A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump ’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program.

Most Americans favor allowing transgender people to serve in the armed forces — but support has slipped in recent years, according to a new poll. A strong majority also supports allowing women to serve in combat roles.

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at NATO’s glass headquarters for the first time Wednesday, European leaders were bracing for difficult negotiations over how much they spend on defense.

The House Budget Committee is pushing for $100 billion in extra Pentagon spending, and the Senate Budget Committee’s resolution calls for an increase of $150 billion.

The Air Force has delayed the start of the promotion cycle for technical sergeants to review testing material and remove content related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

A Coast Guard official says the two occupants of the E/A-18G Growler were picked up after the crash and are in stable condition.

Belarusian authorities on Wednesday released an imprisoned U.S. citizen, a Belarusian journalist for a U.S.-funded media outlet and an opposition supporter. The releases were announced a day after the White House trumpeted a prisoner swap with Russia that brought home a U.S. schoolteacher.

The study was small and lasted just over two months, so it’s not the final word. But the results published Wednesday add to evidence that drugs like Ozempic might help with cravings for drugs and alcohol, not just food.

Even as some programs would be cut, money would be shifted to other Trump priorities, including a $100 billion boost in defense spending over the next decade through the Armed Services Committee and an additional $90 billion for the Homeland Security Department, which is carrying out Trump’s massive immigration deportation.

Israel’s defense minister says “all hell will break loose” if Hamas does not release three hostages as planned this weekend. The threat on Wednesday comes as mediators work to keep the fragile ceasefire from collapsing. A Hamas official now says there are “positive signals” for the release.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth participated in an early morning PT session hosted by troops from the 1st Battalion 10th Special Forces Group at Panzer Kaserne, Stuttgart, Germany.

Pvt. Gage Kaiser, 20, pleaded guilty to driving drunk and killing an off-duty police officer on a rural Kansas road last year.

Doug Collins, the new secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs, temporarily assumed open leadership posts at two federal watchdog agencies after President Donald Trump fired their leaders in a move criticized by some Democratic lawmakers.

Trump said he spent more than an hour on the phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and “I think we’re on the way to getting peace.”

The plan “redistributes manpower to ensure our most critical ships are fully staffed and ready for mission demands,” Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck said.

The Oregon Army National Guard has unveiled 6-mile off-road tank driver training course at Raymond F. Rees Training Center. The new course will allow local National Guard units to conduct essential driver training without traveling hundreds of miles to out-of-state facilities. 

Sam Lilley, the airline pilot killed in a midair collision with a U.S. Army helicopter near Washington on Jan. 29, will be remembered in a public memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Georgia Southern University Armstrong campus’ Fine Arts Hall.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday spoke to Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, the first such top-level contact since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Ukraine’s military has started to offer one-year contracts with generous bonuses to men under 25, in a bid to fix the country’s manpower deficit as Russian troops continue their advance.