Bovino Put Out To Pasture
Plus: Vance gets Kamala'd, positioning aircraft carriers near Iran, and more...
Unwinding the damage: "I am sending [border czar] Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight," said President Donald Trump yesterday. "He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me."
The Reason Roundup Newsletter by Liz Wolfe Liz and Reason help you make sense of the day's news every morning.
("Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets," he continued. Good! Welfare fraud in Minnesota needs to be investigated and stamped out.)
Greg Bovino was removed from his post as the guy in charge of the immigration enforcement campaign in Minnesota and the public face of the operation. Some of his agents will go with him. Word has circulated that Bovino plans to retire soon. (Translation: He is being put out to pasture.)
Saving face: "Mr. Bovino is a wonderful man and he's a great professional," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, rather diplomatically. "He is going to very much continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol [sic] throughout and across the country. Mr. Homan will be the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis."
Wow. Per @priscialva, DHS has suspended Gregory Bovino's access to his social media accounts effective immediately. He spent yesterday responding to people who were criticizing him and raising questions about his unverified claims about Pretti.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 27, 2026
But the GOP backlash has been mounting, with the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement serving as a galvanizing moment. "Officials who rush to judgment before all the facts are known undermine public trust and the law-enforcement mission," said Sen. John Curtis (R–Utah) on X. "I disagree with Secretary Noem's premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence. I will be working with a bipartisan group of senators to demand real oversight and transparency, including supporting calls from @RandPaul for leaders of these operations to testify, so trust can be restored and justice served."
"[Trump] is a dealmaker, and he's getting bad advice right now," was how Oklahoma's Gov. Kevin Stitt framed it, on CNN. Maximally conciliatory.
"If I were President Trump, I would almost think about, OK, if the mayor and the governor are going to put our ICE officials in harm's way and there's a chance of losing more, you know, innocent lives or whatever, then maybe go to another city and let the people of Minneapolis decide, 'Do we want to continue to have all of these illegals?'" asked Rep. James Comer (R–Ky.) on Fox. Immigration officials might be "better received" elsewhere.
Republicans know that Trump is highly sensitive to falling public opinion. They know he always needs a fall guy. The strategy seems pretty clear: Give him space to walk back the campaign, give him outs. Trump doesn't worry about seeming inconsistent; he worries about people disliking him.
Of course, there was never a way to do soft and gentle immigration enforcement. But I think many Republicans—both voters and legislators—expected more proceduralism, less of a show.
It's impressive that immigration enforcement in Minnesota managed to go so poorly that even Republican allies of Trump feel it's worth it to speak out. "Immigration, broadly, as one veteran senator granted anonymity to speak candidly told me over the weekend, is for the GOP what health care is for Democrats—a 'home game,'" reports Politico's Jonathan Martin. "Yet with viral images of Americans being shot in broad daylight replacing migrants stampeding across the country's border, that advantage is quickly dissipating."
Or, to put a finer point on it:
They're gonna take Kristi Noem out back only for her to see a dog holding a shotgun https://t.co/ZVTK9lx48H
— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) January 27, 2026
Scenes from New York: My baby son, Solomon, was operated on yesterday. It went well. Many readers reached out, and some of you even took the time to pray for us. I just wanted to say thank you, you have no idea how much it means to me. I'll go back on maternity leave soon to give him my full attention as he recovers and possibly moves toward being released from the NICU.
QUICK HITS
- J.D. Vance is getting Kamala'd:
JD you're getting Kamala'd right now, becoming the face of a toxic policy.
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) January 25, 2026
- "The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying warships have entered the Middle East, U.S. officials said, giving President Trump additional offensive and defensive capabilities should he choose to move forward with an attack on Iran," reports The Wall Street Journal. "Though Trump has indicated that he is still deciding on military action, the ships' arrival comes amid a significant buildup of combat power in the region….'We have a big force going toward Iran. I'd rather not see anything happen, but we're watching them very closely,' Trump said Thursday."
- Inside possible coercion cases in Canada's assisted suicide program. My pro-lifery is showing, but I have a very hard time trusting the state to be good arbiters of who qualifies to make decisions to live or die. They have their own incentives, don't they?
- Israel has received the very last body of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The corpse of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old special forces policeman, was finally brought back to his family. "The return of Gvili's remains is expected to mark the end of the first phase of the U.S.-backed ceasefire in the war in Gaza," notes NPR. "It could also pave the way for another big step. The Israeli government said it would allow Gaza's border crossing with Egypt to reopen again for Palestinians to enter and exit."
- Curious about how the NRA will position itself in the wake of the Alex Pretti shooting:
This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.
Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens. https://t.co/9fMz3CL29o
— NRA (@NRA) January 25, 2026
- More skewering of the terrible tweet:
Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it's a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don't understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government. https://t.co/pWPNo9dmLO
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 25, 2026
- Huge:
Ye, fka Kanye West, takes out a full-page in the Wall Street Journal to apologize to the Black community, and for antisemitism:
"I lost touch with reality" pic.twitter.com/Po8s4gNz5P
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 26, 2026