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Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday to defend his department’s $63 billion budget request, but instead got tripped up in his own lies.Mullin appeared stumped by a basic question about supposedly updated training standards for DHS agents. Yet as Mullin delivered his insistent nonanswer, he also gave away the fact that he actually wasn’t as involved in training reforms as he claimed to be.“While you and [White House border czar] Tom Homan say you’ve made some of those changes, the American people haven’t seen the proof of that. So I’m going to ask you today: What are your current training requirements for agents?” asked Washington Senator Patty Murray.“Thank you for the question. I want to remind the senator that I was a part of negot—negotiating those reforms, and I think you’re aware of that, so I actually know what happened during those—” started Mullin, before Murray interjected.“You were not in the room, but I do know you were aware of it,” Murray said.“No, I was very involved in it, the back and forth—” Mullin argued.“I was in the room, you were not in the room. I know you weren’t,” Murray stated.Murray was referring to a bill that would restore training standards, protect sensitive locations such as schools and churches from raids, and require DHS agents to obtain judicial warrants, effectively bringing department requirements in line with those of other law enforcement agencies across the country. Murray is one of several Democrats who have aggressively pushed to block DHS funding until the agency alters its public-facing policies, particularly since federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.“Senator, you know that we agreed to all this stuff that you said, but you walked away because you had primary elections,” Mullin claimed.“Mr. Secretary, you can give your side, I’m telling you I was in the room—” Murray responded, before Mullin interrupted: “It’s interesting, I was involved in that too.”Mullin: I was part of negotiating those reforms. I was very involved in it. Murray: You weren’t in the room. I was in the room. I know you weren’t. pic.twitter.com/mcQmQmYsnw— Acyn (@Acyn) June 2, 2026

The group’s toxicity within the party is now so acute that it’s tied to both the war in Iran and the backlash against “dark money.”

Bedbugs have infested the government agency responsible for insect defense.The pests were found in the building housing the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture, NOTUS reports. A USDA employee told the publication that the irony “was lost on no one.”Employees of the agency, located in the George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, were told about the infestation in mid-May, five employees told NOTUS. The USDA sent the staffers home, telling them to telework for a few days while the building was fumigated. The agency’s acting administrator, Kelly Moore, and acting chief operating officer, Carson Hawley, told employees that the building would only be closed for a few days but that they would email staff later to confirm.When employees came back to the office, though, the fumes were so bad that some became sick, and the department said they could go back to remote work, a rare departure from the Trump administration’s insistence on in-person work for federal employees.On Friday, employees were told that bedbugs were seen again in the building, but now, employees told NOTUS, more telework has not been authorized. Instead, agency employees were told to take personal time off if they didn’t want to work in the office. Hawley told staff in an email that day that employees were responsible for the bedbugs coming back, as they engaged in “insufficient compliance regarding personal items,” and told them to put those items into garbage bags and take them out of the building.“We appreciate your support and compliance so that APHIS can do our part to ensure that Building 3 is bedbug free,” Hawley said. USDA’s official line also blames employees.“USDA took prompt and robust action several weeks ago,” an agency spokesperson told NOTUS. “Unfortunately, personal belongings left in the offices caused further issue. Animal Pest and Plant Health Inspection Service management is working with employees to ensure the spaces are emptied for proper mitigation.”Agency employees don’t want to take their personal items home and spread bedbugs there. Some are considering filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but fear retaliation.“They are scared,” an anonymous employee said about their colleagues. “If you bring them home, the answer is to trash all of your belongings and fumigate your house at your own expense.”“They treated the building, and then they sent people home again because of offgassing,” another employee anonymously told NOTUS. “Then they came back. Now there’s more bedbugs.” Yet another employee told the publication that staff came back “to an office that was making them sick because the chemicals hadn’t aired out.”It’s insane that an agency that is supposed to be dealing with bird flu and New World screwworm (recently found 25 miles from the southern U.S. border) is dealing poorly with an infestation of its own. The Trump administration continues to find new lows in ruining federal agencies.

“Where is the ceasefire they keep talking about?” Palestinians worry Israeli expansion will further displace them.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime television host Donald Trump tapped to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, offered a baffling explanation Tuesday for the president’s repeated visits to the hospital. During a White House press briefing, a reporter asked Oz to explain why Trump, who is only required to attend one annual medical examination, has just had his fourth publicly announced visit to the Walter Reed medical facility since entering office for a second time. Oz claimed that it was a “routine, regular exam,” and pointed to Trump’s long-standing “spectacular” health records that had shocked even him. The press weren’t buying it.“If the president’s in such perfect health, then why does he keep going back in for check-ups?” another reporter asked. “I think he likes the results. He does really well. He aces the test every single day,” Oz said. “And I do actually believe that he is curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction.”Q: "If the president's in such perfect health, why does he keep going back in for checkups?"Oz: "I think he likes the results. He does really well. He aces the test every single day." pic.twitter.com/Hq7Wn0wLYi— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) June 2, 2026Trump’s latest visit to Capt. Sean Barbarella, a Navy emergency physician serving as the president’s doctor, produced yet another glowing medical report—that some health experts have suggested omits crucial information. Trump’s supposedly incredible results contrast directly with what Americans can see: visible bruising and rashes, his frequent on-camera naps, and the fact that he is an 80-year-old man who rants madly about how healthy he is.

With billionaires controlling over 90% of all the media we consume, BreakThrough News and Peoples Dispatch seek to challenge that and are teaming up to create a single, unified text and video outlet. The post The billionaires are consolidating their media, now so are we. appeared first on BT News.

“We think every community in the country should try to get one of these,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Section 224 of the 2027 NDAA would dramatically expand Israeli influence over the U.S. military by integrating weapons production, battlefield A.I., surveillance technologies, and defense supply chains—while reducing public oversight and accountability. The post NDAA: New U.S. Bill Will Fuse Israel and U.S. Militaries Into One appeared first on MintPress News.

Boycott exists for one reason: Palestine's liberation from Zionism. Translating novels for Israelis lacks a clear theory of action to help deliver that goal. The post On boycott strategy and publishing Sally Rooney in Hebrew appeared first on +972 Magazine.