This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Congress is aiming to install new election integrity requirements in American voting law … before the 2026 vote.
Those plans include at least a bill to bar noncitizen residents of Washington, D.C., from voting in local elections, a bill to block noncitizens from helping administer elections and a constitutional amendment that would prevent noncitizens from voting at all.
It is Fox News that has documented the package of security plans being offered by the GOP majority in the House.
Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the chief of the Republican Study Committee, has introduced the bills and other members have signed on as cosponsors.
Right now, it's already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. And no state, at this point, allows their votes legally.
But some areas do allow them to vote in local elections.
Pfluger told Fox, "Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, which is why protecting them from noncitizen influence is essential to our nation's sovereignty and will ensure America has a flourishing democracy for decades to come.
"These bills are three commonsense steps we can take to ensure noncitizens are not influencing our elections by voting in them or administering them. We must safeguard the integrity of our electoral system, and these bills will work to do just that."
House Republicans earlier adopted their Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act to require proof of citizenship for voter registration, a move that triggered complaints from Democrats that Republicans were trying to "spread doubt" about elections by citing something that already mostly was illegal.
The report said Democrats also objected to the GOP's moves toward election security just before the 2024 vote, so Republicans are launching their efforts now – in preparation for the voting two years from now.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – In an effort to get some kind of grip on the anti-Semitism, which has swept the U.S., especially since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 onslaught on Israel, President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order Wednesday which will instruct all federal agencies to take decisive action, including identifying legal avenues to punish and deport individuals engaging in anti-Jewish activities – in particular, foreign students on visas.
A document describing the order requires agency and department leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days and outlines plans for the Justice Department to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, including on college campuses, according to a New York Post exclusive.
Among those to be targeted in the executive order are resident aliens – including those on student visas – who broke laws as part of the anti-Israel protests following the Oct. 7, terrorist attack, which sparked Israel's invasion of Gaza.
Some of the protests began before the IDF's entry into the Strip had begun. The Department of Justice will also intensify its investigations into pro-Hamas graffiti, harassment, and intimidation.
Last month, six House Republicans called on the government to more to address the rising tide of anti-Semitism, including the conditioning of federal aid to colleges – such as Columbia, which has become a hotbed of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist agitation – to enforce stricter policies to counter it. The college reportedly took in more than $2 billion in federal funds in the 2023 fiscal year.
The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department allegedly stonewalled on releasing key records on the matter, reinforcing Republican claims the Biden administration had been slow – at best – to address anti-Semitic threats.
For his part, Trump is keeping yet another campaign promise, following up on remarks he made calling for the expulsion of foreign students openly supporting Hamas. Last week, he signed another executive order hinting at broader measures to prevent non-citizens from supporting designated terrorist organizations within U.S. borders.
While so-called "hate speech" is protected under the First Amendment, the same House GOP report released last month argues federal law bars recipients of taxpayer funds from tolerating discrimination, under the rubric of which preventing Jewish students – and only Jewish students – from certain areas would presumably fall.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
Torah scrolls in Israel desecrated in synagogue attack
Vandals on Sunday night broke into a synagogue located in a public bomb shelter on Bat yam's David Remez Street, throwing a Torah scroll on the floor and stepping on it, Israel National News reported.
The vandals used electric tools to saw open the Holy Ark, apparently with the knowledge that the noise would not be heard outside, since the synagogue was in a bomb shelter.
The scene was discovered early on Monday morning, by worshipers arriving at the synagogue for prayers. Police were called in, and according to the worshipers, the officers who arrived at the scene displayed indifference and left within a short time, saying that anyone bothered could file a complaint at the police station.
Avichai Shalom, one of the worshipers, said that the vandalism had been nationalist in nature, since, "No Jew would invest so much time in breaking into the Holy Ark only in order to desecrate the Torah scroll."
Released hostage: 'There are 2 million terrorists in Gaza'
Liri Albag, the 19-year-old Israel Defense Forces lookout released on Saturday after 477 days as a captive of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, told her parents that there are "two million terrorists" in the coastal enclave.
"Dad, there are two million terrorists there, make no mistake. I sat with children aged 8 and 4 who were cursing 'the Jews,'" Albag was cited as having told her father since being released as part of the truce deal, the Jewish News Syndicate reported.
Albag's family has emphasized that while she and the three other female IDF hostages released on Saturday experienced "insane things that are hard to tell everything about" during their 15 months in Hamas captivity, they are afraid to speak due to the fact that 90 hostages have yet to be freed from Gaza.
