President Donald Trump has vowed to “take out” the Republican leader in the Indiana Senate for failing to enact the administration’s preferred congressional map.

With the 2026 primaries fast approaching, Republicans and Democrats have been gone head-to-head in several states over congressional redistricting. While both parties have seen some success in redrawing districts to their partisan benefit, Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray’s chamber struck down a new map that would have created two red congressional seats.

‘Republican’s House majority continues to shrink.’

“I was with David McIntosh of the Club for Growth, and we agreed that we will both work tirelessly together to take out Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray, a total RINO, who betrayed the Republican Party, the President of the United States, and everyone else who wants to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in a Truth Social Post.

“We’re after you Bray, like no one has ever come after you before!”

RELATED: Vance casts tiebreaking war powers vote after Republicans betray Trump

Kaiti Sullivan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

McIntosh confirmed Trump’s statement, saying he and the president are “aligned.”

“Rod Bray is going down,” McIntosh said in a post on X.

Trump’s frustration with Bray comes as the Republicans’ House majority continues to shrink with resignations, impending retirements, and the tragic death of GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California.

Because of the successful redistricting efforts of blue states like California, many Republican seats are rated “toss-ups” by the Cook Political Report, leaving a lot of wiggle room for Democrats to regain control of the House. Just four Democrat-held seats are currently rated “toss-up,” while 14 Republican seats share the same electoral uncertainty.

RELATED: California Republican suddenly dies at age 65

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

There is also a trend of alternating between unified and divided governments every Congress, with the latter half of a president’s term often being paired with an opposing Congress. Although this is not the case for every modern presidency, it is an observable pattern that pundits and political operatives are bracing themselves for.

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​Donald trump, Rod bray, Indiana, Redistricting, Redistricting battle, Prop 50, Gavin newsom, California, Truth social, David mcintosh, Rino, Republican in name only, House republicans, Mike johnson, Cook political report, House democrats, Congress, Politics 

Democrats have made no secret of their contempt for the men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who daily put their lives at risk to keep dangerous criminal noncitizens off American streets.

Evidently keen to go beyond just demonizing ICE agents, a Maryland Democrat has proposed legislation that would deny them future jobs in the crime-ridden state’s enforcement agencies.

Adrian Boafo, a Democrat member of Maryland’s House of Delegates who is currently running for Congress, proposed legislation earlier this month titled the “ICE Breaker Act of 2026,” aimed at punishing “those who are motivated to support this Administration’s immigration policies and principles by joining ICE.”

‘The ICE Breaker Act of 2026 is an unserious, frankly stupid bill.’

“Under Donald Trump, Steven Miller [sic] and Kristi Noem, ICE has ceased to function as a lawful and legitimate law enforcement agency,” said Boafo. “Instead it operates as a lawless and unconstitutional paramilitary operation.”

“Accordingly, this bill prevents individuals who chose to join ICE after January 20, 2025 in support of this administration’s immigration agenda from serving in trusted law-enforcement positions within Maryland state government,” added Boafo, who claimed elsewhere that ICE agents are neither trained nor qualified to serve as police.

The Department of Homeland Security recently indicated that ICE received over 220,000 applications and hired well over 10,000 new officers over the past year, doubling the number of personnel from 10,000 to roughly 22,000.

Boafo, the son of Ghanaian immigrants, will reportedly formally introduce the bill when the General Assembly reconvenes this week and has promised to introduce similar legislation in Congress if elected in the midterms.

RELATED: ‘You are on notice!’ Don Lemon backs anti-ICE radicals who stormed Saint Paul church — but DOJ vows reckoning

Adrian Boafo. Photo by Eric Lee/Washington Post/Getty Images

The proposed legislation has been condemned by various officials in the state.

Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler suggested Boafo’s bill was “another poorly thought out piece of legislation and one motivated purely by political purposes.”

Gahler told WBFF-TV that ICE agents “have a legitimate law enforcement mission to fulfill, and this delegate wants to punish them for taking an oath of office and doing the job they are constitutionally sworn to do.”

