White House dismisses investigation calls, says ‘case closed’ on Signalgate
The White House has said that it is moving on from recent controversy over the mistaken sharing of war plans on commercial messaging app Signal, declaring that the “case has been closed”. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that steps had been taken to ensure that the same scenario – which made Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, privy to a group chat on planned US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis – was not repeated in the future. But she did not elaborate on the measures. Leavitt said the US was “moving forward”, her statement appearing to end speculation that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who invited the journalist to the chat, and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who shared the sensitive information, would be punished. Democratic lawmaker Madeleine Dean accused Republicans of showing a “weakness of thought” by deflecting away from the “blunders” of the so-called Signalgate controversy. “The Trump Administration’s mishandling of sensitive military plans was a staggering failure,” she wrote in a social media post. “Republicans have devolved into ‘what-about-ism.’ It’s time for accountability. It’s time for answers.” The Trump Administration’s mishandling of sensitive military plans was a staggering failure. Republicans have devolved into “what-about-ism.” It’s time for accountability. It’s time for answers. pic.twitter.com/nxclTrDEyQ — Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (@RepDean) March 31, 2025 Advertisement ‘Real pain to come’ As the White House attempted to close the embarrassing chapter, US President Donald Trump renewed his threats to the Houthis, targeted over attacks against Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes conducted in support of Gaza, promising to hit them “harder and harder”. Houthi leaders have denied US claims that their capabilities have been degraded by attacks, saying that the strikes have only managed to kill civilians and administrative officials. “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you,” said Trump in a social media post. “Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.” Iran, for its part, responded to Trump’s previous message that it will face heavy US bombardment if it fails to reach a nuclear weapons deal. “They threaten to attack us, which we don’t think is very probable, but if they commit any mischief, they will surely receive a strong reciprocal blow,” said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of the US and its ally, Israel. On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned a Swiss diplomat “acting as protector of US interests” to pass on a “warning note” to the US, emphasising its “firm and immediate resolve” to respond to “hostile acts”. ‘No specific progress’ Trump intends to visit Saudi Arabia in mid-May to discuss a range of topics, including Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and investments, according to sources cited by the Reuters news agency and Axios. Advertisement Saudi Arabia recently hosted US-mediated talks with Russia and Ukraine aimed at ending the war, but prospects of a ceasefire appeared to dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, lacked the legitimacy to sign a peace deal, prompting Trump to declare in an interview with NBC that he was “very angry, p***** off” with the Russian leader. Trump added that if he were unable to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and determined Russia was to blame, he would impose a 25 percent secondary tariff on all Russian oil. Addressing the state of US-Russian relations on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated in comments carried by Russia’s Interfax news agency that Moscow was “working on implementing certain ideas related to Ukrainian conflict resolution”, though there was “no specific progress” to report yet. Peskov also said Putin is still open to speaking with Trump and that a conversation could be “arranged as needed”, according to TASS news agency. Attending a meeting of European foreign ministers in Madrid to discuss the conflict, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Russia owed a clear response to the US on whether it wants to pursue peace at all. Adblock test (Why?)
