Holdout GOP Senators Flip on Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ as Deal Nears Deadline

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After weeks of hesitation and political posturing, the holdout GOP senators have finally had their wake-up call on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Despite strongly opposing Trump’s tax bill, several senators are now rallying behind the legislation the president promises will deliver real results, anything from strengthening the U.S. economy to securing the southern border and putting America first.

Reports indicate that some fiscally conservative senators who initially opposed Trump’s major tax cut bill are warming up. If this shift continues, the bill stands a good chance of passing by month’s end. Earlier, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) noted that the bill was facing major revisions, which could make it difficult to clear the House again before the July 4 deadline. This comes as several Republicans threaten to block the bill unless Thune agrees to deeper spending cuts to offset the significant rise in the national debt.

But the tide has turned.

For instance, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) appears to be softening his position on Trump’s bill.

“We all want to see President Trump succeed,” Johnson said this week. “Everybody is trying to help. That’s why, if I seem to have been striking a more hopeful tone, it’s because I am more hopeful.” (Read more from “Holdout GOP Senators Flip on Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ as Deal Nears Deadline” HERE)

Oversight Chairman Comer Launches Investigation on LA Riots

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On Friday, House Oversight Committee James Comer (R-KY) alerted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) he is looking to investigate the LA riots. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also received a letter, according to Fox News. The letters taking issue with California’s immigration policies were also signed by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), who chairs the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement.

Bass and Newsom have had particularly horrific takes on the anti-ICE, pro-illegal immigration, and even pro-terrorist riots in Los Angeles.

The letter to the DOJ referenced the violence employed by rioters in LA, including how law enforcement officers have been targeted and injured by weapons. (Read more from “Oversight Chairman Comer Launches Investigation on LA Riots” HERE)

Trump Overturns California’s Authoritarian Ban on Gas Cars

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President Donald Trump overturned California’s authoritarian ban on gas-powered vehicles on Thursday, signing a resolution approved by Congress last month.

California became the first state in the nation to pursue a phase-out of gas-powered cars, attempting to halt all new sales by 2035 and effectively force its citizens to purchase electric vehicles. After Trump’s move, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., who is currently letting Los Angeles burn by not responding to riots there, signed a reciprocal order reaffirming the ban, while Rob Bonta, the state’s far-left attorney general, filed a lawsuit against the move.

“We officially rescue the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating the California electric vehicle mandate once and for all,” Trump said at the bill signing, noting, “It’s been a disaster for this country.”

The bills passed with bipartisan support, and in a further statement on Thursday evening, Trump said a grouping of three interrelated measures he signed would “prevent California’s attempt to impose a nationwide electric vehicle mandate and to regulate national fuel economy by regulating carbon emissions.”

The statement noted also that the reason the federal government has the purview over emissions standards is because of the “inherently interstate nature of air quality,” adding, “Our Constitution does not allow one State special status to create standards that limit consumer choice and impose an electric vehicle mandate upon the entire Nation.” (Read more from “Trump Overturns California’s Authoritarian Ban on Gas Cars” HERE)

US Is Assisting Israel Against Iranian Missile Attacks, Official Confirms

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The U.S. is offering assistance to Israel against hundreds of missiles launched in a retaliatory attack from Iran, according to an email from a U.S. official to Blaze News.

Iran issued the attack after Israel launched Operation Rising Lion that successfully targeted Iran’s nuclear development capabilities as well as its military leadership. The U.S. admitted prior knowledge of the Israeli plan but denied any direct involvement.

In a statement to Fox News, a senior U.S. official confirmed that the U.S. is aiding Israel against the missile attacks.

“There are hundreds of thousands of American citizens and other American assets in Israel, and the U.S. is working to protect them,” the official said.

An email from a U.S. official to Blaze News confirmed the report.

That email said the U.S. is assisting Israel with shooting down the Iranian missiles but offered no other details. (Read more from “US Is Assisting Israel Against Iranian Missile Attacks, Official Confirms” HERE)

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jet in Air India Crash Was Subject of Conspiracy Theories About Dead Whistleblower — and Battery Problems

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By New York Post. Thursday’s Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people has brought renewed scrutiny on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft — which was at the center of a conspiracy theory following a whistleblower’s suicide last year.

The disaster marks the first time a 787 Dreamliner — Boeing’s newest plane model — has been involved in a catastrophic crash since its debut in 2011.

It’s also the latest disaster to hit the beleaguered American aerospace giant — which has been dogged by a door that blew off a 737 jet, a leaky spacecraft that stranded astronauts on the International Space Station for months, as well as politically damaging delays in outfitting the new Air Force One jets. . .

The Air India jet that crashed on Thursday was built in 2014 and had performed some 8,000 takeoffs and landings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Despite enjoying a 14-year safety streak, the troubled aerospace giant has seen its Dreamliner suffer from a series of production woes and attention from whistleblowers warning about the massive plane’s assembly.

The issues began in 2013, with Boeing’s fleet of 787s grounded following a series of battery fires flagged by air safety inspectors. (Read more from “Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jet in Air India Crash Was Subject of Conspiracy Theories About Dead Whistleblower — and Battery Problems” HERE)

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Miracle Passenger in Seat 11A Survives Air India Plane Crash That Killed Over 200 People: ‘There Were Bodies All Around Me’

By New York Post. . .A lone survivor walked away from the Air India crash that killed everyone else aboard when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down just 30 seconds after take off.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was in exit-row seat 11A, says he has “no idea” how he is still alive following the crash at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday morning.

