Good morning. It’s Friday, February 7.

1. USAID Shakeup

2. Trump Fires FEC Chair. She’s Refusing to Leave.

3. Passenger Plane with 10 People on Board Crashes in Alaska

4. WH to Fire Thousands of HHS Employees

5. DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Social Media Posts

6. NCAA Bans Men from Women’s Sports After Trump Order

7. Kanye West: ‘I’m a Nazi and I Love Hitler’

8. Australia: Mandatory Jail Term for Nazi Salute Under New Hate Speech Rules

1. USAID Shakeup

The Trump administration cut the US Agency for International Development’s workforce to the bone Thursday, reducing the embattled agency’s global staff from 10,000 people down to less than 300.

The massive reduction, reported by the New York Times and Reuters, comes one day after USAID announced on its website that it would recall all foreign-based personnel and place all staffers except those deemed responsible for “mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs” on administrative leave by late Friday night.

USAID, which the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has targeted as a prime example of taxpayer-funded waste, will only retain a combined 294 staffers in Washington and its worldwide outposts, including 12 employees in its Africa bureau and eight in its Asia bureau, according to Reuters.

2. Trump Fires FEC Chair. She’s Refusing to Leave.

Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic commissioner and chair on the Federal Election Commission, revealed Thursday night that President Donald Trump fired her last week. Weintraub, an outspoken Trump critic whose political bias and routine disparagement of Trump have long sparked controversy, suggested she won’t leave her post.

Weintraub, who has served on the nation’s civil campaign finance regulator since 2002 and previously worked at the Democratic-aligned firm Perkins Coie, shared an image of a Jan. 31 letter she claimed was from Trump, which stated, “You are hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately. Thank you for your service on the Commission.”

Weintraub noted, “Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner & Chair of FEC. There’s a legal way to replace FEC commissioners — this isn’t it.”

3. Passenger Plane with 10 People on Board Crashes in Alaska

Authorities in Alaska are searching for a commercial passenger plane that went missing in freezing, windy conditions over the Bering Sea, the third major U.S. aviation incident in the past 10 days.

The single-engine plane operated by regional carrier Bering Air had nine passengers and a pilot on board when its position was lost at around 3:20 p.m. local time Thursday, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

The Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force and National Guard were involved in an air and land search for the plane, which was roughly 12 miles offshore when its position was lost, authorities said.

4. WH to Fire Thousands of HHS Employees

The White House is working on an executive order to fire thousands of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the order, the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies would have to cut a certain percentage of employees.

The order could come as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said, after workers have an opportunity to take a buyout.

5. DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Social Media Posts

Vice President JD Vance said Friday that he would support the rehiring of a DOGE staff member who resigned after it was found that he had previously made racist remarks online.

The staff member, 25-year-old Marko Elez, resigned from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported that he had made comments online that included supporting racism and eugenics. The White House confirmed to NBC News that Elez had resigned.

Vance made the comments on X, reposting a poll from DOGE head Elon Musk asking if the staff member should be brought back.

6. NCAA Bans Men from Women’s Sports After Trump Order

The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes on Thursday, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth only.

The move came one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. The order gives federal agencies latitude to withhold federal funding from entities that do not abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as that which someone is assigned at birth.

The NCAA policy change is effective immediately and applies to all athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews. The NCAA has some 1,100 member schools with more than 500,000 athletes, easily the largest governing body for college athletics in the U.S.

7. Kanye West: ‘I’m a Nazi and I Love Hitler’

Kanye West has launched into yet another vile social media posting spree and claimed: “I’m a Nazi”.

Fresh from his Grammy Awards controversy, the rapper, 47, has shared a number of outrageous posts on Twitter /X and Instagram. His latest outburst sees the Gold Digger star brand himself a Nazi who “loves Hitler”.

Kanye, who legally changed his name to Ye, posted: “I LOVE HITLER. NOW WHAT B***ES.” He quickly followed it up with: “LETS SEE IF YALL GIVE THAT MONEY BACK,” before adding: “IM A NAZI.”

8. Australia: Mandatory Jail Term for Nazi Salute Under New Hate Speech Rules

The Australian Parliament has passed new hate speech laws, introducing harsher penalties, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for displaying terror symbols and committing certain terrorism-related offenses.

The legislation, which cleared the Senate on Feb. 6, creates new offenses targeting threats of violence against specific groups based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or political opinion.

Under the new laws, displaying Nazi or terrorist symbols will carry a mandatory one-year prison sentence.