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House fails to extend ban on Trump tariff repeal votes in major blow to Johnson
This is performative politics again.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) faced a major setback on the House floor on Tuesday night after a handful of Republicans tanked a party-line vote to block resolutions looking to repeal President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The House failed to pass a procedural measure, called a “rule,” on a slate of bills that included language to extend the prohibition of members from calling up bills to repeal the administration’s tariffs through July 31. The measure failed 214 to 217, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it. 

This is a blow to leadership and Johnson, making this the seventh rule failure he’s faced since taking the speaker’s gavel. He had narrowly avoided a rule failure multiple times over the last six months, often by flipping a handful of GOP holdouts by actively whipping them on the floor. Before Tuesday, the most recent party-line vote failure occurred in July involving cryptocurrency and appropriations bills.

The vote on Tuesday sought to extend previous language that blocked tariff repeal resolutions from getting a vote, which expired at the end of January. But Democrats and some Republicans have numerous bills disapproving of Trump’s tariffs ready to go once the prohibition is lifted, hence why GOP leadership rushed this week to try and reinstate the ban.

Johnson holds a one-seat majority, and he faced at least two Republican detractors heading into the vote. Votes in the House were delayed from Tuesday afternoon to the evening as leadership sought to convince nearly half a dozen GOP holdouts to vote for the measure.

The speaker was successful in staving off opposition from members such as Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), or Mike Turner (R-OH), who have previously pushed back against tariffs.

Reps. Zach Nunn (R-IA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) withheld their votes for a time, but all three ended up voting “yes.” This came after Spartz said throughout the day on Tuesday that she was opposed to the measure, eventually flipping her vote as she has done on several other contentious bills this Congress.

GOP attendance also proved to be an issue, with Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) not voting this week. He has been recovering from surgery and has missed several votes since the start of the year. But Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), who has missed several votes while campaigning for the Texas Senate GOP primary, was present on Tuesday night and voted for the rule.

The vote was held open for nearly an …

Person of interest detained for questioning in Nancy Guthrie abduction case
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.

Law enforcement detained a person of interest on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.

The person of interest was detained for questioning but has not been arrested, according to Fox News. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI have been working on the case for over a week after Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. The Tuesday night development in the case comes hours after the release of doorbell camera footage of a possible suspect in the disappearance.

PATEL RELEASES DOORBELL CAMERA FOOTAGE OF POSSIBLE SUSPECT IN NANCY GUTHRIE’S DISAPPEARANCE 

FBI Director Kash Patel released images of a possible suspect who was tampering with the doorbell camera outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home while masked. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department had not released a statement on the detainment, though Patel said in a TV interview on Tuesday night that authorities were looking at “persons of interest” in the case.

The person of interest was detained south of Tucson, Arizona, and law enforcement was preparing to search a related location, according to ABC News.

Khanna reads names of six ‘wealthy, powerful’ men DOJ redacted in Epstein files
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) read the names of six men redacted from the Department of Justice’s publicly released Epstein files, telling the House floor that the names were “[hidden] for no apparent reason.”

Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the original sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, visited the DOJ on Monday to view the unredacted version of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Khanna said in a speech before the House floor on Tuesday that “there were six wealthy, powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason” in the redacted version of the files.

“When Congressman Massie and I pointed this out to the Department of Justice, they acknowledged their mistake, and now they have revealed the identity of these six, powerful men,” Khanna said. “These men are Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of Dubai Ports World, and billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner, who was labeled as a co-conspirator by the FBI.”

Khanna and Massie had mentioned the six men who were “likely incriminated” in the files on Monday. The two lawmakers have advocated that all non-victim names should be unredacted in the files.

Massie and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went back and forth on X on Monday night over the redactions, with Blanche actively posting updates of the DOJ un-redacting files and asserting, “the DOJ is committed to transparency.”

Of the six names Khanna discussed on Tuesday, Les Wexner and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem are the most high-profile. Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret and co-founder of Bath and Body Works, was subpoenaed by the House oversight committee in January over his ties to Epstein, with a deposition date of Feb. 18. Sulayem, an Emirati businessman, was allegedly the recipient of an email from Epstein saying he “loved” a “torture video.”

