The Biden administration ignored tens of thousands of concerning reports involving unaccompanied migrant children, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Grassley looked into Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) records at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and found over 65,000 ignored or dismissed reports concerning migrant children. Nearly 7,000 of those reports were cases of suspected human trafficking and nearly 2,000 others were related to fraud.
Since President Donald Trump assumed office on January 20, HHS has worked through over a quarter of those cases left over from the Biden administration and made dozens of arrests, according to Grassley.
“My oversight exposed the Biden-Harris administration for placing unaccompanied migrant children with dangerous sponsors and actively obstructing law enforcement and Congress’ efforts to rescue vulnerable kids. I applaud the Trump administration for its swift action to protect unaccompanied migrant children by addressing the concerning reports the Biden-Harris administration shelved,” said Grassley in a <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-exposes-biden-harris-backlog-of-criminal-complaints-in-migrant-children-program">statement</a>. “I look forward to working with Secretary Kennedy to ensure justice is served.”
Back in April, HHS confirmed that tens of thousands of cases had been ignored and that it was working to clear the “backlog” left by the previous administration.
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“ORR is digging through nearly 65,000 reports of concern about unaccompanied alien children — most ignored, many dismissed — each one a missed chance to protect a child. This isn’t just paperwork. This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children&#8217;s lives put at risk,” HHS said in a statement posted to social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
ORR is digging through nearly 65,000 reports of concern about unaccompanied alien children — most ignored, many dismissed — each one a missed chance to protect a child. This isn’t just paperwork. This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children&#39;s lives put…
&mdash; HHS.gov (@HHSGov) <a href="https://twitter.com/HHSGov/status/1914698523762639067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At least 500,000 children entered the United States during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. Those children were often flown in or bused to the homes of strangers after the Biden administration relaxed rules on background checks for sponsors of the children.
At least 85,000 of those children who crossed as unaccompanied minors were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whistleblowers-detail-how-85000-unaccompanied-minors-went-missing-after-biden-admin-dropped-them-off-with-sponsors">lost</a> by the administration. HHS officials under the Biden administration failed to locate the children again after leaving them with sponsors.
Grassley wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ripping the previous administration for stonewalling the senator’s demands for information on unaccompanied alien minors (UAC).
“The purpose of my inquiry is clear: to determine the scope and severity of child trafficking and exploitation through the UAC program nationwide. After I made this urgent inquiry, HHS under Secretary Becerra obstructed my investigation and instructed contractors and grantees not to answer, and to instead send my inquiry to the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, who of course also failed to provide any requested information,” Grassley wrote in a Tuesday <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_hhs_-_backlog_of_unaccompanied_migrant_children_reports.pdf">letter</a>.

Chuck Grassley

Chuck Grassley: Biden Admin Ignored 65,000 Troubling Reports About Unaccompanied Alien Children

Department of Health and Human Services

Illegal Immigration

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

U.S.

President Donald Trump signaled over the weekend that he is seriously weighing tougher sanctions on Russia over its years-long war against Ukraine, a potential move backed by a bipartisan Senate supermajority eager to force Moscow’s hand, as peace negotiations falter.
In a Sunday exchange with reporters, Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1926772105401549062" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he is “absolutely” considering new sanctions on Russia. Hours later, he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114571369956761390" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blasted</a> Russian President Vladimir Putin on social media, calling him “CRAZY” for “needlessly killing a lot of people” with continued fighting between soldiers, as well as missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. &#8220;I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!&#8221; he added.
The rebuke stretched into Tuesday, with Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114580564427808609" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warning</a> that Putin is “playing with fire” and claiming that “really bad things” would have already struck Russia without his restraint.
A coalition of 81 senators, led by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), has rallied behind a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1241/text?s=1&amp;r=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> to slam Russia with fresh sanctions if Moscow refuses genuine peace talks with Ukraine or launches new attacks threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty post-agreement. The legislation also <a href="https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=3D495158-CF7D-4833-A2DB-9E5558843F1B" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposes</a> a 500% tariff on goods from nations buying Russian oil, gas, uranium, or other commodities.
&#8220;While we yearn for peace, it is increasingly clear to us – and a supermajority of the Senate – that Putin is playing games,&#8221; Graham and Blumenthal declared in a joint <a href="https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-and-grahams-hard-hitting-sanctions-bill-has-over-80-cosponsors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> last week. &#8220;The United States Senate stands ready to act if these games continue.&#8221;
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-putin-has-gone-absolutely-crazy-risks-the-downfall-of-russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that after a two-hour call with Putin last week, Trump declared that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine would &#8220;immediately start,&#8221; only for the Kremlin to deny any such plans. The week prior, Putin snubbed scheduled talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey, prompting Trump to insist that “nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale &#8211; Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a co-signer of the Graham-Blumenthal bill, argued Tuesday that sanctions are now critical. &#8220;I believe president trump was sincere when he thought his friendship w Putin wld end the war,&#8221; Grassley <a href="https://x.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1927369150529171572" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. &#8220;Now that being the case ITS TIME FOR SANCTIONS STRONG ENUF SO PUTIN KNOWS &#8216;game over.'&#8221;
Trump also took aim at Zelensky and former President Joe Biden.
&#8220;President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114571369956761390" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Truth Social over the weekend. “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop. This is a War that would never have started if I were President. This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.&#8221;

Trump and Senate Republicans

Trump Eyes Stinging Russia Sanctions. This Bipartisan Proposal Could Bring The Pain.

