California Screaming is Becoming a Reality

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How many of you think that what goes on in California stays in California? NOPE! Boy are we naive if we think that what goes on in California does not affects every state in the Union. It seems as though Californians have taken the “We are stupid” pill and will now pay the price at the pump and pay more for all the goods at the grocery store. Every necessity is about to escalate into the ‘I can’t afford it’ category.

How did that happen? Well, Newsom is a socialist governor who seems to feel that the cost of the regulations he puts in place don’t have any consequences on Californians and certainly don’t affect him. The regulations in AB-5 are about to strangle the 70,000 truckers who just learned they can no longer be independent truckers. AB-5 is forcing them to become W-2 employees of their carriers or be fined. No small businesses for them.

The carrier companies they work for said “No, we cannot afford to W2 these independent truckers who own their own rigs. We’ll leave California.” The truckers said “No, we want to be independent so we’ll leave California!” And a huge portion of the 70,000 independent truckers have left California or are in the process of leaving. The carriers, aka Freight Handlers, who are national corporations said “We’ll leave too. We will move to another state.” Landstar, a national company, issued one statement, “LEAVE.”

So what did Newsom do? He hired illegals to replace the American truckers. What does that mean? It means Americans are at risk from truckers who can’t read English and cause accidents. It means goods sitting at the docks can’t be distributed throughout America. That affects all of us. It also means that Californians lost government funding from the DOT for breaking federal law and hiring illegals.

To add insult to injury, the heavy duty regulations placed on the refineries are causing refineries to leave California. California is about to lose 20% of its power … of its fuel. This is causing gas prices to rise unchecked in California, Arizona and Nevada. Newsom is blaming high profitability on refineries as the cause for escalating prices. His Public Service Commission told him it was due to his regulations. But Newsom is stubborn and does not pay attention and basically doesn’t care. After all he’s rich and can afford high gas prices.

Newsom’s solution, Pay the refineries subsidies to stay in CA. YES those same companies he put out of business will now be subsidized to stay. In addition CA will no be getting oil from ASIA at a much higher price. Newsom is either evil, doesn’t care or has zero common sense.

The question is whether California will be smart enough to choose a different route as they choose their new governor or will they sit back and let the insane regulations of environmentalists destroy everything they worked hard to achieve. Do they care where their taxes are going? That remains to be seen. But, what will that do to the rest of us as the goods pile up on the docks and the prices go higher and higher and higher. CA is filled with waste fraud and abuse. Is this what you want America to look like? If we thought Minnesota was bad just look at what this incompetent, selfish governor did to the once great state of CALIFORNIA. Then ask yourself, “Is this who I want as a president?”

Let’s look around the world and around your state. Has Trump made a difference?

Love him or hate him, one thing is certain, there will never be another President like Trump. Until Trump, our leaders did not respect America or Americans. We were the meat the parasites could eat and drain us until there was nothing left. Americans were the givers and they were the takers. Then along came Trump and things changed. They changed so fast most of us can hardly follow. In this week alone the world changed because President Trump is not afraid to say, “America First”.

The Venezuela incident brought us one step closer to telling the communists the game is over. Hopefully, Maduro will start naming names of the American legislators who looked the other way and got paid handsomely. President Trump told the Venezuelans and the world communists: “You can no longer play in the Western American Hemisphere. We don’t want your criminals or your drugs killing our people. We want the oil back that you stole from American companies when you nationalized the oil. We built your infrastructure. America made you rich. We will do it again. We will arrest the international criminal dictator (NOT the President) destroying your country. We hope that you will have a fair election and until that time we will monitor what those in power do. The people will get justice.”

Do you think Maduro’s capture will cause other dictators to flee?

BREAKING: Khamenei Preparing Escape Route to Russia

Iran’s supreme leader reportedly has devised a back-up plan to flee to Moscow as the uprising against the government intensifies and spreads across the country.

According to an intelligence report, Iran’s supreme leader is preparing for the possible collapse of the Islamic regime. He plans to flee the country for Russia with a group of relatives and aides in the event that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps either fails to crush the ongoing uprising or deserts, Last report, 2 cities were taken by the protestors.

Since that was not enough, Trump turned his sights to America. He told the Defense contractors to stop being such pigs and start investing in their companies to make more products faster. From Truth Social : “All United State Defense Contractors and the Defense Industry as a whole, BEWARE: While we make the best Military Equipment in the World (No other Country is even close!), Defense Contractors are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment. This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!”

President Trump was not done. He said he will ban large investors from buying single family homes. “People live in homes, not corporations,” he said.

Does that affect you? Look at your county Comprehensive plan. See if they are banning Urban Sprawl – a term made up by the socialists to blame property ownership on white people. Ask your county leaders to define Urban Sprawl. Most will not be able to answer.

Definition: Urban Sprawl, the rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by low-density residential housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the private automobile for transportation. Urban sprawl is caused in part by the need to accommodate a rising urban population; however, in many metropolitan areas it results from a desire for increased living space and other residential amenities. Why else would you want to buy a house? own a car? That is the American Dream

DOES your county want to eliminate single family housing in order to shove you into high density easier to control communities. Mamdani and his new housing administrator want to eliminate private property ownership. It is a “white thing” and white neighborhoods should be taxed more. It is imperative that you pay attention to your local county and stop these plans before you can’t.

Under President Trump’s lead, RFK Jr. is doing a great MAHA job. They just upgraded the health food guidelines and added more protein and dairy. The top of the food pyramid is meat. Yeah. I can smell that steak on the grill. Hopefully the insane overreaching regulations on fertilizer and processing will be eliminated and meat prices will drop.

The administration was also busy on the vaccine side. When I was a child we took 7 vaccines over a period of time. Just like the Defense industry, big Pharma decided that stakeholders and executives deserved more money. So rather that making Americans healthy, they made Americans sick. The administration just slashed the recommended vaccines from over 60 to 11. Plus, the vaccines were recommended but not mandated. Funny how the opposition will slant an article. This report from MSN was a joke.

Everything is connected. The fraud in Minnesota is never ending. Snap, Medicaid unemployment benefits, Feeding our Future, Daycare fraud, NGO’s. I read that Craig’s List had a call for child actors to pose in Daycare facilities. Billions of dollars have been stolen from We The People. Please let us not be naive enough to think this is only happening in Minnesota. It is my hope that those criminal leaders involved will be arrested soon. Have you checked your state for fraud?

Why are democrats fighting to prevent the deportation of criminals? Because they are making money as well. Lt. Michael Byrd, who Shot Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, Operates a Taxpayer-Funded Home Daycare as $190 Million in Federal Child Care Funds Flow to Maryland.

I looked for fraud in Florida. I was not really surprised to learn about the dirty politics of the RPOF (Republican Party of Florida). It seems as though the Chairman of the RPOF, Evan Power, is a registered lobbyist with Ramba Consulting.

Of course after learning that, I am not surprised why the RPOF, a private corporation, in charge of supporting GOP candidates, is purging the grassroots from local chapters. In many cases, the refusal to help candidates causes the loss of GOP positions like the Democrat win in the Miami City mayors race. A republican position for over 30 years is now held by a democrat. Who exactly does Evan work for? Certainly not the Florida MAGA, grassroot Republicans. Evan is doing nothing to unite. Does the GOP want to win?

So much has happened this past week I can hardly catch my breath. Join me on this week’s show We will discuss the damage the GOP is doing to Florida with David Kalin in Segment 1. David ran for office and was purged by the RPOF. In segment 2 Ed Vidal will help us understand forgotten history about the true story of Venezuela.

©2026 . All rights reserved.

As always it is imperative that you share and spread the truth. There is so much confusion. Vet your candidates! Check out their actions. Use opensecrets.org to find their donors. What have they done to earn your vote? And above all, VOTE in the Primaries. Is America worth saving?

Guest: David Kalin, Former candidate SOE, Charlotte county

Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=100094156732197

Guest: Ed Vidal, Executive Producer and General Counsel

WSQF 94.5 FM Radio, Doral, Florida

Website: miamiindependent.com

EXCLUSIVE: Suicide Hotline Operator Pushes ‘Radical’ Trans Ideology In Open Revolt Against Trump Admin

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At least one major suicide hotline operator continues sending callers in some states to transgender activists, despite the Trump administration prohibiting the use of federal funds to promote gender ideology, internal documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation reveal.

