Sunday, January 25, 2026
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz PHOTO: GoLocal
From Greenland to Venezuela to Switzerland and back to Minnesota, American politics is having a global footprint this week. Jeffrey Epstein is also back in the headlines, perhaps spelling trouble for one U.S. president. Let’s “brunch” on all of that this week:
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE — SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
“Minnesota Investigation” — Get ready to hear the word “weaponizing” a lot again. At the direction of the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, both (D), of Minnesota. The DOJ is trying to determine if the men interfered with the federal ICE deployment in that state. They received subpoenas, as did Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and two others. All have been harsh critics of ICE, especially after the shooting death of Renee Good. Mayor Frey said, “We shouldn’t have to live in a country where people fear that federal law enforcement will be used to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with.”
“Noem Impeachment?” — Some in Congress are calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached. She oversees ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. More than 80 Democrats have signed a letter calling for her removal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) New York said, “The situation that took place in Minnesota is a complete and total disgrace.” But Greg Bovino, who oversees the U.S. Border Patrol, says more than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested in Minnesota over the past year. He added, “These are not technical violations. As I mentioned, these are individuals responsible for serious harm.” Democrats in the House would need some Republican members to support them in impeachment, but they’d need 67 Senators from both parties to remove her. That seems a real stretch, given that 20 Republicans would have to concur with all Democrats
“Venezuelan Oil Money” – After arresting the president of Venezuela weeks ago, the Trump administration ordered that U.S.-seized oil be sold, with the money raised deposited in a Qatari bank. That’s drawing fire in Congress, even from his fellow Republicans. Rep. Tom Massie (R), Kentucky, a frequent Trump critic, said on X, “Selling stolen oil and putting billions of dollars in a bank in Qatar to be spent without Congressional approval is not Constitutional.” Massie added, “Only Congress can appropriate money.” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers issued a statement, saying, “President Trump captured the narco-terrorist leader of Venezuela who poisoned the American people with deadly drugs and sent thousands of vicious illegal aliens into our country.” Rogers added, “Thomas Massie crying about that is just one more reason why the great people of Kentucky have completely lost faith in him.” Trump is backing a primary challenger to Massie in the midterms. This will likely get uglier.
“Good Grief, Greenland” – The story changes daily about Greenland being acquired by the United States. Initially, President Donald Trump said it could be taken through military action. Then he backed down at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying, “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable. But I won’t do that, OK?” But then Trump said he would impose a 10 percent tariff on eight NATO countries that opposed him for even trying to buy Greenland, whose owners in Denmark say it’s not for sale. U.S. financial markets tanked, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 870 points on Tuesday. The next day, Trump ended the tariff plan, but he’s not backing down on his pledge to acquire Greenland, by other means. Meanwhile, markets bounced back sharply, up nearly 600 points on Wednesday, and up another 300 points on Thursday. Trump now says he has a NATO-backed deal to acquire Greenland, but we’ll see. He also created his so-called Board of Peace, but so far, many U.S. allies have declined to join.
“The Clintons and Epstein” – The House Oversight Committee has voted to find former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Contempt of Congress. Nine Democrats joined all the Republicans in voting yes. “Subpoenas are not mere suggestions; they carry the force of law and require compliance,” said Chairman Rep. James Comer (R), Kentucky. The committee had issued subpoenas to both Clintons, seeking testimony about their friendships with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficking girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Those two were frequent visitors to the Clinton White House, and Bill flew often on Epstein’s private jet for Clinton Foundation business. The Clintons said they were unaware of any impropriety or illegality in which the two might have been involved, and so they refused to testify. “We have tried to give you the little information we have. We’ve done so because Mr. Epstein’s crimes were horrific,” the Clintons wrote in a letter to Chairman Comer last week, repeating that they would be willing to submit written testimony. Next, the whole House will vote on the Contempt of Congress resolution, but no date has been set. No U.S. president has ever been forced to testify before Congress, though some have done so voluntarily.
