… Dem Leaders in the House and Senate released 10 things they are seeking in their negotiations with Republicans on DHS funding on immigration enforcement operations:
-Judicial warrant requirement
-No masks
-Require ID on officers
-Prohibit enforcement in schools/churches
-Prohibit race-based stops
-Implement use of force standards
-Allow states to investigate misbehavior
-Set detention standards
-Must wear body cameras
-Uniform standards
… Sen. Maj. Leader John Thune: “It’s totally unrealistic, their demand list went from 3 items to 10 items. It just shows you they’re not serious. There’s a bunch of stuff in there that’s a non-starter, and they know it. Maybe they had to put it in there to satisfy MoveOn or some of their left wing special interest groups.”
… Punchbowl: “GOP Whip Tom Barrasso on the Dem demands: “I read the fine print. I found 23 demands. The list of radical Democrat demands just keeps growing.”
… Admittedly, there were some subsections under the sections.
… Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA): “They’re asking for no masks. Why? We can identify them. Officials can identify them, their bosses can. They only people who perhaps can’t are the general public - the mob.”
THE MOB? YOU MEAN THE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS THAT ICE GESTAPO
GOONS HAVE ATTACKED WITH TEAR GAS, PEPPER SPRAY, FLASH BANGS
& PROJECTILE ORDINANCE DESIGNED TO INJURE! HOW ABOUT THE
YOUNG MAN STANDING ACROSS THE STREET FORCED TO ENDURE
6 HOURS OF SURGERYTO PICK OUT FRAGMENTS, PIECE TOGETHER HIS
FOREHEAD & LOSING EYE SIGHT IN ONE EYE?
HOW ABOUT THE VAN FULL OF KIDS RETURNING FROM A FAMILY
EVENT ONLY TO HAVE ICE GESTAPO TARGET THEM FOR TEAR GAS
& FLASH BANGS - FORCE TO SEEK MEDICAL CARE BECAUSE A CHILD
STOPPED BREATHING?
… Schumer: “We all know what’s going on in our cities. There is chaos. They’re out of control. We’ve seen the damage that’s been done. We’ve seen people being beaten. We’ve seen people taken off the streets without warrants and placed in dark chambers without access to phones. We’ve evenTiable.”
… Fox: “House conservatives are quietly grumbling about the deal Trump entered into with Senate Dems to keep the govt open - particularly regarding DHS. Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that the plan will force them to swallow concessions on immigration enforcement policies that they would not normally entertain while the GOP holds all the levers of power in DC.”
… One House Republican: “I don’t think we have any more leverage. We just shot ourselves in the foot, and 9 days later we’ll do it again.”
… “The move frustrated some House Republicans all the way up to Speaker Mike Johnson, who told his conference on a lawmaker-only call that he was ‘frustrated’ by the compromise but that congressional Republicans needed to stick by Trump’s decisions as the leader of their party.”
… Johnson: “This is not my preferred route. I wanted to keep all 6 bills together. But listen, the president agreed with Schumer that they would separate Homeland, and we’ll do that, and we’ll handle it.”
… Politico: “A sizable number of Senate Democrats haven’t ruled out another short-term funding punt for DHS. Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer sent a formal wishlist of DHS policy changes to GOP leaders Mike Johnson and John Thune. But Republicans have little interest in their ideas, with leaders hinting at the need for another continuing resolution to buy more time for talks.”
… Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH): “We need to keep as many options on the table as possible.”
… “Shaheen was one of the 8 Senate Dems who voted to help Republicans end the record govt shutdown last fall. Some other senators in that group also didn’t give direct answers on whether they’d support a second DHS stopgap - a stark contrast to many fellow Democrats, who immediately rejected the idea.
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN & OTHER SPINELESS DEMS CAVED & FAILED TO
PROTECT HEALTH CARE & OTHER ISSUES!
… Thune: “It may be the best way to deal with this particular appropriations bill is do a yearlong CR, if that’s what it takes.”
… All I can say is that we have all the leverage right now and this is set up perfectly to get at least most of what we want if Dems play hardball and Republicans know it. Extending the CR again for ANY amount of time plays right into their hands. I, for one, will be fuming if Dems agree to another extension. I think they have handled it well up to this point, and now it is time to press our advantage and finish the job.
