Tuesday, Jan. 28 | By Jonathan Easley |
© Mark Schiefelbein, Associated Press |
Trump provokes a firestorm with federal freeze
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PRESIDENT TRUMP SENT WASHINGTON into a frenzy with his sweeping move to freeze federal assistance programs, which provoked lawsuits, outrage and confusion about the status of government programs. The abrupt action, issued through a memo from the budget office late Monday night, put a pause on most federal loans and grants, while requiring a review period to ensure the spending aligns with Trump's executive orders. The White House insists the freeze is not a "blanket pause" on all federal assistance programs, saying that Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and other welfare benefits would not be impacted. "If you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will continue to receive that," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during her first official press briefing. However, Democratic lawmakers said their states had been blocked from the Medicaid payment portal. Although, by Tuesday afternoon, some states reported they had regained access to the portal. "This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) posted on X. The White House claimed the Medicaid portal outage was unrelated to the federal freeze. "No payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent," Leavitt posted on X. "We expect the portal will be back online shortly." Federal agencies have have until Feb. 10 to review whether loans and grants should be eliminated due to the executive orders Trump issued on border security, the federal workforce, the military, the "weaponization" of government, and other actions he's signed during his first eight days in office. States and local governments have been combing through the broadly worded memo to determine what programs will be on the chopping block. Some of the programs that receive funding through federal assistance programs, including those that provide meals to low-income children and seniors, reported uncertainty about whether they'd been impacted. The Department of Education issued a statement Tuesday saying the pause would not affect federal student loans or Pell grants. |
Democrats believe the freeze is illegal because Congress controls appropriations. "Congress approved these investments, and they are not optional. They are the law," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. The Trump administration is arguing that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is illegal, and that prior to that, presidents had power to withhold congressional spending. Democrats are desperate for a way to thwart Trump's move. Democratic-run states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, are suing to block the freeze. Senate Democrats are pushing to postpone a vote scheduled Thursday on Russell Vought, who Trump tapped to lead the Office of Management and Budget. "Trump's actions would wreak havoc in red and blue communities everywhere," said Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. "This is funding that communities are expecting, and this memo is creating chaos and confusion." Nearly two dozen Senate Democrats flipped their votes to "no" on Sean Duffy's nomination to lead the Transportation Department. Duffy's nomination advanced 97-0 Monday. After the federal freeze announcement on Tuesday, Duffy was confirmed in a 77-22 vote, signaling that any Democratic goodwill around advancing Trump's nominees has evaporated with the drop of the new budget memo. Some Republicans are expressing discomfort with Trump's latest move, such as Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. "I think there is benefit in taking a look at federal spending. But this is far too sweeping and will have an adverse effect on the delivery of services and programs." "I do appreciate that the administration did not apply it to Social Security, Medicare direct benefit programs, but nevertheless it does have a large impact on the provision of a lot of services and programs." |
Democrats are up in arms after the Trump administration fired or reassigned at least a dozen Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers, some of whom worked on his criminal cases. Reps. Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Gerry Connolly (Va.), the top Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight committees, wrote in a letter: "This onslaught against effective DOJ civil servants began within hours of President Donald Trump's inauguration, in complete contradiction of the president's repeated pledges to maintain a merit-based system for government employment." More moves:
• Two federal employees are suing the Office of Personnel Management to block the agency from creating a new email distribution system, arguing that a former staffer to Elon Musk should not have access to their government emails.
• Trump fired all three Democrats on the privacy oversight board. • The Justice Department suspended four career environmental lawyers. • Dozens of staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development have been placed on leave. |
Lawmakers in both parties are seeking answers after Trump abruptly fired 17 inspectors general. The law requires the president give Congress 30 days notice and reasons for such a move. Watchdogs view it as an effort to block oversight of the new administration. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are asking the Trump administration to provide its rationale for the firings, as required by law. "The law must be followed. The communication to Congress must contain more than just broad and vague statements; rather, it must include sufficient facts and details to assure Congress and the public that the termination is due to real concerns about the Inspector General's ability to carry out their mission," the senators wrote. "IGs are critical to rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct within the Executive Branch bureaucracy, which you have publicly made clear you are also intent on doing." |
💡Perspectives: • Very Serious: A centrist look at Trump's first week. • Vox: Trump rescinded a half-century of environmental rules. • Bloomberg: How Trump can slash red tape and enrich America. • The Hill: Trump needs to transform FEMA, not shut it down. |
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- The U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man with Molotov cocktails and knives who was allegedly attempting to kill House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and two of President Trump's recently confirmed nominees, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
- Economic confidence slipped amid shifting partisan views, according to Gallup. Undergraduate certificate programs are soaring in popularity amid changes to the labor market.
- CNN journalist Jim Acosta is leaving the network after 20 years. President Trump celebrated Acosta's departure as "good news."
- Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President Kennedy, wrote a letter to senators Tuesday calling Robert F. Kennedy Jr., her cousin and Trump's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, a "predator" and urged them not to confirm him.
