Illegal immigrant in Florida charged with arson, felony criminal mischief, sheriff says
Police arrested an illegal immigrant in Florida on charges of arson and felony criminal mischief, Florida police announced Sunday. Authorities say Marcelino Gillen-Hernandez attempted to start two fires on a property in Wahneta, Florida. Authorities first received reports from the property’s owner, who said she was able to extinguish the latest blaze with a garden hose after she saw it glowing under a mobile home on the property. She told police that Hernandez admitted to her that he had started both fires, one earlier in January and another this weekend. Hernandez said he had been told to do so by people “at a residence he used to live at,” the owner told authorities. Authorities say Hernandez made the same confession when being interviewed by police. DESANTIS ANNOUNCES FLORIDA ARRESTED 10,400 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN ‘OPERATION TIDAL WAVE’ After Hernandez was taken into custody, he told deputies that he had also previously broken some windows at the Placita Mexico store in Wahneta, police said. “Hernandez stated that on the first occasion he attempted to break a window using a rock but was unsuccessful. He advised that on a subsequent occasion he returned and successfully broke a door window. On another occasion, he stated he struck a door with a hammer in combination with a rock,” police wrote. Hernandez is being charged with three counts of unoccupied burglary, two counts of criminal mischief with property damage less than $1,000 dollars, and one count of criminal mischief with property damage $1,000 or more. He is also facing two counts of arson. DHS TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ARRESTING OVER 10K ILLEGAL ALIENS IN DEEP BLUE CITY DESPITE VIOLENT RIOTS Each of the charges has been enhanced by one degree due to the suspect being in the country illegally, police noted. HOUSTON ICE OPERATION NETS OVER 3,500 CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS IN SIX WEEKS DURING SHUTDOWN “This suspect—who is in the country illegally—committed very serious felonies while taking advantage of someone who allowed him to live in a trailer on her property. He caused over $1600 worth of damage to a local business as well,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “We also learned he threatened to kill a 74-year-old man with a knife in 2024 and was arrested for aggravated assault on a person over 65 years old. He should have been deported back then and perhaps he wouldn’t have been here to terrorize and victimize others,” Judd added.
Federal agents arrest 2 more in connection to Minnesota church storming
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday said federal agents have arrested two more individuals in connection with the storming of a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bondi identified the suspects as Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson and said the arrests stem from a “coordinated attack on Cities Church” on Jan. 18. A total of nine individuals have now been charged in connection with the protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where an ICE official serves as a pastor. The other individuals involved have been charged with conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and with violations of the FACE Act, the 1994 law that prohibits the use of force, intimidation, or obstruction to deliberately “injure, intimidate, or interfere” with an individual’s ability to exercise their right to religious freedom at a place of worship. The two additional individuals are expected to face the same charges. “If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you,” Bondi said on X. DON LEMON COULD FACE UP TO A YEAR IN PRISON IF CONVICTED ON CRIMINAL CHARGES The group of anti-ICE protesters in question were seen on video chanting “ICE out” during a church service in St. Paul last month and interrupting the service. The Justice Department has announced charges against nine individuals connected to the protest. FACE Act violations carry penalties ranging from fines to prison time, depending on the severity of the violation alleged and other contributing factors. MINNESOTA DRAGS TRUMP’S ICE TO COURT IN EFFORT TO PAUSE IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN The new arrests come after the Justice Department on Friday also arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort on alleged FACE Act violations for their participation in the same protest, according to copies of their indictments. A federal magistrate judge in Minnesota had previously rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to bring criminal charges against Lemon in connection with the Jan. 18 protest, describing the administration’s case against Lemon as “frivolous.” Both Lemon and Fort claimed they had been attending the demonstration in a reporting capacity, and not as protesters. Their arrests sparked fresh concerns over First Amendment protections for journalists, including from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. “The arrest today of journalists for covering a protest is deeply chilling,” Her said in a statement Friday. “We need to all be hyper vigilant and call out the way this administration has eroded our First Amendment and other Constitutional rights — because if we let this go unanswered, it won’t stop here.”
