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(The Center Square) - A North Carolina high school student is suing over alleged violations of her constitutional rights after her school painted over her Charlie Kirk tribute and accused her of vandalism.

In December 2025, Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization that protects religious rights, filed a lawsuit against Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte on behalf of student Gabby Stout. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. 

The lawsuit alleges the school violated Stout’s First, Fourth and Fifth amendments.  

The Center Square reached out to Ardrey Kell High School, but its administration declined to comment on the litigation. The school is part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district. The Center Square reached out to the district, but did not hear back by press time.

Travis Barham, an ADF attorney representing Stout, told The Center Square that the history of the high school’s spirit rock is “notable because students had painted a variety of other ideological messages on the rock.”

The attorney noted the spirit rock had Black Lives Matter messaging on it in the past.

When Barham first got involved in the case, he said the “degree to which this violation was egregious and blatant immediately jumped out” to him.

“It shocked me that a school district would be so cavalier in the way it mistreated a student,” he noted.

Stout, who is a junior at the high school, painted a tribute for Kirk after the conservative leader and Scottsdale, Ariz., resident was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025 at a rally at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Here's the lawsuit's timeline of events.

On Sept. 12, Stout called the school’s office and received approval for the tribute from a school official. According to the lawsuit, the official told her, “That would be very nice.”

At around 4 p.m. on Sept. 13, Stout, her parents and two friends went to the high school to paint the spirit rock, the lawsuit noted.  

On one side of the rock, it said, “Live Like Kirk — John 11:25” and “Freedom 1776,” the lawsuit stated.

After painting the rock, Stout, a Christian, and her friends placed flowers at the base of the spirit rock to honor Kirk, the lawsuit said.

The students finished painting the spirit rock around 6 p.m., the lawsuit stated.

Two hours later, according to the lawsuit, Stout learned on social media that the message she had painted on the school rock was no longer visible. The lawsuit said gray paint was used to cover up her message.

Later that night, Stout returned to the school’s campus to see what had happened to the spirit rock, the lawsuit said, adding that she saw a high school student taking pictures of the rock.

The lawsuit said Stout asked the student if she had painted over her Kirk tribute, but the student told her that school officials had done it.

On Sept. 14, when Stout returned to the school’s campus, she saw someone painted over the grey paint with the message of “Be kind” and “You are enough,” the lawsuit stated.

According to the suit, Susan Nichols, the principal of Ardrey Kell High School, sent an email to all parents at the high school that said its spirit rock was “painted this weekend with a message that was not authorized or sponsored by the school or the district."

“Acts like these are considered vandalism to school property and are in violation of the CMS Code of Student Conduct,” Nichols added in her email.

The principal also said in her email that law enforcement was contacted and that the school would be cooperating with the investigation, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, the high school’s code of conduct states if students are found guilty of violating its vandalism policy, they may be held financially responsible for the damages.

After reading the principal's email, Stout sent an email to Nichols saying that she had painted the rock but had contacted the school and received approval to paint the spirit rock, the lawsuit said. Stout denied any act of vandalism.

Barham said the charge of vandalism “made no sense because the spirit rock was a place where students always painted messages.”

To accuse her of vandalism publicly and then to contact law enforcement to cooperate with a criminal investigation “took matters to a whole new absurd level,” the attorney told The Center Square.

On Sept. 15, Stout was called down to Student Services, where the offices of Nichols and other school officials are located, according to the lawsuit.

Deborah Hitt, one of the school’s assistant principals, directed Stout to a conference room, the lawsuit noted.

In the conference room, the lawsuit stated Hill told Stout that she needed to write down her account of what happened regarding the spirit rock on Sept. 13. Stout’s two friends had also been instructed to write similar statements about the events.

Barham said the school did not tell Stout about her constitutional rights to remain silent or to have an attorney present during a criminal investigation.

After Stout returned to class, Hitt came to her class to speak with Stout again, the lawsuit stated. The assistant principal retrieved Stout’s phone from the classroom and returned once again to Student Services to answer more questions, the lawsuit said.