Former hostage Mia Shem, who was released during the previous truce with Hamas in November 2023, told Israel's Channel 13 News channel in an interview on Dec. 28, 2023, "Everyone there [in Gaza] is a terrorist.
Iranian young people 'hate Palestinians,' see Netanyahu as a hero
Sadegh Zibakalam, an Iranian author and political analyst, expressed awe at the number of Iranian young people who "hate Palestinians," Israel National News reported.
"You'd be surprised today," he said in a video shared by Iran International. "Since Oct. 7, 2023, you'd be surprised at the number of Iranians who HATE Palestinians. What happened to that sympathy? It's gone – it's evaporated."
"If someone would have told me that, 'Sadegh, a day would come that Iranian people hate Palestinians and they would praise [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu – of all the people – they would praise Netanyahu as the hero, I would've thought that he or she was out of his mind, he or she was talking nonsense, he or she didn't know ANYTHING about Iranian people. But I saw it with my own eyes during the past 15 months, the degree of hatred of younger generation of Iranians against Palestinian. And their hero was Netanyahu."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the huge crises facing America because of Joe Biden's presidency was, and is, the flood of millions of illegal aliens who arrived in the country through his open borders agenda.
President Donald Trump, who had implemented a long list of border security plans, including building a wall, during his first presidency, made it a key campaign issue.
And on his first day back in office announced that the "birthright citizenship" agenda used for years in America, granting citizenship to any baby born on American soil, would no longer include the offspring of illegal aliens.
That ruling is in court right now, with a federal judge having claimed that Trump's interpretation of the 14th Amendment is wrong, but the key phrase, regarding whether the person is "subject to" the United States, remains vague, so the eventual outcome of the lawsuit challenging Trump's determination remains uncertain.
But members of U.S. Congress have begun defending Trump's perspective, and now there's even a plan proposed that would resolve the dispute.
Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, has announced the pending Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025.
He said it would "restore the 14th Amendment to its original purpose and end the misuse of birthright citizenship."
It would provide for automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. if at least one parent is a citizen or national of the U.S., a lawful permanent resident whose residence is in the U.S., or a lawful immigrant performing active service in the armed forces.
"The introduction of this bill aligns with President Donald Trump's commitment to make birthright citizenship reform a top priority. Granting automatic citizenship to children of illegal immigrants is based on a flawed interpretation of the 14thAmendment, which was originally intended to ensure recently freed slaves gained full rights as Americans. It was never intended to confer citizenship to children of individuals who enter or remain in the United States illegally," he said.
"America's citizenship laws should reflect fairness and respect for the rule of law," said Babin. "This common-sense legislation corrects decades of misuse and closes the loophole that incentivizes illegal immigration and exploits U.S. citizenship through birth tourism. Citizenship is one of our nation's most precious privileges. By introducing this legislation, we are taking an important step to restore integrity to our immigration system and prioritize the interests of American citizens."
The congressman reported that the Center for Immigration Studies confirms that one out of every 10 births in the United States is to an illegal immigrant mother.
"Additionally, nearly 400,000 expectant mothers cross the border illegally each year intending to give birth in the United States. Once granted automatic citizenship, these children can initiate chain migration, opening pathways for extended family members to gain legal residency. This practice has also fueled a global birth tourism industry, which takes advantage of the current loophole in U.S. immigration laws," he reported.
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said, "These folks aren't here on vacation, and just happen to go into labor. They're coming across that border down there illegally, and they're using us like an international piggy bank."
Trump has promised an appeal of the judge's order halting his executive order for now.
"Obviously, we'll appeal it," Trump said. "They put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess. Right? And there's no surprises with that judge."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump has pardoned a number of pro-life activists who had been put in the judicial system's bull's-eye by Joe Biden, whose prosecutors charged them and jailed them for advocating for the lives of the unborn.
Jor-El Godsey, who heads Heartbeat International, expressed thankfulness for the actions of the president.
"When pro-lifers are unfairly targeted, and punished excessively, for their peaceful protests, then presidential pardons are a must. We are grateful for President Trump's effort to right the wrongs of the activist Biden administration," Godsey said.
Trump, as well as Vice President JD Vance, are scheduled to speak to pro-life advocates at the annual March for Life, the nation's largest annual pro-life demonstration, either through a video or in-person, just a day from now.
