On today’s show: Inside the moves Trump’s making to reshape the federal government and workforce. USA Today details his rapid-fire changes. The Chicago Sun-Times reports on federal immigration raids in Chicago that started over the weekend. In the rush to rebuild L.A., one topic is taboo: What should be built differently — or not at all? Doug Smith with the L.A. Times looks into the thorny issue. Plus, Colombia backs down after initially refusing to take in deported migrants from the U.S., the latest from Gaza after the release of hostages and prisoners this weekend, and the Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Monday, January 27th. I'm Shmeeta Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, Trump's promised immigration raids begin, how to rebuild a better Los Angeles, and the Super Bowl lineup is set.
But first, President Trump is moving quickly to change the federal government, sidelining hundreds of government workers and paving the way to potentially fire hundreds of thousands more. In a rapid series of moves in his first week in office, Trump is requiring federal employees to return to the office five days a week.
He's shuttered diversity, equality and inclusion programs and environmental justice programs and cleared the way for people who work in those programs to be fired. And he temporarily blocked health officials from communicating with the public.
A spokesperson from the Office of Personnel Management called these steps exciting and said they are in the interest of making the government more effective and efficient. Then, late on Friday night, Trump fired 18 inspectors general. These are the independent government watchdogs that work in federal agencies to investigate allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse.
When asked why, a White House official told NBC they were cleaning house and lining under the new Trump administration. By law, the president is required to give Congress 30 days notice and a good reason for firing inspectors general. Some Republicans have acknowledged that Trump broke the law with this move, but still defend it. Here's Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on NBC's Meet the Press.
You know, I'm not overly worried about that. It's not the first time people have come in and put their team in place. When you win an election, you need people in your administration that reflect your views. So I'm not really worried about that.
Later on the program, California Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat, pushed back.
The American people, if we don't have good and independent inspector generals, are going to see the swamp refill. They're going to see rampant waste fraud. They're going to see corruption.
This isn't the first time a president has come in and shaken up inspector general positions. In 1981, Ronald Reagan fired 16 inspectors general shortly after his inauguration and ended up rehiring several of them after Congress objected.
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