox News Digital that the length of the pause on federal websites is unclear at this time, but will seek to remove content that is “anti-Trump administration.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
The Trump administration has announced plans to pause federal government websites in an effort to eliminate content related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as anti-Trump material. This move comes as part of the administration’s ongoing efforts to suppress dissenting voices and promote a more narrow, pro-Trump agenda.
Critics of the decision have raised concerns about the impact this could have on government transparency and the ability of the public to access important information. By limiting access to DEI resources and information critical of the Trump administration, the government risks further polarizing the country and stifling important conversations about social justice and equality.
It remains to be seen how this decision will be implemented and what specific content will be targeted for removal. However, it is clear that the Trump administration’s actions are a concerning step towards limiting the free flow of information and promoting a more narrow, partisan message. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.
18F is a much-hyped government agency within the General Services Administration that was founded under the Obama Administration after the disastrous rollout of Healthcare.gov. It more or less had the specific goal of attracting Silicon Valley talent to the federal government to help the government innovate and make many of its websites and digital services suck less. It is one of the “cooler” federal agencies, and has open sourced many of its projects on GitHub.
GitHub is a website for open source development that shows changes across different “commits,” or changes to code and documentation. In the first days of the Trump administration, 18F’s commit list is full of change logs detailing the administration’s attempts to destroy the concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The changes show that in the last 48 hours, 18F has edited text and wholesale deleted both internal and external web pages about, for example “Inclusive behaviors,” “healthy conflict and constructive feedback,” “DEIA resources,” and “Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.” It deleted a webpage about “psychological safety” (which now 404s) deleted all information about the “DE&I leads” at the agency, as well as language for employees that said “Anyone who has issues or concerns related to inclusion or equity in the 18F engineering chapter should feel empowered to reach out to the DE&I Leads.” It has deleted, in various places, the word “inclusion,” as well as the term “affinity groups.”
It also deleted an internal Slack Bot called “Inclusion Bot,” which is described as being “integrated into Slack and passively listens for words or phrases that have racist, sexist, ableist, or otherwise exclusionary or discriminatory histories or backgrounds. When it hears those words, it privately lets the writer know and offers some suggested alternatives.”
Do you work for the federal government? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702. Otherwise, send me an email at jason@404media.co.
It has also notably deleted information intended for improving accessibility for blind and visually impaired employees, which asked employees to use “visual descriptions” when introducing themselves on Zoom meetings.
In a hiring document, the language “Teams should consider factors of equity and complexity of the research when determining compensation for participants on their project” has been changed to “team should consider other factors or complexity of the research.”
Jason is a cofounder of 404 Media. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Motherboard. He loves the Freedom of Information Act and surfing.
GitHub Is Showing the Trump Administration Scrubbing Government Web Pages in Real Time
Recently, GitHub, the popular platform for developers to collaborate on code, has been used to track the Trump administration’s efforts to scrub government web pages of information. Users have set up automated scripts to monitor changes to government websites in real time, documenting the removal of data and resources.
This comes amid growing concerns about transparency and accountability in the government. The Trump administration has been accused of deleting or altering information on government websites related to climate change, LGBTQ rights, and other contentious issues.
By using GitHub to track these changes, concerned citizens and activists are able to hold the administration accountable and ensure that important information is not erased or manipulated. This grassroots effort to monitor government actions shows the power of technology in promoting transparency and preserving the public record.
As the Trump administration continues to make changes to government websites, GitHub will likely play an increasingly important role in documenting these actions and keeping the public informed. This innovative use of technology highlights the importance of open-source tools in promoting government accountability and protecting access to information.
President Donald Trump suggested a temporary pause on government websites may not be a “bad idea” amid reports of some webpages going dark on Friday.
“I don’t know. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me,” Trump said when asked by a reporter whether websites would be paused to scrub them of references to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website appeared to be temporarily offline but had gone back up. Other government websites were still up by publication.
What To Know
Public health data vanished from websites, entire webpages went blank, and employees removed pronouns from email signatures on Friday as federal agencies rushed to comply with a directive linked to Trump’s order reversing protections for transgender individuals.
The Office of Personnel Management instructed agency heads in a memo sent on Wednesday to eliminate “gender ideology” from websites, contracts, and emails, mandating that these changes be implemented by 5 p.m. on Friday. The directive also called for agencies to disband employee resource groups, terminate related grants and contracts, and replace the term “gender” with “sex” on government forms.
More to follow.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
President Donald Trump suggested a temporary pause on government websites may not be a “bad idea” amid reports of some webpages going dark on Friday. President Donald Trump suggested a temporary pause on government websites may not be a “bad idea” amid reports of some webpages going dark on Friday.
Recently, there have been reports of several government websites experiencing outages, prompting concerns about potential cyber attacks or technical issues. In response to these incidents, former President Donald Trump has suggested that pausing government websites may not be a “bad idea.”