Congress

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Lindsey Graham

Russia

Sanctions

U.S. Senate

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

World

WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice is taking funds that it formerly granted to groups supporting transgender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and using these funds to support United States law enforcement, documents obtained by The Daily Wire show.
The move is reflective of President Donald Trump&#8217;s aggressive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-transportation-department-learns-its-funding-54-million-in-woke-grants-and-ends-them?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Transportation+Department+Learns+It%E2%80%99s+Funding+%2454+Million+In+Woke+Grants+%E2%80%94+And+Ends+Them">push to weed out</a> government use of taxpayer funding for woke or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-hegseth-makes-monumental-change-to-admissions-at-military-academies?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Hegseth+Makes+Monumental+Change+To+Admissions+At+Military+Academies">ideological purposes</a>. That&#8217;s particularly significant in the Department of Justice, where, under President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, Americans were targeted and investigated for practicing their faith, participating in peaceful pro-life protests, or pushing back against explicit gender ideology and sex education in schools.
After news broke that the Justice Department <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-dept-grant-cuts-valued-811-million-people-familiar-say-2025-04-24/">was slashing $811 million in grants</a>, legacy media outlets <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-grants-halted-justice-department-hate-crime-sex-trafficking-refugees/">fear-mongered</a> that the department was targeting victims of &#8220;hate crimes, child abuse, school violence, and more.&#8221; Curious about the Justice Department&#8217;s large-scale review of its federal grant programs — and what grants the department had been funding — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, first obtained by The Daily Wire, asking Bondi to explain the Justice Department&#8217;s grant review and appeals process.
The department&#8217;s response, also first reported by The Daily Wire, reveals that the vast majority of grants the Justice Department has cut were grants awarded to non-governmental entities — &#8220;not to states or local jurisdictions that directly serve our communities.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_920029" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-justice-department-cuts-transgender-grants-will-use-money-to-fund-law-enforcement/pam-bondi-candidate-to-be-next-us-attorney-general" rel="attachment wp-att-920029"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-920029" class="wp-image-920029 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2187407000-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2187407000-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2187407000-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2187407000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2187407000.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Senator Chuck Grassley and Attorney General Pam Bondi (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)</div>
A sample of terminated grants reviewed by The Daily Wire shows that the Justice Department had previously awarded grants explicitly tied to ideological causes misaligned with the priorities of the current administration.
For example, the Diversity Center of Oklahoma was awarded $200,000 &#8220;to provide culturally responsive services&#8221; to marginalized groups, specifically &#8220;Black and Brown women, including Black transgender women,&#8221; in the Oklahoma City and Folsom Metro areas. The grant specifically mentions that it will fund services including &#8220;gender affirming medical care,&#8221; which is a common euphemism for transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers.
Another of the Justice Department grants funneled over $700,000 to the Wisconsin-based F.O.R.G.E. INC., to be used to address &#8220;major types of violence/crime&#8221; against trans-identifying individuals and to &#8220;add a particular focus on the experience of trans women and girls of color&#8221; — meaning men and boys who identify as females. Part of this effort would mean &#8220;convening 23 listening sessions of trans survivors&#8221; and a &#8220;stakeholders advisory group&#8221; made up of &#8220;providers and trans community members.&#8221;
The Justice Department also awarded $50,000 to the Texas-based Civic Heart Community Services to create a &#8220;youth-led anti-gun violence mural art&#8221; as well as a &#8220;launch&#8221; of that mural &#8220;celebrated by a song and creative arts expression.&#8221;
And, perhaps most significantly, a fourth Justice Department grant awarded $250,000 to the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2022, during the Biden administration, to promote transgenderism within the state&#8217;s prisons, where men who identify as women are housed with female prisoners. The Biden administration kept the grant alive even after female inmate Mozzy Clark filed a lawsuit in December 2024 accusing a male prisoner who identifies as a female of repeatedly sexually assaulting her in a Washington State prison.
The grant&#8217;s deliverables include &#8220;hiring a Transgender Housing and Program Manager&#8221; and pushing to reduce &#8220;misconceptions among staff and incarcerated individuals about transgender and non-binary individuals.&#8221;
&#8220;This grant is intended to foster an environment that promotes sexual safety for all transgender and non-binary individuals remanded to the custody of DOC and serve as a change model for the rest of the nation to follow,&#8221; the grant stated.
Meanwhile, Clark <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/05/08/exclusive-male-transgender-inmate-who-allegedly-terrorized-female-cellmate-long-history-prison-violence/">was imprisoned</a> with Christopher Scott Williams, a “6 foot, 4 inch biological male who was known to be a violent, convicted sexual predator,” in the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Williams requested a transfer to the women&#8217;s prison in 2021 and was granted one, even though he had a lengthy history of violence and serious violations in male prisons, as <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/05/08/exclusive-male-transgender-inmate-who-allegedly-terrorized-female-cellmate-long-history-prison-violence/">The Daily Caller News Foundation reported</a>.
Clark&#8217;s story is not the only one of its kind. Across the country, hundreds of men identifying as women have moved to women&#8217;s facilities despite their history of violent crimes against women and children. In California, a two-time baby killer identifying as a transgender woman successfully transferred to a women’s prison where the mother of his child was housed. And the Wisconsin Department of Corrections <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/02/26/exclusive-female-inmate-forced-to-bunk-with-masturbating-transgender-prisoner-who-raped-daughter-messages-claim/">housed a trans-identifying man</a> who raped his own daughter with women, forcing a female prisoner to bunk with him despite the inmate&#8217;s sexually aggressive comments, constant masturbating, and aggressive behavior.
The Justice Department will reallocate the funds that were going to these types of grants to future awards that align with the Trump administration&#8217;s goals, such as “supporting law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and enhancing coordination among law enforcement at all levels of government,&#8221; the attorney general&#8217;s office told Grassley in a letter late last week.
The Justice Department&#8217;s former grant recipients who have been given termination notices won&#8217;t have to return any of the funds they had been given, but they will not continue to receive funding in the future. And they can appeal their grant termination within 30 days of receiving the termination notice if they believe their grant should not have been cancelled.
&#8220;If an appeal is deemed successful upon review by the Department, the Department will rescind the notice of termination and promptly reinstate the award,&#8221; the Justice Department told Grassley. Some have already been restored, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-dept-grant-cuts-valued-811-million-people-familiar-say-2025-04-24/">as Reuters reported.</a>
The reallocation of funding to law enforcement operations matches the Trump administration&#8217;s emphasis on simultaneously beefing up American defense while cutting down ideological priorities, in contrast to the previous administration.
Earlier this month, the White House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-budget-features-historic-increases-in-defense-spending-slashes-woke-funding?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=9&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=White+House+Budget+Features+%E2%80%98Historic%E2%80%99+Increases+In+Defense+Spending%2C+Slashes+Woke+Funding">released Trump’s discretionary budget request</a> for the fiscal year 2026, showing big increases in border and defense spending as well as massive cuts to woke funding priorities instituted by the Biden administration. Defense spending will be increased by 13% under the proposed budget, and appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security will be increased by almost 65% “to ensure that our military and other agencies repelling the invasion of our border have the resources they need to complete the mission.&#8221;

