More than a dozen Republicans voted with Democrats Wednesday to advance a bill overturning a presidential executive order against federal worker unions.

The bill, led by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), passed in the U.S. House with the support of 222 members, while 200 voted against the bill. All Democrats voted in favor of the bill, which needs another procedural vote to be implemented into law.

‘If the majority we built over the past few months sticks together, we can overturn this union-busting executive order.’

The Protect America’s Workforce Act would repeal the executive order signed in March that would forbid collective bargaining with unions representing a large number of federal departments. Golden said the order stripped about 1 million workers of their bargaining rights.

“President Trump said ending collective bargaining was about protecting our national defense. … If the majority we built over the past few months sticks together, we can overturn this union-busting executive order, and we can show America that this body will protect workers’ rights,” the Democrat said.

The 13 Republican representatives who voted with Democrats are listed below.

Jeff Van Drew (N.J.)Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.)Nick LaLota (N.Y.)Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.)Rob Bresnahan (Pa.)Don Bacon (Neb.)Mike Lawler (N.Y.)Tom Kean (N.J.)Ryan Mackenzie (Pa.)Zach Nunn (Iowa)Chris Smith (N.J.)Pete Stauber (Minn.)Mike Turner (Ohio)

If approved again by the House, it will go to the Senate and will need approval from the president.

RELATED: Trump signs executive order to help cities and states tackle homelessness and drug abuse

When Trump signed the executive order in March, the AFL-CIO union vowed to aggressively oppose it.

“President Trump’s executive order is political retribution against unions, plain and simple,” reads a statement from the union. “America’s unions have been in the streets, the courtroom, and the halls of power fighting back against his agenda.”

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The Trump administration has announced a brand-new visa package that is expected to help some of America’s biggest companies keep their foreign talent.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced the launch of the Trump Gold Card, an expedited pathway to U.S. residence and even citizenship for a premium price.

‘This landmark program fulfills President Trump’s promise to attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors to America while guaranteeing they have skin in the game.’

On Truth Social, Trump said, “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE TODAY! A direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent.”

The program has multiple tiers. Individuals can pay a fee of $1 million to receive U.S. residency in “record time” as part of the Trump Gold Card.

RELATED: Walmart, other major companies retreat from sponsoring H-1Bs following Trump administration’s reforms

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

The Trump Corporate Gold Card functions similarly but has a fee of $2 million that the company will pay.

The Trump Platinum Card, which the website says is “coming soon,” costs $5 million and will allow foreigners to live in the United States for 270 days “without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained how companies can use this program: “The company can keep them here, and they have a path to citizenship. Obviously, they have to be perfect people in America. And having passed the vetting, after five years, they’ll be available to become citizens, and then the corporation puts someone else on the card.”

Lutnick added that the proceeds of this expensive program will function as a “gift to the United States.”

All applications also require a $15,000 processing fee as part of the vetting process.

The Trump Gold Card functions as a lottery through EB-1 and EB-2 visas, which filter for extraordinary ability in various fields.

“This landmark program fulfills President Trump’s promise to attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors to America while guaranteeing they have skin in the game,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X in light of the announcement.

Trump ordered the creation of the Trump Gold Card program on the same day that he ordered the $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, a popular move that addresses some of the abuses with the H-1B program without canceling it entirely.

The Gold Card office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said a new bill he signed on Tuesday is intended to limit the “depravity” of the Trump administration, but government officials say it’s unconstitutional.

The law restricts federal immigration enforcement outside of state courthouses and allows residents to sue federal immigration agents if they believe their civil rights have been violated. It also restricts similar operations near hospitals, university campuses, and day-care centers.

‘Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending classes should not be a life-altering task.’

“The idea that the Trump administration wants to prevent people from attending courts, doing their civic duty, and protecting public safety just boggles the mind,” Pritzker said about the law.

School officials are prohibited under the new law from reporting the immigration status of a student, employee, or another person associated with the student or employee.

“Today, I’ve signed into law legislation that expands legal protections for the people of Illinois,” the governor wrote in a post on social media. “Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending classes should not be a life-altering task. We will counter the Trump Administration’s depravity.”

The Department of Homeland Security responded by accusing Pritzker of acting unconstitutionally against federal authority.

“Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the U.S. Constitution, still clearly states: ‘This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof … shall be the supreme Law of the Land,'” reads the statement on social media.

“By signing this law, @GovPritzker violated the Supremacy Clause,” the department added. “We hope the headlines and social media likes are worth it.”

RELATED: Trump names liberal mayor and governor who ‘should be in jail’

A recent DHS report said that as many as 1,768 criminal non-citizens, which includes illegal immigrants and other residents, were released in Illinois despite ICE detainers placed on them. Among the released, there were at least five homicide convictions, 141 assault convictions, and 10 convictions for sexual offenses.

