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Senate rejects House's FISA bill, pitches 45-day extension ahead of looming deadline

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:11:49 -0400

The Senate scrapped the House’s reauthorization of the nation’s controversial spying powers and is instead moving on a temporary extension of the program.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that the upper chamber would extend the divisive Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days as lawmakers continue to work on reforms to the program.

"We'll kick it over there and process it quickly, and we'll kick the can down the road again," Thune said.

HOUSE PASSES FISA RENEWAL IN BIPARTISAN VOTE, PUTTING PRESSURE ON SENATE BEFORE LOOMING DEADLINE

The maneuver comes after the House on Wednesday passed a three-year extension to the program with modest reforms that included a ban on central bank digital currencies — a priority of conservatives in the lower chamber.

But the inclusion of that provision was a nonstarter in the Senate, given that it was unrelated to the underlying bill and was already baked into a housing affordability package passed by the Senate in March that the House has yet to move on.

Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will again have to bring House Republicans on board to back the legislation.

The process was nearly derailed when Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced that he planned to block the Senate's alternative plan in favor of a shorter, three-week extension.

HOUSE PUNTS TRUMP SPY POWERS EXTENSION AFTER CONSERVATIVES BLOCK DEAL, FORCING END-OF-MONTH SHOWDOWN

It's one of the few horseshoe issues in Congress that blends Democrats and conservatives in a push for stronger privacy protections. That's because of the Section 702 spying powers, which allow the government to spy on foreign nationals abroad.

However, nothing in the law prevents it from collecting data on Americans if they happen to be involved in those communications. To stop that, Wyden and others are demanding warrant requirements to add a layer of protection for Americans' whose conversations are ensnared under Section 702.

The House's version lacked that reform, but Wyden agreed to an extension after working with Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Mark Warner, D-Va., the top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence panel, to send a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and the acting Attorney General to declassify a FISA court ruling to show how the program is being used against Americans.

SENATE TEMPORARILY EXTENDS NATION’S CONTROVERSIAL SPYING POWERS AFTER HOUSE FUMBLES

Meanwhile, conversations on reforms are still ongoing.

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Thune said that there was "already a pretty substantial dialogue" between Cotton, Warner, their House counterparts and the White House to address reforms while ensuring that the "program works."

"So we're entertaining those ideas at the moment, and we'll see where that conversation goes," Thune said. "We got 45 days. I don't like kicking the can down the road, not my jam."

House passes Senate DHS funding bill after Johnson reverses course on 76-day shutdown standoff

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:15:28 -0400

Congress took a major step toward ending the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Thursday as the White House warned hundreds of thousands of federal employees were on the verge of missing paychecks amid the 76-day funding lapse.

The House of Representatives approved by voice vote a Senate-passed spending measure covering most of the department’s appropriations through September.

President Donald Trump is expected to swiftly sign the measure into law, restoring funding for the Secret Service, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration, among other agencies.

The vote came after the Senate's DHS funding bill had stalled in the lower chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to put the bill on the floor over objections to language he said defunded law enforcement. The speaker's opposition reflected the views of many in the Republican conference, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate passed it unanimously in March.

CHUCK SCHUMER INSISTS CALLING DHS FUNDING SHUTDOWN 'POLITICAL' POSTURING' IS 'NOT FAIR'

Johnson changed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged swift passage of the upper chamber’s bill.

"We’re not defying the White House," Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "Everybody understands what we're doing. We're all one team."

In an internal memo sent to Hill offices and obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, the White House warned it would not be able to pay employees starting in May if the House did not pass the Senate’s partial DHS bill. The administration since early April had been using existing funds to cover six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees — but warned that money was quickly depleting.

"If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security," the memo states.

Republicans are in the beginning stages of writing a separate party-line package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that legislation will not advance before lawmakers leave Washington for the upcoming recess period.

Trump has requested top Republicans send the immigration enforcement measure to his desk by June 1.

Johnson said he dropped his objections to the Senate bill after his chamber took the first step toward funding Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda late Wednesday.

"We had to ensure that they could not isolate and eliminate those two critical agencies," Johnson told reporters. "That was critically important for us to ensure that we’re going to protect the homeland."

HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNLOCK RECONCILIATION PROCESS TO FUND ICE AND BORDER PATROL WITHOUT DEMOCRATS

Some Republicans argued that failure to move the Senate’s DHS bill prior to leaving Washington for a planned recess was untenable.

"We have got to fund DHS, even if it's 80% of DHS," Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in an interview. "We're in a dangerous position with funding levels right now. We have to get this done before we even think of leaving on a recess."

Langworthy sent a letter, obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, to Johnson earlier in the week imploring the speaker to put the Senate’s DHS bill up for a vote.

"What other avenue of approach are you going to have?" Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital when asked about whether the House would take up the Senate’s languishing DHS bill. "This is hurting families of individuals willing to serve their communities, their nation, their state. Why wouldn't we?"

The prolonged funding lapse created financial distress for a vast swath of DHS employees who were forced to report to work for weeks at a time without pay. More than 1,000 TSA agents quit their jobs during the shutdown, DHS announced this week.

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Democrats, who initially sparked the shutdown over objections to funding immigration enforcement, supported the Senate measure because it did not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

"Bring the bipartisan Senate-passed bill to the House Floor today, and it would fund the Department of Homeland Security in its entirety with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine," Jeffries said at a news conference on Monday.

House conservatives did not ask for a recorded vote on the Senate DHS bill despite warning about the precedent of passing an appropriations bill that isolates immigration enforcement funding from the rest of the department.

"That vote was going to pass if there was a suspension vote, so we agree to let it go by voice [vote]," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters Thursday.

House Republicans splinter over pesticide provision in farm bill as MAHA movement flexes its muscle

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:01:42 -0400

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers moved Thursday to strip out a controversial pesticide provision from legislation setting U.S. farm and nutrition policy after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., threatened to "slaughter" the legislation if her measure did not receive a floor vote.

Lawmakers voted 280 to 142 to approve Luna’s amendment, which removed language from the farm bill shielding pesticide manufacturers from legal liability.

The successful vote could be a sign of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s growing influence over congressional Republicans, who splintered over the issue. Leading MAHA advocates applied public pressure on Republicans to back the amendment, arguing that failing to do so would be a betrayal of the MAHA movement.

Seventy-three Republicans backed Luna's measure, while 142 GOP lawmakers rejected it.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

The provision that lawmakers struck would block lawsuits against pesticide companies for failing to disclose potential health risks as long as they are in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on labeling. States and localities would be barred from issuing pesticide labeling guidance that diverges from the EPA.

"I have a little boy, and the amount of articles I have seen on pesticides and herbicides popping up in children’s products (to include organic) is very bad," Luna, a MAHA-aligned Republican, wrote on social media earlier this week. "On behalf of all the moms and dads that aren’t in office, I am not going to be bullied into supporting a bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer."

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chair of the House Freedom Caucus, also endorsed Luna’s amendment, arguing it would "protect Americans from dangerous pesticides."

'LONG OVERDUE': SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM THROUGH TRUMP'S CLAWBACK PACKAGE WITH CUTS TO FOREIGN AID, NPR

Republican critics, however, contended that Luna’s amendment would raise costs for consumers if the pesticide provision was stripped from the farm bill.

"If the EPA says the label is good, I don’t see why every state municipality should have to have another label that would simply raise the price for the American consumer," Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said in opposition to Luna’s measure.

"We're not talking about the pesticide in the jug as has been misrepresented to the American citizens and especially the MAHA movement," Scott continued. "We're talking about just the label on the jug. There is no liability shield for the pesticide in the jug.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., also sharply criticized Luna’s measure.

"The arguments on the other side are pretty shallow, and they're emotional," Thompson said on the House floor. "They're not science-based."

Democrats also widely backed the effort to remove the pesticide provision from the bill.

"Put simply, this language puts chemical company profits over the health of Americans," Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said during debate on the House floor.

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The floor battle over the pesticide provision also comes as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week about whether pesticide manufacturers like Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, should be given legal preemption from failing to warn consumers that its weedkiller product Roundup could cause cancer.

The Trump administration sparked controversy among MAHA advocates earlier this year when it declared domestic production of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, a national security priority. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an influential MAHA voice, publicly defended the move despite railing against glyphosate for years.

Bayer has repeatedly maintained that its product is safe to use and has not been found to cause cancer.

House Republicans unlock reconciliation process to fund ICE and Border Patrol without Democrats

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 22:53:21 -0400

The House of Representatives approved a budget blueprint funding immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump's term over Democrats’ fierce objections on Wednesday.

Lawmakers voted 215-211 along party lines to take a critical step toward ending the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security funding lapse that began on Feb. 14.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., who caucuses with Republicans, voted present. House Democrats united in opposition to the immigration enforcement measure while every Republican present voted in support.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., could spare just a handful of defections with Republicans' slim majority.

REPUBLICANS CAN FUND ICE FOR AN ENTIRE DECADE WITHOUT A SINGLE DEM VOTE: SEN CRUZ

The House's approval of the Senate-passed budget framework unlocks the partisan budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are using to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection without support from congressional Democrats.

Trump has given Republicans a June 1 deadline to send a budget reconciliation bill to his desk, giving GOP leadership little room for error.

"We have a real sense of urgency about getting this done," Johnson told ӣ��Ƶ Wednesday.

The successful vote came after more than a dozen GOP lawmakers ranging from conservatives to farm-state and Midwestern Republicans withheld their votes over concerns unrelated to the budget framework.

Republican leadership held the vote open for more than five hours to win over the numerous holdouts and six GOP lawmakers who voted "no" before flipping to "yes."

Those lawmakers included Reps. Max Miller, R-Ohio, Andy Harris, R-Md., Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Michael Cloud, R-Texas.

