House speaker responds to report that Trump is demanding $230m in reimbursement from justice department
Mike Johnson said that he hasn’t spoken with the president about a New York Times report that he is seeking $230m from his own justice department in damages over past federal investigations.
“I know that he believes he’s owed that reimbursement. What I heard yesterday was, if he receives it, he was going to consider giving it to charity,” he said.
As my colleague, Joseph Gedeon, reports, the Federal Tort Claims Act specifically bars claims arising from discretionary or policy actions, meaning a president seeking compensation for law enforcement investigations into his own conduct would fall well outside the statute’s intended scope.
The president insisted on Tuesday that the government owes him “a lot of money” for previous justice department investigations into his conduct. “It’s interesting, ’cause I’m the one that makes the decision, right?” Trump said at the White House.
Key events
Dani Anguiano
Democrat Scott Wiener will run for the US House seat long held by Nancy Pelosi, the California state senator announced on Wednesday.
Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987 and has not yet said whether she will seek re-election in 2026. But Democrats are increasingly facing calls for change with younger candidates who will offer new opposition to Donald Trump.
Wiener has served as a state lawmaker since 2016 and said he was seeking office to stand up to Trump as the president wages a “full-on war against immigrants and LGBTQ people” and the cost of living continues to increase.
“We need more than rhetoric and good intentions from Democrats. We need action. We need someone who will fight like hell for the most marginalized in our community — someone who will stand up for trans kids, undocumented immigrants even when it’s unpopular, even when it means getting personally attacked and threatened,” Wiener said in a statement. “We need leaders with spines, who don’t just put their finger in the air to see where the winds are blowing or what polls well.”
As a state lawmaker, Wiener, an attorney who attended Harvard law school, authored a recently passed bill banning federal and state law enforcement from wearing masks and has promoted legislation to address California’s housing crisis and expand climate action.
“I’m running for Congress to defend San Francisco, our values, our people and the constitution of the United States with everything I have,” Wiener said in a video announcing his candidacy. “I’ve stood up to violence and hate my entire life. Trump and his Maga extremists don’t scare me.”
Ahead of the president’s meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, where we can expect the stalled progress to end the war in Ukraine to be top of the agenda, my colleagues are covering the latest developments in Europe.
My colleague, Tom Ambrose, notes that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that that Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine and Russia to stop at the current frontlines was “a good compromise”, but is doubtful that Vladimir Putin will agree.
Just a quick update, senator Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, is still speaking on the senate floor. He’s been speaking for 16 hours in a far-ranging critique of the Trump administration’s policies.
Vance meets with families of Israeli hostages after press conference with Netanyahu
A short while ago, vice-president JD Vance met with families of Israeli hostages who returned alive and families members of deceased hostages who have not been returned.
Earlier, Vance met with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who maintained that Israel has an “unmatched alliance” and partnership with the US.
“I was impressed with your clarity, with your incisiveness, with your solidarity for our common cause,” he said of Vance.
The vice-president said that the nations they would be sitting down to work on the Gaza peace plan. “We’re have a very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza,” he said.
When Vance was asked about the fragility of the current ceasefire he said “this thing takes monitoring, and it’s going to take a lot of work.”
One repeated refrain from House Republicans today was how Democrats push back on several policy issues simply because they are loth to support the president.
Most of today’s speakers repeated this claim today, with House conference chair Lisa McClain even saying “president Trump could have the cure for cancer, and the Democrats would vote no” because it came from him.
House speaker responds to report that Trump is demanding $230m in reimbursement from justice department
Mike Johnson said that he hasn’t spoken with the president about a New York Times report that he is seeking $230m from his own justice department in damages over past federal investigations.
“I know that he believes he’s owed that reimbursement. What I heard yesterday was, if he receives it, he was going to consider giving it to charity,” he said.
As my colleague, Joseph Gedeon, reports, the Federal Tort Claims Act specifically bars claims arising from discretionary or policy actions, meaning a president seeking compensation for law enforcement investigations into his own conduct would fall well outside the statute’s intended scope.
The president insisted on Tuesday that the government owes him “a lot of money” for previous justice department investigations into his conduct. “It’s interesting, ’cause I’m the one that makes the decision, right?” Trump said at the White House.
