Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and other large donors are looking to unseat Zohran Mamdani from his spot as frontrunner in the Big Apple's mayoral race, Breitbart reported. The Democratic socialist is far ahead of his closest contender, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which has establishment Democrats panicking.
The Democratic Party is attempting to raise big money to counteract the Mamdani effect. The large donors have been coalescing behind Cuomo in the hopes that "business elites" follow through on their promise to drop a cool $100 million to "knock out" Mamdani from the lead before Election Day.
Part of this strategy includes Bloomberg's continued endorsement of Cuomo, who recommitted his support for the former governor on a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. Bloomberg, who served as mayor from 2002 to 2013, also donated $1.5 million to the "Fix the City" Super PAC.
Four months ago I endorsed @AndrewCuomo because I thought his management experience and government know-how made him the best choice for New Yorkers. I still do. And today, with early voting underway, I wanted to reiterate my support for Andrew Cuomo. Being Mayor of New York City… pic.twitter.com/4yWYcKAXXt
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) October 29, 2025
The former mayor and media mogul used his experience to explain why Cuomo would be a good fit for the job. "Four months ago I endorsed @AndrewCuomo because I thought his management experience and government know-how made him the best choice for New Yorkers. I still do," Bloomberg said.
"And today, with early voting underway, I wanted to reiterate my support for Andrew Cuomo. Being Mayor of New York City is the second toughest job in America, and the next mayor will face immense challenges," he went on.
"Andrew Cuomo has the experience and toughness to stand up for New Yorkers and get things done. I hope you will join me in supporting him," Bloomberg concluded.
Prior to this year, Bloomberg and Cuomo had "feuded" back when Cuomo was the governor. Now that he and Mamdani "have starker differences," it seems Bloomberg is willing to let go of whatever disagreements the two had for the sake of the city.
As early voting is already underway, a Quinnipiac University poll conducted from October 23 to 27 showed that Mamdani was the frontrunner with 43% of the vote. The rest was split between Cuomo at 33% and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, who received 14%.
In a sane world, Mamdani would not be anywhere near the front of the pack, let alone leading it, because of his radical policies. For instance, Mamdani said in July 2020 that police officers "do not create safety" when they're called to domestic violence situations.
He instead believes that "mental health experts" should respond to calls rather than law enforcement. "There are so many responsibilities we’ve given to police that, frankly, should have nothing to do with their departments...there are so many different, different situations that would be far better handled by people trained to deal with those specific situations, as opposed to an individual with a gun," he claimed during a podcast interview.
Mamdani also famously supports city-run grocery stores. "As Mayor, Zohran will create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit. Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they will reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers," Mamdani's campaign website claims.
"They will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing." Other ridiculous ideas also include rent freezes and fare-free buses for all, both of which will make New York even more of a hellscape for the people living there.
Even with Mamdani's unflinching leftism and Bloomberg's backing for Cuomo, it almost seems this is a done deal for the socialist candidate. New York City is about to get what it deserves, but unfortunately, that will mean even those who didn't vote for him will have to live in the dystopia he'll create.
A story New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani shared about his aunt and her struggles to "feel safe in her hijab" after 9/11 hit a snag when it was revealed that he probably lied, Breitbart's John Nolte reported. The Democratic socialist frontrunner only has one aunt who does not wear a hijab and was not in New York City at the time.
"I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab. In an era of ever-diminishing bipartisanship, it seems that Islamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement," Mamdani said. Nolte pointed out that the candidate fought through "fake tears" to make that revelation that turned out to be absolute nonsense.
Greg Price shared the clip to X, formerly Twitter, showing Mamdani stopping himself several times during the statement to appear as if he was choked up. "Zohran through tears: 'My aunt stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.' Yes, she was the real victim of 9/11," Price captioned it.
Zohran through tears: “My aunt stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.”
Yes, she was the real victim of 9/11
pic.twitter.com/aILr4JtVvF— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 24, 2025
Predictably, it now appears that Mamdani is another leftist liar who made up this story for clout. "The overall context was Mamdani defending himself against claims of anti-Semitism and an affection for Jew haters and Islamists," Nolte explained.
