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Trump orders Treasury Sec to stop minting pennies

(NYT) — Since taking office, President Donald Trump has set his sights on big targets, like Greenland. But he has also taken aim at small ones, like paper straws. And pennies.

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On Sunday night, Trump said he had ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop producing new pennies, a move that he said would help reduce unnecessary government spending.

“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he said in a post on Truth Social, adding that pennies “literally cost us more than 2 cents.”

It is unclear whether Trump has the power to do this. It is Congress, not the Treasury or the Federal Reserve, that authorizes the manufacture of the nation’s coins, according to the U.S. Mint.

For years, experts and government officials have called for eliminating the penny, whose purchasing power has fallen because of inflation even as its production costs have risen.

It cost 3.69 cents to produce and distribute a penny last year, according to the U.S. Mint’s annual report.

Trump says Palestinians will not be allowed to return to Gaza

(NYT) — President Donald Trump said the nearly 2 million Palestinians that he wants to displace from the Gaza Strip would not be allowed to return to the territory under his hypothetical plan to rebuild it.

In a clip from a Fox News interview scheduled to air Monday, Trump elaborated on his recent proposal for a U.S.-led takeover of Gaza. Asked if Palestinians who would be removed from the territory while it is cleared would have the right to eventually return to their homeland, he said: “No, they wouldn’t. Because they’re going to have much better housing — in other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”

Trump’s notion that the U.S. take over Gaza and resettle its population has drawn widespread international condemnation, with some critics likening it to ethnic cleansing. The forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international law and a war crime, according to experts.

In separate comments Sunday, Trump had reiterated his proposal for the United States to take over Gaza, telling reporters on Air Force One that the strip of land was “a big real estate site” that the United States was “going to own.”

IRS agents are asked to help with immigration efforts

(NYT) — The Department of Homeland Security is asking for the Internal Revenue Service to help crack down on immigration, according to a memo viewed by The New York Times, a move that could suck resources away from the agency’s tax enforcement efforts.

In the memo, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to deputize IRS agents to help with immigration enforcement efforts across the country. That work could include auditing employers believed to have hired migrants living in the U.S. illegally and investigating human trafficking, according to the memo. Of its roughly 100,000 employees, the IRS has more than 2,100 trained law enforcement officers who help investigate violations of tax law and other financial crimes.

“It is D.H.S.’s understanding that the Department of the Treasury has qualified law enforcement personnel available to assist with immigration enforcement, especially in light of recent increases to the Internal Revenue Service’s work force and budget,” Noem wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security has been pushing other law enforcement agencies’ officers to also help with immigration efforts. But the focus on taking IRS agents away from their primary responsibility could align with an effort by President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers to weaken the agency’s enforcement.

Senate Democrats create new portal for whistleblowers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. Senate Democrats grappling with President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions targeting federal agencies on Monday launched an online portal for whistleblowers.

They wrote a public letter to civil service employees and other public servants informing them of the portal for reporting wrongdoing, abuses of power and threats to public safety.

The portal asks for name, organization, email and nature of complaint, including retaliation, wasteful spending, fraud and criminal activity.

“Whistleblowers are essential in helping uncover fraud and abuse in the federal government. If you have information you want to share about wrongdoing, abuse of power, and threats to public safety, we stand ready to support you in your pursuit of truth and justice,” read the letter from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Dozens die in Guatemala after bus veers off bridge

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) — A bus veered off a highway bridge into a polluted ravine in Guatemala City on Monday, killing at least 30 people and trapping survivors, a spokesperson for the city’s fire department said.

The bus was traveling on a busy route in and out of the city when it plunged approximately 20 meters from Puente Belice, a highway bridge that crosses over a road and creek.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo declared three days of national mourning.