Fire destroys over a dozen Teslas at Rome dealership
NewsFeed Elon Musk says “terrorism” was behind a fire at a Rome Tesla dealership that reduced 17 vehicles to burned out shells. The cause of the fire is under investigation but occurred the same day dealerships in at least two other countries were vandalised. Published On 31 Mar 202531 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Red state moves to defund county after leader vows to ‘interfere and interrupt’ ICE deportations
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is suing to defund an entire county after its leading law enforcement authority vowed to “make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt” deportation operations based on ICE detainers, which he called unconstitutional. This comes amid the Trump administration’s concerted whole-of-government approach to cracking down on illegal immigration and migrant crime in the United States. Bird, a Republican, argues that the sheriff’s self-proclaimed “longtime” stance of interrupting immigration enforcement operations based on detainers “impeded and discouraged cooperation with federal immigration authorities in violation of Iowa law.” A detainer is a formal request by ICE to other law enforcement authorities to hold an individual the agency has good reason to believe is an illegal alien who poses a threat to the well-being and safety of the community. ICE officials have said that by refusing to honor detainers, law enforcement agencies put their communities at risk by allowing potentially dangerous illegals back onto the streets. BLUE STATE SANCTUARY LAWS ENABLED ILLEGAL ‘ABOLISH ICE’ ACTIVIST TO EVADE CAPTURE, SAYS LOCAL DA Despite this, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx pledged not to cooperate with ICE detainers in a Feb. 4 Facebook post in which he asserted that a detainer is “simply an unconstitutional *request* from ICE.” In the now-deleted post, Marx encouraged people to contact his office if they encounter “any federal agents” and said he and his staff are “always willing to assist with verifying credentials and the legitimacy of any paperwork federal agents should have to make certain your rights are not being abused.” “If the fed’s actions and paperwork are within constitutional parameters (such as proper and valid judicial warrants/court orders) we will assist if needed or requested to ensure their actions are carried out professionally and in the least intrusive fashion possible,” he said. “If their actions or paperwork are not within constitutional parameters,” he went on, “then we will make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward.” BLUE STATE LEADER SOUNDS ALARM ABOUT ‘PERFECT STORM’ OF DEM IMMIGRATION POLICIES DECIMATING PUBLIC SAFETY Actions the sheriff claimed are not within constitutional parameters include what he called “non-judicially vetted ‘detainers,’” which he claimed “are simply an unconstitutional *request* from ICE or other three letter federal agency to arrest or hold someone.” Marx claimed that “the only reason detainers are issued is because the federal agency does not have enough information or has not taken the time to obtain a valid judicial warrant.” “Simply put, they are not sure they are detaining the right person and need more time to figure it out,” he claimed, adding, “these detainers are violations of our 4th Amendment protection against warrantless search, seizure and arrest, and our 6th Amendment right to due process.” Marx concluded the long post by saying his “long-time stance on not recognizing detainers” and involvement with immigration enforcement will be based on “constitutional standards … not opinions, politics or emotions.” HOMAN BLASTS BLUE STATE AS REPORT SHOWS IT RELEASING ILLEGALS CHARGED WITH ‘HORRIFIC’ CRIMES ON LOW BAILS In response, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, filed an official complaint with the attorney general about the sheriff violating a state law mandating law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration authorities. This prompted an investigation in which Bird found that, despite his defiant rhetoric, Marx’s office had complied with “every single ICE detainer request” since 2018. The attorney general gave Marx a deadline last week to amend his statements to comply with state law. When he refused to issue a correction, Bird launched a lawsuit to pull all state funding to Winneshiek County until the sheriff agrees to comply with state law regarding cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Bird argues that Marx’s post, which she said was “rife with legal and factual errors that discouraged enforcing immigration laws,” violated chapter 27A of the Iowa state legal code. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Polk County District Court, cites section 27A.4 of the Iowa legal code, which states that a county “shall be ineligible to receive any state funds if the local entity intentionally violates this chapter.” DEMOCRAT MAYOR BLASTED FOR VOWING TO MAKE MAJOR CITY ‘SAFE HAVEN’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Commenting on her suit, Bird said that “sanctuary counties are illegal under Iowa law.” “Sheriff Marx was given the chance to retract his statement, follow the law, and honor ICE detainers, but he refused—even at a cost to his home county,” she said. “He left us with no choice but to take the case to court to enforce our laws and ensure cooperation with federal immigration authorities.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE A representative for the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment, saying the sheriff and office “are unable to provide any comments at this time due to the pending litigation.” The Winnishiek County Auditor, Benjamin D. Steines would not disclose how much money the county stands to lose, citing the same litigation. “Iowa is not a sanctuary for illegal immigration. Anyone who threatens to ‘block, interfere and interrupt’ with immigration enforcement, as this sheriff did, will be held accountable,” Bird told Fox News Digital. REPUBLICAN STATE AGS BACK TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER IN COURT FILING: ‘TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK’ She noted that her office “gave the Sheriff an opportunity to fix his state-law violation and cooperate with immigration enforcement, but he refused—knowing that it would cost his home community. All he has to do to end this is fix the problem and follow the law.” “Years of a Biden-Harris border invasion takes a serious toll—even on Iowa, and we’re a long way away from the border,” she went on. “Thankfully, President Trump hit the ground running to secure the border, crack down on drug trafficking, and reduce crime. And as Iowa’s Attorney General, I will keep fighting to ensure our state cooperates with federal immigration authorities to keep our communities safe.”