This time, Stout sat in Assistant Principal Kelly Holden’s office along with Hitt, the lawsuit stated. The suit said Holden called Stout’s mom to see if she could ask her questions about her daughter’s role in painting the spirit rock.

Stout’s mom granted Holden’s request. However, the assistant principal asked Stout to open her cell phone to show them her call records, the lawsuit stated, adding that the school never asked permission to search Stout’s phone.

On Sept. 16, according to the lawsuit, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Administrative Services sent a message to all the high school students’ families announcing the “Revised Spirit Rock Speech Code,” which says, “Spirit rocks are not to be used for personal, political, or religious messages.”

The code adds, “All messages should reflect positive school spirit and uphold the inclusive values of our school community.”

According to Barham, the new policy gives school officials “a wide amount of discretion to decide what’s in good taste."

The attorney called the new policy a violation of the First Amendment, noting the U.S. Supreme Court has been “very clear” that when government “targets political and religious messages for different levels of scrutiny, that’s viewpoint discrimination.”

 ”What we have here is a school district that has committed itself to targeting the speech of students and families of faith. That's unconstitutional, and that should never be tolerated,” Barham said.

The same day, Stout’s father spoke by phone with Nichols, who told him that his daughter would not be punished and that the criminal investigation was being closed, the lawsuit noted. Nichols did not mention sending a statement exonerating Stout, according to the lawsuit.

On Sept. 17, Stout and her parents spoke with Nichols again by phone, during which they asked her to send a message clearing her daughter’s name, the lawsuit stated.

On social media, Stout saw messages that “urged school officials to prosecute her, insisted she should be imprisoned for years, and labeled [Stout] and her friends ‘racist Thugs,” the lawsuit said, adding that she also saw messages like “Die like Kirk.”

After this event, the lawsuit stated Stout’s best friends stopped “socializing with her,” and she was labeled by students as “the girl that painted the rock.”

The lawsuit noted the stress from the investigation, social media attacks and ostracization caused Stout’s Crohn’s Disease to exacerbate, causing “severe stomach issues for her.”

Stout’s parents repeatedly asked the school to clear their daughter’s name, but it never did, the lawsuit stated.

On Oct. 11, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Communications Division sent a message to all the families at the high school saying the display Stout and her friends made for Kirk was not “an act of vandalism” and did not violate the “student code of conduct,” the lawsuit added. It also said the school did not contact law enforcement to do an investigation.

According to the lawsuit, in November, school officials helped orchestrate a student-led protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including a message from Nichols promoting the event to the high school’s families.

”It's absurd that [Stout’s] speech was targeted and that she was personally targeted and maligned in such a deeply personal way. No students should ever have to do that, and no schools should be in the business of picking winners and losers when it comes to who can express their views,” Barham noted.

The attorney told The Center Square that “high school students should be inspired, challenged, and encouraged to express their beliefs freely. That goes for all points of view, not just left-leaning points of view.”

Stout’s lawsuit asks a court to end the school’s new speech code and seeks compensatory damages.

(The Center Square) — Immigration asylum advocates expressed disappointment with justices on the Supreme Court after arguments Tuesday regarding asylum protections. 

The case, Noem v. Al Otro Lado, challenges the Trump administration’s policy prohibiting immigrants on the Mexico side of the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum. 

Immigration law allows an individual who “arrives in the United States” to obtain inspection by a border patrol officer and may apply for asylum. 

“They are not asking for the 100% guaranteed chance to stay, they are asking for access to the legal process,” said Nicole Ramos, director of the border rights project at Al Otro Lado. 

After the arguments, Ramos and other advocates discussed the case on the steps of the Supreme Court. Advocates compared the denial of asylum for Mexican refugees to Jews who sought asylum in the U.S. during the Holocaust but were turned away.

“They were not thinking about the fact that people die when they can’t access asylum procedures,” said Erika Pinheiro, executive director for Al Otro Lado.

During the arguments, justices appeared to debate over at what point an immigrant can be considered “arriving in the United States.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned the considerations for when an asylum seeker arrives in the U.S. 

