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Pritzker pushes prosecutions of Trump officials as part of Dem ‘Project 2029’ agenda

Pritzker’s calls to criminally prosecute law enforcement agents and Trump officials comes amid a months-long standoff with Trump over immigration enforcement policies

By Elaine Mallon
Fox News

Published March 20, 2026 2:05pm EDT | Updated March 20, 2026 2:57pm EDT

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Democrats should seek criminal prosecution against Trump administration and law enforcement officials who have “broken the law” if they were to gain control of the White House in 2028.

Pritzker, who is running for a third gubernatorial term, sat down for an interview with The New York Times and proposed Democrats adopt their own version of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy blueprint for presidential administrations released in nearly every election cycle since the 1980s.

Pritzker dubbed the Democrats’ counter “Project 2029,” urging it to be quickly implemented to “restore the rule of law.”

[TRUMP SAYS CHICAGO MAYOR, ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ‘SHOULD BE IN JAIL FOR FAILING TO PROTECT’ ICE OFFICERS]

“I don’t think you can speak of it in shorthand, but we’ve got to restore the rule of law, and that means holding people accountable who’ve broken the law,” Pritzker said. “I’m talking about the people in this administration who’ve broken the law and federal agents who’ve broken the law.”

New York Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked Pritzker whether this meant Trump officials and law enforcement agents would face criminal prosecution.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to members of the media at Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen during a primary election in Chicago Tuesday, March 17, 2026.(Credit: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Criminally prosecuted, civilly prosecuted,” Pritzker said. “Whatever it is that we can do.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Pritzker’s office for clarification on who he believes should face criminal prosecution. In response, his office shared a January press release calling on the Illinois Accountability Commission to review the public statements and policy decisions of key leadership in Operation Midway Blitz. The press release followed the removal of top Border Patrol leader Greg Bovino from Minnesota.

The release named White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, “Border Czar” Tom Homan, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin, acting ICE Director Tom Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott and Corey Lewandowski, who served as a special government employee for DHS, as individuals who “led to the escalation of aggressive enforcement tactics” and should be held accountable.

Trump and Pritzker have been at odds over Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda for months.

In October, Pritzker filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago. The lawsuit argued that the deployment of the National Guardsmen to the Windy City was “unconstitutional and/or unlawful.”

[PRITZKER CLAIMS COUNTRY UNDER TRUMP WORSE THAN COVID PANDEMIC WHERE PEOPLE DIED ‘IN DROVES’]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago Jan. 26, 2025.(Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a temporary restraining order preventing the deployment of National Guard troops to the state as the lawsuit worked its way through the legal system. The Supreme Court also upheld Perry’s decision. The Trump administration withdrew federal troops from the state in January.

Pritzker and Trump have also clashed over the tactics used by federal immigration enforcement agents in Illinois. Pritzker has accused federal agents of “waging war on our people” and “acting like jackbooted thugs.”

President Donald Trump attends a tour of a Thermo Fisher Scientific plant in Reading, Ohio, March 11, 2026.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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The Trump administration faces another lawsuit stemming from accusations of immigration enforcement agents’ alleged misconduct during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit accused federal agents of violating protesters’ constitutional rights through their use of tear gas and force.

District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction barring federal agents’ use of force and tear gas on protesters, but an appeals court overturned her decision earlier this month.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital.

US furiously seeks to avert potential monthslong closure of Strait of Hormuz

Published Mar 20, 2026, 1:09 PM ET | CNN

By Alayna Treene, Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, Jim Sciutto, Kevin Liptak

A United Arab Emirates navy ship sails next to a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, March 11.

Altaf Qadri/AP

US officials are furiously trying to avert a potential monthslong closure of the Strait of Hormuz, privately acknowledging that reopening the key waterway is a problem without a clear solution and dependent at least in part on what lengths President Donald Trump is willing to go to force the Iranian regime’s hand, multiple administration and intelligence officials tell CNN.

“One of the core conundrums of this conflict is the Iranians have real leverage with this, and there’s not an obvious fix for it,” an intelligence official said of efforts to reopen the strait.

A recent internal assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency that was circulating inside the Pentagon in recent weeks determined that Iran could potentially keep the passage shut for anywhere from one to six months, four sources familiar with the document told CNN. But White House and Pentagon officials insisted that the assessment — particularly the longer end timeframe, which some consider a worst-case scenario — was not being seriously considered.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had not seen it, and Trump has not been briefed on it, nor was he using it to inform his policy decisions, one senior White House official said.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the Defense Intelligence Agency was “one of many intelligence agencies at the Pentagon that plans for every worst possible outcome.”

