White House Calls AOC 'Leader' of the Democratic Party
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The White House ripped into New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her stance on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while simultaneously referring to her as the "leader" of the Democratic Party.
Newsweek reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office via email Wednesday for comment.
Why It Matters
Since his inauguration on January 20, President Donald Trump has prioritized immigration as a key pillar within his administration. Trump utilized the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that grants the commander in chief authority to detain or deport non-citizens. The implementation was originally blocked in federal court and has since sparked a contentious legal back-and-forth.
The Supreme Court originally upheld Trump's implementation of the act, but it ruled that deportees have the right to challenge their removal in a proper venue before being removed.
What To Know
Ocasio-Cortez has revived her opposition to ICE, calling it a "rogue agency that should not exist," Fox News reported, citing a fundraising email obtained by the outlet.
The White House called out the lawmaker on Wednesday saying in part, "While President Donald J. Trump, his administration, and the heroes of ICE work overtime to rid our country of criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, and gangbangers, top Democrats are doubling down on their call to eliminate the agency responsible for getting these animals off our streets."
The statement went on to reference the reported fundraising email, quoting Ocasio-Cortez saying, "I believe that ICE, an agency that was just formed in 2003 during the Patriot Act era, is a rogue agency that should not exist."
It then refers to her as "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the leader of the Democrat Party."
"Where is the congresswoman's concern for her fellow New Yorkers who have been brutally killed, maimed, and raped by criminal illegal immigrants allowed to roam free due to New York's so-called 'sanctuary' policies?" the White House said, listing recent ICE arrests in New York.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends a markup meeting with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce committee in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2025.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends a markup meeting with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce committee in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2025.Democrats have seemingly been in disarray since losing the White House, Senate and Congress after the election. Uncertainty about which figureheads to support within the party has also eroded internal cohesion.
It is unclear whom the party will rally behind in 2028, as the field is wide open. Early polling, however, suggests that Ocasio-Cortez, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker are all potential front-runners.
What People Are Saying
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in the statement on Wednesday: "AOC, Democrat Party leader, calls for abolishing ICE. Meanwhile, the brave men and women of ICE get dangerous criminal illegal immigrants off our streets and protect American citizens. Why does AOC want to stop that?"
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter: "Democrats still want to CLOSE DOWN ICE and OPEN UP our borders. It's not going to happen. Under President Trump, our border is SECURE once again and with the One Big Beautiful Bill, we'll provide ICE with additional funding for 10,000 new ICE officers and more detention space."
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, last week on X: "TPS [Temporary Protected Status] allowed thousands of Venezuelan families who fled to the U.S. to live and work here legally. They are trying to do things the right way. Trump isn't cracking down on "illegal" immigration—he's taking away people's legal status and growing the number of undocumented people."
What Happens Next
It is expected that the Trump administration will continue to fight for its immigration policies in court as Democrats regroup following the 2024 election loss.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
19 minutes ago
- Politico
Washington reality check hits Sacramento
Presented by KEEPING SCORE: California Democrats are working to hammer out their moving target of a budget while keeping their eye on the storm clouds from Washington. As we reported this morning, Democrats are weighing potential revenue options to offset the state's $12 billion spending gap and are keenly aware that deep cuts in federal health care spending being negotiated in Congress would upend their plans. That tension became clear today as the Congressional Budget Office estimated the House budget plan would increase the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion within a decade — even after booting 7.8 million people off Medicaid nationwide. 'They can't throw enough people off health care to pay for this tax cut,' Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener told Playbook. If Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel's caffeine stack of coffee and Coke Zero is any indication, weary state lawmakers still face a fiscal climb as they oscillate between spending negotiations and hitting the Friday deadline to move their bills from one house to the other. 'The more we learn about the details of this awful bill the more concerned we become,' Gabriel said in a statement to Playbook. 'It is an absolute horror show that would have disastrous consequences for our state.' While lawmakers are busy circulating vote cards and feverishly pushing their colleagues to vote for their bills, budget drama is unfolding in the background. Gabriel has spent much of the marathon floor sessions off the green carpet in meetings with budget leaders in both houses that at least once stretched into the evening, necessitating an emergency pizza delivery. California was struggling to afford its health care programs even before the threat of federal cuts intensified. Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed capping Medi-Cal enrollment for the state's undocumented population following a years-long expansion that became far more costly than initially thought. Progressive Democrats are pushing hard for their colleagues to consider corporate tax hikes to help pay for those Medi-Cal benefits. Those involved in the efforts insist lawmakers in both the Senate and the Assembly are taking proposals to make wealthy individuals and corporations pay up seriously. In the Assembly, Democrats have circulated a revenue survey obtained by Playbook. It asks members their opinion on how the body should 'approach potential new revenue/taxes.' Lawmakers could select from three options: Playbook was still awaiting the results at the time of publication, if any friendly parties are interested in sharing them (wink wink, nudge nudge).IT'S WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY HIGH-SPEED SNAG: President Donald Trump's administration today announced that it's moving to terminate two grants totaling roughly $4 billion that were previously awarded to California's beleaguered high-speed rail project, our Sam Ogozalek reports for POLITICO Pro subscribers. In a letter to Ian Choudri, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Federal Railroad Administration blasted the state, saying the agency 'has no confidence CHSRA will ever deliver an operating high-speed rail system,' wrote Drew Feeley, acting FRA administrator. The grant cancellations would affect a planned portion of the line from Merced to Bakersfield. A spokesperson for the rail authority in a statement said CHSRA disagrees with the federal government's conclusions, calling them 'misguided' and not reflective of the 'substantial progress' made on the project. The spokesperson added that the majority of funding has come from the state, not the FRA, and that Newsom's latest budget proposal would provide enough money over the next 20 years to complete the project's initial operating segment. 'The Authority will fully address and correct the record in our formal response to the FRA's notice,' the statement read. IN OTHER NEWS SOLAR STANDOFF: The Assembly left solar advocates fuming last night when it suspended a procedural waiting period to advance a proposal that would reduce subsidies to legacy rooftop solar customers, our Camille von Kaenel reports for Pro subscribers. The procedural rule in question requires the chamber to wait a 'full calendar day' after any amendments in order to vote on a bill. But lawmakers suspended that rule to approve Assemblymember Lisa Calderon's AB 942, which she had amended Monday to exempt schools and farms. The bill is now in the state Senate. ANTI-RTO CAUCUS: Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover, Democratic Assemblymember Robert Garcia and 15 other lawmakers signed a letter urging Newsom to delay his mandate that state workers return to the office four days per week, which is set to start on July 1. Hoover and Garcia pushed the governor to delay the executive order until the state auditor can complete a study the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved after the governor ordered state workers back to the office two days per week last spring. They noted the potential for the mandate to 'exacerbate our budget shortfall and hamper our ability to protect important programs from devastating cuts.' 'Given the significant implications of the return to work order, we believe it is critical to fully understand the impacts of telework on our state budget and workforce prior to making a decision to reduce its use,' the letter said. WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY — The FBI arrested Daniel Park, a 32-year-old from Washington, for charges related to the bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs. (The Associated Press) — Yucca Valley resident Thomas Eugene Streval pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of making threats online to shoot President Donald Trump shortly after the 2024 election. (Los Angeles Times) — The San Jose City Council settled a civil-rights lawsuit on Tuesday with a $620,000 payout to seven people who say they were targeted and injured by police during protests related to the death of George Floyd. (Mercury News) AROUND THE STATE — The San Diego City Council approved an 18 percent fee hike for ambulance rides over the next three years, but they say those increases will mostly be paid by insurance companies. (San Diego Union-Tribune) — The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority ratified a new contract with their workers' union and awaits approval from their board of directors. (Mercury News) — San Francisco budget officials considered and then quietly discarded a plan to charge property owners $100 a year for their driveways. (San Francisco Chronicle) — compiled by Nicole Norman
20 minutes ago
Judge blocks private prison operator from housing ICE detainees at shuttered Kansas center
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- A judge on Wednesday barred a major U.S. private prison operator from housing immigrants facing possible deportation in a shuttered Kansas City area detention center unless it can get a permit from frustrated city officials. Leavenworth County Judge John Bryant agreed after a packed hearing to grant the city of Leavenworth's request for a temporary restraining order against CoreCivic, one of the nation's largest private prison operators. CoreCivic had claimed in legal filings that halting the opening of the 1,033-bed facility on the northwest outskirts of the Kansas City area would cost it $4.2 million in revenue each month. City officials said they anticipated the arrival of detainees apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was imminent under a Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration. Leavenworth isn't the first city where controversy has surrounded the reopening of a private prison as an ICE detention facility. In Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka sued the state's top federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his recent arrest on a trespassing charge at a federal immigration detention facility in that state, saying the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite. Scott Peterson, the city manager for Leavenworth, said he didn't know if the case in Kansas marked the first time a municipality had prevailed in court. 