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US Congress Republicans push legislation to build, fund Trump’s $400 million ballroom

April 27, 2026 8:23 PM UTC Updated 45 mins ago / By Richard Cowan, Reuters

[1/3]The demolition of the East Wing of the White House during construction of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom is seen from the reopened Washington Monument, following the longest shutdown of the government in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 15, 2025. REUTERS/ Jessica Koscielniak/File… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

Summary

Republicans cite security threats to justify taxpayer funding for White House ballroom
Democrats likely to oppose, with only one Democratic senator publicly supporting the project
Federal judge ruled project requires congressional approval before proceeding

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) – Two days after a shooting at a dinner that President Donald Trump ​was attending, Republicans in the U.S. Congress pushed for legislation to fund and speed construction of a White House ballroom, citing ‌increased security concerns.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and two fellow Republicans have crafted a bill to mainly finance the construction, which already is underway, at taxpayers’ expense.

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“I’d like the vote as soon as possible to accelerate what America needs: A secure facility for the president and others to meet in, to have a good time, to ​enjoy themselves without putting the nation at risk,” Graham told reporters, adding that underneath the ballroom would be “a lot of military stuff” ​that he said would include a Secret Service annex.

Graham added that private donations could be used for “buying china and ⁠stuff like that.” Of the $400 million, Graham said, $332 million would be taxpayer funds that he said would be paid for by using “customs fees” on ​imported goods.

“I’ve never felt the sense of threat that exists today,” Graham said, arguing that Trump would not have to leave the secured White House grounds ​for large events being held in Washington.

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Neither Trump nor the White House hosted Saturday’s dinner, which had around 2,600 guests. Trump has already torn down the historic East Wing of the White House to begin construction of a massive White House ballroom, which would seat a maximum of 1,000 guests.

Trump previously had said that private donations would ​pay for the estimated $400 million cost of the ballroom project that he has demanded.

Graham said he wants a vote on a stand-alone ballroom funding bill. ​But if that is defeated, he said he would consider an alternate route. He did not rule out trying to put the $400 million in a bill Republicans are ‌pushing that ⁠would circumvent the need for Democratic support in the narrowly divided Senate.

Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas said in a posting on X on Sunday that a budget bill Graham and Republicans are pushing through Congress should include the ballroom. That measure would move through the Senate under a special procedure allowing passage by a 51-vote majority, instead of a 60-vote supermajority most bills face. Republicans hold 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats.

That bill is mainly ​aimed at funding two Department of Homeland ​Security law enforcement agencies through ⁠fiscal year 2029.

On March 31, a federal judge ruled that the 90,000-square-foot project could only go forward if Congress approved it.

On Sunday, freshman Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana said he would seek fast Senate approval of a bill ​providing for construction of Trump’s ballroom. His move would require the consent of all senators — a procedure that ​often fails on controversial ⁠legislation.

So far, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is the only Democrat in the chamber who has publicly indicated his support for the ballroom that would be built on the site of the demolished White House East Wing.

Some House Republicans were also drafting legislation to ensure completion of Trump’s project.

On Saturday night, Trump was set ⁠to deliver ​a speech at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association. The event ended abruptly after ​a man was apprehended inside the hotel where the event was held and he allegedly fired shots at a U.S. Secret Service agent.

Shortly after the shooting, Trump held a press conference in the ​White House and said that security concerns were more justification to continue building his ballroom.

Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Michael Learmonth, David Gregorio and Stephen Coates

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Speaker Mike Johnson gives firsthand experience after WHCD attack | CNN Politics

2026-04-27T20:03:05.683Z / CNN

Speaker Mike Johnson gives firsthand experience after WHCD attack

By Lauren Fox, CNN

Published 4:03 PM EDT, Mon April 27, 2026

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Speaker Mike Johnson gives firsthand experience after WHCD attack

House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to CNN’s Lauren Fox describing his firsthand experience after the WHCD attack and why he feels the incident proves the need for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom.

