Happy New Year 2025

Tag: federal

First openly gay DC federal judge rakes Trump admin over military trans ban

The first openly gay federal judge in D.C. spent hours Tuesday grilling the Trump administration over its attempt to codify terms of service for transgender service members in the U.S. military, seeking to determine the extent of potential harm to transgender military personnel.

At issue is a Jan. 27 executive order signed by President Donald Trump requiring the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service,” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyers harshly questioned the Trump administration at length over the order, demanding to know whether it was a “transgender ban” and if the government’s position is that being transgender is an “ideology.”

Civil rights groups sued earlier this month to block the order on behalf of six transgender U.S. service members, arguing that the order is both discriminatory and unconstitutional, and alleging it threatens U.S. national security, as well as years of training and financial investments made by the Department of Defense.

JUDGE DENIES DEMOCRAT-LED EFFORT TO BLOCK DOGE ACCESS, CITING LACK OF PROVEN HARM

E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse is seen after former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on August 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. ((Photo by Sha Hanting/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images))

Tuesday’s court hearing focused largely on how, or to what extent, the order might cause harm to transgender service members. While Trump has instructed that “radical gender ideology” be banned from all military branches, the executive order stopped short of detailing how the Pentagon should do this, prompting a flurry of questions and concerns from plaintiffs and the judge.

Reyes, a Biden appointee and first openly gay member of the D.C. federal bench, spent much of the hearing Tuesday asking how the order would be implemented and whether the transgender service members named in the lawsuit would be removed from their roles or separated from their units.

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon on Feb. 5 in Arlington, Va. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Can we agree that the greatest fighting force that world history has ever seen is not going to be impacted in any way by less than 1% of soldiers using a different pronoun than others might want to call them,” she asked Lynch.

At another point in the hearing, she challenged lawyers for the Justice Department to find her a declarant or any commissioned officer who would get on the stand and tell the court that they’ve been harmed by the pronoun use of transgender military members.

“I’ll get you a box of cigars,” Reyes told Lynch.

“If you can find someone who will tell me we’re less prepared because we have to use pronouns for a few thousand people… have at it.”

DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES

Aerial view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2024. Home to the US Defense Department, the Pentagon is one of the world’s largest office buildings. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Lych noted in response that the administration is still awaiting further guidance on the terms of the transgender executive order, which will determine its impact on personnel, including the six transgender plaintiffs named in the case.

That answer did little to assuage concerns of Judge Reyes, who told Lynch the government must inform the court by Wednesday whether they can ensure that the named service members would not be removed from their roles in the military or face discrimination as a direct result of the executive order.

Should they fail to do that, the judge said, the court will reconvene Friday to consider plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order.

Beyond the facts of the case, Reyes did little to disguise her displeasure with the order itself.

At one point during the hearing, she posed a hypothetical to the Justice Department’s attorney, asking: “If you were in a foxhole” with another service member, “you wouldn’t care about their gender ideology, right?”

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She went on to suggest Lynch would be happy to be next to someone with their commendations and bravery.

Lynch agreed he doubted that gender identity would be on his mind in that situation.

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.

February 18, 2025
How is a political appointee different from a career federal employee?

Trump administration offers buyouts to federal employees

Fox News’ Peter Doocy reports the latest on the offer from the White House. Doocy and the ‘Fox & Friends’ co-hosts also discuss the decision to pull Gen. Mark Milley’s security detail and Karoline Leavitt’s first White House press conference.

Under President Donald Trump’s second administration so far, significant restructuring of the federal workforce has led to widespread layoffs and policy shifts designed to align with his agenda to eliminate bureaucracy. As these changes unfold, the divide between political appointees and career employees has become more apparent.

Political appointees, chosen by the president, serve at his discretion and include both Cabinet-level department heads and other senior-level officials. They are tasked with carrying out the administration’s agenda.

By contrast, career employees have permanent positions with civil service protections and are tasked with executing policies set by the political appointees above them.

“We moved away from the spoils system, which is where the current administration gets to hire everybody in the government, towards a career civil service, in the 1880s,” explained former Bush administration Cabinet member Tevi Troy in an interview with Fox News Digital.

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE

Elon Musk heads up the Department of Government Efficiency, a watchdog President Donald Trump set up to look for waste in federal spending. (Alex Brandon/AP Images)

“And the idea is that you have a permanent government or permanent bureaucracy that carries out the work of the federal government, whether it’s administering checks or doing the census, whatever it is the government does that is managed by this career bureaucracy,” Troy, also a presidential historian and a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, said. “They have civil service protection, they are not supposed to set policy. They follow policy that is laid out by the president’s administration.”

