Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending now. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here. Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
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Tulsi Gabbard oversaw an investigation into Puerto Rico’s voting machines last spring, Reuters reports, citing Gabbard’s office and three sources familiar with the events. A team working for the director of national intelligence, alongside the FBI, was tasked with investigating claims that Venezuela hacked voting machines in Puerto Rico – a claim it was not able to substantiate, Reuters’ sources said. Gabbard’s office confirmed the investigation but denied a link to Venezuela. The news comes just more than a week after Gabbard appeared at an FBI raid of an election facility in Fulton county, Georgia.
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During a wide-ranging interview with NBC News, Donald Trump said Iran’s supreme leader should be “very worried”, defended homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and said ruling out an unconstitutional third term would “make life so much less exciting”. The president also declined to say whether he would support a presidential campaign by his vice president JD Vance or his secretary of state Marco Rubio.
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Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s 80th annual Congressional Dinner, noting that “Democracy dies in darkness”, in a dig at the Washington Post’s recent layoffs of one-third of its reporters. “Those who fear transparency and accountability fear the press,” she added, naming the arrest of Don Lemon and the raid on a home of a Washington Post journalist last month.
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A federal judge has ruled that Elon Musk must be deposed in a case over the government’s defunding of the US Agency for International Development. Under the Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency”, USAID went from a global workforce of more than 10,000 employees to around 600, and more 83% of the agency’s programs were abruptly terminated worldwide.
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Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who has represented Georgia’s 11th congressional district since 2015, will not seek re-election when his term ends next year. Loudermilk serves as the chair of a House judiciary subcommittee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
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Tom Homan said that the Trump administration will draw down 700 immigration enforcement officers. He said this was as a result of increased coordination between county jails and federal officials. Homan also noted that “around 2000” immigration officers remain in Minnesota after today’s most recent drawdown announcement. He added that the pre-operation number was between 100 and 150 officers.
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Democratic lawmakers said today that “dramatic changes” are needed at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as they continue their negotiations over a full-year appropriations bill. The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said that the party is also demanding the end of “roving patrols”, “independent oversight by state and local governments” and “no secret police”.
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A man convicted of trying to assassinate Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 has been sentenced to life in prison. Ryan Routh also received a consecutive seven-year sentence for one of his gun convictions.
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Trump has said that he’s learned his administration could use “a little bit of a softer touch” on immigration enforcement, after the immense backlash to his ongoing crackdown in Minnesota.
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The supreme court has ruled that California may proceed with implementing a congressional map voters approved last November. The map is likely to give Democrats five more seats in Congress, and was drawn after Texas redrew its congressional maps to create districts that will probably give Republicans five more seats.
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Senator Ron Wyden sent a classified letter to the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, according to a press release and unclassified letter shared by Wyden’s office.
Key events
Democratic leaders have shared a list of reforms they are calling for ICE to make as a part of ongoing talks over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
In a letter to congressional Republican leadership, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries outlined 10 desired changes to ICE practices, including banning the use of face coverings and requiring officers wear identification, protecting sensitive locations such as hospitals and churches and ending racial profiling. The list also called for targeted enforcement strategies, including requiring a judicial warrant to enter a property, and ensuring state and local law enforcement are allowed to investigate incidents involving federal agents.
“After months of escalation against everyday Americans and law-abiding immigrant families, two U.S. citizens were killed in the streets of Minneapolis. Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families,” they wrote.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s 80th annual Congressional Dinner, noting that “Democracy dies in darkness”, in a dig at the Washington Posts’ recent layoffs of one-third of its reporters.
“In our democracy, defense of the first amendment can and should be bipartisan,” she said. “I always say the press is the guardian of our democracy.”
Pelosi shared an example of recent bipartisan support for journalists – drawing attention to the case of Jimmy Lai, a British Hong Kong journalist imprisoned in Beijing. Pelosi said she encouraged current House speaker Mike Johnson to call out China’s imprisonment of Lai during a recent visit to the UK House of Commons.
But she continued, criticizing “a president that has crowned himself king” and a “supreme court that has gone rogue”.