“Supreme Fed Fight” – This past week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the Trump administration’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook. President Trump fired her last year, but she filed a lawsuit, and a lower federal court kept her on the job during appeals. No president has ever fired a member of the Federal Reserve. The White House was critical of her stance on interest rates and also accused her of mortgage fraud, though she has never been charged with that crime. In a prior case involving the Fed, the high court said it approached the independence of the nation’s central bank cautiously. A court statement said the Fed was “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.” Based on questioning in Wednesday’s arguments, you got the sense that conservative Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh would join Chief Justice John Roberts in backing Cook and opposing the White House. If the three liberal justices join them, it’s a 6-3 vote to keep Cook at the Fed, and a significant loss for Trump.
“President’s Legal Troubles” – No president has ever been the subject of so much litigation in federal court. President Trump has won some big battles but lost others. Many major outcomes are still pending. With that in mind, there has been an effort by some in Congress and the White House to impeach federal judges who voted against Trump or his policies. At first, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) Louisiana opposed this effort. But this week, he changed his tune and is onboard. He said, “Some of these judges have gotten so far outside the bounds of where they’re supposed to operate [that] it would not be, in my view, a bad thing for Congress to lay down the law, so to speak, and … make an example of some of the egregious abuses.” While I am not a lawyer, I think this notion hits dangerously close to violating the separation of powers as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. It calls for three coequal branches of government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. To me, this effort sounds like the executive and legislative branches are trying to bully the judicial branch. In nearly 250 years of U.S. existence, only 15 federal judges have been impeached, and just eight were removed from office. To suggest a large-scale purge now is troubling.
“Trump to ‘Schedule’ Army v. Navy Game?” – Perhaps the most unusual story of the week involved President Trump saying he was taking over the scheduling of an annual fall football tradition. He issued a statement saying, “Under my administration, the second Saturday in December belongs to Army-Navy, and ONLY Army-Navy! I will soon sign a HISTORIC Executive Order securing an EXCLUSIVE 4-hour Broadcast window, so this National Event stands above Commercial Post-Season Games. No other Game or Team can violate this Time Slot!!!” (Note: all the odd capitalizations are verbatim from his statement.) In truth, the president has no control over the TV networks or NCAA sports. He could politely ask them to make no other games that day, but given the huge advertising revenue generated by postseason play, I doubt the teams or networks would comply.
Mark Curtis, Ed.D., is a South Florida-based political writer and analyst who has covered news and politics all across the nation, including New England, for the past 48 years. Most recently, he was the Chief Political Reporter for the seven Nexstar Media TV stations covering West Virginia, its five neighboring states, and the entire Washington, DC media market. He remains a MINDSETTER™ Contributing Political Writer and Analyst for www.GoLocalProv.com and its affiliates.
Related Articles
- Violence and Turmoil at Home and Abroad – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Trump’s Troubles and Vaccine Wars – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – September 7, 2025
- More Fallout From Kirk’s Murder and Epstein Sex Case – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- From Comey to Shutdown? From Kimmel to Kirk – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Shutdown Showdown and More Court Battles – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- “Courtrooms: Tariffs, Epstein, Trump and ‘I’m an AG’” — The Sunday Political Brunch
- Criminals, Attorney General and Investigations – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- All Epstein; All the Time – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – July 27, 2025
- It’s All about Epstein and the Economy – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – August 3, 2025
- Know When to Hold Them & When to Fold Them – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – August 10, 2025
- The Epstein-Maxwell Saga Gains Volume – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Shutdown Standoff and More Court Fights – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Bolton Busted; A Piece of Peace; & Shutdown Marches On – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Immigration Battles and More Epstein Files – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – December 14, 2025
- Hegseth in the Hot Seat & Pardons Prevail – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- The Politics of Tragedies – “The Sunday Political Brunch”—December 21, 2025
- 2026 Elections Loom; Is Epstein the Ghost? “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Venezuela, Epstein Messes and 2026 Election Woes – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- When News Hits Too Close to Home – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- The Epstein Files are Coming, Finally — “The Sunday Political Brunch” – November 23, 2025
- From Teardown to Shutdown and Beyond – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – October 26, 2025
- Real People Get Hurt in Government Shutdowns – “The Sunday Political Brunch” – November 2, 2025
- Assessing 2025 Elections and Shutdown Letdown – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Shutdown Ends, but No Slowdown on Epstein – “The Sunday Political Brunch”
- Turmoil Reigns at Home and Overseas — “The Sunday Political Brunch”
