Tag Archive for: taxes

GOP Effort To Strip Illegal Immigrants Of Taxpayer-Funded Benefits Fails In Senate

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Senate Democrats moved to block Republican efforts Monday evening to strip illegal immigrants of taxpayer-funded benefits within President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill.

The Senate voted 56 to 44 on an amendment from Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn that would have reduced federal Medicaid payments to states who offer health care to illegal immigrants charged or convicted of serious crimes. Though four Senate Democrats bucked their party to back the measure, the amendment failed to clear a 60-vote threshold and will therefore not be included in the president’s sweeping tax and immigration-focused bill.

“[Forty-three] Democrats just BLOCKED my amendment to punish states that give Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens convicted or charged with crimes like murder or sex trafficking,” Cornyn wrote in a statement on the social media platform X following the failed vote. “Democrats chose to side with the worst of the worst in our society over our seniors and most vulnerable American citizens. Disgusting.”

Senators are currently engaged in a marathon session of voting, known as a “vote-a-rama,” to shape the final bill through amendments before a vote on final passage.

The four Senate Democrats who crossed the political aisle to back the measure include Sens. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia. Ossoff is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic senator running for reelection, though the Georgia Republicans have yet to unite around a challenger.

Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a skeptic of some of the bill’s reforms to Medicaid, joined Democrats in voting “no” on Cornyn’s amendment.

Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth Senate term, is in the middle of a contentious reelection fight against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the 2026 GOP nomination.

The incumbent senator introduced the amendment following Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s determination that the provision violated the upper chamber’s so-called budget reconciliation rules. Cornyn said Thursday that he would not let a “unelected Senate staffer” stop Republicans from passing Trump’s policy priorities into law.

Republicans are using the so-called budget reconciliation process to steer around Democratic opposition and clear the president’s domestic policy bill by a simply majority vote.

Provisions that MacDonough strikes from the bill would be subject to a 60-vote threshold and would need some Democratic buy-in to pass.

Senate Democrats, led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the upper chamber’s budget panel, argued Cornyn’s amendment would lead to “the collective punishment of American citizens” by reducing federal Medicaid funding to Medicaid expansion states who provide coverage to illegal immigrants.

This is a backdoor [elimination] for 41 states, which includes the majority of Republican states, to reduce the federal match from 90% to 80% with huge, huge impact on the coverage of individuals across this country,” Merkley said on the Senate floor Monday.

“What happened to states’ rights,” Merkley continued in defense of blue states offering free healthcare to illegal immigrants.

Senate Democrats also blocked an amendment Monday offered by Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn that would have barred illegal immigrants from receiving coverage through state-funded Medicaid programs.

The Senate version of the president’s landmark bill could pass the upper chamber as early as Monday. Trump is demanding the legislation on his desk for signature by his self-imposed deadline of July 4.

AUTHOR

Adam Pack

Congressional Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘Next’: Schumer Dodges Simple Question About Medicaid For Illegal Immigrants

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.

President Donald J. Trump Notches His Best Week Yet

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President Donald Trump is coming off what may be his most successful week in office — perhaps of both terms — with a string of victories that reinforced the speed at which his administration is moving to radically reshape American policy, both foreign and domestic, ahead of a critical summer stretch.

A landmark Supreme Court ruling, a successful NATO summit, a ceasefire that appears to be holding in the Middle East, another peace deal in Africa, a stock market back to setting records, a key trade breakthrough with China — capped off with the surprise emergence of a new political foil — all combined to shift the narrative in his favor, even as polls show him underwater on some of his signature issues.

In a pivotal decision Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the power of individual judges to issue nationwide injunctions, a ruling that Trump hailed as “a monumental victory” that clears the way for his administration to reintroduce contested policies such as ending automatic birthright citizenship.

“We can now promptly file to proceed with these numerous policies,” a jubilant Trump said from the White House. “Even the Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard,” he posted on Truth Social, describing citizenship by birth as “a scam” on the U.S. immigration system.

The court’s 6-3 ruling marks a significant shift in how legal challenges to executive power may proceed, reinforcing Trump’s long-standing criticism that district judges were overstepping their roles. The ruling did not address the constitutionality of Trump’s proposed order to end birthright citizenship, which remains blocked, but it opens the door for narrower challenges that could now proceed on a case-by-case basis.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump hosted leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda at the White House to sign the framework of a peace deal between the African neighbors intended to end a long-running and bloody conflict.

Iran-Israel Ceasefire Holds Amid Fallout From U.S. Strikes

In the Middle East, the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, personally brokered by Trump, held through the week, and U.S. officials offered new details to support the president’s claim that American strikes had crippled key parts of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

“This was a devastating attack, and it knocked them for a loop,” Trump said at a NATO summit at The Hague, dismissing initial intelligence suggesting a limited impact.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe echoed Trump’s confidence, with Ratcliffe claiming “several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.” Meanwhile, Iran’s own foreign ministry acknowledged “significant damage,” though observers warned that full assessments could take weeks.

“The bombing rendered the enrichment facility inoperable,” said a joint statement by the White House and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Although some lawmakers, like Democratic Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, criticized the administration for not consulting Congress, the ceasefire and lack of immediate retaliation gave Trump a short-term diplomatic win.

Markets Surge as Trump Fiscal Agenda Gains Momentum

Financial markets responded positively to Trump’s string of policy wins and signs of economic stabilization. The S&P 500 closed at a new high on Friday, driven by investor optimism over the administration’s trade and tax proposals.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that negotiations over new reciprocal tariffs are proceeding and could stretch beyond Trump’s July 8 deadline. He told Fox Business that talks with 10 to 12 major trading partners might wrap by Labor Day.

“If you can’t get to a deal,” Bessent said, “Trump is happy to go back to the high April 2 tariffs.”

Meanwhile, the administration’s fiscal package, which includes steep cuts to SNAP benefits and other government programs, gained traction in the Senate following overnight revisions, clearing procedural hurdles and staying on pace for a vote as soon as this week.

Trump also announced that the U.S. had finalized a long-sought agreement with China to resume the export of rare earth minerals crucial to American technology manufacturing.

