Former U.S. senator from Florida Marco Rubio jumps into new role as secretary of state with flurry of phone calls, planned trip to Panama.

State Department staff were instructed to “suspend any application requesting an X sex marker” and to “suspend any application where the applicant is seeking to change their sex marker.”

The Trump administration paused all foreign aid and urged USAID to follow in step or face disciplinary action for not complying with the freeze.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a memo reviewed by NBC News, said additional guidance would be issued on existing passports containing an “X” sex marker.

The State Department has frozen new funding for almost all U.S. aid programs worldwide, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue.

It wasn’t immediately clear if already-issued passports that use “X” under the gender option will remain valid. A State Department spokesperson told NBC updates would be shared as soon as possible on the department's travel website.

Marco Rubio will head overseas late next week; he's also scheduled to visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip to Central America, including Panama, is partially about countering China, a State Department spokesperson told Fox Business, as new President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, vowed on Thursday to protect FBI employees against "political retribution" even as the Trump administration has begun to fire and sideline Justice Department officials who were involved in investigations into the president.

Kash Patel to face deeply skeptical questioning from Democratic senators about his loyalty to the president and stated desire to overhaul the bureau

Federal aid and grants that are relied upon by many districts to improve education for students with disabilities and students from poverty.

Curt Mills Gabbard, who has a reputation as an outsider, looked like a seasoned political professional from the very start. Her opening line was a home run: She said she was motivated to be director of national intelligence because of the intelligence failures that led to the war in Iraq.