Portman among 47 GOP senators to sign letter to Iran WASHINGTON — In a move Democrats denounced as trying to sabotage the Obama administration’s foreign policy, Sen. Rob Portman and 46 other Senate Republicans yesterday warned Iran’s leadership that any agreement to limit Tehran’s apparent efforts to build a nuclear bomb would need Senate approval to stay in effect beyond 2016. More
Coalition on immigration bill clears first tests The bipartisan coalition behind a contentious overhaul of immigration laws stuck together on a critical early series of test votes Thursday, turning back challenges from conservative critics as the Senate Judiciary Committee refined legislation to secure the nation's borders and offer eventual citizenship to millions living illegally in the United States. More
Republicans to back Obama's student loan plan House Republicans are willing to give President Barack Obama a rare win, the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee said Thursday in outlining a deal that would let college students avoid a costly hike on their student loans. More
Obama to open middle-class jobs, opportunity tour Aiming to show he's still focused on creating jobs, President Barack Obama is beginning a series of quick trips around the country to resurrect ideas from his State of the Union address that became overshadowed by the intense debates over gun control, immigration and automatic spending cuts. More
“Senators received an affidavit Tuesday from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety,” NBC News reports.
“The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staffers were in contact with Hegseth’s former sister-in-law for several days.”
“Reports that the Trump administration might swiftly carry out an immigration crackdown, perhaps as early as this week, have left some neighborhoods reeling in cities like Chicago,” the New York Times reports.
“While the timing and locations of targeted arrests are uncertain, and though Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, said as recently as Saturday that ‘no decision has been made yet,’ the prospect of raids has consumed the conversation in Chicago neighborhoods such as Pilsen and Little Village.”
Bloomberg reports foot traffic in the Latino area of Little Village plunged 50%.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told CNN that former President Biden pardoning his family members makes it “harder to make a critique, to stand on the high ground and make a critique of the Trump pardons.”
Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, the Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, has been terminated over concerns about the border, recruitment and an “erosion of trust,” Fox News reports.
The White House told Fox News that President Trump will make a “big” announcement later today about infrastructure.
CBS News reports Trump will announce up to $500 billion in private sector investment to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.
“President Claudia Sheinbaum called for cool heads to prevail after Donald Trump’s vow to impose hefty tariffs sent the country’s currency tumbling on fears that Mexico will become a target of his administration,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Sheinbaum: “It’s important to always keep a cool head and refer to the signed orders beyond the actual rhetoric.