“We just signed with China the other day,” Trump said, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg that the deal was “signed and sealed.”

Bessent elaborated on the agreement, saying that Trump had “set the table with a very important phone call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping which had led to the U.S. securing the deal.

“In dealing with the world’s second largest economy, we approached each other with mutual respect,” he added, adding that part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U.S. “They formed the core of a lot of our industrial base,” he said.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry confirmed it would approve export applications for “controlled items” and in turn, the U.S. would remove several restrictive measures on Chinese technologies. The agreement is a step toward easing a two-year trade standoff that had disrupted global supply chains.

Progressive Challenger Emerges as New Target

Back home, the rapid ascent of Zohran Mamdani—a Democratic Socialist who upset Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral primary—has given Trump a fresh political foil. Trump-allied media and political surrogates seized on Mamdani’s win as a sign of rising extremism within the Democratic Party.

“They’re going to run the most radical candidate in the country in the biggest city in the country,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview Friday. “That contrast is perfect.”

Conservative groups have already begun circulating clips of Mamdani’s past remarks, and Trump hinted at plans to use the young lawmaker’s views to frame Democrats nationally in 2026.

“The Democrats now belong to the socialists and the scammers,” Trump said at a rally in Ohio earlier in the week. “This guy Mamdani—he’s like the AOC of mayors. If you like riots and sanctuary cities, you’ll love him.”

NATO Commits to Spending Boost After Trump Pressure

Trump spent part of the week jetting to and from a summit of NATO leaders in The Netherlands, where he claimed another major foreign policy victory as alliance members agreed to dramatically increase their defense spending targets. Under the deal, nearly all NATO countries committed to raising military investment from 2 to 5 percent of GDP by 2035 — an increase Trump has been calling for since he started his political career a decade ago.

“Without the support and without the leadership of Donald Trump, it would be impossible,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda, according to a White House statement summarizing reactions from leaders across Europe.

The agreement, hailed by analysts and politicians as a breakthrough in transatlantic burden-sharing, was described as a “rebirth of NATO” by Dutch media. Even some longtime skeptics praised the result, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb who called it “a big win for Trump” and for Europe.

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch said: “NATO’s commitment to raise defense spending to 5 percent is a tremendous achievement. New investments in defense and industrial cooperation will strengthen the core pillar of NATO.”

The summit closed with Trump declaring that America’s allies had finally begun to shoulder their “fair share” of the burden. House Speaker Mike Johnson added, “No more free rides for the rest of the world. No more using the American taxpayer as their own personal piggy banks. THIS is the Trump effect.”

Legal Setbacks, Intelligence Leak, and Weak Polling Undercut Trump’s Agenda
While Trump marked a week of substantial wins on trade, his administration also faced sharp criticism and legal controversy on several domestic and foreign fronts.

A federal judge in Newark released Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and legal U.S. resident, who had spent 104 days in detention. The Trump administration accused him of spreading antisemitism through pro-Palestinian activism and moved to deport him. Judge Michael E. Farbiarz granted bail, citing evidence that the detention was politically motivated.

In another courtroom loss, a Nashville judge ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported back in March. Judge Barbara D. Holmes dismissed claims that Abrego was a gang member or trafficker, saying prosecutors had exaggerated their case. “Abrego has no reported criminal history of any kind,” she wrote.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Thomas Massie Reveals What Would Get Him To ‘Yes’ On Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill

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Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie revealed in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller that he could vote “yes” on President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” if a “skinny” version of the legislation materializes.

Massie has said he will not support the bill in its current form because it does not cut government spending substantially enough. Massie’s opposition to the bill is one reason Trump and his political allies have threatened to primary him in the 2026 midterms. Pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is also trying to primary Massie, according to a source who spoke to the Caller.

There is a version of the bill, though, Massie said he could support. In a group text with about ten other congressmen, called “Budget Hawks,” Massie said they have floated the idea of splitting the bill in two.

“I can tell you the conservatives in the house are getting antsy with every change that happens in the Senate, and there’s a concern that maybe they need to just skinny this thing down and try to do just a few things,” he asserted, adding that they may try to do “two bills instead of one.”

“The first one should be just the absolute essentials to the president’s priorities, which would be, secure the border and extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” he explained.

Massie said he could theoretically support that bill depending on its impact on the deficit.

“It would be a lot of speculation to say that’s where we’re going to end up. But if we did end up there, and there was a repeal of the Green New Deal subsidies, I could be for that, possibly — I’d have to see the total budget impact in the House,” he told the Caller.

There have been several changes to the Senate version of the bill that have raised red flags for Massie. They stripped the REINS Act Provision — something Massie personally lobbied for in the House version — which requires congressional approval for major federal regulations before they take effect. The Senate is also mulling over a longer phaseout of renewable energy tax credits and whether to reduce the income cap for State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions. Massie said that lowering the threshold would benefit blue states more than red states.

“If they make that tweak, let’s say they limit the SALT deduction to people who make less than $400,000 a year, that means that more of the benefit of that tax provision will go to blue states instead of red states, because to be under whatever the threshold is — let’s just say $400,000 a year annual income and have $40,000 of state and local taxes or property taxes — means that you’re probably in a blue state,” he explained.

“I think the ultimate bill that the Senate passes, if they can pass one, is going to have an even worse impact on the deficit than the House bill,” he said.

Massie speculated that the president’s July 4 deadline is unlikely to be met by Congress and that House Speaker Mike Johnson’s promise to force Congress to meet over the holiday is likely an empty threat meant to appease Trump. The real deadline, Massie alleged, is sometime in August.

“I think they’ll use the threat of canceling the August recess … they’ll take a week off the August recess and say we’re in session, and then they’ll give it back to us if this bill passes,” he said.

Another sticking point for Massie is that he is using a shorter window to score the bill’s impact on the deficit. While the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) typically scores bills on a ten-year timeline, Massie is only looking at the next three or four years. Trump’s plans for no tax on tips and overtime, and tax reform for seniors, for example, are set to expire after three years in the bill.

