United States | News & Politics

UN agencies have begun cutting back their global aid operations following the 90-day suspension of all foreign assistance ordered by the Trump administration.

Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, responsible for providing life-saving assistance to the 122 million people forcibly displaced from their homes across 136 countries, sent out an overnight email to employees ordering an immediate clampdown on expenditure, including a 90-day delay in ordering new supplies except for emergencies, a hiring and contract freeze, and a halt to all international air travel, as the agency tries to adapt to the US funding freeze.

The new US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, claimed that the US freeze would not affect life-saving aid defined as “core medicine, medical services, food, shelter, subsistence assistance and supplies”, and that it was focused on aid programmes involving abortion, family planning or “gender ideology”. However, the initial impact of the freeze immediately cut humanitarian assistance across the board and around the world.

President Donald Trump's administration is offering federal workers the chance to take a "deferred resignation," which would mean they agree now to resign but get paid through September.

A senior administration official told NBC News that they expect 5%-10% of the federal workforce to quit, which, they estimate, could lead to around $100 billion in savings.

All full-time federal employees are eligible, except for members of the military, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security and other jobs excluded by agencies.

The offer went out to the federal workforce through a new system the Trump administration set up that gives officials the ability to email all federal employees at once.

The email included a draft resignation letter for them to review. If a person wishes to resign, they will be able to reply with the word "resign."

The resignation period will begin Tuesday and go through Feb. 6.

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A group of Quaker congregations has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over a policy change by Donald Trump designed to make it easier for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to locate and remove illegal immigrants.

The new U.S. president changed the law to allow ICE agents to conduct operations in "sensitive locations," including houses of worship, playgrounds, schools and hospitals, without prior approval from their supervisors, which was previously required.

Why It Matters

The Trump administration is seeking to crack down on illegal immigration. The president made immigration a central theme of his successful campaign for office, and Americans largely support his mass deportation plans.

A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday voted to filibuster a GOP-led bill to sanction International Criminal Court officials. The measure was designed to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants for top Israeli officials.

In the end, the only Democrat to vote for the measure was Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, meaning it fell far short of the 60 votes needed to advance. The final tally was 54-45. “I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to vote for this and support Israel,” said Fetterman, who is staunchly pro-Israel.

Two freshmen Democratic senators, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who voted for the same measure last year when they were in the House, also voted no.

The House passed the ICC sanctions bill in the last session of Congress by a 247-155 vote, with 42 Democrats joining Republicans in support, but it was not brought to a vote in the Senate, which was then under Democratic control. Congressional Republicans brought it back up now that they control both the House and the Senate.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53902276

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4365030

Special Thanks to user Sulvor for pointing this article out here

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