"This is why they say lawmaking is like watching sausage be made," Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "That's what this is, but we'll get it done."

The budget resolution teeing up funding for Trump's immigration agenda is just one piece of Republicans' DHS funding strategy.

SENATE BORDER BUDGET TRIUMPHS AFTER ALL-NIGHT SESSION WHILE TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE BILL LAGS

House GOP leadership has not specified when it plans to take up a Senate-passed measure funding the rest of the department.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., agreed on a two-track approach to fund DHS by steering around Democratic opposition weeks ago. But Johnson has so far declined to put the Senate’s partial DHS bill on the House floor over concerns that it zeroes out funding for immigration enforcement.

Johnson said earlier this week that some "modifications" to the measure may be necessary but has not gone into detail about specific changes.

The White House on Tuesday sent Hill offices an internal memo, obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, urging passage of the Senate's partial DHS bill, raising the pressure on Johnson to act.

Many rank-and-file House Republicans want ICE and the Border Patrol funded before the rest of the department, which could mean a delay for several more weeks.

"I think that there's a serious problem with the bill in that it zeroes out, ICE and CBP," Rep. Eric Burlison, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told ӣ��Ƶ. "It's one thing to not do the funding, but it’s a whole other thing to put zeros in the bill."

"I know that the speaker's working on making sure that we have all the assurances and even maybe the cash in hand in terms of reconciliation being wrapped up, finalized before we take the 95% of the rest of Homeland Security," House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said.

Meanwhile, the White House is warning that it will be short on funds to pay the department’s hundreds of thousands of employees beginning in May.

House Republicans’ approval of the Senate blueprint also effectively shuts the door on adding other GOP priorities to the budget package. Some GOP lawmakers had floated adding affordability-focused provisions, defense supplemental funding and the SAVE America Act to the bill.

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GOP leadership had argued for weeks that a larger bill risked derailing the budget reconciliation process.

"We're focused on funding Homeland Security and stopping the Democrat shutdown and, in particular, using reconciliation to fund ICE and CBP because Democrats refused to fund it," Arrington said. "Everything else is not germane to this conversation."

House passes FISA renewal in bipartisan vote, putting pressure on Senate before looming deadline

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:27:35 -0400

Congressional Republicans are racing to extend a controversial spying program before it is scheduled to lapse Friday at midnight.

House lawmakers voted 235 to 191 in a bipartisan manner to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for the rest of President Donald Trump's term.

The vote split Republicans, with more than 20 GOP privacy hawks voting against a three-year extension of the warrantless surveillance program.

The successful vote leaves the Senate little time to act before the fast-approaching April 30 deadline.

SPEAKER JOHNSON ONE STEP CLOSER TO RENEWING CONTROVERSIAL SPY PROGRAM AFTER CONSERVATIVES FALL IN LINE

A swath of House conservatives voted against the FISA renewal bill, citing concerns that the measure does not include more stringent privacy safeguards, such as a requirement for intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing Americans’ data.

The spy law, considered one of the government’s most powerful surveillance tools, allows the U.S. government to gather intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S. platforms, even when those communications involve Americans.

"We should all be standing up for the Fourth Amendment," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a leading GOP privacy hawk, said during debate on the FISA renewal bill Tuesday.

House leadership attempted to win over some conservative holdouts by adding language permanently banning the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to the FISA renewal bill.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned that the sweetener for privacy hawks will be interpreted as a poison pill in the Senate, where Democrats fiercely oppose a CBDC ban.

"They know that," Thune told reporters Tuesday, referring to House Republicans.

DEMS PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS TO KEEP OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES FIGHT ALIVE AFTER VOTE TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT

Johnson has voiced optimism that the upper chamber will take up the House bill without modifications.

"I speak with Leader Thune all the time. They're watching this very closely, and hopefully they can process what we send them," Johnson told ӣ��Ƶ Wednesday.

"No one, on the Republican side anyway, wants to play around with letting these critical national security tools go unfunded or expire," he added. "So, I think they'll move it expeditiously."

The Trump administration has pressured House Republicans for weeks to back an extension of the spy law, arguing the surveillance authority is too vital for national security to expire.

"This department strongly supports the reauthorization of FISA 702," Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Wednesday. "It is not hyperbole to say many of the most important missions we have executed could not have happened without the intelligence gathered through FISA 702."

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House Democrats, many of whom have fierce objections to a clean extension of the spy law, voted en masse against the measure.

"I'm suspicious. The way it's proposed right now, particularly under this administration," Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., told ӣ��Ƶ, referring to the FISA renewal bill. "I was more comfortable when I voted for it in 2024. Under this administration, I'm not as comfortable."

Just 42 Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, crossed party lines in support of the measure.

"I've seen countless, countless instances where the intelligence obtained through section 702 quite literally saved lives," the Connecticut Democrat said. "So, given the binary choice between reauthorization and expiration, the responsible choice is reauthorization."

Speaker Johnson one step closer to renewing controversial spy program after conservatives fall in line

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:32:44 -0400

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is one step closer to averting a lapse in a controversial surveillance program after GOP privacy hawks fell in line to back a procedural measure amid weeks of infighting.

House lawmakers approved a test vote teeing up a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for a vote on final passage as early as Wednesday evening. The procedural measure also includes a Senate-passed budget resolution funding immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump's term.

GOP leadership held the vote open for more than two hours as they worked to flip dozens of conservative holdouts. In order to get the rule adopted, leadership agreed to punt consideration of a third piece of legislation known as the farm bill, which includes agriculture and nutrition priorities.

Every Republican present ultimately voted yes during the marathon session in a major victory for Johnson. He could afford to lose just a handful of GOP defections given House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES SKEPTICAL AS SENATE DEAL SACRIFICING DHS SPENDING REACHED: 'NON-STARTER'

The successful procedural vote came after a sustained lobbying campaign from the Trump administration and Republican leadership to sell GOP privacy hawks on an extension of the spy law.

"This is by far the most collaborative effort that I've seen on FISA, and we've had a number of these kinds of fights," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a leading FISA skeptic, told reporters earlier this week. "So I think it's a very collaborative work product, and that's why I say I support it."

"It's not to say I don't think there's other reforms that I would support, but I think this is a good win, and we should focus on a broader set of reforms that apply way beyond the scope of 702," the Ohio Republican added.

House conservatives also appeared to soften their opposition after leadership included language permanently banning central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the procedural measure.

GOP privacy hawks have long pushed for adding a CBDC ban to a legislative vehicle, casting it as a necessary effort to ward off government surveillance.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned that any FISA renewal bill with CBDC language is "dead on arrival" in the Senate.

"They know that," Thune told reporters Tuesday, referring to House Republicans.

The Senate could also move to pass a rival FISA plan and force the House to swallow it ahead of Thursday’s deadline to extend the spy law.

"FISA is critical to our national defense and our national security," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told ӣ��Ƶ. "If we lose FISA, we lose the ability to defend this country the way that it should be defended. We use that information to find out what the bad guys are doing, where they're at, what they're looking to attack, what their strategies are."

"I know we've got folks out there that are concerned about protecting Americans and so forth," Rounds added. "We really need them to take a look at the other side of this, which is, are you going to hurt Americans?"

'HELL WEEK' IN WASHINGTON: A LOOK AT HOUSE REPUBLICANS' CURRENT BIND, AND HOW WE GOT HERE

Johnson is also seeking to clear the Senate budget resolution as soon as Wednesday evening.

Leadership has scheduled a vote on the measure, but it is not clear if House Republicans will support the resolution without modifications. Democrats are expected to line up in opposition to the measure, citing concerns about funding immigration enforcement absent sweeping reforms.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is still vowing to strip out controversial pesticide language from the farm bill, arguing it would block lawsuits against some pesticide manufacturers.

"On behalf of all the moms and dads that aren’t in office, I am not going to be bullied into supporting a bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer," Luna wrote on social media. "This is literally above party affiliation."

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Trump has urged House Republicans to quickly pass the Senate’s budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement.

"It is imperative that Congress immediately fund DHS and its critical operations to protect the Homeland," the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote in a memo to Hill offices on Tuesday that was obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "Failure to pass the budget resolution will jeopardize paychecks for the DHS personnel that keep the Homeland safe."

After third assassination attempt, debate grows over whether Trump attack warrants another investigation

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:51:17 -0400

When a bullet grazed President Donald Trump's ear, Congress immediately launched investigations into how a gunman was able to pull the trigger. Two attempts later, and lawmakers are now less interested in taking swift action.

There have been few calls to hold hearings or launch probes into the latest incident as conspiracies swirl online after the third alleged assassination attempt over the weekend at the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner.

"I just happen to think it's — for the most part, it's a waste of time," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "Security held. The guy didn't get through. Wasn't even close."

REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP'S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO 'DISCUSS' IDEA

Top lawmakers on the House Oversight and Senate Judiciary committees met with Secret Service Director Sean Curran this week for briefings, but have so far stopped short of calling for hearings or full-scale investigations.

Two years ago, when a gunman tried and failed to assassinate Trump on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, two major bipartisan investigations were launched to address failures by the Secret Service and other agencies and find out how a gunman got so close to ending Trump's life.

And in the case of Ryan Routh, who was caught with a rifle in another attempt against Trump while he was golfing at his club in Florida just months after the shooting at Butler, lawmakers folded that investigation in with their ongoing inquiry into the first attack.

Following the weekend shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner, where a gunman was foiled while attempting to enter a packed ballroom where Trump, his Cabinet, Vice President JD Vance and several journalists sat, lawmakers aren’t rushing to figure out what happened this time.

Trump's appearance on Saturday marks the first time he decided to go to the dinner while serving as president — he has been twice in the past. He also promised at a press conference after the dinner was canceled to reschedule the event within the next 30 days.

