Trump’s Second-Term Revolution Restoring American Greatness

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Nearly a year into his triumphant second term, Trump stands as a colossus, methodically dismantling the shadowy Deep State that has long strangled the will of the people.  What began as a bold mandate from 75 million patriots in 2024 has evolved into a masterclass in executive resolve, yielding historic economic surges, ironclad border security, and a foreign policy that puts America first.  Far from being bogged down by bureaucratic sabotage, Trump’s administration has turned resistance into rocket fuel, accelerating reforms that are already delivering unprecedented prosperity and security to everyday Americans.

The Deep State’s arsenal — leaks, delays, and outright insubordination — has been exposed and neutralized with surgical precision.  Drawing lessons from his first term, where rogue bureaucrats in the FBI and DOJ orchestrated the Russia hoax and impeachments, Trump launched the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Day One, enlisting tech visionary Elon Musk to spearhead a blitzkrieg against waste.  This innovative task force has slashed federal spending by billions, overseeing mass layoffs of obstructive civil servants and streamlining agencies bloated by decades of leftist overreach.  Schedule F reforms, revived and expanded, have reclassified thousands of policy-influencing roles as at-will positions, empowering loyal patriots to replace the faceless apparatchiks who once weaponized government against conservatives.  Critics wail about “politicization,” but this is justice — restoring accountability to a bureaucracy that betrayed the electorate by slow-walking Trump’s agenda and shielding illegal activities, from Crossfire Hurricane to the Hunter Biden laptop suppression.

The results are nothing short of miraculous.  Despite the Deep State’s desperate rearguard actions — fomenting leaks and legal challenges — Trump’s economy is roaring back to pre-Biden glory.  Since January 2025, the U.S. has added 671,000 net jobs, with native-born workers capturing every single gain while foreign-born employment plummeted by 543,000 — a direct win for American families sidelined by open-border policies.  Core inflation hovers at a stable 2.1%, the lowest since Trump’s first term, defying the doomsayers who predicted tariff-induced chaos.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have shattered records multiple times, fueled by $7.6 trillion in pledged investments from companies and foreign governments eager to partner with a pro-growth America.  Treasury coffers overflow with $90 billion in tariff revenues, posting the first June surplus since 2005 and funding infrastructure without a dime in new taxes.  These aren’t accidents; they’re the fruits of Trump’s reciprocal trade war, slapping 10–50% duties on unfair partners like China and India, forcing fair deals that protect steelworkers in Pennsylvania and farmers in Iowa.

On the border, where Biden’s laxity unleashed chaos, Trump has forged an impenetrable fortress.  The Laken Riley Act, signed into law in March 2025, mandates detention for criminal illegal aliens, commemorating the Georgia nursing student’s tragic murder by an MS-13 savage.  ICE raids have deported over 250,000 offenders, invoking the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelan gangs like Tren de Aragua — a bold stroke blocked temporarily by activist judges but upheld in spirit by the Supreme Court.  Nationwide, sanctuary cities like New York face federal ultimatums: End the shielding of 7,000-plus criminal illegals or lose funding.  Birthright citizenship for anchor babies is under assault via executive order, and the border wall expands daily, slashing crossings by 90% in key sectors.  Deep State holdouts in DHS tried to sabotage these efforts, but Trump’s loyalists — vetted warriors like Tom Homan and Stephen Miller — have rooted them out, ensuring that the wall isn’t just built, but effective.

Foreign policy, too, gleams with victories.  Trump secured a landmark NATO deal, compelling allies to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP — a feat diplomats deemed impossible.  In the Middle East, his 20-Point Gaza Peace Plan, unveiled with Prime Minister Netanyahu, delivered a ceasefire, hostage releases, and Hamas’s dismantling by October 2025, stabilizing the region without a single American boot on the ground.  Strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, backed by Israel, neutered Tehran’s ambitions, while trade pacts with Pakistan unlocked energy independence abroad.  Even in Ukraine, Trump’s tough negotiations — favoring no more blank checks — paved the way for mineral deals funding reconstruction, proving that diplomacy through strength works.  The Deep State’s globalist puppets, from USAID saboteurs hiding Syria ops to WHO enablers, have been defunded and defanged, with $7.6 billion in green energy pork axed to prioritize real security.

Health and education reforms cut through the woke rot with equal vigor.  The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., bans DIE indoctrination in federal agencies and revives the Mexico City Policy, defunding overseas abortions while safeguarding taxpayer dollars for essential programs.  The 2025 Marketplace Rule ensures that Obamacare subsidies go only to qualifiers, stabilizing premiums and exposing fraud.  In schools, Executive Order 14191 expands educational freedom, empowering parents against union bosses and curriculum censors.  Bureaucrats who resisted — firing inspectors general who probed too deeply — were swiftly shown the door, their “trauma” a small price for liberating American kids from radical agendas.

Of course, the swamp fights dirty.  Impeachment whispers from Al Green and Democrat resolutions citing phantom “crimes” are desperate flails from a party eyeing 2026 wipeouts.  Leaks from FEMA holdouts and DOJ foot-draggers aim to manufacture failures, but Trump’s 143 executive orders in the first 100 days — more than any president — have steamrolled them.  Pardons for 1,500 January 6 heroes restored justice, while revoking 111 Biden edicts erased the woke stain.  As Russell Vought, OMB director and Project 2025 architect, declares, this is no mercy mission: “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” ensuring loyalty to the Constitution over cabal.

Trump’s second act isn’t just governance; it’s a reckoning.  From job booms to border walls, from NATO wins to Middle East peace, he’s proving that the Deep State is no match for a leader who fights for forgotten Americans.  As 2026 looms, the midterms beckon as a referendum on renewal.  The people who sent him back to the Oval know: Trump is dynamiting the swamp, rebuilding on solid ground.

America is winning again, and under President Trump, that victory is just beginning.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Launching New Vetting Unit In Wake Of National Guard Attack

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The Trump administration will be dramatically enhancing its screening of all foreign nationals with the launch of a new vetting center.

In response to a slate of high-profile arrests of Afghan men accused of committing or planning serious attacks on American soil, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is establishing a specialized unit intending to markedly upgrade the country’s vetting procedures of migrants, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The new vetting center will help federal officials identify terrorists, criminal aliens or other foreigners who pose a danger to the country.

“USCIS’ role in the nation’s immigration system has never been more critical,” Joe Edlow, the director of the agency, said in a public statement.

“In the wake of several recent incidents of violence, including a foreign national attacking National Guard service members on U.S. soil, establishing this vetting center will give us more enhanced capabilities to safeguard national security and ensure public safety,” Edlow continued.

The new vetting center, when fully operational, will “draw on the full spectrum” of screening capabilities and leverage state-of-the-art technology when reviewing immigration applications and petitions, according to the memo. Headquartered in Atlanta, the center will also be tasked with reviewing already-approved applications for foreign nationals and prioritizing applications from designated countries of concern.

Trump officials say the enhanced screening is necessary after four years of the Biden administration, which oversaw a historic border crisis and a chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan that sparked the importation of thousands of Afghan nationals.

“Under the Biden administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was pushed to expedite the immigration and naturalization processes with little regard for how that affected national security and the safety of our communities,” Edlow stated. “We changed that approach on day one of the Trump administration.”

