The Associated Press

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press reveals that the agency allows immigration officers to forcibly enter homes to make arrests without a judicial warrant. This change reverses previous guidance and raises concerns about constitutional protections against illegal searches. The memo, signed by ICE's acting director, states that administrative warrants are sufficient for forced entry if there's a final order of removal. This policy could face legal challenges and criticism from advocacy groups. Whistleblower Aid, representing two government officials, describes the directive as seemingly unconstitutional and a significant shift in arrest powers. The Associated Press obtained the memo and whistleblower complaint from an official in Congress.

The House has passed legislation that extends expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It's a remarkable rebuke of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who tried to stop it. But renegade Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats on a so-called "discharge petition" to force action. The health care tax breaks have lowered health insurance costs for roughly 22 million people, but expired last month. The Congressional Budget Office said the proposed three-year extension would increase the nation's deficit by about $80.6 billion over the decade, and increase the number of people with health insurance by millions. Members of the Senate are working on an alternative bill.

Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has arrived in the United States to face criminal charges. He was captured in an audacious military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations. Maduro landed Saturday evening at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas. The couple will face prosecution in connection with a Justice Department indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

Tesla lost its crown as the world's bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk's right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks to buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row. Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year ago. Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker. For the fourth quarter, sales totaled 418,227, falling short of the 440,000 that analysts polled by FactSet expected. The sales total may likely have been impacted by the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.

President Donald Trump has issued the first vetoes of his second term, rejecting two bipartisan natural resources bills. The Tuesday vetoes had the effect of punishing backers of the bills who had opposed the president's positions on other issues. Trump vetoed drinking water pipeline legislation from Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a longtime ally who broke with the president over releasing files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He also rejected legislation that would have given the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida more control over some of its land. The tribe was among groups suing the administration over an immigration detention center in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz."

More than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes as a winter storm disrupted one of the busiest travel weekends of the year between Christmas and New Year's. As of Saturday morning, New York City had received around four inches of snow, under what some forecasts predicted, but at least 1,500 flights were canceled from Friday night into Saturday, according to FlightAware. Major New York–area airports warned of disruptions, while the National Weather Service cautioned about hazardous travel conditions, possible power outages and tree damage. States of emergency were declared for New Jersey and parts of New York.

Attorneys for detainees at a Florida immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" want a federal judge to visit the facility. They argue this will help determine if detainees have sufficient access to legal counsel. On Friday, they asked U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to make the visit within two months. The facility, built this summer, requires attorneys to schedule visits three days in advance. State attorneys object, citing security risks and operational disruptions. As of Monday, the judge hadn't ruled on the request. This case is one of three federal lawsuits challenging practices at the detention center.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is criticizing Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and broadly defending Donald Trump's second presidency in a series of interviews published Tuesday. Wiles told Vanity Fair that Bondi mismanaged the Epstein case with talk about a "client list" sitting on her desk. On Venezuela, Wiles says Trump will continue to be aggressive, and she also is defending Trump's retribution against people he perceives as political enemies. After the story was published, Wiles disparaged it as a "disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history." She did not deny the quotes that were attributed to her.

The Trump administration argues that providing real-time American Sign Language interpretation for events like White House press briefings would intrude on the president's control over his public image. This stance is part of a lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Deaf, which claims the lack of ASL interpretation denies deaf Americans access to important communications. The Justice Department suggests alternatives like online transcripts and closed captioning provide what's needed. A federal judge recently ordered the White House to provide the interpreting, but the administration has appealed.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined his proposed $117 billion state budget Wednesday, as the term-limited executive prepares to leave the state's top office. His spending plan includes increased spending on law enforcement and corrections officers. He also recommended new investments in campus security for the state's public universities, following a mass shooting at Florida State University in April that killed two and injured six others. DeSantis also continued his call to slash property taxes in the state, and floated $300 million to backfill local government budgets in rural and fiscally constrained counties.The FEA issued a statement harshly critical of the budget plan.