“How sad can Maryland’s legislature — how low can they go?” said Gahler. “The hate, the Trump derangement syndrome would be the basis.”

Betsy Smith, spokeswoman for the National Police Association, underscored that contrary to Boafo’s suggestion, ICE agents have to undergo strict scrutiny and relevant testing in order to join state law enforcement agencies.

“It sounds as though this politician wants people to believe that an ICE agent can just come into their town and tomorrow be a patrol officer,” Smith told WBFF. “It’s simply ridiculous.”

Smith further stressed that it is “ridiculous to not hire ICE agents during a police understaffing crisis.”

“This is a dumb idea,” Republican Del. Kathy Szeliga told the Washington Post. “Law enforcement hiring should be based on the training, experience, and conduct of the candidate, not a partisan litmus test tied to some president you don’t like.”

Maryland House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R) cast doubt on the legality of the proposed legislation and suggested it was “not worthy of serious consideration.”

Republican Del. Matt Morgan emphasized the discriminatory nature of the proposed hiring ban, writing, “What about ICE agents hired under Biden or Obama? The ICE Breaker Act of 2026 is an unserious, frankly stupid bill for the purpose of political pandering.”

Despite its vilification by Boafo and other Maryland Democrats, ICE has worked overtime to make the state safer.

For instance, earlier this month, ICE arrested Oscar Miguel Argueta-Del Cid, an illegal alien from El Salvador who was convicted of sexually abusing a minor in Montgomery County, and last month ICE arrested Kevin Alexis Mendex-Ortiz, a criminal noncitizen from Honduras who caused a head-on collision in Prince George’s County that sent an American citizen to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Blaze News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

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The richest man in the world has made a hefty donation to a pro-Trump Republican looking to take over the Kentucky U.S. Senate seat occupied by Mitch McConnell for 40 years, Axios has reported..

Last week, billionaire businessman Elon Musk donated $10 million to the Fight for Kentucky super PAC, which supports the candidacy of Nate Morris, founder of waste and recycling giant Rubicon.

Axios implied that the Musk-Morris connection may have come about because of Vice President JD Vance.

Morris has billed himself as a MAGA warrior and the antithesis of McConnell. In a scathing campaign video titled “Garbage Day,” Morris suggests that McConnell is a “trash Trump” “career politician” who has been “dumping” on Americans and Kentuckians in particular for decades.

“We’ve let the garbage pile up in Washington, D.C., for far too long. I’m running for Senate to help President Trump clean up the mess,” Morris states in the ad.

McConnell announced last February that he would not seek an eighth term.

RELATED: Mitch McConnell announces Senate retirement

Axios implied that the Musk-Morris connection may have come about because of Vice President JD Vance, whom the outlet described as “close to” Musk and a “personal friend” to Morris.

Axios also indicated that Musk’s massive donation is a sign that he intends to use his wealth in support of Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

Morris did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment but did retweet a post about the Axios report. Requests for comment sent to Musk’s various businesses received no response.

The Axios report did not include a statement from Morris or Musk.

Thus far, President Donald Trump has not endorsed any candidate in the race. In his campaign video, Morris characterizes other Republicans running for the seat — Congressman Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron — as McConnell’s “puppets.”

Several Democrats have tossed their hats into the ring, including Amy McGrath, who was trounced by McConnell in 2020. However, whoever prevails in the Republican primary is expected to win the general election in November.

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In one of the clearest examples of elections having consequences in recent times, Virginia’s new lieutenant governor’s swearing-in ceremony made history for its unorthodox changes.

On Saturday, Ghazala Firdous Hashmi took her oath of office to fill the lieutenant governor seat. However there was one major twist to the proceedings: Instead of placing her left hand on the Bible, Hashmi swore her oath on the Quran.

Hashmi sees her election and inauguration as a sign of Virginia’s ‘continued progress toward a more representative and inclusive democracy.’

