All articles tagged with #government
Rob Jetten, leader of the D66 party, was sworn in as the Netherlands’ youngest prime minister, heading a three‑party minority coalition sworn in at Huis ten Bosch, marking a generational shift in Dutch politics.
Gov. Lamont ordered Connecticut's executive-branch offices closed to the public on Monday due to a major winter storm. Level 1 staff should work as scheduled, while Level 2 staff should telework or use accrued leave, with telework encouraged for those normally in-person. The State Emergency Operations Center and regional offices are activated to coordinate response; decisions for judicial/legislative branches remain with their leaders. Emergency alerts and CTPrepares resources are available for ongoing updates.
A Commission of Fine Arts, stacked with Trump allies, unanimously approved a $400 million White House ballroom after skipping the usual review steps. The move drew sharp opposition from a longtime panel secretary and public comments, and the project still awaits approval from the National Capital Planning Commission and a federal judge’s ruling as Trump continues to appoint allies to speed construction.
The Trump administration issued a memo expanding ICE authority to detain legal refugees awaiting green cards, allowing detention during a one-year post-admission re-vetting period to ensure security. Critics call the policy a reckless reversal that harms thousands, while supporters say it aligns post-admission vetting with other admissions; the move follows rising ICE detentions and comes after a Minnesota court blocked related refugee enforcement.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her cabinet resigned, with ministers submitting their letters ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a new prime minister. With the LDP holding a strong lower-house majority, Takaichi is expected to be reinstated as premier, and the chief cabinet secretary will announce the new cabinet lineup after the vote; major changes to the cabinet are unlikely.
USPS opened fiscal 2026 with a $1.25 billion first-quarter loss, but first-class mail delivery improved to 87.3% on time. APWU President Jonathan Smith argues USPS must be affordable and offer broader services (e.g., postal banking, EV charging, copies) to win back customers, while opposing privatization and pushing for prudent staffing and service improvements amid ongoing reform discussions and AI concerns.
CISA ordered Federal civilian agencies to patch BeyondTrust Remote Support and Privileged Remote Access within three days after CVE-2026-1731, a remote code execution flaw that’s been actively exploited. SaaS instances were patched by BeyondTrust on Feb 2, 2026, but on-premise deployments require manual updates. Exploitation can allow unauthenticated remote code execution, risking system compromise, data exfiltration, and service disruption. Threat intel reports active exploitation and about 11,000 exposed instances (roughly 8,500 on‑premises). The agency added the CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and urged mitigations or discontinuation per vendor guidance under BOD 22-01.
Cardi B fell from a chair during a Las Vegas Little Miss Drama show yet kept singing, then joked on Instagram Stories that “the government” was behind the mishap. She also teased post-show plans and shared updates about touring life and prep as she gears up for her upcoming tour after giving birth.
Massachusetts will become the first state to deploy an enterprise-wide ChatGPT AI assistant across its executive branch, rolling out in phases to about 40,000 state employees with a secure, data-protected environment; the rollout includes optional training and a contract with OpenAI, and inputs will not train public models, as part of a broader statewide AI strategy.
WSJ reports a U.S. Coast Guard pilot was fired and later rehired after forgetting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s blanket on a plane, a move tied to broader DHS chaos and scrutiny of Noem’s ties to adviser Corey Lewandowski.
With under five days to DHS funding, Democrats floated a full-year bill with guardrails on immigration enforcement (new judicial warrants and limits on masking); Republicans are preparing a continuing-resolution patch, making a full-year revamp unlikely by Friday. Absent a deal, a DHS shutdown remains likely as House recess looms and Senate moves to the patch. The update also notes a virtual Ghislaine Maxwell deposition, a House housing package advancing, and a DC tax bill.
In San Francisco, organizers marketed a 'March for Billionaires' but drew only about twenty participants, outnumbered by reporters. The march shifted from Alta Plaza Park to Civic Center without a permit, featuring a debate-like atmosphere and a mix of supporters and counter-protesters, raising questions about the effectiveness and purpose of the event.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sharply questioned the Defense Department’s bid to censure and possibly demote Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, over his public criticism of the Trump administration, arguing that the restrictions cited may only apply to active-duty service members and raising doubts about the DoD’s authority to punish a sitting senator.
Police are reviewing reports of alleged misconduct in public office after emails reportedly show Lord Mandelson forwarding government information to Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary; several parties have urged investigation, Mandelson has resigned from Labour and is on leave from the House of Lords, and the government says police will determine whether a crime occurred, as disclosures reveal further interactions between Mandelson, Epstein and senior figures during the financial crisis.
The Senate reached a deal to vote on a broad government funding package, allowing seven amendments and a final passage vote to fund agencies through the fiscal year, plus a two-week DHS stopgap to buy time for negotiating guardrails on immigration. The House could act as soon as Monday to end the partial shutdown, but Sen. Lindsey Graham’s objections over related amendment language threaten the path forward.