Vice president J.D. Vance is calling on Republicans to take "decisive action" as a nationwide battle over redistricting continues to flare.
The controversy erupted after Texas embraced a Trump-backed plan to make five House districts more favorable to Republicans.
While gerrymandering is a bi-partisan vice, Democrats have threatened to retaliate, accusing Republicans of a ruthless power grab that violates democratic norms.
Republicans, meanwhile, cast their redistricting efforts as a reaction to years of unfairness by Democrats in states like Illinois, California, and New York.
"If California has crazy gerrymanders, Illinois has crazy gerrymanders, New York has crazy gerrymanders, what it does is it actually suppresses the will of the people in states like Indiana," Vance told Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.
As Vance put it to Fox News, Republicans are finally getting even and restoring some balance to a skewed system.
"The democratic system in this country is broken because who you vote for doesn’t necessarily get reflected in who your representatives are. We’re just trying to rebalance the scales and, frankly, push back against a very unfair system created by the Democrats," he said.
Republicans also say Democrats are exploiting the U.S. Census, which determines the distribution of House seats and Electoral College votes every 10 years.
The Trump administration wants to remove illegal aliens from the census, arguing their inclusion gives Democratic states with high immigrant populations an unfair advantage.
California, the most populous state in the U.S. and the one with the most House seats, has a population that is nearly one-third foreign-born.
Vance urged Republicans to expand their redistricting efforts beyond Texas - and support Trump's effort to redo the census.
"What we want to do is redo the census, but importantly, we want to redistrict some of these red states, and we want to make the congressional apportionment fair in this country," Vance said.
"Again, you cannot do it unless Republicans actually take some very decisive action in the months to come. We think they will and will obviously support them every step of the way.”
Blue state governors have toyed with mid-decade redistricting to get back at Republicans, but Democrats may have limited ways of responding because their states are already skewed heavily toward the left.
This imbalance may be part of the reason why Vance is encouraging Republicans to escalate.
President Donald Trump made major headlines at a recent fundraiser when he announced that he's considering reclassifying marijuana at the federal level, which Republicans have generally pushed back on over the years.
According to Fox Business, Trump made the announcement "at a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club," sources familiar with the situation reportedly told The Wall Street Journal.
Cannabis groups have contributed millions of dollars to Trump's various political groups, and it appears as if the contributions could pay massive dividends, as those same groups have fought for years to change the drug's classification at the federal level.
Because it's only legal in various forms in various states, cannabis businesses have had extremely difficult transactional issues, as most major banks and processors have strict restrictions on those businesses, to say the least.
Kim Rivers, chief executive of Trulieve, one of the largest marijuana companies, was one of the guests at the high-end fundraiser, and she clearly used her time at the table to encourage the president to reclassify the plant.
Rivers also urged the president to expand medical marijuana research. Cannabis groups and advocates have pushed the federal government for years to research the plant's greater uses in the medical realm.
Fox News noted:
The potential move to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I controlled substances and make it a Schedule III drug would make it significantly easier to buy and sell cannabis and make the industry more profitable.
Notably, the Biden administration also pushed for the plant to be reclassified to make it easier to buy and sell and use for medical purposes, but was never able to get it done before his time in office ended.
Though it's mostly Democrats who have attempted to have the drug reclassified or taken off of the controlled substances list altogether, some Republicans have also made the same push.
Fox News noted:
At least 40 states have legalized medical marijuana, while 24 states and Washington, D.C., have also legalized recreational marijuana.
Users across social media reacted to the idea of Trump reclassifying the plant. Some supported the idea, and some didn't.
Trump eyes reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous drug: report https://t.co/J2Yittesry pic.twitter.com/uiiGv8cHgM
— New York Post (@nypost) August 9, 2025
"It will help the drug dealers. No one goes to jail for a couple joints anymore. @realDonaldTrump don’t do it. Ty," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "A no brainer. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol."
The Trump administration is once again making changes at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in naming yet another acting commissioner to lead the agency on Trump's watch.
