Category: blaze media

Despite the ongoing obstructionism by Chicago’s deeply unpopular mayor, Brandon Johnson (D), and other open-borders activists, federal immigration agents continue to risk life and limb with the aim of unburdening the crime-ridden sanctuary city of some of the roughly 150,000 illegal aliens who have sapped its resources, strained its systems, and endangered its people.

‘An ACTIVIST JUDGE is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk.’

A Biden judge decided on Wednesday to undo some of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s hard work, ordering the Trump administration to free hundreds of the illegal aliens recently apprehended in the Chicago area, including some of those captured during the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Midway Blitz.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Blaze News in a statement. “At every turn, activist judges, sanctuary politicians, and violent rioters have actively tried to prevent our law enforcement officers from arresting and removing the worst of the worst.”

“Now an ACTIVIST JUDGE is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community,” added McLaughlin.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, a Biden appointee, ruled last month that ICE had violated a 2022 consent decree settlement that barred federal immigration agents from conducting warrantless arrests unless they have cause to suspect an individual is both an illegal alien and a flight risk.

The settlement, which was the result of a lawsuit filed by the open-borders advocacy organization National Immigrant Justice Center and the ACLU of Illinois, was set to expire on May 12, 2025. However, the NIJC filed a motion to continue enforcing the settlement earlier this year after ICE made a series of warrantless illegal alien arrests.

RELATED: Federal judge wildly oversteps her bounds with Border Patrol commander in Chicago

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Cummings, who previously claimed that NIJC’s pending motion kept the settlement alive, decided on Oct. 7 to extend the consent decree until Feb. 2, 2026, and ordered ICE to apply it to all agents nationwide.

On Wednesday, Cummings went even farther to appease the open-borders activists, ordering ICE to free 13 illegal aliens by Friday and to release another 615 illegal aliens on bond into a monitoring program by Nov. 21, unless the Trump administration appeals and/or demonstrates that the arrests were in keeping with the consent decree.

Lawyers for the government are considering an appeal, indicating that at least 12 of the 615 illegal aliens arrested in Chicago between June and early October are considered high flight risks, reported Axios.

The activist judge also ordered the Trump administration to pause deportation and voluntary departure procedures for all those illegal aliens who are pending release and to provide additional information concerning all arrests that have taken place since his October ruling.

Michelle Garcia, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Illinois, suggested that by committing to enforcing the consent decree, Cummings has set the stage for “even more of the hundreds of people illegally arrested and detained during Operation Midway Blitz to be released.”

Mark Fleming, associate director of litigation at NIJC, also celebrated Cummings’ apparent judicial activism, stating, “We are grateful that Judge Cummings sees the urgency of this moment and has ordered the Trump administration to allow hundreds to leave the inhumane detention centers where they are being unlawfully held and to have a chance at the due process our laws require.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Biden judge, Chicago, Illinois, Deportation, Illegal alien, Alien, Immigration, Cummings, Judge, Judicial activism, Overreach, Immigrant, Migrant, Politics 

On Monday night, violence erupted at UC Berkeley. Again.

That sentence alone might not shock anyone. Berkeley and riots go together like gender studies and Marxist slogans — a tradition older than most of its students. But this time, the target was different.

Christians and conservatives should keep showing up. Every TPUSA Faith event, every lecture, every debate — attend them. The more witnesses, the less room for lies.

The mob didn’t come for a politician or a protest. It came for families.

The crowd surrounded a Turning Point USA Faith event hosted by an officially recognized student club, featuring Christian apologist Frank Turek and atheist Peter Boghossian, along with comedian Rob Schneider and British commentator and satirist Andrew Doyle. In one evening, TPUSA offered more intellectual diversity than the entire Berkeley humanities department has managed all year.

The riot that proved the stereotype

Picture families walking into a campus hall to hear a Christian and an atheist debate civilly. Now picture an angry crowd blocking the doors, throwing bottles, lighting fires, and chanting, “Punch a fascist in the face!”

Their only problem: No fascists were present. Unless, of course, you classify Turek, Boghossian, and a few Christian undergrads as Mussolini’s heirs. But that’s Berkeley logic — where “diversity” means everyone thinks the same and disagreement is treated like violence.

The radical left has no greater enemies than Christianity and free speech. Combine the two, and leftists melt down faster than a Berkeley sophomore trying to define the word “woman.”

How did we get here?

Berkeley has been the stage for riots since the 1960s. If campus unrest were Broadway, Berkeley would be “The Phantom of the Opera” — always running, always loud, always masked. But tradition doesn’t excuse terror.

The deeper problem is the culture feeding it. In today’s universities, students are marinated in ideology, not inquiry. The humanities have traded Socrates for slogans and replaced debate with denunciation.

This worldview breeds fragility and fanaticism: emotional dependence on outrage, intellectual intolerance, and the conviction that disagreement equals danger. It’s no wonder students’ activism now mimics the very authoritarianism they claim to resist.

Antifa’s unofficial motto might as well be: “Accuse your opponents of what you plan to do.”

The media’s complicity

Right on cue, the Guardian rushed to describe the riot as “mostly peaceful.” That phrase should be Berkeley’s new marketing slogan: Mostly Peaceful Since 1964.

The truth is simpler. The TPUSA attendees were peaceful. The rioters were not. They screamed in people’s faces, hurled debris, blocked exits, and called it “defending democracy.” Apparently, democracy now means assaulting Christians.

The radical playbook

If you want to decode the left’s method, just reverse the leftists’ accusations. They say, “Don’t demonize others,” while labeling everyone to the right of Lenin a fascist. They say, “All voices deserve to be heard,” while drowning opponents in primal screams.

They say, “Fight oppression,” while physically intimidating families trying to attend a faith event.

At Arizona State University, a colleague of mine once wrote, “I’m all for free speech — but not for bigots,” to justify banning Charlie Kirk from campus. Translation: I love freedom — as long as no one I dislike exercises it.

This is the moral logic of the modern left: Disagreement equals harm, and harm justifies censorship — or violence.

The ‘radical’ minority that isn’t

We keep calling these leftists radicals, but that implies rarity. Surveys say otherwise. The ideological monoculture dominates academia. The “moderate left” isn’t moderating anything; it’s supplying the radicals with silence, funding, and applause.

The tenured class that claims to value “diversity of thought” has created an institution where dissenters are treated like heretics.

RELATED: The Antifa mob at Berkeley showed us what evil looks like

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What must be done

First, Christians and conservatives should keep showing up. Every TPUSA Faith event, every lecture, every debate — attend them. The more witnesses, the less room for lies.

Second, tell your state legislators you don’t want tax dollars funding violent intolerance disguised as higher learning.

Third, warn every parent and student what really happens on college campuses. Prepare your kids to challenge the ideological orthodoxy behind DEI, critical theory, and the alphabet soup of new moral dogmas.

Finally, support alternatives. Seek out institutions that teach truth instead of propaganda — and organizations like TPUSA Faith that defend free inquiry.

That’s why I started my Substack: to expose the rot inside American universities before your children discover it the hard way.

The cure for intellectual darkness is light. The cure for ideological riots is courage. And the cure for the Berkeley disease begins with showing up, speaking truth, and refusing to bow.