GOP senator’s ‘Federal Fumbles’ report highlights $240M spent on transgender rat testing
FIRST ON FOX: A new report from a Senate Republican showed that in the last year, the federal government wasted millions on transgender animal tests, lab testing beagles in China and aborted fetal tissue research. In his 9th annual edition of “Federal Fumbles,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., found several instances of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, and he laid out a game plan to address some of the shortcomings of the past year. Lankford noted that after the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, the Republican-controlled Congress was able to improve efficiency, save billions in taxpayer dollars and redefine spending in Washington, D.C. SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR HOUSE GOP REBELLION AGAINST FUNDING PACKAGE, VOTER ID LEGISLATION “However, the work is far from over,” Lankford wrote in the report. “Too often, the federal government is gridlocked, unresponsive and inefficient,” he continued. “We must continue pushing through bureaucratic red tape to make the government work better for you, the taxpayer. We have so much still to do.” Some of the more egregious examples of federal waste laid out in the report included a handful of grant programs from the National Institute of Health (NIH) held over from the Biden administration. Among those were a roughly $240 million study on transgender “animal experiments involving mice, rats and monkeys.” That grant program was eventually terminated by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “These NIH-funded studies attempted to model transgender adults and children by subjecting animals to hormone regimens and surgical procedures,” Lankford wrote. HOUSE DEMOCRATS MUTINY SCHUMER’S DEAL WITH WHITE HOUSE, THREATENING LONGER SHUTDOWN In 2024, the Biden-led NIH funded $53 million worth of grants that allowed for “research using human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions.” And last year it was found that 17 of those grants were still active. Lankford noted that the NIH canceled the grants when the money flow became public after watchdog the White Coat Waste Project found that the agency was still funding them, and that the Trump administration went a step further to cancel all research involving aborted fetal tissue. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE Still, Lankford argued that unless Congress passed a law regarding the issue, “another pro-abortion Administration could resume or expand such projects at any time, forcing taxpayers to fund research that is both immoral and scientifically obsolete.” Though the sums were not as eye-popping, Lankford also found that $124,000 in taxpayer money was sent to China to conduct drug research and experiments on “up to 300 beagles per week.” Lankford said NIH announced it would not renew the contract after national scrutiny, but that there are still “18 Chinese animal research laboratories, including several with troubling ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, [that] still hold NIH approval to receive U.S. funding.”
Appeals court dismisses DOJ misconduct complaint against federal judge
A federal appeals court dismissed a Justice Department misconduct complaint against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, according to court documents revealed this week. Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissed the complaint on December 19, but news of the ruling only arrived this weekend. The DOJ alleged misconduct on the grounds that Boasberg had made comments at a judicial conference saying the Trump administration would trigger a “constitutional crisis” by disregarding federal court rulings. His comments at the conference came just days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights. Sutton argued that the government had failed to provide evidence of Boasberg’s comments or sufficient context surrounding them. FIX IS IN IN MINNESOTA, WHERE ANTI-ICE FEDERAL JUDGE LEAVES HIS LANE TO SIDE WITH MOB “A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them. And a repetition of uncorroborated statements rarely supplies a basis for a valid misconduct complaint,” Sutton said in his ruling. News of the ruling comes days after the White House confirmed its support for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry involving Boasberg and another judge Republicans have described as an activist. “Left-wing, activist judges have gone totally rogue,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “They’re undermining the rule of law in service of their own radical agenda. It needs to stop. And the White House fully embraces impeachment efforts.” COURT SAYS BOASBERG DIDN’T KNOW ARCTIC FROST SUBPOENAS HIT LAWMAKERS, GRASSLEY CALLS THAT ‘DEEPLY TROUBLING’ The White House official continued that President Donald Trump must be able to “lawfully implement the agenda the American people elected him on,” arguing that judges who repeatedly issue partisan rulings have abused their offices and forfeited their claim to impartiality. Boasberg has become a prime target for Republicans over a string of rulings tied to Trump-era immigration policies — including cases involving the Trump administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act law to deport Venezuelan migrants to CECOT in El Salvador. More recently, he drew fresh GOP backlash after reports surfaced that he approved warrants in former special counsel Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe that enabled investigators to seize phone records connected to some Republican lawmakers. A top federal court official defended Boasberg from those accusations in December, however, saying that the judge would likely have been unaware that the gag orders were hiding subpoenas that were intended to target members of Congress. He first faced articles of impeachment in March 2025 for preventing the administration from deporting some illegal migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, and again in November over the Arctic Frost decision. Fox News’ Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Portland mayor demands ICE leave city after federal agents use tear gas on protesters ‘Sickening decisions’