“My question is, why did it take Thomas Massie and me going to the Justice Department to get these six men’s identities to become public? And if we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3 million files,” Khanna said.

WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY HOWARD LUTNICK AS EPSTEIN FILES FALLOUT GROWS

Khanna called for “accountability for the Epstein class” in his speech on the House floor.

In the recent release of the Epstein files, several more high-profile names were mentioned, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and …

Austen Morgan: Phil Shiner knew Starmer, and Starmer knew him – but wants you to forget that
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

Dr Austen Morgan is a barrister at 33 Bedford Row Chambers.  He is the author of: Pretence: why the United Kingdom needs a written constitution, London 2023.

When, at last Wednesday’s PMQs, Kemi Badenoch was wasting Sir Keir Starmer over ‘Mandelson’ (as he is now known), there was also revealed something of the Prime Minister’s attitude towards UK troops on operations overseas.

Charlie Dewhirst, a new conservative MP, asked a question, after Badenoch’s allotted six:

“Was he [the prime minister] ever instructed by Mr Shiner’s law firm, Public Interest Lawyers [of Birmingham], to act in any legal case?”

The prime minister replied: “Let me be absolutely clear about this: as soon as there were any allegations of wrongdoing by Phil Shiner, I had absolutely nothing to do with him.”

That, as we lawyers say, is an implied admission of probable earlier involvement with Phil Shiner, if not with wrongdoing – not that the mainstream media had any bandwidth to deconstruct the answer and interrogate Number 10’s feeble attempts to portray the prime minister as the new best friend of military veterans.

The answer lies in our law reports, which are public documents, and in particular two important cases: Al-Skeini, in 2004-07, which went to the house of lords; and Al-Jedda, in 2005-07, which also went to our highest court.  Both sets of claimants were represented by Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers.

The Al-Skeini claimants were the Iraqi relatives of six men killed by UK soldiers.  The legal issue became whether the Human Rights Act 1998 applied in another country, namely Iraq, in which case the relatives would be entitled to effective investigations in the UK.  Five appellants failed, but the father of Baha Mousa succeeded because his son – a hotel receptionist in Basra – died in military detention.

Lord Bingham, the senior law lord, whom I have admired throughout my career, dissented, dealing with the complexities of international law (unlike the advocates before the court): the sovereignty and jurisdiction of two states; customary international law (including international humanitarian law); and a multilateral human rights agreement.  The Bingham dissent, not the judgment, is the landmark.

Sir Keir Starmer QC appeared in the case, one of his juniors being a Richard Hermer from his chambers.  He represented the so-called interveners, who were: the redress trust; the AIRE centre; Amnesty International; the association for the prevention of torture; the bar human rights committee, British Irish Rights Watch; Interights, Justice; the Kurdish human rights project; the law society of England and Wales; and Liberty.

Reading the House of Lords law report (68 pages), one notes: ‘the first five claimants (strongly supported by the interveners)’ (p 176); and …

FBI does ‘court-authorized search’ in Rio Rico, Arizona, for Nancy Guthrie case
The headline tells the story.

The FBI’s Evidence Response Team, in conjunction with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, is conducting a “court-authorized search” of a residence in Rio Rico, Arizona, on Tuesday night as part of the investigation of the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of broadcast journalist Savannah Guthrie. The search comes after law enforcement officials detained a person of interest in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance. 

The FBI announced the court-authorized search late Tuesday night and said it is expected to last several hours, according to multiple reports. Reports of the search were also shared on various social media accounts.

NEW STATEMENT FROM PCSD: "The Pima County Sheriff's Department, assisted by the FBI's Evidence Response Team, is conducting a court-authorized search of a location in Rio Rico, AZ related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation."
— KGUN 9 (@kgun9) February 11, 2026

“From FBI source to @CBSNews: Currently, the FBI’s Evidence Response Team is assisting the Pima County Sheriff’s Department with a court-authorized search of a location in Rio Rico, AZ related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation,” posted Amelia Mugavero, a CBS News Texas reporter. “Law enforcement will be present at this location for several hours. We’re asking the public and media to avoid congesting the area.”