“The deficit impact is great over the next three years in the Big Bill that passed the House, and it’s only five years out when it starts to go in the other direction because they plan on having those tax cuts expire, and they plan on having that military spending expire,” he told the Caller. “But what will happen four years from now … is they’ll say, oh my gosh, that Congress four years ago and that president set up this fiscal cliff, and the impact to our military is going to be too great [if they let] the spending expire.”

“So we’ve got to use the current policy as the baseline,” he said.

Massie alleged that the House is effectively doing nothing while they wait for the Senate to deliver its version of the Big Beautiful Bill.

“The House is just sort of over here … treading water,” he asserted. “We’re just not doing much in the House. Where the speaker has the House looking like it’s busy … it’s not really that busy.”

AUTHOR

Amber Duke

Senior Editor. Follow Amber on Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLE: EXCLUSIVE: Massie Warns AIPAC, Trump’s War Against Him Could Backfire

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

‘Direct And Blatant Attack On Our Country’: Trump Announces End To Trade Talks With Canada

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President Donald Trump announced Friday he is ending trade talks with Canada over the northern neighbor’s decision to impose a digital service tax on American technology companies.

Trump called Canada’s decision “a direct and blatant attack on our Country” in a Truth Social post.

“They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,” Trump also wrote.

Canada is reportedly going ahead with the tax despite its inclusion in the Group of Seven (G7) agreement in which President Trump agreed to remove Section 899, also known as the revenge tax proposal, from his “Big Beautiful” tax bill, according to Bloomberg.

The tax will require digital services companies like Meta to pay 3 percent of the digital services revenue they make on Canadian users above 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.6 million) in a calendar year, according to Bloomberg.

Canada’s tax will apply retroactively to 2022 and the country’s Finance Department says the first payments will be due from digital companies Monday, Bloomberg reported.

Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne hinted that the tax may be a potential piece of leverage in trade negotiations.

“Obviously all of that is something that we’re considering as part of broader discussions that you may have,” he told Bloomberg.

Trump concluded his Truth Social post with indications that the U.S. will retaliate.

“We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period,” he wrote.

Industry leaders applauded Trump’s move.

“This tax unfairly singles out American firms while local competitors skate by. Whether it’s Brussels or Ottawa, President Trump is right to call them out and force this to change,” John Czwartacki, co-founder and principal at Public Policy Solutions said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller. 

“Canada is once again seeking to discriminate against U.S. technology companies, this time with a European-style digital services tax,” Michael Lucci, the founder and CEO of State Armor, also said in a statement.  

“This is not how allies and partners should treat one another. Canada is not holding up their end of our partnership, and President Trump is right to stand up for American interests,” Lucci concluded.

AUTHOR

Robert McGreevy

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Trump FDA Reveals Canada Will Play Major Role In Bringing Drug Prices Down

Senate GOP Slashes Spending In ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill As Fiscal Hawks Push For More Cuts

Thom Tillis Announces Retirement Hours After Trump Threatened To Field Primary Challenger

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

MAJOR HURDLE CLEARED: Senate Advances Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Bill

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“The One Big Beautiful Bill will secure our borders, turbocharge our economy, and bring back the American dream. This is the ultimate codification of our agenda to very simply Make America Great Again.” – President Donald J. Trump, White House.

As the 4th of July holiday approaches—a much talked about target day for passage of the bill. CNBC: President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon hosted a group of working-class Americans at the White House, as he cranks up pressure on Senate Republicans to quickly pass his massive tax-and-spending agenda. The event in support of Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” featured a collection of what his administration described as “everyday Americans” poised to benefit from the legislation’s tax cuts and other provisions. They included truck drivers, firefighters, law enforcement, healthcare workers, ranchers, and workers who rely on tips (CNBC).

Full event on Truth Social:

Senate votes 51-49 to advance President Trump’s ‘big beautiful’ spending bill — despite opposition from 2 GOP lawmakers

By Anna Young, NY Post, June 28, 2025:

The Senate voted Saturday to launch into debate on President Trump’s “big beautiful” spending bill, after Republican leaders spent hours working to gain enough support to approve the 940-page document.

The multi-trillion dollar bill narrowly advanced in a 51-49 procedural vote, despite opposition from two Republican lawmakers who joined their Democratic colleagues in an attempt to block the measure from reaching the Senate floor.

Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Rand Paul (R-KY) were the holdouts after they publicly declared that they wouldn’t be backing the bill in its current form.

The Senate voted 51-49 in a procedural vote to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill to a debate on June 28, 2025. 4

The Senate voted 51-49 in a procedural vote to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill to a debate on June 28, 2025. C-SPAN

Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson initially voted against the procedural motion but flipped at the eleventh hour.

Vice President JD Vance had arrived at Capitol Hill earlier in the night and remained on standby ready to cast his tie-breaking vote as Republicans remained divided throughout the nearly four hour proceeding.

Debate will now begin on the spending bill – and that could take hours as New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer has promised to have the nearly 1,000-page measure read before a final vote on passing it can happen.

“Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate with the “GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” but, it wouldn’t have happened without the Fantastic Work of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Ron Johnson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis,” Trump said on Truth Social early Sunday.

“They, along with all of the other Republican Patriots who voted for the Bill, are people who truly love our Country!”

Trump has lobbied for House and Senate Republicans to fast-track the legislation so it lands on his desk by his self-imposed July 4 deadline.

The measure would make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, end taxation on tips and overtime, boost border security funding and scrap green-energy tax credits passed during the Biden administration.

The legislation would also have to raise the debt ceiling by roughly $5 trillion in order to cram in all the provisions.

Trump warned potential dissenters earlier Saturday that refusal to support his bill would be an “ultimate betrayal” – later lashing out at Tillis on social media for making a “big mistake” and threatening to primary him for turning his back on the spending bill.

“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” the commander in chief posted on Truth Social as the vote stalled late Saturday night.

“I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

After the vote passed, the president also hurled criticism at Sen. Paul, the other Republican holdout.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

POSTS ON X:

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

Thom Tillis Announces Retirement Hours After Trump Threatened To Field Primary Challenger

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Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis will not seek reelection, according to a statement released by his office Sunday afternoon.

