Mar. 14, 2026, 7:31 AM EDT

A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney who made headlines last month for telling a judge “this job sucks” is seeking a gig with its own set of problems: She’s running for Congress.

Julie Le, 47, is formally launching her bid to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Saturday, according to her campaign website. Le will face both Omar and Latonya Reeves in the Democratic primary in August, and the general election will take place in November.

The”https://x.com/PaulBlume_FOX9/status/2018785125857902645″>made her headline-grabbing comments to a federal district judge in February, while she had stepped in to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in her home state as it was experiencing a surge of immigration-related cases, driven by the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation tactics. In response to the judge’s question about why ICE was repeatedly ignoring court orders, Le replied: “The system sucks, this job sucks.”

“I am here to make sure the agency understands how important it is to comply with court orders,” she added, according to KMSP-TV in Minneapolis.

Le also reportedly told the judge she hoped he would hold her in contempt so she could get 24 hours’ sleep.

The comments got her removed from her temporary assignment.

She told the Washington Post — which first reported the news of her campaign — that she realized as she was leaving the courtroom that, as an attorney, she lacked the power to change the system she railed against.

“Legislators are the only ones that can change the law, or update the laws, or do something, so that we can have this under control,” Le told the newspaper.

Le’s campaign did not respond to an inquiry from MS NOW.

Le is one of hundreds of former federal workers turned candidates who is now running in state and local elections following mass firings brought about by the Trump administration.

Her campaign website outlines three pillars: immigration reform, education funding and health care access. The site says Le will “fight for humane, sensible immigration policies” after seeing “the system’s failures up close,” calling it “outdated and inefficient.”

A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s question on Friday about the circumstances of her departure from government service.

Despite her focus on immigration reform, Le told the Post she used to be proud to work for ICE. “You apply the law to everyone. Everyone has to follow it,” she said.

Omar has represented the solidly blue 5th Congressional District, which includes and surrounds downtown Minneapolis, since 2019. She does not appear to have publicly commented on the news of her new challenger, and a spokesperson for her re-election campaign did not respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.

Le told the Post she was challenging Omar “not because she’s not doing the job” but “for what I could bring to the table.” She also told The New York Times she would be more moderate than Omar, who has called for abolishing ICE.

Like Omar, who was born in Somalia, Le is an immigrant: She was born in communist Vietnam, partially raised in the Philippines and arrived in the U.S. with her family as refugees in 1993.

Fallon Gallagher contributed reporting.

Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.

Mar. 14, 2026, 4:59 PM EDT

President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman is threatening to revoke the licenses of news broadcasters over their coverage of the Iran war.

Brendan Carr, the head of the agency, warned broadcast news organizations on Saturday to “correct course,” following the president’s rants over news coverage of his war with Iran, including stories about U.S. aircraft tankers sustaining damage in a strike.

“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr said in a post on X, without naming any media outlets. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”

The FCC did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.

Carr referenced a Truth Social post from Trump Saturday morning denying reports that five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were struck at a military base in Saudi Arabia. Trump directed his screed at the The Wall Street Journalwhich first reported the news, The New York Times and “other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media,” claiming they “actually want us to lose the War.”

In his own social media post later in the day, Carr pointed to Trump’s 2024 election win as an example of the lack of trust in the media from the American people.

“When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong,” the FCC chairman said.

Carr’s threat was met with immediate blowback from free speech advocates and political figures.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the threat “flagrantly unconstitutional.” Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic on the right, condemned it as “unacceptable and unamerican.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a First Amendment advocacy group, called Carr’s statement an “authoritarian warning,” adding, “Again and again, Carr’s tenure as FCC chairman has been marked by his shameless willingness to bully and threaten our free press. But even by Carr’s standards, today’s hypocrisy is shocking — and dangerous.”

Carr, an author of Project 2025 whom Trump hand-picked to run the FCC, has sought to use his powerful position to bend media outlets — and late-night talk show hosts — to the Trump administration’s will. Under his watch, the FCC has opened investigations into multiple news outlets and threatened to strip the licenses of broadcasting companies deemed to have covered the administration and the president unfavorably.

But his latest missive took the administration’s assault on what the president routinely calls the “fake news” a step further. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in an X post, “This is a clear directive to provide positive war coverage or else licenses may not be renewed. This is worse than the comedian stuff, and by a lot. The stakes here are much higher. He’s not talking about late night shows, he’s talking about how a war is covered.”

Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly bemoaned the media coverage of the war. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused the press of being too focused on American troops’ deaths than the military’s successes.

“But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news,” Hegseth said. “I get it; the press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality.”

He again criticized the press on Friday for reporting on the economic fallout of the war.

“Some in this crew, in the press, just can’t stop,” he said.

Late on Friday night, Trump railed against coverage of the war, saying on Truth Social: “The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran.”

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.

Mar. 14, 2026, 2:12 PM EDT

President Donald Trump’s political action committee this week sent a fundraising email promising donors “private national security briefings” by the president himself and featuring a photo from the dignified transfer for U.S. service members killed in Kuwait.

“For the first time ever, I’m opening up spots on the National Security Briefing Membership,” reads the email, from Trump’s Never Surrender Inc. PAC.

“As a National Security Briefing Member, you’ll receive my private national security briefings, unfiltered updates on the threats facing America. The straight truth on border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides,” it continues. “You’ll get the inside scoop DIRECT from me, President Trump, the leader who’s rebuilt the greatest military in history, and put America First like no one else.”

The email includes a black-and-white version of an official photo taken by the White House showing the president in a white “USA” baseball cap saluting a transfer case during the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on March 7.

Several links in the email lead to a donation page.

The White House and the Pentagon did not respond to MS NOW’s request for comment on the fundraising email pegged to the Iran war and what the offers of “national security briefings” would entail.

Trump is not the first political figure to make offers of special access to big donors, Daniel Weiner, director of the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice, noted in an interview with MS NOW.

“In this instance, obviously it would be a blatant violation of the law to disclose any sort of classified information or secret information to donors. But assuming that they’re not actually doing that, it’s hard to see that there’s anything illegal about any of this,” Weiner said.

But the use of a photo from the dignified transfer of U.S. troops who died in the line of duty to raise funds is notable.

“To have that imagery used for partisan advertising and fundraising, that’s a bridge, you know, a new bridge that we’re crossing,” Weiner said. “But it’s more of a question of norms.”