“Make no mistake: the first amendment is under threat here at home,” she said. “Facts are challenged, truth is distorted and the press is treated by those in power as an enemy – fake news they call it – rather than treat the press as a vital partner. We see efforts to intimidate journalists, to discredit legitimate reporting and to replace evidence with conspiracy. That is not accidental, that is a strategy.”
“Those who fear transparency and accountability fear the press,” she added, naming the arrest of Don Lemon and the raid on a home of a Washington Post journalist last month.
She also noted “painful layoffs at the Washington Post” today. “When corporate interests gut local, national and international journalism, communities lose watchdogs, truth loses megaphones and democracy loses guardians.”
David Smith
Nancy Pelosi, the former House of Representatives, has begun speaking to hundreds of guests at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s annual Congressional dinner.
But there is still a hubbub of voices and clatter of plates under nine crystal chandeliers in the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, suggesting that not everyone is paying attention.
Various members of Congress and journalists are sitting at round dining tables with white table cloths and a booklet of recipes, including “Nancy Pelosi’s chocolate mousse”.
The Guardian’s table includes Democratic congresswomen Sharice Davids and Ilhan Omar. Your on-site blogger is struggling to hear Pelosi above all the chatter but just caught a reference to Don Lemon. Dessert is being served.
JD Vance calls Donald Trump’s attack on Kaitlan Collins for not smiling ‘so perceptive’
Robert Mackey
JD Vance, the vice-president Donald Trump again refused to endorse as his successor in an interview on Wednesday, used an appearance on Megyn Kelly’s podcast to praise his boss for attacking the CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins for not smiling, as she asked him about the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Speaking to the former Fox News host, Vance brought up Trump’s decision to scold Collins in the Oval Office on Tuesday, calling the question of why she does not smile more in the president’s presence “so perceptive.”
“Even if you’re asking a tough question, even if you take your job very seriously, like, why does it always have to be so antagonistic?” the vice-president asked.
Kelly interjected to say that it was absurd that people called Trump sexist for scolding Collins, since she herself had made the same observation about the CNN host last year.
“She never smiles! Every once it a while, you have to smile,” Kelly said. “Roger Ailes used to tell us that,” she added.
“Have some fun” Vance chimed in.
Kelly’s reference to Ailes, the former Fox News chairman, was odd because he was forced to resign from running the conservative network after one former female host accused him of “severe and pervasive sexual harassment” and others, including Kelly, said they were harassed by him as well.
Vance and Kelly made no mention of the fact that Trump exploded at Collins for not smiling as she was asking about a sensitive subject: the feelings of victims of Epstein’s abuse. After Trump suggested that it was time for the country to move on from the Epstein scandal, Collins asked: “What would say to the survivors who feel that they haven’t gotten justice?”
After Trump berated Collins for not smiling as she asked him that question, she explained: “These are survivors of a sexual abuser”.
Kamala Harris’ former campaign social media account shared a post teasing a major announcement tomorrow. No additional details were provided.
Dara Kerr
A federal judge has ruled that Elon Musk must be deposed in a case over the government’s defunding of the US Agency for International Development. It’s the latest twist in a lawsuit brought last year by dozens of current and former USAID staff against the actions of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The plaintiffs allege that Musk led the effort to slash funding at the aid agency and used authority outside of his role as a “special government employee”. According to Wednesday’s filing by US District Judge Theodore Chuang, plaintiffs allege that “Musk personally made many of these decisions” and “his own statements on social media during the relevant time period provide evidentiary support for that conclusion”.
Under the Doge cuts, USAID went from a global workforce of more than 10,000 employees to around 600, and more 83% of the agency’s programs were abruptly terminated worldwide.
In November, the Justice Department filed a motion requesting that Musk be precluded from any depositions in the case. It also requested that Peter Marocco, a Donald Trump ally who was tasked with overseeing USAID as it was eviscerated by Doge, and Jeremy Lewin, a former Doge team lead who went on to temporarily become the chief operating officer for USAID, also be precluded from depositions.