“One assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and it’s dangerous for the media to cherry pick the worst case scenario to scare the American people,” Parnell said. “I have been present for every briefing on this matter, and the six month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the Secretary of War. The Pentagon was well prepared for the Iranian regimes attempts to close the Strait, and we are working to address this challenge at the direction of the Commander in Chief.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “As the White House has long maintained, President Trump and his national security team were well prepared for the Iranian regime’s attempts to close the Strait, and the U.S. military is zeroed in on systematically eliminating the terrorist Iranian regime’s ability to disrupt the free flow of energy.”

The Defense Intelligence Agency said in a statement, “DIA can neither confirm nor deny the alleged referenced assessment.”

The variables for how long the Strait of Hormuz will be closed shift on an almost daily basis, the intelligence and administration officials told CNN, as the US and Israeli military operations continue to damage Iran’s capabilities to launch attacks. The timeline of the closure, the officials said, depends in part on how much those attacks are able to impact the Iranians’ weapons stockpiles and the lack of certainty around Iran’s remaining military capabilities.

The US has stepped up military efforts to clear the strait, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine this week detailing a number of weapons systems used to counter Iranian drone attacks and control the passage. Among them was an A-10 Warthog to attack ships in the strait.

The US has undeniably damaged Iran’s capabilities, but its short-range missile stockpile has not been completely destroyed, top Pentagon officials have said, though a White House official stressed that the war is only in week three of an anticipated four-to-six week timeline. And while the US and Israel have found success wiping out Iran’s navy and missile arsenal, the country still has other options in targeting tankers transiting the strait, according to western officials. That includes smaller craft, small submarines and even jet skis, the officials said. The smaller crafts could potentially be packed with explosives to inflict damage on tankers during suicide missions.

Even if the US is successful in taking out Iran’s missile and drone making abilities, the risks from the smaller, rougher operations could remain for weeks, the officials said. Escort missions through the strait would require several destroyers per tanker. And one source said the Iranians still have extensive ability to lay mines with smaller boats.

Trump, too, cannot simply order ships to transit the strait, meaning the US must prove in a way that gives peace of mind to those deciding whether to take the risk that Iran’s capability is either destroyed, or say with near certainty that the threat can be mitigated, sources said.

Boots on the ground

CNN has previously reported that the Trump administration underestimated Iran’s willingness to choke off the key passageway, believing the move would hurt Iran as much or more than it would the US. But now that Iran has taken the gamble, the US has to confront the reality that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is a far greater challenge than the other objectives laid out by the administration for the war, the officials said.

“Unlike the air dominance of Iran, which was essentially inevitable, this oil issue is different. The spectrum of potential outcomes is way broader, and the outcome to fix the strait is not inevitable at this point,” one intelligence official said.

Trump unsuccessfully sought an international coalition to police the strait, blasting allies over their reluctance and musing publicly he might just leave the matter in their hands after having “finished off” Iran.

“That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.

One challenge is geographical: the strait is nearly 100 miles long. Trump could send US troops to islands in the strait itself, which would provide strategic positioning to intercept Iranian boats or missiles. But it would also make for a risky mission putting American lives at risk.

A satellite view shows the Strait of Hormuz in January 2025.

Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025/Getty Images

“People totally underestimate just how vast the strait is. Logistically, it’s such a long shoreline, some 100 miles, that it’s difficult to do any one thing to effectively neuter the threat from Iran,” the intelligence official added. “The Iranians can be set up anywhere along the shoreline.”

Then there are the leverage points that might persuade Iran to back off. Among those that officials have weighed privately: capturing Kharg Island — an economic lifeline for Iran that handles roughly 90% of the country’s crude exports — or effectively wiping out the island’s oil infrastructure.

Multiple officials described the US military’s attack on Kharg Island last week as a signal to Iran at how far Trump is willing to go to weaken the regime. The island is internally viewed as a key leverage point that could, potentially, force Iran to agree to reopen the strait.

“(The attack on) Kharg Island was a signal, but the question is what is (the president) willing to do to make the Iranians go, ‘This is no longer in our interest to keep this as a chokepoint.’ Because that’s what it’s going to take,”the intelligence official said.

