US Administration Live Updates: Ghislaine Maxwell, Nuclear submarines repositioned, Justice Dept. Questioning on Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell’s congressional testimony, originally set for mid-August, has been delayed until at least October, House Oversight Chair James Comer announced Friday. The committee will wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to review Maxwell’s sex offender conviction before determining next steps. Comer called Maxwell’s testimony “vital” to ongoing investigations into Jeffrey Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution deal and his death.

The Supreme Court today broadened a long-running Louisiana redistricting case, asking for new legal briefs on whether using race to comply with the Voting Rights Act violates the Constitution’s 14th and 15th Amendments. The move could further erode Section 2 of the landmark 1965 law, which bars voting discrimination. Legal scholars warn the court may now be questioning the very constitutionality of core VRA protections.

Vice President JD Vance supports President Trump’s decision to fire BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, despite voting to confirm her in 2024. “President Trump has the right to hire and fire the people he wants,” Vance spokesperson William Martin said. McEntarfer was confirmed with bipartisan support in an 86–8 vote. Martin added that Vance’s vote “simply showed a willingness to move nominations forward,” even when he disagreed.

President Trump reacted today to the resignation of Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, saying, “We just found out that I have an open spot on the Federal Reserve Board.” Kugler, who did not give a reason in her resignation letter, said she was “honored” to serve during a critical economic period. She is set to return to Georgetown University this fall. Her early exit gives Trump a key opportunity to reshape the Fed ahead of the election year.

President Trump doubled down on his decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, calling Friday’s weak jobs report “phony” and accusing the agency—without evidence—of manipulating data to favor Democrats. “You know what I did? I fired her… I did the right thing,” Trump told reporters. The BLS reported just 73,000 jobs added last month and revised down previous months’ figures, sparking Trump's latest attack on the agency he once praised.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it will begin an “orderly wind-down” of its operations after Congress revoked its federal funding. Most staff will be let go by September 30, with a small transition team staying through January 2026. CPB President Patricia Harrison called the closure “a difficult reality,” despite widespread public outcry to save the decades-old institution.

Republican-aligned super PACs have pulled ahead in the 2025 midterm money race, raising $59.2 million in the first half of the year — far outpacing the $38.6 million raised by Democratic counterparts. New filings show Senate and Congressional Leadership Funds, backed by major GOP donors, have $62 million in cash on hand, compared to $35.8 million for Democratic groups. The figures don’t include nonprofit affiliates, which can raise unlimited, undisclosed funds.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas appears to contradict Bureau of Prisons policy, which states that convicted sex offenders must be held in at least a low-security facility unless granted a special waiver. Maxwell was previously housed at FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison. According to policy, only the BOP’s Designation and Sentence Computation Center can authorize such a waiver, raising fresh questions about her transfer.

Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer has drawn sharp condemnation from former Labor Department officials. Julie Su, Biden’s former labor secretary, called the move proof that “Donald Trump hates facts,” accusing him of targeting truth-tellers amid economic turmoil. Ex-Biden DOL spokesperson Egan Reich labeled the firing “an absolute betrayal” of the agency’s integrity, warning it undermines decades of trusted, independent economic reporting.

After backlash over Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas, a senior administration official said the transfer was routine and based on safety concerns. “Any false assertion this individual was given preferential treatment is absurd,” the official said. Victims and the family of Virginia Giuffre condemned the move, calling it “horrifying” and “outrageous.”

President Trump has fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer just hours after a government report revealed a sharp hiring slowdown. In a Truth Social post, Trump accused her of producing “manipulated” numbers and vowed to replace her with someone “more competent.”

“We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump wrote. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”

U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb blocked efforts to end a Biden-era parole program that protected hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti. The ruling prevents the administration from summarily removing noncitizens who were legally paroled into the U.S. after fleeing violence or instability.“These migrants played by the rules,” Judge Cobb wrote, condemning the government’s sudden shift that stripped parolees of legal protections. She criticized the expanding use of expedited removals under mounting pressure from senior Trump officials, calling it a system that “offers few opportunities” for migrants to plead their case.The stay protects individuals paroled...

President Donald Trump announced via social media that he had “ordered two nuclear submarines” to be repositioned in response to online threats from Russia’s former president Dmitri Medvedev. Trump warned that these submarines were “positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” signaling a rare nuclear escalation between the superpowers.Medvedev had referenced apocalyptic imagery and Russia’s automatic nuclear strike system in a social media post, escalating tensions. It remains unclear whether the submarines were actually moved, as such maneuvers are highly classified.This marks Trump’s first public nuclear reference amid rising...

According to her attorney's confirmation on Friday, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's guilty associate serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, has been transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas. The move comes after a recent two-day interview with former Trump attorney and top Justice Department official Todd Blanche.Maxwell’s lawyer declined to comment on the reasons for the move. Advocates and survivors condemned the transfer as “preferential treatment” for a convicted sex predator. President Trump has not indicated if he plans to intervene, though he has the legal authority to pardon her.The situation...