TV News LIES

House members got their first opportunity Thursday to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days with back-to-back hearings in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees.

In the two appearances, his first before Congress in 2026, Kennedy defended his record in leading the nation’s health agency as Democrats sought to push back against proposed budget cuts and changes to vaccine policy.

Kennedy faced a very different political environment from the one in which he appeared before Congress seven months ago, when his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement seemed to be at its most politically powerful.

Kennedy and his allies last year overhauled the childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots while also shaking up key leadership positions across health agencies.

But with an eye on the 2026 midterm elections, the White House wants Kennedy to stop talking about vaccines and focus on other MAHA “wins.”

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Rep. Eric Swalwell announced on Sunday, April 12, that he is suspending his campaign for California governor after several women accused him of sexual assault and misconduct.

"I am suspending my campaign for Governor. To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made - but that's my fight, not a campaign's," the Democratic congressman said in a statement on X.

The announcement comes after several prominent Democrats withdrew their support for the congressman and called on Swalwell, the leading Democratic frontrunner in the polls, to drop out of California's gubernatorial race. Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported that a woman who previously worked in Swalwell's district office accused him of two non-consensual sexual encounters.

CNN also reported that three other women made sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell. He has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them "absolutely false" and vowing to fight them.

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The ex-Marine who was forcibly removed by police from a congressional hearing for protesting Wednesday said the incident made him “only more determined” to continue his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Brian McGinnis is running as the Green Party candidate in North Carolina’s election to replace outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R). The anti-war activist could be heard shouting, “No one wants to fight for Israel,” as he was pushed out of the hearing room.

“And for the record, I’ve been running long before this, and yes even after breaking my arm standing up for what I believe in,” McGinnis wrote in a post on the social platform X.

“It’s only made me more determined,” he continued. “Anger is real, and so is resolve. Take care.”

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) joined U.S. Capitol Police in pushing McGinnis out of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing room. The retired Marine sergeant resisted by sticking his arm in the exit doors.

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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) tore into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a 10-minute tirade criticizing her from everything to her handling of the deaths of two Minnesotans to killing her own dog in a monologue that garnered applause from the audience of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I’m giving you a performance evaluation here – I’m not looking for a response,” said Tillis, adding that “time after time after time, I’ve been disappointed.”

Tillis, who is retiring at the end of his term next year, accused Noem of holding up federal emergency funding, violating U.S. citizens rights in carrying out immigration enforcement and quashing independent oversight of her department in a move he said would prompt him to renew his hold on DHS nominees.

He faulted her for indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

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President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats struck a deal to avert a prolonged shutdown for most of the federal government, according to the president and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.

The agreement will fund all of the government except for the Department of Homeland Security through next September. DHS will operate on a short-term funding bill for two weeks while lawmakers negotiate changes after public outrage over the Minneapolis shootings, sources said.

The Senate is aiming to vote today. The House, which returns to Washington on Monday, would then need to pass the legislation and send it to Trump’s desk for his signature.

Until the deal is finalized by both chambers, funding will temporarily lapse for multiple agencies starting tomorrow. The impact is expected to be minimal since most federal employees don’t work on the weekend.

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Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor said Friday that a judge lacks the authority to appoint a neutral expert to oversee the public release of documents in the sex trafficking probe of financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer was told in a letter signed by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton that he must reject a request this week by the congressional cosponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act to appoint a neutral expert.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, say they have “urgent and grave concerns” about the slow release of only a small number of millions of documents that began last month.

In a filing to the judge they said they believed “criminal violations have taken place” in the release process.

Clayton, though, said Khanna and Massie do not have standing with the court that would allow them to seek the “extraordinary” relief of the appointment of a special master and independent monitor.

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