According to the Daily Caller, former Republican lawmaker Billy Long, who was the most recent acting director of the agency, is no longer in the position, as he has been named the ambassador to Iceland.
Long had only been on the job for two months before being replaced, marking yet another shakeup at the agency.
Trump named Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to step in to lead the agency until a more permanent IRS leader is found. A senior White House official confirmed the changes to multiple news outlets.
It wasn't exactly clear why Long was not only taken out of the IRS leadership spot but also given a high-profile ambassadorship.
Bessent will be the sixth acting director of the IRS, setting a new record in a sense, as the agency hasn't seen that many heads in the first year of a president's new term in a very long time.
Long released a statement on his new job as ambassador to Iceland, thanking Trump for the confidence in assuming the role and for the opportunity to do it.
“It is a honor to serve my friend President Trump and I am excited to take on my new role as the ambassador to Iceland. I am thrilled to answer his call to service and deeply committed to advancing his bold agenda. Exciting times ahead!” Long wrote.
“It is a honor to serve my friend President Trump and I am excited to take on my new role as the ambassador to Iceland. I am thrilled to answer his call to service and deeply committed to advancing his bold agenda. Exciting times ahead!” - Billy Long
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) August 8, 2025
The Daily Caller noted:
Long is a former auctioneer who served in the House for more than a decade representing Missouri’s 7th Congressional District beginning in 2011. He sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS while serving in Congress.
Users across social media speculated on why all of a sudden Long is no longer leading the agency. Many wished him well.
"Billy, I met you in Missouri when you told me how to pronounce Lebanon in MO! I wish you and your wife the very very best and I hope your children are still doing exceptionally well!" one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Good luck. Was hoping that you were going to bring some needed changes to the IRS, would have liked to see what your leadership might bring about."
It'll be interesting to see who the Trump administration formally selects for the position in the future.
The office of Vice President J.D. Vance said he was "unaware" that Secret Service raised the water level of an Ohio river so his family could go kayaking.
"The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the vice-president or his staff, as was the case last weekend,” a spokesperson said.
The vice president, an Ohio native, took his family kayaking down a tributary of the Ohio River for his 41st birthday earlier this month.
The leftist Guardian newspaper was first to report that Vance requested an increase in the outflow from Caesar Creek Lake, which feeds into the Little Miami River.
The river's elevation increased more than two feet around August 2, at the same time that the lake's elevation dropped, according to public geological data.
The Guardian's report cited an anonymous source that claimed Vance's team wanted "ideal kayaking conditions," but the outlet said it could not verify the claim.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Louisville, Kentucky, said Secret Service made the request for safety reasons -- but Democrats seized on the report, accusing the vice president of making extravagant demands at taxpayer expense even as the White House and Republicans in Congress make drastic cuts to public spending.
"Outrageous! Must be why he wasn’t available to meet about his Big Bonanza for Billionaires Bill which will devastate Ohio manufacturing jobs and our rural hospitals. The Army Corps of Engineers should share records with relevant committee of jurisdiction in Congress," said Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur.
The Secret Service has since confirmed that Vance had no involvement in the decision.
“These decisions were made solely by agents during our standard advance planning process and did not involve the Office of the Vice President," the Secret Service said.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the river was too shallow for agents to navigate safely, causing a boat to run aground during a scouting trip by Secret Service and local authorities. The Army Corps of Engineers was asked to increase the water flow to accommodate the motorized boats used by security.
Eugene Pawlik, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps, characterized the request as routine and said it did not have an adverse impact on water levels upstream or downstream.
“The Secret Service request did not fall outside our normal operating parameters,” said Pawlik.
Michelle Obama admitted to having mixed feelings when she met her husband Barack Obama - and feared their relationship would "ruin" her career as a lawyer.
With divorce rumors still swirling around the couple, Michelle shared an eyebrow-raising account of how they fell in love while working at a law firm.
