Sen. Chuck Schumer’s book tour postponed amid funding vote controversy
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(WASHINGTON) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s three planned book tour events scheduled for this week have abruptly been postponed as of Monday morning.
Schumer, promoting his new book “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” has been facing backlash over voting for the House-approved government funding bill that averted a shutdown on Friday. Many Democrats, including progressives, had wanted him to vote against the bill and to more strongly protest against President Donald Trump’s and congressional Republicans’ agendas.
Schumer had events planned in Baltimore, New York City and Washington, D.C., this week. Protests were planned outside of all three events.
A spokesperson for Schumer’s book tour told ABC News, “Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(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.
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, six weeks into his historic return to the White House, delivered the longest joint address to Congress in history on Tuesday night.
Trump triumphantly took the dais to thundering applause from Republican majorities in the House and Senate, but the mood changed within minutes as he faced heckles from some raucous Democrats.
The president, though, signaled he is forging full steam ahead with his agenda (however divisive) as he claimed a “mandate” from American voters.
Here are the key takeaways:
‘America is back’
Trump opened his address by declaring to Congress and the nation: “America is back.”
A chant of “USA” immediately broke out among lawmakers as Republicans rose to their feet.
Trump quickly turned to touting the lightning speed with which he’s sought to enact his agenda, arguing his administration’s “accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years — and we are just getting started.”
Democrats interrupt, and one gets removed
But as Trump turned to talking about the 2024 election, claiming a wide “mandate” though data shows the victory isn’t the total landslide he’s often portrayed.
When Trump said he won the popular vote by “large numbers,” Democrats began audibly pushing back. Rep. Al Green of Texas was seen out of his seat and shaking his cane at Trump as he shouted, “There’s no mandate.”
Speaker Mike Johnson was slamming his gavel to restore order to the joint session and issued a warning to members to maintain decorum. Johnson shortly after instructed Green be removed from the chamber by the sergeant at arms after telling him to take his seat several times.
The back-and-forth between Trump and Democrats continued throughout the speech. At one point, Trump lashed out at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, bringing back his 2018 taunt of calling her “Pocahontas.”
Democrats held up signs that said “false” and “Musk steals.” Several walked out of the chamber as he was speaking.
Trump continues to take aim at Biden
Trump repeatedly went after former President Joseph Biden, continuing to criticize him for issues at the border or with the economy.
“The worst president in American history,” Trump said of Biden.
Trump is only six weeks into his second term, but already Americans are expressing dissatisfaction with many of his policies. A 538 analysis of public opinion polls found his approval rating on actions related to health care, foreign policy, government funding, trade and more to be underwater.
Trump praises Elon Musk and DOGE
Elon Musk, a controversial but highly influential adviser in Trump’s orbit, was in the chamber for Trump’s remarks. He left the White House for the speech moments before Trump and, like the president, received applause upon his arrival though it was more muted.
Trump spent a considerable amount of time early in his remarks praising Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s work slashing government spending and the federal workforce.
“The brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Perhaps. Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight. Thank you Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side appreciates it, I believe,” Trump said.
The president read a laundry list of the alleged “waste, fraud and abuse” he claims DOGE has identified. He made several misleading claims about Social Security in the process, including that millions of Americans over the age of 100 were receiving benefits, which has been debunked.
Trump claimed DOGE’s work will help the economy overall.
“By slashing all of the fraud, waste and theft we can find, we will defeat inflation, bring down mortgage rates, lower car payments and grocery prices, protect our seniors, and put more money in the pockets of American families,” he said.
Pocket-book issues get little attention as Trump defends tariffs After hammering Biden on the economy during the 2024 campaign and pledging to voters to bring down prices on Day 1, Trump didn’t spend much time discussing how exactly he’d lower prices as he continued to lay blame on Biden.
“As president, I’m fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again,” Trump said in one of his only mentions of grocery prices. “Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control. The egg price is out of control, and we’re working hard to get it back down.”