Musk shares ‘mind blowing’ chart showing millions of ‘noncitizens’ given Social Security numbers under Biden
Elon Musk shared a chart during a get-out-the-vote rally in Wisconsin over the weekend, which he claimed showed millions of noncitizens received Social Security numbers during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. The event came just a day-and-a-half before polls opened in a contentious state judicial race. The Sunday town hall garnered a lot of attention Monday over Musk’s move to hand out $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters who signed a petition calling for an end to “activist judges,” after the state’s Supreme Court declined to take up a challenge arguing the sweepstakes was unlawful. After handing out the money, Musk brought friend and DOGE colleague Antonio Gracias on stage to discuss the work he has done with the federal government’s Social Security system. Shortly after Gracias joined Musk, a large graphic that read, “New Non-Citizen Social Security Numbers Issued,” was illuminated on the screen behind them. EXPERT TURNS TABLES ON DEM CRITICS AFTER MUSK ACCUSES SOCIAL SECURITY OF BEING ‘PONZI SCHEME’ “We started at the top of the system, mapping the whole system of Social Security to understand where all the fraud was,” Gracias said, before turning his attention to the chart behind him. “But, this is what jumped out at us,” he continued. “When we saw these numbers, we were like, ‘What is this?’” Gracias was referring to the total number of noncitizens who received Social Security numbers between FY 2021 and FY 2025. The chart showed a steady year-over-year increase under Biden, reaching more than 2 million in FY 2024, which ended on Sept. 30. FY23 saw roughly 1 million noncitizens issued Social Security numbers, as did FY25, which began in October and will end in September of this year. “This literally blew us away,” Gracias said. “We went there to find fraud and we found this by accident.” APPEALS COURT RULES DOGE CAN CONTINUE OPERATING AT USAID IN ANOTHER WIN FOR TRUMP ADMINISTRATION “This is a mind-blowing chart,” Musk added. The eyebrow-raising numbers come amid Musk and DOGE’s ongoing probe into various federal programs and agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA). Last week, DOGE said it had removed approximately 7 million Social Security accounts belonging to people listed as being over 120 years old. DOGE has also found through its audits that the Social Security database included 20 million dead people marked as alive, Musk said at the Wisconsin town hall Sunday. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing all public assistance and social services in the U.S. to stop providing access to noncitizens, stating such services are intended for U.S. citizens. In line with the president’s directive, the Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a new initiative last week with the Department of Homeland Security that seeks to bolster inter-agency communication between the two departments to ensure noncitizens are not benefiting from public housing programs.
Trump to sign executive order to protect Americans from ‘exploitive ticket scalping’ in entertainment industry
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to protect Americans from “exploitive ticket scalping” in the concert and entertainment industry, Fox News Digital has learned. The president’s executive order will direct the Federal Trade Commission to work with the attorney general to ensure that competition laws are enforced in the concert and entertainment industry. The order will also enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities. The president’s order will also ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchasing process, including through the secondary ticketing market; and will evaluate, and, if appropriate, take enforcement action to prevent “unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct” in the secondary ticketing market. The president’s order will also direct the attorney general and Treasury secretary to ensure that ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other laws. Under the order, the Treasury Department, DOJ, and the FTC will also deliver a report within 180 days summarizing the actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in live concert and entertainment industry and will recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers. The order comes after President Trump, on the campaign trail, vowed to work to combat high ticket prices. While campaigning, the president described the current system where fans are priced out as “very unfortunate.” A White House official told Fox News Digital that the president is “committed to making arts and entertainment that enrich Americans’ lives as accessible as possible.” The official said that America’s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs. “But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,” a White House official said. “Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets, then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses,” a White House official said. “By some reports, fans have paid as much as 70 times the face value of a ticket price to obtain a ticket.” The official added that when this occurs, the artists “do not receive any additional profit—it goes solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
North Texas Islamic center is now under criminal investigation — but it’s unclear why
The Collin County Commissioners Court is also holding a hearing Monday afternoon to discuss the proposed project.
