On Wednesday, the Supreme Court released its decision to uphold a Tennessee law banning gender-related medical interventions for minors.

The case, United States v. Skrmetti, was a 6-3 decision, with Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting. The decision is a historic breakthrough in the fight against transgender ideology. Similar to the Dobbs v. Jackson decision for abortion, the Supreme Court has sent the issue back to the states by clarifying that the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit state-level restrictions on sex-change procedures and puberty blockers for minors.

Skrmetti called out the Biden DOJ for what it was really doing: ‘Attacking a bipartisan law that protects children from irreversible harm.’

This case has been building since September 2022 when the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh blew the whistle on Vanderbilt University for practicing gender-modification surgeries on minors. Walsh helped bring the issue to the attention of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. The Tennessee legislature took action and passed legislation the following February to ban the drugs and surgeries used to transition minors. The bill passed the Tennessee House 77-16, with 13 Democrats voting against it. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) signed the bill into law on March 2, 2023.

The left did not let the issue go quietly. On April 20, 2023, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Tennessee, claiming the law discriminated against children on the basis of sex. Six days later, the Biden Department of Justice joined in the legal attack, claiming the Tennessee law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. DOJ Assistant Attorney Kristen Clarke decried the law, saying it denied children “access to necessary medical care.”

RELATED: ‘Rogue’ Biden judge ignores biological truth, blocks Trump’s common-sense passport policy

Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images

Skrmetti called out the Biden DOJ for what it was really doing: “Attacking a bipartisan law that protects children from irreversible harm.”

Although District Judge Eli Richardson initially blocked the law, his decision was overturned that September by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the law finally went into effect.

Rather than admit defeat, the ACLU and Biden DOJ appealed the case, filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. The following June, the court agreed to hear the case, and oral arguments took place on December 4, 2024. The Supreme Court typically takes around six months to decide complex cases, making this June 18 decision a fairly standard timeline.

‘Congress has no excuses left. If they have any moral sense, they will … end this evil industry once and for all.’

The decision has been met with triumphant approval from conservatives. In a statement to Blaze Media, Matt Walsh summarized his work on the issue: “Three years ago, we ripped the lid off Vanderbilt’s sickening pediatric clinic. That ignited Tennessee’s child mutilation ban. Today, the Supreme Court upheld this protection of children and we won.”

At the heart of the legal issue was the question of whether the Tennessee law discriminated on the basis of sex. If so, it would be subject to heightened legal scrutiny under the 14th Amendment. Chief Justice Roberts, in the majority opinion, clarified that the law did not do so. Rather, the law “prohibits health care providers from administering puberty blockers or hormones to minors for certain medical uses, regardless of a minor’s sex.”

Consequently, the law “is not subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and satisfies rational basis review.”

RELATED: Behind the rainbow curtain: Who is funding the trans agenda targeting kids?

Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

In a statement to Blaze Media, Dr. Brad Watson, a legal scholar at Hillsdale College’s Graduate School of Government, concurred with the majority opinion: “The Court was correct in refusing to apply heightened judicial scrutiny to a law prohibiting transgender treatment of minors. The majority recognizes that judges have no expertise in such matters and possess no constitutional warrant to second-guess legislative determinations so long as those determinations rest on a rational basis.”

Similar to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, this decision gives states the freedom to legislate on the issue. The question that remains for conservatives is whether they will be able to effectively follow up on this decision with meaningful legislation at the state or national level.

Matt Walsh is among those pushing for the GOP to take decisive action to cement this victory. In his statement to Blaze Media, he called on Congress to ban these surgeries at a national level: “Congress has no excuses left. If they have any moral sense, they will end these state-by-state fights with a federal ban and end this evil industry once and for all.”

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​Scotus, Supreme court, Tennessee, Transgender, Sex change, Minors, Matt walsh, Vanderbilt university, Politics 

California police say they have identified and arrested two suspects in a hit-and-run investigation, after a driver barreled through No Kings protesters on Saturday.

Video of the incident went viral online, with many commentators saying the driver was justified in hitting the gas because the vehicle was surrounded by threatening protesters, one of whom had damaged the vehicle.

Her injuries included a punctured lung, numerous severe skull injuries, a broken leg, and a cracked rib.

Police identified the driver as 58-year-old Russell Prentice of Riverside and also identified another suspect who allegedly tried to destroy evidence in the case. Prentice was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run causing injury.

The video went viral online with millions of views.

Candase Wenzel, 39, was also arrested and charged with accessory after the fact and destruction of evidence. The Riverside Police Dept. said that Wenzel drove Prentice’s vehicle out to Phelan, a remote desert town, in order to intentionally destroy and conceal evidence in the alleged crime.

Police said they reviewed numerous videos of the incident at the intersection of University Avenue and Orange Street at about 9 p.m.

A KABC-TV report said the protest in Riverside included about 5,000 people, and only minor vandalism was reported, apart from the hit-and-run.

RELATED: Video captures the moment SUV driver barrels through No Kings protesters after getting surrounded in California

Friends of the victim identified her as 21-year-old Alexa Carrasco and said doctors had placed her in a medically induced coma and that she had undergone numerous surgeries. They said her injuries included a punctured lung, numerous severe skull injuries, a broken leg, and a cracked rib.

A KCAL-TV report said that police indicated they were not yet ready to discuss what motivated the driver’s actions.

A GoFundMe donation account has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Carrasco.

A similar incident was reported at the Los Angeles No Kings protest and was caught on video. In the video, a female protester can be seen trying to block a red sedan attempting to drive through the protest before the driver hits the gas and she tumbles underneath the tires. Police are trying to identify the driver in that incident as well.

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​Protester hit and run, Riverside no kings, Arrest driver hit and run, Russell prentice arrest, Politics 

A 31-year-old Maryland mother called police in Delaware last week saying her 3-year-old daughter was the victim of an armed kidnapping.