The comment again sparked pushback from Democrats. The price of eggs has skyrocketed under Trump amid an avian flu outbreak.
Trump said the focus on how to defeat inflation will be on reducing the cost of energy and taxpayer savings through DOGE.
Trump, meanwhile, offered a defense of his tariffs against Canada, China and Mexico — which sent markets roiling on Tuesday. He said more “reciprocal” tariffs were in store.
“Tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs they’re about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again,” he said.
Trump saved foreign policy for the end of his address. He again said his administration would “reclaim” the Panama Canal for national security reasons, and said they were trying to get Greenland for similar reasons.
After an explosive meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week, Trump said he received from Zelenskyy earlier Tuesday and read part of it aloud.
“I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago,” Trump said, appearing to signal tensions have cooled a bit.
“Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” he said.
Trump also briefly touched on the Middle East, saying his administration is working to bring back hostages held in Gaza and that he wants to build on his 2019 Abraham Accords to bring stability to the region.
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(WASHINGTON) — New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to vote for the House GOP funding bill to avert a government shutdown “a tremendous mistake.”
She also avoided saying whether she’d primary Schumer next cycle even though it’s something some Democrats are privately urging her to do.
Ocasio-Cortez said she was concentrating on keeping Democrats from backing the funding bill, during an appearance on CNN.
“The strength of our leadership in this moment is going to demonstrate the strength of our caucus,” she told Jake Tapper.
Her comments came the same night that Schumer said he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday. The minority leader’s announcement amounted to a major break from House Democrats who voted nearly unanimously against the GOP funding bill earlier this week.
Ocasio-Cortez said passing the funding bill would “empower” President Donald Trump and his senior adviser Elon Musk.
“I cannot urge enough how bad of an idea it is to empower and enable Donald Trump and Elon Musk in this moment. It is dangerous and it is reckless,” she said.
However, Schumer contended that a decision to shut down the government would give Trump and Musk too much power to continue their federal worker cuts without discretion.
Ocasio-Cortez said there was still time to block the bill and that she hoped that “individuals that are considering” voting yes on cloture and the bill would “reconsider” their support.
The congresswoman repeated her calls on social media, encouraging voters to call Senate Democrats and urge their no vote on cloture and the GOP funding bill.
“Senate Democrats should not allow this chaos to continue,” she wrote on X.
CNN reported on Thursday that Ocasio-Cortez was urged by Democratic House colleagues at a retreat to challenge Schumer — even from some centrist members — following the announcement of his decision on the funding bill. She did not say whether she would consider taking on Schumer in a primary.
On Thursday at the retreat, House Democrats across the ideological spectrum maintained their opposition to the Republican-approved continuing resolution and kept the heat on their Senate counterparts to do the same. But the House would have to come back into session to pass the 30-day stopgap bill they are in support of. Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the idea that calling House members back would be a problem.
“House Democrats are in town. I mean, are we afraid of working? Is that the problem here? That the idea that, God forbid, members of Congress have to fly back and do their jobs? I mean, genuinely — come on,” AOC said on CNN.
Ocasio-Cortez lauded House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for whipping votes against the bill in the House.
“Every single House Democrat, including every single House Democrat who won a Trump district, except for one out of over 200 voted against this deeply partisan, extreme Republican spending bill … in terms of Democratic leadership in the House. We’ve seen that result in the House, I think it’s time that we see similar results in the Senate,” she added.
The congresswoman said her position is supported by the majority of Americans, most clearly evidenced by the heated town halls many members have been holding in recent weeks with their constituents.
“If anyone has held a town hall — or has seen what has been happening in town halls — American people, whether they are Republicans, independents, Democrats, are up in arms about Elon Musk and the actual gutting of federal agencies across the board. This continuing resolution codifies much of this chaos that Elon Musk is wreaking havoc on the federal government. It codifies many of those changes,” she said.
