Donald Trump’s nominee to lead a federal watchdog agency, Paul Ingrassia, withdrew on Tuesday following a report that Ingrassia described himself as having a “Nazi streak.”
Ingrassia said in a social media post that he was pulling out of a scheduled Thursday hearing before a Senate panel that was set to consider his nomination because “I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.”
The post came after Senate majority leader John Thune on Monday called for the White House to pull the nomination. Thune’s remarks marked a rare sign of opposition in a Republican-controlled Senate that has shown little interest in challenging Trump’s nominees and his agenda.
Trump nominee to lead whistleblower office drops out after racist texts surface
Ingrassia, currently a White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security, was the subject of a report on Monday published in Politico. The report featured text messages where he allegedly described himself as having “a Nazi streak” and suggested Martin Luther King Jr Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell”.
Plans for Trump-Putin talks in Budapest shelved
Plans to hold a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as Ukraine and its European allies rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv.
The White House said there were now “no plans” for the US president to meet his Russian counterpart “in the immediate future” as a round of diplomacy at the end of last week failed to yield any significant progress towards ending the war.
Vance expresses ‘great optimism’ over Gaza ceasefire deal
Vice-president JD Vance traveled to Israel as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Vance expressed “great optimism” over the Gaza truce plan which he described as “going better than expected”, two days after Israeli airstrikes killed 26 Palestinians.
Arizona sues Mike Johnson over refusal to swear in Democrat
Arizona’s attorney general is suing House speaker Mike Johnson over his refusal to swear in Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who won a congressional special election in September. Grijalva has said she believes Johnson is holding off on swearing her in because she wants to release the Epstein files.
Johnson says he won’t block Epstein files House vote
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said he would not prevent a vote on legislation to make the Jeffrey Epstein files public – even as the chamber remained out of session for a fourth straight week. Johnson has kept the House of Representatives in recess ever since the shutdown began at the start of the month, after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on extending government funding beyond the end of September.
What else happened today:
North Carolina Republicans passed a new congressional map with the intent of contributing more Republicans to the US Congress as the national redistricting battlefield widens.
A man who was pardoned by Trump for his conviction in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 20 October 2025.
