Here's the latest
• Funding fight: The White House said President Donald Trump is willing to consider some of Democrats’ demands for ICE reforms, but others are “non-starters.” Congress isn’t “anywhere close” to a deal on funding the Department of Homeland Security, the Senate Republican leader said earlier today.
• Election issues: Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the involvement of spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in the controversial search of a Georgia elections office last week. Leavitt also downplayed the president’s recent call to “nationalize” elections, saying he was referring only to voter ID legislation.
• Foreign policy: US officials are keeping expectations limited for tomorrow’s talks with Iran, after weeks of threats from the president to strike the Islamic Republic if it does not agree to a nuclear deal.
Schumer demands on DHS funding show two sides are still far apart heading into the weekend
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans for not presenting a clear rebuttal to the Democratic demands on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, as the two parties head into the weekend still far apart on negotiations with the clock ticking.
“They have different people going in different directions. They’ve got to get their act together,” Schumer said of the Republicans.
“At the moment, it’s the appropriations committees talking to each other, but you’ve had other people on the Republican side saying different things. Hakeem and I are doing this together. You don’t see us saying different things,” Schumer told reporters.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also expressed frustration about not being able to get the Democratic side to sit down and negotiate, and many Republicans have said many of the Democratic demands are nonstarters.
Schumer described the GOP proposal to attach so-called “sanctuary city” reforms to DHS funding as “unserious” and a “totally different issue.”
The Democratic leader sidestepped when asked if he would support another short-term extension of DHS funding if the two sides can’t reach an agreement by next Friday, and said his bottom line is he needs to see a proposal that address the Democrats’ demands to rein in ICE.
“If Republicans can’t go along with that, they shouldn’t count on our votes” Schumer said.
But when asked if he would consider passing a separate funding bill for some of the other agencies under DHS like TSA, Schumer sounded more open: “the bottom line is that TSA is very important, and there’s talk in our caucus of how to continue TSA.”
Thune says conversations over DHS funding “will continue through the weekend”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that efforts to find agreement over the Department of Homeland Security funding bill will “continue through the weekend.”
“The conversations will continue through the weekend, and hopefully by next week, we’ll have a better sense of that,” Thune said.
He said he prefers a full year continuing resolution — or funding extension — as a backup. As of now, the talks appear to be at an impasse between the two parties with the funding deadline fast approaching.
Asked if there have been direct talks, Thune said, “Well, we’re trying. There’s been a lot of outreach, at least, I know on our end, to get everybody to the table. I mean, I just don’t think that litigating this, you know, publicly, is the way to ultimately get to a solution.”
Asked why it is so difficult to get everyone to sit down, Thune said, “I don’t know that’s good question. I think part of it is they want us to react publicly to what they propose. But I think the way you’re going to solve this is to get down, find out what the real issues are, not all the stuff that’s out there for, you know, social media consumption and narrow it down and figure out how we solve this.”
Trump endorses Hungary's populist leader Orban for reelection
US President Donald Trump has endorsed Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of a key election in April.
The endorsement comes as Orban’s right wing Fidesz party is trailing in opinion polls behind the center-right Tisza party whose leader — a former Orban ally turned nemesis — has emerged as the prime minister’s first serious challenger in years.
Orban, who is the European Union’s longest-serving current leader, has been in office for almost 16 years. Over that time, critics have accused him of presiding over democratic backsliding and economic stagnation. Orban, a steadfast supporter of Trump, has also been criticized for his persistent opposition to the European Union’s efforts to assist Ukraine in its war with Russia.
White House says administration open to discussing “some” ICE demands from Democratic leadership
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration is willing to consider “some” demands from Democratic leadership’s list, which was sent to GOP leaders yesterday as a continuation of their effort to impose limits on President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration enforcement surge.
Leavitt did not specify which demands she was referring to, saying she would not “negotiate policy from the podium.”
“I’m going to allow the president to do that, and any final decisions that are made will be made ultimately by him,” she said.
Pressed on what those non-starters are specifically, Leavitt noted there are a few but again declined to elaborate. “I know the White House will be engaged in direct, serious talks with Democrats on this important matter,” she added.
Earlier: Senate Democrats insist that proposed changes to ICE tactics and protocols are a “moral red line,” in their demands, warning they are prepared to allow Department of Homeland Security funding to lapse without a deal. Senate Republicans, however, counter many of the proposed changes, referring to them as “ridiculous.”
