This dish delivers crispy, flavorful shrimp in just minutes. The secret is a quick toast and grind of peppercorns mixed with salt, a light coat of cornstarch, and a hot pan. Great for a weeknight or an impressive appetizer.
Ingredients
1 pound medium shell-on shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon white peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup avocado or vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced serrano or jalapeño chili (optional)
Fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)
Instructions
1. Toast the spices In a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast the white and Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant and popping slightly. Remove from heat, crush them with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, and mix in the kosher salt.
2. Prep the shrimp Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Toss them in the cornstarch to coat lightly and evenly.
3. Fry the shrimp Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until nearly smoking. Add the shrimp in a single layer and fry for about two minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp. Remove and set on paper towels to drain.
4. Add garlic and chili Reduce heat to medium. Add minced garlic and chili to the remaining oil in the pan and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Finish the shrimp Return the shrimp to the pan. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper mix and toss everything together for another 30 seconds until well coated.
6. Serve Transfer the shrimp to a serving plate. Garnish with fresh cilantro if you like. Serve hot for maximum crunch.
By MARK THIESSEN and BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Communities along a 700-mile (1,127-km) stretch of Alaska’s southern coast ordered residents to higher ground after a powerful offshore earthquake Wednesday, but officials quickly downgraded and then canceled a tsunami warning for the region. There were no reports of significant damage.
The earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, struck at 12:37 p.m. local time south of Sand Point, a community of about 600 people on Popof Island, in the Aleutian chain, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.
There were 40 aftershocks detected within the first three hours, the center said.
“We have seen other earthquakes in the area that have not generated significant tsunami waves, but we’re treating it seriously and going through our procedures, making sure communities are notified so they can activate their evacuation procedures,” said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for Alaska’s emergency management division.
The quake was felt as far away as Anchorage, almost 600 miles (966 km) to the northeast.
The National Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for an area stretching from about 40 miles (64.4 km) southwest of Homer to Unimak Pass, a distance of about 700 miles (1,126 kilometers). Among the larger communities in the area was Kodiak, with a population of about 5,200. The warning was downgraded to an advisory about an hour later, and canceled just before 2:45 p.m.
The highest water level generated by the earthquake in Sand Point was not quite 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) above the tide, the center said.
“There’s no damage at the airport, doesn’t appear to be any damage at the harbor, no damage to speak of, really,” Sand Point Police Chief Benjamin Allen said.
There was some damage — in the form of broken bottles — at the Alaska Commercial general store in town. Manager Vickey McDonald said about half of the store’s alcohol aisle had crashed and shattered.
“I’ve got liquid smoke and barbecue sauce and pickles … broken on the floor,” McDonald said. “It smells horrendous in here.”
In Unalaska, a fishing community of about 4,100, officials urged people in possible inundation zones to move at least 50 feet above sea level or 1 mile (1.6 km) inland. In King Cove, which has about 870 residents on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula, officials sent an alert calling on those in the coastal area to move to higher ground.
Tourists Jodie Stevens and her husband, Aaron Park, were looking at the puffins at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward when they heard someone yelling that there had been an earthquake and they needed to evacuate. They walked a few blocks uphill in the rain, with a woman from the center yelling to those they passed to get to higher ground.
They were about halfway to the official high ground spot when they heard a siren signal that all was clear, she said.
The National Weather Service said in posts on social media that there was no tsunami threat for other U.S. and Canadian Pacific coasts in North America, including Washington, Oregon and California.
Alaska’s southern coast is earthquake-prone, and Wednesday’s was the fifth in roughly the same area since 2020 exceeding magnitude 7, state seismologist Michael West said.
“Something’s moving in this area,” he said. “I would not call this an isolated earthquake. It appears to be part of a larger sequence spanning the last several years.”
That has the attention of seismologists, he said.
“This area has been and remains capable of larger earthquakes and earthquakes capable of significant tsunami damage,” he said.
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Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press writers Hallie Golden in Seattle and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed.
Twenty Democratic-led states filed suit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters.
The lawsuit contends President Donald Trump’s administration acted illegally when it announced in April that it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. FEMA canceled some projects already in the works and refused to approve new ones despite funding from Congress.
“In the wake of devastating flooding in Texas and other states, it’s clear just how critical federal resources are in helping states prepare for and respond to natural disasters,” said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts, where the federal lawsuit was filed. “By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the BRIC program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives.”
