Today in Politics, Bulletin 296. 1/29/26

… Tom Homan held his first press conference in MN today after taking over for Greg Bovino and Krist Noem: “This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down the number of people we have here. Yes, I said it. Draw down the number of people here.”

… Homan took a swipe at his predecessor: “I’m not here because the federal govt has carried out its mission perfectly. I do not want to hear that everything that has been done here has been perfect.”

… Q: “Can you be specific about how many ICE and Border Patrol agents are currently operating in the state? Homan: 3,000. They’ve been in theater a long time. Day after day, can’t eat in restaurants, people spin on you, blowing whistles at you. But my main focus now is draw down.”

… “In theater” is a military term used to describe a war zone.

… Q: “When you’re talking about ‘targeted operations,’ are you talking about people whose crime is coming to this country? Homan: All operations are going to be targeted. But the prioritization are gonna be criminal aliens, public safety threats, and national security threats. We’ve got a lot of them. But if you’re in the country illegally you’re never off the table.”

… Fox chief political analyst Brit Hume was asked to comment on their new poll showing that 59% of Americans think BP/ICE is “too aggressive” on enforcement: “It does track with other polls. It suggests that while the admin was within its legal limits in this immigration crackdown - it has hit its political limits. I think the admin is being seen as having gone too far on this and the polls certainly suggest that.”

… A year after she asked Trump to have mercy on immigrants during a service after his inauguration, Bishop Mariann Budde told CNN she “could not have even imagined how terrible the enforcement of this new immigration stance would be. The very things that I said that we feared has come to pass, It’s the fulfillment of our worst suspicions.”

… Pete Buttigieg on MS NOW: “I think the Trump admin is so far on the back foot that you’re seeing two things that are very rare: Trump backing down and JD Vance shutting up.”

… Vance has kept a much lower profile over the past several days after he agreed with Stephen Miller’s comment that Alex Pretti was an “assassin.” Trump even invited Vance to speak today at the Cabinet meeting and he declined, saying “I’m just here for the free coffee.” But I don’t really agree that Trump is “backing down.” I think they are regrouping until the furor dies down before ramping things up worse than before.

… Minnesota’s Chief federal Judge Schiltz just included this as part of a scathing order: “Attached to this order is an appendix that identifies 96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases. This list should give pause to anyone - no matter his or her political beliefs - who cares about the rule of law. ICE has likely violated more court orders in Jan 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”

… NYT: “9 prosecutors from cities around the country are launching a coalition to assist in prosecuting federal law enforcement officers who violate state laws, one of the prosecutors, Larry Krasner in Philadelphia. The org, which is called the Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach, will also include Minneapolis DA Mary Moriarty. Its acronym, F.A.F.O., references a slang term for negative consequences, and its formation was spurred by ‘growing concerns about warrantless entries, unlawful detentions, and coercive enforcement tactics by fed agents.’”

… “Normally, the FBI and the DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights determine whether the use of deadly force by a federal agent was justified. State prosecutors also have the power to investigate and prosecute state crimes like murder, and they have often done so in cooperation with the federal govt. But that cooperation has broken down as Trump admin officials have denied that the federal agents committed any wrongdoing and accused Minnesota leaders of thwarting their immigration enforcement efforts and allowing fraud in federally funded programs.

… “After local officials were blocked from the investigations, Moriarty resorted to opening a web portal to allow the public to submit evidence like cellphone videos. She has said that she expects to have enough evidence to decide whether to pursue charges in the two killings. Her office is also investigating a third incident in which a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg.”

… Sen. Susan Collins said she has gotten ICE to shut down their operation in Maine: “I can report that Secretary Noem has informed me that ICE has ended its enhanced activities in Maine. There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here. I have been urging Noem and others in the admin to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state. I appreciate the Secretary’s willingness to listen to and consider my recommendations and her personal attention to the situation in Maine.”