Matt Walsh to testify in favor of California bill to ban males from women’s sports: ‘This isn’t complicated’
EXCLUSIVE: A California Republican lawmaker is pushing to reverse a statewide policy that allows biological males to play in female sports, with The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh slated to testify before elected officials in a Tuesday hearing. California Assembly member Bill Essayli has introduced AB 844, which calls for a student’s participation in sports programs and activities, use of facilities, including bathrooms, locker rooms, showers and hotel accommodations, to be based on their biological sex. In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving students at the scholastic and collegiate levels the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE “I believe the Democrats will double down and reject this bill tomorrow,” Essayli, who has fought the Democratic-controlled state Legislature on everything from illegal immigration to soft-on-crime policies, told Fox News Digital. “They want to make a public scene out of it so they can be heroes to their progressive base.” The bill will have a hearing on Tuesday via the Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism Committee. Walsh, a conservative activist who has criticized the inclusion of biological males in women’s sports, will testify in favor of the legislation. By restoring biological sex-based distinctions in school athletics and facilities, the bill will ensure fairness in competition, as well as safeguarding student privacy and dignity, according to a fact sheet provided to Fox News Digital. It would also provide clarity to school administrators and staff by establishing a clear and enforceable statewide policy and protect the integrity of Title IX. Also slated to speak on Tuesday will be Taylor Starling, a high school cross-country runner at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, who lost her spot on the varsity team earlier this season to a transgender transfer student. FATHER OF FEMALE RUNNER FORCED TO COMPETE WITH TRANS ATHLETE SHARES FURY OF SITUATION: ‘CAN’T EVEN DIGEST IT’ Walsh, a conservative activist, has pushed back against child sex-change surgeries and treatments, as well as allowing men to play women’s sports. “Girls shouldn’t have to compete with boys or change next to them in locker rooms—this isn’t complicated,” Walsh, a podcast host for the Daily Wire and creator of the “What Is a Woman” documentary, told Fox News Digital. “Even Gavin Newsom, after sniffing the political wind, now admits it’s unfair—let’s see if California Democrats can stop playing pretend and follow his sudden rediscovery of basic truth.” California Code of Regulations section 4910(k) defines gender as: “A person’s actual sex or perceived sex and includes a person’s perceived identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with a person’s sex at birth.” MAINE RESIDENTS AGREE WITH KEEPING TRANS ATHLETES OUT OF GIRLS’ AND WOMEN’S SPORTS, POLL SHOWS California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Bylaw 300.D. mirrors the Education Code, stating: “All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has come out against allowing biological males to compete against females, prompting backlash from many progressives. “Gavin Newsom gets it on this issue,” said Eassayli. “He’s gotten the wake-up call. He’s found a new narrative now and he agrees with us that it’s unfair for women and girls to have boys play on their teams.” Eassayli noted that Republican lawmakers are almost paralyzed when it comes to making policy in Sacramento, the state capital, given that the Democrats control both chambers of state government with a super majority. “Common sense doesn’t prevail in Sacramento,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we do up there that I think alot of people think defy common sense.” Fox News Digital’s Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
The US is not ready for a nuclear showdown with China, key conservatives warn Trump
