Kristi Noem says habeas corpus lets Trump ‘remove people from this country.’ Here’s how Tuesday unfolded.

By the New York Times

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew Cuomo, a front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about decisions he made during the coronavirus pandemic as governor, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The inquiry, begun about a month ago by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, comes after senior Justice Department officials in February demanded the dismissal of an indictment of the city’s current mayor, Eric Adams, on corruption charges.

That puts the Trump administration in the unusual position of having ended a criminal case against the leader of the nation’s largest city —Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent — and opened one into his chief rival, Cuomo, who is leading the Democratic primary field in the polls.

The existence of the investigation is sure to fuel further criticism that President Donald Trump and his administration are wielding the Justice Department as a cudgel to achieve political ends and punish his perceived enemies.

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By the Associated Press

Joseph St. Clair was handed over to Trump’s envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, according to a statement from the family and a post by Grenell on the social platform X. The family said St. Clair, who served four tours in Afghanistan, was detained in November.

“This news came suddenly, and we are still processing it, but we are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude,” St. Clair’s parents, Scott and Patti, said in a statement.

Scott St. Clair told The Associated Press earlier this month that his son, a language specialist, had traveled to South America to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Joe St. Clair is back in America,” Grenell posted on X along with photos of him with St. Clair.

Grenell added, without providing details, that he met Venezuelan officials “in a neutral country” Tuesday “to negotiate an America First strategy.”

By the Associated Press

The president said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he will nominate lobbyist and former Senate staffer Darryl Nirenberg.

Nirenberg is a former counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 2021 he ran unsuccessfully for city council in Alexandria, Virginia.

By the Associated Press

The president and vice president met at the White House on Tuesday with the brother of Pope Leo XIV, according to a photo posted on the social platform X by an aide.

Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, is a self-described “MAGA-type.” He and his wife, Deborah, appeared in the photo with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office.

Prevost and his wife joined the Vance-led U.S. delegation on its visit to the Vatican over the weekend and Monday for the pope’s inaugural mass.

By the Associated Press

The announcement of the civil rights probe came a day after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made a speech at a church in which he praised the number of Black people in top positions in his administration. It garnered attention on social media including calls from conservatives and others to investigate.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division shared its investigation notice Monday, citing Johnson’s comments as the trigger for a pattern or practice investigation into whether the city has habitually violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race.

“Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” said the letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General for Harmeet K. Dhillon.

The investigation fits with the Trump administration’s larger realignment of how federal agencies view and fight discrimination. It’s also part of a larger remaking of the department’s civil rights division, which saw a wave of departures as the administration outlined its priorities.

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By the Associated Press

In an apparent homage to President Trump’s all-caps social media posting style, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s memorandum calling for another review of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan ends with a call for “ACCOUNTABILITY.”

The president’s keyboard shouting style has seeped into mainstream American parlance along with Trumpisms like “huge!” and “sad!,” but to see this style reflected in official Defense Department documentation suggests the intensity with which Trump’s personal style has influenced both pop and professional culture.

By the Associated Press

The flight restrictions that have been in place at New Jersey’s largest airport ever since air traffic controllers first lost their radar and radios briefly last month will remain into next month, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday.

The interim rule will cap the number of arrivals and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport at 28 apiece per hour. That’s in line with the limits imposed after about half a dozen controllers went on a 45-day trauma leave following the first outage on April 28.

In mid-June, the limit might be bumped up after a runway construction project largely wraps up, and the controllers on leave would be scheduled to return. After that, the FAA has said it might be able to increase the limit to 34 arrivals and 34 departures an hour, which would bring it closer to the 38 or 39 flights that typically took off and landed hourly before the problems.

By the Associated Press

As part of the Trump administration’s push to carry out mass deportations, the agency responsible for immigration enforcement has aggressively revived and expanded a decades-old program that delegates immigration enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Under the 287(g) program led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police officers can interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, ICE has rapidly expanded the number of signed agreements it has with law enforcement agencies across the country.

The reason is clear. Those agreements vastly beef up the number of immigration enforcement staff available to ICE, which has about 6,000 deportation officers, as they aim to meet Trump’s goal of deporting as many of the roughly 11 million people in the country illegally as they can.

By the Associated Press

The president said in a post on his Truth Social media network that “Biden was not for Open Borders,” and “it wasn’t his idea.” Instead he blamed the influx of people crossing the U.S-Mexico border on “the people that knew he was cognitively impaired.”

