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Tag: Breaking News: Politics

  • ‘No quid pro quo’ between Trump and oil execs at Mar-a-Lago, Gov. Burgum says

    ‘No quid pro quo’ between Trump and oil execs at Mar-a-Lago, Gov. Burgum says

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    Kathryn Burgum aplauds as her husband Republican Governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum shakes hands with former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump during a Caucus Night watch party in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 8, 2024. 

    Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

    North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum – a potential pick to be former President Donald Trump‘s running mate – is denying claims that the former president had told oil executives he’d reduce regulations if elected in exchange for helping him raise money to return to the White House. 

    According to the Washington Post, Trump told a few of the country’s top oil executives in a meeting with them earlier this year at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, that he’d reverse dozens of environmental rules and policies that the Biden administration has put in place and prevent new ones from being implemented. That is, if they raised $1 billion to re-elect him.

    That donation would make it a “deal” given that they’d avoid taxation and regulation because of him, he said. Trump also reportedly told the executives that he would auction off more oil drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

    “I was at that meeting – that did not happen,” Burgum said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “He didn’t ask for a billion dollars in donations, and there was no quid pro quo.”

    Burgum also denied that Trump was targeting the oil industry to finance his reelection, saying that “he’s not targeting anybody” and is “doing what candidates do” by going and listening to an industry that is “fundamental to the entire economy.”

    In January, Burgum endorsed Trump for president. He ended his bid to become the Republican nominee a month earlier in December 2023 after launching his campaign in June of that year and has since become an advisor to Trump on energy policy.

    Burgum’s family leases 200 acres of farmland in Williams County, North Dakota, to Continental Resources – the largest oil and gas leaseholder in that state – for oil and gas pumping.

    While his financial disclosure reveals that he’s made up to $50,000 in royalties since late 2022 from the deal with Continental, experts told CNBC that he and his family business have likely made thousands more since they signed a contract with the company in 2009.

    When asked whether his aligning with the energy industry is alienating young voters who say that climate and environmental policy is important to them, Burgum is “not concerned about it at all,” he said.

    Burgum, who’s also a software entrepreneur, announced earlier this year that he won’t be seeking a third term as governor. His second term is set to end on December 14.

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  • Modi’s BJP-led alliance projected to win decisive majority in India’s election, exit polls show

    Modi’s BJP-led alliance projected to win decisive majority in India’s election, exit polls show

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    Supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) holding cut-outs of India’s Prime Minister a Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally in Amritsar on May 30, 2024. 

    Narinder Nanu | Afp | Getty Images

    India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks set for a rare third consecutive term in power, as local exit polls on Saturday suggested his Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance will clinch a decisive parliamentary majority.

    According to an exit poll summary by local news channel NDTV, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is expected to secure around 365 out of the 543 seats in the lower house of parliament. The party or coalition that wins at least 272 votes will form the government. Final results, expected on Tuesday, can diverge from exit poll projections.

    If the exit polls, which have a patchy record, are confirmed, Modi will serve for another five years as the country’s prime minister — a position he has held since 2014.

    India’s vote, the world’s largest democratic election polling just under a billion eligible voters, panned out in seven phases over the last six weeks and started April 19. There are a total of 543 contested seats in the lower house, and the party or coalition that wins at least 272 votes will form the government.

    Under Modi’s decade-long reign, India has witnessed robust economic growth and a leap in its global reputation. Home to 1.4 billion people, India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, which expanded 7.2% in the fiscal year 2022-2023 — achieving the second-highest growth rate among the G20 countries. The International Monetary Fund projects that India’s economy will grow 6.8% in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025, compared to China’s predicted growth of 5% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025.

    Some economists are even more optimistic. “The larger you grow, the more difficult it becomes to sustain a very high level of growth, but I think 7%-7.5% growth is possible to achieve,” Sujan Hajra, chief economist at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers, told CNBC adding that improving infrastructure will be a big priority to boost growth.

    “Soft infrastructure such as improving the country’s health care network will get significantly more emphasis this time around as compared to the hard infrastructure because a lot of work has already been done on that,” Harja said.

    In the BJP’s manifesto for the upcoming term, Modi pledged that his government will propel India to become one of the world’s top three economies, aggressively fight poverty, open up new avenues for growth and tackle corruption. 

    Despite the optimism global leaders have about India’s growth trajectory under Modi’s rule, observers and critics have warned that the prime minister’s third term in office could bring about more signs of a democratic backslide. He has also been accused of hate speech for calling Muslims “infiltrators” at a rally days after voting began. The religious divide in India continued to be a hot button topic during the election, as well as unemployment. 

    According to a survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, unemployment was the top concern for 27% of the 10,000 surveyed. More than half (62%) of those surveyed also said it had become more difficult to find a job in the last five years during Modi’s second term.

    Foreign investors in a 'wait and watch mode' ahead of India's election results: UBS

    Modi reportedly said in March that he was confident the BJP and the wider National Democratic Alliance would secure a total of 400 seats, but analysts say that’s less likely to matter as long as he is close to the 303 seats he clinched in 2019.

    “It will still be a very positive outlook for the Indian equity market as we’ve seen the type of progress and efficiency that he’s been able to bring from a governance perspective since 2019 with 303 seats,” said Malcolm Dorson, a senior portfolio manager and head of emerging markets strategy at Global X ETFs.

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  • D.C. ethics board recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

    D.C. ethics board recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

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    Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani departs the U.S. District Courthouse after he was ordered to pay $148 million in his defamation case in Washington, U.S., December 15, 2023.

