Doctors for Pope Francis say he is responding well to treatment but is not yet out of danger, the Vatican News service reported on Friday.
Francis is recovering from pneumonia and his doctors at Rome's Gemelli Hospital say he is not in danger of death, but hes also not fully out of danger.
Doctors reported that Francis is sitting up and doing work from the hospital and they believe he will be able to leave the hospital at some point. Doctors did not give an exact timetable on when he could be released, but they expected Francis to remain in the hospital through all of next week.
Doctors also cautioned that the pope would likely continue having chronic respiratory issues following his release.
Dr. Sergio Alfieri said that one concern doctors have is that the pope is at risk of sepsis due to germs circulating through the hospital.
The 88-year-old pope developed pneumonia in both lungs. He has canceled all public appearances over the last week while undergoing treatment.
Social media has been buzzing with the possibility of American taxpayers getting a check from the money Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency claims it's saving the country.
But how much would DOGE actually have to recoup for the 79 million tax-paying households to get the proposed $5,000 checks? Let's do the math! 79 million $5,000 = $395 billion.
Nearly $400 billion in savings. That's how much DOGE would have to save for each taxpayer to receive the $5,000 checks and that's without any of the savings going to pay down the nation's debt, which many lawmakers have said they want to do with the money.
President Donald Trump appeared open to a plan to send checks to taxpayers, however, he suggested returning 20% of the DOGE savings to Americans. So, under Trump's plan, DOGE would need to save $1.975 trillion for Americans to receive $5,000 checks.
For perspective, that's more than the entire federal discretionary budget, which covers everything from defense to education to transportation, combined.
DOGE claims it has already saved Americans $55 billion, but the number has been disputed because errors are consistently spotted in their accounting. For instance, DOGE claimed it saved $8 billion after canceling an Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract. However, the amount of that contract was actually worth $8 million.
Whether Americans should expect to see any check from DOGE savings is still highly speculative, so it's probably not a good idea to plan on spending that money before you have the cash in your hand.
A news conference planned to follow talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy has been canceled. The cancellation occurred Thursday as political tensions deepened between the two countries over how to end the nearly three-year war with Russia.
The event was originally supposed to include comments from Zelenskyy and retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, but it was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity where the two leaders posed for journalists. They did not deliver statements or take questions. A Ukrainian presidential spokesman said the U.S. requested the change.
According to a readout from Zelenskyy's office, he thank Kellogg for the United States' "assistance provided and for the bicameral and bipartisan support."
"The President emphasized the importance for Ukraine and the whole world to feel the strength of the United States," Zelenskyy's office said. "Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Keith Kellogg discussed the battlefield situation, the return of all Ukrainian prisoners, and the establishment of effective security guarantees."
Kelloff called the discussions with Zelenskyy "extensive and positive." Kellogg described Zelenskyy as a "courageous leader of a nation at war."
The discussions come as the U.S. has opened communications with Russia since President Trump returned to office. Direct one-on-one communications between the U.S. and Russia has angered Ukraine and many European allies.
President Donald Trump says he is considering an idea to issue new stimulus checks to Americans from money saved through government cuts made by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
On Capitol Hill, reactions to the idea are mixed.
Democrats have called the proposal a distraction, meant to draw attention from other activities of the Trump administration.
Some Republicans are also concerned about the effect a dividend payment could have on government spending.
"I'm very interested in eliminating the debt and the deficit," said Wyoming's Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis. "As well as getting inflation under control. So those would be my top priorities for the savings associated with DOGE."
"If there's money left after we address inflation, and the debt, and the deficit, it's always a good idea to send taxpayers their money back. But when we're $36 trillion in debt, we've dug ourselves a pretty big hole," Sen. Lummis said.
"I like the idea of returning money to the American taxpayer," said Missouri's Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. "Whether you do that direct to every person or whether you use it to fund, for instance, a child tax credit, which would be direct relief to every working family, if they work and pay payroll taxes, that would be great."