​Antifa, Charlie kirk, Left wing violence, Opinion & analysis, Uc berkeley, Freedom of speech, Political violence, Tpusa, Faith, Family, Censorship, Christianity, Frank turek, Peter boghossian, Rob schneider, Andrew doyle, Fascism 

New York City voters last week elected socialist Zohran Mamdani as their next mayor. It wasn’t an isolated win. Across the country, progressives dominated key races, including the gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia.

In race after race, conservative, moderate, and establishment Democrats were swept aside by aggressive, hard-left challengers. The message could not be clearer: Conservative messaging — and in some cases, conservative policy — is failing to connect with ordinary voters.

Socialists like Mamdani promise utopia through government control. Conservatives cannot counter that with spreadsheets and slogans.

Mamdani and his progressive allies succeeded because they campaigned on issues that hit home for millions of Americans: the cost of housing, food, personal debt, and the lack of good jobs.

Ironically, those were the very same issues that powered Donald Trump’s 2024 victory and brought working-class voters back to the Republican fold. Now those same voters are drifting back toward socialism, and the reason is painfully simple: It’s still the economy, stupid.

Economic pain drives voters left

Conservatives have not convinced enough Americans — especially voters under 40 — that their policies will improve daily life. Consumer prices remain high, grocery bills keep climbing, and inflation continues to outpace wage growth.

Housing costs are near record levels. The average home now costs seven times the median income, compared to roughly 5.5 times during Trump’s first term. Total household debt has topped $18 trillion for three consecutive quarters — another all-time high.

Millions of Americans feel trapped. And when voters are desperate, they make disastrous choices — like putting a socialist in charge of the nation’s largest city.

What Trump got right

The Trump administration has taken important steps to fight rising costs. Promoting affordable, domestic energy — especially natural gas — has reduced reliance on foreign suppliers. Cutting regulations has also delivered real savings.

In January, Trump ordered federal agencies to repeal 10 rules for every new one adopted. The White House estimates that his deregulation push avoided more than $180 billion in costs in 2025 alone.

He has also pledged to ease housing regulations to increase the supply of affordable homes, while Republicans in Congress have fought to preserve the 2017 tax cuts — a major victory for middle-class taxpayers.

These are important wins. But they lack the sweeping vision that socialists like Mamdani are offering to voters who want transformation, not tinkering.

Socialism’s empty promises

Mamdani’s platform reads like a socialist wish list: 200,000 city-built apartments, a citywide rent freeze, universal childcare, and even government-run grocery stores. It’s a fantasy financed by taxpayers and destined to collapse under its own weight — but it sounds big. It sounds bold.

Conservatives, by comparison, often sound procedural. Deregulation is important but abstract. Tax cuts matter but feel distant. To compete, conservatives must present a clear, moral vision — one that shows how free markets can improve life for working families faster and more permanently than socialism ever could.

So what can conservatives do to counter socialism’s siren song? Here’s a start.

1) Make housing affordable again
Congress should require states and cities to open up millions of lots for homebuilding as a condition of receiving federal funds. Vast stretches of usable land sit idle while housing prices explode. Opening that land to development would lower prices without touching national parks or sensitive ecosystems.

2) Reinvent higher education
The cost of college has soared because of government-backed student loans that inflate tuition and trap young people in debt. Washington should phase out federal lending and restore market discipline to higher education.

In the meantime, Congress can lower loan caps, expand skilled-trade training in high schools, and require public universities that receive federal loan funds to offer extremely low-cost online degrees. That would give students a path to higher education without lifelong debt.

3. Cut taxes — and waste
Lowering sales, gas, and business taxes would immediately ease the cost of living. But real fiscal discipline requires cutting government waste, not inflating the money supply.

The Biden administration admits the federal government has lost $2.4 trillion over the past two decades through payment errors alone. That’s not “spending” — it’s hemorrhaging. Conservatives should treat it as proof that vast savings can be achieved without touching vital programs.

RELATED: Explaining Mamdani’s appeal to the young, with polling

Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Competing with the socialist vision

Socialists like Mamdani promise utopia through government control. Conservatives cannot counter that with spreadsheets and slogans. They must meet grand promises with grander purpose — rooted in freedom, self-reliance, and opportunity.

America needs a new conservative economic agenda that speaks to the anxieties of working families, not just to Wall Street or Washington. Deregulation and tax reform are essential, but they must serve a larger story: rebuilding an economy that rewards work, expands ownership, and restores faith in the American dream.

Until conservatives reclaim that moral high ground, voters will keep turning to the false hope of socialism.

​Opinion & analysis, Elections, Socialists, Zohran mamdani, New jersey, Virginia, Leftism, Housing costs, Grocery prices, Debt, Affordability crisis, Republicans, Democrats, Tax cuts, Polls, Rent freeze, Fiscal discipline, Regulations, Higher education, Student loan debt, Home build 

Ninety-six million Americans now call themselves bird-watchers.

That’s nearly one in three people. What was once the domain of retired dentists with too much time and too many thermoses has become a national pastime.

‘You don’t need equipment to go birding,’ he says. ‘Just walk outside and look or listen for birds. It’s like a treasure hunt — where can I find a new or different one?’

Or, as the bureaucrats insist, a “sport.” (Blame linguistic inflation, but that’s beside the point.) Bird-watching has gone mainstream, and America has fallen head over talons for it.

‘Exhausted by noise and nonsense’

Growing up in Ireland, I used to hunt pheasants with my father. But I also bird-watched with him. He had the patience of a saint and the binoculars of a spy. He could spot a kestrel from what felt like another county. I, on the other hand, had the attention span of a jackdaw. Yet even then, there was something strangely meditative about standing still, waiting for wings to appear.

Bird-watching wasn’t about chasing or conquering. It was about listening, noticing, and finding a kind of peace that didn’t need words. Maybe that’s why it’s booming in America now — a country exhausted by noise and nonsense.

The modern American lives in a blizzard of screens, sound bites, and sirens. Every scroll and ping pulls the mind farther from the present moment. Bird-watching is the perfect rebellion against that chaos. It rewards stillness. It teaches patience. It’s meditation with feathers. You can’t doomscroll while trying to spot a warbler. And unlike most modern hobbies, it doesn’t demand equipment that costs more than your car. A decent pair of binoculars and a curious soul will do.

It also helps that bird-watching is wonderfully democratic. You can do it anywhere — city park, back yard, Walmart parking lot, even your ex’s front yard if you’re brave enough. Birds don’t discriminate by zip code. From Brooklyn to Baton Rouge, the same act of quiet wonder unites people who otherwise wouldn’t share a word. A cardinal on a branch can silence even the loudest partisan. Or can it?

Taking off with Birding Bob

Who better to ask than Robert DeCandido, Ph.D., more commonly known as “Birding Bob.” Bronx-born and proud of it, he’s been leading bird walks for the best part of 40 years, charming tourists and occasionally scolding squirrels. He’s studied owls in Central Park, falcons on skyscrapers, and raptors in Nepal — because, apparently, the city’s pigeons weren’t exotic enough. With his encyclopedic knowledge, laser pointer, and unflappable enthusiasm, the Bob has turned Manhattan into one big aviary.

When asked why bird-watching has suddenly become the new yoga, Bob doesn’t entertain the hype. “To me, this has been building since the late 1990s,” he says. “It seems to track the use of the internet in people’s lives. I’ve been leading bird walks since the late 1980s, so I’ve watched the growth.” In his eyes, birding is less a sudden craze than a steady cultural migration decades in the making.

