DHS RECONCILIATION: Senators Republicans are expected to put forward a funding measure to cover immigration enforcement agencies this week, eyeing a vote to move along efforts to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Senate leadership hopes to pass the legislation, which would fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, through reconciliation, which would allow it to advance without needing any Democratic votes.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is planning to keep the package small to get it through both chambers of Congress quickly. But hard-line conservatives want to make additions, including defense funding, elections reform and a proposal to modify capital gains taxes to reflect inflation.
Adding additional measures to the package could complicate its passage and potentially cause a delay.
The reconciliation measure is part of a two-step process envisioned by the GOP to reopen DHS, which has been without funding for more than two months.
The Senate has already passed a bill to fund all of DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol, but House conservatives have lashed out at the two-part strategy. The right-wing House Freedom Caucus has called for the entire department to be funded through reconciliation, adding an obstacle for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
The lower chamber has not yet taken up that funding bill.
Read more from The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi about what to watch on Capitol Hill this week here.
▪ The Hill: Senate GOP hopes Supreme Court ‘surprise’ could save majority.
PATEL VS ATLANTIC: FBI Director Kash Patel said he plans to sue The Atlantic for defamation after the outlet published a report alleging he has engaged in heavy drinking and frequently been absent from the bureau.
Citing conversations with more than two dozen people, the outlet reported Friday that Patel has consumed alcohol “to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of White House and other Trump administration staff. Patel’s security detail has on multiple occasions in the past year “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated,” according to the outlet.
Patel said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he “absolutely” plans to sue for defamation. He said he would “fight back against the fake news.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche both defended Patel in statements to The Atlantic. Blanche said Patel has “accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years.”
“See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court... But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up,” Patel wrote on the social platform X.
▪ The Associated Press: FBI, DOJ scramble to rebuild.
MASS SHOOTING: A Louisiana man allegedly killed eight children, seven of them his own, and shot three other people in a mass shooting in Shreveport on Sunday, officials said.
Police fatally shot the suspect, identified as Shamar Elkins, and authorities said they’re investigating what they’re calling a “tragic domestic violence incident.” The Shreveport Police Department said Elkins shot a woman at one home before traveling to another residence where he carried out the “heinous act.”
Elkins then fled the scene, carjacked a man at gunpoint and left in the stolen vehicle, officials said. Officers tracked down the vehicle and pursued Elkins, eventually killing him.
The children range in age from 1 to 12 years old. Two women, believed to be the suspect's wife and girlfriend, were seriously injured and were sent to a local hospital for treatment, while a teenager sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Officials did not immediately identify a motive for the shooting. The New York Times reported Elkins had mental health issues and recently expressed suicidal thoughts, based on interviews with family members.
The Associated Press reported the shooting is the deadliest in the country since January 2024.
▪ KSLA: Neighbors describe ‘chaos’ as shooting went on.
JAPAN EARTHQUAKE: Initial tsunami waves of two and a half feet were reported in parts of Japan after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the northern coast of the country Monday.
Local officials warned residents in affected areas to quickly seek higher ground. The Japanese broadcaster NHK reported waves up to 10 feet could hit the coast, and the second and third waves to hit can sometimes be higher than the initial one.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government has set up an emergency task force, which is assessing the damage. The operators of Japan's nuclear power plants say they are operating normally.
The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said no tsunami is expected on the U.S. West Coast or in British Columbia, Canada.
