California Democrats have released a plan to give their party potentially five more seats in the House of Representatives - further marginalizing Republicans in a state that is notorious for one-sided liberal government.
The push, championed by Governor Gavin Newsom (D), is meant to "neutralize" Republican gains from a redistricting effort in Texas that has sparked furious backlash from the left.
Despite receiving nearly 40% of the vote in 2024, California Republicans currently represent just nine out of the state's 52 House seats.
Newsom's gerrymander would expand the Democrats' supermajority even further, eroding Republican strength in five districts and flipping three of those outright.
The gerrymander targets California Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley and David Valadao, all Republicans.
Rep. LaMalfa represents a large, rural stretch of northern California that borders Oregon and Nevada. The 1st district has been reliably Republican for years, but under Newsom's plan it would switch to safely Democratic.
The new map would also dethrone Ken Calvert, another veteran lawmaker representing a onetime GOP stronghold in Southern California. Calvert's 41st district is now considered a swing seat.
Kevin Kiley, a relative newcomer in his second term, would lose his seat in the 3rd district, which spans from the Sacramento suburbs to Lake Tahoe.
The Newsom gerrymander would also tilt Darrell Issa's safely Republican 48th district, in Southern California, and David Valadao's 22nd district in the Central Valley, making them both Democrat-leaning.
The redistricting battle has given Newsom an issue to seize on to elevate his national profile ahead of the 2028 presidential cycle.
"We have the opportunity to de facto end the Trump presidency in less than 18 months. That's what's at stake," Newsom said Thursday.
The governor is putting his map up for a vote in November. A poll found that California voters support the state's redistricting commission, however.
"Governor Newsom is trying to grab power away from the citizens on the commission and give it to Sacramento politicians to gerrymander their own districts,” the state's Republicans wrote in a statement. “Our delegation will stand with the citizens of California and defend their rights as they stand today in our state constitution by opposing Newsom’s ballot measure. All Californians, regardless of their political affiliation, should vote NO on this attempt to eliminate the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s ability to draw fair congressional districts.”
The proposed maps were drawn up by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is based in Washington D.C. If approved, the maps would apply for 2026, 2028 and 2030.
California is losing population, a trend that is projected to cost the states House seats after the next census in 2030.
President Donald Trump has vowed to roll back as many of former President Joe Biden's policies as possible, and he continues to hold true to that promise.
According to reports, Trump has worked overtime to kill off as much of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act as possible, and he scored several wins in that pursuit this week, with the outlet reporting that the legacy Biden law has been "significantly" rolled back.
The bill, which was sold to the public as a way to reduce the highest prices in decades, was really nothing more than a way to give Democrats hundreds of billions for various projects and policy ideas.
The bill did absolutely nothing for Biden's sky-high inflation and instead created a monster of a spending problem that the economy is still attempting to recover from.
Much of what the Trump administration has rolled back revolves around the various green and clean energy spending in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The outlet noted:
Biden touted it as the "most significant legislation in history to tackle the climate crisis." The bill also included major new healthcare provisions sought by Democrats, and was financed by tax hikes on corporations and investors.
President Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" was key in erasing much of the green energy nonsense that was included in Biden's IRA.
The outlet added:
The clean energy provisions of the bill, in particular, have been significantly repealed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed on July 4 — a major blow to Biden's legislative legacy.
All types of green energy-related items in Biden's bill have been wiped out by the Trump administration or will be soon.
Some of those include tax credits for electric vehicles, and many of the solar and wind energy tax credits have also been repealed, angering liberals and Democrats.
James Bowe, a partner at King & Spalding who focuses on energy, commented on how he believes Trump's bill has caused a resurgence of interest in fossil fuels.
"The One Big Beautiful Bill Act has positioned the federal government to encourage investment in traditional fossil fuel projects," Bowe said via an email statement.
He added, "One result of the [OBBBA] enactment and related changes in federal energy policy has been an upsurge in new natural gas and liquified natural gas project development, the revival of several large natural gas pipeline projects and a rush to develop new gas-fired generating facilities."
Only time will tell if the Trump administration is able to finally erase any trace of Biden's nonsense legislation.
Many will remember when New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) bragged about going after President Donald Trump. However, she won't be doing much of that nonsense anymore.