“Under President Trump, we are building more protective measures that ensure fraud, deception, and threats do not breach the integrity of our immigration system,” the USCIS director continued.

The Trump White House, which has long prioritized border security, has doubled down on security efforts since Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national brought into the country in 2021 under humanitarian parole, allegedly killed one National Guard member and left another in critical condition in an ambush-style attack in Washington, D.C., hours before Thanksgiving Day.

Immediately after the attack, federal immigration officials dramatically restricted asylum applications for all foreign nationals and completely halted immigration processes for individuals hailing from 19 countries deemed to be “high-risk.” On Wednesday, USCIS announced it was scaling back the timeframe in which asylum seekers and other foreign nationals can have valid work permits in the U.S.

Including Lakanwal, three different Afghan nationals let into the country through the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome program have been arrested within a week. The FBI arrested Mohammad Dawood Alokozay on Nov. 25 for allegedly making bomb threats in Fort Worth, Texas and Jaan Shah Safi was arrested by immigration officials on Wednesday for allegedly providing support to ISIS-K.

AUTHOR

Jason Hopkins

Immigration Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PODCAST: Federal agencies blame Democrats for the government shutdown. Are they violating the Hatch Act?

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A banner on the Department of Housing and Urban Development website currently reads, “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use…In a striking departure from long-standing norms, several federal agencies are publicly blaming congressional Democrats for the government shutdown.”

A banner on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website currently reads, “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need.”

Kedric Payne leads the ethics program at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that advances democracy through law.

“It is extremely unusual and possibly unprecedented because there is no reason for an agency to get involved in such partisan statements to the public,” Payne said. “I worked previously in the federal government. We always had particular language that was ready for a shutdown, and never did it have any partisan nature to that.”

A message at the top of the Department of Justice website reads, “Democrats have shut down the government.”

Department of Health and Human Services employees received an email prior to the shutdown stating, “Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this continuing resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands.”

Payne said there needs to be an investigation to determine whether this is a violation of the Hatch Act, a federal law that prohibits government employees from engaging in political campaign activity.

“The larger problem is that it violates an ethics norm where agencies may perform the work of an administration, but they do it in a nonpartisan manner,” Payne said. “These statements are not from an individual. They’re from the agency, from the American government, and they are made in a way that divides the public based on partisan affiliation. And that is not a normal activity for a government agency.”

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Jack Smith Subpoenaed

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The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed Jack Smith for all documents and communications from Jack Smith’s tenure as Special Counsel.

He is required to appear for a deposition at the Capitol on December 17.

Jack Smith is a criminal. He should be in prison.

Jack Smith subpoenaed for deposition with House Judiciary Committee

Subpoena includes sweeping demand for all documents and communications from Smith’s time as special counsel

By Ashley Oliver,  Fox News,  December 3, 2025 11:37am EST

House Judiciary Committee wants answers from Jack Smith on Trump prosecutions

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed former special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday for a deposition, escalating Republicans’ investigation into one of President Donald Trump’s top political foes.

Jordan directed Smith to appear before the committee on Dec. 17, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by Fox News Digital.

“Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter,” Jordan wrote in a letter accompanying his request.

The forthcoming deposition, which is set to take place behind closed doors, comes as House and Senate Republicans have zeroed in on Smith’s election-related investigation of Trump, describing it as a scandal that unnecessarily swept up hundreds of Republican lawmakers, GOP entities, Trump allies and media outlets as part of the probe.

Smith has repeatedly stood by his work as special counsel, which eventually involved bringing two sets of criminal charges against Trump over the 2020 election and over alleged retention of classified documents. Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a Department of Justice policy that discourages prosecuting sitting presidents.

Smith has already offered to publicly testify before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, but a source familiar with Jordan’s request said a deposition is the chairman’s preferred format because each party on the committee can question Smith for an hour at a time and build a better record. In a public hearing, lawmakers typically question a witness in five-minute intervals.

Peter Koski, an attorney for Smith, responded to the subpoena in a statement provided to Fox News Digital and reiterated that Smith offered six weeks ago to appear voluntarily in a public hearing setting.

“We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics,” Koski said. “Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation.”

Jordan’s subpoena also included a sweeping demand for all documents and communications related to Smith’s time as special counsel, a request that comes after the DOJ told Smith’s lawyers in a letter on Nov. 12, reviewed by Fox News Digital, that it would make a “unique” accommodation to Congress by authorizing Smith to “provide unrestricted testimony to the Committee, irrespective of potential privilege.”

In a statement, committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., blasted Jordan for opting for a closed-door meeting with Smith, saying Republicans will “spin, distort, and cherry-pick his remarks through press leaks.”

“The American people deserve to hear the full unvarnished truth about Special Counsel Smith’s years-long effort to investigate and prosecute the crimes committed by Donald Trump and his co-conspirators,” Raskin said.

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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POSTS ON X:

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Gov’t Watchdog Scorched Biden Afghan Refugee Screening in 2022, Warned of ‘National Security’ Risks

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Former President Joe Biden’s Afghan refugee screening process was blasted in 2022 by a devastating report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) for lacking such basic information as a list of individuals who lacked “sufficient identification documents” and warned as a result of individuals being admitted into the country “who pose a risk to national security and to the safety of local communities.”

The report provides important context for officials and members of Congress as they assess and respond to the November 26 terrorist attack on the streets of the capital that killed one West Virginia National Guardsman and critically injured a second one.

The attacker, it was quickly determined in the aftermath, was a 29-year Afghan refugee admitted into the U.S. in the wake of the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. That refugee is one of more than 79,000 Afghans brought into this country under Biden.

Between August 2021 and July 2022, the DHS Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) program brought more than 79,000 Afghans from that war-torn country that was taken over by the Islamic terrorists known as the Taliban. Of the total, almost 29,000 of the Afghans brought into the United States by the Biden administration program were males, including many of military service ages.

The IG report found two crucial flaws in the OAW screening and vetting process, flaws that DHS officials roundly denied existed in their response to the watchdog’s analyses.

First, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials involved in the screening and vetting “did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect Afghan evacuees. … We determined some of the information used to vet evacuees through U.S. Government databases, such as name, Date of Birth (DOB), identification number, and travel document data, was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing.”

As a result, the report said, “CBP also admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States.”

The precise number of such individuals could not be determined with the available information, according to the IG report, but evidence was overwhelming that “DHS paroled at least two individuals into the United States who posed a risk to national security and the safety local communities and may have admitted or parole more individuals of concern.”

The identities of the two particular individuals were not included in the report.

A major obstacle to U.S. efforts to properly screen and vet Afghans, the report stated, was the fact “it is customary in Afghanistan for some individuals to have only one name. It is not always part of the Afghan culture to record or know exact DOBs. In Afghanistan, even though national legislation requires registration of children at birth, years of conflict decimated the administrative mechanisms and the social institutions supporting them.”

Consequently, whenever an Afghan told CBP officials they did not know their DOB, the official entry was January 1 of the estimated year of birth. “For example, if an evacuee stated he/she was 20 years old, the DOB most likely assigned was January 1, 2001,” the report explained.