Trump has long attacked Biden’s mental sharpness while castigating his policies. His new post appearing to shift blame to Biden’s former aides comes after Tuesday’s release of the book “Original Sin,” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which reports that aides shielded the public from the extent of Biden’s decline.

Trump called it “TREASON at the Highest Level” and said “something very severe should happen” to the unnamed people.

By the Associated Press

Lawmakers will try to bar the state from from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Senate will begin to consider three House-passed resolutions that would roll back the standards. Final votes could come as soon as this week.

His announcement came despite significant pushback from Democrats, questions from some Republicans and the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian, who has sided with the U.S. Government Accountability Office in saying California’s policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House.

California for decades has been given the authority to adopt vehicle emissions standards that are stricter than the federal government’s. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced plans in 2020 to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles within 15 years.

Republicans have argued that the state’s rules effectively dictate standards for the whole country. Around a dozen states have followed California’s lead.

By the Associated Press

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered another review of the military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed American troops and Afghans.

President Trump and Hegseth have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration over the withdrawal. Hegseth said Tuesday that it was “disastrous and embarrassing” and the new review will interview witnesses, analyze decision-making and “get the truth.”

There have already been multiple reviews by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and Congress, involving hundreds of interviews and studies of videos, photographs and other data. It’s unclear what specific new information the review is seeking.

The Abbey Gate bombing during the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans and wounded scores more. It triggered widespread debate and congressional criticism.

By the Associated Press

The immigration rights attorneys told a judge that the deportations involve people from several countries.

An immigration official in Texas confirmed via email that at least one man from Myanmar had been flown to South Sudan Tuesday morning, according to court documents.

A woman also reported to attorneys that her husband from Vietnam and up to 10 other people were flown to Africa.

Those removals would violate a court order from a judge in Massachusetts requiring that people have a chance to challenge removals to countries other than their homelands, attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance wrote.

They asked Judge Brian E. Murphy for an emergency order to prevent such removals. He previously said deportations to Libya would violate his ruling.

By the Associated Press

Immigration authorities appear to have begun deporting migrants from Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan, attorneys for the migrants said in court documents filed Tuesday.

Those removals would violate a court order against deporting people to countries other than their homelands without an opportunity to file court challenges, they argued.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

By the Associated Press

Former president Joe Biden’s office said in a statement that his “last known” PSA blood test was in 2014.

“Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” his office said.

Guidelines recommend against prostate cancer screening for men 70 and older. Biden is 82.

By the Associated Press

As part of the Trump administration’s push to carry out mass deportations, the agency responsible for immigration enforcement has aggressively revived and expanded a decades-old program that delegates immigration enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Under the 287(g) program led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police officers can interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.

Since Trump took office in January, ICE has rapidly expanded the number of signed agreements it has with law enforcement agencies across the country.

By the Associated Press

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the administration is not following the lead of European countries that have imposed sanctions against Israel for the dearth of assistance reaching needy and vulnerable Palestinians.

However, he said, US officials have stressed in discussions with Israeli officials that aid is urgently needed for civilians in Gaza who are suffering from the ongoing military operation against Hamas.

“We’re not prepared to respond the way these countries have, but we are prepared to say, as we have and I think the Israelis in their statements today acknowledged, have engaged with our Israeli partners over the weekend in the last few days about the need to resume humanitarian aid,” Rubio said. “We anticipate that those flows will increase over the next few days and weeks, it’s important that that be achieved.”

The US is backing a private foundation to take over aid distribution, but it is not yet operating. So in the meantime, Rubio said, it would be best for UN agencies and existing operations to deliver the aid.

By the Associated Press

The president said that at some point he will discuss with Russian leader Vladimir Putin the issue of Moscow developing a space-based nuclear weapon.

“We haven’t discussed it, but at the right time, we will,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

By Nick Stoico, Globe Staff

Three Congressional Republicans are demanding Harvard officials turn over documents and communications relating to the university’s ties to China.

In a letter Monday to Harvard President Alan Garber that was signed by Representatives John Moolenaar, Tim Walberg, and Elise Stefanik, the House members allege the university “hosted and trained members of a [Chinese Community Party] paramilitary organization” and collaborated with China-based academics “on research funded by an agent of the Iranian government.”

Stefanik is the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, Moolenaar is chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, and Walberg chairs the Committee on Education and Workforce.

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

The president was asked whether military commanders asked for the system, and he replied, “I suggested it, and they all said, ‘We love the idea, sir.’”

By the Associated Press

The president announced the concept he wants for his missile defense program, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome. He said it is expected to be built over three years at a cost $175 billion.