Pritzker is considered by some to be a possible candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

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The U.S. military has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, according to comments made by President Donald Trump.

The president has warned government leaders of Venezuela that he would take action against narco-terrorists smuggling harmful drugs from the country into the U.S. Those actions have manifested in military strikes against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean.

‘For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.’

“As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela,” Trump said. “Large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized actually.”

Sources told ABC News that the tanker is referred to as a VLCC, or very large crude carrier, and can carry as many as 2 million barrels of oil.

The president offered few details about the incident but said more information would be released soon.

“It was seized for a very good reason,” he added.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi offered more details in a statement on social media.

“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” she wrote.

“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” she added. “This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely — and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”

She included video from the operation in the post.

Also on Tuesday, the president said in an interview with Politico that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s days were numbered.

RELATED: US strike against military targets in Venezuela could begin at any moment: Report

Democrats have accused the administration of committing war crimes in the strikes on alleged drug-runners. In one incident, two survivors of a strike on a boat were killed by a second strike, which many have said was illegal.

The Trump administration has put up a $50 million reward for the arrest of Maduro.

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) has launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate, and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales couldn’t be happier — especially after seeing her first official campaign ad.

The ad features Crockett staring straight ahead and blinking while a voice-over of President Donald Trump insulting her plays.

“How about this new one they have, their new star, Crockett? How about her? She’s the new star of the Democrat Party, Jasmine Crockett. They’re in big trouble,” Trump begins.

“She’s a very low-IQ person. Somebody said the other day she’s one of the leaders of the party. I said, ‘You got to be kidding,’” he said as Crockett stared blankly into the camera.

“Almost a minute long of Donald Trump calling you retarded with no context, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, Trump called me stupid. Vote for me.’ Like, what? I don’t know who she paid to do this. I don’t know how much money she spent. I would say if she spent more than $5 on that ad, it was a total waste of money,” Gonzales comments, laughing.

“I am elated,” she says. “I can’t wait for the rest of these ads. I can’t wait for the rest of these press conferences.”

Gonzales, who points out that Crockett once said, “Just because someone has committed a crime, it doesn’t make them a criminal,” believes her run for Senate is a “gift from God.”

Not only because Crockett is a source of entertainment for Gonzales, but because her presence will ensure a Republican victory, as her ideas are so bad that almost no one could take them seriously.

In one interview, Crockett even floated the idea of black people not paying taxes “because then again, that puts money back in your pocket, but at the same time, it may not be as objectionable to some people about actually giving out dollars.”

“It’s all so crazy,” Gonzales laughs. “I love this. This is, like, the best Christmas present.”

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What was supposed to be a fun family cruise to Mexico ended in panic, a physical confrontation with security, a death that officially was ruled a homicide — and now a lawsuit.

The wrongful death suit claims a passenger on a cruise a year ago was served 33 alcoholic drinks in a “matter of hours,” and crew members used pepper spray when the California father reportedly became unruly. Ship security detained the passenger who was later given an injection as a sedative before he died, according to the suit.

‘The next phone call she gets, he’s dead.’

Michael Virgil, 35, went on a vacation with his family aboard the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas cruise ship in December 2024.

On Dec. 13, 2024, Virgil boarded the ship in San Pedro, California, with his fiancée Connie Aguilar, their young son, and relatives for a three-day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, according to USA Today.

Kevin Haynes, an attorney for the family, told the Daily Mail that Virgil’s cabin was not ready when he boarded the cruise ship, so he went to one of the ship’s bars.

The lawsuit claims Virgil was served 33 alcoholic beverages — but it’s unclear if he consumed all of the drinks.

CBS News reported that that lawsuit said Royal Caribbean crew members “negligently” overserved alcohol to Virgil “in a matter of hours” while he showed signs of intoxication.

Virgil “became agitated” when he couldn’t locate his cabin, according to the suit, which was filed Friday in federal court in Miami, where Royal Caribbean is headquartered.

Christifer Mikhail, a passenger aboard the Navigator of the Seas, recorded cellphone video of Virgil violently kicking a door on the cruise ship.

RELATED: College football player raped girl on family cruise, feds say — and allegedly asked her appalling 2-word question afterward

Mikhail told KTTV-TV in December 2024, “The gentleman, that was drunk, said he was going to kill us. He started chasing us down the hallway.”

KTTV added that “passengers say he attacked two crew members. And attempted to kick down a door to try to get to one of the crew members.”

Several security members are seen in the video surrounding Virgil before confronting him.

The lawsuit adds, “Royal Caribbean crew members, including security personnel, then tackled decedent to the ground, stood on decedent’s body with their full weight, and compressed decedent’s body, causing decedent to stop moving.”

Haynes added to the Daily Mail that “the first domino that fell in terms of causing his death was mechanical asphyxiation, and that is where approximately five, maybe more, Royal Caribbean employees were trying to restrain him by putting their full body weight on him. And they did that for three minutes.”

