A federal judge in Minnesota on Thursday ordered accused political assassin Vance Luther Boelter held until his trial on charges that he gunned down a former state House speaker and her husband and shot a state senator and his wife on June 14.

Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, Minn., told U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko that he is “looking forward to the truth and facts of the 14th to come before you,” adding, “I think Minnesotans want to know what’s going on.”

Judge Micko found probable cause to hold Boelter for trial. There is no bail in federal criminal court. A Hennepin County judge set Boelter’s bail at $5 million on state murder and attempted murder charges.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said Boelter will be indicted by a grand jury by July 15 and then face an arraignment hearing on the charges handed down by the panel. The grand jury could add criminal counts to the six felonies listed in the June 16 criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

A law enforcement honor guard leads the caskets of Melissa and Mark Hortman out of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis after their June 28 funeral Mass.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Boelter is charged with first shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at the front door of their home in Champlin, Minn., just after 2 a.m. June 14.

Boelter was dressed as a police officer, wearing a disguise and driving a Ford SUV painted like a police vehicle, police said. After the Hoffmans opened the door to Boelter, they quickly realized he was not a real police officer and tried to force him out of the house, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court June 16. The Hoffmans said they were shot a total of 17 times. They survived after emergency surgery and are recovering.

‘Minnesotans want to know what’s going on.’

Boelter had murder on his mind when visiting two other homes owned by Minnesota state legislators, Thompson has said. State Rep. Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL-Maple Grove) was not home when Boelter pounded on the front door of her home, the FBI said. He next planned to go to the home of state Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope), but was scared away after a New Hope police officer spotted his SUV parked a block away.

He next went to the home of Speaker of the House Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park), parking his SUV in the driveway with its emergency lights engaged.

Before he could attempt to enter the home, he was confronted by two Brooklyn Park Police Department officers, the FBI said. He opened fire on them, and nine-year veteran Officer Zachary Baumtrog returned fire, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Baumtrog was placed on critical-incident leave, which is standard in officer-involved shootings.

Boelter allegedly fired his 9mm Glock pistol into the front door as he forced his way inside the Hortman home. He then allegedly assassinated Hortman, her husband, Mark Hortman, and their golden retriever, Gilbert, the FBI said. He escaped out the rear of the home, setting off a more than 40-hour manhunt that ended with his arrest in a field near Green Isle at 9:15 p.m. June 15.

After the hearing, Thompson told reporters the investigation is ongoing “to determine exactly what happened and if anyone else was involved.”

Wearing a yellow jail uniform Thursday, Boelter repeated some of his complaints about conditions at the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, where he is being held. He asked if the lights in his cell could be turned off at night.

At a hearing June 27, Boelter complained about a laundry list of things, drawing a strong rebuke from Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott. “He is not in a hotel,” Brott said. “He’s in jail.”

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The political world recoiled in shock when a relatively unknown left-wing politician defeated Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination for the mayor’s office in New York City.

More and more damaging policies and statements from Zohran Mamdani have resurfaced since then, but Rolling Stone magazine has rode in on a white horse in an attempt to save him from the slings and arrows of outrageous criticism.

‘It’s shocking to see the lengths that many in the media will go to lie about an Antisemitic mayoral candidate. Rolling Stone should stick to rock & roll.’

The outlet claims that many of the rumors about Mamdani are the result of “Islamophobic hate” and set out to defend his honor. Among two of the more dubious claims was a defense of Mamdani trying to characterize the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” as a cry for equality, when many consider it to be a support of violence against Jews.

The article also defends him from accusations that he’s communist on the basis that he’s only a socialist that wants to drastically expand social programs in the city and said that billionaires shouldn’t exist.

The outlet was immediately criticized for trying to whitewash the controversy plaguing his campaign.

“Rolling Stone: What does seizing the means of production mean to you? Who owns the buildings that he proposes to devalue through rent control? How much of other peoples [sic] money should he have the right to steal and dispense? Help me with the misinformation I gather, from listening to him,” wrote CEO Rick Rule.

“Zohran Mamdani supports BDS, defends globalizing the intifada, and blames the Israeli victims for the October 7th massacre. It’s shocking to see the lengths that many in the media will go to lie about an Antisemitic mayoral candidate. Rolling Stone should stick to rock & roll,” said Newsweek contributor Joel Petlin.

“Bullcrap. Rolling stone has been on the wrong side of history throughout its existence. The fact that you want to whitewash genocidal proclamations, against Jews no less, says everything we want to know. Globalize the intifada is a rallying cry to attack Jews. Period. Do some honest research before you publish this rubbish,” responded surgeon Alan Malki.