The 988 suicide hotline’s “press 3” option that routed young LGBTQ-identifying callers to transgender activist groups ended in July when the Trump administration announced it would instead “focus on serving all help seekers.” Yet the move hasn’t uprooted gender ideology from a system intended to support the most vulnerable in times of crisis.

Protocall, a taxpayer-funded 988 service provider, tells its employees that “gender affirming care is an appropriate decision for minors.” The company did not respond to questions about its policies.

When a caller dials the 988 hotline, they are routed to their local crisis center or a national backup if the local center is unavailable. Protocall functions as a national 988 backup and operates the state crisis response lines in New Hampshire and New Mexico, as well as holding contracts with public colleges in states like Arizona, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California and New York.

Subcontractors like Protocall, who receive funds from government grantees, must still comply with federal law and executive orders, including President Donald Trump’s day-one order stating funds “shall not be used to promote gender ideology,” a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson told the DCNF.

Counselors who work for Protocall are expected to agree with the company’s stances on gender identity — and are tested on their understanding of the issues nearly every three months, former employee Jaime Brooks told the DCNF. Brooks left the company in December after working there for just over a year.

“LGBTQ2SIA individuals, often out of necessity, learn to build community and their own families of choice that we can count on for acceptance, support, and sharing in the jobs and important moments of life,” a Protocall guide on “Supporting LGBTQSIA Callers/Visitors” states. “As crisis counselors, helping individuals identify their supports and possible avenues for finding support (such as through social media, local queer resource centers, queer recovery groups and affirming/queer spiritual and religious organizations) can be invaluable.”

If an adult must be involved in “mitigating risk” for youth, counselors should “ask the youth if they feel safe involving their parent and how we should refer to them with their parent (i.e. it may not be safe for them if we use their chosen name or their pronouns),” the guide recommends.

“We can be creative in considering who is a safe adult in their life who we might be able to involve in safety planning,” it states.

Brooks told the DCNF she was required to review and discuss this document with a group. Quizzes accompany other company trainings, such as a “Trans* 101” training that claims that transgender individuals’ “right to exist, socially, medically and legally, are actively and increasingly legislated against every year.”

“It is deeply troubling that the organization operating our nation’s suicide hotline is pushing a radical, disproven ideology onto vulnerable adolescents in crisis,” Do No Harm Executive Director Kristina Rasmussen told the DCNF. “This taxpayer-subsidized program should provide compassionate, life-saving care to confused children, not send them further down a path that can lead to lasting mental and physical harm.”

‘Unethical Behavior’

In her Dec. 23 resignation letter, Brooks raised issues with the company “distributing resources to minors that facilitate their access to sex rejecting medical procedures and drugs.”

“I no longer wish to be an accomplice to such criminal and unethical behavior,” she wrote, citing recent actions by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that will restrict Medicaid-participating hospitals from offering sex-change procedures to minors.

Protocall Company Trans 101 training (Credit: Daily Caller News Foundation)

A list of resources provided to counselors recommends the Trevor Project, the initial sole operator of the federal government’s LGBTQ youth hotline. The Trevor Project still operates its own private crisis hotline, as well as Trevor Space, an online community that parents have criticized for allowing minors and adults ages 13-24 to discuss topics related to sexuality.

Trevor Space is “a breeding ground for grooming,” Kevin Brown, a former law enforcement officer who founded a nonprofit that identifies victims of human trafficking, warned California lawmakers in June. As a 70-year-old man, Brown was able to create an account on Trevor Space posing as a 15-year-old boy and connect with other users in a chat room, including an individual who wanted to take their conversation to Discord.

The Trevor Project opposes policies that require educators to inform parents if their child is using a new name or pronouns at school, while supporting policies that allow men to use women’s’ bathrooms and locker rooms

The Trevor Project told the DCNF that TrevorSpace, which is separate from its crisis services, “is built with LGBTQ+ youth safety as a top priority.”

“The platform was created for LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24, and there are safeguards in place to prevent direct messaging between minors and those who are over the age of 18,” the organization said in a statement. “TrevorSpace actively collaborates with leading safety solution organizations to ensure the safety and security of all users, especially those under age 18.”

Protocall’s recommended resource list also includes PFLAG, an activist group that defends irreversible sex-change procedures as “medically necessary” for minors, and the Family Acceptance Project, an organization that develops resources and programs designed to convince families to accept their child’s gender confusion.

Though hotline callers can request to speak with a male or female counselor, their calls are sometimes received by individuals of the opposite sex who identify as transgender, according to Brooks. Young callers who request to speak with a counselor of the same sex often have sensitive concerns about issues like sexual assault and puberty, she explained.

“The fact that the training documents suggest hiding information from parents is both alarming and part and parcel of the gender activist playbook,” Rasmussen told the DCNF. “That the CEO of Protocall has doubled down on DEI, the twin pillar of the crumbling identity politics movement, is further proof that there must be additional scrutiny on the training provided to the people tasked with the critical job of interceding in young people’s times of crisis. It also calls into question why groups like this continue to hold key public service contracts at all.”

‘We Will Not Retreat’

Protocall has pulled in millions from the federally-funded administrator of the 988 hotline, Vibrant Emotional Health, previously known by another name, the Mental Health Association of New York City.

It received nearly $5.85 million in the 2023 fiscal year and $2.67 million in the 2022 fiscal year, according to Vibrant Emotional Health’s tax records. Vibrant Emotional Health did not respond to a request for comment.

Protocall has a contract with New Hampshire worth $10,328,136, effective through June 2027. New Hampshire’s funding for the company draws on federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), according to the contract.

“SAMHSA funds cannot be used for activities that violate federal law or the requirements set forth in current Executive Orders,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told the DCNF.

“This applies to SAMHSA funding of grantees through subcontractors,” he said. “As of October 1, all SAMHSA grantees, including Vibrant, were required to certify that every federally supported activity complies fully with Title IX, Title VI, and Executive Order 14168.”

Meanwhile, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Phil Evans vowed to resist the administration when Trump took office, reaffirming the “company’s commitment to our ongoing DEl work as well as our unwavering support of our LGBTQ2SIA+ employees.”

“Here at Protocall, we will not retreat from the progress our organization has made, the diversity we’ve built, and the safe community we’ve sought to create for every single person we work with,” Evans wrote in an internal Jan. 27, 2025 email to staff.

Email from Protocall CEO affirming commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion after President Trump took office. (Credit: Daily Caller News Foundation)

“Here at Protocall, we full-throatedly reject this Administration’s efforts to roll back basic civil rights and DEl programs,” he wrote. “Here at Protocall, no executive order from this President, or any law this congress may eventually pass, will change how we choose to treat each other and the culture we seek to create. As a private company, our continued pursuit of these values is outside the purview of this Administration’s agenda.”

Evans did not respond to a request for comment.

Protocall’s website notes that its DEI committee, as well as its “BIPOC and LGBTQ2SIA” groups, help “create and review policies and initiatives.” In an end-of-year Leadership Q&A shared with staff, executives stated that affirming DEI commitments made them especially proud of Protocall in 2025.

“When we stood up and proudly reaffirmed our commitment to DEI when other organizations were forced, or chose, to shrink away from it, and when other organizations had to shut their doors, we were able to open ours even wider,” the internal document states.

Other company guidance recommends “normalizing” adverse impacts of minority stress, validating “unique strengths of LGBTQ people” and affirming “healthy, rewarding expressions of sexuality and gender.”

“Collaborate with the caller about how they want to be described in documentation (‘what would you like me to put down for your gender?’” counselors are told. “Protocall follows the nationally recognized standard that gender affirming care is an appropriate decision for minors and their families, and not in any way child abuse or reportable as such.”

Along with funding it receives through states and the national 988 administrator, Protocall is part of an ongoing federal grant project with a tech company, Lyssn.io, to develop an AI-based tool that helps assess the suicide risk of callers.