Troy said there are about 2 million people in the federal workforce, and “at some point there’s a line.”

He described the line as “between who is setting policy” and who is “carrying out what the mission of the federal government is supposed to be.”

“And this argument is about the Trump administration feeling that at the most senior levels, there are certain career officials that were trying to set policy rather than carry out policy, and that’s where the disagreement is,” he said.

JUDGE RESTORES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S BUYOUT OFFER TO FEDERAL WORKERS

Trump signed an executive order Tuesday seeking departments to make “large-scale reductions in force.” As such, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been instrumental in executing mass layoffs across various federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Authority and the Departments of Education, Veterans Affairs and Energy, among others.

“Although career employees enjoy significant employment protections, that does not mean that the president, who is the head of the executive branch, cannot eliminate jobs, as long as individuals are not politically targeted,” Rachel Greszler, senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation’s economic Roe Institute, told Fox News Digital. “President Clinton issued an executive order in 1993, instructing agencies to eliminate 100,000 federal positions. While the initial order called for a 4% reduction in workforce, a 10% reduction instead ensued.”

TRUMP ADMIN ORDERS AGENCIES TO LAY OFF PROBATIONARY WORKERS IN LATEST PUSH TO SHRINK GOVERNMENT

President Trump has used executive orders to enact sweeping changes within the federal bureaucracy in his first few weeks in office. (Reuters)

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Trump also instructed federal agencies last week to lay off most probationary workers who have not secured civil service protection.

An Office of Personnel Management spokesperson told Fox News Digital previously, “the probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment. Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the president’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard.”

This isn’t the first time a president has sought to shrink the federal government. Ronald Reagan also had the same goal, and particularly cut down the workforce in regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. Bill Clinton also set out to reduce the size of the federal government, famously declaring in his 1996 State of the Union that the “era of big government is over.”

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

February 18, 2025
DOGE committee member cautions Democrats over next ‘reckoning’ for federal agencies

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., discuss the protests erupting nationwide from Democrats regarding Elon Musk’s DOGE budget cuts on ‘The Bottom Line.’

As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly gets closer to accessing more integrated data from federal agencies, one of the congressional subcommittee members previewed a budget “reckoning” in the works.

“These alphabet agencies are getting ready to see a reckoning. And I’m glad that Donald J. Trump is doing it. All he’s doing is keeping his word,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on “The Bottom Line,” Monday.

White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields recently told Fox News that DOGE will soon have access to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) system that contains sensitive taxpayer information and account details.

The news comes just after a federal judge in Washington on Friday handed Elon Musk’s government efficiency team a win by declining a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from at least three federal agencies: the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

ELON MUSK’S D.O.G.E. PREPARES TO AUDIT U.S. GOLD RESERVES AT FORT KNOX AFTER URGING BY SEN. RAND PAUL

The Justice Department has also argued that DOGE personnel are “detailed” U.S. government employees who have access to the requested information under provisions of the Economy Act.

DOGE is ready to unleash a “reckoning” on certain federal agencies, according to congressional subcommittee Rep. Tim Burchett. (Getty Images)

“The IRS is… porous… and the IRS is angry,” Burchett said. “The reason they’re angry is they’re going to have to start showing up for work. You know, I’m a United States congressman, and it can take me up to six months to get a dadgum response from them. That is not acceptable.”

“And then when we find out the IRS employees are getting audited themselves, and they’ve delayed their audits, there’s a lot going on there,” he continued.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin weighs in on the Department of Government Efficiency and their latest move to cancel ‘wasteful’ contracts within the EPA.

The newly minted DOGE agency, a key promise of President Trump’s reelection campaign, is aggressively slashing government waste when it comes to government spending. It was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

DOGE has long claimed its ultimate goal of reducing the national debt by at least $2 trillion, and as part of its budget overhaul, recently carried out layoffs, mandatory return-to-office mandates for federal workers and even closed agencies completely, like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

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O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary discusses DOGE’s effort to cut government waste and fraud on ‘The Big Money Show.’

“It shows that every department is corrupt, and you’re going to see the money, where it flows back to, and it goes right out of the American taxpayer’s pocket into the back pocket of politicians in Washington,” Burchett claimed. “And you’re going to see congressmen, I hope it’s not on both sides of the aisle, but I’m afraid it will be because that’s who will start pitching a fit.”

