Trump administration live updates: Doug Burgum confirmed as interior secretary

The Department of Transportation has posted several memoranda online today in response to Trump’s orders about DEI and guidance about his economic agenda.

One of the memos has drawn concerns from some Democrats over controversial guidelines related to how birth and marriage rates, vaccine and mask mandates, and compliance with immigration policy will play a role in directing spending of the department's grant money.

The memo includes a provision that says the department should “give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average,” including on certain grant programs. 

The Senate voted tonight to invoke cloture on the nomination of Chris Wright to serve as energy secretary, ending debate and advancing him to a final floor vote.

The cloture vote was 62-35.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, one of the Democratic candidates for governor in New Jersey, is urging Democratic National Committee chair candidates to commit to spending at least $10 million there this year.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only states with gubernatorial elections this year, with Virginia typically seen as the more competitive off-year election state.

In an open letter, shared first with NBC News, Sherrill said that Democrats should not feel a false sense of security in New Jersey.

"To get the future right, Democrats can start by getting New Jersey right," she wrote.

The Senate voted tonight to confirm former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as interior secretary.

The vote was 79-18, with dozens of Democrats joining Republicans to support Burgum.

Several top FBI executives promoted by former Director Christopher Wray were told today to resign or retire and that they will be demoted or reassigned if they don’t leave, according to one current and three former bureau officials.

The purge of senior officials includes about a half-dozen “executive assistant directors,” who are some of the bureau’s top managers overseeing criminal, national security and cyber investigations. They are career civil servants, meaning they can’t be fired without cause.

Read the full story here.

Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's pick to serve as interior secretary, will receive a vote on his nomination tonight on the full floor of the Senate, according to a series of votes just locked in by the upper chamber.

Senators will also vote on whether to advance Chris Wright’s nomination to be energy secretary and on a procedural vote to advance former Rep. Doug Collins’ nomination to be secretary of veterans affairs.

Simple majorities are needed for all three votes.

In a crucial day for Trump’s nominees, Kennedy, Gabbard and Patel all descended on Capitol Hill for confirmation hearings.

The nominees to be health and human services secretary, director of national intelligence and FBI director have all generated controversy for a similar reason: Each one has launched searing criticisms of the entities they’ve now been chosen to lead. Trump is testing the Republican-controlled Senate on where it will draw the line between disruption with institutionalism.

Kennedy, Gabbard and Patel all sought to clarify or downplay past stances or remarks that have landed them in hot water with senators who will decide whether or not they’re confirmed.

Read the full story here.

Asked about placing tariffs on China, Trump said he holds it responsible for fentanyl coming into the United States and suggested that Beijing would be subject to trade sanctions as a result.

“We’re in the process of doing that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he signed executive orders.  

He said the United States will "make that determination of what it’s going to be, but China has to stop sending fentanyl into our country and killing our people."

Trump last week said China could be subject to a 10% tariff starting Feb. 1 and that the United States will place 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. 

Fear, anger and confusion have swept across federal agencies as workers grapple with a deluge of orders from Trump that they see as an effort to “scare” them out of their jobs.

In conversations with more than a dozen federal employees across multiple agencies, civil servants said the Trump administration’s rapid changes have turned their day-to-day operations into “chaos,” with their immediate higher-ups unable to answer questions about their employment and duties. A number of the workers also expressed surprise at what they saw as an underwhelming response from Congress and their union.

Adding to the stress, the Office of Personnel Management offered federal employees the option of taking a “deferred resignation” in an email Tuesday evening that closely mirrored a message that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and leader of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” sent to Twitter employees shortly after he acquired the company.

Read the full story here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has concluded Patel's confirmation hearing. Patel exited the room quickly after committee Chair Chuck Grassley gaveled the hearing out.

Patel faced questions from both sides of the aisle about how he plans to lead the FBI if he is confirmed; his exchanges with Democrats grew tense at times as they asked about his history of controversial comments.

Specifically, Democrats asked about allegations of an "enemies list," his views about Trump's decision to pardon violent Jan. 6 offenders and whether he plans to lead an agency independent from the White House.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after following suit with other committee Democrats who urged unsealing Patel’s secret grand jury testimony in the federal probe examining Trump’s handling of classified documents, struck an existential tone in his line of questioning. 

“We need to think about where we are in this moment,” Schiff said. “We have a new president, he’s fired prosecutors who investigated him, he’s investigating other prosecutors, or his Department of Justice is. He’s fired an inspector general who might hold him accountable. And this is just the start."

Trump selected Patel to lead the FBI, Schiff argued, based on “his willingness to say yes when everyone else would say no.” 

During a second round of questioning Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., raised reports that several political appointees have been hired at the FBI this week, including one who was previously affiliated with SpaceX, one of Elon Musk's companies.

"Do you want somebody like Elon Musk peering over your shoulder telling you what to do about personnel?" Welch asked Patel.

"No. The FBI must be independent," Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI, responded.

