Federal DEI employees targeted and new Hegseth allegations: Morning Rundown

Donald Trump calls for the firing of all federal DEI employees. California officials look to rebuild quickly after the L.A. wildfires as experts advocate for more thoughtful designs. And the rise of Trump family cryptocurrencies turns heads.

Here’s what to know today.

Trump pushes forward with DEI crackdown as he faces backlash against Jan. 6 pardons

President Donald Trump’s second day in office included an order that all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles go on paid leave, as well as criticism of Day 1 orders to pardon Jan 6. Defendants and his efforts to revoke birthright citizenship. Follow our live blog for the latest updates as his administration takes shape. 

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→ Diversity, equity and inclusion: The Trump administration sent a memo yesterday ordering all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles to be placed on paid leave by this afternoon and asking agencies to submit a plan by the end of the month for dismissing those employees. The memo from the Office of Personnel Management also directed agencies to prepare to close all DEI-related offices and programs and to remove all websites and social media accounts for such offices. It was not clear how many employees would be affected. 

The move comes a day after Trump signed an executive order ending “radical and wasteful” DEI programs in federal agencies. Yesterday, Trump signed another executive order that targeted diverse hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration. Read more about Trump’s orders to bring an end to DEI programs.

→ Jan. 6 pardons: Trump defended his pardons of Jan. 6 criminal defendants, claiming they served time that “they should not have served” and that they were “treated unbelievably poorly.” Among the roughly 1,500 defendants are those who prosecutors deemed “the most violent” rioters.

But some Republican senators pushed back against the pardons, especially those granted to rioters who committed violence against law enforcement officials. And many people in the Justice Department, as well as legal scholars, called the pardons an unprecedented and dangerous use of the executive power that makes a mockery of years of work by FBI agents, prosecutors and federal judges, some of whom the president appointed. Read more about the reaction.

→ Immigration: The raids that were expected to target major sanctuary cities immediately after Trump took office have so far failed to materialize. Still, his administration has begun setting the groundwork for further immigration action. A big rule change allows ICE to arrest undocumented people at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals. Read more about how Trump’s plans for mass deportations are playing out. 

Meanwhile, Democratic attorneys general filed lawsuits seeking to block Trump’s attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, and the great-grandson of the man who established birthright citizenship blasted Trump’s efforts to revoke the long-standing right to revoke the long-standing right. Also, Trump fired four top officials at the DOJ’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees U.S. immigration courts. 

More on Trump’s first week in office:

• What’s on Trump’s to-do list after his first day in office? Tariffs, for one. Here’s why he hasn’t taken action yet, despite saying he would on Day 1.
• The bishop leading yesterday’s inaugural prayer service urged the president to “have mercy” on LGBTQ people and immigrants. 
• Trump reversed Biden-era policies on drug pricing and Obamacare.

Hegseth denies new allegations made by former sister-in-law

Senators received an affidavit yesterday from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which she said his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staffers were in contact with her for several days. 

In the affidavit, Danielle Hegseth, who is divorced from Pete Hegseth’s brother, alleged volatile and threatening conduct by Hegseth that made his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety. Among the allegations are that Samantha hid in a closet once from Hegseth and that she developed escape plans “if she felt she needed to get away.” 

A lawyer for Pete Hegseth dismissed the allegations. Samantha Hegseth said in an email that she “will not comment on my marriage to Pete Hegseth.” She added, “I do not believe your information to be accurate.” 

Hegseth has been under intense scrutiny since Trump announced the former Fox News anchor as his pick to oversee the Defense Department. The latest allegations raise new questions about the scope and thoroughness of the FBI’s background check on Hegseth and what the Trump transition team, as well as members and staffers of the Armed Services Committee knew, and when. Read the full story here.

In fire-damaged L.A., swift rebuilding ambitions are at odds with calls for change

To ensure the speedy rebuilding of thousands of homes destroyed in recent wildfires, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have suspended a few rules otherwise required for new buildings. Newsom has suspended environmental permitting requirements, and Bass has waived a requirement for new buildings to use electricity rather than gas for heating and appliances, as well as hearings to evaluate whether a development complies with zoning regulations.

But urban planners, engineers and disaster management experts argue that these communities should take their time rebuilding and incorporate elements that will make the communities more resilient. The alternative: Residents risk being sitting ducks for future blazes.

Consider Pacific Palisades. In an ideal world, experts said, homes there would be built farther apart from each other, native species like succulents or sage, which are less susceptible to burning, would be planted on public land near residential communities and materials like brick, stone or concrete would be used as building materials instead of wood. Some of these strategies are already mandated by California’s fire code, but none of these efforts are necessarily speedy. 

Read All About It 

• The Supreme Court issued a rare ruling in favor of a death row inmate, finding that an Oklahoma woman convicted of murdering her estranged husband can pursue a claim that prosecutors inappropriately focused on her sex life at trial.
• Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian player elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame but missed unanimous selection by just one vote. CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected in yesterday’s vote.
• What’s the deal with seed oils? The fad surrounding the “Hateful Eight” — which include canola, corn and sunflower oils, among others — misses the bigger picture when it comes to improving health.
• Four men from Chile were arrested amid an ongoing investigation of burglaries at the homes of the rich, some at pro athletes’ homes.

Staff Pick: Concerns and questions about Trump’s digital currency

Late last Friday, Donald Trump posted a link to a new memecoin, simply called $TRUMP. By Saturday morning, its value had soared, minting the Trump organization billions in paper net worth overnight. The fine print revealed insiders were holding 80% of the total supply of TRUMP, meaning the primary beneficiary of the coin’s success would not be the public at large. Still, despite cautious optimism, many in the crypto community saw an opportunity, and the price kept rising — until Trump’s wife announced her own $MELANIA token on Sunday afternoon, tanking the price of the original TRUMP coin by as much as 40%.

Widespread criticism, even among ardent Trump supporters, soon gathered steam. Was the president’s promises to deregulate crypto on the campaign trail a pretext to personally benefiting from such a move? Why the Melania coin? And what are the foreign influence risks? I spoke to experts about these questions and why this memecoin launch is not quite like others before it. — Rob Wile, business reporter

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

Chapped lips and dry skin this time of year? NBC Select’s editors tested over 50 lip balms to find the best ones. Plus, we spoke with board certified dermatologists to learn how to pick the best moisturizing lotion, depending on your skin type.

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