The residence being searched is that of the person who was detained, according to reports.

A video on X posted by “Arizona’s Family” producer Mac Colson showed a woman claiming that law enforcement officials were searching her house as part of the Guthrie investigation. She said that her son-in-law was being questioned by police “in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance.”

“BREAKING: Woman tells reporters that authorities are searching her home in Rio Rico,” read Colson’s post. “She says her son-in-law, Carlos, is being questioned by police in connection to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. She says Carlos is a delivery man for FedEx.”

The woman in the video expressed shock at the police presence at her house and at the search of her home. She said she didn’t know why they were doing so, and also that she had nothing to hide. 

BREAKING: Woman tells reporters that authorities are searching her home in Rio Rico. She says her son-in-law, Carlos, is being questioned by police in connection to Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. She says Carlos is a delivery man for FedEx.
— Mac Colson (@MacColsonTV) February 11, 2026

PERSON OF …

Miriam Cates: Starmer and Johnson are very different men, but their downfalls are very similar
This affects the entire country.

Miriam Cates is the former MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge.

Among those of us who sat as Conservative MPs in the last parliament, the current political turmoil evokes a strong sense of deja-vu. The parallels between the Mandelson affair and the last weeks of Boris Johnson’s premiership are uncanny. Although Partygate and the Epstein files are worlds apart in terms of their seriousness, both scandals bolstered campaigns to oust sitting prime ministers with large parliamentary majorities.

Both Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer relied on powerful advisors who became lightning rods for  backbench discontent. Although Dominic Cummings resigned 18 months before Johnson’s demise, he played a similar role to Morgan McSweeney, who on Sunday was scapegoated for the Mandelson debacle and left Downing Street. In the run up to his departure, Johnson ‘revamped’ his Number 10 operation, losing key aides Dan Rosenfeld and Munira Mirza, and bringing in Guto Hari and Steve Barclay to ‘reboot’ his comms strategy. Similarly for Starmer, Tim Allen is out, standing down to allow “a new No 10 team to be built”.

The first signs of the end for Johnson – and perhaps for Starmer – began with being publicly undermined by a string of senior MPs calling publicly for their Party leader to step down. I will never forget watching David Davis rise to his feet in a packed House of Commons in January 2022 and implore Johnson “for the love of God man; go”. Clive Lewis’ scathing tweets about our current prime minister are somewhat less rousing.

In another parallel between the two cases, the beleaguered prime ministers’ Scottish deputies were among the first to break ranks. In January 2022, Ruth Davidson declared Johnson ‘unfit for office’; on Monday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Starmer to step down. Politicians north of the border are clearly ahead of the curve.

Ultimately, Johnson was toppled by a slew of ministers resigning en masse; so far Starmer’s cabinet is holding firm, although the support expressed in their tightly coordinated loyal social media posts seems neither heartfelt nor unconditional. And, just as then-chancellor Rishi Sunak was accused of starting a covert leadership campaign early in 2022, so Wes Streeting is thought to be on manoeuvers now.

After a well-received performance at the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting on Monday, Starmer seems safe for now – as did Johnson after he won (narrowly) a vote of no confidence in June 2022. Yet as it was for Johnson, this may yet be a temporary reprieve. Seven weeks after that vote, Johnson was gone, brought down by the fallout from accusations that Chris Pincher, the deputy chief whip drunkenly groped a man in the Carlton Club. For Starmer, any number of potential bumps in the road in the coming weeks may …

John Redwood: Whatever the failings of the state, it is ministers who are ultimately responsible
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

Sir John Redwood is a former MP for Wokingham and a former Secretary of State for Wales. He will soon join the House of Lords.