FEMA did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. It said in April that the program was “wasteful and ineffective” and “more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.”
The program, established by a 2000 law, provides grants for a variety of disaster mitigation efforts, including levees to protect against floods, safe rooms to provide shelter from tornadoes, vegetation management to reduce damage from fires and seismic retrofitting to fortify buildings for earthquakes.
During his first term, Trump signed a law shoring up funding for disaster risk reduction efforts. The program then got a $1 billion boost from an infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden. That law requires FEMA to make available at least $200 million annually for disaster mitigation grants for the 2022-2026 fiscal years, the lawsuit says.
The suit contends the Trump administration violated the constitutional separation of powers because Congress had not authorized the program’s demise. It also alleges the program’s termination was illegal because the decision was made while FEMA was under the leadership of an acting administrator who had not met the requirements to be in charge of the agency.
The lawsuit says communities in every state have benefited from federal disaster mitigation grants, which saved lives and spared homes, businesses, hospitals and schools from costly damage.
Some communities have already been affected by the decision to end the program.
Hillsborough, North Carolina, had been awarded nearly $7 million to relocate a wastewater pumping station out of a flood plain and make other water and sewer system improvements. But that hadn’t happened yet when the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal damaged the pumping station and forced it offline last week.
In rural Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, town officials had hoped to use more than $4 million from the BRIC program to improve stormwater drainage and safeguard a vulnerable electric system, thus protecting investments in a historic theater and other businesses. While the community largely supports Trump, assistant town manager Erin Burris said people were blindsided by the lost funding they had spent years pursuing.
“I’ve had downtown property owners saying, ‘What do we do?’” Burris said. “I’ve got engineering plans ready to go and I don’t have the money to do it.”
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Associated Press reporters Jack Brook, Michael Casey and Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report.
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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was “highly unlikely” to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a public statement made less than 24 hours after suggesting in a private meeting that he was leaning in favor of dismissing the head of the nation’s central bank.
Trump confirmed that in a White House meeting Tuesday night with about a dozen House Republicans he had discussed the “concept” of dismissing Powell, long a target because of his refusal to lower interest rates as Trump wants.
“Almost every one of them said I should,” Trump said about the lawmakers who had come to talk to him about crypto legislation.
He indicated he was leaning in that direction, according to a White House official. During that session, Trump waved a letter about firing Powell, but a person familiar with the matter said it was essentially a prop drafted by someone else and that the Republican president has not drafted such a letter.
Neither source was authorized to publicly discuss the private meeting and they spoke only on condition on anonymity.
Trump made his comment about being “highly unlikely” to dismiss Powell — ”unless he has to leave for fraud” — during an Oval Office meeting with Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain.
In recent days, White House and administration officials have accused Powell of mismanaging a $2.5 billion renovation project at the Fed, adding to months of efforts by Trump try to rid himself of the politically independent central banker.
U.S. stocks were shaky as Trump spoke about Powell on Wednesday. The S&P 500’s modest gain in the morning became a drop of 0.7% after initial reports that the president may fire the Fed chair. Stocks then trimmed their losses after Trump’s later comment.
Treasury yields also swiveled in the bond market but remained mostly calm.
Those at the White House meeting were among the more far-right lawmakers, including members of the House Freedom Cause whose views are not always shared by other Republicans. In the Senate, Republicans have taken a more guarded approach. Some have backed Powell’s performance at the Fed as they await an inspector general’s review of the construction project.
In a speech Wednesday, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said if Powell is dismissed, “you are going to see a pretty immediate response”
“If anybody thinks it would be a good idea for the Fed to become another agency in the government subject to the president, they’re making a huge mistake,” said Tillis, who has announced that he is not running for reelection.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said this week that Powell “has done a decent job.”
“I don’t think he’s been perfect,” he said, adding that there have been times they disagreed, but “I do believe that the chairman is calling them like he sees them.”
Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee had been scheduled to meet with Powell on Wednesday evening in a gathering set months ago, but it was abruptly canceled due to votes in the House, according to a committee aide granted anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York, AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
Melissa and I just returned from a trip to Norway where we traveled as far north as Myrdal, which is 3,000 feet above sea level and about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It was like a North Carolina winter with leaves on all the trees and some snow on the higher peaks. You wouldn’t think that central and eastern North Carolina would share some of the same plants, but we certainly do. Consider Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). While Black-eyed Susan is native to the Tarheel State, it is definitely not native to Norway. Introduced long ago to many European countries including Norway, we saw Black-eyed Susan growing in most of the areas we visited. We have been growing this adaptable flower for decades in our landscape. Many Norwegians obviously have too.