“What is the magic thing that we’re saying happens to make it so now someone arrives in the United States,” Barrett asked.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to agree with Barrett. They argued that someone in line for asylum at the border cannot be considered under the current immigration law. 

“It was disappointing, honestly, to see some of the justices so focused on where you have to be standing on an imaginary line to save your own life,” Pinheiro said. 

The advocates said they define “arrives in the United States” as coming “to the threshold” of a port of entry, “about to step over.” Melissa Crow, director for litigation at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, spoke to The Center Square on the steps of the Supreme Court.

“Arriving means coming to the threshold of the United States, which triggers an obligation on the part of U.S. government officials to inspect and process noncitizens,” Crow said. “If an individual says that they fear persecution, there are a number of specific processes that they can be channeled through.” 

Before arguments at the Supreme Court, advocates appeared to have difficulty explicitly defining what “arrives in the United States” means. Bertha Nibigira, a refugee herself, said immigrants are entitled to start the asylum process wherever possible, but recommended engaging with it at the border.

“Whatever the closest location where people can go to seek asylum, they deserve to be heard,” Nibigira said. “They deserve to be granted the due process.”

Charles Du Mond, another advocate outside the court, said the asylum process should begin when an individual leaves their home country for fear of danger. 

“We should be welcoming people who are at risk wherever they’re coming from, and whenever it starts,” Du Mond said. “Working out the details of how, officially, when someone can be considered for asylum or not, is an unnecessary complication.”

Advocates urged the court to prevent the Trump administration from proceeding with this policy. 

“This case is of most importance,” Pinheiro said. “I think if it is not decided in our favor the U.S. will lose its position of leadership in the world as a country that promotes the acceptance of refugees.”

Lawyers for the Trump administration argued immigrants can not be considered to "arrive in the United States" when they have not stepped onto U.S. soil. 

“An ordinary English speaker would not use the phrase ‘arrives in the United States’ to describe someone who is stopped in Mexico,” lawyers for the government said in a brief to the court.

The Supreme Court is expected to deliberate on its ruling and issue a decision by the end of its term in June.

Toronto unveiled its upgraded World Cup stadium on Tuesday, insisting that temporary seating installed to meet FIFA capacity requirements would be safe for fans.

"The stands will be perfectly safe," said Nick Eaves, chief operating officer at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which operates the Toronto stadium called BMO Field.

For the first time in World Cup history, the 2026 tournament is spread across three countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Toronto stadium is the smallest of the 16 venues and, with a regular capacity of about 28,000 seats, it needed a range of upgrades to meet World Cup hosting standards, including roughly 17,000 additional seats.

Earlier this month, images of the scaffolding that supports the temporary seating began spreading online. The reviews were not positive.

"Respectfully, you couldn't pay me to climb, stand or sit on that," read one fan post on X.

Eaves said Toronto partnered with a global leader in temporary seating called Arena Group and that the online furore over the bleachers had no basis in reality.

He said the temporary seating will also get a dress rehearsal on May 9, when Lionel Messi and Inter Miami come to BMO to play Toronto FC for a sold‑out MLS match.

"We plan on testing and using every piece of new infrastructure" at the Messi match, Eaves said.

FIFA takes over the venue on May 13, a month before the first World Cup match in Toronto.

But world football's governing body has conducted rigorous oversight of the stadium upgrades, said Sharon Bollenbach, the executive director of the World Cup hosting committee with the City of Toronto.

"They count every seat. They look at every seat, they assess the sightlines of every seat, so there's been multiple, multiple visits by FIFA approving the work that we've done," she told reporters.

- 'One of the best pitches' -

Bollenbach said Toronto was not expected to overrun the CAN$380 million ($277 million) allocated to host its six World Cup matches.

But delivering the project on budget faced hurdles, including completing the stadium upgrade construction in what was a bitterly cold winter with heavy snowfall.

That also created some complications for the pitch, a blend of 95 percent natural grass with a five percent synthetic product, a mix recommended by FIFA, said Chris Shewfelt, vice president for business operations at Toronto FC.

