A bid to restore funding to US Immigration. Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by rows over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump ’s White House ballroom and controversial plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund.
The US Senate will not pass the $70bn legislation ahead of a 1 June deadline set by the US president. Republican senators told reporters on Thursday, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess.
It comes amid backlash from members of Trump’s own party against an attempt to latch funding for his ballroom project on to the immigration bill.
The plan prompted intense anxiety among congressional Republicans. who feared diverting taxpayer dollars toward Trump’s “East Wing modernization project” amid mounting cost of living concerns across the US would risk alienating voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Some Senate Republicans have also expressed concerns about a plan, announced on Monday, to create a secretive $1.776bn fund – which critics have argued is essentially a slush fund – to compensate Trump allies as part of an agreement in which the president. his sons dropped a $10bn long-shot lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service.
Former head of Minnesota non-profit gets nearly 42-year prison sentence for fraud
A federal judge has sentenced the Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock to nearly 42 years in prison for orchestrating what prosecutors called the largest pandemic fraud scheme in the country.
Thursday’s sentencing follows a $250m plot that exploited federal child nutrition programs. The plot later became a flashpoint in Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, leading to violent demonstrations. the ICE killings of two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Prosecutors had asked for a 50-year sentence, arguing Bock’s crimes – which included conspiracy, wire fraud. bribery – stole millions intended to feed children during the Covid-19 pandemic and caused “profound” damage that would reverberate far beyond the state.
“I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,” Bock said in federal court.
“Feeding Our Future operated like a cash pipeline, open to anyone willing to submit fraudulent claims. pay kickbacks,” prosecutors said in a court filing. “The ripple effects of her actions are profound, immeasurable, and will have lasting consequences for both Minnesota and the nation.”
Bock was convicted last year of multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. She had long insisted she was innocent.
The DNC autopsy report focuses on key demographics that Harris lost – including Latinos, men. rural voters in many states – and compares her performance to other Democrats in key state races, such as North Carolina governor Josh Stein.
It also takes an in-depth look at campaign spending. advertising, and highlights the need to involve new voters in campaign messaging rather than just pushing out messages.
Notably. the autopsy does not mention the role that Joe Biden’s age or the US’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza played in the wider Democratic defeat, despite widespread polling about the impact of those issues.
Misgivings about the quality. contents of the 192-page document are stated graphically at the beginning and at the top of each page in the form of a disclaimer marked in red, stating: “This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC. The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein. therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”
Sections thereafter are punctuated with multiple qualifiers questioning sourcing, data accuracy or a perceived lack of evidence.
One qualifier undermines the author’s version of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters bent on overturning the 2020 presidential election result. which he states led to the deaths of five people. “Claim contradicts public reporting”, reads an interposed remark. In fact, five people died within 36 hours of the attack. A further four police officers who responded to the insurrection died by suicide in the following seven months.
Jay Bhattacharya. the director of National Institutes of Health, testified in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee about Trump’s 2027 fiscal budget Thursday morning.
When Bhattacharya was asked about the Trump’s proposal to cut $6bn of dollars in funding for research at NIH. he said:
double quotation mark “Senator, the budget is obviously a major problem for this country. The NIH. my job is to make sure that my colleagues have the resources they need to fund the best biomedical research in this country. And I am really grateful to work with Congress and the administration to make sure that that’s possible.”
The budget hearing comes amid questions about the severity of the hantavirus. Bhattacharya, who is also the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said hantavirus “is largely contained”.
A bid to restore funding to US Immigration. Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by rows over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump ’s White House ballroom and controversial plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund.
The US Senate will not pass the $70bn legislation ahead of a 1 June deadline set by the US president. Republican senators told reporters on Thursday, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess.
It comes amid backlash from members of Trump’s own party against an attempt to latch funding for his ballroom project on to the immigration bill.
The plan prompted intense anxiety among congressional Republicans. who feared diverting taxpayer dollars toward Trump’s “East Wing modernization project” amid mounting cost of living concerns across the US would risk alienating voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Some Senate Republicans have also expressed concerns about a plan, announced on Monday, to create a secretive $1.776bn fund – which critics have argued is essentially a slush fund – to compensate Trump allies as part of an agreement in which the president. his sons dropped a $10bn long-shot lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service.
The DNC autopsy report is a disgrace, said RootsAction, a progressive grassroots advocacy group, in a statement Thursday.
The report focuses extensively on ad spending. fundraising, without providing enough attention to the Democratic policy positions and the context of the 2024 election, said the advocacy group.
