Top 5 US news stories
January 29 2026
Trump and Schumer Near Deal on Immigration Enforcement to Avert Weekend Shutdown
New Video Reveals Earlier Confrontation Between Pretti and Federal Agents Days Before Fatal Shooting
Consumer Confidence Crashes to Lowest Level in Over a Decade Despite Economic Growth
FBI Searches Georgia Election Office in 2020 Election Fraud Investigation
Trump Threatens Iran with Strikes "Far Worse" Than June Attack as US Fleet Deploys to Region
BREAKING...Fed Holds Rates Steady for First Time Since July...Officials Signaled Greater Comfort With a Pause on Rate Cuts...Two Governors Favored a Reduction...
Trump and Schumer Near Deal on Immigration Enforcement to Avert Weekend Shutdown
President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer moved toward a possible agreement Wednesday night to negotiate new restrictions on federal immigration agents, potentially preventing a government shutdown set to begin early Saturday. Under the emerging plan, the Senate would separate Department of Homeland Security funding from a larger six-bill spending package, pass the remaining bills before Friday's midnight deadline, and consider a short-term extension for homeland security operations to allow time for negotiations. The stopgap measure would maintain services for the Transportation Security Agency, Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency while lawmakers and the White House draft a new homeland security spending bill that includes Democratic demands for new restrictions on immigration enforcement tactics and greater accountability for agents accused of excessive force.
NYT
New Video Reveals Earlier Confrontation Between Pretti and Federal Agents Days Before Fatal Shooting
A video published Wednesday by The News Movement shows an earlier altercation between Alex Pretti and federal immigration agents, occurring days before his fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis on Saturday. The footage shows Pretti appearing to yell and spit at a sport-utility vehicle occupied by federal immigration authorities before kicking in one of its taillights. A masked, armed man in fatigues who appears to be a federal immigration agent exits the back seat of a Ford Expedition, chases Pretti, and wrestles him to the ground in the shaky footage, which was apparently recorded by someone moving away from the intersection. A family spokesperson confirmed the man in the video was Pretti.
WSJ
Consumer Confidence Crashes to Lowest Level in Over a Decade Despite Economic Growth
American consumer confidence collapsed to its weakest level in more than a decade in January, falling below pandemic-era lows and raising concerns about the health of the world's largest economy. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped to 84.5, well below market expectations and the lowest reading since May 2014, with consumers expressing deepening concerns about both current conditions and future expectations, according to the think tank's chief economist Dana Peterson. The bleak consumer sentiment despite recent strong GDP growth and spending data has intensified concerns that economic gains are not being evenly distributed across the population, coinciding with President Trump's Iowa visit to begin a weekly tour promoting his economic record as polling shows mixed voter perception of economic conditions.
Financial Times
FBI Searches Georgia Election Office in 2020 Election Fraud Investigation
The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday at Fulton County's Election Hub and Operation Center near Atlanta, as part of an investigation into alleged voting fraud in the 2020 election, which President Trump has claimed led to his defeat. Federal agents sought to seize computers and ballots believed to be held at the warehouse-like facility, which Georgia officials opened in 2023, as part of an investigation into possible election interference, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity. The warrant sought a number of records related to the 2020 election, Fulton County government confirmed, and the search concluded Wednesday night.
Reuters
Trump Threatens Iran with Strikes "Far Worse" Than June Attack as US Fleet Deploys to Region
President Trump warned Iran Wednesday that "time is running out" to reach a deal to avert US military action, writing on Truth Social that a "massive Armada is heading to Iran" and comparing the potential mission to Washington's recent operation in Venezuela. The president warned that any attack would exceed the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in June, writing that the fleet is "ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfil its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary" and urging Iran to "make a deal" before facing consequences worse than "Operation Midnight Hammer." Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi responded that the country's armed forces had "their fingers on the trigger" to respond to any military action, while expressing Tehran's readiness for a "fair" nuclear deal. Araghchi said Iran would "respond even more strongly, rapidly and profoundly" than during the 12-day war in June, while remaining open to "a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable nuclear deal" ensuring its right to peaceful nuclear technology and guaranteeing no nuclear weapons development. The US has deployed additional military assets to the region, including a carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified on Capitol Hill that Iran's regime is "probably weaker than it has ever been" with an economy in collapse.
Financial Times
January 29 1861: Kansas enters the Union
Kansas entered the Union as a free state after years of violent conflict over whether slavery would be allowed there. Throughout the 1850s, pro-slavery forces from neighboring Missouri and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas clashed in a period known as “Bleeding Kansas,” marked by fraudulent voting, competing constitutions, and repeated atrocities on both sides. When the anti-slavery faction finally prevailed and Kansas became the 34th state, its admission highlighted the deep national divide over slavery and the Civil War began just three months later, in April 1861.
Found a mistake? Have a news tip or feedback to share? Contact our newsroom using the button below:
citizen journal offers three flagship products: a daily national news summary, a daily Kansas news summary, and local news and school board summaries from 34 cities across 5 states. Use the links in the header to navigate to national, kansas, and local coverage. Subscribe to each, some, or all to get an email when new issues are published for FREE!
Brought to you by (click me!)
Sources
