Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The New York Times [4/29/2026 11:10 PM, Michael Gold, 148038K] reports the House on Wednesday narrowly adopted a Republican budget blueprint that would allow the G.O.P. to blow past Democratic opposition and pour an additional $70 billion into immigration enforcement through the remainder of President Trump’s second term. The measure is a crucial step in Republicans’ plan to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, ending a shutdown that has lasted for nearly 11 weeks. Republicans pushed through the plan, which the Senate adopted last week, on a party-line vote of 215 to 211, with one independent lawmaker voting “present.” That set the stage for the G.O.P. to begin working on a special budget measure, shielded from a filibuster in the Senate, to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the two agencies charged with carrying out the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. “This is the moment we take the keys, and we say, no more of this nonsense,” said Representative Jodey C. Arrington, Republican of Texas and chairman of the Budget Committee. “And we open up the people’s government and we restore the safety and security of the American people.” The budget plan — which stalled in the House for more than five hours as Republicans fought among themselves over measures on agriculture and ethanol that had nothing to do with immigration — was part of the two-track strategy that Republicans agreed to earlier this month to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, whose funding lapsed on Feb. 14. Bloomberg [4/29/2026 10:43 PM, Erik Wasson, 18082K] reports that the progress came as the White House told Congress it’ll be unable to pay most DHS workers starting in May after a fund it tapped to make April payments runs dry. That could prompt delays at airports because of screeners calling in sick, the administration warned in a memo this week. Johnson, with the backing of President Donald Trump, is executing a complex strategy to fund the department while quelling a rebellion in his ranks. “We will get the job done,” Johnson said before the vote. The first part involved cajoling Republicans to back a long-term funding plan outside of the normal appropriations process to pay for immigration raids during the rest of Trump’s term. With that part of the plan now in the works, Johnson is eyeing a separate bill Thursday that would finance the parts of the department outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through Sept. 30. That measure is a slightly tweaked version of Senate-passed legislation. The Senate is expected to pass the modified bill by a simple majority later this week. The budget plan aims to funnel $70 billion to immigration enforcement for the next 3.5 years. Conservatives had pushed for a wide-ranging bill addressing their demands for spending and tax cuts, but ultimately were mollified by promises to do so this summer. That legislation could include defense spending to cover the costs of the Iran war. Democrats have said they will not vote for new funding for ICE or Border Patrol without changes to agency tactics such as requiring judicial warrants to enter homes. The shutdown began Feb. 14 after Democrats filibustered a DHS funding bill covering all agencies in the department. ICE and Border Patrol agents have been paid throughout the shutdown using funds from Trump’s 2025 tax law and they would be paid through May even as Congress debates $70 billion in long-term funding for the agents. CBS News [4/29/2026 10:53 PM, Caitlin Yilek, 51110K] reports Democrats have argued that most of DHS could be funded immediately if House GOP leaders held a vote on legislation that the Senate passed with bipartisan support in March. In a memo to lawmakers on Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget warned that DHS "will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk." Mr. Trump had directed the department to find available funding to pay all personnel during the shutdown, but the memo said the administration will be unable to pay personnel beginning in May. Wednesday’s vote did not come without GOP infighting. What was expected to be a quick vote turned into an hourslong saga as some House Republicans launched a rebellion over an issue with an unrelated farm bill. Democrats have refused to fund ICE and Border Patrol without reforms. A divide between House and Senate Republicans on whether to split off funding for DHS components that are unrelated to immigration enforcement has further prolonged the impasse. An off-ramp appeared at the end of March, when the Senate approved a measure to fund most of the department, except for ICE and Border Patrol. Senate Republicans planned to then fund immigration enforcement through budget reconciliation, a process that allows them to pass spending bills without Democratic support.

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Reuters [4/29/2026 1:34 PM, Staff, 38315K] reports that a measure to open ‌debate on key legislation to outline funding for immigration enforcement operations and to ⁠renew foreign surveillance authority was approved in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The victory came after House Speaker Mike Johnson persuaded his ‌fellow ⁠Republicans to back the measure in an effort that kept the vote ⁠open for more than two hours. The final ⁠vote was 215-210 to go ahead ⁠with debate. The Washington Examiner [4/29/2026 2:49 PM, Hailey Bullis, 1147K] reports that the House voted 216-210 to tee up votes on an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the farm bill, and a party-line budget resolution to fund parts of the Department of Homeland Security. Given the narrow House majority and absences, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could only afford to lose one Republican vote on the measure. At various points in the hourslong vote, eight Republicans cast a no vote. The initial defections came from Reps. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Keith Self (R-TX), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Scott Perry (R-PA), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL). Johnson could be seen huddling with GOP holdouts throughout the vote as he tried to whip support for the measure. Luna was the first to change her vote to "present" after speaking with Johnson. She then flipped her vote to a "yes." The House Rules Committee approved the Florida Republican’s amendment for consideration on the House floor on Tuesday regarding pesticide liability labeling. Biggs and Crane were the next to flip from "no" to "yes." Following suit were Hageman, Perry, Nehls, Self, and Burchett. Both Hageman and Biggs are retiring to run for governor of their respective states. FOX News [4/29/2026 3:05 PM, Adam Pack, 37576K] reports House lawmakers approved a test vote teeing up a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for a vote on final passage as early as Wednesday evening. The procedural measure also includes a Senate-passed budget resolution funding immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term. GOP leadership held the vote open for more than two hours as they worked to flip dozens of conservative holdouts. In order to get the rule adopted, leadership agreed to punt consideration of a third piece of legislation known as the farm bill, which includes agriculture and nutrition priorities. Every Republican present ultimately voted yes during the marathon session in a major victory for Johnson. He could afford to lose just a handful of GOP defections given House Republicans’ razor-thin majority. The successful procedural vote came after a sustained lobbying campaign from the Trump administration and Republican leadership to sell GOP privacy hawks on an extension of the spy law. "It is imperative that Congress immediately fund DHS and its critical operations to protect the Homeland," the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote in a memo to Hill offices on Tuesday that was obtained by Fox News Digital. "Failure to pass the budget resolution will jeopardize paychecks for the DHS personnel that keep the Homeland safe."

The Hill [4/29/2026 10:41 AM, Julia Manchester, 18170K] reports that the Office of Management and Budget warned in a letter to lawmakers that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will run out of funds to pay employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other departments imminently if the House does not pass a DHS funding bill. “If this funding is exhausted, the administration will be unable to pay all DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security,” the memo obtained by The Hill reads. The memo called on the House to quickly pass legislation that would fully fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the remainder of President Trump’s term. “Congressional Democrats have abdicated their responsibility to fund the government, opting instead to shut down DHS in an attempt to protect violent criminal illegal aliens and undermine President Trump’s highly successful border security agenda,” the memo said. The memo comes after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned last week that the department would run out of money to pay federal workers through executive authority before the Senate is able to complete the time-consuming budget reconciliation process.

The New York Times [4/29/2026 3:32 AM, Jack Nicas, Maria Abi-Habib and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, 330K] reports U.S. prosecutors accused a Mexican governor and nine other current and former Mexican officials of participating in a broad conspiracy to help a powerful Mexican cartel import drugs into the United States in exchange for bribes and votes. In an indictment unsealed on Wednesday, Manhattan prosecutors said that the governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, had accepted bribes and help getting elected in exchange for protecting his state’s dominant criminal organization, the Sinaloa cartel, which has terrorized his constituents for years. Prosecutors alleged that the other current and former Mexican officials — including a Mexican senator and prominent mayor — had also taken bribes to shield cartel members from arrest and feed them information. In a statement, Mr. Rocha denied the charges as “entirely false and without foundation,” and said that they were an effort by the United States to violate Mexico’s sovereignty and attack its leftist political movement, which is led by President Claudia Sheinbaum. The indictment is the Trump administration’s most significant step yet in cracking down on the government corruption that it has said is at the heart of Mexico’s cartel problem. Mr. Rocha is the highest-ranking member of Mexico’s dominant political party, Morena, to be indicted by the United States. The move could drive a wedge between the U.S. and Mexican governments just as they are deepening cooperation on combating the cartels that have killed thousands of Mexicans and made fortunes by smuggling drugs into the United States. Mr. Rocha, 76, is a party ally of Ms. Sheinbaum and her predecessor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. As Mr. Rocha had faced intensifying accusations of corruption in recent months, he had been publicly backed by Morena officials. Ms. Sheinbaum has led an aggressive campaign against Mexico’s cartels, but it has mostly focused on criminal leaders and operatives versus the elected officials they have long been shown to corrupt. She has said that her government is rooting out corruption, including by uncovering major fuel theft and tax fraud in the Mexican Navy, but President Trump has said that more must be done. Mexican officials suspected the United States was preparing indictments against officials in the country after the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, gave a fiery speech in Sinaloa last week about corruption in the state, which seemed aimed at Mr. Rocha, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously to describe private conversations. Trade between Mexico and the United States “requires our governments to criminalize bribery and corruption and enforce codes of conduct for public officials,” said Mr. Johnson, speaking at the opening of a factory in Sinaloa. “We may soon see significant action on this front,” the ambassador added. “So, stay tuned.” After the speech, Mexican officials asked their American counterparts to warn them about any indictments they were preparing against sitting government officials so that they could manage the fallout nationally and within Morena, Ms. Sheinbaum’s party, according to these people. On Tuesday evening, Mexican officials received an extradition request from the U.S. government for “various individuals,” the Mexican government said in a statement on Wednesday. The request “did not contain sufficient evidence to establish the responsibility of the individuals” targeted for extradition, the Mexican government said, adding that its attorney general’s office was evaluating the request. Ms. Sheinbaum did not comment on the indictment on Wednesday. NBC News [4/29/2026 11:24 PM, Chloe Atkins, Tom Winter and Jonathan Dienst, 42967K] reports that prosecutors in Manhattan indicted the current governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, and nine other high-ranking government and law enforcement figures on multiple drug-trafficking and related weapons counts. Their cooperation with the cartel also allowed cartel members to carry out "brutal drug-related violence" with impunity, prosecutors alleged. "In exchange, the defendants have collectively received millions of dollars in drug money from the Cartel," prosecutors said. The government claimed the defendants worked closely with one faction of the cartel, the "Chapitos," which is led by the sons of notorious former leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán. Since Guzmán was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 and sentenced to life in prison following his subsequent drug conspiracy conviction, the Chapitos and the defendants have "perpetuated a narcotics-fueled cycle of corruption," according to the wide-ranging indictment. "The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement announcing the charges. "As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll.” Clayton also praised the Mexican government for its assistance in the investigation. The Chapitos helped Rocha Moya, who has been governor since November 2021, get elected by stealing ballots, as well as kidnapping and intimidating opponents, the document said. Before and after Rocha Moya was elected governor, federal prosecutors said, he attended multiple meetings with the organization in which he pledged to support the drug trafficking operation and to allow it to "operate with impunity in Sinaloa.” Those meetings, according to the indictment, were guarded by people armed with machine guns. Rocha Moya did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. He said on X that he "categorically and absolutely" denies the accusations. "To the people of Sinaloa, I say, with the bravery and the dignity that characterize us, we will demonstrate the lack of substance of this slander," he wrote.

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Reuters [4/29/2026 4:17 PM, Lizbeth ​Diaz and Natalia Siniawski, 38315K] reports Mexico’s Sinaloa State Governor ​Ruben Rocha on Wednesday denied U.S. Justice Department allegations of links to ​the Sinaloa Cartel, ​labeling the charges as ⁠politically motivated. The U.S. ​Justice Department earlier on ​Wednesday said it had charged Rocha and other current ​and former officials ​for their alleged involvement with the criminal ⁠organization. Rocha said in a post on X that the accusations ​would be ​proven ⁠false. He also characterized the ​legal action as ​an ⁠assault on the Morena political party currently ⁠in ​power.

FOX News [4/29/2026 6:00 AM, Alex Miller and Adam Pack, 37576K] reports Congressional Republicans entered the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown united — 75 days later, and they are increasingly at odds over how to end it. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is now floating a change to the Senate’s DHS bill funding most of the department after declining to put the measure on the floor for more than a month. The new demand comes as the department’s vital security role was spotlighted on Saturday when the Secret Service stopped a gunman from storming the ballroom where he allegedly planned to assassinate President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet. The Secret Service is among several agencies under the DHS umbrella that are currently operating without full-year funding. The assassination scare notably spurred Trump to demand that DHS funding, and the forthcoming budget reconciliation process, be wrapped up soon. Now, Johnson’s new tactic is to modify the Senate bill, which he claims "has some problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted."

Bloomberg Industry Group Bloomberg Law [4/29/2026 12:46 PM, Angélica Franganillo Diaz, 763K] reports Republicans have offered few details on how they’ll oversee billions of dollars planned for immigration enforcement, even as some in their party have pushed for more accountability measures. A budget resolution the Senate advanced last week would provide roughly $70 billion for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, boosting resources for the agencies leading the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. The proposal bypasses the typical appropriations process to provide three-and-a-half years of funding after Republicans and Democrats reached an impasse on annual funding in February. The plan would supplement the more than $100 billion the GOP already provided last year through a partisan maneuver called reconciliation. "There were lessons learned from the last reconciliation bill where oversight was not a robust thing," said Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), who leads the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. "Anything going forward’s got to have regular Article I oversight in it," he added, referring to Congress’ authority to monitor how agencies spend federal funds.

Washington Examiner [4/29/2026 9:53 AM, Hailey Bullis, 1147K] reports House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing a potential floor revolt Wednesday that could derail three major GOP priorities and bring the House to a standstill. The House Rules Committee advanced a procedural measure on Tuesday to tee up floor consideration of three separate bills: an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the farm bill, and a party-line budget resolution to fund parts of the Department of Homeland Security. But while Johnson was able to successfully get the procedural measure passed out of committee, he now must wrangle his entire conference to support bringing the bills to the floor. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) described the current state of affairs in the House as a "s***show," before correcting himself to call it a "crap show." To win over the holdouts, GOP leadership made a two-part deal with different GOP factions. For privacy hawks threatening to hold up a three-year extension of FISA, leadership agreed to include a ban within the spy powers package on central digital bank currency. To appease rural Republicans on the fence about the farm bill, Republicans agreed to allow the year-round sale of a gasoline ethanol blend known as E15. Yet, the deal-making has by no means assured the procedural measure will pass.

