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Trump admin live updates: Trump rescinds security clearances for former opponents

Those whose clearances were revoked include Kamala Harris and Antony Blinken.

Last Updated: March 22, 2025, 4:09 PM EDT

President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon 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.

Earlier Friday, Billionaire Elon Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday for an 80-minute meeting with Hegseth.

Meanwhile, fallout continued after Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the Department of Education.

Mar 21, 2025, 5:58 PM EDT

Top ICE official says agency has conducted first arrests under Alien Enemies Act

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said Friday that the agency and its law enforcement partners have arrested 68 alleged Tren de Aragua members over the last 48 hours under the president's Alien Enemies Act proclamation and the designation of the gang as a foreign terrorist organization.

These arrests come as a temporary restraining order prevents the administration from deporting alleged Tren de Aragua members to the notorious prison known as CECOT in El Salvador.

-ABC News' Armando Garcia and Luke Barr

Mar 21, 2025, 4:29 PM EDT

DHS shuts down Office of Civil Liberties: Officials

The Department of Homeland Security shuttered the Office of Civil Liberties on Friday, former and current officials told ABC News.

According to the Department, the "Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) supports the Department's mission to secure the nation while preserving individual liberty, fairness, and equality under the law."

President Donald Trump speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, Mar. 14, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

Officials were placed on administrative leave for 60 days so they are able to search for other jobs and will be fired in May, according to a source.

-ABC News' Luke Barr

Mar 21, 2025, 3:41 PM EDT

Pentagon officials dropped discussions with Musk on China after report: Officials

Elon Musk was slated to attend a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that would touch on China, among other things, two United States officials told ABC News -- but that plan changed after The New York Times reported Musk would be briefed on potential China war plans.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth meets with Elon Musk at the Pentagon, in Washington, Mar. 21, 2025.
Senior Airman Madelyn Keech/DoD

The meeting between Musk and the Joint Chiefs was to be at the unclassified level and attended virtually by Adm. Sam Paparo, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, one official said.

But some time between the publication of The New York Times story on Thursday and Musk's visit to the Pentagon Friday morning, the visit turned into just a meeting with Hegseth.

Read more here.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Mar 21, 2025, 3:29 PM EDT

DOJ moves to disqualify judge who blocked order targeting Perkins Coie law firm

The Justice Department on Friday moved to disqualify a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from implementing an executive order that targeted Perkins Coie, a major law firm that previously represented Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.

In its motion to disqualify U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, the department said she "has repeatedly demonstrated partiality against and animus towards the President."

"In this case, reasonable observers may well view this Court as insufficiently impartial to adjudicate the meritless challenges to President Trump's efforts to implement the agenda that the American people elected him to carry out," deputy associate attorney general Richard Lawson said in the filing.

Howell entered an emergency order last week blocking the administration from implementing major parts of Trump's order, writing the action was "retaliatory and runs head on into the wall of First Amendment protection."

Read more about the case here.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin

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