Here's the latest
• Epstein files: The Justice Department un-redacted some more names in the Jeffrey Epstein files after pressure from lawmakers who reviewed unredacted versions of several records. Separately, the White House said the president supports Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick after he testified about having lunch at Epstein’s Caribbean Island in 2012.
• DHS hearing: At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson heavily criticized the department for “running roughshod over Americans’ rights.” The head of Customs and Border Protection said there are several open investigations into his officers’ conduct during Trump’s immigration enforcement surge.
• Funding deadlock: Facing a Friday deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said negotiators are making progress on proposed changes to ICE. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not directly rule out a short-term stopgap bill but said Democrats are putting pressure on the GOP over ICE demands.
Thune says Lutnick will have to answer questions about his relationship to Epstein
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will have to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein, but argued it is “up to the American people,” to say whether his answers are “sufficient.”
Lutnick confirmed on Tuesday that he and his family had lunch with Jeffrey Epstein on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender’s Caribbean island in 2012, even as he insisted the two did not have a relationship.
“I think it’s going to be – ultimately, what happens there is probably going to be up to American people. And the, what I’ve been for, and I’ve been very clear about this from the outset, is full disclosure. Get the information out there, let’s have transparency. And I think that’s being done,” Thune told reporters when asked about Lutnick.
“And so, you know, for people whose names appear, or in some context, might be in the Epstein files, they’re going to have to answer the questions around that. And I think the American people are going to have to make judgments about whether or not they think those answers are sufficient.”
Schumer won't directly rule out short-term stopgap for DHS
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wouldn’t directly say on Tuesday whether he’ll rule out a short-term stopgap bill to avert a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, but made clear Democrats are putting pressure on the GOP to cave to their demands and pass a funding bill by Friday.
“There’s no reason we can’t get this done by Thursday. We have sent them legislative language,” Schumer said on Tuesday when asked about passing a bill to extend DHS funding for a few weeks while lawmakers try to reach a bipartisan compromise over immigration enforcement reforms.
GOP leaders have made clear they think a deal by Friday at midnight is unlikely, meaning a short-term funding bill will be necessary. Senate Democrats could block such legislation and effectively force a partial government shutdown if they do not provide enough votes for it to clear the 60 vote thresh hold in the 53-47 margin chamber.
Pressed further by CNN on if he was definitively ruling out a stopgap, Schumer responded, “there’s no reason we can’t get it done by Thursday.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier in the day he’s a “hard no” on a short-term spending bill for DHS.
Schumer called the White House’s counterproposal for a DHS funding bill with some reforms “incomplete and insufficient,” adding, “we need legislative language that will rein in ICE and end the violence. The proposal didn’t come close to doing that.”
Trump says White House ballroom project is ahead of schedule and within budget
President Donald Trump said Tuesday construction of his new White House ballroom is progressing ahead of schedule and within budget.
“It is on budget, and ahead of schedule! When completed, it will be the finest Ballroom ever built anywhere in the World, one that has been sought by Presidents for over 150 years — and now they are getting THE BEST!” Trump posted on Truth Social along with two renderings of the project from different angles.
“Because of its unprecedented structural, safety, and security features, it will also be used for future Presidential Inaugurations,” he added.
One of the renderings shows the structure head-on with prominent columns and a grand staircase. The second rendering, which Trump had previously posted, is from the vantage point of the Treasury Department.
The ballroom itself is set to be 22,000 square feet, with the total expansion roughly 89,000 square feet. The most recent estimate for the cost has been $400 million, which the White House has said is being privately funded.
Takeaways from the House hearing with top immigration enforcement officials
The House Homeland Security Committee concluded its hearing with ICE and CBP leaders today after about three hours of tense exchanges, which included calls for impeachment, Nazi comparisons and continued refusal by federal officials to address the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
In his opening statement, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson heavily criticized the Department of Homeland Security for “running roughshod over Americans’ rights,” highlighting the killings of Good and Pretti in Minneapolis.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott faced constant criticism — including from some Republican members of the committee — during their testimonies. Neither official mentioned the killing of Good or Pretti in their opening statements and declined to comment when pressed, citing ongoing investigations.
However, the two parties were largely at odds during today’s hearing, with Republicans highlighting the work of immigration officers and threats they face — while Democrats accused them of trampling rights and arresting US citizens, arguing for significant reforms to immigration enforcement, if not outright defunding.
During the hearing, Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman compared ICE tactics to those undertaken during the Nazi and Soviet Union regimes, citing reports that agents are asking US citizens for proof of citizenship. Lyons flatly rejected that assertion, despite reports that ICE has detained US citizens.
