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Blue state GOP lawmaker says major sanctuary city lawsuit is ‘encouraging,’ but urges further crackdown

Blue state GOP lawmaker says major sanctuary city lawsuit is ‘encouraging,’ but urges further crackdown

California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley praised the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Los Angeles’s sanctuary policies as “encouraging” while stressing the underlying need for more congressional action in the wake of the anti-ICE protests and riots in the city. The DOJ on Monday announced the lawsuit, which makes the argument that the city’s policies “impede” federal immigration authorities and that ICE agents are specifically discriminated against. “I think that the lawsuit is encouraging, because, when you just look at what’s going on here, you have a state policy, and in the case of LA, a city policy, that’s whole purpose is to interfere with the operations of the federal government, pursuant to the policies of a duly enacted president, which is not the way our system works,” the Republican told Fox News Digital in an interview. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUES LOS ANGELES OVER SANCTUARY POLICIES THAT ‘IMPEDE’ ICE OPERATIONS “Immigration is under the province of the federal government. That is the constitutional responsibility of the federal government, and the supremacy clause suggests that states and localities cannot act to contravene the federal government in enforcing federal law,” Kiley added. The civil unrest in Los Angeles in June as ICE conducted operations in the region prompted Kiley to introduce the “No Tax Dollars for Riots Act,” specifically taking aim at nonprofit groups that received taxpayer dollars, but he says could have played a role in “organizing unlawful riots.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “It’s called the No Tax Dollars for Riots Act. Pretty common sense idea. Really not something we should have to legislate on, but unfortunately, we have seen examples like we just witnessed in L.A.,” he said, adding that groups found “aiding and abetting riots” would lose their ability to get taxpayer-funded grants and lose their tax-exempt status under his bill. LA ANTI-ICE RIOTERS FACE NEW CHARGES AS VIOLENCE RAGES The Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) is now the subject of a GOP-led congressional investigation, as the group strongly denies any ties to the violence that unfolded on the streets of LA. Kiley specifically pointed to the group’s $34 million in taxpayer funding, largely from the Golden State, as inspiration for the legislation. “Let us be clear, these congressional letters are a coordinated effort to prevent us from doing the good and peaceful work that’s part of the CHIRLA way since its inception in 1986 — when we were founded to serve, represent, and uplift immigrants in the United States with the purpose of ensuring justice for all. The CHIRLA way has been visible daily since day one but now we represent a threat to the current administration’s racist and anti-immigrant agenda,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said in a statement on Monday about the congressional investigation. “These threats, including the false and baseless allegations of wrongdoing, will not stop our momentum. We will remain visible, undeterred, and more committed than ever to our mission. Our mandate is to serve the community because they need and deserve it. That has been and will continue to be the CHIRLA way,” she continued. LEFT-WING ADVOCACY GROUPS IN THE HOT SEAT AS ANTI-ICE RIOTS TRIGGER INVESTIGATION: ‘NOT PROTECTED SPEECH’ President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Kiley’s proposal on Saturday. “CONGRESSMAN KEVIN KILEY’S, ‘NO TAX DOLLARS FOR RIOTS’ legislation, should be passed immediately. I am hereby instructing my Administration not to pay ANY money to these radicalized groups, regardless of the legislation. They get paid to incite riots, burn down or destroy a city, then come back to the trough to get money to help rebuild it. NO MORE MONEY!!!” the president posted to Truth Social.

Trump could arm Israel with US B-2s and bunker busters if Iran tries to go nuclear under new proposal

Trump could arm Israel with US B-2s and bunker busters if Iran tries to go nuclear under new proposal