    Bonnie Cash | Reuters

    The D.C. Bar’s Board on Professional Responsibility on Friday recommended that Rudy Giuliani be barred from practicing law in the nation’s capital.

    In its report, the board cited Giuliani’s work in Pennsylvania following the 2020 presidential election in which he sought to have the state’s election results thrown out in favor of his former client Donald Trump.

    “The Board agrees with the Hearing Committee that Disciplinary Counsel proved by clear and convincing evidence that Respondent violated Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct,” the report says. “With respect to sanction, we agree with the Hearing Committee that Respondent should be disbarred.”

    This report follows one from last year in which a disciplinary board for the D.C. Bar also recommended disbarment for Giuliani. Now, the case heads to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will decide whether Giuliani, who formerly served as the mayor of New York City, will be disbarred.

    In a statement provided to NBC News, Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, blamed the findings in the report on “partisan Democrats” and said the decision would discourage attorneys from taking on Trump as a client.

    “This recommendation comes as no surprise as partisan Democrats continue to destroy the credibility of the American justice system all in an effort to beat President Trump and to hold onto power,” Goodman said.

    “Taking away the mayor’s law license is meant to discourage lawyers from representing clients like President Donald Trump or anyone else who is willing to take on the prevailing political establishment,” he added.

    Goodman also called “on rank-and-file members of the D.C. Bar Association to speak out against this irresponsible and anti-American recommendation — whether you agree with the mayor’s politics or not.”

    Giuliani has already had his law license suspended in New York, where a New York court ruled that he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” following the 2020 presidential election.

    Another former attorney for Trump, Jenna Ellis, is barred from practicing law in Colorado for three years following the work she did for Trump after the last election.

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  • DOJ charges Chinese national with operating ‘world’s largest botnet’ that stole $5.9 billion in Covid relief funds

    DOJ charges Chinese national with operating ‘world’s largest botnet’ that stole $5.9 billion in Covid relief funds

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    The seal of the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC on March 21, 2024. 

    Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

    A global malware network responsible for the theft of $5.9 billion in Covid relief funds and tied to other crimes like child exploitation and bomb threats has been shut down, Department of Justice officials announced Wednesday.

    The DOJ arrested 35-year-old YunHe Wang, a Chinese national who was charged with creating the “botnet,” a kind of malware that connects a network of hacked devices, which criminals can then use remotely to launch cyberattacks.

    Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said it is “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.”

    From 2014 to 2022, Wang launched and operated the botnet, called “911 S5,” from roughly 150 servers worldwide, including some in the U.S., according to the indictment. 911 S5 hacked into over 19 million IP addresses in nearly 200 countries, about 614,000 of which were in the U.S., according to the DOJ.

    The FBI released a how-to guide for users to identify if their devices had been targets of a 911 S5 attack and if so, how to remove the malware.

    Wang allegedly sold access to the compromised IP addresses to cybercriminals and amassed at least $99 million, which he used to buy luxury cars, watches and property around the world.

    911 S5 was also used for fraud, stalking, harassment, illegal exportation of goods and other crimes, the DOJ said. In particular, the botnet targeted Covid relief programs and filed an estimated 560,000 false unemployment insurance claims, stealing $5.9 billion.

    “The conduct alleged here reads like it’s ripped from a screenplay,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

    “What they don’t show in the movies though is the painstaking work it takes by domestic and international law enforcement, working closely with industry partners, to take down such a brazen scheme and make an arrest like this happen,” Axelrod added in his statement.

    The DOJ partnered with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies internationally to dismantle the botnet and arrest Wang.

    The arrest comes a day after Treasury Department sanctioned Wang and two others for their alleged involvement with 911 S5. Treasury also imposed sanctions on three companies that Wang owned or controlled: Spicy Code Company Limited, Tulip Biz Pattaya Group Company Limited, and Lily Suites Company Limited.

    Wang is facing a maximum 65-year prison sentence with four criminal counts: conspiracy to commit computer fraud, substantive computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

    The charges come as U.S. law enforcement agencies try to update protocols to keep up with more sophisticated cybersecurity threats.

    In recent years, the U.S. has expressed particular concern for China-backed hackers looking to subvert American infrastructure.

    In January, the FBI announced that it had dismantled the Chinese “Volt Typhoon” hacking group, which had been targeting U.S. water plants, electric grids and more.

    “Today, and literally every day, they’re actively attacking our economic security, engaging in wholesale theft of our innovation, and our personal and corporate data,” Wray said at a January hearing.

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  • ‘Drone wall’ against Russia: Six NATO countries announce border defense plan

    ‘Drone wall’ against Russia: Six NATO countries announce border defense plan

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    Pilots of the “Sharp Kartuza” division of FPV kamikaze drones prepare drones for a combat flight on May 16, 2024 in the Kharkiv region, 8 km from the border with Russia.

    Libkos | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Six NATO countries neighboring Russia are joining forces to build a “drone wall” to protect their borders, Lithuania’s interior minister announced on Friday.

    “This is a completely new thing, a drone wall stretching from Norway to Poland, and the goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders,” Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said in an interview with local news agency BNS.

    “Not only with physical infrastructure, surveillance systems, but also with drones and other technologies, which would allow us to protect against provocations from unfriendly countries and to prevent smuggling,” she said.

    The other states taking part are Lithuania’s Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, as well as Poland, Finland, and Norway.

