Amid a funding fight on Capitol Hill and polls showing more than 60% of Americans disapproving of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is enforcing immigration laws, senior immigration officials will testify Tuesday before the House Department of Homeland Security Committee.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) Commissioner Rodney Scott are to appear in the first of two hearings on oversight of the two agencies. Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is also expected to appear.

The three are scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Tuesday’s testimony will be their first since two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis and since the partial drawdown of federal officers from Minnesota.

“In order to get [Department of Homeland Security funding] done, I think we need to get some questions asked and make everybody feel comfortable about what ICE, USCIS, and CBP are doing, what their goals are, and what they’re trying to accomplish,” House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. said on the “Julie Mason Show” over the weekend. “I think having these directors there will give them the opportunity to talk about the training that their officers receiv. … There was a huge investment to hire more ICE and CBP officers that came through the One Big Beautiful Bil. … It’s going to be good to have these directors giving answers and setting the record straight.”

Democrats have been calling for more accountability for ICE and CBP. They have also called on Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the immigration agencies, to resign, which she has said she will not.

In a statement released Monday, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the hearing “is going to be just the start of a reckoning for the Trump administration and its weaponization of government against our country.”

“Donald Trump and Kristi Noem must be held accountable for the immigration operations creating chaos in our communities, terrorizing people, and hurting U.S. citizens and immigrants alike,” he continued. “I hope my Republican colleagues will remember that our job is to conduct oversight, not cover for Donald Trump and his out-of-control administration, which is running roughshod over Americans’ rights, killing U.S. citizens, and threatening our very democracy.” 

Polls show Americans disapprove of how the agencies are conducting President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operation.

A Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found that 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws and 34% approve — a lower rating than the agency received in a January Quinnipiac poll, when 57% disapproved and 40% approved.

And an Ipsos poll from early February found that 62% of Americans said efforts by ICE officers to deal with unauthorized immigration goes “too far.” That is up slightly from 58% who said the same in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted the week before. The share of Republicans saying ICE efforts go too far was up 10 points, from 20% to 30%.

Funding for DHS is set to expire on Friday if there is no deal on DHS reforms Democrats want passed for CBP and ICE.

In a letter last week to Republican leaders, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out 10 key demands from Democrats on DHS funding, including calling for judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on ICE agents wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.

Republican Sen. Katie Britt, who has been deputized by leadership to lead talks on behalf of Senate Republicans, ripped into the Democrats’ proposal in a post on X last week.

“Democrats’ newest proposal is a ridiculous Christmas list of demands for the press,” Britt said. “This is NOT negotiating in good faith, and it’s NOT what the American people want. They continue to play politics to their radical base at the expense of the safety of Americans.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday evening that Republicans are preparing a counteroffer to Democrats’ proposal that could be made available soon. 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett has emerged as the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination in Texas’s 2026 U.S. Senate primary, according to a recent poll conducted by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs.

With just under a month until the March primary, the survey of likely Democratic voters shows Crockett commanding 47 percent support, significantly ahead of state Rep. James Talarico at 39 percent, and Ahmad Hassan at two percent. Twelve percent of voters remain undecided.

This is hardly a breaking-news situation. It’s not like some horrible new information has been unearthed in the last few days about the President of the United States.

(Though I don’t think he helped himself by posting the Obamas-as-apes image and refusing to apologize.) 

I started thinking about this after some comments by Ross Douthat, the moderately conservative New York Times columnist, who is, shall we say, a frequent critic of Donald Trump.

“I want to tell you a secret,” Douthat says in the video. Well, that sounds exciting.

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Center-right New York Times columnist Ross Douthat posits that President Donald Trump has “lost the country.” (Al Drago/Getty Images)

“One that most conservatives on the internet don’t want you to know. A year into his second presidency, Donald Trump has lost the country.”

Is that true?

He’s not just saying that the Democrats are going to crush the GOP in the midterms the same way that the Seattle Seahawks annihilated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. 

He plays clips of pundits analyzing the latest polls, such as Trump with an approval rating of 37%, and a majority of Americans saying the country is worse off than a year ago. 

But is this the rarefied view of the Acela corridor intelligentsia that doesn’t reflect the Silent Majority, a term popularized by Richard Nixon that Trump has now embraced?

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Let Douthat make his case: “And all of this was predictable. From the first days of DOGE through the debacle in Minneapolis, the Trump administration has consistently governed as if swing voters aren’t part of its coalition. And now, guess what? They’re not.”

