The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security on Friday announced plans to resume hearings for migrants who are seeking asylum in the U.S., as part of the Migrant Protection Protocols program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why it matters: The MPP program requires migrants to wait in Mexico until their hearings can be completed. But the coronavirus outbreak has put immigration proceedings on hold since March, forcing hundreds of migrants to camp out at the border in the interim.
Kellyanne Conway on Friday said she expects to be stationed at the White House throughout President Trump's reelection bid, but will likely step in for debate prep, saying, "I want to be where my best and highest use is for the president," Politico reports.
Why it matters: Trump has recently shaken up his 2020 campaign staff, including booting former campaign manager Brad Parscale. The personnel changes come as Trump has fallen behind in polls against former Vice President Joe Biden less than four months ahead of the election.
Joe Biden's campaign bought ads in swing states tomorrow during Chris Wallace's feisty "Fox News Sunday" interview with President Trump.
What he's saying: The minute-long ad, "Tough," will air in the major markets in the six core swing states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and North Carolina.
President Trump on Saturday ordered the American flag be flown at half-staff at the White House and all public grounds through July 18 in honor of civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), 80, who passed away Friday night.
Why it matters: The move comes after hours of silence from Trump on Lewis' death, despite the president rattling off dozens of tweets since related to former Vice President Joe Biden and the 2020 campaign. Trump and Lewis had previously butted heads, including when Lewis refused to attend the president's inauguration in 2017.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a federal judge’s decision that allowed the Texas Republican Party to hold its in-person convention in Houston on Saturday, Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) tweeted.
Why it matters: The stay effectively bars the Texas GOP from holding its convention just one day after a U.S. district judge granted the party's emergency request to reinstate the event amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle joined civil rights leaders and other leading figures in paying tribute to Rep. John Lewis, who died on Friday at age 80.
What they're saying: Former Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden wrote in a statement Saturday: "We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis. How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance?"
Axios managing editor David Nather remembers interviewing Rep. John Lewis for a CQ profile in 2002:
I was struck by something you don't always hear in the tributes. He said he was shy as a boy, but put his inhibitions aside to join the civil rights movement — figuring that if others were putting themselves on the line, he should too.
He said he was still shy, but that his political life drew him out. "I think the movement liberated me," he said at the time, "and I think being in Congress liberated me more."
Former Vice President Joe Biden told a group of approximately 200 fundraiser attendees Friday night that he has received intelligence briefings warning of Russia, China and other foreign adversaries seeking to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections.
What he's saying: "We know from before and I guarantee you I know now because now I get briefings again," Biden told the group. "The Russians are still engaged in trying to delegitimize our electoral process. Fact."
Former President Barack Obama paid tribute to Rep. John Lewis, who died on Friday at age 80, for making his life's work to "challenge an unjust status quo, and to imagine a better world."
Details: In a blog posted to Medium on Saturday morning, Obama noted that the civil rights great, who helped organize the historic 1963 March on Washington and led the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, "loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise."
Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) died on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in a statement declaring: "America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history."
U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy Williams called for an inspector general investigation on Friday into actions of Department of Homeland Security officers in unmarked vehicles who detained Portland protesters without explanation, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reports.
Why it matters: Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently sent to Portland by the Trump administration have escalated tensions between protesters and law enforcement over the past two weeks.
