Tag: Kirstjen Nielsen

Vice-president Mike Pence said Donald Trump has yet to decide whether he will declare a national emergency over his demand for a wall along the southwest border – the key sticking point in negotiations over the partial government shutdown that has affected 800,000 federal employees. White House counsel is reviewing whether the president has the ability to declare a national emergency in the current situation, Pence told reporters at a media briefing on Monday. Trump threatens national emergency in 'next few days' over wall and shutdown Read more “What I’m aware of is that they’re looking at it and the President is considering it,” Pence said during the briefing alongside homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Office of Management and Budget acting director Russell Vought in Washington. But asked whether Trump has made up his mind on declaring a national emergency as a way to bypass congressional approval and move ahead with spending public money on construction of the wall, as the president has repeatedly threatened in recent days, Pence replied: “He’s made no decision on that.” Such a move would all but certainly invite legal challenges. As the shutdown stretches into its third week, the Internal Revenue Service announced on Monday that it would process tax returns beginning 28 January 2019 and would provide refunds to taxpayers despite the shutdown. The agency said it would be recalling some of its furloughed employees to process the filings. It is not yet known which part of the 1,989-mile border, which crosses four US states, Trump plans to visit or what he plans to do there. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the wall “immoral” and refuses to budge on providing taxpayers’ funding for it. As a first act, the newly-empowered House Democrats passed legislation last week to re-open the government while congressional leaders and the administration continued to debate border security. Senate Democrats are, meanwhile, threatening to block any legislation that does not reopen the federal government as a way to pressure McConnell to bring up a government funding bill for a vote in the Senate.

Happening Now: President Trump speaks to the press following his second meeting with Congressional leaders at the White House. Joining him at the impromptu press conference is Vice President Mike Pence, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and House…

Senator Chuck Schumer and other members of Democratic leadership reportedly interrupted DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she attempted to brief them on the situation at the border. White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley reacts to the bipartisan border wall…

Timeline shows final hours of second Guatemalan child to die in US custody Read more Early in December, Felipe Gómez Alonzo and his father, Agustín Gómez Peréz, left the family’s modest home in the mountains of Guatemala with dreams of starting a new life in the US. US authorities are investigating the deaths of Felipe and seven-year-old Jakelin Caal, but the circumstances which drove both families to risk sending their children on the long journey north are clear: the absolute poverty besetting swathes of rural Guatemala. “Felipe was happy to leave with his father,” said Alonzo in Chuj, an indigenous Mayan language. She said that both parents had agreed to let Felipe join his father, an agricultural worker, on his trip north. Gómez Pérez hoped to find work to pay off his debts and send money to the family. “We talked as soon as they reached the border,” she said, adding that Gómez Pérez called again the next day when the pair were already in border patrol custody. But for many in rural Guatemala migration is seen as the only hope for a better life. “People leave our village, find work in the US and send money to help their relatives,” said Pérez, who estimated about 200 people from the tiny village live in the United States. Before leaving Yalambojoch, Felipe shared a bedroom with both his parents and three siblings. Now, despite her son’s death, Alonzo still hopes he can remain in the US.

EMTs being deployed to help as DHS orders more thorough medical examinations for all children at the border; William La Jeunesse reports. #AmericasNewsroom #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as…

Expected live at 10:15 am ET. House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on Department of Homeland Security Oversight. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The…

Doug Ducey sets aside his reservations and names Rep. Martha McSally to the Senate seat long held by the late John McCain. A big piece of the establishment effort to sway Ducey played out Friday: a détente meeting between McSally and Cindy McCain, the late senator's widow. Mrs. McCain long has been disappointed in McSally, believing she was too quiet when President Donald Trump criticized Sen. McCain and then too willing to distance herself from McCain and his positions when she was a candidate this year for Arizona's other Senate seat. Several sources familiar with the GOP conversations in Arizona and Washington say the effort to broker peace, or at least détente, resumed after the election when interim Sen. Jon Kyl made clear he would serve only until the end of the year -- meaning Ducey again needs to make an appointment. Ducey was among those who encouraged McSally to meet with Mrs. McCain. Unless Trump strikes a deal with congressional Democrats, we're just a few days away from a partial government shutdown. Making things even harder for the GOP: Dozens of Republican House members who are leaving Congress may be in no mood to help the President. "One of the big uncertainties is will they have enough people here to vote. Democrats won women by 19 points this year, according to exit polls. And it really infuriated the Republican women in the conference," Bade said.

On 'Fox & Friends,' Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen assures that public safety is her top priority and gives an update on the current status of the caravan at the border. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing…

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen pushes back after a federal judge blocks President Trump's new rules for asylum-seekers; Casey Stegall reports from Dallas. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well…

Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) and Madeleine Carlisle (@maddiecarlisle2) Today in 5 Lines President Donald Trump is reportedly considering replacements for several senior-level administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Chief of Staff John Kelly. CNN filed a lawsuit against Trump and several White House aides, after the administration suspended CNN journalist Jim Acosta’s press pass last week. Trump named Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, to fill the seat vacated by Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hate crimes in America increased by 17 percent last year, even while overall violent crime fell very slightly, according to newly released data from the FBI. At least 44 people are dead, and more than 200 people are still missing, as the Camp Fire—now the most destructive fire in California history—continues to blaze through the northern part of the state. Today on The Atlantic This Is a Problem: President Trump appointed Matthew Whitaker to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week. ‘A New Kind of Centrism’: Even though they had some high-profile losses, progressives still see last week’s midterms as a victory for progressive thinking. (Elaine Godfrey) Young and Blue: The House of Representatives is an “unfriendly environment for rising talent,” reports Elaina Plott. (Lauren Tierney, Laris Karklis, and Tim Meko, The Washington Post) We’re always looking for ways to improve The Politics & Policy Daily.