Let me toss out some caveats:

Donald Trump has been declared politically dead with stunning regularity over the last decade. After his “Access Hollywood” comments about having his way with women. After the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels. And even by most fellow Republicans after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Not to mention by the four indictments, with one conviction, that undoubtedly wound up helping Trump because they were viewed as overkill.

How many political geniuses thought at the time that Trump could come back to win a second term? 

Few in political intelligentsia were truly prepared for a Trump comeback. (Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS)

And while I agree that the Democrats have hurricane-force winds at their backs for the midterms, it is still nine months away with many unknown variables, especially the state of the economy in the wake of Trump’s tariffs.

What’s more, Trump’s divisive governing style has always focused on playing to his MAGA base, while doggedly denouncing Democratic leaders (Tim Walz is “seriously r——d”), their cities (Baltimore is a “hellhole”), and saying Somalis are “garbage” and should be sent home. 

“But here’s the thing,” says Douthat. “It isn’t moderates and swing voters who lose out when the Trump administration becomes unpopular. It’s people on the right. People like me, and certainly people further to my right who support many of the things the Trump administration has tried to do, from securing the border to pressuring American institutions to become more ideologically diverse, to resetting and rolling back DEI. All of that, all of that agenda will just disappear if the Republican Party can’t win elections.”

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Having offered up various explanations, I have to say I think Ross Douthat is onto something.

We’ve been through a stretch in which the president has kidnapped the leader of Venezuela (though Nicolás Maduro is a crooked thug), threatened to take over Greenland, alienated Canada with his 51st-state talk, abolished the East Wing, ordered his name chiseled onto the Kennedy Center, and presided over a 43-day government shutdown, the longest in American history.

And he remains dogged by the Jeffrey Epstein files, though I’d argue that the documents confirm he didn’t personally engage in sexual misconduct.

Trump has also made no effort to hide his campaign of retribution against political enemies, although such attempts have often been rebuffed by the courts (such as a judge throwing out charges against Jim Comey and Letitia James).

The Jeffrey Epstein files are a lingering albatross for the president. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

I think it’s something even more visceral than that.

The awful excesses of ICE have fueled a fierce backlash against the federal forces that are carrying out Trump’s signature campaign issue, a program of mass deportation. And the violence directed at these agents is of course reprehensible.

Yet every couple of days, Americans are hearing about, or viewing phone videos of, ICE detaining a 5-year-old boy, ICE dragging a man in his underwear into the snow before returning him, ICE pulling American citizens from their cars, ICE breaking a car window after being told a month-old baby was in the back, covering the infant with shards of glass.

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DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told me in a video podcast interview that she stands by her comments that Renee Good was a domestic terrorist.

But it’s the killing of Good, who had just dropped her child at school, and especially Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse working with veterans, that have really shaken the country and made Minneapolis resemble a warzone.

The president has toned down his rhetoric, saying ICE should have used a “softer touch,” expressing sympathy for the dead Americans, and beginning a partial pullback from Minnesota.

Sometimes an accumulation of issues reaches a tipping point, one that grabs people by the throat and won’t let go, inflicting lasting damage. 

The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have turned Minneapolis into an effective warzone. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

So has Trump lost the country? It’s complicated.    

The tipping-point issue easily becomes shorthand for all the other attributes that people dislike about a politician. The economy really isn’t that bad, with 4.4% unemployment, but many Americans perceive their situation to be worse.

ICE’s sometimes brutal tactics, which are supposed to be aimed at illegal immigrants and the so-called “worst of the worst,” are increasingly being used against American citizens.

Less than 14% of the nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in the past year had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, says an internal Homeland Security document obtained by CBS.

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And then there are the children caught up in this web. According to a lawsuit, 18-month-old Amelia was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening respiratory failure, then sent back to a Texas detention center, where she was allegedly denied the daily medication doctors prescribed. As the toddler struggled to breathe, “she was on the brink of dying,” said an immigrants’ advocate at Columbia Law School, according to NBC. (Amelia was released after the suit was filed.)

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I would never rule out Trump’s ability to bounce back. But the angst over ICE, and the assault on citizens of this country, have left an indelible scar on his presidency.

A gold pendant linked to Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, has been acquired by the British Museum following a successful fundraising campaign.

The London museum launched the appeal in October to buy the Tudor Heart – a 16th-century, heart-shaped pendant discovered in Warwickshire by a metal detectorist in 2019 – and prevent it from entering a private collection.

It has now announced it has reached its £3.5m fundraising target, after receiving more than £350,000 in public contributions and a string of donations from grants, trusts, and arts organisations.

More than 45,000 members of the public contributed to the fundraising effort, the museum said, while it received £1.75m from The National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Other donors included The Julia Rausing Trust, which donated £500,000 to the cause, the charity Art Fund, which donated £400,000, and The American Friends of the British Museum, which gave £300,000.

