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.

Happy Freedom 250! Acting DNI Bill Pulte Fires More “Deep State” Intel Officials

Acting DNI Bill Pulte has fired more "Deep State" intel officials, according to MS NOW. The post Happy Freedom 250! Acting DNI Bill Pulte Fires More “Deep State” Intel Officials appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Unnerved ex-officials uncork stark analogy as Trump spy chief cleans house on 'deep state'

President Donald Trump's controversial new intelligence chief is clearing house, and career officers warn the man swinging the axe doesn't know what he's cutting.Bill Pulte, Trump's loyal acting director of national intelligence, began notifying dozens of intelligence officials of their terminations Thursday, part of a downsizing Trump ordered when he installed Pulte at the office two weeks ago, MS NOW reported Friday. An intelligence official, who spoke anonymously citing fear of reprisal, told the outlet that leadership is targeting workers it believes are "deep state" and accused them of failing to hand up a complete picture of available intelligence.But former officials aren't buying his rationale. Several told MS NOW they had never heard of intelligence officers withholding information from their superiors. "The premise is absurd," one said. Another questioned how Pulte, who ran the federal housing agency and has no intelligence background, could reach such a conclusion within days of arriving.“I have a real question of how he would know this. This isn’t a guy who is familiar with intelligence,” a former official told the outlet. “How is he going to get to the bottom of this and rely on any information with a matter of fidelity? It would be like me taking over a hospital and firing dozens of surgeons in a matter of days.”The cuts follow Pulte's earlier removal of six political appointees who served under his predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard. His arrival has drawn alarm across party lines: he took the post without ever holding a security clearance, and he can stay in the acting role past November's midterms under federal vacancy rules. Critics note his office doesn't collect intelligence of its own, relying instead on the CIA, the NSA and more than a dozen other agencies to supply it.Democrats and some Republicans fear the purge is less about efficiency than about clearing out analysts who might resist Trump's election claims. The ODNI says it is providing "elite, apolitical intelligence that keeps America safe."

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...

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

New Orleans Kangaroo Court Issues ARREST WARRANT for Louisiana AG Liz Murrill After Grand Jury Indicts Her on 16 Felony Counts for Defending State Law Against Rogue Local Officials

They are doing it again, folks. The post New Orleans Kangaroo Court Issues ARREST WARRANT for Louisiana AG Liz Murrill After Grand Jury Indicts Her on 16 Felony Counts for Defending State Law Against Rogue Local Officials appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

US officials feared Israel was plotting to kill head Iranian negotiators: report

The US believed Israel was plotting to kill Iran's head negotiators, Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, in the middle of the peace talks, with America going as far as to warn Tehran through third party countries of the risks, officials said.

Brendan Boyle brings Congress back to ‘where it all began’ in Philadelphia to mark 250 years of American independence

Members of Congress gathered Thursday at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered at Independence Hall specifically on this day because it marked the anniversary of the Second Continental Congress’s vote in support of American independence in 1776 in […]