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Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler to lead Small Business Administration

The Senate voted Wednesday by a 52–46 margin to confirm the nomination of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA).  Kelly Loeffler, a prominent business executive and philanthropist who served as a senator from Georgia for two years, will now lead the agency. She unveiled plans during her confirmation hearing to reduce regulatory burdens on small business owners, and enhance access to SBA-backed loans and grants.  The agency aims to provide small business owners with counseling, capital and contracting expertise to advance their businesses.  Loeffler appeared before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Jan. 28 to outline her vision and promised that Trump’s policies would “restore the small business economy” that would lead to a “golden era of prosperity and growth.”  TRUMP’S SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION NOMINEE ADVANCES TO THE SENATE FLOOR  “That’s exactly what the America First agenda does — by ending inflation, cutting taxes, unleashing American energy dominance, slashing regulation, and reining in fraud, waste, and abuse across government,” Loeffler said in her opening remarks.  Loeffler and her husband, Jeff, created a Fortune 500 financial services and technology company together, and she has told lawmakers she intends to donate her annual $207,500 salary as SBA administrator to charity. Loeffler, whose net worth is estimated at roughly $1 billion, previously donated her annual Senate salary of $174,000 between 2019 and 2021 to more than 40 Georgia charities and nonprofits.  Those organizations included food banks, faith groups and organizations opposed to abortion, foster care/adoption groups as well as organizations promoting health care, agriculture, education, law enforcement and disaster relief. The Senate voted Thursday by a 51–43 margin to advance Loeffler’s nomination for the final confirmation vote. Chair of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, backed Loeffler’s nomination, citing Loeffler’s “zero-tolerance policy for waste, fraud and abuse” within the agency.  Additionally, Ernst voiced support for Loeffler’s plans to conduct a full-scale audit of the SBA to weed out any wasteful spending.  TRUMP CABINET NOMINEE LOEFFLER PLEDGED TO DONATE SALARY IF CONFIRMED  “Senator Loeffler is immensely qualified for this role,” Ernst said on the Senate floor Thursday. “As a successful businesswoman, it is abundantly clear that Senator Loeffler truly understands what it takes to be an entrepreneur and will be an effective voice for small businesses across America.” However, ranking member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, pushed back on Loeffler’s nomination amid concern that her confirmation would pave the way for the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “illegally cut off funding” for small business owners. As a result, he said that Trump is looking to fill his cabinet with those that will follow his “illegal bidding.”  Markey and Loeffler also sparred during her confirmation hearing in January after the Trump administration announced Jan. 27 that it would freeze federal funds and grants that aimed to eradicate “wokeness” and the “weaponization of government.”  TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE While the White House rescinded the memo on Jan. 29, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the federal funding freeze remained in effect.  As a result, Markey pressed Loeffler on whether she believed the move was lawful or not, following backlash from members of Congress that the Trump administration attempted to illegally circumvent Congress and withhold funds.  “I fully agree with President Trump’s decision to stop wasteful spending,” Loeffler told Markey. “It resulted in a landslide victory that many Americans were waiting for relief against excessive government spending.” 

DOGE uncovers over 4M government credit cards responsible for 90M transactions

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it has uncovered that the U.S. government currently has more than 4 million active credit cards on its books. “The US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for  ~$40B of spend[ing] in FY24,” DOGE said in a post on X on Tuesday.  Attached to the post was a breakdown of multiple federal agencies and their credit card use, with the Department of Defense leading the way in both the number of transactions (about 27.2 million), and number of individual accounts (roughly 2.4 million). TRUMP ISSUES WARNING ABOUT WASTEFUL SPENDING, ORDERS ‘RADICAL TRANSPARENCY’ AMID DOGE PROBES, REVELATIONS DOGE’s activities have come under increasing scrutiny over the last few weeks, with opponents arguing that President Donald Trump has given billionaire Elon Musk, who was tapped to head the department, too much power to shrink the size of the federal government. The new department has also been at the center of numerous lawsuits, with opponents attempting to block Musk and the Trump administration from carrying out many of DOGE’s recommendations for cuts. However, Trump has not wavered in his support from the efforts, publicly supporting DOGE’s work while also releasing a memo on Tuesday ordering government agencies to be “radically transparent” with the American people about its spending. $1,300 COFFEE CUPS, 8,000% OVERPAY FOR SOAP DISPENSERS SHOW WASTE AS DOGE LOCKS IN ON PENTAGON The memo argues that the federal government “spends too much money on programs, contracts, and grants that do not promote the interests of the American people.” “For too long, taxpayers have subsidized ideological projects overseas and domestic organizations engaged in actions that undermine the national interest,” the note continues. “The American people have seen their tax dollars used to fund the passion projects of unelected bureaucrats rather than to advance the national interest.” “The American people have a right to see how the Federal Government has wasted their hard-earned wages.” DOGE SAYS IT FOUND NEARLY UNTRACEABLE BUDGET LINE ITEM RESPONSIBLE FOR $4.7T IN PAYMENTS Meanwhile, DOGE promised to update its efforts to streamline the government’s credit card usage within a week. “DOGE is working w/ the agencies to simplify the program and reduce admin costs – we will report back in 1 week,” DOGE said on X.

