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Year: 2025

Senate slated to vote on South Carolina billionaire hedge fund executive to lead US Treasury

Senate slated to vote on South Carolina billionaire hedge fund executive to lead US Treasury

The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday afternoon to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department. The Senate voted on Saturday to advance Scott Bessent’s nomination by a 67–23 margin and his confirmation is expected Monday.  Bessent recently appeared before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing, where he called to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump approved during his first term.  “This is the single most important economic issue of the day,” Bessent, a hedge fund billionaire from South Carolina, told lawmakers.  TRUMP TREASURY PICK: EXTENDING TRUMP TAX CUTS ‘SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ECONOMIC ISSUE’ “If we do not renew an extension, then we will be facing an economic calamity,” Bessent said. “And, as always, with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class.” Bessent cautioned that a “gigantic” middle-class tax increase would occur if the tax cuts expire. Many of the reforms included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are scheduled to end in 2025. Groups like Americans for Prosperity, a grassroots network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, claim that millions of Americans will face a hike of more than $1,500 in taxes in 2026 if the cuts are not renewed.  GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR? But critics of Trump’s tax plan, including Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and groups like the liberal public policy institute Center for American Progress, argue the cuts only benefited the wealthy and claim the perks failed to reach ordinary workers. However, Bessent said Trump and his administration will create a “golden age” of economic prosperity for all Americans. TRUMP’S TREASURY NOMINEE TURNS TABLES ON SANDERS IN TESTY EXCHANGE ABOUT BIDEN’S OLIGARCHY COMMENTS  “Today, I believe that President Trump has a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans,” Bessent said at his confirmation hearing.  Trump’s economic plan includes extending the 2017 tax cuts and imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on all imported goods. For countries like China, that number could go up to 60%.  Bessent, who previously wrote an op-ed for Fox News Digital supporting the use of tariffs, backed the Trump administration’s employment of tariffs in multiple exchanges with lawmakers during his confirmation hearing.  The Treasury Department is responsible for managing federal finances and oversees agencies that include the IRS.

Mike Lee continues calling for abolition of TSA

Mike Lee continues calling for abolition of TSA

Sen. Mike Lee is continuing to call for the abolition of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). “Tired of being groped every time you travel? Abolish TSA,” the senator said in a recent post on X. “Make Airport Security Free Of Sexual Assault Again,” Lee said in another tweet, adding, “Abolish TSA.” TSA OFFICER REPORTEDLY CAUGHT WITH FIREARM IN BUSY ATLANTA AIRPORT IS ARRESTED In another post, he suggested that President Donald Trump should eliminate the TSA. Lee suggests that instead of TSA, airlines could handle passenger screening. “You may be required to undergo a pat-down procedure if the screening technology alarms, as part of unpredictable security measures, for enhanced screening, or as an alternative to other types of screening, such as advanced imaging technology screening,” according to the TSA website. “A pat-down may include inspection of the head, neck, arms, torso, legs, and feet. This includes head coverings and sensitive areas such as breasts, groin, and the buttocks.” The agency was established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. “The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by the 107th Congress and signed on November 19, 2001, established TSA,” according to the TSA’s website. TSA REVEALS TOP UNUSUAL FINDS AT AIRPORT SECURITY CHECKPOINTS IN 2024 Lee advocated the idea of nixing TSA last year as well. “It’s time to abolish the TSA. Airlines can and will secure their own planes if a federal agency doesn’t do it for them. They’ll do it better than TSA, without undermining the Constitution and with less groping—showing more respect for passengers,” the senator declared in a post last year on March 11. Days later, Lee indicated that he had been subjected to a TSA pat down. SEN MIKE LEE: REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS MUST IMMEDIATELY ADVANCE TRUMP’S MAGA AGENDA “Update: days after calling to abolish TSA, I got ‘randomly selected’ for the needlessly slow, thorough TSA screening & patdown. Maybe it’s a coincidence. Or not. Impossible to know. That’s part of the problem with having a federal agency in charge of airport security,” he tweeted on March 14, 2024. In December, the senator shared a video of a man being subjected to a pat down. “It’s unsettling knowing that the TSA does this countless times every day, constantly conducting needlessly invasive, warrantless, suspicion-less searches of law-abiding Americans,” Lee wrote when sharing the video. “Please share if you’d like to abolish TSA,” he added.

