Bondi says Trump will 'probably' leave after second term

The Trump administration "covertly" paused millions of dollars in FEMA funding in direct violation of a court order, a federal judge said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ordered the Trump administration to "immediately cease" its efforts to impede the disbursement of federal funds, finding the government directly violated his order.

Last month, a coalition of 22 attorneys general presented evidence that FEMA continued to restrict more than 215 federal grants despite a court order blocking Trump's unilateral funding freeze.

Lawyers with the DOJ pushed back, arguing that FEMA was "merely implementing a manual review process" of each grant.

McConnell disagreed, finding that the states presented "undisputed evidence" that FEMA "essentially [imposed] an indefinite categorical pause on payments" in direct violation of his preliminary injunction.

The court order marks another instance of the Trump administration allegedly skirting court orders, as a separate judge in Washington, D.C., now considers holding members of the Trump administration in contempt relating to deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Katherine Faulders

The Trump administration's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has chosen not to finalize a rule proposed by the Biden administration in November that would have allowed Medicare to cover weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound for obesity alone for anyone insured by the federal programs.

The rule was expected to increase federal spending by $25 billion for Medicare and $15 billion for Medicaid over the next 10 years.

In a statement, the agency told ABC News extending coverage of anti-obesity medications under Medicare Part D and Medicaid "is not appropriate at this time."

State Medicaid programs can still decide if they will cover the medications.

Medicare, which provides health coverage for those over 65, currently covers these drugs to treat diabetes and to treat heart complications but not for weight loss alone.

-ABC News' Eric Strauss

The IRS started a new round of layoffs on Friday, beginning with the agency's Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, according to an email obtained by ABC News.

Overall, the agency is planning to cut nearly a quarter of its workforce with the cuts, according to people familiar with the plans.

"This action is being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS in accordance with agency priorities," according to the email, which also said the layoffs will "result in staffing cuts across multiple offices and job categories."

The civil rights office will be effectively shuttered by the move, with the remaining staffers moved into the Office of Chief Counsel, according to the email.

The agency had previously drawn up plans to cut roughly 18% to 20% of the 100,000-person workforce by the middle of May.

The email sent to IRS employees on Friday said the reduction in force will "be implemented in phases" and noted that employees will be offered early retirement incentives starting next week.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce posted on X that the United States will make roughly $7 million available to support communities hit by the earthquake in Myanmar, bringing U.S. support up to $9 million total.

-ABC News' Christopher Boccia