Stay up to date with live coverage of the Trump administration and national politics Tuesday as Vice President JD Vance joins special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Israel to ensure the Gaza cease-fire remains intact after accusations from the Jewish state and Hamas terrorists that each side has violated the truce.
And back in Washington, DC, the government shutdown drags on for a 21st day. GOP senators are having lunch with President Trump in the Rose Garden today to discuss it, as Democrats remain defiant on rejecting a stop gap bill to reopen the government.
The Trump administration is on track to deport over 600,000 illegal immigrants by year end, surpassing President Barack Obama’s 2013 record. Since Jan. 20, over 515,000 immigrants have been deported, with a significant portion arrested within the US. This reflects a renewed focus on immigration enforcement. Paul Ingrassia, President Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, withdrew his nomination after reports surfaced of disturbing text messages where he bragged about a “Nazi streak.” Ingrassia cited a lack of Republican votes for his confirmation.Trump admin on pace to shatter deportation record by end of first year: 'Just the beginning'
By Anthony Blair 
Trump’s special counsel pick Paul Ingrassia withdraws nomination after disturbing ‘Nazi streak’ text scandal
By Victor Nava 
Former President Trump is seeking a financial settlement from the Justice Department to resolve his complaints of being targeted by FBI misconduct.
The complaints stem from the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion with Russia and the 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago. The precise amount sought is unclear, but reports suggest it could be up to $230 million.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Jordan became the third official to refer John Brennan to the Department of Justice for prosecution, accusing the former CIA Director in a Tuesday letter of making false statements to a committee he chairs about the use of the discredited Steele dossier for intelligence assessments.
Jordan (R-Ohio), who leads the powerful House Judiciary Committee, made the referral after compiling "significant evidence" of the falsehoods Brennan recited during a May 11, 2023, hearing with his panel.
"The CIA was not involved at all with the dossier," Brennan told then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in one exchange — despite since-released congressional reports and intelligence reviews finding the spy chief overrode “veteran” officers in December 2016 to publish the “substandard” intelligence.
"And the CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment," the ex-CIA chief told Jordan in the same hearing.
In a separate 2017 House Intelligence panel hearing, Brennan had also said of the now-debunked dossier compiled by British spy Christopher Steele: "It was not in any way used as a basis for the Intelligence Community assessment that was done."
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe had earlier this year made criminal referrals based on Brennan's actions in the wake of the 2016 election that undermined voter confidence in Trump's victory and suggested the 45th president colluded with the Kremlin.
Jordan wrote in his letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi: "While testifying, Brennan made numerous willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact contradicted by the record established by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and the CIA."
President Trump canceled a summit with Vladimir Putin after Russia rejected his demand to end the Ukraine war on current battle lines. This decision followed a call between Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov, where Russia’s unwillingness to commit to peace became clear.
President Trump said Tuesday that "we will not be extorted" by Senate Democrats — as the partial government shutdown continued for a 21st day.
"We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs," Trump told congressional Republicans in the Rose Garden.
"[Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats need to vote for the clean bipartisan [continuing resolution] and reopen our government — it's got to be reopened right now."
Trump added: "Today, I'm calling on every Senate Democrat to stop the madness, to let our country get back in the greatest moment in the history of our country, in terms of wealth, in terms of job creation and in terms of investment coming in."
Schumer (D-NY) has prioritized an extension of enhanced pandemic health insurance subsidies for about 22 million people who bought policies on Obamacare Affordable Care Act exchanges. The White House argues that the benefits don't expire until Dec. 31, allowing time for negotiation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), speaking after Trump, indicated that his strategy would be to continue to call votes on a seven-week temporary funding bill, even though just three Democrats have voted in favor thus far.
"We are going to keep voting to open up the government, and eventually the Democrats, hopefully sooner or later, are going to come around," Thune said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) praised law enforcement for arresting a convicted Capitol rioter — who received a pardon from President Trump — after the man allegedly threatened to kill Jeffries while he spoke at a New York event.
Christopher Moynihan, 34, said in a text that he would “eliminate” the Brooklyn Democrat during his Monday speech at the Economic Club of New York, according to a court filing seen by CBS News.
Jeffries vowed in a statement Tuesday that “threats of violence will not stop us from showing up, standing up and speaking up for the American people.”
“The person arrested, along with thousands of violent felons who stormed the US Capitol during the January 6th attack, was pardoned by Donald Trump on the President’s very first day in office,” the House Democratic leader noted.
“Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are being forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned.”
My statement on the most recent credible death threat against me. pic.twitter.com/Z7VsIWFqLq
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) October 21, 2025
President Trump said Tuesday that the noise of the East Wing being demolished was "music to my ears" — saying it would make way for "one of the most beautiful ballrooms anywhere in the world."
"On the other side, you see the fence and the wall, we're building a world-class ballroom," Trump told Republican members of Congress in the Rose Garden.
"You know, for 150 years, they've wanted a ballroom here. We don't have a ballroom. We have a little cocktail area, but we don't have a ballroom. The East Room, it's called, is a very small cocktail area."
Trump told his guests, "The government is paying for nothing."
"You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction to the back, you hear that sound? Oh, that's music to my ears. I love that sound. Other people don't like it. I love it," he said.
"When I hear that sound, it reminds me of money. In this case, it reminds me of lack of money because I'm paying for it. So it's the opposite, but it's going to be one of the most beautiful ballrooms anywhere in the world."
President Trump jokingly impersonated former first lady Jackie Kennedy on Tuesday as he welcomed Republican members of Congress to a lunch in the newly renovated Rose Garden — noting that feet from where they sat, President John Kennedy would sneak women into the indoor swimming pool.
"That used to be a swimming pool on the other side of the wall. That was the swimming pool where Jackie would say, 'I hear women inside. Are women inside?'" Trump told his guests.
"This was a part of a movie, and the Secret Service said, 'No, ma'am, there's no women inside. Ma'am, I'm sorry. Ma'am, you're gonna have to move along.' 'But I hear women inside.' 'No, ma'am, you'll have to move along, Ma'am.'
Trump added, "So that was the famous swimming pool. Now it's even worse. It's for the media. They covered the pool up. They covered the pool up, and now it's for the media."
Determining the new, long-term governance for Gaza is still a long way off as officials work to implement the second phase of President Trump's peace plan, Vice President JD Vance said.
"We're creating a governance structure that is very flexible to what happens on the ground in the future," he said.
"We need to reconstitute Gaza. We need to reconstruct Gaza. We need to make sure that both the Palestinians living in Gaza, but also the Israelis, are able to live in some measure of security and civility."
Only then — when Gazan and Israelis "have some measure of security" — will the parties discuss the long-term governance of Gaza, the veep noted.
"Let's focus on security, rebuilding, giving people some food and medicine," Vance said. "If we get to the point where we're arguing exactly what the governance structure in Gaza is long-term, then we should pat ourselves on the back.
"That's a very good problem to have, but I won't anticipate that problem before we actually have it."
Vice President JD Vance said the US does not plan to place a hard deadline on Hamas to disarm as part of the second phase of President Trump's peace plan.
"I'm not going to do what the president of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult. A lot of this stuff is unpredictable," he said.
Still, he acknowledged that "Hamas has to comply with the deal, and if Hamas doesn't comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen."
The US is making a "civilian military cooperation center" to coordinate efforts in carrying out the next steps in President Trump's peace plan, Vice President JD Vance announced Tuesday.
"You have Israelis and Americans working hand in hand to try to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza, to implement a long-term peace and actually ensure that you have security forces on the ground in Gaza — not composed of Americans — who can keep the peace over the long term," he said.
