Supreme Court reverses lower court on qualified immunity for Vermont police sergeant who arrested protester
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a Vermont state police sergeant is entitled to qualified immunity in a lawsuit brought by a protester who said she was injured when an officer used a wristlock to remove her from a sit-in at the state capitol. In an unsigned per curiam opinion, the court reversed the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Zorn v. Linton, holding that existing precedent did not clearly establish that Sgt. Jacob Zorn’s specific conduct violated the Constitution. “The Second Circuit held that Zorn was not entitled to qualified immunity,” read the majority ruling – with the three liberal justices dissenting – rejecting excess use of force arguments. “We reverse.” The justices said officers are generally shielded from civil liability unless prior case law put the unlawfulness of their actions “beyond debate.” JUDGE RULES FEDERAL AGENTS MUST LIMIT TEAR GAS AT PROTESTS NEAR PORTLAND ICE BUILDING “Because the Second Circuit failed to identify a case where an officer taking similar actions in similar circumstances ‘was held to have violated’ the Constitution, Zorn was entitled to qualified immunity,” the ruling concluded. “We grant his petition for writ of certiorari and reverse the judgment of the Second Circuit.” The case arose from a 2015 sit-in by healthcare protesters at the Vermont capitol on Gov. Peter Shumlin’s inauguration day. After the building closed, police moved to arrest demonstrators who refused to leave. According to the opinion, protester Shela Linton remained seated and linked arms with others. Zorn warned her he would have to use force, then took her arm, placed it behind her back, applied pressure to her wrist and lifted her to her feet. Linton later sued, alleging physical and psychological injuries. POSTAL SERVICE CAN’T BE SUED FOR INTENTIONALLY NOT DELIVERING MAIL, SUPREME COURT RULES IN 5-4 SPLIT The Supreme Court said the 2nd Circuit relied too heavily on its earlier decision in Amnesty America v. West Hartford, finding that case did not clearly establish that “using a routine wristlock to move a resistant protester after warning her, without more, violates the Constitution.” On that basis, the justices concluded Zorn was entitled to qualified immunity and reversed the lower court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. She argued the court had improperly stepped in with the “extraordinary remedy of a summary reversal” and said a jury could find the officer used excessive force against a nonviolent protester engaged in passive resistance. “A jury could find that Zorn violated Linton’s clearly established Fourth Amendment rights,” Sotomayor wrote in the signed dissent. “The majority today gives officers license to inflict gratuitous pain on a nonviolent protestor even where there is no threat to officer safety or any other reason to do so,” she concluded. READ THE ORDER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: “That is plainly inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment’s fundamental guarantee that officers may only use ‘the amount of force that is necessary’ under the circumstances,” Sotomayor wrote. “Therefore, I respectfully dissent.”
Trump orders War Dept to postpone strikes on Iranian energy sites, citing ‘productive’ talks to end war
President Donald Trump, in an all-caps post early Monday morning, declared progress toward “resolution” of the war with Iran. “I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.” FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo spoke with Trump shortly after the post, and Trump stressed, “Iran wants to make a deal badly.” Trump’s move followed a threat by Iran to attack Israel’s power plants and those supplying U.S. bases across the Gulf region if the U.S. targets Iran’s power network. IRAN CONTINUES FIRING MISSILES, DRONES AT NEIGHBORING STATES, WITH MULTIPLE INTERCEPTIONS REPORTED The post led to an immediate reaction in the oil futures market globally. Iranian state television is denying that any negotiations are underway, but Trump rejected that reporting to Bartiromo, saying peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had spoken with their counterparts Sunday night. The United Arab Emirates reported its air defenses were attempting to intercept new incoming Iranian fire Monday afternoon. Prior to Trump’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged talking