Trump, seated with a poster next to him showing the continental US painted gold and with artistic depictions of missile interceptions, said, “It is a great day for America.”

He said the system will be entirely made in the US.

Trump also announced that Gen. Michael Guetlein, who currently serves as the vice chief of space operations, will be responsible for overseeing the program’s progress.

By the Associated Press

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the constitutional provision that allows people to legally challenge their detention by the government is actually a tool the Trump administration can use in its broader crackdown at the US-Mexico border. She called habeas corpus “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.”

Noem, testifying before a congressional committee Tuesday, gave that response when asked by Senator Maggie Hassan to define the legal concept.

By the Associated Press

Some Republican lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee are raising concerns to Rubio about the Trump administration’s cuts. That includes Sen. Mitchell McConnell, the former Senate leader.

The U.S. is being outmaneuvered by its rivals internationally, in the wake of the elimination of thousands of aid programs, McConnell said.

“The basic functions that soft power provides are extremely important,” McConnell told Rubio. “You get a whole lot of friends for not much money.”

By the Associated Press

A group of health researchers and organizations that represent them are suing the National Institutes of Health over cutting off federal research funding aimed at LGBTQ+ health.

Tuesday’s filing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, is one of more than 30 so far challenging the Trump administration on funding decisions. It’s also one of more than a dozen that deal with LGBTQ+ issues.

The groups say the grants have helped address a history of hostility and bigotry in health research. They contend that more than $800 million worth of LGBTQ+-related research grants were terminated because the NIH took the research off its list of priorities.

By the Associated Press

The secretary of state took full responsibility for the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, saying, “DOGE didn’t do anything.”

Rubio’s comments came after Democratic lawmakers pressed him on a February tweet by Elon Musk, who bragged he had spent the past weekend “feeding USAID into a wood chipper.”

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency played a central role in gutting USAID programs, often leaving USAID staffers and others uncertain who it was ordering program terminations as Musk and the administration disabled the agency.

“I did,” Rubio told lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

By the Associated Press

In his latest appearance before Congress, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. engaged in an exchange with a Democratic senator that became so heated, the Republican chairwoman had to intervene on her colleague’s behalf to regain control of the meeting.

Kennedy, who was in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee panel to discuss his agency’s funding levels in the president’s budget, had already fielded several pointed questions from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle without incident before Senator Patty Murray’s turn to speak.

Murray, a Democrat from Washington, did not hold back.

When asked by Murray whose decision it was to withhold funding for a child care grant, Kennedy responded by beginning to speak about former president Joe Biden’s 2021 budget proposal before being cut off by Murray.“You made an accusation of me. I’m going to answer it,” Kennedy said. “We’re a new administration.”

Murray again stopped Kennedy, urging him to answer her specific question about child care grants.

“I want to point out something, Senator,” Kennedy responded. “You presided here, I think for 32 years, you presided over the destruction of the health of the American people. Our people are now the sickest people in the world.”

“Mr. Secretary, seriously?” Murray said.

“What have you done about the epidemic of chronic disease?” Kennedy repeated twice, speaking over Murray.

“Seriously, Madam Chairwoman,” Murray said, prompting the panel’s chairwoman Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, to step in.

“Secretary, I would ask you to hold back and let Senator ask the questions,” she said.

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

It’s hard to know just how much money Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates plan to invest in the United States after President Donald Trump went to those countries last week. The figure has gone from $2 trillion last week to potentially $7 trillion as of Tuesday, but now new details have been provided on the math.

Thursday: With his Mideast trip still under way, Trump told reporters on Air Force One: “We just took in $4 trillion.”

Friday: A White House statement said Trump’s “first official trip was a huge success, locking in over $2 trillion in great deals.”

Monday: “We brought back about $5.1 trillion,” Trump said in remarks to the Kennedy Center’s leadership. “That’s not bad. And, it’s being credited as one of the, maybe, the most successful visit that anybody’s ever made to any place. There’s never been anything like this.”

Tuesday: “They’re spending $5.1 trillion, probably it’s going to be $7 trillion by the time we stop,” Trump said before a US Capitol meeting with Republican House members.

The White House did not respond to a request to explain the sources of Trump’s escalating claims.

By the Associated Press

Days after a bombing outside a Southern California fertility clinic, a White House official confirmed that the Trump administration is reviewing a list of recommendations to expand access to in vitro fertilization.

Trump signed an executive order in February asking for ways to protect access and “aggressively” lower “out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote the list of recommendations over the last 90 days.