"We thank President Trump for immediately delivering on his promise to free pro-life protesters who targeted and imprisoned by Biden's Department of Justice. Pro-life moms, grandmothers and even Eva Edl, a Communist prison camp survivor, were thrown in jail for peacefully protesting abortion. As if that were not enough, aggressive sentences were handed down, like five years for Lauren Handy who sought to expose evidence of late term and potentially illegal abortions in the nation's capital," explained SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
"President Trump has consistently taken a strong stance that weaponizing the government to go after pro-life advocates and other ideological opponents is wrong. There is no question these prosecutions were political. Even ex-FBI director Chris Wray admits the overwhelming majority of abortion-related threats and violence since Dobbs is directed at pro-life Americans – not done by them. We look forward to the end of Biden's anti-life discrimination under Attorney General Pam Bondi."
She continued, ""In 2020 President Trump made history as the first president to speak in person at the March for Life. We are thankful he and Vice President Vance continue to prioritize this massive annual human rights demonstration, which brings everyday Americans from all over the country to raise their voices for LIFE. Together Trump and Vance are restoring the gains we were making for unborn children and their mothers before Biden took over and pushed abortion into every aspect of the government. The difference from the previous administration couldn't be clearer."
Some two dozen people who had been convicted for "blocking access to and temporarily shutting down" abortion business operations were charged and many of them had still been in jail.
"They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people," Trump said. "This is a great honor to sign this."
Those who were pardoned had been targeted by Biden using the FACE Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances. The law was supposed to protect "access" to abortion businesses alongside church and pro-life organizations, but Biden's biased agenda meant that more than 9 of 10 cases brought under the law targeted the pro-life Americans.
It was the lawyers from the Thomas More Society who had submitted to Trump's administration a formal request for pardons, naming Joan Bell, Coleman Boyd, Joel Curry, Jonathan Darnel, Eva Edl, Chester Gallagher, William Goodman, Dennis Green, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, Jean Marshall, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, Justin Phillips, Paul Place, Paul Vaughn, Bevelyn Beatty Williams, Calvin Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, and James Zastrow.
The lawyers explained, "These pro-life Americans are deserving of full and unconditional pardons."
"Today, freedom rings in our great nation. The heroic peaceful pro-lifers unjustly imprisoned by Biden's Justice Department will now be freed and able to return home to their families, eat a family meal, and enjoy the freedom that should have never been taken from them in the first place,": said society lawyer Steve Crampton.
"These heroic peaceful pro-lifers were treated shamefully by Biden's DOJ, with many of them branded felons and losing many rights that we take for granted as American citizens. Today, their precious freedom is restored. What happened to them can never be erased, but today's pardons are a huge step towards restoring justice. Thank you to President Trump and his team for righting these grievous wrongs of the previous administration."
Society Executive Vice President Peter Breen said, "What happened to these peaceful pro-life individuals must never happen again. We urge Congress to act swiftly in repealing the FACE Act to make sure that the Justice Department can never again weaponize this law to target peaceful pro-lifers with severe charges."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Trump, under his Make America Great Again agenda, is ending the profligate use of the nation's flagpoles to promote various race and gender ideologies.
A report in the Washington Free Beacon confirms the State Department has adopted a "One Flag Policy" that bars U.S. flagpoles from flying flags other than Stars and Stripes, with one or two special patriotic exceptions.
The publication reported obtaining a copy of the order that bans Pride, Black Lives Matter and other flags that Joe Biden had allowed to use the gravitas of the American government.
"Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content," the State Department said, "The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present."
"Disciplinary action" is promised to those who violate the policy, which could be up to "termination of employment."
"The only other flags that will be permitted to fly are the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) emblem and the Wrongful Detainees Flag," the report said the government allowed.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "The U.S. flag is a powerful symbol of pride and it is fitting and respectful that only the U.S. flag be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestically and abroad."
The report noted the White House said, "On the President's direction, the State Department will have an America-First foreign policy."
Biden had allowed an assortment of gender-ideology and racist flag emblems to be flown, including the Pride flag that usurped the Stars and Stripes on occasion at the White House.
"In June 2021, for instance, the U.S. embassy in Nassau 'raised the rainbow Pride Flag to honor the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons in The Bahamas and around the world,'" Biden's administration boasted at the time.
The report said during Trump's first term as president, he repeatedly refused permission to embassies and consulates to use the authority of the American government to promote such social perspectives.
It was in June 2023 when Biden allowed the White House to be draped with Pride flags, at an event when he celebrated the LGBT ideology with a party there, including three "guests" who were caught posing topless.
Fox News reported Barack Obama also promoted the use of LGBT flags at U.S. embassies while he was in the White House.
