Washington
Democratic leadership questions loom over Congress’ return
Washington — Congress returns Monday from a weeklong recess as the fallout continues from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s move to help Republicans advance a controversial spending bill earlier this month to avoid a government shutdown.
As lawmakers left Washington following many weeks in session, a recess that Democrats initially hoped would be marked by a show of force against the Trump administration and Republican control of Washington was punctuated by handwringing over the party’s direction — and questions about its leadership.
Democrats remained mum as they left Washington in the aftermath of the tense funding fight. And at town halls from Colorado to California, Democrats sidestepped questions about Schumer’s decision and his leadership of the upper chamber more broadly, previewing a messy return to Washington as the party contends with its divisions.
Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, dodged a question about Schumer being replaced as leader last week, before pivoting to former President Joe Biden and urging that “it’s important for people to know, you know, when it’s time to go.”
“We’re going to have conversations I’m sure in the foreseeable future about all the Democratic leadership,” Bennet said at a town hall in Golden, Colorado.
Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland became the first Democratic lawmaker to openly call for new Senate leadership at a town hall last week, saying that though he respects Schumer and his long tenure in Washington, “it may be time for the Senate Democrats to pick new leadership as we move forward.” Rep. Delia Ramirez followed suit at a town hall in Chicago last week. And progressive youth groups joined in on the criticism, urging Schumer in a letter obtained by CBS News to “fight for us or step aside.”
Still, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who initially opted not to comment when asked whether he was confident in Schumer’s leadership, weighed in with support for Schumer last week. And Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi echoed the confidence in Schumer’s leadership, though she delivered a stinging rebuke.
“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi said. “And I think that’s what happened the other day.”
Schumer had initially signaled that his caucus would fight back against a partisan measure to keep the government funded after the House passed the measure in a narrow vote that came as a surprise to some. But a day later, Schumer reluctantly pledged to advance the continuing resolution, delivering one of the Democratic votes necessary to propel the measure to passage.
The New York Democrat has stood by his decision, while arguing that he remains the “best leader for the Senate.” He told “CBS Mornings” last week that as bad as the founding bill was, “a shutdown is 10 times worse.” On Sunday, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he’s not stepping down.
The backlash against Schumer has come as Democrats contend with the party’s direction and approach more broadly after the 2024 elections delivered bruising defeats up and down the ballot.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, shifted the blame away from Schumer, saying on CNN last week that although “no one is in the caucus” is more critical of the minority leader than he is, “it’s not Schumer… it’s the Democratic party.”
Later in the week, Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez held a rally in Las Vegas. In an interview with CBS News at the rally, the Vermont independent said the “Democratic party has not been the kind of party we need to represent the working class of this country in so many ways.”
“There is no reason why we have massive income and wealth inequality, why we’re the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people,” Sanders added.
Across a number of town halls last week, constituents turned the focus from possible threats to Medicaid under GOP control of Washington to criticism of the Democratic Party itself.
During a town hall held by Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego in Arizona last week, one constituent questioned the party’s overall messaging strategy, suggesting they should get “dirtier” with their approach against Republicans.
“They fight dirtier and we are not willing to get in the mud with them,” the constituent said. “Maybe it’s time we start getting a little bit dirtier with our messaging.”
Washington
Widespread Verizon outage prompts emergency alerts in Washington, New York City
Verizon said on Wednesday that its wireless service was suffering an outage impacting cellular data and voice services.
The nation’s largest wireless carrier said that its “engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly.”
Verizon’s statement came after a swath of social media comments directed at Verizon, with users saying that their mobile devices were showing no bars of service or “SOS,” indicating a lack of connection.
Verizon, which has more than 146 million customers, appears to have started experiencing services issues around 12:00 p.m. ET, according to comments on social media site X.
Two hours later, Verizon posted an update on social media, saying that its engineers were “continuing to address today’s service interruptions,” but did not say if a specific reason for the outage had been identified or when it could be resolved.
“We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible,” the company said.
Despite those efforts, shortly after 4:00 p.m. ET, Verizon issued a third statement that contained little new information. The company said teams were “on the ground actively working to fix today’s service issue.”
Users had initially reported problems with Verizon’s competitors, T-Mobile and AT&T, as well. But both companies said they were not experiencing any service problems.
“T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected,” a spokesperson told NBC News. “However, due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.”
A spokeswoman for AT&T also said the company’s network was “operating normally.”
In Washington, D.C., the District’s official emergency notification system sent out a message to residents saying that the Verizon outage was “nationwide.”
“If you have an emergency and can not connect using your Verizon Wireless device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police district or fire station to report the emergency,” the AlertDC system told recipients.
New York City’s Office of Emergency Management also said it was aware of the outage without mentioning Verizon by name. The city said it was “working closely with our partners” to review the outage and “assess any potential effects on city agencies & essential services.”
Washington
Vance to meet Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington on Wednesday
People walk along a street in downtown of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
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Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
NUUK, Greenland — Along the narrow, snow-covered main street in Greenland’s capital, international journalists and camera crews stop passersby every few meters (feet) asking them for their thoughts on a crisis which Denmark’s prime minister has warned could potentially trigger the end of NATO.

Greenland is at the center of a geopolitical storm as U.S. President Donald Trump is insisting he wants to own the island — and the residents of its capital Nuuk say it is not for sale. Trump said he wants to control Greenland at any cost and the White House has not ruled out taking the island by force.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance will meet Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the Arctic island, which is a semiautonomous territory of the United States’ NATO ally Denmark.
Tuuta Mikaelsen, a 22-year-old student, told The Associated Press in Nuuk that she hoped American officials would get the message to “back off.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Tuesday that, “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”

Greenland is strategically important because as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.
Trump also said he wants the island to expand America’s security and has cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to control it.
But both experts and Greenlanders question that claim.
“The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” Lars Vintner, a heating engineer told AP. He said he frequently goes sailing and hunting and has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.
His friend, Hans Nørgaard, agreed, adding “what has come out of the mouth of Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy.”
Denmark has said the U.S. — which already has a military presence — can boost its bases on Greenland. For that reason, “security is just a cover,” Vintner said, suggesting Trump actually wants to own the island to make money from its untapped natural resources.
Nørgaard told AP he filed a police complaint in Nuuk against Trump’s “aggressive” behavior because, he said, American officials are threatening the people of Greenland and NATO. He suggested Trump was using the ships as a pretext to further American expansion.

“Donald Trump would like to have Greenland, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would like Ukraine and (Chinese President) Xi Jinping would like to have Taiwan,” Nørgaard said.
Mikaelsen, the student, said Greenlanders benefit from being part of Denmark which provides free health care, education and payments during study.
“I don’t want the U.S. to take that away from us,” she said.
Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business and mineral resources said it’s “unfathomable” that the United States is discussing taking over a NATO ally and urged the Trump administration to listen to voices from the Arctic island’s people.
Washington
HIGHLIGHT | Lawrence Dots a Pass to Washington for a 6-Yard TD
DE Dawuane Smoot, LB Foyesade Oluokun, TE Brenton Strange, S Eric Murray, and S Antonio Johnson speak with the media after practice on Thursday ahead of the Wild Card Matchup vs. Bills.
0:00 – 2:28 – DE Dawuane Smoot
2:29 – 6:24 – LB Foyesade Oluokun
6:25 – 9:25 – TE Brenton Strange
9:26 – 11:32 – S Eric Murray
11:33 – 13:46 – S Antonio Johnson
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