SHERO on Sunday
A lightning-fast recap of the week's most significant political and legal events for February 2nd - 8th, 2026, before we are on to the next!
Welcome to the Sunday Recap, where you can quickly check in to review the week with a minimal time commitment and ensure you do not miss a thing. Each snippet includes several links to credible and free sources, providing more details for those who want to delve deeper into any issue.
This kind of newsletter model, which provides free, reliable, independent journalism that connects the political and legal dots for everyone, works only if subscribers support our work with paid subscriptions. Consider upgrading your weekend by investing in SHERO today. There is a lot to cover for this week, so let’s get started!
Gun Violence This Week
At SHERO, we document all mass shooting incidents for the week every Sunday, so please take a moment to review them and remember to keep up the fight for sensible gun reform. There were five separate mass shooting events in the United States this past week, where five people were killed, and15 were injured.
Sunday, February 1, 2026: Seattle, Washington
Sunday, February 1, 2026: Indianapolis, Indiana
Sunday, February 1, 2026: Concord, North Carolina
Wednesday, February 4, 2026: Jacksonville, Florida
Wednesday, February 4, 2026: Los Angeles, California
Officers believe Nancy Guthrie, mother of The Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her home against her will at around 02:30 am local time on Sunday, February 1st. There were signs of a forced entry, a security camera had been removed, and police found splatters of blood, which DNA tests have now confirmed belonged to Nancy Guthrie. Police in Arizona have not yet identified a person of interest in the suspected abduction and continue to investigate a series of apparent ransom notes that may have been sent from the person or people behind the alleged crime.
An attorney with the Department of Justice said the federal government’s system for processing and responding to immigration cases “sucks” and is overwhelmed by a flood of judicial orders requiring ICE to immediately release immigrants who have been wrongfully detained during Operation Metro Surge. That attorney has since been removed from her position at the Minnesota US Attorney’s Office.
Tulsi Gabbard has been busy burying another whistleblower complaint against her that could cause “grave damage to national security," implicate another federal agency beyond the FBI, and raise potential claims of executive privilege that may involve the White House.
Just 10 years ago, the annual budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was less than $6 billion, but ICE’s budget has skyrocketed during Trump’s second term, becoming the highest-funded US law enforcement agency, with $85 billion now at its disposal thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
