Thursday, May 2, 2024

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1/ Trump refused to unconditionally accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if he doesn’t win. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Trump said he was prepared “to fight for the right of the country” – an echo to his speech on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, where he urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol. “If everything’s honest,” Trump added, “I’ll gladly accept the results.” In 2020, Wisconsin was one of several states where Trump and his allies attempted to undermine election results through baseless accusations of widespread fraud. Nevertheless, Trump repeated his lie that he beat Biden in Wisconsin, saying: “If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin. It also showed I won the election in other locations.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Reuters / NBC News / CNN / New York Times / Rolling Stone)

• Emails Reveal Top Trump Accountant Had Secret Campaign Role. “Not only was Allen Weisselberg handling the Trump Org’s books, he was also advising the former president’s campaign 2016 campaign.” (Daily Beast)

2/ On day 10 of Trump’s election interference trial involving falsified business records, the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels finished his testimony and Judge Juan Merchan held another hearing on whether Trump is continuing to violate his gag order. Two days after Merchan held Trump in contempt of court for violating his gag order nine times, the judge held a second hearing on four additional claims made by the prosecution. “His statements are corrosive to this proceeding and the fair administration of justice,” prosecutor Chris Conroy said, adding that Trump’s public comments “are deliberate shots across the bow to everyone who may come to this courtroom […] to talk about the defendant and what he did.” Merchan didn’t immediately rule, but advised Trump’s lawyer about social media posts: “I think the best advice to give your client is when in doubt, steer clear.” Meanwhile, Davidson testified that “there was an understanding” that his efforts to strike deals to bury the stories of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels “may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.” On election night 2016, Davidson texted Dylan Howard, the National Enquirer editor who helped broker the deals, “What have we done.” Howard responded: “Oh my god.” The next witness called to testify was Douglas Daus, who works for the Manhattan district attorney’s office as a technology expert. (CNN / New York Times / NBC News / WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

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1/ Biden will cancel $6 billion in student loans for people who attended the Art Institutes, a shuttered group of private for-profit colleges accused of fraud. “This institution falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt without leading to promising career prospects at the end of their studies,” Biden said in a statement. The move will provide relief for 317,0000 people who enrolled in the colleges between 2004 and 2017. This latest round of student loan forgiveness brings the total approved by the Biden Administration to almost $160 billion for nearly 4.6 million borrowers – an average of nearly $35,000 per student. (NPR / Associated Press / New York Times / CBS News / Bloomberg)

2/ The Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged at their highest level in two decades. The federal funds rate has been between 5.25% and 5.50% since July 2023. After the consumer price index came in at 3.5% on an annual basis last month, the central bank said there’s been “a lack of further progress” toward its 2% percent inflation goal. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / CNN / ABC News)

3/ A federal court blocked Louisiana from using a new congressional map for this year’s elections, which created a second majority-Black district. In the 2-1 decision, the judges ruled the new map amounted to an “impermissible racial gerrymander” that violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The ruling in favor of a group of self-described “non-African American” voters comes after the state legislature was ordered to redraw congressional districts to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court, which leaves uncertainty about which map will be used for this year’s elections that are six months away. (Politico / NBC News / New York Times / NPR / Washington Post / USA Today)

4/ Democrats won a special election House seat in New York, further shrinking the Republicans’ majority in the House. Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy defeated Republ...

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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

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1/ Trump was held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses and jurors in his Manhattan criminal trial. Trump was also ordered to remove seven “offending” social media posts and two posts on his campaign website. Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump he could be jailed for further violations. (Associated Press / NPR / Wall Street Journal / Axios / NBC News / CNBC)

• On the witness stand today: Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal when they sold their stories of affairs with Trump to the National Enquirer.

• “I have a blockbuster Trump story,” Davidson said in a text to an Enquirer editor, referring to McDougal’s relationship with Trump.

• Davidson testified that interest in Stormy Daniels’s story intensified after the emergence of the “Access Hollywood” tape, on which Trump bragged about assaulting women.

• “Every single time I talked to Michael Cohen he leaned on his close affiliation with Donald Trump,” Davidson testified. “I don’t know if it was ever explicitly stated that ‘I am negotiating this matter on behalf of Donald Trump,’ but it was part of [Cohen’s] identity.”