The pitch was tarped through the coldest winter months, but the roots of the grass continued to grow thanks to a sub‑air system that heats the soil and grow lamps, he said.

"In late February, early March, when we took the tarp off the grass, it was green," Shewfelt said.

"We're confident we'll have one of the best pitches across the 16 host cities."

bs/rcw

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told AFP on Tuesday that her country's formerly all-powerful socialist ideology has been fatally "wounded" by US President Donald Trump.

The regime known as "Chavismo" that held Venezuela in its grip for a quarter of a century under Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro is "wounded irreparably and is being dismantled," Machado said.

The oil-rich Latin American country was thrown into turmoil this January when US military forces toppled the leftist Maduro, who has been replaced with his former deputy Delcy Rodriguez.

While Rodriguez served under Maduro, she has proved eager to bend to Trump's demands, including reopening the country to US oil companies. Last week, she ordered a wide-ranging reshuffle of senior military leaders.

"Following President Trump's instructions, they are dismantling their own repressive and corrupt structures -- a crucial step toward the transition," Machado said during an interview with AFP in Houston, Texas, where she was attending the CERAWeek global energy forum. 

Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said that when presidential elections are held again in Venezuela, she will participate "in that electoral process" but did not specify whether she would run.

She said she believed that "Venezuelans will freely decide who they want" as leader in the next elections.

Machado was banned from running for president in the 2024 election. After Maduro claimed a reelection victory, a wave of repression forced her to remain in hiding for more than a year.

She has remained in the United States for most of her exile.

In January, just two weeks after US forces snatched Maduro and brought him to New York for trial, she met with Trump in the White House and presented him with her Nobel prize. 

Trump has said he would like to "get her involved" in Venezuela's political process. But he has so far sidelined Machado and backed Rodriguez as interim leader.

Machado said she had spoken with Trump since that visit, but declined to disclose details, saying only that they "discussed all issues affecting Venezuela."

Machado said that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have proposed a three-stage transition in Venezuela. The third stage would be "a transition that will include clean, free elections, which will produce legitimate authorities."

Despite the political uncertainty, Machado said the time was right to invest Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserves. She cited its competitive production costs and location "in the heart of the Americas."

What was lacking until now -- the institutional framework and security conditions for long-term investments -- is being built, she said.

"The opening of the oil sector, as we're proposing it, has never been seen in the country," she said.

"That is, going 100 percent private, where the state assumes a regulatory role and incentivizes, promotes, and protects foreign investment."

mav/mel/mjf/sms

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran gave him a "very big present" related to the Strait of Hormuz, boosting his confidence that he was talking to the right people in Tehran to end the war.

The cryptic announcement came a day after Trump unexpectedly postponed threatened attacks on Iran's power plants and said Washington was in negotiations with unspecified figures in Iran. 

Tehran has denied being part of any talks to end the war, which is now in its fourth week and has disrupted global oil supplies passing through the strategic Hormuz Strait.

"They did something yesterday that was amazing actually. They gave us a present and the present arrived today. And it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"That meant one thing to me -- we're dealing with the right people."

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for new US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Trump said the "gift" was "very significant", adding that it was "oil and gas-related." 

Asked if it was related to his demand that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic, Trump replied: "Yeah, it was related to the flow and to the strait."

The US president added that the "present" was not related to Iran's nuclear program, but repeated his claim that the Iranian side "agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon."

- 'We negotiate with bombs' -

Trump has not yet revealed who the United States is negotiating with in Tehran, saying only on Monday as he postponed a threat to attack Iran's energy sites by five days that it is a "top person." 

"We're actually talking to the right people, and they want to make a deal so badly," Trump said. 

Former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the joint Israeli-US air campaign, and successor Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public.

But Trump said that the killing of Khamenei senior and a host of other top Iranian officials meant "we have really regime change. The leaders are all very different with the ones that we started off with."

US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, global envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were all involved in the Iranian talks, Trump said.

