Axios

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that it's working to reverse the firing of agency personnel tasked with the federal response to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

The big picture: The bird flu crisis in the U.S. is in a troubling new phase as the outbreak intensifies and the Trump administration maintains a pause on some external federal health agency communications.

President Trump told Axios' Marc Caputo on Tuesday that he will continue to restrict the Associated Press' access to the White House "until such time as they agree that it's the Gulf of America."

Why it matters: Trump has targeted the AP, which has said it will continue to use the 400-year-old Gulf of Mexico instead of Trump's preferred Gulf of America, as part of longstanding Republican complaints about the AP Stylebook's language guides around race, gender, and immigration.

Republican grievances against the AP Stylebook's influential guidance on topics like race, gender and immigration have incubated for more than a decade — culminating last week with President Trump's expulsion of Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office.

The big picture: The White House blamed the restriction on AP's recent "Gulf of Mexico" decision. But it's part of a broader escalation against what conservatives see as the AP's tight control over the news media's word choices, as Axios' Marc Caputo reported.

President Trump sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, after U.S. officials met for talks with Russia, from which Ukraine was excluded.

Why it matters: Trump's comments — falsely suggesting Ukraine started the war and that Zelensky is deeply unpopular with his own people — will supercharge fears among Ukraine and U.S. allies that the Trump administration is siding with Moscow ahead of possible peace talks.

Hundreds of former Department of Justice prosecutors, including former special counsel Jack Smith, signed an open letter shared Monday expressing concern about the reported politicization of prosecutions.

The big picture: More than half a dozen federal prosecutors resigned last week rather than comply with a DOJ order to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday calling for expanded access to in vitro fertilization.

Why it matters: Trump ordered policy recommendations to reduce the costs for accessing the procedure, which can range from $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle.

Democrats and Black and Gen Z shoppers are carving a new path of resistance by refusing to shop at certain stores over their political stances in the new Trump era.

• Big companies like Target, Disney and Google have recently abandoned or changed their DEI policies and programs to align with the president's agenda.

Why it matters: Consumers on both sides of the political spectrum have used their wallets in the past to protest individual companies — with varying results.

The lawsuits filed against Elon Musk's government tech team hinge on two privacy laws written decades before the modern internet took shape.

Why it matters: How judges interpret those laws will dictate not only the success of these lawsuits in curbing the Department of Government Efficiency's power, but also what data government agencies can collect in the future.

Senior U.S. and Russian officials met on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for more than four hours to discuss ending the war in Ukraine and preparing for a Trump-Putin summit.

Why it matters: The meeting is another significant step in improving U.S.-Russia relations since last week's phone call between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

A federal district judge refused to implement a temporary restraining order barring the Department of Education from giving the Department of Government Efficiency access to student data.

The big picture: The University of California Student Association (USCA) asked the judge to block DOGE staff from accessing "sensitive personal and financial information" as the unofficial agency takes a sledgehammer to the department's contracts.

Israel and Hamas reached an agreement with Qatari and Egyptian mediators to expedite the release of six living hostages as part of the first phase of the hostage and ceasefire in Gaza deal, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and a statement from Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya.

Why it matters: Three Israeli hostages will now be released one week earlier than expected. The move suggests both Hamas and Israel are concerned the ceasefire agreement will collapse before day 42 of the agreement at the end of next week and want to be sure they get what they consider the most important parts of the agreement.

The layoffs of thousands of government workers are likely to expand — possibly as soon as Tuesday — to two key climate science and extreme weather agencies: NOAA and NASA.

Why it matters: These agencies keep tabs on the planet's weather and climate and are considered to be in the top tier of such government departments worldwide.

Mexico is threatening to sue Google over the tech giant's use of President Trump's "Gulf of America" (renamed from Gulf of Mexico) label on its maps.

Why it matters: It's the latest fallout over Trump's executive order to rename the body of water.

The Social Security Administration's top official resigned over the weekend in the latest clash over the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) access to sensitive government records, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: The agency is quickly becoming a target of Elon Musk, who has claimed without conclusive evidence that there's rampant fraud from improper payments to dead people.

Ask NFL executives their biggest fear, and it has nothing to do with fans, players or TV rights. It's drones — which are hard for authorities to track, and almost impossible to stop if ever unleashed on an open-air stadium.

• Ask U.S. intelligence experts their biggest fears, and you'll inevitably hear dire warnings of drone swarms — domestic or foreign — targeting American soil.
• Probe deeper, and you'll learn that the vast majority of these drones are made by China — and, therefore, conceivably controllable by America's greatest adversary. TikTok is accused of being a security threat — but it can't spy or drop bombs.

Scores of termination letters went out to federal health agency workers over the long weekend as the Trump administration continues to slash the civil service workforce.

Why it matters: The full extent of the cuts won't be known until after the Tuesday night deadline for a mass firing largely carried out by email that's likely to dramatically reshape the government's health workforce. Most of the cuts are focused on probationary employees who've been on the job one or two years.

Top Democrats on the Hill suspect President Trump will ignore one of the many major court rulings that'll be coming his way and are gaming out legal and political responses behind the scenes.

Why it matters: Federal judges are the main obstacle to Trump's efforts to remake the federal government. Trump has said he'll obey court rulings. But he and Elon Musk have questioned whether the judicial branch should be able to stop the executive.

A rush to use artificial intelligence to root out government waste, as apparently planned by Elon Musk's DOGE operation, is likely to trigger chaotic outcomes and surprise disasters, AI experts tell Axios.

Why it matters: AI can help cut costs — but careless deployment risks harming people who need the government's help, amplifying inefficiencies, opening security holes and automating flawed decision-making.

Thousands rallied against President Trump in D.C. and across the U.S. on Monday to protest policies including his administration's efforts to make sweeping cuts to government agencies and its push to deport undocumented immigrants.

The big picture: The Presidents Day demonstrations, driven by the 50501 Movement, a grassroots effort that calls for 50 protests in 50 states, also featured signs protesting Elon Musk, the billionaire face of DOGE.

Elon Musk is not the administrator of DOGE nor is he an employee of the department that's overseeing massive cuts to the federal workforce and agencies, per a Monday night White House court filing.

Why it matters: President Trump described Musk as a leader of the operation when he announced the department in November, and the billionaire has become the face of the drive.

The Trump administration fired "less than 400" of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 45,000 employees, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday evening.

The big picture: The Trump administration's push to make large-scale reductions in the federal workforce in a cost-cutting drive has been criticized by some, including the union that represents the FAA and Duffy's Democratic predecessor, Pete Buttigieg.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she's meeting with "key leaders" at her Manhattan office Tuesday to discuss a "path forward" after four top officials in NYC Mayor Eric Adams' administration resigned.

Why it matters: Hochul said in her Monday statement the resignation of First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and the other officials "raises serious questions about the long-term future" of Adams' administration and acknowledged she has the power to remove the mayor from office.

Employees of Elon Musk's SpaceX will visit the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Control command center on Monday to suggest safety improvements, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said.

Why it matters: The agency is under heightened scrutiny following last month's deadly collision between a helicopter and a regional jet at Ronald Regan Airport in Washington, D.C.