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave his city after federal agents deployed tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators, including young children, outside an ICE facility over the weekend. Mayor Keith Wilson characterized the protests on Saturday as peaceful, as federal agents reportedly used tear gas, pepper balls, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets against the anti-ICE demonstrators. Wilson urged ICE agents to resign and for the agency to leave Portland, denouncing their “use of violence” and the “trampling of the Constitution.” “Today, federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces,” he said in a statement on Saturday. CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON PUTS ICE ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER SEEKING PROSECUTION OF AGENTS “To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people,” the mayor continued. The mayor added that this nation “will never accept a federal presence where agents wield deadly force against the very people they are sworn to serve.” “I share the impatience with those who demand we use every legal tool at our disposal to push back against this inexcusable, unconscionable, and unacceptable violence against our community,” Wilson said. “I share the need to act. Actions that can withstand the scrutiny of the justice system take time – and we cannot afford to lose this fight.” CBP/BORDER PATROL AGENTS PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER DEADLY CONFRONTATION WITH ALEX PRETTI Portland officials are working to operationalize an ordinance, which went into effect last month, that imposes a fee on detention facilities that use chemical agents, the mayor said. “As we prepare to put that law into action, we are also documenting today’s events and preserving evidence. The federal government must, and will, be held accountable,” he wrote. “Portland will continue to stand firmly with our immigrant neighbors, who deserve safety, dignity, and the full protection of the communities they help build,” he continued. “We are also proud of the Portlanders who showed up today in peaceful solidarity, demonstrating the strength and clarity of those shared values in the face of federal overreach.” This comes amid national unrest and bipartisan scrutiny of immigration enforcement tactics following two killings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents last month in Minneapolis. Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, and Alex Pretti was fatally shot on Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez while he was recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city. Pretti, an ICU nurse, appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked down when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground and beaten, according to video and witness accounts. An agent was later seen pulling Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him.
California AG sues hospital that ended gender transition treatment for minors to comply with Trump policies
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against a San Diego hospital over its move to end gender transition treatment for minors to comply with the Trump administration’s demands. Bonta is arguing that Rady Children’s Hospital violated the terms of its merger agreement with Children’s Hospital of Orange County by halting transgender-related treatment for people under 18-years-old, according to KCRA3. Rady said the issue began when the federal government threatened to strip funding and shut down the hospital for offering gender transition treatment to children, the outlet reported. MAJOR CALIFORNIA HEALTH SYSTEM ENDING TRANSGENDER PROCEDURES FOR MINORS ACROSS ITS NETWORK The hospital agreed to the Trump administration’s demands and announced the closure of its gender transition care center, prompting California’s legal challenge, according to the report. Bonta’s lawsuit alleges that the hospital violated the terms of its merger agreement, which included a commitment to continue making gender transition care available to minors. “The recent changes to our gender-affirming care services reflect a very difficult decision,” the hospital said in a statement to KCRA3. “That decision was guided by our responsibilities as a nonprofit pediatric healthcare system to continue serving all children and families,” the statement continued. This comes as the Trump administration continues to target facilities that offer transgender-related treatment to people under 18 after President Donald Trump’s executive order a year ago calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to protect children from “chemical and surgical mutilation.” Last year, California was part of a group of 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., that filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a declaration that seeks to restrict gender transition treatment for minors. NEARLY 20 STATES SUE HHS OVER DECLARATION TO RESTRICT GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR MINORS That declaration from HHS described treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender transition surgeries as unsafe and ineffective for children experiencing gender dysphoria. It also warned doctors they could be excluded from federal health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, if they provide these treatments to minors.