I have read that Blackeyed Susan got its name from a popular ballad written in the 1700’s that originated in England called “Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-eyed Susan” and composed by a man named John Gay. The information comes, of all places, from a website called “poison.org”! The song tells the story of a woman named Susan who had dark eyes and boarded a ship to say goodbye to her sailor lover Sweet William. The dark center of the blossom is often thought to resemble an eye. Ironically, the Blackeyed Susan was named for a Swedish family- Rudbeck.
Black-eyed Susan is an annual or biennial or perennial in North Carolina that normally blooms from June through September in our landscape. It sometimes depends on how many hungry rabbits attack our crop. Part of the aster family, it is of course kin to the sunflower. Prefers sun but can deal with part shade conditions and seems to like moist, yet well-drained soil. Fortunately for us, it will grow in clay or sand. You know how it goes around here with our soil and drought conditions. Black-eyed Susan will tolerate drought conditions. Now, they do look better with some regular watering; but, most plants and people do too. Another positive when considering the Black-eyed Susan is that it doesn’t really have any insect pests or disease problems according to the folks at the extension service. You’ll be happy to know Rudbeckia self-seeds and will spread by underground rhizomes that are left indentured by the bunnies. You can plant Rudbeckia in spring and fall.
There are a few varieties of Black-Eyed Susan from which to choose: Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susan), R. fulgida (Orange Coneflower), R tripods (Brown-eyed Susan) and R. maxima (giant Coneflower). I saw some of those at the ever eclectic Cary Downtown Park. NC State University recognizes many cultivars including: “Tiger Eye Gold”, “Sonora”, “Indian Summer”, “Autumn Colors” and “Cherry Brandy” among others. Most cultivars usually range in size from 3 to 4 feet tall. There are some dwarf varieties that only reach about a foot which is good for gardeners with limited space.
If you want a flower for your pollinator garden, then Rudbeckia will do the trick. You will find that bees and butterflies will come to your garden in droves. In the fall you are likely to find a finch or two hanging on to a spent bloom looking for seeds.
As I have said many times, I don’t use a lot of store-bought fertilizer unless it is a sponsor’s product of course. Luckily, Black-eyed Susan doesn’t need a lot of fertilizer during the season.
Many plants respond to deadheading and Rudbeckia is no different. Keep an eye on your plants and you will find they respond to this process that will encourage more blooms.
An interesting fact is that Native Americans found medicinal uses for the black-eyed susan. By the way, it is also the official flower of Appalachian State University.
I think it is probably unanimous, “Weekend Gardener” listeners give a big ole wink to Black-eyed Susan and I do too!
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — It’s the summer to sue in NASCAR, the sport where the on-track bumping and banging is in danger of being overshadowed by the action in the courtroom.
Two teams — one owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan — are suing NASCAR over antitrust allegations. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are awaiting a federal court ruling before Sunday’s race in Delaware that could impact their ability to compete.
Meanwhile, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is battling tiny Rick Ware Racing and his lawyers at Legacy Motor Club went hard at Ware’s attorneys in a Monday hearing.
The legal wrangling is only making the the charters skyrocket in value. When Spire Motorsports debuted in 2019, it had bought a charter for $6 million. Now, one of Spire’s founders brokered the now-disputed deal for Ware to sell one of his two charters to Legacy for $45 million.
Johnson is not enjoying the legal brawling, including the higher-profile antitrust fight. He called on those parties to settle.
“I’m just sitting back watching it all play out, learning a lot about the legal process and the amount of injunctions and appeals that can take place,” Johnson said. “It’s a big game of chess and I’m watching all the strategy that goes into it all.
“I would love to see a settlement of some kind. I really don’t think that getting into a knock-down, drag-out lawsuit is good for anybody.”
The NASCAR lawsuit
23XI and FRM filed a federal antitrust suit against NASCAR last year after they were the only two organizations out of 15 to reject NASCAR’s extension offer on charters.
