SSA boss Michelle King steps down after reportedly clashing with Doge – live updates – BBC.com
A US federal judge has ruled that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency can continue to access data at seven federal government agencies after Democratic state attorneys general had sought to block the groupThe decision came just a few hours before Musk and President Donald Trump’s joint interview on Fox NewsEarlier, Trump told reporters that talks between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday were “very good” and that he is now “much more confident” of a Ukraine peace dealThe president was answering reporters’ questions at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where a BBC journalist asked whether Ukrainians might feel “betrayed” after not being invited to the talks in Riyadh Trump responded that Ukrainians have already had three years to negotiate for peace in the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022Meanwhile, the acting head of the Social Security Administration steps down after reportedly clashing with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)Michelle King left after resisting Doge staffers’ attempts to access sensitive information, the BBC’s US Partner CBS News reportsThis video can not be playedTrump questioned on Ukraine not being invited to US-Russia talksEdited by Caitlin Wilson in Washington DCWe’re wrapping up our live coverage, but before we do, here’s a recap of Tuesday’s developments.One day after the federal Presidents’ Day holiday, Trump continued laying off federal workers and signing executive orders.The US Department of Agriculture said it was trying to quickly reverse the firings over the weekend of agency employees who were working on the federal government’s response to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak, according to US media.The day began with the head of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, quitting over Musk’s access to sensitive federal data.But a federal judge in Washington DC later ruled that Doge could continue to access federal computer systems and fire government workers while the litigation plays out.Then, at a news conference at his home in Florida, Trump reacted to Ukraine’s objections to being excluded from US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia. It came after he signed two orders and a memo about IVF pregnancy treatments and government waste.Trump said Ukraine had had three years to avert a Russian invasion. “You should have never started it,” he said of Ukraine. “You could have made a deal.”The day ended with Fox News airing an interview with Trump and Musk, in which the two praised each other and pledged to avoid any conflicts of interest as they work to overhaul the federal government.Thanks for joining us.Here’s a clip of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s joint interview on Fox News.This video can not be playedWatch: Trump and Musk discuss conflict of interestsBefore the Fox interview ended, Trump and Musk were asked about conflicts of interest that Musk may have, given that many of his companies do business with the US government.His companies, including X, Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink or Neuralink, could theoretically stand to do well if Trump enacts rules that favour the companies.”If there’s a conflict, he wont be involved,” says Trump. Musk adds that he will recuse himself if any conflict arises, and says he is under intense scrutiny on a daily basis.”Its not like I’m gonna get away with something in the dead of night,” says Musk.”I’ve never asked the president for anything,” he declares. Trump then adds: “He’s a very good person, he wants to see the country do well.”Protesters demonstrate against Donald Trump and Elon Musk in Washington DC on 17 February 2025Next on their joint interview on Fox, Trump and Musk are asked how they view their critics.They both assert that critics who accuse the administration of violating the US constitution are actually the ones violating the document. “It’s always the first thing. ‘It’s a violation of the constitution,'” Trump says, imitating his critics.”It’s a con job.”Trump also hits out at the press, naming news organisations including MSNBC, the Associated Press (AP), PBS and CBS in particular, claiming that they publish incorrect information”They’re horrible people,” he says about some of the journalists.The AP has recently been shut out of several of Trump’s news conferences and other White House coverage. The administration opposes the news agency’s decision to continue to use the term Gulf of Mexico rather than Gulf of America for the body of water to the south of the United States. Hannity then asks Musk and Trump about the administration sweeping cuts to US government spending, which proponents have said is about boosting government efficiency, while critics have warned the steep slashes could have significant repercussions both in the US and internationally. Musk says he wants to save US taxpayer money – saying the cost-cutting moves come down to “competence and caring”.We can bring you some more lines from Trump and Musk’s conversation with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Musk confirmed that some Doge employees are federal employees, even though the agency is not officially a part of the US federal government. When Hannity asks Trump how he feels to be so close to the richest man in the world, the group laughs off the joke about the relatively lesser wealth of Trump – himself a real estate mogul.”I tried to find somebody smarter than him, but I couldn’t,” Trump responds. The two then praise Trump’s cabinet picks, and say they will work as a group to enact Trump’s sweeping executive orders. Musk says their goal is to “restore the will of the people through the president”.We’re now tuned into Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s interview on Fox News. It was taped on Friday, but is just airing for the first time now. The friendly interview begins with Trump and Musk praising each other. Musk says he “loves” Trump, and that he’s never seen the president do anything “cruel” or “wrong”.Sean Hannity, the host, quips “it’s like I’m talking to two brothers here”.Trump says he’s always respected Musk and his technology work at his companies such as Tesla. Trump says he’s not bothered by critics calling his top aide “President Musk” – the implication being that Musk controls Trump. Trump then goes on to praise Musk’s team at Doge, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, calling them “brilliant” and “young”.He also jokes that many of them “dress worse” than Musk, wearing T-shirts, and that you’d never know that they’re certified geniuses. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently confirmed as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, delivered remarks opening his tenure to the federal agency’s staff earlier today. Kennedy outlined his mission in leading the agency and told employees that Trump has asked him to reverse the epidemic of chronic disease. “The way to do that is to bring HHS to its full potential as the steward of the American health care system,” he said. Kennedy added that the agency will convene representatives to study the causes for the drastic rise in chronic disease. “Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formerly taboo or insufficiently scrutinised,” he said, later adding “nothing is going to be off limits”. Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic, had initially faced some push-back for his cabinet nomination, with lawmakers grilling Kennedy on his promotion of health misinformation and knowledge of the US healthcare system. Every Republican senator except for former majority leader Mitch McConnell voted in favour of his confirmation, while all Democrats voted against. Trump’s sacking of US government workers continued on Tuesday. Last week federal employees who handle nuclear weapons were fired, then quickly rehired. The layoffs are part of a cost-cutting drive, driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), that aims to drastically cut the federal workforce to reduce government costs and to weed out waste.Argentine President Javier Milei plans to fly to Washington this week, his office has said, where he will meet Elon Musk, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgiev, and potentially Trump himself.Milei also plans to speak to Trump supporters at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which Trump also plans to attend.Milei was in Washington DC last month, where he attended Trump’s inauguration. He was also the first foreign leader to visit Trump at his Florida home after he won the election in November. The visit comes as Milei faces a probe back home due to his promotion of a cryptocurrency that quickly collapsed after being launched.He has denied fraud allegations. Read more:Argentina’s President Milei denies crypto fraud allegationsFox News is set to air a pre-taped interview with Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk later this evening. It is their first sit-down joint interview together since Trump took office last month. Last week, the two took questions from reporters in the Oval Office as one of Musk’s young children played at his feet.Fox has released a clip of the interview with host Sean Hannity. It was recorded on Friday.In the clip Musk says he “used to be adored by the left”, but “less so these days” because of his support for Trump. “They call it ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’. You don’t realise how real this is until you can’t reason with people,” Musk says in the clip, adding: “It’s like they’ve become completely irrational.”At a news conference in Florida earlier today, Trump teased the interview. He said that he told Musk in the interview that he will not allow him to work on government projects that conflict with his work for his private companies – largely related to rocket company SpaceX, which works directly with the US space agency Nasa.The Senate has also just voted on another of of Trump’s cabinet picks – they voted 51 to 45 to confirm Howard Lutnick to lead the US commerce department.Trump tapped Lutnick, an investor and co-chair of his transition team, to spearhead the administration’s “tariff and trade agenda”.Lutnick served as a spokesperson during the campaign for Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs and the elimination of the income tax.If confirmed, he will lead a workforce of about 50,000 and focus on boosting domestic manufacturing and US companies. The commerce department is a key player in areas where business and national security interests collide, such as restricting technology exports to China or enacting tariffs to protect US steel.You can watch the final tally of the Senate votes below.This video can not be playedSenate confirms Howard Lutnick as US commerce secretaryIn a 48 to 45 vote, the US Senate has just voted to advance the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI.Patel, a former Department of Defence chief of staff, is a fervent Trump supporter who has suggested dramatically limiting the FBI’s authority as Republicans allege the agency has unfairly targeted conservatives.The final vote on his confirmation is expected later this week. Patel testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI under his watch would prioritise tackling organised narco-trafficking, and was asked repeatedly about his so-called “enemies list”. He denied the existence of any list and promised not to lead any “retribution” against Trump’s critics.Patel has also been a supporter of the crowds who attacked the Capitol during the 6 January 2021 riot. Trump, since coming to office, has pardoned the nearly everyone accused of participating in the riot – which aimed to stop certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory – and has fired federal prosecutors involved in 6 January prosecutions. This video can not be playedSenate advances Kash Patel’s confirmation for FBI directorAn activist who defended the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot at the US Capitol