The Trump administration has rolled out a new rule with the aim of making it easier to terminate federal employees for serious misconduct by cutting through the red tape that currently impedes that process. 

‘The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing amendments to the Federal Government personnel vetting adjudicative processes for determining suitability and taking suitability actions,’ the rule, which went live for public comment on Monday morning, states. 

‘The purpose of the proposed rule is to improve the efficiency, rigor and timeliness by which OPM and agencies vet individuals for risk to the integrity and efficiency of the service, and to make clear that individuals who engage in serious misconduct while employed in Federal service are subject to the same suitability procedures and actions as applicants for employment.’

OPM says its new rule is part of President Trump’s ‘Implementing the Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative’ as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ‘Strengthening the Suitability and Fitness of the Federal Workforce.’

OPM explains that the new rule will allow the federal government to take action against employees who engage in misconduct after being hired, giving agencies ‘broader authority’ to ‘flag conduct’ including tax evasion, leaking of sensitive information, and other behavior ‘inconsistent with the public trust.’

‘For too long, agencies have faced red tape when trying to remove employees who break the public’s trust,’ OPM’s Acting Director, Chuck Ezell, told Fox News Digital. 

‘This proposed rule ensures misconduct is met with consequence and reinforces that public service is a privilege, not a right.’

Under the new rule, federal agencies will be able to refer specific cases to OPM requesting ‘suitability action’ for employees who are believed to have committed post-appointment conduct that deserves disciplinary action. 

Fox News Digital reported in 2023 that under current law, the vast majority of the federal workforce is not at-will and may only be terminated for misconduct, poor performance, medical inability and reduction in force. Federal employees are also entitled to sweeping due process rights when fired which can create a cumbersome process for agencies to remove a worker.

Poland has elected Karol Nawrocki, a conservative backed by President Donald Trump, in the country’s presidential runoff election, according to a final vote count issued Monday. 

Nawrocki won 50.89% of the vote, gaining a narrow victory over liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 49.11%, the Associated Press reported. 

The first round of voting two weeks ago revealed deep divisions in the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union. Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda, a conservative whose second and final term ends on Aug. 6. 

Trzaskowski conceded defeat and congratulated Nawrocki on Monday, thanking all those who voted for him. 

‘I fought for us to build a strong, safe, honest, and empathetic Poland together,’ he wrote on X. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t able to convince the majority of citizens of my vision for Poland. I’m sorry we didn’t win together.’

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week stumped for Nawrocki at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Warsaw, where she also slammed ‘weak’ European leaders who she argued have allowed mass migration of having ‘destroyed their civilizations.’ Noem praised Poland’s strict border enforcement, warning that ‘socialists’ like Trzaskowski would take such protections away from the Polish people. 

Trump hosted Nawrocki at the White House in early May during the conservative candidate’s campaign. 

Under the Polish constitution, the president serves a five-year term and may be re-elected once. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among the leaders offering their congratulations to Nawrocki on Monday morning. 

‘Poland, which preserves the strength of its national spirit and its faith in justice, has been and remains a pillar of regional and European security, and a strong voice defending freedom and dignity for every nation,’ Zelenskyy wrote. ‘By reinforcing one another on our continent, we give greater strength to Europe in global competition and bring the achievement of real and lasting peace closer. I look forward to continued fruitful cooperation with Poland and with President Nawrocki personally.’ 

The U.S. has about 10,000 troops stationed in Poland and Noem suggested that military ties could deepen with Nawrocki as president. A common refrain from Nawrocki’s supporters is that he will restore ‘normality,’ as they believe Trump has done. U.S. flags often appeared at Nawrocki’s rallies, and his supporters believed that he offered a better chance for good ties with the Trump administration.

Nawrocki, a 42-year-old amateur boxer and historian, has also echoed some of Trump’s language on Ukraine. He promises to continue Poland’s support for Ukraine but has been critical of Zelenskyy, accusing him of taking advantage of allies. He has accused Ukrainian refugees of taking advantage of Polish generosity, vowing to prioritize Poles for social services such as health care and schooling.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who shares Nawrocki’s national conservative worldview, hailed Nawrocki’s ‘fantastic victory.’

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered measured congratulations, emphasizing continued EU-Poland collaboration rooted in shared democratic values: ‘We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home.’

Nawrocki’s victory is a comeback for the Law and Justice party, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, when it lost power to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist coalition. 

Duda’s veto power has been one obstacle to the pro-European Union Tusk in fulfilling certain electoral promises, such as loosening restrictions on abortion or passing a civil partnership law for same-sex couples. Some observers in Poland have said the unfulfilled promises could make it more difficult for Tusk to continue his term until the next parliamentary election scheduled for late 2027, particularly if Law and Justice dangles the prospect of future cooperation with conservatives in his coalition.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s time as the face of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has come to an end following the expiration of his time as a special government employee. 

Since January, Musk has been heading up DOGE, which was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce.

But how will the Trump administration look at DOGE now that Musk is gone?

So far, there are no signs that DOGE is being dismantled or that its efforts will be reversed, and former DOGE employees are infiltrating other areas of the Trump administration. Plus, President Donald Trump signaled that Musk could return in some capacity, although he did not dive into specifics. 

‘Elon’s really not leaving,’ Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. ‘He’s going to be back and forth … it’s his baby. And I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things. But Elon’s service to America has been without comparison in modern history.’

DOGE’s efforts to cut waste have led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraudulent payment cuts, in addition to other steps to eliminate costs, according to a May 26 update from DOGE’s website. That translates to roughly $1,086.96 in savings per taxpayer, according to the website. 