The IG’s investigators reported they found 417 records with no known first name, 242 records with no last name, 7,800 records had invalid or missing document numbers, and 11,110 records with the January 1 DOB.

The investigators also reported encountering 36,400 records based on what was described as a “facilitation document.” But CBP officials were unable to “define or provide an explanation for this document type Travel Document Data,” and 36,400 records had “facilitation document” as the document type. However, during the audit, CBP could not define or provide an explanation for this document type, indicating potential inaccuracies.”

A second major flaw in the screening and vetting process was the fact “DHS did not have formal screening and vetting policies to support OAW” at the outset of the program, as the U.S. military withdrawal was launched.

“Instead, during the initial months of OAW, DHS officials said screening and vetting requirements were decided on an ad hoc basis. DHS and CBP did not have standardized formal policy documents and instead could only provide informal flowcharts, meeting minutes, and draft documents,” the report said.

The final conclusion of the IG’s investigators was that “the safety and the security of the American people is the highest priority for the U.S. Government. Preventing criminals, suspected terrorists, or other nefarious actors from entering the United States requires thorough screening and vetting. CBP’s use of incomplete or inaccurate data would not have yielded positive matches from intelligence databases if the individuals had derogatory records under a different name or DOB. Therefore, DHS and CBP cannot be sure they properly screened, vetted, and inspected all evacuees.”

The DHS response to the 2022 report was to reject it entirely, including the IG recommendation that all questionable individuals be re-screened and vetted.

“DHS responded that it was proud of its OAW efforts and highlighted multiple agencies involved in the screening and vetting of the Afghan evacuees. The OIG acknowledges the interagency efforts supporting this unprecedented event to screen and vet all evacuees. However, DHS’s response does not address the concerns of this audit and the recommendations which are aimed at reviewing the execution of OAW’s efforts and improving future, similar OAW efforts,” the IG concluded.

On Feb. 13, 2024, then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for “high crimes and misdemeanors” in his administration of U.S. immigration policies. Mayorkas thus became the first presidential cabinet member to be impeached by the House. The impeachment was not upheld by the Senate.

The 2022 IG assessment was first reported in the aftermath of the attack on the guardsman by veteran conservative investigative journalist Richard Pollock on Substack.

AUTHOR

Mark Tapscott

Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand.

RELATED VIDEO: Gov. Walz under fire as $1B Minnesota social services fraud scandal widens

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

VIDEOS: Sex, Drugs And Murder — Women Allege County Officials Run A Sex Ring

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The murder of a county district judge allegedly by a local sheriff unraveled allegations of a decades-long sex ring being operated in Letcher County, Kentucky, as women shared stories of sexual coercion and drug abuse by local officials.

One of the women, Tya Adams, told the Daily Caller that the murder victim, District Judge Kevin Mullins, had been a key player in an alleged sex trafficking ring involving drugs and favor trading throughout the county’s court and prison system — a ring she said she was personally victimized by.

Adams, a recovered drug addict and former Letcher County inmate, released a speaking to the allegations.

“Sex trafficking, extortion, prison for profit, embezzlement. I mean, you name it, it’s going on in our courthouse,” she said on YouTube.

Adams told the Caller that she used to come to the courthouse in 2001 to learn office work, while her sister worked with the commonwealth’s attorney at the time. She alleges that while she was working there, Mullins paid her for sexual favors when she was 16 years old and that she was “groomed and ushered into sex work for the Letcher County Court higher-ups.”

Drugs were involved too, Adams claims, with cocaine allegedly being the drug of choice for Mullins.

Adams told the Caller that they used drugs and engaged sexual acts all over the courthouse, including in the chambers behind the room where Mullins was shot.

The 20,000 residents of Letcher County, Kentucky were shocked when footage was released showing what appeared to be the sheriff at the time, Shawn “Mickey” Stine, walking into Mullins’ office and allegedly firing six rounds into the judge in September 2024.

Stine was quickly arrested by Kentucky State Police (KSP) and now awaits trial. His lawyer has not returned the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

Adams’s allegations don’t stand alone. One reporter, NewsNation’s Brian Entin, interviewed three other women with various relations to Mullins who were willing to publicly corroborate different portions of these claims. Entin also referenced several more who he said had confirmed the allegations but requested to remain anonymous for various reasons, including their own safety.

These combined interviews, along with court documents and further reporting surrounding the murder, paint a picture of alleged high-level and widespread corruption.

One corrections officer compared the jail to a brothel, telling Entin that other officers would often have sex with inmates for favors or contraband. Sometimes, the corrections officer claimed, supervisors would even take inmates home for the night.

Entin also shared audio from an interview between a victim and state law enforcement before Mullins’ death. The victim said she saw a sex tape in which higher-ups, like Mullins, had sex with an inmate in the judge’s chambers in exchange for less jail time

Adams told the Caller that although she was never pushed into having sex while in jail, she saw others do it.

She added that Mullins’ misconduct continued until she was 20. Even after she left, Adams claimed, such actions allegedly continued through the courthouse and were “accepted as normal.”

Three days before Stine allegedly shot Mullins, Stine testified in a deposition regarding the federal civil case of Sabrina Adkins, who claimed that while jailed, she was coerced by former officer Ben Fields into performing sexual acts, according to WYMT.

According to court records reviewed by WYMT, the deposition alleged that when Adkins shared concerns she would be unable to pay for her home incarceration ankle monitor, Fields allegedly said that they “could work something out.”

Fields had previously pleaded guilty to rape, sodomy, tampering with a monitoring device and perjury, but holds that the relationship with Adkins was consensual, according to WYMT.

Another plaintiff, Jennifer Hill, joined the civil case and shared several claims that she “was coerced and compelled to comply” with Fields’ instructions, given his “position of power over her,” the television station reported.

Hill died in 2023, before her case went to trial, and her claims were dismissed from the lawsuit. Adams told the Caller that she believed Hill may have been killed with a “hotshot,” or a cocktail of drugs given against one’s will to make a death look like an overdose.

When Stine was arrested following his alleged shooting of Mullins, body camera footage showed the suspect paranoid and in fear for his life. “I’ve seen the look… Don’t shoot me,” Stine told members of the KSP.

Police needed to reassure Stine that they had known him for years and that they had their bodycams on in an effort to make him feel more comfortable.

Court documents showed that Stine was given a triage assessment from the Leslie County Detention Center that claimed he was in an “active state of psychosis” four days after the shooting, according to WYMT.

“He appears disoriented and is only aware of things jail staff tell him. He has no recollection of the recent past. He does report that he has ‘some’ paranoia because he is unsure where he is at and is told he is incarcerated,” a social worker wrote, according to WYMT. “He does not appear to understand his charge and is unaware of his surroundings. He denies any suicidal and homicidal ideations. He does present to be responding to internal stimuli during the evaluation. Mr. Stine should continue at high risk level. He has had episodes of combativeness, which has required pepper spray.”

However, the uneasiness and feeling of being watched seemed to extend beyond Stine. Many women told Entin they were afraid to speak publicly. One local person investigating the incident told the Caller that she feels she is being followed. Adams told the Caller that she also fears for her life, saying, “This ain’t about a damn sex ring, this is organized cartel crime, and I connected the dots […] making me a liability.”