"Well, kick him out," Welch answered. "I'm with you on that. He has no basis. He has no reason to be there. ... He's just a political crony who knows nothing about law enforcement."

Pressing Patel about whether Trump abided by a 2022 law that requires the president to give Congress 30 day’s notice before removing any inspectors general from office, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked, “How many days has President Trump been in office?” 

“Ten days,” Patel responded. 

“Is it possible to give 30 days’ notice in 10 days?” Coons asked. 

Patel said he’s “not great at math, but it doesn’t sound like it." Coons’ questions echoed Senate Democrats’ alarm that Trump’s firing of 18 inspectors general late last Friday, which he did without providing notice to Congress, violated the Inspector General Act. Congress amended the act to strengthen protections from undue termination for inspectors general, part of which requires 30 days’ notice and evidence-based cases for firings. 

In his second round of questioning, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., pushed Patel to give senators access to his secret testimony to a grand jury in a federal probe that examined Trump's handling of classified documents after his first term.

Whitehouse repeatedly referred to federal law, which, he said, "prohibits most from describing what happened in a grand jury room but not the witness."

Patel dodged Whitehouse's question, not explicitly granting permission for the committee to get his grand jury testimony but saying that "I authorize this committee" to obtain whatever records it is able to lawfully obtain.

He added: "I don't know if I singularly have that authority. ... I'm not an expert on this constitutional standard."

Tulsi Gabbard faced tough questions today from several Republican senators at her confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence over her past praise for intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and her shifting views on an electronic surveillance program supported by senators whose votes she needs.

Republicans hold a narrow 9-8 majority on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is holding the hearing and has the first vote on Gabbard’s nomination. The questions from some of the Republican members raised the possibility that Gabbard may not secure their support.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., slammed Patel for promoting a song sung by some of those who were convicted their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Over 140 police officers were wounded in the attack on Jan. 6, and many of those who pleaded guilty or were convicted over their actions that day were those who harmed police officers.

"I want you to turn around," Schiff told Patel. "There are Capitol Police officers behind you. They're guarding us. Take a look at them right now. Turn around."

"I'm looking at you," Patel quipped before Schiff continued.

Asked by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., whether the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from Trump, Patel dodged the question, never explicitly saying Trump lost or former President Joe Biden won.

"He's entitled to whatever opinions he wants," Patel said at first, referring to Trump's repeated false claims that Biden fraudulently won the 2020 election.

Welch posed the question again, asking Patel, "Do you agree with [Trump] that the election was stolen in 2020?"

Patel simply said, "Senator, millions of Americans expressed concern, going back to multiple elections, over election integrity."

Sen. Cassidy in his closing remarks posed an ultimatum to Kennedy, reminding him of the vast influence his position would wield over the health care choices Americans make and asking him if he would use his credibility to support science-based health care or undermine it. 

Cassidy, who said he is struggling with Kennedy’s nomination, said that is the question that will determine his vote. 

“My concern is that if there’s any false note, any undermining of a mama’s trust in vaccines another person will die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” Cassidy said, calling back to the anecdote he told in his opening remarks of treating a young woman who needed an emergency liver transplant after suffering failure because of hepatitis B. 

The Senate Intelligence Committee's focus on Gabbard's past support for NSA leaker Edward Snowden during the public portion of her confirmation hearing today was not lost on Snowden himself.

The former NSA contractor, who now lives in Russia, responded in a post to X that the senators needed to "move on" from their fixation on his case.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Kennedy about his 2021 remark that the Covid vaccine was the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy said the comment was based on reports made to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a U.S. database that collects reports of adverse events potentially associated with vaccines.

Anyone can submit such a report, so they are unverified. The CDC and FDA analyze the data and investigate any signals that a vaccine might be associated with a health issue. A 2024 study found that, in states that were more inclined to vote Republican, there was a higher likelihood of people reporting adverse events from Covid vaccines to VAERS.

Before the hearing ended, Kennedy said he would be an “advocate for strong science,” leaning on a new research paper that anti-vaccine activists have been sharing this week.

The paper was published last week on the website Science, Public Health Policy and the Law, which mirrors the form of a scientific journal, but is in fact a WordPress blog belonging to anti-vaccine researcher, James Lyons-Weiler. Citing data from Florida’s Medicaid Medicare database, the paper’s authors, Anthony Mawson and Binu Jacob, conclude that vaccines were associated with increased neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

As the authors disclose, the paper was funded by the anti-vaccine group the National Vaccine Information Center. Its author, Anthony Mawson, is well known in the research community for a previous study (that was retracted — twice) that claimed unvaccinated homeschooled children were healthier than their vaccinated peers.

The Senate HELP Committee hearing on RFK Jr.'s nomination to lead the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services has ended.

It was Kennedy's second day of tough questioning following a grilling yesterday before the Senate Finance Committee, which is the Senate panel responsible for advancing his nomination.

