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Chapter 1: What recent directive has affected federal agencies?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Several federal government agencies, including the State Department, the FBI, and the Pentagon, have told their staff not to comply yet with an email telling them to summarize their work accomplishments for the past week. Billionaire and White House advisor Elon Musk said
says the government workers have to comply or they risk losing their jobs. The email went out to federal workers yesterday with a deadline of midnight tomorrow. It's part of President Trump and Musk's efforts to cut the size of the federal government.
The legality of the request, though, is questionable, and many federal workers are covered by civil service protections that prevent them from being fired without cause. Top military leaders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown Jr., and Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti, were fired late Friday.
Chapter 2: Why are top military leaders being fired?
President Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is now defending the move while a top Democrat calls foul. Empire's Luke Garrett has more.
Chapter 3: What is Defense Secretary Hegseth's stance on the military firings?
Defense Secretary Hegseth told Fox News Sunday that the military firings were not personal or political.
I have a lot of respect for C.Q. Brown. I got to know him over the course of a month. He's an honorable man. Not the right man for the moment.
Chapter 4: Who is President Trump's new nominee for the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
Hegseth says President Trump deserves to nominate his own defense team, including his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Raisin-Kane.
The president respects leaders who untie the hands of warfighters in a very dangerous world. I think Dan Kane's the man to meet the moment.
Chapter 5: How are political figures reacting to the military firings?
Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a veteran, criticized the firings on ABC's This Week.
Apparently what Trump and Hague says they're trying to do is to politicize the Department of Defense.
Kaine will need to earn Senate approval. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says he would step down in exchange for a lasting peace or NATO membership for his country. NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports from Kiev, Zelensky made the comments at a wide-ranging press conference as Ukraine marks three years since Russia's full-scale invasion.
Speaking to Ukrainian and international media, Zelensky said NATO membership remains the strongest and cheapest way to guarantee Ukraine's security against more Russian attacks. He says he would leave office in exchange for Ukraine's quick entry into the security alliance. If there is peace for Ukraine, I'm ready to leave my position, he says.
I focus on Ukraine's security right now, not in 20 years. Both Russia and the Trump administration oppose NATO membership for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Zelensky also said his team is still working with the U.S. on a deal to exchange hundreds of billions of dollars in critical raw materials for security guarantees. Zelensky says the deal must be fair to Ukrainians.
And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. In Beirut, thousands paid their last respects to the slain Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The Iranian-backed group held an elaborate funeral in a large, crowded stadium with many more mourners outside, some carrying photos of the former Hezbollah leader. Nasrallah was killed in September and
after Israel dropped 80 bombs on his bunker in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November, ending the months-long war, but Israel continues to strike what it calls Hezbollah targets. New York Yankees players may look a little hairier this season.
That's because of the changes to the team's famously strict beard policy, which had been in place for 49 years. NPR's Shondalise Duster has more on the reason for the rule change.
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