The report noted there also was a limit on Pride flags at embassies under the March 2024 $1.2 trillion spending pushed by Biden.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the more controversial pardons unleashed by Joe Biden on his way out the door of the White House was for Anthony Fauci, the former federal health official.
He reportedly was involved in the origins of COVID-19 to the extent of allowing American funding of the dangerous gain-of-function research in China, and then he demanded that Americans submit to the COVID-19 shots that were created in response to the pandemic that killed millions around the globe.
Those shots themselves have now been confirmed as carrying side effects that could be fatal.
And don't forget the masking and social separation demands.
He once boastfully proclaimed that he is the "science" on the questions of COVID.
WND reported that Fauci promptly expressed his appreciation for the pardon but proclaimed his innocence.
"I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf. Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me," he claimed.
Fauci said he is grateful because the threats and possibility of a politically motivated prosecution "creates immeasurable and intolerable distress on me and my family."
Social media immediately responded with confirmation that people will think Fauci did something wrong, no matter his protestations.
And now a statement from the group called Children's Health Defense said the investigations – and even possible charges – will happen no matter the pardon.
Mary Holland, the organization's chief, explained, "This is another way that the Biden administration is trying to put a shadow over the incoming administration to preserve its own power and to undermine anything that a new administration might do. What we know is that Tony Fauci lied throughout COVID."
She continued that the pardon "is in no way going to stop congressional investigations, and it will not necessarily stop other federal investigations or charges related to other things like taxes, and it won't stop state prosecutions or possibly other prosecutions by other countries."
In fact, Biden's pardon protects Fauci from federal charges over events that have happened.
Holland noted her organization welcomes congressional review of Fauci's actions, especially a commitment by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, "to investigate the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the role played by Anthony Fauci."
"It's entirely appropriate to investigate Dr. Fauci and his role. One of the things that's positive here is that because he has been preemptively pardoned, he will not be able to assert a 5th Amendment protection in Congress when he is going to be investigated. There's no question that Senator Rand Paul, in particular, has every intention of going forward to investigate this man."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed Barack Obama's oath of office some years ago.
He rearranged the words of the oath, moving "faithfully" to a place out of order, so Obama's oath was not the correct version from the Constitution.
The two of them got together later in the day and "fixed" it by having Obama say the right words, in the right order.
Today Roberts was part of another flub, this time involving President Donald Trump.
He apparently rushed the oath, not allowing Melania Trump to approach the two and offer a Bible on which the president could his hand.
So Trump swore the oath without his hand in that position, which is not required by the Constitution.
But it immediately gave leftists who hate Trump and jump-start on their conspiracy theories.
A social commenter said, "Great. Just great. No hand on the Bible. Melania tried to get it close to him but Roberts and Trump didn't notice. Now we get 4 more years of people saying he's not President, and 4 more years of people saying he's the AntiChrist."
A different angle, showing the uncovered Bible more clearly:
And an image:
A Twitchy commentary said, "Because Roberts started before everyone was ready, Trump ended up not placing his hand on the Bible."
Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley explained the alternation of tradition was insignificant.
"The Chief Justice moved a tad too quickly before Trump could put his hand on the bible. Roberts previously had an embarrassing moment with Obama. On this occasion, Roberts got the oath right but the timing was off. However, there is no need for a redo..0"
Twitchy said, "When Roberts flubbed Obama's oath of office, Roberts came to White House and did the oath again, just to clear up any doubt. While we agree with Turley that there is no legal need to do so, we think its probably a good idea to have Trump do it again, hand on the bible, with Chief Justice Roberts, and post it on video, just to shut the crazies up."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Even Biden administration officials are admitting that it took President-elect Donald Trump wading into Israel-Hamas negotiations to close the deal and force a hostage release and cease-fire after 15 months of war, reported the New York Post.
Multiple insiders and officials in both Israel and the U.S. told The Post that it was Trump's impending inauguration – combined with the efforts of his Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who finally solved a problem which had proved intractable for President Biden and his team.
A source with Trump's transition team described the conversation last weekend between longtime Trump pal Witkoff and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "straightforward, no phony platitudes and very direct."
Another official told Reuters: "Witkoff was able to pressure Netanyahu into accepting the deal and moving quickly. It's that conversation that shifted everything into motion."
Waltz: U.S. will back Israeli action in Gaza if Hamas breaks ceasefire
Incoming U.S. National Security Advisor Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., said on Wednesday the Trump administration will support renewed Israeli military action against Hamas in Gaza if the terrorist group violates the terms of the ceasefire, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
"We've made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this – if they need to go back in, we're with them. If Hamas doesn't live up to the terms of this agreement, we are with them," the Republican representative from Florida's 6th District, whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped for the NSA role in November, told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
"Hamas is not going to continue as a military entity and it certainly is not going to govern Gaza," Waltz stressed.