In an interview with Scripps News, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York, expressed strong concerns about President Donald Trump's recent executive order that places independent government agencies under the executive branch's control. Goldman argued that Trump's actions represent an unprecedented extension of executive power, compromising the independence of agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, which were created by Congress to operate free from political influence.
"Donald Trump wants to put every single thing in the executive branch under his thumb, so that he can use all of the executive branch agencies for his own personal interests and for his own political retribution," Goldman told Scripps News. "It is absolutely lawless in many different ways, including the fact that it has to come back to Congress in order for it not to be independent."
Executive orders have long been used by presidents to implement their agenda. To date, President Trump has signed 70 executive orders. Throughout his entire four-year term, President Joe Biden signed 162.
But Goldman argues that President Trump has gone too far to implement executive orders and has ignored court orders that have temporarily stopped Trump from enacting his orders.
"If we have no rule of law, if court orders cannot be relied upon and cannot be trusted, it doesn't just undermine our government, it undermines every single contract that is entered in this country, and ultimately, it ruins the foundation of our democracy, of our economy, and certainly of our government," he said.
Goldman, who led House Democrats' impeachment trial against President Trump in 2019, said the president has already committed "dozens of impeachable offenses" in his first 30 days in office.
The 2019 impeachment inquiry involved President Trump allegedly pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for U.S. military aid. The incident occurred in a phone call between the two leaders three years before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Trump was impeached in a strictly party-line vote in the House of Representatives. Only one Republican, then-Sen. Mitt Romney, supported convicting President Trump in the Senate.
"He's violating the Constitution right, left, and center. The reality is the Republicans control the House and they control the Senate," Goldman said. "And not only are they in control in the majority, and therefore they would have to lead any kind of impeachment investigation, but they have demonstrated such a lack of spine and will and determination to even just uphold their own power. They're giving away their own authority in Congress and just turning it over to Donald Trump."
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Chris Wright, secretary of the Department of Energy, admitted to mistakes after layoffs impacted employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Speaking with Scripps News on Wednesday, Wright said, "I probably moved a little too quickly there, and when we made mistakes on layoffs in NNSA, we reversed them immediately, less than 24 hours. The security of our country, our nuclear deterrence, our nuclear weapons, is critical, and we take that message, we don't take that lightly."
The NNSA core mission is to "ensure the United States maintains a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear stockpile," according to its website.
NBC News reports that after the layoffs occurred, agency staff attempted to re-hire some of the employees but had trouble reaching them. It's unclear how many of the laid-off employees returned to work.
The layoffs were part of President Donald Trump's plan to shrink the federal government. The administration has targeted probationary employees, often newly hired individuals, likely because it has more legal authority to terminate the workers.
Wright claims the Department of Energy grew by 20% under the Biden administration, and he is working to "right-size" it.
Anne Marie Hochhalter is described by her loved ones in many ways: resilient, tenacious, and independent. But above all, she was a compassionate person who used her voice to advocate on behalf of others.
Hochhalter was a survivor of the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School, which claimed the lives of 12 students and one teacher. She was shot and left paralyzed from the waist down.
Hochhalter, 43, was found dead in her Westminster home on Sunday. Her cause of death has not been released.
"I suspect it had something to do with some complications from her original injury," said Sue Townsend, who grew very close with Hochhalter after the shooting.
Sue and her husband, Rick Townsend, met with the Scripps News Group on Tuesday to discuss the life and legacy Hochhalter leaves behind.
"She was her best advocate, and she advocated for others who had disabilities, and she was a compassionate friend," Sue said about Hochhalter. "She'd been through so much, and I think that taught her compassion. And you could talk to her about anything, and people did."
The Townsends planned to have lunch with Hochhalter on Sunday but said she did not reply to their Saturday text messages to confirm. When they could not reach Hochhalter on Sunday, they called for a welfare check.
"Everybody knows her as one of the victims of Columbine, but she never saw herself as a victim. She was a survivor," Sue said.
The Townsends met Hochhalter through the Columbine tragedy. Lauren Townsend was one of the 12 students killed in the mass shooting.