The alleged shooter, Cole Allen, bolted past a security check point with a rifle, handgun and several knives on his person. But the Secret Service was able to neutralize the suspect before he ever entered the ballroom where Trump was sitting.

Still, some Republicans are demanding that the incident be given a thorough review, or at least a hearing.

REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO FUND SECRET SERVICE AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AMID RECORD-BREAKING SHUTDOWN

"I mean, this is the third assassination attempt on the life of the president in two years," Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "You know, we need to look carefully at all of the procedures and protocols."

Hawley wants Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Rand Paul, R-Ky., to hold a hearing on presidential security in the aftermath of the shooting.

The very same committee led an investigation into the Butler attempt and determined that the shooting was preventable and caused by a series of failures in security protocol, planning and funding, among several others.

The bipartisan investigation landed on more than 40 recommendations for actions that should be taken in the future to prevent a repeat.

Paul didn’t appear ready to rush into a hearing on the matter. He told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that lawmakers investigated that attempt for over a year and believed that the probe "arrived at several bits of wisdom, insight, and advice."

"I think there will be items from this that need to be reviewed and made better," Paul said. "We're gonna get a briefing from the Secret Service on what to learn from this attempt, and we'll decide after that if we need to do anything further. But absolutely, the Secret Service needs to investigate and see what they can do to make the president safer."

REPUBLICANS RUSH TO GREEN-LIGHT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM FOLLOWING THIRD TRUMP ASSASSINATION SCARE

Like Hawley, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., has several questions about how a gunman was able to blow past security measures and fears what could come next.

"When is it going to be a suicide bomber? When is it going to be an army of people behind the one person that went in and blow up the whole building? Look, that's where we are, and I have questions about the three assassination attempts," Norman told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

Meanwhile, there is a growing wave of skepticism online about whether the latest attempt on Trump’s life was even real. Many users are claiming that the incident was "staged."

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Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that "some of these people need… serious help."

Moreno was comfortable that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles would lead a "necessary and important conversation" about the correspondents’ dinner incident, but rebuked any attempt by Democrats to push for answers.

"If there's a Democrat having that conversation, you can shut the f--- up given that they won't fund [the Department of Homeland Security]," Moreno said.

Trump's agenda on razor's edge as GOP divisions block legislative path in House

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:00:44 -0400

Republican infighting in the House of Representatives is jeopardizing the passage of President Donald Trump's agenda, as deep divisions over three high-profile pieces of legislation stall action on the floor.

House GOP leadership canceled votes on Tuesday as internal negotiations failed to win over conservative holdouts to support an extension of a controversial surveillance program or mammoth legislation enacting agriculture and nutrition policies known as the farm bill.

Republicans on the House Rules Committee teed up a procedural vote advancing the legislative items on Tuesday after Democrats forced the panel to entertain dozens of failed amendments. But a swath of conservative lawmakers are noncommittal about supporting the procedural measure ahead of a highly anticipated vote scheduled for Wednesday morning.

"We've been through some trying times here," House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said after reading a portion of the Serenity Prayer when the panel reconvened Tuesday afternoon amid flaring tensions among lawmakers.

'HELL WEEK' IN WASHINGTON: A LOOK AT HOUSE REPUBLICANS' CURRENT BIND, AND HOW WE GOT HERE

The intraparty divisions come as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is up against a fast-approaching April 30 deadline to pass an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The speaker can spare just a handful of GOP defections on the House floor during the test vote, setting up the measure for a vote on final passage if Democrats unite in opposition.

"I am a NO on the Rule," Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., wrote on social media Tuesday after she criticized the House Rules Committee for rejecting her amendments to the farm bill.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also threatened to vote "no" during the procedural vote after voicing frustration with the House Rules panel’s proceedings.

GOP privacy hawks have so far withheld their support on the procedural measure and the underlying three-year extension of a FISA renewal bill absent reforms. The Trump administration has failed for weeks to convince Republican holdouts to support a clean extension of the spy law despite warning about the national security risks of letting the program lapse.

Though the procedural measure includes language permanently banning central bank digital currencies (CBDC) — a high priority for some conservative members — the spy law extension does not include a requirement that would direct intelligence officials to obtain a warrant before reviewing Americans’ data.

The surveillance tool allows the U.S. government to surveil foreigners who are using U.S. communication platforms abroad. The program also permits intelligence collection on Americans in contact with foreigners without a warrant — a policy long seen as problematic by a mix of conservatives and progressives who want stricter privacy guardrails.

"The Intel community always just comes in and says people will die if you do this," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Tuesday, referring to a warrant requirement. "A lot of Americans died to give us and protect that Fourth Amendment right, that we don't have government looking at our stuff."

THESE ARE THE 21 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO HELD OUT AGAINST TRUMP, JOHNSON ON $1.2T SPENDING BILL

The final shape of the House’s FISA renewal bill is also sparking tensions with the Senate.

"There's a feeling that if it gets in the bill, then it's going to sink the bill," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital, referring to the CBDC ban language that conservatives have described as an anti-surveillance measure. "I don't know if that's true or not. We'd love to at least vote on it."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday that a FISA renewal bill that contains a permanent ban on central bank digital currencies would be "dead on arrival" in the upper chamber.

Several House Republicans dismissed the majority leader’s comments, with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., referring to Thune as "Senator Palpatine" on social media.

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Luna has also threatened to "blow up" the farm bill if controversial pesticide language is not scrapped from the legislation. Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) advocates and Democratic lawmakers have slammed the provisions as a liability shield for pesticide manufacturers.

Democratic lawmakers are unlikely to bail out Republican leadership during the critical test vote due to their likely opposition to the trio of legislative items within the procedural measure.

"Kash Patel is a major obstacle to getting to a FISA deal," Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., a member of House Democratic leadership, said Tuesday, referring to the FBI head. "And it's because many members of Congress simply do not trust Kash Patel."

Pete Hegseth heads to Capitol Hill to defend Trump's Iran war as 60-day congressional deadline looms

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 08:27:56 -0400

War Secretary Pete Hegseth is slated to defend the Trump administration’s war in Iran amid intensifying questions from lawmakers as he heads to Capitol Hill for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict.

Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine will testify before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, during which the duo is expected to press for the need to fund the administration’s unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense request for the upcoming fiscal year.

But the hearing comes just two days before a 60-day deadline that some Republicans say will force the administration to draw down its military campaign in the Middle East absent congressional approval.

Several Senate Republicans, including Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have voiced opposition to extending the war past the two-month mark. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is drafting an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that would force the upper chamber to weigh in on the war.

HEGSETH WAS 'INCREDIBLY TALENTED, BATTLE-PROVEN LEADER,' MILITARY EVALUATIONS SHOW

It remains to be seen whether House Republicans will apply the same pressure on the administration to end the war.

The War Powers Act permits a 30-day extension for the president to continue hostilities without Congress’ sign-off, but it is not clear whether President Donald Trump plans to adhere to that timeline or whether lawmakers will factor in the ceasefire with the looming deadline.

Republicans have rejected myriad attempts from Democrats to curb Trump’s war powers in Iran, arguing such measures would unfairly restrain the president.

Democrats are expected to grill Hegseth about what they claim is limited transparency from the administration about its strategy toward Iran. Lawmakers could also press the Pentagon secretary about diminishing weapons stockpiles as a result of the war and the conflict’s long-term costs.

"What's his plan for the war?" Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services panel, told CBS News on Monday in a preview of his questions for the blockbuster hearing. "Because the other piece of this is the president keeps threatening massive escalation."

GOLD STAR FAMILIES DEVASTATED BY BIDEN'S BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL ENDORSE HEGSETH FOR SECDEF

Hegseth’s visit to Capitol Hill also comes as some lawmakers have voiced concerns about recent high-profile firings, including former Navy Secretary John Phelan. The Pentagon secretary also ousted Gen. Randy George, who was the Air Force's top officer.

Hegseth could also face questions about the Pentagon formally requesting Congress to codify its "Department of War" name change that is projected to cost at least $52 million.

"The American people can’t afford groceries, gas or rent — and the Pentagon has ALREADY wasted $50 million on renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Now they want more money," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., wrote on social media.

Ahead of the hearing, Hegseth announced a Joint Task Force Audit vowing to deliver a clean financial audit for the Pentagon’s 2028 financial statements after years of failing to pass an audit.

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"We need to be brutally honest with ourselves. For far too long, this department's financial reporting has been nothing short of a disaster," Hegseth said in a video posted to social media. "Today that changes as it has during this administration, the era of excuses is over."

Hegseth and Caine will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Johnson scrambles as Trump, Senate Republicans pressure House to fund DHS

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:00:32 -0400

Congressional Republicans entered the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown united — 75 days later, and they are increasingly at odds over how to end it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is now floating a change to the Senate’s DHS bill funding most of the department after declining to put the measure on the floor for more than a month.

The new demand comes as the department’s vital security role was spotlighted on Saturday when the Secret Service stopped a gunman from storming the ballroom where he allegedly planned to assassinate President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet.

The Secret Service is among several agencies under the DHS umbrella that are currently operating without full-year funding. The assassination scare notably spurred Trump to demand that DHS funding, and the forthcoming budget reconciliation process, be wrapped up soon.

DEMOCRAT WHO BROKE WITH PARTY SAYS HIS DHS FUNDING VOTE A 'MISTAKE' AFTER 2ND MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

Now, Johnson’s new tactic is to modify the Senate bill, which he claims "has some problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted."

"We have a modified version that I think is going to be much better for both chambers," Johnson told reporters on Monday.

"It makes sure that we’re not going to orphan two of the primary agencies of DHS," he added. "We have to make sure that immigration law is enforced and that the border is safe and secure. Democrats don’t want to have any part of that, so unfortunately, we have to do that on our own."