The case has a Dec. 1 trial date, but in the meantime, the two teams are fighting to be recognized as chartered for the current season, which has 16 races left. A charter guarantees one of the 40 spots in the field each week, but also a base amount of money paid out each week.
Jordan and FRM owner Bob Jenkins won an injunction to recognize 23XI and FRM as chartered for the season, but the ruling was overturned on appeal earlier this month. Both teams were set to be stripped of a combined six charters on Wednesday, which would force them to compete as “open cars.”
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin co-owns 23XI with Jordan and said they are prepared to send Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst to the track each week as open teams. But they still filed for a restraining order Monday and claimed that through discovery they learned NASCAR upon revocation planned to immediately begin the process of selling the six charters which would put “plaintiffs in irreparable jeopardy of never getting their charters back and going out of business.”
NASCAR said it has asked multiple times for settlement proposals but heard nothing. NASCAR also has no intention of re-negotiating the charter agreements held by 30 other teams.
Jordan has the money to keep 23XI running without charters, but FRM doesn’t have the same level of funding. Additionally, if the teams aren’t chartered, they will have to qualify on speed each week to make the field.
It won’t be an issue this weekend at Dover as fewer than the maximum 40 cars are entered. But should 41 cars show up anywhere this season, someone slow will be sent home.
“We’re not worried because our cars have the speed. We’ve always said we’re racing no matter what. If we have to race open, we have to race open,” Hamlin said at Sonoma Raceway last weekend. “We worked to get an injunction and obviously feel like Dec. 1 is all that matters.”
Legacy vs. RWR
This case is actually a dispute over agreed-upon terms for Ware to sell one of his two charters to Johnson and his partners at Knighthead Capital Management.
Ware this season is leasing a charter to RFK Racing and was already under agreement with that team to get the charter back in 2026, then lease RFK its second charter next season. He never had a charter to sell for 2026 unless he ceased operations.
Yet when he signed the contract with Legacy, Ware has said, he didn’t read it through and catch that the sale terms were for next season and not 2027, when he’d have both charters in his possession.
RWR is alleging Legacy pulled a bait-and-switch, and if true, it is on Ware for not seeing it in the contract he signed.
The curveball came when T.J. Puchyr, the Spire co-founder who now acts as a consultant and brokered the deal between Legacy and Ware, said last month he plans to buy Ware’s team. Legacy argued in court Monday it was blindsided by the news, that if Ware is selling then the charter rightfully belongs to them, and they urgently needed depositions before Ware sold his race team out from under them.
It didn’t help when Ware’s lawyers couldn’t answer questions about a potential sale: “I think you need to talk to your client,” the judge told them before warning Ware may be in contempt of court and ordering depositions for later this week.
Ware, meanwhile, apparently accepted the Legacy offer for his charter despite a second bid of more than $50 million from another party. With NASCAR indicating through discovery in the 23XI/FRM suit that it has interested buyers for the six charters, it is a seller’s market.
Johnson, with financial backing from Knighthead, is certain he will be getting the Ware charter one way or another to expand Legacy to three full-time Cup Series drivers.
“I’m not sure there is a plan B,” Johnson said of his confidence level at winning the case.
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is lashing out at his own supporters, accusing them of being duped by Democrats, as he tries to clamp down on criticism over his administration’s handling of much-hyped records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, which Trump now calls a “Hoax.”
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bull——,” hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote Wednesday on his Truth Social site, using an expletive in his post. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”
President Donald Trump praised his Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files Tuesday, telling reporters she “has handled it very well” and saying it’s up to her whether to release any more records related to the sex trafficking investigation. (AP Video)
“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he went on.
The rhetoric marks a dramatic escalation for the Republican president, who has broken with some of his most loyal backers in the past, but never with such fervor.
The schism centers on his administration’s handling of documents surrounding Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI acknowledged that Epstein did not maintain a “client list” to whom underage girls were trafficked, and they said no more files related to the investigation would be made public, despite past promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi that had raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
Bondi had suggested in February such a document was sitting on her desk waiting for review. Last week, however, she said she had been referring generally to the Epstein case file, not a client list.
“It’s a new administration and everything is going to come out to the public,” she had said at one point.
Trump has since defended Bondi and chided a reporter for asking about the documents.
“I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is,” he said Tuesday.
In an Oval Office appearance Wednesday, Trump made clear that he was done with the story, regardless of what his supporters think.
“It’s all been a big hoax,” he told reporters. “It’s perpetrated by the Democrats, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.”