… Amazing how differently things are handled in swing states where a Republican is facing a tough reelection battle.

… Deadline: “With a chant of ‘ICE Out Now!’ Bruce Springsteen wasted no time condemning Trump and the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minnesota. In classic form from the the card-carrying anti-MAGA rock legend and a little audio addition from actual protests, the 4:35-minute ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ calls out ‘King Trump and his private army from the DHS.’”

… Springsteen: “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”

… WaPo: “Federal immigration officers fanning out across Minnesota and other parts of the country are newly equipped with an array of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies, thanks to a bill passed last summer that transformed ICE into the country’s most highly funded law enforcement agency. ICE has wasted no time spending its war chest, buying new tools ranging from biometric trackers to mobile phone location databases, spyware and drones, while loosening restrictions on how it uses some of these technologies.”

… “These new surveillance powers come at a time when ICE is also pushing the bounds of its traditional role of immigration enforcement. In recent months, ICE leaders, backed by top Trump admin officials, have asserted the authority to use all available tools to monitor and investigate anti-ICE protester networks, including US citizens. Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups say the agency’s expanding use of its surveillance tools infringes on privacy and free speech rights of immigrants and US citizens alike.”

… “On Thursday, DHS disclosed in an annual report that the agency has significantly expanded the operational scope for its use of facial recognition, AI and other advanced technologies.”

… Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on MS NOW: “They are building the libertarian and conservative’s worst nightmare: a leviathan federal govt that’s totally unaccountable, acts outside of the Constitution, and creates a society in which individual rights are not protected.”

… CNN’s Manu Raju: “WH and Senate leaders move closer to deal to avert shutdown but seek to resolve sticking points. Discussions on approving 5 bills for rest of fiscal year and a short CR for DHS funding. Would allow for talks over new ICE policy. With signs a Senate-WH deal may be inked today, two sides would have limited time to agree on new ICE policies that would be attached to a longer-term DHS funding bill. Unclear if it will pass Senate tonight, but deal within reach. They had been debating the length of the CR for DHS funding.”

… It looks as though the deal is going to be a 2-week CR for the DHS funding in the senate. But since they modified what the House passed, the whole package has to go back to the House. And there are several House Republican factions who are threatening to vote against the senate deal. If everything does pass, then they will have two weeks to work out a deal or DHS funding will end.

… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told CNN that he opposes any effort by Dems to force ICE agents to take their masks off: “I’ve seen people dox me. I’ve seen people take pictures and identify law enforcement officers and then put their families at risk. So, I think that’s a step too far.”

… Masking is not about doxing. That is the excuse. They are wearing masks so people cannot identify agents who engage in abuses, civil rights violations, and crimes. You can’t report someone or hold them accountable in any way if you can’t identify them.

… House Republicans are griping about getting this back from the senate with changes to what they passed (with 7 Democratic votes). Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris: “The Democrats’ desire to keep millions of illegal aliens in the US will not suddenly disappear in a week or a month with a CR. Delaying full year funding for DHS any further is a bad idea.”

… A senior GOP aide said a two-week CR “hands more leverage to Democrats to derail immigration enforcement. We’d be right back here again in two weeks with more crazy demands from the radical Left.”

… House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole told Fox he doesn’t think the deal from the senate is going to fly: “It would be very unlikely to pass the House.”

… Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK): “This is the wrong strategy. We’ve negotiated these bills in a bipartisan fashion. They should pass it as packaged by the House. And again, we can negotiate changes that they feel are necessary if that’s their demand. But not funding.”

… Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) repeated the threat that she has a group formed to block this deal in the House until the senate passes their voter ID bill, which will essentially federalize elections and end mail-in voting: “I have received a phone call from another Republican member who has stated that they will back us in our efforts at attaching the SAVE Act to any piece of legislation that Schumer sends back to the House.”