As she recalled on an episode of her podcast IMO, Barack had a reputation as a "brilliant" Harvard Law student before she met him for the first time.
She was struck by his "weird" first name and assumed he would be "nerdy" because "white people" seemed to like him.
Even back then, Michelle had a chip on her shoulder about race, it seems.
"I got his profile [at the law firm] and I thought, what kind of a name is Barack Obama?"
"And he's black, and everyone at the law firm was excited that he was black, and I was like, 'he's probably weird, because he's a nerd if a lot of white people are all infatuated with him.'"
After meeting Barack, Michelle found him to be more confident and attractive than she anticipated. It was love at first sight, or rather, the first "hello."
"I had this image of a nerdy guy, and then the first sparky feeling I had, I felt actually, was when I talked to him on the phone and he had his Barack Obama voice. He's like, 'hello', the voice was sexier than the image I had, so I sort of didn't expect this," she said.
Before long, she was inseparable from her new work "buddy," and as they got closer, Michelle feared that she was compromising her job. She even tried setting him up with a friend.
"I told myself it would be completely inappropriate for me to date this dude that I'm advising. It would be tacky, and it would be expected, so I kind of talked myself out of it," she said.
One night, while out with their work colleagues, Barack suggested leaving alone with Michelle. She had a moment of doubt but was unable to resist his "radical," devil-may-care attitude.
"I was like, 'oh, he's radical, he's like a rule breaker' and we left at intermission, we left two seats open in the box at the firm."
"I was like 'I'm ruining my career,' but we went out for drinks and I really liked him."
Despite her misgivings, marrying a future president turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her.
She owes all her fame, wealth, and notoriety to being the wife of the 44th president, but you would never guess from how often she belittles him in public.
It's no wonder that the couple can't seem to dodge rumors of divorce - no matter how often they put on this cutesy lovebird routine.
A Democratic congresswoman is facing accusations of treason after she admitted to feeling more Guatemalan than American.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Il.) made the shocking comment at a leftist, anti-American summit in Mexico, where she was joined by like-minded progressives like Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mn.).
The Panamerican Congress brings together leftist leaders from across the Western hemisphere - primarily Latin America - who oppose the geopolitical dominance of the United States and Israel, the Daily Caller reported.
In her remarks at the conference, Ramirez denounced America's "imperialism" and declared, in Spanish, that she is a proud Guatemalan first.
"I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American," she said.
Needless to say, her remarks have brought significant controversy, with many saying she should leave the United States or even be deported.
Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles cut to the chase, saying Ramirez should be stripped of her citizenship and sent to the country where - according to her - her heart truly lies.
"Denaturalize, deport, and kick her off Homeland Committee. We know where her allegiances lie," Ogles wrote on X.
Ramirez, a Chicago native who represents Illinois' heavily Latino 3rd district, is married to an illegal immigrant and describes herself as the "only Congressperson in a mixed-status marriage.” She is the child of illegal aliens from Guatemala.
The Trump administration - which is trying to end birthright citizenship - did not hesitate to highlight Ramirez's comments.
The Department of Homeland Security responded with a famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt about the danger of "hyphenated Americanism."
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism...Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance," Roosevelt said.
In a long and angry statement, Ramirez said she is being held to a different standard because of her race.
"No one questions when my white colleagues identify as Irish-American, Italian-American, or Ukrainian-American to honor their ancestry," she said.
Of course, it is one thing to take pride in your ethnic heritage and another thing entirely to say that you belong to another country, which is what Ramirez did here. She also attended an event that has the explicit purpose of lifting up the Third World against American "imperialism."
Still, Ramirez insists that her patriotism is beyond questioning.
"I am the daughter of immigrants and the daughter of America. I am both Chapina and American. I am from both Guatemala and Chicago, Illinois," she said.
The Justice Department is opening a grand jury investigation into Obama administration officials over the Russia hoax.
Trump said he is "happy to hear" about the bombshell development, which was first reported by Fox News.
"They deserve it," Trump told Squawk Box Tuesday morning. "I was happy to hear it."