White House officials believe that taking Kharg Island would “totally bankrupt” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, one official said, and could potentially lead to a swift end of the war. But many inside the administration are wary of such a move, particularly given it would require a significant number of ground troops to achieve. On Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “not putting troops anywhere.”

“If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you, but I’m not putting troops,” he told reporters.

The strait’s closure, meanwhile, is having significant political and economic implications back home.

Oil prices have continued to rise as the strait remains closed, with average gas prices in the US steadily ticking higher. Roughly 20% of the world’s oil travels through it, and the administration has struggled with solutions to make up for the dwindling supply.

DOJ moves to dismiss criminal case against ex-police officers charged for role in Breonna Taylor’s death

Updated on: March 20, 2026 / 3:34 PM EDT / CBS News

The Justice Department on Friday moved to dismiss its criminal case against two former Louisville police officers who were facing civil rights charges in connection with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.

In a court filing Friday, lawyers from the Civil Rights Division said they are seeking to dismiss the pending case against Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany with prejudice, which means it could not be revived in the future. The judge has not yet ruled on the motion.

The filing was signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Keenan and Acting Criminal Chief Katie Neff. No career prosecutors from the division’s criminal section signed the brief.

Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police officers in March 2020 during a botched police raid at her home.

Both Jaynes and Meany were accused by the Justice Department of aiding and abetting the deprivation of Taylor’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Justice Department alleged that they lied to a Jefferson County state court judge in order to obtain the warrant for Taylor’s home.

Jaynes was accused of drafting a warrant affidavit based on both affirmative lies and lies by omission, while prosecutors alleged Meany signed off on the affidavit, though he knew it was based on lies.

A federal court on two separate occasions in 2023 and again in 2025 struck the Justice Department’s felony allegations against the two former officers, reducing them to misdemeanor color-of-law violations instead.

“Kyle is incredibly grateful for today’s filings. He is looking forward to putting this matter behind him and moving forward with his life,” said Michael Denbow, an attorney for Meany.

An attorney for Jaynes could not be immediately reached for comment.

Attorneys for Breonna Taylor’s family could not be immediately reached.

This marks the latest in a string of high-profile color-of-law cases that the Civil Rights Division has dismissed or sought lighter sentences for since last year.

Keenan, a longtime federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California who is now part of Dhillon’s senior leadership team, has been involved in most of the matters.

In one excessive force case in Los Angeles, he asked a judge to dismiss felony convictions against a local deputy sheriff — a move that prompted several prosecutors on the case to resign in protest.

He also asked a federal judge in Louisville last year to sentence former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison — who was convicted at trial for violating Taylor’s rights — to serve just one day in prison.

The judge rejected his request and sentenced Hankison to 33 months.

Earlier this month CBS reported that he is one of two staff members from the Civil Rights Division now assigned to investigate the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Former Iran detainees fear Americans held in Iranian prisons face heightened danger

March 20, 2026 / 3:45 PM EDT / CBS News

Former Iran detainee Siamak Namazi says he’s worried about the handful of Americans known to be held inside Iranian prisons as the U.S. war in Iran continues.

“They are the easiest-to-grab punching bag right now in the hands of that rogue regime,” he said during a panel discussion with “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

“I think this is a dangerous time,” said Namazi. He added, “For a hostage or wrongfully detained citizen abroad, their biggest fear is to be forgotten, and this is a very dangerous time for them, with all that’s going on in Washington’s mind.”

Namazi was detained in Iran’s notorious Evin prison in 2015 after almost eight years of captivity, the longest-held American prisoner to be released from Iran. The State Department determined that he had been wrongfully detained.

Emad Shargi, who was held in Iran for five years, recalled being in the Evin prison in October 2022, as massive anti-government protests seized the country. Mahsa Amini, 22, had been arrested for allegedly wearing a hijab incorrectly and died in police custody. Authorities said she had a heart attack, but her family said police beat her to death.

Shargi said it’s a “very uncomfortable situation” inside the prison when there’s unrest outside.

“Whenever there is an issue taking place in Iran, the walls of Evin are like an amplifier,” Shargi said. “So, when there’s a ripple outside in the society, there’s a tidal wave inside.” He recalled a fire inside the prison, and an influx of new prisoners related to the protests.

