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Trump's attack on diversity programs, bureaucracy sends US agencies scrambling
By Bo Erickson and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. agencies under new President Donald Trump were pushing to implement his mandates to reshape the federal bureaucracy on Thursday, encouraging workers to report any clandestine efforts to maintain diversity programs and preparing to close offices dedicated to such efforts by next week.
Trump has made little secret of his disdain for the sprawling federal workforce and in particular for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
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In a speech delivered by video on Thursday to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said his orders ending DEI programs would make America a “merit-based country” once again.
“These are policies that were absolute nonsense, throughout the government and the private sector,” he said.
Trump and his supporters say DEI programs end up unfairly discriminating against other Americans, while civil rights advocates say the efforts are needed to address longstanding inequities and structural racism.
A memo distributed to thousands of federal workers across the government on Wednesday commanded employees to turn in co-workers who sought to “disguise” DEI efforts by using “coded language,” warning that a failure to report relevant information would trigger “adverse consequences.”
The messages carried the imprimatur of top-level Trump appointees: the State Department memo was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for instance, while the Veterans Affairs Department email was signed by acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Todd Hunter.
Officials overseeing DEI programs in numerous agencies and departments were put on leave on Wednesday, and their offices were set for permanent closure by month’s end.
The steps were part of Trump’s broader campaign targeting the federal bureaucracy, which he has sometimes disparaged as the “deep state” secretly working against his agenda.
Trump, a Republican, has frozen virtually all federal hiring and signed an executive order on his first day in office on Monday that would allow his administration to fire at will tens of thousands of career civil servants, who historically have enjoyed job protections that insulate them from political partisanship.
The order, known as Schedule F, would permit Trump to fill those positions with hand-picked loyalists. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 workers in three dozen agencies, filed a lawsuit challenging the move.
“This gleeful hatred of the federal workforce will lead to nothing good,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who represents 140,000 federal workers in Virginia, told reporters.
Trump’s decision to shut down diversity programs drew immediate condemnation from Democrats and civil rights advocates
Trump has also sought to dissuade private companies that receive government contracts from using DEI programs and has asked government agencies to identify any that might be subject to civil investigation.
In a Wednesday order, Trump rescinded a 1965 executive order requiring federal contractors to use affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity and banning them from discriminating in employment practices.
The decades-old order, signed by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson, was seen as a significant moment of progress in the civil rights movement, coming at a time when Black Americans faced the threat of violence and “Jim Crow” laws that prohibited them from voting and from living in predominantly white neighborhoods.
The federal government committed $739 billion to contractors in fiscal year 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson and Humeyra Pamuk; Addition reporting by Daniel Trotta, Bianca Flowers, Andrea Shalal and David Ljunggren; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Howard Goller)
In large cities and small towns across the country, millions took to the streets today in protest against the policies of President Trump and his administration.
Organized by “No Kings,” a network of progressive groups opposed to the administration’s agenda, the protests are the third wave of demonstrations since the President took office for a second term. Last year, millions attended protests in June and again in October.
Crowds assemble at the Embarcadero in San Francisco prior to the start of the protest.
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Thousands of community members marched in the flagship “No Kings” protest in St. Paul.
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Thousands sign a banner in Hartford at the Capitol that says “We the People.”
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Protesters hold signs and chant slogans in Driggs, Idaho.
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Demonstrators gather while holding signs near a roadside in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
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Demonstrators walk across the Memorial Bridge from Arlington, Virginia into Washington, DC.
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Demonstrators march down 7th Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan.
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![HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, MARCH 28, 2026: Ken MacDonald tears up as he listens to a speech about the plight of his fellow veterans. “[Trump]’s playing with the lives of military people,” he said. Thousands rally at the “No Kings” protest at the capitol in Hartford on March 28, 2026. (Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6981x4654+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Feb%2F8b%2Fba7a9cb744baa343c85d45caf5ed%2F260328-nokingshartford-trb4371.jpg)
Ken MacDonald tears up in Hartford as he listens to a speech about the plight of his fellow veterans.
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A large crowd marches across the South First bridge toward a gathering at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas.
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Lindsay Holliday waves an American flag in Rosa Parks Square in Macon, Georgia.
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Demonstrators in downtown St. Louis walk by large banners decrying the U.S. conflict in Iran and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Kat Carves works on a ice sculpture that says ‘End Ice’ ahead of the rally on the Boston Common in Boston.
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Protestors march across an overpass near the Georgia state Capitol building in Atlanta.
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Protesters hold a banner reading “End the wars, stop ICE, general strike” at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco.
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Maria Perry, left, and John Stock, right, joined protesters gathering in Mill Creek Park in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Duane Inge, a 63-year-old demonstrator, protests in front of Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis.
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A protestor wears a “Let’s be brave” pin at a rally in Richmond, Virginia.
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Demonstrators in costumes stand along the National Mall in Washington, DC.
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Protestors listens as speakers address the crowd gathered in Richmond, Virginia.
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Protesters descend on Times Square in New York City.
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Demonstrators begin to march from the Western Sculpture Garden at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.
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Thousands march towards the Steel Bridge from the waterfront in Portland, Oregon.
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Two students were killed and at least seven other people were injured after a school bus crash in Tennessee on Friday, officials said.
The school bus was carrying 25 students and five adults from Kenwood Middle School in Clarksville for a field trip in Jackson, Tennessee, the school district said in a statement.