RELATED: Mark Levin predicts 3 things that will happen if New York elects Zohran Mamdani

“Rolling Stone doing panicked Baghdad Bob propaganda in defense of Mamdani tells you the revelations about him are breaking through to voters even in Democratic circles,” said another critic.

Others mocked Rolling Stone by bringing up their fawning coverage of Islamist murderer and terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from 2013.

The fate of New York City will be decided in the ballot box in November when Mamdani faces incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo again, and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.

If the socialist Mamdani is victorious, he will become the first Muslim and the first Indian-American mayor of the Big Apple.

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President Donald Trump is kicking off a yearlong celebration for the 250th anniversary of the United States with a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on Thursday.

The massive celebration has been planned by America250, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and private citizens, in order to observe the 250th anniversary since the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the founders in 1776.

‘This special event serves as the magnificent start of a dynamic, year-long commemoration across our beautiful country.’

The president is scheduled to speak at the fairgrounds at about 8:30 p.m. ET with what is called a “Salute to America” address.

“America250 is proud to host this historic kick-off event in Iowa, in keeping with President Trump’s commitment to provide a grand celebration worthy of the momentous occasion of America’s 250th birthday,” said Monica Crowley, America250’s principal media representative.

“This special event serves as the magnificent start of a dynamic, year-long commemoration across our beautiful country, unveiling a vision for a renewed commitment to America’s future,” she added.

You can watch the festivities live below on the KOTV-DT livestream:

The event will also be streaming on the group’s account on the X social media platform.

Kristi Noem, the secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, is also scheduled to speak at the event, and country singer Lee Greenwood will perform.

Crowley said there will be patriotic music, dancing, and fireworks.

“This will be a very special event, honoring our Great Country, and our Brave Heroes who fought to keep us FREE,” said the president on Truth Social about the event. “I’ll also tell you some of the GREAT things I’ve already done on Trade, especially as it relates to Farmers. You are going to be very happy with what I say — Should be a BIG Crowd!”

The president will likely use the occasion to tout the passage of his “big, beautiful bill” through Congress earlier in the day.

America250 merchandise is available for purchase on the group’s website.

A 250-year anniversary is also called a semiquincentennial, which is far more difficult to pronounce.

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Transgender influencer Lilly Contino — who rose to TikTok fame for posting videos of himself complaining about being misgendered at restaurants — could be in serious legal jeopardy after filming himself using the women’s bathrooms at Walt Disney World.

Contino, taunting those who believe women’s bathrooms should only be for biological women, posted selfies in the Disney park’s women’s rooms and rated the bathrooms. Other women can be seen in the background of his photos.

After Contino posted them all over his social media, guests were furious that he was filming them in a private area.

In a social media post, some of the women caught on film in Contino’s posts are threatening legal action — and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) couldn’t agree with them more.

“This person just got in trouble,” BlazeTV host Alex Stein tells Mace, asking, “Will you send this person to jail?”

“I would. If you’re a man in a women’s bathroom and it’s against the law, you shouldn’t be there. Then yeah, whatever, everything’s on the table here. Like, just be a decent human being and respect women,” Mace responds.

“This guy is a bigot, he’s a misogynist, he’s the patriarchy, literally the patriarchy. He’s making fun of women. Women don’t dress like this,” she continues.

“And I’ve seen some of his videos when he had feminine surgery that didn’t make him look more feminine. I’ve seen this guy online, and he mocks us. It’s disgusting, and why are they filming themselves in the bathroom? It’s perverted, it’s gross, and children should not be exposed to that,” she adds.

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 in favor of the Trump administration deporting violent criminal illegal aliens to countries not of their origin, and the dissenting justices issued scathing dissents.

In contention is whether the administration can deport illegal aliens who have been convicted of violent crimes to countries other than where they originated. The migrants were on a flight to South Sudan before a lower court ruling said they needed to be given proper notice and a chance to argue their case.

‘No country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric.’

On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed the government to continue in its plan to send the violent criminal aliens to South Sudan.

After the ruling against the administration by Judge Brian Murphy of the District Court in Massachusetts in May, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a list of the migrants and their violent crimes in order to garner public support.

“We conducted a deportation flight from Texas to remove some of the most barbaric, violent individuals illegally in the United States,” reads a DHS statement. “No country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric.”

