

Closing summary
--------------

We will be wrapping the live blog for the 46th day of Trump’s second term.

Here is a look at some of the day’s developments:

*   **The Trump administration announced that it had canceled $400m in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University in New York** because of what it alleges is the college’s repeated failure to protect students from antisemitic harassment.
    
*   **The Trump administration fired the head of the US** **justice** **department office that handles presidential pardon requests, the official said in a social media post.** Liz Oyer, who was appointed by Biden in 2022, said: “I’m sad to share that I was fired today from the job I have poured my heart and soul into for the last three years.”
    
*   **The Department of Homeland Security is ending the collective bargaining agreement covering tens of thousands of airport transportation security officers.** The agency, led by secretary **Kristi Noem**, also said it will stop deducting union dues from employees’ paychecks, a major setback for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA screeners and relies on $15m in annual payments.
    
    “Thanks to Secretary Noem’s action, Transportation Security Officers will no longer lose their hard-earned dollars to a union that does not represent them,” reads a statement by a DHS spokesperson. “The Trump Administration is committed  returning to merit-based hiring and firing policies.”
    
*   The New York representative **Elise Stefanik** praised **Donald Trump**’s decision to cancel $400m in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University because of what the administration alleges is the college’s repeated failure to protect students from antisemitic harassment. In a statement, Stefanik said:
    
    > President Trump is delivering on his promise to hold universities like Columbia accountable by defunding them for failing to protect their Jewish communities,” said Stefanik in a statement sent over email. “I’m proud of my efforts on the Education Committee which led to the FORMER Columbia University President’s resignation and I applaud President Trump for ensuring that hardworking taxpayer dollars do not fund these cesspools of antisemitism.
    
    Here’s more context on the grant cancellations:
    
    
    
*   The Department of Veterans Affairs will allow crisis hotline responders to work remotely instead of in offices because of the lack of privacy, .
    
    The VA granted a full exemption for the Veterans Crisis Line from Donald Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to the office.
    
    The hotline staff no longer have their own office space because the buildings that housed the call center’s three national hubs – in Georgia, Kansas and New York – were all closed during the Covid pandemic.
    
*   The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Friday that it is  covering tens of thousands of airport transportation security officers.
    
    The agency, led by secretary **Kristi Noem**, also said it will stop deducting union dues from employees’ paychecks, a major setback for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA screeners and relies on $15m in annual payments.
    
    “Thanks to Secretary Noem’s action, Transportation Security Officers will no longer lose their hard-earned dollars to a union that does not represent them,” reads a statement by a DHS spokesperson. “The Trump Administration is committed  returning to merit-based hiring and firing policies.”
    
*   The Department of Education is allowing crisis hotline responders to work remotely instead of in offices because of the lack of privacy, .
    
    The VA granted a full exemption for the Veterans Crisis Line from Donald Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to the office.
    
    The hotline staff no longer have their own office space because the buildings that housed the call center’s three national hubs – in Georgia, Kansas and New York – were all closed during the Covid pandemic.
```