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‘The Judges Know It’s A Political Thing’: Michigan Court Pauses Peaceful Pro-Lifers’ Sentencing Until Trump Admin Starts

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Justin Phillips says he and several other pro-life advocates sat in front of the doors of an abortion mill in Sterling Heights, Michigan on August 27, 2020, delaying a pregnant woman from entering the facility for about an hour.

For that hour of sitting, Phillips faces the prospect of over a decade in federal prison, as his attorney and others familiar with the case have confirmed. But for Phillips and others across the country charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, hope was sparked this week that President-Elect Donald Trump could quell the zeal of the Department of Justice (DOJ) which has in recent years been actively targeting pro-lifers engaging peacefully with women outside of abortion mills.

The FACE Act was enacted under President Bill Clinton in 1994. The law prohibits interfering with anyone seeking, obtaining, or providing so-called “reproductive health services.”

Phillips and others have been awaiting sentencing in their case, but in a status conference this week, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Leitman in Michigan’s Eastern District told attorneys to stand down.

In an order released Wednesday, Leitman paused all briefings on post-trial motions until further notice and pushed the next status conference to March 24, 2025, at the latest — well after Trump’s inauguration. (Read more from “‘The Judges Know It’s A Political Thing’: Michigan Court Pauses Peaceful Pro-Lifers’ Sentencing Until Trump Admin Starts” HERE)

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Most Democrats Aren’t Motivated to Oppose Donald Trump: New Poll

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Most Democrats are not motivated to oppose President-elect Donald Trump as he prepares to take office, despite half saying they feel “scared” about what he will do as the country’s leader, according to a post-election poll published on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Democrats took a loss as Trump secured the popular vote and 312 Electoral College votes to win a second term in the White House, beating out Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Over the past few weeks, Trump has begun his transition back to the Oval Office, having previously served as the 45th president. He is the second U.S. president to take office again in a nonconsecutive term, the first being President Grover Cleveland.

Down the ballot, the Republican Party retained their majority in the House of Representatives, and flipped the Senate, gaining control with 53 seats. (Read more from “Most Democrats Aren’t Motivated to Oppose Donald Trump: New Poll” HERE)

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‘Right Now Is the Most Dangerous Time’: Major Potential Trump Pick Sounds Alarm

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Kash Patel, the former Department of Defense chief of staff who is reportedly on President-elect Donald Trump’s short list to be the next director of the FBI, is now sounding the alarm about the current time period before Trump is inaugurated, leaving Joe Biden and the Deep State in charge.

“Right now is, I think in my opinion, the most dangerous time, the sort of lame duck period where the president is not acting in the capability that needs to defend this nation,” Patel told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” on the Fox News Channel.

“And what we need to do is have our leaders of the agencies and departments that were confirmed by the Senate show up and do their job and tell the Senate and the House of Representatives these are our failures, these are our weaknesses, we need help, we need you to respond the in this time of need. And those guys not showing up to the Hill and just deflecting their responsibility shows us how much more danger we’re in,” he continued.

“We know what President Trump’s gonna do, but he’s 54 days away from taking the oath of office. Right now, we need the United States of America to remind those agencies and department leaders that they work for us, and the mandate that President Trump was given was to protect our borders, to make sure CCP fentanyl doesn’t kill our children, to the end the forever wars, to return our hostages, and make sure American global diplomacy is in great hands when President Trump is sent to the to Oval Office on January 20th. And we must respect the will and power of Congress, I cannot stress that enough. (Read more from “‘Right Now Is the Most Dangerous Time’: Major Potential Trump Pick Sounds Alarm” HERE)

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Fmr Homeland Security Sec Doubts Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan, Teases Ban On Executive Orders

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Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson cast doubt Sunday on NBC News about President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, after suggesting that presidential executive orders should be banned.

During Trump’s campaign, the former president vowed to shut down the U.S. southern border and conduct a large-scale deportation operation. On “Meet the Press,” NBC host Kristen Welker questioned Johnson about Trump’s plan, noting how he planned to continue rolling out his goals for the border after signing executive orders.

“So, first of all, somebody should pass a law banning executive orders on day one. Because the reality is executive orders drafted by transition teams without the input of the affected agency before the cabinet secretaries are even confirmed are not great ideas,” Johnson said.

Johnson went on to call out the travel ban as an example of an executive order he disagreed with and was involved in during the Obama administration, noting that Guantanamo Bay is still open. The former secretary also said Trump should start with the deportation of criminals, national security threats and recent border crossers, highlighting the “reality of enforcement” even for Trump. (Read more from “Fmr Homeland Security Sec Doubts Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan, Teases Ban On Executive Orders” HERE)

Poll: Majority of Voters Approve of Trump’s Handling of Transition

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A majority of voters revealed that they approve of the way that President-elect Donald Trump is handling his presidential transition, according to a recent poll.

In a CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted between November 19-22, of 2,232 American adults, 59 percent of respondents expressed approval at the way Trump is “handling his presidential transition,” while 41 percent disapproved.

The poll also found 44 percent of respondents expressed that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) being picked by Trump to serve as secretary of state was a “good choice,” while 75 percent of Trump voters said it was a good choice. Twenty-five percent of respondents expressed that it was “not” a good choice, while five percent of Trump voters said it was not a good choice.

Thirty-one percent of respondents expressed that they had not heard enough, while 19 percent of Trump voters said they had not heard enough.