“We’ve found them in the past, they’ve been funneling money into campaigns and things like that. And yet these so-called legacy media, which is in bed with these folks, has decided to turn a blind eye.”

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Fox News’ Hillary Vaughn, Stephen Sorace, Michael Dorgan, Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

February 18, 2025
Red state bill seeks to force local compliance with federal immigration law

The Indiana House Judiciary Committee voted to advance a bill that gives the governor authority to punish local governments that fail to comply with federal immigration authorities.

Indiana House Bill 1531, which allows local law enforcement agencies the ability to carry out federal immigration laws and threatens to withhold funding from local governments who fail to comply with federal immigration laws, passed through the committee on a party line vote after hours of tense testimony and now moves to the full House, according to a report from the Indy Star Monday.

The bill would also allow the state’s attorney general to impose civil penalties if a local government agency fails to comply with a federal immigration detention request, requires state judges to report any non-U.S. citizen convicted of a crime to federal authorities, prohibits employers from recruiting or hiring illegal immigrants, and grants immunity to government bodies or employees for action taken on immigration detainer requests.

RED STATE AG PROMISES LEGAL FIGHT WITH ICE-RESISTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We’ve been doing as much as we can with existing authority under labor trafficking laws to go after this issue of illegal aliens being employed in the state,” Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Blake Lanning told the Indy Star. “But in many ways, Indiana law was not designed for this problem, to address this problem.”

Lanning said the attorney general’s office worked closely with the state’s GOP legislature to craft the bill, which comes after Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita threatened to sue local jurisdictions who do not comply with federal immigration orders.

“Now that’s a problem in Indiana, particularly because there’s an Indiana state statute that I enforce that says what you have got to give, whatever level of cooperation is allowed by federal law, you shall give it as a state or local law enforcement official,” Rokita told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday.

“And, so, that’s what’s happening here. That defiance I need to look into now.”

‘CLAWED BACK’: DHS CHIEF NOEM SECURES EYE-POPPING SUM SENT TO NYC FOR MIGRANT HOTELS

Local law enforcement cooperation with ICE is a point of contention in many liberal-leaning jurisdictions, even in red states. (ICE)

DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS

The push comes as President Donald Trump has intensified efforts to both secure the border and deport immigrants already in the country illegally. However, some of those efforts have been hindered by so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which ban local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Indiana’s legislation faces stiff opposition from Democrats and outside groups, who question the constitutionality of the bill.

“This is unprecedented to have this many anti-immigrant bills in one legislative session for Indiana. So it really is kind of a race to be the most racist. Any argument against that is just disingenuous,” Carolina Castoreno, the co-founder of the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy, told the Indy Star after testifying against the bill.

President Donald Trump on Jan. 31, 2025, with an executive order on his desk. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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“The rhetoric that they are continuing to use in these rooms — the mentioning of cartels, the mentioning of Hispanic men, talking about the Spanish speaking language,” Castoreno added. “They’re not talking about Ukrainian immigrants. They’re not talking about immigrants from any other part of the world, except for Latin America.”

However, efforts to defeat the legislation face an uphill battle in Indiana, where Republicans enjoy supermajorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate as well as control the governor’s office.

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

February 18, 2025
Top federal agency exposed for spending billions on migrants in a single year

The Biden administration spent tens of billions of dollars on grants to migrants and refugees through one of its government agencies, including over $10 billion in just one year, according to a new watchdog report.

The watchdog group Open the Books looked at grants to nonprofits awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. Its responsibilities include caring for unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the southern border illegally and refugees entering legally.

The watchdog found that in FY 2021, it distributed $2.4 billion in grants to nonprofits. In FY 2022, it distributed $3.4 billion, then that number skyrocketed up to $10 billion in FY 2023 before being reduced to $4.2 billion in FY 2024.

‘CLAWED BACK’: DHS CHIEF NOEM SECURES EYE-POPPING SUM SENT TO NYC FOR MIGRANT HOTELS

Homeless migrants wait in line to receive food and clothing donations in Tompkins Square Park on Jan. 20, 2024 in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

The numbers surged amid a historic migrant crisis at the southern border which plagued the Biden administration between 2021 and 2024.

According to the watchdog, the money included spending to help migrants save for car and home purchases, while another gave out business and personal loans, along with other programs for legal aid and cultural orientation.