Putin rates US talks ‘highly’, says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he was briefed on the outcome of Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia and was pleased with the results, according to Russian news agencies, amid soaring tensions between the US and Ukraine. “Yes, I have been informed. I rate them highly, there are results,” he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency on Wednesday. “In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests”. United States and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first high-level talks between the two countries since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The meeting signified a dramatic policy shift by Washington, which imposed a raft of sanctions and worked to isolate Moscow on the world stage over the war. Ukraine and European governments were not invited to the talks in Riyadh, heightening their concern that Russia and the US might cut a deal that ignores their vital interests. Russian leader ‘would like to meet Trump’ Putin said that Ukraine was not being excluded from negotiations to end the war, but that his country needed to build trust with the United States in order to resolve the conflict. Advertisement “No one is excluding Ukraine,” Putin said in a televised meeting with journalists in Saint Petersburg, adding that there was no need for a “hysterical” reaction to the US-Russia talks. “It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States,” he said. He added that he would like to meet US President Donald Trump in person but that the meeting would need to be prepared. Putin also claimed Russia had never rejected talks with the Europeans, and it was they who had refused to talk to Moscow. “We are not imposing anything on anyone. We are ready, I have already said this a hundred times – if they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations,” he said. While striking a conciliatory tone, Putin also suggested Europe may have coordinated a Ukrainian drone attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in southern Russia on Monday. The strike hit a pumping station on the oil pipeline in Russia, reducing flows from Kazakhstan to world markets pumped by Western firms including Chevron and ExxonMobil. The Russian president said that he did not believe Ukraine to have organised such an attack on its own, and claimed it was likely backed by Western intelligence. Zelenskyy a ‘dictator without elections’ As Moscow and Washington reignited diplomatic ties, relations between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy deteriorated rapidly on Wednesday as the two leaders traded barbs. Advertisement Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” in comments posted on the social media app Truth Social. “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” he added. The US president also accused the Ukrainian leader of wanting “to keep the ‘gravy train’ going” as Ukraine mismanages billions of dollars US funds for the war, half of which he claimed had gone “missing.” The comments came hours after Zelenskyy had said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” as a result of the talks in Riyadh. Trump earlier suggested Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s invasion. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine,” the US president said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Claims of ground offensive in Kursk rejected In his remarks, Putin also announced that Russian troops crossed into Ukraine from the Kursk region overnight and were advancing along the line of contact, near the border with Ukraine’s Sumy region. The claim was swiftly rejected by Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official responsible for countering disinformation. “Putin’s information about a large-scale Russian offensive is a lie,” he said, adding that a Russian reconnaissance unit had tried to cross but had been destroyed. A ground attack on Ukraine’s Sumy region would be the first since Russia retreated from there in 2022. Adblock test (Why?)