1:21 • Source: CNN

82nd Airborne soldiers train on drone-countering maneuvers used in Ukraine

April 27, 2026 / 7:40 PM EDT / CBS News

Fayetteville, North Carolina — Three small drones whizzed overhead, piloted by soldiers on laptops. Two of the Bumblebee drones were being steered to collide with the third, as part of the soldiers’ initial training for the kind of drone-on-drone combat that’s been taking place for months on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The training was held at Fort Bragg last week for a small group of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division in tandem with the Pentagon’s efforts to produce cheap counter-drone systems that can quickly and easily be put to use by service members.

The soldiers trained on both the Bumblebee V1, a small, first-person-view drone that has seen thousands of combat flights in Ukraine, and the newer Bumblebee V2, which has automatic target recognition specifically meant to counter other drones and which has not been deployed yet.

Most of the training was on the Bumblebee V1, which is already being used by other soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division and in the 10th Mountain Division, according to Sgt. Maj. Kellen Rowley, who is the senior enlisted adviser for the Pentagon’s interagency counter-drone task force.

L: Two of the Bumblebee V1s moments after one collided into another to take it down.R: Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division piloting Bumblebee V1s from laptops. Eleanor Watson / CBS News

Rowley said training for the V1 is taking place at several domestic bases, as well as at a training center for U.S. Central Command in the Middle East. As more service members flow into the Middle East, they will also be able to start doing the same kind of initial training on these systems.

“They pick up the skills necessary to do drone-on-drone combat,” Rowley said of the training. “The feedback that we’ve heard thus far is ‘I’m not gonna learn it in five minutes, but if I have 40 hours dedicated to learn how to figure this out,’ they’re gonna be an effective operator.”

The Defense Department set up the task force to coordinate with other government agencies on countering drones. The war in Ukraine, drone incursions near military bases in the U.S. and now the conflict with Iran have all demonstrated the urgency of developing the technology faster.

The Bumblebee is one of the smaller systems the military is looking to use, instead of the more expensive interceptors that were developed primarily to take down incoming missiles. The U.S. military in the war with Iran has raised concerns about U.S. stockpiles of those types of munitions.

Bumblebee V1 drone at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. Defense Department

“There’s a cost curve challenge, the offensive drones being used versus what we’re using to shoot them down,” said Lt. Col. Alex Morse, who manages acquisitions for the task force.

“Usually our defensive capability is in the hundreds of thousands or maybe in the millions. This is far below that,” Morse said, as he held a prototype of the Bumblebee V2. “And we’re going to continue to drive the cost down into the single digits of thousands.”

Both versions are small enough for a soldier to hold. They have four legs with propellers, a camera in the middle, and a battery. The difference in the versions is that while the V1 requires the pilot to manually adjust the speed and altitude to lock onto a target, the V2 has autonomous targeting software to close in on a target that is approved by the pilot. The V2 has additional camera sensors and a gimbaled camera, not fixed, so it can move up and down.

The Bumblebees are designed to take out drones that are smaller than the Iranian-produced Shaheds estimated at 400 pounds used by both Iran and Russia, according to the Army officials.

Both are produced by Perennial Autonomy, a U.S. defense firm backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, which had experts at the training to collect feedback from the Army.

“What we don’t want to do is produce something and we have 10,000 of things that just don’t work,” Col. Tom Monaghan, the director of the Army’s Joint Innovation Outpost, told reporters.

The two demonstrations reporters witnessed on Thursday at Fort Bragg consisted of three Bumblebee V1s, two working as a team against a third drone that was designated as the enemy drone.

The enemy drone hovered in one spot, as if it were gathering intelligence, and the two other drones took turns accelerating and revving into the enemy drone to take it down.