But the White House, in a memo to House Republicans obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, demanded that Johnson pass the Senate's bill as is, and warned that unless the House took action, the remaining DHS funding would soon dry up.

"It is imperative that Congress immediately fund DHS and its critical operations to protect the homeland," the memo stated.

The Senate bill and a separate budget reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement are part of a two-track approach that congressional Republicans are pursuing to end the funding lapse.

Johnson has long reflected the view of many in the GOP by voicing objections to the Senate bill because it zeroes out funding for ICE and CBP.

But Senate Republicans are frustrated with their House colleagues who continue to sit on the bill that would reopen most of DHS while teasing forthcoming modifications. Any substantial alteration to the bill outside a minor technical correction would kick the bill back to the Senate for reconciliation.

Trump has not weighed in on the Senate's partial DHS bill, but has urged the House to quickly approve the Senate-passed budget blueprint funding immigration enforcement.

GOP INFIGHTING REPLACES CLASH WITH DEMS, DERAILS PATH TO END HISTORIC DHS SHUTDOWN

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that it had been nearly 30 days since he and the speaker put out a joint statement supporting the Senate’s funding bill.

"I guess my question is, what was the alternative? And that's what I said to them at the time, and you tell me, give me a better option, 'cause I'm open to ideas," Thune said Tuesday. "But I don't think anybody had one, and we had a bunch of agencies that weren't being funded."

Congressional Democrats have ripped Johnson for holding up the Senate bill, though Republicans note that Congress would not be in the funding stalemate if Democrats had agreed to a full-year spending bill for the department.

"Johnson can just take up the bill that was passed unanimously in the Senate and we'd be funding all of DHS except for ICE and CBP, and then we could work on that," Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., told ӣ��Ƶ on Tuesday.

"The fact that he has failed to do so is outrageous and it's on him that we are not paying the rest of DHS," she added.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats, who voted unanimously alongside Republicans twice on the funding deal, are scratching their heads about what exactly Johnson is trying to do.

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Democrats have also signaled a possible return of the funding standoff that dominated the upper chamber for over a month.

"They’re just stuck so they come up with — we need some technical changes," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "Hold up national security for technical changes? It’s absurd."

WATCH: Ilhan Omar roasted for brutal resurfaced video about ‘World War Eleven’

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:28:03 -0400

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is being roasted online for a brutal resurfaced video of her misreading World War II as "World War Eleven" during a Capitol Hill news conference.

Omar, the first Somali American member of Congress, made the error during her opening remarks at a Democratic news conference last year on the reintroduction of the Neighbors Not Enemies Act. The bill, which did not pass, was aimed at opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement, particularly his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.

The congresswoman railed that the "last time the Alien Enemies Act was invoked it was used to detain and deport German, Japanese, Italian immigrants during World War Eleven."

JEFFRIES CALLS TRUMP 'DUMBEST PERSON EVER' TO SIT AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE

She quickly corrected herself, saying, "Oh, two," and laughing.

As Omar’s district faces increased scrutiny amid a massive federal fraud probe largely involving the Somali immigrant community, the resurfaced clip is circulating online. The mistake drew mockery, including from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who teased Omar, saying, "‘World War Eleven’ … Yes, that was deadly."

In a separate post, Lee continued to rib Omar, sharing a side-by-side of her error alongside another video of her calling Trump voters "idiots." The video showed Omar saying, "It’s become really hard to have an intellectual debate with any of these people," and asserting that "the dumbing of the United States has arrived, because how else do we get a Trump presidency again?"

The video of Omar’s gaffe also garnered a reaction from Elon Musk, who posted a grimacing emoji.

The popular conservative account "I Meme Therefore I Am" posted, "She must have gotten her education in the Quality Learing Center." The post referenced one of the Minneapolis daycare centers allegedly engaged in fraud, which went viral for misspelling its name on its sign as "Quality Learing Center" instead of "Quality Learning Center."

Chloe Cole, a conservative activist and prominent "detransitioner," posted on X, "Absolutely in awe of this clip of Ilhan Omar calling World War II ‘World War Eleven.’"

"Truly quality learing. We’re learing like we’ve never leared before," Cole wrote.

TRUMP BLASTS KETANJI BROWN JACKSON AS 'LOW IQ PERSON' IN SUPREME COURT TIRADE

Conservative podcast host Matt Walsh reacted, "God forbid we ever have World War 3, Ilhan Omar will think we’re on World War One Hundred Eleven."

"Consider the astronomical levels of stupidity on display here. Ilhan Omar doesn’t know how to read Roman numerals AND she thinks there have been 11 world wars," Walsh wrote in another X post. "Either one of those would be reasonable justification to remove her from office and send her back to Somalia. But both?"

ӣ��Ƶ Digital reached out to Omar for comment.

This comes as the federal government’s investigation into alleged rampant fraud in Minnesota ramps up, with agents executing 22 search warrants at locations, including childcare centers suspected of involvement. The raids, conducted Tuesday morning, centered on federal investigations into largely Somali-owned businesses, including childcare facilities that registered with the state but were allegedly billing for care that was not provided.

Sources told ӣ��Ƶ that two of the raids were conducted at the Quality Learning Center and Baby Halimo Child Care, both in Minneapolis.

‘MARTYRS’: MICHIGAN DEMS NOMINATE HEZBOLLAH-PRAISING CANDIDATE AFTER OUSTING JEWISH REGENT

Omar has been largely critical of the federal investigation. In a January interview with CBS News, Omar said the Trump administration’s handling of the scandal "is harming my constituents, and it is creating the kind of chaos and confusion that no one needs in this moment."

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Speaking with Margaret Brennan, Omar said the Trump administration's response to the fraud being exposed "creates the level of confusion and chaos that is not necessary in a moment when we are trying to deal with a serious problem that needs serious people to be able to address it."

Omar added, "We want to collaborately [sic] work with the administration to try to make sure that there is no fraud that's being perpetuated on our state.

"What we do not want is the level of terror, of confusion, of chaos that is being created without any results in this moment."

Rep Cory Mills draws first Republican challenger as sexual misconduct allegations, expulsion threat mount

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., a scandal-plagued lawmaker facing bipartisan calls to resign, drew a GOP challenger Tuesday who threatens to scramble his re-election bid.

Ryan Elijah, a veteran former news anchor for FOX 35 Orlando, is launching a bid for Mills’ central Florida House seat, vowing to defeat the embattled incumbent in the Sunshine State’s August primary.

Elijah told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that Republican voters should have an alternative to Mills, who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations, among other improprieties.

"People in the Seventh District want another choice," Elijah said in an interview.

RESIGNATION IS THE NEW ESCAPE HATCH AS LAWMAKERS FACE EXPULSION

Elijah called the allegations against Mills "serious" and said the House Ethics Committee should continue its investigation into the incumbent’s alleged misconduct. The panel announced last week that its only active investigation related to "sexual misconduct and/or dating violence" is the Mills probe.

The committee has not indicated when it plans to wrap up its investigation into Mills, which began in November.

Mills allegedly threatened to release nude images and videos of an ex-girlfriend after their relationship ended, leading a judge to bar him from contacting that individual. He was also involved in an alleged domestic violence incident that drew a police response in Washington, D.C., last year.

The incumbent has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.

"I've never been indicted for anything," Mills told ӣ��Ƶ last week. "Everything has just been an accusation, allegation."

HOUSE REPUBLICAN TO MOVE TO CENSURE DEM ACCUSED OF STEALING DISASTER RELIEF MONEY FOR CAMPAIGN

Elijah, a 20-year Florida resident, said he decided to challenge Mills after receiving "overwhelming support" from community leaders in the district to jump into the race.

He also characterized Mills as vulnerable in a general election setting who could put the GOP in danger of losing the Republican-leaning district in November’s midterm elections. Democrats are notably targeting Mills’ seat as a top flip opportunity in the Sunshine State.

"There's obviously a chance we could lose the seat," Elijah said, if Mills is the Republican nominee.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report downgraded Mills’ re-election bid from "solid" to "likely" Republican in February.

Mills’ campaign entered April with just over $115,000 in the bank and is more than $2 million in debt, according to recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

Former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton, Mills’ leading Democratic challenger, ended 2026’s first fundraising quarter with $464,000 in cash on hand.

Mills is running for a third House term with President Donald Trump's endorsement, which can be consequential in competitive GOP primaries.

Elijah said he would still vie for the president’s support.

"I'm not going against the president's endorsement or even going against the party. I'm going for both of those," Elijah told ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "Right now, I'm just focused on getting out of the gate and just talking to people, and we'll see where those chips fall."

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Mills is also facing a potential expulsion threat from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who has yet to force a vote on her removal measure.

Three House members facing misconduct allegations resigned from Congress earlier in April to avoid potential expulsion votes. Those lawmakers were former Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla.

Mace’s measure accuses Mills of misrepresenting his military service and of illicit involvement in federal contracts as a sitting lawmaker, in addition to alleged sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations.

"This guy has no place in Congress, especially if you're a woman, especially if you're a military vet, what he's done is shameful, and at some point we have to take responsibility for ourselves," Mace told ӣ��Ƶ on Monday. "If we're going to hold the left accountable, we’ve got to hold the right accountable too."

Asked whether Mills should resign, Elijah said members of Congress could force the issue.

"There's been a lot of calls for him to resign. He obviously decided he wasn't going to," Elijah said. "He was going to fight it out at this point. So I think his fate is in the hands of Congress."

ӣ��Ƶ Digital reached out to Mills’ campaign for comment.

House panel tees up FISA renewal bill vote as Mike Johnson faces revolt from GOP privacy hawks

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:35:23 -0400

House GOP leadership’s plan to extend a powerful government surveillance program survived a critical hurdle, even as GOP privacy hawks threaten to stop the measure in its tracks on the House floor.