Darrian Randle of North East initially told police she was driving along the 500 block of Gender Road in Newark around 7 p.m. June 10 when her daughter — Nola Dinkins — became upset, so she pulled over and tried to comfort her, WCAU-TV reported. North East is about a half-hour southwest of Newark.

‘We just can’t fathom how a human being can do this to another human being.’

Randle claimed a white man approached and held her at gunpoint before kidnapping her daughter, the station said.

Randle described the man as about 40 years old, bald with peach fuzz on his head, and wearing a black hoodie and gray basketball shorts, WCAU reported, citing investigators. Randle also claimed the man was in a vehicle driven by a blonde, white woman, officials told the station.

More from WCAU:

When the Amber Alert was issued Tuesday night, officials released a description of the man as well as a vehicle they believed he was driving, a dark-colored SUV, likely a Ford or Chevy, with rust or dirt on the exterior.

Wednesday morning, however, Andrea Botterbusch of the New Castle County Police Department, said that the Amber Alert was canceled after investigators determined that Randle’s initial statement to police was a lie.

“Detectives determined that the initial account of the incident given by the mother was false,” Botterbusch said, according to the station.

RELATED: Teen girl says father threatened her with ‘honor killing’ before allegedly trying to strangle her outside Washington state HS

New Castle, Delaware, police asked Maryland State Police to check out Randle’s last known address — part of a standard procedure in missing-children investigations — to make sure the girl wasn’t mistakenly left there and to corroborate Randle’s claims, WBAL-TV reported.

Maryland State Police said troopers went to the house of Randle’s boyfriend, 44-year-old Cedrick Antoine Britten, on Elk Nest Drive in North East, WBAL reported.

Britten told police the child was not home and had left with her mother, Randle, WBAL said.

Troopers asked to view video from several cameras outside the house, WBAL said, adding that charging documents say video shows only Randle leaving the house — and that the child was “never observed on camera.”

Britten also let troopers search his house, WBAL said, adding that charging documents state that while they didn’t find the girl, they did notice an odor of cleaning products — specifically bleach.

Britten also let authorities search his vehicle, WBAL said, adding that police said troopers found a child’s blanket with a reddish-brown smear consistent with blood. Britten said the blanket didn’t belong to him and that a stranger in a park gave it to him last summer, WBAL added.

Delaware authorities interviewed Randle, who initially made a number of false and misleading statements before admitting after some time that her kidnapping claim wasn’t true, WBAL said, citing charging documents.

Authorities said Randle then told them she struck her child at Britten’s house in North East, WBAL reported.

“Randle confessed to physically striking [the child] with a belt approximately 15-20 times about her body during the daytime hours on Monday [June 9],” the charging documents state, according to WBAL.

The child fell to the ground, and she wasn’t moving and was unresponsive, WBAL said, citing the charging documents, adding that Randle told authorities she picked up the child, realized her daughter was no longer breathing, and called for Britten.

More from WBAL:

Randle said she and Britten tried CPR but realized the child was dead. At that point, the charging documents state, Randle and Britten put the child in Britten’s vehicle and drove around for a while before returning home and putting the child inside a suitcase.

The charging documents state that Randle put the suitcase in the basement overnight before asking Britten to take it somewhere.

Charging documents state investigators went to an area on Dune Drive in North East, where a suitcase containing remains was found, WBAL said, adding that Britten’s house backs up to the vacant lot where he’s accused of dumping the girl’s body.

WCAU in a separate story, citing court documents, said the remains were consistent with an emaciated child and completely wrapped in plastic wrap.

Maryland State Police said identification of the remains is pending the medical examiner’s autopsy results, WCAU noted, adding that the medical examiner also will determine the cause and manner of death.

Maryland State Police on June 11 said Randle was taken into custody on charges of first- and second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse resulting in death of a minor under 13, and other charges, WBAL reported.

RELATED: Florida woman allegedly told her 10-year-old through Roblox to drop baby on its head and try to burn foster parents to death

Randle remained in Delaware police custody and was awaiting extradition to Maryland on a $1 million bond, WBAL said, adding that Britten was in Maryland and was charged as an accessory to first- and second-degree murder and other charges.

Prosecutors wanted Britten held without bond, WBAL said, but the judge released him on a $75,000 bond and home detention.

An employee of business located near the scene of the crime told Blaze News on Wednesday that “we were all shocked and saddened” by the murder — and “even more sad” after learning the girl’s body was left within “walking distance” of the business. But the employee added to Blaze News that “some of us” attended Monday night’s vigil for Nola, and that it was “very nice” to see so many people there.

RELATED: Parents’ damning texts about their children lead officials to grisly fire pit discovery: Court docs

Chad Marshall, a resident of the Elk Nest neighborhood in North East, told WBAL that “we just can’t fathom how a human being can do this to another human being.”

RELATED: Man accused of murdering daughter allegedly trying to marry state’s witness, perhaps to keep her from testifying against him

An unnamed neighbor added to WBAL, “Having a mother that’s supposed to love their child and make sure they’re doing right by them, hearing she was abused and eventually killed, that’s a horrible thing. Hearing that this happened so close to where we live, it’s very unfortunate for the little girl, and it just makes us watch our kids even more.”

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​Murder charge, Mother, Daughter, Kidnapping claim, False amber alert, White man blamed, Gunpoint, Beaten, Lying to police, Delaware, Maryland, Police, Belt, Crime 

While the world’s eyes are locked onto the conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, Christians everywhere continue to face violent persecution.

Nigeria’s Catholic population has been facing what appears to be their systematic removal by their Muslim neighbors, and an attack over the weekend is the latest example of a long train of persecution.

‘These cold-blooded attacks on defenseless communities where countless have been slaughtered … are an affront to God.’