White House suggests "it's more than appropriate" for Gabbard to be involved in search for alleged voter fraud
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested Thursday that “it’s more than appropriate” for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to be present and involved in searches for alleged voter fraud.
“It is more than appropriate,” Leavitt said. “In fact, it is Tulsi Gabbard’s job to ensure that our elections are safe and secure, and that’s exactly what she’s been doing on the ground in Georgia.”
Leavitt’s comments come as CNN has reported that Gabbard’s department has obtained voting machines from Puerto Rico and probed them for security vulnerabilities.
Gabbard was also present as FBI agents executed a search warrant in Fulton County, Georgia, last week related to the 2020 election.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has insisted that Gabbard was present in Fulton County because she was asked by the president to be there. While the president told NBC News yesterday that he did not know why Gabbard was there, he on Thursday said that she had gone at Attorney General Pam Bondi’s insistence to probe alleged ballot irregularities.
Trump "standing by" for updates from Witkoff and Kushner after Iran talks Friday
The White House offered limited expectations for Friday talks with Iran, saying President Donald Trump preferred to resolve tensions diplomatically and that he would receive a briefing from his delegates to the discussions afterward.
“Diplomacy is always his first option when it comes to dealing with countries all around the world, whether it’s our allies or our adversaries,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House.
There had been a back-and-forth between the US and Iran over the location and format of the discussions, but the two sides ultimately agreed to move ahead with the talks Friday in Oman.
Trump’s top foreign envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner will represent the US in the discussions.
“We will see what comes of those,” Leavitt said. “The President is standing by for an update from them.”
Trump hopes the large US military build-up he’s ordered in the Middle East will act as leverage as he seeks concessions from Iran on its nuclear and missile programs, along with its support for proxy groups in the region.
White House again downplays Trump's suggestions federal government should take over elections
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt again denied that President Donald Trump wants the federal government to take over the counting of electoral votes, insisting Thursday that his calls to “nationalize” elections referred only to his support for strict voter ID legislation.
“What the president is suggesting, and I just spoke to him about this, is that Republicans and Democrats in Congress should pass the SAVE America Act,” she said during a press briefing, alluding to a proposal requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. “This piece of legislation is going to ensure that states are abiding by federal election law by removing noncitizens from their voter rolls.”
Trump has raised the prospect of the federal government intervening in elections on multiple occasions over the past week, including an NBC interview on Wednesday where he claimed without evidence that some states might not be properly counting votes, and that if that’s the case, “something else has to happen.”
But Leavitt downplayed his remarks, arguing that Trump is primarily concerned with passing legislation to tighten safeguards against noncitizens voting.
“The federal government should absolutely do away with that,” she said. “This is a piece of federal legislation that will help states ensure the integrity and the sanctity of their elections, and that’s what the president wants here.”
Iranian foreign minister will head delegation for nuclear talks with US, Iran says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading a diplomatic delegation to conduct nuclear negotiations with the United States in Oman, Iran’s foreign ministry said today.
The high-stakes talks are scheduled to take place tomorrow in the Omani capital of Muscat and will involve Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.
The talks will be carried out “with authority” and aimed at reaching a “fair, mutually satisfactory and honorable understanding” on the nuclear issue, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in the statement.
The ministry said that Iran is entering the negotiations with full awareness of past experiences, including what it described as previous breaches of commitments, military aggression against Iran in June and foreign interventions during recent nationwide protests. These experiences, the statement said, continue to shape Tehran’s approach to diplomacy.
Learn more about Iran’s position ahead of tomorrow’s talks in this video:
As the US and Iran go back and forth on where and what they will talk about amid tensions, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh looks at what position Iran are in.
Trump says US should negotiate a "new, improved, and modernized" nuclear treaty with Russia
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States should negotiate a “new, improved, and modernized” nuclear treaty with Russia instead of agreeing to extend the New START treaty.
“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’(A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
The last remaining nuclear treaty between the two countries expires on Thursday and has sparked fears about a nuclear arms race, with the two biggest nuclear superpowers without limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades.
Trump says he understand UK's Diego Garcia plan but retains right to "militarily secure" base
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had “very productive discussions” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the future of Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean where the US has a military base, after previously criticizing the UK’s plans to transfer its ownership to Mauritius.