Shargi and Namazi were among five U.S. citizens who were freed in 2023 in a high-stakes, complex diplomatic deal brokered between Iran and the Biden administration that included the transfer of $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian oil assets and the release of five Iranians facing charges in the U.S.

At the time, a senior administration official said the deal “does not change our relationship with Iran in any way. Iran is an adversary and a state sponsor of terrorism.”

Namazi said he was “confident” if President Trump and his administration knew “there are Americans sitting in Evin prison,” they would “put that on the agenda” amid the ongoing war.

“I think it’s important that he hears that there are innocent Americans being held like we were — as political pawns,” said Namazi.

Shargi agreed, saying that he couldn’t “imagine if President Trump knew their names and knew these cases, they wouldn’t be one of the priorities.”

“I personally think that there will be a time soon because all wars end with some form of diplomacy,” Shargi said. “So, I would implore President Trump to make sure that part of those negotiations that will be coming up is bringing our people home.”

There are at least four Americans currently detained in Iran. Two of them — Reza Valizadeh and Kamran Hekmati — have been designated by the U.S. government as “wrongfully detained.” Both are believed to be held in Evin prison.

Namazi and Shargi spoke on a panel with Shargi’s sister, Neda Sharghi, American hostage negotiator Roger Carstens and Margaret Brennan Thursday, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “largest strike package yet” was coming in Iran.

“Our American hostages, whether they’re in Iran or in Venezuela, is that they always become a hostage to other bigger, broader political issues,” Neda Sharghi said. She said Americans “need to convince our government to separate them from what’s going on and find a creative solution, like we did to get Emad and Siamak home.”

Carstens, who served as the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs in both the first Trump and the Biden administrations, told Brennan he doesn’t know whether the detained Americans were raised during the negotiations with Iran led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

He said that when he was negotiating to bring Shargi and Namazi home, “we were very cognizant of the connection between the nuclear talks and that of the prisoner talks, because if the nuclear talks suddenly fail very horribly, the prisoner talks could be pulled down with it.”

Carstens said the U.S. tried to keep the ties between the detainees and the nuclear talks less intertwined, “to maybe just have a dotted line between the two issues, but not link them too tightly together.”

“We were very practical about how close those issues got together, and we wanted the flexibility to separate them if we wanted to,” Carstens said.

He acknowledged that for the regime, the nuclear issue and detainees are “much more married close together.” But Carstens said that might not be the case for the Americans: “If Witkoff and Kushner were trying to articulate an end to a nuclear issue, how close will they push it together? Practically, it may not be that close, depending on where they feel they are with the Iranians.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/former-iran-detainees-fear-americans-held-iranian-prisons/

Trump administration sues Harvard, alleging school didn’t protect Jewish students as settlement talks go nowhere

2026-03-20T16:16:32.256Z / CNN

By

[Betsy Klein]

Updated 2 hr ago

Updated Mar 20, 2026, 1:07 PM ET

PUBLISHED Mar 20, 2026, 12:16 PM ET

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Harvard University merchandise in a store window across from campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Trump administration slapped a new multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Harvard University on Friday, alleging that the school is in violation of a civil rights law and has failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from discrimination.

It is asking a federal judge to require the school to pay back millions in grant payments and halt more than $2.6 billion in existing grants.

The complaint marks the latest effort by President Donald Trump and his team to ratchet up pressure on the Ivy League school as high-level talks toward a settlement have failed to produce a resolution.

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After months of fits and starts, negotiations had been heating up in early February – until The New York Times reported that the White House had dropped demands for a financial payment from the university, citing multiple unnamed sources. Trump subsequently doubled down on his demands, saying that his administration was “now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages.”

Negotiators “were close – and they ghosted,” an administration official told CNN on Friday, saying that there has been “no communication” and that Harvard has been “dragging their feet.”

In a statement, the university said it “has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism and actively enforces anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules and policies on campus.”

The lawsuit, Harvard added, “represents yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government.”

Allegations of a ‘hostile’ environment for Jewish students

Friday’s lawsuit alleges that Harvard is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal funding, due to what the Trump administration describes as “a hostile educational environment” for Israeli and Jewish students.

The school has been “deliberately indifferent,” the lawsuit alleges, pointing to examples including protests in classrooms and libraries and students who were “spit on in the face for wearing a yarmulke, stalked on campus, and jeered by peers with calls of ‘Heil Hitler,” among others, that took place between the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel until present day.

