The Department of Health and Human Services has chosen a spot in Tornillo, Texas to build the first "tent city," which will hold around 450 beds, in an effort to help house the overflow of immigrant children, NBC News reports.
Big picture: The dramatic increase of migrant children in the hands of HHS is at least partially due to the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy, which has resulted in child immigrants being separated from their parents when caught crossing the border illegally. Tent cities were also constructed in 2014, when the Obama administration faced a surge of immigrants from Central America.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders defended immigration authorities who are separating parents from their children caught entering the country illegally explaining it's "very biblical to enforce the law" and pointed blame on Democrats who refuse to "close the immigration loophole."
Between the lines: Last week, President Trump falsely claimed that the current practice stems from a "law" passed by Democrats. The administration made the decision as part of its "zero-tolerance" policy on illegal immigration.
The Republican compromise immigration bill in the House would allow immigration officials to hold accompanied children in immigrant detention centers just like their parents, provide legal status for DACA recipients and authorize funding for a border wall, according to the bill's summary.
Why it matters: This is a complex bill that touches on border security, DACA, family migration and employment-based green cards. It's uncertain whether the bill has the votes to pass the House, but Rep. Steve Scalise's office announced that Republicans will start whipping votes tomorrow ahead of next week's vote.
The Department of Justice's inspector general released its report on the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe before the 2016 election, criticizing James Comey, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page but finding no evidence that the FBI's investigation was compromised by political bias.
The big picture: The report manages to weave together some of the most polarizing political events of the last few years — and the spin has already begun on both sides of the political spectrum.
The lawsuit brought against the Donald J. Trump Foundation — which President Trump says he won't settle — details instances of engaging illegally in political activity and self-dealing transactions.
The big picture: New York Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood, who inherited the investigation from former AG Eric Schneiderman, says Trump used "charitable assets to pay off the legal obligations of entities he controlled, to promote Trump hotels, to purchase personal items, and to support his presidential election campaign."
The Democratic National Committee is pushing to scale back superdelegates' power in the 2020 presidential election, per Politico.
Why it matters: Some Democratic lawmakers worry they'll effectively be shut out of helping select the party's 2020 presidential nominee. Others have privately complained that this is the DNC's way of appeasing Bernie Sanders' supporters after the 2016 election.
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit against President Trump, his foundation, and other Trump family members Thursday morning, and shortly after Trump took to Twitter vowing to fight it:
"The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won’t settle this case! ... Schneiderman, who ran the Clinton campaign in New York, never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years. Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle."
On Wednesday, just 1 year after President Moon Jae-in took office, South Koreans reaffirmed their confidence in his administration by electing 14 out of 17 major municipality chiefs from the ruling party. This outcome marks a complete reversal of the 2006 municipal elections, when then-opposing conservatives won 12 out of 16 positions.
Why it matters:Progressives now fully control South Korean politics — national and municipal governments as well as the National Assembly. With this landslide victory, Moon's government gains new momentum to pursue his progressive agenda, including engagement with North Korea.
Scott Pruitt is running out of friends: leaders of the conservative movementwho have fiercely defended Pruitt throughout his time running the Environmental Protection Agency, are finally running out of patience.
Why it matters: Conservative leaders didn’t argue with Trump when he was contemplating his last two cabinet firings: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. And until now, the conservative movement has largely rallied around Pruitt and some have credited this support for helping save his job. But if the movement abandons the EPA administrator, Trump may reconsider his support for Pruitt.
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation, President Trump, and other Trump family members Thursday, alleging that the foundation's directors and officers violated laws governing charities.
The details: The suit seeks to dissolve the foundation for "its persistent illegal conduct" and restitution of $2.8 million, plus penalties. The alleged illegal conduct includes improper and extensive political activity, self-dealing transactions and failure to "follow basic fiduciary obligations."
In an interview with Fox News immediately after their summit in Singapore, President Trump seemed to dismiss North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's brutality, and instead lavished him in praise, calling him "a very smart guy" and "a great negotiator."
Why it matters: Trump's stunningly abrupt 180 is all part of his schtick. "There's no nuance with Trump," Axios' Mike Allen and Jonathan Swan write. "He oscillates between extremes, embracing and banishing people, even without real changes in their behavior."
Vice President Mike Pence's speech to the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas this week has drawn criticisms from some in the audience who say the remarks — which praised President Trump — emphasized politics instead of faith.
Tom Steyer is launching a "Blue Wave" program to expand NextGen America's volunteer network from 11 states to all 50 states by creating an online community to help engage voters before November.
It took Little Rocket Man just seven months to go from President Trump calling him "a sick puppy," to "very talented" during the post-summit press conference, to syrupy praise of Kim Jong-un during the president's interview in Singapore with Fox News' Bret Baier.
The shift is jarring but is part of the Trump modus operandi: People come in and out of favor with wind-shear-like abruptness. Anyone in Trump's orbit knows they can be banished on a whim — but have a good chance of coming back.