In a Truth Social post, Trump warned that the United States would act if American interests were threatened.
“I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make,” he said. “However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia.”
“Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense,” Trump continued.
Earlier this year, he accused the UK of “stupidity” over the move to transfer ownership of the Chagos Islands, which includes Diego Garcia, to Mauritius.
“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia … FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump wrote in January. “The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”
Democrats aren't committed to stopgap bill for DHS, raising prospects of agency shutdown
Democrats are not committed to backing another short-term funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, raising the odds of an agency shutdown.
While Congress has funded most of the federal agencies through September 30, funding for the Department of Homeland Security expires next Friday at midnight.
Democrats are demanding reforms as part of any funding package for the agency. But as talks remain stalled, a number of rank-and-file Democrats – including many who traditionally back stopgap measures in the past – indicate they won’t entertain another funding bill without a clear sense that negotiators are making progress.
“That’s a close call, and it would depend to some extent on whether I thought there were real, good faith negotiations going on,” Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said of whether he’d back another short-term spending bill for the agency. “But if it is we’re not even going to talk to you….I don’t know but if that’s their position then no.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, another Democrat who has voted to keep the government open even when other Democrats voted no, argued that she wasn’t going to speculate at this point what she will do given the talks haven’t really gotten underway.
Several Democrats said they weren’t open to a short-term funding extension of any length or under any circumstances.
“We definitely don’t need a short-term CR, and I don’t think the American people want us funding an agency that is out of control,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said.
Asked if he was open to a CR to give talks more time, Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, shot back “more time for what?”
Trump announces Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi will visit White House on March 19
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will visit the White House on March 19, praising her leadership ahead of Japan’s upcoming legislative elections.
Trump highlighted the significance of Japan’s vote scheduled for Sunday, calling it critical to the country’s future and offering an emphatic endorsement of Takaichi.
“The Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has already proven to be a strong, powerful, and wise Leader, and one that truly loves her Country,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, adding that he looks forward to welcoming her to Washington later in March.
The president first met Takaichi during his Asia trip in October, where the two leaders spent time together during meetings with business executives and government officials.
During that visit, Trump received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Takaichi, the second of his Asia trip, along with a golf putter that had belonged to the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who famously bonded with Trump over golf.
“She is a delight,” Trump said at the conclusion of the day’s events. “I got to know her pretty well in a short period of time.”
Treasury secretary and Sen. Warren spar over affordability
America’s affordability challenges and the next leader of the Federal Reserve were a sticking point in a heated exchange between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about rising US grocery prices after President Trump continues to falsely say that grocery prices are falling.
In today’s congressional hearing, Warren referred to recent comments from President Donald Trump where he referred to affordability as a “hoax.” Bessent pushed back against Warren, saying, “It may be a bit nuanced for you, but what President Trump is referring to is the media saying that the affordability crisis was generated by this administration, when it was you and President Biden.”
Warren then pressed Bessent over whether grocery prices dropped last year. He said that “numerous grocery prices have gone down.”
The numbers: While two dozen grocery items did see lower prices in 2025, including eggs and potatoes, the vast majority (80%) of the grocery items monitored by the government’s Consumer Price Index continued to rise, with overall inflation at 2.7% for the year.
Ukraine talks end with re-establishment of US-Russia military communications, but work remains on peace deal
Talks intended to end the Ukraine war concluded Thursday in an agreement to reopen a military communication channel between the US and Russia, President Donald Trump’s top foreign envoy said, though so far no resolution to the conflict appears at hand.
Steve Witkoff, who led the US delegation in the two-day trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, said the discussions were “constructive and focused on how to create the conditions for a durable peace.”
“The delegations had wide-ranging discussions on the remaining open issues including methods to implement a ceasefire and monitor the cessation of military activities,” he wrote in a statement on social media.
The re-establishment of high-level military dialogue between the US and Russia could point to normalizing relations between the two countries. Washington and Moscow cut off military-to-military communication in the days ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago.
“This channel of communication was suspended prior to the onset of this conflict and is crucial to achieving and maintaining peace,” Witkoff said, adding it would be led on the US side by General Alexus Grynkewich, commander of US European Command.
He also noted a prisoner exchange agreed to by both sides, the first in several months.