    Details such as funding, timeline and technical aspects of the project were not provided, but Bilotaite said EU funds could play a role and that each country had to do its “homework.”

    In an interview with Finnish television channel Yle, cited by the Financial Times, Finland’s Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said that the drone wall plan would “improve in time.”

    Finland, which joined NATO in 2023, shares an 832-mile border with Russia.

    The interior ministers of the six countries taking part in the drone wall project met in the Latvian capital of Riga on May 23 and 24. They discussed security threats as well as the issue of non-military tactics such as “instrumentalized migration”, citing past instances where Russia or Belarus sent masses of undocumented asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East over their borders.

    “Our goal is to ensure that Finland has effective means to tackle situations where instrumentalized migration is used to put pressure on Finland,” Rantanen said in a statement during the event.

    “The phenomenon of instrumentalized migration on the EU’s external borders is a common challenge for our countries. Finland also aims to find EU-level solutions to combat this phenomenon.”

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  • Climate change is behind increasing flight turbulence, Transportation Sec’y Pete Buttigieg says

    Climate change is behind increasing flight turbulence, Transportation Sec’y Pete Buttigieg says

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    U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a press briefing the day after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2024. 

    Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

    Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that climate change is one of the culprits behind an increase in flight turbulence.

    “The reality is, the effects of climate change are already upon us in terms of our transportation,” Buttigieg said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, forecasting that turbulence is something that will continue to “affect American travelers, whether here or abroad.”

    “We’ve seen that in the form of everything from heat waves that shouldn’t statistically even be possible threatening to melt the cables of transit systems in the Pacific Northwest, to, as you mentioned, hurricane seasons becoming more and more extreme and indications that turbulence is up by about 15%,” he continued. “That means assessing anything and everything that we can do about it.”

    A study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters last year found that there have been increases in clear-air turbulence (CAT) between 1979 and 2020, with “severe-or-greater” turbulence – the strongest category of CAT – becoming 55% more frequent over the North Atlantic over the course of that time period.

    “Our climate is evolving,” Buttigieg said. “Our policies and our technology and our infrastructure have to evolve accordingly, too.”

    His comments come as turbulence has wreaked havoc on a number of flights so far this year.

    On Sunday, 12 people became injured after a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin was hit with turbulence while flying over Turkey. Six passengers and six crew members were injured, eight of whom were taken to the hospital after assessment, Dublin Airport said in a post on X.

    The aircraft landed just before 1:00 p.m. local time and was met by emergency services – including airport police and the fire and rescue department – upon landing, the airport said in a separate post on X.

    Severe turbulence also struck a Singapore Airlines flight last week, resulting in the death of one person and leaving 30 others injured.

    While Buttigieg called the deadly turbulence on the Singapore Airlines flight “very rare,” he added that “turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly.”

    “Now, there are protocols and patterns for things like how pilots who encounter turbulence can notify those who might be coming in the path,” he said. “But I do think we need to continually re-evaluate that in the face of the reality that these things are more frequent and more severe than before.”

    ‘Err on the side of reporting’

    Boeing revealed on Friday that it’s seen a 500% increase in the number of employee submissions about quality and safety concerns during the first two months of 2024 compared to the same period a year ago.

    The aerospace giant noted that the rise in submissions occurred after a section of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 plane blew out midflight on January 5. The company said this increase is “a sign of progress toward a robust reporting culture.”

    When asked about Boeing’s findings, Buttigieg backed up that claim, saying it’s “encouraging” to see that aviation employees are fostering a culture of “if you see something, say something.”

    “We want you to err on the side of reporting,” he said. “The concerning part, of course, is that any of those issues are happening at all.”

    Boeing leaders are set to meet with the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday to present its plan on improving quality control. The agency announced in late February that it gave the company 90 days to develop the plan.

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  • UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls July 4 general election

    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls July 4 general election

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    Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves Downing Street in London, Britain, May 22, 2024. 

    Hollie Adams | Reuters

    LONDON – U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday called for a general election to take place on July 4, after economic data showed a fall in inflation near the British central bank’s 2% target earlier in the day.

    “Earlier today I spoke with his majesty the King to ask for the dissolution of Parliament. The King has granted this request, and we will have a general election on the 4th of July.” said Sunak, speaking during a news conference outside Downing Street.

    Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that U.K. inflation dropped to 2.3% in April earlier on Wednesday morning.

    Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party had been hoping for signs of an improving economic environment, as it lags in the polls ahead of the national election.

    “Economic stability is the bedrock of any future success,” said Sunak. “And because of our collective sacrifice and your hard work, we have reached two major milestones in delivering that stability.”

    He qualified that the U.K. economy is now growing faster than anyone expected.

    “Uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action,” said Sunak, referencing the ongoing war in Ukraine. “I’m guided by doing what is right for our country, not what is easy.”

    Sunak, who has held the post of prime minister since October 2022, pledged to earn the the trust of the British people.

    “People across the UK are crying out for change, and this election is finally our chance to make it happen,” Liberal Democrats Party leader Ed Davey said on X.

    British economy in focus

    “We’ve tackled inflation, controlled debt and cut workers’ taxes, increased the state pension by £900, we’ve reduced taxes on investment and seized the opportunities of Brexit to make this the best country in the world to grow a business, put record amounts of funding into our NHS and ensured it’s now training the doctors and nurses it needs for decades to come,” said Sunak.

    Keir Starmer, leader of the rival Labour faction, circulated a campaign video on social media platform X urging poll goers to vote for his party, which pledges “to serve working people as you drive our country forward, with economic stability at the forefront of everything we do.”