“Harvard University has failed to protect its Jewish students from harassment and has allowed discrimination to wreak havoc on its campus,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told CNN in a statement.

Harvard has previously said that the school is “far from indifferent” when it comes to addressing antisemitism on campus.

“Antisemitism is a serious problem and no matter the context, it is unacceptable. Harvard has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism in its community,” the university’s communications director Jason Newton said in a statement after a Trump investigation concluded last year that the school was in “violent violation” of the Civil Rights Act.

The administration is asking the judge to declare Harvard in breach of its contract with the federal government because it is in violation of the law, which would mean the school would not receive additional grant payments. It has also requested that the court “rescind and award the United States restitution of all grant payments made to Harvard during the time of Harvard’s noncompliance with Title VI, along with the appointment of an independent outside monitor, which the school has resisted.

Harvard and the Trump administration have been sparring in court for months after the officials in Washington took several dramatic steps last year to retaliate against the university after it refused to bend to the president’s will. Among those steps was an attempt to cut off the school’s ability to host foreign students and the freezing of billions of dollars in federal research funding.

A judge in Boston concluded that both efforts were unlawful, and the government’s appeal of those decisions is currently underway at the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is stacked with appointees of Democratic presidents.

In the meantime, the Trump administration has continued to find new and creative ways to exert pressure on the elite institution using multiple levers of the federal government. The Department of Education placed the university on “Heightened Cash Monitoring” status due to what it described as “growing concerns regarding the university’s financial position.” The Department of Commerce has also targeted the school’s patents, among other moves.

CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with comment from Harvard.

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Reporter’s Notebook: Senate debates SAVE America Act despite not having the votes to pass | Fox News

By Chad Pergram | Fox News
Published March 20, 2026 1:44pm EDT

Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on the latest on the Senate debate over the SAVE America Act on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

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“We have a unique moment in time here, right now, to address an issue that’s really fundamental,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Tuesday.

In just an hour, the Senate would launch debate on the SAVE America Act.

Longtime Congressional agriculture reporter Matt Kaye had just asked Thune why the Senate was willing to burn so much time on the bill – despite it apparently lacking the votes to pass.

Attendees listen to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaking at an “Only Citizens Vote” bus tour rally on passing the SAVE Act at Upper Senate Park outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“Floor time is the coin of the realm,” observed Kaye. “How does it help you if you are using up valuable floor time by having an extended debate on this issue?”

Kaye then inquired why the Senate wouldn’t toil instead on a possible farm bill or even a supplemental spending plan for the war in Iran.

Kaye is on to something. Senate floor time is always at a premium. There are only so many floor hours available each week. But floor time isn’t the issue here. There’s only one thing which is more valuable in politics. And in this particular case for the GOP, it’s staying on the right side of President Trump.

TRUMP-BACKED SENATE HOPEFUL GAINS MOMENTUM WITH TOP GOP ENDORSEMENTS BEFORE MULLIN DHS SHIFT

President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One before departing Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 1, 2026.(Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

On Tuesday, the president proclaimed on Truth Social that the SAVE America Act is one of the “most important and consequential bills” in Congressional history. He added that he wouldn’t endorse any Republican who opposed the legislation.

Republicans say ID is essential to prove you’re a valid voter. However, the SAVE America Act goes further than that. It requires proof of citizenship – like a passport or birth certificate. That worries Michael Suggs, who lives in the Bronx, New York. He spoke to Fox’s Chelsea Torres.

“Your birth certificate? Social Security number when you show up at the polling place?” asked Suggs. “That might be a little unfair to certain people in this country, including myself. I don’t want to walk around with my birth certificate and my Social Security card. I’m a registered voter. I’ve been voting since I was 18 years old, and now I’m approaching 60. I don’t want that to be some kind of deliberate act to stop me from voting.”

The bill is now into its fourth day of debate – even if it’s doubtful the Senate has the votes to pass the measure. Democrats oppose the legislation. But the main problem lingers among members of the president’s party.

“Republicans by themselves don’t have the votes to get it passed,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

She cited that some Republicans opposed the bill over differences about mail-in voting.

“It’s not a one size fits all process. And those challenges are not only apparent within the Democrat caucus. They’re apparent within the Republican caucus,” said Lummis.