Muslim Fulani militants “raided a predominantly Catholic Christian town” in Benue State, Nigeria, killing over 200 Christians overnight, according to a Saturday morning post by Save the Persecuted Christians on X. The post included graphic images of the victims of the massacre, reporting that they were “butchered and burned” during the attack.

“This is genocide,” the initial post concluded.

RELATED: Blaze News investigates: Why are Islamists targeting Catholic priests?

Photo by AUDU MARTE/AFP via Getty Images

The Christian charity speculated that this attack was in “retaliation” for Makurdi Bishop Wilfred Anagbe’s recent testimony before the U.S. Congress in which he said, “A long-term, Islamic agenda to homogenize the population has been implemented, over several presidencies, through a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity of half of the population.”

Although Benue State, Nigeria, is overwhelmingly Catholic, this area has faced a series of escalating attacks by militant Muslims in the past months.

“These cold-blooded attacks on defenseless communities where countless have been slaughtered, homes destroyed, and families left in anguish — are an affront to God, a stain on our shared humanity, and a terrifying reminder of the utter breakdown of security in our land,” Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri said at a recent conference.

Despite the brutal conditions for the Christian population in Nigeria, outlets like OSV News and others have reported that the Church is growing in the violence-stricken country.

“The Catholic Church grows in the country, with a record number of confirmations and Mass attendance,” OSV News reported

On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV prayed for “security, justice, and peace” in Nigeria, with a special intention for the “rural Christian communities of the Benue State who have been relentless victims of violence.”

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​Politics, Religion, Catholic church, Nigeria, Benue state nigeria, Christianity, Islam, Genocide, Bishop wilfred anagbe 

Since Donald Trump’s unexpected exit from the G7 Summit this week, he’s made several comments on social media that hint at an escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron told the press that Trump’s early departure was tied to Iran negotiations, but Trump fired back on Truth Social that he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire,” Trump wrote.

“Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!” he added.

Trump’s following posts have then ranged from hopeful sentiments reflecting peace between Israel and Iran to talks of peace being “fabricated, fake news.”

In one post, he wrote that we “have complete and total control of the skies over Iran” and that the U.S. does not plan to take out the “so-called Supreme Leader,” making sure to add “at least not for now.”

Trump also wrote “unconditional surrender” in another post.

While BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales herself is confused as to what Trump’s next move is, she explains that “that’s exactly what you want in these situations.”

“Because the other side, the Kim Jong Un, the Vladimir Putin, the Iranian leaders, don’t exactly know if he’s crazy enough to do it. That’s exactly what I want from a leader,” she says.

“He’s not one of these people who just wants to be involved in war,” Gonzales continues. “That’s never been who he is, and you cannot convince me that anyone even in his ear could convince him otherwise, because that is an actual moral, a value, that he has had throughout his entire adult life.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video phone, Free, Video, Upload, Sharing, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Fake news, President trump, Iran-israel conflict, War, Israel, Iran, Supreme leader, Truth social 

Iran has once again violated its obligations under the International Atomic Energy Agency, thumbing its nose at the international community and inching the world closer to open conflict.

In the past, such provocation might have triggered a kinetic military response. But what if President Trump had another option — one that avoids American bloodshed, leverages international law, and puts the mullahs on the defensive using the very tools they rely on to maintain power?

President Trump doesn’t need to invade Iran to change it. He needs only to interrupt it.

Rather than ordering a strike package or putting boots on the ground, Trump could pursue a bold diplomatic gambit.

Under Article 41 of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council can authorize measures “not involving the use of armed force” to enforce its will. These include the “complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication” (my emphasis).

In other words, an embargo. But not just the old-fashioned kind.

A new kind of war

Time is a critical variable in any conflict. Traditional embargoes — naval blockades, sanctions regimes — require months or years to produce meaningful results. But a digital embargo, launched under the auspices of Article 41, could produce near-instantaneous effects on Iran’s command and control, propaganda apparatus, and internal cohesion.

Imagine this: Iranian cell networks silenced. Internet access throttled or shut down entirely. Satellite links disrupted. State television (or what’s left of it) cut off from its viewers. Social media — so often used as a tool of repression and misinformation — rendered inert.

This isn’t science fiction. These capabilities exist. And with international backing, their coordinated use against the Iranian regime would amount to a strategic information offensive — precisely the kind of campaign envisioned by the pioneering concept of SOFTWAR.

The battle for perception

SOFTWAR — short for soft warfare — is the doctrine of using information systems, media, and psychological operations to degrade an adversary’s will and capacity to fight without firing a single shot. The term isn’t just rhetorical flourish. As the progenitor of the U.S. military’s first “virtual unit” — a joint team of California Air and Army National Guardsmen tasked with exploring information dominance — I’ve seen the possibilities firsthand.

In this case, combatant commanders could employ SOFTWAR principles to carry out a tailored, non-kinetic campaign: degrading Iran’s internal communications, disrupting regime propaganda, and flooding the digital space with content that inspires dissent and destabilizes the theocracy’s grip on power.

Article 41 doesn’t just permit such actions — it provides the legal basis for them. The operative word in the U.N. Charter is “interrupt.” That grants flexibility. “Interruption” can mean anything from throttling bandwidth to flipping the narrative script. Every act of suppression by the Iranian regime could be met with a counterstroke that undermines its legitimacy and erodes public confidence.

RELATED: Israel’s strategy now rests on one bomb — and it’s American

Photo by Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Image

Bursting Iran’s reality bubble

Iran’s clerical regime depends on a tightly controlled narrative to survive. Interrupt that narrative — inject confusion, sow doubt, and amplify internal frustrations — and you begin to unmake the regime from within.

Television broadcasts could be co-opted to present alternative visions of Iranian life. Disaffected youth could receive direct messages from the free world. Clerical edicts could be ridiculed, refuted, or simply drowned out.

In the digital age, perception is reality — and controlling perception is a form of power more potent than many realize.