    The U.K. economy has been convalescing from a period of sky-high inflation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the commercial impacts of the country’s exit from the European Union and elevated energy prices, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    The country entered a shallow recession in the second half of last year, with recent figures indicating a slight growth in early 2024.

    “With growth recovering faster than expected, the UK economy is approaching a soft landing, following a mild technical recession in 2023,” the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, as it upgraded its forecast for the British economy to expand by 0.7% this year, from a previous outlook of 0.5% GDP growth in 2024.

    Nevertheless, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development earlier this month noted Britain’s “sluggish” growth has put it on track to be the worst-performing economy of all advanced nations next year.

    – Jenni Reid contributed to this report.

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  • CFPB says buy now, pay later firms must comply with U.S. credit card laws

    CFPB says buy now, pay later firms must comply with U.S. credit card laws

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    Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, testifies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on June 14, 2023.

    Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau declared on Wednesday that customers of the burgeoning buy now, pay later industry have the same federal protections as users of credit cards.

    The agency unveiled what it called an “interpretive rule” that deemed BNPL lenders essentially the same as traditional credit card providers under the decades-old Truth in Lending Act.

    That means the industry — currently dominated by fintech firms like Affirm, Klarna and PayPal — must make refunds for returned products or canceled services, must investigate merchant disputes and pause payments during those probes, and must provide bills with fee disclosures.

    “Regardless of whether a shopper swipes a credit card or uses Buy Now, Pay Later, they are entitled to important consumer protections under long-standing laws and regulations already on the books,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a release.

    The CFPB, which last week was handed a crucial victory by the Supreme Court, has pushed hard against the U.S. financial industry, issuing rules that slashed credit card late fees and overdraft penalties. The agency, formed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, began investigating the BNPL industry in late 2021.

    Surging debt

    The use of digital installment loan-type services has ballooned in recent years, with volumes surging tenfold from 2019 to 2021, Chopra said during a media briefing. Among CFPB concerns are that some users are given more debt than they can handle, he said.

    “Buy now, pay later is now a major part of our consumer credit market as these loans provide a meaningful alternative to other options for consumers,” Chopra told reporters. “The CFPB wants to make sure that these new competitive offerings are not gaining an advantage by sidestepping longstanding rights and responsibilities enshrined under the law.”

    It’s unclear how many BNPL providers don’t comply with refund and dispute requirements; on the website for Affirm, for instance, there are pages for both activities.

    While the CFPB acknowledged that many BNPL players offer those services, the new rule will ensure that they are applied consistently across the industry, a senior agency official told reporters.

    The new rule will go into effect in 60 days, and the agency is now accepting public commentary on it, the official said.

    Shares of Affirm were off 5.2% Wednesday, while PayPal slipped 3%.

    Litigation ahead?

    For some time, BNPL providers have anticipated greater regulation, including efforts to apply existing card rules onto the industry. In March, Klarna published a post arguing that its no-interest product was less risky for customers than credit cards — which can often come with steep interest rates — thus requiring less oversight.

    “Instead of trying to jam BNPL into an outdated credit card framework that does little to actually protect consumers, leaders in Washington should draft and implement a framework for BNPL that is proportionate to the risk it poses,” Klarna said at the time.

    In a statement provided Wednesday, Klarna called the CFPB move a “significant step forward” in BNPL regulation, adding that it already adhered to standards for refunds, disputes and billing information.

    “But it is baffling that the CFPB has overlooked the fundamental differences between interest-free BNPL and credit cards, whose whole business model is based on trapping customers into a cycle of paying sky-high interest rates month after month,” said a Klarna spokesperson.

    An Affirm spokesman said the company was “encouraged” that the CFPB was promoting industry standards, “many of which already reflect how Affirm operates,” and that it was engaged with the regulator on improving how it operates.

    “Affirm’s success is aligned with responsibly extending access to credit as we do not charge late or hidden fees,” the spokesman said. “We urge other companies that offer buy now, pay later products to live up to the industry’s promise to provide consumers with a more flexible and transparent alternative to other payment options.”

    The industry’s stance raises the possibility that, like other financial players including payday lenders, BNPL companies could push back against the CFPB rule by suing the agency.

    The CFPB rule capping credit card late fees at $8 per incident, which was set to go into effect this month, was challenged and paused by a federal judge recently.

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  • RFK Jr. says he invested $24,000 in GameStop after brief meme stock revival

    RFK Jr. says he invested $24,000 in GameStop after brief meme stock revival

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    Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles on March 18, 2024.

    Mike Blake | Reuters

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the third-party challenger to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, said Tuesday that he had invested $24,000 in the meme stock GameStop, in an effort to show solidarity with retail investors over large, institutional funds.

    “My administration will support the Ape retail rebellion and enact aggressive Wall Street reforms,” Kennedy Jr. wrote in a social media post. “To match action with words, I just invested $24,000 in GameStop.”

    Calling themselves “apes” to flip the label Wall Street gave them, “dumb money,” this group of retail investors helped trigger explosive rallies in 2021 for shares of the struggling video game retailer GameStop and the movie theater chain AMC.

    The apes were motivated in part by a desire to buck bearish Wall Street analysts’ grim assessments of the companies’ long-term prospects.

    Last week, investors briefly revived the meme stock phenomenon after “Roaring Kitty,” the man who led the GameStop frenzy in 2021, reappeared online for the first time in years.

    Kennedy Jr. is actively courting undecided voters with a fringe political brand that could appeal to some anti-establishment meme stock investors.

