President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to be the next US attorney general \u2013 his former personal defense lawyer Todd Blanche \u2013 faces what is expected to be a contentious Senate nomination hearing today.<\/p>\n
Blanche will come under tough questioning from Democrats and potentially some Republicans<\/a> during his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n A sole Republican \u201cno\u201d vote on the panel could be enough to torpedo the 51-year-old Blanche\u2019s appointment to be the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, AFP reports.<\/p>\n Blanche has been serving as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi was fired by Trump and has been closely tied to what Democrats<\/a> have dubbed a \u201cretribution\u201d campaign by the Republican president against his perceived political enemies.<\/p>\n It comes amid a flurry of confirmation hearings set to take place today. Jay Clayton, Trump\u2019s pick to head the nation\u2019s intelligence agencies, will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, weeks after Trump abruptly delayed his nomination.<\/p>\n And the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold nomination hearings for Dr Erica Schwartz to permanently head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency that has been without a confirmed director for most of Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n The committee could also confirm Sean Kaufman to lead emergency and disaster preparedness efforts as Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Federal immigration officials have been instructed to stop pulling over vehicles until further notice, according to a homeland security source, following two recent deadly shootings in Texas and Maine during which officials shot and killed immigrants in vehicles. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to temporarily fill his Senate seat on Tuesday, just three days after his sudden death. Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina\u2019s governor, to fill the remainder of her brother\u2019s current term. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n A person died during an encounter with federal immigration officials on Tuesday morning in Florida, marking the third death in one week linked to immigration enforcement operations. Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had an \u201cencounter\u201d with four men in a vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store along a busy road in St Augustine, Florida, the highway patrol spokesperson said. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Supreme court justices requested $14.6m increase in security amid a rise in threats. Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.29 CEST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n The president is awake and posting about ICE on his own social media network.<\/p>\n Writing on Truth Social, Donald Trump<\/a> said ICE agents are doing a \u201cgreat\u201d job and that crime is \u201cway down\u201d in the US.<\/p>\n The full post reads:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done. CRIME IS WAY DOWN IN AMERICA, in many cases with numbers that haven\u2019t been seen in decades. The Open Border Policy of Sleepy Joe Biden allowed 25,000,000 people to pour into our Country, unchecked and unvetted. Many were Criminals, and we have to get them out.<\/p>\n In order to do this, we must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.\u2019s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won\u2019t happen on my watch. I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming! Remember, you are loved and respected in America.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Cate Brown<\/p>\n Two US advocacy groups sued the Trump administration<\/a> on Wednesday, alleging that sanctions targeting Palestinian rights organizations, international criminal court (ICC) officials and a UN expert have unlawfully violated Americans\u2019 first amendment rights.<\/p>\n The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, argues that the administration\u2019s sweeping 2025 sanctions package has had a \u201cprofound\u201d chilling effect on Palestine-related advocacy, compelling Americans to sever professional relationships and abandon constitutionally protected work.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration<\/a> is using the blunt instrument of economic sanctions not only to punish human rights defenders but to police the political expression of millions of Americans,\u201d said Omar Shakir, executive director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (Dawn), a Washington-based advocacy group focused on US foreign policy in the Middle East. Dawn joined the New York-based Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide in Wednesday\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n The 43-page legal complaint notes that both organizations have worked on ICC submissions documenting Israeli war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza. Dawn has also worked with the three sanctioned Palestinian NGOs and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, to publish research, convene conferences and lobby US policymakers.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Former president Joe Biden will publish a memoir this fall, publisher Little, Brown and Company told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n \u2018Promise Me, America,\u2019 which Biden says will touch upon everything from the economy to his decision to drop his bid for reelection, is scheduled to come out 17 November.<\/p>\n The timing of the book \u2013 two weeks after midterm elections in which Democrats seek to regain control of Congress \u2013 could raise concerns within his party. Many Democrats remain divided on Biden\u2019s legacy and his ill-fated determination to seek a second term in the White House and leaders hope to keep the fall campaign focused on the record of Republican president Donald Trump<\/a> .<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Promise Me, America\u2019 is about the challenges we faced as a nation. It\u2019s about the decisions I made and why I made them,\u201d Biden said in a video statement accompanying Wednesday\u2019s announcement. \u201cMost of all, it\u2019s about my faith in the promise of America.\u201d<\/p>\n Reports of Biden\u2019s book have circulated for more than a year, and the former president himself has referred to it during public remarks, appearing to suggest it would be released before November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> US officials are facing mounting calls to remove US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from American streets after federal agents killed two men who were not the target of enforcement action in less than a week.<\/p>\n Advocacy groups, including the National Police Accountability Project and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, described the fatal shootings of Johan Sebasti\u00e1n Dur\u00e1n Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas<\/a> as extrajudicial killings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bystander videos I watched make it clear that ICE agents carried out another extrajudicial public execution in Maine<\/a>,\u201d Lauren Bonds, the executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that the only way to prevent ICE from killing us in the streets is to remove ICE from the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress can do so, she added, by freezing funding to the agency and limiting their jurisdiction.<\/p>\n Details have emerged in recent days about how the two killings unfolded during operations that quickly turned deadly.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump’s pick for attorney general faces Senate hearing later today<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to the US politics<\/a> live blog.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to be the next US attorney general \u2013 his former personal defense lawyer Todd Blanche \u2013 faces what is expected to be a contentious Senate nomination hearing today.<\/p>\n Blanche will come under tough questioning from Democrats and potentially some Republicans<\/a> during his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n A sole Republican \u201cno\u201d vote on the panel could be enough to torpedo the 51-year-old Blanche\u2019s appointment to be the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, AFP reports.<\/p>\n Blanche has been serving as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi was fired by Trump and has been closely tied to what Democrats<\/a> have dubbed a \u201cretribution\u201d campaign by the Republican president against his perceived political enemies.<\/p>\n It comes amid a flurry of confirmation hearings set to take place today. Jay Clayton, Trump\u2019s pick to head the nation\u2019s intelligence agencies, will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, weeks after Trump abruptly delayed his nomination.<\/p>\n And the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold nomination hearings for Dr Erica Schwartz to permanently head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency that has been without a confirmed director for most of Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n The committee could also confirm Sean Kaufman to lead emergency and disaster preparedness efforts as Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Federal immigration officials have been instructed to stop pulling over vehicles until further notice, according to a homeland security source, following two recent deadly shootings in Texas and Maine during which officials shot and killed immigrants in vehicles. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to temporarily fill his Senate seat on Tuesday, just three days after his sudden death. Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina\u2019s governor, to fill the remainder of her brother\u2019s current term. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n A person died during an encounter with federal immigration officials on Tuesday morning in Florida, marking the third death in one week linked to immigration enforcement operations. Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had an \u201cencounter\u201d with four men in a vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store along a busy road in St Augustine, Florida, the highway patrol spokesperson said. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Supreme court justices requested $14.6m increase in security amid a rise in threats. Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Dani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dani_Anguiano.png\")
Dani Anguiano<\/p>\n