“We’re hurting American taxpayers. People in places like North Carolina, Los Angeles that have lost everything,” Open the Books CEO John Hart told Fox News. “How is it moral to ask them to pay the bill for someone who wants to come to this country illegally? That’s outrageous.”

DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS

Xavier Becerra, then-secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), speaks during a news conference at the HHS headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Photographer: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The revelation comes amid a government-wide scrutiny of funding, including funding for migrants, by the Trump administration and led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week that it had taken back $59 million in FEMA funds earmarked for hotels housing migrants in New York City and had fired four FEMA employees involved in the payments being distributed.

“There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” a DHS spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been ramping up border security and cracking down on releases into the interior. It has suspended refugee resettlement, taken off limits imposed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and declared a national emergency at the southern border.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

February 18, 2025
Federal judge skeptical of states’ arguments against Elon Musk and DOGE

A federal judge expressed skepticism of efforts seeking to bar President Donald Trump’s administration from accessing federal data and firing federal workers when hearing remarks from the bench on Monday.

Judge Tanya Chutkan has yet to issue a ruling in the case, which relates to billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and their efforts to curb government spending. Chutkan says she will rule on the case within 24 hours.

At issue in the case are DOGE’s actions within seven federal agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Education, Department of Labor, The Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce.

Attorneys general from 14 states argue Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach, but Chutkan says she wasn’t convinced so far.

ELON MUSK DESCRIBES LIMESTONE MINE USED FOR PROCESSING FEDERAL WORKERS’ RETIREMENT PAPERS: ‘LIKE A TIME WARP’

A federal judge has ruled against federal employees who sued the Trump administration over privacy and security concerns around a government workforce email distribution system. (iStock/Sarah Yenesel via Getty Images)

“There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,” the lawsuit brought against DOGE states.

EXPERT REVEALS MASSIVE LEVELS OF WASTE DOGE CAN SLASH FROM ENTITLEMENTS, PET PROJECTS: ‘A LOT OF FAT’

Chutkan says lawyers for the states have yet to establish that there is imminent harm that could be avoided by restraining DOGE.

“The things that I’m hearing are serious and troubling indeed… But you’re saying these are things that we’re hearing,” she said. “I’m not seeing it so far.”

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump meets with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Alex Brandon)

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed the lawsuit, joined by officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

The group of states is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent more federal firings at the recommendation of Musk and DOGE.

President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk address attempts to portray a rivalry between the pair on a “Hannity” exclusive, airing Tuesday, Feb. 18. (Fox News)

Chutkan was not exclusively hostile to the states’ argument, however, as she was also seen critiquing representatives for Trump’s administration.

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“Nowhere have my friends offered a shred of anything, nor could they, to show that Elon Musk has any formal or actual authority to make any government decisions himself,” DOJ lawyer Harry Graver said.

Chutkan countered, “I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there.”

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 17, 2025
Judge rules against federal employees suing Trump admin for privacy concerns

A federal judge has ruled against federal employees who sued the Trump administration over privacy and security concerns around a government workforce email distribution system.

The new computer server was used to send deferred resignation “Fork in the Road” emails to more than 2 million federal employees, offering them to leave their government jobs and get paid through September, or risk being laid off.

DC-based federal Judge Randolph Moss denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have blocked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from continuing to use the email address [email protected] and is known as the “Government-Wide Email System.”

The lawsuit claimed that in the rush to adopt this new system, OPM violated security safeguards for federal workers, known as a Privacy Impact Statement (PIA).

But in denying emergency legal relief, the judge said, “Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating that their .gov email addresses (which reveal their names and, possibly, their places of employment) are at imminent risk of exposure outside the United States government— much less that this risk is a result of OPM’s failure to conduct an adequate PIA. Rather, their arguments ‘rel[y] on a highly attenuated chain of possibilities.’”

According to the lawsuit, soon after Trump took office, federal employees received emails from the email address [email protected] that indicated the agency was running tests for a new “distribution and response list.”

“The goal of these tests is to confirm that an email can be sent and replied to by all government employees,” one of the emails said, according to the lawsuit. Workers were asked to acknowledge receipt of the messages.

The case will continue on the merits in the courts, but for now the new communications system will remain in place, pending any appeal.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

February 17, 2025
Hassett to serve as Trump admin’s contact with the Federal Reserve

Speaking before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said he’ll call for interest rates to be lower than current levels. A possible sign he is setting up a possible battle with the Federal Reserve.

Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, is set to serve as the Trump administration’s key point of contact with the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as the fight against inflation continues.

Hassett appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday and told host Margaret Brennan that he is planning to hold regular lunch meetings with Powell and other central bank policymakers.

“I, just this weekend, have arranged to begin, once again, regular lunches with Jay Powell at the Federal Reserve,” Hassett said. “Jay and I have a long and collegial relationship, and I’m going to go over there with him and the other governors.”

“So, we’re going to talk about our views about what’s going on, and listen to his and that collegiality has been going on for four years when I was here before, and the president very much values that,” he said.

TARIFFS COULD FACTOR INTO FED’S RATE-CUT PLANS AMID INFLATION CONCERNS, EXPERTS SAY

Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, will serve as a key point of contact for the Trump administration with the Federal Reserve. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Brennan began to ask Hassett whether those meetings are aimed at influencing the Federal Reserve’s decisions on monetary policy when he replied that “Jay is an independent person” and that the independence of the Fed is respected.

“The point is, the president’s opinion… can be heard. He’s the president of the United States. But here’s the thing that I think is interesting, that if we get inflation under control, then that takes pressure off the Fed,” Hassett said.

“One way to tell whether markets think, ‘are we getting inflation under control,’ is to look at longer term interest rates that the Fed doesn’t affect directly. And if you look at it, the 10-year Treasury rate has dropped about 40 basis points over the last couple of weeks while we announced our plan to control inflation. That saved the American people about $40 billion… just from talking about the stuff that we’re about to do,” he added.

INFLATION RISES 3% IN JANUARY, HOTTER THAN EXPECTED

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled the Fed isn’t in a hurry to cut interest rates and will continue to evaluate fresh economic data. (Alex Wong/Getty Images / Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell and called for the Fed to lower interest rates. While Powell was testifying before Congress about monetary policy, Trump once again posted that the central bank should lower interest rates.

“Interest Rates should be lowered, something which would go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs!!!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Lets Rock and Roll, America!!!”

Powell’s testimony reiterated his stance that the Fed doesn’t need to “hurry” to lower interest rates as it waits for more data showing that inflation is trending back toward its 2% target rate as the central bank pursues its dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment.

TRUMP SAYS HE WON’T FIRE FED CHAIR JEROME POWELL

President Donald Trump nominated Jerome Powell to serve as Federal Reserve chair in 2017. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. “We know that reducing policy restraint too fast or too much could hinder progress on inflation. At the same time, reducing policy restraint too slowly or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.”

The Fed left interest rates unchanged at its most recent policy meeting in January amid stubborn inflation and a resilient labor market, with policymakers saying they are waiting for data showing inflation is trending lower.

The consumer price index (CPI) – a popular inflation gauge – came in hotter than expected last week at an annual rate of 3% for January. That figure was up from 2.9% a month ago, though it’s down from 3.1% in January 2024.

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Core CPI also ticked higher by 0.1 percentage from last month to 3.3% on an annual basis. That metric was 3.9% in January 2024.

February 17, 2025
How federal layoffs are affecting DC housing market: report

The Mike Aubrey Group EVP and principal Mike Aubrey explains why housing prices are still high as mortgage rates come down on ‘Cavuto: Coast to Coast.’

Housing markets in Washington, D.C. and other areas with high concentrations of government workers have already been impacted by the Trump administration’s new policies, according to Redfin agents.

Return-to-office mandates for federal workers have led to an increase in home buyers, but “uncertainty” about federal job cuts has discouraged others from buying or selling their homes, according to the report.

President Donald Trump announced on Jan. 29 that federal employees would be fired if they did not return to in-person work by early February.

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 10. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)

DOGE SAYS IT DUG UP ANOTHER $1.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY ‘MISPLACED’ BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

“I recently worked with a couple who bought their dream home with me a few years ago, but now they’re considering listing because they want to be closer to public transportation,” said Stuart Naranch, a Redfin Premier agent in Washington, D.C. “They both work for the government, and want a more convenient commute because they’ll need to return to in-person work soon.”

Home prices in the nation’s capital were down 8.6% in January, compared to last year, selling for a median price of $560,000, according to Redfin data.

While homes spent about a week longer on the market in January of this year, overall sales for the month were up from last year.

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest against Elon Musk outside the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 4. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

However, instability in the federal job market may translate over into the housing market.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with eliminating wasteful government spending and increasing efficiency, aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal government budget by eliminating programs and trimming the federal workforce.