    Kennedy Jr. has made obscure statements about his investment record. In July 2023, the candidate said he had not invested in bitcoin, even though financial records showed he owned at least $100,000 worth of the cryptocurrency.

    His campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for confirmation of the GameStop investment.

    Hours after Kennedy Jr.’s post, Trump’s campaign announced that it would now accept cryptocurrency donations, also appearing to court votes from investors who oppose the traditional financial system.

    “Today’s announcement reflects President Trump’s commitment to an agenda that values freedom over socialistic government control,” the Trump campaign said in a statement.

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  • Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region kill at least 11

    Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region kill at least 11

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    A view shows a crater that appeared after a Russian missile strike on a structure at a resort, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine May 19, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

    Valentyn Ogirenko | Reuters

    Russia struck a busy lakeside resort on the edge of Ukraine’s second largest city on Sunday and also attacked villages in the surrounding region, killing at least 11 people and wounding scores.

    The missile strikes were the latest in what have been constant Russian attacks in recent weeks on the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, where Russian troops have launched an offensive.

    Valentyna, 69, had blood running down her face at the lakeside resort area where her home had been destroyed and a busy restaurant nearby been obliterated. Her husband was killed down by the water, she said, gesturing to the area near the shore where there was now a crater, rubble and corpses.

    “To lose my husband, to lose my house, to lose everything in the world, it hurts, it hurts me,” she shouted through tears “They (the Russians) are animals, why do they need to kill people?”

    Prosecutors said six people were killed there, one was still missing and 27 wounded. Rescuers said the initial strike was followed by a second strike around 20 minutes later, targeting emergency crews at the scene in a so-called “double tap”.

    “There were never any soldiers here,” said Yaroslav Trofimko, a police inspector who arrived after the first strike and was then caught up in the second. “It was a Sunday, people were supposed to be here to rest, children were supposed to he here, pregnant women, resting, enjoying a normal way of life.”

    Another five people were killed and 9 injured later in the day in two villages in Kupiansk district. Local governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces shelled two villages of the district with a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called on Western allies to supply Kyiv with additional air defence systems to protect Kharkiv and other cities.

    “The world can stop Russian terror – and to do so, the lack of political will among leaders must be overcome,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

    “Two Patriots for Kharkiv will make a fundamental difference,” he said, referring to Patriot missile defence systems. Air defence systems for other cities and sufficient support for soldiers on the front line would ensure Russia’s defeat, the president added

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  • Slovakian Prime Minister Fico injured in shooting, media reports say

    Slovakian Prime Minister Fico injured in shooting, media reports say

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    Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico attends a press conference during a Special European Council Meeting on April 18, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium.

    Pier Marco Tacca | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital, according to multiple media reports.

    Fico, 59, was reported to have been shot and wounded in the abdomen after a government meeting, Reuters reported, citing Slovak news agency TASR.

    CNBC could not independently verify this information. Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová “strongly” condemned the “brutal and ruthless attack” in a Google-translated Facebook post, without supplying further details of the nature of the attack.

    A person is detained after a shooting incident of Slovak PM Robert Fico, after a Slovak government meeting in Handlova, Slovakia, May 15, 2024. 

    Radovan Stoklasa | Reuters

    European leaders reacted with shock to the news and wished Fico well.

    “I strongly condemn the vile attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said via social media platform X.

    “Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico and his family,” she added.

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he was “deeply shocked by the heinous attack” against Slovakia’s Fico.

    “We pray for his health and quick recovery! God bless him and his country!” Orban said via X.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said news of “the cowardly assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Fico has shocked me greatly.”

    “Violence must have no place in European politics. At this time, my thoughts are with Robert Fico, his family and the citizens of Slovakia,” Scholz said via a Google-translated post on X.

    Security officers move Slovak PM Robert Fico in a car after he was injured in a shooting incident, after a Slovak government meeting in Handlova, Slovakia, May 15, 2024. 

    Radovan Stoklasa | Reuters

    Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala described the news of Fico’s shooting as “shocking” and said he wished Slovakia’s prime minister will “get well as soon as possible.”

    “We must not tolerate violence, it must have no place in society,” Fiala said in a Google-translated post via social media platform X.

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  • CFPB rule to save Americans $10 billion a year in late fees faces possible last-minute freeze

    CFPB rule to save Americans $10 billion a year in late fees faces possible last-minute freeze

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    Epoxydude | Fstop | Getty Images

    A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulation that promised to save Americans billions of dollars in late fees on credit cards faces a last-ditch effort to stave off its implementation.

    Led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the card industry in March sued the CFPB in federal court to prevent the new rule from taking effect.

    That effort, which bounced between venues in Texas and Washington, D.C., for weeks, is now about to reach a milestone: a judge in the Northern District of Texas is expected to announce by Friday evening whether the court will grant the industry’s request for a freeze.

    That could hold up the regulation, which would slash what most banks can charge in late fees to $8 per incident, just days before it was to take effect on Tuesday.

    “We should get some clarity soon about whether the rule is going to be allowed to go into effect,” said Tobin Marcus, lead policy analyst at Wolfe Research.

    The credit card regulation is part of President Joe Biden’s broader election-year war against what he deems junk fees.

    Big card issuers have steadily raised the cost of late fees since 2010, profiting off users with low credit scores who rack up $138 in fees annually per card on average, according to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.