The 24-carat gold artefact is thought to have been created for an event held in October 1518 to mark the betrothal of Henry and Catherine’s daughter, Princess Mary – who would become Mary I – to the French heir apparent, according to research by the British Museum.

It added that Henry VIII regularly commissioned London goldsmiths to create costume jewellery for major celebrations and state occasions. However, very few objects celebrating Henry and Catherine’s relationship remain.

‘Beautiful survivor’

Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, offered “a heartfelt thank you” to those who supported the campaign.

He said: “The success of the campaign shows the power of history to spark the imagination and why objects like the Tudor Heart should be in a museum.

“This beautiful survivor tells us about a piece of English history few of us knew, but in which we can all now share.

“I am looking forward to saying more soon on our plans for it to tour the UK in the future.”

Read more from Sky News:
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After it was discovered, the pendant was reported under the Treasure Act 1996, which gives museums and galleries in England the opportunity to acquire historical objects and put them on display.

Since the fundraising effort was announced, the Tudor Heart has been on display in the British Museum’s gallery two, where it is set to remain on view.

The museum said it hopes to have the pendant formally in the collection later this year.

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A congressman tells us the British monarchy has questions to answer over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The King and Queen in America’s sights – what does this mean?

That’s all as Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link to testify over the Epstein files.

Elsewhere – the fallout over the half-time show at the Super Bowl and Trump’s racist Truth Social post on Friday.

Plus – have we just been introduced to a new frontrunner for the next president of the US?

You can watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

Email us on trump100@sky.uk with your comments and questions.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor vigorously denies any allegations of wrongdoing in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.

Huntingdonshire District Council wants to extend and refurbish a leisure centre it runs to meet growing demand for the facilities.

New swimming pools and fitness facilities could be built in Huntingdon under plans to improve the town’s leisure centre. Huntingdonshire District Council has submitted a planning application to extend and refurbish One Leisure Huntingdon, including building new swimming pools and fitness suites. It also includes plans to relocate an artificial pitch and create new racket courts.

Councillors are due to consider the plans at a meeting on Monday, February 16. Planning documents submitted as part of the application said current pool facilities mean the leisure centre is “not fulfilling its potential” due to the age and range of what is available.

The plans said: “The extent of refurbishment works required to bring it up to a necessary standard is not considered commercially viable. It is proposed therefore that the ‘wet’ side facilities are to be merged with the ‘dry’ side offering by way of a two-storey extension. The existing ‘wet’ side facility is to be refurbished for non-pool related activities.”

A new 25-metre eight-lane swimming pool with a spectator seating area is proposed, as well as a 13-metre learner pool, and other associated facilities.

The plans said there is currently a “significant under provision” of swimming and fitness facilities in the district. It said: “It is evident that the provision of new swimming pools, fitness suites and external sports pitches will provide needed sports facilities helping to address identified deficiencies.

“The development proposals represent significant investment in council owned community infrastructure. There will be significant economic benefits during the construction period and subsequent benefits will stem from both increased operational employment and the socio-economic benefits of increased public participation in health and fitness.”

A report published ahead of the meeting next week highlights that support for the project has been shared by Huntingdon Town Council and Sports England.

An objection to the development has been raised by Anglian Water due to concerns about the plans for foul water drainage to go to the Huntingdon (Godmanchester) Water Recycling Centre. The report said this has “insufficient capacity to accept the additional flows from the development”.

Officers said they asked Anglian Water for more information about the concerns, including to what extent that development would result in a net increase in foul flows, given there is an existing leisure centre, and what the environmental harm could be.

The report said the response from Anglian Water explained that its objection did not take into account that this is a refurbishment and extension of an existing leisure centre, rather than a whole new facility being provided.

Officers said in the planning balance they gave weight to the “potential environmental risks arising from the additional flows generated by the expanded wet-side facilities”.

However, they also highlighted the “clear and substantial public benefits” of the project, including the upgraded health and recreation facilities. Officers said they therefore recommended that the application is approved, subject to conditions.

The report said: “Not all developments are entirely without harm or entirely without benefit. In reaching a recommendation, the identified harm has been carefully balanced against the benefits of the development.

“In this case, the cumulative benefits are considered sufficient to outweigh the identified less than substantial harm to a designated heritage asset and the environmental harm arising from the additional foul flows generated by the proposed development.”

Councillors will make the final decision on whether planning permission is granted for the proposed development when they consider the application next week.

For more planning notices in your area visit publicnoticeportal.uk .