There’s been a lot of chatter in the Senate lately about torching the filibuster, so the Senate can pass the bill. Breaking a filibuster requires 60 votes. So if the bill doesn’t have a simple majority, there is simply no universe where the measure can command 60.

Yours truly took this up with Thune.

“You don’t have 60 votes. Why go through this? Is this basically just a show?” I asked.

“We don’t know that we don’t have 60 votes yet. You’re making an assumption,” replied the South Dakota Republican.

“Multiple members of your conference say that there aren’t even 51 votes,” I followed up.

“Yeah. Well, you’re making an assumption that at the end of this debate that none of the Democrats will be won over. And I’m not saying that. I appreciate your skepticism. But I think it’s an important debate to have because it is an issue that is at the very core of elections in this country,” answered Thune.

The “60 vote” issue galls some Republicans. Especially on a subject like this which Republicans believe resonates with the electorate.

“If a body of 100 people can’t find 60 votes for an issue that’s an 80-20 issue, that’s a real disgrace,” said Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., on Fox Business. “So we need to put the Democrats on the spot and have them defend this to their voters.”

THUNE REVEALS REASON DEMOCRATS ARE ‘SCARED’ TO REOPEN DHS

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick speaks during a campaign event at Desaki restaurant on Nov. 2, 2024, in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. McCormick is running against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., in one of the country’s most expensive and closely watched Senate races.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Even if the SAVE America Act is on a parliamentary road to oblivion, one of its feeder ramps has a junction with the midterm election. Republicans believe they have the political upper hand on this. They can again hammer Democrats on illegal immigration – punctuated by what the president cites repeatedly as voter fraud. The GOP hopes to boomerang that on Democrats this fall.

Then, there are social issues – which Republicans hope to link to this measure, too.

Senate GOPers devised amendments which would block men from playing women’s sports, bar transgender surgeries for kids and nix many forms of mail-in voting. Opponents ask what two of those three have to do with election security. That’s why they could be poison pills.

“If those those amendments are made in order, doesn’t that bring down the threshold where you might have a chance of getting 51 votes?” I asked Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

“Let’s continue to work with leadership and see how all of this is going to proceed and what is going to be the best way to get these forward. I think the amendments are good amendments,” said Blackburn, not addressing the question.

Remember what Thune said about Republicans potentially peeling off some Democrats? Good luck.

“You’re somebody who sometimes bucks your party,” I queried Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn. “Why wouldn’t you side with the Republicans?”

“Well, they’ve turned it into an unserious kind of a Christmas tree and attaching all these other things to it. And now bashing mail-in voting. Absolutely, it’s secure. Florida loves it and uses it. Ohio does too,” said Fetterman.

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., defended his state’s approach to sending in ballots.

“Almost 99 percent of Republican voters in Colorado voted by mail in 2025,” said Hickenlooper. “Vote by mail has proven to be less expensive, more secure, and people love it. That turnout just goes up. It’s perhaps the single most effective way to increase voter turnout today.”

But a vote related to the mail-in balloting amendment likely lacks the votes to pass and could tank the entire piece of legislation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) says the vastness of Alaska presents problems for residents to provide proper papers.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., panned conservatives’ and President Donald Trump’s desire to pass voter ID laws, and likened the push to one made by congressional Democrats years ago.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“If I happen to live here in Kotzebue, I’ve got to fly here to Nome to present my documentation. If I live in this Bethel community over here, I’m going all the way to Anchorage to present my documentation,” said Murkowski. “This is going to be costly on Alaskans. And again, these are people who are eligible to vote.”

Fox is told that Thune’s intention is to eventually move to terminate debate on the bill. That needs 60 yeas. There’s nowhere near 60 yeas to break a filibuster. That will kill the bill. Still, Thune might not do that until next week. Why? This is about making a show of things for the GOP base – even if they can’t pass the bill.

The Senate will veer away from the SAVE America Act on Sunday to break a filibuster on the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to become Homeland Security Secretary. Senators then vote to confirm Mullin sometime on Monday. After that, it’s back to the SAVE America Act.

Thune is probably willing to let the election security issue slog continue on the floor until there’s a deal to end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate is scheduled to leave town for the Easter and Passover recess for two weeks at the end of the month.

“It needs to get resolved by the end of next week,” said Thune of the DHS impasse. “I can’t see us taking a break if the government is still shut down.”