According to the New York Post, Department of Justice Special Attorney Ed Martin was spotted checking out James' Brooklyn-based multi-family home as she faces the possibility of being charged with mortgage fraud.
James, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) are both being investigated by Martin after he was tapped by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to run a paralell mortgage fraud investigation into both of them.
The state of the investigations are advanced, as grand juries in two different states -- Virginia and Maryland -- are contemplating whether or not criminal indictments against James and/or Schiff will be handed down.
To have someone as high up as Martin scoping out James' Clinton Hill brownstone home is definitely one strong signal that the mortgage fraud investigation is in full gear.
James reportedly provided false information about her multi-family unit to gain favorable loan terms, including lower down payments and better interest rates.
The Post noted:
James’ Brooklyn property at 296 Lafayette Avenue is classified as a five-unit dwelling, but James is alleged to have misrepresented the building on mortgage applications, building permits, and filings for government assistance as having only four units.
The outlet added:
At the time Martin was inspecting the property on Friday afternoon, there was one doorbell visible at the main entrance and an additional four door bells at a side entrance, with weathered labels signifying “1 Floor,” “2 Floor,” “3A,” and “3B.”
Federal loan programs reportedly qualify individuals on properties with four or less units. It's reported that James' has five and that she lied about it.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte first sent a criminal referral regarding the James case to the Department of Justice.
Pulte, in his criminal referral, insisted that James had committed mortgage fraud.
He said James "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms" claiming her Virginia home was her primary residence and her Brooklyn home, her second.
Many believe James and Schiff will ultimately have to face the music.
Only time will tell if prosecutors are able to pull together a case. It'll all depend on the grand juries.
Former Democrat Senator and convicted criminal Bob Menendez has been accused of helping to cover up the murder of a journalist while he was secretly serving as a foreign agent of Egypt.
Before his downfall, Menendez was the powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, a position he exploited to brazenly enrich himself by taking foreign bribes.
As Menendez was stuffing his pockets with gold bars, he secretly advised Egypt on responding to questioning about its role in the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose grisly murder sparked an international outcry.
The shocking claim is detailed in a new book on Menendez's fall from grace, Gold Bar Bob: The Downfall of the Most Corrupt U.S. Senator, by the New York Post's Isabel Vincent and Thomas James Anderson.
“What Menendez did was sinful,” said Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, the journalist’s wife. “It’s sinful when I hear that a US senator accepted a bribe from a dictator to cover up a murder.”
According to the book, Menendez and his wife Nadine helped Egypt's head of intelligence, Abbas Kamel, prepare for questioning by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about the Khashoggi killing. Menendez was then the chair of the committee.
"I just thought it would be better to know ahead of time what is being talked about and this way you can prepare your rebuttals," Menendez’s wife wrote to Kamel.
Around the same time that Menendez was helping Egypt deflect questions about the assassination, Menendez accused President Trump of covering up Khashoggi's murder to protect Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“That President Trump refused to disclose this information for years and even went so far as to defend the heinous actions of a foreign leader over the integrity of his own intelligence agencies will be one of the many stains on his tenure," Menendez said at the time.
Menendez's ties to the Khashoggi affair came up during his corruption trial, which ended with him being found guilty of acting as a foreign agent of Egypt and taking bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, and even a luxury car.
“He also briefed the head of Egyptian intelligence on questions other US senators were preparing to ask regarding reports that Egypt had aided in a notorious human rights abuse, the murder and dismemberment of a US lawful permanent resident journalist,” court papers say.
“He did so in the explicit words of his co-defendant wife, so that the head of Egyptian intelligence could prepare his ‘rebuttals’ and ‘answers’ to Menendez’s fellow US senators’ questions," the documents added.
The disgraced senator also used his influence to steer millions of dollars in weapons to Egypt, among other seedy favors.
At trial, Menendez tried to shift blame onto his Lebanese wife, but both were found guilty. He is serving 11 years in prison, and his wife's sentencing is set for next month.
House Republican James Comer (KY) teased sensational findings about Bill Clinton's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, calling the former president the "prime suspect" in the House Oversight Committee's investigation into Epstein's connections.