Adams told the Caller that the Addiction Recovery Center (ARC) in Louisa played a large role in the corruption. She said that although ARC is supposed to help those struggling with drugs in the community, it instead functioned as a revolving door, allegedly keeping vulnerable women reliant on drugs, which makes them easier prey for sexual predators.

ARC is currently under investigation, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Adams told the Caller that she hopes those involved are arrested before she is silenced as well.

In a statement to the Caller, KSP said the investigation is active and ongoing, and pointed to an initial statement and interview. KSP said nothing about the accusations of a county-wide sex ring.

ARC and the Letcher County sheriff’s office have not responded to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

Derek VanBuskirk

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Cascade Of Systemic Failures’: Minnesota State Employees Blast Walz For ‘Massive Fraud’ In Social Services

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Minnesota state employees accused Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of bearing full responsibility for massive fraud that drained the state’s social services programs, claiming he retaliated against whistleblowers who tried to sound the alarm.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” the employees wrote in a statement posted to social media. They described a “cascade of systemic failures” and alleged Walz “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports.”

The accusations come as federal prosecutors pursue cases involving more than $1 billion in stolen taxpayer funds across three separate schemes. Prosecutors have secured 59 convictions so far in fraud tied to pandemic feeding programs, housing assistance and autism therapy services.

The whistleblowers claimed agency leaders appointed by Walz “willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet” and were “not qualified for their jobs, instead getting leadership jobs via Tim Walz’s friendship.” Staff who witnessed fraud were “shutdown, reassigned and told to keep quiet,” according to the statement.

The employees named several officials they say have escaped accountability, including Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz and Eric Grumdahl.

Walz has denied that concerns about racism allegations slowed his administration’s response. He told the New York Times his administration “erred on the side of generosity” during the pandemic and pointed to new fraud prevention measures.

President Donald Trump has drawn national attention to the scandal, calling Minnesota “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and Walz “seriously retarded” in a Truth Social post. Asked by reporters if he stood by the remark, Trump replied, “Yeah, there’s something wrong with Walz.”

The whistleblowers said they are now appealing to federal authorities for help. “We can’t fight fraud in Minnesota alone,” they wrote.

AUTHOR

Mark Tanos

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

California’s Housing Woes Spiral Out Of Control Under Gavin Newsom

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom ran for governor in 2018 on meeting the Golden State’s dire need for more affordable housing — but after nearly seven full years of his leadership, the state is still in a housing crisis.

Newsom pledged to create 3.5 million new housing units by 2025, but has drastically underperformed this goal, with production continuing to stall even after his administration lowered their target. Although Newsom has made clear his desire to ease the housing crunch, Californians continue to face low rates for housing permits, skyrocketing costs and one of the lowest home ownership rates in the nation.

The effort for 3.5 million units was short-lived. Newsom called the aspiration “a stretch goal” in 2022 when he announced a new target of building 2.5 million new housing units by 2030.

In Newsom’s original 3.5 million-unit timeline, California saw 737,295 new privately owned housing units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, equaling roughly a fifth of his initial goal. The production in the first eight months of 2025 alone is nearly 16,000 less units than that same time period in 2022.

Throughout Newsom’s governorship, 2022 saw the highest number of new housing permits a year with 120,780 units built, per the Census Bureau. California would have to more than double its current housing production to meet its reduced 2.5 million target, equaling roughly 310,000 units a year.

A new retirement study found that California is undergoing the “highest negative net migration rate” across all generations.

Republican California State Sen. Tony Strickland, who represents much of Orange County and has served in the state legislature under five governors, pointed to the permitting process as a significant roadblock for builders. He told the Daily Caller News Foundation it took developers in Huntington Beach ten years to go through the California Coastal Commission (CCC) and the permitting process to build a residential and commercial development project.

“When it takes you ten years to build a development, that’s going to be passed on to the consumer,” Strickland told the DCNF.

As a lack of affordable housing in the state grows, so does Californians’ ability to own a home, according to a recent report from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. Homes in the Golden State have become twice as expensive as the typical U.S. home with mortgage rates and home prices driving the growth in monthly payments since 2020.

More than four in ten Californians are concerned about not being able to pay their rent or mortgage, per a recent statewide Public Policy Institute survey. 

The Democratic governor has signed two housing bills into law this year; AB 130 cuts red tape and exempts housing projects from strict California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) oversight to streamline unit production, and SB 79 which focuses on building high-density housing near public transit systems.

Strickland nodded to AB 130’s effort to roll back the CEQA, but claimed the bill only answers only one part of the housing solution while it worsens another.

A vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, which imposes a fee on developers building in areas with fewer transit options, is also tucked into AB 130. There are no guardrails to prevent this tax from being passed from developers to homebuyers and renters, resulting in higher mortgages and increased rent.

“When you’re talking about people who want to buy a home, we shouldn’t call it a home crisis, we have an affordability crisis,” Strickland said. “The [VMT] hidden tax will go into your mortgage, will go into your home buying.”

“This is a new housing tax Los Angeles families simply cannot afford, adding $197,000 to the cost of a new home and driving monthly rents up by $1350,” the Los Angeles Business Federation said of the VMT tax. “This misguided VMT housing tax will disproportionately hurt low-income families and households of color, while stalling housing construction and deepening California’s housing crisis.”

Strickland also told the DCNF Newsom’s policies encouraging high-density housing near transportation systems, like SB 79, are “all geared to urbanization” and many Californians do not want to lose their suburban areas. 

“A lot of Californians want to live in rural areas or they want to live in suburban areas,” he said. “If [Newsom] really wants to solve this housing crisis, he needs to do all he can in terms of lowering the price on construction cost, he needs to do whatever he can in terms of labor and he also needs to fast track a lot of the overregulation.”

The Democratic governor has one full year left before his term expires, and while increased housing production has yet to be seen, Californians may need to expect new fees handed off by developers as well.

“[Newsom] comes out with a lot of fanfare,” Strickland said. “But I’ve always said, don’t look at his rhetoric, look at his record.”

“The Governor has created a generational and foundational model to meet the goal of creating the housing that California needs – and has set the state up for success,” a spokesperson from Newsom’s office told the DCNF. “The Governor has adopted new accountability strategies, streamlined building and permitting, and made historic investments to help communities build more housing and make homes more affordable. We’ve made progress, but more work needs to be done.”

Newsom had created the Housing and Homelessness Accountability Unit in 2021. In a September 2024 press release, the governor’s office announced that the unit had “unlocked” over 7,500 housing units in the state over the past two years.

AUTHOR

Andi Shae Napier

Congressional Reporter

RELATED ARTICLES:

Wealthy Town Running Out Of Cash Under Blue State’s Strict Affordable Housing Policies

Republicans’ Affordability Agenda? Blame Biden

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Measure That Reopened Government Also Approved More Than 800 New Earmarks

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An earmark sending $375,000 to a Massachusetts dance festival launched in 1933 as “a kind of early gay utopia” is one of 862 earmarks valued at $2.4 billion included in the measure approved earlier this month by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump to end the record-breaking government shutdown.

