The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Executive News Summary
Trump sticking with Noem: Responding to the shooting death of a second anti-ICE agitator at the hands of federal immigration enforcement officers over the weekend, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem defended CBP agents’ action by falsely labeling agitator Alex Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.” That response ignited calls for her removal and threats of impeachment from Democrat lawmakers. Even moderate Democrat Sen. John Fetterman, who has largely supported Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement, called for her removal, stating, “She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy. DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made by not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary.” Trump’s response has been a simple “No,” though he added, “I think she’s doing a very good job.” The trouble is, there is a growing discontentment with Noem among Republicans on Capitol Hill as well.
Border czar meets with Tim Walz and Jacob Frey: Border Czar Tom Homan, who was sent to take over the immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota this week, met yesterday with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Homan reported, “While we don’t agree on everything, these meetings were a productive starting point.” Walz continues to insist that his state does and always has cooperated with ICE in handing over illegal immigrants in Minnesota custody. Meanwhile, Frey promised that his city will continue to flout federal immigration law and continued to assert that law enforcement, not massive numbers of illegals, rioters, and fraudsters, is the source of the strain upon his city. If Walz wishes to soothe the troubled waters in his state, he will need to exercise some leadership and compel cooperation from his state’s mayors.
Pretti had a previous violent encounter with ICE: Alex Pretti had a history with ICE. Before his fatal tussle, Pretti interfered with ICE chasing a suspect down the street, getting out of his car to scream and berate the agents. He was tackled and allegedly suffered a broken rib before being quickly released. One week later, he violently obstructed an immigration enforcement action, refusing to comply and struggling with officers until he was killed. Details about his death are starting to be released. DHS issued a memo of “factual reports — not analytical judgments” showing that one Border Patrol agent and one Customs and Border Protection officer fired their weapons at Pretti. The report did not identify the agents or which one was the source of the fatal shot.
Ilhan Omar sprayed with unknown substance at town hall event: Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was speaking at a town hall event on Tuesday night when a man stood up and used a syringe to squirt her with a liquid before being tackled. Omar stood her ground against the man and can be heard describing him as a “f**king a**hole.” Despite her team insisting she needed to go to a hospital and change for fear of the liquid, Omar insisted, “Just give me 10 more minutes,” before telling the crowd that they are “Minnesota strong.” U.S. Capitol Police report that the man is in custody and will be facing “the most serious charges possible.” Omar reported on X after the event that she was fine and would not let bullies win.
UPDATE: The substance was apple cider vinegar.
Schumer wants another shutdown: Democrats see a political opportunity to exploit the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota, so Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to halt a funding measure for DHS that is part of a six-bill spending package. Schumer is demanding that the DHS funding measure be pulled, an action Republicans oppose so as to avoid having to send the legislation back to the House. Furthermore, the House Freedom Caucus has vowed to block any spending package that does not include funding for DHS. Schumer called ICE’s actions “state-sanctioned thuggery” and rejected President Trump’s subsequent de-escalation actions as not “good enough.” Schumer is angling for another government shutdown with his demand, since breaking up the spending package would require the Senate’s unanimous consent, something Republicans won’t give.
Reviewing the DC air crash: It’s been almost a year since the DC air crash that killed 67 people, and a hearing was held by the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday to determine what the investigation into the crash has revealed. Investigators found that several factors contributed to the fatal collision, including inaccurate instrument readings, crowded airspace, failures in the FAA maps, neither the plane nor the helicopter having identification and collision-avoidance technology, and the plane crew not being warned of the helicopter by air traffic controllers. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called the crash “100% preventable,” adding that the Federal Aviation Administration ignored the warnings for years of dangerous flight congestion at Reagan National Airport. She explained that the collision resulted from systemic failures across multiple institutions, as well as excessive reliance on pilots to visually maintain separation between aircraft.
Dems stand to lose six House seats after 2030 Census: A new study from Carnegie Mellon University redistricting expert Dr. Jonathan Cervas estimates that, following the 2030 Census, California and New York will lose four and two House seats, respectively. That represents a 10% loss in congressional representation for those blue states. Meanwhile, the study indicates that Texas and Florida are on pace to gain four seats each. This could prove to be a significant loss for Democrats’ future House control aims. The primary reason for these lost seats is population decline. Both California and New York have continued to see residents flee their states, largely due to their high-tax policies. Residents in New York pay roughly $5,000 more in taxes per person than the national average, and $7,000 more than residents of Florida and Texas. Furthermore, New York has not recovered some 368,000 jobs lost during the pandemic.
Virginia targets current gun owners: Virginia State Senator Azlan Salim, who was born in Bangladesh, has introduced legislation that will put Virginians on the wrong side of the law if they don’t turn in any gun magazine that holds more than 10 rounds. Salim’s legislation was advanced out of committee on Monday. Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who recently lost his position to a Democrat who gleefully wished death upon the children of his opponents, has come out against the legislation in the strongest terms. Miyares summed it up: “Seems some want to lower criminal penalties on everyone but law abiding citizens of Virginia.”
Ukraine war casualties could hit 2M by spring: As the war in Ukraine grinds toward four years since Russian troops invaded in February 2022, the number of soldiers killed or wounded on both sides of the conflict is reaching a staggering total. A recent study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that the war will have two million casualties by the spring. Russians have suffered 1.2 million casualties, 325,000 of which are troop deaths. That’s the highest number Russians have seen since World War II. Meanwhile, Ukraine has suffered between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties, of which an estimated 140,000 are deaths. Of course, neither Kiev nor Moscow offers accurate or timely casualty numbers, with Russia absurdly admitting only 6,000 soldiers killed.
Headlines
“No Kings” protest organizers target Minneapolis-St. Paul for next flagship demonstration (Fox News)
Trump warns Iraq against reinstalling Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister (WSJ)
TikTok settles landmark social media addiction lawsuit ahead of trial (National Review)
Amazon slashing some 16,000 jobs in its latest layoff round (CBS News)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.