Many ministers are intelligent and well-intentioned people. When Rishi Sunak said “Stop the boats” he meant it. When Yvette Cooper said “smash the gangs”, she probably meant it. Yet illegal migration came down only a bit under Sunak, and shot up again under Labour. It was not stopped or drastically reduced as people want. It is going to take more changes of our laws and instructions to courts to deliver. The system seems to thwart the policy.

Conservative and Labour governments in recent years have put huge extra money into the NHS. Ministers have asked for more consultations and treatments to get waiting lists down. Instead, there has been a big collapse in productivity. Labour’s reduction in waiting lists is mainly an exercise in removing the dead, ending double-counting and dropping those who have recovered from the lists. Conservative ministers wanted the lists made accurate, but it did not happen. (The lists should always have been more accurate.)

Both Conservative and Labour have tipped ever more subsidy into the railways and have taken more government control over how they are run. As a reward, the fully-nationalised HS2 has run ever later behind schedule and presented taxpayers with ever bigger bills. Both governments agreed that the performance was so bad, and the costs so huge, the railway would no longer reach the North, its planned destination and main original purpose.

So why does nothing work? Sometimes it is politicians who let appearances triumph over reality. Labour ministers who say they want less  illegal migration may want more legal migration and are looking at ways of switching people from illegal to legal. More normally, however, it is a worrying failure of public sector management. Ministers set targets and issue instructions. They vote through more money. But things do not work.

There may in some cases be ministers who expect too much and contribute too little. Regardless, they are ultimately responsible and have to take the blame. For example, Labour thought it could set a target of building 1.5 m homes and tried to get more planning permissions agreed; it did not understand its tax and economic policy meant people could not afford the homes so the builders cannot build them all.

Quite often, however, the fault lies in failure by senior executives and officials in the public sector. Targets and general policies are agreed, but they do not follow through, or do not design the detail in ways that can work.

Part of the answer can be ministers who do more of the detail and take more daily interest in the implementation and management of policy. Ministers can intervene in many ways, and demand …

Grand jury rejects DOJ effort to indict Democratic lawmakers who urged military to defy illegal orders
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

A grand jury in the nation's capital on Tuesday refused the Justice Department's attempt to indict a group of Democratic lawmakers who encouraged U.S. military members to ignore "illegal" orders in a video posted online.
The DOJ opened an investigation into the video featuring six Democratic lawmakers calling on troops and members of the intelligence community to defy illegal orders from the federal government. The lawmakers all served in the military or at intelligence agencies.
The lawmakers in the video were Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, as well as Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Jason Crow of Colorado.
"This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens," the lawmakers said in the video. "Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution."
DEM SENATOR SAYS SHE'S UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OVER 'UNLAWFUL ORDERS' VIDEO
Grand jurors declined to sign off on charges against the lawmakers, according to The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors had pursued indictments against all six lawmakers or what charges they attempted to bring.
Prosecutors could still attempt to secure an indictmentto secure an indictment against the Democrats.
President Donald Trump had accused the lawmakers of being "traitors" who engaged in "sedition at the highest level" and "should be in jail." He even suggested they should be executed over the video, although he later attempted to walk that comment back.
Slotkin, who previously worked at the CIA and Defense Department, was targeted with a bomb threat just days after the clip and Trump's subsequent statements suggesting the Democrats be executed.
SEN MARK KELLY DIGS IN ON 'ILLEGAL ORDERS' STANCE, TELLS JIMMY KIMMEL HE'S 'NOT BACKING DOWN'
"Tonight we can score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law," Slotkin said in a statement on Tuesday. "But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country."
Kelly, a former Navy pilot, called the attempt to bring charges an "outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackeys."
"Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to …

Mandelson did for Morgan, now Kemi wants Keir’s scalp but be careful what you wish for
This deserves loud pushback.

Lazarus didn’t have a better revival, if you are in the Labour Party.

One day after the resignation of his Chief of Staff, the ‘brains of the operation’, Mandelson protogé and eventual sacrificial lamb, Morgan McSweeney, the man who relied so heavily upon him was on the ropes. Ugly for Starmer was the Monday mood in Westminster, and yet the coup that couldn’t deliver the coup de grace announced itself in Edinburgh.

