In a strategic effort to stall a Republican push to pass Donald Trump’s signature “one, big, beautiful bill,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took over the House floor in the early hours of Thursday morning, exercising a leadership privilege known as “magic minutes” to speak for an unlimited amount of time.
This rarely used procedural tool allows congressional leaders to hold the floor without time restrictions, giving Jeffries the ability to delay proceedings for as long as he chooses without being interrupted.
The House had just passed a procedural hurdle with a 219-213 vote, clearing the way for a final vote later in the day on the sweeping tax and spending legislation championed by Trump.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has shifted gears just a week after announcing his willingness to contribute “hundreds of millions of dollars” to support an alternative to New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani. Late Thursday night, Ackman declared that current Mayor Eric Adams is best positioned to defeat Mamdani in the upcoming race and suggested that Andrew Cuomo should exit the contest.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu paid a visit to Mossad headquarters on Wednesday evening, meeting with Mossad Director David Barnea and the organization’s senior leadership team.
During the meeting, Netanyahu voiced his gratitude to the Mossad personnel for their critical and exceptional role in Operation Rising Lion, as well as for their longstanding work in intelligence and operational activities aimed at countering Iran’s ambitions.
Netanyahu said, “The Mossad operation with the pagers set in motion everything that happened afterward – the elimination of Nasrallah, the collapse of Assad and our subsequent joint action in removing the immediate existential threat.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., defended her controversial remarks describing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a “terrorist force,” following sharp criticism from the White House and others.
In a Wednesday interview on CNN’s News Central with Brianna Keilar, Jayapal was asked to explain an Instagram post she had shared a day earlier. In that post, Jayapal claimed, “ICE is acting like a terrorist force. People across the country of all legal statuses — including U.S. citizens — are being kidnapped and disappeared off the street by masked men. No oversight, no accountability. Completely lawless.”

Claire Shipman, who now serves as Columbia University’s acting president, allegedly pushed to add an Arab representative to the school’s board of trustees and privately expressed opposition to keeping a Jewish trustee due to her pro-Israel views, according to internal communications reviewed by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
“We need to get somebody from the middle east [sic] or who is Arab on our board,” Shipman wrote in a WhatsApp message on January 17, 2024. “Quickly I think. Somehow.”
A week later, she criticized trustee Shoshana Shendelman, a vocal opponent of anti-Israel protests on campus, telling colleagues she had been “extraordinarily unhelpful.” Shipman added, “I just don’t think she should be on the board.”

In a significant step toward ensuring equal enforcement of protest-related laws across all sectors of Israeli society, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill on Wednesday aimed at eliminating selective law enforcement against certain populations, including the chareidi community.
The proposed legislation, sponsored by MK Moshe Roth, is designed to establish a clear and equal standard of enforcement for public protests, regardless of the protesters’ background. It seeks to enshrine the principle that the basic right to demonstrate must be upheld fairly for all citizens.

Despite increasing pressure to introduce new draft legislation in the coming days, the chareidi parties are expected to oppose the proposed bill, but without threatening the stability of the coalition government, according to a report by Kan News.
With a ticking political clock, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s inner circle is under mounting pressure to present a draft of the new giyus (IDF draft) law to avoid a coalition crisis and fulfill promises made to the chareidi factions. A failure to bring a bill forward by next Wednesday could escalate tensions, as chareidi representatives have warned of taking stronger action if no legislative progress is seen.

The Knesset’s State Control Committee, chaired by MK Mickey Levy, convened yesterday for the ninth time to discuss the enforcement of core curriculum studies in chareidi educational institutions, amid ongoing tensions between government oversight bodies and the chareidi school system.

As optimism grows in Israel over the possibility of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks and a hostage release deal, key details of the proposal currently on the table have been revealed. Under the plan, Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others in five separate phases. In return, Israel would agree to a two-month ceasefire and to the release of high-level Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli officials said Thursday morning that a sense of cautious optimism surrounds the negotiations. According to those close to the process, Hamas appears to be showing signs of “flexibility,” and should the terror group respond positively to the revised proposal, an Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Qatar by the weekend to begin direct negotiations.

A French couple, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been detained in Iran for more than three years, are now facing new charges of espionage on behalf of Israel and conspiring to overthrow the regime, according to reports by the AFP news agency citing a Western diplomatic source. The source emphasized there is “no basis” for the allegations.
The French Foreign Ministry issued a swift and strong condemnation, calling the couple’s detention “completely arbitrary” and demanding their release.