Happy New Year 2025

Tag: staff

Southwest to cut 15% of corporate staff, including senior leadership positions

Jack Otter and the panel discuss the downfall of Southwest Airlines’ popularity and how they could turn it around on ‘Barron’s Roundtable.’

Southwest Airlines cut 15% of its corporate workforce as it tries to rapidly reduce overhead costs to become a “leaner” company.

The airline said that the layoffs primarily target corporate overhead and leadership positions, including senior leadership and director roles. In total, 1,750 jobs will be affected, including 11 senior leadership positions, as the carrier strives to build a “leaner and more agile organization” under its transformational plan.

“We are at a pivotal moment as we transform Southwest Airlines into a leaner, faster, and more agile organization,” CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement.

SOUTHWEST TO PAUSE SOME HIRING, SUMMER INTERNSHIPS IN COST-CUTTING MEASURE

Southwest said most of the separations will be completed by the end of the second fiscal quarter, and will result in approximately $210 million in savings for fiscal year 2025 and $300 million for the full 2026 fiscal year.

The company expects to incur $60 million to $80 million in costs related to severance payments and post-employment benefits in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Travelers use a Southwest Airlines Co. self check-in kiosk at Logan International Airport (BOS) in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., on Friday, July 19, 2019. ( Scott Eisen/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Southwest has made substantial changes to rein in costs, particularly after activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a $2 billion stake in the carrier and subsequently called on the airline to take actions such as making leadership changes to improve its financial performance.

Last month, the company announced it was halting certain corporate events and pausing some hiring and most summer internships, though it plans to honor offers that were already made, in order to limit discretionary spending.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 aircraft landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told employees in a January memo that “every single dollar matters as we continue to fight to return to excellent financial performance,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

Last fall, the carrier said it would be “minimizing hiring, optimizing scheduling efficiency, capitalizing on supply chain opportunities, and improving corporate efficiency” while implementing a “multi-year” plan to improve its finances. Southwest is aiming to achieve a $500 million run rate in savings in 2027, the company said at its investor day in September.

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LUV SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. 30.28 +0.35 +1.17%

During the investor day, Southwest also detailed big changes it has in the pipeline, such as offering assigned seats, evolving its boarding process and introducing premium seating. It will also start operating red-eye flights in February to “maximize aircraft utilization” and shorten the turnaround time for planes between flights.

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.

February 18, 2025
Musk is not DOGE employee, has no more authority than other WH staff, new filing says

The Trump administration clarified in a late-night Monday court filing that Elon Musk is not a DOGE employee, and instead serves as a White House advisor, in a similar vein as former Biden advisor Anita Dunn.

The filing comes after D.C. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan heard remarks in the case filed by 14 state attorneys general against Musk and the Trump administration. The states argue that Musk and the administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach.

Chutkan expressed that she wasn’t convinced by the arguments on Monday after asking what harm the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) imposed, as well as whether any federal employee terminations took place at the end of last week.

DOGE SAYS IT FOUND NEARLY UNTRACEABLE BUDGET LINE ITEM RESPONSIBLE FOR $4.7T IN PAYMENTS

Following the remarks, Joshua Fisher, director of the Office of Administration, submitted a signed declaration clarifying that Musk “is an employee of the White House Office,” where he holds the position of “a non-career Special Government Employee.”

The Trump administration clarified in a late-night Monday court filing that Elon Musk is not a DOGE employee, and instead serves as a White House advisor, in a similar vein as former Biden advisor Anita Dunn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“In that job, Mr. Musk is a Senior Adviser to the President,” Fisher wrote. “It is not uncommon for the President to have Senior Advisors who are SGEs.”

Fisher compared Musk’s White House role to that of former top Biden advisor Anita Dunn. Dunn, who has longtime ties to former President Barack Obama, left the Biden White House in 2024 to join a top Democratic super PAC to support its efforts to elect Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 2024 election.

DOGE’S ACCESS TO CRITICAL IRS SYSTEM CONTAINING TAXPAYER INFORMATION IS IMMINENT

Dunn served as a political strategist and advisor to Biden on his 2020 campaign and in the White House.

Fisher continued on to say that Musk “has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors” and, as such, has no “actual or formal authority” to make government decisions.

A protester holds up a “NO MUSK” sign at the “No Kings on Presidents Day” protest in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

“Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives,” Fisher wrote.

Fisher clarified that DOGE is a separate entity from the White House, continuing on to state that Musk is “not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization.”