As for the pandemic’s supposed role in reviving our hunger for slow living, Bob’s answer is brisk. “No,” he says. “I think birding was one of the few activities you could do early on in the pandemic — especially with others.”

When the world shut down, birding stayed open. “If you had a park in your neighborhood, you could just walk over. No need for mass transit or being in close proximity indoors.” For Bob, that’s when many realized bird-watching was accessible, social, and a way to stay sane in those rather insane times.

RELATED: Happy Trails: Ten national parks to explore with your family this summer

Image Courtesy of the National Park Service

‘Just walk outside and look’

And about that “retired dentist with binoculars” stereotype? Bob laughs it off. “Where or how did you come up with this idea? It was never, ever that.” His tours are proof. They draw everyone from teenagers to tech workers, stay-at-home moms to deadbeat dads. If anything, birding has become one of the few spaces in New York where social class often dissolves into shared curiosity.

Gen Z’s growing interest doesn’t surprise him either. “It’s cheap,” he says flatly. “People like nature. And the media’s pushing birding now, so different folks are giving it a go.”

It sounds simple, but it explains a lot. Birding offers something both primal and portable in an age hooked on algorithms and AI-fed sludge. It’s a dopamine hit that doesn’t come from Silicon Valley — though plenty of apps now let users flaunt their feathered finds. There’s Merlin Bird ID, which can identify a species from a photo or song; eBird, where users log sightings and climb leaderboards; and Birda, the “Strava of birding,” complete with challenges and badges.

Bob’s Bronx bluntness resurfaces when asked if birding could unite left and right.

“No. Americans will find a way to fight no matter what,” he says, half-joking. “Most birders are moderate to left, so the infighting has been mild so far. But it’s there.” He doesn’t hide where he stands — he lets his politics show — but never in a preachy or polarizing way. It’s more observational than ideological, the way a field biologist might note the plumage of a particularly noisy species.

Then, almost as if to re-center the conversation, he lands on what really matters. “You don’t need equipment to go birding,” he says. “Just walk outside and look or listen for birds. It’s like a treasure hunt — where can I find a new or different one? No need to make lists or find rare ones. Just go out and look. Have fun. Learn about your local environment.”

That, in the end, might explain why bird-watching has taken flight across the nation. In a culture obsessed with competition, Birding Bob reminds us that not everything needs to be a race. You don’t win at bird-watching. You simply show up, look up, and listen. It’s the most affordable form of mindfulness on the market. In an era powered by progress bars, birding is gloriously buffering. No feeds, no frenzy, just feathers in flight — and the occasional pigeon dropping on your $200 North Face jacket.

​Birdwatching, Birding bob, Hobbies, Family activities, Sports, Birding, Lifestyle 

The wife of a man killed in Angola has been convicted for orchestrating his murder during a mission trip with their family, according to a statement from their church.

44-year-old Beau Shroyer was found stabbed to death inside a vehicle on Oct. 25, 2024, in the town of Thienjo. His family had been sent to Africa on a mission trip in 2021 by the Lakes Area Vineyard Church in Detroit Lake, Minnesota.

Law enforcement had ‘strong suspicions of a romantic relationship between the person who ordered the crime and her accomplice, the guard at the couple’s residence.’

Shroyer had stopped to help people who were pretending to have vehicle issues in a remote area. They stabbed him to death and fled in the rental car, as previously reported by Blaze News.

Local authorities eventually arrested the man’s wife, 44-year-old Jackie Shroyer, and accused her of being the “mastermind” behind the slaying of her husband.

Angola official Manuel Halaiwa said that law enforcement had “strong suspicions of a romantic relationship between the person who ordered the crime and her accomplice, the guard at the couple’s residence.”

They also arrested two people they said were her accomplices, identified as Bernardino Isaac Elias and Isalino Musselenga Kayoo “Vin Diesel.” A third alleged accomplice identified as Gelson Guerreiro Ramos is still on the run.

Authorities said Jackie Shroyer paid Kayoo $50,000 to commit the crime.

“Though this news is shocking and extremely difficult to comprehend, it’s important for you to know that this verdict follows a very thorough investigation and trial process that was monitored closely, conducted fairly, and carried out with integrity,” said the church’s pastor, Troy Easton, in a statement.

The couple’s five children were brought back the U.S. after their mother’s arrest to be with family.

Jackie Shroyer will serve her sentence in Angola, according to the church.

RELATED: College student arrested for making death threat against GOP congressman over gay rights: ‘I will take a bullet to your f***ing head’

The church did not say what her sentence was.

The victim’s cousin Bret Shroyer told KSTP-TV that his death hit their family hard.

“Beau was a rock, just a really strong member of the family, he was doing good, all of the time,” he said. “He was supportive; he was always looking for ways to help somebody else out.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Angola missionary trip, Beau shroyer death, Wife kills husband, Shroyer murder plot, Crime 

In a recent interview, President Trump defended his earlier claim that bringing 600,000 Chinese college students into the United States would be good for the country. When the interviewer questioned how that aligned with an America First agenda, Trump replied that without those students, “Half the colleges in America would go out of business.”

To most Trump supporters, that sounds like a win-win — fewer foreign students and fewer left-wing universities to subsidize. But Trump seemed to view the issue as a business transaction: Closing locations is bad, losing revenue is bad, and the substance of those “economic units” doesn’t really matter.

Why should we play Russian roulette with our national security to pad universities’ bottom lines?

His comments revealed a deeper confusion about what America First really means.

The China contradiction

America’s relationship with China has long been incoherent. Every Republican politician insists China is our chief geopolitical rival — a totalitarian power bent on unseating the United States as global hegemon. Yet few make any effort to restrict Chinese immigration, investment, or influence. At some point, it becomes difficult to take any of the rhetoric seriously.

The problem is obvious: China has too many people and too much money. The country’s strength lies in what America abandoned: manufacturing. While American corporations chased financial gimmicks and “service economies,” China focused on making tangible goods at scale. That discipline built a vast middle class and positioned Beijing at the center of global production. Now nearly every Western industry — film, retail, education — depends on access to China’s markets.

The result: American institutions bend over backward to please a government they claim to fear. Chinese nationals can buy land, start companies, and enroll by the hundreds of thousands in U.S. universities. It would be funny if it weren’t so corrupt.

The university addiction

Trump knows mass immigration hurts Americans, but he struggles to say no when big money is involved. Foreign students pour billions into universities, and administrators have built their entire business models around them. But counting up dollars isn’t the same as serving the national interest.

Universities are publicly subsidized and supposedly dedicated to educating Americans first and foremost. Instead, they’ve turned into pipelines credentialing foreign elites — and sometimes, spies. Every seat filled by a Chinese student is one less for an American, and every dollar that props up a hostile regime’s protégés deepens our dependence on that regime.

The Department of Justice has charged three Chinese nationals at the University of Michigan for smuggling research materials and stealing technology. Eric Weinstein has even suggested that theoretical physics is being throttled for fear of espionage. Yet the universities — and now, apparently, Trump — seem unfazed.

Why save the enemy’s seminary?

Propping up higher education with Chinese cash isn’t just shortsighted — it’s insane. Colleges and universities have become leftist seminaries, charging astronomical tuition for courses that teach Americans to despise their parents and their nation. They already receive lavish government subsidies and still demand more.