Sponsored by Massachusetts Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, the earmark “is for K-12 students in the Berkshires to visit Jacob’s Pillow and learn about Biology, Math and Spanish through ‘choreography, kinesthetic intelligence, and critical and imaginative thinking,’” according to Open the Books, an Illinois-based non-profit government watchdog.

Earmarks are spending provisions inserted in unrelated legislation by individual senators and representatives without a vote on its merits. For many years, earmarks were sources of corruption as members used them to send tax dollars to family members, former staffers, business partners, campaign contributors, special interest groups, and others.

But thanks mainly to the efforts of former Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who exposed the costly, earmark-funded “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska in the early 2000s, Congress abandoned the practice in 2011. Coburn, who was known among his Senate colleagues as “Dr. No,” famously described earmarks as “the gateway drug to ‘Congressional Spending Addiction.” John Hart, who was then Coburn’s communications director, is now president of Open the Books.

The temptation to bring earmarks back proved too strong, however, and in 2022, majorities of both political parties in the Senate and House voted to restore earmarks, rechristened as “congressionally directed spending” and with certain reforms advocates claimed would assure no corruption.

The November 12 shutdown-ending measure only reopened the government at 2025 spending levels. Congress now has until Jan. 30, 2026, to approve a full budget for the year and avoid another costly shutdown. Three of the 12 major appropriation bills have been approved, and the remaining nine include “2,381 Senate earmarks worth another $4.7 billion and 4,408 House earmarks worth $6 billion, for a total of $10.7 billion more taxpayer dollars being considered for pet projects, according to Open the Books.

The Warren-Markey dance studio earmark supports a dance festival started by Ted Shawn and the Dance Men, according to the studio’s website. “The tall and burly Shawn and his athletic dancers were intent on challenging the image of men in dance; they forged a new, boldly muscular style while also raising their own food and constructing buildings still in use today at the Pillow,” the website explains.

The Massachusetts Democrats are not unique in using tax dollars to support controversial art projects. Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) is behind a $100,000 earmark to support the Mixed Magic Theatre in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

“The theatre, a self-proclaimed ‘strong proponent of diversity, equity, and inclusion,’ is perhaps best known for its play Moby Dick: Then and Now, which replaces the white whale in the original novel with cocaine. Other plays include The Spirit Warrior’s Dream,” according to Open the Books. “Set in a future where America has shrunk into a single city because of climate change, the play features a protagonist who ‘believes that the America of the past is a failed idea.’ The play’s author, Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, explained, ‘I thought I was writing fiction, but now, this s**t is really happening!’” Democrats are not alone in earmarking. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), together with co-sponsors Maryland Democratic senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, pushed three earmarks worth a total of $1.5 million to support horse-assisted therapy.

“The Senate, to its credit, did manage to remove thousands of earmarks from members’ original requests. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) asked for 241 earmarks worth $936 million, which would have been the largest request from a single Senator since at least 2021 — and likely in all of U.S. history. Only 88 of them made it into the final appropriations bills,” Open the Books reported.

“Other senators had eye-popping requests that were also cut down. It remains unclear just how many because the Senate Appropriations Committee refused to provide members’ original earmark requests in machine-readable format, despite multiple requests from Open the Books,” the watchdog said.

AUTHOR

Mark Tapscott

Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Bureaucratization Of Everything Hitting Americans Where It Hurts The Most

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

DOGE ‘Doesn’t Exist’ with Eight Months Left on Its Charter

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate, ending an initiative launched with fanfare as a symbol of Trump’s pledge to slash the government’s size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings.

“That doesn’t exist,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month when asked about DOGE’s status.

It is no longer a “centralized entity,” Kupor added, in the first public comments from the Trump administration on the end of DOGE.

The agency, set up in January, made dramatic forays across Washington in the early months of Trump’s second term to rapidly shrink federal agencies, cut their budgets or redirect their work to Trump priorities. The OPM, the federal government’s human resources office, has since taken over many of DOGE’s functions, according to Kupor and documents reviewed by Reuters.

At least two prominent DOGE employees are now involved with the National Design Studio, a new body created through an executive order signed by Trump in August. That body is headed by Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, and Trump’s order directed him to beautify government websites.

Gebbia was part of billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE team while DOGE employee Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” encouraged followers on his X account to apply to join.

The fading away of DOGE is in sharp contrast to the government-wide effort over months to draw attention to it, with Trump, his advisers and cabinet secretaries posting about it on social media. Musk, who led DOGE initially, regularly touted its work on his X platform and at one point brandished a chainsaw to advertise his efforts to cut government jobs.

“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” Musk said, holding the tool above his head at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in February.

DOGE claimed to have slashed tens of billions of dollars in expenditures, but it was impossible for outside financial experts to verify that because the unit did not provide detailed public accounting of its work.

“President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment,” said White House spokeswoman Liz Huston in an email to Reuters.

TRUMP OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN SIGNALING DOGE’S DEMISE

Trump administration officials have not openly said that DOGE no longer exists, even after Musk’s public feud with Trump in May. Musk has since left Washington.

Trump and his team have nevertheless signaled its demise in public since this summer, even though the U.S. president signed an executive order earlier in his term decreeing that DOGE would last through July 2026.

In statements to reporters, Trump often talks about DOGE in the past tense. Acting DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason, whose background is in healthcare tech, formally became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, according to a court filing, in addition to her role with DOGE. Her public statements have largely focused on her HHS role.

Republican-led states, including Idaho and Florida, meanwhile are creating local entities similar to DOGE.

A government-wide hiring freeze – another hallmark of DOGE – is also over, Kupor said.

Trump on his first day in office barred federal agencies from bringing on new employees, with exceptions for positions his team deemed necessary to enforce immigration laws and protect public safety. He later said DOGE representatives must approve any other exceptions, adding that agencies should hire “no more than one employee for every four” that depart.

“There is no target around reductions” anymore, Kupor said.

FORMER DOGE EMPLOYEES MOVE ON TO NEW ROLES

DOGE staff have also taken on other roles in the administration. Most prominent is Gebbia, whom Trump tasked with improving the “visual presentation” of government websites.

So far, his design studio has launched websites to recruit law enforcement officers to patrol Washington, D.C., and advertise the president’s drug pricing program. Gebbia declined an interview with Reuters via a spokesperson.

Zachary Terrell, part of the DOGE team given access to government health systems in the early days of Trump’s second term, is now chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel Riley, who had the same access according to court filings, is now chief of the Office of Naval Research, according to the office’s website.

Jeremy Lewin, who helped Musk and the Trump administration dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, now oversees foreign assistance at the State Department, according to the agency’s website.

Musk shortly after Trump’s election said he had a mandate to “delete the mountain” of government regulations. He made undoing government regulations and remaking the government with AI two key tenets of DOGE, in addition to eliminating federal government jobs.