New York Post [4/29/2026 6:50 PM, Zain Khan and Jamie Paige, 40934K] reports Los Angeles does not have enough cops or the funding to properly secure the city for the Olympic Games, the head of the LAPD has warned. Chief Jim McDonnell said he fears the department could be stretched past its limits when millions flock to LA for the 2028 blockbuster. He pointed out there was "zero" specific fundings for his team, aside from the pooled budget shared by cops, the fire department and federal agents. His startling warning during a City Council Budget and Finance Committee hearing at City Hall on Wednesday as lawmakers scrutinize Mayor Karen Bass’s plans for the city. It also comes amid a heightened security threat across America and Los Angeles, as tensions with the Middle East and domestic threats at home plague the country. McDonnell said: "LA28 confirms that they have zero police or other safety budgets. While they do have a security budget, it doesn’t cover law enforcement.” He continued: "The funding that exists is for all agencies involved in the Olympics, not just the LAPD, and it will be restricted primarily to police officer overtime.” The warning means City Hall will be responsible for stumping up specific funds for the cops, while already drowning in a cash shortfall.

FOX News [4/29/2026 10:00 AM, Andrew Mark Miller, 37576K] reports Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is calling on multiple departments to investigate the gaps in oversight that allowed for a foreign national to fraudulently obtain a commercial driver’s license and possibly U.S. citizenship before allegedly causing an accident that killed an Ohio family. In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Moreno urged top federal officials to launch a sweeping probe into how the driver, Modou Ngom, was able to remain in the United States for decades while allegedly evading immigration enforcement and obtaining official identification under false pretenses. "Simply put, he is a criminal and should never have been in the U.S. in the first place," Moreno wrote in the letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, adding that the situation amounts to an "inexcusable failure" in a variety of areas. Ohio officials revealed last week that a semitruck driver charged in a fiery interstate crash that killed a young family of three fraudulently obtained an Ohio driver’s license, a commercial driver’s license and later U.S. citizenship under an alternate identity.

Breitbart [4/29/2026 11:58 AM, Sean Moran, 2238K] reports a federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration cannot obtain Arizona’s voter registration list as the administration seeks to ensure election integrity across the nation. Judge Susan Brnovich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on Tuesday said that the state’s voter registration list is not subject to requests from the U.S. Attorney General. Brnovich, a Trump appointed-judge, dismissed the case with prejudice because an amended complaint would be "legally futile." The dismissal follows after judges have ruled against the Justice Department’s attempted to obtain at least 30 states and the District of Columbia’s constituents date of birth, address, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. The Trump administration seeks the data to ensure states are complying with federal election laws and to check the citizenship status of individuals on the voter rolls.

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Washington Examiner [4/29/2026 8:00 AM, Ramsey Touchberry, 1147K] reports the SAVE America Act has silently been sidelined in the Senate after the GOP-led chamber turned to what it considers more pressing matters related to immigration enforcement and the nation’s foreign spy powers. Benching the federal voter ID and election bill, a procedural move that removed the proposal from official pending business, was required to advance the GOP’s $70 billion plan last week to end-run Democrats and advance a three-year funding framework for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But with no commitment to return to the SAVE Act, its state of limbo is what GOP proponents and skeptics alike say is the result of calculated maneuvering by Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and his deputies to satisfy clashing factions. Vulnerable members are insulated from casting a difficult vote to alter the filibuster and approve the House-passed measure, yet Republicans still used more than a month of floor debate ahead of the midterm elections to spotlight a component of President Donald Trump’s agenda that invigorates conservative members and the party’s voting base. "I think that was by design. But putting it on the floor was not without value," said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who’s advocated nixing the 60-vote threshold to pass it. "We were able to show Democrats are complete hypocrites in terms of being opposed to any form of voter integrity measures. So that was valuable."

Washington Examiner [4/29/2026 11:26 AM, Emily Hallas, 1147K] reports California is expected to hand over data about driver’s license holders to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, after facing threats from the Trump administration. The information given to the organization, whose governing board consists of Department of Motor Vehicles officials from across the country, will be entered into the group’s state-to-state verification system and platform to verify whether someone holds more than one license issued in their name, according to CalMatters. Sharing the data allows DMVs to verify that a person doesn’t have duplicate licenses in multiple states. The development has sparked fears from immigration advocacy groups due to concerns that the shared data will show whether the individual has a Social Security number, meaning it could be used to identify people in the country illegally, signaling they are deportable. Following a briefing with the California DMV and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) office earlier this month, four advocacy groups told the outlet that the Department of Homeland Security had threatened to decline California licenses and IDs at airports if the data were not shared. "Once this data is uploaded to AAMVA, it’s out of California’s control, no matter what California wants, no matter what protests we may make," Ed Hasbrouck with San Francisco civil liberties group the Identity Project, who was on the briefing call, said.

Daily Wire [4/29/2026 2:37 AM, Hank Berrien, 2314K] reports in an appearance that would make Machiavelli blush, Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker took to the airwaves to project the very authoritarianism he claims to despise onto his political rivals. Speaking on "Meet the Press Now," the billionaire heir didn’t just criticize the Trump administration; he essentially promised a long-term "lawfare" campaign against officials who dare to enforce federal immigration law. Pritzker’s rhetoric was nothing short of a declaration of judicial war. He accused ICE and CBP agents of "invading" Chicago and "tackling" citizens. But rather than focusing on policy, Pritzker shifted into the role of a vengeful prosecutor. He touted an "accountability commission" tasked with gathering evidence for future trials. The target list? High-ranking officials like Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, and Tom Homan. Pritzker’s chilling promise — "We are coming after them" — sounded less like a champion of due process and more like a man orchestrating a political purge. He admitted that while he might not have the power today, he is willing to wait years for a friendly administration to weaponize the courts against these individuals. The irony reached a fever pitch when the conversation turned to the recent assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. When asked about his own history of inflammatory language, Pritzker suddenly transformed into a paragon of "civility." He somberly lectured that "all of us need to be very careful about how we speak" and urged both sides to "bring the rhetoric down." He insisted there is a "big difference" between his prior calls for "peaceful protests" and the "authoritarian" actions of his opponents. Today on Meet the Press Now, JB Pritzker calls President Trump an "authoritarian, and if we are not pushing back every single day, then we’re doing it wrong.”

AP [4/29/2026 8:02 PM, Hannah Fingerhut, 2493K] reports three family members assaulted a journalist who writes for a conservative organization during a protest against immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. Christopher and DeYanna Ostroushko and their daughter, Paige, were each charged by a federal grand jury with one count of assault. The indictment additionally charges Christopher and Paige each with one count of interfering with a federally protected activity. Christopher Ostroushko also faces state charges of misdemeanor assault, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Attorneys for the Ostroushkos said they will mount a strong defense, emphasizing that an indictment doesn’t mean the family has been convicted of any crime. Community members have continued to protest in opposition to immigration enforcement efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration in the weeks since federal officers’ presence in the Twin Cities was dramatically scaled back. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has used the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling as a short-term holding facility, and the area out front has become a hub of anti-ICE activity. Widely shared video taken by Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez outside the Whipple building on April 11 begins with Paige blowing a whistle close to Hernandez’s face. Video from other vantage points shows Hernandez with her hand protecting her face, sometimes pushing back against Paige. The two then tussle.

FOX News [4/29/2026 8:24 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports TPUSA Frontlines’ Savanah Hernandez discusses a federal grand jury indicting suspects accused of assaulting her during an I.C.E. protest in Minneapolis on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [4/29/2026 12:57 PM, Tara Suter, 18170K] reports that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers engaged in a “campaign of organized brutality” after a recent massive federal immigration operation in his state. “For months, armed, lawless gangs roamed our communities in a campaign of organized brutality. Families lived in fear. Children were separated from their parents, neighbors from neighbors,” Walz said in his final State of the State address about the Trump administration’s winter effort to root out migrants in the country illegally from Minnesota and especially Minneapolis. “Minnesotans who had done nothing wrong were subjected to racial profiling and unlawful detentions. And for no reason at all, we lost two more of our neighbors: Renee Good and Alex Pretti. We gather tonight in the long shadow of all those tragic, transformative losses. And yet, the state of our state remains strong,” he added. In mid-February, White House border czar Tom Homan announced that immigration crackdown was set to end in Minnesota, following thousands of arrests, violent protests and the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. Homan defended ICE and Border Patrol’s work and pointed to a notable drop-off in agitators and cooperation with local officials and law enforcement as a measure of success for the operation. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

San Diego Union Tribune [4/29/2026 9:03 PM, Alex Riggins, 1257K] reports the city of El Cajon has sued the state of California over its so-called sanctuary laws, arguing that offering undocumented immigrants drivers’ licenses and workplace protections, as well as prohibiting local police from working with immigration agents, amounts to illegal enticement under the federal statute that outlaws human smuggling. The City Council voted 3-2 on Tuesday to pursue the litigation, which alleges in part that the El Cajon Police Department and its officers risk being held civilly and criminally liable under federal law if they follow California’s SB 54 and other state laws that limit their ability to work with federal immigration authorities. Though the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the legality of SB 54 in 2019, the lawsuit filed Tuesday challenges that law and others on different legal grounds. It alleges that California’s various laws offering some benefits to undocumented immigrants amount to a violation of part of the human-smuggling statute — U.S. Code Section 1324 — that makes it a felony when a person “encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.” The suit, filed in San Diego Superior Court by the America First Policy Institute, also alleges that California’s sanctuary laws are subordinate to federal law. “Under the Constitution, federal law is supreme,” Richard Lawson, the vice chair of litigation for the America First Policy Institute, said at a news conference Wednesday. “These sanctuary laws are designed to … frustrate and obstruct and defeat federal law … That’s what’s the legal issue at play.” Attorney General Rob Bonta, the named defendant in the lawsuit, said El Cajon “should prepare for another” legal defeat. Countering arguments made by El Cajon leaders and the America First Policy Institute on Wednesday, he said SB 54 was about promoting public safety, not undermining it. “There have been endless attempts to lie and gaslight the public about SB 54, but here’s the truth: anyone, regardless of immigration status, who commits a crime can be held accountable under California law. Period,” Bonta said in a statement. “SB 54 is a pro-public safety law that encourages witnesses and victims of crime to come forward and work with law enforcement. SB 54 has been upheld in court again and again, and we’re prepared to defend it from a baseless attack once more.” At Wednesday’s news conference, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells and Councilmember Steve Goble argued that El Cajon police officers have been restrained from doing their jobs and protecting the community because of SB 54. Wells said California is now “the worst state in the union” because of Sacramento politicians. “The first thing I think we need to do to reclaim our state, and bring it back to the glory that it once was, (is) to force the state of California to come to a reckoning with the rule of law, and to follow the law that is set forth by the United States Constitution,” Wells said.

Washington Post [4/29/2026 1:12 PM, Staff, 24826K] reports that the Trump administration last week made it easier to deport illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were children. That’s part of a broader effort that could send roughly 500,000 “dreamers” back into the shadows. For years, these immigrants have been protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which once enjoyed widespread bipartisan support. That’s because lawmakers from both parties understood that these young people are assets to the economy. DACA allowed them to go to college and pursue careers that might lead them to permanent legal status. That consensus is gone. During President Donald Trump’s first term, officials attempted to scrap the program entirely but were blocked in court. This time around, they are urging DACA recipients to self-deport and warning that they can lose their status at any time if they are arrested or commit a crime. Last week, the Board of Immigration Appeals, an administrative court within the Justice Department, went much further. It found that an immigration judge “erred” in using the DACA status of Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago, a prominent activist, as the sole reason to terminate her removal proceedings. While the decision does not necessarily mean that Santiago will be deported, the new precedent is an ominous sign for the more than half a million people who are allowed to legally work and live in the country as a result of DACA.

Houston Chronicle [4/29/2026 1:29 PM, Hudspeth County Judge Joanne E. Mackenzie, 2493K] reports that border security is not an abstract policy debate where I live. It is part of everyday life. As Hudspeth County Judge, I serve not only as a chief elected official, but also as the head of emergency management. When something happens, we are not reading about it later. We are in it — working with law enforcement, coordinating resources and supporting the families and landowners who call this place home. I see firsthand both the progress that has been made and the challenges that remain. Recently, I joined my fellow border county judges in sending a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Together, we represent 100% of the contiguous Texas-Mexico border. Possibly for the first time in history, every one of those counties is speaking with one voice. Not in anger. Not in politics. But in partnership. We are asking the Department of Homeland Security for a clear and practical partnership: consistent communication with border county judges, early coordination with local officials and landowners before major decisions are finalized, and flexibility in how border security is implemented across different regions. That includes ensuring reasonable access to private land, protecting water and environmental resources, and considering the real-world needs of agriculture and land management along the border.

Newsweek [4/29/2026 11:57 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing about 10,000 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints. The allegation was first published in a Substack article by The Punch Up, which cited an account attributed to a former law enforcement officer and suggested that ICE was dealing with a large volume of internal EEO complaints. EEO complaints are formal allegations filed by employees or job applicants claiming discrimination in hiring, promotion or workplace treatment based on protected characteristics such as age, race, sex, disability or religion. “This is FALSE. ICE is NOT facing 10,000 EEO complaints," a DHS spokesperson told Newsweek on Tuesday. DHS is responsible for overseeing component agencies like ICE. A 68-year-old retired Ohio police officer said he was accepted, trained and later removed from an ICE hiring process after being told he was “too old,” according to The Punch Up. The man, identified only as Doug, said he was later informed by two DHS officials that the agency was dealing with roughly 10,000 related EEO claims, though officials did not specify how many involved age discrimination. He said he received no compensation for training time and later filed EEO complaints against ICE and DHS seeking reinstatement or back pay. He also said an EEO official told him the agency was handling thousands of similar cases and raised questions about whether the age cap had actually been lifted.

