The Headlines - Mass Government Layoffs Begin, and New Abortion Fight Takes Shape

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

Plus, why crafters are in mourning.  On Today’s Episode:14 States Sue to Challenge Musk’s ‘Unchecked Power,’ by Madeleine NgoJudge Orders Trump Administration to Resume Foreign Aid Spending, by Michael CrowleyJudge Temporarily Stops Trump’s Plan to End Funds for Trans Youths’ Health Providers, by Amy Harmon and Juliet MacurTrump Official’s Demand in Adams Case Forces Justice Dept. Showdown, by Glenn Thrush, Devlin Barrett and Adam GoldmanTrump Is Newly Unleashed on Trade, With Global Consequences, by Ana SwansonTrump Officials Escalate Layoffs, Targeting Most of 200,000 Workers on Probation, by Madeleine Ngo, Chris Cameron, Nicholas Nehamas and Mattathias SchwartzSenate Confirms Kennedy, a Prominent Vaccine Skeptic, as Health Secretary, by Sheryl Gay StolbergTrump’s Whirlwind Now Blows Through Europe, by David E. SangerTexas Judge Fines New York Doctor and Orders Her to Stop Sending Abortion Pills to Texas, by Pam Belluck and Mary Beth GahanJoann Is More Than a Chain Store to ‘Heartbroken’ Regulars, by Alex VadukulTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, February 14th. Here's what we're covering. President Trump is facing mounting pressure in the courts over his agenda and how he's been trying to carry it out. Fourteen state attorneys general sued Trump and Elon Musk yesterday over how Musk has been dismantling federal agencies. The lawsuit argues Trump violated the Constitution

by giving Musk, an unelected private citizen, so much power, calling it an unlawful delegation. And two federal judges moved to temporarily pause other Trump policies yesterday. A judge in DC ruled the administration cannot freeze the foreign aid spending that was approved by Congress before Trump took office. The Trump administration said it stopped the money so it could review it for wasteful spending. But the judge said that the government's lawyers hadn't offered an explanation for why that was necessary, considering the chaos it set off. And a judge in Maryland stopped Trump's efforts to cut off funds to health care providers

who treat transgender youth. The case was brought on behalf of six transgender children, aged 12 to 18. The judge said the order put them at risk and said the language of the order itself, quote, seems to deny that this population exists or even has the right to exist. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is locked in a public showdown over Trump's attempts to tighten control over it. It started when the department ordered the U.S. attorney in Manhattan to drop the corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams.

Its justification was explicitly political, saying the case interfered with Adams' ability to support Trump's immigration crackdown. And the U.S. attorney resigned rather than comply, saying it was her obligation to pursue justice impartially. The DOJ then transferred the Adams case to Washington to try and get that office to dismiss it. Five lawyers there also resigned. The domino effect of resignations is the most high-profile opposition so far to Trump's

efforts to bend the Department of Justice to push his own agenda. Here are three other updates from Washington yesterday. I think what's going to go up is jobs are going to go up and prices could go up somewhat short term but prices will also go down. President Trump admitted there may be costs to the sweeping new reciprocal tariffs he announced. The tariffs will kick in in April and they reverse decades of international trade policy by throwing out existing agreements

and instead hitting any country that taxes U.S. goods with new tariffs at the same level. Trump said the goal is to force companies to make their products in the U.S. The tariffs are expected to hit India, Japan and the European Union especially hard. Also, the Office of Personnel Management ordered federal agencies to lay off around 200,000 government workers yesterday, almost 10% of the federal civilian workforce. The cuts largely target probationary employees, mostly people hired in the past year who are easier to fire. Within hours, some agencies started following through, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, which let go of a thousand employees.

And... President Trump has promised that he's going to restore America's strength. We can't be a strong nation if we have a weak citizenry. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He's promised to tackle chronic disease and target ultra-processed foods. The longtime vaccine skeptic will now lead a system that includes the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, among other agencies. I'm standing in the snow in Munich, Germany, where a security conference is about to start today, and where Europeans have woken up over the last 48 hours to the realization that America may no longer be the friend they've always counted on it to be.

My colleague Jim Tankersley covers Europe for the Times. He says top American officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will be meeting with European leaders today who are reeling from a series of new moves by the Trump administration. They were shocked by the decision to roll out new tariffs without even trying to negotiate. And they were caught off guard by Trump's announcement that he plans to work directly with Vladimir Putin on a ceasefire for Ukraine, apparently sidelining America's longtime allies in Europe. Going forward, Europeans are trying to figure out

how best to negotiate with President Trump. I was just at a panel discussion where there was talk of letting Trump basically have whatever he wants in negotiations, because Europe simply does not have a strong enough hand to counter him. But there's also talk of building up Europe's own military readiness as fast as possible and trying to cycle its economy away from the United States.

I'll be interested to see at this conference how European leaders react to Vice President J.D. Vance when he gives a speech laying out much of the administration's vision for foreign policy, including on Ukraine, and I'll be very interested to see behind the scenes if officials present sort of a confrontational front to Americans or more of a conciliatory one. A major battle over the future of abortion access has moved one step closer to the Supreme Court. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, health care providers in states where abortion is legal

have been mailing abortion medication to people who live in states with restrictions who can't get the pills locally. But on Thursday, a judge in Texas ordered a doctor in New York to stop prescribing and sending abortion pills to Texas. Whether that can be enforced will test the power of so-called shield laws. Several states where abortion is legal, like New York, put these laws in place to protect medical providers from being prosecuted by other states. Those laws were a sharp turn from how states normally cooperate with each other on law

enforcement. And the Texas, New York case is widely expected to end up at the Supreme Court, which could decide the fate of shield laws by ruling whether one state can refuse to cooperate with another. And finally, Joanne Fabrics is closing 533 of their 850 stores. I'm sorry, what? The sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, generally crafty community is taking a hit with the bankruptcy of Joanne. I'm literally having a moment.

My Joanne's fabric store is going to close. I am not okay. The arts and crafts retail giant announced it's closing two thirds of its stores. Customers have been obsessively checking the closure list to see if their local Joanne has made the cut. Roseville, Saginaw, Shelby Township, Taylor and Ypsilanti. The retail giant had gotten a huge bump during the pandemic when everybody suddenly got a soothing hobby. But as the trend faded, Joanne struggled, filing bankruptcy twice in the last year. Longtime customers say the closures are not just about having to find a new place to buy yarn, Modge Podge, and polar fleece. It's about the end of a kind of sanctuary.

One quilter told The Times her friends have been texting her non-stop like there's been a death in the family. We just heard what happened. Are you okay? I basically did the same thing with my mom, who has spent enough time in Joanne that she can tell you exactly where to find the iron-on fusible interfacing and where that really nice flannel is for pajama pants. The Joanne stores could start closing as soon as this weekend. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, Times reporters Maggie Haberman, Zolan Kano-Youngs, and David Sanger walk through the biggest news out of Washington this week.

That's next in the New York Times audio app, where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. This show is made by Will Jarvis, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Mike Abrams, Larissa Anderson, Isabella Anderson, Devlin Barrett, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, and Paula Schuman. The headlines will be back on Monday.