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By the Associated Press

Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump’s “one, big, beautiful, bill will require one, big, beautiful vote,” but holdouts remain.

The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, said they’re still “a long ways away” from agreement. And other key Republicans said they were still a no vote.

Johnson headed to the Senate to update Republicans there on the path ahead.

By the Associated Press

Trump is expected to announce the concept he wants for his future Golden Dome missile defense program.

It would cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and take years to make a reality.

Golden Dome for the first time will put US weapons in space, which could be fired to destroy an incoming missile during flight.

Pentagon planners have been developing options for the system, which a US official described as medium, high and extra high choices based on their cost.

The administration picked the high version, with an initial cost ranging between $30 billion and $100 billion, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.

The White House and the Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

The first lady joined a few dozen children whose parents work in the Executive Office of the President in decorating wooden American flags.

She used a glue stick to attach two silver glittery stars to her red, white and blue flag after she sat down at one of two tables in the Jaqueline Kennedy Garden on the South Lawn.She admired their work and was heard telling several children their creations were “beautiful.”

The event is part of the White House’s observance of Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day.

Trump is having his own event later today. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt will also answer questions at a mock press briefing for children whose parents are White House journalists.

By the Associated Press

Newly confirmed Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told senators at a hearing about the defense secretary’s directive to develop the plans for the $400 million Boeing 747 Qatar has gifted to the US.

The service will consider the security upgrades that will be required for the jet, which is currently in San Antonio, to operate as the president’s plane. Meink said “significant modifications” would be necessary to overhaul it.

Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth asked the service to ensure this latest replacement jet would not further delay the overhaul of two other 747s that Boeing is converting to replace the current aging Air Force One.

By the Associated Press

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy grilled Rubio on the point Tuesday, asking if he worried that Trump’s upcoming dinner with buyers of a Trump meme coin would be “contravening national security interests” by giving foreign buyers direct access to him.

Rubio denied any knowledge of any profiting by Trump from the deals he and his family have made with foreign officials and others abroad.

And he claimed not to know about the widely reported dinner, which Trump interests have promoted on social media.

“I don’t keep the president’s social schedule,” Rubio said. “It’s not on my phone. It’s not in my pocket.”

By the Associated Press

Millions of people, many from troubled nations, live legally in the United States under various forms of temporary legal protection. Many have been targeted in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end protections that had allowed some 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants to remain in the United States. That group of Venezuelans could face deportation.

The Venezuelans had a form of protection known as Temporary Protected Status. Administration officials had ordered TPS to expire for those Venezuelans in April. The Supreme Court lifted a federal judge’s ruling that had paused the administration’s plans.

Here’s what to know about TPS.

By the Associated Press

Federal prosecutors accuse Representative LaMonica McIver of pushing and grabbing officers while attempting to block the arrest of Mayor Ras Baraka outside an immigration detention facility on May 9.

Interim US Attorney Alina Habba announced on social media that she dismissed a trespassing charge against the mayor and is charging the congresswoman instead.

The complaint unsealed charges McIver with two counts of assaulting, resisting and impeding agents for Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

McIver accused the agents of escalating the situation and denounced the charge as a “purely political” effort to deter legislative oversight.

Said Trump Tuesday: “She was shoving federal agents. She was out of control. The days of that crap are over in this country. We’re going to have law and order.”

By the Associated Press

Trump wrapped up his hourlong meeting with House Republicans, declaring the party has “unbelievable unity.”

The president implored Republicans to drop their fights over the bill and get it done.

By the Associated Press

Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out the major new policy shift.

They say yearly updates to COVID shots will remain available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one health problem that puts them at higher risk. They say this could include between 100 million and 200 million adults.

But the FDA framework published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine urges companies conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people.

The change raises questions about people who may still want the shots but don’t clearly fall into one of the categories.

“Is the pharmacist going to determine if you’re in a high-risk group?” asked Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.”

By the Associated Press

The country’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said the potential donation of a new Air Force One plane is “a normal thing that happens between allies.”

He made the remarks at a Bloomberg conference in Doha, rejecting allegations that providing the jet would function as a bribe.

The prime minister said it’s being done “in full transparency, and very legally, and it’s part of the cooperation that we’ve always been doing together for decades.”

Trump has been eager to replace the current Air Force One planes, which are nearly 40 years old, and he’s been frustrated that it’s taken Boeing too long to build new ones.

“Why wouldn’t I accept a gift?” Trump recently told Sean Hannity on Fox News. “We’re giving to everyone else.”