"She was a wonderful young woman and a very bright girl," Rick said about his daughter. "I never had trouble sharing stories about Lauren. I had people tell me, 'We don't want to make you think about it because, you know, it will make you sad.' I always think about it, so it's nothing new if you ask me."
Sue read Hochhalter's story and offered to take her to doctor's appointments or physical therapy once a week. That blossomed into a friendship that felt more like family.
"We call her our acquired daughter. She's just become part of our family," Sue said.
The Townsends were stunned by Hochhalter's passing. So was her younger brother, Nathan Hochhalter.
"I know that she's been having some medical issues, but you're just not ready for it because she has bounced back in the past from these problems," Nathan said.
Reflecting on their childhood, Nathan said his sister was always the "good kid." She got good grades, stayed out of trouble, and always protected him.
Nathan was also at Columbine High School on the day of the shooting.
"I learned how to compartmentalize really well," Nathan said with a small smile. "Us losing our mom shortly after that, it was just like, when are these punches going to stop?"
He continued, "We both found ways to give back. Her approach was very supportive to her communities, her friends, her family."
In 2016, Hochhalter penned a letter to the mother of one of the gunmen. The letter says in part, "Bitterness is like swallowing a poison pill and expecting the other person to die." She finished the letter by forgiving the gunman's mother and wishing her the best.
Loved ones call the letter another sign of the compassion Hochhalter showed throughout her life.
The Townsends said they would often share memories of Lauren with Hochhalter. They now intend to do the same as they remember Hochhalter.
"We had Anne Marie was over for brunch with the family on Christmas Day, and there's Anne Marie and my daughter, Kathy, and our granddaughter, Sarah, and they're kind of gathered around here, all talking at once, all three of them, and I'm wondering, 'How can you understand what the other one's saying?' But they did, and they were talking and laughing and having the best time," Sue said, thinking about Christmas 2024. "I thought, I just want to freeze this moment because it was so heartwarming to see them enjoying each other so much."
In thinking of his favorite memory, Rick recalled a time when the family took a trip to Hawaii and he helped Hochhalter into the ocean.
"She'd never been in the ocean before, which is one thing she always wanted to do," Rick said. "We were out there for two hours. She still didn't want to get out of the water. She didn't feel any pain at all the whole time she was in that water, which was unusual. She struggled a lot with nerve pain from her spinal cord injury, and I think that time in the lagoon was a happy place for her."
When asked what legacy Hochhalter leaves behind, the Townsend's did not hesitate to answer.
"Don't ever give up. Don't ever give up," the two said. "You'll run into hard times, but just keep going at it. You can get it through and come out the other side better."
This article was written by Colette Bordelon for the Scripps News Group.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to promote an expansion of in vitro fertilization.
The order directs administration agencies to suggest policy that will "protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments." It is also meant to address existing legislation that may increase the cost of the procedure.
The procedure can cost as much as $25,000 per attempt, according to the order, and only a quarter of health insurance providers offer coverage.
The order is a continuation of policies from President Trump's first term that expanded resources for families having new babies.
"I think the women and families, husbands, are very appreciative of" IVF, President Trump said when he signed the order.
President Trump has signaled support for IFV access since Alabama ruled in 2024 that frozen embryos should be considered children. Trump campaigned on expanding IVF access, saying it was a way to build families.
"We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder!" He wrote at the time.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture appears to be backtracking after laying off workers in a move that could affect the Trump administration's ability to respond to the bird flu outbreak.
Politico reported this week that some employees of the USDAs National Animal Health Laboratory Network were notified that their services were no longer needed.
However, the agency said in a statement obtained by Scripps News that it is "working to swiftly rectify the situation."
The statement added that veterinarians, animal health technicians, and other emergency response personnel were exempt from the layoffs. The USDA also said it is hiring the "workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food."
Bird flu has decimated flocks across the United States. In the past month, the USDA says more than 23 million birds have been infected with the virus. In most cases, infected birds are culled to prevent further spread.
There have been 68 human cases and one death from bird flu reported in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, health officials maintain that the risk to humans remains low.
Meanwhile, the virus is contributing to rising egg prices. The latest Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation, shows egg prices increased 15.2% in January.