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., panned Senate Democrats for their resistance to a government funding extension, and blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for trying to appease his “far Left” base with threats of a shutdown.(Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

It’s not exactly a secret that any agreement to fund DHS would probably put a halt to debate on the SAVE America Act. Otherwise, Thune may be inclined to burn floor time on the president’s most important legislative goal – even if it goes nowhere. And a potential agreement to end the DHS stalemate would give him reason to cease action on the SAVE America Act.

Floor time is the coin of the realm. You can use it to get something done. Or to earn political capital among party loyalists and the president.

In this instance, Thune is trying to do both.

Chad Pergram currently serves as Chief Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6391205846112
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Senate fails to advance DHS funding bill for 5th time, with no deal in sight

March 20, 2026 / 3:51 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Senate on Friday again failed to move forward with legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, extending the shutdown that has snarled air travel around the country.

In a 47 to 37 vote, the legislation failed to reach the 60-vote threshold it needed to advance. Sixteen senators did not vote. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with Republicans.

Friday’s vote marks the fifth time since Feb. 12 that the Senate has attempted to advance a House-passed bill that would fund the department through September. DHS has been shut down since Feb. 14. Democrats are insisting on reforms to immigration enforcement practices to fully reopen the department.

A bipartisan group of senators met with border czar Tom Homan on Thursday, in what Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said was the first time both sides have met in six weeks. Leaving the meeting, Britt said “today was not negotiation, it was conversation.”

Another meeting with Homan was expected later Friday, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

“This can’t continue,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters, adding that both sides “have now had an opportunity to kind of sharpen their pencils.”

“I think we’re going to know today whether we’re actually serious about it,” Thune said.

Earlier this week, Senate Democrats sent the White House their latest counteroffer. In a letter Tuesday to Republican senators involved in funding discussions, the White House said it had made several proposals to Democrats in its previous counteroffer. The offer included expanded use of body cameras, limiting civil immigration enforcement activities at schools and hospitals and requiring officers to wear visible identification. But Democrats have dismissed the offer, saying the White House has refused to budge on masks and warrants.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Friday that negotiations on immigration enforcement “still have a way to go,” citing “deep disagreements.”

The effects of the shutdown have been most apparent at airports across the U.S. Travelers are facing long lines, with unpaid Transportation Security Administration officers calling off work or quitting altogether. One TSA official warned this week that some airports might need to be shut down if the situation is not resolved soon.

Republicans have blocked Democrats’ repeated attempts to pass funding for other agencies under the DHS umbrella, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Meanwhile, Democrats have shut down efforts by Republicans to approve temporary funding for all of DHS.

Schumer said that lawmakers would have another chance to fund TSA on Saturday, when a procedural vote on legislation funding the individual agency is expected.

“The chaos at TSA is reaching a boiling point. We need to reopen it as quickly as possible,” Schumer said in a floor speech Friday.

Alan He and Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report.

An alliance like no other? Inside President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s relationship | CNN Politics

Published 1:39 PM EDT, Fri March 20, 2026 / CNN

Dan Senor, host of the ‘Call Me Back’ podcast parses Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement where he said “America is the leader” in the war in Iran, while Israel is the ally after Israel attacked an Iranian gas field. “Even Reagan and Thatcher had disagreements from time to time. The test of the relationship is not about whether or not two democratic leaders in wartime have disagreements, it’s about how they deal with those disagreements.”

7:28 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/20/politics/video/inside-politics-dan-senor

美国或向中东增派数千名士兵

2026年3月20日 23:30 / 联合早报

美国中央司令部3月18日发布的照片显示，隶属于第31战斗攻击机中队的F/A-18E“超级大黄蜂”战斗机，3月15日在世界上最大航空母舰福特号的飞行甲板上滑行。 （法新社）

三名美国官员告诉路透社，美国军方正在向中东增派数千名海军陆战队员和水兵。

此次部署包括两栖攻击舰拳师号（USS Boxer）及其所属的海军陆战队远征部队（Marine Expeditionary Unit）和随行军舰。此前路透社报道，美国总统特朗普的政府正在考虑向中东增派数千名美军，以加强其在中东的军事行动。