by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Turkey has been an intermediary before in negotiations between Tehran and Washington. SCHUMER KNOCKS TRUMP ON IRAN, PLAN TO SEND ICE TO AIRPORTS: ‘ASKING FOR TROUBLE’ Speaking in Parliament, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday compared the challenges caused by the war to those faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and said India needs to be equally prepared this time. Modi said the country’s power plants have adequate coal reserves and that all power supply systems are being closely monitored as summer approaches and demand rises. He said India’s fertilizer stocks remain sufficient. “This war is not in the interest of humanity,” Modi said. “India is encouraging all sides to end war peacefully.” Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dem Senate candidate in the hot seat after anti-meat comment resurfaces: ‘This will haunt him’
Senate candidate James Talarico, D-Texas, has been facing an intense online firestorm after a resurfaced video showed him calling on Texans to ditch meat to fight climate change. Republicans and conservative influencers have widely panned the remark as a potentially fatal blow to his Senate bid and suggested his anti-meat stance could dog him on the campaign trail. “Democrats are trying to fool Texans into believing James Talarico isn’t some whacked out lib, but the clips keep coming,” Andrew Kolvet, Turning Point USA spokesman, wrote on X. “In 2022, Talarico, wearing a mask, scolded Texans about going meat-free (!!) to stop climate change. This is TEXAS. This will haunt him in the general.” “That just isn’t poor taste, it’s political poison,” Lawrence Jones said on “The Will Cain Show” on Thursday. Talarico, a three-term state legislator and self-described Presbyterian seminarian, is seeking to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is facing an insurgent primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, in a primary battle earlier this month. TALARICO REPORTEDLY KNEW COLBERT INTERVIEW WOULDN’T AIR ON TV BEFORE HE LEFT TO FILM IT Talarico’s anti-meat remarks stem from a speech he delivered in April 2022 to the Texas Humane Legislation Network, during which he said his re-election bid was a “non-meat” campaign. “We have, I think, heard more and more issues of animal welfare,” Talarico said while wearing a mask. “I think, not just because it’s the right thing to do and the moral thing to do, but also, it’s, as all of you know, necessary to fight climate change. It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society.” “So, I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign,” Talarico continued. “So, we are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses.” Amid the backlash, the Talarico campaign blasted out a photo of the candidate wearing a Texas flag shirt and taking a large bite out of a turkey leg. “Official Statement from James Talarico on Vegan Accusations,” the campaign wrote. ‘OPEN BORDERS TRUMP-HATING RADICAL’: GOP UNLEASHES EARLY BLITZ ON TEXAS DEMOCRAT TALARICO Still, the hits against Talarico from Republicans over his anti-meat stance keep coming. “Who wants to tell him that cattle is the #1 commodity in Texas?” the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, wrote on X. “Vote Republican this November. The steaks couldn’t be higher,” Cornyn wrote in response to the viral clip. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also labeled Talarico a “freak” who wants to “ban BBQ.” Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment. Republicans have also spotlighted Talarico’s past remarks when discussing religion and transgender issues. In 2021, he claimed “God is non-binary” when debating a bill to ban men from women’s sports on the Texas House floor. Talarico doubled down on that statement during an interview with The Bulwark on Thursday, arguing it was “provocative” but theologically correct. In an interview with an Austin-based Fox affiliate in 2021, Talarico called concern over biological males in women’s sports a part of “far-right conspiracy theories.” In 2023, when Talarico was asked on the “A Superbloom Podcast” about “something that you love, other than family and friends,” the candidate discussed “trans children.” Though Democrats have not won a Senate seat in Texas since the 1980s, Talarico is arguing that he is well-positioned to end that trend. His campaign published an internal poll on Friday showing him leading Cornyn and Paxton in head-to-head match-ups.