"Although all of that is true of Mamdani, what he’s doing here is pulling the trick perfected by Barry Obama, where you declare any criticism, even accurate and valid criticism, racist. Except…Mamdani lied," Nolte charged.
"Turns out Mamdani has only one aunt, a woman named Masuma Mamdani, who does not wear a hijab and who did not live in New York or even America during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks," Nolte pointed out. When confronted later, Mamdani tried to explain this away, saying he was "talking about his father’s cousin, a woman who is not his aunt and who cannot verify Mamdani’s tale of post-9/11 woe because she’s dead," Nolte said.
The leftist candidate tried then to pivot from the issue at hand. “I was speaking about my aunt, I was speaking about Zehra Fuhi — my father’s cousin, who sadly passed away a few years ago,” Mamdani said.
"For the takeaway, for my more than 10-minute address about Islamophobia in this race and this city, to be the question of my aunt tells you everything about Andrew Cuomo," Mamdani said, blaming his opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Nolte sees this as yet another sign that "New York City is so screwed."
Nolte went on to explain that Mamdani is sure to get elected due to the city's "foreign-born population," whom he claims have "obviously not been assimilated thanks to the Democrat Party, and now New York will become Paris, Dublin, and London — an Islamized foreign country hostile to its host country," he warns. "What a shame. New York really was a great city at one time, probably the greatest in the world," Nolte added.
"This is how extreme the Democrat Party has become. They are alright with this and Nazi tattoos," Nolte said, referring to another radical leftist candidate, Graham Platner, who is running for U.S. Senate in Maine.
"In their demented minds, anything is better than Donald Trump, who is basically a Bill Clinton-style Democrat in terms of policy. One great difference between America and the lost continent of Europe is that we have 50 mostly sovereign states, the First Amendment, the Electoral College, and two U.S. Senators representing each state regardless of population size," Nolte went on.
"Our Founding Fathers understood history and put together a brilliant system to hold tight to our republic. It’s not foolproof. Nothing is. But for now, at least, we can all watch New York burn from the comfort of MAGA America, which is already everything Democrats claim they want America to be: clean, safe, and tolerant," Nolte concluded.
Mamdani represents the worst of Democratic politicians in the fact that he's anti-American, pro-Communist, and a liar to boot. As Nolte and many others are predicting, Mamdani will likely become the next mayor of New York City, and the people there will get precisely what they voted for. RIP New York City.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has signaled that he will announce his run for president in 2028 following the 2026 midterm elections, Breitbart reported. Newsom said this during an interview that aired on CBS's Sunday Morning last weekend.
During his sitdown with Robert Costa, Newsom tried on his best aw-shucks persona in order to win over red-state voters. Costa gushed over the California Democrat who shut down the Golden State during the coronavirus pandemic and now makes a name for himself by insulting President Donald Trump.
When Costa asked whether Newsom was considering a run for 2028 after next year's midterms, Newsom contended that he'd be "lying otherwise" if he didn't admit it was on his radar. "I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that," Newsom said.
The California governor is eyeing a presidential run after ruining California. He is term-limited and will therefore be without political power in 2027, just as Trump is heading into the last year of his term.
During COVID-19, Newsom bent over backwards to show how well he could cooperate with Trump, but that goodwill has since evaporated. Newsom has positioned himself as the anti-Trump candidate, and he has joined Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) in seeing how low he can sink in his insults of Trump.
However, Newsom has the added distinction of being an absolutely abysmal leader in a state like California, which should be flush with cash but isn't; instead, it is entering its second year of a budget deficit. Meanwhile, he's engaged in fights over congressional redistricting and bailed out Planned Parenthood to the tune of $140 million.
There can't be a worse candidate who is less appealing to sane people outside of California, but that hasn't stopped him from trying. During the interview, Costa said he first got an inkling that Newsom had presidential aspirations after seeing him pull a political stunt by working as a barista, once again showing himself to be at once slamming Trump and trying to be like him.