The ship’s security members detained Virgil by using zip ties, handcuffs, and pepper spray.

‘They put Michael in a refrigerator and continued the cruise for multiple days.’

Aguilar claimed she found out about the incident when her name was called over the ship’s intercom.

Aguilar was brought to Virgil, where she said she saw her fiancée on a gurney with zip ties on his wrists.

Haynes told the Daily Mail, “They assured her, ‘Everything’s going to be fine. We’re going to give him a sedating injection, just go back to your cabin.’ The next phone call she gets, he’s dead.”

The lawsuit alleges that the ship’s medical staff injected Virgil with haloperidol as a sedative.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health: “Haloperidol is a medication that works in the brain to treat schizophrenia. It is also known as a first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) or typical antipsychotic. Haloperidol rebalances dopamine to improve thinking, mood, and behavior.”

Virgil was pronounced dead at 8:32 p.m. on the first day of the cruise when the ship was more than three miles offshore, according to the Daily Mail.

Haynes said, “They put Michael in a refrigerator and continued the cruise for multiple days.”

Virgil’s body remained aboard the ship until the Navigator of the Seas returned to California on Dec. 16, 2024, three days after the cruise commenced.

RELATED: Mother and her adult son allegedly beat up 65-year-old woman on cruise ship amid argument

The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner ruled Virgil’s death a homicide that was caused by “combined effects of mechanical asphyxia, obesity, cardiomegaly, and ethanol intoxication.”

Fox News noted, “The report also said the injury occurred from ‘body compression during restraint by multiple ship security personnel’ and ‘ingestion of ethanol.'” The cable network included a copy of the medical examiner’s report, which was filed in April.

Virgil’s blood alcohol concentration measured between 0.182% and 0.186%, roughly twice the legal driving limit in California.

“While not lethal on its own, this level of intoxication can depress respiratory drive, impair coordination, and diminish the individual’s ability to respond to distress during restraint,” the autopsy report said, according to the Daily Mail.

Haynes told the Daily Mail, “His behavior was out of character for him. He was scared and acting out of fear. Whatever Michael may have done during that stressful time, fueled by alcohol, it shouldn’t have given him a death sentence.”

A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean, the world’s second-largest cruise company, told Blaze News, “We were saddened by the passing of one of our guests, worked with authorities on their investigation, and will refrain from commenting any further on pending litigation.”

Citing the lawsuit, NBC News noted that maritime common law requires cruise ship companies to “supervise and assist passengers likely to engage in behavior dangerous to themselves or others.”

Haynes stated, “We are seeing an incredibly alarming number of serious injuries and fatalities on cruise ships. This should never happen again.”

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Our looks-obsessed, social-media-fueled culture is out of control — and it is causing more and more women to turn themselves into “cartoons.”

So says Hollywood star Kate Winslet, who unloaded on the subject in a recent interview with the Times.

‘It is f**king chaos out there.’

Carpet-bombed

Winslet, who rocketed to worldwide fame after starring in 1997’s “Titanic,” recalled enduring incessant scrutiny of her weight early in her career — at one point being described as “a little melted and poured into” a dress she wore at an awards show.

Still, the now-50-year-old said she never reacted to these barbs by getting surgery or taking weight-loss drugs, two approaches she feels are so common today that they have warped our idea of beauty.

Winslet added that her first reaction when seeing another woman with Botox or filler in her face is to think “No, not you! Why?”

But, Winslet continued, “No one’s listening because they’ve become obsessed with chasing an idea of perfection to get more likes on Instagram. It upsets me so much.”

Lip service

Nor is Winslet a fan of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.”

“Do they know what they are putting in [their bodies]?” she asked. “The disregard for one’s health is terrifying. It bothers me now more than ever. It is f**king chaos out there.”

RELATED: Can conservatives reclaim pop culture?

Photo by SC/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

Winslet implied that while she gets why the Hollywood crowd is obsessed with appearances, what really bothers her is the thought of everyday people “who save up for Botox or the s**t they put in their lips.”

Character flaw

To illustrate her point, she told the Times about a BBC article she read about a car crash with a young woman.

“She looked like a cartoon,” Winslet scolded. “You do not actually know what that person looks like — from the eyebrows to mouth to lashes to hair, that young woman is scared to be herself. What idea of perfection are people aspiring to? I blame social media and its effect on mental health.”

To that end, she added that it has been “heartbreaking” to see people constantly looking at their phones.

“Nobody’s looking into the f**king world any more.”

RELATED: Transracialism is back — and it’s worse than ever

Photo by: Vince Bucci/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

While attempting to show that “life” is in one’s hands, Winslet remarked, “Some of the most beautiful women I know are over 70, and what upsets me is that young women have no concept of what being beautiful actually is.”

