DHS could request up to 10,000 troops for the border, internal memo shows

(WASHINGTON) — Democrats are settling into the year with some of their strongest February grassroots fundraising numbers on record, according to the Democratic National Committee, which says it brought in $9 million during the critical first full month of Donald Trump’s presidency with an average donation of less than $35.

In a memo obtained exclusively by ABC News, the DNC says the haul was from more than 200,000 grassroots donors across all 50 states. They attribute the gains, in part, to the fact that “Americans are ready to stand up and fight back against the Trump administration’s overwhelmingly unpopular agenda.” In February 2016, following the first full month of Trump’s previous term, the party recorded pulling in less than $5 million in grassroots fundraising.

The haul also comes amid Ken Martin’s first month as party chair. The DNC cites the Minnesota Democrat’s leadership as another reason they saw a boost in grassroots support. Top-performing fundraising emails, texts and peer-to-peer messages were signed by Martin in the month since his election on Feb. 1, the memo says.

But the fundraising increase comes as the Democratic Party grapples with low approval ratings and intraparty fighting around their overall direction and response to the Trump administration’s policies.

A few recent polls indicate that the general public does not see any one person as leading the Democratic Party. One, from CNN/SSRS published on Sunday, found no consensus among American adults over which Democratic leader “best reflects the core values of the Democratic Party,” while also showing that the Democratic Party’s favorability rating among Americans stands at a record low.

Just last week, a contentious battle brewed on Capitol Hill over whether to pass a GOP-approved government funding bill, hurled the party into discussions over their strategy and about potential changes in their leadership ranks.

The DNC, however, has recently made plays to carve out its own lane among the larger party as a leading voice in response to Trump and Republicans.

In the wake of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s recent calls for GOP House members to pull back on hosting in-person town hall events while constituents have become heated about DOGE’s cuts to the federal workforce, the DNC started pairing with other organizations and state parties across the country to host “People’s Town Halls” in competitive districts with vulnerable GOP House incumbents.

Another bright spot for Democrats in February, according to DNC fundraising data set to be publicly filed with the Federal Elections Commission later Thursday, is that this month marked the DNC’s best fundraising month via digital ads in an off-year, with more than $1 million raised.

“We expect significant return on investment by the 2026 midterms,” the DNC said in the memo.

The DNC is prioritizing “balancing high-performing fundraising formats” with “new content that educates donors and invites them to volunteer or give the DNC feedback to better understand their priorities in our fight against Donald Trump,” according to the memo.

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(WASHINGTON) — A Massachusetts man was found to be carrying a gun after attending a tour of the U.S. Capitol as he left the nearby Library of Congress on Tuesday, police officials told ABC News on Thursday.

Authorities in Washington were alerted by police in Carlisle, Massachusetts, on Monday that a man with a gun who had expressed suicidal ideations on social media was headed to Washington.

The U.S. Secret Service and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police found the man in a Washington hotel early Tuesday morning and interviewed him, sources said. They searched for a gun and found no weapon and no further action was taken at that time, they said.

Later that day, the man went through a Capitol Police magnetometer screening and entered the Capitol Visitor Center. The magnetometer sounded an alarm and “an officer performed a secondary hand search, and the man was let into the building,” according to a statement from U.S. Capitol Police.

After getting past security, Capitol Police were alerted to his presence and issued a bulletin to be on the lookout for the man. They located him after he had completed the full tour of Congress outside the Library of Congress a short time later and found that he had a 9mm handgun in his waistband, law enforcement sources said.

Authorities said the suspect was arrested for “Unlawful Activities, Carrying a Pistol Without a License, Possession of an Unregistered Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and Resisting Arrest.” The case is currently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Capitol Police statement said.

The officer who performed the screening at the magnetometer at the Capitol Visitor Center “is suspended while the USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting an administrative investigation into the officer’s performance of that search.”

There is no indication he intended to cause any harm to harm the Congress, according to Capitol police. But sources told ABC News that a man who was possibly suicidal was able to take a full tour of Congress with a gun with members of the public and Congress nearby.

“A full review of this incident has already been ordered, as well as mandatory refresher training on security screening, so this never happens again,” Capitol Police said in their statement.

Members of Congress were briefed on the situation on Thursday.

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(WASHINGTON) — As the IRS fired thousands of workers across the country on Thursday, many laid-off employees walked out of the headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the last time.

One fired IRS worker, who exited the building with a heavy suitcase and stuffed duffle bag, told ABC News he was originally hired to make the IRS more efficient.

“I was brought in to do data analytics and automation,” he said, adding that his colleagues were “surprised and hurt” since the “understanding was that I was brought in to make things more efficient” and the government would retain people with his technical skill set.

He said his job “modernized” IRS data infrastructure and streamlined compliance work, noting the irony in that the stated mission of the federal workforce cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is precisely to make the government more efficient.

Sources told ABC News the IRS is expected to lay off more than 6,000 probationary employees across the country starting Thursday — about 6% of the total IRS workforce. One source familiar with the matter told ABC News more than 100 people are being fired across the Washington offices, including more than 60 terminated from IRS headquarters.

However, the layoffs are expected nationwide, with hundreds expected in Texas, New York, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

When asked whether he thought the firings would affect this tax filing season, the fired worker said: “You can only imagine with so many people being let go and so much information and potential being lost that people probably can expect disturbances.”

“I wish there was more thought put into the long-term impact that some of these decisions will have on not just the American taxpayers but the American people,” he added.

He said he’s worked in a variety of industries, including doing nanotechnology research, biotechnology research and engineering, but that he felt the most motivation and mission while working for the federal government.

Another IRS employee who was wiping away tears described the impact she believed this will have on the future of the IRS. While she still has a job, she said these layoffs are “gutting” the IRS and will mean less enforcement and fewer people to respond to concerns from taxpayers.

She also noted that much of the IRS workforce is older and near retirement age. The probationary workers who were recently hired included the “best and the brightest” who represented the future of the IRS, she said, adding that all of that is now being taken away.

Another fired IRS worker told ABC News he was just three weeks shy of no longer being a probationary employee. He disputed Musk’s and Trump’s claims that the firings are improving efficiency.

“I know that the people that I have worked with … work really hard, and so … if you’re measuring efficiency by productivity, certainly not. If you’re measuring efficiency by morale, absolutely not,” he said. “I accepted this role in order to help our country fight bad guys.”

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