"Everybody in America wants to know what went on in Epstein Island, and we’ve all heard reports that Bill Clinton was a frequent visitor there, so he’s a prime suspect to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee," Comer told Newsmax.
Comer's committee has subpoenaed Clinton and his wife Hillary to testify before Congress about Epstein, whose life of crime has been thrust back into the headlines in recent weeks.
Democrats have seized on the issue to cast a cloud of suspicion over President Trump, who was once friends with Epstein many years ago. Republicans have sought to draw attention to Democrats like Clinton, who was another high-profile figure in Epstein's wide circle of powerful figures.
Neither president has ever been accused of criminal wrongdoing concerning Epstein.
Clinton reportedly flew on Epstein's private jet, the "Lolita Express," an estimated 26 times, and was not always accompanied by Secret Service.
In a memoir published last year, Clinton denied ever visiting Epstein's infamous island and said he regretted ever befriending him.
After Epstein's second arrest in 2019, a Clinton spokesperson acknowledged four international trips on Epstein's plane and meetings with Epstein in New York, but said Clinton "knows nothing" about Epstein's "terrible crimes."
Epstein was a frequent guest at the Clinton White House, and he donated to both Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and his wife's 1999 Senate run in New York.
The Epstein case has received renewed attention since the Justice Department controversially ruled this summer that the sex trafficker died by suicide, and did not keep a secret list of clients. The findings provoked a backlash from some Trump supporters, and the controversy quickly metastasized into a scandal that consumed Washington D.C.
Democrats have joined Republicans on the House Oversight Committee to issue sweeping subpoenas, requesting testimony from the Clintons and Justice Department officials spanning four administrations, including former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder, and former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller.
The committee also subpoenaed the Justice Department for the complete unredacted Epstein files, putting Comer at odds with the White House, which is eager to move on from a controversy that Democrats have exploited to attack Trump.
The committee has asked the DOJ to produce the files by August 19. Meanwhile, the committee has requested that Clinton and his wife appear before Congress on October 14 and October 9, respectively.
While many are skeptical that the Clintons' subpoenas will be enforced, Comer has threatened to hold the Clintons in contempt if they refuse to testify, which could expose them to criminal charges from the Justice Department.
Comer also notes that members of both parties voted to subpoena the Clintons, which could make it harder for them to defy the request.
"I’ve never lost a subpoena battle," Comer said Monday. "I’ve been chairman of that committee for a year and a half — this is the most challenging subpoena I’ve ever issued, but what makes this subpoena different is that the Democrats voted with Republicans."
The Trump administration is offering a $5 million cash reward for the arrest of Haiti's most powerful warlord.
An indictment announced by U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro accuses Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier of organizing an international conspiracy to fund his criminal gang, chiefly by soliciting money from Haitians living in the United States.
The infamous gang leader is believed to be responsible for barbaric massacres, including a 2018 attack that left more than 700 dead, hundreds of homes destroyed and multiple women raped.
Cherizier's co-defendant Bazile Richardson is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti who was living in North Carolina. He was arrested in Texas in July.
Together, Cherizier and Richardson led a conspiracy to finance Cherizier's gang, mainly by collecting funds from members of the Haitian diaspora community in America, despite U.S. sanctions on Cherizier.
"In particular, Cherizier and Richardson directly solicited money transfers from members of the Haitian diaspora located in the United States. After sending funds to intermediaries in Haiti for Cherizier’s benefit, the U.S. and Haitian co-conspirators would send Cherizier images of receipts from the money transfers. Cherizier used these funds principally to pay salaries to the members of his gang and to acquire firearms from illicit firearms dealers in Haiti," prosecutors said.
The conspiracy involved "several other unnamed co-conspirators in Haiti, Massachusetts and New York," the Washington Post notes.
President Trump is seeking to deport half a million Haitians living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, which shields certain foreigners from being returned to their homelands if they cannot do so safely.
Haiti's last president Jovenel Moïse was brutally assassinated in 2021, sending the chronically unstable island nation deeper into a political crisis.
While Haiti has a provisional government on paper, the capital, Port-au-Prince, is under the control of a gang alliance led by Cherizier.
The former police officer united Haiti's biggest gangs against the transitional government, which the gangs seek to topple.