Trump, who has been vocal about his concerns regarding cyber security and the vulnerability of government websites, expressed his thoughts on the matter in a recent statement. He emphasized the importance of protecting sensitive information and ensuring the security of government websites, especially in the face of increasing cyber threats.
While some may view Trump’s suggestion as extreme or unnecessary, others argue that taking proactive measures to prevent further outages or potential breaches is crucial. The debate over the best approach to handling government website outages continues, with experts and officials weighing in on the most effective strategies to protect against cyber attacks and ensure the reliability of government websites.
As the discussion unfolds, one thing remains clear: the security and stability of government websites are paramount, and finding the right balance between accessibility and protection is key to safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining public trust.
A mass fish kill spanning 9km along Western Australia’s Pilbara coast was likely caused by an ongoing marine heatwave, authorities have said.
An estimated 30,000 fish washed up earlier in January at beaches near Gnoorea Point, 50km south-west of Karratha.
The WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) said it was still investigating the fish kill but believed it “likely that prolonged thermal stress due to the conditions is associated with the deaths”.
Nathan Harrison, an executive director at DPIRD, said the nearshore waters along the Pilbara coast were currently about 31C, which was 2-3C above normal for this time of year.
“A warmer ocean off WA during 2024 has preconditioned a high marine heatwave risk scenario for the summer months when water temperatures naturally increase and peak,” he said in a statement.
Last week, DPIRD issued a strong (category 2) marine heatwave warning for WA’s north coast and Gascoyne bioregions. In the north coast, which takes in the Pilbara, sea surface temperatures were 4-5C above the long-term average.
There are concerns that the overheated water will cause damage to Ningaloo reef, Exmouth Gulf and Shark Bay in the Gascoyne. Coral bleaching occurred at Ningaloo in 2022.
Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper, a Karratha resident and Murujuga traditional custodian, visited 40 Mile beach near Gnoorea on Wednesday and described the fish kill as upsetting. “There are still dead animals that have been washed up,” she said.
“It’s quite evident that the water is heating up,” Cooper said, noticing the change while swimming with her family at her local beach. “We’re jumping in and jumping out because the water is so hot – it’s like the water that’s coming out of the shower.”
Marine heatwaves can last from days to months and have devastating impacts on marine ecosystems. One of WA’s worst marine heatwaves on record, in 2010-11, resulted in major losses to seagrass and kelp, and impacted abalone and scallop fisheries.
Nearly 90% of marine heatwaves now are attributable to human-caused global heating. They are expected to increase in frequency, intensity and duration as fossil fuel emissions continue to rise.
Bill Hare, the chief executive of Climate Analytics, said marine heatwaves were known to trigger “extreme low oxygen events, which then create a bigger environmental mess”, though it was not yet clear whether low oxygen contributed to the Gnoorea fish kill.
Mia Pepper, the campaigns director at the Conservation Council of WA, said it was a “tragic irony” that the fish had washed ashore down the coast from Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing plant, one of Australia’s biggest CO2 emitters.
“The timing and the location of this fish kill should raise eyebrows for most people,” she said, citing the WA government’s recent granting of a 50-year extension to the North West Shelf project.
“We’re not seeing emissions being reduced in WA … that’s a fundamental policy flaw,” she said, calling for the next state government to limit emissions in line with international obligations.
Paul Gamblin, the WA director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, agreed that there was “a huge dissonance between what we’re seeing in the water and what governments are approving”.
Fish washed up near Gnoorea Point. Photograph: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
He described it as a “juxtaposition of clear, climate-driven damage and the prospect of multi-decadal, huge fossil fuel projects”.
“We’re talking about places like Scott Reef, [which] has been under bleaching alert over the last few months as well,” he said. A Woodside Energy proposal to bury 4m tonnes of CO2 a year from its Browse gas project underwater would involve drilling wells within about 3km of the reef.
“Government and industry need to start waking up to themselves and dealing with facts,” Cooper said. “There needs to be some accountability.”
The marine heat comes as much of WA continues to swelter in an ongoing heatwave, with extreme heat forecast for parts of the state in the coming days. On 20 January, Geraldton equalled its hottest ever day, with temperatures reaching 49.3C, while January records have also been broken in multiple towns.
Hare said while marine and terrestrial heatwaves were both driven by global heating, their individual causes differed.
In a recent statement by the Western Australia government, it was revealed that an ocean heatwave is believed to have caused the death of around 30,000 fish off the coast of Western Australia. The extreme temperatures in the ocean have been attributed to the mass mortality event, which has had a devastating impact on the local marine ecosystem.
The government has expressed concern over the implications of such events on the fragile marine environment and has called for urgent action to address the underlying issues leading to these heatwaves. Climate change and global warming have been identified as major contributing factors to the increasing frequency and intensity of such events, highlighting the need for immediate action to mitigate their effects.
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address climate change and its impact on our oceans. The government has pledged to work towards finding solutions to prevent such events from occurring in the future and to protect the marine biodiversity of Western Australia.