For years, Trump and his supporters have demanded justice over what many believe was an attempted coup against Trump by intelligence community insiders working with Democratic party operatives.
It is unclear who could face charges in the probe. But the names could possibly include former intelligence community heads like FBI director James Comey and CIA director John Brennan, who both played roles in amplifying the baseless Trump-Russia narrative that consumed much of Trump's first term.
As reported by Fox, attorney general Pam Bondi "personally ordered an unnamed federal prosecutor to initiate legal proceedings and the prosecutor is expected to present department evidence to a grand jury, which would allow the department to secure a potential indictment."
The grand jury's opening comes after intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department, accusing Obama and his inner circle of a "treasonous conspiracy" to discredit Trump's 2016 election with false intelligence.
Gabbard revealed last month that Obama personally asked for a new assessment of Russian interference after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Obama's intelligence community concluded that Russia actively favored Trump, a finding that helped stoke unfounded suspicions about Trump colluding with Russia.
Trump was eventually vindicated with the release of the Mueller report in 2019, which found no evidence of collusion. But no one has ever been held accountable over the alleged conspiracy, which cast a shadow over Trump's White House for more than half of his term.
This is not the first criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia hoax, but it is a marked escalation compared to Special Counsel John Durham's probe, which focused on the Clinton campaign and did not lead to charges against any prominent individuals.
The Durham investigation lasted over three years and ended with acquittals for a Clinton campaign lawyer and a Russian source of the infamous Christopher Steele dossier. An FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for fabricating evidence that was used to spy on Trump campaign official Carter Page.
Durham did not uncover a criminal conspiracy, but he found "confirmation bias" at the FBI that worked against Trump and in favor of Clinton, who also faced FBI scrutiny over her private e-mail server, only to avoid charges.
The Trump administration recently declassified the annex of Durham's report, which contains evidence of an effort by the Clinton campaign to distract from Clinton's e-mail scandal by tying Trump with Russia. The FBI was apparently involved in the plan, which came from Clinton foreign policy adviser Julianne Smith.
“Julie [sic] says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,” wrote Open Society senior vice president Leonard Benardo on July 25, 2016.
“Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.”
Obama's FBI did not scrutinize intelligence reports of the Clinton plan before opening the politically explosive investigation of Trump - and setting into motion one of the greatest scandals in American history.
Loni Anderson, the TV sex symbol known for sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, and who later went through a widely publicized divorce with Burt Reynolds, has died. She was 79.
Anderson died at a hospital in Los Angeles from a "prolonged illness," her publicist said.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement.
The actress became famous for playing receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati, which aired on CBS from 1978 to 1982.
The shrewd and beautiful Marlowe played on the stereotype of the dim-witted "blonde bombshell." Anderson received three Golden Globe nominations and two Emmy nods for the role.
“I was against being like a blond window dressing person, so I made my feelings known,” she told Australian television in 2017. “And, as we know, Jennifer was the smartest person in the room.” She added, “She just turned into a great groundbreaking kind of character for women to be glamorous and smart.”
Tributes are pouring in for Anderson, with former WKRP in Cincinnati co-star Tim Reid calling her a "most talented, beautiful and defiant woman."
Anderson had more than 60 acting credits, also appearing in shows like Swat, Three’s Company, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Bob Newhart Show, and more.
"Loni was a class act. Beautiful. Talented. Witty. ALWAYS a joy to be around," Steve Sauer, President/CEO Media Four and Anderson’s manager for 30 years, said in a statement. "She was the ultimate working mother. Family first…and maintained a great balance with her career. She and I had wonderful adventures together that I shall forever cherish. I will especially miss that infectious chuckle of hers. She will be forever missed."
Later in life, Anderson's life became tabloid fodder following an acrimonious split with Burt Reynolds. The couple started dating while filming the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace.
The movie bombed, but the stars tied the knot in 1988. They adopted a son, Quinton, before divorcing in 1994. After years spent sniping at each other in the press, they eventually reconciled before Reynolds' death in 2018.