Each drone can be flown by one pilot controlling the drone from a computer, but in this training scenario, the soldiers worked as a team. Two or three soldiers seated near each laptop and then one soldier walking behind them coordinating between the teams. The soldiers together worked out the direction, altitude, and speed before calling out when to attack the enemy drone.

In the demonstrations, there were some misses where the drone raced right past the enemy drone, and twice, the drones collided with the enemy drone without completely taking it down. Once the drone was hit by another drone, the soldiers walked over to retrieve both drones and added them to the pile of drones damaged in earlier training sessions.

L: A soldier holds a Bumblebee V1 drone damaged after another drone attacked it. R: The pile of Bumblebees damaged after being targeted by other drones in training at Fort Bragg. Eleanor Watson / CBS News

The training reporters saw was largely about marksmanship for the soldiers, the officials said, which is why the drones just hovered in one spot, and as the pilots improve, there will be different iterations, including testing the drones in an environment with electronic jamming.

“This is Day One for these kids — they’re doing an amazing job,” Ted Chavis, the senior adviser to the director of the task force, told reporters as he listed skills the soldiers trained on: crew drills, marksmanship, building drones, mission planning and coordination.

“They’re going to go out and train tomorrow. They’re going to train next week. And then they’re going to come back in a couple weeks and do additional advanced training,” Chavis said.

The Pentagon also plans to put more money behind the effort. The budget request for this year includes nearly $75 billion for drones, which is “the largest investment in drone warfare and counter-drone technology in U.S. history,” Jules Hurst, the Pentagon comptroller, told reporters last week.

伊朗油轮因美国封锁被迫返航 霍尔木兹海峡交通稀少

2026年4月28日 07:20 / 联合早报

4月27日，一些船只在霍尔木兹海峡等待通过。 （路透社）

船舶追踪数据显示，近日有六艘装载伊朗石油的油轮因美国封锁被迫返回伊朗，凸显美伊冲突对霍尔木兹海峡航运的影响。

路透社报道，据Kpler船舶追踪数据和SynMax卫星分析显示，在2月28日美以对伊战争爆发前，通常每天有125至140艘船只进出霍尔木兹海峡。但过去一天，只有七艘船只通过，而且没有一艘载有运往全球市场的石油。

数据显示，这七艘船只包括悬挂伊朗国旗、从伊朗港口出发的货船“巴万德”号（Bavand），以及其他从伊拉克港口出发的船只。

伊朗已对通过霍尔木兹海峡的航运实施限制，美国于4月13日开始封锁与伊朗相关的航运。美国军方4月25日说，自那以来，美军已遣返了37艘船只。

美国军方尚未提供被遣返船只类型或拦截的具体地点等详细信息。

船舶经纪公司克拉克森在星期一（4月27日）的一份报告中指出：“伊朗因船只未遵守规定的过境要求而对它们进行攻击和扣押，美国则继续执行封锁。”

据TankerTrackers.com网站的卫星分析显示，近日被迫返回伊朗港口的六艘油轮估计载有1050万桶石油。

尽管驻阿曼湾的美军命令部分船只返航，但其他船只似乎被允许继续航行。

据TankerTrackers.com网站的数据显示，两艘载有约400万桶伊朗石油的油轮于4月24日成功突破封锁，驶往亚洲。

网站分析显示，四艘独立的伊朗空油轮在从亚洲返回后，最后一次出现在巴基斯坦海岸附近。

分析人士称，美军已将与伊朗有关的船只引向东行至马六甲海峡，因此目前尚不清楚这些货物最终能否送达买家，还是会被拦截并遣返回伊朗。

数百艘船只和约2万名海员仍滞留在波斯湾。

联合国航运机构国际海事组织秘书长多明格斯星期一在会议上说，这些海员“面临着巨大的风险和心理压力”。“这种情况持续的时间越长，发生严重事故的风险就越大。”

Endangered orangutan filmed using canopy bridge to cross public road in Indonesia: “A world first”

April 27, 2026 / 1:37 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday.

Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people have been increasing.

The fleeting scene, captured by a motion‑sensitive camera, showed a young Sumatran orangutan pause at the forest’s edge, grip a rope with deliberate care and step out into open air. Halfway across, it stopped, casting a glance down at the road below.

“Then, with a cheeky glance to camera, he continues on his way,” the Sumatran Orangutan Society, or SOS, said in a social media post showing the video.

Conservationists said that it marks the first documented case of a species on the brink of extinction using an artificial canopy bridge to cross a public road that had divided its habitat.

“This was the moment we had been waiting for,” Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director of Indonesian conservation group Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, or TaHuKah, told The Associated Press. “We are very grateful that the canopy here provides benefits for orangutan conservation efforts.”

He said that the bridge spans the Lagan-Pagindar road in Pakpak Bharat district, a vital corridor connecting remote villages to schools, healthcare and government services. But the road also cuts directly through a prime orangutan habitat, splitting an estimated 350 orangutans into two isolated forest areas: the Siranggas Wildlife Reserve and the Sikulaping Protection Forest.

When the road was upgraded in 2024, the gap in the forest canopy widened, eliminating natural crossings for tree‑dwelling wildlife.

“Development was necessary for people,” Siregar said. “But without intervention, it would have left orangutans trapped on either side.”

TaHuKah, working with SOS and local and national government agencies, proposed a simple solution: rope bridges suspended between trees, allowing arboreal animals to cross above traffic.

While other species including gibbons and long-tailed macaques have also been spotted crossing there, “this is a world first for Sumatran orangutans,” SOS told AFP.

In this undated photo provided by the Sumatran Orangutan Society/TaHuKah, a Sumatran orangutan crosses a canopy bridge that stretches over a road in Pakpak Bharat, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Sumatran Orangutan Society/TaHuKah via AP

“One orangutan has crossed, but a population of 350 still remains isolated,” SOS said in a statement on social media.

Five canopy bridges were installed, each with a camera trap, carefully positioned after surveys of orangutan nests, forest cover and animal movement. The structures were designed to support the orangutan’s weight — no small feat for the world’s largest tree‑dwelling mammal.

The program is closely monitored, with camera traps on every bridge and regular patrols to prevent forest encroachment. Conservationists hope more orangutans will follow the first pioneer.

“Seeing this young male orangutan confidently cross the road is a huge milestone for conservation — proving that it is possible to stitch fragmented forests back together,” SOS said on social media.

They waited two years for the first orangutan to cross the bridge. Before the accomplishment, only smaller animals used it. Camera traps recorded squirrels, langur monkeys and macaques, followed by gibbons — a promising sign.

The orangutan’s approach was slower, building nests near the bridge, lingering at its edges and testing the ropes over time.

“They observe,” Siregar said. “They don’t rush. They watch, they try, they retreat. Only when they’re certain it’s safe do they move.”

Then, one day, he crossed fully — a first not just for Sumatra, but for the species globally on a public road, conservationists say.

Similar bridges have been used by orangutans elsewhere, but usually over rivers or on private industrial forest roads. Conservationists say public roads — noisy, busy and unpredictable — pose a far greater challenge.

For orangutans, the stakes are high. Isolation leads to inbreeding, genetic weakening and eventual population collapse. Restoring connectivity gives them a chance to survive.

Once widespread across southern Asia, the animal now only survives on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild, alongside just 800 Tapanuli orangutans and about 104,700 Bornean orangutans, according to conservation groups.

“These bridges allow orangutans to move, to mix, to maintain healthy populations,” Siregar said. “It reduces the risk of extinction.”

AFP contributed to this report.

Archaeologists at Pompeii use AI to reveal the face of a victim trying to flee the Mount Vesuvius eruption

April 27, 2026 / 2:01 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Archaeologists at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally reconstruct the face of a victim of the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that smothered the city, offering a new way to understand one of history’s most famous natural disasters.

