Senate Republicans on Monday criticized Elon Musk’s directive for federal government employees to lose their jobs if they did not send in a bullet-pointed summary of what they did last week at

Nominees for OMB, DHS told Senators that the firing of probationary employees is part of the need to right-size the federal workforce.

Senate leaders are looking to advance picks for the White House budget and science offices, among others agencies.

Plus, the Supreme Court pauses judge's order requiring the Trump administration to pay foreign aid contractors. These and more stories on The Excerpt.

The spending cuts loom over negotiations to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next week, and the White House is stepping up its outreach to GOP lawmakers.