Virginia’s governor has become a close ally of Trump and defended his plan to freeze federal spending as other officials reeled from changing guidance.

Democrats harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s plan to invoke a federal freeze on filling vacancies and adding jobs for non-clinical positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Officials with Veterans Affairs announced on Monday that the department had completed the "initial implementation" of President Donald Trump's executive order to end DEI programs, putting 60 employees on leave.

White House officials said VA financial assistance programs do not violate rules banning diversity and inclusion efforts.

Virginia Democrats raised alarms about the Trump order's potential effects. Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the president's freeze would not interrupt individual assistance, disaster relief or school and child care funding.

Michael Missal, inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs since 2016, was one of more than a dozen inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump.

The Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized President Trump for casting blame for the fatal plane crash at Reagan Washington National Airport on diversity, equity and inclusion

Trump's VA pick, former Rep. Doug Collins, said the VA may be trying to fill positions, but many of those vacancies have gone unfilled for weeks or longer.

The top watchdogs for the Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs were among the individuals dismissed by Trump.

President Donald Trump has fired two of the three Democratic commissioners of the federal agency that enforces civil rights laws in the workplace, an unprecedented move aimed at implementing his crackdown on certain diversity and gender rights policies.