Kennedy and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., engaged in a shouting match after Kennedy accused “almost all the members” of the Senate HELP Committee of accepting “millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protecting their interests,” following a line of questioning from Sanders about guaranteeing universal health care for Americans. 

“Oh no, no, no,” Sanders said, his voice raised. “I ran for president like you. I got millions and millions of contributions, they did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceuticals, they came from workers.”

Before the hearing closed for the classified session, Wyden asked Gabbard if she would carry out an illegal order from Trump, such as withholding congressionally appropriated funds, referring to the administration's freeze on domestic and foreign aid this week, which it quickly withdrew after legal challenges.

"I don't believe for a second President Trump would ask me to do something that would break the law," Gabbard responded emphatically.

Wyden said that wasn't his question and again asked what she would do if given an illegal order.

"My commitment has been, and will be if confirmed as director of national intelligence, to comply with the law," she said.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who popped into the hearing even though he's not a committee member, asked Gabbard about how she might address the so-called Havana syndrome incidents.

Gabbard called the incidents "deeply concerning" and said "the intelligence community still has failed to identify the source and the cause for Havana syndrome, as it's commonly known, even as many people who are in service are suffering the consequences of it."

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., grilled Kennedy about his comments on proposing separate vaccination schedules for Black and white people, calling them "dangerous."

Kennedy has previously proposed giving Black people a different vaccination schedule than white people, because, he claims, "their immune system is better than ours,” according to a report from the Washington Post.

At the hearing today, Kennedy said there are "a series of studies" that show Black people have a stronger immune reaction to different products and Black people "need fewer antigens."

The public part of the Gabbard confirmation hearing is over. The committee will resume in closed session to discuss sensitive intelligence matters with her in 30 minutes.

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., asked Kennedy whether he stood by past statements that Wi-Fi radiation causes cancer. 

“Yes, sir,” Kennedy said. “I won a case in front of the court of appeals against the FCC on that very issue.”

The anti-vaccine group that Kennedy founded, Children’s Health Defense, successfully challenged the Federal Communications Commission’s health and safety guidelines for wireless-based technologies several years ago. But the court determined that the FCC had failed to respond to evidence that exposure to radio frequency radiation — which most electronic devices emit — "may cause negative health effects unrelated to cancer."

The Senate Judiciary Committee is back after a lunch break, with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., kicking off his questioning time to Kash Patel, Trump's nominee to lead the FBI.

While Senate Democrats boycotted the Budget Committee’s business meeting where they voted on Russell Vought’s nomination to be OMB director, Republicans on the committee just voted unanimously, 11-0, to send Vought’s nomination to the full Senate.

Democrats are holding a news conference now about Vought, calling for Trump to withdraw his nomination in light of the federal funding freeze that was rescinded yesterday.

We still do not know when the full Senate will vote on Vought’s nomination.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., pointed out Kennedy's multiple stumbles about Medicare and Medicaid during his first confirmation hearing yesterday.

During that hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Kennedy was “unprepared,” suggesting that he didn’t seem to know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid.

"During yesterday's hearing, you really showed a lack of knowledge about Medicare and Medicaid," Hassan said today.

Hassan then tested Kennedy's understanding of the programs, first on Medicare Part A, which helps pay for inpatient care people get in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which is in the middle of Kash Patel's confirmation hearing, is taking a 30-minute break for lunch.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted by voice vote to report Rep. Elise Stefanik’s, R-N.Y., nomination to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to the full Senate.

A voice vote means that a roll call wasn’t taken, but an aide for the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., were recorded as "no" votes.

It's unclear when the full Senate will vote on Stefanik's nomination. If she is confirmed as expected and leaves the House, the Republicans' majority will temporarily shrink to 217-215.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., sparred with Kennedy over past comparisons that Kennedy made between childhood vaccination programs and Nazi death camps, as well as the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse cases.

“You said the pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church is a perfect metaphor for what’s happening in the United States,” Murphy said.

“I think it’s important to question science, but you’re not questioning science. You’ve made up your mind. You’ve spent your entire career undermining America’s vaccine program.”

Kennedy replied that Murphy had made “some grave accusations,” adding: “Show me a single statement I’ve made about science that is erroneous.”

Kennedy has been known to use extreme language and metaphors to amply misinformation about vaccine safety.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed Patel on his involvement with the Jan. 6 choir. He raised multiple names to Patel of Jan. 6 defendants who were part of the choir and each time, Patel denied knowing the name of the defendant.

"He's one of the J6 prison choir," Blumenthal said about one of the defendants, who sprayed police officers with pepper spray during the riot at the Capitol.

"You're saying now you don't know who he is. You glorified him and the rest of that choir," Blumenthal told Patel.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., shared a personal anecdote about her experience carrying her son who was born with severe cerebral palsy. 

