12:30 REPORT

Tuesday, January 27 | By Cate Martel

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It's Tuesday. Shoutout to all the parents whose schools and day cares are closed for another day. I have a little helper assisting me today, so if any references to Disney's "Cars" snuck their way into today's edition, you'll know who added them. 😉

In today's issue:

White House in crisis mode over Pretti shooting
Trump sidelines some immigration officials
Homan arrives in Minnesota, replacing Bovino
Federal judge orders ICE chief to appear in court
GOP scrambles to avoid shutdown
Customers rank Trader Joe's faves

🚔 IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Skating on thin ICE:

AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis

The White House is in crisis mode over the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot by federal immigration officers. After the first two days since Saturday's killing, President Trump appears to be sidelining the heads of his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

First, there's Greg Bovino, who has been the public face of the Trump administration's immigration efforts in U.S. cities: Bovino, commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol, has been removed from his position following Pretti's killing. Bovino will return to California to his former job and is expected to retire soon, according to The Atlantic. He's expected to leave Minnesota today, along with some agents.

Then, there's Kristi Noem: The Homeland Security secretary rushed to declare Pretti a "domestic terrorist" before many details were known, asserting that the ICU nurse "attacked" federal law enforcement while "brandishing" a gun. However, bystander videos quickly contradicted her declaration.

Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski met with Trump and top aides at the White House on Monday evening for nearly two hours, according to The New York Times, which reported that Noem requested the meeting.

Call in Homan: While Trump reportedly did not suggest he would fire Noem during their meeting, he sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to run operations and publicly noted that Homan will report directly to him. Read more on Homan

^ Tidbit — Where Trump might have gotten that idea: CNN's Brian Stelter noted that "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade suggested sending Homan to Minnesota three times on-air on Monday morning. Just 20 minutes later, Trump announced that he would send Homan to Minnesota. Was Trump watching Fox?

Trump also spoke directly with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), noting the two are on a "similar wavelength." This is particularly notable given the president's frequent targeting of the Democratic governor.

Keep an eye out for what happens to Lewandowski. He is technically a temporary government employee. Axios reports that he effectively operates as Noem's chief of staff and has a lot of influence and power at DHS.

What about Stephen Miller?: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made a point to distance Trump from comments Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller made over the weekend. Miller referred to Pretti as a "would-be assassin" who "tried to murder federal law enforcement."

💬 Follow today's live blog

➤ ORDERED TO APPEAR IN COURT:

A federal judge in Minnesota has ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court at 1 p.m. on Friday — or else he will be held in contempt.

Chief Judge for the District of Minnesota Patrick Schiltz wrote in a three-page order: "This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result."

^ Keep in mind: Schiltz is an appointee of former President George W. Bush.

➤ WHAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS SHIFT:

While it's too early for public opinion polling on Pretti's shooting, Americans largely disapproved of the Trump administration's immigration tactics and the killing of fellow Minnesotan Renee Good.

➤ RELATED READS:

The Washington Post: Outrage over ICE has spilled into typically apolitical online spaces

The Wall Street Journal: The 48 Hours That Convinced Trump to Change Course in Minnesota

Politico: Klobuchar delays governor campaign launch as Border Patrol killing upends Minnesota

Axios: "It was a mess": Inside Trump's pivot on Minnesota

The Hill: Trump faces growing GOP backlash over immigration crackdown after second deadly shooting

The Atlantic: Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong: The pushback against ICE exposed a series of mistaken assumptions.

⏱️ ON CAPITOL HILL

Ice is complicating everything this week:

🧊 In literal terms, Washington is still digging out of the inches of ice cemented onto the streets from Sunday's storm.

🚔 And in more metaphorical terms, arguments over whether to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will likely result in a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.

Senate Democrats are unified in refusing to fund DHS, which includes ICE, without reforms to the immigration agency. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are desperately looking for a compromise to avert a partial government shutdown.

Where things stand: "Congress took a step closer toward a partial shutdown Monday when Republicans dismissed a demand by Senate Democrats to drop funding for Homeland Security from the funding package passed by the House last week."

The House bill as it stands: "The House-passed bill would allocate another $10 billion for ICE on top of the $76 billion the agency is slated to receive over four years from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law last year."

Read Alexander Bolton's reporting on where the shutdown negotiations stand: 'Republicans scramble to avoid shutdown amid public ICE backlash'

➤ QUICK HITS:

— Composer Philip Glass canceled his highly anticipated Kennedy Center performance, boycotting because of the new leadership.

— An ex-FIFA president is calling for a World Cup boycott in the U.S.

— Yale is going tuition-free for families who make less than $200,000 per year, per The Wall Street Journal.

— Pope Leo XIV issued a warning about AI chatbots, urging people not to allow them to replace human relationships.

➤ MORE READS:

The New York Times: How Trump Became a Liability for Europe's Far Right

The Washington Post: How I cracked the code on toddler screen time

COMING UP

The House is out. The Senate is in. President Trump is in Iowa. (All times EST)

Today: Special elections in Minnesota. 🔎 What to watch

4 p.m. Trump delivers remarks in Clive, Iowa. 💻 Livestream

5:30 p.m. The Senate's first vote of the week. 📆 Today's agenda

Feb 6.: Opening ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics

🐝 INTERNET BUZZ

🎂 Celebrate: Today is National Chocolate Cake Day.

🛒 The best of Joe's best: The results of Trader Joe's 17th annual Customer Choice Awards are in. The Steamed Pork & Ginger Soup Dumplings won, edging out the Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese and Butter Chicken. The Protein Pancakes won as the best new product. 🥇 See the winner in each category

🐼 My favorite part of a DC snow day: The pandas at the National Zoo in D.C. had a grand old time frolicking in the snow. 📹 Watch

🍞 What's the healthiest bread to buy?: NBC's "Today" spoke with a dietician about what type of bread is the best for you. Whole wheat bread is unsurprisingly high on the list.

👋 AND FINALLY…

I saved a great video for today because I thought we could all use a distraction from the world. Enjoy this real-life magic school bus.

Stay Engaged

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