As cattle herds shrink and beef prices rise, investors back AI cow collars
A startup putting high-tech collars on cows could soon be worth more than $2 billion, as investors bet the technology could help farmers cut costs and cope with labor shortages. Halter, a New Zealand-based company, is in talks to raise new funding in a deal expected to be led by billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, according to a Bloomberg report. The round is attracting heavy investor interest and is close to being filled, though final details are still being negotiated. THE SINGLE CRUSHING PROBLEM AMERICAN CATTLE RANCHERS WISH TRUMP WOULD FIX INSTEAD Farmers are increasingly looking for ways to lower expenses and boost efficiency — changes that could eventually affect food prices for consumers. Beef prices are already soaring, and economists warn Americans shouldn’t expect relief anytime soon as the U.S. cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size in 75 years. The decline has been driven by years of drought, rising costs and an aging ranching workforce. Experts say rebuilding herds will take years, meaning beef prices are likely to remain elevated. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, the average price of beef in grocery stores climbed from about $8.60 per pound in February 2025 to $10.12 per pound a year later — a roughly 18% increase. THE COST OF THIS GROCERY STAPLE IS NEARING RECORD HIGHS — AND AMERICANS CAN’T GET ENOUGH Against that backdrop, Halter is pitching technology aimed at helping farmers do more with less. The company’s solar-powered, artificial intelligence-driven collars let ranchers herd cattle without fences, using GPS, sound and vibration signals controlled through a smartphone app. The system also tracks livestock health and movement in real time, giving farmers a way to manage herds remotely. The goal is straightforward — fewer workers, lower costs and more efficient land use. THE SURPRISING REASON WHY AMERICANS COULD FACE HIGH BEEF PRICES FOR YEARS Halter is part of a broader push toward “precision agriculture,” where technology is used to modernize farming. But that sector has struggled in recent years, with a wave of startups collapsing and investors pulling back amid high costs and slow adoption. The company has also expanded into the U.S., opening an office in Colorado and targeting American ranchers as a key growth market. If the latest round closes as expected, it would signal renewed confidence that AI can succeed in farming — an industry where many tech bets have fallen short. Halter did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Schumer knocks Trump on Iran, plan to send ICE to airports: ‘Asking for trouble’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports on Sunday. Schumer made the comments while speaking on the Senate floor Sunday, saying Trump’s decision is “impulsive” and could make the situation at airports worse. “Today, Donald Trump and [Tom] Homan are saying they will deploy ICE agents to airports starting on Monday. This is really disturbing. ICE agents who are untrained and have caused problems everywhere they’ve gone lurking at our airports. That’s asking for trouble, and it will certainly make the chaos at the airports even worse,” Schumer said. “No one has any faith in ICE agents. They haven’t received training. They don’t know what it is to be a TSA person and do what you need to do,” he continued. “And the real problem here is they have no plan for using these ICE agents. Trump says, send them there. They send them there. And Homan says they’re still drawing up plans with less than a day’s notice. What is this? We know what it is. It’s another impulsive action by Donald Trump.” SCHUMER GAMBIT FAILS AS DHS SHUTDOWN HITS 36 DAYS AND AIRPORT LINES GROW “Some idea pops into his head and he announces it. And then the people working for him, a few of whom do have some degree of talent and ability. Not many underlings. They have to rush to try and implement what they know is an idiotic plan,” he said. The ICE deployment is Trump’s latest move in the battle with Democrats over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Schumer also used his time on the Senate floor Sunday to criticize Trump’s actions in Iran. “Donald Trump said, ‘you know, I may have a plan or I may not for a war,’” Schumer said. “There’s people’s lives are at stake. Billions are being spent on an almost daily basis. And he says, you know, ‘I may have a plan or I may not.’ These are the words of the commander in chief in the middle of a war involving one of the most dangerous regimes on Earth. ‘I have a plan, or I may not.’” “That’s unhinged and dangerous. Lives are on the line. The president says he may not even have a plan. Tens of billions are being wasted. No plan. Troops being killed and injured, no plan. Civilians being killed and injured. No plan. Gasoline costs $3.94 a gallon on average. And Trump, ‘I have no plan’,” Schumer said. Meanwhile, Schumer and his allies have refused to approve DHS funding without reforms to immigration enforcement. TSA agents across the country have gone more than a month without a paycheck, with no clear end in sight. Trump first threatened to deploy ICE to airports on Saturday, demanding that Democrats “immediately sign an agreement” to fund DHS. DHS SHUTDOWN TRIGGERS TSA ‘EMERGENCY MEASURES’ AS LAWMAKER WARNS AIRPORTS COULD FEEL ECONOMIC PAIN Airports across the country have reported huge numbers of employees calling out sick or not showing up for work. More than 400 TSA employees have quit their jobs. “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard-line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. Trump also predicted blowback from Democrats, saying they would complain “no matter how great a job ICE does.”