But he did not confirm reports that Witkoff and Kushner were headed to Pakistan for talks with Iran, with Vance possibly to follow afterward if the negotiations appeared serious.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered on Tuesday to act as a mediator to end the conflict.

He said he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, promising Islamabad's help to bring peace to the region. 

Trump meanwhile joked that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "didn't want it to be settled" because he wanted to keep striking Iranian targets.

"We see ourselves as part of this negotiation as well. We negotiate with bombs," Hegseth said when he was called to the podium by Trump.

dk/md

US officials on Tuesday played down speculation that distracted air traffic controllers might have contributed to a deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport.  

Two pilots were killed in the runway crash late Sunday, which crushed the cockpit of the Bombardier plane and heavily damaged the emergency vehicle.

Media reports said investigators were probing whether airport traffic controllers were distracted by a separate odor issue on a United Airlines flight -- the emergency to which the fire truck was responding. 

"I would caution pointing fingers at controllers and saying distraction was involved," Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters.

"We rarely, if ever, investigate a major accident where it was one failure," she said.

"Our aviation system is incredibly safe because there are multiple, multiple layers of defense built in to prevent an accident. So when something goes wrong, that means many, many things went wrong," she said. 

Two air traffic controllers were working in LaGuardia's tower at the time, Homendy said.

In addition to their core roles, the two were handling departure clearances and ground traffic control, though it was unclear how those duties were distributed. 

Homendy said the staffing level was "common practice across the national airspace" for a midnight shift, noting however that her agency had previously raised concerns about fatigue.

"We have no indication that was a factor here, but it is a shift that we have been focused on in past investigations," she said. 

- No alert -

Homendy added that the runway safety system ASDE-X, designed to track aircraft and ground vehicles, did not generate an alert before the crash because the fire truck was not equipped with a transponder. 

The NTSB's lead investigator Doug Brazy said the board was analyzing more than 25 hours of cockpit voice recordings and 80 hours of flight data.

He said the final three minutes captured in the cockpit included the co-pilot transferring control to the captain six seconds before the recording ended. The reason for this was unclear. 

The collision was LaGuardia's first fatal accident since 1992.  

Located in the borough of Queens, LaGuardia is the third-busiest airport serving New York, handling 33.5 million passengers in 2024, according to port authority figures.

Deadly air crashes in the United States in recent years include a collision between a passenger jet and an army helicopter near Washington in January 2025 that killed 67 people.

bjt/js

(The Center Square) – Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, reached a milestone in March, its five-year anniversary. 

Gov. Greg Abbott first launched OLS on March 4, 2021, in response to an unprecedented number of illegal border crossers and crime within the first couple of months of the Biden administration. 

From March 2021 through February 2026, OLS officers apprehended 538,141 illegal foreign nationals, including those referred to Border Patrol. They’ve also deterred 157,112 illegal entries, according to OLS data obtained by The Center Square. 

OLS officers have pursued 5,135 bailouts – when illegal border crossers engage in high-speed chases and jump out of the vehicle to evade capture.  

OLS officers have made 63,659 criminal arrests and 12,392 criminal trespass arrests. These include arrests of U.S. citizens and illegal border crossers.

Human smuggling arrests total 10,552 with 23,717 human smuggling charges reported. 

Total felony charges were 51,091 with 11,950 federal or other charges, according to the data. One arrest may involve multiple felony charges.  

The data is from Texas DPS, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and Texas Military Department and includes DPS assisting other agencies during an arrest.

Although illegal crossings have dropped by more than 95% under the second Trump administration, crime is ongoing and cartel networks are embedded throughout Texas and nationwide. OLS 2.0 is targeting them and criminal actors designated as foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua. As TdA crime spread to dozens of states, in September 2024, Abbott expanded OLS operations to eradicate TdA, The Center Square reported. 

Since OLS began, more than half a million Venezuelan nationals have been apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Texas after they illegally entered the U.S. 

From Jan. 1, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2026, OLS officers apprehended 4,198 Venezuelans for crimes committed in Texas with a total of more than 7,200 charges.  