(Read more from “Poll: Majority of Voters Approve of Trump’s Handling of Transition” HERE)

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Another Major Migrant Caravan Is Heading Straight For The U.S. Border

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A new migrant caravan has formed in southern Mexico and its members are reportedly aiming to make it to the U.S. border before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

A roughly 1,500-person strong caravan made of mostly Central and South American migrants formed around Tapachula, Mexico several days ago and is making its way north, according to Fox 26 Houston. Fearful that they won’t be able to enter the U.S. under the upcoming administration, many of the migrants have confirmed that they hope to cross the southern border before Trump’s inauguration on Jan 20.

“It is going to be more difficult, that’s why we are going in hopes of getting an appointment quicker so we are able to cross before [Trump] takes office,” said Yotzeli Peña, a 23-year-old Venezuelan national, according to the Associated Press. “That would be easier.”

Peña is far from the first migrant to express a lack of enthusiasm for the president-elect.

Days before the Nov. 5 presidential election, migrants congregating in Tapachula — a city in southern Mexico that has served as a holding station of sorts for incoming migrants — expressed public support for Vice President Kamala Harris and disdain for Trump. (Read more from “Another Major Migrant Caravan Is Heading Straight For The U.S. Border” HERE)

Trump Ends The Week By Announcing Even More Major Cabinet Picks

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President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced several key appointments for his upcoming administration, including the people he wants as his treasury and labor secretaries.

In a series of announcements, Trump appointed several new cabinet selections and key administrative positions, including key roles for the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Labor, and his national security team. Trump said his nominees have the expertise and commitment to dismantle bureaucratic overreach, restore fiscal responsibility and promote prosperity.

Trump appointed Russell Thurlow Vought as the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget. Trump highlighted Vought’s contributions during his first term, where he implemented significant regulatory cuts.

“Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People. We will restore fiscal sanity to our Nation, and unleash the American People to new levels of Prosperity and Ingenuity. I look forward to working with you again, Russ. Congratulations. Together, we will Make America Great Again!” Trump said in a statement. (Read more from “Trump Ends The Week By Announcing Even More Major Cabinet Picks” HERE)

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The GOP Establishment Is A Greater Threat To Trump’s Agenda Than Democrats

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Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general on Thursday. It was an early setback for President-elect Donald Trump that confirms the greatest threat to his agenda isn’t Democrats, but establishment Republicans.

Apparently there were at least four GOP senators staunchly opposed to confirming Gaetz as attorney general: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and John Curtis of Utah. Assuming all Democrat senators voted against him, that would have put Gaetz one vote shy of confirmation.

The corporate media, along with a cadre of Never Trump commentators on the right, boasted about the defeat of Gaetz’s nomination, citing widely discredited sexual allegations against him as evidence that he was unfit to lead the Justice Department. Never mind that those allegations have always been comically thin.

Indeed, as my colleague Mollie Hemingway laid out in these pages recently, the entire campaign to smear Gaetz as a “child sex trafficker” was from the outset a giant psy-op and fraud. After an 18-month investigation by the Biden Justice Department, no charges were filed against Gaetz because the two central witnesses in the probe had serious credibility problems.

But that didn’t stop House Democrats from launching an ethics probe that relied on these same sources and their unsubstantiated claims about Gaetz. They dragged their probe out for more than a year as part of an ongoing effort to sideline and silence Gaetz, who had been one of the most effective voices in Congress calling out the corruption of the Justice Department. (Read more from “The GOP Establishment Is A Greater Threat To Trump’s Agenda Than Democrats” HERE)

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The Trump Economic Boom Is Already Beginning

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If the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory on Election Day feels joyous and tranquil, you are not alone.

American households and businesses are much more serene and hopeful this time around. Polling released by Pew Research on Friday shows that 70 percent of Americans are very or somewhat confident that the transition to the Trump administration will go smoothly. Similarly, a majority of Americans say they have a positive evaluation of Trump’s post-election conduct.

A 53 percent majority of Americans say they approve of the president-elect’s plans for the country. When asked if they approve of Trump’s conduct post-election, 53 percent answer affirmatively. That’s better than the 40 percent who said they approved of Trump’s cabinet choices in November 2016 and the 41 percent who said they approved of the job he had done in explaining his policies and plans for the future.

Of course, there are the usual partisan differences in how people are reacting to the election. As recently as October, just 10 percent of Republicans said they were satisfied with the state of the country, according to Pew. Now, 35 percent are satisfied. Democrats have seen their satisfaction slip from 38 percent to 24 percent. (Read more from “The Trump Economic Boom Is Already Beginning” HERE)

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“No Excuse”: Trump Fumes on Truth Social After Senate Confirms Biden Judges — Thanks to GOP Absences

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Republican senators are urging some of their colleagues, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Donald Trump’s Secretary of State pick Marco Rubio, R-Florida, to get back to the office and block Democrats from confirming judges during the lame-duck session while they still have the majority and the White House.

After their absences helped Senate Democrats to confirm several of President Joe Biden’s nominees, Republicans fumed about Vance, Rubio and others during their weekly caucus lunch and to reporters. “I’m not going to bubble wrap it,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “There’s no excuse for that, it’s our job to be here and vote.”

“We want to see [Vance] and some of our members back because of these votes we’re having,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters. “Particularly on some of the circuit court judges.”

Trump himself issued marching orders on Truth Social on Tuesday. “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump declared. “Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” he wrote, just a few hours after he invited several GOP senators, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to witness a SpaceX launch while the rest of the chamber was voting. (Read more from “No Excuse”: Trump Fumes on Truth Social After Senate Confirms Biden Judges — Thanks to GOP Absences” HERE)

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