Nearly 500 airport security staff quit as DHS shutdown hits nearly six weeks with no end in sight – US politics live

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Venezuela's Maduro owed backmost successful US tribunal successful conflict complete ineligible fees

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro returns to a Manhattan tribunal connected Thursday wherever he will reason that supplier trafficking charges against him should beryllium thrown retired much than 2 months aft he and his woman were captured successful a astonishment US subject ambush successful Caracas.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, person been embroiled successful a conflict complete US sanctions that forestall nan Venezuelan authorities from paying for nan couple’s ineligible defense, Reuters reported.

Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, person each pleaded not blameworthy to charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy and are jailed successful Brooklyn pending trial.

They person asked US territory judge Alvin Hellerstein to disregard nan charges, saying their inability to trust connected Venezuelan nationalist costs is interfering pinch their correct to person a lawyer of their choosing nether nan sixth amendment of nan US constitution.

Their lawyers person said Maduro and Flores cannot spend to salary their defense fees connected their own.

Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, who represented WikiLeaks laminitis Julian Assange, has said he wants to retreat from nan lawsuit if Hellerstein doesn’t disregard nan charges and nan Venezuelan authorities cannot salary his fees.

Maduro appears successful US tribunal to look narco-terrorism charges, January 5, 2026.
Maduro appears successful US tribunal to look narco-terrorism charges, January 5, 2026. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

DHS shutdown extends to almost six weeks pinch nary extremity successful show and delays astatine airports

Hello and invited to nan US politics unrecorded blog.

There was nary breakthrough successful talk to reopen nan Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday arsenic nan shutdown extends to almost six weeks pinch nary extremity successful sight.

Democratic lawmakers demanded caller restrictions connected national agents carrying retired nan president’s deportation crackdown. But Republicans rejected nan proposal, offering alternatively to region money for migration enforcement from nan homeland information spending bill.

The Senate number leader, Chuck Schumer, quickly changeable down nan offer, and said Democrats had countered pinch a measurement that coupled DHS backing pinch a big of caller guardrails connected migration enforcement operations – thing nan statement has insisted connected for months.

But that gained nary traction pinch nan GOP. “Get serious, folks,” nan Senate mostly leader, John Thune, said, successful consequence to nan Democrats’ counteroffer.

The backing lapse has led to lengthy lines astatine Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints astatine immoderate awesome airports, including including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta world airdrome and George Bush intercontinental airdrome successful Houston, prompting nan president to this week deploy ICE agents successful a bid to relieve congestion.

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt confirmed yesterday that nearly 500 TSA officers person quit since what she called “the Democrat shutdown” began.

“This is simply a dire situation,” nan acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified astatine a House proceeding Wednesday.

The standoff seems apt to prolong nan partial authorities shutdown, which began successful mid-February aft Democrats refused to o.k. backing for nan section overseeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), separator patrol and different agencies progressive successful Donald Trump’s wide deportation push, without reforms demanded successful consequence to nan deaths of 2 US citizens successful Minneapolis astatine nan hands of national agents.

Meanwhile, Schumer has sought to spot nan blasted connected Republicans for nan recreation chaos, saying its astir caller connection disrupted talks that had been nearing a compromise.

“We thought location had been immoderate progress. Then Republicans sent america their connection yesterday, and it contained nary of what we talked about, nary of nan reforms we had been discussing,” Schumer said connected nan Senate floor. “So if anyone is slowing down speech and hurting TSA workers, it is nan Republican leadership, who did not see 1 azygous reform.”

Read our afloat communicative here:

In different developments:

  • The acting caput of nan Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said connected Wednesday that airports crossed nan state are experiencing nan “highest hold times successful TSA history”, arsenic nan partial shutdown of nan DHS enters its sixth week. At a House homeland information committee hearing, Ha Nguyen McNeill said her agency has been unopen down for 50% of nan fiscal twelvemonth truthful acold – a agelong that includes past year’s record-breaking 43‑day lapse successful national funding. She told lawmakers that by Friday, TSA labor will person missed $1bn successful paychecks arsenic a consequence of nan closures. More here.

  • The US has launched different onslaught connected a alloy successful nan Caribbean, sidesplitting 4 people, nan US Southern Command said. The command, which oversees combatant operations successful Latin America and nan Caribbean, announced connected X that it had conducted a “lethal kinetic onslaught connected a alloy operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations”. More here.

  • Progressive lawmakers person unveiled a caller argumentation to spot a moratorium connected nan building of AI datacenters. The policy, announced by Bernie Sanders, an independent legislator from Vermont, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic representative, intends to guarantee nan AI roar protects nan situation and communities, and benefits workers alternatively of harming them. More here.

  • The Trump administration’s national lodging head Bill Pulte is asking prosecutors to analyse New York lawyer wide Letitia James for security fraud, according to criminal referrals reported by MS Now and CBS News. The referrals to prosecutors successful Florida and Illinois allege that James whitethorn person committed owe security fraud. The allegations halfway connected applications made to Universal Property Insurance company, which is based successful Florida, and Allstate successful Illinois. More here.

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Source theguardian.com
theguardian.com