“Place your left hand on the Quran,” the woman directing the inauguration instructed Hashmi.

“I, Ghazala Firdous Hashmi, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States,” she said during the ceremony.

RELATED: Progressive wins VA race despite admitted indifference to ‘sexually explicit material’ in schools

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

According to her official website, Hashmi was born in Hyderabad, India, and was brought to the United States as a child.

She is the first Muslim woman to hold statewide office in the nation and the first South Asian-American to be elected to statewide office in Virginia.

Hashmi sees her election and inauguration as a sign of Virginia’s “continued progress toward a more representative and inclusive democracy.”

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Every Friday evening, our house goes offline. My wife and I close our laptops, silence our phones, and step away from the world for about 24 hours.

We don’t watch any movies, don’t listen to any music, don’t drive anywhere in the car, and don’t buy anything at the store. Our kids may not be as plugged in as my wife or I am, but they too retreat from the world outside our family.

I remember what actually matters. I feel less angry, less anxious, and less consumed by things beyond my control.

We do this every week because we observe the Jewish Sabbath, which begins just before sundown on Friday night and ends just after sunset on Saturday.

Pressing pause

The truth is not many people observe the Sabbath like we do. Of course, all traditionally inclined Jews observe in our same way, but there aren’t that many traditionally observant Jews in the world. In terms of world population, the number of people who take a 24-hour break from the internet every single week on the Sabbath is rather small.

That number should be larger. I say that not because I think more people should be religious in the same way we are; in my view, everyone has their own faith, and it’s not my place to tell people what to believe. But I do think people should observe some sort of Sabbath because it’s good for you.

I’m not the first to suggest that both gentiles and Jews could benefit from this ancient tradition. The late Charlie Kirk observed the Sabbath much like we do. At the time of his assassination, he was preparing to launch a book on the personal benefits of stepping away from the world every Friday evening.

Creative control

I can personally vouch for all the benefits the Sabbath brings. Getting away from the internet for a solid 24 hours every single week keeps me sane. Really, I’m not exaggerating. I would lose my mind without it. I don’t know how I would handle being plugged in 24/7 — 24/6 I can do, but no more than that.

To be honest, I feel myself starting to get sick of X, Instagram, news, and everything else searchable by Friday afternoon. I feel myself starting to get physically ill and more angry than I ought to be as the hours wind down before the weekend.

After six days of online living, I start to feel like a rubber band about to snap. Too many competing signals crowd my brain, making it impossible to think clearly. By the time the sun begins to set, I hate the internet so much that I just want to unplug from everything.

So that’s what I do.

And why not? Even God — the original Sabbath-keeper — needed a break after creating the world:

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:2-3, NKJV).

And He didn’t have social media.

Stranger danger

Never before in history have human beings had such constant access to the wider world. We can read news from every corner of the globe, peer into places our ancestors never knew existed, and absorb information about people we don’t know and never will. We can even enjoy the strange, modern pleasure of being insulted by random strangers online who, for reasons known only to them, have decided they hate us.

These are all recent developments — and they come with modern, often negative consequences.

Our ancestors never lived in a world like this. And it is, frankly, a wild one. It has a way of convincing us that trivial things matter more than they do, of distracting us from what truly matters. It pulls our attention away from our families and from God and pushes it instead toward a constant stream of strangers, gossip, and noise. It wears on you. It drives you a little crazy.

I think we’re seeing the effects of that now. A world permanently plugged into the internet is a world slowly losing its bearings. People become meaner, more confused, more absorbed in distant controversies and less attentive to the people right in front of them. They become less themselves and more like the mob — less human, in a subtle but troubling way. The always-online state has made us coarser, and we are worse for it.

RELATED: Erika Kirk joins Glenn Beck to discuss Charlie’s legacy and his book on honoring the Sabbath

Glenn Beck, Erika Kirk. Image source: Blaze Media

Keeping quiet

Every week when I unplug, I arrive at the same realizations. They usually come sometime around Saturday afternoon. I remember what actually matters. I feel less angry, less anxious, and less consumed by things beyond my control. I feel more like myself. My mind is clearer. My heart is gentler. I am, quite simply, more at peace.