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE WHO BECAME TRUMP RIVAL DURING ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE OVERSEEING PIVOTAL DOGE HEARING

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

The state AGs announced they were filing the suit last week, in which they are “challenging the unlawful delegation of executive power to Elon Musk,” according to a statement released at the time. (Getty Images)

The state AGs announced they were filing the suit last week, in which they are “challenging the unlawful delegation of executive power to Elon Musk,” according to a statement released at the time.

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“Empowering an unelected billionaire to access Americans’ private data, slash funding for federal student aid, stop payments to American farmers and dismantle protections for working families is not a sign of President Trump’s strength, but his weakness,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in the statement.

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich, Anders Hagstrom, Bill Mears, and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Haley Chi-Sing is a Writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.

February 18, 2025
Blue Origin laying off roughly 10% of staff

Cantor Fitzgerald senior equity analyst Andres Sheppard discusses President Donald Trump’s space ambitions and priorities on ‘Making Money.’

Jeff Bezos-founded space company Blue Origin plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, according to a company-wide email obtained by FOX Business.

Employees in some engineering, research and development, and “program/project management” positions will lose their jobs in the layoffs, according to the email from CEO Dave Limp. He told employees in the message that the company is also “thinning out our layers of management.”

“Our primary focus in 2025 and beyond is to scale our manufacturing output and launch cadence with speed, decisiveness, and efficiency for our customers,” Limp said. “We grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed. It also became clear that the makeup of our organization must change to ensure our roles are best aligned with executing these priorities.”

The planned layoffs were earlier reported by Reuters.

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General view of the Blue Origin site, on the day the Blue Origin’s rocket New Shepard blasts off on billionaire Jeff Bezos’s company’s fourth suborbital tourism flight with a six-person crew near Van Horn, Texas, U.S., March 31, 2022. (REUTERS/Ivan Pierre Aguirre / Reuters)

The company was formed in 2000. Almost 14,000 people work for Blue Origin, according to Reuters.

Limp said in the email that he remains “extremely confident” in the “enormous opportunities” ahead for Blue Origin.

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“We will continue to invest, invent, and hire hundreds of positions in areas that will help us achieve our goals and best serve our customers,” the CEO wrote. “We will be a stronger, faster, and more customer-focused company that consistently meets and exceeds our commitments. This year alone, we will land on the Moon, deliver a record number of incredible engines, and fly New Glenn and New Shepard on a regular cadence.”

Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket for the first time in January.

February 13, 2025
UN halts humanitarian work in Yemen’s Houthi stronghold after staff detentions

The United Nations said Monday it suspended its humanitarian operations in the stronghold of Yemen’s Houthi rebels after they detained eight more U.N. staffers, affecting the global response to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

In a statement, the U.N. said the “extraordinary” decision to pause all operations and programs in northern Saada province was due to the lack of necessary security conditions and guarantees.

A spokesman for the Houthis didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (Associated Press)

UN CHIEF SOUNDS THE ALARM AMID FEARS OVER POSSIBLE DOGE-INSPIRED CUTS AFTER TRUMP’S ORDER

The rebels in recent months have detained dozens of U.N. staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the once-open U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. None of the U.N. staffers has been released.

The U.N. statement said the pause in operations is meant to give the Houthis and the world body time to “arrange the release of arbitrarily detained U.N. personnel and ensure that the necessary conditions are in place to deliver critical humanitarian support” in rebel-held areas.

It said the latest detained U.N. staffers — taken late last month — included six working in Saada, on Yemen’s northern border with Saudi Arabia.

A view of the United Nations Headquarters building in New York City, United States on July 16, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

US STRIKES UNDERGROUND HOUTHI WEAPONS DEPOTS USED TO HIT AMERICAN SHIPS

Seven U.N. agencies operate in Saada, including the World Food Program, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, along with several international aid organizations, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency.

The U.N. late last month suspended all travel into Houthi-held areas.

The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians. The Iranian-backed Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they descended from their stronghold in Saada and took control of Sanaa and most of the north.

The U.N. had projected that over 19 million people across Yemen will need humanitarian assistance this year as many deal with climate shocks, malnutrition, cholera and the economic effects of war.

Black smoke rises near Sana’a International Airport in Yemen after reported Israeli airstrikes. (Reuters)

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The rebels have imprisoned thousands of people during the war. In recent months, they also intensified their crackdown on dissent, including recently sentencing 44 people to death.