In the first week of the new Trump administration, the country’s more than two million federal workers were hit with rapid-fire announcements that longtime job protections and telework were suddenly being revoked. The second week brought a carrot, of sorts: an offer that federal employees could continue drawing pay and benefits through late September if they agreed to resign by Feb. 6.
The administration and its supporters trumpeted the proposal, with the billionaire Elon Musk, whom President Trump has tapped to remake the government, describing it as “very generous.”
But to many of the workers it was anything but. Some saw the offer as unenforceable, if not illegal, and federal employees and union leaders alike described it as just another front in the administration’s unsparing campaign to get as many of them as possible to leave.
What remains to be seen is not whether some will depart federal service, as plenty have already begun looking for other jobs, but instead how many and what their departures would mean for the government’s ability to carry out its responsibilities.
“Quality is going to go down,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal employees. “Because these are the people that have that expertise. And when quality starts going down, what else can you do besides say, ‘The federal government has failed us.’”
He and others fear an exodus of experienced workers: More than a quarter of federal employees are 55 or older, according to the Pew Research Center.More than half hold bachelor’s or advanced degrees. At the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been a particular target in recent days, two-thirds of the more than 4,600 employees hold doctorates, master’s or other advanced degrees, according to Pew.
“The amount of brain drain that will come as people leave, retire or are fired cannot be underestimated,” said one federal lawyer who is planning to leave soon and, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.
Trump allies dismissed such worries. The White House has said that it expects 5 to 10 percent of the federal work force, as many as 200,000 people, to take the offer.
“These are talented individuals, which I’m sure will do well,” said Senator Ted Budd, Republican of North Carolina, which has a sizable population of federal civilian employees. “If they’re not working for the federal government, they’ll do well elsewhere.”
Still, the scale and intensity of Mr. Trump’s campaign against the bureaucracy has troubled some officials in places far from the Washington area, which is home to only about a fifth of the civilian federal work force. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are spread across the country, working at offices, job sites and labs in major cities and rural areas.
“I think this is evidence that the White House is talking quickly but has not really thought everything through,” said Lily Limón, a city councilwoman in El Paso, where more than 10,000 federal workers live. “There is a lot of pressure and a lot of trauma for people who are caught up in all of this.”
On Wednesday, federal employees warned each other that the resignation offer could be a setup, and some supervisors even advised their employees not to accept it immediately, according to people familiar with conversations inside agencies. The mistrust was bolstered by warnings from lawyers, union leaders and Democratic lawmakers, who insisted that the Office of Personnel Management did not have the legal authority to make the sort of guarantees it was promising.
“Don’t be fooled!” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, insisting that the president had no authority to pay people for months who are not working.
Though some federal workers are fully remote, most on any given day are working in person at a job site or office, according to a 2024 report from the Office of Management and Budget. Still, tens of thousands have been teleworking at least several days a week for years, and the Trump administration has been forthright that some of its recent orders, such as a requirement that all employees work in an office full-time, were meant to push people to quit.
“We don’t want them to work from home, because, as everyone knows, most of the time, they’re not working, they’re not very productive,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday.
With the end of telework, he added, “We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient, and that’s what we’ve been looking to do for many, many decades.”
These clearly stated goals, plus the vague and in some cases contradictory guidance, left plenty of federal workers skeptical that anything, including the resignation offer, was being done in their best interests.
In communications about the program, the administration gave confusing answers about the terms of the offer. An email to employees indicated that those who took the deal would not have to return to the office and would be paid regardless of their “daily workload”; a memo to agency heads said that those who took the offer should be placed on paid administrative leave, but gave agencies the right to ask them to work through the transition; a question-and-answer page published by the Office of Personnel Management said that employees would not have to work.
“Can take the vacation you always wanted, or just watch movies and chill, while receiving your full government pay and benefits,” a post said.
Doreen Greenwald, the national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 federal workers across 37 agencies, urged members not to take the offer. “Without any understanding of why this was offered to employees, without any guarantees in writing to employees, there is no way we would ever recommend an employee resign,” she said.
Union leaders, elected officials and labor lawyers say the offer may not even be legal, in part because it circumvents individual agency discretion and union agreements already in place. Some have said that the personnel office likely does not have the authority to make such offers. Moreover, it does not currently have the funding to back up the offer since the government is only funded through mid-March.
Beyond these questions, Kristin Alden, a lawyer specializing in federal employment issues, said “there isn’t really a mechanism to enforce” the terms of the offer.
The situation left hundreds of thousands of anxious and confused federal employees, already buffeted by a fusillade of orders over the past few days, with serious decisions to make and sparse information.
Some workers saw the offer as a small victory, a way to make the next few months less precarious as they looked for other jobs. This view was echoed by Republican lawmakers.
“I’m excited,” said Representative Joe Wilson, whose district in South Carolina includes a sizable contingent of federal workers. “I think that’s a really positive way to address this issue. There legitimately have been people who have not returned to the office, and this is a great way for them to exit.”
