Live updates: Trump hosts Cabinet meeting as Democrats threaten partial government
President Donald Trump has gathered his Cabinet for a video broadcasted meeting that’s expected to be another lengthy, praise-heavy affair. Since returning to office, the president has used these meetings to review his administration’s accomplishments and provide Cabinet members with an opportunity to shower him with superlatives.
The meeting comes as Senate Democrats are threatening to block legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown if Republicans and the White House do not agree to new restrictions on Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement.
As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands ahead of a Thursday morning test vote, including that officers take off their masks and identify themselves and obtain warrants for arrest. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.
Other news we’re following:
- Border czar suggests a possible drawdown in Minnesota: Border czar Tom Homan included the caveat that a reduction of force would only come after “cooperation” from state officials. Homan doubled down on the need for local jails to alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement of people in their custody who can be removed from the country. Homan said transferring immigrants to ICE while they’re still in jail is safer for the officers and would require fewer of them to be on the streets.
- Appeals court says Noem’s decision to end protections for Venezuelans in US was illegal: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem acted illegally when she removed legal protections that allowed Venezuelans to live and work in the U.S. The decision, however, will not have any immediate practical effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in October allowed Noem’s decision to take effect pending a final decision by the justices.
- FBI searches election offices in Georgia over 2020 presidential race: On Wednesday, the FBI served a search warrant at the election headquarters of Fulton County as Trump pushes the federal government to back his bogus claims that widespread fraud cost him reelection in 2020. Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff says the president is wielding federal law enforcement as an “instrument of personal power and revenge.”