New York Times [4/29/2026 6:10 PM, Tracey Tully, 148038K] reports the Trump administration on Wednesday sued New Jersey’s governor and attorney general over a state law that bars law enforcement officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing masks while on duty. The governor of New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, last month signed legislation that requires ICE agents to clearly identify themselves and prohibits them from shielding their faces during enforcement actions. Department of Homeland Security officials immediately said that agents would continue wearing masks despite the state law. On Wednesday, the Justice Department backed up that vow with a legal challenge. It is at least the second time the Trump administration has sued to overturn immigration policies enacted by Ms. Sherrill, a Democrat who has harshly criticized President Trump. The new suit argues that New Jersey’s anti-mask law violates the U.S. Constitution and opens agents and their families to online harassment and violence. The Justice Department filing also said that it was essential for ICE agents to maintain anonymity so that they could retain an element of surprise in “future enforcement.”

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NewsMax [4/29/2026 7:20 PM, Karen Sloan, 3760K]

CBS Philadelphia [4/29/2026 6:41 PM, Laura Fay, 51110K] Video: HERE reports a man from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, who spent months in ICE custody has been released. Carlos Della Valle, who spent 258 days in custody, was released Tuesday from a detention center in Louisiana. Many in the community rallied for his release after he was detained in August. Della Valle, who immigrated from Mexico, had lived in Chester County since 1997, where he and his wife, a U.S. citizen, raised their son. Della Valle and his wife, Angela, had an emotional virtual news conference Wednesday. "The reason that I’m here, that I’m still here, it’s because everybody, what everybody’s been doing for us … I’m just honored. I’m full of gratitude. I can feel the love," Carlos Della Valle said. He said he loves the United States and still hopes to become an American citizen.Supporters previously said Carlos Della Valle first fled cartel violence in Mexico as a teenager. His sister-in-law, Deanna Brown, told CBS News Philadelphia last year that he was caught in Colorado at age 19, and federal officials had him sign a document agreeing not to return. Brown said he did not have a translator at the time and did not understand what he was signing. "He did not speak English, so he signed this piece of paper not knowing what it was," Brown said. "And then they deported him, and he came right back, because he knew that he was trying to escape crime and poverty.”

New York Times [4/29/2026 7:45 PM, Christina Morales and Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] repots two teenage brothers from the Republic of Congo were living their version of the American dream. They were leaders on their high school basketball team and involved in their local church. The elder was weeks away from graduating. That dream was thrown into upheaval this month when the brothers were detained by ICE agents who had waited outside their guardians’ home in Diamondhead, Miss. Israel Makoka, 18, and Max Makoka, 15, were leaving to take the bus to school when they were arrested and later moved to separate facilities, in Louisiana and Texas, where they remained on Wednesday. Their detention has crushed the school community in their conservative small town. “I’m heartbroken over what’s taking place,” said Stacy Campbell, a history teacher at the brothers’ school, Hancock High in Kiln, Miss., who knows the Makokas. “They definitely do not deserve this. Some of the students are just starting to talk about it, and they are very worried. They want their classmates back at school.” The Makoka brothers entered the United States legally on F-1 student visas to attend the Piney Woods School, a prominent, historically Black boarding institution. But they felt unhappy there last year, so they transferred to a public school in their host family’s neighborhood. Before the teenagers transferred to Hancock High in August, a local lawyer advised their host family to become their legal guardians so that they could remain in the country. A judge granted the guardianship request. The staff at Piney Woods did not warn the family that the teenagers’ transfer to a public school would affect their immigration status, regardless of guardianship, said Amy Maldonado, the immigration lawyer representing the brothers. Despite doing what they could to follow the law, said Gail Baptiste, one of their guardians, nobody knew until the teenagers’ arrest last week that moving from Piney Woods had nullified their status. Hancock High was not allowed to host people on student visas, and the switch got the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The brothers are now facing deportation. “The kids did nothing — they did nothing at all — and we did not do anything intentionally,” Ms. Baptiste said. She later added, “We hope we’re given a chance to set this right, for their sake.” Government documents indicate that the older brother, Israel, was targeted by ICE agents because government officials believed his student visa expired in 2024. He entered the United States in 2023 under an F-1 visa, a temporary student visa, as a minor. Mr. Makoka only recently became a legal adult — his birthday was in March.

AP [4/29/2026 3:45 PM, Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, 35287K] reports Louisiana’s highest court could soon decide whether the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s longstanding immigration policy — which prohibits the office from holding people in the city’s jail at the request of federal immigration authorities — will be allowed to stand. On Tuesday (April 28), civil rights lawyers defended the policy before the Louisiana Supreme Court, while attorneys for the state argued it should be abolished as it violates a two-year-old state law targeting so-called “sanctuary cities.” The law, Act 314 of 2024, prohibits local law government bodies from adopting policies that limit the extent to which they can cooperate with federal immigration investigations and demands that local law enforcement comply with any immigration detainer requests. Detainer requests, typically issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorize local jailers to hold certain people — those facing potential deportation — in custody for up to 48 hours beyond their normal release dates in order to facilitate transfer into federal immigration custody. The law, enacted in May 2024, is in direct conflict with the OPSO policy, which was enacted more than a decade ago and stems from a settlement in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by two construction workers, Mario Cacho and Antonio Ocampo. It is not clear when the Supreme Court will issue a ruling on the sheriff’s immigration policy and Act 314.

FOX News [4/29/2026 3:39 PM, Robert Schmad, 37576K] reports Chicago-area officials released more than 400 illegal immigrants arrested on criminal charges amid the Trump administration’s 2025 immigration enforcement surge, public records obtained by a conservative legal group show. Illinois law generally bars state and local law enforcement from honoring ICE detainers or transferring people to immigration authorities unless presented with a federal criminal warrant. Sanctuary policies like those in Illinois have become a political flash point, drawing the ire of the Trump administration as it accuses Democratic governors of imperiling community safety by failing to hand over illegal immigrants. America First Legal’s data, which was obtained through a public records request, covers January to December 2025. Though Cook County released most of the illegal immigrants federal authorities wanted to apprehend, records show that the county transferred 86 jailed illegal immigrants to federal custody in 2025. The DHS spokesperson noted that some of the illegal immigrants held in jails may have committed serious crimes in their home countries that don’t appear in American records.

Blaze [4/29/2026 5:00 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1556K] reports an Illinois woman has admitted to paying for disgusting animal torture in order to distribute videos to members of "deranged" online chat groups, according to a press release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Amanda Leigh Fourez pleaded guilty in federal court on April 15 to charges related to distributing "animal crush videos" and receiving thousands of dollars in exchange. Fourez was a member of several online groups dedicated to "making, distributing, and discussing violent and sexual videos." The videos involved mutilating the genitals of adult and baby monkeys, as well as their being burned alive and other "atrocities." She reportedly acknowledged making at least 11 payments for others to create the videos and then distributing the videos on at least 10 occasions. ICE noted that another member of the depraved online groups pleaded guilty in February. Joseph Garrett Buckland of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, admitted to creating and distributing the videos of mutilating monkeys. Buckland is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 29 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the charge of conspiracy to create and/or distribute animal crush videos. Fourez is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 27 and faces five years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. She is a U.S. citizen and 33 years old.

FOX News [4/29/2026 1:24 PM, Adam Sabes, 37576K] reports that Jose Medina-Medina, the illegal immigrant accused of killing college student Sheridan Gorman in Chicago, pleaded not guilty to all counts on Wednesday during his arraignment hearing. Medina-Medina, 25, was arrested after he allegedly killed Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student, on March 19. According to the Department of Homeland Security, he illegally entered the U.S. from Venezuela in 2023, when he was apprehended but released into the country by the Biden administration. During his arraignment on Wednesday, Medina-Medina pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and illegal possession of a weapon. He also faces a federal charge of illegally possessing a firearm. Thomas Gorman, Sheridan’s father, said after the hearing that her death "was not just a senseless tragedy. It was preventable." "There were laws already in place, there were mechanisms already in place, and somehow they were not enforced in a way to prevent this from happening. This is not a policy debate, this is a failure," he said. "It’s an empty seat at the table. It is silence where there used to be laughter. It’s waking up every day knowing that your child is gone.” Medina-Medina was arrested in 2023 and charged with shoplifting after he allegedly stole just over $130 in merchandise from a Macy’s in downtown Chicago. He failed to appear for court hearings related to that case, and an arrest warrant remained active until the alleged murder.

Breitbart [4/29/2026 2:57 PM, John Binder, 2238K] reports an illegal alien, described in the media as a "Green Bay man," is accused of viciously attacking his ex-girlfriend and a man with a machete in Green Bay, Wisconsin. David Joel Herrera-Garcia, an illegal alien from Nicaragua, has been arrested by the Green Bay Police Department and charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault, as well as armed burglary. Police allege that on April 20, Herrera-Garcia entered his ex-girlfriend’s residence and began beating her before stabbing her with a machete. A man who was present at the residence was also allegedly attacked by Herrera-Garcia and stabbed with the machete. The woman suffered head injuries and lacerations on her neck and hands. The man suffered stab wounds on his shoulder, forearm, and shin. The woman identified Herrera-Garcia as the attacker to police, leading to his arrest. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now lodged a detainer against Herrera-Garcia, asking the Brown County Jail to notify them should the illegal alien be released from custody at any time. "Yet again, legacy media has gone to bat for a vicious criminal illegal alien allowed by the Biden administration to roam our streets and prey upon innocent people," the Department of Homeland Security’s Lauren Bis said in response to corporate outlets referring to Herrera-Garcia as a "Green Bay man.” "This is not a ‘Green Bay man.’ This is a criminal illegal alien from Nicaragua who barbarically attacked two people with a machete," Bis said. "The Biden administration marked this criminal illegal alien as a non-enforcement priority. Under President Trump’s leadership, ICE lodged an arrest detainer with our local authorities to ensure this monster is never released back into our communities.”

USA Today [4/29/2026 10:37 AM, Mateo Rosiles, 70643K] reports three Texas mariachi brothers — who were recently detained and released by ICE — are set to open for one of the biggest country singers at her shows in the Lone Star state.Kacey Musgraves announced Monday, April 27, on social media that Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18; Caleb, 14; and Joshua, 12 would be joining her on stage this weekend. As part of her Middle of Nowhere tour, the Texas native is set to perform at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels — north of San Antonio — on May 3, 4, and 5 with the brothers opening for her. The Gámez-Cuéllar brothers drew in national attention earlier in the year when they and their parents were detained on Feb. 25 after they appeared for a scheduled check-in with federal immigration authorities. According to previous USA TODAY reporting, the family entered the United States in 2023 through the Biden-era CBP One app and were awaiting their final asylum hearing that was scheduled for later this year. They were later released in March. Antonio and Caleb are part of the eight-time state championship-winning Mariachi Oro band from McAllen High School. But all three brothers will be on stage with Musgraves at one of Texas’s oldest and most iconic dance halls.

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Univision [4/29/2026 12:20 PM, Staff, 4937K]

Univision [4/29/2026 10:05 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports Gerardo Reyes has been detained for one month and fifteen days at the Hutto Detention Center , after being arrested along with his son by ICE agents in San Marcos. Although his son has been released, the father remains in custody and denounces inhumane treatment, claiming he is not receiving treatment for a dental infection. Given the severity of his condition, his loved ones are demanding that he receive adequate medical attention urgently. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [4/29/2026 1:10 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports that a former Parent Teacher Association board member in Texas was arrested by federal agents on Thursday for possession of child pornography, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News. Homeland Security Investigations agents, alongside the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, executed a search warrant at the home of 42-year-old Benjamin Milfelt. Law enforcement agents discovered more than 2,000 images of child pornography on Milfelt’s phone, the press release claimed. Corpus Christi Independent School District issued a letter to parents regarding Milfelt’s arrest, although he is not named in the letter. "CCPD notified Mireles of the situation involving the former volunteer, who has not been on school property since prior to the notification," the district’s notice read. "Out of respect for the important work of law enforcement, we cannot share any additional information." "This sicko was in several positions of trust with children of his community, including as a Parent Teacher Association board member and elementary school volunteer. He possessed thousands of images of child pornography," DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis alleged in a statement. "Thanks to the work of the brave men and women of ICE law enforcement, this disgusting criminal is off the streets and can no longer prey on innocent children. He now is being brought to justice for his heinous crimes against children."

(B) CBS Mornings [4/29/2026 11:25 AM, Staff] reports serious allegations are surfacing about conditions inside the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. Immigration advocates and the state claim detainees face dirty water, raw food, assaults, and denied medical care. A federal injunction had been filed to force access for investigators. The facility’s operator denies those accusations.

San Francisco Chronicle [4/29/2026 7:00 AM, Ko Lyn Cheang, 3833K] reports for a decade, this Vietnamese man has worked the same job, traveling the Bay Area to install and repair medical equipment. The breadwinner of his family, he said he supports his American wife and four children who are U.S. citizens. His neighbors, co-workers and friends know him as a devout Christian and proud father. Most don’t know that he’s facing the threat of deportation due to a 30-year-old conviction for a robbery he maintains he did not commit and for which he served almost 10 years in prison. He is one of many Southeast Asian refugees who were granted residency in the U.S. as children in the 1980s after fleeing the Vietnam War and Cambodian genocide. The Chronicle agreed not to name him, in line with its anonymous sources policy, since he fears deportation. Like many in his cohort, he never naturalized despite being eligible, not realizing the importance of citizenship. When he was convicted, his green card was revoked and he was placed in deportation proceedings. Green card holders can have their status stripped and be deported even over less serious crimes ranging from shoplifting to marijuana possession. Their cases raise the question of when an immigrant deserves a second chance in a U.S. immigration system that only gives citizens the right to remain in the country forever.