The British-Indian citizen was found limping in the street amid the wreckage after the passenger plane smashed into a hostel for doctors and their families just moments after taking off, authorities said. . .

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” the 40-year-old told the Hindustan Times from a hospital bed. . .

Ramesh recalled the horrifying moment the plane began rapidly descending and hitting a doctors’ hostel in a residential part of the city of 5 million in northwest India.

“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.” (Read more from “Miracle Passenger in Seat 11A Survives Air India Plane Crash That Killed Over 200 People: ‘There Were Bodies All Around Me’” HERE)

Iran Suffers Major Losses and Israel is Just Getting Started

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. . .Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday night the operation will go on for days.

The first wave of the attacks did significant damage to the Iranian regime.

Israel has attacked nuclear sites with dozens of fighter jets at locations throughout the country, including the main nuclear enrichment site of Natanz in the southeast of Iran.

(Read more from “Iran Suffers Major Losses and Israel is Just Getting Started” HERE)

Federal Judge Orders Trump to ‘Return Control’ of National Guard to California

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A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to “return control” of thousands of National Guard troops that had deployed to Los Angeles to quell anti-ICE riots to the state of California.

Senior San Francisco US District Judge Charles Breyer issued the order after hearing arguments from attorneys for Trump’s Justice Department and California Gov. Gavin Newsom after the Democrat had sued the feds over dispatching roughly 4,000 Guard members to protect officers carrying out immigration enforcement operations.

“At this early stage of the proceedings, the Court must determine whether the President followed the congressionally mandated procedure for his actions. He did not,” Breyer wrote in his order.

“His actions were illegal—both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith.”

“That’s the difference between a constitutional government and King George.” (Read more from “Federal Judge Orders Trump to ‘Return Control’ of National Guard to California” HERE)

Maricopa Recorder Sues County Board for ‘Unlawful’ Seizure of Election Powers

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The Board of Supervisors running Arizona’s largest county is illegally withholding key resources from the locality’s Republican elections chief that allow him to perform his lawfully mandated duties, a lawsuit filed Thursday claims.

Brought by Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, the legal complaint alleged that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) is refusing to “provide the necessary funds for the Recorder to conduct essential duties of his office unless he cedes much of his statutory authority to the BOS and permits the BOS to retain control over the systems and personnel required for the Recorder’s Office to fulfill the Recorder’s statutory functions.” As argued in the suit, “Arizona’s statutes are clear: the Legislature has delegated to the Recorder, and not to the Board of Supervisors, numerous responsibilities for election administration, and the Board of Supervisors has a mandatory duty to fund the Recorder’s conduct of his duties.”

Heap is represented by America First Legal in the matter.

The conflict between Heap and the Maricopa County Board can be traced back to before the former took office in January.

Months after his defeat in Arizona’s July 2024 primaries and weeks before Heap’s eventual victory in the November general election, then-Recorder Stephen Richer — a notable opponent of election integrity efforts — struck a deal with the Board on a new Shared Services Agreement (SSA). As The Federalist previously reported, this new contract effectively stripped key election administration responsibilities and resources from the recorder’s office and gave them to the Board of Supervisors. (Read more from “Maricopa Recorder Sues County Board for ‘Unlawful’ Seizure of Election Powers” HERE)

Embattled DNC Vice Chair Decides Not to Run After Diversity Re-Vote Called

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David Hogg, the 25-year-old progressive firebrand, will not compete in the new Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair elections that were decided today after a majority of members voted for a new election.

After three days of submitting electronic ballots, DNC members voted to uphold the Credentials Committee’s resolution proposed by longtime Democratic Party activist Kalyn Free to host a re-election for two vice-chair positions, currently held by Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta. Seventy-five percent of those who cast a ballot voted in favor of the resolution, while 25% voted against it. A total of 89% of DNC members cast a ballot.

“The DNC will immediately move to administer new ballots for the final two Vice Chair positions, one of which must be held by a male and one of which may be held by a candidate of any gender,” said the DNC’s Deputy Press Secretary Nina Raneses. “The election for the male Vice Chair position will commence tomorrow morning at 10:00AM ET.”

With Hogg’s withdrawal, Kenyatta is now the only candidate for the male vice chair slot.

The DNC’s decision is the latest political blow to Hogg, who stirred up intraparty divisions this year for his $20 million pledge to support primary challenges against older House Democrats in safe blue districts he said are “asleep at the wheel” through his outside political action group, Leaders We Deserve. (Read more from “Embattled DNC Vice Chair Decides Not to Run After Diversity Re-Vote Called” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

New Evidence Suggests FBI Agent Involved With Crossfire Hurricane Was Foreign Spy

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The U.S. Department of Justice has reopened a case against a former top FBI counterspy. Charles McGonigal was Special Agent in Charge of Counterintelligence at the New York field office. He left the FBI in 2018, joined the massive Brookfield asset management fund as a vice president for global security, and was arrested and convicted in 2023.

But not for espionage. McGonigal quickly pled guilty to corruption-related crimes. He is serving six-and-a-half years in federal prison.

His prosecution and admission seem suspiciously tidy.

McGonigal was part of the FBI’s discredited CROSSFIRE HURRICANE “counterintelligence” operation led by his boss, Peter Strzok, against Donald Trump and his supporters in 2016.

As the former senior spy-hunter at the Bureau’s largest field office, McGonigal barely defended himself from charges relating to illegally accepting money from Albanian businessmen tied to that tiny country’s intelligence service, and for ties to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

He received a light sentence and $40,000 fine. (Read more from “New Evidence Suggests FBI Agent Involved With Crossfire Hurricane Was Foreign Spy” HERE)