Attorney General Bondi Speaks On Immigration Enforcement Actions

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Justice Department Cuts Transgender Grants, Will Use Money To Fund Law Enforcement

Transgender

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced on Wednesday that he intended to stop two of President Donald Trump&#8217;s nominees for U.S. attorney positions in New York.
The move hinges on the &#8220;blue slip&#8221; tradition in which home-state senators can effectively block a nominee if they do not support the individual.
&#8220;Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies,&#8221; Schumer said in a <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-uses-blue-slip-to-block-trump-us-attorney-nominees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
He added, &#8220;Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of the [sic] Donald Trump’s intentions for these important positions. For that reason, I will not return the blue slip for the U.S. Attorney nominees for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.&#8221;
The affected nominees are former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton, picked to become U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Joseph Nocella Jr., a Long Island judge chosen for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
If Republicans on the Judiciary Committee choose to disregard Schumer, they could advance the nominees. However, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) appears unwilling to depart from the norm.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/us/schumer-trump-new-york-prosecutors.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Grassley affirming, &#8220;The answer is yes,&#8221; when asked about adhering to the blue slip tradition. &#8220;If they are from the state the nomination comes from.&#8221;
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of the judiciary panel, told the news outlet that the blue slip tradition &#8220;serves a useful purpose even when in Democratic hands.&#8221; He added, &#8220;Obviously we value the ability to, appropriately, stop some nominees.&#8221;
Democrats have employed another tactic to stymie a different U.S. attorney nominee.
Earlier this month, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) <a href="https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/statement-sen-schiff-announces-hold-on-d-c-u-s-attorney-nominee-ed-martin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> that he would place a hold on the nomination of Ed Martin to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a role he currently serves in an interim capacity.
A hold requires Senate majority leadership to schedule a floor vote for a nominee, bypassing the faster unanimous consent process.
Trump allies have sounded the alarm.
Responding to a post on X about Senate Democrats obstructing Trump&#8217;s picks for top prosecutor roles, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., <a href="https://x.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1912490445818511451" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, &#8220;We can&#8217;t let the swamp block my father&#8217;s picks for US Attorney!!!&#8221;

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Schumer Intervenes To Block Two Of Trump’s U.S. Attorney Nominees

