The 11th-hour additions of Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Director of the Office of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard come as the Trump administration pushes for more voter data from states and hunts for evidence to back up Trump's discredited voter fraud claims. The intrigue: It was not immediately clear what the cabinet secretaries intended to discuss, but organizers have added a new session to accommodate them.
Speaking out on Thursday, the two members of Congress reflected a national Democratic leadership that-finally, belatedly-seems to have found its collective voice in responding to what Donald Trump has unleashed on America since returning to office a year ago. Some of the President's most fervent opponents now believe, as the never-Trump conservative Charlie Sykes wrote on Thursday morning, that the recent news out of Minnesota marked a breaking point for 'patriotic, non-political normies.'
But on top of a lengthy list of demands from Democrats around ICE, expect an even longer one from the House Freedom Caucus, centering on sanctuary cities, immigration enforcement and border security. What's next: Conservatives would need to vote for a rule - a party-line procedural vote - to advance the bill. And President Trump's urging everyone to help it pass.
Train passengers are missing out on over 80 million annually in compensation for delayed journeys, a new analysis has revealed. The shortfall has been blamed on an "unacceptable" claims processes. Online ticket retailer Trainline, which produced the data, has called for rail reform that "focuses on what matters" to passengers. While customers who purchase tickets directly through a train operator's website or app can often access "one-click" compensation claims via the delay repay scheme for service disruptions,
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a bill that would establish a federal regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The bill's future prospects seem dim, but it resulted in a sizable crash for Bitcoin, which fell to around $84,000 - its nadir for 2026 so far. Other prominent digital currencies like Ethereum and Doge fell it with, tumbling as much as 6 percent.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) has come out swinging in favor of abolishing ICE and blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demanding that Democrats use their leverage to do so after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) released a tepid set of demands for a funding vote in the coming days. In a short video posted to social media on Wednesday evening, Markey said that Democrats "have the power" to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and must use it.
