AP
Washington
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is facing a litany of questions Tuesday about the Trump administration’s fragile or stalling diplomatic efforts around the world when he appears for back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill for the first time since the Iran war began.
Senate Republicans are meeting Tuesday to discuss next steps after the Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump’s political allies.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is also set to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee. The hearing was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department’s budget, but lawmakers will almost certainly focus their questioning on the settlement fund.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump’s decision to tap his housing finance director as acting director of national intelligence, saying Bill Pulte is “a partisan thug with no experience in intelligence.”
Sen Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a lengthy statement that Pulte was picked because Trump “believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.” He warned that a pick like this leaves Americans “vulnerable to a terrorist attack.” Rep Jim Himes, said “it is critical that Pulte go through a full security clearance process before he walks into the building.”
Shortly after Pope Leo XIV issued his sweeping manifesto calling for robust regulation of artificial intelligence, the Instagram meme account Saint Hoax posted this reaction to its more than 3 million followers about the pope’s call to “disarm” AI.
Similar reactions to Leo’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), seem driven by a perception among young people that few political or global leaders are taking seriously the ramifications of AI’s rapid rise.
The pontiff reiterates throughout the roughly 42,300-word document that the church must engage in contemporary questions and challenges. For Leo, that has included rebuking certain policies, actions and leaders, including Trump and the ongoing war in Iran. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, invoked the “just war” theory in response. Leo’s encyclical calls this church teaching “outdated.”
“Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness,” Leo wrote.
In a very sober assessment, the secretary of state was clear-eyed about the innovation that artificial intelligence can have on the US and global economy but also acknowledged that the emerging technology will also cause destruction to certain industries and white-collar jobs.
Those jobs will have to be replaced with new jobs or new skills, he said.
“That’s not just an economic issue. That is a political issue, that over time could destabilize societies all over the world. And so we have to start thinking about AI in those terms, as well,” he said.
Shaheen, the committee’s ranking Democrat, pressed Rubio on whether the US will extend a waiver on Russia oil sanctions. The US has issued extensions for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea in order to ease oil shortages caused by the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio said the decision will ultimately be made by the US Treasury Department, “but I will tell you, it depends on the circumstances at the time.”
“We would like to end it as soon as we possibly can, because the underlying policy of this country has been to sanction their oil. These are time limited waivers for the purpose of opening up more global supply,” Rubio said.