Trump’s claim that “half the colleges” would collapse without Chinese money is dubious, but if it were true, those institutions deserve to fail. Let them. Destroying the patronage networks that produce radical activists was once a Trumpian goal. Reviving them with foreign money would be an act of political masochism. Why should we play Russian roulette with our national security to pad their bottom line?

RELATED: The ‘China class’ sold out America. Now Trump is calling out the sellouts.

Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The broader threat

Chinese money poisons more than academia. Nationals and shell companies routinely buy American land — including, alarmingly, property near military bases. One recent purchase of an RV park in Missouri by a Chinese couple just happened to place them next to Whiteman Air Force Base, home of the B-2 stealth bomber fleet. Similar shadowy transactions dot the map.

The pandemic exposed the madness of this dependence. The same regime that unleashed a virus on the world also controlled the supply chains for the medicine and protective gear we needed to fight it. Yet America’s political class still refuses to sever the tie. They are too addicted to Chinese money — and too invested in pretending that dependency equals diplomacy.

If the GOP is serious about confronting China, it must start by cutting every cord of reliance. Banning Chinese students from U.S. universities would be a simple, symbolic first step — and it would strike directly at the heart of the progressive academic machine.

​Opinion & analysis, China, Exchange students, Chinese students, Colleges and universities, Chinese money, Chinese communist party, Espionage, Eric weinstein, Physics, Research, Markets, Manufacturing, Left-wing colleges, Progressives, Ideology, Elites, Exports, Imports, Trade war 

President Donald Trump officially ended the Democrats’ record-breaking shutdown after House Republicans passed the funding bill Wednesday night.

Trump signed the GOP’s continuing resolution into law after the House passed the bill in a 222-209 vote, bringing the 43-day shutdown to a close. The House vote largely fell on party lines, with 216 Republicans voting in favor and 207 Democrats voting against the funding bill. Notably, two Republicans voted against the bill and six Democrats voted in favor of it.

‘Don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.’

“People were hurt so badly,” Trump said from the Oval Office Wednesday night. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like this one. This was a no-brainer. This was an easy extension. But they didn’t want to do it the easy way. They had to do it the hard way.”

“They look very bad, the Democrats do,” Trump added.

RELATED: ‘Pathetic’ Senate Democrats cave, advancing key shutdown vote and prompting intraparty uproar: ‘It’s a surrender’

Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Trump urged Americans across the country to remember the pain inflicted by the Democrat shutdown when the 2026 midterms come around.

“I just want to tell the American people: You should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”

Democrats initiated the government shutdown after blocking the GOP’s clean continuing resolution from passing in the Senate before the September 30 funding deadline.

After prolonging the shutdown for over 40 days, eight Senate Democrats caved and passed the funding bill in the Senate, sparking intraparty outrage for agreeing to a “pathetic” political deal.

The only concession Democrats managed to secure was a reversal of reduction-in-force notices implemented during the shutdown and the prevention of any more RIFs through January 30, the day the new funding deal expires. This affects only about 4,200 of the roughly 150,000 federal layoffs that have taken place during President Donald Trump’s second term.

RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

The main reason Democrats shut the government down in the first place was to renegotiate Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Rather than securing any commitments from Republicans to negotiate or amend any health-care-related policies, Democrats walked away with a promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on extending the subsidies.

This is the same deal that was on the table since day one of the government shutdown.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Donald trump, Mike johnson, John thune, Hakeem jeffries, Chuck schumer, Reduction in force, Rifs, Schumer shutdown, Democrat shutdown, Government shutdown, Federal layoffs, Affordable care act, Obamacare, Aca subsidies, Continuing resolution, Funding bill, House republicans, Senate republicans, Senate democrats, Politics 

House Republicans passed a government funding bill late Wednesday night, bringing Democrats’ record-breaking shutdown closer to a welcome end.

The continuing resolution passed in a 222-209 vote, with 216 Republicans voting in favor and 209 Democrats voting against the funding bill. Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against the bill.

‘Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price.’

Several Democrats also crossed the aisle, with a handful voting in favor of reopening the government. Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who is retiring at the end of this term, bucked his party, alongside Reps. Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York.

The resolution is now headed to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign the bill into law Wednesday night and reopen the government.

RELATED: ‘Pathetic’ Senate Democrats cave, advancing key shutdown vote and prompting intraparty uproar: ‘It’s a surrender’

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

The House vote took place just days after eight Democrat senators caved over the weekend and voted alongside Republicans to pass the funding bill in the Senate Monday night. These Democrats include Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) of Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.

Although some lawmakers crossed the aisle to reopen the government, Democrats ultimately failed to secure commitments from Republicans to negotiate health care policy.

“For over six weeks, Democrats held our country hostage over demands for health care for illegal aliens and to prove to their base they could ‘stand up’ to President Trump,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (Texas) told Blaze News.

“Let me be clear: Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price,” Pfluger added. “Now, it is time to get back to governing and delivering on the mandate we were given by the American people last November.”

RELATED: Senate Republicans pass key deal with Democrat defectors as end to record-long shutdown draws near

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The reason Democrats shut down the government in the first place was to force the GOP to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Democrats fell short, securing only a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on extending the subsidies. Notably, this offer was available to Democrats on day one of the government shutdown.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Mike johnson, John thune, Donald trump, Hakeem jeffries, Chuck schumer, House democrats, House republicans, Senate democrats, Senate republicans, Dick durbin, Maggie hassan, Tim kaine, Jacky rosen, Jeanne shaheen, John fetterman, Angus king, Catherine cortez masto, Government shutdown, Democrat shutdown, Affordable care act, Aca subsidies, Politics, August pfluger, Republican study committee, Jared golden, Marie gluesenkamp perez, Adam gray, Henry cuellar, Don davis, Tom suozzi 

The Biden FBI is guilty of “gross misconduct and/or fraud” for calling off surveillance of an early person of interest in the Jan. 6 pipe-bomb case, an FBI whistleblower alleges in a letter to Congress. The letter refers to events that occurred nearly five years before Blaze News disclosed that the surveillance subject lived next door to a Capitol Police officer who is now a potential forensic match to the gait of the bomb suspect.

After reading the Nov. 10 protected whistleblower disclosure from an FBI supervisory special agent who is still at the bureau and a Nov. 8 Blaze News investigation of the pipe-bombs case, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie believes the FBI “has been engaged in a cover-up” or has been “grossly incompetent.”

“Either way,” Massie (R-Ky.) told Blaze News in a statement, “these latest revelations about the pipe-bomb investigation require answers from the new FBI director.”

The Blaze News investigation said former Capitol Police Officer Shauni Rae Kerkhoff, 31, appears to be a forensic match to the gait of the pipe-bomb suspect. A forensic gait analysis arranged by Blaze News rated Kerkhoff’s stride as a 94% match to the individual shown on video planting pipe bombs the night of Jan. 5, 2021.

The gait analysis used a computer algorithm to analyze walking parameters including flexion (knee bend), hip extension, speed, step length, cadence, and variance. The veteran analyst who ran the study said based on visual observations the program can struggle with, he personally pegged the match at closer to 98%.

Kerkhoff has not been charged with any criminal conduct by any law enforcement agency in connection with the pipe-bomb incident.

The FBI has not responded to Blaze News requests for comment.