“Protocall serves a diverse clientele with an equally diverse community of call-takers,” Lyssn Co-Founder Dr. Zac Imel said in a 2023 statement. “It’s so important that Lyssn’s AI algorithms continue to advance in a way that reflects and honors all providers and clients across the spectrum. Partnering with Protocall to do just that is a step toward that kind of inclusion.”

While the Trump administration pulled the plug on the specialized LGBTQ+ hotline, several states are pursuing alternatives. In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro announced state officials would work with call centers to “facilitate LGBTQ+ clinical trainings.”

Trainings ensured centers can provide “a warm handoff to the Trevor Project,” Secretary Val Arkoosh wrote on X.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Dec. 9 to reinstate the “press 3” option locally.

“SAMHSA plans to issue a new cooperative agreement for its 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Administrator in early FY26 ensuring that anyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who will help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress,” Nixon told the DCNF. “Anyone who calls the Lifeline will receive compassion and help.”

AUTHOR

Katelynn Richardson

Investigative Reporter

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EXCLUSIVE: Docs Knew Gender Science Was ‘Shoddy,’ But Pushed Chemical Sex Changes On Kids Anyway

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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.

Four Takeaways as Congress Investigates Walz, Minnesota Fraud

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Congress probed the matter of what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz knew about the $9 billion fraud scandal in his state at a hearing on Wednesday.

Several Minnesota state lawmakers, who have investigated fraud in the state for the past year, testified at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about what they learned from whistleblowers.

They testified two days after Walz dropped his reelection bid for a third term as governor amid years-long welfare fraud scandals in the state. Federal prosecutors have charged almost 100 in Minnesota so far with welfare fraud.

The witnesses claimed that Gov. Walz knew about fraud scandals as they were occurring, alleged that the state intimidated whistleblowers, and broached the possibility of funding of foreign terrorism.

Here are four key takeaways from Wednesday’s hearing.

1. ‘Any Doubt That Tim Walz Knew?’

The scandal hit home for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who blamed Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison for not preventing it.

He asked the members of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee if they believed Gov. Walz knew about the fraud as it occurred.

The three state committee members were Chairwoman Kristin Robbins, and state Reps. Walter Hudson and Marion Rarick. Each said they had no doubt, or “none whatsoever,” that Walz knew.

Later, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., asked Robins, “Do you have any examples of how the Walz administration blocked investigators from moving forward?”

Robins said that an inspector general investigation of the state’s human services department–at the center of the state’s fraud scandals–was shut down.

“They were told they could no longer do criminal investigations,” Robins said.

For his part, Walz has said he is trying to root out fraud, and did not benefit from it.

2. ‘Constant State of Fear of Retaliation’

Minnesota state Rep. Marion Rarick, a Republican member of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, gave several examples of state bureaucrats intimidating whistleblowers.

“They have explained that they live in a constant state of fear of retaliation,” Rarick said.

She gave the example of a state employee who notified supervisors at the Department of Human Services about “sloppy contracting practices,” and who was subsequently escorted from the building.

“In our face-to-face meetings with a group of whistleblowers, they reveal that retaliation now includes threats of being fired with cause, which means you do not get unemployment insurance in the state of Minnesota, being blacklisted from all state agencies,” Rarick continued.

Rarick noted that In April 2024, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan publicly called state employees who raised concerns about potential fraud “weirdos and losers sitting in their mother’s basement.”

3. Evidence of Terrorism Funding

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., asked about financial ties of fraudulent welfare recipients to international terrorist networks. Robins said that an informal network of money exchangers transmits money to Somalia.

“So, United States dollars that have been remitted into Somalia, in part, have been utilized, or have fallen into the hands of Al Shabbab?” Donalds asked Robins.

Al-Shabaab is a Somalia-based terrorist network linked to Al Qaeda.

Robins answered, “We have plenty of evidence of that from money directly going to Al-Shabbab, but then also indirectly because they take a cut of whatever gets sent to Somalia.”

4. Trump, George Santos, and Anything but Minnesota

Democrats on the committee used most of their time to talk about President Donald Trump and subjects other than the Minnesota fraud scandal.

Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said, “some of the worst fraud and corruption is actually found at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., called the witnesses “hypocrites” and asked them to comment on expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., as well as the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the Capitol.

After Pressley exceeded her allotted time, Comer stopped her to say, “You’ve already secured your MSNBC spot tonight.”

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., was one of the only Democrats to acknowledge the Minnesota fraud, saying, “This, of course, comes after weeks of viral videos from a young man YouTuber who was literally creeping around daycares by himself.”

The lone Democrat-called witness, Brendan Ballou, former special counsel for the Justice Department, said, “I fear that the actions of a few people will be used to demonize an entire population, Somali, East African, Minnesotans.”

Robins said exposing fraud was not targeting the Somalian population.

“It is true that the majority of the fraud in Minnesota has taken place in the Somali community, and it is also true that some of our best whistleblowers are from the Somali community,” Robins said.

AUTHOR

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is chief news correspondent and manager of the Investigative Reporting Project for The Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.” Send an email to Fred. Fred on X:

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HHS Says Somalia’s UN Ambassador Tied To Company Accused Of Medicaid Fraud

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Monday that Somalia’s top diplomat to the United Nations has ties to a U.S.-based health care company previously targeted by federal authorities over Medicaid fraud.

In December, Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill announced a nationwide fraud crackdown, warning that Minnesota routed millions in taxpayer funds to fraudulent daycares and saying HHS moved to tighten federal payments. Writing on X, O’Neill said he could confirm public reports that Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent representative to the U.N. and current president of the Security Council, is associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency operating in Cincinnati.

“I can confirm public speculation that Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the UN and President of the Security Council, is in fact associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati,” O’Neill wrote. “HHS has previously taken action against Progressive in response to a conviction for Medicaid fraud.”

The investigation followed after YouTuber Nick Shirley published a video showing multiple purported Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota that appeared empty during his visits, despite reportedly receiving state funds. His 43-minute video documents repeated stops at subsidized centers with no children on site, while KSTP-TV reported that the Quality “Lerning” Center accumulated 95 violations cited by a state agency between 2019 and 2023.

Several state employees accused Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of retaliating against whistleblowers who raised alarms as federal prosecutors pursued multiple cases.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” they wrote. “We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response.”

Walz later said on “Meet the Press” on NBC News on Nov. 30 that Minnesota “attracts criminals.”

AUTHOR

Mariane Angela

News Reporter

RELATED ARTICLE: Trump Expands Child Care Funding Freeze Beyond Minnesota

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.

4 Things to Expect From the Trump Administration in 2026

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After the Trump administration wrapped up its first news-packed year of the president’s second term, the White House will gear up for a year of addressing health care costs and other affordability concerns, saving the Republican majority in Congress, and more.

Here are four things to expect from year two of Trump 47:

1. Saving the Republican House Majority

President Donald Trump is ramping up domestic travel ahead of midterms as he sells voters on his affordability accomplishments.

The party of the president in power historically loses midterms, but Trump is fighting hard to keep the Republican majority.

At the end of 2025, he held two rallies in North Carolina where he pitched his efforts to lower prices for Americans. He is expected to hold many more of such rallies in 2026.

Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, said Trump will be a constant presence on the campaign trail, saying he will “campaign like it’s 2024 again.”

“Typically in the midterms it’s not about who’s sitting at the White House,” Wiles said. “You localize the election, and you keep the federal officials out of it. We’re actually going to turn that on its head and put him on the ballot because so many of those low propensity voters are Trump voters.”

After Republicans’ poor performance in the 2025 off-year elections, deputy chief of staff James Blair said Americans should expect to see the president put a great emphasis on affordability.

“The president is very keyed into what’s going on, and he recognizes, like anybody, that it takes time to do an economic turnaround, but all the fundamentals are there, and I think you’ll see him be very, very focused on prices and cost of living,” Blair told Politico.

Vice President JD Vance is hitting the campaign trail as well, starting with a trip to Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, where he related his own low-income childhood to the affordability concerns plaguing Americans.