The Justice Department referred to the “apex doctrine” for its argument, which precludes depositions of high-ranking government officials.
In Chuang’s ruling on Wednesday, he said it’s unclear whether Musk, Marocco and Lewin were ever high-ranking government officials, and even if they were, they are no longer in their Doge and USAID positions. Chuang also said these three individuals were reportedly making decisions about the fate of USAID and the Justice Department hasn’t offered lower-ranking officials who could be deposed in their place.
Gabbard investigated Puerto Rico before Georgia – Reuters
Tulsi Gabbard oversaw an investigation into Puerto Rico’s voting machines last spring, Reuters reports, citing Gabbard’s office and three sources familiar with the events.
A team working for the director of national intelligence, alongside the FBI, was tasked with investigating claims that Venezuela hacked voting machines in Puerto Rico – a claim it was not able to substantiate, Reuters’ sources said. Gabbard’s office confirmed the investigation but denied a link to Venezuela.
The news comes just more than a week after Gabbard appeared at an FBI raid of an election facility in Fulton county, Georgia.
As my colleague Hugo Lowell reported:
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is running her own review into the 2020 election with Donald Trump’s approval, working separately from a justice department investigation even as she joined an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia last week.
Her presence at the raid drew criticism from Democrats and former intelligence officials, who questioned why the country’s top intelligence officer with no domestic law enforcement powers would appear at the scene of an FBI raid.
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged, escalated his rhetoric around election security this week when he suggested on a conservative podcast that Republican state officials “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office.
Donald Trump said “I can’t talk about that” when asked whether his administration had previous contact with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez before the US military captured president Nicolás Maduro.
The president did say “so far she’s done a great job”.
When asked about US relations with Cuba shortly after, Trump said, “We are talking with Cuba.”
Trump won’t rule out attempt at unconstitutional third term and mulls Vance and Rubio’s 2028 prospects
Lauren Gambino
Asked by NBC News’ Tom Llamas if there was any possibility he would still be in power after the conclusion of his second term, Trump said ruling out an unconstitutional third term would “make life so much less exciting”.
Trump touted a strong bench of conservative candidates and promoted the idea of a Vance and Rubio presidential ticket in 2028 – though declined the parlor game question of who would top it.
“Well, I don’t want to get into this. We have three years to go. I don’t want to, you know, I have two people that are doing a great job. I don’t want to have an argument with, or I don’t want to use the word ‘fight’– it wouldn’t be a fight,” Trump said. “But look, JD is fantastic, and Marco is fantastic.”
Pressed on how Vance and Rubio differ, Trump mused that it was Llamas’s most “interesting” question of the lengthy and wide-ranging interview.
“I would say one is slightly more diplomatic than the other,” Trump said, though did not specify which. “I think they’re both of very high intelligence.”
“They’re both very capable,” he added. “I do think this: The combination of JD and Marco would be very hard to be beaten, I think. But you never know in politics, right?”
Lauren Gambino
Trump said on Wednesday that his pick to lead the Fed, Kevin Warsh, wouldn’t have received the job had he indicated he would have raised interest rates.
Pressed by host Tom Llamas whether the Fed was an “independent body”, Trump replied: “I mean, in theory, it’s an independent body. But I think, you know, I’m a smart guy. I know the economy better than almost everybody.”
Historically the Federal Reserve has operated as independent, as a way to insulate monetary policy decisions from short-term political pressure.
Chad Davis, a Minneapolis photographer who is documenting his city’s response to the deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents to his city, photographed an unusual street scene on Wednesday.
On one snow-covered front lawn in south Minneapolis, the part of the city where Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal officers in recent weeks, Davis came across a large display in the form of a giant paper bag like those used by the fast-casual chain Cava stuffed with huge, replica $50 bills. On the bag were the words: “Homan” and “$50k To Go”, a reference to reporting that the person overseeing the federal immigration surge in the city, Tom Homan, accepted a $50,000 bag of cash from an undercover FBI agent in return for political favors. At the bottom of the bag is the slogan: “ICE GTFO of MN.”
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