Trump backs former critic Sununu in high-stakes swing state Senate race
President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed former Sen. John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, a longtime GOP Trump critic, over one of his first-term ambassadors, former Sen. Scott Brown, in a crucial Senate race that’s one of a handful that may determine the Senate majority in the midterm elections. Sununu, who was praised by Trump as an “America First Patriot” who “will work tirelessly to advance our America First Agenda,” is seen by top Senate Republicans as the strongest candidate to flip the seat held by longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring at the end of this year rather than seek re-election to a fourth six-year term. “John E. Sununu has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN — ELECT JOHN E. SUNUNU,” Trump emphasized, in a post on social media. Sununu is a former three-term representative who defeated then-Gov. Shaheen in New Hampshire’s 2002 Senate election. But the senator lost to Shaheen in their 2008 rematch. DEMOCRATS EYE NARROW PATH TO CAPTURE SENATE MAJORITY, BUT ONE WRONG MOVE COULD SINK THEM “I want to thank the President for his support and thank the thousands of Granite Staters who are supporting me,” Sununu said after landing Trump’s endorsement. The endorsement will further boost Sununu, who enjoys a polling and fundraising advantage over Brown. After Trump’s endorsement, the Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, said on X that “John Sununu is the clear choice to be New Hampshire‘s next US Senator, and President Trump’s critical endorsement has put an end to the primary.” TIM SCOTT TELLS MAGA VOTERS TRUMP ‘IS ON THE BALLOT’ AS GOP FIGHTS TO GROW SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026 But Brown, as of now, has no intentions of dropping out. “I’ve always believed that the people of New Hampshire are the ultimate authority on our future, and they deserve a choice between candidates seeking to earn their support,” he said in a statement. And apparently questioning Sununu’s MAGA credentials, he added, “I am running to ensure our America First agenda is led by someone who views this mission not as a career path, but as a continuation of a lifelong commitment to service.” Brown emphasized, “My priorities for New Hampshire remain clear: a stronger economy, a secure border, reliable and affordable energy and better health care for our veterans. This mission has always been about you, not me. Let’s keep working!” Sununu is a brand name in New Hampshire politics. His father, John H. Sununu, is a former governor who later served as chief of staff in then-President George H.W. Bush’s White House. And one of his younger brothers is former Gov. Chris Sununu, who won election and re-election to four two-year terms steering the Granite State. FIRST ON FOX: SUNUNU LAUNCHES BID TO RETURN TO SENATE But Sununu has a long history of backing Trump rivals. He served as national co-chair on the 2016 Republican presidential campaign of then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who declined to support Trump as the party’s nominee. And Sununu, along with then-Gov. Chris Sununu, endorsed former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, as she battled Trump for the nomination. And on the eve of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, the former senator wrote an opinion piece titled “Donald Trump is a loser,” that ran in the New Hampshire Union Leader, the state’s largest daily newspaper. Brown endorsed Trump ahead of his 2016 New Hampshire primary victory, which launched him toward the GOP presidential nomination and ultimately the White House. Brown later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term. Some in New Hampshire’s MAGA base immediately rejected the president’s endorsement of Sununu, calling it a “slap in the face to grassroots supporters” who have long backed Trump. “The Sununu family openly mocked, degraded, and worked against the America First movement, the President himself, and the policies that energized New Hampshire voters,” a group of MAGA activists posted on X. “We will continue and intensify our campaign opposition to the Sununu operation.” Brown formally launched his Senate campaign in June, after over six months of reaching out to grassroots supporters in the state. He raised roughly $1 million during his first three months as a candidate. Sununu jumped into the race in late October, with the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. FIRST ON FOX: BROWN SHOWCASES HEALTHY FUNDRAISING HAUL NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott said at the time that Senate Republicans were “all-in” for Sununu. Since then, Sununu has landed the backing of a majority of the Republicans in the Senate, as well as from GOP leaders in New Hampshire. The seat in New Hampshire, along with an open Democrat-held seat in Michigan are two of the NRSC’s top targets this year as they aim to expand their 53-47 majority in the chamber. Georgia, where the GOP views Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff as very vulnerable, is the NRSC’s other top target. Sununu more than doubled Brown’s fundraising haul during the past three months, and the latest public opinion polls in New Hampshire indicate Sununu with a double-digit lead over Brown in the GOP primary, which won’t be held until September. Pappas, a four-term congressman who represents the eastern half of the state, outraised both Sununu and Brown combined during the 4th quarter of 2025 fundraising. And the latest polls indicate Pappas topping Sununu by single digits and Brown by double digits in hypothetical general election matchups. Pappas is the clear front-runner for his party’s nomination, in a race that also includes Karishma Manzur, a member of the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s rules committee.