If executed with precision, coordination, and the right legal cover, such a campaign could avoid the mass casualties, blowback, and open-ended commitment of a traditional military operation. It could also mark a new chapter in U.S. strategy — one that prioritizes data dominance over deadweight tonnage.

A unit ahead of its time

The 1st Joint SOFTWAR Unit (Virtual), which I had the honor of organizing, was established to explore exactly these kinds of strategies. Though the unit now sits in bureaucratic limbo, its mission has never been more urgent — or more applicable — than in the current standoff with Iran.

President Trump doesn’t need to invade Iran to change it. He needs only to interrupt it.

With the Security Council’s approval and the backing of U.S. information forces, he could do just that — and rewrite the rules of engagement for the 21st century.

​Opinion & analysis, Chuck de caro, Softwar, Iran, Nuclear weapons, Tehran, Communications, United nations, America, National defense, National security, Boots on the ground, California, National guard, Narrative, Information warfare 

Massachusetts District Judge Shelley Joseph denied wanting to help an illegal alien evade federal detention by helping him exit a courtroom through a back door.

In 2018, Joseph was presiding over a drug possession hearing for Jose Medina-Perez, a man from the Dominican Republic who had already been deported from the U.S. in 2003 and 2007.

During the hearing, the judge asked for the official recording of the proceeding to be turned off while she had a discussion with the defense attorney, allegedly to talk about how to help the illegal immigrant evade ICE agents. This week, the defense attorney testified as to what was said during the unrecorded period.

‘It sends a dangerous message that political activism is more important than the rule of law.’

Attorney David Jellinek testified on Monday that during a 52-second off-the-record sidebar conversation, he told Judge Joseph he wanted to get his client, the illegal alien, out of the courthouse without interacting with ICE, the Boston Herald reported.

The attorney said he was aware of a back door used by court officers for criminal defendants and told the judge he would use it with her permission. Jellinek said, according to the Boston Herald, that he knew he was “on the edge” of ethical and legal standards, but said he did not break the law.

In a report from CBS Boston, the transcript of the hearing revealed that Jellinek had another reason for wanting to help his client evade ICE.

RELATED: Judge back under fire for allegedly helping twice-deported illegal alien accused of drug crimes evade ICE

Jellinek reportedly stated that he thought ICE was looking for the wrong man and wanted time to investigate and prove that fact.

When Judge Joseph was asked if she thought her discussion with Jellinek meant he wanted to “go out the back door,” Joseph replied, “Oh, God no.”

Joseph was also asked in the CBS Boston report whether she knew the words “avoid ICE” meant to avoid federal authorities in “any improper way,” to which she replied no.

Joseph also said she would “absolutely not” have been a party to anything illegal like that, either.

According to the Boston Herald, Joseph could face devastating punishments.

Special counsel Judith Fabricant from the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct has recommended Judge Joseph be indefinitely suspended and stripped of her $207,855 salary for an alleged failure to uphold the standards of a judge.

The commission cannot remove a judge, but Fabricant suggested that a referral to lawmakers for Joseph’s removal should be made.

RELATED: NYC comptroller locks arms with man to prevent ICE arrest: ‘Show me your warrant!’

Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph (C) cries after leaving federal court in Boston on April 25, 2019. Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told Blaze News that Judge Joseph’s actions represent a troubling breakdown of public trust in the judicial system.

“When a sitting judge allegedly aids a twice-deported criminal in evading federal law enforcement, then attempts to cover it up by disabling a courtroom recorder, it sends a dangerous message that political activism is more important than the rule of law,” Craney said.

Craney added that accountability on the bench “must be restored” and that the hearing was “long overdue.”

The case will likely not be settled until at least early August, however, as a hearing officer said the parties involved have until July 3 to file briefs and then until July 10 to respond to them.

A written report and recommendation for the CJC comes 30 days after that, which would be around August 10.

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​Massachusetts, Judge, District judge, Illegal alien, Illegal immigrant, Immigration, News, Politics, Defense 

After the COVID lockdowns, the Western global leadership class had little credibility left. So it seemed insane when they immediately pivoted to a new crisis — but that’s exactly what they did.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered demands from elites in Europe and America for NATO-aligned nations to involve themselves in the conflict. Many Republicans were initially on board, with Fox News and CNN marching in lockstep behind intervention. But the Republican base quickly soured on the war once it became clear that U.S. involvement didn’t serve American interests.

If the situation really is dire, let the Trump administration make its case to the people. Present the evidence. Debate it in Congress. Vote.

In a strange inversion, the right became anti-war while the left championed military escalation.

That reversal matters now, as some in the GOP look to drag the country into another long conflict. We should remember what Ukraine taught us.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded, many conservatives instinctively aligned with Ukraine. The Soviet Union had been an evil empire and a clear enemy of the United States. It was easy to paint Russia as an extension of that threat. President Biden assured Americans that there would be no boots on the ground and that economic sanctions would cripple Russia quickly.

But the war dragged on. Hundreds of billions of dollars flowed to Ukraine while America entered a painful economic downturn. Conservatives began asking whether this was worth it.

Putin was no friend of the U.S., and conservatives had valid reasons to distrust him. But suddenly, anyone questioning the war effort was smeared as a Russian asset. Opposition to the war became an extension of the left’s deranged Russiagate conspiracy, which painted Donald Trump as a blackmailed Kremlin agent.

Some Republican politicians kept pushing the war. Fox News stayed hawkish. But much of the conservative commentariat broke ranks. They knew that the boys from Appalachia and Texas — exactly the kind of red-state Americans progressives despise — would again be asked to die for a war that served no clear national purpose.

From that disillusionment, conservatives drew hard-earned lessons.

They saw that U.S. leaders lie to sustain foreign conflicts. That politicians in both parties keep wars going because donors profit. That Fox News can become a mouthpiece for military escalation. That you can oppose a war without betraying your country. And that American troops and taxpayer dollars are not playthings for globalist fantasies.