Johnson kicked off the press conference continuing to blame Democrats for the shutdown. Both parties have traded endless barbs in the four weeks since government funding lapsed.
“As long as Democrats continue to act like unserious lawmakers, I’m just going to say this morning enough is enough,” he said.
The House speaker brought up the topic of Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, which Democrats say is one of the key extensions they’re seeking in any stopgap funding bill. A reminder, Obamacare subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year. For his part, Johnson maintained today that resolving this in a continuing resolution was “not possible”.
“Republicans cannot and will not solve it in a back room deal,” he added. “Issues of this magnitude deserve deep thought and deliberation.”
House Republicans hold press conference on day 22 of government shut down
We’re now hearing from the House speaker, Mike Johnson, who notes that the ongoing government shutdown is now “the second longest … of any kind ever in the history of our country”.
Man arrested after driving into security gate outside White House
A man who drove into a Secret Service vehicle gate outside the White House has been arrested.
US Secret Service said in a statement that the incident took place late Tuesday at “approximately 10.37pm”. The individual drove into the security gate located at 17th and E St NW, in Washington DC.
Ultimately the vehicle was assessed and deemed safe. They added that their “investigation into the cause of this collision is ongoing”.
Officials did not provide any extra details on the driver’s identity or possible motivation. The vehicle had a Maryland license place.
As we enter day 22 of the government shutdown, there will be a 12th vote in the Senate on the stopgap funding bill that has repeatedly failed to gain the 60 votes needed to advance and reopen the government.
On Tuesday, the Senate’s top Republican, John Thune, was optimistic he could get the handful of Democrats needed to clear that hurdle this week.
We’ll also hear from House Republicans and Democrats in respective press conferences today, as both parties continue to blame the other for the ongoing shutdown.
Democratic senator continues 14-hour floor speech, as government shutdown enters day 22
Democratic senator Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, has been speaking on the floor of the upper chamber for more than 14 hours.
Merkley said that his marathon speech, which began at 6.24pm ET on Tuesday, is to “ring the alarm bells” about how Donald Trump is “shredding the constitution”.
Throughout his time on the floor, which threatens to delay legislative business in the Senate as long as Merkley is still speaking, the lawmaker has run through the president’s first nine months back in the White House, chastising his tariff policies, the use of the justice department to target of his political adversaries, and his frequent attacks on journalists and the media.
Throughout the speech Merkley had several dark green placards behind him to illustrate his points. As of now, he’s standing in front of a sign which reads “AUTHORITARIANISM IS HERE”.
A reminder that Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, holds the record for the longest Senate floor speech – coming in at over 25 hours earlier this year.
Senate’s top Democrat decries Manhattan immigration raids on street vendors
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, who represents New York, said that the federal immigration raids targeting street vendors in Manhattan were “indiscriminate, wrong, and destructive”.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the operation was “targeted” and “focused on criminal activity relating to the selling of counterfeit goods”. The arrests sparked protests outside 26 Federal Plaza, where several immigrants were reportedly detained.
“Fed immigration agencies should target criminals for arrest and deportation-not unleash reckless raids against vendors on the streets of the city,” Schumer said. “This creates fear and chaos and does not make us safer.”
Donald Trump is at the White House today, per his official schedule.
The president’s only listed event is his meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte at 4pm ET. Currently that meeting is closed to the press, but we’ll let you know if that opens up.
New Hampshire Republican John E. Sununu announced a campaign for US Senate on Wednesday, hoping to reclaim a seat he lost nearly two decades ago and boosting the GOP’s chances of regaining a foothold in a region overwhelmingly represented by Democrats.
Sununu, 61, is seeking the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat who ousted him in 2008. His decision sets up a primary featuring two former senators: Republican Scott Brown, who represented Massachusetts before moving to New Hampshire and losing to Shaheen in 2014, has been running since June.
“Maybe you’re surprised to hear that I’m running for the Senate again. I’m a bit surprised myself,” Sununu said in a video announcement. “Why would anyone subject themselves to everything going on there right now? Well, somebody has to step up and lower the temperature. Somebody has to get things done.”
Senate Republicans, who hold a 53-47 advantage, are defending seats in Ohio, Maine and North Carolina against a slate of high-profile Democratic candidates. But Republicans are also on the offensive in places like Michigan, Georgia and now, increasingly, New Hampshire – and if they flip one of those seats it will probably put the chamber out of reach for Democrats until at least 2028.
