Trump is ‘clearly afraid' of what's in the Epstein files, says Pennsylvania House Democrat
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NBC News
a few seconds ago
- NBC News
Republican super PACs bank millions ahead of midterm battles
Republicans are betting that they can defend their slim congressional majorities in next year's midterm elections, and the party's biggest donors are putting their chips on the table, too. New fundraising reports filed Thursday for outside groups show that GOP megadonors are engaged in the fight for Congress, steering $59.2 million to the main two super PACs involved in House and Senate races aligned with GOP leadership, Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, throughout the first six months of the year. The two major super PACs aligned with Democratic congressional leadership, Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC, raised $38.6 million combined. The GOP groups had $62 million left in their accounts as of June 30, while the Democratic groups had $35.8 million. And neither those figures nor the totals raised include all of the groups' nonprofit arms, which can also raise unlimited funds but do not have to disclose their donors. While Republicans may have an early advantage in the super PAC money chase, that doesn't necessarily mean they will be able to swamp the airwaves. Democratic candidates have typically raised more money directly for their campaigns than the average Republican candidate has in recent years, riding a wave of small-donor enthusiasm unleashed in response to President Donald Trump's first election in 2016. That candidate-to-candidate financial advantage pays dividends, since candidates can reserve television airtime at lower rates than outside groups. Still, the big hauls from Republican groups are a sign that the party's donors are tuned into the midterm battle ahead, with both groups raising substantially more than the first six months of 2021, the last midterm election cycle. That period was also marked by GOP donors pulling back from Republican causes after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. SLF, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, pulled in $26.5 million during the first six months of the year, four times the size of its haul at this point in 2021. CLF, which is aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson, raised $32.7 million, more than double its 2021 haul. The same group of megadonors — hedge fund manager Paul Singer, current United Kingdom Ambassador Warren Stephens, investor Mark Rowan and poultry businessman Ronald Cameron — gave $1 million or more to each of the groups. The biggest checks came from billionaire Elon Musk, who donated $5 million each to SLF and CLF on June 27, after he had left his role as a White House. Musk, who also donated to a pro-Trump super PAC, made his contributions before publicly musing about starting a third party in July. On the Democratic side, HMP saw a 50% increase compared to its 2021 haul, bringing in $21.2 million so far this year. But SMP saw a slight decrease, raising $17.3 million so far. And the groups drew from different big donors. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gave $1 million to HMP but not SMP, the filings show. And HMP also benefited from Democratic megadonors including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel. SMP, meanwhile, had million-dollar donations from software company founder Phillip Ragon, Olan Mills and real estate mogul George Marcus. Senate GOP candidates aren't just going to be boosted by SLF's significant resources; some will benefit from strong fundraising by outside groups specifically devoted to their elections, both in red and swing states. These candidate-specific Republican Senate super PACs have emerged to push back against the Democratic candidates' hard-money advantage. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the only Republican defending a seat in a state Democrats regularly win statewide, has overcome a big fundraising discrepancy before — her Democratic opponent in 2020, Sarah Gideon, outraised her $75.6 million to $27.8 million between 2019 and 2020, but Collins won that race by almost 9 percentage points. After outraising her top Democratic opponent last quarter, Collins' allied super PAC, Pine Tree Results PAC, reported raising $5.6 million in the first six months of 2025, thanks to some key seven-figure checks from private equity CEO Stephen Schwarzman and New Balance executive James Davis. In Michigan, home to what's expected to be one of the most competitive Senate races of the cycle, a group backing Republican Mike Rogers could help him combat strong fundraising on the Democratic side. Great Lakes Conservatives Fund, a pro-Rogers group, raised $5.1 million through June, virtually all from oil billionaire Timothy Dunn. In Texas, where Sen. John Cornyn faces a tough GOP primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, Cornyn is trying to counter Paxton's direct fundraising lead with a strong fundraising showing from outside groups. Texans for a Conservative Majority, a super PAC backing Cornyn, raised almost $11 million in the first six months of the year. And Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, who faces a primary challenge from state Treasurer John Fleming, is also getting an outside boost from a group called Louisiana Freedom Fund, which raised $2.5 million over that same time period.
Politico
a few seconds ago
- Politico
'Shoot the messenger': Democrats condemn Trump's call to fire BLS chief
'Instead of helping people get good jobs, Donald Trump just fired the statistician who reported bad jobs data that the wanna-be king doesn't like,' Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on X. Other Democrats likened Trump's demand to actions taken by totalitarian governments. New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich called the move 'pure Soviet shit.' Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that oversees the Department of Labor, said Trump's statement reminds him of 'what authoritarians do.' Sanders is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats. 'Today's jobs report shows what many Americans already knew: despite record highs in the stock market, the 'economy' is not working for ordinary people,' Sanders wrote on X. 'Rather than accept reality & try to address it, Trump chooses to fire the bearers of bad news.' The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some Republicans reacted warmly to Trump's call and agreed with the president's skepticism over the accuracy of the department's jobs numbers. Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, called for 'somebody non-political' to replace McEntarfer. 'I'd like somebody that just put out the darn numbers,' he said in an interview on Friday. 'All the numbers we get up here are all massaged because somebody has an agenda.' Sen. Roger Marshall from Kansas, who joined 85 other senators to confirm McEntarfer last year, praised the president for seeking to fire her. 'I have been raising concerns for the past year about inaccurate job numbers put out by Dr. Erika McEntarfer. Her cooked-up numbers have misled the American people for too long,' he wrote on X. Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.