"When I saw you slinging shots behind the coffee bar, I thought this guy might run for president," Costa said to Newsom. Of course, Trump did it better when he briefly worked the McDonald's drive-thru in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, but Newsom is desperate.
Newsom's act continued with some false humility that's supposed to make him more appealing to people turned off by his California slickback and smooth talking. "The idea that a guy who got 960 on his SAT, that still struggles to read scripts, that was always in the back of the classroom, the idea that you would even throw that out is, in and of itself, extraordinary," Newsom said.
"Who the hell knows? I'm looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that's the question for the American people," he added.
As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, Newsom spun a tale about his impoverished childhood despite being featured as one of the "Children of the Rich" as a young man. His father was an attorney for the Getty family, but Newsom said in a now-viral clip that he was "payin' the bills, man" and making "Wonder Bread and Mac and Cheese sandwiches" as a boy.
Hip Hop Gavin!
Here's California Gov. Gavin Newsom debuting his new "street" persona on an NBA podcast - even though his father was an attorney for the billionaire Getty family:
"It was about payin' the bills, man."
"Hustlin."
"I raised myself."
"Wonder bread and Mac… pic.twitter.com/Ov9jCfAvC3
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) October 26, 2025
Newsom is a fraud and will say or do anything to obtain more political power. He likely will try to run for president in 2028, and the Democrats, who have no talent waiting in the wings, will likely be stuck with this prevaricating politician and his tall tales.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has adopted new rules to ban illegal immigrant students from receiving in-state tuition rates, a move that was taken to comply with a court ruling compelling it to do so.
The Trump administration sued Texas to get the change, saying that parts of its education law conflicted with federal law pertaining to illegal immigrants.
“In direct and express conflict with federal law, Texas education law specifically allows an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States to qualify for in-state tuition based on residence within the state, while explicitly denying resident-based tuition rates to U.S. citizens that do not qualify as Texas residents,” the administration argued.
“No matter what a state says, if a state did not make U.S. citizens eligible, illegal aliens cannot be eligible,” the administration argued. The court agreed.
The state entered into a consent agreement in June to end in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and the rule change will implement that agreement.
“Institutions are responsible for charging a person nonresident tuition beginning with the first academic term that begins after the date the institution discovers that the institution erroneously classified a person as a Texas resident,” the rule stated.
In some cases, it could mean that students will be retroactively charged out of state tuition rates on the Fall 2025 semester.
Immigration groups are, of course, largely opposed to the rule, particularly as it applies to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students, who have existed in a gray area between legal and illegal status for years.
But the board said it is “legally bound by the judgment, as an agency of the State of Texas” and “does not have the authority to permit any other person or institution that may be separately and independently bound by federal law and the Federal Order to delay or avoid compliance.”
The federal order repeatedly said that the Barack Obama-era DACA program is illegal, and can't be the basis for any relief from the new rules.
According to the board, "DACA recipients are not lawfully present and thus ineligible to receive the benefit of Texas resident tuition on that basis.”
Texas has been trying for years to end DACA, and has been joined by 19 other states in doing so.
The closest they have come is the 2023 ruling that vacated DACA and put a nationwide injunction on it.
At any rate, illegal immigrants will no longer be a drain on federal higher education resources in Texas, which is as it should be, DACA or no.
Despite Kamala Harris’ recent assertions that the 2024 presidential election was among the closest in American history, voters, in fact, overwhelmingly sent Donald Trump back to the White House for a second term.
Now, amid suggestions from Harris that she may mount yet another bid for the Oval Office, new polling indicates that even the likes of former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have a better chance of victory than she does, an embarrassing revelation she has done her best to downplay, as the Daily Mail reports.
The ex-vice president recently sat down for an interview with the BBC, offering insights into what her future might hold in the aftermath of last November’s loss.
Notably, Harris firmly declared, “I am not done, I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future beyond what I am doing right now.”
She even went so far as to say that she could “possibly” be president someday, though it was in the context of that question that she was confronted with a very awkward truth.
