In late February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio quietly met with Elon Musk to discuss the future of the State Department and what was left of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Chief Justice John Roberts late Wednesday granted the Trump administration's request to put on hold a lower court order that required it to pay an estimated $2 billion in foreign assistance funds for State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development projects by midnight Wednesday.

The top judge in the United States has given temporary backing to the Trump administration's freeze on foreign aid payments.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' intervention came as the administration faced a midnight deadline (05:00 GMT on Thursday) to pay contractors.

Officials had argued that they could not process the payments within the timeframe set by a lower court judge.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a federal judge’s order that required the Trump administration to pay around $2 billion in foreign aid funds to contractors by midnight. 

The ruling comes after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block the release of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding, which the federal judge had required by midnight. Officials had said they would not be able to comply with the judge’s order.

Several federal agencies have advised employees not to respond to Elon Musk’s email demanding federal workers list five accomplishments from the past week or risk losing their jobs.

The email instructs federal workers to respond to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) by 11:59 p.m. EST Monday. But a growing list of agencies, including the Pentagon, FBI, State Department and intelligence community, on Sunday had told their employees to hold off.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Marco Rubio is secretary of State in name only.

Since taking over Foggy Bottom, Rubio has constantly appeared one or two steps behind the actions of President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk — popping up to explain, justify or even double down on choices he probably would not make if he was actually running the show. He’s talking (and posting online) in a different voice, contradicting earlier policy views and appears to have little control over the implementation of Trump’s assault on the federal workforce.

The Trump administration is preparing to designate a series of Mexican drug cartels and two from Central and South America as foreign terrorist organizations. The move comes as Mexico continues to experience unprecedented levels of violence, including the widespread use of landmines and improvised explosive devices, despite empty government claims that crime has decreased and impunity has ended.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development, confirming the de-facto takeover of the humanitarian agency by the State Department.

Rubio said in a letter to lawmakers Monday he had delegated the authority of acting administrator to Pete Marocco, a Trump appointee who served at USAID in the president’s first term and has been accused by aid groups and officials of intentionally dismantling the organization.

Pride flags and "Black Lives Matter" flags won't be allowed to be flown from U.S. embassies and outposts under a new Trump policy.

The Washington Free Beacon news outlet first obtained a copy of the "One Flag Policy" which says only the American flag can be flown from embassies and outposts.

The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Marco Rubio as America's new secretary of state on Monday evening, fast-tracking the now-former Florida senator through a confirmation process in which he gained broad backing from lawmakers in both parties. Senators voted to confirm Rubio, who was first elected to represent the Sunshine State in the upper chamber in 2011, in a 99 to 0 vote. During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio earned praise from both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he once served as a senior member. Rubio...