“The delegations agreed to report back to their respective capitals and to continue trilateral discussions in the coming weeks,” he wrote.
Catch up on this morning’s top headlines in politics
We’re staying across the latest news on the Trump administration as congressional leaders race against the clock to reach a deal funding the Department of Homeland Security.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said today that lawmakers aren’t “anywhere close” on a deal and has criticized Democrats’ proposal for Immigration and Customs Enforcement reforms. Still, Thune says there is room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump praised his spy chief Tulsi Gabbard today for her role in investigating what he claimed was “international cheating” in US elections. Gabbard has faced questions over her involvement in the controversial search of a Georgia elections office.
If you’re joining us, here’s a roundup of today’s other top headlines:
- Ukraine war talks: The second day of trilateral meetings involving Ukraine, Russia and the US has ended in Abu Dhabi, the Ukrainian negotiation team told CNN. Ukraine and Russia have each returned 157 prisoners of war, according to Russian state media and US envoy Steve Witkoff. Meanwhile, the US said it agreed to resume high-level inter-military communication with Russia, nearly five years after it was suspended.
- Reclassification of federal workers: The Trump administration issued a rule today that would shift an estimated 50,000 senior career staffers into a new category making them easier to fire.
- Sluggish job market: The number of available jobs fell in December for the third month in a row to an estimated 6.54 million, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s the lowest level of openings in five years.
- TrumpRX launch: Trump is expected to launch a new direct-to-consumer prescription drug platform, advancing an initiative central to his efforts to alleviate Americans’ affordability concerns, two sources told CNN.
- DC National Guard deployment: The Guard mission is due to cost $602 million on an annual basis, according to a new report from Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee.
- US-Cuba relations: Cuba’s president said Havana is “willing to have a dialogue” with Washington, amid fractured relations between the two countries following the deadly US attack in Venezuela last month.
CNN’s Tami Luhby, Alejandra Jaramillo, Kaanita Iyer, Holmes Lybrand, Veronica Stracqualursi, Alicia Wallace, Sana Noor Haq, Victoria Butenko, Anna Chernova, Svitlana Vlasova and Lauren Kent contributed to this report.
GOP senator attacks Democrats' proposal to rein in ICE and warns of DHS shutdown
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley accused Democrats of not negotiating in good faith as a deadline to avert a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes crucial disaster relief and airport security agencies, rapidly approaches.
“They haven’t even reached out to begin negotiations,” Hawley told CNN on Thursday as Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican appropriator leading talks, says she has yet to make contact with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic leaders.
“What the Democrats want is they want to get rid of ICE. They can’t do that. They don’t have the votes for that. They want to defund it. They don’t have the votes to do that. So what they want to do now is essentially tie ICE up and also CBP, so they can’t really work,” Hawley said, adding, “That’s good for nobody, except for criminals. And I am not going to help them do that.”
The Missouri Republican urged lawmakers to pass the bipartisan appropriations bill that had already been negotiated by Congress, which would fund agencies like the TSA, FEMA and Coast Guard through the fiscal year.
“We spent months negotiating this bill with the Democrats. So if they are serious, they’ll pass this bill that they negotiated,” he continued.
Republicans grow increasingly skeptical deal on DHS can ever happen
Sen. Katie Britt, the lead GOP negotiator in the Senate on reforms to the Department of Homeland Security, blasted Democrats today for being “insincere,” saying she has yet to have a serious conversation with her Democratic counterparts a week before the deadline for a funding deal.
“They’ve put out tweets, they held press conferences, but yet we heard nothing,” Britt told CNN. “So last night, after our attempts to have that conversation, we then, yet again, see a list of demands grow from three to 10 without any communication.”
She added: “That is not the way good faith negotiations begin or end.”
Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican who has been central to major bipartisan negotiations like gun reform, said he does not believe this negotiation will end with DHS reforms, and instead will result in a one-year continuing resolution for the agency.
Cornyn said Democrats are holding funding “hostage” over “what I would consider ridiculous demands on the administration.”
“It’s a non-serious demand,” Cornyn said of the Democrats’ list from last night. “This is really more of a political stunt. It is not about funding ICE, it is about the midterm elections and their attempt to try and capitalize on the public’s concerns about the some of the actions in Minnesota.”