Tillis’ retirement announcement came just hours after voting “no” on advancing President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill.

“In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,” Tillis said in a statement. ” It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

AUTHOR

Adam Pack

Congressional Reporter.

POST ON X:

BREAKING:

North Carolina native Lara Trump is SERIOUSLY thinking about running for Senator to replace retiring RINO Thom Tillis. pic.twitter.com/a42vHcGiCW

— Mila Joy (@MilaLovesJoe) June 29, 2025

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.

The Untold Reason for Mamdani’s Mayoral Win

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There’s a reason why, historically, demagogues have been so successful. It’s one we ignore at our own peril, too, because it holds the key to future political victory.

The NYC mayoral Democrat primary race results have shaken the political world. Candidate Zohran Mamdani, described as a Marxist Muslim, was five months ago languishing in also-ran territory at one percent in the polls. A most recent poll then showed him, to pundits’ surprise, beating erstwhile-front-runner (a whole week ago) Andrew Cuomo after the eighth round of ranked-choice calculations. But it was wrong.

Mamdani won the first-round tally by more than seven points and will assuredly be the Democrat nominee.

How did this happen? There are many reasons, but the overriding one is something overlooked, something indispensable, something that is a gift: charisma.

This is where those who dislike Mamdani—and I’m one of them (I actually consider him immoral)—must be careful. People are generally loath to give those they dislike credit; they view them through tinted glasses. But studies have shown what the Throughline media-training blog stated years ago in no uncertain terms: “The Most Charismatic Candidate Always Wins.”

I suspect the hard-Left has discovered this truth, too. Why do you think suburban girl Sandy Cortez (aka AOC) was chosen to be the Justice Democrats’ candidate in 2017 via what essentially was an audition? Yeah, she really was.

Style Over Substance

Now, again, multiple factors contributed to Mamdani’s victory. He went the Full Monty on socialism, promising everything from freezing rent to defunding the police to free mass transit to a $30 minimum wage to city-owned grocery stores (yeah, the Soviets had those, too). He captured fellow Asian-descent residents, left-wing whites and (mis)educated voters, and the latter two groups do just love the latest shiny “progressive” thing.

It’s also true that only about 20 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. This means that the ones who did were, inordinately, those passionate about politics—and few were passionate about traditionally corrupt Andrew Cuomo. Many, however, were passionate about ideologically corrupt Mamdani. (Yes, embracing evil ideology is a form of corruption).

Nonetheless, even all these factors taken together can’t explain his meteoric rise. Charisma does, though.

In 2011, I wrote “That Presidential Look: The Bad, the Beautiful and Voting-booth Realities,” which explained the importance of candidates’ appearance in our TV age. Charisma goes along with that. As Throughline pointed out (in 2012), the more charismatic candidate had prevailed in every presidential election since 1980. Just consider:

  • 1980 and ’84—Ronald Reagan defeated, respectively, Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.
  • 1988—George H.W. Bush bested the even less charismatic Michael Dukakis.
  • 1992 and ’96—Bill Clinton won over, respectively, G.H.W. Bush and Bob Dole, the latter of whom was, as pundit Pat Buchanan put it, “like Richard Nixon—without the charm.”
  • 2000 and ’04—George W. Bush defeated, respectively, Al Gore and John Kerry.
  • 2008 and ’12—Barack Obama bested, respectively, cranky John McCain and stately-looking but somewhat stiff Mitt Romney.
  • 2016—In a historic upset, Donald Trump toppled Hillary Clinton, the antithesis of charisma.

This brings us to 2020 and ’24, where Trump and Joe Biden each captured one contest. Biden did have some charisma in his prime, but in 2020 was a mere shell of his former self. But I’m convinced that year’s election was stolen, so I don’t consider it an exception to the rule. (If you do, fine; call it an anomaly.)

Now, again, this is where I must caution partisans against reacting emotionally. The TDS types will recoil at associating Trump with charisma. And, yes, he does get testy sometimes. Watch one of his rallies, however, and you’ll see how he masterfully works a crowd. I’ve never seen anyone do it better.

On the other side, many may, as I do, find Obama and Bill Clinton (and any other left-wing demagogue) nauseating. But this is because such observers are looking beneath the surface and/or are conceiving of the person based on his policies. This is a mistake professional pundits often make, too. They’re politics wonks and project their own mindset, as humans will do, onto others.

Yet most voters aren’t conversant with politics; they make decisions on emotional bases. For example, if you knew little about Obama’s background or policies in 2008 and merely looked at and listened to him, you saw this: a decent-looking guy with a nice, resonant voice—and some charisma. Note when assessing this, too, that it’s as with what’s said about when you and a companion are fleeing from a vicious grizzly. You don’t have to outrun the bear.

You just have to outrun your companion.

(I.e., Obama’s competitors weren’t exactly charm school valedictorians.)

As for Mamdani, he not only could outrun Cuomo; he may leave the bear eating dust. Just consider, for instance, the first few minutes of the below interview with him. And imagine watching it as, let’s say, a kindly, apolitical grandmother who doesn’t know his positions or background.

Grandma’s first thought likely would be, “What a nice young man! He’d be perfect for my granddaughter!” Mamdani is photogenic enough, has an easy, contagious smile—and loads of charisma. As one commenter under the video put it, “I see how he beat Cuomo now. Wow[,] is he smooth!”

My point, again, is not to sing his praises, but to sound an alarm and send a message. Mamdani is dangerous not just because his policies and attitudes are toxic, but because he’s a quintessential wolf in sheep’s clothing. It also occurs to me that just as sports competition is tougher than ever with today’s deep talent pools, so may competition in the political arena be because of high-tech media. The TV age made appearance and personality important; now the internet and social media age, with video exposure ad infinitum, have made those qualities imperative.

So the message is this: If Republicans want to win elections, ideological soundness is not enough (though it’s a prerequisite for governing). They also should choose candidates possessing that star quality, that special something, that charisma. If the person couldn’t conceivably carry a podcast, he perhaps can’t carry an election.