Attorney Kurt Siuzdak of Madison, Conn., filed a 10-page protected disclosure on behalf of his client, the whistleblower, with Massie and U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), among the most active lawmakers still investigating Jan. 6 and its aftermath. Loudermilk is the chairman of the House Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6.

The FBI supervisor said that “after FBI agents came within yards of the person who has been identified” in Blaze News’ reporting, “the FBI surveillance team agents were ordered to cease their investigation, denied permission to conduct at least one logical interview, immediately removed from surveillance, and reassigned to do general leads work,” Siuzdak wrote.

“The ‘neighbor’ identified below [in the whistleblower complaint] lived within feet of [Person of Interest 3] and she appears to be the same individual as investigative reporter Steve Baker identified as a former U.S. Capital [sic] Police officer, who is currently associated with a U.S. intelligence agency,” Siuzdak wrote.

After the FBI identified several persons of interest in the pipe-bombs case, Squad 21 of the Washington Field Office Intelligence Division was assigned to do “FISUR,” or physical surveillance, in the Bailey’s Crossroads section of Falls Church, Va.

Kyle Seraphin, who was then a member of Squad 21, told Blaze News the surveillance lasted two days before the squad was pulled off the case without warning.

The new whistleblower said the female next-door neighbor of the man being surveilled was photographed by FBI agents.

“The ‘neighbor’ had been photographed by the FBI surveillance team, and her photograph and attire are similar to the individual who [allegedly] placed the devices,” Siuzdak said.

The FBI had already determined that the man referred to in FBI documents as Person of Interest 3 should be interviewed by agents. But when Seraphin proposed that he do a “knock and talk” at the man’s door, the idea was rejected, Siuzdak said.

The suspected pipe bomber moves to a bench behind the Democratic National Committee building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021. FBI

The face-to-face interview with POI3 “would have obviously led to the doorstep of the ‘neighbor,’” Siuzdak wrote. “However, investigative steps offered by the FBI agents in the field were rejected, and agents were immediately reassigned. The discontinuation of the investigation was described [by the whistleblower] as improper.”

Kerkhoff is named in consumer, banking, and credit records as having resided next door to the man under surveillance. She later moved to Alexandria, Va. When Blaze News editor in chief Christopher Bedford visited the area of Alexandria near her residence the night of Nov. 7, the curtains were drawn, two civilian-looking vehicles were in the driveway, one civilian-looking truck was out front, and a fourth vehicle pulled up after Bedford parked. Two plainclothesmen got out of the final car, and a third joined them from inside the house. The three men stood sentry in front of the home for a time.

The local police responded to Bedford’s visit, and when he tried to drive away, he was quickly pulled over and asked why he was in the area. The local police promptly allowed him to go after he provided his ID and explained the reason why he was near the address.

Internal FBI documents included in the protected whistleblower disclosure corroborated information contained in a January 2025 report from the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight.

According to the documents, the FBI had investigated an individual known as POI2, who was seen on surveillance video taking photographs behind the Capitol Hill Club the morning of Jan. 5 — about nine hours before an unknown subject in a grey hoodie placed a pipe bomb next to a row of rolling commercial garbage tubs.

The pipe bomb suspect (above left) walking west on C Street toward Rumsey Court, stopping in front of a congressional rooming house (upper right), possibly looking to place a pipe bomb on Jan. 5, 2021. Capitol Police squad cars (below) with lights engaged were across the street as the suspect walked down the court to plant the bomb. FBI/@Armitas/U.S. Capitol Police CCTV

The man left the area and later returned to walk through Rumsey Court, which runs behind the Capitol Hill Club and the Republican National Committee building. When he was later questioned by FBI agents, the man claimed he was taking photographs of “objects bearing numerals” for a book project.

Agents used surveillance video to track the man through part of the day Jan. 5. He arrived at the Capitol South Metro Station from the East Falls Church Metro Station at 9:58 a.m. Capitol Police “observed POI2 switching hats when we [sic] exits South Capitol Metro,” an FBI report said.

After taking photographs behind the Capitol Hill Club, POI2 walked around the U.S. Capitol complex and met with two unknown individuals, the House report said.

The FBI considered POI2’s behavior suspicious and said he could be considered a possible accomplice to the pipe bomber.

The man again walked through Rumsey Court before proceeding to the Capitol South Metro Station and riding the train back to Falls Church, Va., where he arrived at 6:53 p.m.

FBI records show that Person of Interest 2 was dropped off at the East Falls Church Metro by a Volkswagen Tiguan registered to Person of Interest 3, who was put under surveillance by the FBI a week later. Person of Interest 2 used a prepaid Metro SmarTrip card to pay for the train rides. The SmarTrip card was purchased by Person of Interest 3, the FBI said.

The FBI interviewed Person of Interest 2, who was not identified in the investigative documents Blaze News reviewed, on Jan. 19, 2021. The man was subsequently dismissed as no longer a person of interest in the pipe-bombs case. The FBI also cleared Person of Interest 3 of having any role in the placement of the bombs.

The U.S. House report said the FBI did not explain on what basis it cleared Persons of Interest 2 and 3, indicate how the men knew each other, or explain how Person of Interest 2 obtained the other man’s prepaid SmarTrip card.

In a Nov. 12 story, the Daily Wire reported that “law enforcement suspected a particular Falls Church, Virginia man’s Metro card of being linked to the case, and also that the Capitol Police officer was in fact his neighbor, literally sharing a wall with him.”

The man told the Wire his Metro card “was used by a childhood friend who traveled from the south to attend Trump’s rally, and stayed with him to save money. The Air Force vet let him borrow his card and picked him up from the Metro station in Virginia after the rally, he said. Both men are Trump supporters, he said.”

The man said he had been interviewed on the matter by what he believes to be Metro transit police, as was his visiting friend. Furthermore, the man told the Daily Wire that he does not believe his Metro card was used by his neighbor, the Capitol Police officer, on January 5.

Blaze News was unable to independently confirm the Wire’s report. Blaze News investigative reporter Steve Baker knocked on the front door of the man’s townhouse on Nov. 9, but he declined to comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​January 6, Politics, Crime 

Joe Rogan said that the reaction of many to the assassination of Charlie Kirk persuaded him to think the U.S. is closer to a civil war than he previously believed.

Rogan made the comments on the Tuesday edition of his incredibly popular podcast while talking to guest Brian Redban.

‘After the Charlie Kirk thing, I’m like, oh, we might be like seven. This might be like step seven on the way to a bona fide civil war.’

“Charlie Kirk gets shot and people are celebrating! Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You want people to die that you disagree with?” Rogan asked.

“Where are we right now on the scale of one to civil war? Where are we? Are we at seven? Because I thought we were at five. I thought we were like four, four or five,” he said.

“But after the Charlie Kirk thing, I’m like, oh, we might be like seven. This might be like step seven on the way to a bona fide civil war,” Rogan added.

The conservative activist was shot and killed during one of his campus tour events on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University. While most reacted in horror and sorrow, some on the left have made public statements of ghoulish joy at his death.

“Like regular people celebrating somebody getting murdered in front of their wife and kid on television, in front of the whole world? As soon as you celebrate that, like, man, you’re in dark territory,” Rogan continued.