When recent Polymarket predictions placing Johnson at a 3% likelihood of becoming the country’s next president and and Harris’ chances at just 2% were mentioned, the former VP did her best to minimize their relevance.
Harris replied, “I think there are all kinds of polls that will tell you a variety of things. I’ve never listened to polls, adding, “If I listen to polls I would not have run for my first office or my second office, and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here in this interview.
Conservatives and others who tend to view Harris in an unfavorable light were quick to take aim at her comments in the BBC interview.
One online commentator expressed enthusiasm about a potential Harris’ presidential bid, saying, “Please let this be true, she will guarantee a JD [Vance] victory.”
Another mused, “Repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Definition of insanity.”
Referencing the effectively undemocratic coronation that put Harris at the top of the Democratic Party ticket last summer after Joe Biden bowed out, another observer wrote, “Never won a primary election and never will. She’s done and incompetent to boot.”
Yet another netizen opined on the idea of a 2028 Harris run by stating bluntly, “Hahaha, I didn’t know she did comedy.”
However, it is not just Republicans who have scoffed at the prospect of Harris serving as her party’s standard-bearer, with Fox News reporting that Democratic Party donors recently declined involvement in a major fundraiser that was set to feature the former VP as its headliner.
A source close to the situation told the Wall Street Journal that after receiving an invitation, one potential contributor “replied with a profanity-laced rejection,” while others said they were withholding participation in such activities until the party “produced substantive plans to win elections,” something they apparently do not feel should include Harris, at least in a prominent role.
A federal judge has ordered the top official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to appear in court to respond to a Chicago lawsuit over immigration enforcement, ABC News reported. District Judge Sara Ellis has called CBP field operations leader Greg Bovino to attend a status hearing on Tuesday over the so-called "Operation Midway Blitz" in the Windy City.
As President Donald Trump sends federal agents to America's cities to clean up the rampant illegal immigration and crime problem, leftists are at the ready to make sure that doesn't happen. This has taken the form of punishing agents through legal action.
Bovino is expected to answer a lawsuit brought by demonstrators and journalists who allege that he used tear gas "without justification." This standard was set by Ellis, who previously issued a temporary restraining order preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP agents from using non-lethal action without proper "warning and justification."
However, Bovino's defenders point out that rioters were throwing rocks and other projectiles at Border Patrol agents as they were conducting official immigration business in the Little Village section of the city. Bovino was even struck in the head by one, though he did not sustain serious injury.
Most sane people would contend that anyone under attack from a crowd has more than enough justification to deploy tear gas. Indeed, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said as much, noting that they had also been warned before the detonation.
"Border Patrol agents repeated multiple warnings to back up and that chemical agents would be deployed if warnings were ignored. Riot control measures were deployed, including by Chief Bovino, and arrests were made," McLaughlin said in a statement on Friday.
"Agents properly used their training. The use of chemical munitions was conducted in full accordance with CBP policy and was necessary to ensure the safety of both law enforcement and the public," McLaughlin added.
This has become necessary after a massive increase in attacks against ICE agents, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in August, according to Fox News. Noem noted that they "are now facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens."
Meanwhile, Noem charged that these "acts of violence are fueled by sanctuary politicians' rhetoric vilifying our law enforcement," which has come mainly from Democratic politicians and pundits. "We will not and have not let this violence stop us or slow us down. Every day our law enforcement continues to enforce the law and arrest the most depraved criminals, including pedophiles, terrorists, murderers, gang members, and sexual predators," Noem said in a social media post.
While Bovino and other federal agents are literally dodging projectiles, politicians like Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker are launching political attacks against the agents. On Thursday, the governor signed an Executive Order, using his newly minted Illinois Accountability Commission to track alleged civil rights abuses by federal enforcement agents.
Pritzker said that the "unlawful attacks" in Operation Midway Blitz have prompted this move. "They are attacking people on the ground — ICE, CBP — going after people just because they're Brown or Black," Pritzker claimed without evidence.
