Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem heads into a second straight day of high-stakes Capitol Hill combat Wednesday, this time facing House Democrats eager to press her on ICE arrests, warrantless operations and the Trump administration’s mass deportation push — all as a partial shutdown clouds her agency. After sparring with Senate Democrats over DACA arrests and Election Day enforcement, Noem now enters a House Judiciary hearing stacked with vocal critics, from Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. to Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas., setting up another marathon session over immigration enforcement and executive power. Noem caught heat from both sides during a Senate...
Iran nuclear talks didn’t ‘pass the smell test’ before Trump launched strikes, says Vance
Vice President JD Vance confirmed Monday that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program collapsed after U.S. officials concluded Tehran’s claims did not ‘pass the smell test,’ prompting President Donald Trump to authorize Operation Epic Fury. Speaking on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ Vance said U.S. envoys — including Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner — had conducted rounds of ‘deliberate’ talks in Geneva with the Iranian delegation. The discussions were aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and averting a broader conflict, he said, but ultimately broke down. ‘But the Iranians would come...
Former President Bill Clinton deposed in Epstein probe in potential first for Congress
Most congressional precedents emanate from Capitol Hill. Most presidential precedents emerge from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But a precedent which may echo around the halls of Congress and the White House for years materialized in recent days in the snow-covered, wooded village of Chappaqua, New York. That’s where former President Bill Clinton testified under subpoena to the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers said the panel’s ability to compel testimony from a former president could establish a new precedent going forward — including in matters involving President Trump and the Epstein files. According to congressional...
From hostage crisis to assassination plots: Iran’s near half-century war on Americans
After radical students overthrew Iran’s shah in 1979 and took hostages in the U.S. embassy, the Middle Eastern nation became a strident and blood-soaked adversary of what its new Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship has long called the ‘Great Satan.’ Since then, Tehran has sponsored terrorism around the globe, including targeting the U.S. in multiple, high-profile instances. Former Reagan Justice Department Chief of Staff Mark Levin said Sunday there are at least 44 examples of Iran targeting Americans either directly or indirectly. ‘The Iranian-Nazi regime … [has] murdered more than 1,000 Americans [and] relentlessly pursued nuclear weapons to use against us —...
What Trump’s ‘ratepayer protection pledge’ means for you
When you open a chatbot, stream a show or back up photos to the cloud, you are tapping into a vast network of data centers. These facilities power artificial intelligence, search engines and online services we use every day. Now there is a growing debate over who should pay for the electricity those data centers consume. During President Trump’s State of the Union address this week, he introduced a new initiative called the ‘ratepayer protection pledge’ to shift AI-driven electricity costs away from consumers. The core idea is simple. Tech companies that run energy-intensive AI data centers should cover the...
DOJ sues 5 more states, demanding access to voter rolls: ‘We will not be deterred’
The Department of Justice on Thursday sued five additional states, requesting that their election data be shared with the Trump administration amid its push for access to voter rolls from states across the country. Four states President Donald Trump carried in the last three presidential elections — Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia — were slapped with the latest legal action, along with New Jersey. The DOJ has now sued more than two dozen states in efforts to access election records, with most of the states being controlled by Democrats. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon suggested that...
Trump’s Iran ultimatum enters decisive stretch after State of the Union
President Donald Trump has drawn his line. Now the clock is running. After publicly giving Iran roughly 10 days to 15 days to reach a nuclear agreement, Trump used his State of the Union address to make clear the deadline is backed by force. ‘I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror … to have a nuclear weapon,’ he told lawmakers Tuesday night. The president first outlined the short timeline Feb. 19, saying the world would know within ‘probably 10 days’ whether Tehran was prepared to strike what he called a meaningful deal. ‘I would think that...
Jasmine Crockett trashes Trump, boycotts his speech: ‘The current state of our union is grim’
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas said Tuesday that she would ‘boycott’ President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech. She blasted him as a ‘wannabe king’ and described the present state of the union as ‘grim.’ ‘Tonight, I will boycott Donald Trump’s State of the Union address,’ she said in the statement. ‘The American people deserve better than a low-down, scamming wannabe king who plans to stand at that podium and spew more lies; and I refuse to legitimize the weaponization of the federal government, blatant lies and corruption, and the destruction of our Constitutional principles and democratic norms.’...
DHS shutdown looms over Mar-a-Lago shooting as unpaid Secret Service agents neutralize armed suspect
The U.S. Secret Service-involved shooting of a man with a shotgun inside the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago over the weekend brought the Department of Homeland Security’s partial shutdown into new focus. Two USSS agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy confronted and later shot and killed Austin Martin, 21, who authorities said slipped through a vehicular exit gate that had opened for a car before brandishing his weapon. ‘They confronted a white male that was carrying a gas can and a shotgun. He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him –...
DHS shutdown drags into week two as Iran threat, SOTU clash complicate Hill talks
A government shutdown, big or small, is usually a front-and-center issue for lawmakers — but the most recent partial closure could be put on the back burner as Congress returns to several issues in Washington. Senate Democrats and the White House are still at odds over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the shutdown dragged into its 10th day. Neither side is budging, with the most recent concrete action coming early last week. Trump, who proved pivotal in striking a funding truce with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in January, was not directly involved in recent negotiations. ...