Author: Ashleigh Fields

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday fired Navy chief of staff Jon Harrison, delivering a blow to the insider who helped rewire internal protocols to fit the vision of the Trump administration’s defense agenda. Harrison’s removal comes after the Senate’s confirmation of Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, whom President Trump appointed to serve as the second-most senior civilian under Navy Secretary John Phelan. Harrison and Phelan supported Hegseth in his ventures to introduce new military policies, cancel numerous outside contract agreements and reassign aides who were intended to help onboard Cao following his confirmation earlier this week. “Jon Harrison will no…

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) teamed up to release a Thursday video explaining why they voted against the House Republican-authored stopgap legislation. Its failure in the Senate led to a government shutdown. In the clip that shows them taking a walking and talking together in Washington, the lawmakers raised concerns about the lapse in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies as the main reason for their decision to withhold votes in favor of keeping the lights on in Washington. “This is one of the dirtiest tricks that is being pulled on the American people right now. Starting…

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) on Tuesday authorized the state’s National Guard to perform tasks on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Soldiers will assist with “administrative, clerical, and logistical duties,” following a request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the Department of War (DOW), according to a news release from the governor’s office.  “Public safety, keeping Missourians safe, and upholding the rule of law is our administration’s top priority,” Kehoe said in a Tuesday statement. “The Missouri National Guard is uniquely equipped to provide this essential administrative support, and we are confident their contributions will…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday said any aggressive actions made toward Russia will be met with a “decisive response.” His message follows speculation from some NATO members that the Kremlin could aim to expand its war with Ukraine to other Eastern European nations, after Russian jets recently flew into Estonia and drones were tracked in the Polish and Romanian airspace. “Russia has never had and does not have any such intentions” of threatening European borders, Lavrov said on Saturday.  “However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about…

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) on Saturday said the city of Portland did not need National Guard soldiers to help protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities as ordered by President Trump earlier in the day. “In my conversations directly with President Trump and [Homeland Security] Secretary Noem, I have been abundantly clear with them that Portland and the state of Oregon believe in the rule of law, and we can manage our own local public safety needs,” Kotek said during a Saturday morning news conference. “There is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security, and there is…

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday slammed the Trump administration for attempting to “exploit” political violence by blaming Democrats for the uptick in attack on officials nationwide, including a deadly shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.  “Criticizing the way that ICE is rounding up people in this country in a deeply inhumane and immoral way is not an incitement to violence,” Murphy said during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “There is a moment where you cross the line, but what they are trying to do is to destroy the ability for people who oppose their…

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday called for a criminal investigation into the three strikes ordered by President Trump on ships allegedly transporting narcotics in the Caribbean. “Criminal proceedings must be opened against those officials, who are from the U.S., even if it includes the highest-ranking official who gave the order: President Trump,” Petro said during his speech before the U.N. General Assembly. The Colombian leader said travelers were not members of the Tren De Aragua street gang but “were simply poor young people from Latin America who had no other option,” he added, The Associated Press reported. Venezuelan authorities…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Saturday signed a first of its kind bill banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing masks while conducting operations in the state of California.  Newsom said ICE agents would no longer be “hidden from accountability” arguing masks prevent “transparency” for citizens and hinder “oversight.” “That’s Trump’s America but that’s not the America we’ve grown up in. And so we are pushing back,” the governor said during remarks at a local high school. Newsom said many residents are living in fear as the Trump administration cracks down on communities of illegal immigrants. Twenty-seven…

The White House is seeking to explain a new $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas that was announced on Friday by President Trump at a press event. The decision has unnerved H-1B visa holders and companies that sponsor H-1B visa holders, as it would significantly raise the cost of such a visa if the policy moves forward and survives legal challenges. Trump’s remarks also unnerved some of those on the visas who are currently travling outside the United States. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Saturday stressed that the charge is a one-time fee and that those who already…

President Trump said on Friday that he ordered another strike on a ship in the Caribbean allegedly transporting narcotics, the third such attack this month. “On my Orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote in a Friday evening post on Truth Social, claiming intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics. The president also said the vessel was traveling along a “known” narcotrafficking passage in an effort to “poison Americans.” “The strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the…