FIRST ON FOX: A group of influential conservatives and lawmakers is warning the Trump administration that the U.S. does not have the tactical nuclear weapons to fight China if war breaks out in the Indo-Pacific. A 13-minute video obtained by Fox News Digital and set for release Thursday by the Heritage Foundation argues the U.S. nuclear arsenal is outdated, with the newest weapons nearly 40 years old – about as modern as a grandpa’s vintage Corvette. Military experts across Washington have begun gaming out the potential scenario if China invades Taiwan and the U.S. comes to the island democracy’s aid. The video opens by putting forth a scenario where China may launch a tactical nuclear weapon to destroy the U.S. Air Force Base at Guam, killing 3,000, in “an attempt to change the tide of the battle in their favor.” CHINA WILL DOUBLE ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL TO OVER 1,000 WARHEADS BY 2030, ACCORDING TO US INTELLIGENCE “The president wants to respond in kind by targeting a similar Chinese target with our own tactical nuclear weapon. There’s only one problem with all this: we probably couldn’t do such a mission if we tried.” The video argues the U.S. has abandoned its buildup of tactical nuclear weapons, which are forceful but smaller and more targeted in their destruction than earth-shattering strategic nuclear weapons. Since the end of the Cold War, according to Bob Peters, strategic deterrence fellow at Heritage, the U.S. has “dramatically reduced the number of nuclear weapons around the world, signed multiple arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, and today has an arsenal that is roughly 85% smaller than the ones it fielded at the height of the Cold War.” The U.S. removed naval and land-based tactical nuclear weapons from Korea in 1991 and retired the nuclear variants of the Tomahawk cruise missile that were stationed across the Pacific. “We had Russia, we thought, under control with the breakup of the Soviet Union. We always thought China would be an economic threat,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., a top member on the Armed Services Committee, said in the clip. IRAN, CHINA AND RUSSIA HUDDLE FOR NUCLEAR TALKS WHILE UN MEETS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS ON POSSIBLE SANCTIONS But now, China has tripled its nuclear arsenal over the past five years, and plans to go from 500 to 1,000 warheads by 2030. The newest nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal is now over 35 years old, Peters points out, and many are decades older, “meant to be retired and replaced in the 1980s.” “Like a 1975 Cadillac bought by our grandfather, we’ve been keeping America’s strategic deterrence on life support,” said Peters. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, blamed it on a decades-long focus on the Middle East, at the expense of containing threats in the Indo-Pacific region. “Part of this is a hangover from what I call endless wars, where, instead of having that strong deterrence, we got involved with, you know, a quarter-century of endless conflict that caused a great toll, both in terms of blood and treasure.” China has not only been building up its strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, but its anti-ship nuclear capabilities and its fractional orbital bombardment systems, space-based platforms that can drop munitions, including nuclear ones, from space onto the Earth’s surface. WOULD THE US WIN A WAR WITH CHINA OVER TAIWAN? US LAWMAKERS BRIEFED ON THE POTENTIAL OUTCOME “At the same time, China’s building nuclear-capable long-range hypersonic missiles that could in time be able to deliver nuclear weapons to the American homeland with little to no notice,” Peters warned. The video argues that the U.S. has too few tactical nuclear weapons when compared with China – weapons that would offer a forceful response but avoid population-decimating strategic nukes. “Right now, we’re preaching about arms control but building nothing,” the video states. “We must modernize the existing strategic arsenal and replace the decades-old warheads and missiles that were meant to be retired in the 1980s and 1990s.” “We need a much stronger but modern Navy,” said Roy. “Not built on what K Street contractors are saying they need to be, but rather, what do we actually need?” “The world is really watching both allies and adversaries. Is the United States going to accept decline and live in a world in which the Chinese, the Russians, perhaps the Iran regime and the North Koreans can successfully coerce the United States of America to prevent us from moving in the world on terms that benefit the American people in our prosperity and freedom?” said Rebecca Heinrichs, senior fellow with Heritage. “The United States must field the military capabilities that will convince the Chinese leadership that today is not the day to pick a fight with the United States or its allies,” said Adm. Charles Richard, former head of U.S. Strategic Command.
