DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies on President Trump's budget request for the department.
Zach Lahn has won the Republican nomination for Governor. The post MAHA-Backed Zach Lahn Defeats Trump-Endorsed Randy Feenstra to Win Iowa GOP Nomination for Governor appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
New Mexico's GOP gubernatorial primary produced a nominee Tuesday as Republicans aim to reclaim the governor's office for the first time since 2019.
On Tuesday, it was announced that President Donald Trump had appointed current Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte to the role of acting Director of National Intelligence. Backlash against the move was swift, as critics from across the political spectrum slammed Pulte’s total lack of intelligence experience. By Wednesday morning, senators from both sides of the aisle had made their opposition to Trump’s pick clear, and threats to derail key legislation over the matter now pose a “real risk” to the Republican agenda. This is according to Punchbowl News, which reports that Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) has warned Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) that if Pulte remains in the position, Democrats will withhold the votes Republicans need for a FISA extension they’ve been trying and failing to pass for months. It expires in just 9 days, so with yet another legislative deadline looming, the GOP is grappling with the latest in a string of recent frustrations.“Warner,” explains Punchbowl News, “who’s been critical in building Democratic support for a bipartisan deal to extend FISA Section 702, made clear to Thune that all options are on the table to reverse what Democrats see as a dangerous Trump pick to lead ODNI. Pulte, who currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no national security experience and has used his existing role to exact revenge on Trump’s political foes.”According to Warner, Democrats will never back the reauthorization of FISA Section 702 with Pulte overseeing the program, as opponents of the provision — which is technically used for gathering the communications of foreign targets — argue that it can be used as a “backdoor” for spying on Americans. This potential for misuse has drawn skepticism from privacy hawks on both sides of the aisle, and though Thune has repeatedly claimed that the absence of 702 would cause U.S. national security to “go dark,” its proponents have had to make concessions to gain the support of conservative Republicans, like a three year ban on a central banking digital currency and a prohibition on the use of 702 information by the FBI against Americans. But now Democrats worry that 702 could be weaponized by Pulte to attack Trump’s political enemies. As Punchbowl explains, “Democrats have leverage here. Republicans can’t pass a FISA reauthorization on their own. With a handful of GOP senators expected to oppose any FISA agreement, Thune would likely need at least a dozen Democrats to support the bill. Without a big vote in the Senate, it’ll be difficult for the House to pass it via a fast-track process ahead of the June 12 deadline. It’s safe to say that Pulte’s appointment kills any chance of the House passing FISA using the fast-track suspension process.”What’s more, should Pulte’s appointment be pulled, “Democrats believe they’d be doing Republicans a favor because they also see Pulte as unqualified for the job, even if few openly say it.” On Tuesday, “the White House had indicated to top Republicans that Aaron Lukas, whom Trump announced as the acting DNI 12 days ago, would remain in the role for an extended period. Republicans felt blindsided,” therefore, by the Pulte announcement. By Tuesday, a number of top Republicans were expressing their outrage at the situation. “Whoever told the president to go ahead and commit to this publicly before vetting it should lose their jobs, because they should know that the math just works against Pulte being confirmed,” Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) told CNBC. “I don’t think he has a prayer.”
One of the busiest primary election nights in the cycle yielded some upset wins and changes of fortune. It’s too early to call the full fields for California governor and Los Angeles mayor, though incumbent Mayor Karen Bass secured a spot in the runoff. Full results could take days. In Iowa, businessman Zach Lahn beat Rep.…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is back on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, where he will face questions from the House Foreign Relations Committee about President Trump‘s fiscal 2027 budget request for the State Department and ongoing conflict with Iran. Rubio, in back-to-back hearings before a House and Senate panel on Tuesday, faced Democrats’ ire over…
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday morning on President Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request for DHS. The White House is asking for $63 billion in budget authority for the department in 2027, a $2.2 billion decrease from 2026 enacted levels — just over a…
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will testify Wednesday morning before the Senate Finance Committee on President Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request for the department. The White House is seeking $11.5 billion in budget authority for the Treasury Department’s domestic programs in 2027, a 12 percent decrease from 2026. The hearing comes as affordability concerns and the…
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had a troubling exchange with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy in which he refused to commit to following all court orders on immigration.“‘ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.’ That’s not a Democratic-appointed judge, that is a Republican-appointed judge describing the scale of illegality,” Murphy said in a Senate Appropriations hearing on Tuesday afternoon. “You always struck me as somebody who cared about the rule of law, and so maybe the easiest question is this: When DHS gets a court order telling them that something they are doing is either illegal and unconstitutional … can you commit to us that if a court judges something ICE is doing, something DHS is doing as illegal, unconstitutional, [or] tells you to stop, that you will comply with the court order?”Mullin refused to give a yes-or-no answer, dodging the question at least four times. CHRIS MURPHY: Can you commit to us that if a court judges something ICE or DHS is doing as illegal or unconstitutional and tells you to stop, that you will comply with the court order?MARKWAYNE MULLIN: We will never break the Constitution and we're not going to break the law,… pic.twitter.com/PESeUu577W— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 2, 2026Mullin: Ranking member Murphy, I will tell you that we will never break the Constitution, and we’re not going to break the law, but we’re going to enforce our nation’s laws. And we’re gonna enforce the laws that you guys passed and that we implement. We will never go outside that, and if we do, we’ll hold each other accountable for that.Murphy: But that doesn’t sound like the same thing as committing that you will obey a court order. Obviously, the entire structure of the federal government gives the power to the courts to divine whether you are obeying the law or not. I think it’s an easy thing to say—will you, will you not implement court orders?Mullin: If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that, but we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.Murphy: So you’ll pick and choose which court orders you obey based upon whether—Mullin: Don’t put words in my mouth.Murphy: Then what are you saying, then?Mullin: What I’m saying is, we’ll enforce the law, and we’re never going to break the Constitution.Murphy: You just said that you will not follow every court order, because—Mullin: Chris, senator, don’t start putting words in my mouth. That’s not what I said. I said I will never break the Constitution.Murphy: Will you implement court orders when they tell you to stop?Mullin: You’re making an assumption on court orders I haven’t seen.Murphy: Will you or will you not?Mullin: I’m going to enforce the law, and I’ll never break the Constitution.