"No one above them is holding them responsible. Greg Bovino, who is running the operation in Chicago, isn't holding them accountable," Pritzker claimed, calling out Bovino by name.
"No one is. So we're going to have to keep a record," he added.
Dragging federal agents into court because they defended themselves against the hordes of rioters is unconscionable. This is an attack on the rule of law by the people who run these places that are overrun with criminals and individuals who are in the country illegally.
Patty Durand, who unsuccessfully ran for the Georgia Public Service Commission as a Democrat, was arrested for stealing Georgia Power's trade secrets, Breitbart reported. Durand was arrested on Tuesday and charged with felony theft after she allegedly took a booklet from the energy company and left the room with it during a public hearing.
The power company is in negotiations with the local government to increase power production for data centers. Durand, who runs the energy watchdog group Georgia Utility Watch, opposed the move and the rate increases it would bring.
In August, Durand slammed Georgia Power for not being forthcoming with information about its proposal. "The Public Service Commission allows very heavy redactions and trade secrets. So the contracts between Georgia Power and the data centers are also redacted and trade secreted. So no one will know what they actually charge data centers," she said in an interview.
The Public Service Commission held the hearing with Georgia Power over its proposal to generate another 10,000 megawatts of power and pump it into the Peach State's power grid. The company plans to generate about 40% from renewable sources, with the rest coming from building or expanding gas-generated power plants.
For her part, Durand charged that the company was more interested in its natural gas profits than in any public service, as Georgia Power oversees five gas companies. She believes that is why other options, such as battery storage and solar panels, weren't pursued to the same extent.
She believes this shows the company is somehow unethical and is engaged in "immoral" actions, which is ironic considering what she's been accused of doing. "There is no court in the land that would allow that kind of corruption to go on, and I have no idea why the state of Georgia does," Durand said.
Some believe Durand's opposition is warranted, given that customers are already feeling the squeeze of rising energy prices without this new, significant draw on demand from the power grid. "The cost of living has gone just insane right now," Harriet Reddan, a Georgia Power customer, told WAGA-TV.
She and others like her have seen an increase, with Reddan reporting that her bill went from around $100 last year to $140 this year. "It’s hard. It’s not easy. It’s good to add more data centers — but not good to be passing that on to the customer," she added.
The power company's proposal hinges on the idea that these data centers will definitely come to Georgia. "It’s a good idea if we need it. But so far, we don’t," Jennifer Whitfield, who is a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, told the news outlet, noting that they may never come.
"Right now, we are planning additional power for companies that may or may not actually demand energy on the grid, and that creates real risk for customers who are currently paying bills today." This would mean that everyday consumers would foot the bill for the expansion to accommodate something that may never happen.
"If all the data centers come to Georgia that Georgia Power is hoping for, bills should stay stable. If data centers don’t appear the way Georgia Power is expecting, all of us are going to be on the hook," Whitfield added.
Regardless of the merits of the argument, the fact remains that Durand allegedly stole from the company during a hearing that she would have overseen had she won her election. "Patty Durand built her brand attacking the Public Service Commission, and now she’s been arrested for stealing from it," Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon noted.
The debate over adding data centers that increase energy demand and the pricing residents face is worth having. However, that will be impossible if people like Durand allegedly don't act in a moral way to get it done. There's no excuse for lowering standards and violating ethics regardless of the issue.
President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of disgraced former New York GOP Rep. George Santos on Friday, The Hill reported. Santos, who was behind bars on federal fraud charges, could face penalties from the state if Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly has anything to say about it.
There were 23 federal criminal counts connected to Santos, including making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, theft of public funds, and money laundering. He was also accused of submitting falsified records to the Federal Election Commission.
Last Summer, Santos took a plea deal that included admitting to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. The initial sentence was for seven years, but Santos spent just 84 days in prison before Trump rescued him, as Democrats' attempts to malign Santos have failed.
Before this move, Santos had said he would not seek a lesser sentence, but he changed his tune during an interview with Piers Morgan last May. "I’ll take a commutation, clemency, whatever the president is willing to give me," Santos told the British political commentator.