Congress faces a tight deadline of Friday to pass continued funding for the agency — and today’s hearing did nothing to help bridge the divide.
Leavitt says Trump supports Lutnick after revelation of lunch with Epstein
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated Tuesday that President Donald Trump still has full faith in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, even after Lutnick testified about dining at Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean Island in 2012.
“Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary,” Leavitt told reporters during Tuesday’s press briefing.
Lutnick confirmed details of the 2012 lunch during testimony on Capitol Hill earlier Tuesday, but insisted he “did not have any relationship” with the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Lutnick said. “We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children with my nannies and my wife… I don’t recall why we did it.”
Trump has signaled he’s grown tired of the discourse surrounding the investigation into Epstein, telling CNN at the White House last week he believes “It’s time now for the country to maybe get onto something else.”
During Tuesday’s press briefing, Leavitt said the administration is “going to get back to business,” adding Trump is “very busy today.”
White House declines to say whether Trump spoke with police about Epstein in mid-2000s
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday declined to say whether President Donald Trump had a call with the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department in the mid-2000s about Jeffrey Epstein.
“Thank goodness you’re stopping him,” Trump said on the call, according to a newly released document. “Everyone has known he’s been doing this.”
Leavitt said she could not confirm whether the call happened.
“It was a phone call that may or may not have happened in 2006, I don’t know the answer to that question,” she said during a press briefing. “What I’m telling you is what President Trump has always said, is that he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club because Jeffrey Epstein was a creep and that remains true.”
Leavitt also argued that if the call did happen, it “corroborates” Trump’s account that he had a falling out with Epstein in the early 2000s and cut ties with him.
The account of the call, which was included in the Epstein files released recently by the Justice Department, nevertheless raises fresh questions about what Trump knew about the extent of Epstein’s crimes.
According to the FBI document memorializing the call with then-Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter, Trump also said he was around Epstein once when teenagers were present and “got the hell out of there.”
Trump floated idea to rename Penn Station and Dulles airport after himself, Leavitt says
The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump had floated renaming two key transportation hubs after himself in a conversation with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“It is something the president floated in his conversation with Chuck Schumer,” Leavitt said.
CNN reported last week that Trump told Schumer he was finally prepared to drop his freeze on billions of dollars in funding for a major New York infrastructure project if Schumer agreed to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport after the president.
But last week, Trump told reporters it was the New York Democrat’s suggestion — an explanation Schumer quickly rejected as an “absolute lie.”
“Chuck Schumer suggested that to me about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump station,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “It was suggested to me by numerous people, unions, Democrats, Republicans, a lot of people suggested. Nothing’s been done on that.”
White House reaffirms Trump's threat to block opening of key US-Canada bridge
The White House doubled down today on President Donald Trump’s threat to block the opening of a key bridge connecting the US and Canada, saying that it is “unacceptable” that it hasn’t been constructed with more American materials.
On Monday, Trump threatened to block the opening of the new $4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, and said he won’t let the span open until the US gets back what it is owed.
Canada paid for the bridge, and major construction is complete. It had been expected to open this year after a period of testing.
Under the terms of an agreement signed in 2012, Canada was fund, build, operate, and maintain the bridge, which is jointly owned by Michigan and Canada.
“The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howie Howe bridge and owns the land on both sides is unacceptable to the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
She continued, “It’s also unacceptable that more of this bridge isn’t being built with more American-made materials, even more so than what President Barack Obama committed to with the Canadians at the time at the start of the project.”
Trump had previously complained in a social media post that the bridge was built with “virtually no US content,” even though it was made, in part, with American steel and built, in part, by American workers.
Trump, Leavitt said, believes the US “should own at least half of the bridge, have shared authority over what passes across it, and participate in the economic benefits generated by its use.”
The president made that clear in a Tuesday morning call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, she added.
Michigan lawmakers, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, have warned that Trump’s threat could have serious economic repercussions. It could also have political implications for Republicans in the swing state.
President Donald Trump threatened to block the opening of a new bridge connecting the US and Canada due to a range of economic issues. It is not clear how Trump would block the opening of the bridge.
White House confirms that Trump is meeting Netanyahu tomorrow
The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump is planning to meet tomorrow with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Tomorrow, [President Donald Trump] will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a bilateral meeting,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing today.
Israeli sources have told CNN that Netanyahu intends to present Trump with new intelligence on Iranian military capabilities, amid concerns on the Israeli side that ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran may not turn out fruitfully.
Leavitt notably did not address whether Netanyahu – or any envoy representing Israel – would be participating at the recently-announced summit for the Trump-chaired “Board of Peace.” Israel has not formally signed the charter despite accepting Trump’s offer to join the organization, though Netanyahu has said his country would.