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued dissent in the case, which was joined by Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“What the Government wants to do, concretely, is send the eight noncitizens it illegally removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be turned over to the local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they will face torture or death,” charged Sotomayor.

RELATED: Supreme Court rules against Trump on deportations under Alien Enemies Act; Alito and Thomas dissent

Sotomayor concluded by accusing the court of giving the Trump administration special treatment.

“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” she wrote. “Respectfully, I dissent.”

Murphy had been nominated by former President Joe Biden.

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As an illegal immigrant, Iris Dayana Monterroso-Lemus hadn’t called Guatemala home in over a decade — but that’s where she found herself after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Lenoir City.

Monterroso-Lemus, who was pregnant, was detained at the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana before being deported. While there, she lost her mid-term pregnancy.

“I had him inside here for three days, in this Louisiana facility, my baby dead in my stomach, inside my stomach for three days, dead,” she said.

“Now, I will say, if that is true, it is disgusting, and we should be outraged,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey comments, noting that just because she supports “deportations, the sovereignty of our country, the enforcement of immigration law,” it doesn’t mean she supports that kind of treatment.

“That doesn’t mean I am going to agree with every individual treatment of every single person. And because human beings are flawed, systems can be flawed as well. And they can be sinful, and they can do wrong things. And so, I would have no problem saying this is horrifying,” she explains.

However, there has been a counternarrative.

Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security has claimed that the story is “absolutely false.”

“She had FULL medical, prenatal care. We have documentation to show it. Iris Daynus Monterroso-Lemus, 37, is a citizen of Guatemala who has been arrested multiple times for child abuse and is wanted on an active warrant for homicide,” McLaughlin wrote in a post on X.

The DHS also claimed on their government website that she received prenatal care, including an ultrasound, an OBGYN visit, dental care, and medication. According to them, she was admitted to a hospital and saw multiple nurses.

When Monterroso-Lemus identified the distress on April 29, the DHS reported giving her immediate medical assistance and sent her to a hospital immediately.

“Now, you can say, ‘Well, I don’t believe the DHS. It’s just propaganda,’” Stuckey comments. “But I would just say, I would warn you before you latch onto a story that is meant to grab onto your heart and pull your empathy in the direction of progressive policy, to ask yourself, ‘But is this true?’”

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On the third day of a union strike of municipal workers, garbage is piling up in Philadelphia, and some workers are resorting to threats and vandalism against residents who dare to break the strike.

The City of Philadelphia is negotiating with members of the AFSCME District Council 33 union, who are asking for a wage increase of 8% per year. The city has offered to increase wages by 7% over three years, which led to the worker strike beginning Tuesday.

‘The smell. It’s unsanitary, it’s unsafe, it needs to stop!’

Since then, residents are reporting that garbage is piling up and threatening their standard of living. “This is a nightmare,” said Renee Dennis of West Philadelphia to WPVI-TV.

“I’m 55 years old, I have never seen nothing like this,” said Dennis. “They say this happened back in ’83. Don’t remember. Don’t want to remember!”

“The smell. It’s unsanitary, it’s unsafe, it needs to stop!” said another unidentified resident.

The city has set up dumpster locations, but union workers are demanding that residents respect the strike and ignore the garbage sites to pressure the city into caving to their demands.

RELATED: Janitors’ union called a strike outside Twitter, so Elon Musk canceled its contract and fired the janitors

Union president Greg Boulware said that no one anywhere has it worse than the union members in Philadelphia.

“Nobody understands financial constraints more than our members,” Boulware claimed. “We’re asking for a little bit of relief so we can loosen our belts just a little bit instead of continuously keep tightening them. There’s no more left to tighten.”

Residents are overwhelmed by the garbage piling up.

“All I can do is keep my own home safe and get up some air purifiers, just to keep the smell out!” said Justin Malamut of West Philadelphia.

The city obtained a court order preventing union members from getting in the way of city vehicles and harassing workers, but the city solicitor says some members have ignored that order.

On Wednesday, the second day of the strike, WPVI reported that police had to intervene when striking city workers blocked sanitation trucks from entering a sanitation center.

RELATED: MSNBC workers announce union effort, but the progressive channel refuses to voluntarily recognize it

One striker was arrested for allegedly slashing the tires of a PGA worker on Tuesday. He also injured his hand in the process of stabbing the tire.

“This is not legal activity. This is in violation of injunctions. It needs to stop!” said Philadelphia city solicitor Renee Garcia.

Garcia said that union members had jammed locks at health centers, shut off water at a Water Department facility, and were harassing residents and workers over the strike.

