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.

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...

SCOTUS Birthplace Citizenship Decision Is John Roberts’ Roe v. Wade

Trump v. Barbara may ultimately come to be remembered not as the final word on birthplace citizenship but as another constitutional detour waiting to be corrected.

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

WATCH: Controversial SCOTUS decision strikes a divide among lawmakers

The 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment drew sharp reactions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Democrats reveal hypocrisy as SCOTUS ends Haitian protections: ‘Why is Haiti America’s responsibility?’

The Supreme Court's decision to allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for many Haitian migrants has triggered serious outrage from the left — and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales can’t help but notice the glaring issues in leftist logic.“Now, seems like it would be kind of common sense. It’s in the name. It’s the T in TPS. Temporary. Temporary. There is an actual definition of the word 'temporary.' It means 'not forever,'” Gonzales says, pointing out that they were supposed to have this status for months, but instead they have had it for nearly two decades.“Democrats, Haitians, anyone who has the liberal brain rot — they're losing their entitled little minds about it,” she adds.Founder and CEO of the Immigrant Family Services Institute Dr. Geralde Gabeau yelled to crowd cheers, “This is the time for all of us to raise our voices and to say this country is also our country, is also the country of our immigrant because we are the one who built it.”“I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to ask you for your receipts, ma’am,” Gonzales comments.“'Haitians built this country' is the argument that they made,” she adds.However, celebrities have historically made their home sound like a place no one should want to leave, as Susan Sarandon, Conan O’Brien, and even Bill Maher all have donned shirts that read “Haiti is great already.”“They were pretending like it was just this wonderful, beautiful country; it’s not a third-world s**t-hole,” Gonzales comments. “And now all of a sudden, they’re back to like, ‘No, no, you can’t send them back. No, don’t do that. It’s too big of a s**t-hole.’”And CNN’s Jake Tapper is among those pleading.“I heard Stephen Miller, who’s driving a lot of this, say that Haiti is safe for Haitians, and I just looked at the State Department’s website, and they have a level four 'do not travel' advisory for Haiti just from a few months ago,” Tapper said on CNN.“Crimes include robbery, carjacking, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom. That doesn’t sound safe to me,” Tapper added.“'Do not travel' is not for Haitians. That’s 'do not travel' for the United States. That advisory is to American citizens traveling to Haiti, not Haitians going back home,” Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told Tapper.“I understand that, but based on everything I’ve read, including the U.N. and Human Rights Watch, it doesn’t sound safe for Haitians. More than 8,100 killings documented last year. Those weren’t Americans. Haiti is among the top five countries with the highest rates of rape and sexual abuse, with more than 1,200 cases of sexual violence last year,” Tapper replied.“So Haitians are making Haiti unsafe, and somehow we are expected to import them. These are criminals,” Gonzales comments.“Why would it be our duty to import anyone from any unsafe country in the world?” she asks. “The obvious conclusion is you are only going to make our country less safe.”Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

So much for Lakers’ big offseason … LA fans left with sinking feeling

The flame was lit when the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic in February 2025, a generational player who could put the team atop the NBA again. 

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 […]