The digital portrait represents an older man who was among two victims discovered as they attempted to flee the city toward the coast of what is now Italy during the volcanic eruption. Researchers believe the man died earlier in the disaster, during a heavy fall of volcanic debris.

The reconstruction was developed by the Pompeii Archaeological Park in collaboration with the University of Padua and is based on archaeological survey data from excavations near the Porta Stabia necropolis, just outside the walls of the ancient city.

Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage site near Naples, was buried under ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago, preserving the city and thousands of its inhabitants in remarkable detail.

Archaeologists found the victim holding a terracotta mortar, which they interpret as an improvised attempt to shield his head from falling lapilli, the small volcanic stones that rained down during the eruption.

Ancient accounts — including those of Roman writer Pliny the Younger — describe residents using objects to protect themselves as ash and debris blanketed the city.

The man was also carrying an oil lamp, a small iron ring and 10 bronze coins, personal objects that offer insight into his final moments as well as daily life in Pompeii before the catastrophe.

Archaeologists noted that the victim, along with many others, was discovered near the city gates, emphasizing that “it should be kept in mind that many may have lost their lives outside the city, attempting to reach the coast.”

Last year, archaeologists discovered evidence pointing to the reoccupation of Pompeii following the devastating eruption, because some survivors could not afford to start a new life elsewhere.

The digital portrait was created using artificial intelligence and photo-editing techniques designed to translate skeletal and archaeological data into a realistic human likeness.

This image released by the Italian Culture Ministry on Monday, April 27, 2026, shows a victim of the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in the Pompeii archaeological area near Naples in southern Italy. AP

“The vastness of archaeological data is now such that only with the help of artificial intelligence will we be able to adequately protect and enhance them. If used well, AI can contribute to a renewal of classical studies,” Pompeii park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said in a statement.

The project aims to make archaeological research more accessible and emotionally engaging for the public while maintaining a scientific foundation, researchers said.

“Pompeii is perhaps the most prestigious place in the world for archaeological research where every new discovery illuminates enthusiastically the plot of ancient life,” Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said in a statement. “Investigations conducted with these excavations demonstrate that innovative methodologies, used with care, can give us new historical perspectives.”

Earlier this year, archaeologists announced they had uncovered a 2,000-year-old love note and an illustrated gladiator fight scene on a wall in Pompeii.

Senate panel to vote on Wednesday on advancing Fed chair Warsh’s nomination

April 27, 2026 4:17 PM UTC / Reuters

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Kevin Warsh, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be next chair of the Federal Reserve, attends a Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing to testify, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

April 27 (Reuters) – The Senate Banking Committee is expected on Wednesday to advance ​Kevin Warsh’s nomination as Federal Reserve ‌Chair to the full Senate, with a vote now set for 10 a.m. ​EDT (1400 GMT).

The timing – which comes ​as Fed policymakers will be nearing ⁠the end of their two-day ​policy-setting meeting under current chair Jerome ​Powell — increases the chances that Warsh will be in place by the time Powell’s ​leadership term ends on May ​15, and to run the Fed’s next meeting, ‌in ⁠June.

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Republican Senator Thom Tillis dropped his block on the Warsh confirmation process on Sunday, after the Department of ​Justice ended ​an investigation ⁠into Powell that Tillis felt was a threat ​to the Fed’s independence.

All of ​the ⁠panel’s Democrats oppose Warsh’s nomination, but with Tillis the Republicans outnumber them ⁠13 ​to 11. Republicans are ​also the majority in the full Senate.

Reporting by ​Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

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The legal showdown between Elon Musk and Sam Altman begins today. Here’s what to know.

April 27, 2026 / 12:49 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. She previously worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.

Read Full Bio

Jury selection begins Monday in a high-profile case brought by Tesla CEO Elon Musk alleging that Sam Altman’s OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit research lab, prioritized profits over its original mission to benefit humanity as it ballooned into a corporate enterprise.