“Now some of you are new to this committee and new to the Senate, so you may not know that I am the proud mother of a 36-year-old young man with severe cerebral palsy,” Hassan said. “A day does not go by when I don’t think about what did I do when I was pregnant with him that might have caused the hydrocephalus that has so impacted his life.” 

“So please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is,” Hassan added, explaining she is deeply troubled that the questions in Kennedy's first hearing yesterday were driven by partisanship and not genuine concern. “Do you know how many friends I have with children who have autism?”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Patel whether he would commit to protecting FBI agents from political retribution, citing the DOJ officials who were fired for working on criminal investigations of Trump.

"Every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard, and no one will be terminated for cases," Patel said.

Blumenthal said he would only accept a "yes or no answer," saying, "If you can’t commit that those FBI agents will be protected from political retribution, we can’t accept you as FBI director."

"That was your first test," Blumenthal said. "You failed it."

Republican and Democratic senators on the committee have been grilling Gabbard on her previous support for Edward Snowden.

She hasn't answered questions about whether he was "brave" and continued to dodge questions from Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., about whether she considers him a "traitor."

"This is a big deal to everybody here, because it's a big deal to everybody that you'll also oversee in that role as well," Lankford said, adding that it's helpful to hear her state that Edward Snowden is a traitor.

Asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about supplements Patel promoted that he claimed would help people "reverse the [Covid] vaxx n get healthy," Patel admitted that "I’m not a doctor" and that he did not perform clinical trials before promoting the supplements.

Klobuchar asked Patel again about whether he promoted the supplements and told people it would reverse the effects of Covid vaccines.

In response, he disputed her characterization of the promotion, telling the senator, "Did I give people an opportunity to make an independent choice for what’s best for their families? Yes."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., again referred to an "enemies list," referring to a list of 60 people Patel described as members of the "deep state" in a book he published in 2023.

Patel pushed back on Klobuchar's use of the word "enemies list," telling the senator: "Well, it’s not whatever we want to call it, Senator, with all due respect. It’s not an enemies list. That is a total mischaracterization."

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., listed vows from Trump to investigate and criminally prosecute former political opponents, ranging from former Rep. Liz Cheney to former Vice President Kamala Harris, and asked Patel whether he would open an investigation into those individuals if ordered by Trump.

Patel said that, if confirmed, the FBI would only launch investigations "on the following qualification — a factual, articulate legal basis to do so."

Coons then asked Patel if he'd be willing to resign "if necessary over conduct."

"Senator, I will always obey the law," Patel replied.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked Patel about his history of controversial statements, including about prosecuting Trump's political adversaries.

"We agree that prosecuting violent crimes should be the principal focus of the FBI," Patel told Coons, referring to a private meeting he had with the senator.

Coons again raised a "whole series of very troubling ... statements you made about instead using it to pursue those who might be viewed as political."

"As I told you in your office, I have no interest, no desire, and will not — if confirmed — go backwards," Patel said, adding, "There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by" the FBI.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., brought up a July 2024 post on X from Kennedy on the 9/11 terror attacks, printing it on a poster board for the hearing.

"My take on 9/11: It's hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn't," Kennedy said in the post. "But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public."

"As president I won't take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates," Kennedy wrote at the time, when he was running for president as an independent.

Kaine asked: "What made you decide, in the midst of everything going on in this country, in this world, in July of 2024, in your own candidacy for president that now is the time to say it’s hard to tell what is conspiracy and what isn’t about 9/11?"

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., asked Gabbard to confirm that Russia won't get a "pass" in any policy recommendations she makes or doesn't make as DNI. The question was a reflection on Gabbard's past comments sympathetic to Russia, including a statement that Ukraine should remain neutral rather than join NATO.

"Senator, I'm offended by the question because my sole focus, commitment and responsibility is about our own nation, our own security and the interests of the American people in carrying out the responsibilities of the director of national intelligence," she said.

If confirmed as DNI, Gabbard said: "No country, group or individual will get a pass in my fulfilling that responsibility, of providing that full intelligence picture so that you all can make the best informed policy decisions for the safety, security and freedom of the American people. You have my commitment to be completely objective, unbiased and apolitical, and I hope you understand my commitment to our country's interest."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., spent her questioning time asking Patel about the controversial statements he's made about the FBI on various podcasts and forums.

At the end of her time, though, several Republican senators pointed out that she went over time, though Klobuchar demanded that Patel answer her final question.

Given the time to answer, Patel said, “If the best attacks on me are going to be false accusations and grotesque mischaracterizations, the only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI.”

After Patel replied, Klobuchar jumped in again, telling Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chair of the committee, that she deserved an answer to her final question.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Gabbard about her meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in January 2017, including what they discussed and if she pressed him on his use of chemical weapons and systematic torture and killing of Syrian civilians.

"Upon returning from this trip," Gabbard responded, "I met with people like then-Leader Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, talked to them, and answered their questions about the trip, and quite frankly, I was surprised that there was no one from the intelligence community or the State Department who reached out or showed any interest whatsoever in my takeaways from that trip."