“And if the worst thing you could say about that guy is that he said some things I disagree with, and you’re celebrating that he got shot in the neck in front of the world?” he added. “Whoa, and you work at an insurance company? This is nuts. And you thought it was OK to say that on Instagram? This is nuts! Like what are you guys on?”

RELATED: Liberals spew hatred against moment of silence for Charlie Kirk on Thursday Night Football

A clip of Rogan’s comments was posted to social media, where they went viral.

Erika Kirk has taken up the mantle of the director of Turning Point USA, the organization that her late husband founded.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Charlie kirk assassination, Joe rogan, Civil war in the us, Reaction to kirk killing, Politics 

Buried in a recent New York Times op-ed on the government shutdown by Ezra Klein is a quiet confession by the elites — but not so quiet that Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck couldn’t hear it.

In the article, Klein argues that Republicans are incapable of accepting the reality that Obamacare health care subsidies are “working” — despite health care prices being through the roof.

“Why were the Democrats fighting so hard to neutralize their best issue in 2026?” Klein wrote in his op-ed. “The political logic of this shutdown fight was inverted. If Democrats got the tax credits extended, if they won, they’d be solving a huge electoral problem for the Republicans. If Republicans successfully allowed the tax credits to expire, if they won, they’d be handing the Democrats a cudgel, which would beat them in the next elections.”

“This is unbelievable. I mean, they’re saying it out loud,” Glenn comments. “You know what I mean?”

The article goes on to ask why Republicans “can’t accept reality” and that “health care subsidies are working.”

“No, they are not. They are propping, OK? They’re scaffolding, holding up a structure that was never sound. They were a COVID-era brace jammed under a tottering wall. And now the same architects who swore the house was, you know, the house was safe, they’re telling you now the splintered wood is actually part of the design,” Glenn says.

“This is the power the mainstream media has. The press still has over millions of Americans. It’s kind of like a hypnotic chokehold. You say the word subsidy enough times with the right sad piano music under it and suddenly forget what subsidies are,” he continues.

A subsidy, Glenn explains, is “money borrowed from the Chinese from the future to hide the failures of the present on decisions that were made in the past.”

“And now we’re told if we don’t just keep borrowing forever, America will collapse,” he says. “No, what collapses is this crazy illusion. Let’s be clear about something the op-ed never will admit. The Affordable Care Act didn’t fail because of Republicans. It failed because math is a stubborn thing.”

“You know, I’ve said this for months now. The greatest political opportunity of our lifetime now is health care reform. Real, actual reform,” he continues, adding, “Not another Washington quick fix. No more subsidies or anything else. Not a Band-Aid over a bullet wound.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Free, Video phone, Camera phone, Sharing, Upload, Video, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, New york times, Ezra klein, Healthcare, Subsidies, Government shutdown 

Iconic comedian and entertainer Eddie Murphy weighed in on the current state of cancel culture among the youth, and he did not hold back.

Murphy made the comments to the Hollywood Reporter while publicizing an upcoming documentary about his life titled “Being Eddie” on Netflix.

‘If you go into clubs, the comics are talking crazier than ever. They say whatever the f**k they want to say.’

While Murphy downplayed the effect cancel culture has on society, he also went on to say that younger people have turned against speech restrictions.

“I can’t think of a comedian that said a joke that made them get canceled. I feel like that whole canceled thing was just a moment in time where people were like, ‘Comics have to be careful what they say,'” said Murphy.

“If you go into clubs, the comics are talking crazier than ever. They say whatever the f**k they want to say. It’s a generation that’s coming up now that’s defiant about that whole cancel-culture s**t: ‘F**k that cancel-culture s**t. Let the chips fall where they may.’ If I ever did it again, I would say what I wanted to say and do whatever I wanted to do,” he added.

“I’m not even thinking about getting canceled at 64, after 50 years in the business,” Murphy concluded.

Farther on in the interview, Murphy said that he was working on a reboot of the “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” movie from 1963.

RELATED: ‘I felt it was racist’: Eddie Murphy says David Spade made racist joke about him in 1995

Photo by Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images

Murphy previously called out some in the black community who treated him harshly when some of his endeavors did poorly.

“Even black folks, you get cheap shots from your people. … I remember Ebony magazine, instead of talking about the movie and my performance and all that, they said, ‘Maybe there’ll come a day when a black man can play a professor and he doesn’t have to be nutty,'” he said in 2024.

“I was like, what the f**k?! That’s the review of my movie?” he added. “That’s the review of that? I play all these different characters and that’s what you say about me, and it’s us, and it’s me?! Yeah, that hurt my feelings.”

“Being Eddie” is scheduled for release on Nov. 12 and includes interviews with Dave Chappelle, Jamie Foxx, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Eddie murphy, Cancel culture, Celebrities against cancel culture, Being eddie netflix documentary, Politics 

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s highly anticipated discharge petition to release the Epstein files received its final signatory on Wednesday, allowing lawmakers to force a vote in the House.

Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona became the 218th signatory on the Epstein discharge petition just moments after being sworn into office on Wednesday. Grijalva joined the 213 Democrats who unanimously supported the discharge petition while just four Republicans — Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Massie — signed on.

‘Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.’

With 218 signatures, lawmakers will be able to force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files.

Just hours before Grijalva’s swearing in, the White House confirmed that members of President Donald Trump’s administration met with Boebert in the Situation Room to address the discharge petition.

RELATED: ‘Hoax’: Republicans slam Democrats for sharing altered Epstein documents to ‘create a fake narrative’ around Trump

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

This meeting included a phone call from Trump as well as a face-to-face with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel. Despite the apparent pressure campaign, Boebert did not rescind her support for the discharge petition.

Despite the bipartisan uproar over the administration’s handling of the Epstein files, Trump maintains that the scandal is a Democrat “hoax” to distract from their disastrous shutdown.

“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump said in a Truth Social Post. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap. The Democrats cost our Country $1.5 Trillion Dollars with their recent antics of viciously closing our Country, while at the same time putting many at risk — and they should pay a fair price.”

RELATED: Supreme Court rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal on first day of session

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

“There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Donald trump, Jeffrey epstein, Epstein files, House republicans, House democrats, Mike johnson, Discharge petition, Pam bondi, Todd blanche, Kash patel, Nancy mace, Lauren boebert, Marjorie taylor greene, Adelita grijalva, Politics 

ESPN is in trouble, and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock isn’t surprised — especially considering that one of its “stars,” Stephen A. Smith, has been pushing woke nonsense on listeners since the tiresome events of 2020.

In one clip that Whitlock plays from 2022, Smith addresses an incident involving a Duke volleyball player, Rachel Richardson, who claimed that she heard racial slurs in a game against BYU.

“I’m saying, BYU, you did it by allowing this to happen and not addressing it expeditiously, not addressing it with the level of quickness and speed that you should have addressed it with. So now, instead of looking at that fool, that racist bastard that was spewing that nonsense towards Miss Rachel Richardson,” Smith yelled on ESPN’s “First Take.”

“This is why I have fatigue,” Whitlock comments, annoyed. “And y’all remember this. This is about some BYU student that allegedly called some black girl the N-word or something at a volleyball game. It made no sense. There was no proof of it.”

“And Stephen A. Smith’s on TV yelling and screaming and wagging a finger at some white kid that he doesn’t know who he is. There’s no proof that it happened. There never was any proof that it happened. He made a fool of himself and ESPN, and they allowed it to happen. This is supposed to be some media corporation that should have some understanding of the basic tenets of journalism. And they’ve platformed Stephen A. Smith as if he’s the face of sports journalism,” he adds.