The New York Times [4/30/2026 3:32 AM, Ann E. Marimow, 330K] reports the Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared closely divided over whether the Trump administration could immediately end humanitarian protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians to live and work legally in the United States. President Trump has moved to terminate a program, known as Temporary Protected Status, that has allowed migrants from more than a dozen troubled nations to settle temporarily in the United States. His inflammatory language about immigrants featured prominently in the court’s arguments. The two cases before the justices involve more than 350,000 Haitians and about 6,000 Syrians whom the Trump administration has sought to expel from the United States, potentially forcing them to return to dangerous conditions in their home countries. The court’s ruling, expected in late June or early July, will also most likely have implications for immigrants from other countries whose protections the administration has sought to terminate, potentially affecting more than one million people. The president’s plan to end T.P.S. protections is part of his broader effort to crack down on legal and illegal immigration by strictly limiting the resettlement of refugees, cutting illegal crossings of migrants seeking work and denying asylum claims from people crossing from Mexico into the United States. In Wednesday’s case, the court’s three liberal justices posed tough questions to the administration, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson suggesting that the decision to end the program was racially motivated. They cited the president’s false accusations during the 2024 campaign that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, ate the pets of neighbors and his comments in December about Haitian immigrants being undesirable because they come from a “filthy, dirty, disgusting” country. D. John Sauer, the solicitor general, said those statements were “unilluminating” and were references to poverty and crime rather than race. He denounced “judicial micromanagement” of the administration’s foreign policy. Several conservative justices seemed to embrace the administration’s view that the text of the federal law that establishes the T.P.S. program makes clear that courts cannot second-guess the government’s decision to extend or to end the protections. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. acknowledged that the administration’s analysis leading up to its decision was brief, but he said: “It is always going to be possible to pick procedural faults in — to raise procedural objections to what’s been done,” and he suggested that the law required courts to stay out of it. After nearly two hours of arguments, it seemed that the court’s decision could come down to the votes of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who are often in the majority and asked probing questions of both sides. But any victory for the migrants could be short-lived, merely requiring the administration to revisit its decision to terminate the program for the two countries but allowing it to withdraw the protections after a review. CBS News [4/29/2026 1:00 PM, Melissa Quinn, 51110K] reports that the cases before the court, known as Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, stem from then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decisions to end TPS for roughly 6,000 Syrians and 350,000 Haitians. In both cases, Noem determined that after consulting with other agencies and reviewing conditions in the two countries, they no longer met the criteria for TPS. Syria’s designation was set to end last November and Haiti’s in February. Immigrants from the two countries had roughly 60 days from Noem’s announcement to when their deportation protections would expire. But TPS holders from Syria and Haiti filed two lawsuits challenging the administration’s terminations as unlawful, and judges in New York and Washington, D.C., agreed to postpone the effective dates. After appeals courts declined to put the lower court decisions on hold, the Trump administration sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court. The high court said last month that it would consider the government’s efforts to roll back the protections for Syrians and Haitians, but it left the programs for the two countries in place while it considers the case. Last year, the Supreme Court twice allowed DHS to revoke protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Venezuela, putting them at risk of arrest and removal.

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NPR [4/29/2026 6:04 PM, Nina Totenberg, 28764K] Audio: HERE
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Politico [4/29/2026 4:50 PM, Josh Gerstein, 21784K] reports the Supreme Court may block the Trump administration’s efforts to strip temporary legal status from more than a million immigrants. After about two hours of oral arguments Wednesday, it appeared possible that advocates for Haitian and Syrian immigrants with Temporary Protected Status might persuade a narrow majority of the high court that the Trump administration failed to take some required legal steps before terminating their deportation protections. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett seemed like possible conservative votes to join the court’s liberal wing and rule that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem failed to adequately consult with the State Department before concluding that it was safe for so-called TPS holders to return to their home countries. TPS allows immigrants whose home countries are ravaged by war, widespread unrest or natural disaster to live and work in the U.S. legally. Officially, the cases that went before the justices Wednesday concern only Haiti and Syria, but the administration has followed a similar process in each of the 11 other countries it has sought to terminate from the program over the past year or so. The rulings in the Haiti and Syria cases, anticipated by the end of June, are expected to have a broad impact in litigation over TPS for immigrants from other countries. Many or all of DHS’ consultations appear to have taken place solely through terse email exchanges. Before revoking TPS status for about 350,000 Haitians last year, a DHS official emailed a State Department colleague who replied just 53 minutes later: “State believes that there would be no foreign policy concerns with respect to a change in the TPS status of Haiti.” Lower-court judges have ruled that was too meager to satisfy the law’s requirements to consult on the prevailing conditions in the countries the immigrants would have to return to. But the Trump administration contends that a provision in the TPS law bars any lawsuit challenging how Noem arrived at her decision and is clearly intended to prevent judges second-guessing the secretary about such matters. “It’s almost like these district courts are appointing themselves junior varsity secretaries of State,” Solicitor General John Sauer told the justices. However, lawyers for the immigrants said Congress was only trying to rule out second-guessing of the secretary’s ultimate conclusion and was not giving executive branch officials license to ignore the law’s explicit requirements regarding consultation, timing and other procedures. Immigrant advocates appeared to be hoping for the same sort of victory they scored in 2019 when Roberts joined the liberal justices to block President Donald Trump’s administration from adding a citizenship question to the decennial census and in 2020 when Roberts again joined the liberal justices to stymie Trump’s effort to end the Obama-era program protecting so-called Dreamers from deportation.

NPR [4/29/2026 12:16 PM, Andrea Hsu, 28764K] Audio: HERE reports at 82, Rita Siebenaler has jumped into the fight over immigration. The granddaughter of Irish immigrants, Siebenaler has long felt those who come to the U.S. in search of a better life deserve a chance, too. "This is a way of paying back for that gift," she says. She’s seen their hard work up close. Siebenaler lives in an independent living facility in northern Virginia, part of the faith-based nonprofit Goodwin Living. Her late husband, a Russia specialist with the U.S. Army, spent his final days in the Alzheimer’s unit next door. "He had caretakers from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Haiti," she says. "And they gave him tender loving care." Among the team, she says, were individuals with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a special designation granted to immigrants already in the U.S. whose home countries the federal government deems unsafe to return to. People with TPS can stay and work in the country, but it is not a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship. Now, as the Supreme Court considers a case with potential consequences for the more than 1 million TPS holders whose status the Trump administration has terminated or attempted to terminate, Siebenaler has found her voice. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

USA Today [4/29/2026 10:28 AM, Lauren Villagran, 70643K] reports killers, leeches, entitlement junkies. Scientists, engineers, nurses. Behind the legal clash over deportation protections for Haitians unfolding in the Supreme Court is a long-running war of words to define the contributions – or the security risks – of one of the nation’s oldest immigrant groups. On April 29, the Trump administration will argue its rationale for ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in a case that could affect some 1.3 million TPS holders from more than a dozen countries. For the Haitian diaspora, the fight is the latest chapter in a long saga of the U.S. government targeting them for immigration enforcement, often in racist terms, dating back to the 18th century. There were fewer than 1 million Haitian immigrants in the United States in 2022, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank. Yet they have been a frequent target of immigration enforcement by both Republican and Democratic administrations for a half century. President Donald Trump’s focus on Haitian immigrants stands out for the dramatic ways he has tried to define Haitian people in the United States in an effort to justify their removal, immigrant advocates say.

New York Times [4/29/2026 9:20 AM, Hamed Aleaziz, 148038K] reports President Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to conduct mass deportations and undo Biden-era immigration programs. His efforts to dramatically alter the country’s immigration system began on his first day back in office when he banned refugees from entering the country, ended access to asylum at the southern border and canceled a program that allows migrants to enter the United States through a mobile app. It was just the beginning. Since Mr. Trump took office, his administration has targeted Democratic-run cities with aggressive immigration operations. It banned migrants from more than 35 countries from entering the United States. It tried to end the practice of birthright citizenship, hired thousands of new ICE officers, allowed the agency the power to enter homes without a judicial warrant and shipped migrants to far-flung countries to which they have no connection.

New York Times [4/29/2026 11:56 AM, Madeleine Ngo, 148038K] reports the Trump administration has criticized the Temporary Protected Status program for allowing migrants to remain in the United States for years, even though, as the name suggests, their stays are meant to be temporary. Many countries have had their T.P.S. designations extended repeatedly as previous presidential administrations determined that conditions remained unsafe for people to return home. But there have been instances in which T.P.S. programs have ended without much resistance, notably before President Trump assumed office. The administration’s push to dismantle the humanitarian program is facing a major test on Wednesday as the Supreme Court weighs efforts to end T.P.S. for Haiti and Syria. The law gives the homeland security secretary the authority to terminate T.P.S. designations without court review. Lawyers challenging the administration argue that officials violated proper procedures for assessing country conditions. They also contend that the terminations were politically motivated and meant to advance the president’s mass deportation campaign.

New York Times [4/29/2026 10:02 AM, Mattathias Schwartz, 148038K] reports as the Trump administration prepared to remove protections from deportation for more than 350,000 Haitians living in the United States, a government researcher privately complained that she was being ordered to manipulate evidence to support the move, internal emails show. Ashley Holland, who worked at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, wrote in a September 2025 email that she had received a “command” to include a claim that the humanitarian program, known as Temporary Protected Status, had caused more Haitians to migrate to the United States, despite a lack of “any empirical evidence.” The next month, the researcher wrote that her supervisor removed data from a report she was preparing that showed no Haitians were flagged in government databases as known or suspected terrorists, because it did not support the administration’s argument. The T.P.S. program allows the homeland security secretary authority to grant temporary refuge to citizens of countries affected by armed conflict, natural disaster or other catastrophes, if they are already in the United States. The law also allows the secretary to revoke the protections, provided the administration consults “with appropriate agencies” and prepares a report, evaluating that conditions have changed in a country such that the protections are no longer needed. As part of compiling that report, the emails show that Ms. Holland warned that manipulating the data “is not our job and will open us — and the Haiti decision — up to litigation.”

Newsweek [4/29/2026 11:02 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports new immigration fee rules set to take effect next month could lead to asylum seekers facing losses of work permits, rejection of cases or even deportation. The move by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) codifies new rules requiring asylum applicants to pay an annual fee while cases are pending, with nonpayment leading to application rejections. The rule is part of President Donald Trump and his administration’s moves to overhaul the American immigration system, one of his sweeping campaign promises in his run for a second stint in the White House. Trump has moved to restrict legal immigration pathways and increase costs systemwide, imposing higher fees for asylum seekers and other applicants as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Measures now being implemented through federal rulemaking link payment compliance more directly to legal status and work authorization, marking a shift toward a fee-based enforcement mechanism within the immigration process. The changes apply to both pending and future asylum applicants. Federal data show more than 1.4 million pending affirmative asylum cases, with total applications across the system exceeding 2 million. Ricky Murray, a former senior USCIS official, said that the rule effectively turns fee payment into a high-stakes compliance trigger. "That’s an extraordinary level of severity for what is, at the core, a fee issue. This is not a merits-based determination. In fact, in many ways, this allows the government to dispose of cases without ever reaching the substance and facts of the asylum case," Murray told Newsweek.

Bloomberg Law [4/29/2026 6:39 PM, John Woolley, 50K] reports a Trump administration rule ending automatic extensions for work permits overcame a congressional challenge Thursday. The Senate rejected, 47-50, a motion to take up a resolution (S. J. Res. 99) that would have repealed the Department of Homeland Security’s interim final rule using the Congressional Review Act. The law allows lawmakers to overturn regulations with a simple majority and enables the minority party to force votes in the Senate.

Washington Post [4/29/2026 1:58 PM, Meryl Kornfield, 24826K] reports that in the months since President Donald Trump launched a special “gold card” visa that would grant citizenship to people willing to pay $1 million, his administration has touted the program as a success. The president has called it a “green card on steroids,” and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed the program has brought in $1.3 billion in revenue. But in a new legal filing, the White House admitted that only a small pool of people have even started the process, let alone paid the government. In the court document, the administration said it has received 338 requests for the gold card visa and, of those people, 165 have actually paid the nonrefundable $15,000 filing fee to move forward. Just 59 people have moved on to the subsequent step of filling out paperwork from the Department of Homeland Security. When he announced the program in December, Trump touted it as a way for wealthy people to gain entry into the United States, for American companies to recruit top talent and for the country to reduce its debt. “Quite a beautiful thing,” Trump said, holding up a gilded card featuring his face. “Just in a few days, you’ve taken in over a billion and a half dollars. That gold card all goes toward reducing debt. Goes into the treasury.” In the filing, the government’s attorneys said the wealthy individuals and companies will not get to skip the line, as the hefty payments do not guarantee speedier processing or take away slots from others applying for the same visa category without paying large sums. The administration was sued by university professors and others who argued that the gold card visa program illegally upended the EB-1 and EB-2 visa programs, which were designed to recruit extraordinarily talented immigrants. But the government’s attorneys said in the filing Tuesday that those immigrants could still get visas without having to pay the same lofty cost.

Univision [4/29/2026 11:25 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports that as of late June of last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recorded a backlog of 11.3 million cases. At the time, the agency stated that it was not only increasing security levels but also improving processing times. Three months later—on September 30 (the close of fiscal year 2025)—the number of cases had risen to 11,651,012. Processing times have also been affected. Renewing a permanent resident card, for instance, takes a minimum of 10.5 months. For an I-130 petition (adjustment of status) filed on behalf of a U.S. citizen’s spouse, the system indicates a waiting period of 62 months; meanwhile, for work permit applications filed by "Dreamers" protected under the DACA program, the system does not provide an estimated waiting time. Regarding applications for citizenship through naturalization, delays vary depending on the city where the application is processed. For example, in Atlanta, Georgia, it takes 10 months; in Chicago, 7.5 months; in Dallas, 10 months; in Kendall, Florida, 7 months; in New York City, 8.5 months; and in Los Angeles, 8.5 months. However, starting this week, neither the volume of pending cases nor the processing times will follow the trends observed over the past year. The reason? USCIS has confirmed that, due to the implementation of new security policies, it will continue to process applications for benefits; however, it warns of "delays" in adjudications—a change that has put millions of immigrants, both inside and outside the United States, on alert.

Newsweek [4/29/2026 10:41 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports the Trump administration has reportedly reversed the deportation of a Texas-based immigrant who was removed to Honduras earlier this year despite holding active protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. José Contreras Diaz, 30, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a routine check-in in January and placed into removal proceedings shortly afterward, MS Now reported. He is now expected to return to the United States after federal officials indicated he would be permitted reentry into the country. Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates have previously accused the Trump administration of working to weaken the DACA program, with a group of senators saying the government has been "lying to the American people about its treatment of Dreamers." In a statement to Newsweek, a DHS spokesperson described Contreras Diaz as "an illegal alien from Honduras," adding that DACA did not "confer any form of legal status in this country."