Cornyn said a hold out of DHS funding will have a more significant impact on TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard than it will Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection, given that President Donald Trump’s signature law from last year injected ICE and CBP with plenty of cash to fund their actions for the next fiscal year — even if Congress doesn’t give them a penny more.
Thune sharply criticizes Democrats' ICE proposal, but says room to negotiate on some items
Senate Majority Leader John Thune blasted a Democratic list of proposed changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement practices, saying, “There’s a bunch of stuff in there that’s a non-starter and they know it.”
But he also signaled there are a few items that he thinks there is “room to negotiate on” and “deal space.”
On the demand ICE agents not wear masks, he said that “all that does is set them up to get doxxed. There’s just a bunch of stuff in there that’s a non-starter and they know it. Now maybe they had to put it in there to satisfy Moveon.org or some of their special, you know, left wing special interest groups.”
“There are a few things that actually there’s probably some room to negotiate on. But a lot of that stuff, obviously just wasn’t serious,” he added.
Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama is Thune’s point person for the talks, but Thune said she’s “reached out multiple times now to Sen. Schumer or whomever he wants to negotiate on his behalf. And it’s been crickets.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the DHS appropriations subcommittee, which Britt chairs, said Wednesday afternoon he had not heard from Republicans to begin talks and said it’s incumbent on them to reach out since they are in the majority
Britt was spotted by CNN going into the Senate minority leader’s office suite Wednesday, but it wasn’t clear if she spoke to anyone.
Thune added that it’s “pretty clearly” Congress will need to pass another short-term government funding bill due to the nearing deadline and he’d probably file a bill Monday.
If DHS shuts down, he will cancel a recess planned the week after next. A lot of senators in both parties are planning to attend the Munich Security Conference.
“If we’re we get to the end of next week and we’re shutdown posture, I think that the idea of people going on trips, no matter how justified or well-intended they are, seems like they ought to be a non-starter,” he said.
Thune says lawmakers aren't "anywhere close" on DHS funding deal
Senate Republican leader John Thune on Thursday said that lawmakers aren’t “anywhere close” on a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with a short timeframe for negotiations before funding expires next Friday.
“As of right now, we aren’t anywhere close to having any sort of agreement that would enable us to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and so Mr. President, I would hope that the Democrats will come to the table,” he said on the Senate floor.
Democrats are demanding several reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some of which Republicans have already rejected – like unmasking federal agents and requiring judicial warrants – a sign that the two sides are far apart on the issue.
Thune said Senate GOP negotiators had reached out to Democrats yesterday for talks with them and the White House.
“But that is not right now, even in the realm of possibility, Mr. President, because they’re not engaging. We’ve got a now one week and one day timeframe in which to do this, which is entirely unrealistic,” Thune said on the Senate floor.
Thune also insisted that “this is not a blank check situation where Republicans just agree to a list of Democrat demands.” He called for a “serious discussion” about the “climate of harassment” federal immigration officials have faced and to address the “issue of cooperation between local and federal law enforcement”
“If, for some reason, the Department of Homeland Security ends up in a shutdown. It is going to be totally on them. They will own it,” he said.
Trump administration plans to reclassify 50,000 federal workers, making them easier to fire
In its latest effort to weaken the federal workforce, the Trump administration issued a rule today that would shift an estimated 50,000 senior career staffers into a new category that would make them easier to fire.
The controversial rule allows agencies to reclassify federal employees involved in policy into at-will positions that don’t provide the same job protections that other career workers have. It will affect an estimated 2% of the federal workforce.
The Trump administration made it clear in the rule why it created the new category, called Schedule Policy/Career.
The rule stems from an executive order President Donald Trump signed his first day in office last year. It revives a similar executive order that Trump signed shortly before the 2020 election that created a category for federal employees involved in policy, known as Schedule F. Former President Joe Biden quickly reversed that earlier order and finalized a new rule in 2024 that further bolstered protections for career federal workers.
Reaction: The new rule, which rescinds the 2024 rule, quickly drew promises of a lawsuit from a coalition of more than 30 unions, advocacy groups and others, which had already sued over the 2025 executive order.
The measure “allows the government to bypass existing civil service laws, strips employees of earned protections, and opens the door to politically motivated firings and hirings, which have already occurred since President Trump took office,” Democracy Forward, which is representing the organizations, said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the rule being issued.