She added, "A number of topics were covered and discussed, and to directly answer your question, yes, I asked him tough questions about his own regime's actions, the use of chemical weapons and the brutal tactics that were being used against his own people."

Asked if she extracted any concessions from Assad, she said she didn't and didn't expect to.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Kennedy whether he stood by his previous statements that the HPV vaccine is dangerous and ineffective, and increases the risk of cervical cancer.

“I litigated on that issue,” Kennedy said. “I represented hundreds of young girls who felt that they were injured by the vaccine. That trial is happening right now in Los Angeles. Those questions will be answered by a jury in that trial.”

Kennedy’s former law firm, Wisner Baum, is suing the pharmaceutical company Merck over claims that it failed to properly warn consumers about side effects associated with its HPV vaccine. In filings submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Kennedy has indicated that he plans to continue collecting fees from lawsuits against Merck that do not directly affect the U.S. government.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, presented a letter from 56 former FBI agents stating Patel is "uniquely qualified" to lead the FBI.

"Never has the FBI faced such an urgent and compelling need for comprehensive reform as it does today," the letter reads. "Mr. Patel has proven he possesses the breadth of experience required to address these challenges."

Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee said they will boycott the panel's vote today on Russell Vought’s nomination to be White House budget director amid the fight over Trump's federal aid freeze plan.

"We will not vote for someone so clearly unfit for office," the Democrats said on X.

The boycott will likely have little effect on Vought’s future, as a spokesperson for Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the panel can still vote on Vought’s nomination even if Democrats do not show up. The vote is scheduled for noon ET.

The Budget Committee, which has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, needs to vote Vought’s nomination out before it can be considered by the full Senate.

Kennedy referenced the U.S. Vaccine Safety Datalink when answering Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s pointed questions about his knowledge of federal vaccine safety monitoring.

“I’m aware of the Vaccine Safety Datalink that CDC keeps under lock box and will not let independent scientists look at it.”

The Vaccine Safety Datalink is maintained by the Immunization Safety Office and houses data from patient health records used to conduct studies about rare adverse events following immunizations. Because of concerns over privacy, misrepresentation of data, and manpower, the raw data isn’t public, but is available to researchers.

For decades, the scientific community has worked to dispel a thoroughly debunked theory that vaccines cause autism and finally shift its focus to find true potential causes.

But now, autism advocates say they are fearful that if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as health and human services secretary, it could undermine years of progress in unlinking autism and vaccines, while potentially diverting precious research dollars to a theory already discredited by hundreds of studies worldwide. They warn he would wield vast influence over who sits on committees and steer policy. 

And some condemned Kennedy’s past rhetoric around autism, calling it stigmatizing and insulting.  

Read the full story here.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wash., grilled Kennedy for an answer on whether he will keep mifepristone, an abortion medication, available on the market.

Beginning her line of questioning by asking Kennedy what he believes deems a drug safe, Baldwin noted that more than 100 peer-reviewed studies for mifepristone, which has been FDA-approved for 25 years, "have confirmed that 99% of patients who took the abortion pill had no complications."

"So with all of that, I can only conclude that you would commit to keep this science-backed and proven medication on the market and accessible for women, is that correct?" Baldwin asked.

Kennedy refused to answer the question, saying instead that Trump has not yet defined a policy on mifepristone availability, but that he intends to implement whatever that policy is.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, asked Gabbard if she would recommend a pardon or clemency for Edward Snowden if confirmed as director of national intelligence.

Gabbard answered that "my responsibility would be to ensure the security of our nation's secrets, and would not take actions to advocate for any actions related to Snowden."

Asked if that meant she wouldn't recommend a pardon for Snowden, Gabbard answered affirmatively that she would not.

Finding the causes of autism is complicated, because it’s not a single disorder, said Manish Arora, a professor of environmental medical and climate science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

“Autism is a spectrum, not a single narrow disease,” Arora said. “It’s many, many things under one umbrella.”

Although people diagnosed with autism often have similar strengths and challenges, “there are many paths to autism and many presentations of autism,” Miller said.

Scientists have found a variety of risk factors for autism — most of which exist before birth — but there is no single cause for a neurological and developmental condition that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave.

Read the full story here.

In her opening statement, Gabbard blamed the Biden administration for politicizing the intelligence community, arguing that an adviser to Biden’s campaign was the driver of a letter written by 51 former senior intel officials to silence reports of Hunter Biden’s laptop “specifically to help Biden win the election.”

She said that under Biden, the FBI "abused its power for political reasons," including with attempts to surveil Catholics who attend traditional Latin Mass by labeling them "radical."

Trump’s nominee to lead the agency responsible for coordinating the intelligence community also claimed that the Biden administration targeted her personally, echoing the president's own allegations.

Warner noted that Gabbard has praised the actions of Edward Snowden and has called him a brave whistleblower.