… Luna: “If Schumer shuts the govt down, the price to reopen will be the SAVE Act. If Schumer decides to keep the govt open, they will still be forced to vote on the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act on election integrity is one of the most important things to secure our elections. This is a non-negotiable.”

… Another problem is that Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House home again for another extended recess while the senate was working: To CNN: “We’ll get everybody back as soon as we can. The weather may be an issue. There are some members on codels across the world, literally, so we’ll do the best we can.”

… House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) at his press conference today said something about Noem that got the attention of Fox: “She’s got to be put on ice permanently.”

… Fox asked Jeffries about his choice of words: “She needs to be put on ice. It’s clear, right? That means gone. G-O-N-E. From her position. Don’t misinterpret anything that I’ve said.”

… Melania Trump was back on Fox promoting her movie again, but they keep asking her to give her take on political issues. She was asked about her husband’s immigration crackdown: “He would like to have a country where all of the people can walk down the street and not be harassed or murdered or women raped.”

… NYT on the Melania movie: “The film’s rollout is huge - a $35 million marketing campaign that includes TV commercials during NFL playoff games and a premiere simulcast in 25 theaters in the US. Starting Friday, the film hits 3,300 theaters worldwide.”

… “Amazon’s all-hands-on-deck handling of ‘Melania,’ which follows Melania in the days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. Ms. Trump produced the film, which was directed by Brett Ratner, who has not made a movie since 2017, when multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.

… Amazon paid Trump’s production company $40 million for the rights to ‘Melania,’ about $26 million more than the next closest bidder, Disney. The fee includes a related docuseries that is scheduled to air later this year.”

…. “The budget for ‘Melania’ is unknown, but documentaries that follow a subject for a limited amount of time usually cost less than $5 million to produce. The $35 million for marketing is 10 times what some other high-profile documentaries have received. All of which has a lot of Hollywood questioning whether Amazon’s push is anything more than the company’s attempt to ingratiate itself with Trump.”

… Ted Hope, who started the film division at Amazon: “This has to be the most expensive documentary ever made that didn’t involve music licensing. How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe? How can that not be the case?”

… Director Julie Cohen on Amazon: “I’ve loved working with them in the past, but I wouldn’t want to work with them in the future. I’m very concerned about the amount of money they paid for the film. That’s not normal spending for a documentary, so I think that would suggest that Amazon is buying something else for their money. That’s a big problem.”

It appears we are heading for at least a short govt shutdown which could be longer if House Republicans make good on their threats not to go along with a senate deal. Meanwhile, it looks as though we are set to bomb Iran while another week goes by without any additional Epstein files.

Indivisible just announced the next big nationwide No Kings protest will be March 28, which will focus on ICE and should be the biggest one yet. Organizer Ezra Levin: “Based on how the regime is behaving, I can’t guarantee that there isn’t a risk involved to show up and exercise your constitutional rights. It’s a terrible thing to have to say in 2026 in America, but it’s the truth.”

… Reuters photographed US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the Fulton County elections office as the FBI was executing a search warrant and seizing ballots and other files relating to the 2020 election and loading them into trucks. VERY odd for a DNI to be present at something like this.

… A Trump admin official gave a statement to NewsNation on why Gabbard was there: “Director Gabbard has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure. She has and will continue to take action on President Trump’s directive to secure our elections and work with our interagency partners to do so.”

… Something to watch. Very closely. Everything about this is highly suspicious. As I said on Uncovered yesterday, I don’t think this is about 2020 at all. Whatever is going on here is about the midterms and 2028.

… Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA): “This is a SEISMIC event. This should have people across absolutely shook. This is an FBI raid on the Fulton County elections office - this is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections.”

… Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “Why is Tulsi Gabbard at an FBI raid on an election office in Fulton County? There are only two explanations for why the DNI would show up at a federal raid tied to Trump’s obsession with losing the 2020 election. Either Gabbard believes there was a legitimate foreign intelligence nexus – in which case she is in