Elon Musk steps down; Chinese student visas to be revoked; U.S. reaches agreement with Boeing over criminal case; Harvard can still enrol foreign students.
Elon Musk Steps Down
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is stepping down from his role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the office tasked with reducing federal spending.
Musk has been the public face of DOGE since President Donald Trump created the department on his inauguration on Jan. 20 to identify government waste and help reduce the nation’s $36 trillion debt.
On its website, DOGE claims to have made $175 billion in estimated savings.
The limit a Special Government Employee—Musk’s official title—is allowed to maintain their role is 130 days in any 365-day period.
Although DOGE will continue to operate, Musk has said he will go back to managing his companies.
Chinese passport, Japanese yen, and flight tickets. Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images
US to Revoke Chinese Student Visas
The U.S. government has made a significant policy change on Chinese nationals in the United States on visas, citing security issues.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on May 27 the plan to start revoking visas for Chinese students with confirmed ties to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying in critical fields.
China has long been under scrutiny over allegations of espionage and intellectual property theft.
The Chinese Communist Party has a law that compels any Chinese national to assist the regime’s military with its intelligence and security efforts at will.
Relations between the two countries have become shaky in recent months over trade spats stemming from the Chinese regime’s unwillingness to be held accountable for the trafficking of fentanyl into the United States.
A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is displayed at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, England, on July 20, 2022. Peter Cziborra/Reuters
US Reaches Agreement With Boeing Over Criminal Case
The U.S. Justice Department has requested that Boeing’s criminal case against it be dropped after reaching an agreement.
Boeing had been charged in 2021 over crashes in two near-identical 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019, following which the model was grounded globally for more than a year.
The Department of Justice charged the manufacturer with one count of conspiracy to defraud regulators over its Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System software, implicated in both crashes, alleging it deceived the Federal Aviation Administration.
Among the conditions under the new deal are that Boeing will pay $444.5 million to the victims and a further $243.6 million fine.
A Harvard sign is seen at the Harvard University campus in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 27, 2025. Rick Friedman/AFP via Getty Images
Harvard University Maintains Ability to Enrol Foreign Students
Harvard University has won a reprieve from the U.S. government’s attempts to block its ability to enrol foreign students.
Harvard had sued the Department of Homeland Security after it revoked the Ivy League university’s Student and Exchange Visitor programme, arguing that the U.S. government was retaliating for protected speech.
The U.S. government has accused Harvard of not doing enough to root out anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism via its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
U.S. universities have been under scrutiny since student protests in 2024 over Israel’s response to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.
