Senate Confirms Trump Envoys To UK, Turkey, Italy
The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate accepted three ambassadors chosen by President Donald Trump. They will be stationed in the UK, Turkey, and Italy, respectively. Warren Stephens, Tom Barrack, and Tilman Fertitta not only received votes from all Republicans but also saw several Democrats flip and vote in favor of their nominations.
The Senate voted 59 to 39 earlier this week to make Stephens the new ambassador to the UK and Northern Ireland.
Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas’s Republican Party stepped out in favor of Stephens, an investment banker from his home state. He called him a “family man, businessman, philanthropist, and patriot.”
Cotton stated, “He is the right person to lead our strong, special relationship with the UK.”
Until January, Stephens was the President and CEO of Stephens Inc., an investment banking company based in Little Rock.
Federal Election Commission records show that Stephens gave $1 million to “Our Principles PAC,” a group that was against Trump’s first run for president.
But in 2019 and 2020, he gave money to groups that supported Trump. In 2024, he gave $3 million to MAGA Inc., the main Super PAC that backed Trump, according to FEC documents.
“Warren has always wanted to work for the United States full-time. As the top diplomat for the U.S.A., he will now have the chance to do that, representing the U.S.A. to one of America’s most respected and cherished allies, Trump said in December.
The Senate voted 60-36 to confirm Barrack, a private equity executive and longstanding Trump loyalist.
Barrack and Trump have been friends since the 1980s. Before starting Colony Capital, a private equity firm, he worked for the Reagan government. He helped Trump’s 2016 campaign and served as chair of his inaugural committee in 2017.
The Senate voted 83 to 14 to make Fertitta the US ambassador to Italy.
Fertitta is the CEO of Landry’s, a hospitality company that runs restaurants, hotels, casinos, and other entertainment venues. Trump selected him for the job in December of last year. He is also the owner of the Houston Rockets, an NBA team.
Earlier this week, the Senate unanimously approved the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, or DEFIANCE Act, a bipartisan effort to strengthen legal protections for individuals targeted by nonconsensual deepfake imagery.
The bill now proceeds to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The measure would allow individuals depicted in sexually explicit deepfake images or videos — digital fabrications created without their consent — to pursue civil damages of at least $150,000 per violation against persons responsible for creating or sharing such content.
Legislators who supported the bill said existing legal frameworks are insufficient to address the growing prevalence of deepfake technology and the unique harms it causes.
They noted the legislation builds on earlier federal and state laws aimed at curbing nonconsensual intimate imagery, but expands the scope and clarity of remedies available under federal civil law.
Deepfake content — synthetic media produced using artificial intelligence and machine learning — has surged in recent years, raising concerns in Washington about privacy, harassment, fraud, and national security.
Lawmakers from both parties have pushed a series of proposals in recent sessions to update laws governing digital impersonation and nonconsensual imagery.
The DEFIANCE Act creates a federal civil right of action, enabling private individuals — not just government prosecutors — to seek monetary damages in federal court.
The bill would supplement state laws that vary widely in enforcement and penalties related to deepfake and revenge-porn imagery.
Supporters have argued that civil remedies are crucial because many victims face ongoing reputational harm and emotional distress long after illicit content is published. Civil suits, proponents say, can provide both compensation and deterrence.
If the House approves the DEFIANCE Act and the president signs it into law, the new provisions would expand legal avenues for victims of nonconsensual deepfakes and related digital forgeries.
House fails to adopt Iran war powers resolution
The House on Thursday failed to adopt a war powers resolution that attempted to curtail President Donald Trump's military actions in Iran.
It failed by a vote of 212-219. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson bucked GOP leaders by voting in favor; four Democrats voted against the resolution: Reps. Henry Cuellar, Jared Golden, Greg Landsman and Juan Vargas.
The resolution, which only expresses the sentiment of Congress, called on the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces in hostilities against Iran or any part of the Iranian government or military unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force is enacted.
The measure was non-binding and not subject to the president's signature or veto.
Speaker Mike Johnson argued Wednesday that the United States is "not at war" but only engaged in a "defensive operation" in Iran.
“We're not at war right now,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “We're in -- four days into a very specific, clear mission and operation."
Later on Wednesday, Trump contradicted Johnson, repeatedly referring to the conflict in Iran as a "war" hours after Johnson said it wasn't.
Sitting next to Johnson during a roundtable on energy prices, Trump said "we're doing very well on -- on the war front, to put it mildly."
A U.S. Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) launches from an undisclosed location in support Operation Epic Fury.
US Army
Johnson had said that the "passage of a war powers resolution right now would be a terrible, dangerous idea."
"It would empower our enemies. It would kneecap our own forces, and it would take the ability of the U.S. military and the commander in chief away from completing this critical mission to keep everybody safe," he said Wednesday.
On Wednesday Senate Democrats failed to meet a 51-vote threshold on an alternate Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Sen. Rand Paul. The resolution failed behind a 47-53 tally.
