Todd Blanche faces high-stakes confirmation hearing for attorney general
Source: NPR Topics: News · Bias: Center
Summary
Blanche won Senate confirmation early in President Trump's second term to serve as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department. Now he faces a contentious hearing as he seeks the top job.
Todd Blanche faces high-stakes confirmation hearing for attorney general
Center
Blanche won Senate confirmation early in President Trump's second term to serve as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department. Now he faces a contentious hearing as he seeks the top job.
A conservative economic expert warned Monday that a Republican lawmaker worth millions had made a mistake after a CBS interview.Jessica Riedl, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and budget policy expert who has worked on four different presidential campaigns, described why Sen. John Kennedy's (R-LA) message on "Face the Nation" could backfire for the Republican Party with midterms looming."Americans aren't even willing to pay for causes they believe in and that directly benefit them (trust me, I'm a federal budget expert)," Riedl wrote on X. "Telling them to pay significantly for causes that most don't even care about (and right before an election!) is political malpractice."During the interview, Kennedy — who is worth an estimated $21 million — had claimed that Americans need to hang on, despite rising cost of living and the rapid increase of energy costs in the fallout over the Iran war."If we can stand the pain of the rising cost of energy, we need to stay the course — at least for a few more months," Kennedy said.Political commentators and critics pointed out Kennedy's comments."It would probably be easier for people to accept the pain if wages rose above the cost of inflation and all of these higher prices. but in one of the richest countries in the world, apparently that's not a thing anyone cares about doing for Americans," Beth Bourdon, criminal defense attorney and writer, posted on X."'Kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys.' We need some fresh faces in the Senate," progressive commentator and veteran Mason wrote on X."No!! Why are we paying the electricity bills of data centers? Why are we paying for the water? Why are we paying for a stupid a-- war that wasn’t planned for properly? Why are we even at war? We can’t pay for everything!! The well is running dry!!!!!!!" X user LizzyR, who self-describes as "fact-checking, for voters," wrote."Translation: Republicans will do nothing to reign [SIC] in Trump. Gas prices will continue to rise. More Americans will die and Trump with [SIC] continue to waste billion [SIC] of dollars a week in a failed war with Iran," political and media consultant Marty Taylor, executive director of New Blue USA PAC, wrote on X.Americans aren't even willing to pay for causes they believe in and that directly benefit them (trust me, I'm a federal budget expert).Telling them to pay significantly for causes that most don't even care about (and right before an election!) is political malpractice. https://t.co/G4z00EC1nv— Jessica Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 (@JessicaBRiedl) July 27, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Sunday to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's threats to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him when he lands in New York for the UN General Assembly. The Prime Minister is traveling to the United States this week for an eighth sit-down with President Trump at the White House.
The post WATCH: “He’s Tormenting His Own Citizens” – Netanyahu Slams Mamdani in Response to Arrest Threats, Says He Will Attend UN General Assembly in New York appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Three people who observed federal immigration enforcement during the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent surge said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday the Department of Homeland Security illegally recorded them and revoked their status in the department’s trusted traveler programs.The suit, filed in the Southern District of California, says the administration violated a federal privacy law, administrative law and the First Amendment by targeting people who observed and protested aggressive immigration enforcement, including during the deadly operation in Minneapolis in January.The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a legal group that advocates for privacy issues related to technology, is also a plaintiff in the case.Amid a nationwide surge of immigration enforcement that has included federal agents shooting and killing protesters, observers and immigrants, opponents “did what anyone is supposed to do when they disagree with government action: They exercised their First Amendment rights” by assembling, protesting and recording DHS agents’ activity in public, the suit says.“In response, DHS decided to record the Americans who were peacefully observing its agents,” the suit says.Officers with the DHS agencies Immigration and Customs Protection and Border Patrol killed two observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis in incidents 17 days apart in January.‘Driven home by ICE’ICE and Border Patrol agents used facial recognition technology, license plate readers and other technology to identify protesters and observers. The agents would then use that information in efforts to intimidate and retaliate against protesters, the suit says.Federal immigration officers addressed many legal observers by name, despite having never spoken to them. In Minnesota, legal observers tailing DHS agents in a car would commonly be led back to their own home addresses, according to the suit.“The experience … is so widespread that Minnesota residents have coined a term for it: being ‘driven home by ICE,’” the suit said.The practice shows that DHS is no longer following its own 2023 policy on facial recognition, the suit says. The department quietly removed the policy from its website — omitting it even from a set of archived pages — during President Donald Trump’s first month back in office, the suit says.The complaint argues that amounted to a policy change, which DHS did not conduct through the process agencies must follow under the Administrative Procedure Act.The department also retaliated against protesters and observers by revoking their status in DHS trusted traveler programs TSA Precheck and Global Entry, the suit says.Nicole Cleland, a Minnesota woman who is one of the individual plaintiffs in the suit, said Global Entry status was revoked three days after an encounter with a Border Patrol agent whom she was following at a safe distance, according to the suit.Chilling rightsThe suit alleges DHS’ actions have had a chilling effect on First Amendment-protected activity.Cleland has stopped observing DHS operations for fear of further retaliation, according to the suit.The two other individuals who brought the suit, Jacquelyn Ivey of South Carolina and Anna Walker of California, said they experienced “fear, anxiety and emotional distress” following their interactions with DHS officers.The suit also mentions activity in Maine, North Carolina and Chicago.DHS responseIn response to a request to DHS for comment, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, which administers Global Entry, said trusted traveler status can be denied for “inability to demonstrate low-risk traveler status.”“Global Entry or other CBP Trusted Traveler Program memberships are not revoked because someone exercises their First Amendment rights,” the spokesperson wrote. “Membership may be denied or revoked for reasons such as criminal activity (including pending charges or warrants), violations of customs or immigration laws, or inability to demonstrate low-risk traveler status.”The spokesperson added that travelers whose Global Entry is denied or revoked can ask for additional review. A Global Entry ombudsman provides “additional oversight” of some cases, the spokesperson said.A denial of Global Entry is not an impediment to travel, they wrote.DHS did not respond to questions about its policies for recording or using facial recognition on observers.
The Trump Administration Has Faced Over 900 Lawsuits Challenging President Trump’s Executive Actions, with Most in Districts Full of Obama and Biden Judges.
The post EXCLUSIVE: The Trump Administration Has Faced Over 900 Lawsuits – Most in Districts Full of Obama or Biden Appointed Judges appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Those who most covet the job of attorney general may not be worthy to have it. The best candidates are willing to resign from the department in its defense.
Lawyers predict ‘more suppression and no active investigations’ but victims’ groups determined to continue fightAs Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer Todd Blanche appears poised for confirmation as attorney general, numerous Jeffrey Epstein survivors have sounded the alarm that a US justice department helmed by him would derail their pursuit of justice.In a letter urging Republican senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn to reject his nomination, these survivors said that Blanche’s handling of the Epstein case as acting attorney general was characterized by misstep after misstep. Continue reading...
This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sens. Bernie Sanders and John Kennedy join, along with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Plus, CBS News' Anthony Salvanto has the latest poll results.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is set to meet President Trump on Tuesday, with one eye on Iran and another on the coming elections back home.