特朗普星期四（3月19日）对记者说，他不会向“任何地方”派遣军队，但如果真的要这样做，他也不会告诉记者。

这些要求匿名的消息人士没有透露增派部队的具体任务。但其中一名官员说，这些部队将比原计划提前约三周从美国西海岸出发。

白宫和五角大楼尚未对此报道置评。

中东战局使日美峰会变调 特朗普向高市施压吁日派兵为霍尔木兹护航 | 联合早报

[符祝慧]东京特派员
发布/2026年3月20日 23:44

中东局势高度紧张之际，美国总统特朗普与日本首相高市早苗在华盛顿召开峰会。《朝日新闻》引述消息人士透露，特朗普在闭门会议上向高市施压，吁日本派遣自卫队为霍尔木兹海峡护航“做出贡献”。

高市自去年10月就任首相以来首次访美，美国时间星期四（3月19日）到白宫会见特朗普。

日媒分析，高市此行原本是为了在特朗普原定本月底访华前与他协调日本对华政策；然而伊朗战事打乱了原有节奏，特朗普推迟访华，日美峰会也走向“意料之外”的方向，中东局势意外成了峰会的主要议题。

《朝日新闻》星期五（3月20日）报道，在伊朗问题上，高市表明“发展核武器不可接受”，并促伊朗停止攻击邻国和途经霍尔木兹海峡的船只。

她也表明，从能源稳定供应的角度来看，确保霍尔木兹海峡航行安全至关重要，日本将在法律框架内“继续尽己所能”。

关于“为霍尔木兹海峡护航”的行动，特朗普在进入正式会谈前的记者会上就频频暗示“希望日本挺身而出，也理应挺身而出”。

他还将日本与欧洲盟友作比较，称北约不愿在霍尔木兹海峡问题上与美国合作；“而日本超过90%的石油运输都经过霍尔木兹海峡，与北约的情况不一样，我相信日本会履行职责。”

《日经新闻》解读，特朗普的一番话凸显，即便高市未承诺具体行动，但美方相信，“日本的行动是积极的”。

《朝日新闻》则分析，要日本部署自卫队维护霍尔木兹海峡航行安全，除了受限于国内宪法，从战略角度看，日本目前并未有足够资源这么做；这是因为美国如今受困中东战局，中国在台湾海峡的军事活动却日益加剧，日本料难放松周边安全防线，分身兼顾霍尔木兹海峡。

为了应对中东局势引发的能源危机，日美发表的联合文件显示，日本将对美启动一项400亿美元（512亿7300万新元）的核能投资项目，包括在美国境内建设新一代小型模块化反应堆（SMR）和两座天然气发电厂，总投资额超过11万亿日元（886亿新元）。

此外，日美也正合作开展一个包括原油基础设施的项目，以增加美国对日本的原油出口；政府官员称，这将增加美国北部阿拉斯加的原油产量。

日美承诺联合研发生产导弹 加强威慑应对中朝

就中日关系，特朗普在峰会前面对记者提问是否会在习特会上提及中日关系时，转而问高市：“你和中国的关系怎么样了？”

对此，高市回应：“日本由始至终对与中国对话持开放态度，我们保持对话渠道畅通，并以冷静审慎的方式应对。”

两人过后并未公开是否在峰会上就对华政策进行讨论，但高市在峰会后独自召开的日媒记者会上强调，面对日益严峻的国际局势，强大的日美同盟对维护日本的利益至关重要。

两位领导人确认了日美两国在对华和对朝问题上持续密切合作，承诺通过联合研发并生产导弹，加强日美威慑和应对能力。

特朗普将袭击伊朗比作日本偷袭珍珠港

这是高市就任首相后第二次与特朗普会晤，上一次是去年10月特朗普出席在韩国举行的亚太经合会议前夕，受到高市热情款待。

这次转场白宫，两人也充分互动。但特朗普峰在峰会前记者会上的一段出其不意的回应，却叫高市不知所措。

面对日本记者提问：“袭击伊朗，为何没事先通知日本等盟友？”特朗普回应道：“谁能比日本更懂得出其不意的突袭？你们偷袭珍珠港怎么也没跟美国说？你们可比我们更相信突袭。”

特朗普翻出“日本偷袭珍珠港”的历史旧账为自己发动伊朗战争找下台阶，让一旁的高市目瞪口呆、一脸尴尬。

[日本][日美首脑][高市早苗][特朗普][中东]

[上一篇 美国或向中东增派数千名士兵][下一篇 特朗普称北约为“懦夫” 北约驻伊拉克特派团撤离]

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