A federal judge has rejected a request to temporarily block the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, from accessing sensitive government data or influencing layoffs.
State attorneys general had sued, arguing that Elon Musks appointment to lead the agency was illegal. They claimed he was given authority to access sensitive government data and direct firings without proper approval. However, the government argued in a court filing that Musk is not actually the administrator of DOGE, raising questions about who is truly in charge of the agency.
Fourteen attorneys general filed the lawsuit against Musk, DOGE, and President Donald Trump, alleging that the president violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The suit argues that any power to implement government changes through DOGE must be granted by the Senate, not the president.
On Tuesday, Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order, stating that while "DOGEs unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents," the plaintiffs did not meet the threshold for imminent irreparable harm.
However, she also acknowledged that "Plaintiffs raise a colorable Appointments Clause claim with serious implications. Musk has not been nominated by the President nor confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as constitutionally required for officers who exercise significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States."
Judge Chutkan has ordered the parties to meet and discuss the next steps, which may still include the plaintiffs seeking a preliminary injunction against Musk and DOGE.
If it feels like there have been more food recalls, youre not wrong. Hospitalizations and deaths from contaminated food doubled in 2024, according to a new report.
The Public Interest Research Group, a federation of U.S. and Canadian consumer advocacy nonprofits, said the number of people who were hospitalized or died from food-related illnesses doubled last year.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tallied 241 food and beverage recalls and alerts, an increase of 8% compared with 2023, the group said, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture tallied 55 recalls.
American taxpayers are being warned about a new text scam where IRS imposters are claiming individuals are eligible for $1,400 stimulus checks.
The Better Business Bureau said the text messages, which often appear authentic, are actually part of a phishing scheme designed to collect people's sensitive data and information.
"The message contains a fake link that mimics an official IRS website," the BBB said in a statement. "Clicking it may lead to malware or a fraudulent form asking for personal or financial information. The IRS does not contact taxpayers via text, email, or social media, and they will never request information this way."
In order to avoid falling victim to the scam, people have been advised to never click on any links in unsolicited messages and always be cautious of communications where the sender creates a sense of urgency to act quickly. The BBB also urges everyone to forward suspicious messages they get to phishing@irs.gov and report them to the BBB Scam Tracker located here.
The real IRS announced in December that it would be sending automatic $1,400 payments to one million taxpayers who did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns. That credit was in relation to the people who missed one of the COVID-19 stimulus payments or had received less than the full amount of those payments.
However, contrary to texting people, the IRS said those payments would be directly deposited into bank accounts or sent by mail in the form of a paper check.
A federal appeals court has blocked the Biden administration's income-driven student loan repayment and relief plan.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court ruling that sided with a lawsuit filed by seven Republican-led states against former President Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan.
The states argued that the U.S. Department of Education doesn't have the authority to cancel some student loans for borrowers, and claimed the Biden administration was using the SAVE Plan as a workaround after the Supreme Court blocked Biden's sweeping loan forgiveness plan in June 2023.
"The Secretary has gone well beyond this authority by designing a plan where loans are largely forgiven rather than repaid," the appeals court said in its ruling. "We thus affirm the entry of the preliminary injunction, though we conclude the district court erred by not enjoining the entire rule and we remand with instructions to modify the injunction accordingly."
The SAVE Plan, which was created by executive order in 2023, provided some borrowers with lower, income-driven repayments on their student loans, while others could have their loans forgiven outright.
The White House at the time said that student loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan who have made payments for at least 10 years and originally took out up to $12,000 are eligible to have their loans automatically forgiven.
Additionally, the White House said for every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments. That means someone enrolled in the SAVE Plan with an original debt of up to $21,000 would have their loans forgiven by the time they reach 20 years of payments.
However, Republicans who filed the lawsuit against the SAVE Plan argued that taxpayer dollars shouldn't be used to subsidize the student loan repayments of those who benefited from receiving higher education.
Israel expects to receive the bodies of four hostages from Gaza this week, Israeli officials said Monday. Another trade is then expected to see six living hostages return to Israel on Saturday.
