Trump Administration

NewsNation reports:  In a press briefing on Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the Biden administration for the current issues at Newark, adding that he will be requesting an investigation by the Office of Inspector General into why a radar center that controls the airport’s airspace was moved to Philadelphia. Duffy announced that copper wires at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia …

We can only hope for another brain worm: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed Sunday that he took a dip in Washington, D.C.’s, Rock Creek with his grandchildren, despite long-standing warnings that high bacterial levels make the Potomac River tributary unsafe. According to the National Park Service (NPS), “swimming and wading are not allowed due to high bacteria levels.” …

NBC News reports: The Trump administration spent at least $21 million transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft between January 20 and April 8, according to figures provided to Congress by the U.S. military. The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defense official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that President Donald Trump promised. Guantanamo …

Axios reports: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the suspension of live cattle, horse and bison imports via the southern border “due to the continued and rapid northward spread” of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico, effective immediately. This parasitic worm species’ infestation “occurs when NWS fly larvae infest the tissue or flesh of warm-blooded animals; on rare occasions this includes …

Newsweek reports: Attorney General Pam Bondi’s links to Qatar are under scrutiny again following reports that President Donald Trump will be gifted a luxury plane from the Qatari government. Bondi worked as a foreign lobbyist for the nation of Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in the role which she held in 2020 and in the run up to the World …

NBC News reports: Trump’s special envoy broke with long-standing protocol by not employing his own interpreter during three high-level meetings with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, opting instead to rely on translators from the Kremlin, a U.S. official and two Western officials with knowledge of the talks told NBC News. Steve Witkoff, who has been tasked with negotiating an end to the …

The Daily Beast reports: “The MMR vaccine that we currently use has millions of particles that were created from aborted fetal tissue, millions of DNA fragments,” RFK Jr. told Fox News host Bret Baier. Framing the debate as one of personal freedom and religious persecution, Kennedy said that people refusing the vaccine on moral grounds were being “treated like lepers” …

Reuters reports: The U.S. federal disaster agency FEMA has sharply reduced training for state and local emergency managers ahead of the start of the hurricane season on June 1, according to current and former officials, memos seen by Reuters, and three sources familiar with the situation. The training cutbacks could leave storm-prone communities less prepared to handle the often devastating …

CNN reports: Another air traffic control equipment outage caused the FAA to implement a ground stop for Newark International Airport-bound flights Sunday morning. The ground stop, which means flights heading to Newark could not take off, lasted about 45 minutes, according to FAA air traffic advisories. It comes after a 90-second-long radar and radio outage early Friday morning in the …

The Hill reports: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to extend the retirement age for all air traffic controllers, increasing the mandatory age from 56 to 61 years old. During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker asked Duffy whether he had asked Congress to extend the retirement age. Duffy replied that Congress had already given …

The Independent reports: Dr. Mehmet Oz believes it is the “patriotic duty” of Americans to stay healthy, but hearing the assertion from the head of Medicare and Medicaid, which are currently facing potential cuts, did not inspire patriotism in all Americans. “Seventy percent of the money we spend is on chronic illness, and we’re not getting our money’s worth,” Oz …

Axios reports: Democratic members of Congress who were part of a scuffle with law enforcement officers at an ICE facility in New Jersey may face arrests, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Axios. It would be a major escalation in the Trump administration’s arrests of politicians and other public servants, including the mayor of Newark and a judge in …

The Daily Princetonian reports: “After Card’s whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders, joking that they ‘read like sixth-graders,’” reads the senior thesis authored by Pete Hegseth ’03, now the U.S. Secretary of Defense. This sentence is notable for recapping the precise moment President George W. Bush was informed of the 9/11 attacks. But …

Sioux Falls Live reports: Revelations about Republican former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s credit card use prompted a legislative oversight committee to question state officials Thursday in Pierre about how the state approves credit card spending for travel and other expenses. The Dakota Scout obtained and published records earlier this year showing about $750,000 billed to the Noem office’s state-issued …

Reuters reports: The Federal Aviation Administration said late on Friday it plans to meet with major airlines on Wednesday about potential temporary cuts in flights at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport to address recent major disruptions. Earlier this week, Transportation Department Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration was working with airlines to cut flights at Newark after …

Axios reports: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth canceled his trip to Israel, which had been planned for Monday, in order to join President Trump on Air Force One for his trip to the Middle East, according to three Israeli and U.S. officials. Trump inviting Hegseth to travel with him to the Middle East is a signal that the president continues …

CBS News reports: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congressional leaders Friday that the federal government could be unable to pay its bills as soon as August if Congress doesn’t act, urging lawmakers to address the debt limit by mid July. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Bessent said after reviewing April tax filings, “there is reasonable probability that …

The New York Times reports: A federal judge on Friday called for a two-week pause in the Trump administration’s mass layoff plans, barring two dozen agencies from moving forward with the largest phase of the president’s downsizing efforts, which the judge said was illegal without Congress’s authorization. Of all the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s vision to dramatically scale back the …

“Well, the Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion. So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not. …

NPR reports: The Department of Agriculture is demanding states hand over personal data of food assistance recipients — including Social Security numbers, addresses and, in at least one state, citizenship status. The sweeping and unprecedented request comes as the Trump administration ramps up the collection and consolidation of Americans’ sensitive data, and as that data has been used to make …