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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem out, Trump says

(Axios) Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is leaving the department and being replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Trump said Thursday. Noem's exit leaves Trump's mass deportation agenda without its most prominent face amid a public backlash. Noem drew bipartisan fury after accusing Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti and mother Renee Nicole Good of being domestic terrorists after both were shot and killed by federal agents in January.

BumRushDaShow

Americans trying to evacuate Middle East frustrated with government response

(CBS News) As the U.S. Department of State urges Americans to leave 14 countries across the Middle East amid the widening war with Iran, some Americans are voicing frustration with the lack of help from their government. Sasha Hoffman, an American who lives in Chicago and was vacationing in Dubai when the U.S.-Israeli military action began, initially thought she would be able to wait out the fighting. But after hearing President Trump say Operation Epic Fury could last four to five weeks, her thinking changed.

douglas9

Susie Wiles sounds the alarm on gas prices

(Politico) President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is telling his advisers to bring ideas to the Oval Office to lower gasoline prices in the wake of the U.S. attack on Iran, according to two energy industry executives familiar with the conversations. The White House is “looking under every rock for ideas on improving energy prices, especially gasoline prices,” said one of the executives, who was granted anonymity to describe internal administration discussions.

UpInArms

Noem Can't Explain Why She Hired 8-Day-Old Company for Ad Campaign

(New Republic) The Department of Homeland Security tapped a little-known ad firm to produce Kristi Noem’s multimillion-dollar ad campaign during the government shutdown last year. But when asked to explain her rationale before a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, Noem was practically speechless. The money from Noem’s agency was funneling directly into the pockets of her friends and allies at the Strategy Group, a group with myriad ties to the ex–South Dakota governor, including having once employed her alleged beau (Corey Lewandowski) and a CEO who is married to Noem’s ex-chief DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

In It to Win It

'Nazi heaven': Inside Miami campus Republicans' racist group chat

(Miami Herald) The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s Republican Party started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways of violently killing Black people and the chat was renamed after what one member described as “Nazi heaven.” In WhatsApp conversations leaked to the Miami Herald, participants used variations of the n-word more than 400 times, regularly described women as “whores,” used slurs to talk about Jewish and gay people and mused about Hitler’s politics.

KS Toronado

Thursday's Condensed News Cartoons

BumRushDaShow

Former Bucks County man who voted twice for Trump convicted of voter fraud

(Philadelphia Inquirer) A former Bucks County man who claimed he was covered by pardons given by President Donald Trump to supporters who tried to overturn the 2020 election was found guilty Wednesday by a federal jury in Philadelphia of voting twice for Trump in 2020. Matthew Laiss, 32, was charged by indictment in September of one count of voting more than once in a federal election and one count of voter fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10 and faces a maximum of five years in prison on both counts.

BumRushDaShow

Rep. Burgess Owens won't seek reelection

(Axios) Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) will not seek reelection this November, he said in a social media post on Wednesday. Utah's newly drawn 1st Congressional District is widely expected to flip to Democrats, meaning one of Utah's four Republican House members was likely to be unseated. "I will complete this term fully committed to my work in Washington, D.C., and then step away from elected office," the former NFL player said in a statement.

riversedge

Trump explicitly threatens to take away choice from Texas GOP voters

(Raw Story) President Donald Trump has publicly mused about canceling elections, but he's threatening to do just that in the Texas Republican Senate primary. Trump promised an endorsement on the condition that the loser of his unilateral choice drop out and take away the choice from GOP voters in Texas. "My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable!" he said. "It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot, especially in Texas! I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!"

Nittersing

Secret ICE Detention Facilities Exist Around Colorado, Data Shows

(Colorado Times Recorder) Just west of downtown Glenwood Springs, perched between Midland Avenue and Interstate 70, a strip mall houses a gym, a chiropractor’s office, a tax accountant, and on the far end of the building, one less-common tenant: an ICE detention facility, one of at least nine such secretive facilities in the state. Between January and October of last year, 3,182 individuals were held in at least one of the nine facilities. The oldest was 91-years-old; the youngest was a 1-year-old girl. Many detainees were held for weeks at a time in rooms without beds, well in excess of the agency’s own internal rules for the small detention facilities, most of which are tucked into strip malls and industrial parks around the state.

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Jeffries welcomes Noem's ouster but warns it won't affect DHS funding fight

2 min ago - 03/05/26 3:07 PM ET House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Thursday welcomed the ouster of Kristi Noem from atop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but warned that the leadership shakeup won’t soften the Democrats' demands for ... (The Hill)

Millions of Americans under threat of tornadoes as spring storm season kicks in early in the US

27 min ago - By JEFF MARTIN Updated 3:05 PM EST, March 5, 2026 Concern is rising that the first major storm outbreak in the run-up to spring could strike the nation’s heartland, putting millions of Americans from Texas to Iowa at risk of potentially strong ... (Associated Press)

Hegseth and Rubio were 'at each other's throats' in tense argument over Iran plans, report says

28 min ago - Thursday 05 March 2026 10:08 EST Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio got into a heated exchange over Iran, according to a new report. The pair were “at each other's throats” while discussing whether or not the ... (The Independent)

