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Trump 2nd term live updates: Dan Bongino named as deputy FBI director

He hosts the popular right-wing and pro-Trump podcast "The Dan Bongino Show."

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Emily Chang, Julia Reinstein, David Brennan, and Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: February 23, 2025, 10:03 PM GMT

President Donald Trump's administration is continuing its radical effort to cut much of the federal government and crackdown on immigration -- and is being met with dozens of legal challenges.

On the foreign policy front, Trump's press secretary said the White House believes it can reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine this week even as Trump attacks Ukraine's president and blames it for starting the war, which even some in his own party are calling him out over.

Meanwhile, heads of federal government agencies were telling employees not to reply to an email from Elon Musk, Trump's ally who he picked to cut government waste, which asked for them to list their accomplishments for the week or face termination.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing:
Feb 22, 2025, 7:53 PM GMT

Federal judge blocks Trump DEI executive orders

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Friday that blocks the Trump administration from implementing key provisions of the president's executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion.

In a 63-page memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson said the executive orders' provisions, which require the government to terminate "equity-related" grants or contracts, require government contractors or grant recipients to certify they do "not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal antidiscrimination laws" and direct the attorney general to "deter" DEI are unconstitutionally vague and violate the First Amendment.

President Donald Trump departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 22, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The vagueness of the term "equity-related" creates the "very real possibility of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement," wrote Abelson, a Biden-appointed judge.

The suit was brought by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and the mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

-ABC News' Jack Date

Feb 22, 2025, 5:30 PM GMT

Stephen Miller riles up CPAC crowd before Trump visit

During his remarks this morning at CPAC, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller amped up the crowd ahead of the president's speech, saying that "the entire federal bureaucracy works for President Trump."

Miller said any federal workers who defy Trump will be fired.

PHOTO: Stephen Miller, speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 22, 2025.
White House deputy chief of staff for policy and US homeland security advisor, Stephen Miller, speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 22, 2025.
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

"And if they are not following the laws, the Constitution and the president of the United States, then they will find a new career," he said.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

Feb 22, 2025, 4:24 PM GMT

Department of Education launches Title IX violation investigation into Maine

Just days after President Donald Trump got into a spat with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and threatened to withhold federal dollars from the state over transgender women participating in school sports, the Department of Education announced a Title IX investigation.

Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, contended in a press release Saturday that the federal government would not fund "blatant civil rights violators," over Maine's refusal to adhere to Trump's executive order that banned transgender athletes from taking part in school sports.

The US Department of Education building is seen in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

After Trump scolded Mills, who pushed back and said he would go to court, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey responded that the state will "do everything in [its] power to defend Maine's laws," which allow people assigned male at birth to compete in female athletics.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

Feb 22, 2025, 4:21 PM GMT

Trump defends Musk with all-caps social media post

Trump praised the job Musk is doing in his administration but added he wants him to be more aggressive in an all-caps post on Truth Social Saturday morning.

Elon Musk speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Feb. 20, 2025.
Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

"REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE," he wrote.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

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