I wish I could remember all of this without the Sabbath. But I can’t. I’m not perfect — far from it. And maybe, just maybe, God knew something about the people He created when He gave us a day of rest.

I step away from the internet and the world of work every Friday night. I don’t think you have to do it exactly the way I do — or even on the same day — for it to matter. Maybe for you it’s Saturday night to Sunday night. Maybe it’s all day Sunday until Monday morning. Whatever works for you is fine.

I only know what works for me: turning off my phone every Friday evening, watching my wife and daughter light the Shabbat candles, sharing a meal together, not checking the news, and spending 24 hours in a small, quiet cocoon — safe, for a time, from a chaotic world.

​Men’s style, Judaism, Faith, Sabbath, Charlie kirk, Lifestyle, Internet, The root of the matter 

Everyone’s favorite Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, is fighting for a Texas Senate seat — and while she once had a commanding lead — new polling shows that changing.

Just last month, an article from CBS News read, “A poll last month from Texas Southern University showed Crockett leading Talarico by eight percentage points, 51% to 43%, with 6% undecided. During a recent campaign stop in Fort Worth, Crockett told CBS News Texas, ‘I will always run like I’m behind. That’s the only way I know how to run. So let me tell you, if I’m not in D.C., I will be here in Texas fighting to earn every single vote that I can.”

“That’s our girl. Inspiring, an inspiring candidate, Jasmine Crockett. Now you might say, ‘Wait a minute. Isn’t she a crazy leftist? Why are you saying she’s our girl?’ Because I want her to win this primary so very badly. I want her to run in basically every race that I follow because she’s just absolutely fantastic,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere comments.

However Stu has terrible news for those who love Crockett as much as he does.

“I hope you’re sitting down. ‘Texas 2026 poll: Talarico leads Crockett for Democratic Senate nomination,’” Stu reads.

“This is crushing. It’s crushing. And look, it’s not over yet. Still got plenty of time here to turn this around, but I am a little nervous in that she was up eight last time. And now James Talarico 47%, Jasmine Crockett at 38%,” Stu says.

“Still 15% undecided though. That’s 15% that could go to our girl Jasmine Crockett. She is losing now and that’s a 17-point swing from the last time,” he continues.

“Of course, if people are hearing her speak and listening to her policies, well of course she’s going to lose. That’s unfair. We shouldn’t be focusing on those things. That’s not what Jasmine’s here to do,” he says, adding, “Very disappointing. I’m disappointed in you Texas.”

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.

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A Texas Army sergeant stationed at Fort Hood was arrested after video showing a 3-year-old boy being brutally beaten went viral on social media.

Waco Police said Paul Thames, 29, is the male seen in a Ring doorbell camera video beating the child, KWTX-TV reported, adding that the clip was recorded at the Legend Apartments and shared with law enforcement.

‘Are you going to stop playing?’

Thames is being held on a federal detainer at the McLennan County Jail, the station said.

A spokesperson with the 1st Cavalry Division confirmed to KWTX in an email that Thames is a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood.

“We are aware of the arrest of Sgt. Paul Thames for abuse of a child. The 1st Cavalry Division is in communication with law enforcement. We are disgusted by the video that has been posted,” the official told the station. “The behavior of Sgt. Thames does not reflect the values of the 1st Cavalry Division or the U.S. Army.”

RELATED: Woman admits to beating to death boyfriend’s 3-year-old son after horrific abuse, court records show

The video shared with KWTX shows the male picking up the toddler and hitting him at least five times in the torso with a clenched fist, the station said.

The boy is heard crying as the man pulls him up by the face and asks, “Are you going to stop playing?” KWTX reported, adding that the male then walks away with the child.

Police were dispatched around 5:20 p.m. Friday to the apartment complex located at 2400 Corporation Parkway to investigate the incident, the station said.

