02 U.S. Politics

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After its passage by narrowest of margins in the House of Representatives, Republicans’ “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill is facing the prospect of major changes in the Senate, which could make it extremely difficult to pass when the revised bill is returned to the House.

The bill passed the House by a 215-214 margin with one “present” vote after last-minute deals were made to appease fiscal hawks and blue-state Republicans who demanded higher state tax deductions.

It would fulfill a number of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, such as funding border security and extending his first-term 2017 tax cuts.

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What started as a disagreement over electric vehicle subsidies has now erupted into a full-blown war of words between two of the most powerful men in America. In a dramatic and unfiltered post on X Thursday afternoon, Elon Musk accused President Donald Trump of being named in the unreleased Jeffrey Epstein files — a stunning claim that sent social media into a frenzy.

“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted to his 200+ million followers. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

Musk offered no evidence in his post but doubled down minutes later. “Mark this post for the future,” he wrote. “The truth will come out.”

The post marks the lowest point yet in what has become a bitter and public unraveling of the once-close relationship between the SpaceX and Tesla CEO and the 47th president.

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Illinois Right to Life is celebrating the close of the 2025 legislative session with a significant victory: the defeat of a dangerous Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) bill that would have legalized physician assisted suicide in our state.

The Illinois Legislature attempted multiple strategies to push this bill through, including a legislative sleight of hand: after identical PAS bills stalled in both the House and Senate, proponents amended a food sanitation bill, stripping its original content and replacing it with PAS language. The maneuver allowed the bill to reach the House floor, where it passed. However, the Senate did not vote to concur with the amended language—effectively killing the bill for now.

“This is a critical win for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens,” said Mary Kate Zander, President of Illinois Right to Life. “Our lawmakers heard from thousands of Illinoisans who refused to allow death to become a state-sanctioned ‘treatment.’ We are grateful to our coalition partners, and most of all, to the countless constituents who made their voices heard. We give glory to God.”

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The U.S. Department of Education has notified the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the “Commission”) that Columbia University is not in compliance with the Commission’s accreditation requirements.

From the DoEd Press Release:

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today notified Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the Commission) that its member institution, Columbia University, is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation set by the Commission. Pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, the Department has an obligation to promptly provide accreditors with any noncompliance findings related to member institutions.

The Commission’s “Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation” state that “a candidate or accredited institution possesses or demonstrates … compliance with all applicable government laws and regulations.” In light of OCR’s determination, Columbia University no longer appears to meet the Commission’s accreditation standards.

“After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus. This is not only immoral, but also unlawful. Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid. They determine which institutions are eligible for federal student loans and Pell Grants. Just as the Department of Education has an obligation to uphold federal antidiscrimination law, university accreditors have an obligation to ensure member institutions abide by their standards,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “We look forward to the Commission keeping the Department fully informed of actions taken to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards including compliance with federal civil rights laws.” ….

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Trump’s approval is currently higher than ratings for Obama or Bush in their second terms. Talk about a major media fail.

The media has had Trump on blast for months, criticizing his words and every move. For them, everything is gloom and doom, and yet, the American people don’t see things that way.

Remember how the media treated Obama? For them, Obama walked on water, he could do no wrong. But despite their constant trash talk, Trump is more popular than Obama was at this point in his second term. What does that tell you?

RedState reports:

Democrats Are Going to Be Livid When They See Trump’s Latest Approval Numbers

Democrats are going to be downright livid when they learn that President Donald Trump’s approval numbers are higher than both former President Barack Obama’s and former President George W. Bush’s in their second terms at this same time, according to a new poll.

On Wednesday, RealClearPolitics’ Tom Bevan posted on X that “As of two days ago, Trump’s approval rating in the RCP Avg (47.5%) is higher than Obama’s and Bush’s at this point in their second terms.”

The outlet noted that at this same time in Obama’s presidency, his job approval sat at 47.1, and Bush’s was at 45.9. Bevan’s post included a chart that showed a visual of how Trump was ahead of both past presidents.

