National Institutes of Health (NIH) Acting Director Matthew Memoli sought to clarify the extent of the Trump administration’s freeze on communications and other functions within the Health and Human Services Department, which has raised concern among agency officials and lawmakers. Memoli’s memo, sent Monday to leaders across the NIH’s more than two dozen centers and institutions, said the freeze had been issued to “allow the new team to...

The White House on Tuesday clarified that all the illegal immigrants arrested by federal immigration authorities in recent days “are criminals,” as far as the Trump administration is concerned.  White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was taking questions during her first press briefing since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last week when she was asked about the mass arrests.  “The 3,500 arrests that ICE (U.S....

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday defended the legality of President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of at least 17 inspectors general, telling reporters that the administration is confident that the oustings, ordered across nearly every major federal agency, would survive any potential challenges in court. Speaking to reporters for the first time from the podium of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, Leavitt defended Trump’s...