The Patriot Post® · Wednesday: Below the Fold
Senate inches closer to codifying DOGE cuts: Vice President JD Vance used his tiebreaking vote in the Senate Tuesday to bring some DOGE cuts to the Senate floor. Now that the bill has reached the floor, the Senate is expected to hold a vote-a-rama today to hammer out the details before sending the bill back to the House ahead of the Friday deadline for passage. The Senate has already removed some of the proposed cuts from the bill; the Bush-era President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has been protected, as has funding for tribal broadcasters. If the bill does not pass both chambers by Friday, then the clawback statute states that the White House has until the end of the fiscal year, September 30, to spend the funds.
Trump calls for release of “credible” Epstein info: Donald Trump says Attorney General Pam Bondi should release “any evidence she finds credible” from the Jeffrey Epstein case. The joint DOJ-FBI memo previously released stated that no evidence was found that could “predicate an investigation” into third parties. Most in the MAGA movement believe that there is more to the story. Bondi’s comments and actions are the source of the disbelief — the well-publicized “Epstein Files Part 1” binders that were handed out to conservative influencers, and Bondi’s comment that the files were “sitting on my desk to review.” Trump dismissed the Epstein story as “sordid but boring” and praised Bondi’s handling of the issue.
Indonesia trade deal: The U.S. has inked a new lucrative trade deal with one of our top 25 trade partners, Indonesia. Donald Trump announced the agreement on Tuesday, highlighting that the deal gives the U.S. tariff-free access to Indonesia’s markets, while Indonesia will pay 19% in tariffs to send its goods to America. Trump further noted that Indonesia “has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars [sic] in U.S. Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars [sic] in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777’s.” Last year, the United States traded over $38 billion in goods with Indonesia, resulting in a U.S. trade deficit of $17.9 billion. The terms of this deal are very similar to those of the Vietnam deal announced earlier this month, providing the U.S. with tariff-free access. In both cases, Trump had threatened tariffs of over 30%.
830% increase in anti-ICE assaults: From January 21 through July 14 of this year, the number of assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials has spiked by 830% over the same period last year. “ICE law enforcement are succeeding to remove terrorists, murderers, pedophiles and the most depraved among us from America’s communities, even as crazed rhetoric from gutter politicians are inspiring a massive increase in assaults against them,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted on X. “It is reprehensible that our officers are facing this threat while simply doing their jobs and enforcing the law.” Indeed. Democrat lawmakers such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are encouraging people to “fight … in the streets” against the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, while also calling for ICE agents to be unmasked.
University of Michigan probed over biohazard smuggling: Two Chinese nationals associated with the University of Michigan were arrested for smuggling biohazards into the U.S. in June. The university now faces an investigation by the Department of Education. The DOE’s Office of General Counsel reported that Michigan has a “history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence” and that a review of its foreign reports revealed “inaccurate” disclosures. Michigan is one of the top public research universities in the world, but it may be failing to properly vet its foreign scholars.
Schiff is hitting the fan: California Sen. Adam Schiff, the longtime Democrat lawmaker who has repeatedly sought to bring down Donald Trump via dubious impeachment, now finds himself in legal trouble. The Federal Housing Finance Agency sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department requesting an investigation into Schiff for alleged mortgage fraud. The allegation, which was first reported by CNN in 2023, stems from Schiff having designated a home he owns in Maryland as his secondary residence even though he and his family live there most of the time. Schiff also owns a condo in California, which he designated as his primary residence, garnering himself a $7,000 reduction on the state’s 1% property tax. Schiff reportedly did not take any tax breaks on his Maryland house. Trump called Schiff “a Crook,” while Schiff pushed back by calling the allegation a “baseless attempt at political retribution.”
DOJ sues CPB board members who defied Trump’s firing: The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against three members of the five-member Corporation for Public Broadcasting board over their refusal to recognize Donald Trump’s having fired them back in April. Laura Ross, Thomas Rothman, and Diane Kaplan unsuccessfully challenged Trump’s firings in court, claiming that his actions were unlawful. Despite the court’s ruling against them, these three have ironically ignored the ruling and continued in their positions, even voting to change CPB’s bylaws to explicitly prevent the president from having the authority to fire board members. DOJ lawyers observed that the “defendants are defiantly acting as if the court granted the relief the court denied — raising the question of why they bothered to seek preliminary relief and consume the resources of the court and the parties if they were simply going to ignore any adverse ruling.”
Nearly one-third of pregnancies in England end in abortion: The British Office for National Statistics reported statistics showing that 29.7% of pregnancies in England and Wales ended in abortion in 2022. Ten years prior, 20.84% ended in abortion. Illegal abortions were not included in the dataset, so the actual number is likely higher. The study showed that most pregnancies (six in 10) occurred outside of marriage. In such circumstances, abortion occurs 36% of the time compared to 11% of pregnancies in a marriage. Similar statistics released in Ireland showed that 99% of abortions were not performed for the health of the mother. The U.S. is not far behind — about 21% of American pregnancies end in abortion. Approximately one-in-four American women will have an abortion in their lifetime.
Headlines
ICE declares illegal aliens ineligible for bond hearings (Daily Caller)
Thousands of members of the National Guard to be withdrawn from Los Angeles (Just the News)
Trump admin removes migrants to Southern African nation after SCOTUS victory (Fox News)
Trump administration ends Polymarket investigations without charges (CNBC)
State Department rolls out “pro-family” exemption to hiring freeze (Daily Wire)
First NYC, now Minneapolis primed for commie mayor (PJ Media)
Minnesota assassin’s confession letter released following federal indictment (RedState)
Iranian nationals caught at U.S.-Canada border amid rising sleeper cell fears on U.S. soil (Townhall)
Israel begins talks with countries that could take in Gazans under Trump plan (Washington Free Beacon)
Humor: Justice Roberts gives KBJ a Magna Doodle to keep her busy during oral arguments (Babylon Bee)
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