Donald Trump still hasn't decided who will replace Karoline Leavitt as press secretary ... but he's adding a reporter who’s caught his eye to his White House comms crew.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Beni Rae Harmony -- a 24-year-old White House correspondent for Real America's Voice -- has been hired as a new spokesperson and assistant press secretary for the White House. She starts on Monday.
Harmony has recently become a regular in the White House press pool ... traveling to Ireland with Trump, who was seen on September 13 holding a stack of papers with what appears to say "Beni Rae Harmony" printed in bold at the top.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has a new guy in her life -- and a decade on him -- dating 24-year-old YouTuber and progressive political commentator Jack Cocchiarella ... TMZ has learned.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the two have been seeing each other for the past few months, and things are going strong. They first met when Cocchiarella interviewed Ansari in spring 2025 ... started hanging out as friends a few months later, and things eventually turned romantic.
Ansari -- a freshman Democratic congresswoman repping Arizona's 3rd District -- is hitting the campaign trail as she gears up for reelection in November.
Sen. Chuck Schumer says Cornell dropped the ball in the alleged gang rape scandal ... and he's putting the school on notice to get serious.
Jacob pressed the senator from New York at a press conference Wednesday about what went wrong between Cornell, campus police and the local D.A. ... and Schumer didn't hesitate.
"A whole lot of things went wrong," Schumer said ... accusing Cornell of failing to move quickly enough once the allegations surfaced.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Cornell alum, says her alma mater needs to "step up" in the alleged gang rape case ... and stop treating accountability like an afterthought ... because they've so far failed to protect women.
Jacobcaught up with the senator from Michigan on Capitol Hill Wednesday ... and she told him Cornell should have taken the allegations seriously from the jump.
Slotkin said universities have plenty of ways to take action and hold students accountable while a legal case plays out -- suspensions, expulsions, indefinite suspensions -- and made clear she doesn't consider writing an essay much of a punishment.
Senator Eric Schmitt's standing behind his line of questioning in the Jack Smith hearing ... even though it seems his "gotcha" moment totally backfired.
Here's the deal ... during a Senate hearing Tuesday morning, Senator Schmitt asked former Special Counsel Smith if he went to an Atlanta Hawks game on February 3, 2024.
Smith told him no and seemed totally puzzled ... and Sen. Schmitt seemed to gloat a bit -- claiming at one point that the dude might've just perjured himself and insisting they had text messages about him going to a basketball game that night.
President Trump loves playing around with names ... and Sen. Mark Kelly has a suggestion for POTUS' new White House ballroom ... telling us Trump should name it "Felony Hall."
Charlie caught up with Kelly on Capitol Hill Tuesday and brought up Trump's latest A.I. push ... which quickly turned into a conversation about the Prez's habit of renaming things.
Kelly couldn't resist getting in on the renaming game ... pitching "Felony Hall" for Trump's new White House ballroom ... and, yes, he wanted credit.
Sen. John Kennedy has his own special version of ChatGPT -- well, technically the whole Senate does -- and even he doesn't seem totally sure where the information goes.
Jacobcaught up with Sen. Kennedy in Washington D.C. on Monday and asked about Bill Gates' warning that A.I. could become catastrophically dangerous in the wrong hands.
Kennedy said he thinks Bill is acting in good faith and pointed out there are serious risks with A.I. ... just like there are with nuclear weapons and bioterrorism.
Then Kennedy casually revealed he's already using the technology himself ... telling Jacob he used A.I. on the plane ride in to do research, something he does "all the time."
Sen. John Fetterman had a major slip of the tongue ... as the centrist Democrat -- who often splits from his party -- called himself a "lifelong Republican."
Fetterman made the gaffe while he was attending the Texas Tribune Festival Saturday ... and the moderator had to remind him that he was in fact a Dem.
Fetterman -- wearing his classic sweatshirt and shorts uniform -- could be seen putting his hand to his head after the viral moment.
Nicki Minaj is jumping into the upcoming midterm elections, insisting that all young voters must do one thing -- vote Republican.
The New York rapper turned die-hard MAGA supporter sat down for a Saturday night interview with Lara Trump on Fox News' "My View with Lara Trump" -- and Nicki dove right into the November 3rd elections, encouraging America's youth to "vote red now!"
Nicki also told the youth that they shouldn't think their voice "will not be heard," but rather recognize their "voice is very necessary right now for the country and for the world."
Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle has been seen quite a bit with Christos Marafatsos ... and his inclusion at official meetings is raising some eyebrows.
Christos ... whom Trump once called a "good-looking guy" ... is not an elected or appointed official but a paid lobbyist ... the Wall Street Journal reported.
The thing is ... as ambassador to Greece, Guilfoyle has reportedly tried encouraging a few foreign governments to ink gas deals with the company Aktor.
Rep. Max Miller is dragging Sen. Bernie Moreno into his divorce war ... Bernie is the father of Max's ex-wife, Emily, and Max is making legal moves to get Bernie to testify ... TMZ has learned.
According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Max fired off subpoenas last week to Bernie and his wife, Bridget -- Max's former mother-in-law.
Max wants the couple to show up and answer questions about their daughter ... and what they know about the divorce.
Bernie was almost dragged into the divorce in 2025, but Emily and Max reached a settlement, only for them to rush back to court months later over new issues.
Senator Tommy Tuberville says no pets should be allowed in the cockpit ... even if they're excellent pilots, like he says a few members of the furry community are.
Jacob caught up with the Alabama senator -- who is currently running to be the state's governor -- on Capitol Hill Thursday ... and he had to ask him about his floor speech Wednesday, which focused on that section of the kink community.
ICYMI ... Tuberville claimed many airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers are furries, who he says have a "deranged fetish" of dressing up like animals. Worth noting, Tuberville also claimed transgender people had a mental illness during the speech.
Ted Cruz's college athletics bill is being voted on today ... but it seems the senator's not feeling particularly athletic himself -- taking an elevator down just one floor instead of the stairs.
Charlie caught up with the senator from Texas on Capitol Hill while Cruz was on his way to vote on the Protect College Sports Act ... and Cruz quickly disappeared into the elevator.
Don't worry, though ... Charlie sprinted down a flight of stairs like a college athlete with an NIL deal -- and he was actually waiting for Cruz when he emerged from his short ride.
Forget Senate hearings and votes ... Jim Justicehad a bigger event on the Capitol Hill calendar Wednesday ... his dog's early birthday party ... and we scored an invite.
Charliespotted a giant billboard outside the senator's office advertising "Babydog's 7th Birthday Rodeo" ... and the lawmaker from West Virginia invited him to swing by.
Justice says the English bulldog doesn't turn 7 until October 15, but Congress won't be in session then ... so folks on the Hill had to take time out of their busy schedules to celebrate early ... at 4 PM on a workday.
Mitch McConnell is making more excursions out of the house, including another on Wednesday ... but this time around, he wasn't feeling nearly as groovy or peaceful.
Jacob spotted the Kentucky senator out in Washington, D.C., being wheeled into a van outside his home ... and he and other reporters lobbed questions at Mitch.
Senator McConnell didn't respond to anything ... with one reporter even asking him to say any word at all ... and he didn't even really acknowledge the reporters like he did last week, when he made his first appearance in 3 months to cast a vote.
Mitch McConnell comes in peace ... he was all smiles as he arrived home after a hard day's work on Capitol Hill ... and video shows the Senator in great spirits.
After three hours of work in the Senate, the Kentucky lawmaker returned to his D.C. home Tuesday evening ... and he flashed a peace sign as he was wheeled inside.
Mitch was in a wheelchair ... with four people helping him.