The administration is still working toward slashing regulations. The White House budget office has tasked Scott Langmack, who was DOGE’s representative at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, with creating custom AI applications to pore through U.S. regulations and determine which ones to eliminate, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Musk, meanwhile, has reappeared in Washington. This week, he attended a White House dinner for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

(Reporting by Courtney Rozen)

AUTHOR

TWS Staff

RELATED ARTICLE: It Turns Out DOGE Isn’t Dead — Despite The Media Hysteria

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich) Admits Trump Has Not Issued Illegal Orders to U.S. Military

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Following is excellent, insightful comments from Marine friends about the stupid 6 calling for military to disobey orders from the Commander-in-Chief or Secretary of War. In fact, they can’t name a single order given by POTUS Trump or Secretary Hegseth that is illegal or unlawful. I am in total agreement with all comments below — this nonsensical video is a 100% political ploy and another example of TDS by these six “useful idiots” with little understanding of the UCMJ and what would be considered an unlawful or illegal order.

Sen Mark Kelly, a retired Navy Captain is one of the worst at misinterpreting the Constitution and what is considered lawful for our military to carry out.

Recommend calling Sens Kelly (D-AZ) and Slotkin (D-MI) and Reps. Crow (D-CO), Goodlander (D-NH), Deluzio (D-PA) and Houlahan (D-PA) and telling them such idiocy and lies hurt our military readiness. Ask them to name a single order issued by the Commander-in-Chief and/or Secy of War that is illegal, unlawful, and/or unconstitutional. They won’t be able to do so.

Great points and insight by (name withdrawn) – his vignette on ROE is compelling

These “prior service” Dems better start watching what they say – getting to clever by half on what they’re calling “illegal”…just as LTC Brown observed. It will become real when one or all called to testify at a court martial of one of their “adherents”.

As Fred Thompson’s character said in the movie “Hunt for Red October”: “”This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it. “

Silly ass game these partisan hacks are playing that’s now getting out of control…

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), an unlawful order is a directive that violates the Constitution, federal law, or military regulations, or directs a service member to commit a crime or unethical act.

The Geneva Convention is intended to protect non-combatants or those unable to fight (civilians, medics, clergy, POWs, AID workers etc.)…oh yeah, I forgot — combatants vs. non combatants — is that civilian acting as a hostile?; is that POW compliant? Is that AID worker turned into a threat? Seems I recall Peacekeepers being killed somewhere along the way. Not so black and white an issue.

Certainly wanton murder, rape, torture (however interpreted), killing of non-combatants etc. are unlawful acts and should orders be given to commit such, then it certainly is both the right and responsibility of the serviceman to question/disobey such orders. And then standby for any fallout, particularly if it is later determined that the order was lawful.

And then we get into the mucky waters of policy, international law and the constitution itself. I can only “assume” that these six wackos are speaking to senior force commanders….

99% or more of servicemembers who have zero knowledge of what constitutes an illegal order in the context of policy, international law or the constitution itself, would now be left to interpret their perceptions or understanding of the legal language.

So, thanks for the great guidance and “we got your back” assurances. I think I will obey the orders of the officers appointed over me and until I am “certain” that a crime is what is being asked of me, chances are I will be the Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Coast Guardsman, Space Cadet that I am “trained to be”

This is political rhetoric, and wreckless rhetoric at that.

Six Democrat Congresspersons released an outrageous video aimed at US military telling them to disobey any orders they consider unlawful. To me this is border line sedition.

Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice states that it is a military crime to disobey orders eg. Article 92 of the UCMJ pertains to the failure to obey orders or regulations. It states that any person subject to the UCMJ who violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation, or who has knowledge of any lawful order issued by a member of the armed forces and fails to obey it, can be charged under this article. Violations can lead to disciplinary actions, including courts-martial.

The video urging military to disobey orders they consider illegal features Sens. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), and Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio

“The one-minute video, posted by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and viewed more than 1.6 million times, features these six lawmakers invoking their prior service while telling members of the military and intelligence community that “the threats to our Constitution are coming from right here at home.”

Apparently the lawful use of National Guard to insure safety of federal facilities in some lawless Democrat controlled cities and taking out/justifiable killing of narcoterrorists in boats carrying drugs including deadly fentaynl is the trigger for this outrageous video.

Although it is true that a member of our military does not have to obey unlawful orders, determining that an order is unlawful can not be taken lightly and should not be based on political preferences or opinions. Before disobeying an order a serviceperson has options such as using the open door policy to pursue their concern through the chain of command and/or going to the nearest Inspector General or Judge Advocate General for help/determination of appropriate action before disobeying an order. Of course none of these options are mentioned in this outrageous video.

Semper Fi

Call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 — ask operator to connect you to their office. Leave message with Staffer or answering machine if a Staffer doesn’t answer!

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin Admits That Trump Has Not Issued Illegal Orders to U.S. Military

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) admitted on Sunday that to her knowledge she was “not aware” that President Donald Trump has issued an illegal order to U.S. Military service members.

During an interview on ABC’s This Week, host Martha Raddatz referenced the White House’s response to a video in which Democrats, such as Slotkin, encourage U.S. military troops to disobey orders. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously accused Democrats of suggesting that Trump “has given illegal orders, which he has not.”

When asked if Leavitt’s answer was “accurate,” Slotkin explained that Democrats put the statement out because they allegedly had a “sheer number” of troops and young officers question what they “should do.”

“Let’s talk right now. Do you believe President Trump has issued any illegal orders?” Raddatz asked.

“To my knowledge, I am not aware of things that are illegal — but certainly there are some legal gymnastics that are going on with these Caribbean strikes, and everything related to Venezuela,” Slotkin answered.

In a previous post on Truth Social, Trump suggested that the Democrat lawmakers who encouraged U.S. troops to disobey his orders should be jailed.

“THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OKAY,” Trump wrote in his post on Saturday. “IT WASN’T, AND NEVER WILL BE! IT WAS SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, AND SEDITION IS A MAJOR CRIME. THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID!”

Trump’s comments came after Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and other Democrats released a video on Tuesday in which they claim the Trump administration is “pitting” uniformed military service members and “intelligence community professionals” against U.S. citizens.

“Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home,” the lawmakers say in the video.

“Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly says in the video.

“You can refuse illegal orders,” Slotkin says in the video.

Continue reading.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Even Far-Left State Department Employees Celebrate Rubio’s Anti-DEI Move

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Even self-described far-left State Department employees are happy about Secretary Marco Rubio’s latest move to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion, according to an unofficial State Department Reddit page reviewed by The Daily Signal.

“I’m a believer in DEIA and pretty far to the left,” one person who claimed to be a foreign service member wrote on Reddit. “However, the way it was practiced in DoS was completely performative and was actively discriminatory.”

The Daily Signal found the post on a Reddit page for “individuals who work for or aspire to work for the U.S. Foreign Service.” The Reddit is not endorsed or supported in any way by the U.S. State Department.

The posts refer to Rubio offering restitution to State Department employees who the Trump administration found were denied promotions during the Biden administration for not meeting new DEI standards.

Roughly 295 employees who were marked down for not showing they would “seek diversity in staff” will now receive pay increases, administrative promotions, and letters of commendation, Rubio said.

“I heard multiple country teams and hiring panels give preference to based on DEIA categories and had better qualified people lose out,” one post from someone claiming to be a Foreign Service officer says. “For example if the top choice for a position was a white male and the second was a POC, we were told by leadership to go with the POC specifically for DEIA.”