Report: Two dual citizen U.S.-Israeli hostages thought to be released Sunday in first phase of deal
Five Israeli female soldiers will be released from Gaza on Sunday, coinciding with the first day of a planned ceasefire – according to a report by KAN news, a senior U.S. official announced Wednesday night.
The exchange will include Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, reported the Jerusalem Post.
"I am disappointed that this agreement does not talk about all the hostages. It is unacceptable that the second phase is not defined in a way that shows when my son will be released from captivity," Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli IDF Sgt. Itay Chen, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
Israel rebuffs Erdogan over Syria warning
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israel must withdraw its forces from Syria or it will cause "unfavorable outcomes for everyone," according to the Times of Israel.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – With a hostage deal apparently as good as done, although intense public scrutiny and the myriad of messages emanating from Israel, the United States, Hamas, and Qatar and others, has yet to produce concrete results, the prospect of the agreement's signing has shifted some of the focus in Israel to what will happen within the country if it is finally done.
From a practical political perspective, two of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition partners – Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir – whose removal of their 13 combined seats in the Knesset (out of a total of 120) from the government, would almost certainly trigger new elections in the near future.
The country had barely recovered politically from the five elections it held in four years, before it was plunged into its current and longest war following the Hamas-led massacres of Oct. 7, 2023. And while it is difficult to predict which way the electorate might go, the full effects of the war will likely not redound to Netanyahu's benefit.
Indeed, if his right-wing abandons him, Netanyahu will either be forced to try and create a ruling coalition with ideological and personal opponents (although he has plenty of those on the right too), or be forced to call for new elections.
Chiefly, Netanyahu's most fervent right-wing antagonist is Ben Givr, who only a day or so ago baldly admitted he torpedoed potential hostage deals multiple times over the last year. Considering the outline of the deal which has been released does not seem significantly different from those previously outlined, some uncomfortable truths emerge.
Primarily, it shows how beholden Netanyahu was (presumably still is) to an individual whom he said he would never allow to sit in Israel's government due to his extremism. After all the name of his party – Otzma Yehudit – Jewish Power – is based on asserting control of Jewish control over the entirety of greater Israel, and very much including Judea and Samaria.
Even if we take it as a given that Ben Gvir has a deep ideological opposition to what amounts to capitulation to terrorists, his pressure to not do a deal has lengthened the war and cost the lives of both hostages and soldiers. And people were not being wise after the event; Ben Gvir was a known quantity, and some of the vociferous push-back against him was because large numbers of people thought him unfit for high office.
This situation also shows the limits of Netanyahu's relationship with President-elect Donald Trump. And as an aside, it would be ironic if it was the Trump administration that caused Bibi's fall, considering the Biden administration – and senior congresspeople, such as Chuck Schumer, D–N.Y. had so publicly and obviously tried to maneuver his ouster over the last four years.
The expectation in Israel had been that Biden's White House staff and those at the State Department, who had proved both wrong and meddlesome, would be replaced with bureaucrats who would allow Israel to finish the job – as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance recently intimated on Fox News.
Netanyahu will point to the multiple victories the IDF and Mossad among others have scored over the months since the last hostage deal was thought to be close over the summer. These include the elimination of Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, the pager operation in Lebanon and Syria, and the extirpation of the entirety of the upper echelon of the Hezbollah leadership structure, especially arch-terrorist Hassan Nasrallah.
While Netanyahu has been in numerous political scrapes over the last two-and-a-half decades and managed to emerge from them, it feels as though there is real jeopardy attached to his current predicament. There are large swaths of the population who will never be able to forgive that Oct. 7 occurred on his watch, no matter his attempts to deflect to the intelligence community and the top brass of the IDF for their own failures – which were similarly and unforgivably catastrophic.
Perhaps the last words should be reserved for the hostage families. It is difficult to adequately put into words how on a macro level the kidnap of hostages, the youngest – Kfir Bibas, who if he is still alive will now be turning two – has ripped the country asunder.
So, how much more painful must it be for the families themselves whose most fervent desire is to see and hold their stolen loved ones again? Most of the families are in favor of the deal, however, there is a smaller group – haunted by the Gilad Shalit exchange deal in 2011, which released convicted murderer (of Palestinians) Yahya Sinwar, and ultimately led to the Oct. 7 massacre.