In January, the Houthis unilaterally freed 153 war detainees as one of several overtures to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Such prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jump-start talks over permanently ending Yemen’s war.

February 13, 2025
NYC official removes post supporting Trump’s trans athlete order after ‘guidance’ from mayor’s chief of staff

As some states have refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that bans trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, New York is at an impasse over the issue.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying it has advised schools to comply with current state law that allows trans athletes to compete with girls, but is gathering public input before making a final decision.

“While we await further clarification, I strongly advise that NYSPHSAA member schools continue to adhere to current New York state anti-discrimination laws, which allow students to participate on interscholastic teams that best align with their gender identity,” NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert J. Zayas said.

“I am actively working with state officials to assess the implications of this executive order and determine appropriate next steps. Yesterday, I spoke with Dr. Betty Rosa, commissioner of the New York State Education Department (NYSED), regarding this matter. She has requested that I collect any questions or concerns from the field, which she will then discuss with the Attorney General’s Office to provide us with guidance and direction.”

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However, as Zayas advised New York schools to continue enabling trans inclusion, an official in New York City spoke out about her support for Trump’s executive order.

Director of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Sports, Wellness and Recreation Jasmine Ray stated her position in favor of following Trump’s order on her Instagram Stories over the weekend, via Gothamist.

“To those asking about my position, as Director of NYC Sports & Rec, I stand with the recent executive order reinforcing the importance of fairness in women’s sports,” she wrote.

However, the outlet reported Ray later took down her story and says she deleted it at the “guidance” of the mayor’s chief of staff, Camille Joseph Varlack.

“I take full responsibility for the error in judgment,” Ray told Gothamist. “I am committed to maintaining the separation between my personal beliefs and my professional responsibilities.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Adams’ office for comment.

Since Trump’s order went into effect last Wednesday, multiple states and high school athletic associations have made it clear that they won’t enforce it, and will continue protecting trans athletes in girls’ sports.

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

California is the most prominent.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state’s law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” a CIF statement said.

The decision has prompted backlash and even protests and threats of lawsuits by California residents.

Minnesota and Massachusetts are among the other states that have indicated they will continue protecting trans athletes in girls’ sports.

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.

Democratic opposition to GOP efforts to restrict trans inclusion has alienated some longtime Democrat voters. In January, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, all but two Democratic House members voted against it.

Prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Vt., Rep. Suzanne Bonamic, D-Ore., Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Rep. Whip Clark, D-Mass., argued that the bill would “empower” child predators to give genital examinations to young girls. There was no language in the bill that suggested genital examinations would be necessary.

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The argument alienated some of the party’s loyal voters, who have unregistered as Democrats in response.

“That just made me very upset because it screamed out lack of integrity, lack of honesty,” prominent law professor and lifelong Democrat Gary Francione told Fox News Digital “This is the way you fight battles? By trying to insult other people who oppose you and disagree with and insinuate that they’re child molesters or pedophiles? It seems to me you’ve lost the game… I don’t know how they’re ever going to come back from this.”

Francione has a lifelong network of other Democrats in the field of law and other industries, and says many of them share his beliefs and will also be unregistering from the party.

“I can say confidently of the people I know who are Democrats who I’ve spoken to, the vast majority of them are very unhappy about all of this stuff and feel that the party has lost its way,” Francione said. “I know a couple who said they are going to [unregister].”

Other Democratic lawmakers have also spoken out against the party’s platform of enabling trans athletes to compete against girls and women. They include Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Reps. Colin Allred, Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, of Texas, Rep. Mary Peltola, of Alaska, and Rep. Tom Suozzi, of New York.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 11, 2025
CDC staff told to remove terms like ‘Non-binary,’ ‘They/Them’ from future research

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been told to remove words frequently associated with progressive gender ideology from research manuscripts that they intend to publish.

A screenshot of a leaked internal email sent out to CDC staff, obtained by the newsletter Inside Medicine, showed a list of terms and phrases that must be removed from scientific manuscripts produced by the agency’s researchers and intended for publication.

Those terms included: “gender,” “transgender,” “pregnant person,” “pregnant people,” “LGBT,” “transsexual,” “non-binary,” “nonbinary,” “assigned male at birth,” “assigned female at birth,” “biologically male” and “biologically female.” According to the Washington Post, the list includes about 20 terms. They indicated that the directive also ordered the removal of any use of “they/them.”

LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP’S ‘EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS

The rule affects manuscripts under review, as well as those accepted but not yet published, no matter whether they are intended for internal circulation only or circulation outside the CDC.

A CDC spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “All changes to HHS and HHS division websites/manuscripts are in accordance with President Trump’s January 20 Executive Orders.”

After taking office last month, President Donald Trump signed a slew of Day One executive orders, including one that attempts to root out “gender ideology extremism” and restore “biological truth” to the federal government. Meanwhile, in line with that order, the Trump administration’s Office of Personnel Management issued a memo a little over a week later calling on all federal agencies to “take prompt actions to end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology.”

FEDS SPENT MILLIONS STUDYING TRANS MENSTRUATION, STRENGTHENING GAY RIGHTS IN THE BALKANS, DATABASE REVEALS

LGBT advocates and medical organizations sued the Trump administration over his executive order barring federal funds from going toward transgender surgeries for those under the age of 19. (Getty Images)

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In addition to the terms, CDC web pages titled “Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth | Adolescent and School Health” and “April 18 is National Transgender HIV Testing Day” have also been removed.

The removal of the terms may make it hard to read surveys and research that utilizes them as demographic identifiers, The Post reported.

“If you are trying to optimize society, you can’t just pretend some people aren’t in it,” executive director of the National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network, Scout, who legally goes by only one name, told The Post.

February 7, 2025
Former AOC chief of staff announces run to unseat Pelosi

The former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., announced Wednesday his intention to run against Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calling the Democratic Party “paralyzed and unprepared” for President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

In a lengthy message on X, Saikat Chakrabarti said he decided to run against the former House speaker, who is seeking a 21st term, after “watching Trump and Elon (Musk) freely unleash chaos in their illegal seizure of government.”

“It’s become clear to me that the Democratic Party needs new leadership,” he wrote. “I don’t understand how DC’s Democratic leaders are so paralyzed and unprepared for this moment after living through President Trump’s first term — and after Trump and Elon warned us exactly what they planned to do.”

PELOSI DEMURS ON IF ‘EVERYTHING IS OK’ BETWEEN HER AND BIDEN: ‘YOU’D HAVE TO ASK HIM’

Saikat Chakrabarti, chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., works on a computer in his office in the Cannon House Office Building June 26, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Mary F. Calvert For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

While Chakrabarti said he respects the Democratic leader, the country has dramatically changed since her early days in Washington. He noted that Pelosi intervened to block Ocasio-Cortez from becoming chair of the powerful House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

“When Nancy Pelosi was first elected to Congress, you could buy a home on a single income. A summer job could pay for college,” he wrote. “Republicans believed in climate change and respected election results. Now, the things that defined the American Dream — being able to afford health care, education, a home, and raise a family — are impossible for most people.”

He added that the Republican Party is “overtly conspiratorial and anti-democracy.”

AOC’S ‘RED LIGHT DISTRICT’ PLAGUED BY CRIME AS DEMOCRAT WHO HELPED HER RISE TO POWER SAYS SHE ‘DISAPPEARED’

AOC texted that she felt “completely transformed” after Pelosi stepped down as House Speaker, according to an insider. (Getty Images)

“The Democratic Party needs to stop acting like it’s competing against a normal political party that plays by the rules, and it needs a bold vision for how to raise living standards, quality of life and security for all Americans,” he said. “America is stuck, and Americans want real solutions that are as big as the problems we face.”

In his campaign, Chakrabarti said he plans to talk about problems that need solving for San Francisco, the U.S. and the Democratic Party.

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Chakrabarti, who helped manage Ocasio-Cortez’s upstart 2018 campaign, left his chief of staff position in 2019 after drawing the ire of Democrats when he publicly criticized party moderates during policy spats between progressive members and party leadership.

That year, he tweeted that Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, one of the first two Native American women to serve in Congress, enabled a racist system after she voted in favor of a Senate border bill not backed by progressives. A month later, Chakrabarti described centrist Democrats who blocked a liberal-backed emergency border bill as the “new Southern Democrats.”

Saikat Chakrabarti and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., leave a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center July 15, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

They “certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the 40s,” he wrote in a now-deleted post.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Pelosi.

February 6, 2025
Inside the DC plane crash investigation: Air traffic staff a ‘small piece’ of ‘very big puzzle,’ official says

FOX Business’ Grady Trimble speaks with National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman about the ongoing investigation to discover the cause of the tragic D.C. plane crash.

