WSJ What’s News - Democrats Face GOP Resistance on Reining In ICE

Episode Date: February 4, 2026

P.M. Edition for Feb. 4. In Congress, Democrats are pushing for new limits on immigration-enforcement agents, but they’re running into resistance from Republicans. Journal reporter Siobhan Hughes joins from the Capitol to discuss the likelihood that lawmakers will meet the February 13 deadline to fund the Homeland Security Department. Plus, another tech selloff weighs on Wall Street. Markets reporter Hannah Erin Lang discusses the AI worries gripping investors. And as Iran and the U.S. plan diplomatic talks, Iran is playing hardball. WSJ Middle East correspondent Jared Malsin says it’s a playbook negotiators have seen before. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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the big one being the body cameras, but there are big fissures outside of that. And when it comes to diplomacy with the U.S., Iran is playing hardball. It's Wednesday, February 4th. I'm Alex O'SCLAF for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Another day, another tech sell-off. While the Dow finished up half a percent today, the NASDAQ closed down one and a half percent,

its fourth down session in the past five trading days. The S&P fell too. Markets reporter Hannah Aaron Lang says the declines reflect the influence the big tech companies have on the indexes. This is once again really concentrated in the tech sector. most S&P 500 sectors are up today. That's basically telling us that these big tech stocks that have such a huge impact on the index overall because they're enormous companies weighing on the index names like AMD, which is a chipmaker, Palantir.

And it seems like investors are reconsidering the AI trade. I had us always tell me today that investors for a while have been willing to kind of hold their breath and go with this momentum. But once that momentum starts to break, there's not a lot to hold on to. There have been these kind of longstanding fears about the artificial intelligence trade. If these stocks are overvalued, you're seeing a lot of those concerns come to the forefront again this week, but they aren't necessarily new. Another thing that we've seen recently is this rotation out of some of the biggest names in the AI trade into these less crowded bets like blue chips or even

international equities. So you're seeing that dynamic take shape again today. In earnings news, News, Google Parent Alphabet said its profit grew 30% in the fourth quarter. Revenue rose too, thanks to growth in its digital advertising and cloud computing units, even as the company ramped up spending on artificial intelligence. Eli Lilly's latest quarterly profit and revenue grew and topped Wall Street expectations today, thanks to big demand for its GLP1 weight loss drugs. Sales of Zepbound and Moundjaro more than doubled in the fourth quarter. The company is also preparing to launch a new weight loss pill that,

analysts say could be a hit since some patients prefer pills to injections. Shares jumped more than 10%. Federal regulators are investigating Nike for allegedly discriminating against white workers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is looking into whether Nike's DEI objectives resulted in, quote, a pattern or practice of disparate treatment against white employees. It's seeking information on how Nike selects workers for layoffs and how it tracks workers' race and ethnicity. Nike didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. And in media, the Washington Post is cutting one third of its staff across the newsroom and in other departments. The newspaper says it's a strategic reset that will mean less coverage of sports and international news with the focus on national news and features, investigations, and advice on health and wellness topics.

In Minnesota, the Trump administration is pulling 700 of the approximately 3,000 federal officers and agents out of the state. Borders Tsar Tom Holman announced the drawdown today, but he made it clear that the administration plans to continue large-scale immigration operations in Minneapolis. My goal with the support of President Trump is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge as soon as we can. But that is largely contingent upon the end

of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE and its threat of partners that we're seeing in the community. About 2,000 officers will stay to carry out immigration enforcement in the state. In Washington, Congress yesterday ended a partial government shutdown and narrowly approved a $1.2 trillion spending package. Turns out that might have been the easy part. As part of that deal, Republicans and Democrats now have less than two weeks to negotiate legislation that would place new restrictions on immigration enforcement, one of the nation's thornyest policy debates, before the temporary funding for the Department of Homeland Security runs out on February 13. For more on where the negotiations go from here, I'm joined by a congressional reporter, Chavon Hughes, from the Senate Press Gallery.

Chavon, we got here because after the shooting of Alex Preti in Minneapolis, Democrats are asking for changes to how immigration officials operate. What are Democrats asking for? What they want is for ICE to be reined in. So Democrats have a whole list of demands. It's things like mandating that immigration officers carry their ID, that they wear body cameras. also tightening rules on use of warrants that you be required to go to a judge to get a warrant before you force your way into somebody's home. A lot of Republicans don't seem super optimistic about these negotiations. Where do congressional Republicans stand on Democrats' demands?

