Watch live: Mullin testifies before Senate on DHS budget amid GOP reconciliation battle
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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin will testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee on President Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request as GOP lawmakers eye a reconciliation bill to fund DHS. Senate Republicans hit a roadblock on advancing the spending package as criticism mounted over the Justice Department’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” Earlier this…
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will testify before a House Appropriations Committee panel on Tuesday afternoon on oversight of the Justice Department. The hearing comes as the Trump administration has faced heavy scrutiny over its $1.776 billion compensation fund, which would help settle claims between those who say the government wrongfully prosecuted them. The “anti-weaponization”…
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin is testifying in front of a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday about his department’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. The Department of Homeland Security is requesting $118.4 billion in overall funding for fiscal 2027, starting Oct. 1, as proposed by the White House. Nearly $23 billion of […]
President Donald Trump appointed Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, tapping him to manage the entire national security apparatus of the United States. The "unorthodox" pick reportedly came from longtime GOP operative Roger Stone, Semafor reports.According to Semafor, MAGA forces joined together to convince Trump that, despite his lack of intel experience, Pulte could still manage the 17 intelligence agencies that the post oversees. Pulte will serve in the job while also remaining in his current job as Federal Housing Finance Agency Director. This adds to Pulte's other job, chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.What Stone, Trump and other MAGA allies believe is that Pulte can use his "attack-dog mentality" in "waging an internal war to ramp up the declassification of sensitive information," according to the Tuesday report.“He’s like a bulldozer,” said a source familiar with Pulte when speaking to Semafor about Pulte. “Bulldoze the bureaucracy and accelerate document releases and declassifications.”Stone is best known for his ongoing loyalty to former Republican President Richard Nixon, whom Stone has tattooed on his back. The self-described "dirty trickster" has remained a close confidant and informal adviser to Trump since the 1970s and became a key part of the 2020 "Stop the Steal" movement. He was later convicted on seven counts of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice relating to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Trump commuted his sentence before Stone served a day in prison. He was later pardoned. He's also known for his conspiracy theories and spreading unfounded rumors about Trump's critics. CNN reporter Kevin Liptak commented after the announcement that Pulte has used his post as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to target some of Trump's foes. "This, I think, suggests that the president will put in this position someone who has gone after this retribution campaign, who has advanced some ideas of vindication against some of his enemies," the reporter said.Semafor noted that the biggest barrier to Pulte will be the U.S. Senate. For him to take on the job, Trump needs the votes and right now it doesn't appear he has them. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said, “I don’t see any evidence of his qualifications for that job, but I’m willing to listen.”“We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) also told reporters on Tuesday. “If he’s somebody we want in that position permanently, he’s got a lengthy road ahead of him.”Stone wouldn't comment on the record about his involvement in picking Pulte, Semafor reported. The one positive of the nomination, a banking lobbyist told Semafor, is that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Pulte don't get along. With Pulte otherwise engaged, Bessent will be able to focus on housing issues. “If I was Bessent, my wheels are turning right now, like: ‘What can I accomplish in the housing space while I have this open field?’” the banking lobbyist said.Democrats appear ready for a fight. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a statement about Pulte on Tuesday, saying, “Today, President Trump is rewarding his lackey — who has no national security experience — with a perch atop our nation’s intelligence community. What could go wrong?”
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that Bill Pulte, a “home-building heir” who currently oversees the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would step in as acting Director of National Intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard. The decision has drawn swift bipartisan criticism over Pulte’s total lack of experience and what is viewed as an effort to “weaponize” the U.S. intelligence apparatus. "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there," declared Senator Majority Leader John Thune (R-SC). “If he's somebody we want in that position permanently, he's got a lengthy road ahead of him.”Fears over weaponization stem from Pulte’s previous efforts to target Trump’s enemies. As the head of the FHFA, he used his position to suggest criminal charges for mortgage fraud against the likes of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook — all of whom drew the president’s ire over various incidents.With all this in mind, Senator Mark Warner, a top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, shared Thune’s sentiments, blasting at length: “This appointment speaks volumes about what this president expects from the nation's top intelligence official. Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution.”“Americans have already seen Mr. Pulte use the powers of his office at the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pursue the president's grievances and lend credibility to dubious prosecutions of President Trump's perceived political opponents,” Warner continued. “Elevating him to oversee the Intelligence Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president's wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people.”What’s more, Warner took issue with Pulte’s bona fides, or lack thereof, arguing, "The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience' required by statute for the job, which was created after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. It is that he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need. Americans have every reason to worry about what happens when the official charged with overseeing everything from counterterrorism to foreign election threats is chosen for his willingness to advance the president's political agenda rather than his experience. That is how intelligence becomes politicized, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it, and how Americans are left more vulnerable to a terrorist attack."Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) put it more simply: “I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job.” And Senator Angus King (Independent-ME), who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, rounded things out, “By any objective assessment — in terms of experience, expertise, background — this appointment makes no sense.”Journalist Chris Hayes summed up the collective assessment well, posting, “This is so utterly insane I’m at a loss. But it makes sense if you want to turn the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus into a tool for domestic persecution and domination.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked into the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday morning to a chorus of protests — his first congressional testimony since the Trump administration launched the war in Iran three months ago.As Rubio entered the hearing room, protesters erupted from their seats and screamed directly at him."Marco Rubio, stop killing Cubans!" one shouted. "Repent, repent Marco Rubio!" another cried, as Capitol Police moved in to drag them out.Before the hearing even began, a separate group was arrested outside the briefing room. NewsNation's Joe Khalil reported the group was "very vocal," chanting "Rubio lies, people with AIDS die." The Associated Press also reported protesters chanting, "One child dies every 30 mins."The disruptions set a combative tone for a hearing centered on the State Department's $36 billion budget request but expected to pivot quickly to the faltering ceasefire with Tehran. Tehran suspended talks Monday after Israel continued strikes on Lebanon.Rubio's prepared remarks offered little conciliation. "The U.S. government is not a charity," he wrote. "We are not here to play social worker."The committee's ranking Democrat, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, was withering in her opening remarks — accusing Rubio of refusing to provide information on U.S. operations in Iran, the American troop posture in Europe, and support for Ukraine."When you do notify Congress, it's to inform us of decisions you have already made," Shaheen said.It is Rubio's first public appearance before Congress since the war began in February — with a ceasefire under strain and midterms on the horizon.
