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Rep. Bennie Thompson sharply confronted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem during a nationally televised hearing over which administration approved the asylum of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, accused of shooting two National Guardsmen in D.C. Noem repeatedly credited the Biden administration’s vetting process, frustrating Thompson, who pressed her to acknowledge any Trump-era involvement. When Noem deflected, Thompson turned to National Counterterrorism Center official Joe Kent, highlighting the tense standoff over accountability for a high-profile security failure.

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Senate Republicans on Thursday rejected a Democratic proposal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Notably, both Republican senators from Alaska stood out, as both broke party lines and voted with Democrats.

There's a key reason for that, Politico reported on Thursday.

Hollywood actress Amanda Seyfried refused to apologize for calling the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk hateful, despite backlash following a Utah university shooting. In a defiant interview, she said her comment reflected her opinion based on reality and actual statements, framing it as a matter of free expression. Seyfried also criticized the political right, including President Donald Trump, and insisted she would not back down.

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An Indiana Republican delivered a shocking claim Thursday as he pleaded with his GOP colleagues to go along with a scheme backed by President Donald Trump to conduct a mid-decade redistricting.

Republican state Sen. Mike Gaskill of Pendleton made particularly stark declarations while lawmakers debated.

CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny was stunned on Thursday after anchor Jake Tapper broke news that Indiana Republicans had rejected attempts to change the state's election map ahead of the 2026 midterm.

Zeleny joined Tapper on Thursday's broadcast of "The Lead" to discuss a pressure campaign President Donald Trump and Republicans were waging to redraw the maps. The efforts happened at a time when other Republican-controlled legislatures, like Missouri and Texas, have redrawn their maps through a process called mid-cycle redistricting.

Donald Trump lashed out on Truth Social Thursday, demanding Senate Majority Leader John Thune end the blue slip process that he claims is blocking his judicial and U.S. attorney nominees. Trump called the practice a scam and accused Democrats — and compliant Republicans — of preventing the confirmation of qualified conservatives, framing it as both unfair and unconstitutional.

The Blue Slip process is a Senate tradition used in the confirmation of federal judges which sees a form sent by the Senate Judiciary Committee to the two home-state senators of a federal judicial nominee, asking for their approval before the nomination proceeds.

The Republican-controlled Senate in Indiana's state legislature rejected a partisan effort to redraw the state's electoral map ahead of the 2026 midterm election, something President Donald Trump and his cronies have been pressuring state legislatures across the country to do.

On Thursday, the Indiana Senate voted 31-19 to reject a new map even though Republicans hold a 40-10 advantage in the Upper Chamber. The proposed map would have made Indiana's two Democratic-held Congressional seats lean Republican during the midterm, which could help Trump keep a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Seven out of the nine Congressional representatives from Indiana are currently Republicans.

The Department of Defense appeared to threaten a journalist with Mother Jones after they began asking questions about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and that threat may have been coordinated with a MAGA influencer, according to a new report.

Dan Friedman, a senior reporter with Mother Jones' D.C. bureau, wrote in a new report that he has been asking the Defense Department questions about Eric Geressy, Hegseth's senior Pentagon adviser, who served a tour in Iraq with the Secretary in the 2000s. Friedman said he linked an email address for Geressy to a Goodreads list of lewd books about "Asian wife sharing," two books by Hegseth, and some military history titles. He also asked the Defense Department about a domestic violence charge against Geressy and whether the agency reviewed it as part of his security clearance process.

In a massive blow to President Donald Trump's redistricting ambitions, Indiana Republicans have rejected a mid-decade gerrymander that would have erased the two Democratic-favoring districts in the state and given them to the GOP.

According to NBC News, 31 lawmakers in the state Senate voted to reject the redraw, with just 19 in favor — meaning even a majority of the 40-member Senate Republican caucus itself was opposed.