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan pair of lawmakers has proposed authorizing President Donald Trump to transfer B-2 stealth bombers and 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs to Israel if Iran is found to still be developing a nuclear weapon after last week’s strikes.  Proposed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., the Bunker Buster Act would allow Trump to “take actions to ensure Israel is prepared for all contingencies if Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon.”  B-2 bomber pilots launched 14 bunker buster bombs on Iran’s top three nuclear sites, in a move that Trump claims “totally obliterated” the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.  Israel, for its part, hit a number of Iranian sites and took out top military brass. However, it doesn’t possess the 30,000-pound GBU 57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, precision-guided munition bombs developed for the U.S. Air Force. The 20-foot-long weapons can travel 200 feet deep inside a target before exploding.  TRUMP WOULD STRIKE IRAN ‘WITHOUT QUESTION’ IF IT RESTARTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM As of 2024, the U.S. had 19 B-2s in operation. It does not transfer custody of its B-2 stealth bombers to any of its allies.  “Iran, the leading state sponsor of terror, and one of America’s top enemies, can never have a nuclear weapon. That’s why I strongly supported our military actions earlier this month. Iran has killed scores of Americans, including our service members, and repeatedly attacked our key democratic ally, Israel. Israel must be able to defend herself against Iran, and ensure that Iran cannot rebuild its nuclear capabilities,” Gottheimer said in a statement.  “This bill gives the President the authority to equip Israel with the tools and training they need to deter Tehran and make the world a safer place,” said Lawler.  The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Chair Rafael Grossi told Radio France Internationale the centrifuges at Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site are “no longer operational,” after the U.S. strikes. EXPERTS GAUGE SUCCESS OF ‘BUNKER BUSTER’ BOMBS DROPPED BY US ON IRAN NUCLEAR SITES However, some have questioned whether Iran may have attempted to move its stock of enriched uranium away from the sites that were targeted, but Grossi told CBS over the weekend that Iran may again begin enriching uranium in a “matter of months.”  “The capacities they have are there. They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that. But as I said, frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,” he said. WHY ONLY BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS COULD REACH IRAN’S UNDERGROUND FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY “It is clear that there has been severe damage, but it’s not total damage,” Grossi added. “Iran has the capacities there; industrial and technological capacities. So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.” Meanwhile, after a Houthi strike on Israel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested the U.S. send B-2 bombers to Yemen to strike Houthi targets.  “We thought we were done with missiles coming to Israel, but Houthis just lit one up over us in Israel. Fortunately, Israel’s incredible interception system means we go to the shelter & wait until all clear. Maybe those B2 bombers need to visit Yemen!”  B-2 bomber planes traveled to Yemen to strike Houthi targets in October 2024. 

Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ clears final hurdle before House-wide vote

Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ clears final hurdle before House-wide vote

The House Rules Committee has teed up President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” for a chamber-wide vote Wednesday after a nearly 12-hour-long session debating the massive piece of legislation. It now heads to the entire chamber for consideration, where several Republicans have already signaled they’re concerned with various aspects of the measure. Just two Republicans voted against reporting the bill out of committee – Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, conservatives who had expressed reservations with the bill earlier on Tuesday. No Democrats voted to advance it, while the remaining seven Republicans did. The majority of Republican lawmakers appear poised to advance the bill, however, believing it’s the best possible compromise vehicle to make Trump’s campaign promises a reality. NATIONAL DEBT TRACKER: AMERICAN TAXPAYERS (YOU) ARE NOW ON THE HOOK FOR OVER $36,215,806,064,740.36 “This bill is President Trump’s agenda, and we are making it law. House Republicans are ready to finish the job and put the One Big Beautiful Bill on President Trump’s desk in time for Independence Day,” House GOP leaders said in a joint statement after the Senate passed the bill on Tuesday. The House Rules Committee acts as the final gatekeeper before most pieces of legislation get a chamber-wide vote. Democrats attempted to delay the panel’s hours-long hearing by offering multiple amendments that were shot down along party lines. They criticized the bill as a bloated tax cut giveaway to wealthy Americans, at the expense of Medicaid coverage for lower-income people. Democrats have also accused Republicans of adding billions of dollars to the national debt, chiefly by extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. “I don’t know what it means to be a fiscal hawk, because if you vote for this bill, you’re adding $4 trillion to the debt,” Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Calif., said during debate on the measure.  “Republicans have gone on TV for months and months and months solemnly insisting to the American people that this bill is going to cut the debt, that this will not hurt anybody on Medicaid, just those lazy bums and, you know, unworthy people.”  REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE ‘IRRELEVANT’ BUDGET OFFICE AS IT CRITIQUES TRUMP’S ‘BEAUTIFUL BILL’ But Republicans have said the bill is targeted relief for middle and working-class Americans, citing provisions temporarily allowing people to deduct taxes from tipped and overtime wages, among others. “If you vote against this bill, you’re voting against the child tax credit being at $2,200 per child. At the end of this year, it will drop to $1,000. That makes a huge impact to 40 million hardworking Americans. And it’s simply, when they vote no, they’re voting against a $2,200 child tax credit, and they’re okay with $1,000,” House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said. “If you listen to the Democrats here, they say this is all about billionaires and millionaires. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime work. How many millionaires and billionaires, Madam Chair, work by the hour?” The bill numbers more than 900 pages and includes Trump’s priorities on taxes, the border, defense, energy and the national debt.  An initial version passed the House in May by just one vote, but the Senate has since made multiple key modifications to Medicaid, tax cuts and the debt limit. Moderates are wary of the Senate measures that would shift more Medicaid costs to states that expanded their programs under ObamaCare, while conservatives have said those cuts are not enough to offset the additional spending in other parts of the bill. Several key measures were also removed during the “Byrd Bath,” a process in the Senate where legislation is reviewed so that it can be fast-tracked under the budget reconciliation process – which must adhere to a strict set of fiscal rules. Among those conservative critics, Reps. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced resolutions to change the Senate version to varying degrees. Ogles’ amendment would have most dramatically changed the bill. If passed, it would have reverted the legislation back to the House version.  Perry’s amendments were aimed at tightening the rollback of green energy tax credits created by the former Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Another amendment by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., would have restored certain Second Amendment-related provisions stripped out by the Byrd Bath. Any changes to the legislation would have forced it back into the Senate, likely delaying Republicans’ self-imposed Fourth of July deadline to get the bill onto Trump’s desk. The full House is expected to begin considering the bill at 9 a.m. ET Wednesday. Sometime that morning, House lawmakers will vote on whether to begin debating the bill, a procedural measure known as a “rule vote.” If that’s cleared, a final vote on the bill itself is expected sometime later Wednesday. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., conceded on Tuesday evening that poor weather in Washington that forced a number of flight delays could also weigh on Wednesday’s attendance – depending on how many lawmakers are stuck outside the capital. “We’re monitoring the weather closely,” Johnson told reporters. “There’s a lot of delays right now.” With all lawmakers present, Republicans can only afford to lose three votes to still advance both the rule vote and the final bill without any Democratic support.