Newsweek
a few seconds ago
- Newsweek
Trump Admin Pushing for New Judge in Green Card Lawsuit, Lawyer Says
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 Trump administration's move to shift an immigration case involving foreign nationals to a new judge has resulted in new and urgent legal filings, a lawyer for the plaintiffs has told Newsweek. Newsweek reached out to the State Department via email for comment. Why It Matters A number of Afghans who had assisted American forces following the United States' two-decade military presence in the region were provided Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Policy changes under the Trump administration, however, have resulted in the termination of TPS for some people, raising concerns about potential deportations. The U.S. ended TPS for Afghans effective July 14, 2025, according to a Department of Homeland Security notice published in May. President Donald Trump has vowed to remove millions of migrants without legal status. This has left a number of foreign nationals unsure of their legal status. It translates to more than 9,000 people losing their protection from deportation and authorization to work, according to the International Rescue Committee. The White House said in January that anyone living in the country unlawfully is considered to be a "criminal." The U.S. Department of State building in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2019. The U.S. Department of State building in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2019. Getty Images What To Know On July 22, 102 nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Togo, Somalia, and Iran, including 55 Diversity Visa 2025 (DV-2025) program selectees and their 47 beneficiaries, filed a lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of Presidential Proclamation 10949, Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. Plaintiffs challenged the travel ban under a nondelegation theory, as well as challenging the State Department's policy of treating an entry ban as a visa issuance ban—which lawyers for the plaintiffs claim is beyond the scope of the president's authority. The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who already is overseeing two other lawsuits where Iranian visa applicants are seeking leave to amend their complaints to also challenge the travel ban. Chutkan, who has a past history with Trump due to her previously overseeing the president's federal election interference case, previously cited the aforementioned misinterpretation of law in a September 2021 opinion, Rai v Biden. On Friday, Curtis Morrison told Newsweek that he, on behalf of the plaintiffs in the case Thein v. Trump that challenges the lawfulness of travel ban, filed motions for both expedited discovery and preliminary injunction—saying that the Trump administration "is desperately trying to get this case transferred away from Judge Chutkan, using the exact opposite logic they used in similar case before her in 2020." The motion for preliminary injunction calls the defendants' actions delaying and withholding a proper adjudication of diversity visas "unlawful," and mandates that they "fulfill their nondiscretionary duty to process plaintiffs' immigrant visa applications; compel a proper adjudication of Plaintiffs' immigrant visa applications; and issue diversity visas to eligible plaintiffs before September 30, 2025, the end of fiscal year." Time is of the essence, according to Morrison. "The motion for preliminary injunction, that's necessary because we need a timely decision on whether or not the ban is lawful or not because for diversity visa applicants, their journey ends on September 30," Morrison said. "They don't get to immigrate if they don't overcome this ban by then, so that's why we're pushing for that. "The motion for expedited discovery—basically, [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio has sent a cable to the embassies; this is the way they implement proclamations with guidance on how to implement it, and since we're alleging that that guidance was a misinterpretation of law and unlawful, we need that cable." Morrison was an attorney who stood before Chutkan in a visa diversity lawsuit back in 2020, where the government argued that the case had to be taken from her and given to another judge who at the time was already handling cases regarding the government proclamation. "The irony of that is now they're arguing the opposite, and they're saying just because she has other cases challenging the proclamation, they're different visa categories and so this case should get reassigned," Morrison said. "So, it's just obvious that it's not in good faith. They're just trying to get away from her because they know her view on this legal issue. ...We're on track right now to get an order that causes a serious problem with the implementation of the travel ban." What People Are Saying President Donald Trump in his June 4 proclamation: "As President, I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people. I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks. Nationals of some countries also pose significant risks of overstaying their visas in the United States, which increases burdens on immigration and law enforcement components of the United States, and often exacerbates other risks related to national security and public safety." The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on May 5: "Green cards and visas will be revoked if an alien breaks the law." It said in a later post: "USCIS works alongside our @DHSgov and @StateDept partners each day to keep America, and Americans, safe. From designating foreign terrorist organizations to imposing sanctions, we're taking action to protect and secure our nation for your families, friends, and future." Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, previously told Newsweek: "The Trump administration's decision to turn its back on our Afghan allies who risked their lives and the lives of their families to support American troops in Afghanistan is unconscionable." What Happens Next Morrison expects to receive a response next week of whether Chutkan will proceed in overseeing this case or not.