So congressional Republicans have said some things are reasonable, the big one being the body cameras. And in fact, there was about $20 million in the prior DHS bell for those body cameras. But there are big fissures outside of that. For example, Republicans simply don't trust Democrats on the warrants issue. They think that what Democrats are trying to do is make it impossible to expel the migrants who have entered the country illegally. And then on top of that, Republicans say, you know, wait a second, if you want to reopen this conversation about immigration, well, we too have some demands. And what we would like is to end so-called sanctuary cities, those localities where local officers are effectively barred from working with the immigration officers. These negotiations are likely to be very, very

difficult. And in fact, just moments ago, I caught up with Senator Katie Britt, who is the top Republican on the subcommittee that funds the Homeland Security Department. And she said, we're going to need at least one other short-term extension in order to try to work out a package. So what does that mean for funding for Border Patrol, ICE, and the other agencies within DHS if they're not going to hit this deadline? Well, it means different things for different entities. In the big, beautiful bill that was enacted last year, there was $75 billion for ICE. There was $65 billion for customs and border protection. And so those entities have money regardless of what Congress does. But there are other entities housed within DHS that could potentially be at risk. If you are a TSA agent, work,

at the airports or if you're somebody who works for FEMA, that's where the problem could come. And it's not hard to imagine a scenario in which Congress does multiple of these short-term continuing resolutions or even throws their hands up and decides, we're not going to reach a deal. Let's just fund this through the end of the fiscal year. Of course, Chavon, I don't have to tell you this is a midterm year. Could these negotiations and what comes out of them play a role in the election? This is going to be a major role in the elections. Republicans are hoping that Democrats overplay their hand here and that you hear so many cries of defund ICE that it reminds people that it was the Biden presidency in which millions of people entered the country illegally. Democrats would like to put a focus on the fact that Donald Trump's immigration policy resulted in the death of two American citizens.

citizens in Minneapolis. That was Wall Street Journal reporter, Chavon Hughes. Thanks so much, Chavon. Good to be here. And also in Washington, the U.S. Supreme Court today allowed California to use a new congressional map that favors Democrats. Several red and blue states have been redrawing their maps in recent months, efforts to improve their party's chances of controlling the House of Representatives in the

midterms. Coming up, the latest on the U.S. negotiations with Iran, and what a multimillion-dollar sale of a tiny rembrand drawing shows about the art market. That's after the break. Isn't home where we all want to be? Reba here for Realtor.com, the pro's number one most trusted app. Finding a home is like dating. You're searching for the one. With over 500,000 new listings every month, you can find the one today. Download the realtor.com app because you're nearly home. Make it real with Realtor. Pro's number one most trusted app based on August 2025 proprietary survey.

Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings, July 24 to June 2025. Iran has abandoned a planned meeting with the U.S. and regional officials in Turkey that was scheduled for Friday. The country is pushing instead for a narrower discussion in Oman. And Iran is also making military moves. As we reported yesterday, it launched a drone at an American aircraft carrier and sent gunboats to harass a U.S.-flagged oil tanker. WSJ Middle East correspondent Jared Moussin says Iran's changes to the plan discussions are part of a strategy to throw the U.S. off balance. Iran is trying to do two things. Number one, they're trying to put pressure back on the U.S.

after the Trump administration has been dialing up the pressure on Iran in response to the crackdown on these protests that took place in December and January. And Iran's also trying to get a format and a venue for the upcoming negotiations that will be more advantage. to them. Jared says this is a classic Iranian negotiating technique. According to former U.S. nuclear negotiators and other people who are familiar with Iran's tactics, they will agree to something and then essentially walk that back. What it shows is that this recent pivot by the Trump administration where they're giving diplomacy a chance, that's going to be challenging. The last nuclear deal with Iran that the Obama administration signed in 2015, that took years of difficult, careful diplomacy. One former diplomat compared

it to pulling teeth just to get each piece of it done. And Trump has a very different style. He wants to do deals quickly. So we'll see how this goes. The White House has said it's committed to finding a diplomatic solution and that talks will go ahead. The 60-year-old man who was convicted of trying to assassinate President Trump got a life sentence today. Prosecutors say Ryan Ruth planned to kill Trump at a Florida golf club. in September 2024 during the presidential campaign. Ruth represented himself during the trial and told the jury he never intended to kill Trump.

His court-appointed lawyer had asked for a 27-year sentence. And finally... Sold at $15 million. The paddle 2116. Thank you very much. That's the sound of a record-breaking sale for a drawing by the Dutch master Rembrandt. The tiny chalk drawing of a lion was sold at auction at Sotheby's today for $15 million, as you just heard.

and after adding in sales tax and other fees, the final price was $17.9 million. Young Lion Resting now ranks as one of the priciest drawings ever sold at auction, and is the latest sign that the art market is roaring back after a year's long slump. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname and Alexis Moore with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex O'Sullough for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with the new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

Thank you. You know, Thank you.