02 U.S. Politics

Blurb:

Forty-seven Democrats voted against a photo ID amendment on Thursday despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer previously claiming that he was supportive of photo ID.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) introduced an amendment to the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act that would simply require photo ID to vote. Acceptable forms of ID include an unexpired driver’s license with a photo, a valid passport, a military ID, an unexpired state-ID card, among others.

The measure needed 60 votes to pass but only received 53 “AYE’s.”

Blurb:

What happens with a secure border?

A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau describes a remarkable set of changes happening in the United States. Population growth is slowing or reversing toward decline in many metropolitan areas, and population losses are accelerating in some counties that were already shrinking.

Several things are happening behind those changes, but here’s what the Census Bureau identifies as the biggest cause:

“These shifts were largely due to lower levels of net international migration (NIM), which declined nationwide. Nine out of 10 U.S. counties experienced lower NIM levels between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, compared to the year prior. The one in 10 counties that did not see a drop in international migration did not see an increase either.”

Blurb:

As the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its second month on Saturday, US President Donald Trump had an urgent message for the American people: turn on Fox News.

Those who followed the president’s advice – delivered through his Truth Social media platform – would have tuned in to see ultraconservative pundit Mark Levin publicly calling on Trump to seize Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium by force.

“We’ve got to get the uranium,” he said. “If it cannot be destroyed, if it cannot be altered, we gotta get it.”

Blurb:

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed his frustration towards allies that have been unwilling to help the US reopen the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz by force, stating that countries upset by high fuel prices should “go get your own oil”.

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Blurb:

Hundreds of U.S. Special Operations Forces, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are now in the Middle East, as well as thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers, according to sources familiar with the deployments.

The sources said having the forces in the region gives President Trump military options in Iran, including operations that could target opening the Strait of Hormuz, take oil from Kharg Island or seize Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

The New York Times first reported the forces had arrived in the region.

Blurb:

The FBI said on Monday that an attack on the largest Jewish temple in ‌Michigan earlier this month was an “act of terrorism” inspired by Hezbollah.

Ayman Ghazali, a 41-year-old man who was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. ‌citizen in 2016, killed himself during the March ⁠12 attack, when he crashed his truck ⁠into the Temple ⁠of Israel synagogue before opening fire on security guards ‌and causing an explosion using fireworks, said Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in ⁠charge of the ⁠Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Detroit field office.

Blurb:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that the Saudi Arabian government should “eject” U.S. troops from its country, three days after the Iranian military attacked a U.S. air base in Saudi Arabia. “Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation,” Araghchi wrote on the social platform X. “Our operations…
from thehill.com

Blurb:

“One woman became so sick from eating the food that she began vomiting blood.”

“My kids are terrified; we are all depressed.”

“I always ask my children for forgiveness for making them suffer through all of this.”

Though the number of families inside Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas has dropped dramatically in recent months, for dozens of children still inside, such brutal conditions remain. Now, at the risk of their stories fading to the background of the Trump administration’s cascading crises, Ms. Rachel, the beloved children’s educator, is calling on the public to fight for their release.

“We have to hold on to hope for families who are locked in Dilley and keep going,” Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, told Mother Jones. “I do believe the public outcries and the people who have come together and worked on this long before I have are making a huge difference.”

“I do believe the public outcries and the people who have come together and worked on this long before I have are making a huge difference.”

Blurb:

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both Democrats, have proposed pausing new data center construction until federal safeguards for workers, consumers, and the environment are in place. Given how far Congress is from passing comprehensive AI legislation, the proposal could stall new projects for years. It reflects deep concern about AI’s economic and social impact—but rests on an ASAP sense of urgency that outpaces the best current evidence on how quickly those effects are materializing.

What do we know right now about the job impacts of the emerging AI revolution, given the rising level of concern in Washington? Some recent analysis for consideration on Capitol Hill:

  • Challenger, Gray & Christmas tracked more than 1.2 million layoffs in 2025. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing Forrester, fewer than 100,000 were primarily attributable to AI-driven efficiency gains. Even that likely overstates the impact. Companies have an incentive to blame AI for cuts because it signals technological sophistication and can lift their stock prices. From the piece: “The most likely reasons for head-count reductions remain the same as ever: slower sales, shifting priorities and previous overhiring.”

In a move that is sure to be immediately challenged in a progressive court, President Trump has announced a plan to end the DHS pay freeze without using congress. He declared, “They are refusing to fund Immigration Enforcement unless the Republicans agree to their Open Border Policies, which will never, ever happen again….

Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do! Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports.”

Blurb:

Trump Ends DHS Payment Freeze Without Congress, Issues Immediate Orders to New DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin – westernjournal.com

In an announcement on Truth Social Thursday evening, President Donald Trump announced that he would be ordering new Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to pay Transportation Security Agency officials who have been working without salary during the DHS shutdown.

It was unclear from the statement how he planned to find the funds, but said the move would be through executive order.

The Associated Press noted that the administration had considered using the declaration of a national emergency to move funding through, although the wire service noted it “would be politically fraught and almost certain to face legal challenges.”

Blurb:

The lower court order barred the use of chemical or projectile munitions, such as tear gas, pepper balls, flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, pepper or oleoresin capsicum spray, and other less-lethal weapons.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked an order prohibiting federal agents from using crowd control munitions on protesters at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon.

The 2-1 panel decision, issued on Wednesday, intervenes in two separate federal cases, with two Trump-appointed judges, Kenneth Lee and Eric Tung, granting the Trump administration administrative stays. Judge Ana De Alba dissented.

An administrative stay is intended to “minimize harm while an appellate court deliberates” and lasts “no longer than necessary to make an intelligent decision on the motion for stay pending appeal,” as stated in the order.

The decision comes just days before the nationwide “No Kings” protests, a coordinated left-wing event that led to the siege of the ICE facility twice last year: in June and again in October. Riots were declared at both of those events.

Blurb:

Conservative FISA revolt poses fresh test for Speaker Johnson  WFIN
from news.google.com

A brewing fight over privacy rights and national security will come to a head in the House of Representatives in the coming weeks, shaping up to be the latest test for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his razor-thin GOP majority.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is set to expire on April 20 pending congressional reauthorization. A planned vote on a “clean” extension of the measure this week, however, has been delayed amid a growing rebellion.

A vast swath of lawmakers, along with the intelligence community, have argued the provision is critical to preventing another Sept. 11-style terror attack. But privacy hawks in Congress — a mix of conservatives and progressives — say it gives the federal government too much power to spy on private U.S. citizens.