In addition to campaigning to win seats, Trump has pressured state legislatures to redistrict in order to create more seats for Republicans. Indiana GOP state senators resisted the push, but other states, like Florida, plan to revisit their Congressional maps in 2026.

2. Nominating a Fed Chair

Trump has said he will likely pick the person to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors early in 2026.

Trump recently told The Wall Street Journal he is favoring selecting either National Economic Council head Kevin Hassett or former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh.

Trump has said he expects the next Fed chair to cut interest rates. On Dec. 17, the president said he will name someone “who believes in lower interest rates by a lot.”

Previously, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the short list also includes Fed Governor Christopher Waller and Fed Vice Chair of Supervision Michelle Bowman.

3. Ramping Up Deportations

The Department of Homeland Security has hired 11,751 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after receiving over 220,000 applications. These agents are expected to ramp up deportations in 2026.

The administration has deported over 600,000 illegal aliens since Trump returned to the White House in January, according to the Department of Homeland Security. An additional 1.9 million have self-deported, but the White House is not satisfied, sources familiar with the situation told The Daily Signal’s Virginia Allen.

“ICE is under major pressure from the White House,” a senior Trump administration official told The Daily Signal, adding, “That’s public information. A bunch of people got transferred and fired … in ICE because they’re not hitting the numbers that they want them to hit.”

The Trump administration is remaining highly focused on deportations headed into 2026 and deportation numbers are expected to grow higher. To this end, a senior Trump administration official says, the media should not be surprised when illegal aliens without a criminal record are also arrested and deported.

The Trump administration “said the ‘worst first,’ not only the worst of the worst,” the senior official noted, adding, “obviously, there’s some other category that’s going to be second and third.”

4. Addressing Health Care Prices

The House and Senate adjourned for the holidays without reaching a consensus on what to do about COVID-19-era Obamacare subsidies expiring on Dec. 31. Congress now has until Jan. 30 to pass an appropriations bill before the government shuts down again.

The House is expected to vote on Jan. 5 after Democrats passed a “discharge petition” to force a vote on a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies. The House passed Republicans’ health care proposal on Dec. 17, which does not extend ACA subsidies, but the bill is expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate.

Republicans are divided about if, and how, to extend expiring subsidies. Most conservative members have also said they will not vote for a health care deal unless it includes a provision prohibiting Obamacare from continuing funding abortions, an issue which will be a nonstarter for Democrats.

The White House has been letting Congress lead on landing on a health care deal, but if members are unable to come to an agreement, the president will likely have to step in.

So far, he has repeatedly said that he wants to see a plan that puts money in the wallets of Americans, not insurance companies.

“What we do wanna see is the money go to the people, not the insurance companies,” Trump told 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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Iron Beam, the Laser-Based Aerial Defense, Now Operational All Over Israel

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The Iron Beam is the first laser-based aerial defense in the world to be operational; other countries are working on laser-based weapons but have yet to complete them, much less to put any such weapons into operation. The Iron Beam is fantastically cheap; each “burst” of light costs a few dollars, compared to the $40,000 to $100,000 that each Iron Dome kinetic interceptor costs. And it has many more advantages: it travels at the speed of light — faster than any other weapon — and thus can intercept an incoming missile or drone much earlier in its flight, knocking it out before it comes close to Israel, and thus obviating the need for Israelis to run to their shelters. This means far less disruption to civilian life. When Iron Beam is fully deployed, Israelis won’t have to interrupt, several times a day, their civilian lives by having to rush to shelters when an incoming missile is detected. With the Iron Beam, that incoming missile will have been intercepted almost as soon as it is launched.

More on Iron Beam’s advantages can be found here: “Defense Ministry rolls out Iron Beam laser air defense system across Israel,” by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, December 28, 2025:

The Iron Beam laser-based, air-defense system has been deployed in the field, the Defense Ministry reported Sunday.

In June, the Defense Ministry and Rafael – the lead company among several defense technology firms, including Elbit, which provides core aspects of the laser itself – announced that Lite Beam, a smaller relative of Iron Beam, was operational.

In mid-September, the Defense Ministry announced that Iron Beam was operational, and that a full series of batteries would be deployed throughout the country to provide cutting-edge air-defense capabilities within the coming months.

On December 1, the head of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense, Research and Development (DDR&D), Brig.-Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, announced that full deployment would take place by December 30.

In June, the Defense Ministry disclosed that Israeli laser defense systems had shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones in October 2024.

Compared with Lite Beam, Iron Beam has more power, a longer range, and can be used to defend against a wider array of threats.

In addition to being able to shoot down drones, Iron Beam can also defend against missiles, rockets, and mortars. That makes it far more formidable than if it were only capable of shooting down drones, which are relatively slow-moving threats.

The announcement also means that Iron Beam batteries will be produced and dispersed around the country at scale, as opposed to serving in just one or two locations where their impact would take time to be judged.

The Defense Ministry and the IDF expect Iron Beam to immediately reduce the cost of intercepting aerial threats, a major challenge for Israel during the recent war, when tens of thousands of projectiles were launched from six fronts.

Firing Arrow interceptors can cost millions of shekels, and Iron Dome interceptors can cost tens of thousands of shekels. Firing the Iron Beam is as cheap as turning a light on….

Stop for a moment and think of what that means: each Iron Beam burst of light will cost not millions of shekels, like each Arrow interceptor, nor tens of thousands of shekels that each Iron Dome interceptor costs, but only a few dollars, at most, for each burst of light with which Iron Beam can take down drones, missiles, rockets, and mortars.

The Defense Ministry said that while the US-based Raytheon and countries including Britain, Russia, China, Germany, and Japan are developing laser defense systems, Iron Beam is the only one that has moved beyond test firings to operational field use.

Think of that. Tiny Israel is farther along in its development, and now in its deployment in the field, of a laser-based aerial defense system, than those defense giants, the U.S., U.K, Russia, China, Germany, and Japan, all of which are still in the stage of test firings of their own laser systems. .

The Iron Beam, the first laser-based weapon to be operational, and to have proved its value on the battlefield, is one more marvel from those Israeli scientists at Rafael, and Elbit, and Israel Aerospace Industries. Collectively, they are the gift that keeps on giving. Isn’t it comforting to know that Israel is on our side?

AUTHOR

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Lessons to Learn From the Welfare Mega-Fraud Scandal in Minnesota

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I recall a saying from my youth that went, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

This comes to mind reading reports of the mind-boggling welfare fraud megascandal that has been exposed in Minnesota.

For perspective on the scope of the scandal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson estimates fraud losses in Minnesota since 2018 could top $9 billion.

We’re talking about fraud in Medicaid, nutrition programs, government-funded housing programs, government programs to assist autistic children, etc.

Beyond tracking down and indicting criminals, there are critically important lessons to be learned here for our country, and we must learn them.

What do we learn about the connection between fraud and big government? What do we learn about fraud, big government and the Democratic Party? What lessons do we learn regarding our immigration policy?

Fraud and big government go hand in hand.

A Government Accountability Office report in July notes over $300 billion of fraudulent payments in 19 pandemic-relief programs.

Last May, CBS’ “60 Minutes” reported on vast fraud in federal spending programs. Per estimates of a woman who spent “a decade” at GAO, “I believe the government is losing between $550 billion and about $750 billion a year” in fraud.

What’s the connection to the Democratic Party? Simple. Democrats are the party of big government. Every proposal coming out of the Democratic Party involves more government. More government programs, which means more fraud.

And, of course, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at the helm of his state while all this was happening, was the Democrat nominee in 2024 to be our vice president. He was introduced by Kamala Harris as her running mate, saying he’s “the kind of vice president that America needs.”

The Cato Institute issues a biannual Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors, grading all 50 governors on tax and spending policies. In the last report in 2024, number 50 out of 50 governors was Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, scoring 19 points out of a possible 100.

What is the lesson regarding immigration?

The Somali community in Minnesota disproportionately participated in this widespread fraud.

Interviewing Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, CBS’ “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan noted that in COVID-19 fraud exceeding a billion dollars, “of 87 charged all but eight are of Somali descent.”

