Senate replacements for Vance and Rubio are sworn in
Republicans John Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida were sworn into the Senate this evening by Vance.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted, formerly the state's lieutenant governor, to replace Vance, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis selected Moody, formerly the state's attorney general, to fill the seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
With Husted and Moody officially members of the Senate, Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the chamber.
Trump defends Jan. 6 pardons of violent criminals
Trump today defended the pardons and commutations of roughly 1,500 defendants charged with crimes connected to the Jan. 6 attack, including some convicted of assaulting police officers.
In one of the first presidential acts of his second term, Trump commuted the sentences of 14 prisoners and pardoned all others convicted of offenses related to the 2021 riot. He also directed the attorney general to dismiss all indictments pending before judges related to what became the largest federal investigation ever.
“They’ve served years in jail,” Trump said in response to questions from reporters at the White House about why he pardoned violent offenders. “They should not have served, and they’ve served years in jail. And murderers don’t even go to jail in this country.”
Trump says he removed John Bolton's security detail because it had been 'enough time'
Trump, taking questions from reporters, was asked why he removed his former national security adviser John Bolton’s security detail.
“Because that was enough time,” Trump said.
“We’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we? I thought he was a very dumb person, but I used him well,” Trump added.
Earlier today, Bolton said on X that Trump had removed his security detail, saying he was “disappointed but not surprised.” Bolton had had a security detail since 2022, after the Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official, alleging the official attempted to hire a hitman to kill him.
Trump is joined by Larry Ellison, Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman to announce a new American company that will invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure.
Trump administration uses King’s ‘Dream’ speech to introduce executive orders cutting DEI
When an incoming White House official announced Trump’s executive order dismantling federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the official invoked a familiar line:
“This order is meant to return to the promise and the hope that was captured by civil rights champions, that one day all Americans can be treated on the basis of their character, not by the color of their skin.”
The statement echoed a well-known quote from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, in which King declared, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
State Department removes webpage on passport gender marker changes
The State Department appears to have removed a page from its website titled "Selecting your gender marker" a day after Trump issued two executive orders that will have broad effects for transgender people.
As recently as this morning, the page said that people applying for or updating a passport could select male (M), female (F), unspecified or another gender identity (X) as the gender marker on their U.S. passport books and cards.
"The gender marker you select does not need to match the gender on your citizenship evidence or photo ID," the page said, adding that applicants did not need to provide medical documentation to change their gender markers.
"We promote the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people — including LGBTQI+ individuals," the page said. "We are demonstrating this commitment to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of gender identity."
It also provided information about traveling as an LGBTQ person and cautioned that those with "X" gender markers might not be able to travel to all countries.
As of this afternoon, the page redirects to a general passport information page.
In an executive order issued yesterday, Trump declared that the federal government will recognize only two sexes — male and female — and that "these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."
The order directed the secretaries of state and homeland security to "implement changes to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex," as defined by the order.
It will reverse a policy the Biden administration rolled out that allowed transgender people to change the gender on their passports without providing proof of their transitions. The Biden administration also rolled out an "X" gender marker for people who are intersex or identify as neither male nor female.
Rep. Lauren Boebert invites pardoned Jan. 6 defendants on guided tour of the Capitol
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said she is inviting all of the Jan. 6 defendants at the D.C. Jail on a guided tour of the Capitol when they are released.
Boebert made her remarks to reporters after she visited the jail this afternoon. About 20 Jan. 6 defendants remain behind bars almost 24 hours after Trump pardoned them.
Trump administration fires four immigration court officials
The Trump administration fired four top officials late yesterday at the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees U.S. immigration courts.
All four were civil servants, not political appointees: chief immigration judge Sheila McNulty; the office's acting director, Mary Cheng; general counsel Jill Anderson; and policy head Lauren Alder Reid.
Reid said in a statement that she and her colleagues were "shocked and severely disappointed in the decision to remove us from our positions without notice or cause."
“Mr. Trump, f--- off!” said Anders Vistisen, a Danish member of the European Parliament, rejecting the idea that Greenland could ever be for sale. He was then rebuked for using profane language in a parliamentary session.
Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn bashes Trump's Jan. 6 pardons
In an interview with MSNBC, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn criticized Trump's pardoning of criminal defendants for their actions on Jan. 6.
"I don’t want to say 'I told you so.' I don’t want accolades. I don’t want to be called a hero. I don’t want to need a pardon. I just wanted accountability, and that is gone. It’s gone," he said.
Dunn retired after 15 years with the Capitol Police after the Jan. 6 riot and later launched an unsuccessful bid for the Senate. Former President Joe Biden yesterday gave a pre-emptive pardon to Dunn, who has been outspoken about the actions of the pro-Trump mob that attacked the Capitol in 2021.