… Karoline Leavitt was asked about ICE interfering in the midterms with voter intimidation. Q: “Steve Bannon recently said 'we're gonna have ICE surround the polls come Nov.' Is that something the president is considering? Leavitt: I can't guarantee an ICE agent won't be around a polling location, but what I can tell you is I haven't heard the president discuss any formal plans.”
… Jessica Tarlov debating Jesse Watters on Fox: “This is partisan for the president. They were surging ICE to Maine and Susan Collins got Noem to get them to leave. Watters: Because she is running for reelection. Jessica: Amy Klobuchar, Tim Walz, Tina Smith all say go away—that doesn’t matter for the president because they bat for the wrong team. But because he wants to help Susan Collins and he knows what a loser of an issue this is, he protects her.”
… Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) to Meidas: Q - “Are you concerned about DHS keeping watchlists of American protesters? Moulton: Absolutely. This is state-sponsored terror. This is what you would expect to see in North Korea or Iran or the old Soviet Union. I never imagined it would happen here.”
… Reuters: “The DOJ unit responsible for prosecuting potential wrongdoing by law enforcement, including during the crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis, has lost two-thirds of its prosecutors and is under orders to scale back its investigations of excessive force.”
… “The unit, which typically plays a leading role in reviewing cases nationwide in which law enforcement officers appear to violate people’s rights, has lost significant capacity to pursue investigations because of staff departures and new guidance under Trump’s admin curtailing its mandate. The number of trial attorneys in the unit has dropped from 40 before Trump took office to 13. Just two supervisors remain in their roles. Previously, there have been 7 supervisors in the unit.”
… “The former DOJ lawyers, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation, expressed doubts about the ability of the section to conduct thorough investigations into recent incidents, including the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month.”
ZEALOT TOM HOMAN WHO TOOK A BRIBE?
PEACEFUL PROTESTERS WERE TARGETED & INJURED BY ICE GESTAPO!
THERE'S VIDEO EVIDENCE! IGNORING COURT ORDERS! DETAINING
INNOCENT PEOPLE! DETAINING US CITIZENS!
… Tom Homan blamed the First Amendment for the murders of Pretti and Good: “I said back in March that if the hateful rhetoric didn’t stop I was afraid there would be bloodshed. And there has been.”
… CNN: “Julie Le, a federal attorney detailed to MN to help handle the Trump admin immigration crackdown has been removed from her post after telling a judge that the job ‘sucks’ because of the crushing workload and the govt’s apparent inability to comply with court orders.”
… Big news from VA. The new redistricting map has been approved which should add another 4 House seats for Dems in 2026. VA Sen. President L. Louise Lucas: “Virginia has reached a 10-1 redistricting agreement. This moment reflects commitment to fair representation for communities across the Commonwealth and our nation.”
… Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) reacted to the news out of VA after several Republican states passed on redistricting: “Our ‘leaders’ always compromise when we have power while our opposition never does. We are gutless.”
… Trump and Texas started the mid-decade redistricting fight. Dems finished it.
… The Hill: “Senate Republicans are concerned that a public backlash to President Trump’s handling of the economy and his aggressive deportation policies could give rise to a Democratic wave that not only sweeps away the House Republican majority, but also threatens their own 3-seat majority. One GOP senator who attended a briefing at the NRSC said concern over the approaching midterms ‘should be very, very high.’”
… The senator: “Senators are saying more and more loudly that they’re very, very concerned about the environment, that it’s continuing to deteriorate. They say it over and over again.”
… “A second Republican senator said that voters across the political spectrum aren’t happy with Trump’s handling of the economy and inflation, and a growing number of independents are turned off by his admin’s aggressive deportation tactics in Minneapolis.”
… Democratic strategist Mike Nellis: “Rep. Barry Loudermilk is now retiring in an R+12 district. That should absolutely freak the hell out of Mike Johnson and House Republicans. He’s only 62 - and if he’s worried about re-election, a reckoning is coming this November.”
… Fox Business host: “A new poll shows 72% feel that the economy is in poor or only fair condition. That’s not good.”
… Fox Business reporter Lauren Simonetti: “Rent now, pay later. It’s a new option for renters who are struggling to make the monthly payment. Companies are letting users break up their rent sums into multiple payments throughout the month.”
… Trump’s Golden Age.