Omar herself is Somali and a member of the far-left “squad” in Congress.

Noting the disproportionate Somali presence in the scandal, President Donald Trump wrote on social media, “Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER.”

Those calling Trump a racist miss the point.

Consider the Corruption Perception Index published annually by Transparency International, an organization working to eliminate corruption around the globe.

Out of 180 countries measured in the Transparency International Index, Somalia is the second most corrupt country in the world.

Worth noting is the strong inverse relation of corruption with economic freedom. The most economically free countries—smaller government, less intrusive regulation, strong consistent rule of law—are also the least corrupt.

In the annual Fraser Institute Economic Freedom of the World Report, out of 165 countries measured and ranked in economic freedom, Somalia ranks 101.

The point is that the Somalis so prominent in the massive fraud in Minnesota come from a country with values and reality the total antithesis of what our country is about. It is a country with little economic freedom and widespread corruption.

If Somalis chose to come here to be free and responsible citizens, good for them and good for us. But it appears many have brought the destructive values of their home country with them. They should be screened.

Rep. Omar has been a perverse megaphone for anti-American sentiment since she arrived in Congress.

So, cut fraud by cutting back the scope of government, and shut our borders to those who do not aspire to our values of personal responsibility and freedom.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

AUTHOR

Star Parker

Star Parker, a columnist for The Daily Signal, is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Star on X: .

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

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Minnesota Fraud Controversy Shakes Capitol Hill

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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, one of Washington’s top-ranking Republicans, says he is open to legal action against Minnesota’s Democrat leaders following the viral release of a video alleging fraud in state-funded day care centers.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Fox Report Weekend” on Sunday, Emmer praised YouTube content creator Nick Shirley’s recent report, which alleges that several state-funded day care and learning centers, largely operated by immigrants from Somalia, do not provide legitimate services.

“It’s amazing to me that a 23-year-old journalist, a YouTuber who’s now got over 80 million views on this thing, found more in a matter of hours than Tim Walz and Keith Ellison, our attorney general, found in seven years,” Emmer, R-Minn., said on Fox.

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“Whistleblowers are coming forward,” said Emmer, who added that he would support the prosecution of Walz and Ellison if there was documented evidence of their retaliation against whistleblowers.

“What they’re saying is they told Tim Walz, they told Keith Ellison about the fraud when it was happening. And they not only didn’t do anything, they retaliated against them,” Emmer said.

“If that’s true, if that can be documented, these guys need to be prosecuted—held accountable and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who chairs the House Oversight Committee, has already announced he intends to subpoena Minnesota state officials and whistleblowers in a wider probe of the day care fraud issue.

A spokesperson for Walz has called the oversight probe “a coordinated political attack to try to silence one of the President’s most effective critics” in a statement appearing in The Minnesota Star Tribune.

A Walz spokesperson also defended his conduct in a statement to The Daily Signal, saying, “The Governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and asked the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action.”

The spokesperson added, “He has strengthened oversight – including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed. He has hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.”

FBI Director Kash Patel on Sunday revealed the bureau had expanded its investigation of alleged fraud schemes involving federal programs in the state.

AUTHOR

George Caldwell

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

RELATED ARTICLES:

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Minnesota Is Just the Tip of The Iceberg: NY’s Medicaid Home-Care System Is Rife With Fraud, Statistical Impossibility

Somali Scammers Allegedly Stole Almost as Much in Minnesota as Entire Somalia GDP

Somali Fraud is the Tip of a Very Large Iceberg

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

Minnesota Is Just the Tip of The Iceberg: NY’s Medicaid Home-Care System Is Rife With Fraud, Statistical Impossibility

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If Minnesota’s fraud scandal shocks you, wait until investigators turn their attention to New York City’s Medicaid-funded home healthcare racket. Home health aides have become the largest single occupation in New York, accounting for roughly 40 percent of all job growth — an explosion driven almost entirely by Medicaid dollars. The state now claims 171 aides for every 1,000 residents aged 65 and over, the highest rate in the nation and 153 percent above the national average. That level of “need” defies basic demographics. The system relies heavily on self-reported caregiving, often by family members, with weak real-time verification and minimal auditing. When a program grows this large, this fast, with this little oversight, fraud isn’t an anomaly — it’s baked in. This isn’t about caring for the vulnerable. It’s about a Medicaid pipeline so bloated and credulous that taxpayers are funding a workforce whose scale simply cannot be real.

Empire Center for Public Policy: Home health and personal care aides are now the single largest job category in New York State, and their growth has been extraordinary. The Empire Center, using BLS data, reports NY had roughly 623,000 aides as of May 2024 and that the category represented about 38% of all job growth in the state.

For the whole of the twentieth century, New York City’s wealth was driven by myriad sectors – manufacturing, with the garment trade being a dominant force finance, publishing, technology and shipping through its major port. The unions drove manufacturing out. It’s non-existent. And successive Democrat governments, through burdensome regulation and high taxes, drove out almost everyone else. Today the two largest employers in NYC is the government and Wall Street (financial sector).

The big dirty secret is NYC is kept afloat with taxpayer funded fraud.

The New York City home-healthcare scheme illustrates how Medicaid’s design failures invite industrial-scale abuse. At the center are third-party administrators — including Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) and Leading Edge Administrators — contracted to manage payroll and “benefits” for personal care aides. On paper, these arrangements promise efficiency. In practice, they create opaque money flows with minimal oversight.

One example is the much-touted Flex Card model. Funds are deducted from workers’ paychecks and earmarked for restricted benefits that are difficult to use, poorly explained, and time-limited. The predictable result: large balances go unspent — reportedly approaching 30% — allowing administrators to retain or recycle funds while workers never receive the compensation they were promised. This isn’t a glitch; it’s a feature of predatory design, where friction equals profit.

The scale of opportunity is enormous. New York’s home-care workforce is dramatically oversized relative to need, with roughly 171 aides per 1,000 seniors — about 153% above the national average. Such an imbalance is a classic red flag for eligibility inflation, phantom services, and inflated billing. When supply vastly outstrips plausible demand, fraud doesn’t just slip through — it flourishes.

All of this unfolds against a national backdrop of chronic Medicaid leakage. Federal audits have repeatedly found tens of billions of dollars in improper payments annually, yet Washington’s response has been to outsource more functions rather than enforce rigorous eligibility checks, utilization reviews, and clawbacks. Contractors are paid to move money, not to question whether it should be moving at all.

The incentives are upside-down. Low-wage aides shoulder administrative complexity and lose access to earned compensation. Taxpayers absorb the cost. Contractors collect fees insulated from outcomes. And state agencies point to compliance paperwork while avoiding the harder work of field audits, beneficiary verification, and real enforcement.

This isn’t about care delivery. It’s about a rent-seeking ecosystem where complexity substitutes for accountability. Until eligibility is tightened, benefit designs are simplified and audited, and administrators are paid based on value delivered — not dollars processed — the same result is guaranteed: workers shortchanged, taxpayers fleeced, and fraud normalized as “program management.”

Also…..California is the fraud capitol of the U.S.

Maine.

Idaho.

Utah.

Washington State.

Here, there, and everywhere.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: Minnesota’s Lt. Gov. Takes Pandering To Somalis To The Next Level

RELATED VIDEO: Nick Shirley rips Democrat Governor Tim Walz for calling people exposing his state’s massive fraud ‘white supremacists’

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

Israel is Invaluable to the U.S.!

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Why is Israel invaluable to the United States? Keep reading to understand.

Technology and Innovation

  • Defense Tech: Israel develops advanced defense systems (like Iron Dome) that the U.S. integrates into its own military, boosting American security.
  • High-Tech Exports: Medical instruments, electronics, software, and R&D services are major imports, benefiting U.S. industries.
  • Agricultural Innovation: Israel’s expertise in water management and agriculture provides valuable knowledge.

Economic Benefits

  • Job Creation: Israeli companies invest heavily in the U.S., creating hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
  • Investment Hub: Israel is a major source of foreign investment in the U.S. and hosts numerous American firms.
  • Trade Surplus: The U.S. has a large trade surplus with Israel in services and benefits from Israeli companies listing on NASDAQ.