The interviewer noted that Winslet went out of her way to prove she “hasn’t got anything” in her face and even squeezed her hands to show creases around her veins.

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A portrait of a transgender-identifying former official of the Department of Health and Human Services now carries his biological name rather than his chosen identity.

Rachel Levine is the first transgender-identifying person to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate and served as the assistant secretary of HHS in the Biden administration.

‘We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.’

Levine’s portrait now reads, “Richard Levine,” his birth name.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement that the decision was made in order to follow “gold-standard science.”

“Our priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold-standard science,” said Nixon. “We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.”

A spokesperson for Levine called the decision “petty” and bigoted in a statement to NPR.

“During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine’s photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name,” said Levine spokesperson Adrian Shanker.

Shanker went on say it was an act “of bigotry against her.”

Other Democrats condemned the decision.

“Trump officials are so insecure they even erased Admiral Rachel Levine’s name from her own HHS portrait,” responded Democratic Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont. “Instead of honoring a patriot who is serving this country, they’re busy stoking bigotry, while the rest of America pays the price.”

RELATED: Twitter suspends Tucker Carlson over 7-word tweet on transgender official Rachel Levine

Levine was a prominent supporter of transition surgeries and interventions during his time at HHS.

“Gender-affirming care is medical care,” he said in a 2023 statement. “Gender-affirming care is mental health care. Gender-affirming care is literally suicide prevention care.”

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Traditionally, immigrants adopt the customs and culture of the natives whose country they have moved into. But as we know, progressives have flipped the script. In their warped worldview, the natives must devolve for the sake of the newcomers in the name of “tolerance and inclusivity.”

Minnesota is the perfect exhibit. After Christopher Rufo’s reporting exposed massive Somali-led fraud rings draining hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds, you would expect the mayor of Minneapolis to condemn the grift. Instead, Jacob Frey went full solidarity mode.

In a December 2 press conference, Frey vowed that city police and staff would refuse to cooperate with ICE and then switched to speaking in Somali to pledge his support to the community.

On the latest “Rufo & Lomez,” Christopher Rufo and co-host Jonathan Keeperman tear into Frey’s performance, dissecting what it really reveals about Minnesota.

“Our police, many of whom are Somali themselves, are trusted partners in keeping people safe. They will not collaborate with any federal agency around doing immigration enforcement work. Our city staff and our law enforcement will not ask the question as to whether an individual is documented or not,” said Frey.

“That’s not American. That’s not what we are about. And we’re going to do right by every single person in our cities,” he continued, before fumbling through several lines delivered in Somali.

“We love you, we stand with you, and we aren’t backing down,” he concluded.

Keeperman points out the darkly comic “synchronicity” of Frey’s stance: “The Nordic populations of the upper Midwest are engaged in the exact same sort of altruistic migration experiment … that their kinfolk are engaged in still in their Scandinavian countries.”

It’s living proof of what he’s been saying all along: “You can’t just strip people of the habits and norms of the groups that they come from.”

In other words, ethnic character travels. It’s true of the Somali-Americans who brought with them the exact same clan-based fraud and grift that is rampant back in Somalia. And it’s true of Minnesotans, who, centuries after their ancestors left Scandinavia, are still running the identical open-borders generosity script — right down to importing a Somali community now accused of massive fraud — because that self-sacrificial impulse never actually left the bloodline.

But Keeperman sees zero chance that Frey or Governor Tim Walz (D) will ever recognize the self-destructive insanity of their immigration stance. “A guy like Jacob Frey or Tim Walz simply just has to lose an election. The people of Minnesota are at some point going to just have to say, ‘We’re not going to do this any more.”’

Rufo isn’t hopeful that Minnesotans are anywhere near their breaking point, however.

Not only was Jacob Frey re-elected as mayor despite stories of Somali fraud circulating in the media for years, but the candidate who narrowly lost to him was Omar Fateh — a radicalized Somali Democrat socialist.

Fateh, Keeperman reminds us, “was committing fraud during the election to rig the Democratic primary in his favor.”

But because Minnesotans are ideologues when it comes to immigration — and can’t bear to fully confront the mess they have invited — the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party took “the gloves off” by revoking Fateh’s rigged endorsement, only to pull its punches and refuse to hammer him on the fraud because it makes people “feel too uncomfortable as white liberals in good standing,” adds Rufo.

To make matters worse, Fateh had “long-standing relationships with a number of the people who were arrested and then convicted of these fraud schemes,” he continues. “And so the fraudsters were not the downtrodden, the exiled, the marginalized. … No, these people were tightly knit with Ilhan Omar, with Omar Fateh, with Attorney General Keith Ellison.”

In sum, when Jacob Frey is “the least bad option,” it’s obvious Minnesota is nowhere near ready to address its immigration problem.

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