By the Associated Press

Senate Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Jim Risch opened Tuesday’s hearing with praise for the Trump changes and spending cuts. He welcomed what he called the administration’s promising nuclear talks with Iran.

Risch also noted what he jokingly called “modest disagreement” with Democratic lawmakers, who are using hearing to confront Rubio about Trump administration moves they say are weakening US influence globally.

By the Associated Press

Rubio stressed the importance of US engagement with Syria, saying that otherwise, he fears the interim government there could be weeks or months “away from a potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions.”

Rubio’s comments addressed Trump’s pledge to lift sanctions on Syria’s new transitional government, which is led by a former militant chief who led the overthrow of the country’s longtime oppressive leader late last year.

By the Associated Press

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and a key financial supporter of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that he’ll be spending less on political campaigns.

His decision, which he disclosed via videoconference during a Bloomberg forum in Doha, Qatar, could be a setback for Republicans before next year’s midterm elections. It also speaks to his possible disenchantment with politics after his tumultuous experience with the Department of Government Efficiency, which has fallen far short of its goals for reducing federal spending.

By the Associated Press

Seven former National Ambassadors of Young People’s Literature, including such prize-winning authors as Jacqueline Woodson, Kate DiCamillo and Jason Reynolds, are condemning the Trump administration’s firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

The librarian’s responsibilities include appointing the ambassador, a position the Library of Congress established in 2008 “to raise national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature.”

“Her wisdom and vision, along with her unfailing ability to work impartially with all constituents, are unparalleled,” reads Tuesday’s statement, with endorsers also including Jon Scieszka, Katherine Paterson, Gene Luen Yang and Meg Medina. “Dr. Hayden’s dismissal is deeply disturbing and should alarm all Americans.”

By the Associated Press

The president’s pessimistic tone toward raising the deduction on state and local taxes is at odds with what he promised as he campaigned for another term last year.

“I will cut taxes for families, small businesses and workers, including restoring the SALT deduction, saving thousands of dollars for residents of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other high-cost states,” Trump said last September during a campaign rally.

Trump had made this pledge while campaigning on Long Island, which is represented by Represenatative Nick LaLota, one of the loudest proponents among House Republicans of increasing the SALT deduction.

Trump said as he walked into the House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday morning that increasing the deduction only helps Democratic governors.

By the Associated Press

• This morning, Trump is at the Capitol to deliver remarks to the House GOP
• Later, at 11:55 a.m., he will participate in a “take your kids to work” day event
• This afternoon, at 1 p.m., Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold a press briefing

By the Associated Press

The president took a swing at the Kentucky congressman, who has criticized how the GOP’s massive reconciliation bill will balloon the national debt.

“I don’t think Thomas Massie understands government,” Trump said when asked about Massie on Tuesday morning. “I think he is a grandstander, frankly.”

Massie hasn’t made his plans explicit but is assumed to be a “no” on the bill, which raises the nation’s debt limit in addition to extending current tax rates and making significant investments in border security and defense.

Massie, a known maverick in the House Republican conference, has been targeted by Trump before — when the lawmaker was set to oppose a stopgap funding bill in March to keep the government running, Trump called for a primary challenger.

By the Associated Press

Democrats claim the federal-state health care program for low-income people will be in for steep cuts under Trump’s bill. The Republican president insisted that “we’re not changing Medicaid.”

Before entering the private meeting with the House Republicans caucus, Trump repeated that he only wants to cut “waste, fraud and abuse” from the program.

At least 7.6 million fewer people would have health insurance with the Medicaid changes proposed in the bill, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. And 3 million fewer people each month would receive food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

By the Associated Press

The president took a discouraging tone on increasing the federal SALT deductions — a must-have for a handful of blue-state Republicans.

Before entering his meeting with House Republicans on the party’s massive budget reconciliation bill, Trump said the people calling for larger federal deductions to offset state and local taxes are Democratic governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom, whom he called “Newscum.”

“Those are the people that want this, and they’re Democrat states, they’re all Democrat states,” Trump said. He said the “biggest” beneficiaries of SALT relief would be governors from New York, Illinois and California.

By the Associated Press

The president spoke to reporters briefly on his way into a closed door meeting to rally House Republicans to pass his big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts.

By the Associated Press

Senate Democrats are getting their first chance to publicly confront Rubio over dramatic cuts in foreign aid and other major changes in U.S. foreign policy.

Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee have urged the former senator for months to come answer their questions about the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Trump’s clashes with traditional allies including Canada and other drastic changes.