Mamdani’s estate tax plan could drive wealth out of state, critics warn
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire for backing a plan that would slash New York’s estate tax exemption by nearly 90%, a move opponents say could drag middle-class families into a tax burden long aimed at the rich. New York is one of the states that imposes its own estate tax in addition to the federal levy, and the proposed changes would dramatically expand its reach—potentially sweeping in not just the wealthy, but families whose primary asset is a home they hoped to pass on to their children. MAMDANI’S RENT FREEZE, TAX HIKES A ‘ONE-TWO WEALTH DESTRUCTION PUNCH,’ ECONOMISTS WARN The plan would sharply reduce how much of an estate can be passed on tax-free, cutting the threshold from $7.35 million to just $750,000, among the lowest in the country, meaning far more estates would be subject to taxation. In addition, Mamdani is proposing to more than triple the state’s top estate tax rate, raising it from 16% to 50%, a combination that could generate billions in new revenue for New York. Edward Pinto, a senior fellow and co-director of the AEI Housing Center at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital the proposal could push residents and their wealth out of New York. “This proposal would destroy NYC’s wealth in a different manner,” Pinto said. “This estate tax proposal will mistreat capital and result in the voluntary exodus of NYC residents and their wealth to places like Florida and Tennessee,” he added. FROM FREE BUSES TO CITY-OWNED GROCERY STORES, HERE ARE MAMDANI’S KEY ECONOMIC PROMISES Others echoed similar concerns, pointing to the potential impact on families and long-term financial planning. Joshua Rowley, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, said estate taxes can force families to liquidate assets and increasingly reach beyond the wealthy. “Estate taxes force citizens to liquidate assets to pay taxes on previously taxed assets—putting homes, retirement accounts, and businesses in the crosshairs,” Rowley said. “It would also discourage responsible retirement planning and punish parents for the sole crime of wanting to leave their children better off.” He added that proposals aimed at taxing the wealthy often expand over time. “But the Mamdani proposal also pulls back the curtain on all tax-the-rich solutions. What starts off as an exclusive tax on the rich invariably gets expanded to lower income groups to satisfy the government’s spending addiction,” Rowley said. The estate tax proposal is just one piece of Mamdani’s wider policy push. His housing plan, a campaign promise aimed at addressing affordability, includes an immediate freeze on roughly 2 million rent-stabilized apartments. Separately, his broader $127 billion budget agenda calls for higher taxes on wealthy residents and corporations, as well as a potential 9.5% property tax increase if state lawmakers decline to act. In the nation’s largest city and a global financial center, the outcome of Mamdani’s proposals could shape not only the future of New York’s housing market, but also broader debates over regulation, taxation and urban policy. Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Newsom’s claim Texas and Florida are the ‘real high tax states’ picked apart by expert: ‘Fatally flawed’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s repeated claims in recent weeks promoting his state as more tax-friendly than Florida and Texas don’t add up, according to an expert who ran the numbers. “Texas and Florida are the REAL high-tax states,” Newsom recently posted on X, explaining onstage at SXSW in Austin, Texas that California has the most “progressive tax rates in America” while taking shots at the tax burden in Florida and Texas. “Your middle class pays more taxes in Texas than our middle class in California,” Newsom said in Texas. “It’s a great mythology, it’s just ‘the richest of the rich come here because they can avoid paying a damn penny.’” The comments drew pushback from conservatives on social media, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and from Just Facts President James Agresti, who says he looked into a “number of different angles” to determine the “validity” of Newsom’s claims. FROM ‘JUMP ON A BUS’ TO TAX CRACKDOWNS: BLUE STATES CHASE WEALTHY RESIDENTS FLEEING TO RED HAVENS “I looked at how much is each state taxing each of its citizens on