Republican senators are worried that revelations around Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could balloon into a bigger political liability for the GOP heading into this year's midterm elections.
Lutnick is viewed on Capitol Hill as one of President Trump's most influential economic advisers, and Republican senators have generally been impressed by his ability to strike trade deals to soften the economic impact of the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last year on "liberation day."
But Lutnick's admission before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he visited Epstein's island for a lunch date in December 2012, contradicting his previous claim that he had cut off all contact with Epstein after meeting him in 2005, has GOP lawmakers worried that the Epstein scandal will continue to reverberate through November. |
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Democrats are linking President Trump's unraveling of climate change regulations to a larger story about corruption, a midterm argument they think could hurt Republicans in the battles for the House and Senate this fall.
While climate change itself may not be an issue driving most voters to the polls, Democrats are seeking to make a broader case about Trump's ties to powerful interests.
Asked his thoughts on the state of U.S. climate policy, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) was succinct
"Corrupted," he told The Hill. |
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Former President Obama argued in an interview published Saturday that American politics has become a "clown show" under the second Trump administration, suggesting that many Americans dislike the rhetoric coming out of the White House in recent months.
Obama made the comparison while addressing a controversial video posted on President Trump's Truth Social account earlier this month that briefly depicted the former president and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, as apes. Trump has refused to apologize for the video despite strong bipartisan backlash. Instead, the White House blamed a staffer for "erroneously" making the post, and it was taken down. |
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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is making strides toward his campaign promise for universal child care in a phased implementation plan that has already seen some assistance by the state's governor.
While the city already offers free, universal pre-K to children 4 years old and up, Mamdani has worked with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to secure funding to expand the existing free child care program for 3-year-olds and create an initiative for 2-year-olds.
But the mayor is likely to run into the difficulties that have longed plague the child care system — and is already facing some pushback with pre-K teachers demanding higher wages. |
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The Justice Department (DOJ) sent a letter to Congress on Saturday outlining its justification for redactions made in the released Jeffrey Epstein files, according to Politico.
The six-page letter to the leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary committees also included a list of "all government officials and politically exposed persons" named in the files for any reason. Several high-profile names were on the list, including President Trump.
The department noted that names appeared in a "wide variety of contexts," ranging from individuals who directly emailed with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to those who had no interaction with either but were referenced in documents such as media reports. |
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The crowded field of Democratic candidates running for governor in California could give Republicans a rare opening in the deep blue stronghold.
More than a half-dozen Democrats seen as serious contenders are competing in the Golden State's June 2 primary, where all candidates will appear on the same ballot and the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. With no clear party front-runner, experts warn there's a real chance the Democrats splinter voter support, carving a path for two Republicans to move forward as a new model shows the possibility of a red-on-red race in the solidly blue state. |
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President Trump on Saturday lashed out at comedian Bill Maher over his criticism of the commander in chief from the day before, with the president referring back to his dinner with Maher at the White House last year.
The president in a lengthy Truth Social post praised how Maher was "a nice guy" who was "very respectful about our meeting" when he returned to his show after what Trump called a "great dinner" in March 2025. His tone changed when he saw HBO's "Real Time" host "devolve into the same old story — Very boring, ANTI TRUMP" before naming off several of his administration's accomplishments. Trump added that the dinner "was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House," comparing Maher to late night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, "but, I must admit, slightly more talented." |
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Law enforcement has ramped up activity in the desperate search for Nancy Guthrie as the investigation into the disappearance of "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother persists.
Three people were detained late Friday after a SWAT operation at a residence less than two miles from Guthrie's home in Tucson, Ariz., according to NewsNation, The Hill's sister network. A woman and a man were detained in their home, while another man was questioned during a traffic stop and was reportedly on his way to the house they were searching. A Range Rover was also processed and towed during the operation, NewsNation reported Saturday. |
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shut down on Saturday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill for the department.
DHS accounts for 3 percent of the U.S. federal budget and most department employees will be required to work without pay for the duration of the shutdown, which could stretch on for weeks due to a weeklong congressional recess. Democrats rejected the White House's suggested legislation, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling the text "not serious, plain and simple." Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have said Democratic support for the bill is contingent on the administration's agreement to their reform demands for DHS. |
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BY BYRON GUDIEL AND ABIGAIL DILLEN |
OPINION | Raising kids today means having to answer difficult questions about our changing climate — like why the air will sometimes smell like smoke, or why we can't play outside when it's too hot. As parents raising kids in California, we have to answer these questions more frequently.
When the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, Calif., a historically Black community, it consumed the Eaton Canyon Nature Center. It was a place that shaped so many families' relationships with nature, where community members — many of whom historically lacked access to outdoor spaces — gathered to connect kids with the natural world that sustains us. The Nature Center represented decades of community investment in our young people — all of it now reduced to ash. |
OPINION | The U.S. State Department's naming of Riley Barnes as special coordinator for Tibetan Issues signals a vital resumption of high-level engagement with the region — and it arrives not a moment too soon.
The appointment followed a bipartisan push led by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) and is bolstered by the restoration of U.S. funding for the Central Tibetan administration and Tibetan-language media services. |
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Is seeing still believing? Based on the evidence of the past week, it is hard to say.
Consider Exhibit A: Rauiri Robinson, an Irish filmmaker and visual effects artist in Los Angeles, posted two short A.I.-generated videos on X, a hyper-realistic action-movie sequence depicting Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting on a rooftop while arguing about Jeffrey Epstein. The clips were created, Mr. Robinson explained, by feeding a two-sentence prompt into Seedance 2.0, an A.I. video-creation tool newly released by the Chinese company ByteDance. |
BY RACHEL LOUISE ENSIGN AND JOSHUA CHAFFIN |
It was 2005, a fizzy New York era before an epic crash, and prospective members of an exclusive new club were informed of their suitability through hand-delivered invitations, each nestled in a white, hand-stitched box.
The Core Club promised to bring together luminaries in business, arts, technology and culture in hopes of sparking some greater collective alchemy. Its early members included such boldfaced names as Johnson & Johnson heir Woody Johnson, Blackstone Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman and former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold. |
A shutdown of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that took effect early Saturday impacts the agency responsible for screening passengers and bags at airports across the country. Travelers with airline reservations may be nervously recalling a 43-day government shutdown that led to historic flight cancellations and long delays last year.
Transportation Security Administration officers are expected to work without pay while lawmakers remain without an agreement on DHS' annual funding. TSA officers also worked through the record shutdown that ended Nov. 12, but aviation experts say this one may play out differently. |
BY ISAAC ARNSDORF AND NATALIE ALLISON |
The White House is declaring victory on turning around the economy, after months of aides' urging the president to find a more empathetic tone on Americans' financial struggles.
But public attitudes about the economy have not risen to match the record-breaking stock market and expectations-beating inflation and jobs report, defining the challenge for the president's party in November's midterms. Most Americans say the economy is on the wrong track and disapprove of Trump's handling of it, recent surveys show. |
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