The House Rules Committee on Tuesday evening teed up a chamber-wide vote on a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as Republicans remain sharply divided over the program. The procedural measure includes a separate central bank digital currency (CBDC) ban desired by privacy hawks, but stops short of adopting a warrant requirement that could be key to winning over conservative holdouts.

The rules panel rejected several amendments with bipartisan support that would have required a warrant requirement to collect data on Americans during the marathon session.

"I'd like to see at least that it's voted on, and then let the will of the body talk," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who is noncommittal about supporting a FISA renewal bill, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in an interview.

HOUSE VOTE ON 'VERY SIMILAR' SPENDING BILL EXPECTED FRIDAY MORNING, GOP LAWMAKER SAYS

The committee action, postponed nearly a day after Republicans initially failed to reach an agreement Monday night, comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., races to pass an extension of the spy law before it lapses on April 30.

Republican leadership is expected to put the measure on the House floor for a procedural vote Wednesday morning. Johnson can likely spare just a handful of GOP votes if Democrats line up in widespread opposition against the FISA renewal bill.

The postponed committee business also delays consideration of a budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement and a sweeping bill authorizing agriculture and nutrition priorities known as the farm bill, which GOP leadership is hoping to pass on the floor this week.

Democrats on the House Rules Committee blasted Republicans for not allowing a chamber-wide vote on a warrant requirement amendment to the bill.

"I've yet to hear a compelling argument why the full House shouldn't debate and vote on this," Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said.

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., fired back that reforms Congress made to the legislation in 2024 enacted adequate privacy guardrails to the spy law.

"I'm convinced that this has been fixed as long as we have Republicans in office," Foxx said. "I believe it is fixed. The president has asked for a clean extension because the problems with it before, when he was being spied on, he believes have been fixed."

A swath of House conservatives, who voted down two previous proposals offered by GOP leadership, have so far withheld their support for reauthorizing Section 702 absent reforms.

JOHNSON FACES GOP REVOLT OVER WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE POWERS AHEAD OF KEY VOTE

The spy tool allows the government to surveil foreigners abroad who use U.S. platforms even when those communications involve Americans. A mix of conservatives and progressives have long advocated for changes to the program to force intelligence officials to obtain a warrant prior to reviewing Americans’ data.

Several conservative lawmakers on Monday criticized leadership’s proposal as a minor reworking of the original 18-month extension bill that failed on the House floor.

"Really what we're doing is taking existing law improvements based on two years ago, making some improvements on penalties and on some FISA transparency… but not going further with respect to warrant protections for American citizens on warrantless surveillance," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a key member of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), said during debate on the measure in the House Rules Committee.

The Trump administration has pushed for a clean reauthorization of the program, citing the law’s critical national security role. Proponents of the spy law have hailed its ability to gather intelligence that has stopped potential terrorist attacks and drug trafficking.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a notable GOP privacy hawk, offered his support for the three-year FISA extension during a post on social media last week.

"Collectively, this set of reforms provides robust privacy protections for American citizens. Congress should bank this win and reauthorize Section 702," Davidson said. "Then, we should swiftly begin gutting the unmitigated surveillance state left growing unchecked during these 702 fights."

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House Democratic leadership previewed their objections to Republicans’ FISA reauthorization plan on Monday. Widespread Democratic opposition means Johnson could afford to spare just a handful of GOP defections during a critical procedural vote that could occur as early as Tuesday afternoon.

"This surveillance mechanism could be abused by the likes of individuals like Kash Patel and the acting attorney general," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during a news conference Monday. "These people have weaponized the criminal justice system, and they simply cannot be trusted to protect the privacy and the civil liberties of the American people."

Republicans scramble to fund Secret Service after Trump assassination attempt amid record-breaking shutdown

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 06:00:31 -0400

Republicans want swift action to fund the Secret Service after it foiled a third apparent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump's life.

The federal policing force, along with many other agencies, has not been funded for 74 days amid the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. While the shutdown began over Democrats' refusal to fund immigration operations, it has now shifted to House Republicans to resolve it.

A bill to fund most of the department has been languishing in the House after clearing the upper chamber in March. That legislation would fund the Secret Service, too.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has yet to put the bill on the floor over concerns that the legislation carves out funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RAGE AGAINST SENATE DHS SHUTDOWN DEAL

But the apparent assassination attempt appeared to nudge Johnson from that position.

"We have to move DHS funding because it’s urgent. As the secretary of Homeland has said, we're out of money. He's out of money at the end of this week," Johnson told reporters Monday. "It’s very dangerous, as demonstrated Saturday night. We’ve got to get the job done."

Some House Republicans are urging Johnson to bring the Senate bill to the floor.

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., sent a letter to Johnson, obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, that asked for immediate consideration of the Senate's partial DHS bill.

"There is no time for delay," Langworthy wrote. "As put on full display for the American people with the attack surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend, our country remains at risk. While we continue to have significant work ahead to fully fund immigration enforcement through the reconciliation process, we should demonstrate clearly that we are committed to delivering solutions at the earliest possible moment."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Monday blamed House Republicans for the record-breaking funding lapse for letting the Senate bill stall in the chamber.

"Bring the bipartisan Senate-passed bill to the House floor today, and it would fund the Department of Homeland Security in its entirety, with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine," Jeffries said.

White House budget chief Russ Vought was expected to meet with House Republicans later on Monday to discuss the way forward on DHS funding, a source familiar told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

Congressional Republicans have been undertaking a two-track approach to funding DHS after Democrats repeatedly failed to come to an agreement on a full-year spending bill.

One piece would fund ICE and the Border Patrol for three-and-a-half years through the budget reconciliation process.

House Republicans are expected to sign off on a Senate-passed budget resolution to fund ICE and CBP as soon as Wednesday. Trump urged House Republicans to approve the Senate measure without any modifications on Monday afternoon.

SCALISE ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF REVIVING 'DEFUND THE POLICE' PUSH WITH DHS FUNDING GAMBIT

That forthcoming vote will unlock the reconciliation process and will see Republicans enter a mad dash to complete the package by June 1.

Meanwhile, some Senate Republicans are eyeing several options to fund the Secret Service and the rest of DHS.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said on X that Republicans should again force Democrats’ hand following the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday.

"This week, the Senate should put Democrats on record again and see how they vote," Scott said. "Will they decide now is a good time to finally fund [the] Secret Service and all of DHS? Even after last night’s violence and ANOTHER assassination attempt against the President of the United States, this shouldn’t be such a fight to get done."

And Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said "this may be the moment" to nuke the filibuster.

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"The Democrats will do it when they get the majority," Johnson said on "Mornings with Maria." "At a moment of natural danger, if Democrats refuse to fund DHS, I will say this would be the time to nuke the filibuster for good."

Trump has long pushed for the elimination of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold throughout his second term, but a swath of GOP senators have balked at that request over concerns it would advantage Democrats the next time they control the chamber.

Hakeem Jeffries doubles down on 'maximum warfare' rhetoric, tells critics 'I don't give a damn'

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 17:15:34 -0400

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., doubled down on his inflammatory rhetoric toward Republicans during a fiery news conference Monday, telling critics, "I don’t give a damn."

"I stand by it," Jeffries told reporters, when asked about his vow last week to unleash "maximum warfare" on the GOP to counter the party’s redistricting efforts ahead of November’s midterm elections. "You can continue to criticize me for it. I don't give a damn about your criticism."

Jeffries' messaging sparked backlash from Republicans following the third apparent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump's life at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Saturday.

The top Democrat defended his choice of words by pointing to a report from The New York Times last year in which an anonymous White House staffer used the same phrase to threaten Democrats.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES' CALL TO FIGHT TRUMP AGENDA ‘IN THE STREETS’ SPARKS BACKLASH AS A 'MAXINE WATERS MOMENT'

"That phrase ‘maximum warfare everywhere, all the time’ came from the White House in the summer of 2025, when they started this redistricting battle, and now they're big mad," Jeffries continued. "Why? Because Democrats have decided to finish it. Get lost."

The top Democrat insisted that he denounced political violence in all of its forms.

Jeffries also had harsh words for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who he labeled a "disgrace" and a "stone-cold liar" after she criticized Democrats' rhetoric that frequently labels Trump as an existential threat.

"This so-called White House press secretary wants to lecture America and lecture us about civility. Get lost," Jeffries said. "Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us about the language that we use."

DEM LEADER CONDEMNS THANKSGIVING BOMB THREATS AGAINST LIBERAL LAWMAKERS AFTER TEAM TRUMP TARGETED

The White House slammed Jeffries' attack on Leavitt and his defense of the "maximum warfare" phrase.

"Hakeem ‘High Tax’ Jeffries is truly one of the dumbest and most divisive members of Congress," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

Leavitt hammered top Democrats’ embrace of hostile messaging toward Trump during a news conference Monday.

"This hateful, constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump, day after day after day for 11 years, has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment," Leavitt said.

"When you have mentally disturbed individuals across the country who are listening to this crazed rhetoric about the president day after day after day, it inspires them to do crazy things," she added.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sharply criticized Jeffries’ defense of his comments.

"Democrats are playing with fire and pretending they don’t smell the smoke," NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. "If they can’t bring themselves to put an end to this kind of rhetoric, it proves they'll do anything to appease their far-left base."

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Jeffries on Monday also blasted a proposed new congressional map that Florida’s Republican legislature is expected to pass in the coming days that is aimed at erasing Democrats’ gains in Virginia, where voters approved a gerrymander targeting four Republican-held seats last week.

"The so-called map, which is a DeSantis dummymander actually, is blatantly unconstitutional," Jeffries said. "Florida is not going to make a meaningful difference as it relates to their efforts to rig the midterm elections. That effort has failed."

