Schumer briefly hospitalized after lightheadedness
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(WASHINGTON) — Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was briefly hospitalized Wednesday morning after he got lightheaded at the gym, his spokesperson told ABC News.
He was treated for dehydration and released Wednesday, the spokesperson said, after going to the hospital “out of an abundance of caution.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the New York Democrat was back at work at the Capitol, the spokesperson said.
“He wants to remind everyone to drink some water and stay out of the heat,” the spokesperson added.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats sparred with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday over whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia will be returned to the United States, as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s spending.
During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who traveled to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia, asked if the Trump administration would comply with the Supreme Court’s decision that the U.S. government must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, Noem replied that the government is following the law but didn’t say yes or no.
“What I would tell you is that we are following court order,” Noem shot back. “Your advocacy for a known terrorist is alarming.”
Van Hollen said he isn’t “vouching for the man” but rather due process.
“I suggest that rather than make these statements here, that you and the Trump administration make them in court under oath,” he added.
Van Hollen then accused Noem of a political speech, and Noem said she would suggest Van Hollen is an “advocate” for victims of illegal crime.
Last month, after Abrego Garcia’s family filed a lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S. The Supreme Court affirmed that ruling on April 10.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pressed Noem on whether she read the Supreme Court decision, noting that the court ruled 9-0 that the U.S. must facilitate his release.
“Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador. It is up to the president of El Salvador to make the decision coming back,” Noem replied. “It’s been a big topic of conversation between all of us. … The president has been very clear on this issue, as the secretary of state and I have as well. Abrego Garcia is not a citizen of this country and is a dangerous individual.”
Earlier in the hearing, Murphy blasted Noem, saying, “Your department is out of control.”
“You are spending like you don’t have a budget. You’re on the verge of running out of money for the fiscal year. You are illegally refusing to spend funds that have been authorized by this congress and appropriated by this committee,” he said. “You are brazenly violating the law every hour of every day. You are refusing to allow people showing up at the southern border to apply for asylum. I acknowledge that you don’t believe that people should be able to apply for asylum, but you don’t get to choose that.”
He added that DHS will run out of money by July on immigration and argued that the department isn’t giving migrants due process.
“What you are doing both the individuals who have legal rights to stay here, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia or students who are just protesting Trump’s policies is immoral, and to follow the theme, it is illegal. You have no right to deport a student visa holder with no due process, simply because they have spoken in a way that offends the president. You can’t remove migrants who a court has given humanitarian protection from removal,” he said.
Noem also noted that the Biden administration let in upward of 20 million people into the country illegally.
Noem was also asked about the Trump administration’s plan for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Noem has said she wants to get rid of FEMA and return the funds to the states.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., asked Noem to “tread lightly” on dismantling FEMA, marking the first time a Republican has raised caution about the president’s plan to dismantle FEMA. Moore Capito said she is “concerned” that there could be issues with small states “subject to a lot of natural disasters, flooding,” in providing relief.
“I think it’s [a] vital function, and I’m concerned, if you turn it all over to the states, capacity for the state to really handle this is something that — so I would ask you to tread lightly,” she added.
On CISA, she said previously it was operating as the “ministry of truth” during the Biden administration and that the Trump administration is returning CISA to accomplish the stated goals of DHS.
“They were out doing election security missions where censorship and deciding what was truth and what wasn’t truth, and we have eliminated those functions within CISA,” Noem said. “CISA was created to be an entity that supported small and medium businesses and also critical infrastructure, our electrical grid, our water systems that are vulnerable to hacking attempts and influence from foreign countries but enemies of the United States of America.”
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., noted that there were 15 employees out of 3,000 who were working on misinformation.
(WASHINGTON) — A key Republican senator is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s major spending bill, warning that it would add trillions to the nation’s debt.
On Wednesday, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told ABC News he cannot support what Trump calls his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” despite pressure from the White House to pass it by July 4.
“I refuse to accept $2 trillion-plus deficits as far as the eye can see as the new normal,” Johnson said. “We have to address that problem, and, unfortunately, this bill doesn’t do so.”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit. While Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought claimed there are “massive levels of savings in this bill,” Johnson disagreed.