It’s a really heartwarming thing to see so many people that you know have doubts, like you, about Starmer’s ability to do the job, suddenly spontaneously express their strong conviction that this ‘man of integrity’ in his borrowed suit and glasses is the man to lead them. Almost as if it was co-ordinated, by his allies.

The Cabinet had spent the middle of the day with their tanks strangely quiet, their ranks confined to barracks, waiting to see which way the wind blew, as Kemi Badenoch stalked the skies, and Sky, eager to add another ‘kill’ to the fuselage of her fighter plane. But despite Anas Sawar firing the opening salvos, battle did not commence.

And then arose a faintly ‘saintly’ Sir Keir from a meeting of the PLP. A shame the ‘best speech of his life’ took place behind closed doors, rather than the nasal Nightol he usually serves up in public, and suddenly all is well in the best of all possible Labour worlds. They’ve really turned the corner. The leopard has abandoned spots as yesterday’s fashion.

The truth is the PM ‘saved the day’, or rather his bacon, and will be back at the despatch box this afternoon, where the woman he once felt able to write off will no doubt be right up in his face.

Actually Starmer has merely bought time. How long? Probably the length of an HMRC tax investigation, or May.

I’m old enough to remember when, having survived Conference 2025 with aplomb, we warned that with Robert Jenrick in the Party (he was actually already in Reform – he just hadn’t told anyone yet) that May 2026 was the moment Kemi was most vulnerable.

However with a sustained personal, if not party, revival and Robert Jenrick actually gone that threat has not only reduced substantially, it’s flipped onto a Labour leader who once, filled with confidence, liked to dangle that threat over the Conservative leaders head at PMQs. I doubt he’d risk that today.

One wonders, since he’s expressed his full confidence in so many people shortly before they’ve fallen – or been thrown- under a bus, if he’s confident in himself? The illusion of the big Starmer reset being real, rather than him being taken hostage by his Cabinet and his party – will unravel as he is forced, sans Morgan, to ‘talk left and govern lefter’.

But I have a doubt? What’s Kemi Badenoch’s play here?

She’s gunning for the PM, and with a substantial stack of ammunition on …

Nine people killed and 25 injured in school shooting in British Columbia
Who's accountable for the results?

A shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday left nine people dead and 25 others injured.

Police reportedly discovered six people were killed by a female shooter upon arriving at the scene on Tuesday afternoon, according to reports. Another victim of the shooting died while being transported to the hospital. Among the survivors, two were airlifted to a nearby hospital and reportedly had life-threatening injuries. Two others were found dead at a house near the school that law enforcement officials said was in connection with the shooting.

The incident left the community and country in shock; school shootings are not a frequent occurrence in Canada. 

The shooter was reportedly a female and died of a “self-inflicted” gunshot wound.

The city of Tumbler Ridge is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and 600 miles north of Vancouver, in northeastern British Columbia. The city has a population of approximately 2400 people, according to the most recent census, while the Associated Press reported 2700 people lived in the small town. Tumbler Ridge Secondary School reportedly has 175 students enrolled between 7th and 12th grades.

The school’s superintendent, Ken Floyd, said the shooter had been identified, but the identity would not be released at this time, reported the Associated Press. Police were still trying to find a motive for the crime and how the victims might have been connected to the shooter. 

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka called the incident “devastating” and said the whole community is shocked and grieving, according to the Associated Press.

“I broke down,” said Krakowka. “I have lived here for 18 years. “I probably know every one of the victims.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney called the shootings “horrific” and offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

TRUMP FORBIDS CANADA FROM OPENING BRIDGE TO MICHIGAN UNTIL US ‘FULLY COMPENSATED’

“I am devastated by today’s horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.,” Carney said in a post on X. “My prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence.”

I am devastated by today’s horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. My prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence.
 
I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed…
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) February 11, 2026 …