Republicans are trying to regain their footing on immigration and border enforcement as the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis put their most vulnerable members in an increasingly thorny position ahead of November.
The issue, which got President Trump elected and the GOP dominated on for years, is now posing an acute threat to the party's political standing, forcing the administration and GOP lawmakers to take steps to lower the national temperature.
In the Senate, it led some Republicans to speak out against the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) handling of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. And it led leaders to strike a deal with Democrats that led to them passing a massive funding bill Friday that included a stopgap measure funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for two weeks to give them time to negotiate reforms. |
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The Senate voted overwhelmingly Friday to pass a major funding package consisting of five regular appropriations bills and a two-week stopgap measure for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but the legislation won't become law before parts of the government shut down at midnight.
The 71-29 vote caps a week of Senate drama after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, sparking a public backlash against the tactics of federal immigration enforcement officers and pushing Democrats to oppose the DHS funding bill that was part of a six-bill funding package. Democrats vowed to block the entire funding package that had been carefully negotiated over months between Republican and Democratic members of the Appropriations Committee, putting Congress on course for what some lawmakers feared would be another prolonged government shutdown. |
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BY EMILY BROOKS AND SUDIKSHA KOCHI |
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told House Republicans he wants to utilize a special fast-track process that will require cooperation from Democrats to swiftly pass the funding package that the Senate is poised to send over and end what lawmakers hope will be a brief government shutdown.
Johnson told Republicans about his desired play call on a Friday late afternoon conference call, two GOP sources told The Hill. The process, called suspension of the rules, will bypass the immense difficulty of getting unified Republican support for a regular procedural rule — votes that have given GOP leaders regular headaches as Republican rebels make last-minute demands and leverage the razor-thin House majority. |
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The government temporarily shut down at midnight on Saturday, days after the Senate failed to pass a funding package due to challenges from Democrats to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill.
Here's what you need to know about the partial government shutdown, which is happening even after the package was ultimately passed on Friday but will still need a House vote. |
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President Trump announced Friday his intention to nominate Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve Board, ending months of speculation about his plans for the bank.
Warsh's experience on the Fed board and Wall Street, close political ties to Republicans and reputation as an independent thinker make it likely he will be confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate.
Even so, Warsh still faces questions and obstacles that could delay his journey to the Fed chairmanship. |
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President Trump's "massive armada" of warships and fighter planes near Iran mirrors the military buildup of assets in the Caribbean as the president weighs greenlighting strikes against the Islamic Republic.
The military buildup, bolstered with the recent arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group in the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) area, has swelled with additional destroyers approaching Iran, expanding Trump's attack and defensive options in the region.
The administration dispatched dozens of warships and stationed about 15,000 U.S. service members in the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) area, which culminated in an early January operation in which Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife were snatched by U.S. Special Forces. |
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday it has completed its review of the Jeffrey Epstein files, releasing 3 million additional documents to the public.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Friday that the tranche being released will be one of the last steps required under a bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump requiring the publication of the files related to deceased sex offender Epstein. "Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive documentation – document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act. The department has engaged in an unprecedented and extensive effort to do so, after submitting the final report to Congress, as required under the Act, and publishing the written justifications for redactions in the Federal Register, the department's obligations under the act will be completed," Blanche said. |
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President Trump on Friday nominated economist Brett Matsumoto to be commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) months after the president fired the previous agency head over substantial revisions to past jobs reports.
"For many years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, under WEAK and STUPID people, has been FAILING American Businesses, Policymakers, and Families by releasing VERY inaccurate numbers," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "That is why I FIRED the former Commissioner, and am pleased to nominate the very talented Brett Matsumoto as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)." Matsumoto is a senior economist with the White House's Council of Economic Advisors and "and on leave as a research economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics" focused on economic measurement, according to the White House's website. |
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Former CNN host Don Lemon, released a day after federal officers arrested him in Los Angeles, defended his career in journalism on Friday, saying he will never stop reporting.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Donahue ordered Lemon to be released on no money bond, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lemon was accused of disturbing worshippers in a Minnesota church by disrupting their First Amendment right to practice their faith. Outside a downtown Los Angeles courthouse, Lemon thanked people supporting him and defended his work. |
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OPINION | The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted on Jan. 21 to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas in the committee's Jeffrey Epstein investigation. The resolution now heads to the full House. If it gets a floor vote and passes, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will certify the matter to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The Department of Justice will have a hard time justifying a refusal to prosecute. |
OPINION | Davos has always been a stage for grand announcements, but this year's unveiling of Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" was designed to eclipse them all. Leaders from dozens of states gathered under bright lights, pens poised over a glossy charter, as Trump declared the initiative a historic alternative to what he called a "broken" United Nations. The optics were cinematic. The world, however, remains engulfed in conflict — from Gaza to Ukraine to the IndoPacific — and even close U.S. partners are hesitant or quietly staying out.
The contrast is stark. What was presented as a new architecture for global stability looks far more like a personalized platform wrapped in multilateral language. |
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BY GREG JAFFE AND THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF |
The day after federal immigration agents killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a U.S. Senate candidate in Maine spoke with his supporters about resisting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Graham Platner, a Democrat and Marine combat veteran, urged them to join "watch groups," "rapid response teams" and "intelligence collection networks" to alert citizens and potential targets to the presence of federal immigration agents in their communities.
"Don't just join a Signal thread and monitor it," Mr. Platner told the audience in the coastal town of Kittery, referring to the encrypted texting app. "You've got to get in a room with people. You've got to develop relationships and trust." |
BY BERBER JIN AND ROBBIE WHELAN |
Nvidia's plan to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI to help it train and run its latest artificial-intelligence models has stalled after some inside the chip giant expressed doubts about the deal, people familiar with the matter said.
The companies unveiled the giant agreement last September at Nvidia's Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters. They announced a memorandum of understanding for Nvidia to build at least 10 gigawatts of computing power for OpenAI, and the chip maker also agreed to invest up to $100 billion to help OpenAI pay for it. As part of the deal, OpenAI agreed to lease the chips from Nvidia. |
BY JOSH FUNK AND PETER SMITH |
Nine people, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon and another journalist — have been charged with violating two different federal laws in connection with the protest that interrupted a worship service at a Minnesota church earlier this month.
The group that barged into a worship service that Sunday was upset that the head of a local field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. The protest was quickly denounced by President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials, as well as many religious leaders. |
BY FRITZ HAHN AND TRAVIS M. ANDREWS |
As the calendar turns to February, many museums and cultural centers across the country are readying their programming for Black History Month. At the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, however, the online calendar lists no scheduled events to honor Black History Month, following artist relocations and cancellations.
In the past, the national center for the arts has offered an array of programming keyed to the month-long celebration of Black history, including an annual concert and tributes to African American icons, such as D.C. native Duke Ellington. But the choirs that long performed those concerts moved their performances to other venues after President Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center by purging its board of trustees last year, and it appears no other thematic programming was added in those events' stead. |
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