average? So if you look at California, they collect about $10,000 a year in taxes for every person in the state, whereas the figures for Texas and Florida are only about $5,000, or about half as much,” Agresti told Fox News Digital. “However, California is a higher-income state, so I also looked at it as a percentage of the states’ economies and what I found is that California taxes about 14% of its economy, as opposed to 9% for Texas and Florida.” Just Facts broke those taxes down in a recent study and found that California imposes some of the highest taxes in the nation, with a top personal income tax rate of 13.3%, while both Texas and Florida have no state income tax. Property taxes in California account for about 2.8% of personal income, slightly lower than Texas at 3.6% and close to Florida’s 2.6%, though measured as a share of home values, California’s rates are generally lower than both states, but in other tax areas, California is largely more burdensome. The state’s unemployment insurance tax rate matches Texas at 6.2%, but is higher than Florida’s 5.4%. California also has a higher statewide sales tax at 7.2%, compared to 6.2% in Texas and 6.0% in Florida. Drivers in California face significantly higher gas taxes as well, paying 70.9 cents per gallon, more than triple Texas’ 20 cents and well above Florida’s 40.3 cents. PROPOSED CALIFORNIA WEALTH TAX DRIVES BILLIONAIRE EXODUS TO FLORIDA REAL ESTATE, LOCALS CONFIRM A Wallethub 2025 analysis ranking U.S. states by overall tax burden showed California coming in at 4th overall, behind Vermont, New York and Hawaii. On a per-capita basis, California also collects significantly more in state and local taxes than either state, according to data from the Tax Foundation. At the heart of the issue is the data, Agresti says, making the case that Newsom is likely pulling from the Institute On Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP) which Agresti said is widely used by mainstream news outlets and experts but is “fatally flawed” because “it does not account for all forms of income or all taxes.” Agresti has been speaking out against ITEP’s methodology for over a decade, explaining in a 2015 post that the group “uses a partial measure of income in virtually all of its studies” and is “based on calculations that exclude certain taxes.” CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRES FLEE STATE’S WEALTH TAX IN THE MOST-PREDICTABLE RESULT EVER ITEP’s analysis focuses on how tax burdens are distributed across income groups rather than overall tax levels. The group argues that states such as Texas and Florida look “low tax” largely because they do not levy a broad-based personal income tax, a structure that disproportionately benefits high earners. To make up the difference, those states rely more heavily on sales, excise and property taxes, which tend to take a larger share of income from lower-income households. California, by contrast, uses a highly progressive income tax system that places more of the burden on top earners and helps offset regressive taxes lower down the income ladder. Critics, however, say that framing captures only part of the picture because it focuses on tax burden by income group rather than overall tax climate, where California remains far more burdensome for top earners, investors and many businesses. “It’s information from this group and others like it, by the way, that have misled people to believe that middle-income folks in the United States pay a higher federal tax rate than upper-income folks,” Agresti said. “In fact, a survey done by Just Facts found that about 80% of America’s voters believe this fiction, even though the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Treasury, and the center-left Tax Policy Center all say that middle-income Americans pay an average effective federal tax rate of about 15% while upper income, or the top 1%, pay a rate of about 30%. And by the way, that includes all taxes and all income, all tax loopholes, it’s basically all taxes paid divided by all income earned or received.” Fox News Digital reached out to ITEP for comment. Agresti said Newsom is a “master of twisting statistics to paint a picture that is the exact inverse of reality” and pointed to the governor’s claim that the exodus of residents due to high taxes is a “myth.” “Here’s the facts: According to his own Secretary of State, every year of Newsom’s governorship, more people have moved out of California into other states than have moved from other states into California,” Agresti, who has posted the data on his website, said. “In fact, over the time of his governorship, about 1.5 more million people have left California than moved in.” “So how does Newsom get his claim, his evidence? Well, he looks at total population growth, which is dominated by immigrants moving in from other countries. The issue is not whether people would rather live in California than Mexico, but whether they would rather live in California than other
