1 month ago
Updated on: October 4, 2026 / 8:06 PM EDT / CBS News
As Sen. Thom Tillis exits the Senate, he's blasting many of the advisers President Trump has surrounded himself with as "sycophants, and calling on his colleagues to stand up to executive power like the co-equal branch of government they are."
The 66-year-old senior senator from North Carolina unloads on what he calls the "WTF moments" of the second Trump Administration in a new book, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents." Having served in the Senate during the Barack Obama, Joe Biden and both Trump presidencies, Tillis said he's increasingly worried about how the nation's system of checks and balances is being tested by the outsized influence of the executive branch.
"We will have a sort of dictator king if we're not careful," he said.
Every recent White House has been eager to govern by executive order, something that's been especially true during the current Trump administration, Tillis said. Presidents, he said, fail to understand that Congress is a coequal branch that should be treated as a peer, and that Congress needs to act as such.
#tillis #congress #updated #october
As Sen. Thom Tillis exits the Senate, he's blasting many of the advisers President Trump has surrounded himself with as "sycophants, and calling on his colleagues to stand up to executive power like the co-equal branch of government they are."
The 66-year-old senior senator from North Carolina unloads on what he calls the "WTF moments" of the second Trump Administration in a new book, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents." Having served in the Senate during the Barack Obama, Joe Biden and both Trump presidencies, Tillis said he's increasingly worried about how the nation's system of checks and balances is being tested by the outsized influence of the executive branch.
"We will have a sort of dictator king if we're not careful," he said.
Every recent White House has been eager to govern by executive order, something that's been especially true during the current Trump administration, Tillis said. Presidents, he said, fail to understand that Congress is a coequal branch that should be treated as a peer, and that Congress needs to act as such.
#tillis #congress #updated #october
2 months ago
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had a sly way of addressing reports that Troy Jackson, her Democratic opponent, fathered two children with his second cousin.
"Well, I'm not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin," Collins told a Politico reporter when asked if Jackson's personal life would be fair game on the campaign trail. "I don't know whether people know that or not."
"But you just mentioned it," the reporter shot back.
The clip quickly spread across social media as conservatives praised Collins for her political savvy.
Top Dem Operative Brushes Off Latest Scandal Plaguing Maine Senate Candidate As 'Salacious Gossip'
#cousin #reporter #troy
"Well, I'm not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin," Collins told a Politico reporter when asked if Jackson's personal life would be fair game on the campaign trail. "I don't know whether people know that or not."
"But you just mentioned it," the reporter shot back.
The clip quickly spread across social media as conservatives praised Collins for her political savvy.
Top Dem Operative Brushes Off Latest Scandal Plaguing Maine Senate Candidate As 'Salacious Gossip'
#cousin #reporter #troy
3 months ago
By David Lewis
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - An estimated $50 million ransom paid to free a hostage seized by al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali in late 2025 has helped to fund their advances across West Africa and the group's global network, U.N. experts said.
A new U.N. report detailing the use of the ransom did not identify the hostage or say who had made the payment.
Three regional sources identified the country having made the payment as the United Arab Emirates. The sources said that an Emirati citizen, as well as two other foreigners who had been kidnapped but were not referenced in the U.N. report, were freed after money changed hands. They did not explain how it had been done.
In response to questions about the kidnapping and ransom payment, a UAE official did not address the specifics of the case but said the country was unwavering in condemning and countering extremism and terrorism.
#country
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - An estimated $50 million ransom paid to free a hostage seized by al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali in late 2025 has helped to fund their advances across West Africa and the group's global network, U.N. experts said.
A new U.N. report detailing the use of the ransom did not identify the hostage or say who had made the payment.
Three regional sources identified the country having made the payment as the United Arab Emirates. The sources said that an Emirati citizen, as well as two other foreigners who had been kidnapped but were not referenced in the U.N. report, were freed after money changed hands. They did not explain how it had been done.
In response to questions about the kidnapping and ransom payment, a UAE official did not address the specifics of the case but said the country was unwavering in condemning and countering extremism and terrorism.
#country
4 months ago
The bottom 50% of households in the U.S. own only $4.27 trillion of the nation's $174 trillion in available wealth. By contrast, the top 0.1% own $25.07 trillion, and the top 99 to 99.9% own a little under $30 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data.
With AI now supercharging the stock market, and richer families already owning the majority of those ***** ets, that divide is only likely to widen.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is well aware of this phenomenon. In fact, the man worth more than $3 billion according to Forbes says he understands why people are "anti-rich." Speaking to Axios, Dimon said the "anti-rich thing has been around for a long time."
In his role as CEO of the largest bank in the U.S., Dimon rubs shoulders with some of the wealthiest people on the planet. But he also works for the bank's customers who have more standard levels of income.
The resurgence in popular resentment of inequality has happened because "we have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind," Dimon said. The Wall Street veteran, who has the ear of everyone from world leaders to central bankers to the markets, said he often reminds well-off people that they don't have to worry about the schools their children attend, and they don't live in "crime-ridden neighborhoods."
"If you are making less income and you're in a poor rural area, or an inner city area, your schools aren't good, you go to crime-ridden neighborhoods, [there is] more divorce, less jobs–it is becoming intergenerational, so let's acknowledge it and fix it," Dimon said.
Dimon contextualized the frustration of lower-income families, noting that, compared with the 1960s and 1970s, standards of living have improved across the board. In fact, a Fed study released last year found that the share of people who said they were financially "doing okay" or "living comfortably" rose from 62% to 73% in the U.S.
With AI now supercharging the stock market, and richer families already owning the majority of those ***** ets, that divide is only likely to widen.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is well aware of this phenomenon. In fact, the man worth more than $3 billion according to Forbes says he understands why people are "anti-rich." Speaking to Axios, Dimon said the "anti-rich thing has been around for a long time."
In his role as CEO of the largest bank in the U.S., Dimon rubs shoulders with some of the wealthiest people on the planet. But he also works for the bank's customers who have more standard levels of income.
The resurgence in popular resentment of inequality has happened because "we have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind," Dimon said. The Wall Street veteran, who has the ear of everyone from world leaders to central bankers to the markets, said he often reminds well-off people that they don't have to worry about the schools their children attend, and they don't live in "crime-ridden neighborhoods."
"If you are making less income and you're in a poor rural area, or an inner city area, your schools aren't good, you go to crime-ridden neighborhoods, [there is] more divorce, less jobs–it is becoming intergenerational, so let's acknowledge it and fix it," Dimon said.
Dimon contextualized the frustration of lower-income families, noting that, compared with the 1960s and 1970s, standards of living have improved across the board. In fact, a Fed study released last year found that the share of people who said they were financially "doing okay" or "living comfortably" rose from 62% to 73% in the U.S.