Strategic and Security Gains

  • Defense Cooperation: Joint military exercises and shared defense technology strengthen both nations’ security.
  • Regional Stability: The alliance helps maintain stability in a critical region, supporting U.S. foreign policy goals.

Key Imports from Israel

  • Diamonds: A significant portion of U.S. imports are cut diamonds.
  • Capital Goods: Machinery and high-tech equipment for production.

Pharmaceuticals and Medicine

  • Personalized Medicine and Drug Discovery: Israeli researchers, particularly from institutions like the Technion, develop treatments for cancer, neurological disorders, and chronic diseases, sharing these breakthroughs with U.S. partners like the Mayo Clinic.
  • Digital Health and Telemedicine: Israel’s robust health tech sector contributes innovations in telemedicine, AI-driven diagnostics, and hospital cybersecurity, strengthening U.S. healthcare infrastructure.
  • Combat Medicine: Lessons from Israeli military medicine, focusing on rapid trauma care (like drone-delivered blood), are directly translating to civilian emergency care in the U.S..
  • Biotech & Pharma: Israeli companies like Teva Pharmaceuticals significantly impact the U.S. economy and healthcare system through job creation and affordable drug supply.
  • Binational Foundations: The BIRD Foundation funds Israeli health tech companies to develop and market products in the U.S., partnering with major U.S. health systems.
  • U.S. Legislation: The proposed MIRACLE Medical Technology Act aims to formalize cooperation, establish collaboration centers, and streamline R&D between the two nations, building on existing partnerships.
  • Mayo Clinic Collaboration: The Mayo Clinic partners with Israeli experts to integrate advanced trauma care and share data.
    Technion Innovations: Research from the Technion leads to better drugs for diseases like multiple myeloma and Parkinson’s, benefiting patients globally.
  • Emergency Care: Israeli trauma surgeons share methods for limb salvage with U.S. physicians, improving outcomes for wounded soldiers and civilians.

In essence, the U.S. gains technological advancements, economic growth, and enhanced security through a deep partnership that leverages Israel’s innovation and strategic position in the Middle East.

WATCH: What does U.S. get from Israel?

©2025 All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: It’s Israel’s Economy, Stupid

House Votes to Criminalize Chemical Castration and Mutilation of Children but 211 Democrats vote NO!

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The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, legislation designed to criminalize so-called “transgender treatments” for minors and impose penalties on medical professionals—and potentially parents—who facilitate irreversible drugs or surgeries on children. Children’s advocacy groups praised the vote as a major step toward safeguarding minors.

The bill passed with near-unanimous Republican support, with three Democrats—Reps. Henry Cuellar (TX), Don Davis (NC), and Vicente Gonzalez (TX)—voting in favor, while four Republicans opposed it. Advocacy groups such as Gays Against Groomers and Libs of TikTok publicly celebrated the outcome.

The legislation amends federal criminal law to address what it describes as chemical castration and bodily mutilation of minors, citing growing evidence of long-term harms. A recent Trump–Kennedy HHS report detailed serious risks linked to pediatric medical transition, including infertility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density, cardiovascular disease, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret, and accused leading transgender-health organizations of suppressing unfavorable research.

While the Trump administration has already acted via executive order to restrict puberty blockers and surgeries for minors, this bill would codify those protections into federal law and specify penalties. The measure now faces a steep challenge in the Senate, but supporters view its House passage as a significant move toward long-term child protection.

The title of the bill is the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act;” the yeas were 216, the nays 211. The question is: Why are the 211 American members of Congress who are unwilling to protect our minors?

Blade: Washington Blade: Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.

PJ Media: Catherine Salgado of PJ Media: The Trump administration has already taken action to ban puberty blockers and surgeries for minors, but this bill could solidify the executive order’s requirements as official federal law, and prescribe the specific penalties. It remains to be seen if it can pass the Senate, but the passage of the bill in the House is certainly a step in the right direction toward protecting our children from transgender ideology for years to come.

See how your member of Congress voted: Congress.gov.

Remember this:

Senate Democrats Block Women’s Sports Bill

This past Monday night, Senate Democrats blocked the opportunity for Congress to permanently protect women’s sports from men who believe they are women and desire to compete in female categories based on their subjective feelings.

Sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would have codified the original intent of Title IX, that women should have access to their own athletic and educational opportunities. This is not a bill that should be necessary, but the last several years have proven that it is, thanks in part to the Biden Administration. Their attempted rewrite of Title IX to include “gender identity” into the definition of sex led to school districts and colleges across the nation allowing men who identify as women to compete on women’s sports teams.

Last month, President Trump issued an Executive Order clarifying Title IX, barring men from women’s sports; however,  some schools and states continue to flout the White House’s directive. In Maine, a male high school student won a girls’ pole vaulting state championship, leading to a viral confrontation between Maine Governor Janet Mills and President Trump himself. On March 1 of this year, a man set the nationwide record for highest triple jump mark in high school women’s track and field. This issue is not going away.

That’s why it is critical for Congress to act to make it the law of the land that women’s sports are for women only. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed a similar version of the bill. When given the opportunity in the Senate, every Democrat chose to vote against protecting women.

Unlike the House, where legislation can pass with a simple majority of votes, the Senate rules require legislation to first pass a procedural “cloture” vote before moving to the final vote. That cloture vote requires not a majority but rather 60 votes. With a 53-seat majority, that meant seven democrats needed to vote with their Republican colleagues for the bill to pass. Not a single one of them made that choice…….

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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

Ex-FDA Commissioners Against Higher Vaccine Standards Took $6 Million From COVID Vaccine Makers

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Ten of the twelve former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioners and acting commissioners opposed to the Trump administration’s stiffer standards for vaccines quietly disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry, a Daily Caller News Foundation review shows.

The FDA old guard criticized the new leadership in a Dec. 3 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) letter over a higher regulatory bar for vaccines, namely the expectation that most new vaccine approvals will require randomized clinical trials, arguing it could hamper the market.

“Insisting on long, expensive outcomes studies for every updated formulation would delay the arrival of better-matched vaccines when new outbreaks emerge or when additional groups of patients could benefit,” the former commissioners wrote. “Abandoning the existing methods won’t ‘elevate vaccine science’ … It will subject vaccines to a substantially higher and more subjective approval bar.”

But while the former commissioners disclosed their conflicts of interest to the medical journal — per standard practice in scientific publishing — reporters didn’t relay them to the broader public in reports in the Washington Post, STAT News and CNN.

The headlines about a bipartisan rebuke from former occupants of FDA’s highest office give the impression that the Trump administration is contravening established science, but closer inspection reveals a revolving door between pharmaceutical corporations and the agencies overseeing them.

Three of the signatories have received payments totaling $6 million from manufacturers or former manufacturers of COVID vaccines.

Scott Gottlieb has received $2.1 million in cash and stock from his position on the Pfizer board of directors, where he has advised on ethics and regulatory compliance since 2019, according to company filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stephen Ostroff has received $752,310 from Pfizer in consulting fees since 2020, according to OpenPayments.

Mark McClellan has received $3.3 million from Johnson & Johnson as a member of the board of directors since 2013, SEC filings also show. McClellan also consults for the new pharmaceutical arm of the alternative investment management company Blackstone, which invested $750 million in Moderna in April 2025.

Gottlieb and McClellan did not respond to requests for comment. Ostroff could not be reached for comment.

FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad outlined the higher standards and shared the results of an internal analysis validating 10 reports of children’s deaths following the COVID-19 vaccine in a Nov. 28 memo to staff. He called for introspection and reform at the agency.

The NEJM letter criticizes Prasad for cracking down on a practice called “immunobridging” that infers vaccine efficacy from laboratory tests rather than assessing it through real-world reductions in disease or death. The FDA under the Biden administration expanded COVID vaccines to children using this “immunobridging” technique, extrapolating vaccine efficacy from adults to children based on antibody levels.