Sununu must first win the primary though, and his past opposition to President Donald Trump could be problematic. While Brown has aligned himself closely with Trump and served as his US ambassador to New Zealand, Sununu backed Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, writing an op-ed calling Trump a “loser.”
Trump went on to win New Hampshire’s leadoff primary, but the state’s voters rejected him for a third time in the general election. And while Republicans control the Statehouse and governor’s office, Democrats have held all four of New Hampshire’s congressional seats since 2017.
Sununu served three terms in the US House before being elected to the Senate at age 38. He’s now the same age Shaheen was when she defeated him and is 16 years older than US Rep. Chris Pappas, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Sununu said Congress has become “loud, dysfunctional, even angry” in his time away, but said he hopes to return “to help calm the waters,” while focusing on the economy, veterans, health care costs and Social Security.
Pappas’ campaign countered that he is the one who has been fighting to lower costs for working families, seniors and small businesses while Sununu has spent years “cashing in and making millions selling out to corporations and working for special interests”.
Mayor says Ice should not target undocumented people in New York City
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. We start with the news that the mayor of New York City has said that the city has had “no involvement” in the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids in Chinatown related to “selling counterfeit goods”.
Mayor Eric Adams shared a social media post from the New York police department (NYPD) after it distanced itself from the raids, saying that it had “no involvement in the federal operation that took place on Canal Street this afternoon”.
Adams quote-tweeted the NYPD’s missive and emphasized:
New York City does not cooperate with federal law enforcement on civil deportations, in accordance with our local laws.
While we gather details about the situation, New Yorkers should know that we have no involvement. Our administration has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue their American Dreams should not be the target of law enforcement, and resources should instead be focused on violent criminals.
Hundreds showed up to protests that broke out in New York City on Tuesday evening after Ice raids related to “selling counterfeit goods” were conducted in the Chinatown neighborhood earlier in the day and resulted in an unknown number of people being detained.
Hours after federal agents descended on lower Manhattan, demonstrators were seen assembling near the 26 Federal Plaza Immigration Building where they believed detainees were taken. Many shouted chants including “Ice out of New York” and “No Ice, no KKK, no fascist USA.”
Videos of the raid show multiple masked and armed federal agents zip-tying and detaining a man, and shoving away onlookers. Throngs of New Yorkers followed the agents through the streets and down the sidewalks. An armored military vehicle was also seen rolling through the city streets.
“Is this worth the paycheck? Selling your soul?” one woman can be heard shouting at agents.
The raid, which onlookers say involved more than 50 federal agents, took place in a well-known area of Manhattan where counterfeit handbags, accessories, jewelry and other goods are sold daily en masse – often to tourists.
It was unclear how many people were detained in the raid, but a witness told the New York Daily News that he saw at least seven individuals taken into custody.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
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Paul Ingrassia, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead a government ethics office, withdrew from consideration, after the publication of racist text messages caused Republican senators to say they would not vote to confirm him.
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Arizona’s attorney general is suing the House speaker, Mike Johnson, over his refusal to swear in Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who won a congressional special election in September.
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Trump seemed to confirm a report that he is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for the thwarted legal cases against him. “I guess they probably owe me a lot of money for that,” he told reporters.
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Despite recently announcing a summit in Budapest, there are now no plans for Trump to meet with Vladmir Putin “in the immediate future”, a White House official told the Guardian.
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Trump repeated his wildly false claim that the city of Portland, Oregon is beset by fires started by protesters. “I looked at Portland over the weekend. The place is burning down,” the president claimed, apparently referring to a chemical attack on protesters by federal officers.
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Trump is expected to hold talks at the White House with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them bought from the United States by Canada and European countries.
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JD Vance, on a visit to Israel, said that he would not “put an explicit deadline” on Hamas to comply with the key points of the Gaze ceasefire deal.
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Graham Platner, the Maine oysterman and former US marine campaigning to be the Democrats’ candidate in next year’s US Senate race, said “I’m not a secret Nazi” and that he didn’t know the historical associations of the skull and crossbones tattoo he got on his chest in 2007.
