The Latest: Musk slams Trump-backed plan to cut taxes and spending

Tech billionaire Elon Musk blasted President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill of tax cuts and spending plans just days after departing the administration.

“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk posted Tuesday on the social platform X, warning that the bill will increase the federal deficit. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

Here’s the latest:

Pete Hegseth will skip a meeting on organizing military aid to Ukraine

America’s Pentagon chief will not be in attendance when more than 50 other defense leaders meet this week to coordinate military aid to Ukraine.

It will be the first time that an American defense leader has skipped the gathering since the U.S. created the Ukraine Defense Contact Group three years ago.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, won’t arrive in Brussels until Wednesday evening after the meeting is over.

It’s the latest in a series of steps the U.S. has taken to distance itself from the Ukraine war effort.

▶ Read more about Hegseth’s absence from the meeting

Trump formally asks Congress to claw back approved spending targeted by DOGE

The White House has officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending.

The process known as rescission will take funding away from programs targeted by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. It requires Trump to get approval from Congress to return money that had previously been appropriated.

Trump’s aides say the funding cuts target programs that promote liberal ideologies.

The request to Congress is unlikely to meaningfully change the troublesome increase in the U.S. national debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government is on track to spend roughly $7 trillion this year, with the rescission request equaling just 0.1% of that total.

▶ Read more about the White House’s request

Justice Department drops lawsuit against Trump adviser Peter Navarro

The Justice Department is dropping a lawsuit it filed against White House trade adviser Peter Navarro

Navarro was accused in the lawsuit of using an unofficial email account for government work and wrongfully retaining presidential records during the first Trump administration.

A court filing Tuesday by department attorneys and a lawyer for Navarro doesn’t explain why they are abandoning a case that was filed in 2022, during President Joe Biden’s term in office.

A Justice Department spokesperson and a lawyer for Navarro didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

▶ Read more about the dropped lawsuit

Hegseth orders the name of gay rights activist Harvey Milk scrubbed from Navy ship

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a ship dubbed for a killed gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War.

U.S. officials say Navy Secretary John Phelan put together a small team to rename the replenishment oiler and that a new name is expected this month. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The change was laid out in an internal memo that officials said defended the action as a move to align with Trump and Hegseth’s objectives to “re-establish the warrior culture.”

It marks the latest move by Hegseth to purge all diversity, equity and inclusion references and comes during Pride Month.

▶ Read more about Hegseth’s order