The Latest: Some Republicans eulogize Dick Cheney as Trump responds to food aid demands

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he plans to take a “ringside seat” at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday when the justices hear arguments on whether Trump overstepped federal law in setting many of his sweeping tariffs.

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Remembering Dick Cheney: A life in photos from defense chief to VP

Cheney, a key White House figure in multiple Republican administrations, died Tuesday at 84. Here’s a gallery of images from the AP archives.

▶ See Dick Cheney’s life in AP photos

McConnell praises Cheney’s legacy

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., paid tribute to the former vice president on Tuesday, saying “his intellect, experience, and resolve made America safer.”

McConnell noted that Cheney’s public service came during critical moments in American history, including the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He said Cheney gave “steady counsel” to President George W. Bush at the time.

“As grave threats to our security continue to loom, his commitment to American leadership will remain a lesson,” McConnell said.

White House quietly lowers flags to half-staff for Cheney

An announcement or the issuance of a proclamation generally happens before the flags are lowered, but the White House did so without advance notice on Tuesday.

Press office aides confirmed the flags had been lowered in remembrance of the Republican former vice president.

Trump, who has no public schedule Tuesday, has issued several social media posts on the elections and subjects other than Cheney’s death.

Cheney criticized Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol by Trump supporters who were intent on interrupting the certification of his 2020 presidential election loss.

Senate Republicans laud Cheney

Top Senate Republicans are paying tribute to the former vice president, saying Dick Cheney will be remembered for shaping American history.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a floor speech said Cheney was “a lifelong public servant who believed very deeply in our country.”

Sen. John Barrasso, the no. 2 in Senate Republican leadership, who like Cheney is from Wyoming, called him “a towering figure who helped guide the course of history in Wyoming, the United States, and around the world.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham said Cheney had a “tremendous sense of confidence in who he was and what he believed.”

“When that self-confidence clashed with members of both parties, he was unshaken,” Graham added.

Their words were notable because Cheney, after his retirement from public office, became a critic of Trump.

US defense secretary praises South Korea’s plans to increase military spending

Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Asian ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean aggressions as they brace for “regional contingencies.” Speaking at parliament on Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked lawmakers to approve an 8.2% increase in defense spending next year.

“We face, as we both acknowledge, a dangerous security environment, but our alliance is stronger than ever,” Hegseth said.

Modernizing the decades-long alliance between the U.S. and South Korea is a hot issue. The U.S. apparently wants South Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can focus more on China.

Hegseth said after annual security talks with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back that he’s “greatly encouraged” by Seoul’s spending commitment.

▶ Read more on the U.S.-South Korean military alliance

Speaker Johnson pays tribute to Cheney

“Scripture is very clear: We give honor where honor is due,” Rep. Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, said at his daily press conference at the Capitol.

“The honor is certainly due to him.”

Maryland’s governor announces a redistricting commission

Wes Moore announced Tuesday that the commission will consider mid-cycle redistricting, despite the state Senate president saying last week the Senate would not move forward with redistricting.

The five-member panel chaired by U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks will hold public hearings and make recommendations to the governor and the legislature on a new map for the state’s eight congressional districts, seven of which are already held by Democrats.

“We will explore every avenue possible to make sure Maryland has fair and representative maps,” Moore said in a statement. “This commission will ensure the people are heard.”

Both Moore and Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones have expressed interest with moving forward with mid-cycle redistricting, but their fellow Democrat, Senate President Bill Ferguson, warned that redrawing the district represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Harris could jeopardize other seats held by Democrats.

Losses for Big Tech pull Wall Street lower

Stocks are being pulled down by losses in the same big tech companies that have been the main drivers of the market’s rally so far this year.

The S&P 500 slid 1.2% in the early going Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 431 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.7%. Palantir Technologies, which had more than doubled so far this year, fell 10% despite reporting results that beat analysts’ forecasts. Nvidia also reversed course, falling 2.8%. European and Asian markets also fell, and Treasury yields edged lower in the bond market.

Criticism has been rising that the broad U.S. market, and AI stocks in particular, have become too expensive and could be inflating into a dangerous bubble similar to the 2000 dot-com bust.

Judge to hear arguments over conditions at Chicago-area ICE facility

Illinois groups sued federal authorities alleging “inhumane” conditions inside the facility in Broadview where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been detaining people. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman acknowledged that Tuesday’s hearing was “rushed” but said “the nature of the case and the request for relief requires immediate attention.”

Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say detainees were denied proper access to food, water and medical care; denied private calls with attorneys; and have been coerced to sign paperwork they don’t understand, leading them to unknowingly relinquish their rights and face deportation.

Homeland Security Department officials have denied the allegations and argue that such claims have contributed to an increase in death threats against immigration officers.

Former Fox News host takes position as US ambassador to Greece

Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former California prosecutor, television personality and close Trump alley, officially took office Tuesday as the first U.S. female ambassador to Greece.

Guilfoyle, 56, who was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr., presented her diplomatic credentials to Greek President Constantine Tassoulas after being sworn in Sept. 29 in Washington.

The former Fox News host’s arrival comes as the United States works to boost liquefied natural gas exports to eastern Europe through Greek port facilities.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are expected in Athens this week for talks focused on expanding Western gas exports to war-torn Ukraine through a modified multinational pipeline network.

Former President Bush calls Cheney’s death a ‘loss to the nation’

Former President George W. Bush says he and former first lady Laura Bush will remember Cheney “for the decent, honorable man that he was.”

In a statement, Bush says history will remember his vice president “as among the finest public servants of his generation” and a “patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence and seriousness of purpose” to every position he held.

Bush recalled asking Cheney to join him on the Republican presidential ticket in 2000 after first assigning Cheney to help him find a running mate.

The former president said, “In our long discussions about the qualities a vice president should have — deep experience, mature judgment, character, loyalty — I realized that Dick Cheney was the one I needed. I’m still grateful that he was at my side for the eight years that followed.”

Some Head Start preschools shutter as government shutdown continues

The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation’s neediest children out of preschool. The closures mean Head Start students — who come from low-income households, are homeless or are in foster care — are missing out on preschool, where they are fed two meals a day and receive therapy vital to their development.

A half-dozen Head Start programs never received grants that were anticipated in October, but there are now 140 programs that have not received their annual infusion of federal funding. All told, the programs have the capacity to assist 65,000 preschoolers and expectant parents.

More than 1,100 children in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma were shut out of centers run by the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, said CEO Javier Gonzalez. About 900 staff members across the centers have also been furloughed.

▶ Read more about how the shutdown is impacting Head Start programs

Trump administration says SNAP will be partially funded in November

President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP for November, after two judges issued rulings requiring the government to keep the nation’s largest food aid program running.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it during the federal government shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs more than $8 billion per month nationally. The government says an emergency fund it will use has $4.65 billion — enough to cover about half the normal benefits.

It’s not clear exactly how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly they will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. November payments have already been delayed for millions of people.

▶ Read more about SNAP benefits

Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents of US history, dies at 84

Cheney died Monday night due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement from family spokesman Jeremy Adler.

The quietly forceful Cheney served father and son presidents, leading the armed forces as defense chief during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as vice president under Bush’s son, George W. Bush.

Years after leaving office, he became a target of Trump, especially after daughter Liz Cheney became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Trump’s desperate attempts to stay in power after his election defeat and his actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

▶ Read more about former Vice President Dick Cheney