The State Department has designated Cherizier's Viv Ansanm coalition and Gran Grif as terrorist groups, with the goal of creating "a gang-controlled state where illicit trafficking and other criminal activities operate freely and terrorize Haitian citizens.”
Now, the State Department is offering $5 million for any information leading to the arrest or conviction of Cherizier.
"There's a good reason that there's a $5m reward for information leading to Cherizier's arrest," Pirro said at a news conference on Tuesday.
"He's a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti."
Senior House Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro was hospitalized Monday to treat a spinal condition.
The Connecticut lawmaker, who is 82, was treated successfully and is expected to undergo physical therapy before returning to work in September. Congress is currently out of town for the August recess.
“I am pleased to share that my surgery at Griffin Hospital was a success, and I am deeply grateful to Dr. Judith L. Gorelick and the entire care team for their skill and support. I also want to thank my family, friends, colleagues, and constituents for their well wishes and encouragement,” DeLauro said in a statement.
Spinal stenosis is a common condition in older people. It occurs when the spaces in the spine become narrow, placing pressure on the spinal cord and nerves.
Dr. Judith L. Gorelick, a board-certified neurosurgeon, performed the surgery at Griffin Hospital in Derby.
DeLauro is a cancer advocate. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986, and was treated successfully thanks to early detection.
Seen as a liberal or progressive, DeLauro is easily recognized by her purple hairstyle and eccentric clothing.
The New Haven-based Democrat was first elected in 1990 after a fierce fight against Republican state senator Thomas Scott.
She has easily won re-election ever since, and is not letting age stop her from seeking a 19th House term in November.
Congress has often been described as a gerontocracy, where senior lawmakers cling to their jobs well past the typical retirement age and sometimes remain until death.
The age question has gripped Democrats with particular force after three House Democrats died in office this year. Raul Grijalva, Sylvester Turner, and Gerry Connolly were all in their 70s.
Democrats are also still grappling with their crushing defeat in 2024, which saw their octogenarian standard-bearer, Joe Biden, end his presidential campaign midstream and pass the torch to his unpopular vice president, who lost resoundingly to President Trump.
DeLauro is the top Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which plays a key role in setting policy on federal spending. She is facing a primary challenge from a 40-year-old New Haven attorney, Damjan DeNoble, who says the party needs fresh blood.
“While Rosa DeLauro has done a great job for us, I think it’s time to pass the torch,” DeNoble said in an interview with the Connecticut Mirror. “The Democratic Party has proven itself to be very bad at at [sic] that.”
President Trump is reopening deportation cases against illegal aliens who had their cases dismissed, in a stark reversal from Joe Biden's "quiet amnesty."
Democrats have often cited the overwhelmed immigration courts as an excuse to go soft on immigration. During the Biden era, "quiet amnesty" was all but official policy as immigration officials threw out hundreds of thousands of cases - supposedly to ease the burden on the "broken system" that many say Biden tried to destroy deliberately.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Trump administration has been opening dormant cases back up - causing panic among "thousands of immigrants who have built lives around the assumption they are safe from being detained and deported."
Illegal aliens have long taken advantage of the overwhelmed system by lodging spurious asylum claims to get a foothold in the country - with the assumption that once they get in, they will never be removed. That is because cases take years to adjudicate, and by the time they are found meritless - as they almost always are - those facing removal have already set down roots in the country.
Some of the cases that Trump officials are bringing back were closed years ago, well before Biden became president. But under Biden, immigration cases were dismissed at a historic pace as border crossings hit record highs.
An investigation by House Republicans last year, led by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), concluded that 700,000 aliens had their immigration cases dismissed or "administratively closed," allowing them to live on U.S. soil without facing consequences for illegal entry.
"This sort of quiet amnesty has become a staple of the Biden-Harris Administration’s immigration courts," said the House Judiciary report.
In April, the Trump administration rescinded Biden's liberal approach to granting administrative closures, which Sirce E. Owen, acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, described as "a de facto amnesty program with benefits."
Now, immigration lawyers throughout Los Angeles and San Diego report "shock and despair" from their clients, many of whom believed they were safe, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The newspaper cited the case of a woman who was charged with a misdemeanor DUI, and then obtained relief from deportation during the Biden administration after marrying a U.S. citizen. She was close to getting her visa when her immigration lawyer called to notify her that she is facing removal proceedings once again.