"We were friends first and friends last," Anderson told Closer Weekly in 2019. "It’s time to move on."
Anderson would marry four times throughout the course of her life. Her last husband, Bob Flick, was a founding member of the 1960s folk group the Brothers Four.
She is survived by her husband, her son Quinton, her daughter, Deidra Hoffman, her stepson, Adam Flick, two granddaughters, and two step-grandchildren.
President Donald Trump and members of his administration have faced fierce backlash from MAGA circles regarding their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein situation and determining that it's more or less a nothingburger.
While President Trump spent weeks downplaying the situation, according to the New York Post, he's now ready "to release everything" related to the disgraced, deceased, convicted child sex-trafficking monster.
The president's insistance on released everything the government still has on Epstein comes in the wake of an interesting interview involving Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Epstein's convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Rumors have circulated regarding a potential deal for Maxwell, possibly involving a pardon or commutation, although more information is not available.
In an interview with Rob Finnerty of Newsmax, President Trump explained what he believes took place in the sit-down, multi-day interview between Blanche and Maxwell.
"I think [Blanche] probably wanted to know, you know, just to get a feeling of it, because we’d like to release everything, but we don’t want people to get hurt that shouldn’t be hurt," Trump said.
"I want to release everything," the president declared. "I just don’t want people to get hurt."
The president noted that he hadn't spoken to Blanche about Maxwell but insisted that his administration is trying to ensure that people don't "get hurt."
“Todd went in and I think he just wants to make sure that innocent people aren’t hurt," Trump told Finnerty.
Trump was also asked about the rumors regarding a potential pardon for Maxwell, to which he said he hadn't been asked about, though he added that he has the "power" to do so.
"I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it," Trump said. "I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it."
Trump was also asked about rumors that he is possibly considering a pardon for convicted rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs.
"Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half innocent," Trump said.
He also recounted his prior relationship with Diddy.
“Probably – eh, you know, I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well, but when I ran for office he was very hostile,” Trump said.
“It’s hard, you know, like, we’re human beings, and we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right? But when you knew someone and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements – so, I don’t know, it’s more difficult,” the president continued.
President Donald Trump is not afraid to hand someone their walking papers, no matter what their status is or how they got the job in the first place, and that was evidenced this week in Washington D.C.
According to the New York Post, Trump dismissed the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) this week after new numbers came out that showed an uptick in unemployment on his watch.
Now-former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer is out, according to reports. She was appointed to the powerful position by former President Joe Biden.
Her latest jobs report sparked major backlash from within the White House, and from President Trump himself, who called the numbers "rigged."
President Trump was apparently so unhappy with the numbers that he accused the former BLS commish of "manipulating" the data, and went as far as accusing her of doing so in the past.
The Post noted:
Now-former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, triggered Trump’s fury after her agency announced lower than expected employment gains in July and revised the numbers for May and June downward by a total of 258,000 jobs.
"I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election," Trump told reporters on Friday. "So you know what I did? I fired her."
Meet Dr. Erika McEntarfer.
Biden appointed her Commissioner of the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
Erika was just caught under reporting Trump’s job numbers after over reporting Joe’s to help Kamala’s election chances.
Trump just fired her.
These traitors are everywhere. pic.twitter.com/loHU4TKLgk
— C3 (@C_3C_3) August 1, 2025
The Post added:
A BLS spokesperson confirmed McEntarfer “was terminated today” and Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will take over on an acting basis.
Trump continued his rant against the former BLS commissioner in a Truth Social post.
"This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000,” the president wrote. “These were Records — No one can be that wrong?"
Users across social media reacted to Trump's firing of the McEntarfer.
"This is really upsetting but not surprising, unfortunately. What a shame that so many people are so dishonest," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "I’m feeling like they are all a bunch of crooks and traitors. THE ONLY ONES WORKING HARD FOR MAGA ARE TRUMP AND HIS CABINET!!!"