Marco Rubio testifies to Congress on Iran war and mass deportations: Live updates – UK Times

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen blasted Secretary of State Marco Rubio for requesting budget reductions amid the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

“You’re asking for a 44% reduction in the State Department budget that includes eliminating the World Health Organization, it includes eliminating all disease-specific funds in the middle of an Ebola crisis that’s affecting Americans. Yet no one from your department can explain to us why this is a good idea,” she told Rubio.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is testifying now before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Demonstrators have gathered on Capitol Hill to protest Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives for a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Last week, former Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers that her successor, Todd Blanche, was responsible for the chaotic release of the so-called Epstein files.

Now, Blanche is expected to face questions about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein investigation when he appears before lawmakers this afternoon.

Read more about Bondi’s testimony below:

The plan has sparked pushback from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, with critics labeling it a “slush fund” for his supporters.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to face questions from lawmakers about the fund when he testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee this afternoon.

Read more about the fund below:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to testify publicly today for the first time since the Iran war began on Feb. 28.

Rubio will appear before two congressional committees today, where lawmakers are expected to grill him on the conflict.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s testimony will be his first since his confirmation hearing in March, when he replaced Kristi Noem, his scandal-plagued predecessor.

His appearance on Capitol Hill comes after multiple DHS insiders complained that the former Oklahoma senator is “barely in the building,” according to The Daily Mail.

“Mullin seems to think DHS requires less work than a senator, and it shows,” one told the outlet.

When reached by The Independent, a DHS spokesperson dismissed the report’s claims as “complete garbage.”

Rubio’s back-to-back hearings are supposed to be focused on the State Department’s budget request, but lawmakers are expected to spend much of their time grilling him over the war with Iran, Politico reports.

The war, launched in February by the U.S. and Israel, remains ongoing following a series of failed diplomatic talks.

On Monday, Iran announced it was suspending peace talks over Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, which have reportedly hampered U.S.-Israeli relations.

President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “You’re f***ing crazy…You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” according to one U.S. official who summarized the call to Axios.

It’s a busy day on Capitol Hill, with a trio of senior Trump officials set to testify before lawmakers. Here is the schedule for today’s hearings:

10 am ET: Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

2 pm: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations

2 pm: Rubio testifies again before a House Appropriations subcommittee

4 pm: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee

During his hearing today, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to face questions about Trump’s $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, though the fund appears dead in the water.

After bipartisan backlash in Congress and a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that blocked the fund on a temporary basis, the Justice Department announced it will “will abide by the Court’s ruling.”

A White House official told Politico that the fund “is no more.”