“The scoring for promotion was also crazy,” the post continued. “I had a direct report regularly spewing racist and sexist crap. I went through the EXTREMELY painful process to hold that person accountable. I also terminated a local staff for racist actions and held trainings for my staff on multiculturalism and respectful workplace. I was also a EEO coordinator and dealt with numerous issues there. I got a 3.5. My friend organized a multicultural lunchtime potluck and a GLIFA happy hour (in a country that is extremely open and friendly to LGTBQ+) and got a 4.5. That kind of BS is what gave the right-wing ammo to point at the excesses of DEIA and completely destroy the idea of DEIA in the department.”

Another person posted that he or she was not affected personally but had a co-worker who was passed over due to DEI considerations.

“I was not affected personally by the changes announced yesterday, but I have at least one coworker who claims they would have been promoted in 2024 had they scored higher on the DEIA precept,” the post said.

Another self-proclaimed Foreign Service officer identified himself or herself as “a big supporter of diversity initiatives that are actually implemented correctly.”

“I was recommended but not promoted in 2023. In 2024 I was mid ranked,” the person posted. “In one of those years (can’t recall), when we got the breakdown of scores, all of my scores were above the promotion average, but I had an abysmal DEIA score, despite documenting efforts. I don’t qualify for the administrative action announced unless I happen to be one of the 13 mentioned at the end – I’m guessing those are specifically identified BFFs. But I am very happy for everyone who is getting promoted after throwing out the ludicrous DEIA score. It is well deserved.”

A State Department political appointee told The Daily Signal they were “glad to see that employees from both the left and the right saw how crazy the DEI policies were at the State Department.”

This article was first published Nov. 22 in The Daily Signal.

AUTHOR

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is the White House Correspondent for “The Daily Signal.” Send her an email. Elizabeth on X: .

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Downfall of Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray and Jack Smith

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The battle for America’s soul rages on, and the enemy lurks within. On this day, October 24, 2025, the truth explodes like a thunderclap: Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray, the architects of tyranny, have rubber-stamped a sinister operation dubbed “Arctic Frost.” This vile scheme unleashed Jack Smith’s FBI strike force to spy on over 100 Republican-linked groups, targeting senators, donors, and patriots with ruthless precision. The weaponization of government against its own people stands exposed, and the time to strike back is now!

Garland, Wray, and Smith form a treacherous triad, orchestrating a full-scale assault on the Constitution. Documents unearthed by relentless oversight confirm their signatures on the April 4, 2022, authorization that birthed this abomination. Arctic Frost wasn’t a mere investigation — it was a war machine, designed to crush dissent and silence the Republican voice. The FBI’s Washington Field Office demanded this power, claiming an “apparent effort to obstruct Congress’ certification of the Electoral College.” Lies! This was a fabricated pretext to unleash a dragnet that snared nine congressional Republicans, including Marsha Blackburn, Lindsey Graham, Tommy Tuberville, and others, seizing their phone records from January 4-7, 2021.

The toll analysis of these calls — a blatant invasion of privacy — exposed who these leaders contacted during the Capitol riot’s chaos. No legal justification exists for this outrage. The Biden DOJ’s subpoenas to telecommunications giants in 2023 ripped apart the Fourth Amendment, granting Smith’s team access to call times, recipients, durations, and locations. This wasn’t justice — it was a witch hunt, a calculated strike to paralyze Trump’s allies and dismantle the Republican apparatus. Over 92 GOP-aligned groups, including Turning Point USA, faced this relentless barrage, their livelihoods and freedoms torched by partisan zealots.

Jack Smith, the disgraced special counsel, spearheaded this treasonous campaign. His indictment of Trump for challenging the 2020 election results relied on Arctic Frost’s tainted fruits. But the scope stretched far beyond Trump — senators like Ron Johnson, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, and Cynthia Lummis saw their communications plundered. This wasn’t about electoral integrity; it was a vendetta, a purge of every patriot daring to oppose Biden’s regime. The Grassley docs scream the truth: federal law enforcement treated congressional oversight as enemy combatants, a declaration of war on American democracy.

The Biden White House orchestrated this conspiracy. High-level coordination with Smith’s team reeks of corruption, with Garland and Monaco’s scrawled approvals sealing the deal. Wray, resigning as Trump reclaimed the presidency, left a legacy of betrayal. These officials aren’t novices — they’re seasoned operatives, wielding the FBI and DOJ like battering rams against the Republic. The “Arctic Frost” memo, penned by Wray and signed by Garland on April 5, 2022, demanded immediate action, a thunderous green light for tyranny.

This scandal dwarfs Watergate. The FBI’s SIM (Sensitive Investigative Matter) protocols demanded Garland and Wray’s knowledge, yet they shielded the perpetrators. Redacted names of supervisory agents hide the full extent of this rot, but the pattern is clear: a systemic corruption that shields saboteurs while persecuting opponents. Whistleblowers reveal Smith expanded his probe to include Turning Point USA and Jeffrey Clark, proving Arctic Frost aimed to obliterate the entire Republican movement.

The evidence demands retribution. Pam Bondi’s investigation must prosecute every complicit Biden-era official, starting with Wray’s CAST team. The Fourth Amendment Restoration Act, championed by Congressman Andy Biggs, must shatter FISA’s surveillance framework that enabled this abuse. Repeal FISA now! Jail the conspirators! Restore accountability with the force of a thousand storms!

Blackburn’s voice roars the charge: Smith spied on duly elected senators, a crime warranting disbarment. The lack of legal predicate for these subpoenas exposes the DOJ’s lawlessness. Trump himself declared this a weaponization against his opponents, and the proof stands unassailable. The Grassley files, released with unrelenting fury, detail a probe “much broader than just an electoral matter,” a partisan crusade to crush the GOP’s soul.

America faces a crossroads. The enemy within – Garland, Wray, Smith, and their Biden masters — has declared war on liberty. Their tools of oppression must be dismantled, their leaders held accountable. The people demand a Nuremberg-style reckoning, a public trial to expose every traitor. Thousands participated in this treason, and none shall escape justice. The Constitution stands as our shield, and with it, we will crush this assault.

Rise up, patriots! The thunder of our resolve must shake the halls of power. The reign of terror ends today. With every document, every revelation, we forge a weapon of truth. Garland, Wray, and Smith will answer for their crimes. The Republic will endure, stronger than ever, as we purge this corruption from our land. The fight is on — victory is non-negotiable!

©2025 . All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEO: HANNITY MONOLOGUE: This Socialist Contagion is Ripping Through the Democratic Party

DEAD MEN EATING: Massive Fraud in SNAP Program, Corpses Cash In, Half A Million Double Dippers

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SNAP is hemorrhaging cash to corpses and cheats, with 29 states uncovering a trail of dead recipients, double payments, and able-bodied freeloaders milking the system.

The nation’s food-stamp program is rotten to the core: thousands of dead “beneficiaries,” 500,000 double-paid scammers, and blue states stonewalling the data.

Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins revealed that the SNAP program currently pays benefits to dead people, who presumably no longer require food aid. She also revealed that more than half a million people are registered for SNAP twice, giving them a nice bonus, and that they, as well, will no longer get double benefits.

