Congress
Trump discusses his viral moment with Obama
Donald Trump is talking about what appeared to be a warm moment between him and Barack Obama.
Trump concedes the pair did seem to be on friendly terms when cameras captured them chatting, and Obama laughing as they sat next to each other Thursday at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.
The president-elect was asked about it later in a Fox News interview from his home in Florida.
“It did look very friendly, I must say,” Trump said. “I didn’t realize how friendly it looked. I saw it on your wonderful network, just a little while ago before I came in and I said ‘Boy, they look like two people that like each other.’ And we probably do,” he said.
Trump didn’t say what he and Obama were talking about in the viral moment.
“We have little different philosophies, right? I don’t know, we just got along. But I got along with everybody on that. You know we met backstage before we went on, and I thought it was a beautiful service, but we all got along very well.”
Trump answered questions from Fox News’ Peter Doocy for roughly 20 minutes ahead of the president-elect’s meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago.
He again criticized state and local officials in California for their handling of the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles and reiterated his interest in Greenland and making Canada into the 51st state.
He didn’t have an answer on whether he supported the Biden administration’s talks with the Taliban for the release of Americans held in Afghanistan, saying he would be looking into it on Friday. Asked about recent mysterious drone sightings, he vowed to release a report the day after his inauguration “because I think it’s ridiculous they’re not telling you about the drones.”
Trump also said his team is working on scheduling meetings with several foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. He said his team has also been in communication with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Congress
GOP calls off votes after contentious meeting on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Senate GOP leaders have canceled plans to vote this week on a party-line immigration enforcement bill, a major setback as lawmakers contend with President Donald Trump’s personal political agenda.
Several Republican senators said action on the legislation would wait until after a weeklong Memorial Day recess — guaranteeing that Congress would blow a Trump-set June 1 deadline for the immigration funding.
The decision appeared to be driven by fierce internal divides over politically sensitive issues not related to the core purpose of the bill — pumping tens of billions of dollars into Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies.
It came after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche struggled Thursday to quash GOP concerns over a newly announced $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Leaders had already concluded they would have to omit a $1 billion Secret Service funding line item that could have gone toward Trump’s White House ballroom due to internal dissension.
Blanche met privately with Senate Republicans as the administration and GOP leaders tried to defuse the controversy over the fund.
GOP leaders believed they had enough members who would support a proposal targeting the fund that it would ultimately be added into the filibuster-skirting bill, as Blue Light News first reported Wednesday.
Asked if the briefing changed her mind, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a critic of the fund, told reporters, “No.”
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — who have also been critical of the fund — declined to comment. But two people granted anonymity to describe the meeting said the meeting did not go well for the administration and that Blanche was not persuasive.
Money for the fund isn’t included in the GOP’s immigration enforcement bill. But because the bill involves Justice Department funding and the Senate Judiciary Committee is involved in the bill, senators have a path to add language related to the fund into the bill with only 51 votes. Republicans did discuss possible guardrails they could put on the fund during the meeting.
Republicans have not yet finalized the bill they plan to put on the Senate floor, raising the possibility that the chamber could punt action until after a weeklong Memorial Day recess. Senate leaders could have attendance issues if they try to keep members in town past Friday afternoon.
Asked if they could still vote on the bill this week, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) told reporters, “That’s being discussed.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters after leaving the meeting that leaders would likely decide “within the next hour or so” about whether to send members home and reconvene after the recess.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to comment on the fund or on the ability to pass a bill this week as he left the meeting.
Congress
GOP Rep. won’t rule out tapping into DOJ fund
Rep. Andrew Clyde said in an interview Thursday he supports the DOJ’s new, $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund — and isn’t ruling out seeking money from the account for himself.
The Georgia Republican said the goal of the fund is to “make whole” anyone who has been unfairly targeted by the government, including people who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Pressed on whether he would personally pursue compensation, he reiterated that the fund is for “anyone” who has been the victim of government weaponization.
Clyde has, in the past, argued he’s been targeted by the IRS, and was subject to civil asset forfeiture nearing $1 million. Clyde fought the IRS in court and recouped a large amount of the money, but says he still has legal fees.
Congress
Blanche makes little headway with GOP critics of ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche struggled Thursday to quash GOP concerns over a newly announced $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
Blanche met privately with Senate Republicans as the administration and GOP leaders try to defuse a controversy that is complicating their push to quickly advance an immigration enforcement bill.
GOP leaders believe they have enough members who would support a proposal targeting the fund that it would ultimately be added into the filibuster-skirting bill, as POLITICO first reported Wednesday.
Asked if the briefing changed her mind, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a critic of the fund, told reporters, “No.”
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — who have also been critical of the fund — declined to comment. But two people granted anonymity to describe the meeting said the meeting did not go well for the administration and that Blanche was not persuasive.
Money for the fund isn’t included in the GOP’s immigration enforcement bill. But because the bill involves Justice Department funding and the Senate Judiciary Committee is involved in the bill, senators have a path to add language related to the fund into the bill with only 51 votes. Republicans did discuss possible guardrails they could put on the fund during the meeting.
Republicans have not yet finalized the bill they plan to put on the Senate floor, raising the possibility that the chamber could punt action until after a weeklong Memorial Day recess. Senate leaders could have attendance issues if they try to keep members in town past Friday afternoon.
Asked if they could still vote on the bill this week, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) told reporters, “That’s being discussed.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) told reporters after leaving the meeting that leaders would likely decide “within the next hour or so” about whether to send members home and reconvene after the recess.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to comment on the fund or on the ability to pass a bill this week as he left the meeting.
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