President Donald Trump has announced that Labor Secretary Alex Acosta is resigning from his Cabinet position.
Acosta was facing increasing criticism over a 2008 sweetheart, non-prosecution deal he made with hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of abusing dozens of women and girls. The deal allowed Epstein to serve 13 months in a county jail on prostitution charges instead.
On Friday morning, the president said that Acosta believed that he had become a distraction.
In his resignation letter, Acosta wrote: "Your agenda, putting the American people first, must avoid any distractions. A Cabinet position is a temporary trust. I must set aside a part of me that wants to continue my service with the thousands of talented professionals at the Department of Labor."
When speaking to reporters, Trump said: "This was him, not me. Because I am with him. He is a tremendous talent. He is a Hispanic man. He went to Harvard. A great student."
"In so many ways, I just hate what he's saying now because we're going to miss him," the president added.
Acosta called for the media to cover more successes from the Department of Labor. "I do not think it is right and fair for this administration's Labor Department to have Epstein as a focus, rather than the incredible economy we have today."
Trump also downplayed his relationship with Epstein, saying that he was not "a big fan" of the financier and that they had a "falling out."
Last weekend, Epstein was arrested on new child sex-trafficking charges for allegations dating back to the early 2000's, following recent reporting from the Miami Herald. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty.
Acosta’s resignation appears to backslide from what Acosta had said at a press conference on Wednesday, when he defended his handling of the Epstein case and stated he had the confidence of both the president and Office of Management and Budget head Mick Mulvaney.
"My relationship with the President is outstanding," the labor secretary had said at the time.
Acosta's resignation will be effective next Friday.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