Norman Sharpless — who in addition to previously serving as acting FDA commissioner also served as the head of the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute — consults for Tempus, a company that collaborates with COVID vaccine maker BioNTech. He has helped steer $70 million in investments in biotech through a venture capital firm he founded in November 2024. Sharpless also disclosed $26,180 in payments in 2024 from Chugai Pharmaceutical, a Japanese pharmaceutical company that markets mRNA technology among other drugs, on OpenPayments.

“I was grateful for the opportunity to serve as NCI Director and Acting FDA Commissioner in the first Trump Administration, and strongly support many of the things President Trump is trying to do in the current Administration,” Sharpless said in an email.

Margaret Hamburg, another former FDA commissioner and signatory of the NEJM letter, has since 2020 earned $2.8 million as a member of the board of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, which markets RNA interference (RNAi) technology.

Hamburg did not respond to a message on LinkedIn.

Most signatories disclosed income from biotech companies testing experimental cancer treatments. These products could face tighter scrutiny under Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist long wary of rubberstamping pricey oncology drugs — which Prasad points out often cause some toxicity — without plausible evidence of an improvement in quality of life or survival.

The former FDA commissioners disclosed ties to Sermonix Pharmaceuticals Inc.; OncoNano Medicine; incyclix; Nucleus Radiopharma; and N-Power, a contractor that runs oncology clinical trials.

Andrew von Eschenbach, who like Sharpless formerly served both as FDA commissioner and the head of the National Cancer Institute, disclosed stock in HistoSonics, a company with investments from Bezos Expeditions and Thiel Bio seeking FDA approval for ultrasound technology targeted at tumors.

Some FDA commissioners who signed onto the letter opposing changes to vaccine approvals have ties to biotechnology investment firms, namely McClellan, who consults Arsenal Capital; Janet Woodcock, who consults RA Capital Management; and Robert Califf, who owns stock in Population Health Partners.

Califf did not respond to an email requesting comment. Woodcock did not respond to requests for comment sent to two medical research advocacy groups with Woodcock on the board. Eschenbach did not respond to a LinkedIn message.

The two signatories without pharmaceutical ties may find their judgement challenged by the FDA investigation into COVID-19 vaccine deaths, having either implemented or formally defended the Biden administration’s headlong expansion of vaccines and boosters to healthy adults and children.

David Kessler executed Biden’s vaccination policy as chief science officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, helping to secure deals for shots with Pfizer and Moderna.

Meanwhile Jane Henney chaired a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report published in October 2025 that praised the performance of FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine surveillance during the pandemic — underwritten with CDC funding.

That assessment clashes with that of a Senate report, citing internal documents from FDA, finding that CDC never updated its vaccine surveillance tool “V-Safe” to include cardiac symptoms, despite naming myocarditis as a potential adverse event by October 2020, and that top officials in the Biden administration delayed warning pediatricians and other providers about the risk of myocarditis after their approval in some children in May 2021, months after Israeli health officials first detected it in February 2021. The Senate investigation named Woodcock, a signatory of the NEJM letter, as one of the FDA officials who slow-walked the warning.

AUTHOR

Emily Kopp

Investigative Reporter

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President Trump Designates Fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction

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DEFENDING AMERICA FROM A CHEMICAL WEAPON: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order designating illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemical as weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The Order directs the Attorney General to immediately pursue criminal charges, sentencing enhancements, and sentencing variances in fentanyl trafficking cases.

The Order directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue appropriate actions against relevant assets and financial institutions for those involved in or supporting the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals.

The Order directs the Secretary of War and Attorney General to determine whether the Department of War should provide enhanced national security resources to the Department of Justice as necessary during an emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction.

The Order directs the Secretary of War, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to update their chemical incident response-related directives to include the fentanyl threat.
The Order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to identify fentanyl smuggling networks using WMD and nonproliferation related threat intelligence.

STOPPING FENTANYL FROM POISONING OUR PEOPLE: President Trump is unleashing every available tool against the cartels and foreign networks that have turned fentanyl into the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45.

Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Just two milligrams of fentanyl—equivalent to 10-15 grains of table salt—is considered a lethal dose.

Cartels and Foreign Terrorist Organizations use fentanyl profits to fund assassinations, terrorism, and insurgencies while waging armed conflict over trafficking routes and other facets of their operations.

The potential for fentanyl to be weaponized for concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries is a serious threat to the United States.

By designating illicit fentanyl as a WMD, President Trump is ensuring the full weight of the Federal government is focused, coordinated, and mobilized to confront fentanyl as the deadly chemical weapon it is.

MAKING AMERICA SAFE AGAIN: President

2025 . All rights reserved.

Chick-fil-A Doubles Down, Keeps DEI on the Menu

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It’s one thing to catch a local Chick-fil-A rebelling against Christian values — and quite another for headquarters to defend it. After this month’s revelation that an Orem, Utah location was publicly supporting same-sex marriage in a congratulatory post on Facebook (a post that’s still there), several disappointed customers reached out to corporate, hoping for an apology — or at least clarity — on what they saw as a public departure from the chain’s longtime beliefs. What they got instead was further confirmation that the Cathys’ beloved empire has lost its way.

According to an LGBT magazine in Salt Lake City, people who’ve complained about the post have gotten the following response.

Obviously, we’d expect a company rooted (at least formerly) in biblical values to serve everyone. That’s scriptural. But there’s a difference between selling a chicken sandwich to someone and celebrating their behavior.

Regardless, it’s absolutely baffling in America’s current pushback climate that any company — let alone a self-proclaimed Christian one — would openly admit to “embedding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)” in “everything we do.” Obviously, this isn’t a business caught unaware by a single rogue operator. This is a business with a deep and pervasive problem of activism.

As Megan Basham asked, “what’s going on here??” What indeed.

While skeptics are tempted to pin all of this on the Orem managers, that argument falls apart under the weight of the company’s other policies. If the local operators can’t declare, “I want to be open on Sundays,” how can they say, “I’ll message on something antithetical to Chick-fil-A’s beliefs”? Either the mission statement exists — “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us” — or it doesn’t.

Either way, the entire controversy is astounding. On what planet would consumers expect Chick-fil-A to be to the left of places like AT&T, Toyota, McDonald’s, Walmart, Amazon, and dozens more? It boggles the mind, the Political Forum’s Steve Soukup agreed. But, he was quick to point out, “It’s important to remember that Chick-fil-A is a privately held company. Consumer pressure can do a great deal to change corporate misbehavior, but often, shareholder pressure is even more potent, and I think this is one such case,” he observed.

“For years, social conservatives were buoyed in the culture wars by the ability of companies like Hobby Lobby to resist left-wing political trends and fads because of their private ownership. Chick-fil-A’s insensitivity to the current of cultural rebalancing represents the mirror image of that resistance,” Soukup lamented. “Robby Starbuck was wise to target left-leaning corporations with right-leaning customer bases because that gave his efforts immediate impact. Nevertheless, in Robby’s undertakings, the threat of shareholder frustration always implicitly backed up the threat of unhappy customers. That’s not the case with Chick-fil-A,” he said, “which appears to have decided, at least for the time being, to remain on the wrong side of the cultural-counter-revolution.”

Of course, in this instance, some would argue that Christians are the shareholders, and a company that’s held itself out to represent them is beholden to that same community. It’s why believers have been so disappointed by the moral failings that have plagued the brand since 2019. It’s also why they have the power to demand, with the same grassroots enthusiasm that forced the hands of Target and Anheuser-Busch, faithfulness to the standard Chick-fil-A has set for itself.

In the meantime, there’s plenty of puzzling about why the shift happened at all. Maybe, the Free Enterprise’s Stefan Padfield speculated to The Washington Stand, Truett’s grandson Andrew (now CEO) and his team “are true believers, in the sense that they wholeheartedly agree with things like discrimination in the name of anti-discrimination and men becoming women simply by saying so.” Or, he suggested, “the relevant decision-makers might be radical activists themselves or under the spell of some. … These types don’t really care if they destroy the business so long as they can pat themselves on the back for being ‘on the right side of history.’”

They could also be living under a rock, Padfield supposed, not realizing how “toxic DEI has become.” Or “they could be misguided opportunists who think marketing themselves as pro-DEI will somehow lead to greater returns. Regardless,” he said, “Chick-fil-A is free to embrace DEI — and we are free to eat elsewhere.”