Blaze [4/29/2026 6:25 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1556K] reports a pregnancy center is accused of facilitating the birth of children to Chinese nationals in order to take advantage of current birthright citizenship laws, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton said the De’Ai Postpartum Care Center was violating Texas law by "unlawfully facilitating the invasion of Chinese nationals into Texas for the sole purpose of birthing children.” ‘Birthright citizenship is a scam that threatens national security, and I will do everything in my power to stop unlawful "birth tourism" schemes like this one.’. The proprietors of the center bragged on Chinese social media platforms and websites that they had overseen the births of "1,000+ American-born babies," according to Paxton. The investigation found that the center was operating in at least four locations that hosted mulitple families at each site and faciliated up to 20 births per day. The sites were identified in Sugar Land, Houston, Richmond, and Rosenberg. The company also allegedly coached its Chinese clients on how to evade immigration laws when seeking visas and citizenship for the children and their families. "America is for Americans, not foreigners trying to cheat the system to claim citizenship," reads a statement from Paxton. "The Center’s scheme not only facilitated an invasion of Texas, but it also involved shielding and facilitating violations of immigration law," he added. "Birthright citizenship is a scam that threatens national security, and I will do everything in my power to stop unlawful ‘birth tourism’ schemes like this one.” Paxton accused the business operators of "deceptive trade practices, tampering with governmental records, unlawful harboring and concealment, and other violations of Texas law.” The issue of birthright citizenship is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court after the Trump administration ordered government offices to no longer recognize the citizenship rights of children born to foreigners on U.S. soil. Critics have accused the administration of being motivated by racism and xenophobia, but opponents of birthright citizenship argue that years of precedence is based on a faulty understanding of the 13th Amendment. "There is a tourism industry surrounding this whole birthright citizenship. Women come here before they give birth so that they can just give birth here, and then their babies become United States citizens," said Sara Gonzales of "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered" on BlazeTV. "That’s nuts, and to [Trump’s] point, nobody else does this.” Paxton is locked in a tight race with incumbent Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican nomination for one of the U.S. Senate seats from Texas. President Donald Trump has threatened to choose between the two candidates in order to quell the competition and lessen the chances of the seat falling into Democratic control and tipping the balance of the Senate.

Reuters [4/29/2026 5:28 PM, Padmanabhan Ananthan] reports the Trump administration is expected to issue the first tariff refunds by around May 11, according to ​an order filed on Tuesday in the U.S. Court of International Trade, more than two months after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed the sweeping duties illegal. About 21% of entries ​subject to the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic ​Powers Act (IEEPA) have been accepted for removal of ⁠duties through a new process known as CAPE, ​or Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, Judge Richard Eaton ​said in the order. Eaton, who is overseeing the refund process, said about 3% of IEEPA entries have been liquidated through CAPE ​and are in the refund stage, which includes ​issuance of payments by the U.S. Treasury. About 1.74 million accepted entries ​had been ​liquidated and ⁠were in the refund process as of April 26, the filing said. The refund process could ​cover about $166 billion in duties paid by ​more ⁠than 330,000 importers on roughly 53 million entries, according to court documents.

HS Today [4/29/2026 4:25 AM, Matt Seldon, 38K] reports that the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) observed National Fentanyl Awareness Day on Wednesday by remembering the lives that the illicit drug has destroyed and by honoring the men and women who are seizing this deadly poison before it enters our communities and kills Americans. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often laced in other illicit drugs and has an extremely high potency – between 50 and 100 times the strength of morphine – with rapid effects for users. Since President Trump returned to office in January of 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized 12,743 pounds of fentanyl. A powerful reason for officers and agents’ laser-focused attention to securing our border and combatting fentanyl is Angel Mothers like Anne Fundner, whose 15-year-old son, Weston, died after unknowingly taking a fentanyl-laced pill. In August, Fundner stood next to President Trump as he signed into law the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, which classifies fentanyl-related substances under Schedule I in the Controlled Substances Act. This legislation gives law enforcement agencies like CBP and HSI greater authority to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and requires stiffer penalties for traffickers.

Univision [4/29/2026 1:43 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports the Miami Marine Unit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that it intercepted a smuggling vessel and arrested 25 people. According to CBP, on April 26, at approximately 1:30 a.m., marine interdiction agents from the Miami Marine Unit stopped a vessel without lights detected by radar, 5 nautical miles east of Miami. The 28-foot vessel, operated by a suspected smuggler, was carrying 24 additional occupants of multiple nationalities, who were attempting to enter the US illegally. The occupants of the vessel were of Haitian, Romanian, Colombian, Bahamian, Moldovan and Jamaican nationality. All those detained were transported to the USCG Winslow Greisser Coast Guard Cutter for processing, and the vessel was seized. The case was referred to the Homeland Security Investigations office in Miami (HSI, Miami).

Telemundo 48 El Paso [4/29/2026 6:07 PM, Luisa Barrios, 19K] reports federal authorities dismantled a suspected stash house in El Paso, leading to the arrest of two people linked to a human trafficking operation and the location of several migrants, including minors. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, the operation was carried out on April 20 after executing a search warrant at a residence located on Bon Aire Drive. Prior to the search, Border Patrol agents conducted surveillance in the area and detained two individuals leaving the residence. They were identified as Edith Marie Dominguez, a U.S. citizen, and Gregory Jose Daniel Martinez-Tovar, a Venezuelan citizen with irregular immigration status. During the inspection of the residence, authorities found 10 adults and three minors distributed throughout different rooms of the property. According to the report, all the adults and one of the unaccompanied minors were in the country without legal status. The agents also reported that the place was in deplorable condition, with accumulated garbage and covered windows, characteristics that match the operation of a safe house used for human trafficking. Following the search, both suspects were formally arrested and charged with human trafficking. According to court documents, Dominguez allegedly participated in these activities for approximately a year, helping to transport migrants within El Paso and to Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as assisting them in evading inspection points. Authorities indicated that both detainees allegedly served as managers of the safe house. The case is being investigated as part of the National Security Task Force and is linked to a broader federal effort to combat human trafficking and transnational criminal organizations.

FOX News [4/29/2026 11:10 AM, Peter Pinedo, 37576K] reports that a 29-year-old Texas woman is now in custody and facing federal fraud charges after allegedly impersonating an immigration officer in a multi-year visa fraud scheme. Mayra Collins, a resident of Brownsville, a city on the far southern tip of Texas, is facing five counts of fraudulently posing as a federal agent with various agencies in 2022 and 2025, Acting U.S. Attorney John Marck announced. The charges against Collins are for two counts of wire fraud and three counts of impersonating a federal agent, according to local affiliate Fox 26. The DOJ said Collins first allegedly posed as a federal immigration officer. She allegedly falsely represented that she could expedite the process for obtaining U.S. visas and took money from four victims. In 2025, Collins also allegedly impersonated a Border Patrol agent with influence over the hiring of federal employees. She allegedly told one victim there were job positions available, but that they needed to send her money for uniforms and ballistic vests before beginning employment with Border Patrol. According to the DOJ, Collins "never worked for the United States" and "had no power to provide victims of her schemes with Visas or employment" with Border Patrol. The woman is now facing up to 20 years in federal prison for the two counts of wire fraud and another three years for the impersonation charges. She is also facing a maximum fine of $250,000.

Washington Times [4/29/2026 10:08 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports that Customs and Border Protection officers manning the San Ysidro Port of Entry from Mexico into California detected $2.8 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine in two busts this month. The first bust came on April 13 when a canine alerted to a Toyota Corolla coming through the rapid inspection lines. That prompted a scan, which led to an inspection, where officers found inside the vehicle panels more than 14 pounds of fentanyl powder, or enough to make more than 500,000 pills. The value of that shipment was placed at $764,727. The 22-year-old male Mexican driver was arrested. Six days later, authorities scanned a Honda Pilot and spotted anomalies in the vehicle’s roof. Officers then discovered 35 pounds of fentanyl, worth $1.95 million, and 80 pounds of meth, priced at $80,550. The 27-year-old female Mexican driver was arrested. "Smugglers use complex techniques to conceal dangerous narcotics like fentanyl and methamphetamine," said Mariza Marin, director of the San Ysidro port, who praised her officers and canine teams. "Their efforts directly prevent these deadly narcotics from reaching our streets and protecting countless lives." CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott told Congress earlier this month that curtailing illegal immigration at the border has helped the counterdrug mission. "The reduction in illegal immigration has resulted in tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands by now, of increased hours of enforcement time," he said.

USA Today [4/29/2026 10:53 PM, Thao Nguyen, 70643K] reports a 53-year-old man has pleaded guilty to impersonating a U.S. Border Patrol agent as part of an effort to "disrupt deportation missions" in Southern California, federal prosecutors said. Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez admitted in federal court on April 28 to impersonating a Border Patrol agent earlier this year and following immigration officers to divert them while they were conducting deportation operations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Prosecutors said Alvarez-Gonzalez is an undocumented Mexican citizen who overstayed his tourist visa, which he used "decades ago" to enter the United States. Alvarez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating a federal agent and three counts of illegally possessing firearms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 18 years in prison and fines totaling $500,000. Prosecutors: Man followed agent in San Diego neighborhood. Prosecutors said Alvarez-Gonzalez allegedly followed a Border Patrol agent while he was driving in a neighborhood in San Diego on Jan. 8. At the time, Alvarez-Gonzalez was driving a black Ford F-150 truck, a vehicle that is also used by undercover Border Patrol agents, according to prosecutors. Alvarez-Gonzalez’s truck had a license plate with "federal truck" written on the frame, but the word federal was misspelled, prosecutors said. The truck also had a Border Patrol sticker on the windshield, non-functioning radio communications antennae on the roof, a light bar on the dashboard, and handcuffs hanging from the rearview mirror, according to prosecutors. Alvarez-Gonzalez was also allegedly dressed like a Border Patrol agent, including wearing a face mask and a "thin green line" baseball cap, prosecutors said. According to a federal complaint, the agent who was being followed by Alvarez-Gonzalez believed the truck was being used by an actual federal officer and diverted from his mission to "deconflict" for safety reasons. When Alvarez-Gonzalez was confronted by other federal agents, he "shouted obscenities and demanded agents leave the community of Linda Vista," prosecutors said. Three more vehicles also arrived at the agents’ location at one point and began harassing and chasing them on the highway, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors accused Alvarez-Gonzalez of making a recording in which he said he was actively looking for federal agents involved in immigration enforcement. He allegedly narrated his encounter with federal agents on video and said he had brought in his "reinforcements," according to prosecutors. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Alvarez-Gonzalez on Jan. 14 due to his immigration status, and he was allegedly found with an FBI badge, prosecutors said. Further investigation revealed that Alvarez-Gonzalez was allegedly in possession of three illegal firearms, and authorities also seized ammunition from his place of business.

Washington Times [4/29/2026 8:22 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1323K] reports an illegal immigrant from Mexico admitted in court to a harebrained scheme where he was impersonating a Border Patrol agent to try to thwart federal agents from carrying out arrests and deportations in southern California. Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez drove a Ford F-150 he’d tried to make look like a Border Patrol vehicle, complete with a police lightbar on his dashboard, radio antennae on the roof, a Border Patrol sticker in the windshield, handcuffs hanging from the rearview mirror — and a license plate frame with the misspelling "Ferderal Truck." A Border Patrol agent who was assigned to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was, apparently, fooled when he spotted the truck behind him on Jan. 8. He diverted from his mission to "deconflict," or make sure he wasn’t working at cross-purposes with the Border Patrol.

USA Today [4/29/2026 4:25 PM, Drew Pittock, 70643K] reports viral scenes of travelers waiting in hours-long lines at the nation’s airports may no longer be the norm, but that doesn’t mean the Transportation Security Administration is back to its pre-shutdown shape. On April 29, TSA told USA TODAY that more than 1,100 personnel have left the agency since a partial government shutdown slashed its funding more than two months ago. Politico first reported the story on April 27. That number echoes an April 23 X post from the Department of Homeland Security titled "TSA: A workforce in retreat," which pegged the resignations at around 780 while noting the "number could climb." On April 24, however, newly minted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told FOX News the agency had "used all the emergency funds we could reach into." That money is expected to run out in early May. The ongoing congressional battle and stalemate over TSA funding risks continuing amid the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in several U.S. host cities coast to coast, beginning in June. According to the State Department, as many as 7 million visitors are expected to attend the U.S. matches. Even if TSA were to fill the 1,100 new vacancies tomorrow, the agency said training to "perform regular airport duties" can take upwards of four to six months.

Axios [4/29/2026 4:10 PM, Nadia Lopez, 17364K] reports people who aren’t flying can now go through security at San Francisco International Airport. Under a new program launched this week, the airport is allowing visitors without boarding passes to access post-security terminal areas. Visitors who apply to the SFO Gate Explorer program can pass through standard TSA checkpoints and move around the airport as if they were ticketed passengers.

The program, modeled after similar initiatives at about 20 other airports including Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, allows people to accompany travelers to their gates, meet them on arrival or spend time shopping and dining. Applications can be submitted online up to 30 days in advance or the same day. Applicants are vetted under TSA requirements and must provide their reason for visiting and personal information such as their name, date of birth and sex. Approvals are sent after midnight on the day of the visit. At the airport, visitors must show their Gate Explorer pass and a Real ID or passport, then go through standard security screening. TSA PreCheck or expedited lanes are not included. The program only applies to domestic arrivals and departures and some pre-cleared international flights from Canada and Ireland. Most international arrivals remain off-limits to visitors. The number of passes is also capped at 200 passes per day to avoid congesting security lines.

CBS News [4/29/2026 12:30 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K] reports that with hurricane season just weeks away, FEMA has officially entered a financial danger zone — forcing the agency to limit spending to only the most urgent, life-saving needs amid the partial government shutdown. The move, known as Imminent Needs Funding, is triggered when FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund drops below $3 billion. And the timing couldn’t be worse. "Disasters are unpredictable. They’re very costly. We don’t know what could happen between now and June 1," said FEMA Associate Administrator Victoria Barton. FEMA hasn’t stopped working outright, but the disaster agency must now sharply narrow how it spends federal disaster dollars — prioritizing immediate emergency response, direct aid to survivors and critical infrastructure protection, while delaying many reimbursements and longer-term recovery projects. FEMA’s funding strain also impacts the pay of its own essential workers. Roughly 10,000 staff — including permanent employees and disaster-response personnel hired under the Stafford Act — are paid out of the Disaster Relief Fund, even during a government shutdown. Those payroll costs alone run between $300 million to $400 million per month, according to congressional and agency budget estimates, which makes staffing costs one of the largest ongoing draws on the fund, even as FEMA shifts into its red zone. Even before formally entering that status, officials had begun slowing or selectively approving some payments as they approached the cutoff.