“America First” began to mean something real: Peace through strength didn’t require constant intervention.

Unfortunately, many of those lessons evaporated after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

That attack was horrific. No serious person denies the brutality of Hamas or questions Israel’s right to defend itself. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has treated the attack as a green light to target longtime adversaries, including Iran. As a sovereign nation, Israel can pursue its own foreign policy. But it cannot dictate foreign policy for the United States.

In 2002, Netanyahu testified before Congress that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons. He said toppling both the Iraqi and Iranian regimes would bring peace and stability. He was wrong.

He wasn’t alone, of course. Many were wrong about weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War. But Netanyahu’s track record is highly relevant now. While conservatives once fervently supported the Iraq invasion after 9/11, many — including Tucker Carlson and Dinesh D’Souza — have since apologized. They admit they got it wrong.

RELATED: The culture war isn’t a distraction — it’s the main front

Blaze Media Illustration

Afghanistan, while flawed, had clearer justification. The Taliban had harbored Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. But the lies about weapons of mass destruction and failed nation-building in Iraq turned that war into a conservative regret.

In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified that Iran had not resumed efforts to build a nuclear weapon. Gabbard, like Trump allies Robert Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth, was chosen precisely for her skepticism of the intelligence bureaucracy. Trump remembers how his first term was sabotaged by insiders loyal to the status quo. This time, he selected appointees loyal to the voters.

Gabbard’s assessment contradicts Netanyahu, who claims Iran is months away from having a bomb. That’s a massive discrepancy. Either Iran hasn’t restarted its program, or it’s on the brink of building a nuke.

So which is it?

Did U.S. intelligence fail again? Did Gabbard lie to Congress and the public? Or did she simply say something the ruling class didn’t want to hear?

Trump, Gabbard, and Vice President JD Vance understand how Iraq went wrong. They know Americans deserve evidence before another war — especially one that risks dragging us into a region we’ve already failed to remake at great cost.

Yet the war hawks keep repeating the same lie: This time, it’ll be quick. The United States is too powerful, too advanced, too economically dominant. The enemy will fold by Christmas.

Biden said the same about Ukraine. And hundreds of billions later, we remain in a grinding proxy war with Russia.

Now, while still financing that war, Americans are told they must back a new war — this one initiated unilaterally by Israel. The U.S. faces domestic strife, crippling debt, and an ongoing open-border crisis. Involvement in yet another conflict makes no sense.

Israel may be right about Iran. Tehran may indeed have developed a nuclear program behind the world’s back. But if Israel wants to wage a war, it must do so on its own.

The Trump administration has made clear that it wasn’t involved in Israel’s pre-emptive strikes and didn’t approve them. If Israel starts a war, it should fight and win that war on its own. America should not be expected to absorb retaliation or commit troops to another Middle Eastern project.

These wars are never short, and they are always expensive.

Even if Iran’s regime collapses quickly, the aftermath would require a long, brutal occupation to prevent it from descending into chaos. Israel doesn’t have the capacity — let alone the political will — for that task. That burden would fall, again, to America.

So before conservatives fall for another round of WMD hysteria, they should recall what the last two wars taught them.

If the situation really is dire, let the Trump administration make its case to the people. Present the evidence. Debate it in Congress. Vote.

But don’t sleepwalk into another forever war.

​Opinion & analysis, Israel, Iran, Nuclear weapons, America first, Donald trump, Benjamin netanyahu, Anti-war, Wmd, Iraq war, Elites, Deep state, Lies, Republicans, Ukraine war, Russia, Proxy war, Forever wars, National interest, Tulsi gabbard, Jd vance, Diplomacy, Vladimir putin, Russiagate, Fox news, Cnn, Media bias, Taliban, Osama bin laden 

President Donald Trump installed two big, beautiful flagpoles on the White House grounds on Wednesday, and leftists are losing their minds.

Trump announced the installation on Tuesday, saying the flagpoles were “always missing from this magnificent place.” After the 100-foot flagpoles were put in place, the left-wing media ripped the administration for the changes to the White House grounds.

The flags weren’t the only things that sparked outrage from the left.

The Daily Beast reported on the new flagpoles, calling them one of the latest “monstrous changes” Trump has made to the White House. The “monstrous changes” in question also include renovations to the Rose Garden to make it easier for women to walk on with high heels, according to Trump.

The publication also characterized the patriotic flagpoles, which will fly the American flag and the POW/MIA flag, as “tacky.”

The flags weren’t the only things that sparked outrage from the left. Trump spoke to reporters on the South Lawn during the installation, when he was asked about the deportation efforts being rolled out by the administration. In response, Trump turned to the workers and jokingly asked if any of them were illegal immigrants.

“We’ve got to get the bad people out of here first, and we’re doing that,” Trump said. “We’re taking them out by the thousands. Murderers, drug dealers, people that are mentally insane from insane asylums.”

“Any illegal immigrants in there?” Trump joked, turning to the workers at the press conference. “No? If they were, they’ll find out.”

Mediaite promptly reported on the incident, calling it a “stunning moment” and accused the president of “laughing as he threatened to destroy someone’s ‘whole life.'” The reason the president was laughing, of course, was because he was making a joke.

RELATED: Democrats vote overwhelmingly to allow illegal aliens to continue voting in key district

Mediaite also accused Trump of taking a break from “threatening Iran” to oversee the installation of the flagpoles, suggesting the president is putting foreign policy on the back burner. The article failed to note that Trump took several questions related to the conflict during the press conference.

Despite this, Trump stuck to his big, beautiful flagpoles, encouraging future administrations to keep them up on the White House grounds as a “magnificent” display of patriotism.

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Gender ideologues’ narrative about sex, identity, and the supposed benefits of medical transvestism has collapsed in recent years under the weight of comprehensive scientific studies. Polling shows the American public also majoritively rejects their core claims and policy aims.

