The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center has called on the Homeland Security inspector general to investigate potential conflicts of interest and ethics violations by border czar Tom Homan and his…

President Trump on Friday praised the anonymous donor who gave $130 million to the Pentagon to pay service members that missed a paycheck Friday as the government shutdown continues into a fourth week. "He’s a great gentleman," Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for his Asia trip. "He’s a patron." "He’s obviously a very substantial man, and he contributed $130 million for the military in order to make up any different so he wanted to see the military get paid," he continued. "So did I. And he’s a wonderful man." The president added that the mystery donor did not want to release his name, calling the decision "pretty unusual in the world I come from" "In the world of politics, you want your name mentioned. He doesn’t," Trump said, while noting that the donor was an American citizen and said he was "a friend." "He’s a great patriot," he added. The $130 million donation was made "on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told The Hill in an emailed statement Friday. The donation comes after Senate Democrats blocked a bill in a 54-45 vote that would have paid active-duty service members and other essential federal workers despite the shutdown. Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) were the only Democrats who voted in favor of the measure. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), would have also guaranteed pay for air traffic controllers , Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, park rangers, federal law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and Border Patrol agents. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the bill "another tool for Trump to hurt federal workers and American families." Johnson said Democrats mischaracterized the bill. Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Gary Peters (Mich.) also introduced their own expanded version of the legislation, which would guarantee pay for all federal workers — including the military, contractors and furloughed workers, as the lapse in funding continues. Van Hollen called on the bill to be considered for a vote, but Johnson rejected it. Aside from any legislation or Department of Defense appropriations, Trump earlier this month ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to move "all available funds" to go toward paying service members. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), in response, said that move was "probably not" legal. “I think to pay the military during a shutdown would require legislation; the Speaker of the House has taken that off the table," Himes said on Oct. 12. "So, I mean, is Donald Trump going to say a bunch of stuff? Yes, he’s going to say a bunch of stuff. But I don’t see anything moving.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also faced pressure earlier this month for not recalling lawmakers , who have been gone now for over a month, to vote on a bill to secure military pay. Johnson, however, suggested the president was handling it and argued Democrats were to blame for not voting to reopen the government.

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A preservation group is pushing for a pause in the demolition of the East Wing of the White House for a $200 million ballroom proposed by President Trump. “We respectfully urge the Administration and the National Park Service to pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes,” National Trust for Historic Preservation President and CEO Carol Quillen said in a Tuesday statement . The destruction of a portion of the White House’s East Wing to create the ballroom has hit a nerve among critics, who view it as an overhaul of a historic building for a flashy pet project. On Monday, photos of an excavator tearing into the White House went viral, resulting in the latest outrage about the president’s efforts to quickly remake Washington, D.C. , in his preferred image. The White House rebuffed criticism of the recent demolition of part of the East Wing on Tuesday, calling it “manufactured outrage.” In a press release, the White House alleged that the press was “clutching their pearls” over Trump’s planned ballroom, referring to it as “a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and renovations.” The Treasury Department told staff to not share images of the demolition, with employees of the department having a front-seat view of the construction. Quillen on Tuesday expressed worries that the renovation will change the design of the building. “We acknowledge the utility of a larger meeting space at the White House, but we are deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself—it is 55,000 square feet—and may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House,” Quillen said in the Tuesday statement. The Hill has reached out to the National Park Service and White House for comment.