Bloomberg Law [4/29/2026 5:04 PM, Zach C. Cohen and Angélica Franganillo Diaz, 763K] reports the record-breaking partial government shutdown is depleting federal disaster preparedness stockpiles, threatening the government’s ability to respond to current crises or prepare for the next ones. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday it plans to prioritize lifesaving operations and pause anything that doesn’t fall in that category as its disaster response funding runs dry. "While FEMA will continue lifesaving and life-sustaining support, recovery efforts may be delayed until funding is restored," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. "Americans deserve better. Funding for DHS must be replenished as soon as possible.”

CBS News [4/29/2026 7:20 AM, Matthew Ablon, 51110K] reports three North Texas counties are now under a disaster declaration in the wake of strong storms that tore through the region over the weekend and into the beginning of the week. Gov. Greg Abbott issued the declaration Tuesday night for Lamar, Parker and Wise counties. A press release announcing the declaration said more counties may be added as needed and that Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to ask for federal officials from the U.S. Small Business Association to help conduct preliminary damage assessments. The release said the assessments will help determine if Texas meets the thresholds for different types of federal disaster assistance. "Texas stands ready to respond to the severe weather threats that continue to move across our state," Abbott said in a statement. "Because of the severe impact caused by heavy storms, I have issued a disaster declaration covering counties in North Texas and directed TDEM to work with our federal partners to make sure every possible resource is available to our communities. I encourage Texans to heed the guidance of state and local officials, regularly monitor weather conditions, and make an emergency plan to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.”

CBS News [4/29/2026 6:25 PM, S.E. Jenkins, 51110K] reports powerful storms, hail up to softball size and multiple tornadoes tore through North Texas on Tuesday, causing serious damage, injuries and widespread power outages. As of Wednesday, nine tornadoes occurred in North Texas between Saturday and Tuesday night. Tuesday, there was an EF-3 tornado in Mineral Wells with winds up to 145 mph, three tornadoes in Johnson County, an EF-U tornado in Montague County, 70 hail reports, with hail as big as just below the size of a softball, and seven damaging wind reports. There were also tornado warnings south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where the NWS will analyze damage as well. In Mineral Wells, several people were injured. This comes just days after at least two people died after devastating weekend storms. Saturday storms generated more than 100 reports, ranging from baseball‑size hail to 90‑plus‑mph wind gusts and multiple high‑water rescues across the metroplex.

AP [4/29/2026 5:21 PM, Julio Cortez and Russ Bynum, 1257K] reports vicious winds burst through the front door of Christopher Hester’s duplex apartment, then started ripping the roof apart. Hester and his wife grabbed their dog and ducked into a hallway to the sound of breaking glass, furniture hitting the walls and a howl like a monstrous vacuum cleaner. “It was kind of hard to see because of the debris,” Hester, 33, said Wednesday, standing amid the ruins of his home. “I was able to see the tornado. And all of my stuff go into the sky.” Officials confirmed that a tornado on Tuesday tore through this small Texas city, sending five people to a hospital as it flattened buildings used for manufacturing and ravaged nearby homes. Police and firefighters said they feared the worst when they first saw the damage in Mineral Wells, home to about 15,000 people. “We are most grateful for no loss of life in this event yesterday,” Mayor Regan Johnson told a news conference Wednesday. “When you see the destruction that’s here, you can tell that’s really amazing.” Hester and his wife searched through overturned furniture and scattered debris Wednesday for their two missing cats and any belongings they could salvage. Their roof was gone and the windows were blown out, along with the apartment’s front and back walls. “By the grace of God we are still standing here today,” Hester said. Allison Prater, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, said the tornado touched down in Mineral Wells with winds of at least 120 mph (193 kph). The weather service sent a team Wednesday to survey the destruction 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Dallas. Violent weather has been plaguing parts of the South and Midwest. Two people died in North Texas last weekend as thunderstorms spawned destructive tornadoes, and a Michigan man was killed on Monday by a tree that toppled in a storm.

USA Today [4/29/2026 6:30 PM, Brandi D. Addison, 70643K] reports a tornado that tore through Mineral Wells, Texas, late Tuesday, April 29, has been upgraded to an EF-3 as North Texas continues recovering from a stretch of severe weather that has included multiple tornadoes and at least two deaths in Runaway Bay over the weekend. The National Weather Service initially issued an EF-2 rating, but it increased in the afternoon after it was determined that winds reached up to 145 mph. The Mineral Wells tornado damaged homes and businesses across the city, destroyed structures and scattered debris through neighborhoods and roadways. Impacts were also reported near Fort Wolters, just outside the city. At least two injuries were reported, officials said. The National Weather Service is continuing its damage survey to determine the tornado’s full path and intensity. The Mineral Wells tornado follows a separate severe weather system that moved through North Texas on Saturday, when a tornado struck Runaway Bay, killing two people and damaging homes and infrastructure.

NBC News [4/29/2026 7:06 PM, Staff, 42967K] Video: HERE reports in Mineral Wells, Texas, a tornado with winds up to 145mph leveled homes and left five people injured. Across the South and Midwest, in the past 24 hours there have been more than 200 storm reports. NBC News’ George Solis reports from the storm zone.

USA Today [4/29/2026 12:51 PM, Brandi D. Addison, 70643K] reports in an active spring pattern marked by multiple consecutive days of severe weather across the Plains, a powerful tornado tore through Mineral Wells, Texas, Tuesday afternoon, April 28, damaging structures across the city and surrounding areas. The city is about 50 miles west of Fort Worth. Officials said homes were destroyed in parts of the community, with debris scattered across roads, parking lots and neighborhoods. Damage also appeared to extend toward the Fort Wolters area just outside the city. As daylight broke Wednesday, April 29, crews continued assessing damage across Mineral Wells while officials worked to secure heavily impacted areas. In response, the city implemented a curfew for those zones, effective until 6 a.m. Wednesday, with a nightly curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. remaining in place until further notice. The system follows another powerful round of storms that moved through the region earlier in the week. In Runaway Bay, at least two people were killed Saturday, April 25, when a tornado struck the community, damaging homes and infrastructure.

(B) Wisconsin News Now at 11 AM [4/29/2026 12:23 PM, Staff] reports that the British royals are visiting the United States. The shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner had officials taking a look at security measures. The Secret Service says the security plan for the royals’ visit was in place for month but tweaks were made following the shooting. The royal couple will visit the 9/11 memorial in New York today. The Secret Service says there is a multi-layered security plan in place, including a counterassault team and snipers. Agents admit outdoor events in New York are challenging to get the long-range threat.

FOX News [4/29/2026 1:51 PM, Alex Miller and Adam Pack, 37576K] reports that when a bullet grazed President Donald Trump’s ear, Congress immediately launched investigations into how a gunman was able to pull the trigger. Two attempts later, and lawmakers are now less interested in taking swift action. There have been few calls to hold hearings or launch probes into the latest incident as conspiracies swirl online after the third alleged assassination attempt over the weekend at the White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner. "I just happen to think it’s — for the most part, it’s a waste of time," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. "Security held. The guy didn’t get through. Wasn’t even close." Top lawmakers on the House Oversight and Senate Judiciary committees met with Secret Service Director Sean Curran this week for briefings, but have so far stopped short of calling for hearings or full-scale investigations. Two years ago, when a gunman tried and failed to assassinate Trump on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, two major bipartisan investigations were launched to address failures by the Secret Service and other agencies and find out how a gunman got so close to ending Trump’s life. And in the case of Ryan Routh, who was caught with a rifle in another attempt against Trump while he was golfing at his club in Florida just months after the shooting at Butler, lawmakers folded that investigation in with their ongoing inquiry into the first attack. Following the weekend shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner, where a gunman was foiled while attempting to enter a packed ballroom where Trump, his Cabinet, Vice President JD Vance and several journalists sat, lawmakers aren’t rushing to figure out what happened this time.

Reuters [4/29/2026 4:05 PM, Julia Harte, 38315K] reports a U.S. government court filing on Wednesday raised questions about officials’ initial assertions that a gunman shot a Secret ​Service officer while allegedly attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, fired a shotgun "in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom" where Trump, other administration officials and members of the press were gathered on Saturday night, according to the pretrial detention motion, which offered the government’s most extensive account yet of the incident. In the motion, prosecutors referred to an officer firing five times, but the document does not mention that officer or any ​other being shot. A spent cartridge was found in the suspect’s shotgun, according to Wednesday’s motion. The document did not accuse Allen of aiming at or ​striking the Secret Service officer who authorities say was shot in the chest but protected by his body armor. That contrasts with ⁠statements made earlier by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. It also raises the question of who ​fired the round that struck the Secret Service officer. Hours after the incident, Pirro told reporters that the suspect would be charged with "assault on a federal officer using a ​dangerous weapon," though that is not among the charges brought so far. Pirro has said Allen could face additional charges. Prosecutors did charge Allen with attempting to assassinate the president.

NBC News [4/29/2026 5:50 PM, Kelly O’Donnell and Tim Stelloh, 42967K] reports investigators believe that the man charged with the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump shot a Secret Service officer who was wearing a ballistics vest, according to three law enforcement officials familiar with the case. Investigators have determined that the Secret Service Uniformed Division officer was not struck by friendly fire from another member of law enforcement, the sources told NBC News on Wednesday. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, on Saturday allegedly charged a checkpoint one floor above the Washington Hilton ballroom where the president was attending a black-tie event for the White House Correspondents’ Association. Cole was caught on video running with a shotgun and other weapons. Officials say an officer was hit on his vest and returned fire. The agent was taken to a hospital but released over the weekend. Allen was charged with discharging a weapon but has not been formally accused of assaulting a federal officer. A law enforcement source said work continues analyzing Allen’s devices including desktop and laptop computers from his California home as well as his phone, laptop and hard drives recovered from his guest room at the Washington Hilton hotel. Allen, a teacher and engineer from Torrance, California, made his first court appearance Monday and was charged with the attempted assassination of the president, interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [4/29/2026 5:47 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51110K]

NewsMax [4/29/2026 7:15 AM, Michael Katz, 3760K] reports Secret Service Director Sean Curran on Tuesday praised agents who prevented a gunman from crashing the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton. Lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have called on the Secret Service to tighten its security protocols after the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, breached a checkpoint and tried to move toward the main ballroom before being stopped by law enforcement. The incident triggered a rapid evacuation of top officials. "My agents did a good job," Curran told CBS News after meeting with Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Curran was asked whether the annual correspondents’ dinner should be designated a National Special Security Event, which requires extensive federal coordination, like the State of the Union address or a presidential inauguration. "We’ll assess every event and see if that deserves the designation, but we’ll do it by a case-by-case basis," Curran said.

Daily Signal [4/29/2026 6:39 PM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 474K] reports Vice President JD Vance described his experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night, where a shooter attempted to assassinate the president and other Cabinet officials. "I’m sitting up there on the stage with some journalists and obviously with the president of the United States a few seats to my right, and there’s a lot of commotion. You kind of hear some loud noises," he told Fox News’ Will Cain on Wednesday. "I had no idea what it was. And before I had any idea what was going on, I started seeing people sort of duck under their tables or respond to what was going on far in the back of the ballroom. And then an agent comes and whispers in my ear, basically says, sir, we have to leave.” Vance said he heard an agent was shot and worried that the man was injured or worse. The agent was shielded by a bulletproof vest. "The thing that I really gained an appreciation for is the amazing job the agents of the Secret Service do," Vance said. "You saw they went right to me, they went right to the president of the United States. They put their lives in harm’s way.”

Washington Examiner [4/29/2026 5:03 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1147K] reports prosecutors omitted a previously cited injury to a U.S. Secret Service agent in a Wednesday court filing, adding another layer of uncertainty to the fast-moving investigation into the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the Washington Hilton. The 20-page filing, submitted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, urges a federal judge to keep suspect Cole Allen detained pending trial, describing the alleged attack as a calculated effort to kill the president during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The government’s latest account includes new evidence, including a photo allegedly taken by Allen in his hotel room shortly before the shooting. Prosecutors say the image shows him equipped with a shoulder holster, knife, and what appeared to be an ammunition bag, reinforcing their claim that the attack was premeditated. But the filing also marks a noteworthy shift in how the government is describing the shooting itself.

CBS News [4/29/2026 10:18 AM, Staff, 51110K] reports Robert McDonald, a retired supervisory agent at the U.S. Secret Service, joins CBS News with his take on the security protocols during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [4/29/2026 1:25 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 3760K] reports that newly reviewed surveillance footage raised questions about what happened in the seconds before a Secret Service agent opened fire on a shotgun-wielding suspect outside of Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The footage, reviewed by The Washington Post, shows Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, sprinting through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Cabinet officials were gathered. Allen appeared to raise his shotgun toward a Secret Service officer, who drew his weapon within seconds and fired multiple times. Authorities said Allen was not hit. The video reportedly does not show an obvious muzzle flash from Allen’s shotgun, though charging documents say officers heard "a loud gunshot." Authorities said the officer was struck once in his protective vest before he "drew his service weapon and fired multiple times." The Secret Service defended its response, saying its security measures are "rigorously tested" and "were critical in mitigating the threat and preventing significant harm." Allen faces federal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president, transporting firearms across state lines, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Monday that investigators found a used shell in Allen’s shotgun and believe he fired. But he was more cautious about the source of the round that allegedly hit the officer.