Chuck Schumer

John Cornyn

New York

Politics

Presidential nomination

U.S. attorneys

WASHINGTON—Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is launching a congressional inquiry into radical groups <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-hawley-unloads-codepink-activists-awash-blood-dirty-money">Code Pink</a> and The People&#8217;s Forum over their ties to communist China, The Daily Wire can first report.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel first obtained by The Daily Wire, Grassley emphasizes the Justice Department&#8217;s &#8220;duty to ensure compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA),&#8221; a law requiring individuals to register with the department if they are acting as an agent of a foreign government or enterprise that is trying to influence American policy.
The People&#8217;s Forum is a New York City-based nonprofit that describes itself as a “political education and cultural hub.&#8221; The organization&#8217;s main financial contributor is Neville Roy Singham, whose wife is Jodie Evans, the founder of Code Pink. Code Pink is a far-left anti-war group known for its antisemitism and ties to China. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/world/europe/neville-roy-singham-china-propaganda.html">New York Times reported</a> in 2023 that the group is not only part of a “lavishly funded influence campaign” working closely with “the Chinese government media machine” to promote the CCP — it has also gone as far as defending the Chinese detention of Uyghur Muslims.
Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, noted that he has conducted FARA oversight for &#8220;multiple administrations.&#8221; He argues that The People&#8217;s Forum is &#8220;an alter ego of the communist Chinese government and actively parrots its propaganda in conjunction with Code Pink.&#8221;
&#8220;The evidence suggests that The People’s Forum and Code Pink have been funded and influenced by Mr. Singham and the communist Chinese government, both of which are foreign principals,&#8221; Grassley writes. &#8220;The evidence also suggests that The People’s Forum and Code Pink have engaged in covered political activities that directly advance the communist Chinese government’s political and policy interests.&#8221;
&#8220;Secretive foreign lobbying and public relations campaigns by China and other adversaries to influence policy in Congress and public opinion undermines the political will of the American people and their interests. The People’s Forum and Code Pink’s reported role in advancing policies in favor of the communist Chinese government is more than alarming and their potential obligation to register as foreign agents for purposes of FARA ought to be investigated.&#8221;
The senator calls on the Justice Department to share what it has done to assess whether The People’s Forum and Code Pink should register under FARA, &#8220;given their reported connections with the communist Chinese government.&#8221; He also asks whether the Justice Department has sent a letter of inquiry or of determination to the organizations and their agents about their efforts to influence policy, and if not, why.
&#8220;Did The People’s Forum, Code Pink, or their agents ever request an advisory opinion from DOJ on whether they should be required to register under FARA? If so, please provide a copy of the request and opinion,&#8221; he writes.
He added: &#8220;Has DOJ investigated any ongoing covered political activity by The People’s Forum or Code Pink in the years since these lobbying and public relations efforts occurred?&#8221;
The FBI and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire. As recently as April 3, Code Pink activists in the United States Capitol <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-hawley-unloads-codepink-activists-awash-blood-dirty-money">argued</a> with Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who unleashed on Code Pink activists as they argued with him about aid to Israel.
“Oh, you’re the China people!&#8221; responded Hawley, who has argued with the Code Pink activists previously. &#8220;You are 100% funded by the Chinese Communist Party.”

Confirmation Hearing Held For Secretary Of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth

EXCLUSIVE: Grassley Launches Congressional Inquiry Into Code Pink, People’s Forum Over CCP Ties

China

Code Pink

kash patel

After President Donald Trump unveiled his &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unleashes-liberation-day-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tariffs</a> on Wednesday, a bipartisan pair of senators put forward legislation to give Congress more authority over future penalties on imports.
The &#8220;Trade Review Act of 2025&#8221; <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/trade_review_act.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requires</a> the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing or increasing a tariff, providing reasoning for the duties as well as impact analysis on American businesses and consumers. It further mandates congressional approval via a joint resolution within 60 days for the tariffs to remain in effect. It also allows Congress to terminate tariffs at any time, excluding anti-dumping and countervailing duties.
Senate Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the bill on Thursday — less than 24 hours after Trump imposed tariffs with a 10% baseline and rates up to 50% in some cases on several dozen countries, in response to what the president condemned as decades of unfair trade practices.
The legislation &#8220;mirrors&#8221; Grassley&#8217;s <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-tariff-announcement">2019</a> Section 232 tariff reform efforts as Senate Finance Committee chairman during Trump&#8217;s first term in the White House, according to a press release from the senator&#8217;s office.
&#8220;For too long, Congress has delegated its clear authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce to the executive branch. Building on my previous efforts as Finance Committee Chairman, I’m joining Senator Cantwell to introduce the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 to reassert Congress’ constitutional role and ensure Congress has a voice in trade policy,” Grassley said.
Cantwell said, &#8220;Trade wars can be as devastating, which is why the Founding Fathers gave Congress the clear Constitutional authority over war and trade. This bill reasserts Congress’s role over trade policy to ensure rules-based trade policies are transparent, consistent, and benefit the American public. Arbitrary tariffs, particularly on our allies, damage U.S. export opportunities and raise prices for American consumers and businesses. As representatives of the American people, Congress has a duty to stop actions that will cause them harm.&#8221;
Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman indicated that he was doubtful the bill from Grassley and Cantwell would be signed into law, let alone making it through both chambers of Congress.
&#8220;The Grassley-Cantwell bill has huge hurdles,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1907834951271084272" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sherman</a> said on X. &#8220;Even if Grassley-Cantwell passes the Senate, would [House Speaker] Mike Johnson take it up? Probably not. Would Trump veto it? Almost definitely. Would Republicans override his veto? What do you think? Probably not.&#8221;
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have taken other steps toward reining in Trump&#8217;s tariffs, although these efforts also face challenges.
Senate Democrats forced a vote on a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) to terminate an older national emergency <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declaration</a> that Trump used to impose 25% tariffs on Canada. Four Republicans joined forces with Democrats and independents to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pass</a> the measure. On the House side, Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-dem-angles-to-force-vote-to-scrap-trumps-liberation-day-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he intended to force a vote on a resolution to end the new emergency <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declaration</a> underlying Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs.