But Smith’s BYU outburst is far from the worst of it.

“The virus has been especially brutal to my community, with data showing black Americans being far more likely to get infected, get hospitalized, and, yes, even die from COVID-19. And now the data shows black Americans are not getting the vaccine, at least not at the same rate as other communities,” Smith preached on ESPN.

“Just in Philadelphia, where Rite Aid pharmacies are distributing the vaccine, 87% of vaccinations so far have gone to white folks, reportedly,” he added.

“‘You gotta take this poison, y’all,’” Whitlock mocks. “‘Black people, my community. Now, yes, I lived in a gated community filled with white people, but when I say my community, I’m talking about you black people.’”

“‘You got to take this experimental vaccine and kill yourself. … My IQ is probably in the low 80s, but I’m a doctor and can tell you what vaccines you should take,’” he continues.

“This is insanity,” Whitlock says, adding, “And you wonder why people have fatigue.”

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Free, Camera phone, Upload, Video phone, Video, Sharing, Youtube.com, Fearless with jason whitlock, Fearless, Jason whitlock, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Stephen a smith, Espn, Vaccines, Covid 19, Vaccine mandates, Covid vaccines, Racism, Racial idolatry 

A task force operation in Tennessee has led to 101 missing children cases being cleared, according to the U.S. Marshals, who also said more than 1,000 warrants had been cleared.

The Memphis Safe Task Force has been in operation for only several weeks, but the operation has led to more than 2,300 arrests and the seizure of over 389 firearms.

‘While investigative work is tedious, locating missing and endangered children is one of the things we are most proud of.’

The National Guard is a part of 31 state and federal agencies contributing to the Memphis Safe State Task Force.

“We are happy that we have been able to use our fugitive hunting skills to assist local and state authorities with finding these missing children,” said U.S. Marshals spokesperson Emily Williams. “What a testament to our partnerships to be able to work these cases together. While investigative work is tedious, locating missing and endangered children is one of the things we are most proud of.”

One case involved a 15-year-old who had been reported as a runaway on Sept. 1 and had allegedly indicated suicidal feelings. A tipster said that he had witnessed the boy living in a minivan with his father on his property in Hawaii. The property owner tried to kick them out of the location, but the man refused.

Officials said the father had a long criminal history that included domestic violence, abuse, drugs, battery, and burglary, both in California as well as Hawaii. On Nov. 6, the boy was recovered by officials and will be returned to Tennessee.

The dramatic increase in arrests has led to a shortage of space at the Shelby County Jail, according to Sheriff Floyd Bonner.

“When we were notified that the surge was going to occur, we started talking to the national marshals services, telling them that we weren’t prepared for this, but we couldn’t stop it, and we couldn’t delay it, they said it was going to happen,” said Bonner to WREG-TV. “We’ve been scrambling for a month now trying to get contracts signed and going back and forth with attorneys.”

RELATED: Texas teens find four abandoned children under 4 years old. Police said they had been alone for up to 2 days.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that three inmates had died separately at the jail in just over a week’s time.

Other organizations involved in the task force included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Health and Human Services, and the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Missing children found, Memphis safe task force, Jail run out of room, Shelby county sheriff bonner, Politics 

FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Beijing last week to finalize a deal with China to end the fentanyl production pipeline.

‘The Chinese government agreed on a plan to stop fentanyl precursors.’

Patel joined White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday in the briefing room to share the results of that visit.

Patel credited the accomplishment to Trump’s “historic engagement with [Chinese] President Xi,” referring to the leaders’ meeting in October.

Patel reported that the FBI has seized 1,900 kilograms of fentanyl — enough to kill 127 million — so far this year, noting that it was a 31% increase compared to the same time frame last year.

“Fentanyl precursors are what makes up fentanyl. While we, the inner agency, the Department of Justice, have been fighting hard to seize and stop drug traffickers, we must attack fentanyl precursors — the ingredients necessary to make this lethal drug,” Patel stated.

RELATED: Trump reveals what’s at stake if Supreme Court rules against his tariffs: ‘Devastating’

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

He noted that he is the first FBI director to travel to China in over a decade.

“The Chinese government agreed on a plan to stop fentanyl precursors,” Patel said.

“The People’s Republic of China has fully designated and listed all 13 precursors utilized to make fentanyl. Furthermore, they have agreed to control seven chemical subsidiaries that are also utilized to produce this lethal drug.”

“Effective immediately, essentially, President Trump has shut off the pipeline that creates fentanyl,” he continued.

“This historic achievement has saved tens of thousands of lives.”

RELATED: Trump scores win for American farmers as China commits to ‘massive’ soybean purchases

Photo by DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images

China’s Commerce Ministry announced early this week that it would adjust requirements for some precursor chemicals, requiring a license to export them to the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Most fentanyl that enters the U.S. is from Mexico, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The office reported in September that fentanyl continues to be the leading cause of overdose deaths in the country.

— (@)

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Fentanyl, Kash patel, Fbi, Federal bureau of investigation, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Xi jinping, China, Mexico, Xi, Chinese communist party, Ccp, People’s republic of china, Politics 

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presidential hopes hit another stumbling block after his former chief of staff was arrested for alleged political corruption Wednesday.

Dana Williamson, 53, was indicted by a federal grand jury for nearly two dozen counts, and she was arrested, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in California.

A statement from a spokesperson for Newsom suggested that President Donald Trump was abusing the legal process to punish his political opponents.

Prosecutors allege that Williamson illegally funneled approximately $225,000 from a dormant political campaign to various business entities for an associate’s personal use between Feb. 2022 and Sept. 2024.

Williamson allegedly “conspired with a business associate to create false, backdated contracts” after she was subpoenaed over Paycheck Protection Program loans to her business.

She also is accused of illegally reporting personal expenditures as business deductions on falsified tax forms. The more than $1 million in expenditures included “private jet travel, luxury hotel stays, home furnishings, and designer handbags,” according to the release.

A statement from a spokesperson for Newsom suggested that President Donald Trump was abusing the legal process to punish his political opponents.

“Ms. Williamson no longer serves in this administration. While we are still learning details of the allegations, the governor expects all public servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity,” read the statement. “At a time when the president is openly calling for his attorney general to investigate his political enemies, it is especially important to honor the American principle of being innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of one’s peers.”

However, the press release indicated that the investigation began under the Biden administration, undermining Newsom’s suggestion.

RELATED: Gavin Newsom lashes out at Joe Rogan for accusing him of ruining California: ‘He did horrible s**t!’

“This is a crucial step in an ongoing political corruption investigation that began more than three years ago,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant. “As it always has, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to protect the people of California from political corruption.”

If convicted, Williamson faces decades in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Newsom chief of staff, Dana williamson, Political corruption indictment, Newsom vs trump, Politics 

Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s Democratic mayor whose disapproval rating is over 60%, joined Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and other American leftists in complaining to foreign bureaucrats on Friday about the Trump administration’s faithful enforcement of federal immigration law.

After detailing some of the ways that his “sanctuary city” has worked to undermine federal law enforcement initiatives, Johnson stressed to members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, “We cannot do this alone.”

The ‘United Nations is not going to tell President Trump what to do.’

