Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) relentlessly pressed Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) about the decision to vote against the Violence Against Women Act during Sessions' attorney general hearing Tuesday.

VAWA was signed into law in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, and faced opposition by 22 Republican senators during its 2012 renewal due in part to the fact that it proposed to extend protections to same-sex couples and Native Americans, and would allow battered illegal immigrants to obtain temporary visas. Sessions specified Tuesday that "he didn't like one particular and 'concerning' provision regarding how it would be expanded to cases on tribal lands."

In 2013, Sessions said, "I favor the Violence Against Women Act and have supported it at various points over the years, but there are matters put on that bill that almost seem to invite opposition." He added: "You think that's possible? You think they might have put things in there we couldn't support, [so that] maybe then they could accuse you of not being supportive of fighting violence against women?"

Leahy turned up the pressure on Sessions further Tuesday, asking if Sessions would defend the current VAWA and the provisions he opposed in it against a challenge. "I will defend the statute if it's reasonably defensible," Sessions replied. Jeva Lange

Referring to Amazon's decision to pull its H2Q campus out of New York's Long Island City, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told NBC's Chuck Todd "this is an example of an abuse of corporate power," on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press.

"They said they wanted a partnership, but the minute there were criticisms, they walked away," de Blasio said. "What does that say to working people, that a company would leave them high and dry, simply because some people raised criticisms?"

He agreed with Todd's sentiment that the corporate giant was none too keen on getting mixed up in New York City politics. "They couldn't handle the heat in the kitchen," said de Blasio.

While the mayor placed the blame for the deal's failings squarely on Amazon, he did urge progressive politicians to "show working people that we will get more for them" by grasping opportunities like the one Amazon initially presented.

Watch the interview here. Tim O'Donnell

CNN's Dana Bash interviewed Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday's edition of State of the Union, pressing the congressman about whether he'd accept Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings if they did not uncover any wrongdoing by President Trump.

Schiff was vague at first, stating that while his committee "will certainly be very interested to learn what" Mueller finds, "there may be, for example, evidence of collusion or conspiracy that is clear and convincing, but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt," as is needed for a criminal conviction.

When Bash restated the question, however, Schiff was a little more direct, arguing that if he was sure that Mueller's investigation was not subject to tampering, he would, indeed, accept the findings.

"I have great confidence in the special counsel," he said. "And if the special counsel represents that he has investigated, and not been interfered with, then I will believe that he is operating in good faith."

The discussion begins slightly after the 5-minute mark in the video below. Read the full interview transcript here. Tim O'Donnell

Enough senators are unhappy with President Trump's Friday declaration of a national emergency to obtain funding for border wall construction, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said on ABC's This Week Sunday, that the Senate could pass a resolution to block Trump's plan.

"Now, whether we have enough for an override of veto, that's a different story," Duckworth said. "But frankly, I think there's enough people in the Senate who are concerned that what he's doing is robbing from the military and the [Defense Department] to go build his wall, that it's really not the best way to fight the crisis that he's talking about at the border."

Per an accounting from The Bulwark, a conservative commentary site, 14 GOP senators have criticized the emergency declaration, albeit with differing rationales. The Senate currently seats 45 Democrats plus two independents who caucus with the Democrats. If all 47 plus those 14 Republicans voted to block Trump's declaration, their combined 61 votes would fall short of the 67 needed to override a presidential veto.

And a veto should be expected, said White House senior adviser Stephen Miller on Fox News Sunday. "Obviously the president is going to protect his national emergency declaration," Miller told host Chris Wallace. This would be the first veto of Trump's presidency.

Watch Miller's comments below. Bonnie Kristian

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller appeared on Fox News Sunday to defend President Trump's Friday declaration of a national emergency to obtain funding for border wall construction — and host Chris Wallace did not let him off lightly.

"The president talks about an 'invasion' — he used that word multiple times on Friday — an 'invasion' on the southern border," Wallace said. "But let's look at the facts," he continued, citing statistics to show illegal border crossings have fallen dramatically in the last two decades; that the vast majority of heroin and fentanyl seizures at the border take place at official entry points, not unfenced areas; and that visa overstays now account for twice as many illegal entries to the United States as illicit border crossings.

"Again," Wallace concluded, "where's the national emergency to build a wall?"

After promising to address every fact Wallace raised, Miller responded by arguing that would-be illegal immigrants are now sneakier and more difficult to deport than they were two decades ago and that more drugs are not captured in unfenced areas of the border because there is not enough manpower there to capture them.

Wallace didn't seem convinced, but turned the conversation to constitutional questions concerning the national emergency, repeatedly pressing Miller on whether he can "name one case where a president has asked Congress for money, Congress has refused, and the president has then evoked national policy to get the money anyway?"

Miller refused to give Wallace the yes or no answer he sought, instead arguing the National Emergencies Act is Congress "saying the president could have this authority," so any time the president declares an emergency he automatically has congressional approval to spend money on the situation as he pleases.

Watch the full interview below, or read the transcript here. Bonnie Kristian

Heather Nauert, Trump's pick to replace Nikki Haley as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew her name from consideration Saturday.

The State Department spokeswoman and former Fox News anchor said that it was in the best interest of her family that she remove her name from the process. "I am grateful to to President Trump and Secretary [Mike] Pompeo for the trust they placed in me," Nauert said in a statement. "However, the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration."

Pompeo addressed Nauert's decision, praising her job performance at the State Department and wishing her "nothing but the best."

The Washington Post reported Nauert's nomination faced complications and that her security investigation was delayed because 10 years ago she hired a foreign-born nanny who did not have a proper work visa. Additionally, the report says Nauert did not pay her taxes on the hire at the proper time.

The State Department said Trump will select a new nominee soon. Tim O'Donnell

Police in Chicago on Saturday said their investigation of the alleged assault against Empire actor Jussie Smollett has changed focus following the interview of two brothers linked to the case.

"We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation," said a police statement. "We've reached out to the Empire cast member's attorney to request a follow-up interview."

An unnamed police source told NBC the new information suggests Smollett hired two men to stage the attack. Smollett's lawyers vehemently denied that report, saying, "Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."

Smollett has likewise expressed indignation at accusations that his account is not accurate. "It's not necessarily that you don't believe that this is the truth," he said Thursday. "You don't even want to see the truth."

Like his Empire character, Smollett is gay. He alleged two people yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, beat him, poured a substance that may have been bleach on his body, and put a noose around his neck as he left a Chicago restaurant. The two brothers who spoke with police were arrested and at first considered suspects, but they have since been released without charges and are no longer suspected. One of the brothers is Smollett's personal trainer, his attorneys said. Bonnie Kristian