has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the permanent top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, where the nation’s capital of Washington is located.He is currently in the position on an interim basis, and his official appointment must be confirmed by the US Senate.Martin has previously been listed as a lawyer for at least three Capitol riot defendants, and says he was part of the crowds that gathered near the White House on that day. Nearly every defendant convicted or facing charges in Capitol riot cases were pardoned by Trump on his first day back in office last month.In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump says: “Since Inauguration Day, Ed has been doing a great job as Interim US Attorney, fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful Again. He will get the job done.”As we’ve been focused on Donald Trump’s comments from Mar-a-Lago in Florida, we’ve had some other news we can now bring you: A federal judge in Washington DC has declined to block Elon Musk and his associates from accessing data at seven federal agencies, Reuters reported. It marks a win for the Trump administration and Musk. A coalition of 14 Democratic state attorneys general sought to bar Musk, who is overseeing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, from accessing information at federal agencies via computer systems.They also sought to limit Musk from directing firings of government works amid legal cases. But Tanya S. Chutkan denied their request, saying that the states had not proven why they should receive a temporary restraining order on Musk’s actions, Reuters reported.Chutkan is the same judge who was appointed to oversee the federal 2020 election interference criminal case against Trump. Special counsel Jack Smith dropped all charges against the now-president after Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Bernd Debusmann JrTravelling with the presidentMuch of the focus after today’s news conference here in Florida will be on Trump’s comments about Ukraine. But some of what he said will also be raising alarm bells in Mexico City. His comments, for example, that Mexico is “largely run by the cartels” will almost certainly be met with objections from Mexico’s government, which has, for nearly 20 years, bristled at the suggestion that it has ceded any territory to criminal organisations. It’s also unclear what he meant when he said they “asked for help with that”. Any suggestion that Mexico’s government has called for US military operations in the country will likely cause a stir among a population that is, in many ways, hypersensitive about any suggestion that US forces could infringe on Mexican sovereignty. His comments also left it unclear whether he is so far satisfied with steps Mexico has taken to address migrant flows northward and the flow of the drug fentanyl into the US. From an observer’s perspective, he did not appear to be.That, ultimately, could have an important bearing on whether or not he will ultimately impose the so far-paused 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico.Merlyn ThomasNorth America correspondentTrump’s latest comments will likely add insult to injury for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who – at least according to press photos – has spent most of the day looking frustrated and tired while on a trip to Ankara, Turkey.Meanwhile, Russian and American officials had their first high-level peace talks in Saudi Arabia – without Zelensky. These talks were simply just the jumping-off point to begin the process of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. But it’s still symbolic that for so long the US and Europe have sought to punish and isolate Russia economically and diplomatically. Now the US appears to be bringing Russia in from the cold – while Trump says Ukraine has already had its chance to sit at the peace talks table for three years.Merlyn ThomasNorth America correspondentIt’s clear that President Trump believes only he has the power to end this war – hitting out at the previous administration under President Biden for its strong support of Nato.He said it appeared the war in Ukraine happened “because we had incompetent leadership at many different levels”.The president placed blame squarely at the feet of President Biden, claiming that if he, Trump, had been in power neither the war in Ukraine nor the war in Gaza would have started. And he also took the moment as an opportunity to once again blame Biden for inflation, too. Merlyn ThomasBBC North America correspondentDonald Trump was just asked by my BBC colleague Bernd Debusmann Jr about whether the president had any message for Ukrainians who might be feeling betrayed about not having a seat at peace talks between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia today.Trump responded by saying he felt “very disappointed” and said the Ukrainians “had a seat for three years – and a long time before that”, referring to the nearly three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its former Soviet neighbour. He added, “This could have been settled very easily”.It’s clear President Trump thinks a deal to end the war could have and should have been made more quickly, and he wasn’t willing to cede any ground on the topic of excluding Ukraine from those high-level meetings in Saudi Arabia. Trump is now finished taking questions from reporters. We learned about three new executive orders Trump will be signing into law and heard from the president as he answered questions from reporters ranging from tariffs to Ukraine. Stick with us for more updates and analysis. Trump is next asked about Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest, given that his company SpaceX does business with the US government. Trump reiterates his pledge last week to monitor Musk’s work to prevent conflicts of interest. “I told him, any conflict, you cant have anything to do with that,” he says about his pledge to Musk.He suggests that “anything to do with space, we won’t let Elon partake in that”.Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.
