By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning an “aggressive” reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

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The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top level officials at the agency that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.

The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to “resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.” It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency to “move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach” to the Trump administration’s goals.

Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA, which so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce are veterans themselves.

In Congress, Democrats have decried the cuts at the VA and other agencies, while Republicans have so far watched with caution the Trump administration’s changes.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran’s affairs, said in a statement that the Trump administration “has launched an all-out assault” against progress the VA has made in expanding its services as the number of covered veterans grows and includes those impacted by toxic burn pits.

“Their plan prioritizes private sector profits over veterans’ care, balancing the budget on the backs of those who served. It’s a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality,” Blumenthal said in a statement.

Government Executive first reported on the internal memo.

By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten Chinese hackers have been charged alongside two Chinese law enforcement officers in a global hacking campaign that targeted dissidents, news organizations and U.S. agencies, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

The hacking by workers of I-Soon was done in some cases at the direction of China’s Ministry of Public Security, which received the stolen information and selected targets for the intrusions as part of what U.S. officials say was a massive intelligence-gathering operation.

Among the targets of the hacking was the U.S. Treasury Department, which disclosed a breach by Chinese actors late last year.

I-Soon is part of a sprawling industry in China, documented in an Associated Press investigation last year, of private hacking contractors are companies that steal data from other countries to sell to the Chinese authorities.

Over the past two decades, Chinese state security’s demand for overseas intelligence has soared, giving rise to a vast network of these private hackers-for-hire companies that have infiltrated hundreds of systems outside China.

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By ROB GILLIES

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not willing to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs if Trump leaves any tariffs on Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press.

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The official confirmed the stance on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Trump imposed tariffs against Washington’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin. President Donald Trump put 25% taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said there might be carveouts coming — a softening of the U.S. position after Tuesday’s tax hike hurt the stock market, worried consumers and started a trade war.

In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television, Lutnick said that Trump would update his tariff plans with an afternoon announcement, possibly sparing sectors such as autos from the import taxes.

“There are going to be tariffs, let’s be clear,” Lutnick said. “But what he’s thinking about is which sections of the market that can maybe — maybe — he’ll consider giving them relief until we get to, of course, April 2.”

On April 2, Trump plans to announce what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs to match the tariffs, taxes and subsidies provided by other countries. That could dramatically increase the tariff rates charged globally while maintaining the risk of a broader tariff.

Lutnick said he would talk on Wednesday morning with Trump about the possible options regarding Canada and Mexico, saying that both countries are working to address the U.S. president’s concerns about drug trafficking. Lutnick said to expect Trump to announce his decision Wednesday afternoon.

The Canadian government indicated that nothing less than the removal of the tariffs was acceptable.

“We’re not interested in meeting in the middle and having some reduced tariff. Canada wants the tariffs removed,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

By JEFF MARTIN and JACK BROOK, Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Powerful storms that killed two people in Mississippi and ripped roofs from buildings in a small Oklahoma town charged across the nation, threatening more communities Wednesday in the central to eastern United States with wide-ranging weather.

Meanwhile, forecasters warned that a Pacific storm was expected to bring widespread rain and mountain snow across California and other parts of the West from Wednesday into Friday.

A tornado watch was issued Wednesday morning for parts of North and South Carolina until early afternoon. Tornado warnings were issued in Florida and South Carolina on Wednesday morning.

Snow blows during a blizzard warning in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

On Tuesday, high winds forced some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which moved up and shortened the two biggest parades to wrap them up ahead of the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down Tuesday in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service.

In Mississippi, two people died due to the severe weather, Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday in a social media post without going into detail. WAPT-TV reported that one person died from a falling power line in Madison County, while a driver in the same county was killed by a tree falling on his car.

On Wednesday morning, Nebraska officials warned that travel was not advised in the eastern part of the state, where high winds were limiting visibility. A 130-mile (209-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 was closed from Greenwood to Grand Island, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

Blizzard conditions in parts of southern Minnesota made travel there dangerous Wednesday morning, the weather service office in the Twin Cities warned on social media. Heavy snow and strong northerly winds slowed travel across much of the Twin Cities, southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, the weather service said.

The storms have left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity service on Wednesday morning across the central and southeastern United States, including more than 111,000 customers in Texas, about 54,000 in Tennessee and about 53,000 in Alabama, according to PowerOutage.us.

After more than 850 flights were canceled nationwide on Tuesday, the storm was beginning to snarl traffic at some of the nation’s busiest airports on the East Coast, which typically causes ripple effects throughout the nation’s commercial aviation system. Nearly 500 flights scheduled to fly into or out of U.S. airports on Wednesday have been canceled, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks cancelations and delays nationwide.

Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press journalists from across the country contributed.