He complained that Bondi has been “waylaid” over her handling of the case and has given out all “credible information” about the wealthy financier. “If she finds anymore credible information she’ll give that, too,” Trump said. ”What more can she do than that?”
Bondi has “bigger problems” to work on, the president said, citing the administration’s work to remove criminals who are living in the United States illegally.
Trump’s comments so far have not been enough to quell those who are still demanding answers.
Some of the podcasters and pro-Trump influencers who helped rally support for Trump in the 2024 campaign said Wednesday they were disappointed or puzzled by his comments on the issue.
Benny Johnson, a conservative podcaster who has called for the Epstein records to be released, said on his show that he is a fan of Trump’s movement but is trying to “give tough love and speak on behalf of the base.”
“Maybe it hasn’t been framed correctly for the president,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in an interview on Benny Johnson’s show Tuesday, had called for the Justice Department to “put everything out there and let the people decide.”
Far-right conspiracy theorist and podcaster Alex Jones called Trump’s handling of the Epstein situation “the biggest train wreck I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s not in character for you to be acting like this,” he said in a video reacting to Trump on Tuesday evening calling the case boring. “I support you, but we built the movement you rode in on. You’re not the movement. You just surfed in on it.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on his podcast on Wednesday attempted some damage control on Trump’s behalf.
“Don’t take too seriously this whole Truth Social here,” Kirk told his audience. “I know some people are getting fired up about this. I don’t believe he was trying to insult anybody personally.”
Kirk said he thinks Trump’s supporters are “talking past each other a little bit” on the Epstein matter but are actually aligned in wanting to expose the “deep state.”
He also offered a message to Trump.
“The grassroots is not trying to make you look bad,” he said. “We want to try and make sure the bad people that have done such terrible things to you can finally be held accountable.”
Other Trump allies have stuck by his side, suggesting he does not need the influencers who have capitalized on Epstein conspiracy theories to make money and earn viewers.
“He lent you his clout and voters,” Brenden Dilley, the head of a group of meme makers who have lent their support to Trump, wrote on X on Wednesday. “They don’t belong to you.”
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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced President Donald Trump’s request to cancel some $9 billion in previously approved spending, overcoming concerns from some lawmakers about what the rescissions could mean for impoverished people around the globe and for public radio and television stations in their home states.
The Senate vote was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.
A final vote in the Senate could occur as early as Wednesday. The bill would then return to the House for another vote before it would go to Trump’s desk for his signature before a Friday deadline.
Republicans winnowed down the president’s request by taking out his proposed $400 million cut to a program known as PEPFAR. That change increased the prospects for the bill’s passage. The politically popular program is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under then-President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS.
The president is also looking to claw back money for foreign aid programs targeted by his Department of Government Efficiency and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“When you’ve got a $36 trillion debt, we have to do something to get spending under control,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
The White House tries to win over skeptics
Republicans met with Russ Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, during their weekly conference luncheon as the White House worked to address their concerns. He fielded about 20 questions from senators.
The White House campaign to win over potential holdouts had some success. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., tweeted that he would vote to support the measure after working with the administration to “find Green New Deal money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.”
Some senators worried that the cuts to public media could decimate many of the 1,500 local radio and television stations around the country that rely on some federal funding to operate. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes more than 70% of its funding to those stations.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she was particularly concerned about a lack of specifics from the White House.
“The rescissions package has a big problem — nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” Collins said. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that OMB has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she didn’t want the Senate to be going through numerous rounds of rescissions.
“We are lawmakers. We should be legislating,” Murkowski said. “What we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told: ‘This is the priority and we want you to execute on it. We’ll be back with you with another round.’ I don’t accept that.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Collins and Murkowski joined with Democrats in voting against the Senate taking up the measure.
McConnell said he wanted to make clear he didn’t have any problem with reducing spending, but agreed with Collins that lawmakers didn’t have enough details from the White House.
“They would like a blank check is what they would like. And I don’t think that’s appropriate,” McConnell said.
But the large majority of Republicans were supportive of Trump’s request.
“This bill is a first step in a long but necessary fight to put our nation’s fiscal house in order,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
Democrats warn of the consequences
Democrats warned that it’s absurd to expect them to work with Republicans on bipartisan spending measures if Republicans turn around a few months later and use their majority to cut the parts they don’t like.
