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On Politics

Mon Feb 16 2026

Kathryn Palmer | Politics Reporter

@KathrynPlmr

Hello readers, and happy Monday. Welcome back to On Politics. Kathryn Palmer here. For those of you lucky ducks with President's Day off, happy long weekend! (Not jealous at all or anything). Here's what to know in the world of politics today.

Epstein accusers slam Pam Bondi

Three women who say they are survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking slammed Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Justice Department's release of the voluminous Epstein files, days after she defended her actions during an explosive congressional hearing. On CNN's "State of the Union" yesterday, Jess Michaels, Liz Stein and Teresa Helm responded to Bondi's combative appearance before the House Judiciary Committee last week, during which Democrats and several Republicans sharply criticized the administration's handling of the files and related investigations, including uneven redactions that exposed personal information of people who said he had victimized them. "She was turning her back on survivors everywhere, and not just us," Helm said. The accusers also responded to Bondi's headline-grabbing statement that lawmakers overseeing the hearing should instead be focusing on the rising stock market.

People who said they'd been victimized by Jeffrey Epstein raise their hands after Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) asked who of them has been unable to meet with the U.S. Department of Justice, as during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2026.

Kent Nishimura, REUTERS

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'Security force' to remain in Minnesota amid drawdown

A small "security force" will remain in Minnesota temporarily as the Trump administration winds down its immigration enforcement operation in the state, White House border czar Tom Homan said in a CBS interview yesterday. He did not say how many agents would be on the rapid response force , but noted he was "hoping" they could be removed "fairly quickly." Homan's comments come days after he announced the end of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's immigration mission in the Midwestern state that drew nationwide and bipartisan backlash after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens.

Obama says extraterrestrials are 'real.' What Congress has heard about them

Former President Barack Obama ignited a firestorm over the weekend when he joined a popular left-leaning podcast host and seemingly admitted that aliens were "real." The next day, Obama went into damage control mode on social media, clarifying that his answer was simply in "the spirit of the speed round," and that the chances that Earth has been visited by creatures from outer space were "low." He said he saw "no evidence" of it when he was president. While the White House may not have been privy to such intel, Congress has. On three occasions since 2023, legislators convened to hear testimony from an array of experts and insiders on reports of UFOs, which have since been rebranded as the less-stigmatized "unidentified anomalous phenomena" or UAP. Here's what witnesses have testified on the topic before lawmakers.

Thanks for reading! Scroll down for more politics news. You can reach me at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @ KathrynPlmr.