Musk originally sued in 2024, alleging that OpenAI, Altman, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman betrayed the company’s founding agreement to be altruistic stewards of a revolutionary technology that would eventually result in the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.

Musk is seeking an unspecified amount to fund the charitable arm of OpenAI, as well as Altman’s removal from the OpenAI board. OpenAI, which Musk and Altman co-founded in 2015, is valued at $852 billion, according to the Associated Press.

Opening statements could begin as early as Tuesday. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding, will make the final decision in the case, with the jury serving in an advisory role.

The trial is expected to provide riveting theater, with contrasting testimony from two of technology’s most influential and polarizing figures: the 54-year-old Musk and the 41-year-old Altman.

OpenAI declined to comment on Friday. In a post on X on Monday, the company called the lawsuit a “baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor.” Musk’s xAI operates the AI chatbot Grok, which debuted in 2023 and competes with OpenAI.

“We’ll also finally have the chance to question Mr. Musk under oath before a jury of Californians about this attempt to undermine our work to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity,” the post said.

Musk’s legal team did not respond to a request for comment.

The “core dispute”

Musk stepped down as co-chair of OpenAI in 2018 but continued to donate to the AI company until 2020, with his financial contributions totaling $44 million, according to legal filings. However, the Tesla founder grew displeased with the direction of OpenAI as it shifted toward a for-profit structure and eventually yanked his funding — leading to a bitter fallout between him and Altman.

As Musk withdrew his financial support, Microsoft swooped in, becoming OpenAI’s biggest investor.

Julia Powles, a technology law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CBS News on Friday that the dispute centers on who will control the transformative technology and profit from it.

“Both are arguing in this case that they have the public good at heart, that’s essentially the core dispute,” she said. “But what I think the evidentiary record shows is that both like to tell you what you want to hear.”

Implications for the AI landscape

The trial comes at a pivotal moment in the development of artificial intelligence, a technology poised to bring breakneck advancement even as concerns swirl about its impact on the nature of work and humanity as a whole.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note on Monday that the case could heighten the AI arms race as OpenAI competes for dominance against other players like xAI and Anthropic, which operates the Claude chatbot. OpenAI is expected to go public later this year.

The case could also reshape the corporate governance structure of AI research, Ives added.

The trial, which is taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, is expected to be a fiery showdown between two of the biggest names in tech.

“We believe any major damage to OpenAI and Altman will be more scrapes and bruises than real consequences to the company and his role as CEO,” Ives wrote. “That said, it’s Elon and never doubt him in these spots.”

Edited by Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hill GOP braces for ‘nightmare week’ as pressure mounts to end DHS funding standoff

2026-04-27T17:13:26.287Z / CNN

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox

PUBLISHED Apr 27, 2026, 1:13 PM ET

House Speaker Mike Johnson at the US Capitol on April 20, 2026.

Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Top Republicans on Capitol Hill have spent 10 weeks struggling to end the bitter stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Now, as federal workers — including US Secret Service agents who protected the president in this weekend’s shooting in Washington — prepare to miss a paycheck, GOP leaders are under more pressure than ever before to resolve the standoff.

Congressional Republicans return to DC Monday evening with a slew of contentious votes ahead that have fiercely divided the party, including the critical DHS funding measure. But there are other must-pass bills that still don’t have the votes to pass in the narrowly divided House, according to GOP leadership aides, including a bill overseeing the government’s spy powers that conservative privacy hawks detest and a massive farm bill that’s angered the MAHA bloc of the GOP.

“We’ve got a nightmare week,” one GOP leadership aide told CNN.

Perhaps most difficult for Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune will be ending the 72-day shutdown of DHS, which has thrown into question pay for thousands of federal workers, including the agent who took a bullet to the vest at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this weekend. DHS has so far paid staff out of a previously approved $10 billion rainy day fund – but that money will be depleted soon, aides have warned. The expectation is that staffers would receive only one more paycheck from that fund before it runs out.