“We’re beyond disrespect. This is disgraceful. It is illegal,” she added.

The union released a statement imploring members to follow the law during the strike.

“I saw there were some rats scurrying over here,” said resident Giuseppe Mollo. “I don’t know how long this can last.”

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The Federal Reserve uses protecting the free market as one of the biggest reasons for its existence, but former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) knows better.

“That’s the argument they use,” he tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. “You know, bank runs and all this, and the Fed was established to stop all that.”

“And you can stop it, but it’s because they drifted away and they never fully obeyed the Constitution that nothing other than gold and silver would be used as legal tender, and that was a little too sloppy,” he continues.

“You wrote ‘End the Fed,'” Glenn responds. “What would you add to that today?”

“You put a rule in there that says that the Federal Reserve cannot buy government debt,” Paul answers. “That’s the whole thing. Then they get into manipulating and then they get into this astounding thing. They’re central economic planners by manipulating interest rates.”

“That’s where the real problem is, the economic planning that they have and the pretense that they know what is there,” he continues. “They talk as if what they’re saying is authentic, and it’s always, ‘What can we say to calm the people’s nerves?’”

While the Federal Reserve buys the government debt, American citizens are left to suffer if they fall into a money pit they can’t get out of.

“If you or I go overboard, and we spend $5 million and all of a sudden the banks won’t loan us any more money, we have to declare bankruptcy. We have to get another job or quit spending,” Paul says. “Governments don’t do that.”

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President Donald Trump notches the first major legislative victory of his second term in office after months of tumultuous negotiations on Capitol Hill.

The House passed the final version of the “big, beautiful bill” Thursday in a 218-214 vote after a tense overnight rules vote that was finalized just after 3:20 in the morning. The bill passed with 218 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation, while Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania joined 212 Democrats and voted against the bill.

Leading up to the final vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) gave a record-breaking eight-hour, 44-minute speech on the House floor to stall the vote, even putting a fellow Democratic lawmaker to sleep. Vice President JD Vance joked in a post on X that a GOP rep texted him about how Jeffries’ speech swayed his vote.

“I was undecided on the bill but then I watched Hakeem Jeffries [sic] performance and now I’m a firm yes.”

“Democrats are focused on performing,” Speaker Mike Johnson said ahead of the vote. “Republicans are focused on delivering.”

Although the bill has been embraced by the president and the majority of the MAGA coalition, Massie and Fitzpatrick are not the only ones who took issue with the legislation.

‘This Independence Day will mark the beginning of America’s golden age.’

RELATED: Vance casts tiebreaking vote after Republicans betray Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Leading up to the vote, several House Republicans argued the Senate had “watered down” the bill beyond recognition. Conservatives were particularly concerned that the Senate did not properly address removing Biden-era green energy subsidies as well as limiting Medicaid access for criminal illegal aliens.

Other Republicans, Massie in particular, maintained that the spending levels in the bill are unsustainable.

“There’s no such thing as a tax relief without spending cuts,” Massie said. “Gov’t can reduce the tax rate, but the spending still must be paid for. Gov’t must borrow money (which raises interest rates & requires more taxes later) or print money (which causes inflation). Both hurt Americans.”

Many of these conservatives who had reservations over the bill met with the president at the White House on Wednesday morning leading up to the vote. In the end, Johnson managed to get the bill across the finish line with just a few votes to spare. Notably, Johnson passed the first version of the bill in the House with a 215-214 vote.

RELATED: Republicans rage over Senate’s ‘watered-down’ version of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Vance had to cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate on Tuesday after three Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky — voted against the bill. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was also a tough sell, calling it “one of the hardest votes” she has taken during her time in the Senate.

After a record-breaking 27-hour vote-a-rama, Murkowski came around and voted to pass the bill, although she said the “bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the President’s desk.”

Despite Murkowksi’s plea to continue working on the legislation, the bill is headed right to the president’s desk. Trump is expected to hold a signing ceremony at the White House on July 4.

“After years of failed policies, we stepped up to put Americans first and fulfilled our promises,” Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas told Blaze News. “On July 4, 2025, we will return power to where it belongs — with the American people. This Independence Day will mark the beginning of America’s golden age.”

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Well, there it is. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk for a big, beautiful Independence Day signing.

It took many sleepless nights and hard days to get here, and it wasn’t remotely a sure thing when it all began a few months ago. Much has changed since then. And for the past few weeks, you could bet big that the bill would cross the finish line. The last few days have been nothing but faux brinkmanship and political theater.