Sen. Chuck Grassley

Bipartisan Pair In Senate Moves To Check Trump On Tariffs

Tariffs

Trade War

The Senate on Friday passed a Trump-admin backed bill that would further enable law enforcement to crack down on fentanyl trafficking.
In an 84-16 vote, the Senate passed the HALT Fentanyl Act (Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act), which would make traffickers of fentanyl analogues, substances that have been altered so as to not technically be fentanyl, subject to the same criminal penalties as fentanyl dealers. The bill would also make fentanyl-related substances permanently classified as Schedule 1 controlled substances.
“The HALT Fentanyl Act is a critical step towards ending the crisis that’s killing hundreds of thousands of precious American lives,” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/senate-overwhelmingly-passes-grassley-led-halt-fentanyl-act-to-permanently-schedule-fentanyl-related-substances">said</a> after the vote. “I thank my Senate colleagues for passing this bill with broad, overwhelming support. I urge my House colleagues to swiftly pass the Senate version of this battle-tested, bipartisan bill to save lives, advance research and support our brave men and women in blue.”
All 16 opponents of the bill were Democrats, some of whom were opposed to the aspect that allowed for harsher criminal sentences. It was backed by a host of law enforcement groups including the National Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association of Police Organizations.
The bill was first introduced in January by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Grassley, and Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich (NM).
According to a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/331">summary</a> of the bill, “offenses involving fentanyl-related substances are triggered by the same quantity thresholds and subject to the same penalties as offenses involving fentanyl analogues (e.g., offenses involving 100 grams or more trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum prison term).”
Cassidy told reporters on a call Friday morning that the bill would allow law enforcement to go after fentanyl analogs because those are still addictive and “can still kill,” saying that officers could confiscate fentanyl analogs.
Sen. James Lankford (R–OK) said in the same call that there were still a lot of avenues, especially stopping it at both the southern and northern borders, that needed to be pursued to stop the ongoing crisis as tens of thousands of Americans die from fentanyl-related deaths every year.
The bill heads to the House, which passed a similar bill last year &#8212; though it didn’t go anywhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Trump administration has <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/halt_fentanyl_omb_endorsement.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signaled</a> that it strongly supports the legislation as cracking down on the flow of fentanyl has been a top priority for President Donald Trump.

HEALTH-US-DRUGS-FENTANYL-CHINA-MEXICO

Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Fentanyl Trafficking Bill: ‘Critical Step Toward Ending The Crisis’

