Infighting at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is threatening to consume Democratic leadership just as the midterms are starting to kick into gear.

The tensions come after a DNC panel moved forward this week with the potential ouster of two elected officials, including gun control activist David Hogg.

Now officials find themselves in a war of words over the issues at play, with Hogg alleging the move is a sign of party insiders seeking to force him out over his calls for supporting primary challengers to certain incumbents.

Though others at the DNC deny the vote was related to Hogg’s efforts, the feud is stirring up drama that Democrats want to avoid as they focus on regaining control of the House and possibly flipping the Senate next year.

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A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that she helped a man who is in the country illegally evade US immigration authorities looking to arrest him in her courtroom.

The Milwaukee county circuit judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during an arraignment in federal court, an early step in the criminal justice process. Defendants routinely plead not guilty at this point to give their attorneys time to investigate and to preserve their right to a trial.

Dugan is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door on 18 April after learning that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking his arrest for being in the country illegally.

She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.

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The FBI’s Washington Field Office is folding its federal public corruption squad, the same unit that aided Jack Smith’s special counsel investigation into President Donald Trump, three people familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

The field office has three units that work on public corruption issues, but this one — known internally as "CR15" — was deeply involved in the bureau’s "Arctic Frost" investigation, which was the precursor to the Smith probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results by Trump and his allies. That investigation resulted in one of the two federal criminal cases against Trump, both of which were dropped after his election.

The move to shutter the unit comes amid a major shift of FBI resources towards immigration enforcement, an area that is primarily the responsibility of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. A top leader in the FBI’s Washington Field Office was also recently reassigned, two people familiar with the matter said. A FBI official said the person was not reassigned for any adversarial reason.

The cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and six other people have been arrested after disrupting a United States Senate hearing to protest Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

The arrests on Wednesday came as US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was giving testimony to lawmakers on his shake-up of federal health agencies.

“Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US,” Cohen said as he was escorted away by police.