Sorting through information noise in 2025 is a monumental task. Here are eight of the most important headlines to take away from this news cycle.
Trump’s cabinet is filling up. So far, 16 positions have been confirmed. The most contentious votes were Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as health and human services secretary, Tulsi Gabbard as national intelligence director, Russell Vought as management and budget director, Pam Bondi as Attorney General and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary. Six picks still await confirmation, including Linda McMahon as education secretary.
Lawsuits emerge in response to executive actions. Suits brought by state governments, terminated federal workers and others have paused some presidential initiatives. Many are expected to reach the Supreme Court, with topics including federal funding freezes, firings, immigration, transgender rights, birthright citizenship and more.
Aircraft disasters have caused fatalities. Since Jan. 29, there have been four deadly crashes with 85 fatalities, marking the first deadly crashes with a U.S. plane since 2009. Most recently, a plane crashed into a parked plane while landing at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona Feb. 10, resulting in one death and four injuries.
Foreign leaders are visiting often. In the past two weeks, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba, Indian PM Narendra Modi and Jordanian King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein II have visited Washington, D.C. Trump has hosted more foreign leaders in his early presidency than any recent president.
The NCAA updated their trans athlete policy. Following executive orders about transgender medical care and sports participation, the NCAA changed their policy on trans athletes, allowing only athletes assigned female at birth to compete in women’s sports. Athletes can compete in men’s sports regardless of sex assigned at birth.
Kendrick Lamar captured America’s attention with his halftime performance. Lamar’s halftime show featured symbolism about systemic racism throughout, including Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam representing racist messages given to Black people and artists. Other elements included a prison yard set, allusions to Squid Game, dancers in a divided American flag formation and lights in the crowd reading “warning wrong way.”
ICE raids continue. ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, the DEA, the FBI and other agencies have carried out raids in Illinois, New York, Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Washington, Texas and Puerto Rico. No raids have been reported in Indiana, but Governor Mike Braun has ordered Indiana law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.
Elon Musk continues DOGE operations. The Department of Government Efficiency has continued efforts to scale back federal operations. All work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been paused; USAID is threatened with complete shutdown; the Department of Education has had research contracts canceled; the National Institutes of Health lost research reimbursements; and federal employees across dozens of agencies have been laid off.
Compiled by Mira Costello