Police added to KWTX that the child was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where medical personnel evaluated him, and he was later released.

Thames surrendered to authorities and was booked into the McLennan County Jail late Friday night, the station said, adding that he was charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony.

Thames’ bond was set at $200,000, but KWTX said the county jail confirmed that he was being held on a federal detainer.

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​Physical attack, Us army, Fort hood, Waco, Texas, Arrest, Child beating, Federal detainer, Ring camera, Injury to a child, Felony, Paul thames, Crime 

Ex-CNN talking head Don Lemon joined other radicals in storming a Christian church on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The White House and the Department of Justice indicated that those who disrupted the service, intimidated churchgoers, and screamed incessantly at the altar about Renee Good — a subversive who died driving her SUV into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent — may soon face a reckoning.

Rushing the altar

Radicals from Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and BLM Twin Cities assembled on Sunday for a so-called “ICE Out Action.” Rather than interfere with ICE operations like the woman whose name was on their lips, they rushed into Cities Church and did their best to drown out sounds of worship.

‘A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest!’

Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, claimed responsibility for the disruption and indicated that Cities Church was targeted because “David Easterwood is a Pastor at this church and the Acting Field Director for the ICE office in St. Paul.”

Footage from an October Department of Homeland Security press conference appears to feature the same David Easterwood who is pictured on the church’s website. Blaze News has reached out to ICE and Cities Church for comment.

“It’s time for judgment to begin,” said Armstrong.

The mob refused requests from church officials to leave the premises and instead screamed and chanted in the aisles and pews.

In one video of the mob action, Armstrong yells, “Someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents. Think about what we experienced. The murder of Renee Good at the hands of ICE. A Venezuelan national shot by ICE.”

RELATED: Don Lemon calls for ‘black people, brown people’ to take up arms against ICE

Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

After alluding to two individuals who were shot, one fatally, while allegedly attacking federal agents, Armstrong yelled, “How dare you claim to be a pastor of God? … You are involved in evil in our community.”

In another potentially incriminating video that BLM Minnesota shared online, radicals can be seen blocking the altar, yelling Renee Good’s name, and pressing parishioners individually to answer whether they support ICE. One pair of visibly upset churchgoers can be seen in the video comforting one another while the radicals angrily condemn members of law enforcement.

Don Lemon, posing as a journalist on the scene, advocated for the mob action, stating, “There’s nothing in the Constitution that tells you what time you can protest. You can protest at any time. That’s the whole point of it — is to disrupt, is to make uncomfortable, and that’s what they’re doing, and that’s what I believe when I say everyone has to be willing to sacrifice something. You have to make people uncomfortable in these times.”

Lemon — who suggested in October that “black people, brown people” should take up arms against ICE — lectured lead Pastor Jonathan Parnell after Parnell said the mob action was “unacceptable” and that it was “shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.”

RELATED: Blocking ICE with ‘micro-intifada’: Good’s group taught de-arrest, cop-car chaos before her death

Photo by Jason Alpert-Wisnia/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

“There’s a Constitution and the First Amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest,” Lemon told Parnell, excusing the mob’s interference and intimidation tactics.

Federal response

“President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota.”

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon indicated that her office was looking into potential violations of the the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act “by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.” Dhillon noted further that the FBI had been “activated too!”

Although liberally and primarily used by the previous administration to lock up pro-life activists, the FACE ACT also prohibits the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.

Violations can result in prison time and hefty fines as well as civil lawsuits.

— (@)

Dhillon said in response to Lemon’s defense of the mob action, “A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”

After speaking with Pastor Parnell and Dhillon, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, “Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”

“If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails,” added Bondi.

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​Protest, Mob, Blm, Black lives matter, Bigots, Anti-christian, Anti-ice, Us immigration and customs enforcement, Customs, Immigration, Ice, Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. paul, Don lemon, Leftist, Leftism, Liberal, Renee good, Face act, Freedom of access to clinic entrances act, Politics