Millions left without power after major blackout hits Cuba's western region

31 min ago - By MILEXSY DURÁN and DÁNICA COTO Updated 7:11 AM CST, March 5, 2026 Leer en español HAVANA (AP) — A blackout left millions of people without power in Havana and the rest of western Cuba on Wednesday in the latest outage on ... (AP)

Arab states running dangerously low on interceptors to take down Iranian-fired missiles, officials say

53 min ago - Updated on: March 5, 2026 / 12:54 PM EST Arab states in the Persian Gulf are running dangerously low on interceptors to take down Iranian-fired missiles, two regional officials told CBS News. Governments in the region have asked the U.S. to expedite ... (CBS News)

House Republican leaders urge Gonzales to end reelection bid after he admitted to affair with aide

57 min ago - WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership are calling for Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas to withdraw from his reelection race after he admitted having an affair with a former staff member who later died by suici ... (AP)

Obama joins push for new congressional maps in Virginia

1 hr ago - 03/05/2026 10:39 AM EST The Democratic effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts just gained a high-profile supporter: former President Barack Obama. Obama is backing a proposed Virginia constitutional amendment that could net Democrat ... (Politico)

Pennsylvania man convicted of fraud for voting twice in 2020 presidential election

1 hr ago - A Lehigh Valley man faces possible prison time after a federal jury convicted him of election fraud offenses on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said 32-year-old Matthew Laiss, who now lives in Bethlehem, voted twice for President Donald Trump in the 2 ... (WPVI-TV)

Oracle Plans Thousands of Job Cuts in Face of AI Cash Crunch

1 hr ago - (Bloomberg) -- Oracle Corp. is planning to ax thousands of jobs, among its moves to handle a cash crunch from a massive AI data center expansion effort. The job reductions will affect divisions across the company and may be implemented as soon as thi ... (Yahoo News)

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem out, Trump says

1 hr ago - Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is leaving the department and being replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Trump said Thursday. Why it matters: Noem's exit leaves Trump's mass deportation agenda without its most prominent ... (Axios)

'Soulless hotel conference space': Approval for Trump's East Wing ballroom delayed amid scathing public feedback

2 hrs ago - Updated Mar 5, 2026, 11:26 AM ET PUBLISHED Mar 5, 2026, 6:00 AM ET Approval for President Donald Trump’s massive East Wing ballroom project – from a government commission that oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation&# ... (CNN Politics)

'Nazi heaven': Inside Miami campus Republicans' racist group chat

2 hrs ago - The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s Republican Party started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways of violently killing Black peopl ... (The Miami Herald)

More than 20 states sue over new global tariffs Trump imposed after his stinging Supreme Court loss

2 hrs ago - By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and PAUL WISEMAN Updated 1:22 PM EST, March 5, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — Some two dozen states challenged President Donald Trump’s new global tariffs on Thursday, filing a lawsuit over import taxes he imposed after a sti ... (Associated Press)

NORAD intercepts 2 Russian reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace near Alaska

2 hrs ago - By Gary Warner Stars and Stripes • March 5, 2026 Two Russian Tu-142 “Bear-F” long-range reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft were detected and tracked Wednesday in the American and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones off Al ... (Stars and Stripes)

Major US trade groups are pressing the Trump administration to distribute tariff refunds 'en masse'

2 hrs ago - Mar 5, 2026, 2:40 AM ET US trade groups are pressing President Donald Trump and his administration to quickly pay tariff refunds to small businesses. In a joint press release, the Consumer Technology Association and the US Chamber of Commerce said th ... (Business Insider)

Trump Floats Firing Kristi Noem in Fuming Call With GOP Allies After Bruising Hearings: Report

3 hrs ago - Mar 5th, 2026, 7:37 am President Donald Trump privately asked Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill whether he should fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after bruising congressional hearings, multiple GOP figures who spoke with the presiden ... (MEDIAite)

Meta sued over AI smart glasses' privacy concerns, after workers reviewed nudity, sex, and other footage

3 hrs ago - Meta is facing a new lawsuit over its AI smart glasses and their lack of privacy, after an investigation by Swedish newspapers found that workers at a Kenya-based subcontractor are reviewing footage from customers’ glasses, which included sensit ... (TechCrunch)

Trump 'not happy with' Kristi Noem and mulling short list of replacements: report

3 hrs ago - President Donald Trump is “not happy” with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and is mulling a short list of replacements, according to a report. The president is said to be “frustrated” over testimony Noem gave this week bef ... (Independent)

Exclusive: Iran is 'confident' it can counter a potential U.S. ground invasion, foreign minister says

3 hrs ago - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that Iran is ready for a U.S. ground invasion of the country as the war between Iran, the U.S. and Israel has quickly spread across the region. He also refused any negotiations with the U.S. an ... (NBC News)

Exclusive: Trump says he must be involved in picking Iran's next leader

3 hrs ago - President Trump told Axios in an interview Thursday that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader — just as he was in Venezuela. "They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in th ... (axios)