CNN [4/29/2026 2:55 PM, Harmeet Kaur, 19874K] reports that video from Saturday shows an armed man racing through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, one floor above the ballroom where President Donald Trump, top administration officials and journalists were attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Hotel security footage captured Secret Service officers drawing their weapons moments later, and a subsequent clip indicates that the intruder was captured before reaching a staircase leading down to the event. "It was a massive security success story," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on CNN’s "State of the Union." "If you think about what happened, as far as what we know right now, this suspect barely breached the perimeter." The one person hit by gunfire was a Secret Service officer wearing a bulletproof vest, who Trump told reporters was okay after a brief hospitalization. No one died. But the fact that anyone breached the "perimeter" even slightly has led to a new round of complaints and questions about the bounds of presidential protection: Did the "perimeter" at the Correspondents’ Dinner extend far enough? Though the perimeter did hold for the most part, lawmakers and law enforcement experts expressed concerns about why it didn’t extend further, as well as about Secret Service staffing shortages and personnel burnout, CNN reported on Wednesday. One source familiar with Secret Service operations said pushing the perimeter further away from the ballroom would have required additional staffing at a time when the agency was already stretched thin. Secret Service Director Sean Curran was recently asked the same question by reporters, saying, "There’s a reason, but I’m not going to get into that. It’s classified. I don’t want to get into why we do that, but there’s a reason."

Los Angeles Times [4/29/2026 5:05 PM, Kevin Rector and Richard Winton, 12718K] reports according to Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche and other top administration officials, the U.S. Secret Service did a fine job protecting President Trump and Cabinet members from the gunman who breached the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner Saturday. However, according to a detailed accounting filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in the criminal case against suspect Cole Tomas Allen, the performance of the nation’s preeminent protection agency was marred by inattentiveness and misfires and saved by "extraordinary good fortune" and the gunman falling to the ground. Contradicting a prior claim by Blanche that officers had "promptly tackled and detained" Allen, prosecutors wrote that the 31-year-old tutor from Torrance simply "fell to the ground" after blowing past a team of agents just two open flights of stairs from the ballroom. They wrote that one officer fired at Allen five times, but never hit him. Prosecutors said nothing about the Secret Service officer who Blanche said was shot in his ballistic vest during the incident — adding to speculation that the officer may have been shot not by Allen, but by a fellow officer, or not at all. In all, the court filing brought further into focus a chaotic Secret Service response that appeared flawed from the start, including in a video Trump posted shortly after the incident in which agents appeared to be idling around an unobstructed entrance when Allen ran past them. It added to concerns that law enforcement, security experts and members of Congress had raised about the performance of an agency that has been repeatedly called on to improve after previous attempts on Trump’s life.

New York Times [4/29/2026 4:32 PM, Campbell Robertson, 148038K] reports around 2 p.m. on April 6, officials say, Cole Tomas Allen opened the browser on his cellphone and searched: “white house correspondents dinner 2026.” There would have been plenty to read, about how President Donald Trump was coming for the first time and how his attendance was drawing protests from hundreds of journalists. He would have also found that the dinner was scheduled for April 25 at the Washington Hilton. Mr. Allen had apparently learned enough. About 90 minutes later, he received a confirmation email from the Hilton for the room he had booked from April 24 to 26. These details were included in a memo that prosecutors filed in federal court on Wednesday, arguing that Mr. Allen posed “an uncommonly serious danger” and should be held in jail pending his trial on multiple charges, including the attempted assassination of the president. Mr. Allen is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, where a judge will rule on whether to hold him in detention. The memo also provided the most thorough account yet of Mr. Allen’s actions in the days and hours before the attack, when, having given made-up excuses to his friends and family, he took a train across the country, “armed to the teeth” and set on carrying out an act “of unfathomable malice” in Washington.

Wall Street Journal [4/29/2026 5:42 PM, Mariah Timms, 646K] reports prosecutors released new details about the suspected gunman in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, saying in court filings that he planned the shooting for weeks in advance. Cole Allen, 31 years old, of Torrance, Calif., has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump, and two firearms offenses. Officials said he ran past a security perimeter and fired a weapon inside the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual dinner that Trump and administration members attended last weekend. One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest during the shooting; officials said Monday they were still determining who shot the officer. In a request to the federal court overseeing the case, the Justice Department on Wednesday filed a 20-page motion to keep Allen in custody indefinitely. Allen is expected to appear in court Thursday for a hearing on his continued detention. He is being represented by the federal public defender’s office, which filed an emergency motion Wednesday afternoon asking the court to order the D.C. jail to facilitate private conversations with their client. Attorneys said Allen was placed in full restraints and had to wait for nearly an hour ahead of the meeting, which was the first consultation they had with him, they said. The attorneys had to hold their end of the conversation in a public lobby, not a private attorney-client room that would be the typical location for the constitutionally-protected access to counsel under the Sixth Amendment, they said. The filing from the Justice Department details weeks of planning by Allen and includes new details on the timeline of the shooting. The court filing includes a selfie that prosecutors said Allen took in his hotel room shortly before the shooting. Wearing almost all black—a black dress shirt, black slacks and a red necktie tucked into his belt, a black-strapped watch and what look to be wireless earbuds—Allen posed in front of his hotel-room mirror with a half smile on his face. Also visible in the photo are a leather bag that prosecutors said held ammunition, a shoulder holster, the handle of a sheathed knife, and tools in a holster later identified as pliers and wire cutters.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/29/2026 5:17 PM, Ed White, 35287K]

ABC News [4/29/2026 7:16 PM, Bill Hutchinson, 34146K] reports following the alleged assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, federal officials issued a warning to anyone contemplating travel to the nation’s capital to cause mayhem. Since being appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in May 2025, Jeanine Pirro said her office has now investigated three incidents involving suspects who allegedly trekked long distances and across state lines by car or train to the nation’s capital to commit politically motivated violence. Authorities say the latest incident occurred Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel, which was attended by Trump, the first lady and members of his Cabinet. The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Allen, traveled from Southern California to Washington, D.C., by Amtrak train, allegedly with an arsenal of weapons packed in his luggage, investigators said. Cole was arrested after he allegedly charged through a Secret Service checkpoint just outside the Washington Hilton’s International Ballroom, firing "in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom," investigators said in the criminal complaint. "Let this be a message to anyone who thinks that Washington, D.C., is a place to act out political violence," Pirro said at a news conference this week. "And if you are willing to do so, with a firearm and cross state lines, we will find you, we will track your steps from the inception of your plan, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.” "When you look at recent mass shootings, where it appears that the suspect or defendant either traveled by bus, train, or by car, I think primarily there are two reasons that occurs: One, it’s a lot easier to transport weapons, guns or anything else illegal, or your own writings, things you want to keep private for now," said retired FBI agent Brad Garrett.

Wall Street Journal [4/29/2026 5:00 AM, Lydia Wheeler, 646K] reports how to protect the president in the event of a White House attack isn’t a topic the government typically wants to discuss in public, but Trump administration officials are offering an unusual window into national-security planning as part of their bid to save the construction of President Trump’s planned ballroom. The administration, facing a legal challenge to the project, has argued for months that the ballroom is necessary to protect the president’s safety. But a public submission to an appeals court this month raised eyebrows among former national-security officials regarding its specificity. In it, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll mapped out in detail how an underground bomb shelter would structurally withstand a precision drone strike on the White House. He also suggested that the president would be kept on-site in a bunker during a threat to national security instead of being evacuated. “Securing this reinforced subterranean node is essential to ensure uninterrupted command and control in place,” Driscoll said in a court declaration. Relying on evacuation of the president to an off-site location during an attack or global crisis is “tactically flawed,” he said. Some national-security experts said the amount of information the administration disclosed was surprising. “None of this should be openly discussed,” said Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent who agrees the president needs a secure location to hold events. “I’m a little surprised this wasn’t filed under seal.”

Breitbart [4/29/2026 6:28 PM, Staff, 2238K] reports former FBI director James Comey surrendered to authorities in Virginia on Wednesday after being charged with threatening President Donald Trump’s life with a social media post. Comey, an outspoken critic of the US president who faced other federal charges that were subsequently thrown out, posted a photo to Instagram in May 2025 of seashells arranged in the shape of the numbers 86 and 47 on a beach in North Carolina. Trump said this gesture was a coded threat. Comey faces one count of "willfully making a threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States" and another of making an interstate threat. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The former FBI director appeared for a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, where he did not enter a plea and was later allowed to leave. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking to reporters, said he did not know when Comey’s next court appearance would be. Blanche defended the indictment when asked if anyone who posted the numbers "8647" would face charges. "Every threats case is different," he said. "Every time there is a threat against the president it doesn’t necessarily lead to an indictment. "It depends on the investigation. It depends on all kinds of factors," he said. Comey apologized at the time for the Instagram post and said he "didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” "It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down," he said.

CNN [4/29/2026 12:56 PM, Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, and Katelyn Polantz19874K] reports that former FBI Director James Comey surrendered Wednesday to law enforcement before his first appearance in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Comey, who is charged with making a threat against President Donald Trump by photographing seashells on a North Carolina beach, was allowed to leave court with no conditions of release after a brief hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. "I don’t see why they’d be necessary this time," Judge William Fitzpatrick said, noting that there were no conditions set when the Justice Department first attempted to bring a case against Comey last year. Comey’s latest indictment, which was brought Tuesday, comes as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has picked up the pace in bringing cases that the president has publicly jockeyed for. The new case represents a reinvigorated effort to satisfy Trump’s demands to investigate his foes, including Comey, who he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to "weaponize" the justice system against him. Comey is now charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The charges were brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but Comey’s first appearance was in a courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia as it’s closer to his home. He was not asked to enter a plea on Wednesday. Comey’s attorneys, however, told the judge they plan to file motions accusing the Justice Department of selectively and vindictively prosecuting their client.

Federalist [4/29/2026 8:31 AM, M. D. Kittle, 540K] reports the leftist Wisconsin brewery owner who is promising free beer on the day of President Donald Trump’s death is on the minds of federal law enforcement officials, spokespeople from two agencies told The Federalist. As The Federalist reported Tuesday, Kirk Bangstad, owner of northern Wisconsin’s "progressive" Minocqua Brewing Company, has faced sweeping public condemnation for a social media post urging the next would-be Trump assassin to improve his "marksmanship." "Well, we almost got #freebeerday," Bangstad apparently wrote in now-deleted posts after a gunman stormed past a security post, set on murdering President Donald Trump and administration officials in attendance at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Federal prosecutors have charged Cole Thomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man reportedly radicalized in the school of leftist dogma, with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Authorities say Allen wrote a pointed manifesto detailing his hatred for Trump and members of his administration. He described himself as a "friendly federal assassin." Bangstad, who runs a suspect liberal super PAC that attacks Republicans, has long promised "free beer, all day long" on the day of the president dies.

CBS Chicago [4/30/2026 12:20 PM AM, Charlie De Mar, 51110K] reports the United States Coast Guard can’t pay its bills, and some personnel are seeing their water and electric utilities shut off, with funding to pay its people could run out as soon as this week. The Coast Guard is the only United States armed service affected by the partial government shutdown impacting the Department of Homeland Security. As more people are getting ready to get out on the water at home, it’s raising some concerns. The armed service is operating in a crisis—that’s the warning from its highest-ranking officer, who says its members need to be fully focused on their demanding missions, not paying their light bill. From risky air-defying missions to rescue boaters in distress to seizing millions of dollars in drugs from American waterways. The Coast Guard is even supporting the war in Iran. "The American people depend on us, and we provide a remarkable return on that investment, and we need that investment right now," said Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin E. Lunday. Lunday says the Department of Homeland Security faces serious funding instability caused by the partial government shutdown. CBS News’ Nicole Sganga sat down exclusively with the admiral and reported that over 6,000 utility bills totaling more than $5 million have gone unpaid. "In the last few days, station Channel Islands, California, had the power cut off. station, station at Michigan, Fort Huron, had services cut off. Our air station at Barbers Point, Hawaii, had natural gas service cut off," Lunday said. These are stations where our crews are standing by to respond at a moment’s notice to any mariner in distress or any threat to the nation. They launch 24/7, 365, and suddenly the lights go out, or they don’t have water." At a budget hearing this week, Admiral Lunday urged Congress to fund DHS and shared stories of coasties delaying medical care, going into debt, and living in financial uncertainty. "This is needlessly harming our people and hollowing our readiness," he said. "Americans will die if we’re not going to be funding this properly," said Dave Benjamin, co-founder of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. Benjamin teaches the importance of water safety. "We shouldn’t have coast members that are stressed out about rent and electricity and water having to get into a helicopter to go risk their lives to save a boater in distress in the middle of a storm," he said. The Coast Guard’s Great Lakes District said they are not authorized to discuss the lapse in payments. The exclusive sit-down interview with the admiral will be aired on CBS Mornings on Thursday.

FOX News [4/29/2026 3:18 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports the wreckage of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter "Tampa," which sank in World War I during the largest single American naval combat loss of the conflict, was recently discovered at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after more than a century. A British technical diving team called the Gasperados found the historic vessel roughly 50 miles off the coast of Newquay, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, resting at a depth of more than 300 feet. The volunteer dive team spent three years searching for the wreckage, eventually confirming its identity with the help of the Coast Guard Historians Office, which provided historical records, technical data and archival images of the ship’s wheel, bell, deck fittings and weaponry. The Tampa was lost on Sept. 26, 1918, just weeks before the end of World War I, when it was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine UB-91 in the Bristol Channel. All 131 people on board were killed, including 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy personnel and 16 British Navy personnel and civilians. The Coast Guard is developing plans for underwater research and exploration of the Tampa site, coordinating with historians, robotics and autonomous systems and specialized dive teams.

Reported similarly:
NewsNation [4/29/2026 5:33 PM, Zach Kaplan, 4464K]

CBS News [4/29/2026 8:56 AM, Staff, 51110K] reports the search has been suspended for five missing crew members of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon, authorities said Wednesday. Six people were aboard the 145-foot ship, called the Mariana. Divers on April 21 recovered one crew member’s body from the overturned ship. "We are deeply saddened to announce that despite widespread efforts, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our search for the missing crew members of the Mariana," Cmdr. Preston Hieb of the U.S. Coast Guard Oceania District said in a video posted online. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of the Mariana crew, as well as the entire Saipan community.” The search lasted more than 100 hours and covered an area larger than the state of California, he said.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/29/2026 8:48 AM, Staff, 35287K]

Federal News Network [4/29/2026 5:56 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1297K] reports cyber experts say staff cuts and other changes at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have left CISA less ready to engage with the private sector on critical cyber issues, even as lawmakers eye new steps to address increasingly important sectors like space systems and data centers. During a House Homeland Security cybersecurity and infrastructure protection subcommittee hearing Wednesday, witnesses focused primarily on CISA’s role carrying out sector risk management agency (SRMA) duties assigned to the Department of Homeland Security. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), the new ranking member of the cybersecurity subcommittee, pointed out that CISA has lost roughly one-third of its staff over the past year. CISA’s Stakeholder Engagement Division lost 96 of 189 staff since January 2025. "It’s ironic to talk about modernizing DHS as a Sector Risk Management Agency when Trump has been on a vindictive campaign to dismantle CISA, the very agency he established but started attacking the minute it became an obstruction to his interest," Ramirez said. The Stakeholder Engagement Division’s Council Management offices had supported CISA and DHS’s work with various groups, including the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC). The council had provided key authorities for DHS and CISA to work with the private sector on security issues, including cyber threats. But DHS eliminated CIPAC last year. A promised replacement for the council hasn’t materialized.