Drugs

Fentanyl

Law Enforcement

Senate

Trump Administration

Senator Chuck Grassley, the Senate’s most experienced and tenacious investigator, finally has the attention of the corporations that took more than $9 billion from taxpayers to house illegal immigrant children in the United States.
During the Biden administration, the contractors refused to answer Congress’s questions even as hundreds of thousands of “unaccompanied minors” disappeared. In some cases, children were allegedly sexually abused by contractor staff. In other cases, contractors dropped them off to live with unvetted sponsors who refused to answer the government’s calls afterward.
Grassley said the missing children must be located — and that contractors will no longer get away with taking taxpayer money while snubbing oversight. Now that Republicans control the White House and Congress, the Iowa Republican sent document demands to 23 contractors, according to copies of the <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/2025-03-10-Grassley-to-Asset-Protection-Security-Services-LP-Contractors-and-Grantees-Follow-Up.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letters</a> obtained by The Daily Wire. The letters largely reissued the same demands he sent a year ago, which he says were met with stonewalling.
“It’s unacceptable for recipients of taxpayer funding to refuse to provide information to Congress about the use of those funds. And it’s beyond unacceptable for these federally-funded entities to refuse to answer questions designed to determine whether they protected children,” he said in letters to companies such as Cherokee Federal, Southwest Key Programs, and Asset Protection &amp; Security Services LP.
The letters ask questions like “what actions, if any, did you take to ensure that no children would be sponsored or placed in potential situations where there may be signs of criminal activity, including human trafficking? … Where questions require entire case files or contracts to answer, those case files and contracts must be provided.”
In what could be one of the largest scandals in American history, the “unaccompanied alien children” (UAC) program allowed illegal immigrant children to cross the border and remain in the United States as long as they came without their parents.
That created a class of people who were exceedingly vulnerable to exploitation by labor or sex traffickers: They didn’t speak English, they were helpless children, they had a desperate need to make money to repay coyotes who brought them here. And local and state authorities didn’t know they existed, meaning they could be killed, abused, or disappeared, and no one would know.
Children were held in centers then transported by contractors to live with “sponsors,” who were often other illegal immigrants who did not have to be relatives, and who the government did not have to see in person before handing off the children.
The program was administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, which is not a law enforcement agency and had no authority to check documents of sponsors, arrest criminals, or take children back from abusers. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Grassley that he will ensure “radical transparency” around the missing children, and White House border czar Tom Homan has pledged to mount a rescue operation for them.
“Shockingly, children were placed by HHS and one of its contractors even where they were notified of likely MS-13 gang affiliation in the household,” Grassley wrote. Grassley sent a detailed criminal referral to the FBI in January 2024 that provided leads on 100 possible human traffickers.
This week’s letters ordered 23 contractors and grantees to provide all contracts with the government, along with documents showing the process for identifying and vetting sponsors, how often and what sort of background checks or home visits were conducted, and cases where individuals sought to sponsor a large number of children.
They also must provide a list of all instances where minors disclosed physical or sexual abuse, and all records where contractors found evidence of possible human trafficking.
Grassley sent letters to the following contractors or grantees:
<ol>
<li>Asset Protection &amp; Security Services LP</li>
<li>BCFS Health and Human Services</li>
<li>Bethany Christian Services</li>
<li>Cayuga Centers</li>
<li>Center for Family Services</li>
<li>Cherokee Federal</li>
<li>Compass Connections</li>
<li>Endeavors</li>
<li>General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc.</li>
<li>Global Refuge</li>
<li>Heartland Human Care</li>
<li>Holy Family Institute</li>
<li>Morrison Child Family Services</li>
<li>Rapid Deployment Inc</li>
<li>Southwest Key programs</li>
<li>Sunny Glen Children&#8217;s Home</li>
<li>The Providencia Group LLC</li>
<li>US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Inc.</li>
<li>VisionQuest National Ltd</li>
<li>A Greater Love Foster Family Agency, Inc.</li>
<li>A New Leaf, Inc.</li>
<li>Alba Care Services Inc.</li>
<li>National Youth Advocate Program, Inc.</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unaccompanied-migrant-children-were-raped-by-federal-contractors-doj-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Key Partners is being sued</a> by the Department of Justice after it said children were subject to “pervasive” sexual abuse at the hands of its employees. In one case an “eight-year-old girl disclosed that the Youth Care Worker repeatedly entered their bedrooms in the middle of the night to touch their ‘private area,’ and he threatened to kill their families if they disclosed the abuse.” <a href="https://www.axios.com/2021/04/14/texas-nonprofit-border-contract-biden-official" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Family Endeavors</a> won a half-billion dollar contract after hiring a former Biden official. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whistleblowers-detail-how-85000-unaccompanied-minors-went-missing-after-biden-admin-dropped-them-off-with-sponsors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cherokee Federal</a>, a whistleblower said, was staffed by “frankly dangerous people who had access to vulnerable children.”
A 2023 series in The New York Times unearthed internal government data that showed that in a third of placements, “sponsors” could not or would not tell the government where the child was 30 days later. At the time, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-kamalas-kids-in-cages-lie-paved-the-way-for-a-child-trafficking-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">85,000 children</a> were unaccounted for.
In August, the Department of Homeland Security inspector general said the department did not know the location of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-made-no-effort-to-locate-missing-unaccompanied-alien-children-auditor-says-in-urgent-alert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">300,000 minors</a>, and “Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UCs, ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”
Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he was “aware of reports of children being trafficked,” but that stopping trafficking was “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mayorkas-says-stopping-trafficking-of-alien-children-is-outside-the-responsibility-of-dhs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outside the responsibility</a> of the Department of Homeland Security.”
About <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/guatemalan-traffickers-exploit-bidens-unaccompanied-alien-children-program-records-suggest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70% of unaccompanied minors come from Guatemala</a>, a percentage that is wildly inconsistent with overall migration patterns, and suggests that cartels in that country are exploiting the program, essentially using the United States government as last-mile delivery.
The “unaccompanied minor” policy was essentially a loophole that created an open border for children, leading to a surge so vast that federal employees from unrelated agencies had to be detailed to temporary stints as border workers. Lindsey Friend was one such federal employee who served a stint at a processing facility in April 2021. She said it was so emotionally devastating that it was difficult to talk about.
“This was the most backwards way of doing things,” Friend told The Daily Wire. “A whole bunch of feds build a bunch of temporary tent cities, process them as fast as possible, with a U.S. background check and then no follow up. That&#8217;s just not a good idea.”
“Saying that unaccompanied minors can stay, that induced the family separation. The kids separated from their parents” as a result, she said.
“They were not unaccompanied. Their entire journey, they were accompanied by a coyote who left them at the border. Then they sought out a border patrol agent and had their birth certificate to show that they were a minor. So this was all deliberate.”
She said background checks were a farce, because “you&#8217;re just typing in a name, right? There&#8217;s no Social Security numbers because they&#8217;re undocumented and their name is something common.” The background check was a public website that checked only U.S. records, even though sponsors often just came to the United States recently.
Even though the government claimed the children were required to go to school, all the children said their plan was to work, she said. It would be impossible for state-run Child Protective Services or truancy officers to intervene.
“We did not notify any state or local agency that we were sending these kids there,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We did not contact the local school district.”
Some of the children wished they could be back in Guatemala with their parents. “I should not have come,” they cried. “I just want to come home.”

Southwest Key Combes is a facility run by Southwest Key Programs that houses “tender age” immigrant children who have been separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Grassley Probes Contractors Who Made Billions On Disastrous ‘Unaccompanied Alien Children’ Program