Transgender activists’ National Mall rally to be joined by a dozen members of Congress: organizers
The Trans Day of Visibility Rally will take place on the National Mall Monday afternoon, with organizers prepared to tell the Trump administration, “We’re not going anywhere,” according to the organizers’ flyer. A dozen congressional lawmakers are expected to make an appearance at the rally. The rally, organized “after relentless attacks from the Trump administration on the transgender community,” is one of several large-scale protests and marches held for Trans Day of Visibility on March 31, which was officially designated by former President Biden annually beginning in 2021. The event, organized by the Christopher Street Project — a nonprofit with a PAC focused on electing “champions for the transgender community” — is also supported by a dozen other organizations. TRANS ACTIVISTS SET ‘SURVIVAL SKILLS’ FOCUS AMID TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS FOR TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY WEEKEND Tensions remain high as transgender issues remain a focal point in U.S. politics and the culture war, with several high-profile Democrats, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, coming out in recent weeks against biological men in women’s sports. The U.S. Supreme Court will also either decide or hear oral arguments on a number of LGBTQ-related cases this year, while both red and blue states pass their own laws to either limit or expand transgender medical treatments for minors. While Trans Day of Visibility has typically been a celebration in recent years, this year’s mood shifted to one of protest against President Donald Trump’s gender-related executive orders. Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at limiting gender ideology’s influence in federal policies and education since taking back the White House. In February, Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” banning biological males from participating in female-designated athletic competitions. Trump also signed the “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” executive order establishing a binary definition of sex as male and female, determined at conception. HIDING KIDS’ ‘GENDER IDENTITY’ FROM PARENTS IS COMMON IN BLUE STATE FIGHTING TRUMP ON TRANS ISSUES: WATCHDOG Over the weekend, several blue cities hosted rallies and festivals, including Trans Fest, which featured an indigenous prayer led by activist Angel C. Fabian, who uses he/she/they pronouns and is known in “ceremonial spaces” as Tlahuizpapalotl, or “Butterfly of Light.” The event also offered legal assistance, workshops on rights, political education classes, survival skills and self-defense sessions, according to its advertisement on social media. The National Mall rally is scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. ET.
‘A birth is more expensive than an abortion’: CO Dems argue fiscal virtues of liberal health care bill
The speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives argued in a recent committee hearing on a new “pregnancy-related services” bill that “averted births” could lead to cost savings for the state and its Medicaid program. Rep. Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, seated as a bill-sponsor witness during a Health and Human Services Committee hearing in Denver last week, was pressed on her argument that the bill would “decrease costs for our health care policy and financing department [and] Medicaid expenditures.” “[T]he savings from averted births outweigh the cost of covering reproductive health care for all Coloradans,” McCluskie said, adding the bill will require abortions to be state-funded so as to avoid “potential interference” from the feds. McCluskie claimed the bill is a response to voters approving a 2024 ballot referendum that repealed a state constitutional amendment banning public funds for abortion procedures and instead recognized the operation as a right. MORE NEWS FROM COLORADO Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Lone Tree, questioned McCluskie’s cost argument from a pro-life perspective, and lamented the fact Colorado allows abortion up until the day of delivery. Bradley countered that McCluskie’s cost-centric position ignores the high price of third-trimester abortions, which she calculated to be as much as $25,000, and asked General Assembly nonpartisan fiscal analyst Bill Zepernick to weigh-in on official figures. “So help me understand: From a fiscal point of view, you say there’s a decrease of $1.7 million from federal funds — but if there are no federal funds, you would say there’s no money coming from federal funds,” Bradley asked McCluskie. “Can you walk me through why it just says a decrease, and not that there’s zero money coming from federal funds, because if there is, the Hyde Amendment covers that,” she said, referring to the practice of adding such a rider to health care appropriations bills since the late Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., first did in 1976 to prohibit abortion funding via federal dollars. DEM GOVS URGE TRUMP TO LET STATES PLAY ROLE IN IMMIGRATION DECISIONS McCluskie responded that the savings she referenced comes from “averted births that will not occur because abortions happened instead.” “So, a birth is more expensive than an abortion,” she said. “So, the savings comes in Medicaid births that will not occur — since both federal and state general funds are used through Medicaid for other health care services.” Meanwhile, Bradley pressed McCluskie on the mental health and substance abuse complications some women who undergo abortions may develop. Bill co-sponsor Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Westminster, chimed in, calling Bradley’s concern one that “assumes misinformation” and instead claimed women denied abortions are at risk of suffering longer-term mental health complications. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Cimarron Hills, rejected Garcia’s claim. “You know that that definitely isn’t misinformation,” he said. “CDC and NIH both — I stated these statistics three weeks ago, but they were ignored. Those statistics are wrong. Suicide goes up drastically, specifically second and third trimester. As I mentioned, if they have an abortion, as mental health issues goes up quite a bit.” A pro-life obstetrician later told the committee it seemed proponents of the bill “are saying that if more babies die by abortion it will be cheaper for the state.” Fox News Digital reached out to McCluskie, Bradley and House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, for comment. The full audio was posted in a legislative hearing depository.