Oct. 31, 2025, 12:16 PM EDT A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman offered a two-word reply Friday in response to a local news report that said immigration agents were seen wearing Halloween masks in the Los Angeles area. “Happy Halloween!” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin wrote to NBC News when asked about the report. The story by the local news site LA Taco featured images posted to social media showing what the outlet says were agents in unmarked cars do ...

October 31, 2025 11:28AM ET Federal prosecutors expanded their investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking network to examine whether the disgraced financier was engaged in money laundering, according to a new review of his personal email account. Bloomberg reviewed documents and emails from Epstein’s personal Yahoo account that show lead prosecutor Marie Villafaña, then assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, requested grand jury subpoenas in 2007 for &qu ...

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) slammed The Heritage Foundation over its defense of Tucker Carlson on X Friday, writing that “conservatives should feel no obligation to carry water for antisemites.” On Thursday, the president of The Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, posted a highly disputed video in which he defended Carlson’s recent interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes — despite calls for the organization to distance itself from the former Fox News host. “We will always defend truth ...

While it has already been reported that Weiss is eyeing Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier and CNN star Anderson Cooper for the role, despite both making eight-digit salaries and being locked into contracts with rival networks, The Guardian revealed Friday that another name has entered the fray: Fox News anchor Dana Perino. Perino, a former George W. Bush spokesperson, has been with the conservative cable giant since 2009 and currently serves as both a co-anchor of the midday news broad ...

Updated 4:44 PM EDT, October 31, 2025 NEW YORK (AP) -- President Donald Trump's request to add a documentary proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., sided with Democratic and civil rights groups that sued the Trump administration over his executive order to overhaul U.S. elections. She ruled that the proof-of-citizenship directive is an unconstitut ...

(Newsweek) Republican U.S. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana is facing backlash online after saying that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients who don't have one month of groceries stockpiled should never receive the benefit again and added, "because wow, stop smoking crack." Newsweek reached out to Higgins' office via phone Thursday night for comment after hours and left a message.

(Alternet) Vice President JD Vance was asked about the 42 million people who are expected to lose their SNAP benefits this weekend, and why the administration has found ways to pay troops and federal law enforcement but not low-income Americans who rely on the government to help them pay for food. ... “The unfortunate reality, and we’re starting to see this with our aviation industry, we’re gonna find out the hard way with SNAP benefits,” Vance said. “The American people are already suffering, and the suffering is gonna get a lot worse,” he declared.

(CNN) DANA BASH: "It's not just Democrats -- you also have one of the most conservative Republican Senators, Josh Hawley, who says at least, please, move money around to feed people. Why not consider that?" MIKE JOHNSON: "Because if you deviate from the goal of reopening the entire government, Chuck Schumer and the radicals over there will continue to play games with people's paychecks, their livelihoods, and if you do just part of this, it will reduce the pressure for them to do all of it."

(Politico) In Wisconsin, Democrats are launching nearly 400 canvassing events this weekend focused on health care. A major liberal advocacy group, Protect Our Care, will push a six-figure digital campaign. Top Democratic governors, including Kentucky’s Andy Beshear and Laura Kelly of Kansas, are holding press calls to “to slam D.C. Republicans for causing Americans’ health care premiums to skyrocket.” In the coming days, Democrats will launch ad buys, hold town halls and convene media appearances to highlight the Nov. 1 date when Americans must choose to purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace with higher premiums or forgo it altogether, an attempt to ensure Republicans shoulder the blame for rising health care costs.

(Newsweek) Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has called on Speaker Mike Johnson to reopen the House of Representatives to vote on a bill aimed at funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as millions of Americans face potential interruptions in benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown. The legislation, introduced by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, has gained traction in the chamber, with the number of cosponsors increasing from 11 to 29. The Keep SNAP Funded Act would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue issuing SNAP payments even while Congress has not passed a new budget or temporary funding resolution.