Resurfaced photo links Mamdani to Epstein-connected publicist at New York City event
A photo showing Zohran Mamdani at a high-profile luncheon tied to longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Peggy Siegal has emerged following the release of newly unsealed Justice Department records that also reference his mother, Mira Nair. The photo, taken Nov. 15, 2017, shows the now-New York City mayor smiling at the Universal Pictures “Get Out” Peggy Siegal luncheon at Lincoln Ristorante in Manhattan. The event was hosted by Siegal, a once-powerful Hollywood publicist who later faced industry backlash over her deep social ties to Epstein. Siegal was never charged with a crime. EPSTEIN FILE RELEASE FEATURES PHOTOS OF MICK JAGGER, MICHAEL JACKSON, DIANA ROSS AND MORE STARS The image surfaced days after filmmaker Nair was named in a newly released tranche of documents connected to Epstein and his convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. The records, made public Jan. 30, 2026, are part of a broader release of millions of pages detailing Epstein’s social and professional network. The documents do not allege criminal wrongdoing by those mentioned. In a 2009 email included in the release, Siegal wrote to Epstein about an after-party for the film Amelia, which Nair had directed. The message states the gathering took place at Maxwell’s Manhattan townhouse and lists attendees including former President Bill Clinton, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Nair. The correspondence documents attendance only and does not allege misconduct by those named. NEW EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS INCLUDE PHOTOS OF BILL CLINTON TOPLESS IN HOT TUB, SOCIALIZING WITH MICHAEL JACKSON In the 2017 luncheon photo, Mamdani appears alongside actor Daniel Kaluuya, filmmaker Shimit Amin and Nair as they celebrated Jordan Peele’s movie, “Get Out,” which won the Academy Award for best original screenplay. A second image from the same event shows Peele, producer Jason Blum, Allison Williams and Siegal, highlighting the luncheon’s prominence during Hollywood’s awards season. Another photo from December 2016 also shows Nair attending a private-residence film event with Siegal for “Queen of Katwe.” CLINTON TEAM DEMANDS TRUMP DOJ RELEASE ‘ANY REMAINING’ DOCS RELATED TO FORMER PRESIDENT, EPSTEIN At the time, Siegal was a dominant figure in entertainment publicity, known for her access to major studios, A-list talent and industry power brokers. In 2019, following reporting that detailed her association with Epstein, multiple Hollywood studios, including Netflix, FX and Annapurna Pictures, cut ties with her, according to Variety. Epstein was first arrested in Florida in 2006 on charges of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. GIANTS CO-OWNER STEVE TISCH RESPONDS AFTER EMAILS BETWEEN HIM AND JEFFREY EPSTEIN INCLUDED IN LATEST DOJ DROP He later pleaded guilty, served 13 months in jail with work release and registered as a sex offender. He died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence following her conviction for sex trafficking. Nair, an internationally respected director known for films including Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake and Queen of Katwe, has long been a fixture in elite film circles, especially in Manhattan. She is married to academic Mahmood Mamdani. Fox News Digital has reached out to Zohran Mamdani’s office and Peggy Siegal for comment.