“We have to move DHS funding because it’s urgent. As the secretary of Homeland Security has said. We are out of money. He is out of money at the end of this week. Democrats have been playing games with this. It’s very dangerous as demonstrated Saturday night. We got to get the job done,” Johnson said Monday when asked if he would move on that funding this week.

Resolving the DHS funding crisis was already a nearly impossible task for Johnson and the fractious House GOP. The party is in a bitter feud over how to reopen DHS, with conservatives enraged that Thune decided to bow to Democratic demands to only partially fund the department – without money for immigration enforcement. It has set off a frantic scramble to pass a separate – and legislatively complex – package of only federal immigration enforcement and border patrol funding, though that has been bogged down by other hardliner demands.

Saturday’s gunfire at one of Washington’s most high-profile annual events has further complicated talks, with some of those hardliner Republicans, like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, demanding that the party set aside funding for a “secure ballroom” on White House grounds for the president to safely hold events. (Many of them already had major demands for the DHS vote, including tying the measure to Trump’s federal elections overhaul bill, as well as a promise for an ambitious domestic policy push sometime before the midterms.)

The DHS shutdown – already the longest in history – is now threatening to have dire consequences for officials charged with protecting US borders.

One Republican member who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing conversations with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told CNN that there are concerns at the agency that there could be “serious consequences” if the House doesn’t move DHS funding soon.

Mullin himself has used his many TV appearances in recent weeks to warn that the money is running dry.

While headline-making airport lines have abated after Trump unilaterally moved to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, other areas overseen by DHS like the Coast Guard are running up against the constraints of existing funding streams.

“You have agencies that are not TSA and not getting paid like (the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). And the Coast Guard is running out of options,” the member said. “Cyber security is a big deal. And you cannot hire any staff and you aren’t able to give them any guarantees. They are going to start leaving the agency.”

Other brewing battles

GOP leaders must also figure out how to defuse a legislative landmine that’s already led to two failed votes on the House floor: renewing a government spy authority that’s critical to US surveillance overseas.

That tool, which is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is contentious among the many Hill Republicans who are distrustful of the government’s ability to spy on its citizens without a warrant.

House GOP leadership believed as of Friday that enough conservatives would accept their latest FISA proposal and longer-term funding could finally pass the chamber, sending it to the Senate. But one conservative who attended a meeting with Johnson late last week told CNN they were still skeptical of leadership’s proposal.

National security hawks in Johnson’s ranks are also increasingly uneasy about empowering GOP hardliners to tackle major changes to FISA.

It remains unclear whether the speaker’s latest proposal will satisfy his right flank given the changes do little to address the warrant concerns. If Johnson can’t win the approval from his own party, he may need to turn to Democrats.

Lawmakers and senior aides have acknowledged that Johnson could much more easily put together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats rather than try to satisfy every Republican in his conference.

That would require cooperation from Democratics leaders, either by helping the GOP get through a procedural hurdle known as a rule vote, or by helping to deliver a wide swath of votes in what’s known as a “suspension vote,” which is typically reserved for noncontroversial bills and requires two-thirds support in the House.

It’s a familiar conundrum for Johnson as he navigates one of the slimmest House margins in history: Work with Democrats to move must-pass bills or find a way to satiate conservatives without losing moderate support.

“I gotta suspect they are gonna have a rules issue and then maybe only then when they faceplant a second time, will they decide it’s time to work with Democrats,” Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut said, referring to that procedural vote that must pass before the measure can be taken up by the full House.

Meanwhile, there is growing animosity from rank-and-file Republicans that a handful of conservatives are dictating the process – on both FISA and the DHS shutdown – and dragging it out.

“Let’s stop doing the pretzel twister game with Republicans who never want to get to yes anyway,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told CNN. “We are trying to accommodate 20 people. This is what is broken about Congress. These guys want to rule with just 218 and that gives power to 20 or 10 depending on the issue and that just ain’t right.”

