Mara Liason

The order had caused confusion in Washington and chaos around the country as federal agencies struggled to understand exactly what the White House wanted them to do and which programs were and were not covered by the memo. Now the Trump administration has abandoned the blanket temporary federal funding freeze.

Democracy Forward says the administration has told the heads of all executive departments to contact their general counsels if they have questions about how to implement President Trump's other executive orders cutting specific funding for many programs. The conflict demonstrates the tensions inherent in Trump's larger effort.

to expand the powers of the presidency and diminish constitutional checks and balances, including Congress's ability to control how the federal government raises and spends money. Mara Liason, NPR News, the White House.

After a presidential campaign that was anything but normal, President Biden and President-elect Trump will do what is usually done after an election. Trump refused to meet with Biden after Trump lost in 2020. In the following January, he encouraged his supporters to try to overturn the results of that election, sparking a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol.

But White House officials now say Biden wants to honor a norm and show the country what an efficient, peaceful transfer of power looks like. Biden also says he's assured Trump he would direct his entire administration to work with the president-elect's team.

Traditionally, the outcoming and incoming first ladies have tea while their husbands meet, but Melania Trump has reportedly decided not to come to the White House tomorrow. Mara Liason, NPR News.

They did everything in their power. Coal mining's decline began in the 1980s. And more recently, it's lost ground to low-cost fracking. That's on top of environmental regulation. As for coal's contribution to climate change, Trump said sea level rise would create, quote, a little bit more waterfront property. Mara Liason, NPR News.

Standing in front of a group of coal miners wearing work uniforms and hard hats, President Trump signed orders that would remove regulations for new coal mines and expedite leases for coal mining on federal land. He said the orders would crush Biden-era environmental restrictions.

It is in our interests, our national security interests, that Syria be stable and secure.

The judge ruled that Abrego-Garcia was wrongly deported, and the administration has admitted he was deported because of a, quote, administrative error. The judge says the government has to get him back or, quote, facilitate his return, and the Supreme Court has backed up the judge. So now...

It would seem to be a pretty simple matter of President Trump asking to bring this man back to the United States. But the Department of Justice has been resisting the judge's order, even though President Trump said on Friday, quote, if the Supreme Court says bring somebody back, I would do that.

In addition to most of the president's cabinet secretaries, Elon Musk also had a seat at the table, and cabinet secretaries praised him for his efforts to shrink the size of the federal government, laying off tens of thousands of federal workers.

And Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem told the president that she will soon be traveling to El Salvador to visit the Supermax prison that now holds hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members. deported by the U.S. She said the deportations sent a clear message to other would-be migrants.

Those deportations are currently being challenged in court. Mara Liason, NPR News, the White House.

The other pressure on lawmakers is that the bond market is raising yields. The interest bondholders charge for financing U.S. debt because, among other things, It doesn't see the U.S. getting its fiscal house in order. In other words, bondholders see the U.S. debt getting bigger and bigger with no credible plan to rein it in. Mara Liason, NPR News.

This week, lawmakers from both chambers need to figure out how to make the numbers add up. One option is using a budgetary slate of hand and simply declaring that the tax cuts don't add to the deficit. Or if lawmakers really want to reduce spending, they could cut Medicaid. But many Republicans and President Trump have promised not to do that.