As of Jan. 8, 2026, there are 555 wanted Venezuelans illegally in the U.S. with active warrants issued by Texas law enforcement agencies, according to the data.

As of Feb. 27, 2026, there are 173 individual TdA members documented in Texas’ gang database. 

DPS is making between 80 to 100 criminal arrests along the Texas-Mexico border every week, “as the criminal element crossing the border remains,” DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Center Square. This total excludes arrests being made through a multiagency OLS Task Force operating in dozens of counties.  

OLS officers are also targeting South American Theft Groups and commercial vehicle crimes statewide. Last September, Texas DPS began suspending issuing CDL licenses in several categories; targeted CDL enforcement actions are ongoing. 

OLS brush teams are still actively patrolling the border region. OLS officers have found 668 stash houses and recovered and referred 8,721 people from them, according to the data. 

“OLS is more critical now than ever because we face more threats than we've ever faced before especially from Special Interest Aliens and suspected terrorists who are still coming across the border,” Olivarez said. DPS troopers recently arrested an SIA from Pakistan in Starr County. They’ve arrested SIAs from Afghanistan, Egypt, the Congo, Mali, Syria, Turkey, Iran and other countries designated as having a nexus to terrorism. 

OLS operations continue to focus on disrupting transnational criminal activity through interior enforcement, including working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal, state and local partners. This is expected to take many years because “so many millions of people were released into the country during the previous administration,” he said. The Trump administration has identified more than 18,000 suspected terrorists as well as more than 700 Iranians who illegally entered and were released into the country by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. 

“Moving forward, our goal is to identify those potential threats and get them removed,” Olivarez said. Texas’ newly developed Homeland Security Division “is focused on counterterrorism with some of our intelligence services. Ongoing threats go beyond just people crossing the border illegally. What's concerning right now is where are those threats? Where can we locate those individuals? We're seeing some of these tragedies play out because of those that were released into the country,” he said. 

Earlier this month, a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputy was killed by a Salvadoran man in the country illegally. Deputy Kenneth Lewis was leaving a second job and pulled over to help stranded motorists on the Katy Freeway when he was hit. The Salvadoran fled the scene and was ultimately tracked down by authorities in Houston. He was arrested and charged with multiple felonies and remains in custody. 

On Monday, Sheriff Eric Fagan gave an update on the case, stating “Deputy Lewis represents all of us, something any officer would do when you see someone who needed help. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life.” 

(The Center Square) – Senate Republican leaders appear close to reaching a Department of Homeland Security funding deal with Democrats, but many rank-and-file Republicans view the proposed compromise as inadequate.

With the DHS shutdown entering week six and travel chaos growing at some airports, a tentative off-ramp has emerged, according to reports: the Senate would vote on the fiscal year 2026 Homeland Security bill, but without the $5.5 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation operations.

If the Senate passes the bill, the House will also have to approve it.

The tactic is meant to win over enough Democrats to finally fund DHS, without having to adopt all of the new restrictions on ICE activities that Democrats had demanded in exchange for their votes to end the shutdown.

Republican leaders then plan to fund the rest of ICE separately via a budget reconciliation bill, like the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed last year that implemented President Donald Trump’s major tax policies.

Even though the proposal has yet to be officially released, multiple Republican lawmakers are already negatively reacting to the news.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., stated Tuesday that he “cannot in good conscience” support a bill “that fails to fund the people who keep us safe.”

“Anyone who wants my vote on this DHS ‘deal’ needs to tell me how it’s going to ensure ICE agents and everyone at DHS charged with keeping us safe from illegal aliens will get paid,” Scott added. “You can say the Big Beautiful Bill will do this, but the way I read it, that’s not the case.”

That reconciliation maneuver is risky on multiple fronts, particularly if Republicans also throw in their SAVE America Act, a voter-ID and election security bill that the Senate is currently holding a marathon debate on.

“It’s hard to imagine how the SAVE America Act could be passed through reconciliation,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in response to the proposed funding plans. “And by ‘hard’ I mean ‘essentially impossible.’”

