Daily Briefing: Federal DEI workers placed on leave

President Donald Trump is making good on his campaign pledge to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government. Southern cities face a rare wintry slam. Why your Meta accounts may suddenly follow Trump.

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Executive branch to shutter all DEI & accessibility offices Wednesday

The Trump administration ordered executive branch agencies to close all “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” offices by close of business Wednesday.

These employees likely won't return to work: All employees of offices “focusing exclusively on DEIA initiatives and programs” will go on paid administrative leave Wednesday afternoon. Charles Ezell, the Office of Personnel Management’s acting director, directed agencies to submit plans by Jan. 31 to permanently fire the employees.

• Threats against DEI practices: Ezell's Tuesday memorandum announcing the move includes a template email to the federal workforce urging them to report any effort to “disguise” diversity programs. The message threatens “adverse consequences” for employees who don’t report such practices.

• Wait — why is the Trump administration going after DEI? Republicans claim focus on race and gender comes at the expense of individual merit and excludes white Americans.

• Meanwhile, the internet is watching a faith leader's message to Trump to stand with LGBTQ people and migrants: The pastor of an inauguration prayer service attended Tuesday by Trump urged the newly sworn-in president to "have mercy" on immigrants and transgender children ? making what she called "one final plea."

Deep freeze, snow blanket parts of US

More than 30 million Americans are under snowstorm warnings Wednesday, from southern Texas through Georgia and into Virginia. North Florida residents may be bringing the novelties out and converting them into makeshift sleds, while Oxford, Mississippi, is forecast to have a low of 8 degrees Wednesday morning. Major Southern cities facing a wintry hit include Austin, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana, which hasn't seen measurable snowfall in 16 years. Here's what to know about the conditions in your area.

More news to know now

• Prince Harry settled his privacy claim against Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper group.

• Wildfires prompted evacuations near San Diego.

• Israel launched a "significant" West Bank military operation, killing at least eight Palestinians.

• Eighteen states, ACLU filed lawsuits against Trump's order to end birthright citizenship.

• The U.S. government website offering resources on abortion and reproductive rights went offline.

• Pete Hegseth's sister-in-law says he raged at his ex-wife in a new signed testimony.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders are free

Of the almost 1,600 Jan. 6 insurrectionists whose sentences were commuted or who received full pardons from President Donald Trump on Monday, arguably the two most high-profile prisoners were Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes. Tarrio and Rhodes are, respectively, the leaders of the extremist street gang the Proud Boys and the founder and leader of the anti-government so-called “militia” the Oath Keepers.

• These two groups became synonymous with the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, and Tarrio and Rhodes received the longest sentences of anyone charged in the attack.

• In the four years since the insurrection, both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers have been muted in their activity, researchers who study the groups told USA TODAY.

• But now both men are free. Extremism experts say it’s too early to tell whether the release of Tarrio, Rhodes and other senior extremist leaders will spark new interest in these groups.

Keep reading: What happens to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers now?

No, Facebook isn't forcing you to follow Trump

Shortly after President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday, Facebook users began to report that their personal accounts automatically followed the new commander in chief. The allegation that the tech giant made people automatically follow Trump spread quickly. But what actually happened is that the POTUS and White House Facebook pages are run by the sitting president. So, former President Joe Biden’s POTUS page was archived when he left office. The followers stayed, while the feed was wiped clean and restarted. Experts say this has been the process for social media during presidential transitions historically.

Today's talkers

• Planetary alignments aren’t rare, but six visible planets are.

• Let's predict the Oscar nominations!

• Help one USA TODAY reporter find her dream Valentine's Day date.

• College basketball has been quietly thriving during college football season. Here's what you've missed.

• The baseball world reacted to Ichiro Suzuki's near-unanimous Hall of Fame selection.

Justin Baldoni's legal team releases footage of Blake Lively slow dance scene

The Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively saga is far from slowing down. Amid Baldoni's ongoing legal battle with his "It Ends with Us" co-star, his attorneys have released behind-the-scenes footage of an intimate scene the actors performed. The nearly 10-minute clip shows their characters Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) and Lily Bloom (Lively) slow dancing. Lively cited the scene in her December complaint against Baldoni as evidence Baldoni "did not act in character" for the scene and that the actor's physical intimacy was out of bounds. In a statement to USA TODAY, Lively's legal team claimed that "every frame" of the behind-the-scenes clip "corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described" in her complaint against Baldoni. Read more

Photo of the day: American women battle down under

Hopes for a U.S. woman winning the singles at the Australian Open title fell on the shoulders of No. 8 seed Emma Navarro and No. 19 seed Madison Keys. Keys, 29, defeated No. 28 seed Elina Svitolina Tuesday night in Melbourne in the quarterfinals, while Navarro fell to No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek. Swiatek will face Keys later this week in the semifinals.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DEI, Trump, migrant, border, winter weather, Prince Harry, Meta, Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers: Daily Briefing