Far right set to make strides in a German election dominated by immigration

Germans would be hard-pressed to find a time when their political landscape was as fragmented as it is days ahead of Sunday’s federal election. For the first time since World War II, Germany’s two traditional political locomotives are set to garner less than half the national vote. The ruling centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), expecting to tumble out of a four-year term in office – their shortest since the war – are polling at an embarrassing 16 percent, a post-war low. The once-dominant, centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), in power for 51 of the past 75 years, is in the lead, but with a diminished majority of about 30 percent, a few points below its weakest win to date in 2017, and a far cry from its Cold War election victories. The rise of smaller parties The ruling Social Democrats called the election after losing a coalition partner last autumn and a confidence vote in parliament last December. But the timing of Germany’s political upheaval could hardly be worse. Advertisement As the administration of US President Donald Trump offers Russia concessions in return for a speedy end to the Ukraine war, many in Europe are calling for a redesign of the continent’s security architecture, requiring strong governments to make momentous decisions on defence and foreign policy. More than half the German vote will go to smaller parties on the left and right. The lion’s share – about 20 percent – is to go to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party that promises to banish the euro and bring back the Deutschmark, reverse the transition to clean energy, throw out immigrants, and possibly take Germany out of the European Union altogether. “People are saying, it’s kind of the last chance for liberal democratic parties, and they are saying, make sure the next government is a functional government that produces results,” German retired diplomat Christian Schlaga told Al Jazeera. “The next government will have to prove they can do it, especially on immigration,” Schlaga said. “If they fail, like the last government, then people will say this is a basis to elect the AfD.” The CDU and SPD decline In their heyday, the 1960s and 1970s, the CDU and SPD together took about 90 percent of the popular vote, leaving little room for anyone else. That began to change in the late 1990s, as the German political landscape became more pluralistic. The left-wing Greens were founded in 1993, The Left (Die Linke) in 2007, and the AfD in 2013. All have eaten away at the CDU-SPD voter base. Advertisement “If [the CDU] score below 30 percent, it’s a defeat for the CDU,” Jens Bastian, an economist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told Al Jazeera, adding that the situation is even more dire for the SPD. “We have only one party left that consider 30 percent a success… for the SPD, it’s a success if you get close to 20.” Why is immigration on the ballet? Immigration has rapidly become the number one issue during the election campaign, partly due to a series of deadly attacks perpetrated by foreign nationals in the past few months. A Saudi national killed six people and injured 200 when he ploughed a rented SUV into pedestrians at a Christmas market in the town of Magdeburg last December. Last month, on January 22, a mentally ill Afghan man wielding a knife killed a two-year-old boy and the 41-year-old man who was trying to protect him in a park in Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt. Last week, on February 13, another Afghan asylum seeker killed a 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter when he ploughed a car into a trade union protest march in Munich. These and earlier attacks have inflamed German indignation against immigrants who are ineligible to stay in Germany but haven’t been deported, or who have not integrated with German society and values. The AfD is openly calling for large numbers of immigrants to be deported, including legal residents and even citizens, much as the Trump administration has said it will do in the US. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has called for a strengthening of border controls, increasing police powers to arrest people and slowing or stopping family reunification for migrants already in the country legally. Advertisement The SPD and Greens have refused to work with Merz on this agenda, saying it plays into the hands of the far right. What about the economy and unemployment? Germans also perceive their infrastructure to be crumbling after years of underinvestment, particularly railways and bridges, but are wary of relaxing their constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, fearing it will lead to uncontrolled spending. Some observers believe German society is unprepared for the difficult economic decisions ahead. “Unions demand an eight percent increase in salaries and three more days of holiday in a country where workers already have six weeks off a year,” said Schlaga. “This does not reflect the realities of the day and people don’t accept that.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of SPD, has said he is in favour of relaxing fiscal rules to spend more on stimulating the economy and on defence, but Merz has shown a reluctance to borrow more or to raise taxes. The Ukraine war has raised energy costs and caused inflation in Germany as everywhere else in Europe, but it has hurt the manufacturing and industrial German economic base particularly badly. The German economy is expected to contract by 0.5 percent in 2025, said the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, marking its third annual shrinkage in a row, its longest postwar recession. “This is a turning point and emphasises the acute need for action,” said Helena Melnikov, the chamber’s managing director. That has had knock-on effects. The VDP banking association this month estimated property prices had fallen by 5.4 percent last year, rounding a four-year ebb. Advertisement A recent survey showed that 70 percent of Germans were worried about the cost of living, and a similar margin

White House trolls with mocking ‘ASMR’ video of shackled deportees

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Official White House social media accounts posted what it called an ‘ASMR’ video of undocumented immigrant deportation.

Green New Headache: Dems flee gov’s green ‘Energy Master Plan’ as election approaches