But many federal workers, even those who had been planning to leave, were deeply skeptical.
“I do not trust it one bit,” said an employee at the Energy Department whose partner is also a federal employee. The offer, if anything, convinced her to stick around longer. “I’m not going to make it easy for you,” she said.
Beyond the proposed “deferred resignation” plan itself, the email to federal workers announcing the proposal also declared that, going forward, employees would be “subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct.” Some federal workers saw this as a sign that the administration would be looking closely for any possible reason to fire workers who did not willingly quit.
For Mr. Trump’s supporters, a culling of the federal bureaucracy has been long overdue. And many see the administration as being more than generous in the way it is helping bring such an exodus about.
“I think it’s great,” said Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, which is home to around 40,000 federal civilian workers. “I mean, if they don’t want to come back to work, and they’re looking for an exit, then exit.”
Reporting was contributed by Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Devlin Barrett, Reyes Mata III and Catie Edmondson.
The recent wave of resignations in the government has sparked concerns about the potential impact on the delivery of essential services to the public. With key positions being vacated at a rapid pace, there are fears that critical projects and programs could be delayed or derailed.
The resignation push, which has seen high-profile officials stepping down from their posts, has raised questions about the stability and effectiveness of the government. Some experts worry that the exodus of experienced and skilled personnel could lead to a loss of institutional knowledge and expertise, further hampering the government’s ability to fulfill its duties.
In addition, the timing of these resignations has added to the anxiety surrounding the situation. With ongoing challenges such as the pandemic, economic recovery, and national security threats, the absence of key decision-makers could exacerbate existing problems and create new hurdles for the government to overcome.
As the government scrambles to fill the vacant positions and address the concerns raised by the resignations, there is a growing sense of unease among the public. Many are left wondering how these developments will impact the services they rely on and the overall functioning of the government.
In the midst of this uncertainty, it is crucial for the government to take swift and decisive action to address the challenges posed by the resignations and reassure the public that essential services will not be compromised. Only time will tell how the government navigates this turbulent period and what the long-term implications will be for the delivery of government services.
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resignation, government services, worries, deepens, push, effect
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In an exclusive interview, Rachel Maddow interviews Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, former Democratic nominee for vice president, in his first interview since the election, about how the Donald Trump administration’s ill-advised freeze of federal funds exposes the role of Project 2025 in the Trump administration’s plans, and Trump’s ultimate goal of destroying the U.S. government. Jan. 29, 2025
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On a recent episode of The Rachel Maddow Show, host Rachel Maddow sat down with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to discuss the latest developments in the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. government.
Governor Walz expressed deep concerns about the President’s actions, citing his disregard for democratic norms and the rule of law. He emphasized the importance of protecting the institutions that uphold our democracy and the need for elected officials to hold the President accountable.
The interview shed light on the growing tension between the Trump administration and state governments, as well as the challenges facing states in maintaining their autonomy in the face of federal overreach.
As the Trump administration continues to push its agenda of dismantling government institutions, Governor Walz urged Americans to stay informed, engaged, and vigilant in defending our democracy.
For more insights on this critical issue, be sure to watch the full interview on The Rachel Maddow Show. #ProtectOurDemocracy #DefendInstitutions
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Rachel Maddow, Tim Walz, Trump, U.S. government, interview, politics, news, Minnesota Governor, current events, conspiracy theory, government shutdown, presidential administration
On Friday afternoon, the world’s richest person showed up at what sounds like one of the world’s most boring agencies to demand a list.
Elon Musk had arrived at the Office of Personnel Management, a mundane-sounding agency with vast power overseeing the federal civilian work force. During President Trump’s first term, the nation’s leader used the agency to enforce loyalty to his agenda. During his second term, it appears Mr. Musk may try to use the office to enforce loyalty to his own agenda.
Mr. Musk has stormed into Washington with a host of friends and paid employees, determined to leave his imprint quickly. Never before in modern times has someone so rich played such a hands-on role in American government, with Mr. Musk making himself omnipresent in Washington since flying there for Mr. Trump’s inauguration. His plane has not left.
On Mr. Trump’s first day, he empowered Mr. Musk by establishing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting effort that the tech billionaire is leading. Mr. Trump gave the group the authority to work on a plan to reduce the size of the federal work force, among other things.
Taking to Washington with his trademark single-mindedness and bravado, Mr. Musk is reprising the tactics he deployed at Twitter, which he bought in 2022. He has brought to bear the full weight of his Silicon Valley network, installing some of the same executives who cut 80 percent of the social network’s staff, and even using the same email subject lines. He has promised “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy,” and is now racing to do just that.
Mr. Musk’s slash-first, fix-later approach to cost-cutting has been intentional throughout his career. And some of the early moves by the Trump administration to freeze funding for federal programs and entice federal workers to resign have led to mass confusion or are being legally challenged. (On Wednesday, the White House walked back an order that froze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans.)
But Mr. Musk wants to see radical change — and he is pressing forward.