Department of Homeland Security

Argentinian conservative President Javier Milei has agreed to unseal records hidden for decades that would reveal how Credit Suisse and its predecessor banks helped finance escaping Nazis after World War II so they could evade justice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
El Presidente Javier Milei recibió en Casa Rosada a las autoridades del Centro Simon Wiesenthal, quienes le entregaron una carta del Comité Judicial del Senado de los Estados Unidos, con copia al Presidente Donald Trump, para que la Argentina colabore con su investigación al… <a href="https://t.co/nKciEwl8HR">pic.twitter.com/nKciEwl8HR</a>
— Oficina del Presidente (@OPRArgentina) <a href="https://twitter.com/OPRArgentina/status/1891926292636786865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In mid-February, Iowa GOP Sen. Charles Grassley —who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee investigating Credit Suisse’s historical Nazi connections — sent Milei a letter requesting him to unseal the records. “I continue to fight to shine light on the wrongs and injustices from this darkest chapter in history,” Grassley wrote. “This includes decades-long efforts to track the Nazis’ confiscation of all kinds of Jewish valuables and cash.”
Speaking of former U.S. Inspector General Neil Barofsky, who was appointed as the Independent Ombudsperson to comprehensively investigate Credit Suisse&#8217;s archives, he stated, “Despite the banks&#8217; best efforts at obstruction, Mr. Barofsky has uncovered a ‘significant connection’ between Credit Suisse and many individuals who helped Nazis flee Europe after World War II via ‘ratlines,’ which are monetary and logistic pathways used by Credit Suisse and other institutions to help Nazis escape justice and relocate to Argentina, among other countries.”
Barofsky <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/nazi-ties-to-credit-suisse-ran-deeper-than-was-known-hidden-files-reveal-285ab620">had been hired</a> by Credit Suisse in 2021 after the Simon Wiesenthal Center found additional information regarding the possible Nazi connection, but he was fired when the bank felt he had gone too far. He was reinstated in 2023 after Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) rescued Credit Suisse. In 2024, Barofsky told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that UBS had fully opened its archives. Two separate panels said that Swiss bankers routinely ignored Nazis stealing Jewish assets and also later blocked families’ efforts to reclaim their money.
“The goal and motivation behind this work is to bring about justice and transparency,” Grassley continued. “Regardless of how much time passes, the truth is worth pursuing and the stories of this dark time period are worth telling and making part of the historical record for future generations. &#8230; I&#8217;m copying President Trump on this letter because my investigative work is being done out of profound respect for the brave and courageous men and women of the United States Armed Forces who fought against Hitler and the Nazis, and freed the courageous Jewish people from those evils &#8211; a sentiment that he would most assuredly agree with.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
At Senator Grassley’s request, President Milei agreed to open Argentina&#8217;s archives so the world can finally see how Swiss banks helped fund and coordinate Nazis escaping Europe after the war, then covered it up for decades.
Yet another example of the global financial system…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1896331012709437611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Javier Milei Receives Prime Minister Of Italy Giorgia Meloni

Milei To Unseal Records Connecting Swiss Banks To Nazis’ Escape Efforts

Javier Milei

Nazis

Scandals

Switzerland

A critical vote on the nomination of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kash-patel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kash Patel</a> to become President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s director of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> has been delayed at the behest of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> Democrats.
The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on advancing the nomination on Thursday, but that is now expected to happen in one week.
During a <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/senate-committee/senate-judiciary-committee-delays-vote-on-fbi-director-nominee-kash-patel/655426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> of the panel, Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chuck-grassley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck Grassley</a> (R-IA) said the nomination was &#8220;held over,&#8221; recognizing a request by the Democrats as prescribed under committee rules.
As <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/1887530389402443876" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by Fox News&#8217; Chad Pergram, Grassley also said the committee would send Patel&#8217;s nomination to the Senate floor &#8220;168 hours from now,&#8221; which is in seven days.
&#8220;Unbelievable. Democrat Senators are running scared,&#8221; Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said in a post to X.
&#8220;They&#8217;re terrified that [Patel] is going to reform the 7th floor of the Hoover Building, arrest bad guys, and end 4 years of liberal weaponized government. Delay tactics are just that,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Kash WILL BE CONFIRMED.&#8221;
Democrats argue Patel is a problematic choice to lead the FBI and say they want more time to evaluate the nominee&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/JudiciaryDems/status/1887148388757422179" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;misleading&#8221;</a> testimony.
&#8220;Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s FBI Director pick, is an unqualified, unserious nominee who will make us less safe,&#8221; Senate Judiciary Democrats <a href="https://x.com/JudiciaryDems/status/1887526239818424639" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X.  &#8220;He’s a vengeful extremist — to the point that he seemingly lied under oath.&#8221;
The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee previously secured a one-week delay on consideration of Pam Bondi to become U.S. Attorney General. After waiting seven days, the committee voted along party lines to advance Bondi&#8217;s nomination to the full Senate. The Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-confirms-pam-bondi-for-attorney-general" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> 54-46 to confirm Bondi to the Cabinet role on Tuesday with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) breaking ranks.
Grassley also criticized Democrats for &#8220;forcing&#8221; the committee to meet just to hold over a nominee, noting how Republicans did not pull such a move when they were in the minority in the last Congress.
&#8220;Our committee works best when both sides uphold norms regardless of which party holds the majority at any one time,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m disappointed that my colleagues aren&#8217;t reciprocating a courtesy we extended in good faith when we were in the minority.&#8221;
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking member, acknowledged that what Grassley said was &#8220;true&#8221; and used the platform to disparage Patel.