“We went from $4.4 trillion in spending in 2019 to over $7 trillion this year,” he said, adding that the slight reduction proposed in the bill is “barely a rounding error in this massive spending.”
The senator told ABC News he isn’t worried about political fallout from opposing Trump’s bill.
“I’m worried about our kids and grandkids, the fact that we’re mortgaging their future. It is wrong. It’s immoral,” Johnson said.
Instead of one large bill, Johnson wants to split it into two smaller pieces. His plan would first deal with matters like border security, defense and extending current tax laws. Then, he wants Congress to take time to carefully review government spending and find ways to cut waste.
On possible criticism from Trump, Johnson said he had a “very cordial conversation” with the president about his concerns.
“I want to see President Trump succeed. I’m a big supporter,” Johnson said, but he added that fixing the budget “is going to take time.”
The bill also faces criticism over its impact on healthcare, with CBO estimates showing around 11 million people could lose health insurance coverage.
As the July 4 deadline approaches, Johnson remained firm in his position.
“You have to do the things we agree on,” he said, listing border security, defense and extending current tax law as priorities. “Then come back, do the hard work of forensically auditing spending on these programs, and get serious about reducing that deficit trajectory, bending it down, rather than having it skyrocket upward.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday offered enthusiastic praise of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s briefing at the Pentagon, where he provided more information about the U.S. strikes on Iran and defended the president.
“One of the greatest, most professional, and most ‘confirming’ News Conferences I have ever seen! The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!” Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform, where earlier he had encouraged followers to tune in.
Hegseth’s news conference came amid a full-court press from Trump’s top officials dispute a preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment that said the bombings may have only set it back by a few months.
“You want to call it destroyed. You want to call it defeated. You want to call it obliterated. Choose your word. This was an historically successful attack and we should celebrate as Americans,” a defiant Hegseth said from the podium as he railed against the news media coverage of the events and the leaked initial intelligence assessment.
“This is preliminary but leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful,” he said.
“Classified information is leaked or peddled for political purposes to try to make the president look bad,” he added.
The day prior, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted statements saying their intelligence supported Trump’s description of the damage inflicted by the U.S. military operation.
“CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes,” Ratcliffe wrote in a statement.
Gabbard wrote on X: “New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, who on Sunday had said it was “way too early” to make complete damage assessments, at Thursday’s news conference declined to give a detailed assessment.
“By design, we don’t grade our own homework. The intelligence community does,” Caine said.
“But here’s what we know following the attacks and the strikes on Fordo,” Caine continued. “First, that the weapons were built, tested and loaded properly. Two, the weapons were released on speed and on parameters. Three, the weapons all guided to their intended targets and to their intended aim points. Four, the weapons functioned as designed, meaning they exploded.”
“We know this through other means, intelligence means that we have that we were visibly able to see them,” Caine added. “And we know that the trailing jets saw the first weapons function and the pilots stated quote this was the brightest explosion that I’ve ever seen. It literally looked like daylight.'”
Caine was asked if he felt any political pressure on how to describe the strikes or their impact. “No, I have not, and no, I would not,” Caine responded.
Hegseth momentarily interrupted the questioning.
“The chairman here, who’s not involved in politics, he doesn’t do politics. That’s my lane — to understand and translate and talk about those types of things. So, I can use the word ‘obliterated,'” Hegseth said, the term Trump has used repeatedly.
Still, several questions remain not fully answered, particularly how far exactly the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities and whether Iran was able to move uranium away from the Fordo site before the bombings.
Hegseth and Caine were asked about the uranium during their 45-minute news conference. Neither provided a clear answer.
Hegseth first attacked the news reporter who asked the question, before saying: “We’re looking at all aspects of intelligence and making sure we have a sense of what was where.”
President Trump, who was watching the news conference, took to his social media account to weigh in on speculation that Iran may have moved uranium because of satellite images showing trucks lined up at Fordo in the days leading up to the attack.
“The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!” Trump wrote on his social media site.
