Talk of the Town
(WASHNGTON) — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to sign an order to pay “all” employees at the Department of Homeland Security amid the record-long agency shutdown.
“Help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” Trump wrote in a post to his social media platform.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(WASHINGTON) — For generations, cops have obtained warrants to lawfully seek information from a specific suspect in a crime.
The Supreme Court on Monday is considering whether investigators can also use so-called “geofence warrants” to do the reverse — scanning cell phone data of thousands of innocent individuals in hopes of finding a suspect to apprehend.
The landmark case is the first time the justices will consider whether the controversial practice of digital dragnets, which have grown in popularity among law enforcement with advances in technology, violate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.
Critics say the warrants intrude on Americans’ reasonable expectation of privacy by compelling service providers to turn over broad swaths of user location history and time stamps within a specified area over a specified timeframe.
Advocates for geofence warrants call them a critical tool that will help police more quickly solve crimes, in turn making communities safer. They also emphasize that most cellphone users knowingly transmit location data to third-party tech companies already.
The petitioner in the case, Okello Chatrie, was indicted on charges related to an armed robbery of a Virginia credit union in 2019 and wants key cellphone location evidence against him thrown out.
Authorities relied heavily on data obtained from Google under a geofence warrant that placed Chatrie’s cellphone within 150 meters of the bank during the crime.
The Trump administration, which is defending the law enforcement tool and Chatrie’s prosecution, argues that by sharing location information with apps and service providers like Google, a person forfeits any expectation of privacy.
A decision in the case — Chatrie v U.S. — is expected by the end of June.
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(WASHINGTON) — Democratic voters in Illinois are heading to the polls on Tuesday for a slate of midterm election primaries where incumbents aren’t on the ballot, including a marquee Senate race animated by the prospect of generational change and House races dogged by major outside spending.
Six Democratic-favoring seats are opening up in Illinois’ congressional delegation, including the U.S. Senate seat currently held by the retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, and five House seats that are being vacated either due to retirements (in the 4th, 7th, and 9th districts) or because their incumbents are running for Senate (in the 2nd and 8th).
Illinoisans are also voting in primaries for governor, although incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker has no Democratic primary challengers, and other state offices.
‘An opportunity for generational turnover’
In the Senate race, the state’s voters “have an opportunity for generational turnover — where a boomer senator is stepping down, and you’ve got three Gen-Xers, who’ve been around on the scene for quite some time, trying to get the seat,” Northwestern University political science professor and Democratic strategist Alvin Tillery told ABC News. While Tillery is currently working for active campaigns, he is not involved in any races in Illinois.
“It could be another 20 or 30 years before we have a Senate race this competitive in Illinois,” he added.
A few Republican candidates are vying to become the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate election, including attorney Jeannie Evans and former Illinois GOP chair Don Tracy. The Cook Political Report rates the race as solidly Democrat.
Among the frontrunners in the Democratic Senate primary, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois’ 8th District in Congress, has led the pack in fundraising, having raised over $30 million, according to campaign finance filings.
“I’m the only one with the background of standing up to bullies and bad actors, and successfully doing so, and now I have to stand up to Donald Trump,” Krishnamoorthi told ABC News in an interview on Sunday.
He also argued that his fundraising gives him “a certain amount of independence that perhaps nobody else has in this race.”
Pritzker’s endorsement in Senate race
Illinois’ lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, entered the race with Pritzker’s quick endorsement. Her campaign made some waves when it unveiled a campaign television ad where voters and Illinois’ other senator Tammy Duckworth curse out President Donald Trump, while Stratton says, “They said it, not me.”
“I think that there is something that’s sort of a common theme that I’m hearing, no matter which corner of the state of Illinois that you live in, and that is that people are fed up with what’s happening in D.C.,” Stratton told ABC News in an interview. “They’re tired of the status quo.”
Pritzker — a rumored 2028 presidential hopeful — has campaigned with her and donated $5 million in December to an outside group supporting her bid, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly is running for the seat with the argument that over a decade of experience in the House has set her up to be successful in Congress’ upper chamber.
“I have a track record that they cannot touch,” Kelly told ABC station WLS-TV on Tuesday in Chicago. “And I think a lot of people know that.”