Think of the process as a game of musical chairs.

Passing the administration’s ambitious agenda — tax cuts, border security, and gang deportations — took serious effort. The president held dozens of meetings and made hundreds of calls to push Congress across the finish line. He was backed by a sharp legislative affairs team, including Stephen Miller, the media point man; James Blair, the relentless deputy chief; and James Braid, the director one senior White House official called “the man on the wall.” These were the point men guiding the bill through months of legislative gridlock, fielding reporters’ questions, and driving the message to the public.

Then there were the chamber’s leaders as well as the committee chairmen and all their staff, who fought, negotiated, sweet-talked, and fine-tuned the bill. The expression in Washington is “herding cats.” It’s criminally overused, but it’s not wrong.

The parameters were set by the House of Representatives before dawn on May 22. Over the next five weeks, the Senate tinkered, toyed, and went about the basic work of the U.S. Senate: making House bills worse. There were serious setbacks, social media calls to break down the minority-protecting filibuster in the name of this cut or that pet project, and a lot of angry tweets from the senators themselves.

But the game was on.

When it came time to vote in the Senate last weekend, there were wins and losses, but from the start, the result was clear. The bill would pass and head back to the House for agreement, a little less pretty than it had once been.

Think of the process like a game of musical chairs: When it comes time to vote, maybe three Republicans can make a scene and vote no — but not four. That’s how it works when something actually matters. Few lawmakers are willing to do what the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) did: tank a major, party-defining bill out of personal or political animus.

What you see instead are protest votes — safe gestures of opposition, where members cross their arms, cast a defiant “no,” and sit down, confident that they won’t derail the outcome.

That’s not to say the brinkmanship doesn’t matter. In the House, factions like the blue-state SALT Caucus and the conservative Freedom Caucus shaped the bill early on. In the Senate, serious negotiations and amendments made the legislation better — or worse, depending on your view. But that phase wraps up long before the final vote.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), king of libertarian banner-waving, secured himself a seat in the game. He basically squats in that chair, telling anyone who still cares that he’s just waiting for the perfect bill that fulfills all his dreams and desires before he can get to yes.

Then you invariably have Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a blue-state Republican and a red-state bargainer, respectively, plus whatever wild cards the Senate typically hides.

This bill’s wild card was Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who decided to self-immolate and retire to a high-paying corporate gig instead of continuing the charade of getting along with his colleagues or the president. He took the second “no” seat and was not moving, so Collins and Murkowski would have to figure out between them who got the last one.

Collins’ state went for Kamala Harris by eight points, so she really wanted it. Murkowski floated a couple of wild ideas, like “Can you make it so that X rule applies to every state but mine?” and “How about we start this whole thing over and do it different?” but settled for money for tribes and fisheries. She is deeply transactional.

There were certainly a couple of senators upset that they didn’t get to vote no. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had written about a hundred mean tweets about the bill since it all started and even wavered throughout the final hours, but it was too late. That was that! No more chairs. So he voted yes, Vice President JD Vance came down and broke the tie, and off it went to the House of Representatives.

The House was heap big mad too. The moderates were worried about the cuts. The conservatives were angry about the spending. Mean tweets abounded! But again: There are only so many chairs. Sure, they could change the bill and send it back to the Senate again. Sure, they could delay. Members of both chambers pointed out the president’s July 4 deadline was “arbitrary,” but the reality is that it’s only as arbitrary as the deadline set by the most powerful man on the planet, the most popular politician in Washington, and the head of Republican Party. So it wasn’t arbitrary at all.

Once again, only three seats were available for House Republicans who wanted to vote no. And as expected, not a single Democrat crossed the aisle. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) filled over eight hours with rhymes and rambling about bipartisanship and illegal immigrants. It was mildly entertaining — if only in a D.C. inside-baseball kind of way — but accomplished nothing beyond setting a new nerdy record and keeping his colleagues awake on camera. When he finally stopped talking, his fellow Democrats clapped and hugged him like he had delivered something more than a filibustered footnote.

By the time the House reconvened Wednesday morning, the bill was already a runaway train — no brakes, just spectacle. Now that it’s passed, small businesses can make tax plans for 2026, waiters and hourly workers can finally catch a break, tax cuts are locked in for the rest of us, and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have the tools and funding to keep doing their jobs.

It’ll be a good day at the White House. And an excellent Independence Day.