• Sources: New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Associated Press / CNN / Politico / Bloomberg

2/ House Democrats said they’d block Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to remove Speaker Mike Johnson. Greene and two other Republicans hardliners have threatened for weeks to introduce a motion to oust Johnson because he worked with Democrats to approve a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. “If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have put people over politics and found bipartisan common ground with traditional Republicans in order to deliver real results. At the same time, House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that.” Greene, nevertheless, suggested she’d force a vote anyway, saying: “if the Democrats want to elect him Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it.” (Politico / WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Monday, April 29, 2024

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1/ Senior State Department officials warned that they don’t have “credible or reliable” assurances that Israel is using U.S.-provided weapons in accordance with international law. Under a National Security Memorandum that Biden issued in February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken must determine whether Israel is using U.S. weapons “in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.” Blinken must tell Congress by May 8 whether he has certified the assurances to be credible and reliable. Four bureaus – Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Population, Refugees and Migration; Global Criminal Justice; and International Organization Affairs – raised “serious concern over non-compliance” with international humanitarian law during the war. Their assessment cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that raise “serious questions” about potential violations of international humanitarian law, such as repeatedly striking protected sites and civilian infrastructure, “unconscionably high levels of civilian harm to military advantage,” and “killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate.” The assessment also cited 11 instances of Israeli military actions that “arbitrarily restrict humanitarian aid,” including rejecting aid trucks due to a single “dual-use” item, “artificial” limitations on inspections, and repeated attacks on humanitarian sites that should be protected. Meanwhile, a coalition of lawyers called on Biden to cut off military aid to Israel, arguing that its actions in Gaza violate U.S. law, including the Arms Export Control Act and Leahy Laws, as well as international humanitarian law prohibiting disproportionate attacks on civilian populations. (Reuters / CNN)

2/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Biden to help stop the International Criminal Court from issuing arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials – including himself. The ICC launched an investigation three years ago into possible war crimes by both Israel and Palestinian militants dating back to the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. Israeli officials reportedly believe that the ICC is preparing to issue warrants for senior government officials, include Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. (Axios / New York Times / NBC News / Bloomberg)

• U.S. determined that five Israeli security units committed human rights violations before outbreak of Gaza war. The “State Department has determined that five Israeli security units committed gross violations of human rights prior to the outbreak of the war with Hamas in Gaza, but is still deciding whether to restrict military assistance to one of the units under US law.” (CNN / Washington Post)

3/ Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

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1/ Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker returned to the stand on the seventh day of Trump’s election interference trial involving falsified business records. Pecker testified that he spoke with Trump and Michael Cohen about paying Karen McDougal $150,000 to keep her story of an affair with Trump quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election. “We didn’t want the story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign,” Pecker said. Cohen told Pecker should pay the fee to kill the story, which prompted him to ask who would reimburse him. Cohen allegedly told Pecker: “Don’t worry. The boss will take care of you” which Pecker said he took to mean either Trump or the Trump Organization would pay him back. Pecker also testified that he knew that Cohen didn’t have the authorization “to buy, to acquire or spend any money” without Trump’s prior approval. The payment to McDougal was disguised as a deal for her to write a health and fitness column and appear on magazine covers, which Pecker acknowledged was unlawful. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made by Michael Cohen. (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press / NBC News / CNN / ABC News / USA Today)

2/ The Supreme Court appeared likely to reject Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution for trying to subvert the 2020 election, but appeared open to granting some level of immunity to former presidents for crimes committed while in office. Trump’s lawyers argued that his efforts to overturn the 2020 election were “official acts” taken in office, but did concede that some of the alleged conduct supporting the criminal charges against Trump were private. Chief Justice John Roberts raised the prospect of returning the case to the appeals court to distinguish between Trump’s official acts as president and his private ones, a result that could jeopardize the ability to hold a trial before the November election. “I’m not focused on the here and now of this case,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. “I’m very concerned about the future.” Justice Neil Gorsuch added: “I’m not as concerned about this case so much as a future one. We’re writing a rule for the ages.” Justice Samuel Alito also said he didn’t want to talk about the “particular facts,” but rather to talk “in the abstract.” Instead, Alito suggested an alternate reality in which granting immunity “is required for the functioning of a stable democratic society” because it gives an incumbent president to “leave office peacefully” after losing an election. Alito explained: “If an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, meanwhile, said: “The most powerful person in the world could go into office knowing that there would be no potential penalty for committing crimes. What disincentive is ther...