… CNBC: “Layoff plans hit their highest January total since the global financial crisis while hiring intentions reached their lowest since the same period. US employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month, up 118% from the same period a year ago and 205% from Dec 2025. The total marked the highest for any Jan since 2009, while the economy was in the final months of its steepest downturn since the Great Depression.”
… “At the same time, companies announced just 5,306 new hires, also the lowest January since 2009. Planned hiring dropped 13% from January 2025 and was off 49% from December.”
… Kobeissi Letter: “This is absolutely insane: On Oct 6th, crypto markets hit a record high market cap of $4.3 trillion. Today, the crypto market is worth just $2.3 trillion, losing $2 TRILLION worth of market cap in 4 months. In other words, 46% of crypto’s entire value has been wiped out since Oct 6th.”
… JD Vance on Trump berating CNN’s chief WH correspondent Kaitlan Collins: “There was a moment in the Oval Office, I wasn't even in there, but Trump was talking to Kaitlan Collins. Trump says, 'Why don't you ever smile?' And it's actually, like, so perceptive. Have some fun.”
… She was asking Trump a question about the Epstein victims. I guess Vance wants her to do that with a smile.
Reminder that we are now doing Ask the Editor on Fridays so I have to ask you to submit your questions or topics you want me to talk more about on the replies today. So tomorrow there will be both a Bulletin and Ask the Editor.
If you missed my weekly podcast Uncovered yesterday where I do a deep dive into the top stories of the week, you can find it here. Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work.
… Trump gave a one-on-one interview in the WH to NBC’s Tony Llamas. Here are some of the exchanges:
I do - because most of the economic numbers are terrible and only the wealthy are doing well.
“On Renee Good and Alex Pretti: You know who feels worse about that than anybody? The people of ICE. But they have to be tough because we’re dealing with hardened criminals.”
“I hate even talking about ICE. Two people out of tens of thousands and you get bad publicity. Llamas: But it was two Americans who died— Trump: We have the smallest trucks. We’ve been very tough on the waters. Llamas: The waters? Trump: The waters where we knock out boats.”
These cognitive glitches continue to happen more often and are getting more bizarre by the day.
What he’s really worried about is that James Comer just established the precedent that former presidents can be hauled before congressional committees to testify
under oath about Epstein.
Which means he will trust them if Republicans win.
On the raid of the Fulton election office: “There should be nothing wrong with the fact that they went in, got ballots from a while ago, and they're going to look at them, and now they're going to find out the true winner of Georgia.”
Your tax dollars at work, America. FBI agents working around the clock trying to prove Trump won Georgia in 2020 instead of investigating wealthy fraudsters and con artists because they don't get prosecuted anymore since Trump took office.
On his lawsuits against US taxpayers: “Essentially, the lawsuit has been won. I guess I won a lot of money. I’ll give 100% to charity. Llamas: You’re taking it out of the system. Trump: No, I’m putting it back into the system. I’m giving it to charity. Llamas: $38 trillion in debt and we’re taking 10 billion out of the system? Trump: I mean, you give it away anyway.
He didn’t “win” anything. Pam Bondi is going to agree to pay Trump money from US taxpayers. It never went to court and he would lose this at a jury trial if it was defended by any competent DOJ attorney. And he isn’t giving a penny to charity.
… Mehdi Hasan: “NBC News anchor Tom Llamas did an hour-long interview with Trump filled with softballs and filled with Trump lies that he didn’t challenge. Worst of all, he did not ask one single question to Trump about the Epstein files and the 38,000 references to Trump.”
… CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale: “President Trump kept telling long-debunked lies. An NBC anchor kept ignoring them.”
… Senior Senate Intel Committee Dem Ron Wyden sent a cryptic letter to the CIA Director which he then made public. The unusual move has caused concerns around the Capitol that this could be something very serious:
… The little spat between Texas Dems seems to have died down, but Republicans in the senate race continue their vicious attacks against each other. Ken Paxton: “John Cornyn’s career is done and everyone knows it. He’s stolen $50+ million from races in NC, ME, MI, and GA and what does he have to show for it? He’s stuck in the mid-20s, doesn’t even know if he’ll make the runoff, and is set to lose by huge margins even if he does.”
… Cornyn responded: “Ken, when this over, you will have nothing. Which turns out to be the same thing you offered to give Angela in divorce proceedings. This after you cheated on her multiple times.”
