Tuesday, April 22 | By Jonathan Easley |
© Alex Brandon, Associated Press |
Pentagon rocked by Signal scrutiny, personnel turmoil
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DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH is under fire on multiple fronts, as questions grow about his handling of sensitive government information and turmoil engulfs senior staff at the Pentagon. Hegseth took to Fox News on Tuesday to downplay allegations he shared U.S. attack plans against the Iranian-backed Houthis over the Signal app with family members and a personal lawyer — the second time he's been ensnared in such a controversy. "I look at war plans every single day," the Pentagon chief told "Fox and Friends." "What was shared over Signal, then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordination for media coordination and other things. That's what I've said from the beginning." A new report from NBC News disputes those claims, saying Hegseth took the material he shared from a "secure U.S. government system" after it was transmitted by the Army general in charge of the U.S. Central Command. Hegseth maintains that no "war plans" were shared, which is similar to his defense last month when a journalist for The Atlantic was accidentally added to a chat group of senior Trump administration officials discussing upcoming attacks on the Houthis. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated Tuesday that President Trump "stands strongly" behind Hegseth. "The secretary of Defense is doing a tremendous job and he's bringing monumental change to the Pentagon," she said. "There are a lot of people in this city who reject monumental change…and that's why we've seen a smear campaign against the secretary of Defense since the moment President Trump announced his nomination." |
PERSONNEL TURMOIL AT THE PENTAGON |
It's been a choppy few weeks for Hegseth, with the Pentagon rocked by a series of suspensions following an investigation into leaks. Dan Caldwell, who was a senior adviser to Hegseth, told Tucker Carlson on Monday night that he was fired over his foreign policy views. Caldwell was escorted out of the Pentagon and put on administrative leave last week along with two other senior officials accused of leaking to the news media. Those three released a joint statement over the weekend saying they were "incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended." They insisted they did not leak to the press, and blamed "unnamed Pentagon officials" they said "slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door." Hegseth said Tuesday there could be charges against the alleged leakers. "When that evidence is gathered sufficiently — and this has all happened very quickly — it will be handed over to DOJ, and those people will be prosecuted, if necessary," he said. This comes after former top Defense spokesperson John Ullyot wrote an op-ed in Politico on Sunday claiming the Pentagon is in "chaos" under Hegseth's leadership. "Disgruntled former employees are peddling things to try to save their a‑‑, and ultimately, that is not going to work," Hegseth said Tuesday. |
Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled an openness to conducting bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the U.S. warned it would walk away from negotiations if a deal isn't reached soon. "We need to sort this out, maybe even bilaterally," Putin told journalists. Zelensky indicated in a post on Telegram that he'd be open to talks with Putin. "We are ready to continue moving forward in the most constructive way to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace," he said. Leavitt said Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia later this week to meet with Putin. Trump, meanwhile, will have dinner this evening with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Qatar and Egypt proposed a new ceasefire plan for Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza, the BBC reports. Trump will travel to Rome on Saturday for Pope Francis's funeral, the first foreign trip of his second term. His second foreign trip will come in May, when he'll visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Leavitt announced Tuesday. |
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The Supreme Court appeared inclined Tuesday to side with a group of parents seeking opt-outs to school district curriculum that includes LGBTQ themes.
The Hill's Amie Parnes sat down for an exclusive interview with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who acknowledged he doesn't know what the Democratic Party is at the moment. "I'm still struggling with that," he said.
The longtime executive producer of "60 Minutes" is leaving the program as it faces increasing threats and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from President Trump, saying "it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it."