Responding, Gabbard said, "Mr. Vice Chairman, Edward Snowden broke the law. I do not agree with or support all of the information and intelligence that he raised, nor the way in which he did it. There would have been opportunities for him to come to you on this committee, or seek out the IG to release that information."

Pressed again on whether she thinks he was brave, Gabbard said: "I'm making myself very clear. Edward Snowden broke the law. He released information about the United States."

After extensive questioning from senators on Trump's pardoning of Jan. 6 defendants, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pointed to a string of pardons from then-President Joe Biden at the end of his term.

Grassley listed the cases of Thomas Sanders, Leonard Peltier and Adrian Peeler, who received commutations, listing the charges for each case.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., pressed Kennedy on past allegations of sexual assault from his family's former babysitter, Eliza Cooney, who claimed Kennedy groped her when she worked for the family in 1999.

"You were accused of sexual harassment and assault by Eliza Cooney, who was first hired as a part-time babysitter by your family," Murray said. "When you were confronted about this accusation, you said you were, quote, 'not a church boy,' and that you, quote, 'have so many skeletons in my closet.'"

Murray then pressed Kennedy, who has publicly claimed the sexual assault allegations are false and that he does not remember them, about why he personally texted Cooney an apology.

"Mr. Kennedy, I’m asking you to respond to those accusations seriously in front of this committee, did you make sexual advances towards Miss Cooney without her consent," Murray asked.

"No, I did not ... and the story has been debunked," Kennedy said, adding when pressed by Murray again about his apology that he texted Cooney to apologize for "something else."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., began his questioning time reflecting on his experience on Jan. 6, 2021, during the riot at the Capitol.

"I remember Jan. 6. Colleagues running through our halls to flee the mob. Colleagues shouting that rioters should be shot. Us returning to our constitutional business through hallways cleared for us by automatic weapons carrying SWAT teams," Whitehouse said, adding to his Senate colleagues, "None of you, none of us said those violent rioters should be pardoned."

Whitehouse went on to highlight what he called a "lesson" about Trump's decision to pardon over 1,500 of those who pled guilty or were convicted for their actions on Jan. 6.

"Every time you think Trump would never go that far, rethink that," Whitehouse said. "We all seem to agree that violence against police is unacceptable. Yet more than 600 people who physically attacked Capitol police officers were just put back on the street."

When asked whether he would unequivocally reassure mothers that measles and hepatitis B vaccines don’t cause autism, Kennedy replied he would be the first person to do so “if you show me data.” 

“Not only will I do that, but I will apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise,” he said. “I just want to pledge to you that I will never stick on a point if somebody shows me data that says I’m wrong.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lambasted the response: “That is a very troubling response, because the studies are there. Your job was to have looked at those studies as an applicant for this job.”

Kennedy said "I don't know" when Sanders asked whether the Covid vaccines were successful in saving lives.

Sanders quickly shot back: "You're applying for the job. Clearly, you should know this!"

The Covid shots did indeed save lives. A 2022 study found that vaccinations prevented an estimated 14.4 million deaths from Covid in a single year. 

Kennedy's nonprofit the Children’s Health Defense has filed a lawsuit against the federal government challenging the authorization of the Covid vaccine for children. 

Former Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who chaired the Intelligence Committee, said in an introduction that in 2003, Gabbard joined the Hawaii National Guard.

"After multiple deployments and serving in the Hawaii City Council, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served four terms," he said, adding that Gabbard maintained her military service, either in the National Guard or Army Reserve.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, grilled Patel about Trump's decision to pardon roughly 1,500 of his supporters who were convicted in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Some of the supporters were convicted or pled guilty to assaulting police officers, over 140 of whom were injured during the attack.

"Was he wrong to do it?" Durbin asked Patel, who answered, "I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement ... and I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement."

In response to a question from Grassley on whether he follows or promotes the QAnon movement, Patel said he rejects all "baseless conspiracy theories."

"They must be addressed head-on with the truth, and I will continue to do that, and I will continue to support Americans who support law enforcement, our military, and want to secure our border."

Patel has spoken favorably of the movement, saying "there's a lot of good to a lot of it."

After thanking Gabbard for her decades of public service in uniform and in Congress, Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said in his opening statement that he continues to have “significant concerns” about her judgment and qualifications, citing comments she has made on NATO and Russia, the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and her praise for Edward Snowden, a former intelligence contractor who leaked classified documents, as a “brave whistleblower.”

While Warner acknowledged that Gabbard has had what he called a “change of heart” on some issues since Trump nominated her, he still voiced skepticism about her past positions and views.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Patel to, "explain your position on Jan. 6. Respond to critics who say you're anti-law enforcement."

Patel answered, "If anyone wants to consider me as anti-law enforcement, then look at my 16 years in government service."

"I have always respected law enforcement," he said, adding, "As for Jan. 6, I have repeatedly, often — publicly and privately — said: There can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement."

