The Patriot Post® · Friday Executive News Summary
- Schumer Shutdown update: Democrats oppose paying troops: Yesterday, Senate Democrats voted against the annual defense appropriations bill, despite it passing out of committee with bipartisan support earlier this year. Senators voted 50-44 on the measure, which needed 60 to advance. The bill includes $193 billion in pay and benefits for service members, as well as a 3.8% pay raise. It would also provide $171 billion for the procurement of weapons systems and $141 billion for research. Majority Leader John Thune hoped to make some progress, despite the government shutdown, by bringing the bill up for a vote. The Democrats’ reason for opposition? Minority Leader Chuck Schumer explained, “It’s always been unacceptable to Democrats to do the defense bill without other bills that have so many things that are important to the American people in terms of healthcare, in terms of housing, in terms of safety.” Seems pretty petty.
Jeffries’s leadership teeters: Hakeem Jeffries’s stint as House Democrat leader may be a short one. He entered the role in 2022 with unanimous support, but that support is clearly eroding as Democrats, particularly those on the far Left, are increasingly dissatisfied. In a survey of every competitive Democrat, 20 stated they would not vote for Jeffries as speaker or minority leader, with five others saying they likely would vote against him. An additional 57 Democrats refused to commit to supporting Jeffries, saying it was premature. Just 24 said they would definitely vote for Jeffries, with seven others indicating they probably would. That’s hardly a vote of confidence for Jeffries heading into a midterm election cycle that favors the Democrats. But is Jeffries the real problem, or is it his party’s increasingly far-left base?
ICE arrests illegal alien Chicago cop: In JB Pritzker’s Illinois, an illegal alien from Montenegro was arrested by immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday. Radule Bojovic was a sworn police officer with the Hanover Park Police Department before his arrest. Federal authorities said Bojovic was in the U.S. on a tourist visa that required him to depart by March 31, 2015. Over a decade later, he was still illegally in the U.S. and hired in January as a police officer. The Village of Hanover blamed the federal government: “The bottom line is that all information we received from the federal government indicated that Officer Bojovic is legally authorized to work in the United States as a police officer. Clearly, without that authorization, the Village would not have hired him.” Bojovic has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
DOJ hits Antifa with first terrorism charges: Two members of the recently designated domestic terrorist group Antifa have become the first individuals indicted on terrorism charges associated with the group. These two Antifa members were involved in an attack against ICE agents outside a detention center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4. ICE agents were fired upon after they were lured out of the facility by a number of mask-wearing, black-clad Antifa thugs. When police responded to the scene, one of the indicted Antifa members yelled, “Get to the rifles!” The indictment says that “seconds later,” he “opened fire on the officers, striking the Alvarado officer in the neck area as the unarmed correctional officers ducked and ran for cover.”
Fireworks at Virginia’s AG debate: Virginia’s race for attorney general has been in the spotlight due to Democrat candidate Jay Jones’s horrific texts calling for murder. In last night’s debate between Jones and the incumbent, Republican Jason S. Miyares, Jones did damage control, using about 40 seconds of his four-minute opening statement to apologize. He constantly tried to change the subject and pivot to Donald Trump by promising to fight the president’s policies in court and using Trump’s name 37 times during the 60-minute debate. Miyares argued that Jones is disqualified from office due to the texts. Miyares hit the nail on the head: “We have seen a window to who Jay Jones is and what he thinks of people that disagree with him. … Character is what you do in the dark when no one is watching. But now we know what he was doing in the dark.”
NY mayor debate: Yesterday, the three remaining New York City mayoral candidates had the first of two remaining debates. While the debate stage included Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, it is clear that the race at this point is between former governor and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and socialist Democrat candidate Zohran Mamdani. The two focused their attacks on each other. Cuomo hit the youthful Mamdani over his lack of experience, his past anti-law enforcement comments, and his refusal to condemn the jihadi phrase “globalize the intifada.” Mamdani jabbed Cuomo over his COVID pandemic policies and a current DOJ investigation regarding his testimony last year before Congress. When it came to questions regarding the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Mamdani falsely accused Israel of carrying out a genocide, though he refused to say whether Hamas should give up its weapons. Cuomo noted that Mamdani refused to “denounce Hamas.”
Chamber of Commerce sues Trump admin over H-1B visa fee: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that a $100,000 fee for new visas for highly skilled foreign workers is unlawful. The Chamber argues that the fee would cause “significant harm” to American companies via much higher prices for labor. The fee applies only to new H-1B visa petitions, not to existing ones. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said, “President Trump promised to put American workers first, and his commonsense action on H1-B visas does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas.” According to the lawsuit, the Chamber believes Trump has exceeded his authority and “blatantly contravenes the fees Congress has set” for the program.
Trump’s tariffs brought in $118B: The 2025 fiscal year ended with the federal government hitting another spending record of $7 trillion, an increase of $275 billion over last year, adding $1.775 trillion to the national debt. However, the addition to the deficit was less than last year thanks to a $317 billion increase in government revenue, which reached a new record of $5.235 trillion. The primary driver was a $118 billion increase from Donald Trump’s tariffs, which slightly mitigates the growth in government spending. The $1.2 trillion in interest payments on the national debt accounts for more than every other federal program except for Social Security. The overall deficit spending didn’t increase, but as Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, observed, “We are on track to borrow nearly $2 trillion a year for the next decade. How can anyone think this is sustainable?”
Headlines
Trump says he will meet with Putin in Budapest to discuss end to Ukraine War (WSJ)
U.S. military drone strike on drug vessel in Caribbean leaves survivors (Fox News)
Penn, USC, Brown reject Trump’s reform deal (College Fix)
Gavin Newsom vetoes five bills for “reparative justice” for black Californians (Sacramento Bee)
What’s happening to Kimmel’s ratings as he stays political (Daily Signal)
Humor: Here’s how 12 different news outlets covered Trump’s Gaza peace deal (Babylon Bee)
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