Following a bombshell report over the alleged air traffic control staffing on the night of the tragic American Airlines and Black Hawk helicopter collision in D.C., the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) designated spokesperson for the incident warned that “a lot of questions remain” about the events leading up to the crash.

“Let me say this first: we [have] to remember 67 people lost their lives… Today will be yet another day of the teams going out there,” NTSB member Todd Inman told FOX Business’ Grady Trimble on Friday.

“They’re out in the field. They’re collecting data. They’ve started interviews. We have hundreds of people in this investigation,” he continued. “But the most important thing right now is to obtain and preserve any perishable evidence so that whenever we come off scene, we can start the analyzation of it.”

An internal preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), obtained by the Associated Press, allegedly showed that the number of staff members working at the air control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”

EXPERT PUTS ONUS ON F.A.A. FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES, HELICOPTER CRASH: ‘BAD MANAGEMENT’ IS ‘PUTTING US AT RISK’

On Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. All 67 people onboard both aircraft are presumed dead.

NTSB member Todd Inman told FOX Business “we don’t use the word normal per say,” when discussing air traffic control staff. (Getty Images)

“We don’t use the word normal per se,” Inman reacted. “What happens immediately after an accident is a safety review team begins doing just what we said, perishable evidence. And this is a lot of different people from the FAA. Union representatives all immediately start gaining information.

“So what people are talking about is a rough draft of something, but it is a small piece of a very big puzzle. Thousands of data points,” he added. “So ultimately [it led] to our recommendation of how to prevent this tragedy from occurring again.”

The FAA report also claimed that one air traffic controller was working two positions at the time of the crash, when typically, the two assignments are split between two air traffic controllers.

Aviation expert Captain Mike Coffield breaks down the response process and investigation following a midair collision between a regional airline jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter.

“Airports are living, breathing cities. So at any time because of weather, because of traffic, because of any other issue, you could see fluctuations in staff up and down. Now, is that an acceptable standard for safety? We will investigate that, and we’re going to find out. If there was anything that needs to be remediated, [we] will then make recommendations,” Inman responded.

Inman pointed out that the NTSB will be closely evaluating evidence like cockpit communications, unique sound recordings, aileron positions, landing gear, altitude pitch, submerged electronics, debris and even interviewing staff that were working with both aircraft.

President Donald Trump has also chimed in on the investigation, claiming via Truth Social that the Army helicopter may have been flying too high, “far above the 200 foot limit” in the DCA airspace.

Victims identified in DC plane crash involving American Airlines jet and military helicopter (Getty Images / Getty Images)

“I would be very careful to anyone who’s listening to this to rely upon off-the-shelf software speculation they’re seeing online,” Inman noted. “Our job is to get the absolute facts as we get these [black] boxes in and get them analyzed, and we look at more granular data, [we’ll] be able to give a much better picture on that.

“In fact, I would just make sure you remember there can be a 50-foot difference in some cases and up to 100 yards for radar versus Ads-b, which is more GPS based. But it’s still not as accurate as what’s in the plane itself.”

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Helicopter pilot Dean Wegner argues there’s ‘a longer story’ behind the tragic American Airlines and helicopter aircraft collision and shares his condolences.

The NTSB plans to “take [their] time” on the investigation, pledging to follow through all evidence “as long as it takes” to get to the root of what happened Wednesday night.

“We’ve done over 100,000 aviation accident investigations, made 15,000 recommendations,” Inman said. “Right now, we’ve not found anything. But if we do, we will immediately tell the public. Our job is to prevent this tragedy from happening again.”

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Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

January 31, 2025
ATF accused of ‘circumventing’ Trump order to place DEI staff on paid leave

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been accused of allegedly quietly changing the job title of its former diversity officer as President Donald Trump ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees be placed on paid leave.

“The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title. They attack citizens’ rights, ignore leadership, and act as though they’re above the law. Enough is enough. Time to abolish the ATF!” Republican Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison posted to X.

The ATF, a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice’s umbrella, previously employed Lisa T. Boykin as its chief diversity officer before her title was changed on the ATF’s website this week to “senior executive” with the ATF. An archived link of the ATF’s website reviewed by Fox Digital shows Boykin was listed as the chief diversity officer as recently as Tuesday – Trump’s second day in the Oval Office – and now shows her as working as the agency’s “senior executive.”