“That is why I call on this council to hold the federal government of the United States to the same standards of accountability you apply elsewhere in the world,” said Johnson, whose city has seen at least 368 homicides already this year. “No country should be above international law. Human rights are universal or they are meaningless.”

When asked about Johnson’s request that foreigners meddle in American politics, White House border czar Tom Homan told “The Big Weekend Show” that it “just proves he’s not that smart.”

RELATED: Trump celebrates historic crime drop in hostile sanctuary city after federal ‘blitz’: DHS

Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

“Asking the United Nations to, you know, interfere with ICE enforcing U.S. law is like asking an arsonist how to stop a fire,” said Homan. “The [International Organization for Migration], part of the U.N., helped fund the mass migration during the Biden administration’s four years, spending millions upon millions of dollars helping that … international migration coming to the United States.”

Homan underscored that the “United Nations is not going to tell President Trump what to do. President Trump was put into office on the promise of making this country safe again, on the promise of having the historic deportation operation — that’s exactly what America’s getting.”

‘We live with the consequences of that moral failure every day.’

The border czar noted that in addition to making Americans safer by giving the boot to criminal noncitizens and securing the border, the Trump administration’s clear messaging to would-be invaders that they’re not welcome has also saved the lives of thousands of migrants who might have joined the multitudes who previously died trying to reach America.

In their campaign to protect the people of Chicago from the illegal aliens Johnson is apparently keen to harbor, ICE has caught numerous dangerous criminal noncitizens.

For instance, two days before Johnson’s appeal to the U.N., ICE officers captured Alan Eduardo Garcia, an illegal alien from Mexico whose rap sheet includes arrests and convictions for felony strangulation, domestic battery, disorderly conduct, battery causing bodily injury, aggravated battery against a handicapped or pregnant woman, and unlawful use of a firearm, the agency claimed.

Among the other apparently dangerous foreigners ICE has captured in recent weeks was an illegal alien from Somalia who has convictions for multiple domestic assaults, rape, and multiple DUIs; a convicted murderer from Mexico; and multiple members of the terrorist gang Tren de Aragua.

Johnson suggested that the Trump administration’s refusal to let the U.N. police its actions amounts to a “moral failure,” adding that “we live with the consequences of that moral failure every day.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Brandon johnson, Chicago, Illinois, Democrat, Mayor, Tom homan, Homan, Immigration, Illegal alien, Criminal noncitizen, Deportation, United nations, Un, Politics 

Death chants, celebrations of murder, aggressive protests, and violent demonstrations are mostly happening on one side of the political aisle. The Democrat Party is supposed to be all about tolerance, love, and inclusivity, so why are lefties so hostile? Why do they cheer when political opponents are murdered in cold blood? Why do they scream for the death of their own country while championing the causes of terrorists overseas? Why do they physically attack people for wearing MAGA hats or selling Charlie Kirk merchandise on the street?

In other words: Where did their humanity go?

This was a topic Stu Burguiere, BlazeTV host of “Stu Does America,” dove into with conservative firebrand Megyn Kelly on a recent joint episode.

The increase in left-wing violence, while certainly a multifaceted issue, is caused in part by the digital age, Stu speculates. “Young people in the last 20 years — their time socializing with other human beings is down between 50% and 70%” thanks to things like the iPhone and social media, he says.

Given that today “pet owners spend more time actively engaged with their cats than they do other human beings,” is it any wonder their sense of humanity has dwindled? “There’s a disconnect that’s brewing between younger people and just the people around them,” says Stu. “They don’t see them as humans. They don’t have any respect for them at all.”

Never was this clearer than when countless left-wingers across the country celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk. Stu laments the fact that feeling sadness for the brutal death of a man whose only crime was to share his opinions in the public square is still too high a bar for the left to clear.

Even feeling sadness for Charlie’s family — his widow, Erika, and their two young children — is too high a bar for some on the left. “There’s a baby boy who’s still sleeping in a crib, there’s a toddler girl who have no understanding that they will never know their father. And there’s a mother who’s trying to raise them,” says Megyn.

And yet numerous left-wing attacks have been aimed directly at Erika and her children. They’ve been mocked; their grief has been publicly celebrated; gruesome re-enactments of Charlie’s murder have circulated online.

Megyn says that while there’s plenty of people she loathes, especially in left-wing media, she would “never wish for them to get hurt.” “God forbid they ever got attacked, I would never celebrate it. I would shed tears for them,” she says.

But young progressives today seem incapable of feeling any emotion for people they disagree with. Are the screens they live behind numbing their humanity?

While the digital age has undoubtedly stunted social and emotional development, conservatives are just as embedded in this technological landscape, but their civility has largely remained more intact than that of their liberal counterparts.

Stu theorizes that the digital age has had more of a negative impact on the left because progressives often prescribe to collectivism — the belief that the group (society, community, race, class, etc.) is more important than the individual, and that people should be judged, valued, or treated primarily based on their membership in that group rather than their personal actions, character, or choices.

Collectivism is the foundation on which DEI, affirmative action, and race/gender quotas are built. It’s a mentality that inevitably leads to bigotry as human beings are reduced to group identity. This ideology, says Stu, exacerbates the negative effects of social isolation caused by our technologies.

However, the loss of faith is another important factor. “In general, right-wing families are connected with faith,” says Megyn.

Progressives, in contrast, are far more likely to be secular, with those who identify as very liberal being the most likely to reject faith altogether. That means they don’t prescribe to a set of moral ideals set by a higher power and therefore can more easily justify things like violence, hatred, and revenge.

But that doesn’t mean lefties aren’t religious at their core. “Wokeism,” which Megyn calls a “false god,” has become the religion of the left. All the fervency, enthusiasm, and commitment that propels people of faith is still there; it’s just channeled in directions that are “extremely damaging.”

To hear more of Stu and Megyn’s conversation, watch the episode above.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Stu does america, Stu burguiere, Megyn kelly, Leftwing violence, Digital age, Smartphones, Collectivism, Loss of faith, Blazetv, Blaze media, Charlie kirk 

After more than two centuries, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has put in its final two cents — sort of.

On Wednesday, at an event that included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach, the mint stamped the last two U.S. pennies that will ever be made after production costs and the rise in digital financial transactions made the one-cent coins wasteful and impractical.

‘Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation[‘]s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.’

Those lucky two pennies have been marked with what USA Today described as a “special omega mark” and will not enter into circulation.

The Philadelphia Mint first began stamping pennies in 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. According to the New York Post, at the time, items that could be purchased for a penny included a biscuit, a candle, a piece of candy, and of course, a person’s thoughts.

RELATED: Bitcoin and the return of honest money

Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

However, these days, the one-cent coins cost nearly four cents to make, and the decision to discontinue stamping them is expected to save the Treasury Department $56 million in materials annually.

“Ongoing increases in production costs and the evolution in consumer habits and technology have made its production financially untenable,” a statement from the department said, according to USA Today.

The department further noted that the penny “remains legal tender and will retain its value indefinitely.” Reports estimate that at least 250 billion pennies are currently in circulation.

President Donald Trump has railed against ongoing production of the penny for months, calling for it to end. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” he posted on Truth Social back in February.

“I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation[‘]s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Brandon beach, Donald trump, Penny, Philadelphia, Scott bessent, Treasury department, Us mint, Politics