This article is based on interviews with a dozen people briefed on how Mr. Musk has spent his first week in Washington, all of whom insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about his activities.
Musk allies to oversee the work force
On Friday, Mr. Musk showed up at the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building and asked Office of Personnel Management staff to produce a list of the federal chief information officers. The request reflected how Mr. Musk’s plans seem to heavily involve the agency, which is set to be run by a supporter of his, Scott Kupor, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz who is awaiting Senate confirmation.
Mr. Musk, however, is wasting no time before Mr. Kupor’s arrival.
Several of Mr. Musk’s top aides have landed senior adviser roles at the Office of Personnel Management. They include Brian Bjelde, a human resources executive at SpaceX who has identified himself as the company’s 14th employee and who played a role in Mr. Musk’s takeover of Twitter, where he helped carry out widespread layoffs. Another arrival is Riccardo Biasini, an executive at the Boring Company, Mr. Musk’s tunneling company, who also joined Mr. Musk’s team at Twitter.
But the most empowered of Mr. Musk’s allies at the Office of Personnel Management has been Anthony Armstrong, a top technology banker at Morgan Stanley who worked on the billionaire’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022.
Mr. Musk appears to have even taken over internal communications. On Tuesday evening, an email from the Office of Personnel Management offered about two million federal employees the option to resign, and to be paid through the end of September, with the subject line: “Fork in the road.” That was exactly the subject line that Mr. Musk used to encourage Twitter employees to resign in November 2022.
Most of the people whom Mr. Musk has brought to Washington are young engineers who did not know him but have signed up for 80-hour workweeks and are being deployed at federal agencies.
But he does not readily trust new people, and so he is calling largely on his inner circle.
Confidants in his vast war on the bureaucracy include the investor Antonio Gracias, a former board member of Tesla, and Terrence O’Shaughnessy, a retired four-star Air Force general who is one of Mr. Musk’s top advisers at SpaceX. Mr. Musk has pushed Mr. O’Shaughnessy for administration positions, and the general told others he was being considered as a possible replacement for Pete Hegseth during Mr. Hegseth’s turbulent but successful bid to lead the Pentagon.
One new person to have gained Mr. Musk’s trust is Baris Akis, a Turkish-born leader of a Silicon Valley venture firm who graduated from Stanford in 2016.
Mr. Akis had no meaningful relationship with Mr. Musk until just a few weeks ago. But he was deeply involved in Mr. Trump’s transition — perhaps putting in more hours than any other tech leader beyond Mr. Musk — and he has emerged from that effort as a right-hand man to Steve Davis, a Musk lieutenant who has overseen the Department of Government Efficiency.
Mr. Davis and Mr. Akis have been heavily involved in the Office of Personnel Management in recent weeks. But neither of them actually work there. Mr. Davis nowadays spends much of his time detailed to the General Services Administration, which helps manage federal agencies and which is a likely next target of Mr. Musk’s war on the bureaucracy.
Another Musk ally, Amanda Scales, who previously worked for the billionaire and before that for Mr. Akis, has played a particularly outward-facing role at the Office of Personnel Management. Federal agencies were asked to send Ms. Scales a list of the workers who are still on probationary status — and are therefore easier to fire.
Ms. Scales has been appointed as the agency’s chief of staff at a time when it has no full-time director, and she has faced much anger online as the face of Mr. Trump’s proposed reductions to the federal work force.
Fingerprints on key moves
In Washington, Mr. Musk is both a celebrity and a bureaucrat, sometimes simultaneously.
At one moment, he and several of his billionaire friends, including Mr. Gracias, were mingling with fixtures of the Washington establishment at the annual dinner of the Alfalfa Club, where several attendees broke the event’s unwritten no-phones policy and mobbed him for selfies. At another, he was spotted in the White House mess, where 20-something staff members grab sandwiches between meetings — but unlike Mr. Musk, most do not return to a West Wing office to help oversee what Mr. Trump says is a 40-person team carrying out his executive orders.
Mr. Musk has found himself focused on bureaucratic maneuvers in his first week.
His team has prioritized finding a way to email all 2.3 million federal civilian employees at once, the type of thing that is easy to do at a company like Tesla but more challenging to do across the vast federal work force, in which agencies can typically email only their own employees. The Office of Personnel Management was able to use that list to deliver its Tuesday evening memo.
All of this is in pursuit of what Mr. Musk initially said would be $2 trillion in annual cost savings through the use of technology, deregulation and budget cuts (he has more recently lowered his estimate to closer to $1 trillion). In several posts on X since Mr. Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Government Efficiency has boasted of more than $500 million in immediate savings through the curtailing of D.E.I. initiatives and the renegotiation of unused office leases, which officials called the “initial focus” of the group.
On the first day of the Trump administration, Mr. Musk’s team took over the United States Digital Service, a unit in the president’s executive office that has been renamed the “U.S. DOGE Service.” The service’s roughly 200 employees are expecting substantial layoffs, and a different Silicon Valley executive, Tom Krause, has conducted some interviews of employees. Among other questions, Mr. Krause has asked the employees what makes them exceptional and who the agency’s best workers are.