"Anyone who commits violence against law enforcement must be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned," the nominee to be the next FBI director added.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. who is chairing the committee Robert F. Kennedy is testifying before today, made clear to Kennedy that he has great concern over his past statements casting doubt on vaccines.

Cassidy, a longtime doctor, took an emotional pause as he noted an inflection point in his career when he was helping to treat a young woman who needed an emergency liver transplant after suffering failure because of hepatitis B.

Cassidy described her as "barely an adult, her entire life ahead of her, all the hopes and dreams she might want, the children, the grandchildren, the future generations wiped away if she did not get to the LSU Hospital in Shreveport for an emergency transplant," he said. He then said it all could have been prevented by a $50 vaccination shot.

Cassidy told Kennedy he has so much influence over parents and that he hoped he would support vaccines unequivocally.

In his opening statement, Patel told the committee that "if confirmed as the next FBI director, I will remain focused on the FBI’s core mission."

On the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans, Patel told senators that it "served as a stark reminder that our national security is at threat, internally and externally."

Patel also highlighted fighting crime as a top priority if confirmed.

"The priority of the FBI, if I am confirmed, is to ensure our community is protected and safeguarded," Patel said, adding, "The way we do this? We let good cops be cops."

He also endorsed the "aggressive constitutional oversight from Congress" over the FBI to help the agency achieve its mission.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in his opening statement that he's "dismayed by the attacks on Ms. Gabbard's patriotism and her loyalty to our country."

Cotton referred to Hillary Clinton calling Gabbard an "asset" of a foreign nation and said that Gabbard "served in our Army for more than two decades. She has multiple combat tours, and she still wears the uniform to this day."

He said Gabbard has undergone five FBI background checks.

"It's clean as a whistle," he said. "It's fine that we have differences of opinions on policies and programs. I suspect some of my Republican colleagues might disagree with some of Ms. Gabbard's votes in the House of Representatives, just as I suspect some of my Democratic colleagues might criticize Ms. Gabbard's statements and actions since she saw the light and left the Democratic Party, but I sincerely hope that no one today will impugn Ms. Gabbard's patriotism and integrity."

During his remarks introducing Patel, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., held up a bingo card that he says he handed out to his GOP colleagues for the hearing today.

"Some may view this as an unserious caricature," Tillis said, adding, "Sadly I consider it a serious caricature of what I expect to witness today."

Tillis said he expects to hear words like "enemies list" and "deep state" from Democrats on the committee and noted that he'd already checked off four boxes on the bingo card.

Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit group that Kennedy founded and resigned from, is broadcasting outside the hearing. CHD’s general counsel says Kennedy’s testimony is about “elevating” their group’s priorities.

Yesterday, Kennedy said he has “no power over” the group since his resignation. People being interviewed are saying they have followed Kennedy for years and align with the anti-vaccine movement.

In his opening remarks for Patel's confirmation hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he believes. that Patel "has neither the experience, the temperament, nor the judgment to lead the FBI."

He added that Patel "is a staunch Trump loyalist who has repeatedly peddled false conspiracy theories and threatened to go after President Trump’s enemies." Durbin also quoted from Patel's book, which has received a lot of attention for an alleged "enemies list" included in the memoir.

"The American people deserve an FBI director focused on keeping our families safe from terrorism, drug trafficking and violent crime, not the checklist of grievances in this book," Durbin added. "Mr. Patel, your record makes clear that you are not that person."

Following a much quieter arrival than yesterday, RFK Jr.'s second hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, led by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has been gaveled in.

This round of questioning is known as a courtesy hearing because the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will not cast any votes to advance RFK Jr.'s confirmation. That's up to the Senate Finance Committee, which grilled Kennedy yesterday.

In his opening statement, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, praised Patel's experience and took aim at the FBI investigation into Trump's alleged links to Russia.

"It’s no surprise that public trust has declined in an institution that has been plagued by abuse," Grassley said, but added, "The FBI remains an important even indispensable institution for law and order in our country."

A former disciple of a religious foundation in Hawaii alleged in a letter to lawmakers that Gabbard’s ties to the group cast doubt on her independence and “transparency.”

Anita Van Duyn told NBC News that she wrote the letter to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and other lawmakers because she believes Americans need to be aware of the influence that the Science of Identity Foundation, which she called a "cult," and its founder have exerted over Gabbard, who served in the U.S. House as a Democrat from Hawaii.

“Her political career projects independence and progressive values, yet her disciple connection to her guru who controls this high-control, high demand foundation, should question her autonomy and transparency,” Van Duyn said in an email.

The confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, Trump's nominee to lead the FBI, is underway.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, began the hearing by taking a few moments to recognize the victims of last night's airplane crash in Washington.

When Trump announced that he wanted Kash Patel to be the next director of the FBI, one of Patel’s first moves was to reach out to three conservative former special agents who have been critics of the bureau and its sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The former agents Patel spoke to refer to themselves as “The Suspendables.” They have claimed whistleblower status, and Republicans have called two of them (along with an FBI analyst) to testify before Congress. Patel, through his Kash Foundation, provided financial support to several of them during their suspensions, they testified in 2023.