Kash Patel

Dem ‘Delay Tactics’ Push Back Vote On Kash Patel For FBI Director

Dick Durbin

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> Democrats have pushed back the schedule to consider the nomination of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pam-bondi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pam Bondi</a>, who is President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s nominee to be U.S. attorney general, by at least a week.
On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee sent out a notice announcing that a planned Wednesday meeting, at which members could have voted to advance Bondi&#8217;s nomination to the full Senate, had been called off.
&#8220;Per Judiciary Committee <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/committee/rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rule</a> I.3, any member of the Committee may request an item on the Committee’s agenda be held over for a minimum of seven days. Holds are common practice in the Senate Judiciary Committee,&#8221; the notice said.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-dems-will-try-all-sorts-of-tricks-to-delay-cabinet-confirmations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Trump Says Dems ‘Will Try All Sorts Of Tricks’ To Delay Cabinet Confirmations</a>
&#8220;Pursuant to this rule, the Minority will hold Bondi&#8217;s nomination for seven days. As a result of this hold, which goes into effect tomorrow, the Committee will not meet in person for this week&#8217;s executive business meeting,&#8221; the advisory added.
The Judiciary Committee, which is led by Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), said it expects to convene next week on January 29 and hold a final vote on Bondi&#8217;s nomination at that time.
Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, <a href="https://x.com/SenJudiciaryGOP/status/1879569942150058288" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before the Judiciary Committee in a confirmation hearing last week.
&#8220;If confirmed, I will fight everyday to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components,&#8221; Bondi <a href="https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1879549046958047285" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The partisanship, the weaponization, will be gone. America will have one tier of justice for all.&#8221;
Bondi made waves when she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKJhkeTp6I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clashed</a> with some of the committee&#8217;s Democrat members, including Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA).
&#8220;Senator, what I can tell you is that I will never play politics,&#8221; Bondi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bondi-demolishes-schiff-when-he-taunts-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at one point to Schiff. &#8220;You’re trying to engage me in a &#8216;gotcha.&#8217; I won’t play politics with any ongoing investigation like you did.&#8221;
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqndn5W5hXuxOh4Dnzj3NrHSVayyLGsEShWj2n2EVNnohFOnXKd"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-862531 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1-1024x391.png" alt="" width="1024" height="391" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1-1024x391.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1-300x115.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1-768x293.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1-1536x587.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1-2048x782.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
As of press time, the GOP-led Senate has confirmed just one of Trump&#8217;s Cabinet nominees: now-former senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, who on Tuesday was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marco-rubio-sworn-in-says-war-in-ukraine-must-end" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sworn in</a> to office as U.S. Secretary of State.
Other nominees are working their way through the confirmation process.
<a href="https://x.com/CraigCaplan/status/1881476717325558114" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Ratcliffe</a>, Trump&#8217;s nominee to become CIA director, <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1881738624582246789" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to get a final confirmation vote as early as later on Tuesday.
Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio posted on X that Democrats are &#8220;plotting&#8221; a slowdown of the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary after he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-advances-pete-hegseths-nomination-to-become-defense-secretary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced</a> out of committee on Monday.

Pam Bondi

Senate Democrats Put Arbitrary Hold On Pam Bondi Nomination

President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s return to the White House could face complications if the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> cannot elect a speaker by the inauguration early next year.
On &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6366525597112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunday Morning Futures,</a>&#8221; Fox News anchor Jason Chaffetz shared a quote from senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram explaining a scenario in which Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) could become acting president because the 91-year-old is <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/3213569/senate-gop-leadership-shakeup-election/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slated to return</a> as Senate president pro tempore, a position third in line to the presidency.
<blockquote>&#8220;The House absolutely, unequivocally cannot do anything until it elects a speaker. Period &#8230; This also means that the House cannot certify the results of the Electoral College, making Trump the 47th president of the United States, on Jan 6th.
What happens if the Electoral College isn&#8217;t sorted out by Jan. 20? Well, President Biden is done. So he&#8217;s gone, the same with [Vice President Kamala] Harris. Next in the presidential line of succession is the speaker of the House. Well, there&#8217;s no speaker.
So who becomes the president? &#8230; If the House is still frittering away time, trying to elect a speaker on Jan. 20, President Pro Tem of the Senate Chuck Grassley likely becomes &#8216;acting president.&#8217;
I write &#8216;likely&#8217; because this gets into some serious extra-constitutional turf. These are unprecedented scenarios. Strange lands never visited in the American political experience.&#8221;</blockquote>
In the coming days, the House is expected to vote for speaker. Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Johnson</a> (R-LA) is running to keep the gavel, but a handful of Republicans have <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/29/newt-gingrich-support-mike-johnson-speakership-00196103" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talked about</a> considering someone else for speaker amid frustrations with Johnson&#8217;s handling of certain bills, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-last-minute-funding-bill-to-avert-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spending</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-overcomes-final-hurdle-to-send-fisa-reauthorization-bill-to-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surveillance</a> legislation. A simple majority is needed, but the GOP&#8217;s margin is only a few members wide and so far it appears no Democrats will cross the aisle and support Johnson.
Some GOP lawmakers have warned of the repercussions for Trump if the House is unable to settle on someone for speaker.
&#8220;It&#8217;s going to delay the certification of President Trump&#8217;s election. It&#8217;s going to delay the start of his first 100 days in office, which is the most important time frame of his whole presidency,&#8221; House Oversight Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-comer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Comer</a> (R-KY) said during a &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6366525597112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a>. &#8220;That&#8217;s when you get the most done historically. So, I strongly encourage President Trump to get on the phone and try to get everyone united so we can work together as a team and make America great again.&#8221;

President-elect Donald Trump and Sen. Chuck Grassley

Trump’s Return To White House Could Get Bumpy If House Cannot Elect A Speaker

House Speaker

Mike Johnson

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