But it’s not just Bacon – and it’s not just about FISA.

On Friday, before the shooting, Bacon and a handful of other Republicans from swing districts sent a letter to leadership urging Johnson to bring the DHS funding bill that includes everything but immigration enforcement funding to the floor for a vote.

The Senate passed it twice already but it has languished in the House as Johnson has had to contend with conservatives who argue they don’t want to vote for anything that zeroes out funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection. But while the House also holds the Senate-passed budget proposal that begins the process of funding those immigration enforcement agencies, it may not be enough for conservatives who want to include additional items like the SAVE Act and deficit reduction, which could further drag out the process.

Johnson is also facing pressure from conservatives to include additional items in the legislation, since many view it as perhaps the last opportunity to push their own priorities before the midterms even as leadership has kept the door open to moving yet another party-line reconciliation bill down the line.

Many in GOP leadership, however, are skeptical that another massive policy bill can pass Congress before the midterms, multiple sources have told CNN.

And some hardline conservatives don’t believe GOP leaders will adequately try to push it through. They believe Johnson’s promises for a so-called “Reconciliation 3.0” bill are disingenuous and may threaten to hold up the DHS funding bill this week unless they can extract some more assurances.

CNN’s Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

Florida’s DeSantis proposes new US House map targeting four Democratic seats

2026-04-27 17:35:23 UTC / Reuters

By Joseph Ax

April 27, 2026 5:35 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visits a temporary migrant detention center informally known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

April 27 (Reuters) – Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis proposed a new congressional map on Monday aimed at flipping four Democratic U.S. House of Representatives seats in November’s midterm election, further escalating ​a coast-to-coast redistricting war that has already reshaped dozens of districts nationwide.

It remains unclear ‌whether the map has enough support in the Republican-controlled state legislature to pass. DeSantis has called lawmakers to convene a special session starting on Tuesday to consider his plan.

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The map, which DeSantis first shared with Fox News, ​would likely give Republicans 24 of the state’s 28 U.S. House seats, up from its ​current 20-8 majority.

Republicans can afford to lose only two House seats in ⁠November’s election to retain a majority. A Democratic-led House could initiate investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration ​while blocking his legislative agenda.

Last week in Virginia, voters narrowly approved a Democratic-backed map that targets four ​Republican incumbents there. Republicans have filed several lawsuits challenging the validity of the ballot measure, and the Virginia Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in one of those cases.

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Any successful redistricting in Florida would likely face its own ​legal challenges. In 2010, voters approved a constitutional amendment explicitly banning lawmakers from drawing district ​lines for political gain, a practice known as gerrymandering.

A handful of Florida Republicans have expressed concern that an aggressive ‌redrawing ⁠could leave some incumbents vulnerable in a Democratic wave year. Democrats have consistently outperformed their 2024 margins in dozens of elections since Trump took office in January 2025.

Virginia and Florida represent what are likely the final battlegrounds in the redistricting war that Trump initiated last summer, when he successfully ​urged Texas Republicans to ​install a new map ⁠that targeted five Democratic incumbents.

While Republicans appeared to hold the redistricting advantage nationwide, Democrats have managed to fight back to a near-draw, depending on ​the final outcomes in Virginia and Florida.

Redistricting typically occurs after the end ​of each ⁠decade to account for population shifts in the U.S. Census. Trump’s gambit set off an unprecedented mid-decade cycle that quickly spread to a dozen states, both those controlled by Republicans and by Democrats.

The U.S. ⁠Supreme ​Court is expected to issue a voting rights decision by summer ​that could allow Republican-led Southern states to redraw additional Democratic seats with large minority populations. But any ruling may be ​too late to have a significant impact on this year’s midterms.

Reporting by Joseph Ax Editing by Bill Berkrot

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