A prominent New Jersey Democrat running for governor this year publicly split from leftist Gov. Phil Murphy’s green “Energy Master Plan” as Garden State residents brace for 20% or worse increases in utility costs by summertime. Former state Senate President Steve Sweeney called for an immediate halt to Murphy’s comprehensive roadmap to 100% clean energy by 2050, saying his “foremost priority” if elected is to make the notoriously pricy state an affordable place to live. “The recent increases in utility bills demonstrate how overly ambitious targets for a zero-carbon future can negatively impact our residents. We need to take a step back and reassess policies that could drive costs even higher,” Sweeney said on NJ-101.5FM. Rate hikes of 17-21% can be expected throughout the state, via Jersey Central Power & Light, Atlantic City Electric, PSEG and New York-based Rockland Electric, according to 101.5.  NJ RESIDENTS HIT WITH DOUBLED UTILITY BILLS AS LAWMAKERS FUME OVER MURPHY’S ‘ENERGY DISASTER PLAN’ In a further statement, Sweeney noted he previously sponsored legislation on solar power development, offshore windmills and reducing New Jersey’s reliance on fossil fuels. He also has encouraged building up the state’s EV infrastructure and promoting EV sales. But, the Democrat appeared to split with some on his side of the aisle by expressing an openness to pursue natural gas as a cleaner fuel source than oil. “With our abundant organic resources – from landfills and sewage to farms and food waste – New Jersey has a unique opportunity to harness [natural gas] to generate gas to meet our energy needs,” Sweeney said. “We must also acknowledge and make effective use of the substantial investments that have been made in our pipeline infrastructure, which represents a commitment that should not be disregarded.” Meanwhile, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-Scotch Plains, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Sweeney’s public stance shows the left’s green energy plans are “too extreme, even for Democrats.” GOP LAWMAKER TORCHES OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS AS MAYOR WARNS OF ‘STAR WARS’ BACKDROPS The term-limited Murphy’s plan “wasn’t practical,” said Bramnick, a top candidate on the GOP side to replace him. “Sometimes, Democrats become more political than practical – and that’s kind of why they’re having more trouble at the polls.” “I think their heart might be in the right place, but they lack some practical common sense,” Bramnick said. In a prior interview on Trenton’s green energy efforts, lawmakers such as state Sen. Mike Testa, R-Vineland, derided the idea as the “Energy Disaster Plan.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Quite frankly, what I think happened is, via the Murphy Energy Master Plan that I’ve often called the energy disaster plan, it seemed that the BPU (New Jersey Board of Public Utilities) and the Murphy administration are working in tandem chasing this green energy dream…. It’s a green energy nightmare,” Testa said at the time. For his part, Murphy has defended his plan, saying it “comprehensively addresses New Jersey’s energy system, including electricity generation, transportation and buildings, and their associated greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants.” Fox News Digital also reached out to prominent Democratic candidate Steve Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, and Republican Edward Durr, better known in New Jersey as “Ed the Trucker.” In Janurary, Fulop released a dozen-page outline of his “environmental and sustainability policy goals,” and has touted Jersey City’s advancements in energy and sustainability endeavors. Durr, who was then a newcomer to politics, notably engineered the 2021 upset win against Sweeney in Gloucester County that drew national attention.

Colorado poised to ban sale of AR-15s, other rifles and shotguns with extended mags

Colorado is poised to see a major change to its gun laws after the state Senate passed a bill that would effectively ban AR-15s, AK-47s, shotguns and pistols that hold more than 15 rounds. The new bill would not impact the current possession of these guns, but it would prohibit the manufacture, sale and purchase of them going forward. In addition to its ban on new sales and purchases of AR-15s and other rifles that hold high-capacity magazines, the new bill also prohibits the sale or purchase of certain after-market gun accessories that increase a firearm’s rate of fire.  The state Senate passed the bill on Tuesday, and it now heads to the lower chamber, where Democrats have a big majority and the bill is expected to pass. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Republican, has said he is not against the sweeping move, and gun control advocates in the Senate amended the bill to include a carve-out aimed at appeasing the governor. FEDERAL COURT RULES AGE LIMITS ON HANDGUN SALES VIOLATE SECOND AMENDMENT Under the carve out, buyers who wish to purchase these sorts of weapons must undergo a background check from local law enforcement similar to what one must go through to obtain a concealed carry permit. Then, the proposed buyer must complete a state-run hunting safety course and an additional 4-hour firearm safety course. If the buyer did not previously have a hunter’s license, then they would also need to complete an extended 12-hour in-person training over two days.  In addition to all the training, the buyer would also have to score at least 90% on their final exam to obtain the exemption, which would need to be updated every five years to stay current.  Despite the carve out, all Republicans and three Democrats voted against the measure on Tuesday.  “This is not a privilege granted by the government, it is a right inherent to who I am and enshrined in the United States Constitution,” the top Republican in the Colorado state Senate, Paul Lundeen, said in reference to the Second Amendment, according to KOAA in Colorado.  Meanwhile, according to the local outlet, Republicans also voiced concerns Tuesday over a potential “registry” being created for those seeking to purchase the type of firearms being prohibited under the new law.  MD, BALTIMORE MAYOR TARGET GLOCK FOR SELLING PISTOLS THAT CAN BE CONVERTED INTO MACHINE GUNS “I’ve had hundreds of emails I think, so many I didn’t answer them all,” Republican state Sen. Marc Catlin said. “The point is, people are really concerned about this – the idea they have to put their name on a list.” Under the newly proposed law, purchasing AR-15s that carry more than 15 rounds will be a class 2 misdemeanor, while repeated offenses will amount to a class 6 felony.  While the sale and purchase of AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles that carry less than 15 rounds will still be permitted, the magazines that come from the factory for AR-15s in particular carry at least 15 rounds, according to Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. The Colorado Sun added that few manufacturers make firearms that meet Senate Bill 3’s new requirements, including that the magazine be epoxied, welded or soldered to the firearm. “Anti-gun radicals in Colorado continue their attacks on law-abiding gun owners by restricting access to commonly owned firearms,” John Commerford, Executive Director of NRA-ILA, told Fox News Digital. “This bill is more about optics than public safety, which was recognized by the bipartisan group of senators who voted against it. The NRA will continue to fight this unconstitutional legislation to protect the rights of peaceable Coloradans.” 