With science and public opinion largely against them, gender ideologues now appear to be primarily fighting their war against common sense in the courts, where they are, for the most part, losing. Meddlesome U.S. district court judges are, however, doing their part to delay the final defeat of gender ideology, at least where the law and federal policy are concerned.

‘Gender ideology is internally inconsistent.’

A day before the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Tennessee’s ban on sex-change genital mutilations and sterilizing puberty blockers for minors, a Biden judge blocked the Trump administration from requiring passports to accurately reflect the holders’ sex.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to Blaze News, “This is yet another attempt by a rogue judge to thwart President Trump’s agenda and push radical gender ideology that defies biological truth.”

“There are only two genders, there is no such thing as gender ‘X,’ and the president was given a mandate by the American people to restore common sense to the federal government,” added Kelly.

RELATED: Trump claims another scalp in war on gender ideology: Children’s Hospital LA to shutter child sex-change center

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order rejecting gender ideology and instructing the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female.

“‘Gender ideology’ replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true,” Trump said in his order.

The president noted further that “gender ideology is internally inconsistent, in that it diminishes sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body.”

The president directed his secretaries of state and homeland security to ensure that government-issued identification documents, including passports and visas, were reality-affirming — as they had been until 2021, when the Biden administration began allowing people to choose their own sex marker as well as a third marker, “X,” instead of an “M” or an “F” marker.

RELATED: The culture war isn’t a distraction — it’s the main front

Blaze Media Illustration

Several transvestites joined the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and Covington & Burling LLP in a lawsuit over the passport policy earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick granted them a preliminary injunction in April preventing the State Department’s enforcement of Trump’s Executive Order 14168 while the lawsuit played out — but only as it applied to six of the plaintiffs.

Kobick suggested that the plaintiffs’ inability to extend their self-deception to their federal documents would make them more “likely to experience worsened gender dysphoria, anxiety, and psychological distress, and they will face a greater risk of experiencing harassment and violence.”

The Massachusetts-based Biden judge expanded her injunction on Wednesday after the plaintiffs amended their complaint and moved to apply the preliminary injunction to other potentially affected gender-benders whom they wanted broadly to be certified as a class.

Adopting the language of gender ideologues, Kobick granted the plaintiffs class certification, meaning that the lawsuit can now apply to “people whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them under the Passport Policy and/or who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” people who simply want their passport to indicate the wrong sex, and “all people who currently want, or in the future will want, a U.S. passport and wish to use an ‘X’ sex designation.”

‘The government has failed to meet this standard.’

“Even assuming a preliminary injunction inflicts some constitutional harm on the Executive Branch, such harm is the consequence of the State Department’s adoption of a Passport Policy that likely violates the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans,” wrote Kobick.

RELATED: Behind the rainbow curtain: Who is funding the trans agenda targeting kids?

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

“The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny,” added the Biden judge. “That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.”

Li Nowlin-Sohl, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project, called the ruling “a historic win in the fight against this administration’s efforts to drive transgender people out of public life. The State Department’s policy is a baseless barrier for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans and denies them the dignity we all deserve.”

When asked about the ruling, a State Department spokesperson told Blaze News that as a general matter, officials “do not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.”

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Los Angeles police are working to identify the driver of a car who ran over a protester who pushed against the vehicle during a protest against the Trump administration.

The video shows a female protester angrily trying to stop a red sedan from driving through the protest before the driver hits the gas and she ends up on the hood for a second. The woman then falls underneath the car’s tires as other protesters rush to her aid.

She is in fair condition and is expected to recover.

The driver sped away from the scene near Pershing Square on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Fire Dept. said that the woman was transported to a hospital, where she was treated for an isolated lower extremity injury. She is in fair condition and is expected to recover.

A KABC-TV report said that it was unknown whether arrests had been made in the case but that police were investigating it as a hit-and-run.

The outlet posted an edited clip of the viral video on social media, and other angles of the incident were posted online.

The injured woman was described only as being in her 20s.

RELATED: Video captures the moment SUV driver barrels through No Kings protesters after getting surrounded

Photo by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images

A similar scene was captured on viral video in the nearby L.A. suburb of Riverside, where another female protester suffered serious injuries from a driver trying to escape a mob of protesters. Police are investigating that incident as a felony hit-and-run.

Other protests around the country were mostly peaceful and civil demonstrations. More anti-Trump protests are being planned.

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A raid on a meatpacking plant in Nebraska has caused a surge in job applications following the apprehension of 76 employees who were detained and removed from the premises by federal authorities.

After just a few days, a dozen illegal workers had already been removed from the state or deported, while more than 60 were taken to a detention center, NBC News reported.

What happened after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid, though, defied a sentiment that has permeated across the country: that no American wants the jobs that illegal workers perform.

‘Large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization.’

As Glenn Valley Foods mourned the loss of what the company called “family” members (referring to illegal employees), prospective employees banged on the doors looking to fill the roles that the company itself said were very hard to hire for.

“It takes skilled people that take pride in what they do,” company president Chad Hartmann told NBC News.

Still, the company’s entire waiting room was packed with people filling out job applications just two days after the ICE raid. Dozens of possible new employees, many of them Spanish-speaking, were coming in and out of the plant, according to the report.

However, there is still a specter hanging around the Omaha plant about the return of ICE agents.

RELATED: ‘They were part of our family’: Illegal worker accused of pulling box cutters on ICE agents during raid on meatpacking plant

Kevin Richardson/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Following the raid, which is considered to be largest worksite operation in Nebraska this year, even more Glenn Valley Foods employees declined to show up at work, due to feeling “afraid or traumatized.”

Their absence caused a 20% drop in work production that day, the president explained.

Other nearby business operators complained, even in Spanish, to NBC News that many of those who were detained by ICE were their customers. A group of hairstylists said their weekend business suffered because “immigrant customers” were not coming in out of fear of more ICE raids.