This said, I certainly wish the above weren’t so. I wish people would vote based on knowledge and wisdom and not fancies and fandom. But too many don’t. Consequently, nominating a candidate competent but as exciting as watching paint dry just won’t cut it.

Charisma is the one thing Trump, Mamdani and Cortez all have in common. Never underestimate such a person, either. Because in politics, charisma is king.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLES:

If Zohran Mamdani becomes NYC Mayor Here is What Happens to New York. Get Ready for Third World Gaza-Like “No Go Zone” Inside America. – Wayne Allyn Root

NYC’s Socialist Mayoral Candidate Proposes Blatantly Racist Scheme

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Obama-Appointed Senate Parliamentarian Blocks Major Changes in Big Beautiful Bill

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So sick of these underminers. This bill should have been passed weeks ago. Congress is useless.

We know who is telling this maidservant what to do.

“Meet the Democrat singlehandedly blocking key provisions in President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Elizabeth Macdonough, a close ally to Obama serves as the Senate Parliamentarian. There is a solution to her efforts to stop the president’s agenda – JD Vance – he could overrule her as President of the Senate.”

She’s trying to require Trump to obtain 60 votes in the Senate instead of 50+1.

Senate Parliamentarian Blocks Major Medicaid Changes in Big Beautiful Bill

The Senate parliamentarian on Thursday advised the Medicaid provider tax could not be included in the Big Beautiful Bill, which could upend how the bill could offset the Trump tax cuts.

By: Sean Moran, Breitbart, 26 Jun 26, 2025:

The Senate parliamentarian on Thursday advised the Medicaid provider tax could not be included in the Big Beautiful Bill, which could upend how the bill could offset the Trump tax cuts.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled the Medicaid provider tax would require 60 votes in the Senate to be included in the Big Beautiful Bill. The Senate parliamentarian’s ruling complicates the offsets for enhancing and extending the Trump tax cuts.

The potential loss of the Medicaid provider tax would force Senate Republicans to find other potential spending cuts to pay for the Big Beautiful Bill. The parliamentarian also struck down provisions that would bar the use of Medicaid funds for transgender healthcare services and to prevent illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid or CHIP healthcare coverage.

However, it remains possible that Senate Republicans could change the language of the Medicaid provider tax to be eligible in the Big Beautiful Bill.

Senate Majority Leader Thune explained to Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle how the “Byrd Bath” process works: “We’re going through the Byrd bath, this Byrd test, which our bill has to run through that filter, and the parliamentarian is the sort of referee — determines what’s in, what’s out. But we kind of anticipated a lot of this stuff, and knew, in most cases at least what we were doing, what had a good chance of getting through, and what didn’t. And we worked closely with the House to coordinate when they were passing their bill over there, to minimize the number of things that would get knocked out under the Byrd rule. So we have been working from the very beginning on this, but that said, there are some things that are getting knocked out. What we’re intending, however, is when it’s done in the Senate, that it’ll be in a condition and a shape that can go back to the House, consistent with what the House passed, but hopefully improved upon by what we did in the Senate, and then be able to pass it on the floor there and send it to the president. So that’s the process.”

On the Wall Street Journal podcast All Things with Kim Strassel, Thune signaled that Republicans would work to find alternatives to things that may get struck down by the parliamentarian.

He said:

Well, in most of those cases, we have a plan B and a plan C… we’ve had contingency plans, we’re going back at her, and we think we’ll get a lot of that restored… And even the Democrats, when they were doing this, when they had unified control of the government, had things knocked out… But we’re still going to get a ton of what we wanted in this, and this is the president’s agenda, and so this will be the fulfillment and implementation of that. And we’re going to, we’re full speed ahead in trying to get it done.

“Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said in a statement.

“Democrats are fighting back against Republicans’ plans to gut Medicaid, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and kick kids, veterans, seniors, and folks with disabilities off of their health insurance,” the Democrat added.

Republicans are using budgetary reconciliation to pass the Big Beautiful Bill through the Senate using only a simple majority, or 51 votes. While it can avoid the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, a reconciliation bill cannot make policy changes or things that are considered “extraneous” to spending.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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

PODCAST: Democrat Socialist Zohran Mamdani wins NYC primary election — What is his economic agenda?

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Mamdani pushes for $30 minimum wage, corporate tax hikes and government-owned grocery stores.

New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic Party’s primary for the New York City mayoral nomination has put his economic policies in the forefront as he aims to run the nation’s most populated city.

Mamdani, 33, is a Democratic member of the state assembly representing Queens who is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America as well as the Working Families Party.

Mamdani’s platform focused on a number of issues that have animated socialists in the Democratic Party, including raising the minimum wage, hiking taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans, cracking down on delivery apps, as well as investing in affordable housing and creating city-owned grocery stores.

His campaign proposes a new minimum wage law that would raise the wage floor for jobs in the city to $30 an hour by 2030, which would then be automatically increased based on changes in the cost of living.

Mamdani has proposed raising the corporate tax rate in New York City to match the state of New Jersey’s tax rate of 11.5%, which his campaign believes will bring in $5 billion.

He also called for imposing an additional flat tax of 2% on New York households earning more than $1 million annually. To bring in additional funding for his plans, Mamdani’s campaign calls for hiring more tax auditors, collecting fines from landlords and reforms to procurement and contracting processes to raise $1 billion in revenue.

The assemblyman campaigned on building 200,000 new units of “permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes” over the next decade – as well as immediately freezing rents for all stabilized tenants.

His campaign also features a plan to “implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years,” while also providing “baby baskets” to new parents and guardians that include items like diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, post-partum pads, swaddles, and books,” at no cost to the new parents.

Mamdani has criticized delivery app platforms, with his campaign website stating that “deliveristas – 80,000 Black, brown and immigrant workers – are exploited by app companies who demand they complete deliveries at a dangerous pace.”

“Moreover, app companies have misclassified delivery workers as independent contractors, instead of employees, so that they can avoid providing them with the rights and benefits all workers deserve,” Mamdani’s website said. Delivery apps typically classify delivery workers as independent contractors, which gives them the flexibility to set their own hours and decide which deliveries they want to handle.

