Loyalist sworn in after Senate voted narrowly in favor of his confirmation on Saturday morning

Todd Blanche has been sworn as US attorney general, cementing Donald Trump’s installation of his former personal attorney in charge of the Department of Justice.

Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general since April, was confirmed in his new position during a ceremony at the White House on Monday. The 52-year-old is the second Senate-confirmed attorney general of Trump’s second term, after Pam Bondi, who was ousted earlier this year.

President and RFK Jr, the health secretary, repeatedly referred to autism during signing, though studies show no link between it and vaccines

Donald Trump has signed an executive order with plans for sweeping changes to the childhood vaccination schedule that attempts to override the authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It is an attempt to undergird the changes made earlier this year to CDC vaccination recommendations, which were halted by a federal judge. The CDC is the federal agency tasked with recommending vaccines, not the White House.

US president on Truth Social concedes contractor had cut some corners to finish $14m renovation project by deadline

Donald Trump has conceded his own administration’s renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was rushed and shoddy, while insisting that alleged vandals were to blame for damage to the Washington landmark.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said the pool’s contractor had cut some corners to finish the $14m repainting project in time for a 4 July opening. “As with many jobs, there was also some contractor error done by rushing the job,” he wrote on Sunday, claiming the resulting damage from this was confined to “a very small area” and “relatively inconsequential”.