The sheer amount of illegal immigration and illegal employment in Nebraska seems to have spiraled out of control. ICE is now conducting thorough investigations in the state and is cracking down on what the agency called the “large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization.”

RELATED: Border Patrol arrest at Home Depot punches hole in Democrats’ narrative

Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Ongoing raids have seemingly not had a large effect on the labor market, however.

In April, job openings rose, with the Labor Department reporting 7.4 million job vacancies, up from 7.2 million in March, according to the Associated Press.

By early June, hiring remained steady, the New York Times noted, as 139,000 people were hired and the unemployed rate remained unchanged.

Inflation, trade wars, and tariffs have all been expected to be black eyes for the Trump administration in terms of the job market, but as numbers have remained steady, perhaps Americans do want, and always have wanted, all sorts of jobs — including at meatpacking plants.

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The No Kings protests that sprang up across the nation in June have sparked comparisons with the Tea Party protests that started around Tax Day of 2009. However, a look back in time reveals a very different treatment by the mainstream media that could not be more at odds with the favorable treatment given to the No Kings protests today.

In 2009, several networks accused Fox News of unfair coverage of the Tea Party movement. ThinkProgress said Fox was “actively promoting the protests,” and Politico even said the network was “blurring the line between journalism and advocacy,” using the term “pseudo-journalism” to describe Fox News’ coverage of the Tea Party protests.

‘The problem is, you can’t buy grassroots energy like we had in 2009, particularly when the “kings” behind the veil are paying for it.’

A Fox News article said, “The grassroots phenomenon, while largely ignored in the mainstream press, has caught fire on the Internet, where platforms like Facebook and Twitter have served as launching pads for demonstrations.” The article went on to describe the Tea Party as a “nonpartisan” movement, though it “largely involved conservatives.”

Double standard

Media Matters for America published a lengthy exposé titled “REPORT: ‘Fair and balanced’ Fox News aggressively promotes ‘tea party’ protests” criticizing Fox News’ coverage of the protests: “While tea-party organizers have stated that the protests are nonpartisan, Fox News and organizers have also characterized the protests primarily as a response to the [Obama] administration’s fiscal policies.”

RELATED: Over 98% of Americans ignore No Kings’ tired tantrum

Michael Beck Photography. Used with permission.

The article concluded with a breakdown of each of the Fox hosts’ supposedly biased coverage of the protests, but MMFA’s main issue was with Fox’s promotion of the events.

Media Matters wrote: “Fox News has in dozens of instances provided attendance and organizing information for future protests, such as protest dates, locations and website URLs. Fox News websites have also posted information and publicity material for protests. Fox News hosts have repeatedly encouraged viewers to join them at several April 15 protests that they are attending and covering.”

By contrast, CBS News published an article on June 13, 2025, titled “‘No Kings’ protests planned across Massachusetts on June 14. Find one near you,” seemingly presuming public interest in the event and encouraging participation.

Left-leaning outlets were as quick to dismiss the grassroots nature of the movement and downplay the size of the protests as right-leaning outlets were to affirm them.

The outlet subsequently updated the title of the article early the next morning. The current version replaced “Find one near you” with “Here’s what to know.”

Grassroots or astroturf?

During the Tea Party rallies of 2009, many outlets called into question the “grassroots” nature of the protests, as Fox News reported them.

The Los Angeles Times published an article called “Republicans stage ‘tea party’ protests against Obama.” The article opens: “Republicans sought to ignite a popular revolt against President Obama on Wednesday by staging ‘tea party’ protests across the nation to demand lower taxes and less government spending — but the tactic carried risk for the party.”

The reported number of people who attended Tea Party rallies seemed to differ across ideological lines as well. A New York Times article reported 200 people in Philadelphia; “several hundred” in Lafayette Park across from the White House; 500 protesters in Pensacola, Florida; around 1,000 people in Austin, Texas; and around 2,000 in Houston, Texas.

RELATED: From ‘F**k Trump’ to handshakes: ‘No Kings’ rally in Texas stays civil

Plexi Images/GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

On the other hand, the Washington Times reported that the rally in Richmond, Virginia, “drew over 5,000 people on a chilly, rainy day and they were pumped,” according to American Majority founder and CEO Ned Ryun. The story went on to report that there were “hundreds of thousands of protesters” at “more than 300 rallies across the country.”

ThinkProgress named FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity as the “heavily staffed” and “well funded” power players behind the organization of these protests. The article was clearly framed to refute Fox News’ coverage of the story, which drew criticism from many other outlets as well.

On the other hand, DataRepublican, a user on X, compiled a database of over 140 organizations that purportedly participated in funding the No Kings protests. This list is not exhaustive, as more organizations will likely be added as more information becomes available.

Some have noted the stark difference between a “grassroots” protest on the left versus the right.

“Oh, the irony. Back when I was helping organize the Taxpayer March on Washington on September 12, 2009, the corporate media leftist apparatchiks like Media Matters were eager to characterize the massive Tea Party turnout that year as paid-for astroturfing. Because that’s how they had always done it,” said BlazeTV host Matt Kibbe, one of the organizers of the grassroots Tea Party movement in 2009. “They still are with their web of government-financed NGOs. The problem is, you can’t buy grassroots energy like we had in 2009, particularly when the ‘kings’ behind the veil are paying for it.”

A Democrat Tea Party

Clearly, there was a great deal of partisan coverage of the Tea Party movement in 2009. Left-leaning outlets were as quick to dismiss the grassroots nature of the movement and downplay the size of the protests as right-leaning outlets were to affirm them. However, some left-leaning outlets today have seemingly changed their outlook toward the 2009 protests.

For example, Vox recently wrote an article which played up how effective the protests in 2009 were, saying, “The Tea Party reorganized the Republican Party on its own terms.”