Tom Kean Jr's prolonged absence puts pressure on House Republicans' razor-thin majority

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:06 -0400

House Republicans face a critical week for must-pass legislation, but one GOP lawmaker who has tallied dozens of missed votes may not be present.

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., has missed more than a month of votes due to an unspecified health issue. It remains to be seen whether the two-term lawmaker will be absent again this week as the House considers a budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement and legislation reauthorizing the government’s warrantless surveillance powers.

Kean’s prolonged absence comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford to lose just a handful of votes on party-line legislation given House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

"He’s expected to be totally fine and back to a full schedule soon," Harrison Neely, a spokesperson for Kean, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

MEET ANALILIA MEJIA, THE SANDERS-AOC BACKED PROGRESSIVE WHO JUST WON ELECTION TO CONGRESS

Neely did not specify when Kean plans to resume work or the nature and extent of his illness.

Kean has missed 50 roll call votes since March 17, amounting to a 100% absence rate, according to GovTrack, a website that monitors congressional absences. He last voted on March 5 — nearly two months ago.

Johnson said Thursday that he spoke to Kean by phone and expects him to make a full recovery.

"He is attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100% very soon," Johnson said in a statement to ӣ��Ƶ Digital, first obtained by The New York Times. "Tom is one of the most dedicated and hardest-working Members of Congress, and I am grateful for all he does and will continue to do to serve New Jerseyans and our country."

THESE HOUSE MAVERICKS DEFIED THEIR OWN PARTIES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN 2025

The scrutiny over Kean’s extended absences comes as national Democrats are aggressively targeting his swing seat ahead of November’s midterm elections. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Kean’s re-election contest as a "toss-up."

Kean fended off Democratic candidate Sue Altman by five points in 2024. Four Democratic challengers are vying in a June primary to unseat him.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) sharply criticized Kean for not disclosing his specific health issue to his constituents.

"New Jersey voters deserve to know where Congressman Kean Jr. is and why he continues to play the stock market while in office," Eli Cousin, a DCCC spokesman, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

Cousin alluded to a recent NOTUS report that found Kean has continued to make several personal stock trades during his absence from Washington, D.C.

A Kean spokesperson told The New Jersey Globe last year that the congressman’s investments are handled by financial advisors without his involvement.

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Kean’s office has notably continued to post on social media throughout his extended absence from Washington, D.C.

On Wednesday, Kean’s office highlighted that two bills he introduced earlier in this Congress advanced out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The post did not mention that Kean was not present for the committee markup.

Republicans rush to green light White House ballroom following third Trump assassination scare

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:56:09 -0400

Republicans are rushing to give President Donald Trump's controversial ballroom addition to the White House the congressional go-ahead after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

Lawmakers argue that Trump’s desire to build a ballroom at the White House — which ground to a halt after being snarled in litigation — would provide an ideal secure venue for future events following the shooting at the Washington Hilton on Saturday.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., announced he would try to fast-track a bill to give congressional approval for construction of the ballroom in the Senate when the upper chamber returns this week.

HOUSE GOP PUSHES BACK ON SENATE'S 'SKINNY' PLAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING DHS SHUTDOWN

He argued that "a president of any party should be able to host events in a secure area without attendees worrying about their safety."

"It is an embarrassment to the strongest nation on Earth that we cannot host gatherings in our nation’s capital, including ones attended by our president, without the threat of violence and attempted assassinations," Sheehy said in a statement.

It’s an about-face on Capitol Hill for Republicans, who, since Trump first announced his plans to build a ballroom last year, have largely kept their distance from the issue.

And it's one spurred by the shooting on Saturday night, when Cole Allen was subdued by federal law enforcement after exchanging gunfire near the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where Trump and his Cabinet, along with hundreds of guests, were seated for the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

But a lawsuit and an ensuing court-ordered injunction against the 90,000-square-foot, $400 million gilded behemoth — which was being built where the White House’s East Wing once stood — have thrown the future of the project into question.

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A federal court ordered in March that the construction end without congressional approval. That ruling was later appealed to allow construction to continue below ground for what Trump previously described as a "shed" for a military complex.

After the shooting, Trump pushed for construction to continue.

"We need the ballroom," Trump said at a news conference Saturday night. "That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it."

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Now Republicans are getting involved. Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Randy Fine, R-Fla., like Sheehy, are planning to introduce legislation that would give congressional approval to the project.

"I don’t believe congressional approval is required for the project, but if it’ll keep activist judges on the sideline, so be it," Boebert said on X.

The latest legislative push in the lower chamber comes during a week full of deadlines and must-do items for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Among them is consideration of the Senate’s budget blueprint to fund immigration operations for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.

At least one lawmaker, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wants any consideration of the blueprint to "provide for construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds."

For now, it’s not entirely a partisan issue.

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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., one of the few Democrats at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, argued that rancor between the aisles should be put aside to support ballroom construction.

"That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government," Fetterman said on X. "After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these."

Hakeem Jeffries declared 'maximum warfare' on Republicans days before Trump assassination attempt

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:15:28 -0400

Just days before an apparent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump's life, one of the Democratic Party’s leaders called for "maximum warfare" against Republicans.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made the inflammatory remark while warning Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., against redrawing the state’s congressional map ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Jeffries said that if DeSantis attempted to counter Democratic gains in Virginia following the state’s aggressive gerrymander, Democrats would continue to ratchet up pressure on Republicans nationwide.

"We are in an era of maximum warfare. Everywhere, all the time," Jeffries said Wednesday at a news conference.

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Three days later, a California man allegedly attempted to assassinate the president Saturday evening at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

Cole Allen, 31, is accused of storming a Secret Service checkpoint while armed and intending to enter the hotel ballroom to kill Trump and administration officials. The alleged assassin was armed with a shotgun, handgun and several knives and opened fire on federal agents before being subdued.

A Secret Service officer wearing a ballistic vest, whom Allen allegedly shot at close range, was released from the hospital Sunday.

The gunman allegedly prepared a manifesto before the attack that included anti-Trump and anti-Christian messages, several law enforcement officials told ӣ��Ƶ. He is expected to be arraigned on several federal gun charges Monday.

After the shooting, Republicans called on Democratic lawmakers to refrain from using warlike rhetoric to criticize Trump that could incite violence. The GOP made similar pleas in 2024 after two attempts on the president’s life in Butler, Pa., and at his golf club in Doral, Fla.

But top Democrats have argued that Republicans, too, have used plenty of inflammatory statements to describe their opponents.

"America will not be lectured about civility by far-right extremists in Congress," Jeffries wrote on social media Sunday, adding that "now is a time to unify."

A White House aide notably used the same "maximum warfare" language toward Democrats during an interview with The New York Times last year.

When asked to describe the White House's midterms strategy, the anonymous staffer said, "Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time."

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ӣ��Ƶ Digital reached out to Jeffries' office before publication.

Jeffries’ defiant social media post came after he unequivocally denounced political violence during an interview with ӣ��Ƶ Sunday.

"It is certainly the case that violence is never the answer, whether it's targeted at the right, the left or the center," Jeffries told ӣ��Ƶ’ Shannon Bream.

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When asked how leaders can combat increasing political violence, Jeffries said elected officials must "set the most appropriate example" in their rhetoric.

"Whatever your ideological perspective is, we all love America, and we all want to make sure that this country is the best that it can possibly be," he added.

Some Democrats have issued clear appeals to the left to refrain from using violence to achieve their political aims.

"Please stop trying to murder the president," Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., wrote on social media.

House GOP pushes back on Senate's 'skinny' plan to end record-breaking DHS shutdown

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:00:43 -0400

Senate Republicans are forging ahead with a two-step plan to end the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, but their House counterparts tell ӣ��Ƶ Digital they are not on board with the strategy.

A swath of House Republicans have voiced growing frustration that a forthcoming GOP-only funding package does not include other policy priorities beyond funding immigration enforcement ahead of November’s midterm elections.

"I think we've got one last opportunity for reconciliation," Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in an interview. "I know some people are talking about two, but I think we’ve got one guaranteed shot."

"I like the idea of making it bigger," he added, mentioning defense funding and affordability concerns. "We've got a lot of important stuff to do and we need to get it done."

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"I’m undecided," Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital, referring to the Senate’s approach. "I’ve got issues with it. We believe it should be more expansive."

The Senate approved a budget resolution early Thursday largely along party lines that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term.

Republicans are pursuing the partisan budget reconciliation process to bypass Democrats and fund immigration enforcement with GOP votes after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., refused to fund the department without sweeping reforms added to the proposal.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is racing to pass the Senate’s budget resolution as early as next week, at which point he can afford to lose only a handful of votes. President Donald Trump has set a June 1 deadline to fully fund immigration enforcement through a GOP-only bill, forcing Republicans to act quickly with little room for error.

Before the DHS shutdown, House Republican leadership teased a budget reconciliation sequel to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would incorporate a diverse set of priorities, such as a defense supplemental package, spending cuts targeting fraud and policies aimed at lowering the cost of living.

Concerns among rank-and-file Republicans that a forthcoming budget bill will not include those provisions threaten to jeopardize that timeline.

House conservatives have also fiercely objected to the Senate passing a bipartisan partial DHS bill carving out ICE and the Border Patrol from the normal appropriations process and keeping those two agencies unfunded.

After Democrats in the upper chamber repeatedly filibustered DHS funding bills, the Senate approved legislation funding parts of the department that Democrats would support. The House has yet to take up that legislation.

"The bill the Senate sent over is totally unacceptable to conservatives," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., said Thursday, referring to the upper chamber’s partial DHS bill. "We will never vote or support in any way a bill that puts in a zero" for immigration enforcement, he added.