    New fees, higher rates

    As expected, the industry has mounted a campaign to derail the regulations, deeming them a misguided effort that redistributes costs to those who pay their bills on time, and ultimately harms those it purports to benefit by making it more likely for users to fall behind.

    Up for grabs is the $10 billion in fees per year that the CFPB estimates the rule would save American families by pushing down late penalties to $8 from a typical $32 per incident.

    Card issuers including Capital One and Synchrony have already talked about efforts to offset the revenue hit they would face if the rule takes effect. They could do so by raising interest rates, adding new fees for things like paper statements, or changing who they choose to lend to.

    Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank said last month that, if implemented, the CFPB rule would impact his bank’s revenue for a “couple of years” as the company takes “mitigating actions” to raise revenue elsewhere.

    “Some of these mitigating actions have already been implemented and are underway,” Fairbank told analysts during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “We are planning on additional actions once we learn more about where the litigation settles out.”

    Trial ahead?

    Like some other observers, Wolfe Research’s Marcus believes the Chamber of Commerce is likely to prevail in its efforts to hold off the rule, either via the Northern District of Texas or through the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. If granted, a preliminary injunction could hold up the rule until the dispute is settled, possibly through a lengthy trial.

    The industry group, which includes Washington, D.C.-based trade associations like the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association, filed its lawsuit in Texas because it is widely viewed as a friendlier venue for corporations, Marcus said.

    “I would be very surprised if [Texas Judge Mark T.] Pittman denies that injunction on the merits,” he said. “One way or another, I think implementation is going to be blocked before the rule is supposed to go into effect.”

    The CFPB declined to comment, and the Chamber of Commerce didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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  • Real Estate Mogul Barry Sternlicht: Migrants are here and they want to work

    Real Estate Mogul Barry Sternlicht: Migrants are here and they want to work

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    Hosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC.

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  • Biden administration orders online banker Chime to pay $4.55 million over delayed refunds to customers

    Biden administration orders online banker Chime to pay $4.55 million over delayed refunds to customers

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    Chime Banking logo is seen displayed on a smartphone.

    Rafael Henrique | LightRocket | Getty Images

    The Biden administration has told the online banking group Chime it must pay $4.55 million for failing to issue refunds in a timely manner to customers who had closed their accounts with the firm.

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that Chime must provide at least $1.3 million in compensation to consumers who were harmed, and pay a $3.25 million penalty, for continuously failing to debit consumers in a timely manner who had closed their accounts with outstanding balances — including thousands of instances when Chime waited at least 90 days.

    “Chime’s customers had to wait weeks or months for access to their own money and were forced to use alternative funds to cover their essential expenses” including running up credit card balances, CFPB director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “Fast-growing financial firms must treat their customers fairly and understand that federal law is not a suggestion.”

    In many cases, affected customers could not cover basic living expenses, the CFPB said.

    The agency said Chime is responsible for processing account payments, though acknowledged the company does so by contracting with a third-party payment processor.

    It said Chime is also responsible for nearly all consumer communications concerning accounts, as well as how they are serviced, including with the company’s partner banks.

    In a statement, Chime said the majority of the delayed refunds were caused by a “configuration error” with a third-party vendor in 2020 and 2021.

    It said its settlement agreement with the CFPB “reflects our belief that the timely handling of customer matters is critical, even amid the pandemic’s unique challenges.”

    “When Chime discovered the issue, we worked with our vendor to resolve the error and issued refunds to impacted consumers,” the company said.

    “We share the Bureau’s goal to create a more competitive and accessible financial landscape that is good for everyday consumers. We look forward to continuing in this mission and are pleased to have resolved this matter.”

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  • Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt

    Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt

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    Smoke billows after Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 6, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

    – | Afp | Getty Images

    An Israeli tank brigade seized control Tuesday of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, authorities said, moving forward with an offensive in the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remain on a knife’s edge.

    The move comes after hours of whiplash in the Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group on Monday saying it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal. Israel, meanwhile, insisted the deal did not meet its core demands. The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — but only barely — for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the 7-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

    The Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing early Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said, taking “operational control” of the crucial crossing. It’s the main route for aid entering the besieged enclave and exit for those able to flee into Egypt. Israel fully controls all access in and out of Gaza since the war began.

    Footage released by the Israeli military showed a tank entering the crossing. Details of the video matched known features of the crossing and showed Israeli flags flying from tanks that seized the area.

    The Israeli military claimed it seized the crossing after receiving intelligence it was “being used for terrorist purposes.” The military did not provide evidence to immediately support the assertion, though it alleged the area around the crossing had been used to launch a mortar attack that killed four Israeli troops and wounded others near the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

    The military also said that ground troops and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.

    Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, acknowledged Israeli forces had seized the crossing and had closed the facility for the time being. He said strikes had targeted the area around the crossing since Monday.

    An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to immediately comment on the Israeli seizure. Egypt previously has warned any seizure of Rafah could see Palestinians fleeing over the border, a scenario that could threaten a 1979 peace deal with Israel that’s been a linchpin for regional security.

    The offensive again raised the risks of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah, a move the United States strongly opposes and that aid groups warn will be disastrous for some 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.

    Egyptian officials said the proposal called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and partial Israeli troop pullbacks within Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal out of the territory, they said.

    Hamas sought clearer guarantees for its key demand of an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal in return for the release of all hostages, but it wasn’t clear if any changes were made.

    Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected that trade-off, vowing to keep up their campaign until Hamas is destroyed after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

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  • Israeli military tells Palestinian civilians in parts of Rafah to ‘evacuate immediately’

    Israeli military tells Palestinian civilians in parts of Rafah to ‘evacuate immediately’

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    Children stand outside their tents at a camp set up for people displaced from Khan Yunis and areas north of Rafah, in the southern Gaza border city with Egypt on Feb. 15, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. 

    Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images

    Israel’s military on Monday said it has begun evacuating Palestinians from parts of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, ahead of an expected military operation where roughly half of the enclave’s entire population is sheltering.

    “For your safety, the IDF appeals to you evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,” Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Force’s head of the Arab media division, wrote in a post on X, according to a Google translation from Arabic.

    “The IDF will act with extreme force against terrorist organizations in your areas of residence, as it has done so far. Anyone who is close to terrorist organizations puts his life and the life of his family at risk,” the post said.

    Al Mawasi is a small stretch of coastal scrub land, just over half a mile wide and 8.6 miles long, and is already host to several hundred thousand displaced Palestinians. More than 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, most of whom fled other parts of the Gaza Strip, predominantly living in tents and without access to sufficient water, food, and basic medicine.

    The White House — as well as the United Nations, WHO and other multinational organizations — has urged Israel against an offensive in Rafah, warning of catastrophic humanitarian consequences. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said that an operation there is essential to his country winning the war against Hamas.

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  • Trump VP contender Kristi Noem stands by killing her dog Cricket amid bipartisan ridicule

    Trump VP contender Kristi Noem stands by killing her dog Cricket amid bipartisan ridicule

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    South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem greets former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before he speaks at a South Dakota Republican party rally in Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S. September 8, 2023. 

    Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

    Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem on Sunday attempted to spin a controversial anecdote about killing her puppy, revealed in her upcoming memoir, into a case for her political deftness as she vies to become Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.

    A Friday report from The Guardian described snippets of her memoir about her decisions to kill various family farm animals, including a 14-month-old puppy named Cricket and an unnamed goat.

    “I can understand why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch,” Noem wrote in an X post on Sunday. “Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor.”

    Noem has spent the weekend dealing with ridicule from both Democrats and Republicans since those anecdotes became public.

    In both instances, she has stood by her decision to put down the animals, saying that Cricket had an “aggressive personality” and that the goat was “nasty and mean,” according to The Guardian report.

    Noem’s Sunday defense comes as a last-ditch effort to quell the flurry of doubts that the situation has stirred as she competes for Trump’s VP nomination against contenders like North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C. and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

    Over the past several days, people across the political spectrum have taken to social media to comment on the controversy.

    Right-wing media personality Laura Loomer said this anecdote would be a death knell for Noem’s vice-presidential aspirations.

    “She can’t be VP now,” Loomer said in a Friday post. “You can’t shoot your dog and then be VP.”

    President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign quickly seized the opportunity to issue a subtle dig on Friday, posting pictures of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris smiling with dogs.

    Florida Governor and former GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis posted a call to action for people to adopt rescue dogs.

    Noem’s animal killing is not the first time she has raised eyebrows in Washington.

    In March, the South Dakota governor posted an infomercial-style video for a Texas dentist appearing to act as a commercial testimony for the business, despite holding public office.

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  • Trump trial set for opening statements and first witness testimony: Live updates

    Trump trial set for opening statements and first witness testimony: Live updates

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    Former U.S. President Donald Trump exits the courtroom for the day at Manhattan Criminal Court during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments on April 19, 2024 in New York City. 

    Spencer Platt | Via Reuters

    This is developing news. Check back for updates.

    Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the New York hush money trial of Donald Trump are set Monday to deliver opening statements and start calling witnesses to testify.

    The prosecution is expected to call David Pecker, the former CEO of National Enquirer publisher American Media, as its first witness, a source with direct knowledge told NBC News.

    Pecker was deeply involved in alleged efforts ahead of the 2016 presidential election to “catch and kill” negative information about Trump, the Republican nominee in that contest.

    Pecker allegedly warned Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen in late 2016 about porn star Stormy Daniels’ claim that she had sex with Trump years earlier while he was married. Cohen paid $130,000 to Daniels less than two weeks before the election, which Trump went on to win.

    American Media earlier in 2016 also allegedly paid $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also says she had an extramarital affair with Trump.

    Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal his reimbursement to Cohen for paying off Daniels. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses Trump of doing so to influence the 2016 election.

    Trump in a post Monday morning on Truth Social defended those payments to Cohen as he railed against the DA.

    Bragg “says that the payment of money to a lawyer, for legal services rendered, should not be referred to in a Ledger as LEGAL EXPENSE,” Trump wrote. “What other term would be more appropriate???”

    Read more about Trump’s hush money trial

    Trump in that post also complained that he is unable to campaign for president this week because he is required to attend his trial, which is expected to last around six weeks.

    “It is also the perfect Crooked Joe Biden NARRATIVE – To be STUCK in a courtroom, and not be allowed to campaign for President of the United States!” he posted.

    The opening statements and witness testimony will be delivered to a jury of 12 members and six alternates, who were seated last week for the historic trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.

    Dozens of potential jurors quickly disqualified themselves from the process by declaring they could not be fair and impartial in deciding on the charges against the former president and current presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Others were excused from service after lawyers found past social media posts criticizing Trump.

    The former president’s attorneys made about a dozen separate attempts to delay or dismiss the trial in the weeks leading up to it.

    This included a request Friday afternoon that a Manhattan appeals court pause the case, in which they argued that Trump cannot receive a fair jury in New York City, where polls show he is deeply unpopular.