Trump will meet Friday with military members involved in Maduro's capture
President Donald Trump will meet Friday with US military members involved in last month’s “Operation Absolute Resolve” to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, the White House announced Tuesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the trip to reporters during the White House press briefing Tuesday, saying Trump and First Lady Melania Trump would travel to Fort Bragg in North Carolina “to meet with military families and the heroic members of our special forces” who carried out the operation.
Maduro’s capture last month was the dramatic culmination of a monthslong campaign to oust the embattled Venezuelan president from power.
Trump – who at points along the way voiced misgivings about potential unintended consequences of military intervention – put aside any reservations and gave a green light to the operation in the days before Christmas, CNN has reported.
Republican senators dodge questions on whether Lutnick should resign
A number of Republican senators are dodging whether or not Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should resign or remain in his job as more details on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein has come to light.
The latest tranche of files revealed Lutnick traveled to Epstein’s private island with his family years after Epstein had been indicted in Florida.
“Your question is, would it trouble me? I think it’s fair it would raise questions,” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said. “This is really a matter of first impressions. It’s unfair for me to comment,”
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he wasn’t “going to talk about his job,” but that Lutnick should answer questions about what happened and why.
“I think he would do himself a service by just laying out exactly what did and did not happen over the course of what seems to be an interesting relationship that includes business entanglements, but I only know what was publicly reported, nothing more,” Tillis said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, told reporters on Lutnick, “I am going to let him speak for himself on that issue.”
Democratic senator says Lutnick "totally misled" the public over Epstein ties
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen accused Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick of misleading the public about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
“The issue here is that he totally misled the American public, the survivors, the Congress,” Van Hollen said of Lutnick’s previous claim that a 2005 encounter left him thinking Epstein was a “disgusting guy,” which the Maryland senator said “clearly left the country with the impression that he had no further contact with Jeffrey Epstein.”
“That just turns out not to be true, which completely undermines his credibility,” Van Hollen told CNN, adding Lutnick’s admission that he had visited Epstein’s island with his family is both “extremely bad judgment” and also adds to his “credibility issue.”
Van Hollen pressed Lutnick during an oversight hearing with a Senate Appropriations subcommittee today and asked him to provide further documentation on his ties to Epstein.
“He said he would think about it. He didn’t make the commitment. He needs to follow through with that,” Van Hollen said.
Lutnick said earlier today that he and his family had lunch with Epstein on his Caribbean island in 2012, even as he insisted the two did not have a relationship.
Sens. Chris Coons and Jeff Merkley, also Democrats on the committee, suggested to reporters that Lutnick should resign if he couldn’t provide a more fulsome explanation of his interactions with Epstein.
Johnson punts key vote on Trump tariff regime, facing moderate rebellion
Speaker Mike Johnson is postponing a key vote that amounts to a loyalty test on President Donald Trump’s tariffs as he scrambles to convince enough Republicans to remain in line behind the White House on the contentious issue.
The House is now slated to vote at 8:30 p.m. — instead of 1:30 p.m. — on a measure that would effectively protect Trump’s tariffs for the coming months from a raft of future Democratic votes to kill them.
But Johnson is facing a bloc of GOP moderates who are refusing to protect Trump’s tariff regime. The speaker is now delaying the vote in hopes of swaying those Republican votes — but not changing the underlying policy, according to a leadership aide.
He can only afford one GOP defection on the floor.
If the vote fails, Democrats are planning to force a vote as soon as Wednesday on a measure that would block Trump’s Canadian tariffs — using a special maneuver that can bypass the speaker to bring the vote to the floor, according to multiple Democratic aides. They expect that measure to pass — dealing a blow to Trump.
Johnson is trying to convince Republicans to wait for the Supreme Court’s long-awaited ruling on Trump’s tariffs - rather than having Congress intervene now. The issue was a major discussion in the GOP’s closed-door conference this morning.
“The rationale for this, for just extending this a little bit longer, is to allow the Supreme Court to rule on this pending case,” Johnson told reporters after that meeting. “That process is playing out, I think it’s logical to allow that to continue.”
“I expect the rule to pass,” Johnson added.
Democratic governors will skip White House dinner in solidarity with Polis and Moore
Democratic governors will skip a dinner at the White House that’s part of the annual convening of the nation’s governors after President Donald Trump excluded two of their own from the bipartisan tradition.
“If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year,” the Democratic governors said in a joint statement.
Governors of both parties typically attend a working meeting at the White House and a black-tie dinner hosted by the president. This year, Democrats were not invited to the meeting and two Democrats, Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado, were excluded from the dinner.