US university bans trans athletes under pressure from Trump administration

US university bans trans athletes under pressure from Trump administration

University of Pennsylvania erases records set by trans swimmer as part of resolution to civil rights investigation. A top university in the United States has agreed to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports and erase records set by a prominent trans swimmer following pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump. The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the US Department of Education on Tuesday announced the agreement to resolve a federal civil rights investigation focused on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. Thomas, who was born male and came out as a trans woman in 2018, won a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I title in 2022, becoming the first trans athlete to accomplish the feat. Thomas, who began hormone replacement therapy in 2019 as part of the transition from male to female, also set UPenn records in five women’s events, including the 100-metre and 500-metre freestyle competitions. Thomas’s accomplishments became a focal point in the debate about fairness in sport, with LGBTQ campaigners hailing the swimmer’s participation as a victory for inclusion and critics, including some of Thomas’s teammates, casting it as an attack on women’s rights. Larry Jameson, UPenn’s president, said in a statement that the university recognised that some student athletes had been disadvantaged by the NCAA eligibility rules that had been in place at the time of Thomas’s participation. The NCAA changed its eligibility rules to limit participation in women’s events to female-born athletes in March, following Trump’s executive order denying funding to educational institutions that allow trans girls and women to compete. Advertisement “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time,” Jameson said. “We will review and update the Penn women’s swimming records set during that season to indicate who would now hold the records under current eligibility guidelines.” UPenn later on Tuesday removed Thomas from its website’s list of “All-Time School Records”, and added a note stating that Thomas set records during the 2021-22 season under “eligibility rules in effect at the time”. UPenn’s move comes after the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in April announced that it had determined the university to have violated Title IX by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities”. US Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the agreement a “great victory for women and girls”. “The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law,” McMahon said in a statement. Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, two of the biggest LGBTQ advocacy organisations in the US, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. UPenn’s announcement is the latest in a series of moves to limit trans people’s participation in sport in the US and elsewhere since Trump returned to the White House in January. In March, World Athletics said it would require participants in women’s events to undergo DNA testing to prove their biological sex. Opinion polls have pointed to growing public opposition to trans women and girls competing against female-born athletes. In a New York Times/Ipsos poll published in January, 79 percent of Americans said that trans women should be barred from female sports, up from 62 percent in 2021. Adblock test (Why?)