Mr. Musk’s team has also taken on a range of roles, including I.T. staff members and detectives. Mr. Trump has said that Mr. Musk’s job includes carrying out his executive orders. And so Mr. Musk has tried to deploy his engineers to find ways to turn off the flow of money from the Treasury Department to things that Mr. Trump wants to defund.
Mr. Musk’s allies in the Department of Government Efficiency and the White House say they snuffed out an attempt from some federal employees to rush money out to the World Health Organization just after Mr. Trump said he was withdrawing the country from the global agency. Their claims could not immediately be verified.
And according to at least one Trump aide, Mr. Musk also played a role in the president’s sweeping grant of clemency to the people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
On the evening of the prisoners’ release, Paul Ingrassia, a White House liaison to the Justice Department, claimed to a crowd at a Washington jail that “Elon Musk knew a lot about this and was the mastermind behind it.”
Next to Mr. Ingrassia was an aide to Mr. Musk: Christopher Stanley, who has worked as a security engineer at SpaceX and X and recently relocated to a role “at the White House,” Mr. Ingrassia said. Mr. Stanley has complained on social media about federal employees’ work ethic and speed at returning emails since he arrived in Washington.
Mr. Musk may be something of a super-aide, but he is generally liked by Mr. Trump’s inner circle, texting memes and trading intel with staff members who are worth a minuscule fraction of what he is. He does not find it beneath him: In a conversation with a friend, Mr. Musk seemed almost amazed at his fortune.
Kirsten Grind and Ryan Mac contributed reporting.
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has long been known for his close relationship with President Donald Trump. Now, it seems that Musk and his friends are helping Trump shake up the government in a big way.
According to reports, Musk and his inner circle have been advising Trump on a range of issues, from technology and innovation to space exploration and energy policy. Musk’s influence on the president is said to be significant, with Trump reportedly seeking his input on a wide range of topics.
In recent months, Musk has also been vocal in his support for Trump’s controversial policies, including his push for deregulation and his stance on immigration. Musk’s outspoken support for the president has drawn criticism from some quarters, but it seems that he is determined to use his influence to shape the direction of the Trump administration.
With Musk and his friends by his side, Trump is poised to make some major changes to the government in the coming months. Whether these changes will be for the better or for the worse remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Elon Musk is not afraid to shake things up.
PM Vučević resigns after student protests across Serbia
Outgoing Serbian prime minister MilošVučević, pictured at a press conference in 2023. Photograph: Darko Vojinović/AP
Speaking at a press conference in Belgrade, Vučević defended his government’s record, but admitted that Serbia “seemed to be stuck” with focus on the deadly collapse of a concrete canopy at a train station in Novi Sad last year and lamented “deep divisions in our society” it caused.
Vučević was mayor of Novi Sad when the renovations began.
He claimed, without offering any evidence, that students protests were supported by foreign powers and accused opposition of trying to make political capital on the accident.
He said he made his decision to resign after an incident last night in which a group of students was attacked in Novi Sad, with one woman seriously injured. She has since been released from hospital at her request.
Serbian state media reported that the incident broke out after students put anti-government stickers and graffiti in front of an office of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS.
“I expect the perpetrators of the attack will be arrested,” he said, condemning the attack.
But Vučević said “if there is any hope for us to return to social dialogue, we must talk.”
His government will remain in place until a new cabinet is picked or a snap election is called. A decision on next steps needs to be made within 30 days.
Protesters hold Serbia’s national flags and wave from a bridge above a highway during a demonstration earlier today in an attempt to put pressure on the government over a fatal collapse of the Novi Sad train station roof in November 2024. Photograph: Andrej Isaković/AFP/Getty Images
Key events
Serbian prime minister Vučević resigns
Serbian prime minister Miloš Vučević (right) at a press conference alongside president Aleksandar Vučić (centre) and speaker parliament Ana Brnabić (left) last night. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Serbian prime minister Miloš Vučević has resigned in the last few minutes.
His resignation comes just a day after Serbian students have staged a daylong blockage of a major traffic intersection in Belgrade with the support of farmers, stepping up pressure on the president, Aleksandar Vučić.
The wave of student-led demonstrations began as a protest against government corruption after the collapse of a roof of a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad on 1 November, which killed 15 people.
His resignation comes after president Vučić sought to open a dialogue with the protesters and indicated on Monday he would reshuffle the government.
The wave of student-led demonstrations began as a protest against government corruption after the collapse of a roof of a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad on 1 November, which killed 15 people.
On Monday, the demonstrators occupied the Autokomanda junction, where two major roads from the south-east converge on the way to Belgrade’s centre.
Frederiksen’s ‘top political speed dating’ over Greenland – snap reaction
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen Photograph: Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen is expected in Paris shortly, where she is going to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron.