… Texas Tribune: New NRSC internal shows James Talarico beating Paxton in a head-to-head matchup, and Jasmine Crockett coming within 1. Cornyn is +3 vs Talarico, +7 vs Crockett.
… Semafor: Republican leaders are sweating Texas Senate race. There are worries that Paxton puts Senate majority at risk. Thune says Trump endorsing Cornyn could save up to $200 million because it would end the primary early. He says he's made ‘business case’ to Trump.
… Thune: “It’s a business argument. If we’re spending $100 or $200 million in Texas in the general election, that’s $100 to $200 million we can’t be spending in other places in races we have a chance to win.” Thune also acknowledged that a Cornyn loss puts the GOP’s majority in greater danger, adding that “that’s why it would be enormously helpful” for Trump to endorse Cornyn. “Obviously, I’ve made that case to the president, but ultimately, the decision is up to him.”
… The problem for Trump is that his MAGA base loves Paxton and loathes Cornyn.
… Treasury Sec Scott Bessent had a contentious hearing today before the Senate:
Sen. Ruben Gallego: “Do you have any say in the process of the lawsuit Trump filed or is the DOJ just going to instruct you to cut a check, and you have no independence to make a decision whether or not the president deserves $10 billion? Bessent: Again, that is a DOJ matter. Gallego: So the DOJ will entirely make that decision? You have no say at all? Bessent: Correct. Gallego: So would you just have to write the check if you were told to write the check? Bessent: Correct.”
Gallego: “Let’s say Trump wins that lawsuit. Where would that $10 billion come from? Bessent: It would come from Treasury. Gallego: So, taxpayers? Bessent: Yes. His were part of the 44,000 whose returns that were leaked. Gallego: But they’re not suing for $10 billion.
… Maybe they should.
Gallego: “Can the president fire you? Bessent: He can. Gallego: Isn’t it a conflict of interest for you to make these decisions and the president has power to fire you? Bessent: I am not part of the decision. Gallego: Well, you hit ‘send’ on the wire transfer. You’re plundering US taxpayer dollars.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock: “Trump said ‘we’re going to have a manufacturing boom.’ Yes or no, have we had one? Bessent: There’s the beginnings of a manufacturing boom. We have intentions - there are factory groundbreakings. Warnock: Do you know how many manufacturing jobs have been lost since ‘liberation day’? 72,000.”
Sen. Andy Kim: “We see the Trump family getting involved in different roles even though they don’t have official positions. Bessent: Why would Jared Kushner be conflicted in the Russia talks? Kim: If he wants to participate, he should go by the same financial disclosures as every other government official.”
… CNN: A DOJ review found that one of Trump’s favored attorneys improperly mishandled grand jury materials related to investigations into the president’s political foes, according to a report. Ed Martin, who has been working inside DOJ for 9 months after failing to secure Senate confirmation as US attorney for DC, allegedly shared materials connected to a disputed mortgage fraud case involving Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff.
… Martin’s alleged misconduct was uncovered through emails surfaced during a probe led by Dep. AG Todd Blanche’s office. The internal DOJ review was launched to determine whether grand jury material gathered during mortgage fraud inquiries into Schiff and James had been improperly shared with unauthorized individuals.
… Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): “If a prosecutor provides grand jury materials to an unauthorized person, that is a criminal contempt of court. If ‘no one is above the law,’ as Pam Bondi often preposterously says, why isn’t Ed Martin being held in contempt?”
… Breaking Defense: “The fiscal 2027 budget season has barely started, but the head of the House Armed Services Committee is setting two major goals for the year: securing $450 billion for defense in an upcoming reconciliation bill, and using the next defense policy bill to expand the defense industrial base. HASC Chairman Mike Rogers said that he is working with his Senate counterpart, Sen. Roger Wicker, to lock that funding in.”
… “That $450 billion would be three times the $150 billion secured for defense in last year’s reconciliation effort - which itself represented the first time defense money was secured through the reconciliation procedure. However, Rogers argued that the funding would be necessary to achieve the target, laid down by Trump, of a $1.5 trillion defense budget for FY27.”
… The defense budget was $870 billion in 2024. Republicans want it to nearly double in two years despite the fact that we are not in a war. We have never seen anything close to this kind of increases in military spending since the middle of World War II.
… Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, and naturally everything he said was completely inappropriate for a National Prayer Breakfast:
"One of my favorite people is here - President Bukele of El Salvador. He operates rather large prisons. Very strong prisons."
"I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don't. *crowd groans* I know we have some here today. I don't know why they're here, because they certainly don't give us their vote. They cheat."
"They rigged the second election. I had to win it. I had to win it. I needed it for my own ego. I would've had a bad ego for the rest of my life. Now I really have a big ego. Beating these lunatics was incredible. The first time they said I didn't win the popular vote. I did."
… CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: “Trump now says it was AG Pam Bondi who insisted DNI Tulsi Gabbard attend the FBI raid in GA. Last night, he told NBC he didn’t know why she was there. And Gabbard said in a letter to Congress that ‘the president specifically directed my observance of the execution of the Fulton County search warrant.’”
… The Floridian on the criminal investigation of Casey Desantis’ charity: “The potential federal criminal case against the Hope FL Foundation and those involved in $10 million Medicaid settlement scandal that came to light in early 2025 appears to have ended before it began. According a DOJ source, DOJ looked into the matter in late 2025, but came to the conclusion that there was, ‘no predicate to open up an intake on this,’ adding that ‘no further action is anticipated.’”
… So the former FL AG Pam Bondi decided there isn’t enough evidence to prosecute Ron Desantis diverting $10 million from a Medicaid fraud settlement into Casey’s “charity.” Casey then funneled the money into a PAC where it was spent on ads against the marijuana legalization ballot initiative. The most corrupt DOJ in history.
… Gov Exec: “The IRS is asking seasoned employees without any direct tax experience to perform entry-level tasks of answering phones and processing tax returns, a step impacted staff call unprecedented as the agency scrambles to prepare for filing season. The reassigned workers, who are being detailed out on an involuntary basis, are coming from the IRS human resources and, potentially, the IT depts.”
… “Some employees reported that supervisors first asked for anyone who had experience in the front-line fields to consider the roles, but they ultimately chose many individuals with no prior experience working directly on tax issues. The details come as IRS has dramatically slashed its workforce, cutting more than 20,000 employees—or more than 20% of total staff—in the last year. The divisions seeking internal staffing support have seen similarly significant losses to their workforces and have struggled to rebuild in time for filing season.”
… “The divisions in IRS that process tax returns and provide telephonic and in-person customer service, as well as other duties related to filing season, have lost 8,300 workers, or 17% of their staff. The IRS division tasked with processing original and amended tax returns has hired just 50 employees in anticipation of the 2026 filing season, or 2% of its authorized level.”
… “The IG warned the shortfalls could lead to delayed returns and slow service for taxpayers in the upcoming season and said the impacts have already been felt. Tax return backlogs were still elevated as a result of the pandemic, but have soared higher due to staffing losses in IRS. The total now stands at 2 million, up 33% from a year ago.”
… Oleksandra Matviichuk: “I am a Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. I have a question. Why has Trump’s year of negotiations been the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion? The number of deaths and injuries has increased by 31% compared to the previous year. Why did Putin not allow himself such brutal strikes on civilian infrastructure under Joe Biden, whom Trump calls ‘weak,’ but totally destroys peaceful cities and disregards the ‘strong Trump’?”
… President Zelensky: “We await the reaction of America to the Russian strikes. It was the US proposal to halt strikes on energy during diplomacy and severe winter weather. The President of the US made the request personally. Russia responded with a record number of ballistic missiles.”
… There is no US response. There will be no US response.
… Zeteo: “Trump told the New York Post last month that he isn’t planning to attend this Sunday’s Super Bowl in the Bay Area because it is ‘just too far away.’ What the president didn’t say in his Post interview is that some of his admin officials and advisers had privately assessed that if Trump were to attend Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, CA, the crowd at the stadium would likely aggressively boo him.”
… “In recent months, according to two people familiar with the situation and two sources briefed on it, several aides and advisers to the president quietly determined that the chances were rather high of Trump getting booed ‘big league,’ at the Super Bowl. Such a moment would instantly create a wealth of viral video clips and media coverage that admin officials would prefer to avoid.”
… Former Dep. FBI Director Dan Bongino is back doing his podcast. He addressed his MAGA fans: “I am back. The Podfather is back. I’m here to take back this movement. This movement has been hijacked by dipshits and bums and losers.”