To address what he sees as the risks created by delivery apps, Mamdani’s platform calls for strengthening licensure requirements for such apps while also working to “expand capacity and resources to support deliveristas, and improve street infrastructure including expanding DOT e-bike programs and investing in deliverista hubs.”

His campaign platform has also called for eliminating fares on city buses while expanding priority lanes and bus queue jump signals with dedicated loading zones for passengers.

Mamdani also proposed creating city-owned grocery stores by redirecting funds from corporate grocery stores, claiming that the city stores would be focused on “lower prices, not price gouging.”

The grocery stores wouldn’t pay rent or property taxes, which would allow them to reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers, according to Mamdani’s website. They will also buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Illegal Immigrants to Be Housed in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and Other Immigration News

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With conflict in the Middle East seemingly reaching its conclusion, the American public is shifting its attention back to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy. Tensions are still high, with deportation efforts meeting resistance, especially in major metropolitan hubs like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. Here are the latest immigration updates.

‘Alligator Alcatraz’

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has greenlit the use of a new detention center in Florida to house illegal immigrants slated for deportation. Nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” the detention center will repurpose the largely-unused Miami-Dade Collier Training Facility in the Everglades. DHS official Tricia McLaughlin reported that the facility will be composed of “large tents,” providing space to house at least 5,000 illegal immigrants at a time. The area is surrounded by dangerous wildlife, including alligators and pythons.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed to deliver cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media post.

She continued, “These new facilities will in large part be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which the Biden administration used as a piggy bank to spend hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to house illegal aliens, including at the Roosevelt Hotel that served as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to shelter Laken Riley’s killer.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said that the location chosen for “Alligator Alcatraz” is ideal “because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out and there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons — nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.” He added, “I’m proud to help support President Trump and Secretary Noem in their mission to fix our illegal immigration problem once and for all. Alligator Alcatraz and other Florida facilities will do just that.”

The Trump administration has already repurposed detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay to house illegal immigrants prior to deportation, yielding the capacity to house at least 30,000 at a time. Border czar Tom Homan has previously stressed the importance of receiving further funding from Congress for the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. “We’re out of money,” Homan reported in March. He explained, “When we run out of beds, it means we stop interior enforcement operations, because when we arrest somebody, [we’ve] gotta have a bed to put them in for removal.” The border czar added, “Congress does — they need to get us the funding we need so this administration can keep the promises they made to the American people. I think the president was given a mandate: illegal immigration was the number one issue in the campaign.”

Raiding California

Earlier this month, the president federalized California’s National Guard to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carrying out immigration raids in Los Angeles. With much of the violence now having subsided, some National Guard soldiers were detailed to assist the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and ICE in raids on three illegal marijuana-growing facilities in the Coachella Valley. At least 70 illegal immigrants were arrested. While executing search warrants, federal forces found two men at the facilities padlocked inside a trailer in 122-degree heat.

The anti-deportation riots which prompted the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops and Marines to L.A. have since spread to other areas, with riots and protests appearing in Anchorage, Arkansas; Atlanta; Austin; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Huntington Beach, California; Las Vegas; Minneapolis; New York City; Omaha, Nebraska; Peoria, Arizona; Portland; Riverside, California; San Antonio, Texas; San Francisco; Santa Ana, California; Seattle; and Spokane, Washington.

According to the New York Post, Republican lawmakers have launched an investigation into the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), accusing the nonprofit of funding the riots in L.A. The legislators wrote in a letter that they have “concerns that CHIRLA may be using federal funds to support violent criminal activity that impedes the enforcement of federal immigration law.” Another report has suggested that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating Cynthia Gonzalez, vice mayor of L.A. County-area city Cudahy, for apparently calling on Hispanic gangs to combat ICE agents in L.A.

Resistance on ICE

Despite the protests, the majority of Americans still support ICE — and Trump’s plans for deportations. A June Economist/YouGov survey found that 52% of American voters say it should be illegal to impede ICE operations, with 24% saying it should be illegal to do so and another 24% “unsure.” A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that 83% of likely voters said that deporting illegal immigrants who continued to commit crimes after entering the country was an important issue, including 57% who rated the issue “very important.” Additionally, 58% said that “sanctuary” cities, which refuse to investigate immigration status or cooperate with ICE, increase threats to public safety.

This month’s Harvard CAPS/Harris survey also found that 80% support deporting illegal immigrants who continued to commit crimes after entering the country, while 68% opposed impeding ICE operations.

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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EXCLUSIVE: AIPAC Seeking Out Challengers To Unseat Rep. Thomas Massie

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The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is looking to oust Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie in the upcoming 2026 midterm election.

AIPAC has been actively recruiting candidates to run in a primary against Massie, a source familiar told the Daily Caller.

“I’m aware that foreign lobbyists have conducted a push poll and are trying to recruit another candidate to run against me, due to my opposition to foreign aid and forever wars,” Massie said in a statement sent to the Caller.

“Their previous efforts have failed completely, and I expect this race to be no different,” he added.

Massie has been a leading voice against U.S. involvement in Israel’s war with Iran.

He opposed the recent U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling Trump’s actions unconstitutional, but stated on Monday that he does not support Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s effort to impeach Trump over the attack.

Trump wrote a long Truth Social post on Sunday saying that he will personally campaign against Massie, adding that a wonderful “American Patriot” would challenge the Kentucky congressman in the Republican primary.

The president followed up on Sunday with another Truth Social post targeting Massie, declaring, “GET THIS ‘BUM’ OUT OF OFFICE, ASAP!”

Trump’s political team has been fielding inquiries from Republicans interested in mounting a primary challenge against Massie, according to an Axios report from May.

Massie has rankled the president on several recent issues, including the Iran-Israel war.

Massie joined forces with Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna to introduce a resolution aimed at stopping Trump from initiating “unauthorized hostilities” against Iran on June 17.

He was one of only two Republican members of Congress to vote ‘no’ on the “Big Beautiful Bill,” citing concerns over its impact on the national deficit and accusing lawmakers of relying on “fantasy math” instead of implementing real federal spending cuts.

