State Sen. Scott Wiener on Wednesday announced he is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 race, gunning for the seat of S…
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California's Santa Clara County has decided to establish ICE-free zones throughout Silicon Valley. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to raise physical barriers and lock gates to prevent federal immigration agents from using county property for surveillance and arrests. The county plans to put up signs to warn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents away from those properties. The county is following Chicago's lead to block immigration enforcement without a court order. Santa Clara County has already expanded a plan to coordinate a counter-response to ICE raids by offering legal aid, shelter, food, child care and other assistance to immigrants.
John Bolton has pleaded not guilty in the Justice Department case accusing him of sharing classified information. Bolton was ordered released from custody after making his appearance before a judge in the third Justice Department case brought in recent weeks against an adversary of the Republican president. Bolton has signaled he will argue he is being targeted because of his criticism of the president, describing the charges as part of a Trump "effort to intimidate his opponents." The case, however, appears to have followed a more conventional path toward indictment than other recent cases against perceived Trump enemies.
Journalists at the Pentagon turned in access badges and cleaned out their workspaces on Wednesday, the price for refusing to agree to new restrictions on their jobs at the seat of U.S. military power. The refusal was near-unanimous, from trade publications, wire services, television networks and newspapers, and included outlets that appeal largely to conservatives like Fox News Channel and Newsmax. Many of the reporters chose to turn in their badges together at the 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to vacate the building. Reporters said their work will continue despite the loss of access.
A U.S. Marine says his parents were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after they visited a California military base and one of them was later deported. Steve Rios, of Oceanside, California, told NBC that his parents were detained late last month while picking up his pregnant sister and her husband, who is also a Marine at Camp Pendleton. Rios says his parents came to the U.S. from Mexico three decades ago and had pending green card applications. He says they were initially released with ankle monitors. But after another visit to the base, ICE agents stopped them at the gate and detained his parents. Rios says his father has since been deported.
Judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from firing workers during the government shutdown
A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration from firing workers during the government shutdown, saying the human cost "cannot be tolerated." U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order halting the job cuts, saying she believes evidence would show the cuts were illegal. The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers had started. That announcement prompted labor unions for federal employees to ask the judge to block the Republican administration from issuing new layoff notices and implementing those already sent out. Emails sent to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget after the judge's ruling haven't been returned.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. has struck another boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela. The Republican president said Tuesday in a social media post six people aboard the vessel were killed. It's the fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean as the Trump administration has asserted it's treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force. Frustration with the administration has grown on Capitol Hill. Some Republicans want more information from the White House on the legal justification and details of the strikes. Democrats contend the strikes violate U.S. and international law. Venezuela says the U.S. government knows the drug-trafficking accusations are false.
Fox News, the former employer of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has joined a near-unanimous outpouring of news organizations rejecting new rules for journalists based in the Pentagon. Fox signed on to a statement with ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN saying they would not agree to Hegseth's new rules. It said "the policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections." So far, only the conservative One America News Network has said its reporters would follow the new regulations. Hegseth has said that outlets who don't agree to the new rules by the end of Tuesday, which restrict reporting on news not specifically approved by his team, will be evicted from the Pentagon on Wednesday.
Mass firings of federal workers have begun. That was the announcement Friday from the White House as Republicans worked to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers to end the government shutdown. A spokesperson for the White House budget office says the layoffs are "substantial" but did not offer more details. Federal health workers, the Education Department and others were being hit Friday. Democrats blasted the move as unions for federal workers quicklyy took the matter to court. At least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she strongly opposes the layoffs as harmful for her state and the country.
Former FBI Director James Comey has pleaded not guilty in a criminal case that has highlighted the Justice Department's efforts to target adversaries of President Donald Trump. Comey's lawyers said Wednesday they plan to argue the prosecution is politically motivated and should be dismissed. The Comey case amplifies concerns Trump's Justice Department is being weaponized in pursuit of the Republican president's political enemies. Comey was arraigned at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. Comey's indictment two weeks ago followed an extraordinary chain of events that saw Trump publicly implore Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Comey and other perceived adversaries. Comey's trial is set for Jan. 5.