Patel’s relationship with the former agents, who ran into trouble with FBI leadership during their tenures, helps illuminate his potential agenda as FBI director beyond the bombastic public statements he has made for years before Thursday’s Senate confirmation hearing, like when he talked about making the FBI headquarters into a “museum of the deep state.”

Read the full story here.

A person who has been affiliated with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and a former aide to one of the FBI’s toughest congressional critics are working as advisers to the bureau’s director, four current and former FBI officials told NBC News. 

The two are among at least four people who have been brought into the FBI to advise its director, the current and former officials said. At least two of the new advisers are retired FBI agents, one of whom, Tom Ferguson, was an aide to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a staunch Trump ally and vocal FBI critic.

Former FBI officials said the new advisers have sparked concerns that people with ties to partisan political figures will be helping run the country’s most powerful law enforcement agency. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing at 9:30 a.m. for Patel’s nomination to be FBI director. 

Patel has drawn heavy criticism from Democrats for being too loyal to Trump, for trafficking in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the FBI's actions surrounding Jan. 6, and for threatening to dismantle the agency he is nominated to lead.

The hearing is expected to last about four hours.  

Gabbard is expected to highlight a commitment to "independence" and a "refusal to be anyone's puppet," according to a copy of her prepared opening remarks for today’s confirmation hearing.

"The truth is: what really upsets my political opponents is my consistent record of independence, regardless of political affiliation, and my refusal to be anyone’s puppet," her opening remarks say. "You know who else is committed to defending our country and reforming Washington with a fierce and unparalleled independence, President Donald J. Trump who ran and won with a mandate for change this November."

Gabbard will also home in on her experiences in combat and as a former congresswoman, experiences that she says "have given me a deep understanding of the complex challenges our nation faces."

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., is expected to highlight Gabbard's past comments blaming NATO for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to a copy of his prepared opening remarks for today’s confirmation hearing.

"Repeatedly, you have excused our adversaries’ worst actions, and instead blamed the United States and our allies for them. For example, you blamed NATO for Russia’ 2022 invasion of Ukraine," his opening remarks state.

Warner will also criticize Gabbard for questioning whether Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in Syria, despite assessments from federal agencies and the intelligence community.

"Instead, you blamed the United States for supporting al Qa’ida, ISIS, and other terrorist groups in Syria," his remarks say.

At a Senate hearing today, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, will have to convince Republican senators that she supports a surveillance program she once tried to repeal.

How Gabbard handles that issue, rather than her past sympathetic comments on Russia or her controversial meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, could determine whether she becomes the country’s top-ranking intelligence official.

As a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii from 2013 to 2021, Gabbard called the electronic surveillance program a case of “overreach” by intelligence agencies and a violation of Americans’ civil liberties. In 2020, Gabbard and a Republican lawmaker proposed legislation to repeal section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law that allows for the program.

Vice President JD Vance has earned a unique privilege inside the White House — free rein to hire whom he wants, with no interference from President Donald Trump or his top aides.

The dynamic, as five people in or close to the administration explained it to NBC News, reflects the trust that the term-limited Trump has in Vance, his 40-year-old understudy who is widely expected to run for president himself in 2028.

All but two of the first 11 senior staffers Vance hired as vice president worked on his 2022 campaign for the Senate in Ohio, in his Senate office after he won that race or both.

Read the full story here.

Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress who switched parties and endorsed Trump's 2024 bid, has come under scrutiny for her views on U.S. intelligence gathering, Edward Snowden, a trip she took to Syria to visit with Bashar al-Assad, and her sympathetic views toward foreign adversaries like Russia.

Gabbard will be introduced by two rather mainstream Republicans: former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C, who retired in 2022, and Sen Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who was considered highly critical of Pete Hegseth’s nomination for defense secretary — until she wasn’t.

Following those introductions, the Senate Intelligence Committee will then allow for an undetermined number of rounds of questions. Each senator will have five minutes for questioning, which will be done alternating by party in order of seniority, beginning with Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va.

Gabbard will need a simple majority of the committee to support her nomination for her to be reported to the full Senate favorably. That vote has not been scheduled yet.

The Senate HELP Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today following yesterday's hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

While the HELP Committee traditionally holds a courtesy hearing for the health secretary, Finance is the committee that votes and reports out the nomination to the Senate floor. Only four senators sit on both committees: Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; and Tim Scott, R-S.C.

Some Democrats have expressed support for Kennedy's positions on issues such as food safety, but not one Senate Democrat has publicly endorsed RFK for the role, and many have sharply criticized him for his anti-vaccine activism and other controversial positions. Kennedy has also faced the possibility of strong headwinds from some Republicans, with senators like Cassidy, who chairs the HELP Committee.