Trump had railed against DEI programs and offices at the federal level, as well as in the education system, throughout his campaign. Upon taking office on Monday, he inked an executive order terminating ”illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

TRUMP REVOKES BIDEN ORDER ALLOWING TRANSGENDER TROOPS IN BID TO RID DEI FROM MILITARY

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The following day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told agency and department leaders to begin shutting down DEI offices and to place DEI employees on paid leave.

TRUMP’S DISMANTLING OF DEI IS DEEPER AND BIGGER THAN YOU EVEN KNOW

Lisa T. Boykin’s official photo for ATF. (ATF)

“Send a notification to all employees of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs,” the OPM directive, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, read.

A biography for Boykin from 2023 detailed that she began working as ATF’s Human Resources Operations Division in 2016 and “as a collateral duty, in 2021, Mrs. Boykin also began serving as the Bureau’s Chief Diversity Officer,” the New York Post reported.

“With the Bureau’s continued focus on enhancing DEIA, Mrs. Boykin currently assumes the work of the CDO in a fulltime capacity, leading and implementing departmental programs and mandates, while bringing renewed vision and effective strategies to maintain an informed DEIA culture for the Bureau,” Boykin’s bio added.

WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

When asked about the title change and subsequent criticism on social media, an ATF spokesman responded that the agency has followed DEI directives from the Trump administration.

The ATF seal. (Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)

“ATF began implementing OPM’s Initial Guidance on DEIA immediately after its issuance on January 21, 2025, in response to the President’s Executive Orders. We have proactively taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance with this guidance, including by placing impacted personnel on administrative leave,” an ATF spokesman told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital asked for clarification on whether Boykin’s new title protects her from administrative leave but did not immediately receive a reply.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Boykin on her ATF email and received an automatic response noting she was unavailable to reply.

“I am currently unavailable and unable to return e-mails at this time,” the email read.

Social media commenters and critics of the Biden administration’s diversity initiatives slammed the ATF employee’s title change on social media, clamming the agency is “circumventing” the Trump administration’s orders.

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

Biden championed diversity initiatives under his administration, rolling back the first Trump administration’s policies that banned diversity training in government agencies during his first week in office in 2021.

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“In the weeks ahead, I will be reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility, building on the work we started in the Obama-Biden administration. That’s why I’m rescinding the previous administration’s harmful ban on diversity and sensitivity training,” Biden said in January of 2021. “Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies.”

January 24, 2025
Layoffs hit CNN, 6% of staff terminated

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., give their take on federal DEI offices shutting down under the Trump administration on The Bottom Line.

Long-planned layoffs officially hit CNN on Thursday when roughly 6% of the network’s workforce was let go.

CNN has painted the layoffs as a critical step toward securing the network’s future, telling staffers that “irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news” have impacted its business model. About 200 jobs were eliminated as a result.

“Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, to secure CNN’s future as one of the world’s greatest news organizations,” CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in an internal memo obtained by Fox News Digital.

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CNN terminated about 200 employees on Thursday. ( Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“America and the world need high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources of news more than ever,” Thompson continued. “This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to make sure we can still provide it.”

On-air talent is not expected to be impacted by the cuts.

CNN pointed to a $70 million investment from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery that will eventually result in new job opportunities. Thompson said Thursday’s cuts are “first and foremost about investing in that future,” and suggested overall headcount won’t drop too much in 2025 when plans are finalized.

“That’s because of the $70 million we’re investing in our digital plans and the many new jobs it will pay for. Some of that money’s going in product and tech, but a lot is also going into new high-quality journalism and storytelling. It’s what we stand for,” Thompson wrote.

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Long-planned layoffs officially hit CNN on Thursday when roughly 6% of the network’s workforce was let go. (Getty / Getty Images)

“It’s also the heart of every successful digital news strategy. At the same time, I know that whatever the total number of job losses, the impact on the individuals involved can be immense,” he continued. “The process of change is essential if we’re to thrive in the future, but I both acknowledge and regret its very real human consequences.”

Thompson called the cuts “an unwelcome but inevitable part of the change process.”

“We will aim to contact every colleague who will be impacted by these changes as soon as we possibly can – and will of course help and support them in any way we can thereafter,” Thompson wrote.

CNN has struggled in the ratings department for years and finished 2024 with its smallest audience in network history among both total day viewers and among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as CNN moderator Anderson Cooper looks on during a Presidential Town Hall event at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Fox News Digital previously reported in November that CNN would face major layoffs by March and that its impact on the network would be “very meaningful.”

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Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

January 23, 2025