    Judge Juan Merchan had seated a full jury that same day, and the appeals court swiftly rejected the last-minute effort.

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  • Trump wins voters on inflation as Biden zeroes in on tariffs, jobs: NBC News poll

    Trump wins voters on inflation as Biden zeroes in on tariffs, jobs: NBC News poll

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    Joe Biden and Donald Trump 2024.

    Brendan Smialowski | Jon Cherry | Getty Images

    More voters trust Donald Trump than President Joe Biden to deal with inflation and the cost of living, their top concerns for the U.S., according to the latest NBC News poll.

    The poll of 1,000 registered voters nationwide found that 52% of respondents said Trump would better handle inflation and the cost of living, while 30% said the same of Biden.

    The survey was taken from April 12 to 16, several days after the release of another hotter-than-expected inflation report, indicating consumer prices gradually ticking back up. Trump attacked Biden’s economic policies immediately following the release of the data.

    As consumer prices heat up again, the Biden administration has kept its message on inflation the same and turned more of its attention to other aspects of the economy: jobs, tariffs and taxes.

    Biden’s heavy focus on those issues was evident as he made the rounds in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania last week.

    During a Wednesday speech in Pittsburgh, Biden announced that he would support tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports, escalating his growing economic hawkishness toward China.

    And a day before in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden focused on the tax code and jobs: “There are only two presidents on record in all of American history that left office with fewer jobs than when they entered office: Herbert Hoover and, yes, Donald ‘Herbert Hoover’ Trump.”

    These speeches come after months of Biden hammering the argument that businesses are to blame for stubborn high prices and sticky inflation, accusing companies of price gouging and “shrinkflation,” the practice of selling less quantity of goods for the same price.

    However, as consumer prices wobble, Biden’s recent remarks indicate an effort to bring other economic issues and data to the forefront of voters’ minds.

    For example, while Trump lambasts Biden’s economy, the president has doubled down on the claim that the U.S. “has the best economy in the world.” In fact, the U.S. does lead developed economies on topline metrics like gross domestic product and unemployment.

    But voters are not so easily distracted from their feelings about inflation and the cost of living.

    Only 11% of respondents named “jobs and the economy” as the most critical issues facing the country heading into the November election. Meanwhile, 23% of respondents, the largest share, said inflation and the cost of living were their number one issues — both of which a majority said Trump would manage better.

    Overall, the NBC poll found that Biden appears to be catching up to Trump’s lead, echoing a similar result from a New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month. The NBC survey found that Trump led Biden by two points in a head-to-head matchup, which was lower than his five-point lead in January. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.10%.

    But voters’ rosy memory of the Trump economy has been a consistent thread in early polling and continues to weigh on Biden’s momentum. Despite Biden’s efforts to refocus the conversation on other economic issues, inflation appears to remain an unavoidable barrier to winning over the public’s trust.

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  • House passes Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan aid, potential TikTok ban

    House passes Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan aid, potential TikTok ban

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    On Saturday, the House passed a series of bills to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, along with a package that included forcing the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok.

    After a morning of debate on the House floor, the four bills will be wrapped into a single package and sent to the Senate for approval. After that, it will be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

    “I understand that it is not a perfect piece of legislation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Saturday following the vote. “We would rather send bullets to the conflict overseas than our own boys, our troops. And I think this is an important moment and important opportunity to make that decision.”

    Johnson’s decision to hold the vote came at a political risk, as hardline members of his party threatened to oust him. In March, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate Johnson from his post, but she has yet to force a vote on the measure.

    “As I’ve said many times, I don’t walk around this building being worried about a motion to vacate,” Johnson said Saturday. “I have to do my job.”

    Following the passage of the long-stalled foreign aid, Johnson received a flurry of public statements thanking him.

     “I want to thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House who voted to put our national security first,” Biden said in a statement. “I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law.”

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., signaled Saturday that the Senate could vote on the package on Tuesday.

    “I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X after the vote.

    Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz also thanked Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Saturday for helping to pass the aid.

    The bills earmark over $60 billion for Ukraine aid, more than $26 billion for Israel and over $8 billion for Taiwan and Indo-Pacific security. A fourth bill includes a measure to force China’s ByteDance to sell social media platform TikTok within nine months — though the president can offer a 90-day extension — or face a national ban.

    “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

    The House’s approval is a critical next step for foreign aid, which has been in limbo since President Biden first proposed it in October. After the long-awaited vote on Ukraine passed, a crowd of House Democrats waving Ukrainian flags broke out into a chorus of cheers.

    In February, the Senate passed a $95 billion version of the aid to fund Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Still, the House effectively shelved that bill primarily due to political threats from hardline House Republicans like Rep. Greene.

    Despite that looming political backlash, Speaker Johnson was persuaded to revisit the foreign aid package after Iran’s attempted strike on Israel last weekend. That escalatory move triggered a renewed bipartisan push for the House to move to support Israel.

    In response, Johnson put the foreign aid package at the top of the House’s agenda. He devised a plan to structure the foreign aid in separate bills, which he presented to his Republican colleagues on Monday evening.

    After that meeting, Greene expressed her discontent with Johnson’s proposed foreign aid bills but reiterated that she had not yet decided whether she would force a vote to oust him.

    “I think it’s another wrong direction for Speaker Johnson in our conference,” she said Monday.

    Greene’s motion to vacate loomed over Saturday’s vote. Walking into the House chamber, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told NBC News he was not expecting Greene to force a vote on the motion on Saturday.

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