Trump’s pick for attorney-general faces Senate hearing later today – US politics live

Trump’s nominee – his former personal defense lawyer – will face what is expected to be a contentious Senate nomination hearing

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President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next US attorney general – his former personal defense lawyer Todd Blanche – faces what is expected to be a contentious Senate nomination hearing today.

Federal immigration officials have been instructed to stop pulling over vehicles until further notice, according to a homeland security source, following two recent deadly shootings in Texas and Maine during which officials shot and killed immigrants in vehicles. More here.

Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to temporarily fill his Senate seat on Tuesday, just three days after his sudden death. Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, to fill the remainder of her brother’s current term. More here.

A person died during an encounter with federal immigration officials on Tuesday morning in Florida, marking the third death in one week linked to immigration enforcement operations. Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had an “encounter” with four men in a vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store along a busy road in St Augustine, Florida, the highway patrol spokesperson said. More here.

Supreme court justices requested $14.6m increase in security amid a rise in threats. Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives. More here.

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