Schumer calls new allegations against Hegseth 'extremely troubling'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said allegations against Pete Hegseth made by his former sister-in-law are another sign that he's a poor pick to lead the Pentagon.
"These allegations are extremely troubling," Schumer told NBC News. “It’s just more and more and more showing that this man is, of all the people they could have picked from a defense secretary, he’s one of the last they should have chosen."
Senators received an affidavit from Danielle Hegseth that alleges that Hegseth's behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegations.
“I hope all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle read it before making any final judgment, because it is extremely troubling. And it just, you know, the allegations keep coming and coming and coming,” Schumer said. “They don’t seem to stop”
“I hope everyone would feel obligated to read this report,” Schumer said, saying that “our own safety and safety of millions of men and women in the armed forces are at stake.”
Schumer added that the new report makes him concerned that more allegations about Hegseth’s behavior toward women could come to light after he is confirmed.
Leading Jewish human rights group criticizes Elon Musk gesture
The Simon Wiesenthal Center — a Jewish human rights organization named for the writer and Holocaust survivor — called for Musk to apologize over his repeated use of a straight-armed salute at yesterday's Trump inauguration event.
"We have spent 47 years investigating, pursuing, and educating the world about the dangers of normalizing symbols and rhetoric tied to the Nazi regime," the group said. "We are deeply alarmed by Mr. Musk’s gesture at President Trump’s inauguration, which unmistakably resembles a Nazi salute. The gesture’s undeniable similarity to such a hateful and historically loaded symbol is unacceptable, particularly given the celebratory response it has elicited from Nazi-aligned groups online."
Regardless of intent, such gestures can “embolden extremists, distort history, and undermine efforts to combat the resurgence of far-right ideologies,” they wrote.
The center said that, especially given Musk’s new responsibilities with the U.S. government, he should “take swift and decisive action” to clarify whether he has been misinterpreted and to apologize for the gesture in any case.
Musk did not respond to a request for comment about the salute. In a post on X yesterday he downplayed criticism of it.
DHS reinstates 'Remain in Mexico' policy
The Department of Homeland Security has reinstated Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy after last night's executive order blitz.
The policy allows officials to prevent migrants of all nationalities from entering the United States from Mexico until their asylum applications are processed. Mexico has said the United States made this decision unilaterally, not as part of an agreement with Mexico.
From 2019 until Biden suspended the program, more than 68,000 people were taken back to Mexico. Tent cities surfaced on the Mexican side of the border, and human rights groups said hundreds of asylum-seekers were kidnapped, raped, tortured or assaulted.
The policy, along with Trump’s orders on birthright citizenship, are among those that are likely to get legal pushback from courts. The Supreme Court never ruled on “Remain in Mexico” during Trump’s first term, but it did issue a decision in 2022 allowing Biden to undo it.
GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis says she disagrees with Trump's Jan. 6 pardons
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., criticized Trump for pardoning violent offenders for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, saying she has "always sided" with law enforcement.
"Each president has the prerogative to be able to pardon those individuals. I may not always agree with all of it," she said in a CNN interview. "Some of those protesters, or some who were just walking through the Capitol, were treated very unfairly. But the people who assaulted our police officers do need to pay the consequence for that."
House Freedom Caucus members wait outside D.C. jail to greet Jan. 6 inmates
Some members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have arrived at the D.C. jail to greet crowds of pardon supporters and some recently released inmates after Trump issued sweeping pardons for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The D.C. jail, once the site of protests over the imprisonment of people charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, has become a place of celebration over the last 12 hours as inmates have been released. Nearly two dozen supporters of Jan. 6 prisoners, some of them parents and friends of the inmates, have gathered outside the jail today anticipating further releases.
“They were prisoners. They’re hostages now,” said Ben Pollack, the father of two men who were arrested and is unhappy with the speed of the releases. “They’re free men.”
Among the Freedom Caucus members standing with the crowd are Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who earlier today announced he is considering a gubernatorial bid in Arizona, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
Trump administration rescinds restrictions on ICE agents making arrests in schools and churches
The Department of Homeland Security announced that it is rescinding the restrictions that kept Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from conducting arrests in “sensitive locations” such as schools, churches or day care centers, even during weddings or funerals.
NBC News had previously reported that the Trump administration intended to rescind the policy.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement announcing the move.
The policy originally preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations started in 2011, and continued under the Trump and Biden administrations.
Former police officer Michael Fanone seeks protective orders against his Jan. 6 assailants
Michael Fanone, a former police officer who defended the Capitol when it was attacked on Jan. 6, 2021, told NBC News today that he began the process of seeking protective orders against the five individuals who assaulted him that day.
Fanone said he made the decision to pursue the orders after speaking with Justice Department representatives who told him there would be no other protections from the individuals who harmed him or have threatened his family.
“I think that the anticipation was that these individuals would serve these lengthy sentences that they were given for the violent assault that they carried out against me, and now they’re free,” Fanone said. “And so my thoughts are on protecting myself and members of my family, and nothing else right now.”
As Jan. 6 defendants are released following Trump’s blanket pardon last night, Fanone urged others who have worked as police officers to follow in his footsteps by starting the same process of obtaining orders.
Fanone said his family is "disillusioned" following Trump's inauguration.
"Unfortunately, we don’t feel as though we can depend on law enforcement in this country to protect us, because it’s no longer the Department of Justice. It’s Donald Trump’s Department of Justice,” Fanone said.
Since he testified before Congress, Fanone said, he’s been a target — but so has his family, including his 76-year-old mother, who lives alone and has had bricks thrown against her house and even a bag of feces dumped on her while she was raking the leaves.
Some Republican senators push back on Trump's Jan. 6 pardons
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, criticized Trump's pardon of Jan. 6 defendants, saying those who have committed violent crimes should not have been pardoned. She also noted that she has been in contact with one officer, whom she did not name, who shared a video of his own assault.
"The police officer involved contacted me today because he’s so, understandably, distraught. I don’t disagree with him at all. People who committed violent crimes on Jan. 6 of 2021 should not be pardoned," she said. "I would make a distinction between those individuals who do not deserve pardons versus those who may deserve clemency, because they were just caught up in the moment."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also expressed dissatisfaction with the president's action, saying she's "disappointed" and fears "the message that is sent to these brave men and women who stood by us."
Bishop at inaugural prayer service pleads with Trump to 'have mercy' on LGBT children, undocumented immigrants
The bishop leading Tuesday’s official inaugural prayer service urged President Donald Trump to “have mercy” on his constituents, specifically naming LGBTQ people and immigrants.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon was part of a larger post-Inauguration Day interfaith ceremony at Washington National Cathedral. Trump was seated in the first row alongside first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance during the service, a tradition undertaken by presidents of both parties.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, who was looking directly at the president. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.”
She added: “They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticizes Jan. 6 pardons: 'What happened to backing the Blue?'
In a brief statement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized Trump's pardon, asking, "What happened to backing the Blue?"
"House Republicans are celebrating pardons issued to a bloodthirsty mob that violently assaulted police officers on January 6, 2021. What happened to backing the Blue? Far right extremists have become the party of lawlessness and disorder. Don’t ever lecture America again. About anything," Jeffries said.