Trump announces two-year closure of Trump Kennedy Center for major renovations
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the Trump Kennedy Center will close later this year for a two-year period to undergo renovations. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the complex will close on July 4, coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary, at which point construction will begin on what he described as a “new and spectacular entertainment complex.” TRUMP REVEALS ARC DE TRIOMPHE-STYLE MONUMENT FOR AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY Trump said the decision followed a yearlong review involving contractors, arts experts and other advisers. He added that the temporary closure would allow the renovations to be completed faster and at a higher quality than if construction were carried out while performances continued. Trump said the approach would be “the fastest way” to elevate the center, adding that the planned grand reopening would surpass previous versions of the venue. The Trump Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. TRUMP GAVE THE OVAL OFFICE A GILDED MAKEOVER – AND COVERED THE COST HIMSELF Trump said the funds to carry out the renovation were already in place, though he did not provide an estimated cost or explain whether the project would be financed through federal funding, private contributions, or a combination of both. The Trump Kennedy Center hosts hundreds of performances each year and is home to several resident companies. It was not immediately clear whether those events would be postponed or moved to other venues. Since his return to office, Trump has undertaken a series of changes aimed at reshaping the look and feel of the White House and other iconic Washington landmarks. SPRAWLING NEW $200M WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM TO BE PAID FOR BY TRUMP AND DONORS In October, Trump unveiled a new monument dubbed the “Arc de Trump,” which is planned to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary next year. He has previously said that the large arch, a near twin of Paris’s iconic Arc de Triomphe, will welcome visitors crossing the Arlington Memorial Bridge from Arlington National Cemetery into the heart of the nation’s capital. Trump’s taste for opulence is evident in the Oval Office, where gold accents now line the ceiling and doorway trim, reflecting his personal style. Beyond the Oval Office, the administration has unveiled the “Presidential Walk of Fame,” a series of portraits of past presidents displayed along the West Wing colonnade. Among the largest projects underway is a 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom designed to accommodate roughly 650 seated guests. The administration has said the sprawling ballroom will adhere to the classical architectural style of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Government shutdowns may be fewer, but they’re increasingly disruptive
At 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, the federal government entered its first shutdown of the new year, Shutdowns aren’t a new phenomenon in Washington, D.C., but they’ve slowed in their frequency since the turn of the century. Even so, rising partisan rancor, energized political bases and congressional gridlock have contributed to longer, more disruptive shutdowns in recent decades. SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR HOUSE GOP REBELLION AGAINST FUNDING PACKAGE, VOTER ID LEGISLATION Since 1976, the U.S. government has experienced 22 shutdowns. All shutdowns are unique in why they happen, and typically, the party that thrusts the government into a closure doesn’t win the policy dispute at its core. The most recent one, the longest in U.S. history, happened because of a funding dispute over Obamacare enhanced premium subsidies. Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded that Republicans negotiate or outright extend the subsidies, which eventually expired last month. That closure, which saw every federal agency shut down, lasted 43 days. HOUSE DEMOCRATS MUTINY SCHUMER’S DEAL WITH WHITE HOUSE, THREATENING LONGER SHUTDOWN Before that, the previous shutdown lasted 34 days, from December 2018 to January 2019, and was triggered over President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. At the time, Schumer and then-incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., refused to give Trump more money to build his wall along the Southern border. He walked away from that then-record-shattering shutdown without the funding. This current shutdown, which just entered its second day on Sunday, is an outlier of sorts. Trump and Schumer agreed on a funding deal that stripped out the controversial Department of Homeland Security spending bill and replaced it with a short-term, two-week funding extension. That deal advanced out of the Senate on Friday, despite grumbling from both sides of the aisle. Its survival in the House is an open question, given heavy resistance among House Republicans who are demanding some policy wins, like the inclusion of voter ID legislation into the bill.