"The very premise of needing a reconciliation bill to pass funding for ICE and CBP is repulsive to me," Higgins told ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "That sort of thing has never been done up here, to take an appropriations bill and sort of cherry pick what you don't want in it and isolate whole agencies … I’m against that whole premise."

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Senate Republicans are largely unified on keeping the package as narrow as possible out of concern that adding more to the pot could stall lawmakers’ progress.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has sought to expedite the passage of a forthcoming budget bill by involving in the process just two panels — the Senate Judiciary and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees.

"The vast majority of Republicans stuck together to do something Democrats are refusing to do: Fully fund the Border Patrol and ICE for three and a half years through the Trump presidency," Graham said Thursday after the upper chamber adopted the budget blueprint. "As Senate Budget Committee Chairman, I am very proud of my colleagues."

Still, some Senate Republicans agree with their House colleagues who want to supersize the forthcoming package out of fear that they may not get another shot before the midterms.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., argued that Republicans should try to beef up the package despite promises from leadership that there could be a third bite at the apple later in the year.

"I'm not saying anybody's lying, they're not. People probably intend to do a third reconciliation bill," Kennedy said on the Senate floor. "But you're not looking at Bambi's baby brother here. There won't be a third reconciliation bill. You know it … and I know it. This is it. This is the last train leaving the station."

It is unclear whether the House will ultimately modify the Senate’s budget blueprint funding immigration enforcement.

Any changes to the resolution would kick it back to the Senate for reconciliation and require another marathon vote series before Congress could officially unlock the reconciliation process.

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DHS, meanwhile, has warned this week it is short on funds to continue paying its employees through May.

Earlier in April, Trump ordered the department to use existing funds to provide back pay to federal employees who had been furloughed or reported to work without their salary during the funding lapse, which began in mid-February.

Senate hopeful says US should be 'far more cooperative' with China to fight climate change

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:46:28 -0400

Maine Democrat Graham Platner is vowing to pursue closer ties with China if elected to the Senate, arguing that the U.S. should be "far more cooperative" with the communist state on issues like climate change.

"I think our position towards China should be one of cooperation instead of one of opposition," Platner said during a livestream in February, arguing it would be "absurd" to have an aggressive approach toward Beijing, citing its trade relationship with the United States.

"I am not a China hawk, not by any stretch of the imagination," he continued. "I think we need to be figuring out how to integrate, or at least be far more cooperative, especially to fight challenges like climate change."

Platner, a staunch progressive, is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November’s midterm elections. His views on China appear to be well outside the political mainstream and place him to the left of many Democratic lawmakers, who see the country as the United States’ most formidable strategic competitor or a geopolitical threat.

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The Senate hopeful has also argued that fascism followed by climate change is the top two challenges facing the United States on the world stage.

"Before the rise of fascism, I would have said that the biggest challenge we have … globally is climate change," Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, said during the livestream.

Platner referred to federal immigration officers as "armed thugs," accusing them of murdering American citizens, an apparent reference to two fatal shootings during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis earlier this year.

He has previously advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and dragging agents in front of Congress to testify about their work.

Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) sharply criticized Platner’s remarks in a statement to ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"Graham Platner’s soft-on-communism radical ideology would lift up dictators, threaten America’s national security, and cost American lives," RNC spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said in a statement. "He has no business in the Senate or any position of power."

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Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in an increasingly nasty primary that has split factions of the Democratic Party. Leading progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have endorsed him while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who leads the party’s establishment wing, is supporting Mills.

Sanders and Warren have doubled down on their embrace of Platner despite the political newcomer’s bevy of controversial online posts and scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he has had removed.

Platner called for deposing Schumer as Democratic leader, weakening the filibuster to ease the passage of left-wing legislation and adding seats to the Supreme Court to dilute the power of the conservative majority, in an interview with NBC News this week.

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The Sanders-backed oyster farmer has carved out a dominant lead in recent polling ahead of the June primary, despite Mills serving as the most senior-ranking Democrat in the state.

Collins is running for a sixth Senate term in the blue-leaning state. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a "toss-up."

GOP infighting erupts over immigration bill that would shield millions from deportation

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:30:01 -0400

House Republicans are sharply divided over a bipartisan immigration reform bill, with one GOP lawmaker calling on President Donald Trump to intervene.

For months, GOP lawmakers have fiercely debated the Dignity Act, whose Republican sponsor, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, is pushing for the immigration proposal to be marked up in committee and receive a vote on the floor.

The Miami Republican has quickly run into opposition from a swath of conservatives in the GOP conference who have ripped the proposal as "mass amnesty" and a wholesale rejection of the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.

"The DIGNIDAD Act … is a betrayal of the values that we ran on last election cycle," Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in an interview, referring to the bill’s original Spanish name. "We ran on mass deportations. We said we're going to do that, so we should."

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But Salazar, whose Latino-heavy district Trump narrowly won in 2024, is offering a starkly different approach.

"Now that the border is secured … what are we going to do with those people who do not have a criminal record and have contributed to the economy," Salazar said at a press conference Wednesday. "The economy still needs them."

The immigration standoff highlights the fissures in the coalition that elected a Republican trifecta in 2024. The Miami Republican is one of Democrats’ top targets in November's midterm elections.

Salazar, who first introduced the legislation several years ago, said she has been in conversation with the White House but did not specify whether she had talked directly with Trump.

"It's up to him, as an elected official, to determine when is the right timing," Salazar said of Trump. "When does he want to do this within his presidency?"

"No other president has the political guts to do this, Republicans or Democrats, in the last 40 years."

When reached for comment, a White House official told ӣ��Ƶ Digital the administration is happy to review legislation but is "focused on enforcing the current immigration laws and deporting the millions and millions of criminal illegal aliens that Joe Biden let in our country."

Salazar’s Dignity Act does not provide a pathway to citizenship, but it would make millions of migrants who came into the United States prior to Biden’s presidency eligible for work without fear of deportation.

The legislation would also increase funding for border security, require employers to use E-Verify to verify an individual's legal status and create a pathway for DACA recipients to obtain permanent residency, among other provisions.

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GOP supporters say the bill is attempting to appeal to the "mass middle" who want some legal protections for long-term migrants with no criminal records who are contributing to their communities, while also slamming the door shut on those who illegally entered the country beginning in 2021.

"I think, frankly, this is what America is looking for," Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a Republican cosponsor of the bill, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "It covers a lot of concerns left and right.

"I think most people want some level of decency," Bacon added. "You've been here for a while, you’ve got a family, you're working, no criminal record."

Conservative Republicans aren’t buying it.

"It's just amnesty. That's all that is," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., an immigration hawk, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

Gill said he remains vigorously opposed to the bill after meeting with Salazar for nearly an hour Wednesday to discuss the Dignity Act.

"This is one we're just diametrically opposed to in irreconcilable ways," the Texas Republican said, adding that he and Salazar agree on many other policy issues. "I do believe that it very clearly constitutes amnesty."

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Despite no clear path forward, Salazar has vowed to continue engaging skeptics about the immigration reform legislation.

She has also shot down the idea of using a discharge petition to team up with Democrats and force a vote on the House floor.

"I’m going to do it the hard way," Salazar told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"I am sure we're going to be able to get to a yes, and we're going to be able to solve immigration within the Trump administration," she added. "I have no doubt about that. Only God the Father knows the time. I'm just waiting."

James Comer's new bills could curb federal fraud in Minnesota and California

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:03:59 -0400

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans say they’re ready to advance legislation that would crack down on widespread fraud in states like Minnesota and California.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., introduced legislation on Thursday that would tackle fraud in federal programs by curbing premature disbursement to "high-risk" recipients, ӣ��Ƶ Digital has learned.

His panel will mark up the two bills — the Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act and the Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act — as soon as next Wednesday, a House Oversight Committee spokesperson told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"Americans are fed up with this abuse and expect action from the government entrusted with their money," Comer said in a statement. "These long-overdue integrity measures will strengthen the federal payment system, and I look forward to advancing these bills next week at the Oversight Committee’s markup."

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Comer’s fraud prevention push comes after the oversight panel launched sweeping investigations into state-administered social services programs in Minnesota and California.

The committee rolled out an interim report in March that found Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison knew for years that their state's federally funded welfare programs were rife with fraud, but alleges they ignored whistleblowers' concerns when they attempted to bring up the problem.

Fraudsters could have stolen at least $9 billion from Minnesota’s welfare programs, according to Comer’s probe. Federal prosecutors have charged at least 92 individuals in connection to the fraud schemes, most of whom are of Somali descent, and secured more than 60 convictions so far.

The oversight panel also opened an investigation into "rampant taxpayer fraud" in California’s hospice programs in March.

Comer’s legislation would seek to better protect taxpayer dollars upfront by stopping "pay and chase" practices, which some fraudsters use as a way to go under the radar since fraud is only discovered after the benefits have been paid out.

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If the Kentucky Republican's bills are enacted, federal agencies would be barred from sending out disbursements if they determine that the recipient is at "an elevated risk of fraud," or the transfer is suspected to be an improper payment.

The legislation would also direct the Treasury Department to verify payments and recipient information to catch fraudulent disbursements prior to being issued. Treasury would also be equipped with new authority to block payment requests from federal agencies if it suspects fraud.

Sheila Clark, the CEO of a hospice advocacy group, told House lawmakers Wednesday that fraud is pervasive among some providers in the state.

"You'd be amazed at how many hospices… the door you can walk up to in California and there is nobody there," Clark said at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, adding there are "months' worth of mail that you can see stacked."

"And that passed a survey. How did that happen?" she questioned.

"How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand in California?" Clark went on, likely referencing a specific incident she encountered. "How do you put a hospice in an entire store in California? That all had to be vetted through licensure and through certification and accreditation."

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, voiced support for Comer's plans for fraud prevention legislation.

