Homeland Security

Now that President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders in Congress have agreed to pursue a deal that would boost border enforcement in exchange for legal status for young undocumented immigrants, the focus is shifting to what security measures the package could include.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said following a Wednesday night meeting with the president that they had agreed to table the administration’s request for money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a nonstarter for Democrats from the beginning.

It was a stirring message of unity. On Monday, 16 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil that saw planes flown into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and brave passengers divert one into a Pennsylvania field, President Donald Trump honored the memories of the dead and the heroics woven through the actions of so many.

At a 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the Pentagon, Trump recalled that moment: “On that day, not only did the world change, but we all changed. Our eyes were opened to the depths of the evil we face. But in that hour of darkness, we also came together with renewed purpose. Our differences never looked so small, our common bonds never felt so strong.”

Updated 9:24 p.m. | A bipartisan effort to enhance election security is among the priorities for Senate Democrats as part of the debate on the annual defense authorization measure.

“The consensus of 17 U.S. Intelligence agencies was that Russia, a foreign adversary, interfered in our elections. Make no mistake: Their success in 2016 will encourage them to try again,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Tuesday. “We have state elections in a couple of months and the 2018 election is a little more than a year away. We must improve our defenses now to ensure we’re prepared.”

Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Trott announced Monday that he won’t seek re-election in 2018.

“I have decided that the best course for me is to spend more time with my family and return to the private sector,” the 11th District congressman said in a statement.

Lawmakers are facing a potentially bruising fight over a surveillance law that expires Dec. 31 and must be extended in time to preserve what U.S. spy agencies consider a vital piece of their arsenal.

Congress has to extend the 2012 FISA Amendments Act, which will pit the Trump administration and national security hawks in Congress who favor a permanent reauthorization with no changes, against lawmakers of both parties, libertarians, privacy advocates and communications companies seeking to tighten protections for U.S. persons whose communications may get caught up in the wide electronic net cast by spy agencies.

The Trump White House on Friday continued to pivot away from a legislative strategy based almost exclusively on Republicans, seemingly handing more leverage to congressional Democrats by the day.

Trump’s deal earlier this week with House and Senate Democratic leaders was not a one-off, and he intends to continue trying to pass bipartisan legislation, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. The approach, which caught members of his own party off guard and added fuel to ongoing intra-party tensions, came after the president spent his first seven months relying on Republicans to pass major bills.

President Donald Trump on Friday urged those in the path of megastorm Hurricane Irma to “get out of its way.”

The president had used his Twitter account this week to tout his administration's response to Hurricane Harvey and its plan for Irma, which blazed a path of destruction through the Caribbean and is churning toward Florida.

President Donald Trump’s reported decision to end an Obama-era immigration program that protects 800,000 undocumented young people from deportation adds to a lengthy to-do list already challenging Republican leaders. 

Politico and The Associated Press, citing unnamed sources, reported late Sunday that Trump plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, in six months. The sources were granted anonymity to speak freely ahead of Tuesday’s planned announcement. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to address the DACA program at an 11 a.m. briefing and will take no questions. 

September’s packed legislative calendar means the focus will be on how to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government funded, but President Donald Trump still has numerous vacant positions across his administration. 

Trump tweeted last week that he wasn’t looking to fill all of those positions. But no shortage of posts requiring Senate confirmation still need to be filled, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has kept up work on that front.

Updated at 11:43 a.m. | Trump administration officials have informed congressional Republican leaders to expect an initial Hurricane Harvey emergency spending request perhaps as soon as Friday, according to administration and congressional sources.

The White House expects to ask Congress for about $6 billion dollars in its first disaster supplemental request for Hurricane Harvey recovery, an administration official told CQ Roll Call.