“It shreds the appropriations process,” said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats. “The Appropriations Committee, and indeed this body, becomes a rubber stamp for whatever the administration wants.”
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that tens of millions of Americans rely on local public radio and television stations for local news, weather alerts and educational programs. He warned that many could lose access to that information because of the rescissions.
“And these cuts couldn’t come at a worse time,” Schumer said. “The floods in Texas remind us that speedy alerts and up-to-the-minute forecasts can mean the difference between life and death.”
Democrats also scoffed at the GOP’s stated motivation for taking up the bill. The amount of savings pales compared to the $3.4 trillion in projected deficits over the next decade that Republicans put in motion in passing Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill two weeks ago.
“Now, Republicans are pretending they are concerned about the debt,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “So concerned that they need to shut down local radio stations, so concerned they are going to cut off ‘Sesame Street.’ … The idea that that is about balancing the debt is laughable.”
What’s ahead in the Senate
With Republicans providing enough votes to take up the bill, it sets up the potential for 10 hours of debate plus votes on scores of potentially thorny amendments in what is known as a vote-a-rama. The House has already shown its support for the president’s request with a mostly party line 214-212 vote, but since the Senate is amending the bill, it will have to go back to the House for another vote.
Republicans who vote against the measure also face the prospect of incurring Trump’s wrath. He has issued a warning on his social media site directly aimed at individual Senate Republicans who may be considering voting against the rescissions package. He said it was important that all Republicans adhere to the bill and in particular defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” he said.
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Congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro and staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Tuesday that she has no plans to step down as she dodged questions about Jeffrey Epstein and her clash with a top FBI official, seeking to press ahead with a business-as-usual approach in the face of right-wing turmoil.
Pressed by reporters during an announcement touting drug seizures, Bondi sidestepped questions about the fallout of the Trump administration’s decision not to release more records related to the wealthy financier’s sex trafficking investigation. With some high profile-members of President Donald Trump’s base calling for her resignation, Bondi made clear she intends to remain attorney general.
Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Tuesday that she has no plans to step down as she dodged questions about Jeffrey Epstein and her clash with a top FBI official, seeking to press ahead with a business-as-usual approach. (AP Video)
“I’m going to be here for as long as the president wants me here,” Bondi said. “And I believe he’s made that crystal clear.”
The announcement at the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters represents an effort by Bondi to turn the page on the Epstein controversy and show that the Justice Department is forging ahead after days of mounting conservative criticism over the administration’s failure to deliver long-sought government secrets about Epstein. Bondi highlighted recent operations that led to the seizure of methamphetamine and fentanyl, including drugs that were hidden in a shipment of cucumbers across the Mexican border.
But her refusal to address the turmoil may only further frustrate conservative influencers who have been calling for transparency and accountability over the wealthy financier’s case.
“This today is about fentanyl overdoses throughout our country and people who have lost loved ones to fentanyl,” Bondi said in response to a question from a reporter about the Epstein files. “That’s the message that we’re here to send today. I’m not going to talk about Epstein.”
Trump has been seeking to tamp down criticism of his attorney general and defended her again earlier Tuesday, saying she handled the matter “very well.” Trump said it’s up to her whether to release any more records, adding that “whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
Asked about Trump’s comment, Bondi said the Justice Department memo released last week announcing that no additional evidence would become public “speaks for itself and we’ll get back to you on anything else.”
The turmoil over the department’s handling of the Epstein matter spilled into public view last week with reports of a internal clash between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Part of the dispute centered on a story from the news organization NewsNation that cited a “source close to the White House” as saying the FBI would have released the Epstein files months ago if it could have done so on its own. The story included statements from Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel refuting the premise, but not Bongino.
Asked Tuesday whether she believes Bongino should remain in his role, Bondi said only that she would not discuss personnel matters. Bondi stressed that she had spent the morning with Patel, adding that: “I think we all are committed to working together now to make America safe again and that’s what we’re doing.”
Bondi had already been under scrutiny after an earlier document release in February that she hyped and handed out in binders to conservative influencers at the White House lacked any new revelations. When that first release flopped, Bondi accused officials of withholding files from her and claimed that the FBI later turned over a “truckload” of evidence with thousands of pages of additional documents.
Despite promises that more files were on their way to the public, however, the Justice Department determined after a months long review that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” according to the memo released last week.