The identities of the hostages have not yet been released.
The exchange would mark the first transfer of deceased hostages since the ceasefire deal went into effect.
The exchange is the latest step in a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was agreed to in January. If it is successful, the deal will account for a total of 33 hostages released from Gaza. Following this week's releases, it is expected that only four of those 33 hostages will remain in Gaza. Those four individuals are believed to be deceased.
In exchange, Israel is releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and pulling its armed forces out to the edges of Gaza.
Negotiations for the release of further hostages would take place during the next phase of the ceasefire. Those details have not yet been planned or agreed to.
Still, the ceasefire deal has remained on track despite setbacks, accusations on both sides of violations and continued military operations in other regions.
Hamas says Israel has recently blocked the delivery of shelter materials for displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Israel, meanwhile, says it killed the head of Hamas' military operations in Lebanon on Monday.
While Presidents' Day is a federal holiday meant to honor all U.S. presidents particularly former President George Washington some people are using the day to protest the current President Donald Trump and his allies.
Demonstrations are popping up in various cities across the U.S. as protesters express their opposition toward the alleged "anti-democratic and illegal actions" of the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk who is heading the new so-called Department of Government Efficiency with a goal of shrinking the federal government.
The 50501 Movement which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one movement reportedly got its start on the social media platform Reddit and now has more than 100,000 members who have joined the group's page. According to Reddit, the group was formed just days after President Trump's inauguration, and features numerous posts denouncing many of his actions since taking office.
"We refuse to accept that money should hold the power to undermine the fundamental rights we cherish as Americans," the group said in a statement published to its website. "We witness, with growing alarm, how our constitutional rights are trampled upon, how the authority of the President is being usurped by those who seek to consolidate power for personal gain. Meanwhile, President Trump systematically dismantles the very guardrails designed to ensure accountability across the branches of government."
Among the group's demands for "justice, transparency, accountability, and an end to executive overreach," it is also calling on the White House to take steps to change what the 50501 Movement describes as a "modern-day civil rights struggle."
"We stand firm at a critical moment in history, demanding that the American people be heard and that the White House be governed by the true will of the peoplenot by a tech billionaire who seeks to buy influence and control," the group stated.
On its website, 50501 claims it "is a peaceful movement" and that "violence of any kind will not be tolerated."
A Delta Air Lines plane flipped over on landing at a Toronto airport Monday.
18 people were injured in the incident, airport officials said, revising the total down from when paramedics had said 19 people were injured. Two of those people were airlifted to trauma centers and one pediatric patient was taken to a children's hospital.
There were 80 people aboard the plane, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The fuselage of the plane is upside down at the snowy Toronto Pearson International Airport.
"All passengers and crew are accounted for," the airport said in a statement posted on X.
"First and foremost, there was no loss of life, and this is in due part to our heroic and trained first responders," said Deborah Flint, CEO of Toronto Pearson International Airport, at a press conference on Monday evening.
There were 22 Canadians aboard the plane, Pearson said. The rest of those aboard were from a range of nationalities.
17 injured passengers were taken to area hospitals. None of them appear to have critical injuries.
It's still unclear what caused the plane, which was traveling from Minneapolis, to flip over. During the press conference on Monday, officials did not address a cause or any other details that contributed to the crash.
Airport fire chief Todd Aitken said the runway was dry at the time of the landing and that cross-winds were not a contributing factor.
The airport reopened some runways at 5p.m. local time on Monday. Officials said the runway where the incident occurred will be closed during the investigation, and is likely to impact flight operations for the duration.
"Initial reports indicate there are no fatalities and 18 customers with injuries have been transported to area hospitals. Our primary focus is taking care of those impacted," Delta Air Lines said in a statement about the crash.
The Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR jet was operated by Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis.
This is the fourth major air travel incident in North America in the last month. Recent incidents include an airborne collision near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 in which 67 people died and an air ambulance crash in Philadelphia on Jan 31 that killed seven people.
U.S. representatives from the FAA and the NTSB will assist the Transportation Safety Board of Canada with the investigation of the crash.