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© AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein |
IMF downgrades global outlook over tariffs
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Economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Tuesday that President Trump's tariffs will throttle global economic growth this year. The IMF downgraded its projections for global gross domestic product (GDP) growth and for U.S. domestic growth. "Major policy shifts are resetting the global trade system and giving rise to uncertainty that is once again testing the resilience of the global economy," IMF economists said. The U.S. dollar has fallen to a three-year low against other foreign currencies, while gold has surged to record highs. "The president wants to see the dollar remain as the world's reserve currency for our long-term fiscal stability and long-term growth," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday when asked about the dollar's fall. The Wall Street Journal writes that the Dow is headed for its worst April since the Great Depression. Some Republicans have begun speaking out, with Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) telling Axios: "Every Treasury sale of debt instruments — whether it's bills, bonds, notes, whatever — is a 'hold your breath' moment," he said. "Generally when we're operating under great moments of stress, the more stability we can project in the system, the better off we are." Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told Deseret News: "Bottom line for me is, I'm very leery of trade wars ... If you see an escalation of trade barriers, tariff and non-tariff alike, at the end of this, that would be very unfortunate." "I'm not a believer in trade protectionism. I don't think that's good," he added. "But insofar as this process is used to bring people to the table, and insofar as it could culminate in the fast-tracked negotiation of a series of bilateral trade agreements, then I think we have the potential to be well served by this." The White House said Tuesday it was "setting the stage for a deal with China." "The ball is moving in the right direction," Leavitt said. The press secretary also touted an announcement from the Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche, which will invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next 5 years. |
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Want to cut government waste? |
The federal student loan system is a magnet for fraud, waste and abuse. Protecting borrower defense protects students and taxpayers. Stand up for borrower defense. |
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© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite |
Trump blasts high court as deportation battles rage
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President Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court this week for temporarily blocking his use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport migrants to a prison in El Salvador. "My team is fantastic, doing an incredible job, however, they are being stymied at every turn by even the U.S. Supreme Court, which I have such great respect for, but which seemingly doesn't want me to send violent criminals and terrorists back to Venezuela, or any other Country, for that matter," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump went on to say it was "not possible" to hold trials for all migrants the administration wishes to deport, as questions surface about whether all of the deported migrants are criminal gang members, as Trump officials claim. "We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years," Trump said. "We would need hundreds of thousands of trials for the hundreds of thousands of Illegals we are sending out of the Country. Such a thing is not possible to do. What a ridiculous situation we are in." A group of House Democrats are currently in El Salvador, where they were denied a meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Now, they're demanding daily "proof of life" from the Salvadoran government. The Abrego Garcia case has become a flashpoint in the debate over deportations. The Trump administration has acknowledged he was sent in error to El Salvador, but they allege he was in the gang MS-13 and was living in the U.S. illegally. Abrego Garcia's lawyers dispute his alleged gang ties and say he was living a quiet life with his wife, a U.S. citizen, and his children at the time of his arrest and deportation. His attorneys also claimed in a new filing that the government is rebuffing a judge's order to share information on the case. Other recent rulings on the matter... • A federal judge in Colorado ordered the Trump administration to provide Venezuelan migrants detained there 21 days notice before deporting them under the Alien Enemies Act. • Attorneys for Venezuelan migrants who fear they will be deported to a Salvadoran prison asked the Supreme Court to review whether the move is legal, arguing the Trump administration did not comply with an earlier order requiring they be given time to contest their deportation. |
💡Perspectives: • The Hill: If Trump flouts the Abrego Garcia rulings, the Constitution is done. • USA Today: Harvard deserves to be defunded. • The Nation: Van Hollen shows us one man can make a difference. |
Harvard sues Trump administration
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Harvard University is suing the Trump administration after the government canceled billions of dollars in funding. The lawsuit accuses the administration of violating the school's First Amendment rights and seeks to reinstate the school's public funding. "The Government wielded the threat of withholding federal funds in an attempt to coerce Harvard to conform with the Government's preferred mix of viewpoints and ideologies," the lawsuit states. The administration froze funding after Harvard refused its demands to change its leadership, admissions and hiring criteria, and to eliminate its DEI initiatives. The move is part of a larger crackdown on elite universities, with the administration citing the pro-Palestinian protests that raged across campuses last year and led to some Jewish students being targeted for harassment. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report Tuesday finding antisemitic incidents reached a record high in 2024. However, critics say the Trump administration's moves go beyond efforts to root out antisemitism and are instead meant to enforce intellectual control over the universities. The Hill's Lexi Lonas reports that dozens of university leaders signed a statement opposing the tactics used by President Trump to influence schools, calling for more "constructive engagement." "We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight," the statement says. "However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding." |
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