February 27

White House sends DHS shutdown counteroffer to Democrats on day 13

On February 27, 2026, the Trump administration sent what it described as a serious counteroffer to Senate Democrats to reopen the Department of Homeland Security after 13 days of shutdown. Democrats had previously submitted a counteroffer requiring immigration officers to wear body cameras, meet enhanced training standards, and restrict enforcement near sensitive locations such as schools and churches. The White House offer rejected most Democratic conditions while proposing partial funding restoration for non-immigration DHS components.

OpenAI raises $110B from Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank at $840B valuation

OpenAI announced on February 27, 2026 that it had closed a $110 billion funding round, the largest private financing in history, at an $840 billion post-money valuation. Amazon invested $50 billion, Nvidia invested $30 billion, and SoftBank invested $30 billion, with commitments tied to cloud infrastructure and GPU compute capacity. The round came five months after OpenAI converted from its capped-profit structure amid regulatory scrutiny, and as the Trump administration accelerated AI infrastructure investment through the Stargate initiative.

HUD proposes two-year cap on rental vouchers, affecting 2.3 million families

HUD proposed in late February 2026 a rule that would allow public housing authorities to impose two-year time limits on Housing Choice Vouchers — commonly known as Section 8 — potentially affecting the 2.3 million families currently enrolled in the program. The proposal, which also included work requirements of up to 40 hours per week, was included in the administration's FY2026 budget as an option PHAs could adopt and was formally issued for public comment in the March 2026 rulemaking.

GEO Group posts record $254 million profit on ICE detention expansion

GEO Group reported full-year 2025 results on February 27, 2026, posting $254.3 million in net income on $2.63 billion in total revenue — a roughly 700 percent increase in profit over 2024 driven by new ICE detention contracts under the Trump administration. GEO secured approximately $520 million in new or expanded ICE contracts in 2025, the largest single-year contract gain in company history, including a new 1,000-bed facility in Newark, New Jersey and a 1,800-bed facility in Baldwin, Michigan. GEO forecast revenues of up to $3.1 billion in 2026.

Bill Clinton testifies in House Epstein probe

Former President Bill Clinton testified behind closed doors to House Oversight in its Epstein investigation. He denied knowledge of Epstein misconduct and said he did nothing wrong, while Democrats and Republicans fought over the scope and purpose of the probe.

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Supreme Court reverses the Ninth Circuit 5-3 in Jennings v. Rodriguez, ending mandatory bond hearings

The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, reverses the Ninth Circuit in Jennings v. Rodriguez. The Court holds that the INA does not require bond hearings, rejecting the constitutional avoidance canon and statutory interpretation principles cited by the lower court. Justice Stephen Breyer dissents, warning the ruling enables indefinite detention without judicial oversight. The decision removes the six-month hearing requirement and returns detention authority entirely to executive discretion.

Clinton condemns Cuba shootdown and imposes emergency sanctions

In the days following the February 24 shootdown, President Bill Clinton termed the attack "a blatant violation of international law" and announced a set of immediate retaliatory measures against Cuba. Clinton suspended all charter flights between the United States and Cuba indefinitely, tightened travel restrictions for Cuban officials on U.S. soil, expanded the broadcast reach of Radio Martí, and directed Ambassador Madeleine Albright to convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council. These measures were deliberately calibrated — Clinton chose diplomacy and economic pressure over any military response, opting instead to accelerate the Helms-Burton legislation that had previously stalled in Congress.