Melania gives Congress private deadline as she works around Trump's team: report

First lady Melania Trump gave Congress a private deadline to pass her signature foster care bill, and she is pursuing it largely outside the usual White House channels, according to a new report in Politico. At a bipartisan roundtable with the House Ways and Means Committee in April, the first lady publicly called foster care legislation a "moral imperative." Then, behind closed doors, she set a target, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) told the outlet: "I want this on Donald's desk by the August recess." The Fostering the Future Act, which expands housing, education and workforce help for young people aging out of foster care, passed the House unanimously.The Senate has not moved it out of committee, and lawmakers are set to leave Washington around Aug. 10. At a White House picnic the day the House passed the bill, both Trumps urged the Senate to hurry. "Hopefully, it will quickly pass in the Senate," the president said. He has not publicly pressed senators since.The deadline reflects a first lady who increasingly operates on her own track. Her office, not the State Department, has led her effort to reunite children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war, negotiating directly with Moscow and Kyiv, the White House said. She has also shown a willingness to diverge from the administration's message. She broke with the White House on Epstein, calling for survivors to testify as the president's team tried to move past the scandal, and last week put her own spin on a Supreme Court ruling her husband celebrated, voicing support for the LGBTQIA+ community.A recent book recounted how she resisted Trump's overhaul of the White House grounds and lost.

‘Heat for thee, but not for me’: Mamdani lets City Hall go chill as he tells residents to sweat it out

Reporters test New York building, find temps as low as 54 degrees

Memo to MAGA: Stop Being Idiots — The Dems Are TELLING US How to Destroy Them!

Mamdani mocked by GOP for telling New Yorkers to set thermostats to 78

Republicans are criticizing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) after he suggested residents set their thermostats to 78 degrees to help conserve energy in the city as it braces for triple-digit temperatures this weekend.  “New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool. Set your AC…

Congress Can Still Ban Birthright Citizenship. Here’s How.

The Supreme Court has committed a grievous moral and legal error in Trump v. Barbara, the landmark case on birthright...

Mamdani Is Telling A Brazen Lie About ‘Capitalist Mismanagement’ Of New York

It's pretty clear that all of New York's big fiscal problems can be traced back to socialism.

Time for Congress To Make the Right To Carry a National Right

Today in Supreme Court History: July 3, 1941

7/3/1941: Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone takes oath. The post Today in Supreme Court History: July 3, 1941 appeared first on Reason.com.