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By Nathan Layne (Reuters) -Gavin Kliger, one of the top staffers working with Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the federal government, arrived at the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday to examine the agency’s operations, according to two people familiar with the matter. Kliger was meeting with senior executives at the tax-collecting agency, marking the first time that a member of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has shown up at its headquarters … Read more…

By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his 75-day delay in enforcing a ban on the popular short-video app TikTok could be extended, but said he doesn’t think that will be necessary. In remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he still hopes to make a deal on TikTok to keep the app alive in the U.S., crediting it with helping him win the 2024 presidential election. … Read more…

By Matt Tracy and Saeed Azhar WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Blackstone plans to take out a loan of about $800 million to finance the purchase of a stake in a 50-story office building in New York City, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The deal is likely to be closed, and any new financing will occur after it is finalized, said the first source, who declined to be identified discussing private negotiations.     … Read more…

By Mike Stone, Fanny Potkin and Wen-Yee Lee WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE/TAIPEI (Reuters) -The White House is seeking to renegotiate U.S. CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The people, along with a third source, said the new administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost American domestic semiconductor output with $39 billion in subsidies.  Washington plans to … Read more…

By Jack Queen and Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has moved to dramatically shrink the size of the federal workforce and mass terminations have already begun at several U.S. government agencies. But a tangled web of laws and regulations around hiring and firing government employees could mire Trump’s efforts in lawsuits and delays.  Here is a look at Trump’s actions so far and the legal obstacles he could face in downsizing the 2.3 … Read more…

By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – Donald Trump and his supporters on Wednesday continued to ramp up their criticism of judges who they say have stymied the Republican U.S. president’s second-term agenda, with billionaire ally Elon Musk calling for “an immediate wave of judicial impeachments.” Those statements came a day after federal courts forced U.S. agencies to restore health-related websites taken down in response to one of Trump’s executive orders and declined to lift a judge’s … Read more…