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"Instead of hunting down stolen money after the fact, these bills prevent improper payments and fraud from happening in the first place," Arrington, who is a cosponsor of the two bills, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"If we’re serious about restoring fiscal sanity to Washington, we must get serious about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse wherever they exist," he added.

Parents push Congress to act on kids' online safety after juries find Meta and YouTube liable for harm

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:49:59 -0400

Fresh off landmark jury decisions finding tech companies liable for harms on their platforms, some parents are making a renewed push for online safety legislation.

"I think parents are starting to wake up and see like, whoa, this is not a safe place for my child, and they want change," Julianna Arnold, founder of the advocacy group Parents RISE!, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in an interview.

Arnold was among roughly 70 parents blaming tech platforms for harming or killing their children who traveled to the U.S. Capitol this week to advocate for online safety legislation that would better protect minors. The group held a vigil outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday afternoon with many parents holding pictures of their deceased children.

Arnold told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that she lost her 17-year-old daughter to fentanyl poisoning after a man approached her on Instagram and sold her what she thought was Percocet for her anxiety.

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"Ever since then, I've been motivated to clean up these online spaces, because they’re no place for our children," Arnold said. "And now we're learning that even the way they’re designing these platforms is going to be harming our children, and they're doing it intentionally."

A Los Angeles jury in March found both Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent for knowingly addicting and harming a young woman. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, was also ordered to pay a $345 million fine after a New Mexico jury found the company failed to protect against child sexual exploitation and misled consumers about the safety of its platform.

Meta and Google have vigorously pushed back on claims that their platforms are addictive and have vowed to appeal both rulings.

Arnold attended the Los Angeles trial and said the unprecedented verdicts finding that platforms can be held responsible for content on their platforms "changed everything" for the online safety movement.

"Now, we're not here to tell our story only," Arnold said, referring to her visit to Capitol Hill. "We're here to show the evidence that is out there that shows that these platforms are intentionally trying to addict our children, and that they are targeting our children because they want more eyeballs on their platform so they make more money."

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A spokesperson for Meta told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that the company continues to work to make its products safer.

"We are listening to families, working closely with experts and conducting research to understand how to make meaningful changes, like Teen Accounts," the spokesperson said. "We’ll keep making progress to protect teens online."

Efforts to pass online safety legislation have so far stalled in the Republican-controlled Congress.

Arnold said her message to lawmakers is less talk, more action.

"We don't need to have another hearing with the big tech executives," Arnold said. "We don't need to have all these conversations and tell our stories again, because I feel like the evidence is out there now and that's what we brought to them today."

Arnold and other online safety advocates are urging Congress to pass the Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which has a veto-proof majority with 75 cosponsors. The legislation includes a "duty of care" provision legally requiring tech companies to tailor their platforms to children’s safety and omits preemption language that would restrict states’ ability to regulate online safety.

KOSA has yet to advance out of the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, or receive a chamber-wide vote.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have both endorsed the legislation.

"We're urging that the Senate and Sen. Cruz mark it up, get it out of committee, and put it on the floor," Arnold said.

"This is really a nonpartisan issue," she added. "It's the safety of our children, the most sacred things that we have."

Dem seeking NY swing seat defends embracing extremist who said Hamas is 'a thousands times better' than Israel

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:17:30 -0400

A progressive Democrat vying for a hotly contested New York swing seat in November’s midterm elections is defending her association with controversial far-left streamer Hasan Piker.

Effie Phillips-Staley is facing backlash from her own party as she seeks the nomination to take on Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., after she went on Piker’s livestream in late March and called Israel an "apartheid state" and accused the Jewish nation of genocide in Gaza.

Democratic county chairs within the suburban New York district Phillips-Staley is running to represent put out a joint statement denouncing Phillips-Staley for participating in the "normalization of antisemitic, racist and misogynist rhetoric."

Despite the intraparty criticism, the candidate doubled down. She told ӣ��Ƶ Digital Piker, 34, provides a vehicle for Democrats to reach young voters.

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"While I don’t align with every word Hasan Piker has ever said, we recognize the massive value of a platform that engages millions of young people in the Democratic process," Phillips-Staley said.

"As Democrats, our job is to build bridges, not burn them," she added in a statement to ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "We should be inviting young people into the process by building a coalition rooted in collective humanity. I will always fight for universal human rights and Palestinian self-determination while standing firmly against antisemitism."

Piker once said "America deserved 9/11." He has since characterized that remark as "inappropriate."

The streamer has been sharply criticized for calling some Orthodox Jews "inbred" and once described a listener who voiced disapproval of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel as a "bloodthirsty violent pig dog." He has denied charges of antisemitism despite continuing to argue that Hamas is "a thousand times better" than Israel.

Phillips-Staley, who is endorsed by the left-wing Working Families Party and former progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., has largely defended Piker’s controversial comments. She has argued that critics have taken some of his remarks out of context and that he is "on the right side of history" on issues related to Israel and the Palestinian people during an appearance on "The Left Hook" podcast.

A campaign spokesman for Rep. Lawler slammed Phillips-Staley’s defense of Piker.

"Embracing an antisemite who praised the 9/11 attacks and sympathizes with terrorists is no longer disqualifying in the modern Democratic Party, and Effie Phillips-Staley is proving that in real time," Ciro Riccardi told ӣ��Ƶ Digital. "Even worse, her Democratic opponents refusing to call Effie out for such offensive behavior shows you just how radical you need to be to win a Democratic primary today.

"Middle-of-the-road voters should take notice and ask themselves whether this is who they really want in control of the House."

National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole was also critical of Phillips-Staley’s primary opponents — former Biden administration national security official Cait Conley and Rockland County legislator Beth Davidson — for not condemning Phillips-Staley’s appearance on Piker’s livestream.

Conley and Davidson have expressed support for Israel, and the former is backed by the pro-Israel Democratic Majority for Israel PAC.

Spokespersons for Davidson and Conley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Phillips-Staley is among a growing number of progressive Democrats embracing Piker ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have been interviewed by Piker on his show.

Piker headlined a campaign event earlier in April for Sen. Bernie Sanders' preferred Michigan Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed.

But not all Democrats think the party’s embrace of Piker is a good idea.

A swath of Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., have distanced themselves from the far-left influencer's platform, citing concern about his past statements.

Phillips-Staley maintains that her hardening anti-Israel stance is the pathway to victory in the battleground district this November.

"Advancing someone who is so close on this issue to Mike Lawler would be a genuine mistake when this is something that the overwhelming majorities of the Democratic party's base are demanding a separation from," Phillips-Staley told Piker, referring to Israel.

Just 13% of Democrats hold a positive view of Israel compared to 57% who view the country negatively, according to a March NBC News survey. Among independents, just over 20% see Israel in a positive light.

It’s unclear if Phillips-Staley’s approach will work in the southern Hudson Valley, which is one of the most heavily Jewish districts in the country.

"I've taken a very … what I hope that people perceive to be an authentic and progressive human rights-focused platform, and we're going to test it here too," Phillips-Staley told the "Breaking Points" podcast.

Lawler successfully fended off a challenge from Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., in 2024. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates his re-election contest a "toss-up."

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Divisions over Israel are not the only topic on which Lawler and Phillips-Staley have clashed.

Lawler’s campaign filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging the Phillips-Staley campaign forged voter signatures on petitions to be eligible for the Empire State’s June primary. The campaign submitted dozens of sworn affidavits from voters in the district who alleged they never put their names on petitions submitted by the Phillips-Staley campaign.

House Democrats demand Kash Patel take alcohol test under penalty of perjury after Atlantic report

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:45:01 -0400

House Democrats are launching an investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel following a bombshell story from The Atlantic alleging he had "alarmed colleagues" with excessive drinking and erratic behavior.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and House Judiciary Democrats are demanding that Patel complete a 10-question test identifying "hazardous drinking behaviors" under the penalty of perjury.

"These glimpses of your relationship to alcohol would be alarming to see in an FBI agent; for us to see them in the FBI Director himself is shocking and indicative of a public emergency," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Patel late Tuesday evening.

Patel has vigorously denied the allegations in The Atlantic story and said Tuesday he has "never been intoxicated on the job."

LEFT-WING GROUP CHASES PROOF OF KASH PATEL'S ALLEGED 'EXCESSIVE DRINKING' AS DEMS EYE FBI DIRECTOR'S OUSTER

"I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia, and as when they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job," he added, during a joint press conference with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Raskin also sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, demanding that he require Patel to testify under oath in person if he does not provide the requested information.

The missive is likely to fall on deaf ears, with a spokesperson for the committee Republicans slamming the letter as "unserious" in a statement to ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"Crime is down to record-low levels. Criminals are behind bars, and America is safer thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Director Patel," the spokesperson said. "This is just another unserious effort from anonymous sources and partisan actors to attack the President and his Administration."

Democrats’ probe comes after Patel on Monday sued the outlet and Sarah Fitzpatrick, the story’s author, for $250 million in a defamation lawsuit alleging "actual malice."

KASH PATEL CALLS ‘BULLS**T’ ON SWALWELL IN HEATED EXCHANGE OVER EPSTEIN FILES

The story, relying completely on anonymous sourcing, cited several officials detailing an alleged "emotional outburst" Patel had after being logged out of his computer. The outlet also reported officials alleging several instances of the FBI director engaging in copious drinking that led to difficulties waking him up.

"Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office," the lawsuit states.

The Atlantic released a statement defending its reporting and argued Patel’s lawsuit is "meritless."

Trump administration officials have publicly defended Patel following the viral story.

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Blanche told reporters Tuesday that he had "a lot of concerns" with the report’s anonymous sourcing, but said he had not read it.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic that "Director Patel remains a critical player on the administration’s law and order team."

ӣ��Ƶ Digital reached out to the FBI for comment.

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