Trump Pauses Strikes On Iran For 10 Days
With Brent Sadler, Senior Research Fellow, Naval Warfare and Advanced Technology, Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation.
Voting & The SAVE AMERICA Act
With Aundrea Gomez, Policy Research Associate for AFA Action (AFAaction.net), the government affairs affiliate of American Family Association | @AFAAction
The U.S. Senate passed legislation early on Friday that would restore funding for most of the Department of Homeland Security, including airport security, but would not resolve a dispute over immigration enforcement that prompted the disruption in the first place.
The bill would restore pay for airport security screeners, disaster-response workers and members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who have worked without pay since mid-February, when funding expired. It does not include new limits on the agents carrying out President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown - a key demand of Democrats.
The partial government shutdown did not affect that activity, as the two agencies responsible for carrying it out, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, could draw on a separate source of funding. Trump's Republicans are expected to try to secure additional funding for those agencies in separate legislation.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives must also pass the bill before Trump can sign it into law, with a vote possible later on Friday.
Senate Democrats blocked DHS funding after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
The shutdown has led to long lines at many U.S. airports, as many airport security officers who have gone without pay have called in sick or resigned.
Airports in Houston and Atlanta told passengers to expect wait times of up to four hours at security checkpoints on Friday.
Since mid-February, Democrats and Republicans offered dueling bills to break the logjam, but neither party had garnered enough support for passage.
Republicans would not go along with reforms to ICE and CBP operations that Democrats had insisted upon, resulting in the six-week standoff.
That has caused widespread disruptions at airports.
Trump said on Thursday he would take executive action to pay 50,000 airport security workers in an effort to address staff shortages that have snarled travel around the country.
"Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms," Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
Republican Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Democrats had damaged Congress' annual funding process, weakened national security, and set "a precedent that they may one day come to regret".
"Democrats remained intransigent and unreasonable with their list of demands," she said in a statement.
Republicans are expected to next try to fund ICE and CBP through a cumbersome procedure that would allow them to bypass Democratic opposition.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would sign an emergency order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents as Congress struggles to reach a deal to end the budget impasse that has jammed airports and left workers without paychecks. Congress is under pressure to fund DHS ahead of its upcoming spring recess, as TSA may have to shut down operations at some airports if the budget impasse drags on. The shutdown is taking a personal toll on TSA workers. Over 480 officers have quit altogether, according to DHS. At some of the busiest and most backed-up U.S. airports, ICE officers are patrolling security lines and checkpoints, ordered by Trump to assist a short-staffed TSA.
A proposed amendment requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls failed to move forward in the Senate on Thursday. The measure needed 60 votes to advance but fell short, with a 53–47 vote.
The decision comes as lawmakers continue a lengthy debate over the controversial SAVE America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship to register and set new voter ID requirements. While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently indicated Democrats are not opposed to voter ID, the broader bill still lacks the support needed to clear the Senate. President Donald Trump has been urging Republicans to push the legislation forward despite the hurdle.
A brother and sister have been charged after an explosive device was found outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe says Alen Zheng fled to China with his sister Ann Mary Zheng, who was arrested upon her return to Florida. Alen Zheng is charged with trying to damage government property while unlawfully making and possessing an improvised explosive device. Ann Mary Zheng is charged with witness tampering and being an accessory after the fact by allegedly selling the car he was driving. Kehoe said their mother has been detained pending deportation for overstaying her visa.
An elderly man shoved onto the subway tracks in Manhattan last weekend has died from his injuries and his alleged assailant is now facing charges, authorities in New York City said Thursday.
Richard Williams, 83, of Manhattan, died days after the Sunday incident, according to police. They said Richard had been standing on the Lexington Avenue-63 Street subway platform when a man he didn't know shoved him from behind onto the tracks.
The assailant also shoved a 30-year-old man onto the tracks before fleeing on foot. Both victims were taken to the hospital with injuries.
Police arrested Bairon Hernandez on March 10 after seeking the public's help in identifying the attacker, who was captured on video after the incident.
The 34-year-old Brooklyn resident was initially charged with attempted murder, assault and other charges, but in light of Williams' death, those charges have been upgraded to murder, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said.
Hernandez's public defenders declined to comment.
“We have yet to see the indictment, concluded our investigation or reviewed the expected voluminous discovery materials,” said Lupe Todd-Medina, spokesperson for New York County Defender Services.
Hernandez is a Honduran national who has been deported four times since first entering the country illegally in 2008, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He entered the country illegally a fifth time at an unknown date and location and has a lengthy criminal history, including 15 prior charges of simple assault, domestic violence, obstruction of police, possession of a weapon, drug possession and aggravated assault, the agency said.
Hernandez "should never have been able to walk our streets and harm innocent Americans,” said Lauren Bis, a deputy assistant secretary for DHS.
Writing on Truth Social Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump posts: "As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."
Gas prices continue to creep higher. According to AAA, the national average for gasoline is just under $4 at $3.98 a gallon. Drivers in the western U.S. are paying even more. The average gallon of regular gas is $5.30 in Washington and $5.83 in California.
A U.S. judge questioned on Thursday (March 26) the U.S. government's justification for blocking ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from using the South American country's funds to pay for his legal defense against U.S. drug trafficking charges.
Demonstrators for and against Nicolás Maduro rallied outside a Manhattan courthouse, where the ousted Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared for a hearing on Thursday, more than two months after U.S. military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to New York.
The judge questioned the U.S. government's justification for blocking Maduro from using Venezuelan funds to pay for his legal defense against drug trafficking charges, but signaled he would not dismiss the case on that basis.
Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy and are jailed in Brooklyn pending trial.
They had asked the judge to dismiss the charges, arguing that their inability to rely on Venezuelan public funds interferes with their right to a lawyer of their choosing.
Prosecutors argue that because the U.S. has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president since 2019, he and Flores should not expect the U.S. government to allow Venezuela to pay their legal fees.
The prosecutors say Maduro and Flores can be assigned public defenders if they cannot afford their own lawyers.
The judge said he would not make a formal ruling on whether the Venezuelan government can pay the legal fees or the motion to dismiss the case given ongoing uncertainty around the funds and whether Maduro and Flores had other assets they could use.
"They've really sued him just in a fraction of the kind of things that he's done," said President Donald Trump.
Earlier on Thursday, President Trump said the U.S. will bring additional cases against Maduro.
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