Meanwhile, Musk signaled that despite his departure as a special employee, DOGE would only continue to pick up steam and that DOGE is now an essential aspect of the federal government. 

‘This is not … the end of DOGE, but really the beginning. My time as a special government appointee necessarily had to end,’ Musk said Friday in the Oval Office. ‘The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger. I liken it to a sort of person of Buddhism. It’s like a way of life, so it is permeating throughout the government. And I’m confident that over time, we’ll see $1 trillion of savings, and a reduction in $1 trillion of waste, fraud reduction.’ 

The White House has said that DOGE leadership following Musk’s departure will continue through members of Trump’s Cabinet. 

‘The DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s Cabinet and the president himself, who is wholeheartedly committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday at a White House press briefing. 

‘The entire Cabinet understands the need to cut government waste, fraud and abuse,’ Leavitt said. ‘And each Cabinet secretary at their respective agencies is committed to that. That’s why they were working hand in hand with Elon Musk. And they’ll continue to work with their respective DOGE employees who have onboarded as political appointees at all of these agencies. So surely the mission of DOGE will continue, and many DOGE employees are now political appointees and employees of our government.’

A senior White House official previously told Fox News Digital that DOGE is now part of the ‘DNA’ of the federal government, and that the agency will continue to function as it has done so far. 

‘The DOGE employees at their respective agency or department will be reporting to and executing the agenda of the president through the leadership of each agency or department head,’ the official said.

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump’s 20th week in the Oval Office is expected to include a White House meeting with Germany’s chancellor, a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and lawmakers’ ongoing efforts to pass the ‘big, beautiful bill’ to fund the president’s agenda.

Monday marks Trump’s 134th day in the White House, a period in which he has issued 150 executive orders affecting domestic policies, unveiled sweeping plans to rectify the nation’s trade deficit with foreign nations and held ongoing negotiations to end international wars. 

The week is slated to include a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House as war continues to rage between Ukraine and Russia and trade negotiations with the U.S. hang over Germany. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz heads to DC 

Merz’s office confirmed on Saturday that the chancellor will travel to Washington on Wednesday evening ahead of meeting Trump on Thursday, Politico reported. 

The two are slated to discuss the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and trade policies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Merz in Germany last week as the two European leaders ironed out an agreement for Germany to bolster its backing of Ukraine. 

The meeting on Thursday will be followed by a lunch and press conference, according to Bloomberg.

Merz and Trump have previously spoken by phone but have not met face-to-face since Merz was elected Germany’s leader in May.

Merz clashed with Trump officials last month when Germany designated its right-wing Alternative for Germany political party a ‘proven right-wing extremist organization.’ 

‘Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy–it’s tyranny in disguise,’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted to X of the designation. ‘What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD–which took second in the recent election – but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes.’

‘Banning the centrist AfD, Germany’s most popular party, would be an extreme attack on democracy,’ former Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk posted to X, the social media platform that he owns.

Merz responded that American leaders should not weigh in on German elections and politics. 

‘We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,’ Merz said, according to Politico.

‘We have not taken sides with either candidate. And I ask you to accept that in return,’ he added. 

Trump to call with Xi Jinping

Trump is expected to hold a phone call with China’s Xi Jinping this week to discuss tariffs, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett revealed on Sunday. 

‘President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That’s our expectation,’ Hassett said Sunday during an interview on ABC News’ ‘This Week.’

A day for the phone call has not yet been locked down, according to Hassett.

‘You never know in international relations, but my expectation is that both sides have expressed a willingness to talk,’ Hassett said. ‘And I’d like to also add that people are talking every day, so [U.S. Trade Representative] Jamieson Greer, his team and President Xi’s team in China, they’re talking every day trying to move the ball forward on this matter.’

The Trump administration leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods following the president’s reciprocal tariff plans in April, when China retaliated against the U.S. with tariffs of their own. 

China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement last month, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post on Friday. 

‘I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!’ he wrote. 

‘Big, beautiful bill’ negotiations continue in Senate

Senate lawmakers are working to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is a multitrillion-dollar piece of legislation that advances Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. 

House lawmakers passed the legislation last month by one vote after a handful of Republican lawmakers held out on supporting the legislation, saying it would exacerbate the nation’s debt. 

A handful of Republican senators have made similar remarks to their House counterparts, explaining they cannot support the legislation unless it addresses its impact on the nation’s debt. The bill is expected to add roughly $3 trillion to the national debt, Fox News Digital previously reported.

‘I’m a ‘no’ unless we separate out the debt ceiling,’ Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said last week. ‘If you take the debt ceiling off the bill, I’m pretty much a ‘yes’ on most of the rest.’ 

‘If we follow the path of the House bill, we’ll have close to, I think, $60 trillion worth of debt in 10 years. What we’ve got to do is do what every family does: We’ve got to go through every line of the budget,’ Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said during an interview on Fox News on Thursday.

Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on Friday that the Senate must pass the legislation or American families will pay higher taxes. 

‘We don’t have a choice. We have to pass the bill to get the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act back in place on a permanent basis,’ he said. ‘If we don’t do that, the average American family is going to see about a $2,400-a-year increase in their taxes. So we have to do something. And it’s critical that we pass this bill. We’re going to work with the House. We’re going to get this deal done. The Senate will put their mark of approval on it, but nonetheless, we want to do everything we can as quickly as we can to take care of this so that we can get on to other things. The president has made it very clear he wants to get this done. We want to help in that regard. This is our job.’

Trump has repeatedly called on lawmakers to unify and pass the legislation, saying that it is ‘arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country.’

Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.