Mullin’s confirmation survives key test vote as DHS remains shut down
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., survived a key test vote on Sunday on his way to becoming the next Homeland Security chief. Mullin, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to be the next Department of Homeland Security secretary, still has one more vote to go, and likely won’t be confirmed until Monday evening. Should he survive the final confirmation vote on Monday, he will replace DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who Trump fired following explosive hearings on the Hill and after the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti during immigration operations in Minnesota. SCHUMER GAMBIT FAILS AS DHS SHUTDOWN HITS 36 DAYS AND AIRPORT LINES GROW Sunday’s 54 to 37 test vote, which was largely party-line save for Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., who was the key vote to move his colleague out of committee earlier in the week, comes after his explosive confirmation hearing earlier in the week. Mullin was grilled by both Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who Mullin once called a “snake” and charged that his 2017 assault was “justified.” During the hearing, Mullin didn’t back down from his prior remarks. “I’m not perfect. I don’t claim to be perfect,” Mullin said. “I make mistakes just like anybody else. But mistakes, if you own them, you can learn from them and you can move ahead. And I’ll make that commitment to you.” GOP SENATOR’S GAMBIT EXPOSES FALSE DEM CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPORTING VOTER ID If successful on Monday, Mullin will take the reins of an agency that is currently shut down. Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have blocked DHS funding five times in their quest to get stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Mullin appeared amicable to making changes at the agency during his hearing. Congressional Democrats have demanded, among other things, that ICE agents get judicial warrants to enter a home or business in the field rather than administrative warrants. And when asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether he would commit to requiring judicial warrants for ICE agents to search homes and businesses, Mullin appeared to give ground to the demand. “Judicial warrants will be used to go into houses, into place of businesses, unless we’re pursuing someone that enters in that place,” Mullin said. “I have not mixed words with that, and I haven’t changed my opinion about that.” Meanwhile, what was a shutdown stalemate thawed over earlier this week, when Senate Democrats made a counter offer of DHS demands to the White House after over two weeks of radio silence. MULLIN FACES DEMOCRAT GRILLING IN FIRST HURDLE TO LEAD DHS AMID SHUTDOWN FIGHT That spurred back-to-back meetings on the Hill, with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., along with border czar Tom Homan, sitting down with a cohort of Senate Democrats. A third meeting was slated for Saturday, but was canceled at the last minute. The shutdown is currently on its way to becoming the longest in history, unless either side can lock in a deal to fund the agency. Mullin’s nomination to lead DHS has so far not swayed Senate Democrats, either, despite their demands the Noem be booted. Whether both sides meet again over the weekend remains in the air. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., accused Senate Democrats of believing that the shutdown “politically good for them.” “It’s not politically good for anybody to have literally tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people out of work and important functions of our government not being carried out on a daily basis and functions that are important to our homeland security and our national security,” Thune said.
