Trump administration updates: Schumer continues to face calls for new leadership

The Senate minority leader says he's not going anywhere.

Last Updated: March 23, 2025, 9:39 PM EDT

Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday he has no plans to step aside as Senate minority leader as criticism of Schumer and of Democrats' ineffectiveness in combatting President Donald Trump's agenda continues.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration sent another group of migrants to Guantanamo Bay, alleging many are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua, an official with knowledge of the flight told ABC News. But deportation flights of Venezuelans to El Salvador remain on hold while the administration fights a judge's order to curtail those flights while their legality is decided.

Trump on Friday announced a new F-47 fighter jet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and signed a series of presidential actions before departing the White House for his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The actions included one rescinding the security clearances of several former Biden officials and political opponents.

Mar 18, 2025, 5:22 PM EDT

Rubio threatens Venezuela with 'severe' sanctions if it doesn't accept more deportation flights

Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed "new, severe and escalating sanctions" against Venezuela unless the Maduro regime "accepts a consistent flow of deportation flights, without further excuses or delays."

"Venezuela is obligated to accept its repatriated citizens from the U.S. This is not an issue for debate or negotiation. Nor does it merit any reward," Rubio wrote in an X post Tuesday.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters at the State Department in Washington, Mar. 18, 2025.
Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The threat comes in the wake of the administration's deportation of Venezuelan nationals who are allegedly members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador.

-ABC News' Shannon Kingston

Mar 18, 2025, 3:33 PM EDT

Judge says dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional, orders Musk to restore access for employees

Elon Musk's attempt to unilaterally dismantle USAID likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.


U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to immediately give USAID employees access to their "email, payment, security notification, and all other electronic systems," and ordered a pause on any efforts to shut down the agency.


Tributes are placed beneath the covered seal of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) at their headquarters in Washington, DC, on Feb. 7, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE


Chuang wrote that Musk's takeover "usurped the authority of the public's elected representatives in Congress to make decisions on whether, when, and how to eliminate a federal government agency, and of Officers of the United States duly appointed under the Constitution to exercise the authority entrusted to them."


While Chuang rebuked Musk's role within the Trump administration, the exact implications of the decision on the operations of USAID remain unclear.


-ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Lucien Bruggeman

Mar 18, 2025, 3:15 PM EDT

Trump says call with Putin was ‘very good and productive’

Trump gave his readout of his call with Putin in a Truth Social post, calling it "very good and productive."

"We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine," Trump wrote in the post.

Trump repeated his argument that the war would have never started had he been in office.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before attending a board meeting for the Kennedy Center, in Washington, Mar. 17, 2025.
Carlos Barria/Reuters

"Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end. That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!" Trump added.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Mar 18, 2025, 2:56 PM EDT

Pentagon provides update on effort to cut up to 8% of civilian workforce

The Pentagon on Tuesday provided the first update of its effort to reduce its civilian workforce of 878,000 by up to 8% -- which could number between 50,000 to 60,000 civilian employees, a senior Defense Department official said.

“The number sounds high, but I would focus on the percentage, a 5% to 8% reduction is not a drastic one, is one the secretary is confident can be done without negatively impacting readiness in order to make sure that our resources are allocated in the right direction,” the official said.

The Department of Defense logo is seen on the wall in the Press Briefing room at the Pentagon, Oct. 29, 2024, in Washington.
Kevin Wolf/AP

The Pentagon is currently carrying out a process to reach that goal including: voluntary separations, a hiring freeze and the dismissal of 5,400 probationary employees, the official told reporters.

As of right now, 21,000 civilian employees have been approved for the Deferred Resignation Program, the official said, though ABC News previously reported more than 31,000 employees had put in for that program. The hiring freeze means that the average 6,000 employees who join the Pentagon every month are not coming in as other employees leave. The official would not elaborate on the status of the probationary employees whose dismissal was paused by a federal lawsuit.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

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