Musk's DOGE gets more power and winter weather across the U.S.: Morning Rundown

Donald Trump signed an order giving Elon Musk more power over the federal workforce. Millions of people are under warnings as a pair of winter storms take hold. And Trump teases the release of another American after Russia freed teacher Marc Fogel from its custody. 

Here’s what to know today.

Trump is giving Musk and DOGE even more power

As Elon Musk stood next to him in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump announced an executive order giving the wealthiest person in the world and his DOGE office more power over the federal workforce. The new executive order directs federal agencies to “coordinate and consult” with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut jobs and limit hiring, according to a summary from the White House. Each agency will “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force” and limit hiring to only “essential positions.”

The national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing 800,000 federal and Washington, D.C., government workers, said the Trump administration’s “reckless, unjustified cuts” were aimed at rewarding “Musk and Trump’s billionaire buddies.”

This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Trump praised Musk’s work so far and said he wants Musk to do more, even as DOGE faces lawsuits from labor unions and attorneys general over whether it is acting within the law. Musk wore an all-back “Make America Great Again” hat and had one of his 11 children present for the media briefing.

For weeks, Musk has railed against what he said is waste, fraud or abuse within the federal government. But as Trump and Musk took questions from reporters, the two spoke mostly in generalities and did not give details about the alleged fraud that they said DOGE had found.

Musk also told reporters it was not a conflict of interest for him to intervene in the operations of the Defense Department, for which his company SpaceX is a major contractor. Trump brushed aside a reporter’s question about whether he would eventually need congressional approval to cut spending.

Read the full story here.

While Trump ordered Musk to make further cuts to the federal workforce, leadership changes at various agencies were also in motion. The inspector general at USAID was fired a day after his office released a report detailing the negative impact of the Trump administration’s dramatic downsizing of the agency. And four FEMA officials were fired, a Homeland Security spokesperson said, claiming they made “egregious payments to luxury NYC hotels for migrants.”

More Trump administration and politics news: 

• Emil Bove, the Trump-appointed acting deputy attorney general, is leading a Justice Department effort to identify everyone who worked on Jan. 6 cases. Some who know him are shocked — because Bove himself helped investigate Jan. 6 cases.

Two storms bring winter weather to much of the U.S.

More than 99 million people were under winter weather warnings or winter weather advisories as of last night as a pair of storms threatened much of the country, spanning from Denver and northwestern Texas into Michigan, and from Tennessee and Virginia and along the Northeast to Massachusetts. By last night, Washington, D.C., had recorded 5 inches of snow. The inclement weather forced a Senate confirmation vote for Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick for a key intelligence post, to be postponed until this morning.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City, Missouri, area was forecast to get up to 7 inches of snow this morning, the National Weather Service said. North Dakota could get as cold as minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit when wind chill is factored in. In Utah, there were stark warnings about the threat of avalanches, which have killed four people this year. And California is bracing for rain and snow in higher elevation areas. In Los Angeles, recent wildfires have increased the risk of debris flows and mudslides. Here’s what else we know.

Marc Fogel returns to U.S. after release from Russian custody

Marc Fogel, an American teacher held by Russia for 3½ years before his release yesterday, expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump in a meeting at the White House shortly after Fogel’s return to U.S. soil. “I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all,” Fogel said before declaring Trump and the staff members who helped secure his release the real heroes.

Fogel, 63, of Pennsylvania, had been teaching in Russia before authorities sentenced him to 14 years for having 17 grams of medical cannabis, which he had been prescribed in the U.S. for back pain but was illegal in Russia. The U.S. considered him “wrongfully detained.”

As he awaited Fogel’s visit to the White House, Trump said another American would be released today, but he did not say who.

Fogel’s release could advance Trump’s efforts to reach a ceasefire in the three-year Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine, officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear what the Russians gained from this release. Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• The final inflation report covering the Biden administration is expected to show prices for core items, which exclude food and energy, remained unchanged in January at about a 3.2% rate.

• Some Black leaders and residents in greater Cincinnati have called for an investigation after masked neo-Nazis were allowed to gather on a freeway bridge for a demonstration and weren’t arrested.

Staff Pick: How grocery prices are changing

One of President Donald Trump’s central promises on the campaign trail was to lower inflation. It’s one of the most salient issues for voters as we bemoan those items that remain stubbornly expensive. Behold, a grocery price trends tracker designed by data editors Nigel Chiwaya and Joe Murphy. It’s simple, elegant and serves as a quick gauge of how the prices of a few key items — eggs, bacon, beef, bread, chicken and orange juice — are trending. I love that I can compare what I’m paying for those items to the national average. And it just might be a leading indicator of the president’s popularity as he settles into his second administration. — Richie Duchon, deputy director of platforms

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

NBC Select reporter Harry Rabinowitz tested and reviewed the latest Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 and shared his first impressions about the updated design and new heart rate monitoring feature. Plus, the team got a behind-the-scenes look at the Colgate lab to check out three new oral care products.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

Thanks for reading today’s Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson. If you’re a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign up here.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com