House Republicans release last-minute healthcare plan; TSA defends sharing traveler names with ICE – as it happened | Jeffrey Epstein
Summary
That’s all for our live coverage for the day. Thanks for following along. Here are some of the big stories from the day.
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House Republicans late this evening proposed a healthcare plan with no extension of tax credits, as insurance premiums set to rise sharply for at least 22 million Americans.
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House Democrats published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, featuring Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and others.
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Trump is facing a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction on his $300m White House ballroom, with historic preservationists accusing the president of violating multiple federal laws by tearing down part of the iconic building without required reviews or congressional approval.
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Trump declared he “should be listened to” by the Federal Reserve, as he weighs candidates to lead the central bank amid an extraordinary campaign by the White House to exert greater control over its decisions.
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The US is ending temporary legal status for citizens of Ethiopia in the United States, as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration.
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Immigration agents appear to be increasingly arresting and detaining Afghan asylum seekers, especially men, who have arrived in the US recently and are awaiting court hearings to decide their cases.
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The New York Times reported that the Transportation Security Administration is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, dramatically expanding the Trump administration’s use of data sharing for deportations.
Key events
The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew – who was detained by US immigration authorities last month – has spoken out in a CNN interview this evening.
Bruna-Caroline Ferreira was detained in Massachusetts, her home state, and sent to immigration detention in Louisiana. She was recently released from custody on bond. She was born in Brazil and has been living in the US since 1998. Ferreira told CNN she had not spoken to Leavitt, who she had chosen to be her son’s godmother.
“What I would have to say to Karoline is just because you went to a Catholic school doesn’t make you a good Catholic. You’re a mother … How would you feel if you were in my shoes? How would you feel if somebody did this to you?” Ferreira said. “I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is defending its collaboration with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a New York Times report revealing TSA has been providing the names of air travelers to ICE to support deportation efforts.
The report said TSA provides a list multiple times a week of people coming through its airports, which ICE then crosschecks with its own database of people facing deportation so it can send immigration to airports to make arrests.
“This is nothing new,” a TSA spokesperson said in an email to the Guardian. The statement noted that in February, Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, reversed a Biden-era policy that allowed undocumented people to “jet around our country and do so without identification”. “TSA and DHS will no longer tolerate this,” the spokesperson continued. It’s unclear which specific policy the spokesperson was referencing, but the New York Times report said ICE has historically avoided interfering with domestic travel.
“This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport,” TSA added.
Immigrants’ rights advocates decried the collaboration, with Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, saying in a statement,
“The Trump administration is turning airports into hunting grounds for ICE – using passengers’ personal travel information to target and detain immigrant New Yorkers. This practice does nothing but terrorize communities and punish people for simply living their lives. No one should have to worry that an airline trip to visit family or take a vacation could lead to being handcuffed and deported.”
More delays for Trump’s new Air Force One jet
The US air force said today that the delivery of the first of two new Air Force One jets from Boeing has been delayed again by another year to mid-2028, Reuters reports.
Trump criticized delays earlier this year, and the latest setback risks further angering the president, who wants to fly in the new planes before his term ends. The cost to build the two new jets is over $5bn.
The president faced criticisms in May when it was revealed that he would accept a Boeing 747-8 jet as a free gift from the Qatari royal family, with taxpayers footing the bill for the work to secure the plane for his use.
Boeing told Reuters in a statement it is making progress on the program: “Our focus is on delivering two exceptional Air Force One airplanes for the country.”
Trump demands Fed listen to him: ‘I’m a smart voice’
Donald Trump declared he “should be listened to” by the Federal Reserve, as he weighs candidates to lead the central bank amid an extraordinary campaign by the White House to exert greater control over its decisions.
The US president told the Wall Street Journal that former Fed governor Kevin Warsh is currently top of his list to chair the central bank. Jerome Powell, the current Fed chairperson, is scheduled to finish an eight-year stint in the role next May. Powell has repeatedly defied Trump’s demands for drastic cuts to interest rates, prompting the president to launch a string of public attacks.
Trump is also considering his adviser Kevin Hassett, who leads the National Economic Council, as a potential chair of the Fed.
“I think you have Kevin and Kevin. They’re both – I think the two Kevins are great,” Trump told the Journal in an interview published today. “I think there are a couple of other people that are great.” He argued the next Fed chair should listen to him on the future direction of rates: “I don’t think he should do exactly what we say. But … I’m a smart voice and should be listened to.”
DoJ sues more states in effort to obtain voter data
The US Department of Justice has sued Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Nevada as part of its ongoing efforts to collect detailed voting data, the AP reports.
The federal lawsuits accuse the states of “failing to produce statewide voter registration lists upon request” and follow similar suits against 14 other states and Fulton county in Georgia.
Critics have raised alarms about potential policy violations, as some of the data the federal government is seeking includes names, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial social security numbers, the AP said. The department has sought data from at least 26 states, according to a tally by the AP, which notes that some election officials have expressed concerns, as federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government.
House Republicans release last-minute healthcare proposal
Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House, released a healthcare proposal late Friday night after the Senate failed this week to pass legislation to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The subsidies are expiring at the end of the month, impacting 21.8 million enrollees, who could face skyrocketing premiums.
The 111-page proposal from House Republicans focuses on proposals to expand access to employer-sponsored health insurance plans and clamp down on so-called pharmacy benefit managers, according to an Associated Press summary.