Trump mocks ‘discombobulated’ Schumer over Democrats’ near gaffe on funding ICE
President Donald Trump mocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for a near gaffe Saturday on the Senate floor. “Schumer got ‘discombobulated’ in the Senate yesterday, and said, ‘WE MUST FUND ICE,’ prior to correcting himself,” Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social. “Thank you Chuck, I agree!” Schumer and Senate Democrats are filibustering the SAVE America Act — an election integrity bill — but the minority leader was arguing the Republicans are responsible for the government shutdown that has left American airline passengers frustrated with long TSA wait times at airports across the country. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER WARNS DEMS ARE PUTTING CYBER OPERATIONS AT RISK AS IRAN THREAT LOOMS Schumer did quickly correct himself by saying, “We must fund TSA now,” but the irony was not lost on Trump, who has long reminded Americans that the government shutdown of Department of Homeland Security funding does not impact Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in real time, because ICE was fully funded in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Schumer’s call to “fund TSA now” was related to the Senate Democrats’ failed effort to isolate a funding package solely for TSA, but Republicans blocked that effort, noting the rest of DHS funding that is on hold due to the shutdown is vital to American national security amid strikes on Iran, too. Republicans negotiating on DHS, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chair Katie Britt, R-Ala., are meeting Sunday. “There are lots of ideas swirling right now, some of which you know my colleagues are talking about, but obviously what my sense is at least the good news, and all that is people realizing this has to get fixed,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on his walk off the Senate floor Sunday morning. “It has to get solved, but the best way again, to solve it is to get Democrats to support funding the entire Department of Homeland Security, you know, not picking and choosing certain aspects of it,” he said. “So we’ll see where the discussions go today.” THUNE REVEALS REASON DEMOCRATS ARE ‘SCARED’ TO REOPEN DHS Democrats in Congress in February agreed to fund most of the government in exchange for withholding funds from DHS following the fatal shootings of two anti-ICE agitators in Minnesota by immigration authorities. The Senate failed to get the 60-vote supermajority needed to advance a Republican proposal to fund the entire DHS earlier in March, after Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, objected to an earlier Democratic proposal to separately fund the TSA earlier. Moreno separately proposed a two-week DHS funding extension, but Democrats blocked that. Absences by TSA airport officers have already disrupted travel at some major airports over the last week, raising alarm among airlines as the busy spring break travel season peaks. DHS funding lapsed Feb. 13. Airlines are expecting a record-breaking spring travel period, with 171 million passengers expected to fly, up 4% over the same two-month period last year. Reuters contributed to this report.
Far-left activists stay in 5-star Cuban hotel as island suffers total blackout
Far-left activist groups and personalities flocked to Havana, Cuba, this week in an effort to protest the economic sanctions imposed on the country by President Donald Trump‘s administration. The far-left group CodePink sponsored flights to the communist-led island, and the group was joined by Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, an ally of democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The group has faced heavy backlash for staying in expensive hotels to meet with government officials even as Cuban residents go without electricity. Trump imposed an oil blockade on Cuba earlier this year after the U.S. captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Some delegates in the “Nuestra America Convoy,” including Piker, were staying at the 5-star Gran Hotel Bristol Meliá Collection and similar resorts. Piker defended the move on social media, saying U.S. law required that they stay at the ritzy hotels. CUBAN EXILES IN MIAMI SAY ‘THIS IS THE END’ FOR COMMUNISM AS ISLAND TEETERS ON COLLAPSE “The American government makes it illegal for Americans to stay wherever they want when they’re in Cuba,” Piker told his followers. “They have to stay in what they’ve declared as 5-star hotels.” The claim received swift pushback on social media, with an X Community Note saying that U.S. law only prevents Americans from staying at venues owned by the Cuban government or its officials. CodePink says it delivered thousands of pounds of aid to Cuba as part of the trip, which was organized by Cuban politician Mariela Castro and a nonprofit called Progressive International, according to the New York Post. TRUMP TOUTS US HAS ‘TREMENDOUS’ AMOUNT OF VENEZUELAN OIL, VOWS TO ‘TAKE CARE’ OF CUBA AFTER IRAN FOCUS The group’s arrival to Cuba, and subsequent flood of social media videos, came the same weekend that The Cuban Electric Union announced a total blackout across the island on Saturday. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, made comments about the island, saying “they have to get new people in charge” in Havana. Meanwhile, Pentagon officials told lawmakers there are no plans to invade Cuba, even as they described it as a long-standing security concern. Cuban officials have continued to blame U.S. sanctions for the country’s economic hardships, while analysts say the government is facing mounting pressure from ongoing blackouts, shortages of basic goods and growing public frustration. Fox News’ Amy Galo contributed to this report.