Blaze News: Trump notches ‘big, beautiful’ win following Jeffries’ drawn-out spectacle

Blaze News: Trump fighting ‘unconstitutional power grab’ by Obama judge who reopened the floodgates

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Bono, the Irish singer valued at around $700 million whose real name is Paul David Hewson, did his apparent best on the May 30 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” to push the narrative that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development would result in the deaths of multitudes of foreigners.

Rogan didn’t buy what Bono was selling, noting, “For sure, it was a money-laundering operation. For sure, there was no oversight. For sure, billions of dollars are missing.”

Just as the Irishman’s fearmongering fell flat on the podcast, similar efforts by Bill Gates and other super-wealthy individuals apparently keen to keep American taxpayers running funds through their organizations and on the hook for wasteful foreign projects failed to achieve their desired effect.

‘The amount of USAID dollars going to local partners increased only from 4% to 6%.’

The USAID was officially shuttered on Tuesday, just weeks after the State Department took over its foreign assistance programs.

Responding to the eulogies offered up for USAID during a video conference on Monday by former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as by Bono, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce made abundantly clear that tears shed for the agency are wasted on what was a bloated and ineffective bureaucracy.

To drive home her point, Bruce damned the former agency with some admissions from its former administrator and longtime champion, Samantha Power.

RELATED: Rubio, Vance outline the ‘work of a generation,’ next steps for the American renewal: ‘This is a 20-year project’

“USAID” etched onto a covering where signage used to be at the US Agency for International Development headquarters in Washington, DC. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Samantha Power, the last USAID director under the last administration at the end of 2024, complained in public statements that when she started only 7 percent of aid money that was assigned to various projects and groups made it to its intended destination, and that’s because of bureaucracy and layers of contractors,” said Bruce. “And she was proud that she got it up to 10 percent.”

Power noted in a 2021 speech, “In the last decade, despite numerous efforts, initiatives, and even support from Capitol Hill, the amount of USAID dollars going to local partners increased only from 4% to 6%.”

She suggested that cash was instead poured into big, remote NGOs “because working with local partners, it turns out, is more difficult, time-consuming, and it’s riskier,” adding that local partners “often lack the internal accounting expertise our contracts require.”

USAID funds are instead gobbled up by “implementing partners,” such as private contractors, government agencies, NGOs, and international organizations. The Congressional Research Service noted:

Few foreign governments receive direct budget support, and some foreign assistance dollars never leave the United States at all — instead going to a U.S. business for the end benefit of a foreign population. Money goes to U.S. farmers, defense contractors, and management consultants, among others, for commodities or services provided to benefit foreign populations.

In 2021, Power set a target for the agency: By 2025, 25% of USAID funding would go directly to the intended destinations to support the efforts of locally led organizations. The Democratic former adviser to Obama failed miserably.

According to Devex, the percentage of eligible funding that went to local organizations went from 10.2% in 2022 to 9.6% the following year.

‘We are not ending foreign aid. We are making it more nimble.’

“Less than 10% of our foreign assistance dollars flowing through USAID is actually reaching those communities,” Walter Kerr, co-founding executive director of Unlock Aid, told PBS earlier this year. “About 98% of USAID grants pay for activities and not results.”

“Forty-three percent of [the activities] failed to achieve about half of the intended results. But in spite of that, they still got paid in full almost every time and sometimes more,” added Kerr.

Kerr indicated that working with local partners could prove far more effective.

“One study found that, when working with a local partner, as opposed to an international aid contractor, you could find savings upwards of 32% alone. And that’s a conservative estimate,” said Kerr.

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Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Bruce noted that within the Trump administration’s new foreign aid framework, bureaus will be assigned to various regions around the globe.

“That foreign assistance for that region will now sit with the bureau assigned to that region as opposed to some massive bureaucracy, not even housed in our building, dealing with countries and regions separately without dealing with the experts here who understand what those regions might need,” said Bruce. “It will be more efficient. It will be more effective. We are not ending foreign aid. We are making it more nimble.”

‘This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end.’

Obama, among those evidently happy to pretend USAID was worth its salt, said in a video excerpt obtained by the Associated Press on Monday, “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.”

Bono reportedly read a poem, repeated his suggestion that millions will now die without USAID, then told agency workers, “They called you crooks. When you were the best of us.”

Bruce countered in her Wednesday press conference by stating that “there is nothing to be proud of when 90%, according to Samantha Power, is not even making it to the people to whom it was promised.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a July 1 article on his department’s Substack page, “Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War. Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown. On the global stage, the countries that benefit the most from our generosity usually fail to reciprocate.”

“This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,” continued Rubio. “Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests.”

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