# Department of Education to lay off nearly half its workforce – as it happened

## Closing summary
4d ago
22.05 EDT

Closing summary
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We are wrapping up our live coverage for the day, but will return to chronicle the second  on Wednesday. Here are some of the day’s developments:

- **Donald Trump’s trade war** **kicks into a higher gear at midnight**, as 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum are scheduled to begin. There was widespread confusion about whether the tariffs would be delayed, or increased, amid conflicting statements from the president and his chief trade adviser, but the White House said that the previously delayed tariffs would begin, even as the stock marker plunges.
- **The detained Palestinian activist** **Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, remains in federal custody**, despite being charged with no crime. Khalil’s wife said in a statement before a hearing on Wednesday in Manhattan that he was forced into an unmarked car by immigration officers who refused to show a warrant.
- **The Department of Education’s** **“final mission” starts with laying off nearly half its workforce**, its new secretary said. About 1,300 federal education workers received notices of lay-offs on Tuesday.
- **The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill**, which would avert a government shutdown if it also passed the Senate before midnight on Friday.
- **Ukraine agreed to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire** and to take steps toward restoring a durable peace after Russia’s invasion, according to a joint statement by American and Ukrainian delegations meeting in Saudi Arabia. Russia has not commented.

## House narrowly passes stopgap funding bill as government shutdown looms
4d ago
17.26 EDT

House narrowly passes stopgap funding bill as government shutdown looms
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The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill, which would avert a government shutdown if it also passed the Senate before midnight on Friday.

The measure would extend government funding largely at current levels through the end of September, but includes cuts in funding, including for veterans’ healthcare, infrastructure investments, and nutrition and rent assistance for families in need. It passed by a vote of 217-213, with one Republican voting against it, Representative **Thomas Massie** of Kentucky, and one Democrat voting for it, Representative **Jared Golden** of Maine.

Democrats in the Senate could block the bill from becoming law, since it requires 60 votes there, and Republicans hold only 53 seats. One Republican senator, **Rand Paul**, has come out strongly against the bill,  on X: “Count me as a hell no!” on X. One Democratic senator, **John Fetterman**, said he would support the Republican bill, : “I’m not going to vote to shut the government down.”

## New tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum will be 25% not 50%, White House says
4d ago
16.28 EDT

New tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum will be 25% not 50%, White House says
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**Peter Navarro**, a senior aide to **Donald Trump** on trade,  that the president had reversed his decision, , to double planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%.

New tariffs of 25% on all imported steel and aluminum are still scheduled take effect at midnight on Wednesday, including against allies and top US suppliers Canada and Mexico, the White House confirmed to Reuters after Navarro’s interview.

Trump had earlier signaled to reporters outside the White House that he was rethinking his decision to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports, after Ontario’s premier **Doug Ford**  on electricity exports to three US states.

## The day so far
4d ago
18.06 EDT

The day so far
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Up to half of the Department of Education’s 4,400 employees could be laid off on Tuesday evening, .

The news was echoed by  that employees could receive “reduction in force” notices ahead of sweeping layoffs.

The new education secretary, **Linda McMahon**, said in a video posted on X on Tuesday that Trump would be making good on one of his campaign promises by “sending education back to the states”.

Trump could still make good on a pledge to eliminate the education department entirely, which Republicans have been discussing for more than a decade. In 2011, when the governor of Texas, **Rick Perry**, had  on naming all three of the departments he would cut, one of the two he named was education.

In the meantime, however, the department is being used to pursue other priorities of the .

On Monday, the department  that it had “sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.”

Updated at 17.31 EDT
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