DeSantis faces GOP resistance to special legislative session on immigration that starts today

DeSantis faces GOP resistance to special legislative session on immigration that starts today

A special legislative session called by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to take up a series of proposals to help implement President Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown gets underway on Monday. However, with pushback from top Republican lawmakers who call the session “premature,” it is unclear if any measures will be considered. DeSantis wants lawmakers to pass bills that would support the president’s flurry of immigration and border executive orders, signed since last Monday’s inauguration, and Trump’s plans for mass deportation of illegal immigrants. ‘THANK YOU RON’ – TRUMP PRAISES DESANTIS IMMIGRATION PUSH IN FLORIDA  The governor wants to mandate that Florida’s counties and cities participate in the federal deportation program and wants the power to suspend officials who do not comply. He is also proposing to make it a state crime to enter the nation illegally, and he wants to mandate that people show identification and their immigration status before sending money back home. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVES QUICKLY ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT “We’ve got to make sure that we are working hand-in-hand with the Trump administration,” DeSantis emphasized last week in an interview on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle.” He added that the special legislative session would help “to facilitate the Trump administration’s mission.” Eleven bills were filed on the eve of the special session by Florida lawmakers. Among them are measures to create a state immigration czar and to allow the governor to activate the national and state guards for immigration enforcement. Under Florida’s constitution, if the governor calls for a special session, lawmakers are obligated to show up at the capitol in Tallahassee. However, the top Republicans in the state House and Senate say that while they support Trump’s immigration efforts, the special session is unnecessary with the regularly scheduled legislative session scheduled for early March. “It’s not premature,” DeSantis told Fox News. “We’ve been waiting four years to have a partner in Washington, D.C., on this issue. We have a sense of urgency. We have to get the job done. No more dragging your feet.”  DeSantis, who waged a bitter and unsuccessful primary challenge against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was praised by the then-president-elect earlier this month. “Thank you Ron, hopefully other governors will follow!” Trump wrote in a social media post after DeSantis announced the special session. However, the pushback by GOP state lawmakers over the calling of the special session is a dramatic turn of events for DeSantis, who long enjoyed massive influence over the Florida legislature, especially after his nearly 20-point re-election in 2022. Following his unsuccessful 2024 White House bid, the lame duck governor does not appear to have the same clout over lawmakers that he once enjoyed. Pushing back against opposition to his plans, DeSantis has warned that any lawmaker who stood in his way over the special session would pay a political price.

Trump order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants is constitutional, expert says

Trump order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants is constitutional, expert says

While nearly two dozen states are suing to stop President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, some legal experts, such as Hans von Spakovsky with the Heritage Foundation, say the order is perfectly legal under the 14th Amendment and should be upheld by the courts. “I strongly believe that Donald Trump is correct, that we need to enforce the 14th Amendment as it was originally intended,” Spakovsky told Fox News Digital. “No doubt there will be lawsuits against it, it’ll get to the U.S. Supreme Court, and if the court follows the actual legislative intent and history, they will uphold what Donald Trump has done.” As Trump has moved quickly to clamp down on illegal immigration, his most controversial move yet was to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. The order titled the “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” states that “the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States” when that person’s parents are either unlawfully present in the U.S. or when the parents’ presence is lawful but temporary. TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’ Twenty-two Democrat-led states and the ACLU are suing to stop the order, arguing that it violates the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The lawsuit argues that “the President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth.” However, Spakovsky, who is a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an authority on civil rights and immigration, told Fox News Digital that the 14th Amendment was never meant to include the children of individuals in the country illegally or temporarily and that this broad interpretation has led to widespread “birth tourism” and abuse. He said the key phrase often overlooked today is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” which necessitates the immigrants’ loyalties be to the U.S., not to some foreign power. TRUMP’S HOUSE GOP ALLIES PUSH BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL AFTER PROGRESSIVE FURY AT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER “The 14th Amendment has two key clauses in it. One, you have to be born in the United States, but you also have to be subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. All those who push birthright citizenship just point to that first phrase and ignore the second,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of research on this. I’ve looked at the original passage of the 14th Amendment and what that phrase meant subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. According to the original sponsors of the 14th Amendment in Congress was that you owed your political allegiance to the United States and not a foreign government.”  CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “That means that children born of aliens who are in this country, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re here legally, illegally, as diplomats; if their parents are foreign citizens when they are born they are citizens of their parents’ native land, they owe their political allegiance to and are subject to the jurisdiction of those native lands, not the United States. So, they are not citizens of the U.S.,” he said. According to Spakovsky, the 14th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War to acknowledge citizenship for former slaves and their descendants, was not used to confer birthright citizenship to illegal aliens until more than 100 years after it was adopted by Congress.  PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER FACES LEGAL CHALLENGES FROM 22 STATES As Democrats and left-wing groups prepare to launch a legal war with the Trump administration over the order, Spakovsky said he is confident the Supreme Court will rule in Trump’s favor. “The problem with birthright citizenship is it gives rights as an American citizen to individuals who have absolutely no loyalty to and no connection to the U.S. government, our culture, our society,” he said. “The Supreme Court should uphold it because the original meaning of the 14th Amendment is clearly not recognizing birthright citizenship.”