Ahead of the vote, during a visit to Capitol Hill, Trump criticized the Kentucky congressman, telling reporters, “No, I don’t think Thomas Massie understands government,” and adding, “I think he’s a grandstander, frankly … I think he should be voted out of office.”

Massie appeared on Theo Von’s podcast “This Past Weekend” on Tuesday, where he shared his views on AIPAC’s political influence, stating, “I think they’re the best lobbying group in Washington D.C., and the reason they can do it is you can have dual citizens — people who are American and Israeli — who are allowed to give money into American politics because they’re American.”

He continued, “By virtue of that you are allowed to participate. But if you are a foreign national, you’re not allowed to.”

The Caller reached out to AIPAC for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter

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Kenny Stein Explains Need To Terminate Green Energy Subsidies At Daily Caller Live Event

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The Daily Caller hosted its first live event Tuesday with ClearPath Action, and leading experts discussed “The Future of American Energy.”

Kenny Stein, Vice President for Policy at Institute for Energy Research, discussed the history of renewable energy subsidies with Daily Wire News Foundation Associate Editor Nick Pope.

Tuesday’s discussion centered around the origin of renewable energy subsidies and the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” potential impact on American energy.

Stein specializes in domestic and international energy policy, environmental regulation and policy, the electric grid and various other topics, according to his IER bio.

The subsidies were meant to last for a short period of time when they were first implemented, Stein said. But like many government programs, they have remained intact, he added.

While Stein said the “argument for subsidies has long since passed,” he noted the government has continued to approve arguments for their extension since 2015.

In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law by former President Joe Biden to codify the benefits.

Stein said it would be ideal for the subsidies to be repealed, but today’s political landscape makes that goal difficult to attain.

“Unfortunately, energy policy has become extremely partisan and extremely polarized, and there is not a lot of agreement, even in the margins on both sides,” he said.

Stein said the subsidies have set back progress in America, specifically when it comes to infrastructure and growth in urban areas. He said a change in energy laws could improve this problem.

“It takes way too long to build things in this country, and that’s not just energy infrastructure —  that’s roads, housing, dams, everything,” Stein said. “But that requires a pretty fundamental restructuring of environmental laws.”

Stein pointed to European nations which previously turned to “clean” energy sources to power their nations, but now must depend on countries like France that operate on nuclear power.

Drawing on that example, Stein said it is important for individual states to manage how they produce energy, rather than depending on the federal government for regulation.

“It’s important that the investment structure is based on what makes the most sense for a given place, not based on what a state government is mandating or subsidizing, and not what the federal government is subsidizing,” Stein said. “Too much of our energy investment right now is subsidy harvesting rather than planning for the future.”

While Stein said changes to the grid plan could make prices higher in the short term, he said prices would likely decrease as energy reliability becomes more stable in the long term.

“There’s been a lot of technological development, just in the last couple of years, and even in things like AI and the cloud, there’s a lot of opportunity there to improve the function of the grid in a way that would improve reliability.”

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a non-profit organization that researches energy operations in domestic and foreign governments.

AUTHOR

Tayte Christensen

Contributor.

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

Universities Sit On Billion-Dollar Endowments While Jacking Up Tuition

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Several universities are hiking tuition prices and cutting jobs despite sitting on massive endowments.

Universities are largely blaming the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts for the price increases, but many schools have seen steady rises in tuition for decades and overall increased revenue all while nursing their ever-growing endowments. 

Cornell University is raising its tuition rate by over 4%, bringing the cost to $71,266 for out-of-state students and $48,010 for in-state students, while Duke University’s tuition will jump by nearly 5% to $92,042.

Duke’s price hike marks a 123% increase over the past two decades, despite its endowment steadily increasing over time to about $5 billion. The university’s 2023-2024 fiscal year financial report admitted that the school’s “growth in revenue outpaced expenses.”

At the time, Duke was charging students $83,263 in tuition and other fees and collecting a total of approximately $1 billion in gross tuition and fees even after accounting for financial aid deductions, making up 15% of its total revenue.

Duke is also working to reduce its workforce, offering voluntary buyout agreements to employees. The packages include financial incentives and healthcare in exchange for a three-year separation from the university, in which they can reapply after that period.

Duke did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Weighing similar staffing cuts, Cornell blamed the Trump administration’s federal research grant terminations, saying the university now faces “profound financial challenges.” Cornell announced it was pausing hiring as it reviewed its “programs and headcount.”

As of 2024, Cornell brings in over $900 million from tuition costs and student fees every year, according to its financial records. Cornell’s endowment is valued at approximately $10.7 billion as of 2024, returning about 10% every year.

Cornell did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Several public universities like the University of Michigan (UM) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) are also raising costs by as much as 7.5% for some students while cutting programs and student services.

UMN is raising its rates by 6.5% for in-state and 7.5% for out-of-state students, also pointing to federal cuts. The school operates on a budget of over $5 billion, with a total systemwide endowment of $6 billion.

UMN did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Tuition costs at the University of Michigan (UM) will rise by over 3% for in-state students and just under 5% for out-of-state students while sitting on a nearly $18 billion endowment. The university is blaming ” budgetary impacts of federal actions” and “economic and legislative uncertainty,” according to a June announcement.

A UM spokesman directed the DCNF to the university’s public statement.

College tuition costs have been on the rise for decades, with price increases mostly outpacing inflation. Increased federal financial aid to students has been attributed by some studies to the inflated costs.

The Trump administration has cut billions in grants and contracts to universities, targeting programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) topics or universities that allegedly fail to comply with federal civil rights laws.

AUTHOR

Jaryn Crouson

Education Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Harvard, MIT Use Law To Limit Legal Payouts While Sitting On Endowments Worth Billions

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.

Senate Republicans Lobbying For Green Energy Tax Credits Raked In Donations From Industry

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Phasing out Biden-era green energy tax credits is dividing Senate Republicans as they push their latest version of the “big beautiful bill,” and some members of the GOP have a financial incentive to keep the credits rolling.