Even if Republicans restructure their legislation to be incentives-oriented rather than an edict, some pieces of the SAVE America Act wouldn’t pass reconciliation rules. The Byrd Rule requires budget reconciliation bills to cover only fiscally-oriented matters for the majority vote privilege to apply.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said that the proposal is “gaslighting” and “will not go well,” and the entire House Freedom Caucus expressed the same view in a Tuesday statement on social media.

Besides concerns about the Byrd Rule, the group asked why Republican leaders would support the reconciliation route when it allows Democrats to offer unlimited amendments, causing a major delay to passing the legislation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had previously ruled out instituting the “talking filibuster” and instead started a marathon debate on the SAVE America Act in part because the talking filibuster would also have allowed unlimited amendments.

“If unlimited amendments were the excuse before, why is the same risk suddenly acceptable now?,” caucus member Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said in an X post Tuesday. “The American people see the double standard. Stop the procedural games.”

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told AFP on Tuesday that her country's formerly all-powerful socialist ideology has been fatally "wounded" by US President Donald Trump.

The regime known as "Chavismo" that held Venezuela in its grip for quarter of a century under Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro is "wounded irreparably and is being dismantled," Machado said.

The oil-rich Latin American country was thrown into turmoil this January when US military forces toppled leftist Maduro, who has now been replaced with his former deputy Delcy Rodriguez.

While Rodriguez served under Maduro, she has proved eager to bend to Trump's demands, including reopening the country to US oil companies. Last week, she ordered a wide-ranging reshuffle of senior military leaders.

"Following President Trump's instructions, they are dismantling their own repressive and corrupt structures -- a crucial step toward the transition," Machado said during an interview with AFP in Houston, Texas, where she was attending the CERAWeek global energy forum. 

Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said that when presidential elections are held again in Venezuela, she will participate "in that electoral process." However, she did not specify whether she would run.

Machado said she believed that "Venezuelans will freely decide who they want" as leader in the next elections.

Machado was banned from running for president in the 2024 election. After Maduro claimed a reelection victory, a wave of repression forced her to remain in hiding for more than a year.

She has remained in the United States for most of her exile.

In January, just two weeks after US forces snatched Maduro and brought him to New York for trial, she met with Trump in the White House and presented him with her Nobel prize.

Trump has said he would like to "get her involved" in Venezuela's political process. But he has so far sidelined Machado and backed Rodriguez as interim leader.

Maduro is being held in a New York jail while awaiting trial on US drug trafficking charges.

mav/mel/mjf/sms

(The Center Square) – As the Department of Homeland Security nears 40 days since a government stalemate shut it down, Markwayne Mullins has been sworn in as the ninth secretary to lead the federal agency.

Attorney General Pam Bondi swore in Mullins in an Oval Office ceremony with President Donald Trump leading the ceremony.

In brief remarks, the secretary said he is committed to protecting all Americans and continuing to work every day.

“I’ll be fighting 365 days … No one’s going to outwork me, and I’m not going to let any of them outwork me. The president has entrusted me with this, and failure is not an option,” said Mullins.

When introducing Mullins, Trump described the new secretary as a “great American patriot,” adding that he was the only one for the job.

The secretary was confirmed Monday by the Republican-majority Senate, with two Democrats crossing the aisle to confirm the Trump-nominated senator to head DHS.

Trump tapped Mullins to lead DHS following the reported fallout of the now-former Secretary of DHS, Kristi Noem, over congressional testimony claiming the president gave the stamp of approval to a $200 million ad campaign for the agency featuring Noem.

Despite the reported fallout, Trump reassigned Noem to a newly created position as the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

In a March 5 social media post, the president said Noem’s new position would be a part of his administration’s new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere.

Up until his swearing in Tuesday afternoon, Mullins served as a Republican U.S. senator representing the State of Oklahoma. The state’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Mullins replacement Tuesday morning, tapping Alan Armstrong, an energy executive.

Stitt described Armstrong as a “strong business leader who understands the power of free markets and limited government.”