The Headlines
Democrats Demand Agents Take Off Their Masks, and Judge Says ICE Violated Nearly 100 Court Orders
29 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, January 29th. Here's what we're covering.
This is not border security. This is not law and order. This is chaos created at the top. and felt in so many of our neighborhoods.
Top Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are demanding new restrictions on federal immigration agents in exchange for averting a government shutdown. Funding for multiple federal agencies is set to lapse tomorrow night unless at least a handful of Democrats join with Republicans to push through a spending package.
Democrats, however, are calling for the Senate to split off funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, so they can vote on that separately and negotiate for restrictions on agents' behavior.
We want masks off, body cameras on, no more anonymous agents, no more secret operatives.
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Chapter 2: What are the Democrats demanding regarding ICE agents?
President Trump has sharply intensified his threats against Iran, saying the U.S. could attack soon with, quote, speed and violence if the country doesn't agree to a set of demands. Trump didn't outline what those demands are, but the U.S. has been pushing for Iran to wind down its nuclear program and stop supporting proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, among other things.
The threat comes as the U.S. Navy has moved ships, including an aircraft carrier, into striking distance of Iran. And Trump explicitly compared the buildup of forces to what he ordered near Venezuela before U.S. troops captured its president. Iran's foreign minister recently warned the U.S. that an all-out confrontation would be messy and ferocious.
Also, in a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday... They will submit every month a budget of this is what we need funded. We will provide for them at the front end what that money cannot be used for. And they've been very cooperative in this regard. In fact...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave new details about how the Trump administration is exerting control over Venezuela. He said the White House will oversee the sale of Venezuelan oil, then decide what revenue from that goes back to the country. He said the money will come by way of an account managed by Qatar.
I understand it's novel, but it's the best we could come up with in the short term. Is there a written...
Rubio said the third-party account was necessary because of U.S. financial sanctions on Venezuela. But Democratic senators questioned the legality of the arrangement and criticized the administration's open-ended involvement in the country.
You are taking their oil at gunpoint. You're deciding how and for what purposes that money is going to be used in a country of 30 million people. I think a lot of us believe that that is destined for failure. And I know that you're...
And last update, in Fulton County, Georgia, yesterday, FBI agents executed a search warrant at an election center in an attempt to seize ballots from the 2020 election. It's the latest sign that the Trump administration is doubling down on the president's baseless claims that the election was rigged.
Fulton County, which voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden, has been at the center of those conspiracy theories. And it's where Trump himself was criminally charged with election interference. The warrant said the FBI was investigating the possible destruction of election-related records, among other things.
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