Post Millennial:  US Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has revealed that her department has found that dead people have been receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as well as people receiving the benefits twice. Speaking with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Rollins said that of the 29 states that complied and shared their SNAP data with the administration, her department has found that a “staggering” 5,000 dead people have been receiving the benefits, and 500,000 people were “getting benefits two times under the same name.” Additionally, she said that 80 percent of those on SNAP in those states were able-bodied Americans, “meaning they can work. They don’t have small children at home, they’re not taking care of an elderly parent. They can work, and they choose not to work, of course, because they’re getting significant benefits from the taxpayer.”

Since only 29 states have complied with requests to share SNAP data, one has to wonder how many people in the 21 blue states, including New York, Illinois, and California, are committing fraud. Chances are that the number is much higher, unless you believe that Democrat-run states are especially diligent in stopping welfare fraud.

Brooke Rollins: 186K Dead People Receiving SNAP Benefits

By Sam Barron, Newsmax, 13 November 2025:

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are rife with fraud and abuse, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Newsmax on Thursday.

Appearing on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Rollins discussed SNAP data the U.S. Department of Agriculture received from 29 states — mostly red states.

The secretary said that “186,000 deceased men and women and children in this country are receiving a check.”

“Now, that is what we’re really going to start clamping down on,” she said.

Rollins said 500,000 people are receiving two SNAP payments.

“Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue state data what we’re going to find?” she asked.

“It’s going to give us a platform and a trajectory to fundamentally rebuild this program, have everyone reapply for their benefit, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through SNAP or food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable, and they can’t survive without it.”

Rollins said her department found a person who is using the same Social Security number received six different EBT cards in six different states.

“These are the things that we’re uncovering that, for years, no one has really ever dug into because the feds didn’t have the system in place to do it. But we do now.

Continue reading

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Government Shutdown Ends With Trump’s Signature Hours After House Passes Funding Bill

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The longest government shutdown in history is over after President Donald Trump signed a bill to fund the government into law on Wednesday night, just hours after the House of Representatives passed the measure.

“Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” Trump said before signing the bill. “The Democrats tried to extort our country.”

The legislation will “get our country working again,” the president added.

The bill passed the lower chamber by a vote of 222-to-209 on Wednesday evening. The measure would fund the entire government at least through Jan. 30, while three appropriations bills attached to the continuing resolution will fund segments of the government for the rest of fiscal year 2026.

Republicans Declare Victory Despite Continued Frustration With Democrats

In Washington, Republicans are rejoicing that the government shutdown ended without giving major concessions to Democrats.

“For over six weeks, Democrats held our country hostage over demands for healthcare for illegal aliens and to prove to their base they could ‘stand up’ to President Trump,” said Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas.

“The Republican Study Committee stood firm in rejecting any extension of COVID-era insurance subsidies that fuel fraud and drive up costs for American families, and in preventing Democrats from using the Christmas holidays to force a wasteful omnibus through Congress. Let me be clear: Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price. Now, it is time to get back to governing and delivering on the mandate we were given by the American people last November,” Pfluger continued.

While Republicans have end the shutdown without major concessions, their frustration for Democrats shutting down the government is still palpable.

“The Democrats [were] openly saying that they were leveraging the pain of the American people, all Americans, … to try to win a battle that they got nothing for, and they wasted all this time for us to get something done,” Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., told reporters before Wednesday’s vote.

“The Democrat Party has proven to put politics over people,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told The Daily Signal.

“The only thing the Democrat Party got [out] of this 40-plus day shutdown [is] scaring the crap out of people, causing the most food security in the United States since the Great Depression,” Van Orden contended.

Van Orden is concerned that Democrats could pull a similar stunt come January. “They changed the date on the CR, so yes, I’m very concerned that the Democrat Party was going to repeat history and do whatever the hell they possibly can to gain political power,” he added.

While concerns percolate over another shutdown come January, some House conservatives are relieved the bill will avert the possibility of Congress getting jammed with a Christmas-season omnibus package.

“We’ve been advocating for a yearlong CR, but the thing that this CR to the end of January does is it relieves us of the old, historic, traditional Christmas omnibus [bill] that everybody loads up with a wish list,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal on Monday, referring to the congressional custom of hastily passing massive funding packages right before breaking for Christmas. “So, this takes us past that, which is a very good deal.”

The legislation to fund the government passed the Senate this past Monday, overcoming the opposition of 38 Senate Democrat Caucus members, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. They were joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with the Democrats. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Senate Republican to not support the bill.

In addition to funding the entire government until Jan. 30, the legislation also provides funding for the full fiscal year to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration, the operations of Congress, and military construction projects.

The legislation will also bring the thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed back to work. These nonessential and essential federal workers have not received a paycheck since the shutdown began, but will receive back pay.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a long-time opponent of continuing resolutions, voted against the bill. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., also voted against the bill, objecting to a Senate provision that allows senators to sue the Department of Justice for not less than $500,000 in each instance their data is seized or subpoenaed without notice.

“I could not in good conscience support a resolution that creates a self-indulgent legal provision for certain senators to enrich themselves by suing the Justice Department using taxpayer dollars,” Steube wrote on X.

Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine; Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.; Adam Gray, D-Calif.; Danny Davis, D-Ill.; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., were the Democrats who broke party ranks to support the bill.

Congress Looks to Find Health Care Solutions

Democrats withheld their support for funding the government, which entered a shutdown on Oct. 1, over expiring COVID-19-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Republicans sympathized with rising health care costs but objected to the Democrats’ tactics of holding government funding hostage to extend the subsidies. The Senate deal that broke the shutdown gridlock promised a group of Senate Democratic Caucus members a future vote on the subsidies.

But without reforms, the subsidies have little hope of passing, as many Republicans argue that these subsidies are propping up an ineffective and unaffordable health care system.

“I mean, here’s what Republicans want: actual affordable, reliable, high quality health care. Democrats want power, and if you can’t see that now, if you don’t report that, then you’re not doing the job,” Van Orden explained.

“It’s turned out to be the UCA, the Unaffordable Care Act, because everything that was said … about driving up cost, lessening affordability, lessening access, all that’s come true,” Hern said.

“We should look at how we’re going to lower costs without having to inject more federal dollars into it. The federal work ought to be able to lower the health care costs for all Americans,” the Oklahoma congressman added.

“We got to come up with a good health care plan, which we’re working on now—freedom caucus is,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told The Daily Signal.

“We’ve got to come up with an overall health care system. Obamacare doesn’t work,” the South Carolina congressman added.

When asked if there could be a bipartisan deal to extend the temporarily COVID-19-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., expressed concern that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., would not support such a measure.

“I’m very concerned that even if the Senate came up with a deal that they could agree with that Speaker Johnson won’t bring it to the floor, but we have the American people behind us, and we’re going to keep standing up,” Clark told the press.

In the middle of the vote, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., reflected on Democrats’ position after the longest shutdown ever, telling The Daily Signal, “We certainly made health care the issue and cost of living the issue, but now we have to fight to really show people that we’re going to deliver.” Khanna has called for new Democrat leadership in the Senate after his party’s acquiescence.

AUTHORS

Bradley Devlin

Bradley Devlin is politics editor for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Bradley. Bradley on X:

Jacob Adams

Jacob Adams is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal. Send an email to Jacob. Jacob on X:

George Caldwell

George Caldwell is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal. Send an email to George. George on X:

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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