Kelly has the endorsement of the political arm of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC); longtime CBC member Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., campaigned with Kelly on Tuesday, telling WLS-TV she is “our go-to person on health care issues.”
Some members of the caucus have criticized Pritzker’s support of Stratton, who is Illinois’ first Black female lieutenant governor, and feel her presence in the race risks splitting the Black vote in the primary to benefit Krishnamoorthi.
Stratton told ABC News, “I have the best path in the nation to elect another Black woman to the United States Senate.” Krishnamoorthi, if elected, would only be the second-ever Indian-American senator in the Senate.
On the trail, the candidates have all harshly criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — particularly in the wake of Operation Midway Blitz in 2025 — but only Stratton has outright called to “abolish” the agency.
Krishnamoorthi, however, has framed his position as “abolish Trump’s ICE,” and Kelly has presented a broader position of “dismantling” the whole Department of Homeland Security.
Outside groups’ spending criticized
Opposition to ICE has also become a campaign wedge: Stratton and Krishnamoorthi have criticized each for how they or groups supporting them have previously been supported by companies or donors with ties to the agency.
Outside groups, including some linked to cryptocurrency or artificial intelligence companies, have also spent millions in the Senate primary and House races in Illinois. Over $55 million has been spent on ads by Senate candidates or groups supporting them, according to an analysis by AdImpact, while over $37 million has been spent by House candidates or groups supporting them.
And the conversation around the House races has been dominated by that and other spending, including money from groups directly or allegedly linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), both before and after the Feb. 28 U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran brought the Middle East back to the forefront.
AIPAC’s affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project (UDP) has spent directly in some House races in Illinois, but candidates have alleged that other outside groups are also linked to it.
In the race for Illinois’ 9th District, for example, a slate of progressives including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and former journalist Kat Abughazaleh are running to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Biss and Abughazaleh have excoriated super PAC spending allegedly linked to AIPAC to support state Sen. Laura Fine’s bid. Fine has also criticized the sheer spending in the race. AIPAC has not confirmed being involved.
And Schakowsky had initially endorsed Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller in the race for the 2nd District, currently represented by Krishnamoorthi. But she withdrew her endorsement after a Washington Post report that an independent group, Affordable Chicago Now, that has spent over $4 million in favor of Miller, appears to use one of the same vendors as AIPAC or UDP.
UDP, which has not spent money directly to support Miller, according to current campaign finance filings, did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
“Illinois deserves leaders who put voters first, not AIPAC or out-of-state Trump donors. I cannot support any candidate running for Congress who is funded by these outside interests,” Schakowsky wrote in a statement to ABC News.
A spokesperson for Miller’s campaign told ABC News, “Rep. Schakowsky and Commissioner Miller have been friends for over 20 years. Donna’s support reflects the broad base behind her campaign, coming from a diverse coalition of people who believe in her vision for change.”
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(WASHINGTON) — Wednesday is Tax Day, the last day of this year’s tax season, and the average refund for filers is up 11% compared to last year’s filing season, according to new Treasury Department data.
The average refund this filing season is “over $3,400,” the Treasury Department data said.
The data, which is as of Tuesday, also showed that “over 53 million filers claimed at least one of President Trump’s signature new tax cuts,” which includes provisions from Trump’s sweeping legislation that was passed last year.
Treasury has also announced that more than 5 million filers have opened so-called Trump Accounts for children who were eligible under the law.
“Treasury and the IRS have worked tirelessly to ensure our tax system works for the people it is meant to serve,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release on Wednesday. “From the shop floor to the kitchen table, taxpayers are feeling the difference of the largest tax cuts in our nation’s history, and millions of Americans are keeping more of what they earn and seeing their paychecks go further than ever before.”
Over 25 million filers have claimed No Tax on Overtime, with an average deduction of over $3,100, the department’s data noted, while more than 30 million seniors have claimed the Enhanced Deduction for Seniors, with an average deduction of over $7,500.
The data also showed that more than 105 million filers have claimed the permanently doubled standard deduction — the specific dollar amount that reduces the amount of income on which people are taxed.
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