'I would point out that maybe the reason we have seen some success here today is this is not about immigration,' Peterson said. 'This is not about private prisons. This is about land use.' In late 2021, CoreCivic stopped housing pretrial detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service in the Leavenworth facility after then-President Joe Biden called on the Justice Department to curb the use of private prisons. In the months leading up to the closure, the American Civil Liberties Union and federal public defenders urged the White House to speed up the closure, citing inmate rights violations there along with stabbings, suicides and even one homicide. But with President Donald Trump pushing for mass deportations under a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigration, the facility that CoreCivic now calls the Midwest Regional Reception Center is in demand again. It is located just 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the Kansas City International Airport. As part of his crackdown, Trump has vowed to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from the budgeted 41,000 beds this year. Tennessee-based CoreCivic initially applied for a special use permit from the city in February but then withdrew that application the next month, arguing in court filings that it didn't need the permit and that the process would take too long. 'It became clear to CoreCivic that there was not a cooperative relationship,' said Taylor Concannon Hausmann, an attorney for the private prison operator, speaking in court. The city sued CoreCivic, the lawsuit claiming that CoreCivic impeded the city police force's ability to investigate sexual assaults and other violent crimes. The lawsuit contended that the permitting process was needed to safeguard itself from future problems. 'Just follow our rules," an attorney for the city, Joe Hatley, said in court. 'Go get a permit.' The first version of the lawsuit, filed in March in federal court, was tossed out in May on technical grounds. But Bryant sided with Hatley in the case refiled the same month in state court, finding that the proper procedures weren't followed. Concannon Hausmann, CoreCivic's attorney, declined to comment as the crowd filtered out of the courtroom Wednesday. Norman Mallicoat held a sign reading, 'CoreCivic Doesn't Run Leavenworth' as he left. 'I see this as basically a large company trying to bully a small city into getting what it wants and not having to follow the rules and ordinances of the city,' Mallicoat said.
Fox News
21 minutes ago
- Fox News
Senate weighs Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' as policy group backs CBO, projects $3 trillion debt increase
President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" is projected to increase the debt by $3 trillion, with interest, or $5 trillion if made permanent, according to estimates. An estimate of the House-passed bill by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects it would add more than $2.4 trillion to primary deficits before interest over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonprofit public policy organization. As of Wednesday, the national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors, was $36.2 trillion, and the national deficit, which occurs when the federal government's spending exceeds its revenues, was $1 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. The massive spending package being considered by a Republican-controlled Congress aims to address a number of issues, including tax policy, border security and immigration, defense, energy production, the debt limit, and adjustments to SNAP and Medicaid. "Based on CBO's estimate, the House-passed bill includes roughly $5.3 trillion of tax cuts and spending partially offset by $2.9 trillion of revenue increases and spending cuts," a CRFB statement said. "Most significantly, the policies put forward by the Ways & Means Committee would increase deficits by $3.8 trillion, on net, while the policies in the Energy & Commerce title would reduce deficits by $1.1 trillion. With interest, the bill would add nearly $3.0 trillion to the debt through 2034 – or $5.0 trillion if various temporary provisions are made permanent." "OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) would add far too much to the debt as written and could lead to far more fiscal damage than reported if temporary provisions are extended as intended," the group said. It noted that the bill would boost near-term inflation, increase interest rates, add unnecessary complexity to the tax code as well as weaken market confidence and slow long-term economic growth. It urged the Senate to make the bill "more responsible." Despite the bill passing in the House, some lawmakers have voiced opposition to the legislation, most notably Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. "We have never raised the debt ceiling without actually meeting that target," Paul told reporters this week. "So you can say it doesn't directly add to the debt, but if you increase the ceiling $5 trillion, you'll meet that. And what it does is it puts it off the back burner. And then we won't discuss it for a year or two." Top Democrats recently said the bill would cause the deaths of an estimated 51,000 Americans due to changes to the federal healthcare system and the broader reconciliation legislation. Also against the bill is Elon Musk, Trump's former head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.