This is another example of how Trump is putting immigration policy on a path back towards strict enforcement after years of chaos under his predecessor.
"Biden chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including criminals, into the country and used prosecutorial discretion to indefinitely delay their cases and allow them to illegally remain in the United States,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Now, President Trump and Secretary Noem are following the law and resuming these illegal aliens’ removal proceedings and ensuring their cases are heard by a judge."
Washington D.C. has been a drug and crime den for decades. Anyone who has taken a trip to the nation's capital can attest to the vast difference between the Capitol Hill area and the rest of D.C., which has turned into a garbage pit.
According to the New York Post, President Donald Trump isn't messing around when he says he's going to clean up the city and crack down on the exploding levels of crime. That was evidenced this weekend with a number of arrests and seizures.
More than a half-dozen people were arrested this weekend in Washington D.C. by Park Police officers who worked in tandem with agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The police officers and agents collaborated to conduct a successful contraband sweep.
Park Police Fraternal Order of Police chairman Kenneth Spencer told the Post in an exclusive interview that at least eight perps were arrested as part of the joint agency raids.
All kinds of contraband were seized during the D.C. raids, including drugs, fake drugs, and cash, along with weapons.
The Post noted:
At least 30 “fraudulent oxycodone pills” — which appeared to be fentanyl — were also seized, along with 210 grams of crack cocaine, 600 grams of marijuana, 64 grams of hashish oil and cash with a total value of $3,600, Spencer added.
Spencer told the outlet that the arrests and seizures were part of a White House directive from the president to crack down on crime and illegal goods in the streets of the nation's capital.
“It was a multi-agency effort that we are leading from the White House directive," Spencer said.
"It’s going to have a huge impact on crime in the city," he also said, noting that it's one of the largest task forces he's seen in 15 years on the job. "We’ve been directed to do this until further instruction."
The United States Park Police issued an official statement and published pictures of the seizures on its X account.
Overnight, USPP officers and our federal partners collaborated to enforce EO 14252, Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful. Our teams made arrests for possession of two stolen firearms and illegal drugs removing these dangerous items from the community. pic.twitter.com/YpkoXu70nM
— USPPNEWS (@usparkpolicepio) August 8, 2025
"Thank you!," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "It's going to take a lot more than that."
President Donald Trump and his top Cabinet officials vowed to eliminate all forms of taxpayer-funded abortions as they entered office for the president's second term, and that's exactly what they're doing.
According to The Federalist Papers, the Trump administration this week "proposed ditching a Biden administration-era rule that forced taxpayers to subsidize veterans’ abortions."
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposed a rule that would eliminate a Biden-era policy that essentially combined “abortion counseling" and abortion services into the taxpayer-funded medical benefits package that veterans receive.
The Trump administration argued that the policy is "legally questionable" and fully "inappropriate."
The administration held nothing back in explaining why it's poised to ditch the policy that was created by the former Biden administration.
“We believe the 2022 interim final rule was not only inappropriate as a matter of fact but also was legally questionable," the federal register entry read.
"The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to reinstate the full exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling from the medical benefits package, which was removed in 2022. Before that time, this exclusion had been firmly in place since the medical benefits package was first established in 1999," the register entry stated.
U.S. bishops applaud a proposed VA rule to end taxpayer-funded abortions, saying veterans deserve care, not abortion. “VA facilities must be places of hope, not death,” they stated.
Read here: https://t.co/ecSkItSTj3
📷: OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters pic.twitter.com/RkPtCYxJDz
— The Good Newsroom (@thegnewsroom) August 5, 2025
It added, "VA is also proposing to reinstate the exclusions on abortion and abortion counseling for Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) that were removed in 2022."
The VA added that "the Biden administration predicted a high demand for VA abortions that never materialized."
Because it was posted on the Federal Register, Americans will have until Sept. 3 to comment on the proposed change.
“This proposed rule restores VA to its proper role as the United States’ provider of needed medical services to those who served, delivered on behalf of a grateful nation," the register's statement added.
The proposed rule to squash the Biden-era policy was applauded in MAGA and conservative circles across social media.
Only time will tell how the public commenting part of the process affects the overall outcome.