John Bolton says Trump removed his Secret Service detail
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has terminated Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser John Bolton, Bolton said in a post on X Tuesday afternoon.
“Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021. The Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target me. That threat remains today,” Bolton wrote. “The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call.”
The White House has not commented on Bolton’s claims.
Bolton worked as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019 and was frequently at odds with the president. After he left office, Bolton was vocal about his criticisms of Trump’s policies, including in a 2020 memoir in which he claimed the president was “stunningly uninformed,” ignorant of basic facts and easily manipulated by foreign adversaries.
At the time of the book’s release, Bolton told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz that Trump was “not fit for office” and didn’t have “the competence to carry out the job.”
Trump has lashed out at Bolton since leaving office in social media posts and interviews.
On Monday, he signed an executive order that called for Bolton to lose any security clearance he might still hold.
The executive order accused Bolton of publishing a memoir that “was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government,” with the order adding that the book’s publication “created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.”
Bolton has denied disclosing any classified information in the book, and though a federal judge was skeptical of that, no charges were ever filed.
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans remain divided over the budget blueprint to jumpstart the process to advance Trump’s agenda, putting a vote planned for Tuesday evening in jeopardy as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to rally his rank and file.
Following a closed-door conference meeting, GOP leaders say that while the hope is still to move forward with a floor vote Tuesday night, it could slip further into the week. There are several lawmakers who have splintered off to publicly oppose the measure, while even more hold back their support with the hope of extracting changes.
“We’re planning to take up our budget resolution as early as today,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday, suggesting the vote may get pushed. “There may be a vote tonight. There may not be. Stay tuned. That’s why you get paid. Hang around here,” he added.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is actively defending the budget — contending that Democrats are “lying” when they assert that Republicans are primed to make deep cuts to Medicaid.
“This bill doesn’t even mention the word ‘Medicaid’ a single time, and yet, all Democrats are doing is lying about what’s in the budget because they don’t want to talk about the truth,” Scalise said. “Instead of just sitting back and licking their wounds that they’re completely out of touch with the American people, their only choice is to resort to lying about what’s in this vote today. There is no Medicaid in this bill. There are no Medicaid cuts in this bill. Yet that’s all they’re saying.”
While the blueprint itself does not mention Medicaid directly, it sets a goal of at least $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory federal spending, which includes funding for entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Johnson and his leadership team have worked for weeks to mollify concerns — an effort the speaker says will continue with holdouts Tuesday afternoon. Currently there are four public no votes including Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson and Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz. The speaker can only afford to lose one defection before a second betrayal kills the effort.
Following the meeting, Massie quipped that GOP leaders have “convinced him” to vote no — predicting the measure would actually increase the deficit by billions of dollars.
Nevertheless, Johnson defended the blueprint.
“The objective and our commitment has always been deficit neutrality. That’s the goal here. If we can reduce the deficit, even better,” Johnson said responding to accusations that the plan would increase the deficit.
Some additional Republicans are undecided including New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, stressing she is acting on behalf of her aging constituency.
“I’m still undecided, but I’m leaning more towards yes because I’ve gotten some clarity and assurances that make me feel comfortable allowing this process to move forward,” she said. “We have to make sure that leadership includes those of us who have large Medicaid populations in that process.”
Self-proclaimed “budget hawk” Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick said he’s still “in discussions” on whether or not to back the resolution.
“I’d like us to be more aggressive on spending cuts so we can save on things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,” he said.
“I am trying to figure out exactly what this entails… how this bill is going to affect the actual hard numbers, and that’s what I’m interested in,” he said.
House Democrats gathered on the Capitol steps Tuesday afternoon to protest an “assault” on democracy and the “reckless Republican budget.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries led the group of lawmakers, declaring that Democrats have unified their opposition against the measure.
“So let me be clear, House Democrats will not provide a single vote to this reckless Republican budget, not one, not one, not one. They will not get a single Democratic vote. Why? Because we’re voting with the American people,” he said.
Jeffries said the GOP budget plan “represents the largest Medicaid cut in American history,” adding that “children will be devastated. Families will be devastated. People with disabilities will be devastated. Seniors will be devastated. Hospitals will be devastated; nursing homes will be devastated.”
“Everything we care about is under assault. The economy is under assault. The safety net is under assault. Our very way of life as a country is under assault. Democracy itself is under assault. Donald Trump, the administration and House Republicans are hurting the American people,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday announced his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, will replace Vice President-elect JD Vance in the U.S. Senate.
Husted, 57, will serve until a special election in November 2026, the winner of which will complete the remainder of Vance’s term.
Vance and President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office on Monday.
DeWine said at a news conference that when he mulled over his appointment, he wanted “someone who knew Ohio” and a proven “workhorse.”
“Serious times demand serious people,” he said.
DeWine praised Husted’s track record on economic development, which includes a commitment from Intel to invest more than $20 billion in manufacturing plants in the state.
“In my mind, my mission has always been clear: to ensure Ohioans have access to good jobs, quality job training and the opportunity to achieve their vision,” Husted said as he accepted the appointment on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The House passed the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which could change Title IX protections and ensure only “biological females” participate versus biological females in athletics, on Tuesday on a vote of 218-206-1.
Two Democrats voted in favor of the House GOP’s signature legislation: Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. North Carolina Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat, voted present. The three bucked House Democratic leadership in doing so.
Republicans are now touting this bill as bipartisan even though only two Democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the bill.
“Today was an improvement. It’s bipartisan,” Johnson said about the bill at his victory presser. “We had two Democrats join us.”
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs. The landmark legislation led by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., ensures that biological females are protected in women’s sports that are operated, sponsored or facilitated by a recipient of federal funding.
“Men have no place in women’s sports,” Steube wrote in a statement. “Republicans have promised to protect women’s sports, and under President Trump’s leadership, we will fulfill this promise.”
Steube’s bill aims to ensure schools comply with a person’s “reproductive” biology and genetics at birth, according to the bill. Therefore, if signed into law, it will be a violation for a man to participate in an athletic program that is intended for women or girls. If the House bill passes tomorrow, it could make its way to the Republican-held Senate and be ready to sign for President-elect Donald Trump when he returns to office this month. However, its unclear if the Senate will have the votes to pass the bill, even with its slim majority.
Critics have said they believe the GOP has undertaken an anti-transgender agenda fueling culture wars in American education. Twenty-five states already have laws banning transgender student-athletes from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
The bill was a pipe dream for years when Democrats were in control of Washington. In 2023, under Republican control in the House, the same bill passed 219-203 on a party-line vote — but was never taken up in the Senate. The House then passed Rep. Mary Miller’s Congressional Review Act in 2024 as conservatives pledged to “roll back” President Joe Biden’s expansions to Title IX, which ensured protections for transgender people. The resolution would have nullified the Biden-Harris administration’s Title IX rule.
Meanwhile, protecting women and girls in sports, parents’ rights and other education policies taken up in the House became winning issues on Trump’s legislative agenda during the 2024 election cycle. Taking after former House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, newly elected Chairman Tim Walberg said men competing against women in sports “jeopardizes competition and fair play.”
“Rep. Steube’s Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act will help stop attempts to include biological males in girls’ and women’s sports, ensuring fairness and a level playing field,” Walberg wrote in a statement championing the bill.