CNN [4/29/2026 7:00 AM, Hadas Gold, 19874K] reports OpenAI is expanding access to its most advanced AI models to help businesses and governments shore up their cyber defenses, a sharp contrast to rival Anthropic, which says controlling access to its models is the best way to boost global cybersecurity. The difference in the two companies’ approaches to cybersecurity mirrors much of the wider debate in the world of AI, where the technology has been advancing much more quickly than legal, regulatory and social guardrails. That’s left some companies to advance a philosophy of innovating as quickly as possible, while others have moved more cautiously, mindful of potential social harms. Until recently, OpenAI’s Trusted Access for Cyber program was limited to a select group of partners. But now the ChatGPT maker exclusively tells CNN it’s opening access to all vetted levels of government, from federal agencies down to state and local offices, giving those who are verified and approved access to special versions of OpenAI’s models with fewer guardrails. "We don’t, as a company, believe that we should be the sole determinants of who gets access to our tools and what is the highest priority," Sasha Baker, OpenAI’s head of national security policy, told CNN in an interview.

HS Today [4/29/2026 4:25 AM, Matt Seldon, 38K] reports U.S. service members stationed in Bahrain were directly targeted this week in a coordinated intimidation campaign that blended cyber intrusion, psychological pressure, and doxxing threats—highlighting a growing shift in how adversaries are engaging U.S. personnel overseas. According to Stars and Stripes, service members at Naval Support Activity Bahrain—home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command—began receiving WhatsApp messages on their personal phones Monday warning that they were being monitored and could be targeted by missiles and drones. The messages, signed by a group calling itself “Handala,” included links to the group’s website and appeared to originate from a Bahraini phone number tied to a local business, suggesting the number may have been spoofed or compromised. “Your identities are fully known to our missile units, and every move you make is under our surveillance,” read the text. “Very soon, you will be targeted by our Shahed drones and Kheibar and Ghadeer missiles. We will deal with you, the terrorists whose hands are stained with the blood of the Minab schoolchildren. We suggest you call your families now and say your final goodbyes.” The following day, the group escalated its claims, posting on Telegram that it had obtained and published personal information for more than 2,300 U.S. Marines deployed in the Persian Gulf.

Bloomberg Government [4/29/2026 4:08 PM, Angélica Franganillo Diaz, 111K] reports House Homeland Security Democrats are urging a hearing with Trump administration officials on counterterrorism efforts, warning that Congress lacks visibility into threats to the US. The request comes as the war in Iran raises concerns about retaliatory threats in the US and as the funding lapse for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes counterterrorism work, stretches into its third month. The push for a hearing underscores broader concerns about a breakdown in oversight of national security agencies, with Democrats arguing that the absence of regular briefings, public threat bulletins, and testimony has limited Congress’ ability to evaluate the administration’s counterterrorism strategies and resource allocation. Lawmakers pointed to the reported referral of a deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism to the Office of Inspector General over alleged misconduct, which they said could pose security risks.

AP [4/29/2026 7:48 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 34146K] reports a Romanian man was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison for organizing a wave of swatting calls and bomb threats against dozens of U.S. government targets, including members of Congress, cabinet-level officials, federal judges and the heads of federal law-enforcement agencies, according to prosecutors. Thomasz Szabo, 27, was a prolific participant in a dangerous form of online harassment that has become an increasingly common occupational hazard for public officials across the American political spectrum. Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of nearly five years for Szabo, who pleaded guilty last June to conspiracy and threats charges. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., also sentenced him to three years of supervised release after his four-year prison term, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office. "This administration will not tolerate attacks on the institutions and individuals who serve this country," Pirro said in a statement. In 2018, from Romania, Szabo began creating chat servers for him and like-minded users to engage in internet trolling. By late 2020, he had expanded his online activities to include swatting, which involves making hoax threats to provoke emergency police responses at targets’ homes. Others joined him in making the bogus threats. "Despite (or because of) the fact that they resulted in far greater harm to the victim and society, these activities offered much more entertainment value to the defendant and his followers, since swatting and bomb threats often resulted in an observable real-world impact," prosecutors wrote.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [4/29/2026 9:17 PM, Louis Casiano, 37576K]
Univision [4/29/2026 9:34 PM, Staff, 4937K]

Reuters [4/29/2026 7:44 PM, Nate Raymond, 38315K] reports the FBI said on ​Wednesday it had determined the suspected gunman behind December’s fatal mass shooting at Brown University ‌spent years planning the attack and was "driven by an accumulation of grievances that he collected throughout his life." The FBI’s Boston division detailed investigators’ assessment in a joint announcement with federal prosecutors in Massachusetts after concluding a significant portion of their ​probe into the accused gunman, Claudio Neves Valente. Authorities say the 48-year-old Portuguese national slipped into an ​engineering building on the Ivy League campus on December 13 and opened fire ⁠with a handgun, killing two students and injuring nine others. He went on to kill a Massachusetts Institute ​of Technology professor, Nuno Loureiro, in a separate shooting at his home outside Boston on December 15, authorities ​say. Neves Valente was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on December 18 at a New Hampshire storage facility following a manhunt. Prosecutors had in January released transcripts of video recordings Neves Valente made before his death in which he admitted to ​planning the attack. But prosecutors said he did not provide a motive for targeting his victims. Investigators have ​in the months since pored over thousands of files of surveillance footage, analyzed 815 videos and 1,327 audio files found ‌on ⁠Neves Valente’s electronic devices and conducted more than 260 interviews, the FBI said. The FBI said that Neves Valente in the recordings said he began planning the attack in 2022, when he first acquired a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire. The FBI said it determined he acted alone and his victims were "symbolic in nature," ​saying Brown University and Loureiro ​represented to Neves Valente "his ⁠personal failures and injustices he perceived were inflicted by others over time."

FOX News [4/29/2026 4:58 PM, Alexandra Koch, 37576K] reports the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts have concluded their investigation into the horrific December mass shooting at Brown University and the subsequent murder of an MIT professor, revealing that the lone gunman started plotting the attack as early as 2022. Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who lived as a legal permanent resident in Miami, Florida, carried out the December 13 massacre in Providence, Rhode Island, before murdering MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro in Brookline, Massachusetts, two days later. Two Brown students, Ella Cook, 19, and Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, were killed in the on-campus attack and nine other people were wounded. Valente, a former Brown student, studied physics with Loureiro from the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2001 before withdrawing from the program by 2003. The FBI confirmed the shootings had no connection with terrorism. According to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, Valente viewed his victims as "symbolic" targets. Struggling with long-term suicidal ideations, paranoia and an ongoing "failure to thrive," the unemployed former ride-hailing driver had an "inflated sense of self" and blamed others for preventing him from reaching his full potential. Valente, a former physics prodigy, used violence to overcome his shame and punish those he felt contributed to his downfall, investigators found. The FBI said the attacks were meticulously planned over several years in isolation.

Blaze [4/29/2026 12:47 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1556K] reports that Brian Cole Jr., the FBI’s suspect in the Jan. 5 to 6, 2021, pipe-bomb case, appeared before a federal judge on April 22 and pleaded not guilty to the two additional felony charges filed against him in a second superseding indictment. Federal authorities arrested Cole in December, accusing him of planting two pipe bombs, one outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters and one outside the Republican National Committee headquarters, in the hours leading up to the Jan 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol. The bombs did not detonate. A second superseding indictment, filed Apr. 14, included the original charges of interstate transportation of explosives and a malicious attempt to use explosives. It also added two additional charges: an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction and an act of terrorism while armed. If found guilty of these new charges, Cole could face a sentence of life in prison. The status hearing last week included an arraignment for the additional charges, to which Cole pleaded not guilty. Cole’s defense team requested early in the hearing to discuss setting a trial date, suggesting early December, according to the hearing’s transcript obtained by Blaze News. The government rejected the argument, stating that Cole had no pending indictment at the time the presidential proclamation was issued on Jan. 20, 2025. Prosecutors also asserted that the pipe bombs were placed on Jan. 5, 2021, and therefore were not related to the protest on Jan. 6.

New York Times [4/29/2026 6:31 PM, Charlie Savage, 148038K] reports a federal jury in Virginia on Wednesday delivered a mixed verdict in the trial of an Afghan man accused of helping plot a terrorist bombing outside the Kabul airport during the August 2021 American withdrawal. The jury found the man guilty of aiding a terrorist group but deadlocked on whether to hold him responsible for the deadly attack itself. The split outcome was a stumble for the Justice Department in its effort to hold the defendant, Mohammad Sharifullah, responsible for the attack outside Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport. The bombing killed 13 American troops and more than 150 Afghans. The terrorist group known as Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K — a foe of the Taliban and the United States alike — took responsibility for the attack. The jury unanimously agreed that Mr. Sharifullah was a member of ISIS-K, convicting him of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. But the jury deadlocked on whether there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt that his support for the group had resulted in death. Essentially, some jurors did not believe the evidence was sufficient to blame the Abbey Gate attack on him. The material support conspiracy conviction, by itself, carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Had the jury found that Mr. Sharifullah’s actions had resulted in death, he would have been eligible for a life sentence. The Abbey Gate attack became a symbol of the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in the opening months of the Biden administration. A bomber walked into a crowd of civilians thronging an entrance to the airport in the hope of fleeing the country during the Taliban’s takeover, then detonated an explosive hidden under his clothing. Pakistani security forces arrested Mr. Sharifullah near the Afghan border in early 2025. U.S. officials have said that the Central Intelligence Agency provided information about his location. President Trump trumpeted the arrest during his first address to a joint session of Congress during his second term. “Three and a half years ago, ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and countless others in the Abbey Gate bombing during the disastrous and incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “Tonight I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”

Reported similarly:
HS Today [4/30/2026 3:51 AM, Staff, 38K]

Washington Post [4/29/2026 5:33 PM, Katie Mettler, Salvador Rizzo, and Dan Lamothe, 24826K] reports that an Afghan man President Donald Trump described as “the top terrorist” behind the bombing of Kabul’s airport in 2021 was convicted Wednesday of a terrorism offense, but jurors did not agree with prosecutors’ claim that he played a role in the deadly attack. The verdict in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, was a rare setback for the Justice Department in one of the highest-profile terrorism prosecutions brought during Trump’s second term. Thirteen U.S. service members and about 170 Afghans were killed in the blast. The jury deliberated for eight hours over two days, finding that Mohammad Sharifullah was guilty of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) terrorist group. But they deadlocked on whether his offense resulted in the deaths at the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate. The Aug. 26, 2021, bombing of Hamid Karzai International Airport marked the low point of the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, during which more than 120,000 people were taken out of the country amid scenes of desperation and violence. Afghans desperately seeking safety had swarmed Abbey Gate, a key airport entrance. Just after 5:30 p.m., a catastrophic blast ripped through the area from a single suicide bomber, officials said.

New York Times [4/29/2026 7:56 PM, John Ismay and Megan Mineiro, 148038K] reports in his first major public appearance before Congress since the beginning of the Iran war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the biggest adversary the United States faced was not Iran’s military, but the “feckless and defeatist words” of Democrats and some Republican lawmakers. It was a preview of what turned out to be a contentious debate over the Iran war. The Defense Department’s nearly $1.45 trillion budget request was ostensibly the reason for the House Armed Services Committee hearing, but lawmakers made little mention of it during several hours of questioning. Mr. Hegseth offered a full-throated defense of “Operation Epic Fury,” which began on Feb. 28. Sitting next to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Jay Hurst, the Pentagon comptroller, Mr. Hegseth repeatedly stressed that the war was necessary because Iran posed an “existential threat” to the United States. The defense secretary grew testy during the hearing and mocked the questions of Democratic lawmakers, prompting a rare admonition from the committee chairman. Mr. Hurst said that figure is mostly representative of the tens of thousands of bombs and missiles used in the conflict. It was the first time the Defense Department has publicly provided a cost estimate for the war. The war has consumed a large percentage of the Pentagon’s longest-range conventional munitions, such as air-launched stealth cruise missiles and ground-launched Precision Strike Missiles.

AP [4/30/2026 5:01 AM, Staff, 35287K] reports the first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns. The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in early January. It also comes a month after the U.S. formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country. Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon. Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.

Wall Street Journal [4/29/2026 7:38 PM, Alexander Ward and Robbie Gramer, 646K] reports just weeks after President Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS” only to see ship traffic stall, the administration is now asking other countries to join a new international coalition that would enable ships to navigate the waterway. The effort, called the “Maritime Freedom Construct,” was spelled out in an internal State Department cable sent to U.S. embassies on Tuesday that called on U.S. diplomats to press foreign governments into signing up. The U.S.-led coalition would share information, coordinate diplomatically and enforce sanctions, according to the cable. It is the latest example of the Trump administration trying to restart the flow of commercial traffic through the strait, despite Iran’s efforts to lay mines and attack tankers that transit the chokepoint without Tehran’s approval. The strait’s future has become a key sticking point in stalled peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, leaving the vital chokepoint in limbo as anxiety climbs over spiking global energy prices. While Iran is targeting vessels that don’t pay transit fees to leave the strait, the U.S. Navy has imposed a sweeping blockade on all ships going to or coming from Iranian ports. The Trump administration’s request for support shows the U.S. wants other nations involved in the current and potentially future management of the Strait of Hormuz. “Your participation will strengthen our collective ability to restore freedom of navigation and protect the global economy,” the cable reads. “Collective action is essential to demonstrate unified resolve and impose meaningful costs on Iranian obstruction of transit through the Strait.”

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