Capitol Hill abuzz for details of deal tying Ukraine aid to US immigration measures after fraught negotiations and attempts by Trump to derail it
Conservatives, as we mentioned, have made their views of the yet-to-be-released border deal known: they opposite it, sight unseen. Progressives are being a bit more circumspect. Many say they want to see the text first, but the details that have emerged so far are worrying them.
On a press call with reporters yesterday, several progressive representatives from the border state of Texas were alarmed that the bipartisan border deal appears to have veered so far from the humanitarian approach to immigration Democrats have long championed. And they warned that embracing draconian Republican border policy would only deepen the humanitarian tragedy playing out at the border.
The US economy added 353,000 in January, defying fears of a downturn, our Dominic Rushe says of the new labor department data released this morning.
Trump is cruising toward the Republican nomination while making plans for the possibility that he could become the first convicted felon in American history to represent a major party’s presidential ticket, according to Axios.
Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump organization, is discussing a plea deal with prosecutors in Manhattan that would require him to plead guilty to perjury, the New York Times reports.
Meanwhile, ABC is reporting that special counsel Jack Smith’s team questioned witnesses about a closed and a “hidden room” that the FBI didn’t search when it raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence last year.
In the US House, the congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced censure legislation against Ilhan Omar that would remove her from committees over what appears to be a poor translation of a speech the congresswoman delivered in the Somali language.
Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, which, by tradition, means an early spring is on the way. Happy Groundhog Day, everyone.