Trump freezes applications for Biden-era migrant programs amid fraud, national security concerns

The Trump administration has frozen applications for three Biden-era migrant parole programs, including for Ukrainians and migrants from Latin America, as it continues to crack down on what conservatives say was an abuse of parole by the prior administration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented an agency wide administrative pause on all pending benefit requests for migrants filing under the three programs. “This is an administrative hold on all pending USCIS Benefit Requests filed by Parolees Under the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) Process, Processes for Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) Process, or Family Reunification Parole (FRP) Process,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.  “This is pending the completion of additional vetting to identify any fraud, public safety, or national security concerns,” they said. DHS SAYS IT ‘CAN, SHOULD AND WILL’ ADMINISTER POLYGRAPH EXAMS AMID ICE RAID LOCATION LEAKS President Donald Trump had already ordered an end to multiple parole programs on his first day in office, which was quickly enacted. The DHS has also allowed for those in the U.S. on parole processes to have their parole status canceled.  However, CBS News first reported that a Feb. 14 memo also pauses pending requests already allowed into the U.S. under three programs. The first program is Uniting for Ukraine, which used humanitarian parole to allow in Ukrainians in the wake of the Russian invasion. The CHNV program was highly controversial and allowed for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to receive travel authorization and fly into the United States under parole. Over 500,000 migrants flew in under that program. It was briefly paused last year after DHS discovered fraud in sponsor applications, a development first reported by Fox News Digital. The third program impacts the family reunification parole process, which was opened up to nationals from countries including Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba and Haiti, and allowed nationals who have relatives who are U.S. citizens or green card holders to enter the U.S. for parole as they also apply for a green card. “The Family Reunification Parole process promotes family unity consistent with our laws and our values,” then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in 2023.  ‘RAMPANT’ ABUSE IN BLUE STATE MIGRANT SHELTER SYSTEM, SAYS FORMER DIRECTOR: ‘COLOSSAL MESS’ At the time, the Biden administration said the expanded “lawful pathways” were part of an effort to reduce illegal crossings, but Republicans accused the administration of abusing limited parole power and allowing in migrants who should not legally have entered. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE A DHS memo from last month said that parole “has been repeatedly abused by the Executive Branch over the past several decades in ways that are blatantly inconsistent with the statute.” “Most important, the parole statute does not authorize categorical parole programs that make aliens presumptively eligible on the basis of some set of broadly applicable criteria,” it says. ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN The new pause is the latest in a slew of measures to overhaul the immigration system and shake off programs championed by the Biden administration. The Trump administration has suspended refugee resettlement and has also ended the use of the CBP One app to allow migrants to be paroled into the U.S. at ports of entry. That is connected to a mass deportation operation launched by the administration on day one, as well as a rapid-fire series of moves to increase border security. The administration has also ordered a review of parole programs, and has also taken limits off the use of expedited removals in order to quickly remove recently-arrived illegal immigrants. 