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Wednesday, April 24, 2024

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1/ Biden signed the $95 billion national security package into law, overcoming months of opposition and infighting by Republicans in Congress. The package includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza, and $8 billion for security in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. Biden said the package is “going to make the world safer. And it continues America’s leadership in the world, and everyone knows it.” He said shipments to Ukraine would start “in the next few hours.” The Pentagon added that it would rush the first $1 billion in aid to Ukraine, which includes more than 20 different types of weapons and military equipment. (NBC News / New York Times / Bloomberg / NPR / Associated Press / Axios)

• The U.S. provided Ukraine with long-range ballistic missiles for the first time earlier this month that Ukrainian forces immediately used the weapons to attack a Russian military airfield in Crimea. The Army Tactical Missile Systems armed with cluster munitions that can travel nearly 200 miles. The Pentagon will include additional long-range ATACMS in the $1 billion package of military aid Biden approved. (Politico / New York Times / NBC News)

2/ Biden signed legislation forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. U.S. officials and lawmakers have cited national security concerns with TikTok’s ownership structure, which could allow the Chinese government to obtain U.S. user data or influence content on the app with its algorithms, including interfering in American elections. ByteDance now has 270 days to sell TikTok, though Biden can extend the deadline another 90 days if he determines the company’s made progress toward a sale. It’s the first time the U.S. has passed a law that could ban a social media platform. TikTok’s CEO, meanwhile, said: “Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere.” (Axios / Politico / NPR / Washington Post / CNN)

3/ The Arizona House repealed a Civil War-era ban on nearly all abortions – two weeks after the state’s Supreme Court upheld the 1864 law. Three state House Republicans joined Democrats in repealing the law that made abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps a woman obtain one. The measure now heads to the state Senate and the Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs would need to sign it to reinstate a 2022 law, which permitted abortions through 15 weeks of pregnancy. (WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

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1/ Trump will likely be found in contempt of court for violating his gag order in the election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors argued that Trump violated the limited gag order at least 10 times, and asked Judge Juan Merchan to hold Trump in contempt of court, fine Trump $10,000, and force Trump to delete his social media posts. “His disobedience of the order is willful, it’s intentional,” prosecutors said. “He knows what he’s not allowed to do and he does it anyway.” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, meanwhile, claimed that Trump was just defending himself online when he posted about witnesses in the case, including Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels. Merchan, however, characterized the position as “silly” and warned Blanche that he was “losing all credibility with the court” with his argument that Trump was being “careful” about the gag order. While Merchan did not immediately rule on whether Trump had violated the order, minutes after the hearing Trump posted on his personal social media platform that Merchan “should recuse himself” because he’s taking away his “right to free speech” and claiming that he was “not allowed to defend myself.” (Bloomberg / Axiosy / NBC News / ABC News)

2/ Testimony resumed in Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records trial, with tabloid publisher David Pecker taking the stand for a second day to detail the “catch-and-kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump during the 2016 election. Pecker said he acted as the campaign’s “eyes and ears,” notifying Michael Cohen about possible scandals, including “about women selling stories,” and agreeing to “run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents.” Pecker also testified that alerting Trump about damaging information had a mutual benefit for the Enquirer and the campaign. (CNN / Bloomberg / NPR / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / ABC News)

3/ The FTC banned employers from using noncompete contracts that prevent workers from switching jobs within their industry. It’s the first time in more than 50 years that the FTC has issued an economy-wide regulation to how companies compete. “Robbing people of their economic liberty also robs them of all sorts of other freedoms,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said. The FTC estimates that banning noncompetes could create jobs for 30 million Americans and raise wages by at least $400 bill...

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Monday, April 22, 2024

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1/ On the fifth day of Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign, the prosecution and defense both delivered opening statements. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo framed that case as “a planned, long-running conspiracy” – orchestrated by Trump – “to corrupt the 2016 presidential election,” and that Trump then “covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again.” Trump’s lawyer cast his actions – falsifying 34 business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to a porn star in the days before the 2016 election – as run-of-the-mill, saying: “There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election; it’s called democracy.” Prosecutors called their first witness: David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher. In his initial testimony, Pecker described the tabloid’s use of “checkbook journalism” to pay for stories — a practice in the tabloid industry of suppressing a potentially damaging story by buying the rights to it. The first “catch-and-kill” deal, Pecker said, was a $30,000 payment to a Trump Tower doorman, who said he had heard Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. The second payment – made three months before the 2016 election – was made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 for her story about an affair she had with Trump while he was married. And in the final deal – made one month before the election – Pecker and the Enquirer’s editor helped Michael Cohen negotiate a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, the former porn star who also said she had sex with Trump. (Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Politico / NPR / NBC News / Axios)

2/ The House passed the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Each portion of the package, which was split into separate bills, received bipartisan support. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation as early as Tuesday and send it to Biden’s desk. The House also passed a fourth measure full of bipartisan priorities, including forcing TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company or face a ban in the U.S., seizing Russian assets to resell to Ukraine, and imposing new sanctions on Russia, China, and Iran. (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR / Axios)

• The head of intelligence for Israel’s military resigned over his “leadership responsibility” for the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the highest-ranking leader to resign over the assault. (CNN / WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