“The word “affordability,” arguably the most important issue in the 2024 election. appears twice in the 129-page report,” said the statement. “The report makes no mention whatsoever of Gaza or Israel — neither word even appears in its text.”
The Democratic party is trying to distance itself from the report by poking holes into its legitimacy instead of taking responsibility after commissioning it. the statement said.
Republicans are also reacting to the report. Democrats didn’t need a report to tell them the obvious, said Mike Marinella, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
“Democrats keep stepping on the same rake and seem genuinely surprised when it smacks them in the face,” said Marinella. “Americans have made it pretty clear they’re tired of radical social experiments and out of touch priorities.”
On the Supreme Court’s decision about birthright citizenship that was expected today –. wasn’t announced – Trump claimed the US is the only country in the world to have it.
About 32 other countries. most of them in the Western Hemisphere, have birthright citizenship laws that are similar to the US, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Approximately 50 other countries have variations of birthright citizenship.
“This was not meant for Chinese billionaires to come in and have their kids here,” he said. “This was meant for the babies of slaves. You look at the dates, it was right after the Civil War, and you can tell.”
Trump said are misusing the birthright citizenship. “if allowed to stand, it will be a disaster.” The Supreme Court will probably rule against eliminating birthright citizenship, he said.
“Birthright citizen is done by no other country in the world,” Trump said. “We are a laughingstock.”
If birthright citizenship is overturned, hundreds of thousands of children born annually would be blocked from US citizenship.
Asked about the US aircraft carrier that arrived in the Caribbean yesterday. whether it was meant to intimidate the Cuban government, Trump said: “No, not at all.”
“We’re going to help them along … because I want to help them,” he said. adding: “Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years. It looks like I’ll be the one that does it. We want to open it up to Cuban Americans where they can go back and help.”
Fears of potential US military strikes on Cuba are growing, following the issuing of a federal criminal indictment against former president Raúl Castro. five others yesterday, marking a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to oust the country’s six-decades-old communist regime.
I’ve just been in the Oval Office, wishing I’d worn dark glasses to dim the glare of all that gold. Donald Trump was ostensibly promoting of the reversal of Joe Biden ’s regulations on fridges but sounded more enthusiastic about his White House ballroom, Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. triumphal arch, which just received approval from a fine arts commission.
I asked the US president why today’s AI executive order signing ceremony -. tech titans were expected to attend - has abruptly been called off. “Because I didn’t like certain aspects of it, I postponed it,” said Trump, sitting at the Resolute desk. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody,. I don’t want to do anything that’s gonna get in the way of that lead.”
He said AI is “causing tremendous good and it’s also bringing in a lot of jobs, tremendous numbers of jobs. Again, we have more people working right now than we’ve ever had. I really thought that could have been a blocker and I want to make sure that it’s not.”
Trump travelled to China last week with Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple and other tech leaders. Did he discuss AI safeguards with Chinese leader Xi Jinping? “I did, I did, I discussed it and he acknowledges how well we’re doing,” the presidenty said. “It’s the two of us, the two countries are fighting for it. Other countries are way behind. Way, way behind.
“They’re fighting for it, they want it, everybody wants it but they’re way behind. But I didn’t want to do it – I postponed that meeting – it was a signing actually –. I didn’t like what I was seeing.”
Asked about Republican backlash over plans to provide $1bn in security funds for his White House ballroom project, Donald Trump drew distinctions between the ballroom. proposed security improvements.
He said the ballroom was being built “in conjunction” with the military. the Secret Service and claimed that “a tremendous amount” of the project “is for national security”.
The president also said that the changes were “not for me because I’ll be gone” - even though he’s repeatedly mused about remaining in office after his term. including yesterday.
Pressured by the White House, Republicans tried to add the funds to a roughly $70bn bill to restore funding to ICE. the Border Patrol. But the security proposal is expected to be scrapped after being met with opposition from some GOP lawmakers who feared diverting taxpayer dollars to the project amid mounting cost of living concerns across the US would risk alienating voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Asked if he was losing control of the Senate, Trump said:
double quotation mark I really don’t know. I don’t need money for the ballroom, I’m making a gift of the ballroom.
We’re on time, on budget, it’s going beautifully. I have all the money I need, I’m making a gift to the United States. The ballroom is paid for, it’s a gift.
He then claimed the funds needed for the ballroom are for “national security”, including the drone port and bulletproof glass.
double quotation mark If they want to spend money securing the White House. I think it would be very much a good expenditure.
Asked what if Congress doesn’t sign off on the security money, Trump replied:
double quotation mark Well, the White House won’t be a very secure place.
