Politics

President Donald Trump pushed back on a rumor that he was looking to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and told reporters that he believes she has been ‘fantastic.’ ‘I read a story recently that I’m unhappy with Kristi — I’m so happy with her… We have a border that’s the best border in the history of our country. Why would I be unhappy? She’s fantastic, actually,’ Trump told reporters during a roundtable with business...

Senate Democrats have tried to tie the looming expiration date for Obamacare subsidies to the affordability issues slamming households, but Senate Republicans argue that their counterparts are manufacturing it to score political points next year. The phrase ‘sticker shock’ became a common rallying cry from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during and after the government shutdown that he used to illustrate what Americans could experience if the Biden-era credits were to expire. ‘Our bill...

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing her first major test before the House of Representatives on Thursday. Noem is appearing before the House Homeland Security Committee for a hearing on worldwide threats, an event that is meant to be annual but has not happened in multiple recent years. She’s set to testify alongside National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent and Michael Glasheen, Operations Director of the FBI’s National Security Branch. ‘I’m sure she’ll talk...

There are two Obamacare proposals destined for failure on Thursday as the deadline to extend Biden-era subsidies inches closer, and both Senate Republicans and Democrats hope that a bipartisan path forward can be paved after the dust settles. Senate Democrats are going full speed ahead with their three-year extension of the Obamacare enhanced premium subsidies, which Republicans are expected to block over a lack of reforms in a plan that they have nearly all charged...

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public Thursday for the first time in 11 months in Norway as her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf. Machado had been in hiding since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Her recognition came after mounting a peaceful challenge to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The crowd chanted, ‘Freedom!’ as Machado stepped onto the hotel...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged a Ukrainian woman with helping to carry out dozens of cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure, working with Russian-backed hackers, according to newly unsealed indictments. The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is also offering up to $10 million for information leading to others tied to one of the pro-Russia hacking groups she was allegedly affiliated with. Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, 33, was arraigned Tuesday on a second federal indictment...

The Trump administration is weighing whether to pursue terrorism-related sanctions against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), as officials review allegations the agency has ties to Hamas and consider steps that could further pressure its leadership and operations, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.  The United Nations agency provides aid, schooling, healthcare, shelter and social services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria....

A group of moderate Republicans is defying House GOP leaders to try and force a vote on extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of this year. Republicans led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on Wednesday filed a measure known as a discharge petition, a mechanism designed to force a vote on legislation over the wishes of leadership, provided it gets support from a majority of House lawmakers. A dramatic series of events...

The U.S. has seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, marking a sharp escalation in tensions with Caracas. ‘We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized action. And, other things are happening. So you’ll be seeing that later. And you’ll be talking about that later with some other people,’ Trump said at the White House. The move is likely to further strain...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Wednesday that Moscow will retaliate if European governments deploy troops to Ukraine or seize frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv, according to Reuters. Lavrov delivered the remarks before the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, outlining Moscow’s stance on the war and its clash with the West. Reuters reported that Lavrov insisted Russia does not seek war with Europe but is prepared to act if it views...