Even more surprising is the affirmation that the Tea Party was a grassroots movement at the start: “Notably, the movement was defined by how decentralized it was at its start — though some national organizations later formed to try to organize and wield populist furor, it was mostly a grassroots movement.”

While there are some very clear differences between the 2025 No Kings protests and the 2009 Tea Party protests in terms of media coverage and organizational support, Vox may be right that the Democratic Party is facing an internal reorganization. Or perhaps the very notion of a grassroots movement on the left has become obsolete.

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When Christian content creator April Chapman was practicing the prosperity gospel, she was able to bury her sins — which consisted of multiple abortions — without fully understanding what she had done.

It was only when she discovered the true gospel that she was able to see clearly and ask God for forgiveness.

“Post-abortive women do a very good job of suppressing the truth and their unrighteousness, just trying to block it out and filling the emptiness and the guilt and the shame with other things,” Chapman tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”

“I had several years of doing that, bad relationships, you know, just trying to find some sort of way to silence the pain that I was experiencing,” she continues. “It caused me to double down with a feminist mindset.”

While Chapman knew being a pro-choice liberal was incompatible with scripture, she had reconciled in her mind that “it was somehow OK.”

“Once I got saved, the Lord brought those things back to my remembrance and allowed me to go through a series or a season, I would say, of healing. But you first have to acknowledge that what you did was sinful. You have to say the words, ‘I was a murderer,’” Chapman explains.

“This was displeasing to God. That was life. Those were babies. So the first thing I had to force myself to do was to humanize those image-bearers in the womb,” she adds.

Chapman now has children with her husband, and she’s made sure not to gloss over the sins of her past when raising them.

“The best way to teach them about the sinfulness of humankind is to show them that their mama was a sinner. A lot of people can’t do that, but God enabled me and strengthened me and equipped me to do that. It’s all a part of the story and the journey,” she tells Stuckey.

“No one is beyond the point of being redeemable. The scriptures have been such a healing balm for me in that, and then God was able to bless the fruit of my womb. I didn’t think that I would ever be somebody’s mama,” she continues, noting that her second abortion was so physically traumatic that she didn’t believe it could happen for her.

Her abortionist, Chapman explains, has “harmed and maimed and injured so many women.”

“These are not chemical abortions; these are surgical ones without anesthesia. I was given a muscle relaxer that I don’t think kicked in. Very traumatic, very traumatic. And then within 24 hours, I was in the ER trying to preserve what was left of my reproductive organs. It was an incomplete procedure. I hemorrhaged tremendously,” she explains.

“The idea that the Lord blessed the fruit of my womb when I thought it could not happen — God was so faithful and merciful and kind in that,” she continues.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday regarding the department’s fiscal year 2026 budget request — his fourth hearing this month.

Hegseth faced heated exchanges during the hearing as Democratic lawmakers pressed him with hypothetical scenarios aimed at portraying President Donald Trump’s administration as overreaching and authoritarian.

‘It’s all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won’t fall for it.’

Democrats grilled Hegseth on the Trump administration’s strategy amid the escalating tension between Israel and Iran, the deployment of troops in Los Angeles, and the termination of “qualified” military leaders.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) questioned Hegseth’s leadership abilities, claiming the DOD “has been consumed by high turnover and disarray” since the secretary’s confirmation.

RELATED: Pete Hegseth defends deployment of troops in response to anti-ICE riots

Senator Jack Reed. Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

Hegseth countered Reed’s critique by highlighting global instability under the prior administration, citing the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

“That was a view of weakness and chaos unleashed by the Biden administration under the previous defense secretary,” Hegseth said, referring to former Sec. Lloyd Austin. “So, if a few changes have to be made in the first portion of my term in order to get it right, I think that’s pretty acceptable to establish deterrence and rebuild our military and restore the warrior ethos.”

Several Democratic leaders decried Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid the anti-immigration enforcement protests that turned destructive and violent.

“What he’s doing may well be illegal,” declared Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “I want to ask you about contingency plans for the use of active duty military in other cities. Do you have such contingency plans?”

Blumenthal noted that he was “deeply disturbed and alarmed” by Trump’s move.

Hegseth retorted, “Senator, I would just say, we share the president’s view that, as you characterized it, we are ‘deeply disturbed and alarmed’ that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers are being attacked while doing their job in any city in America.”

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also questioned Hegseth about the deployed troops, pressing the secretary with outlandish hypotheticals.

“You claim lethality is your top priority. Do you plan to unleash this lethal force against U.S. citizens and civilians in L.A. and other cities?” Hirono asked.

Hegseth rejected the senator’s characterization.

“I would like to have a professional response,” Hirono snapped.

“Given this regime’s dangerous policy of mobilizing troops inside the U.S., the politicizing of the military is a legitimate concern,” she continued. “If ordered by the president — I’m going to ask you once again — to shoot peaceful protesters in the legs, would you carry out such an order from the president?”

Hegseth replied, “I reject the premise of your question and the characterization that I would be given or are given unlawful orders. It’s all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won’t fall for it.”

RELATED: President Trump has constitutional and statutory authority to use the National Guard domestically

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) used his time to defend Hegseth after Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) claimed that the secretary would never be “held accountable” for allegedly disclosing military actions over the messaging application Signal.

Mullin fired back, “I wonder who was held accountable for the disastrous withdrawal out of Afghanistan, where 13 soldiers died and left thousands of Americans behind underneath Secretary Austin’s lead?”

“Did one person get held accountable during that time?” Mullins questioned.

The senator defended Hegseth’s record at the DOD after Democrats proclaimed that the department had been plagued with turmoil under his leadership.

Mullin noted that the DOD had the “lowest morale measured in our military history” and “absolutely disastrous” retention rates under Austin.

“You had recruitments that wasn’t even meeting lowered standards that you guys lowered,” Mullin told his fellow lawmakers. “Now, we have the highest morale that’s been measured in decades in the military. We have recruiting numbers that are exceeding expectations.”

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