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1/ On the third day of Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment late in the 2016 campaign, two of the seven jurors already seated in the case were removed. One expressed concerns after being identified publicly based on details reported by the media. After being dismissed, Judge Juan Merchan blamed journalists for being too accurate in their reporting, and ordered the press to not report on certain details about prospective jurors going forward. The second juror was dismissed over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he’d ever been accused or convicted of a crime. Prosecutors said they found an article featuring a person with the same name who was arrested in Westchester in the 1990s for tearing down political ads. The juror reportedly “expressed annoyance about how much information was out there about him in the public.” Seven new jurors were seated hours later, bringing the total number to 12 jurors. The next six jurors selected will serve as alternates. Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office re-upped its request for Merchan to hold Trump in contempt of court for violating his gag order seven more times since Monday, calling the behavior “ridiculous.” Merchan said he would take up the matter next week. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / NBC News / Politico / Bloomberg / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / NBC News / Axios)

2/ House Republicans privately urged Speaker Mike Johnson to change the chamber’s rules and raise the threshold required to trigger the procedure to oust the speaker. Doing so would allow Johnson to pass the $95 billion foreign aid package and still keep his job over the opposition from the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives. Johnson, however, opted against the rule change, saying lowering the threshold for introducing a motion to vacate has “harmed this office and our House majority.” House Democrats have signaled they’ll provide the votes to overcome a planned blockade by conservatives and pass the long-stalled aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. However, if Republicans add political amendments or measures that weaken the bill, Democrats won’t provide the votes. Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene embarrassed herself and wasted everyone’s time by repeatedly proposing absurd and juvenile amendments to the foreign aid package, including “space laser technology on the southern border,” requiring lawmakers voting for Ukraine aid ...

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Wednesday, April 17, 2024

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1/ Speaker Mike Johnson defied threats from his Republican colleagues to oust him and scheduled a vote on individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Johnson plans to have the House vote on three individual foreign aid bills, a fourth bill sanctioning Russia, China, and Iran, and a fifth bill addressing border security measures. The package largely mirrors the Senate-passed $95 billion aid package, with the exception for the border security provisions. Johnson, however, will almost certainly need Democratic votes to get the package to the floor, as well as to save his job if he faces a motion to vacate. Biden endorsed the plan and urged Congress to work quickly. The House is expected to vote Saturday evening. (NBC News / Associated Press / CNN / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / NPR / Axios / CNBC)

2/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “do everything necessary to defend itself.” Over the weekend, Iran launched more than 300 attack drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli strike on Iran’s embassy in Syria that killed two Iranian generals. The U.S., U.K., and Germany have pressed Israel to not further escalate tensions with Iran and to instead be satisfied with its successful air defense that intercepted nearly all the missiles and drones. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, however, said it’s “clear the Israelis are making a decision to act — we hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible.” The U.S. and the E.U are also planning new sanctions on Iran meant to “degrade Iran’s military capacity.” Nevertheless, Netanyahu said Israel “will make our own decisions” about how to respond to Iran’s retaliatory strikes. Iran, meanwhile, warned that even the “tiniest invasion” by Israel would bring a “massive and harsh” response. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)

3/ For the second time in two weeks, Arizona House Republicans blocked an attempt to rep...

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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

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1/ The House will vote on three individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. A fourth bill would wrap several Republican foreign policy proposals into one, including the seizure of Russian assets, and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. In total, the legislative package roughly resembles the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, doesn’t necessarily have the votes to bring the bills to the House floor and the House Freedom Caucus has threatened to oust him from the speakership if he moved forward with funding for Ukraine. Notably absent from the bills are any measures to address border security, which Republicans have demanded for months as a condition of approving aid to foreign countries. Further, it’s unclear if Johnson has the Senate’s support, given the chamber already passed bipartisan foreign aid legislation back in February, which has been sitting in the House ever since. (CNBC / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / NPR)

2/ A second Republican agreed to co-sponsor an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his job, less than 24 hours after Johnson outlined a plan to send aid to Ukraine and Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie, joining Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to end Johnson’s speakership, stood up during a closed-door Republican conference meeting and told Johnson to resign, saying “you’re not going to be the speaker much longer.” Johnson, meanwhile, dismissed the effort to remove him as speaker as “absurd,” saying: “I am not resigning.” Without Democratic support, Republicans would need a simple majority to oust their second speaker in six months. One Republican called the situation “a clusterfuck,” and another said: “We are screwed.” (Politico / CNN / Washington Post / The Hill / Axios / Wall Street Journal)

3/ House Republicans sent articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. In February, House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas, citing his alleged failure to enforce border laws, reduce migrant crossings, and secure the southern border. Their first attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed when four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the impeachment, but they were successful on their second try by a single vote. House Republicans have demanded a full trial, while the Democratic-controlled Senate i...

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