Donald Trump also called off a signing ceremony for an executive order on artificial intelligence. he didn’t like some aspects of the text.
“ Because I didn’t like certain aspects of it I postponed it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office a short while ago. just a few hours before the ceremony with top CEOs at the White House was due to take place. “ I didn’t like what I was seeing.”
He added: “ We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody,. I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead.”
In response to a comments about the DNC autopsy report. the 2024 presidential election, Trump said “US election are so rigged and we have to do something about it.”
He again brought up that voters should have proof of citizenship. that the practice of mail-in ballots should be eliminated.
“We have elections that are more corrupt than third world countries,” said Trump. then changing the conversation to talk about Democratic support towards the participation of transgender people in sports.
Trump’s environmental protection agency has rolled back refrigerant rule for grocery stores, claiming it will lower prices.
The EPA is relaxing a Biden-era federal rule that mandated US businesses to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment. Officials say the relaxation is a push to lower grocery costs.
“Substantial and big savings are expected for a lot of families,” said Trump from the White House. “Numbers will come soon.”
Trump said the relaxation of in the rule did not raise any environment concerns.
“There will not be any impact on the environment,” he said.
Annotations throughout the Democrat autopsy report suggest that the report makes claims that are contradicted elsewhere in the same report. evidence and data is not provided for numerous claims. At times the report’s methodology appears inconsistent, and public reporting and data oppose the claims the report is making.
In the “What happened” section of the DNC autopsy report. one of key takeaways from the Democrats failure in the 2024 presidential election is “despite winning the popular vote, Trump won the election by a little more than 2 million votes in the popular vote, meaning the election was swayed by 0.15 percent of the votes cast across the country in the election.”
The annotations on the report, however, suggest that this analysis is not supported by data.
Another takeaway is that “the margin of defeat for Kamala Harris was among the smallest in American history. Under the structure of the Electoral College. a handful of swing states are generally determinative in the outcome, meaning the margins of victories in those states are the key to the overall outcome.”
The report suggests that in the future, Democrats should identify early on, in what states. battlegrounds they will fight the hardest.
California governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to prepare workers, small businesses,. communities from the economic disruption that AI could bring to the workforce, the governor’s office said in a statement Thursday.
“The order mobilizes state agencies, labor experts, economists, universities,. industry leaders to develop new policies, gather data, and identify early warning signs of workforce disruption — while ensuring workers share in the gains created by AI-driven productivity,” said the statement.
“California has never sat back. watched as the future happened to us – and we won’t start now,” said Newsom. “This moment demands that we reimagine the entire system — how we work, how we govern, how we prepare people for the future —. that work is starting right here in the Golden State.”
Trump health officials issue advisory on children and teens’ excessive screen time
Health officials in the Trump administration have issued an advisory about children. adolescents’ excessive screen time, warning that negative impacts on sleep and mental functioning have “become a public health concern”.
The advisory from the Department of Health. Human Services (HHS) notes that the amount of screen time reaches an average of four or more hours per day by the time a child becomes a teenager and can be linked to poor sleep, decreased functioning in school, less physical activity and weakened in-person relationships.
“A concern at all stages of life,. a particularly important one around children’s screen exposure, is its potential to disrupt healthy sleep, which is fundamental to learning, mood, behavior, physical health, and overall development,” the report says.
The department provided guidance about how to identify harmful behaviors around screens. how to set limits, including no screen time for children under 18 months old, less than one hour per day for children under six and two hours per day for ages six to 18.
“Exposure often begins before a child’s first birthday and increases as children age. By adolescence, children may spend more time on screens than sleeping or attending school,” the report says.
The Democratic National Party released a copy of a report about why Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election. written by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera Thursday.
News about the report and the full report was first published by CNN.
The report was commissioned at the request of Ken Martin, the DNC’s committee chair,. the version CNN published includes annotations that the DNC added to Rivera’s report.
The report was handed to Martin late last year, he told CNN in a statement,. he didn’t share it then because no source material was provided. He apologized for the delay, but said he was releasing it now even though it still does not meet his standards, because “people need to be able to trust the Democratic Party. trust our word.”
Senator Angela Alsobrooks, like other Democratic leaders, spoke about how families are being forced to think about how to cut back in the face of rising prices of gas. groceries, and the budget allocating more money to ICE.
“We are here with this bill as further proof of what Republicans are thinking about,. its not about the American people,” she said. “They wanna give billions of your dollars to the wasteful ballroom.”
Nothing in this bill talks about relief in gas or grocery prices, she said.
Democrats did not open the news conference for questions from the press.
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