Scripps News correspondent Alex Miller happened to be at the airport when the incident occurred on Monday. She said many flights in and out of the airport have been suspended.
"Toronto has experienced a level of snow that they really haven't seen in years over the course of the weekend," Miller said. "There were delays on delays. The roads have been very bad all weekend. The tarmac is incredibly icy as well."
Scripps News reports from inside Toronto airport where small jet crashed MondayThis is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Two mules and a horse that were remarked as heroes in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene for bringing supplies to stranded victims have died after getting hit by a truck.
Mountain Mule Packer Ranch announced the loss on its Facebook.
The fatal incident happened after a tree fell on the animals' enclosure in North Carolina last weekend and they were able to escape.
The organization said a semi-truck fatally struck the animals named Vader, Kev, and Amigo.
"Their halters, labeled in remembrance, will now be retired while they run free in Heaven's green pastures," the organization wrote on Facebook. "And today, as we loaded up to set up a base camp in Virginia to help our northern neighbors suffering from horrible flooding and storms, we think we felt a bray of approval on the new members of the team that were loaded."
The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees just weeks after a fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Probationary workers were targeted in late-night emails Friday notifying them they had been fired, David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement.
The impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance, one air traffic controller told the Associated Press. The air traffic controller was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a brief statement Monday it was "analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members."
Spero said messages began arriving after 7 p.m. on Friday and continued late into the night. More might be notified over the long weekend or barred from entering FAA buildings on Tuesday, he said.
The employees were fired "without cause nor based on performance or conduct," Spero said, and the emails were "from an 'exec order' Microsoft email address" not a government email address.
The firings hit the FAA when it faces a shortfall in controllers. Federal officials have been raising concerns about an overtaxed and understaffed air traffic control system for years, especially after a series of close calls between planes at U.S. airports. Among the reasons they have cited for staffing shortages are uncompetitive pay, long shifts, intensive training and mandatory retirements.
In the Jan. 29 fatal crash between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet, which is still under investigation, one controller was handling both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the busy airport.
Just days before the collision, President Donald Trump had already fired all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a panel mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The committee is charged with examining safety issues at airlines and airports.
One FAA employee who was fired over the weekend suggested he was targeted for his views on Tesla and X, formerly Twitter, not as part of a general probationary-level sweep. Both are owned by Elon Musk, who is leading Trump's effort to cut the federal government.
Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander posted on LinkedIn that he was fired just after midnight Saturday, days after he started getting harassing messages on Facebook.
"The official DOGE Facebook page started harassing me on my personal Facebook account after I criticized Tesla and Twitter," Spitzer-Stadtlander wrote. "Less than a week later, I was fired, despite my position allegedly being exempted due to national security."
He added: "When DOGE fired me, they turned off my computer and wiped all of my files without warning."
Spitzer-Stadtlander said he was supposed to be exempted from the probationary firings because the FAA office he worked in focused on national security threats such as attacks on the national airspace by drones.
The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The firings were first reported by CNN.
It's not everyday you go to the grocery store and find a venomous reptile in the produce section, but that's exactly what happened at one U.S. grocer.
According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division, employees at a local grocery store discovered a "mildly venomous" Ornate Cat-eyed Snake that was hitchhiking in a shipment of bananas.
Officials said the snake was ultimately unharmed and rehomed with the Rainforest Reptile Shows Inc., a regional animal show that presents throughout New England.
"Thank you to the alert employees and the great and always helpful staff at Rainforest Reptile Shows Inc," the New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division said in a statement.
The Ornate Cat-eyed Snake is native to the lowlands of western Ecuador, where it inhabits dry forest ecosystems, according to reptilesofecuador.com. However, it can also be found in other South American countries like Colombia and Peru.
While venomous, experts say Cat-eyed Snakes are relatively calm and rarely attempt to bite humans, instead often choosing to imitate other far more dangerous snakes like vipers.
Cat-eyed Snaked are also notorious for their foul scent that comes from a substance they emit to deter predators, according to A-Z Animals.
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