News for February 9, 2026

Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer House Oversight Committee questions, saying she would speak fully and honestly only if President Donald Trump grants her clemency.

The Justice Department moved to dismiss Steve Bannon’s criminal case over his refusal to cooperate with the House Jan. 6 investigation.

A court order temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s freeze on Gateway Tunnel funding, but work on the project still had not restarted as New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and others pushed for the money to be released.

Mark Zuckerberg is deepening his California ties with a $50 million gift to help build STEM labs, an AI center, and student housing at Sacramento State.

Tom Homan said immigration arrests should focus on people with criminal records or the Trump administration could lose public support for its deportation push.

State election officials say the Trump administration has offered little help on election security, even as the Justice Department sues states over voter rolls and the FBI steps in with a late briefing call.

A DHS report says less than 14% of ICE arrests in President Donald Trump’s first year involved people with violent criminal records, challenging his claim that the crackdown is focused on the “worst of the worst.”

A New Mexico trial has begun against Meta, with state officials saying the company failed to warn about and protect children from harmful and exploitative content on its platforms.