Senior legal affairs reporter for @POLITICO with a focus on democracy, law and the balance of power in government. Tips: kcheney@politico.com NY ➡️ BOS ➡️ DC
Arlington, VA
Joined March 2009
- Tweets42.4K
- Following1.7K
- Followers328K
- Likes4.4K
Kyle Cheney retweeted
>@JohnCornyn has issues with DOJ's Elliot Gaiser, nominated for a Texas judgeship, saying the White House is "trying to air-drop" him at the last minute.
Also notes his ties to efforts to overturn 2020 election results: “I think there’s a better choice." apnews.com/article/donald-tr…
Kyle Cheney retweeted
NEW: The White House is threatening to criminally investigate Democrats for oversight demands they deem illegitimate.
But courts have afforded enormous latitude to lawmakers when it comes to "legislative purpose."
w/ @ChrisMarquette_
politico.com/live-updates/20…
This plays right into Dems’ hands. Threatening criminal process for oversight gives them ammo to go straight to subpoenas and tell a court ‘what’s the point of lengthy negotiations w a White House trying to criminalize congressional scrutiny?’
🚨BREAKING NEWS in @PunchbowlNews AM
The White House counsel warned Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the incoming House Oversight Committee chair, in a new letter that some of the new majority’s investigations could cross the line into criminal behavior.
It’s an audacious claim that signals the White House is taking an aggressive — and hugely controversial — stance toward Democratic oversight in the 120th Congress.
The letter, penned by White House counsel Will Scharf, says that Congress can only investigate matters for a legislative purpose — a position that Republicans have relied on and stretched in recent years.
Further, the Scharf letter, sent to Garcia on Monday, says that Democratic investigations are designed to “harass and aggrandize rather than to advance any legitimate legislative end.”
punchbowl.news/wh-hill_lette…
NOTABLE: Scharf's letter draws directly from a criminal statute that some MAGA allies (like @mrddmia) keep saying should be used against Trump adversaries: conspiracy against rights.
It's a charge Jack Smith used against Trump.
Left: 18 USC 241
Right: The Scharf letter
NEW: The White House is threatening to criminally investigate Democrats for oversight demands they deem illegitimate.
But courts have afforded enormous latitude to lawmakers when it comes to "legislative purpose."
w/ @ChrisMarquette_
politico.com/live-updates/20…
NEW: Discussions are well underway for what could be the most crucial early decision Hakeem Jeffries makes — appointing the House’s top lawyer to lead them in the constitutional clash with Trump.
Inside leadership’s thinking on the next House counsel: politico.com/news/2026/11/11…
Dems know, before they even start, that Trump's strategy is to stonewall and run out the 18-month clock on their probes, a tactic he has relied on for a decade. The House counsel will be a key driver of their bid to break through, or work around, the wall. politico.com/news/2026/11/11…
People girding for a headline-grabbing choice for House counsel like Jack Smith are going to be disappointed. The House wants someone steeped in *congressional* power to reassert Congress' place in the constitutional scheme.
politico.com/news/2026/11/11…
JUST IN: Judge Cobb rules that @DHSGenCounsel put a man in danger by publicizing his asylum paperwork claiming to be gay — and then mocking him for it. But she denies the man’s emergency motion for one reason: it’s not clear if DHS Secretary Mullin authorized the disclosure.
Kyle Cheney retweeted
READ the White House's letter warning of criminal investigation for congressional oversight demands. It's messaging for now but Dems are sure to point to it as evidence they need to issue quick subpoenas and can't waste time on fruitless negotiations. s3.documentcloud.org/documen…
Kyle Cheney retweeted
Democrats say voters still want them to investigate Jeffrey Epstein politico.com/news/2026/11/11…
Kyle Cheney retweeted
Jeffries, a student of the Judiciary Committee and former Trump impeachment manager, is eager to reassert Congress’ power as a check on the presidency — and the House counsel will be the linchpin of that goal:
-The architect of an aggressive oversight strategy
-Gatekeeper of House subpoenas to ensure only the strongest cases make it to court
-Shield against repeated threats by a DOJ and admin that has already tried (and failed) to indict Democratic lawmakers.
Rep. Raskin and others say Jeffries knows how crucial the choice is and will make it quickly after securing the speaker’s gavel.
politico.com/news/2026/11/11…
Peltola's lead is now greater than the margin of votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan — so even if you took the Trump approach and added his ballots to Sen. Sullivan's, it wouldn't change the outcome.
Two days after the election, a second court concluded that the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal voting by immigrants was built on an unconstitutional statute that usurps power from the states.
Magistrate Judge Anita Boor dismissed two cases:
storage.courtlistener.com/re…
Kyle Cheney retweeted
Don't be snookered into thinking Republicans don't support the blue slip. Most of the Senate does, so it ain't going anywhere
BREAKING: REPUBLICAN Sen. Boozman's refusal to support Lee Rudofsky to the 8th Circuit has tanked his nomination by the Trump admin, a source tells me. Trump will go with the senator's preferred choice, AR Justice Cody Hiland.
Rudofsky has issued a statement:
"I will be forever grateful to President Trump for the honor of his nomination. But under our Constitution—which I believe is the most ingenious document in the history of the world—the President’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. And the reality is that, without the support of my home-state Senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in today’s Senate. So I understand completely the President’s decision to withdraw my nomination. Cody Hiland is a solid jurist and a good friend. I look forward to working with him in the federal judiciary.”