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Leavitt confident, combative in first press briefing
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, gave her first official briefing Tuesday, becoming the youngest person to ever hold that position. Leavitt, who served as Trump's top campaign spokesperson and as a speechwriter under former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, was confident and at times combative with reporters over the course of 46 minutes, announcing major changes to how the administration would deal with the news media during Trump's second term. Leavitt said the White House would provide access to new media outlets, granting credentials to emergent podcasters, social media creators and independent journalists that have often been frozen out of prior administrations. Trump leaned into a new media strategy during his campaign, sitting with culture podcasters and influencers for wide-ranging interviews, while often shunning legacy media outlets. Leavitt on Tuesday announced that the seats in the James S. Brady press room at the White House that are typically reserved for administration staff will now be allotted to new media outlets. Her first questions went to Mike Allen of Axios and Matthew Boyle of Breitbart News. The briefing room was packed and at times unruly as reporters angled to get their questions in about deportations, the federal assistance freeze, firings and Trump's sweeping executive actions. Leavitt chastised reporters when asked by The Associated Press if she would endeavor to be truthful with the press at all times. "I have vowed to tell the truth, and I hope you all will hold yourselves to that standard … we will call you out when we feel your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House," Leavitt said. She kicked off the press conference with news that she said came directly from the president: • The drones over the East Coast that captivated the nation late last year were "not the enemy," but rather flown by Federal Aviation Administration officials for "research and various other reasons." • The uproar over those drones led to more hobbyists flying "recreational" drones, Leavitt said. A few other highlights:
• Leavitt said the administration's priority is to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally, but that anyone in the country illegally could be deported. She called it "a big culture shift in our nation" to view all immigrants living in the country illegally as criminals, even if they haven't committed any other crimes.
• The 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada are still on track to start Feb. 1.
• The White House is prepared to fight legal challenges to Trump's executive order eliminating birthright citizenship "all the way to the Supreme Court." |
GOP seeks to hammer out reconciliation plan
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• House Republicans are huddled in Miami at Trump National Doral to hammer out their budget plans, with the federal government slated to run out of money in 45 days. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) plans to use a procedural maneuver called reconciliation to expedite the process, but with only a bare majority, any GOP defections could potentially lead to a government shutdown. 📺 Watch live: The Hill's Emily Brooks will interview Speaker Johnson during a fireside chat in Miami at 5:30 p.m. EST. (Watch here) There are already signs of dissent, with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) refusing to attend the GOP retreat and announcing his skepticism that Johnson's plan will meet his deficit demands. "I am in Texas, with my family & meeting with constituents, rather than spending $2K to hear more excuses for increasing deficits & not being in DC to deliver Trump's border security $ ASAP," Roy posted on X. Conservative fiscal hawks have been an early thorn in Trump's side, as the president seeks massive outlays to implement his border security, deportation and tax cut plans. Could Democrats use the debt ceiling to force the GOP to negotiate? That was a standard Republicans tactic for years, routinely provoking howls from Democrats, who accused the GOP of taking the nation to the brink of default by using the debt ceiling as a "hostage." The Washington Post reports that Democrats are now considering turning the tables and using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip to push back on the GOP's budget demands. • Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he'll vote against Trump's pick for Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez-Deremer. Paul said Chavez-Deremer holds left-wing views on labor and pointed to her support for a bill that is at odds with his own right-to-work legislation. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told NBC News that Chavez-Deremer's views are "concerning." Via The Hill's Sarah Fortinsky: "Her nomination came as a welcome choice to organized labor, but it rattled some business groups who worried the unusually labor-friendly pick could signal a new and receptive stance toward unions among Republicans." Paul predicted up to 15 Senate Republicans would dissent from her nomination, but he also said it's possible she could pick up 25 Democratic votes. |
Campaigns: Peters walking away after two terms
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• Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), 66, will not seek reelection next year, delivering a blow to Democrats in a key swing state that President Trump carried in two out of three of his presidential campaigns. Peters, the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, says he'll retire from Congress after his second term to spend more time with his family. "Our Founding Fathers envisioned members of Congress as citizens, serving their country for a few turns and then returning to private life. I agree," he said. That leaves a big hole for Democrats to fill in the open primary. One early name to watch: Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who lives in Traverse City, Mich. • Florida will hold two special election primaries tonight to replace former Reps. Matt Gaetz (R) and Mike Waltz (R). Trump tapped Waltz to be his national security adviser, while Gaetz resigned after Trump picked him for attorney general. Gaetz would then withdraw his nomination when it became clear he had no path to confirmation. Trump has endorsed Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis (R) and state Sen. Randy Fine (R), who are seen as the favorites in their respective districts. The winners of the GOP primaries are expected to triumph in the general election April 1, giving the House GOP majority a little more breathing room. At the moment, Republicans are down to a 218-215 majority, which will fall further if Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is confirmed to be Trump's ambassador to the United Nations. |
💡Perspectives: • The Hill: We fought Trump's Muslim ban. We'll fight his mass deportations, too. • Unherd: L.A. fires extinguish Newsom's presidential dreams. • The Hill: You can get anything at Costco, including DEI • The Liberal Patriot: Democrats should embrace ideological pluralism. |
Noem in NYC for immigration enforcement action
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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem was in New York City on Tuesday accompanying agents carrying out an immigration enforcement operation. Noem, who was confirmed over the weekend to lead DHS, shared video of the operation, including a man being taken away in handcuffs. As DHS secretary, Noem will have sweeping power to enforce Trump's immigration and border security policies alongside "border czar" Tom Homan. The Washington Examiner reports that 2,400 immigrants in the country without legal permission were arrested during Trump's first week in office. On Capitol Hill, Republicans are looking for another legislative victory on immigration following the passage of the Laken Riley Act. Axios reports that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) will introduce a bill enforcing tougher penalties on people who try to reenter the country after being deported. |
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