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I think my head is going to explode…

The Supreme Court just handed down a 9-0 unanimous ruling, written by Far-Left social justice warrior Ketanji Brown, effectively ENDING “reverse discrimination”.

My head is still spinning!

Is this real life?

Here is a quick summary of what just happened:

  • In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court revived a reverse discrimination lawsuit by a straight woman denied a promotion.

  • Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — a liberal justice — wrote the majority opinion, striking down the higher legal burden for majority-group plaintiffs.

  • Jackson said the law must apply equally, regardless of whether someone is in a minority or majority group.

  • The ruling is shocking to some, as it came from the Court’s most progressive justice, and supports claims often associated with conservatives.

  • The decision eliminates an extra hurdle for white or straight plaintiffs in discrimination cases.

  • Justice Clarence Thomas also slammed the old rule as unconstitutional and race-based.

  • The case now goes back to lower courts for further proceedings.

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President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into the alleged use of an autopen to sign pardons under the Biden administration without the former president’s knowledge.

“In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,” the presidential memorandum says. “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”

Though Biden appeared to suffer from cognitive decline, the White House issued more than 1,200 presidential documents, appointed 235 federal judges to the Federal bench, and issued many pardons and commutations.

Shortly before Christmas 2024, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 death row criminals.

Trump ordered an investigation into activity designed to hide Biden’s health from the public, agreements between Biden aides to elevate the former president’s abilities, and the circumstances around Biden’s executive actions during his final years in office, particularly policy documents signed with autopen.

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The Senate on Thursday confirmed anti-aging research investor Jim O’Neill for the second-highest position at the Department of Health and Human Services, a step toward an era of deregulation in biomedical research from the highest levels of the department.

O’Neill, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve one step below HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as deputy secretary, was confirmed on partisan lines in a vote of 52 to 43.

O’Neill’s long record of funding anti-aging research and advocacy for deregulation in bringing new health innovations to market could become a new pillar of the Make America Healthy Again agenda, reshaping federal public health programs.

During the first Trump administration, O’Neill was floated as a nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration because of his work on FDA reform during his six-year tenure in the George W. Bush HHS. He was ultimately passed over for the role in favor of Dr. Scott Gottlieb.

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The Trump administration gave Customs and Border Protection the green light to move forward with border wall projects across Arizona and New Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security instructed CBP to ignore environmental regulations and immediately begin building 36 miles of barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, CBP announced Thursday.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a waiver, including against the National Environmental Policy Act, for the federal government to begin construction of 18- to 30-foot slatted walls and roads without having to wait for normal administrative approvals.

The largest part of the 36-mile project, 24 miles called the Tucson Sonoita Project, will go up in the Nogales, Arizona, region, and another two miles of the project will be constructed in the Tucson region of the border.

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The Trump administration has charged the surveillance firm Palantir with agglomerating the US population’s personal data across government agencies, raising alarm about a centralized spying tool targeting hundreds of millions without oversight. Wall Street responded to the news by sending Palantir’s stock price to unprecedented heights.

During an end-of-year investor call this February, Palantir co-founder and militant Zionist Alex Karp bragged that his company was making a financial killing by enabling mass murder.

“Palantir is here to disrupt and make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world and, when it’s necessary, to scare enemies,” he stated, adding: “And on occasion, kill them.”  

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In this article I will be proposing an early framework for a mental health intervention called depsychiatrization. Depsychiatrization describes the processes by which a diagnosed individual learns to expel psychiatrically induced self-concepts and substitute them for more empowering and nurturing understandings. These processes are not, in themselves, entirely novel, as they have been a part of many alternative movements throughout time. It is the ambition behind this proposal to formalize a way of helping and supporting people who would benefit from depsychiatrization, as well as supplying a legitimizing platform to stand on for those who wish to encourage growth without pathology.

Much has been written on the many ways in which psychiatry does harm to individuals seeking help for mental health issues: The medical treatments are far too often more harmful than beneficial, especially in the long run. The symptom-focused therapeutic treatments rarely produce sustainable outcomes leading to better lives. For instance, electroshock therapy is a disputed method at best, a harmful, medieval practice at worst.