Family Research Council’s David Closson is equally stunned by the chain’s departure from the Cathys’ legacy, but he had plenty to say about what the executive team is getting wrong. “When Chick-fil-A says it ‘embraces everyone,’ that’s faithful to Scripture,” he notes. “But to embrace contested identities — such as transgender identities or identities rooted in same-sex behavior — as morally legitimate expressions is something altogether different. A company grounded in Christian conviction should be able to love and serve every person without endorsing categories that contradict biblical truth,” Closson insists.

That’s why the statement about “‘embracing all people regardless of … sexual orientation or gender identity’ and its commitment to embedding DEI into ‘everything we do’ raises legitimate concern,” he stressed. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion frameworks in corporate America are not neutral. They typically operate from a moral vision that conflicts with the Christian understanding of creation, sin, identity, and human purpose,” Closson continued. “DEI, as commonly practiced, does not merely require treating all people kindly. It demands the affirmation of identity categories and behaviors Scripture calls believers to lovingly but firmly reject.”

As he underscored, “Christians can and should affirm kindness, hospitality, and equal treatment for all customers and employees. But love for neighbor never requires affirming what God calls sinful or endorsing identities that obscure rather than reflect His created design. A mission committed to glorifying God must be anchored in truth as well as compassion,” Closson urged. “When corporate statements blur that distinction, they drift from a biblical foundation toward a secular ethic that cannot sustain the Christian identity Chick-fil-A has sought to cultivate over the years.”

This is a company, he pointed out, that “sought to distinguish itself from other national brands by appealing to its founder’s Christian convictions. Unfortunately,” Closson added, “recent developments suggest that this commitment increasingly functions as marketing rather than sincere conviction.”

As a former manager of a North Carolina Chick-fil-A told TWS, “Many think that they hold to great values. I beg to differ. They uphold great standards of customer service — but that does not equate to values.”

That doesn’t mean the company can’t change. Look at the transformation we’ve seen from U.S. businesses that no one dreamed would shift to neutrality. Instead of clinging to obsolete DEI when the rest of corporate America has walked away, how about leaning into the faith-based identity that most loyalists already take for granted? Stop trafficking in this false idea of Christianity that offends. Move the vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion to a charitable project, ask for moral compliance from every operator representing the brand, and most of all, stop being afraid of who you are and the convictions you were built to represent.

That, not wokeism, is how you honor Truett’s legacy. That, not compromise, is how you live out Chick-fil-A’s purpose.

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

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

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New Report Further Exposes Netflix’s LGBT Agenda Targeting Children

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For some time now, Netflix has come under fire for pushing LGBT-related content on both adults and children. The latter category, in particular, has drawn sharp criticism from parents and child advocates who do not want ideological content being forced upon the young and vulnerable. Now, however, it’s not just talk. A new report from Concerned Women for America (CWA) showcases hard numbers that expose just how deep the entertainment company’s agenda runs.

To collect the data, the report noted how “researchers compiled references to LGBTQ+ themes, characters, storylines, and messaging across 326 Netflix series (both licensed and original) rated for young audiences (TV-G, TV-Y, or TV-Y7).” Concerning representation, it “was categorized as ‘Explicit’ (characters clearly identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or nonbinary), ‘Implied’ (non-primary characters or ‘queer-coded’ characters), ‘Meta’ (gay families or participants in reality programming), or ‘None.’”

The key findings include:

  • 41% of TV-G series and 41% of TV-Y7 series contain LGBTQ+ content.
  • Of the TV-Y7 content, 24% was rated “Explicit.”
  • Across all three child-appropriate ratings (TV-G, TV-Y, TV-Y7), fully one-third (33%) promote LGBT characters, themes, or messaging.

Netflix pushed LGBT agendas through originals and remakes. Some examples include:

  • “The Magic School Bus” reboot, which introduced a “trans-coded” character and a lesbian couple.
  • A reimagined “Strawberry Shortcake” series that added transgender and non-binary characters.
  • Similar changes in updated versions of “Power Rangers,” “The Fairly OddParents,” and other franchises.
  • The “Anne of Green Gables” adaptation, retitled “Anne with an E,” which incorporated homosexual themes.

CWA asked a pivotal question: “Which came first: LGBTQ+ content aimed at kids, or ‘inclusive’ content that caters to kids who identify as LGBTQ+?” The report noted that studios frequently justify the material as “educational” or “affirming,” yet “we have seen enough leaked videos and internal memos to know that there is, for many working in entertainment, a desire to reshape the culture to align with their own worldview.”

Numerous creators have confirmed that intent publicly. One prominent example is the executive producer of Disney Television Animation who openly celebrated inserting a same-sex couple into “My Little Pony,” praising the showrunners who were “super welcoming … to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”

Despite the claim that art mirrors society, CWA fired back that, “taken together, these accounts show that content creators view children’s programming as a tool for cultural transformation, not merely a reflection of existing norms.” Or put differently, the group added, “This report’s findings suggest that Netflix is not merely reflecting social change, it is an active driver.”

The data show LGBT representation in Netflix children’s programming “far outpaces real-world demographics and accelerated dramatically after 2021.” That year, Netflix partnered with the University of Southern California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to tout its high percentage of LGBTQ leads, while internal data revealed that upwards of 60% of new child-rated shows contained LGBT elements. By 2023, Netflix debuted more children’s shows with LGBTQ+ content (14) than without (9). As the report read, “If the goal is ‘representation,’ rather than pushing a radical sexual identity agenda, then surely the percent of LGBTQ characters on Netflix programming should be more in line with actual population data? Less than 10% of the overall population identifies as gay, trans or nonbinary.”

CWA’s report concluded:

“While no single factor explains the surge in LGBTQ identification among adolescents, media exposure is a well-documented variable in shaping norms, identity exploration, and worldview formation. When representation for a small demographic reaches near-ubiquity in children’s content, it naturally raises questions about whether entertainment platforms are shaping identity rather than reflecting it. A pattern strikingly similar to what Alexander Pope described long ago: ‘Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, as to be hated needs but to be seen; yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.’”

This report comes alongside a fierce cultural reckoning. For those who oppose the forceful LGBT agenda, speaking out became a non-negotiable. Even Elon Musk, tech billionaire and CEO of X, spoke out on the issue on his X platform. Shortly after, Netflix lost an estimated $15 billion in stock value, “and Internet sleuths set to work exposing other examples of LGBTQ+ content on Netflix children’s programming.”

To offer his own analysis, Family Research Council’s Dr. David Closson shared a comment with The Washington Stand. “For years,” he said, “major entertainment companies have insisted that their role is simply to ‘reflect the culture,’ yet the evidence shows that many creatives inside these studios see themselves as cultural architects. They are intentionally embedding moral messages into children’s programming that align with their own worldview.”

He highlighted the double standard, stating “When companies like Netflix aggressively advance LGBT ideology but then criticize Christians for expressing their faith in the public square, it exposes that the issue is not neutrality; it is competing worldviews.”

While Closson encouraged Christians as a whole to be diligent, discerning, and even willing to use the First Amendment to promote their own biblical worldview, his main advice was for parents:

  1. Exercise vigilance and biblical conviction, recognizing that “media consumption is not a neutral activity” and that platforms contradicting Scripture on sexuality and identity should be approached with extreme caution or avoided.
  1. Actively shape their home’s spiritual environment through clear boundaries, content previewing, filtering tools, and, when necessary, alternative platforms.
  1. Embrace their primary discipleship role, teaching children God’s design for the body, sexuality, and identity “in age-appropriate, truth-filled ways” long before culture does it for them.

As Closson concluded, “When media companies work to normalize ideas that contradict God’s word, Christian parents are not helpless. They can respond with discernment, courage, and a commitment to raising children who understand that their identity is not determined by cultural trends but by the God who created them.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

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

Partner with The Washington Stand to bring news from a biblical worldview to readers nationwide. From now until December 31, every gift will be doubled through our year-end Challenge Match.

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.