Elon Musk’s ultimatum has federal workers on edge
Divisions were on display within the federal government as workers at multiple departments were instructed not to respond to an email inquiry, going against an ultimatum from Elon Musk.
Federal workers received emails Saturday from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to send approximately five bullet points listing what they accomplished this week. The emails went out hours after Musk posted on X that a failure to respond “will be taken as a resignation.”
But FBI Director Kash Patel instructed employees to “pause any responses” to the email and said the FBI will review the work of its own employees in accordance with its own procedures. State Department employees were similarly told not to respond.
President Donald Trump touted the work Musk and DOGE have been doing during his speech Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Before his remarks, he posted on Truth Social that Musk should “get more aggressive.”
Trump and Musk have been floating the idea of sending American taxpayers dividend checks with whatever money DOGE saves. But low-income Americans may not benefit.
Germany’s rightward turn
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his center-left Social Democratic Party are projected to be on the outs in Germany, with the center-right Christian Democratic Union and leader Friedrich Merz likely to lead coalition talks to form the next government.
But perhaps the biggest news out of the election was the strong performance of Alternative for Germany, a far-right political party under surveillance by intelligence services for suspected extremism. The AfD, whose supporters include Elon Musk and others in the White House, was projected to finish second — a shock for many in a country still deeply wary of its Nazi past.
However, Merz previously ruled out working with the AfD, vowing to uphold the “firewall” prohibiting cooperation with the far right.
Pope still in critical condition
Pope Francis remained in critical condition as he continued to receive treatment for double pneumonia and a mild renal insufficiency, the Vatican said.
The pope, 88, had difficulty breathing for several days before being admitted Feb. 14 to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Doctors later diagnosed him with pneumonia in both lungs.
The Vatican on Saturday said the pope suffered a respiratory crisis, but “presented no further respiratory crisis” the following day. Francis, who was elected pope in 2013, remains on oxygen therapy.
Zelenskyy willing to resign for peace in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to resign in exchange for peace in Ukraine or NATO membership, a major concession amid an ongoing spat with Trump.
Trump falsely suggested the Ukrainian president was responsible for starting the war despite Russia launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The feud comes as Trump pledged to begin peace talks to end the war, while also saying it’s not important for Zelenskyy to attend negotiations because “he’s been at meetings for three years and nothing got done.”
On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., cast doubt on Zelenskyy’s suggestion that Russia could invade other countries and said the U.S. should only remain a member of NATO “if it’s in our interest.”
Israel delays release of Palestinian prisoners, straining ceasefire deal
Israel delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees who were due to be freed Saturday as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The militant group freed six hostages and released the bodies of four deceased hostages this week in the final planned exchange under the current phase of ceasefire negotiations.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited “Hamas’s repeated violations,” including “the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes” as he delayed the reciprocal release of the detainees.
Meet the Press
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., criticized Trump’s decision to fire Gen. CQ Brown Jr. from his role as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Then-President Joe Biden nominated Brown in 2023 for a four-year term. Booker told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that the position’s term is set so that the military leader is independent of partisan politics.
Said Booker: “Donald Trump has thrown that out the window and is sending a dangerous message to the military: It’s not about your independent expertise, it’s not about your years of service. It’s about your personal political loyalty to me, and that is a dangerous message to send to our military.”
Politics in brief
- DOGE for Ohio: Vivek Ramaswamy, who will declare his candidacy for governor of Ohio on Monday, told NBC News why he decided to step away from Elon Musk’s DOGE effort.
- Double duty: Trump’s newly confirmed FBI director, Kash Patel, is expected to take on another top law enforcement role in the administration as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
- Feeling the heat: At town halls, House Republicans are facing sometimes-hostile crowds furious about sweeping budget cuts and mass firings.
A church administrator’s mission to find her father’s accused killer
Christyn Akin-Crockett tried to convince authorities that her father Wayne Akin’s death was suspicious after she found women’s shorts and underwear on the floor of his apartment.
But when investigators told her she had to wait for the results of toxicology testing to determine if the death was suspicious, Akin-Crockett took matters into her own hands.
The church administrator received an online tip that she said brought her face to face with the woman authorities later identified as Rebecca Auborn, a sex worker who has since been charged with targeting at least four customers, including Akin, with fatal doses of fentanyl.
In case you missed it
- A police officer was killed after responding to a shooting at a Pennsylvania hospital Saturday. A gunman took several hostages and injured at least five others before he was shot dead.
- Two Virginia Beach officers were shot and killed during a traffic stop, police said. The suspect was found dead hours later with a “gunshot wound to the head.”
- Tens of thousands of people gathered at a stadium in Beirut to mourn Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a public funeral nearly five months after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike.
- France’s largest-ever child sex abuse trial opens Monday. Former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, 74, is charged with raping or sexually assaulting 299 victims over three decades.
- There’s a very small chance an asteroid might hit Earth in 2032 — but the precise odds have been a moving target.
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