In her prepared remarks, the ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, argues that the Trump administration has “eviscerated six decades of foreign policy investments” and given China openings around the world.

“Mr. Secretary, I urge you to stand up to the extremists of the administration,” Shaheen says.

By the Associated Press

Trump arrived after the short drive down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

He’s making the rare visit to try to unite divided House Republicans behind his multibillion-dollar tax cut and spending package. Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is at risk of collapsing due to internal divisions even before scheduled votes this week.

Trump will address House Republicans behind closed doors at their weekly meeting.

By the Associated Press

Rubio’s testimony echoes the line President Joe Biden used when he took office and ended many of Trump’s first-term “America First” policies.

Rubio’s prepared remarks claim four months of foreign policy achievements, even as these efforts remain frustratingly inconclusive: the resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine into peace talks and efforts to end to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

And he’ll praise agreements with El Salvador and other Latin American countries to accept migrant deportees, saying “secure borders, safe communities and zero tolerance for criminal cartels are once again the guiding principles of our foreign policy.”

By the Associated Press

Marco Rubio says in his prepared remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that the cuts serve America’s foreign policy interests by eliminating waste, duplicative programs and unnecessary personnel. He asserts that by focusing on core priorities, the cuts actually strengthen the U.S. position on the global stage.

“Every bureau and office will have a clear mission. The Department will speak with one voice, guided by our statutory mandates and national interests — not fads or fringe academic theories,” Rubio will say.

The proposed budget of $28.5 billion reflects the recession of some $20 billion in what Rubio called “ideologically driven programs” focusing on diversity, equality, inclusion and climate change.

By the Associated Press

Trump on Monday signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation that first lady Melania Trump helped usher through Congress, and he had her sign it, too, despite what sounded like a mild objection on her part.

“C’mon, sign it anyway,” the president told his wife. “She deserves to sign it,” he said.

After she added her signature, the president held up the document to show both of their names to the audience at the ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Melania Trump’s signature is merely symbolic since first ladies are not elected and they play no role in the enactment of legislation.

In March, Melania Trump used her first public appearance since resuming the role of first lady to travel to Capitol Hill to lobby House members to pass the bill following its approval by the Senate.

At a signing ceremony, she called the new law a “national victory” that will help protect children from online exploitation, including through the use of artificial intelligence to make fake images.

By the Associated Press

They have some similarities, Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump — guys in their 70s with homes in New Jersey and big constituencies among white American men middle-aged and older. And both, in very different respects, are the boss.

That’s about where it ends.

The veteran rock star, long a political opponent of the president, stood up as one of Trump’s most prominent cultural critics last week with a verbal takedown from a British stage.

As is his nature, Trump is fighting back — hard. He calls Springsteen a “dried out prune of a rocker” and is even bringing Beyoncé into the fray.

On Monday, the president suggested Springsteen and Beyoncé should be investigated to see if appearances they made on behalf of his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, last fall represented an illegal campaign donation.

Opening a tour in Manchester, England, Springsteen told his audience last Thursday that “the America I love, the America I’ve written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.”

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

President Trump hosted the Kennedy Center‘s leadership at the White House on Monday night, reinforcing how much attention he’s devoting to remaking a premier cultural center as part of a larger effort to overhaul the social and ideological dynamics of the national arts scene.

By the Associated Press

The Trump administration is allowing work on a major offshore wind project for New York to resume.

The developer, the Norwegian energy company Equinor, said Monday it was told by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that a stop-work order has been lifted for the Empire Wind project, allowing construction to resume.

Work has been paused since Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction and review the permits. Burgum said at the time that it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals. Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits and has spent more than $2.5 billion so far on a project that is one-third complete.

Equinor President and CEO Anders Opedal thanked President Donald Trump for allowing the project to move forward, saving about 1,500 construction jobs and investments in US energy infrastructure.

By the Associated Press

President Trump is heading to Capitol Hill early Tuesday to seal the deal on his “big, beautiful bill,” using the power of political persuasion to unify divided House Republicans.

Trump has implored GOP holdouts to “STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE.” But negotiations are slogging along and it’s not at all clear the package has the support needed from the House’s slim Republican majority.

Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue. At the same time, a core group of lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states want bigger tax breaks for their voters back home. Worries about piling onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt are stark.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is determined to push the bill forward and needs Trump to provide the momentum, either by encouragement or political warnings or a combination of both.

A key committee hearing is set for the middle of the night Tuesday in hopes of a House floor vote by Wednesday afternoon.