Skeptical judge questions executive order barring transgender service members from joining the military

At a fiery District Court hearing in Washington, D.C., Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden-appointed federal judge, chastised Department of Justice lawyer Jason Lynch tasked with representing the Defense Department in a federal lawsuit challenging President Trump’s executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military.  “An order signed by the President of the United States calls an entire category of people, dishonest, immodest, people who have received medals for taking fire for this country, can you tell me whether that language expresses animus?” Reyes asked Lynch. “Yes, no, or I don’t know?” Reyes asked, to which Lynch answered: “I don’t know.” INDEPENDENT VOTERS AGREE WITH TRUMP ON TRANSGENDER POLICIES, FOCUS GROUP SHOWS Reyes exploded, “We are dealing with unadulterated animus, an entire group of people who have served this country, calling them liars!” This is a policy of the president of the United States affecting thousands of people, she said. “To call an entire group of people liars who have no integrity, how is that anything other than showing animus,” Reyes asked. Lynch argued this is not a transgender ban, it is a pause while the Defense secretary determines how to align policy to the president’s executive order. “If we had President Trump here and we asked him if this was a transgender ban, what do you think he would say?” Reyes asked Lynch.  TRUMP ADMIN EXPECTED TO ENACT LAYOFF AT DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AMID DOGE ARRIVAL: REPORT Lynch answered that he didn’t know. Reyes went on, “He would say of course it is because he calls it a transgender ban.” On Jan. 27 President Trump signed an executive order, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which stated that “the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service… and unit cohesion.” The order also stated, “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” Reyes pushed back on that definition, asking: “Does the government believe that being trans is an ideology, yes or no.” When the state’s attorney could not answer, she pressed further: “Transgender people just have an ideology, not an immutable characteristic… just thinking something in my head?”  Reyes went on to tell Lynch that the premise of the executive order is based on an “incorrect biological assessment” because, she said, there are more than two genders. The judge then listed 30 different intersex examples: including people who have three X chromosomes, and some who have XY but have female genitalia. A tweet last Friday from the U.S. Army barred transgender people from joining the military and halted surgeries for transgender service members. It followed an interview that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave to Breitbart in which he issued a not-so-veiled warning to senior military officers who refuse to “execute culture change.” “I am not here to declare anybody woke and they’re out,” Hegseth told Breitbart. “I’m paying very close attention. There’s plenty of three- and four-star generals up for promotion or up for new positions, and there will already be a few folks that we’ve identified who will have different jobs in due time…. here are the executive orders. Here are the directives on woke, on DEI, on CRT, on genderism, on trans service members, on COVID.” “The #USArmy will no longer allow transgender individuals to join the military and will stop performing or facilitating procedures associated with gender transition for service members. Stay tuned for more details,” the Army posted on X. SIX SERVICEMEMBERS CHALLENGE TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER MILITARY EXECUTIVE ORDER Two LGBTQ legal organizations, GLAD and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, are representing six transgender plaintiffs who currently serve in the military and two who were in the process of enlisting. The suit affects an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender service members. The military does not categorize or keep records of those who are transgender, so exact numbers are difficult to assess. One of the leading plaintiffs is Army Reserve 2nd Lt. Nicolas Talbott, a 31-year-old transgender man who grew up in Lisbon, Ohio, on his grandparents’ farm before enlisting last March. He transitioned from female to male in 2012. “I was an O-9 Sierra. I went straight from basic training to officer candidate school where I commissioned as a second lieutenant. And since I’m in the reserve, I knew going into the Army that I was going to be a military police officer. So my MOS now is a 91 Alpha military police lieutenant,” Talbott told Fox News. “I was able to keep up with some of the young kids. But for the most part, I outperformed a lot of them. I was very pleasantly surprised with myself in that regard.” Talbott wanted to join the military after 9/11. He pushed back when asked if the military lowered the standards so he could pass the physical demands of basic training. “The slogan of officer candidate school is standards. No compromise. And they live by that 100%. There was no compromise for anybody, myself included,” Talbott said. “I was treated the same as everybody else. I showed up just like everyone else. I performed just like everyone else. And there was no disruption whatsoever caused simply by my presence.” Talbott’s lawyer Shannon Minter, the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, was in the courtroom today. “It is so simple. It is so straightforward. We have one legal argument that it violates the equal protection clause to single out a group of people to exclude them from military service based on a characteristic that has absolutely nothing to do with their fitness or ability to do the job,” Minter told Fox. “These trans service members have to meet exactly the same standards as others in terms of medical requirements, fitness to deploy, ability and job performance. There is no special deal for transgender troops. They serve on the exact same terms as everyone else.” FIRST

Trump calls Ukraine’s Zelenskyy a ‘dictator without elections’ as rift widens

President Donald Trump blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections” on Wednesday, after the U.S. left Ukraine out of initial peace talks with Russia this week.  “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.”   Trump added, “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…..” This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.