The Democratic governors called it “disappointing” that the Trump administration does not share a goal of “working across the aisle to deliver results.”
The White House has defended Trump’s invite list. “These are White House events and the President can invite whomever he wants,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN in a statement prior to the Democratic governors’ announcement.
“With that being said, the White House has been coordinating meetings with the President, cabinet secretaries, and Democrat governors for more than a week. Democrats were invited to the dinner at the White House. This is a non-story,” Leavitt added.
Virginia Democrat reads letters written by children detained by ICE
Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw read letters written by detained children, obtained by ProPublica, during today’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing.
“These are letters from children describing what it feels like and what it does to them when the government locks them up,” Walkinshaw said before reading excerpts from the letters.
ICE head: Agency is obligated to follow court orders as judges repeatedly say it hasn't
Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told lawmakers that his agency has an obligation to follow court orders, even as judges sifting through a deluge of cases stemming from the immigration crackdown in Minnesota have grown increasingly frustrated with the government’s pattern of noncompliance.
“Do you believe your agency has a legal obligation to follow court orders?” New York Democratic Rep. Tim Kennedy asked Lyons during Tuesday’s hearing.
“Yes,” Lyons responded.
“Well, Mr. Lyons, you have a very strange way of showing it,” Kennedy shot back as he pointed to a federal judge’s recent admonishment of ICE for violating nearly 100 court orders in dozens of cases brought by immigrants arrested amid the crackdown who are trying to get released from detention.
“This administration and the agencies represented before us have shown a complete and utter disregard for the law and the Constitution,” the congressman said.
The repeated violations of court orders have led numerous judges in the Twin Cities to threaten contempt proceedings against the government.
Lyons himself was summoned there last month to explain why he should not be held in contempt for some of the violations, though the judge ultimately called off the hearing after one immigrant was released from custody, as he ordered.
ICE chief says he won't ban agents from wearing masks
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told a congressional committee today that he will not commit to requiring ICE agents to remove their masks or wear standardized uniforms.
His comments came in response to a question from Democratic Rep. Timothy M. Kennedy during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.
Referencing the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Kennedy asked Lyons:
“No,” Lyons responded.
Earlier during the hearing, Lyons defended the use of masks by ICE agents, saying they face doxing and other threats.
“Your answer is completely unacceptable,” Kennedy responded. “People who are proud of what they do aren’t hiding their identity.”
ICE head Lyons spars with Rep. Goldman over Nazi comparisons
As he was pressed on claims that US citizens have been asked for proof of citizenship, acting ICE director Todd Lyons was asked by Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman if he knew “what other regimes in the 20th century required similar proof of citizenship?”
“There was various nefarious regimes that did that,” Lyons said.
“Is Nazi Germany one?” Goldman asked.
“Yes, but I,” Lyons said before Goldman cut him off, asking if the Soviet Union was also one of those regimes. “I honestly have to stop you right there, sir,” Lyons said, adding: “This is the wrong type of questioning you should be asking me.”
The acting ICE director told Goldman to visit the Holocaust memorial in Washington, DC to see what Nazism is.
“To say that the men and women of ICE are Gestapos is wrong,” Lyons said.
US citizens have reported being arrested by ICE. In the wake of the violent upheaval in Minnesota following the killing of Rene Good, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has said people may be asked to “validate their identity” if they are surrounding an individual ICE is attempting to detain.
Speaker Johnson says Lutnick should not resign over ties to Epstein
House Speaker Mike Johnson said today that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should not resign, defending the Trump Cabinet member amid calls for Lutnick to step down over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“No, of course not. That’s absurd,” Johnson told CNN’s Manu Raju when asked if Lutnick should resign.
The recently released Epstein files showed Lutnick having planned meetings with Epstein long after he claimed he had cut off contact. Lutnick today denied that he had “any relationship” with Epstein.
In response to GOP Rep. Thomas Massie’s calls for Lutnick to resign, Johnson told CNN that the Kentucky Republican should “stop playing political games.”
Pressed by CNN on Lutnick’s ties to Epstein, Johnson said, “I don’t know anything about that.”
Johnson also said that he’s “convinced” that the Department of Justice “is complying with everything they’re required to do” related to the Epstein files.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that Lutnick should answer questions about his name appearing in the Epstein files.
“He’s gonna have to, like anybody else who might be named in there, have to respond and answer questions about that,” Thune said.
Lyons refuses to comment on whether Pretti and Good deserved to die
Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan grilled Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and acting ICE director Todd Lyons about the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Both Scott and Lyons reiterated a version of that line throughout today’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing when the cases of Good and Pretti have come up.