A buyout offer, which has been extended, has already been accepted by about 65,000 employees, Fox News Digital previously reported.

DOGE SAYS IT DUG UP ANOTHER $1.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY ‘MISPLACED’ BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

“The number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing, and we’re expecting the largest spike 24 to 48 hours before the deadline,” a White House official told Fox News Digital on Feb. 4.

The Trump administration on Thursday ordered agencies to lay off most probationary employees without civil service protection, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

“Since the inauguration, I’ve met with a few people, including one federal government employee, who are selling specifically because of anticipated return-to-office orders,” said Jo Chavez, a Redfin Premier agent in Kansas City, Missouri. “I also spoke to a client who was looking to sell and upgrade to a larger home, but he canceled those plans because he’s worried about losing his job due to restructuring of government jobs.”

Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Treasury Department after it was reported billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump’s drive to shrink the federal government, has gained access to Treasury’s federal payments system that se (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura / Reuters)

Most recently, DOGE on Friday fired 3,600 probationary Health and Human Services employees.

Federal workers on Friday gathered outside the Department of Health and Human Services in D.C. to protest the cuts, affiliate FOX 5 D.C. reported.

Demonstrators carried signs saying, “No One Voted For Elon Musk,” and “Federal Workers Defy DOGE,” according to the report.

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Fox 5 D.C.’s Sam Kosmas contributed to this report.

February 16, 2025
DOGE scores big court win, allowed access data on 3 federal agencies

A federal judge in Washington on Friday handed Elon Musk’s government efficiency team a win by declining a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from at least three federal agencies.

Unions and nonprofits attempted to stop Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing records at the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

U.S. District Judge John Bates wrote in an opinion that the government was likely correct in categorizing DOGE as an agency, thereby allowing it to detail its staff to other government departments.

A federal judge in Washington on Friday handed Elon Musk’s government efficiency team a win by declining a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from at least three federal agencies. (AP Images)

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

However, Bates called his finding a “close question,” noting that the government did not want DOGE to be considered an agency for purposes of another federal law, which would subject it to open records requests.

Bates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, said DOGE was a “Goldilocks entity: not an agency when it is burdensome but an agency when it is convenient.”

“Plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that [DOGE] is not an agency. If that is so, [DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act,” he wrote in part.

The newly minted agency, a key promise of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, is aggressively slashing government waste when it comes to government spending. It was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’: DOGE’S TOP FIVE MOST SHOCKING REVELATIONS

The Justice Department has argued that the DOGE personnel in question are “detailed” U.S. government employees who have access to the information under provisions of the Economy Act.

Musk hailed the decision by reposting the news on X with the caption: “LFG,” an abbreviation for “Let’s f—ing go.”

Judge Bates suggested earlier Friday that DOGE’s creation and its hierarchy were “odd,” noting that it “was created in a way to get it out of OMB [Office of Management and Budget] and instead answering to the chief of staff of the president.”

Demonstrators rally in support of federal workers outside the Department of Health and Human Services, Friday, Feb. 14, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

DOGE “took great effort to avoid being an agency, but in this case, you’re an agency,” he said of DOGE. “It just seems to strain credulity.”

Attorneys for unions representing Labor Department employees argued during last week’s hearing that, absent court intervention, DOGE could access protected agency information, including the financial and medical records of millions of Americans, as well as employee safety and workplace complaints.

The plaintiffs noted that Labor Department systems contain sensitive information about investigations into Musk-owned companies Tesla and SpaceX, as well as information about trade secrets of competing companies, sparking concerns about Elon Musk’s possible access to the information.

Attorney Mark Samburg argued that allowing DOGE access to this information could have a “chilling effect” on new employees coming forward, due to fear of unlawful disclosure or retaliation.

“The sensitive information of millions of people is currently at imminent risk of unlawful disclosure,” Samburg said.

The plaintiffs had urged Judge Bates to grant a temporary request to block DOGE’s access to the information, which they said would “force the agency to implement a more thoughtful process.”

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office. DOGE was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Separately, on Friday, a federal judge extended a temporary order blocking DOGE from accessing payment systems within the Treasury Department.

That extension came after 19 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit claiming DOGE illegally accessed the Treasury Department’s central payment system at the Trump administration’s behest.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson and Reuters contributed to this report.

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

You can send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

February 15, 2025