Our Nordic correspondent Miranda Bryant writes in on Frederiksen’s euro trip:
The last 24 hours have seen a raft of announcements – including on defence and tackling racism against Greenlandic people in Denmark – by the Danish government aimed at appeasing Greenlanders and the US as Donald Trump continues to target his attentions on attempting to acquire Denmark.
Now the Danish PM Mette Frederiksen is on a whistle stop European charm offensive to Berlin, Paris and Brussels in a bid to reassure her colleagues that Denmark has Europe’s full support if Trump follows through on his threats of a trade war.
In what Danish newspaper Berlingske describes as “a form of top political speed dating” she first met German chancellor Olaf Scholz and is later due to meet French president Emmanuel Macron and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
It has been a challenging January for Frederiksen which has seen Denmark singled out by the US and publicly threatened not just with tariffs but potential military intervention over Greenland.
On Sunday night, amid leaks of her reportedly “horrible” 45-minute call with the US president, she put on a show of Nordic unity by sharing a photo on social media of a very cosy looking dinner eating what looked like home-cooked food at a kitchen table with Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre, Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson and Finnish president Alexander Stubb.
Ukraine update
Troop members of the 13 NGU Khartiia Brigade during a patrol in Lypsi, located on the Kharkiv front line, Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Maria Senovilla/EPA
Speaking of Ukraine, here’s our latest briefing to bring you up to date on what is happening there.
Veterans’ help and healthcare among NGOs whose USAid funding has been cut off; Hungary steps aside from blocking Russia sanctions.
Here is what we know on day 1,070 of the war:
And here are some moving pictures from Kyiv-based photographer Vic Bákin whoturned his camera on the crumbling homes and young, shaven-headed recruits that have symbolised the war with Russia
Ukraine ceasefire favourable to Russia remains top global risk to EU, experts say
A troop member of the 13 NGU Khartiia Brigade during a patrol in Lypsi, located on the Kharkiv front line, Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Maria Senovilla/EPA
The EU Institute for Security Studies and the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute in Florence have published their 2025 report on global risks to the EU this morning. And it does not make for pretty reading.
The report, compiled by the EUI’s Veronica Anghel based on submissions from foreign policy experts across Europe, says that a ceasefire in Ukraine that would be favourable to Russia remains “the highest risk” to the bloc, given Ukraine role “as a critical shield for EU interest.”
The experts also warned that US isolationism “is as dangerous for Europe as a Russian nuclear strike,” with the latter seen as “the least likely risk,” despite worries about “new Russian military action in non-Nato neighbouring states.”
(Anghel jokingly admitted that experts failed to foresee the Greenland crisis.)
The study also raised alarm about “the risk of a disruptive cyber-attack on EU infrastructure,” classified as one of the top threats. “Variations in infrastructure resilience and cybercrime awareness across member states are likely to challenge EU policy coherent,” it said.
It also made a pointed comment on “the risk of subsea sabotage … growing, prompting Baltic states to take increasingly assertive measures to protect subsea infrastructure.”
On migration, the report warned against “large-scale irregular migration from the Middle East and north Africa and sub-Saharan Africa to the EU,” with a separate warning that this topic “has been instrumentalised by far-right forces to fragment EU politics.”
Responding to the report, Nato’s director of policy planning, Benedetta Berti, said this:
This really exemplifies, to me, what has been our dominant strategic assumption for the past few years, which is we are in the most complex, volatile and dangerous security environment that we have seen as transatlantic community, as Europeans, in the few generations.
… This is, in a nutshell, what we’ve been saying for since 2022 … which is, we’re not at war, but we’re not at peace [either]. This is not a peacetime threat assessment.
‘Borders must not be moved by force,’ Scholz says in a swipe at Trump
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and German chancellor Olaf Scholz at a joint press conference in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Mads Claus Rasmussen/EPA
Speaking alongside Frederiksen, German chancellor Olaf Scholz went further by making a very pointed remark on territorial integrity, which sounded like a swipe at Trump.
Speaking in German, seemingly about Ukraine, he said:
We will support Ukraine in the distribution of its sovereignty and its freedom, as long as it takes. With our partners in Washington That is why we now agree that this war must end, but it must not be a dictated peace. Putin must be clear that he is sending his soldiers into a senseless battle. The inviolability of borders is a fundamental principle of international law. Russia broke this principle with its attack on Ukraine …
But then he went on:
The principle must apply to everyone. I made that clear again from this point a few days ago: Borders must not be moved by force.
Before adding, unusually, in English and with a stern look on his face:
To whom it may concern.
‘Up to Europe to define the future of our continent,’ Danish PM says in Berlin
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen at a joint press conference with German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin today. Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA
Denmark’s Frederiksen spoke in Berlin over the last hour, where she begun her European tour meeting German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
She did not explicitly reference US president Donald Trump or Greenland, but let’s see if you can spot a certain theme or subtext in her comments.