The Senate’s draft represents a substantial cut to the existing climate-friendly energy tax credits, but some Republicans are pursuing a less aggressive rollback than their House counterparts, according to a report from The Hill.

Several GOP senators who oppose a full repeal argue that even the Senate’s scaled-back proposal goes too far in dismantling the clean energy tax credits established under the Biden Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Republican Senators who have voiced concerns or pushed back against a “full-scale” repeal of energy tax credits include Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, Utah Sen. John Curtis and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, whose state hosts one of the “hydrogen hubs” created under the Biden administration, expressed concern over the bill’s deadline requiring projects to begin construction by the end of the year to qualify for tax credits.

Capito said she’s working to delay that deadline, calling it “a pretty tight timeline,” and adding, “I’m trying to get the date pushed back. I don’t know if I’ll be successful,” according to another report from The Hill.

She has also received $49,200 in campaign contributions from Williams, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based energy company with significant investments in hydrogen infrastructure during the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets data.

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford likewise received $54,500 in contributions from Williams during the same time period.

Capito also took $45,325 during the 2024 election cycle from First Energy, an electric utility that has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

A group of four Republicans — Sens. Murkowski, Curtis, Moran and Tillis — have jointly cautioned against a “full-scale” repeal of the energy tax credits enacted by Democrats in 2022.

In their message, they called for each credit to be assessed based on its potential to boost U.S. manufacturing, lower utility costs — particularly in rural communities — and provide stability for businesses that have already made investments under the current framework.

“The United States produces some of the cleanest and most efficient energy in the world, and an all-of-the-above approach — including support for traditional and renewable energy sources — has long been a hallmark of our energy strategy,” the senators wrote.

“To that end, many American companies have made substantial investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure based on the current energy tax framework. A wholesale repeal, or the termination of certain individual credits, would create uncertainty, jeopardizing capital allocation, long-term project planning, and job creation in the energy sector and across our broader economy,” their letter read.

Tillis, has advocated for a “targeted, pragmatic approach” to the energy tax credits, rather than supporting a full repeal.

He also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles — both individually and through political action committees — from major financial institutions including Blackstone Group, Apollo Global Management, Truist Financial and Goldman Sachs, according to OpenSecrets (OS).

The firms have collectively invested millions of dollars in clean energy initiatives and companies in recent years.

Collins received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions during the 2022 and 2024 cycles from Blackstone, Goldman and Nextra Energy, which reports to have 55% of its portfolio invested in renewable energy.

Capito also received tens of thousands of dollars from Blackstone during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

OpenSecrets also shows Murkowski received tens of thousands of dollars through PACs or individually over the same two cycles from companies like ConocoPhillips, a company dedicated to be the first in the U.S. oil and gas company to set a goal of reaching net-zero operational emissions.

This follows Capital Group Companies‘ announcement in March that it was committing $30.57 million to fossil fuel investments, including a stake in ConocoPhillips.

Curtis has likewise received $59,700 in contributions during the 2024 election cycle from Sunrun, which markets itself as “the #1 home solar and battery company in America.”

“I think that Senator Crapo did a really good job, but there’s more work to be done,” Curtis told The Hill when asked about the big beautiful bill, referring to the Idaho Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. Curtis offered no further details.

Moran adjacently received $38,500 in campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle from Kit Bond Strategies Group, according to OpenSecrets records.

The firm actively lobbied on behalf of multiple renewable energy companies throughout that time. 

The draft text of the bill, released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee, maintains credits for nuclear, hydropower, and geothermal energy, and does not immediately eliminate subsidies for solar and wind, disappointing Republicans who sought a more aggressive rollback of Democratic climate policies.

The Daily Caller reached out to Tillis, Murkowski, Curtis, Capito, Moran and Lankford for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter.

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

USAID Official and Three Corporate Executives Plead Guilty $550 Million in Fraud, Bribery Using DEI

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USAID official and three company executives plead guilty in fraud and bribery scheme involving at least 14 contracts worth over $550 million

USAID Official Roderick Watson took bribes, was showered with lavish gifts— including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, down payments on two residential mortgages, cell phones, and jobs for relatives.

In exchange for the bribe payments, Watson influenced the award of contracts by manipulating the procurement process at USAID.

Watson faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Imagine how much more fraud there is…

USAID Official, Three Contractors Plead Guilty To Half-Billion Dollar Bribery Scheme

By  Luke Rosiak

Three government contractors and a USAID official have pleaded guilty to a scheme involving paying bribes in order to steer more than half a billion dollars in foreign aid contracts, the Department of Justice said Friday.

Roderick Watson, a USAID contracting officer, admitted to steering money to multiple companies in exchange for more than $1 million in bribes.

“Watson exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts,” Guy Ficco of IRS Criminal Investigation said in a statement. “While he helped three company owners and presidents bypass the fair bidding process, he was showered with cash and lavish gifts.”

The scheme was possible because of the federal government’s racial “set-aside” laws known as 8(a) contracting, which allow contracting officers to give contracts to companies owned by minorities, women, or veterans without the usual competitive process.

Walter Barnes III, the founder of a Baltimore-area company predicated on taking advantage of those laws, admitted to paying bribes, including a country-club wedding, cash, and a trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

Barnes’s company is called Vistant, previously known as PM Consulting Group. It was awarded contracts on the pretense that it was “disadvantaged” because Barnes is black, even as it took in tens of millions of dollars. Barnes used a public defender in his court case, drawing a rebuke from the judge that he presumably had ample resources to pay for his own lawyer.

Also pleading guilty was Darryl Britt, the founder of 8(a) contracting firm Apprio Inc., which is received $271 million in federal contracts since 2004. Both companies also admitted criminal liability.

Beginning in 2013, Britt — a member of Carnegie Mellon University’s Business Board of Advisers — bribed Watson to award contracts to Apprio. When an 8(a) firm becomes too large, it “graduates” from its “disadvantaged” status. But minority contracting laws are notoriously exploited, with minority-owned firms existing simply to win contracts, then subcontracting out the work to other firms. That is often done openly, and above board, with “joint ventures.”

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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