The GOP plan aims to allow more small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together and purchase health coverage, the AP explained: “Proponents say such plans increase the leverage businesses have to negotiate a lower rate. But critics say the plans provide skimpier coverage than what is required under the Affordable Care Act.”
“House Republicans are tackling the real drivers of health care costs to provide affordable care,” Johnson said in a statement.
Republican representative says Clintons could face contempt of Congress
James Comer, a Republican representative from Kentucky and chair of the House committee on oversight and government reform, said Bill and Hillary Clinton “must appear for depositions or face contempt of Congress”.
Comer’s new statement came after House Democrats released new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, which included images with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
Comer said it had been more than four months since the former president and former secretary of state and US senator were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to the ongoing Epstein investigation, saying the couple “have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee staff’s efforts to schedule their testimony”.
“If the Clintons fail to appear for their depositions next week or schedule a date for early January,” Comer continued, “the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings to hold them accountable.”
No former presidents have been compelled to testify before Congress, the AP noted. A spokesperson for Bill Clinton has previously said the former president cut off ties more than a decade before Epstein was arrested in 2019 and was unaware of his crimes.
Trump takes questions on Ukraine, Obamacare and Epstein
At an Oval Office event honoring a 1980 Olympic team, Trump briefly took questions from reporters, addressing the new Epstein estate photos, Venezuela and other subjects. Some highlights:
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Trump said the new Epstein photos, which included images of him, were “no big deal”.
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He reiterated his calls warning about potential land strikes against Venezuela and saying strikes could extend beyond Venezuela.
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Asked about Ukraine, he declined to provide details about a key provision in the US peace proposal, saying: “It’s a very complex situation, but it would work. And a lot of people want to see it work.”
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A reporter asked about the imminent expiration of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, saying: “What’s your message to the 24 million Americans who will see their insurance premiums go up?” Trump responded, “Don’t make it sound so bad, because obviously you’re a sycophant for Democrats.” The president said he was leaving it to Republicans in Congress to advance legislation.
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The president also revived his attacks on Somalia and Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman, saying: “She’s very bad for our country … All she does is complain, complain, complain … There’s nothing worse than a person who comes in and does nothing but bitch.”
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He also criticized Yamiche Alcindor, an NBC correspondent trying to ask a question, saying, “She’s very aggressive.”
Trump criticizes NBC reporter: ‘She’s very aggressive’
The president criticized NBC News correspondent, Yamiche Alcindor, as she tried to ask a question at the Oval Office: “Wait, wait,” he said. “She’s very aggressive.” He then called on another reporter.
He later called on Alcindor, who asked the president about the newly released photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.
The president has a history of criticizing Alcindor. In 2018, he told her a question she asked about his support from white nationalists was “such a racist question”.
Trump has repeatedly made headlines recently for insulting female reporters, including calling a Bloomberg reporter “piggy” and labeling a New York Times reporter “ugly”.
Trump on new Epstein estate photos: ‘No big deal’
Donald Trump downplayed the new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, released by House Democrats today, when asked about the disclosures by a reporter at the Oval Office.
“I haven’t seen them. Everybody knew this man. He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody. There are hundreds … That’s no big deal. I know nothing about it.”
Our earlier coverage of the released photos, which included images of the president.
Trump says potential land strikes could extend beyond Venezuela
Asked by a reporter at the Oval Office about his repeated threats to escalate his attacks on Venezuela with land strikes, Donald Trump responded: “It’s not only land strikes on Venezuela, it’s land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs.”
He continued: “It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Venezuela. People bringing in drugs to our country are targets.”
His comments came as Democrats continue to call for the release of footage of his administration’s strikes against a vessel off the coast of Venezuela in September.
Donald Trump is at the Oval Office providing congressional gold medals to members of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, which defeated the Soviet Union team in a major upset.
The president put on a white cowboy hat, surrounded by honorees who also arrived in cowboy hats.
The event comes as Trump is facing scrutiny over House Democrats’ release of new photos from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which included images of Trump, Bill Clinton and and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The White House responded that the controversy was a “Democratic hoax”.
Democratic leaders call for release of boat strike video
Top Democratic leaders have urged Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, to release the “complete, unedited video” of the Venezuelan boat attacks on 2 September, which involved a second hit that killed two survivors of an initial strike.
Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the leaders of the congressional chambers, along with Mark Warner, the vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Hegseth today reiterating the request that the full footage be disclosed to all members of the House and Senate before the end of the legislative session this month.
The letter also called for a public release, saying:
We also urge you to expedite the public release of the video, taking into account appropriate precautions to protect sources and methods, so that the American people can judge for themselves the legality and necessity of their government engaging in such activities that potentially put our men and women in uniform at risk.
TSA is providing names of all air travelers to US immigration officials, report says
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, dramatically expanding the Trump administration’s use of data sharing for deportations, according to a new New York Times report.
TSA provides a list multiple times a week to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of people coming through airports, the report says. ICE allegedly uses the list to match it with its own database of people facing deportation and then sends immigration agents to the airport to make arrests.
The report, based on documents obtained by the New York Times, says it’s unclear how many arrests have been made due to this data sharing, but said the collaboration led to the arrest of Any Lucia López Belloza, a 19-year-old college student detained at the Boston airport, leading to her deportation.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said in a statement to the New York Times: “The message to those in the country illegally is clear: The only reason you should be flying is to self-deport home.”