The crash, which remains under investigation, involved a Tennessee Department of Transportation dump truck, a Chevrolet Trailblazer and the school bus. It happened around noon on Highway 70 in Carroll County, said Maj. Travis Plotzer, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Plotzer said there were two adults in the TDOT vehicle and one person in the Chevrolet Trailblazer. He said the crash is “a parent’s worst nightmare.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
At least seven people who were injured were taken by air ambulance to hospitals across Tennessee, including Memphis and Nashville, CBS affiliate WREG reported. The extent of their injuries was not immediately disclosed.
The school’s principal, Karen Miller, said counselors will be available starting Monday. In a written message to families shared on Facebook, she called the crash an unimaginable tragedy and encouraged parents to be attentive to their child’s emotional needs as they process the deaths of their classmates.
“Please continue to pray with us for our students, families, faculty, and staff,” Miller wrote. “I am grateful for the strength of our Kenwood community, and I trust we will all support each other during this difficult time.”
Four people were taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville and were in stable condition Friday, according to a Vanderbilt Health spokesperson.
Another 19 people were taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County, said Kim Alexander, a spokesperson for Baptist Memorial Health Care. All were evaluated and released, though it was unclear how many actually were injured, she said.
CBS affiliate WTVF reported the school bus was on the way to participate in the Toyota Hub City Grand Prix Greenpower USA race in Jackson. The Jackson-Madison County superintendent said in a statement that they were “completely devastated” by the crash and called the loss “immeasurable,” WTVF reported.
The school district was hosting the event.
Police detain Nerdeen Kiswani, an organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstration group “Within Our Lifetime” during a protest on Friday, April 12, 2024, in New York.
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NEW YORK — A man accused of planning to firebomb the home of a prominent Palestinian activist has been arrested following a weekslong undercover operation led by the New York City Police Department, officials said Friday.
The target of the plot was Nerdeen Kiswani, who frequently leads protests in New York against Israel and the war in Gaza through the organization Within Our Lifetime.
Kiswani, 31, said law enforcement officials informed her late Thursday that they had disrupted “a threat on my life that was about to take place.”
Federal authorities said they arrested Alexander Heifler on Thursday at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey, as he was assembling Molotov cocktails that he planned to throw at Kiswani’s home. For weeks, he had discussed the plot with an undercover NYPD detective who had infiltrated a group chat used by Heifler, according to a police department spokesperson.
An official who was briefed on the investigation said Heifler, 26, identified as a member of the JDL 613 Brotherhood, a New Jersey-based group founded in 2024 that describes its membership as “Jewish warriors” fighting back against rising antisemitism.
A website for the group says they are inspired by the original Jewish Defense League, a group linked to numerous bombings and attempted assassinations of Arab American political activists in the 1970s and 1980s.
Heifler planned to flee to Israel following the attack, according to the official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of an ongoing investigation.
An email inquiry sent to the JDL 613 was not returned.
Kiswani, who lives in Brooklyn with her infant son and husband, said the plot would not deter her continued activism.
“I feel very blessed that they were able to thwart this, but it’s something that is a constant possibility for people who speak up on behalf of Palestine,” she said.
Heifler was charged in a criminal complaint with separate counts of making and possessing destructive devices, which each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A message left with his attorney was not returned. He made an initial appearance in New Jersey federal court on Friday afternoon.
“Let me be clear: We will not tolerate violent extremism in our city,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. “No one should face violence for their political beliefs or their advocacy. I am relieved that Nerdeen is safe.”
According to a court filing written by an FBI agent, Heifler spoke on a video call in February with a group that included an undercover detective about his interest in training for “self-defense” and wanting space where he could throw Molotov cocktails.
The next day, he met with the undercover detective in person and discussed his plan to use them against Kiswani and flee the country, according to the complaint. “We have (Kiswani’s) address,” Heifler allegedly told the undercover. “So it’s like that, that would be easier if you’d be more comfortable with that.”
Heifler and the undercover detective drove to Kiswani’s residence on March 4 to “conduct surveillance” and discussed making a dozen Molotov cocktails to throw at her home and two cars parked outside, complaint said.
On Thursday, the undercover detective and Heifler met at Heifler’s Hoboken residence, where he had assembled components to make the Molotov cocktails, including a large bottle of Everclear, a highly flammable alcohol, the complaint said. Law enforcement officers then executed a search warrant at the residence and recovered the eight Molotov cocktails, the complaint said.
Kiswani co-founded the group Within Our Lifetime, which frequently organizes protests against Israel that draw hundreds of participants and often end in arrests. The group’s calls to “abolish Zionism” and support for “all forms of struggle,” including violence, has drawn fierce criticism. Kiswani denies that her criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism.
Kiswani has been a frequent target of online vitriol. Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, sparked backlash after writing in a social media post that “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” The post was a response to a message Kiswani shared about dog owners, which she said was a light joke.
“That hate against Palestinians has been bolstered by public officials, by Zionist organizations, who are never held accountable,” she said. “This is the inevitable result of that.”
The operation was carried out by the Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism unit within the NYPD’s counterterrorism bureau, a police spokesperson said.
“This is exactly how our intelligence and counterterrorism operation is designed to work — a sophisticated apparatus built to detect danger early and prevent violence before it reaches our streets,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
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