This morning, we are facing more uncertain reality, a reality that calls for an even more united Europe and for more cooperation. Our ties are rooted in our history, our values, and in our interests, in Europe and also across the Atlantic. …
We need a stronger and a more resolute Europe standing increasingly in its own right, capable of defending and promoting Europe and the European interests. It is up to Europe to define the future of our continent. I think we have to take more responsibility for our own security. …
Europe, our continent, is based on the idea of that cooperation rather than confrontation will lead to peace, to progress, to prosperity, and let us honour that idea.
Now, quickly a final word on yesterday’s event in Oświęcim and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration camp in Auschwitz.
Our Europe correspondent Jon Henley was there and here is his report.
On a day of startling blue skies, Auschwitz survivors stood before princes and presidents on Monday to remind the world, perhaps for the final time, of the horrors they suffered there during one of the darkest moments of human history.
Beneath a white marquee erected in front of the gate to the former Nazi death camp, four former inmates – the youngest 86, the oldest 99 – warned world leaders on the 80th anniversary of its liberation against the danger of rising antisemitism.
For detailed minute-by-minute coverage, check our Europe live blog from yesterday.
Morning opening: With friends like these
Jakub Krupa
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and German chancellor Olaf Scholz at a press conference in Berlin this morning. Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen travels to Berlin, Paris and Brussels at short notice today as she seeks to seek European unity in response to US president Donald Trump’s repeated plans to “get” Greenland.
“Denmark is a small country with strong allies. And it is part of a strong European community where together we can meet the challenges we face. … With war on the continent and changes in geopolitical reality, … unity is crucial,” she said in a statement in Danish published last night.
Her trip comes after a similar show-of-unity meeting over the weekend when she hosted the prime ministers of Sweden and Norway and the president of Finland in Copenhagen for what looked like the cosiest, most relaxed dinner between world leaders ever.
From left Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Støre, Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson, Finnish president Alexander Stubb, and Mette Frederiksen Photograph: Mette Frederiksen/Facebook
But pictures can be deceiving.
On Monday, Denmark announced plans to invest £1.65bn ($2bn) to boost its security in the Arctic region with new ships, long-range drones, and satellites to help police the area. One of the priorities is tellingly named “asserting the sovereignty.” (No word on extra dog sleds, which Trump ridiculed last week.)
Defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the country’s intelligence services warned against a higher-than-usual threat level in the region. And presumably, they do not just mean the usual suspects in the Russians and the Chinese.
Even putting military pressure aside, the US is Denmark’s biggest export market, with pharmaceutical, machinery, and technical equipment top of the list. Any disruption – for example, through Trump’s favourite word, tariffs – would hurt and could easily escalate quickly as the EU would be expected to respond as a bloc.
Danish parliament speaker Søren Gade said this morning in the Danish press that Trump’s words on Greenland felt “like a kick in the gut” after years of close cooperation within Nato, with Danish troops joining US missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a telling passage of his interview with the Politiken newspaper, he said he would usually trust the US and follow the country’s view on defence issues. Still, even he is bewildered by the current diplomatic crisis.
In line with what the Financial Timesis reporting as a deliberate tactic to avoid further public confrontation with Trump, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas sought to play the situation down when she addressed reporters yesterday.
She backed Denmark but insisted that “we are not negotiating on Greenland,” and “we shouldn’t also go into speculation about what-ifs because this is not the situation right now.”
But the nerves are palpable, and Frederiksen will not want to take risks. That’s why she is off around Europe.
On Tuesday morning, she said that “we need a stronger and more resolute Europe, standing increasingly in its own right” in the context of growing Russian and Chinese challenges.
Could she mean someone else, too?
It’s Tuesday, 28 January 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.
Serbia’s Prime Minister Resigns Amid Student Protests: A New Era for Democracy in Europe?
In a stunning turn of events, Serbia’s Prime Minister has announced his resignation following widespread student protests that have rocked the nation. The protests, which began as a response to government corruption and lack of transparency, have gained momentum in recent weeks, with thousands of students taking to the streets to demand change.
The Prime Minister’s resignation comes as a victory for the protesters, who have been calling for his ouster and the establishment of a more accountable and democratic government. The move marks a significant shift in Serbia’s political landscape and could signal a new era of democracy and accountability in the region.
The protests in Serbia have drawn comparisons to the recent wave of demonstrations in neighboring countries such as Romania and Hungary, where citizens have also taken to the streets to demand an end to corruption and government abuses of power. The resignation of the Prime Minister is a clear indication that the people of Serbia are no longer willing to tolerate the status quo and are demanding real change.
As the country prepares for a new chapter in its history, all eyes will be on the upcoming elections and the potential for a more transparent and accountable government to take power. The events in Serbia serve as a reminder that democracy is a fragile and precious thing that must be protected and nurtured by the people. The future of the country now lies in the hands of its citizens, who have shown that they are willing to fight for a better and more just society.
Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story as it unfolds.
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Serbia, Prime Minister, resignation, student protests, government corruption, Europe, live news, Denmark, political scandal, activism, Eastern Europe, European politics.