Donnelly suggested that Santos may not get off completely scot-free in the face of a state investigation. "I am proud of the work my office has done, and the conviction achieved in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s office," Donnelly said in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
"While the office cannot comment on ongoing investigations, suffice it to say that I remain focused on prosecuting political corruption wherever it exists, regardless of political affiliation," she added. Her office would not elaborate any further on whether there is currently an investigation by Donnelly.
Statement from Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly pic.twitter.com/aLHD8kICsQ
— Nassau DA (@NassauDA) October 21, 2025
Meanwhile, Trump shared on his Truth Social that "George Santos was somewhat of a 'rogue,' but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison," the president wrote. He cited how other lawmakers have lied about their pasts during elections. "Democrat Senator Richard 'Da Nang Dick' Blumenthal came up again," Trump continued.
"As everyone remembers, 'Da Nang' stated for almost twenty years that he was a proud Vietnam Veteran, having endured the worst of the War, watching the Wounded and Dead as he raced up the hills and down the valleys, blood streaming from his face," Trump continued. The only problem was that Blumenthal made it up, but Trump noted that it didn't cost him his freedom. Meanwhile, Trump said "ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN! George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated," Trump charged.
The former Republican lawmaker, who was facing criminal charges, had appealed to Trump publicly just days before receiving clemency, NBC News reported. Santos has repeatedly leaned on that support when making his case to Trump, including most recently in an open letter to the president last week, purportedly from solitary confinement.
"During my short tenure in Congress, I stood firmly behind your agenda. You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal. I am asking you now, from the depths of my heart, to extend that same belief to me," Santos wrote.
This echoes sentiments from a 2019 video, in which Santos was very deferential to Trump, pledging his allegiance to the president and his agenda. "I’ve been on the Trump train, far before Trump was ever president, far before he announced, we’re talking ‘Apprentice’ days," Santos claimed.
Indeed, Santos spoke at a Jan. 5, 2021, rally in favor of Trump and his illegal immigration policies while the then-outgoing president was still convinced that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. Santos later showed his support for Trump during his 2023 arraignment and again in a victory party in New Hampshire after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
Santos is certainly problematic in many ways, but Trump's position as president gives him the authority to help those convicted of crimes. Democrats routinely let dangerous criminals out of prison without such explicit permission, so what Trump is doing is nowhere near the same.
President Donald Trump's administration has moved to cut thousands of employees from the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with his promise to do so if a government shutdown ensued, Breitbart reported. The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 after Democrats failed to agree to a deal that would have kept the government open through the end of the year.
While the EPA does the vital work of keeping America's skies and waterways clean, it is also a bastion of leftist activism. Furthermore, it is also a bloated bureaucracy that consumes taxpayer dollars while returning relatively little in return.
Trump had recommended that the agency reduce its workforce of 16,421 full-time employees to approximately 12,500 by the end of this year. The agency also reduced or canceled grants and other spending by $29 billion, thanks to Trump.
Of course, any time the government is asked to reduce its spending, some make catastrophic predictions. The same applies to this, as some believe that permanently laying off employees who were furloughed during the shutdown is a risky move. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has assured the public that a contingency plan is in place.
Even with the government shutdown dragging on into its fourth week, Zeldin said that the agency will still be able to meet its core objectives even if the Democrats continue to play games. "The Trump EPA is committed to protecting the environment and ensuring America has the cleanest air, land and water in the world while growing our economy, but Democrats are content to allow our funding to run out," Zeldin said.
"They are preventing us from securing funding needed to continue these important programs and impeding our ability to deliver clean air, land, and water for Americans. They are prioritizing their own radical policy agenda that could undermine both environmental progress and economic stability in pursuit of their $1.5 trillion poison-packed wish list at the expense of the American people," he went on.
"Congressional Democrats can end this shutdown right now by voting for our clean, bipartisan funding extension instead of playing political games," Zeldin concluded. The agency has promised to continue with its operations, including "Protection of EPA land, buildings, equipment, and protection of research; Law enforcement and criminal investigations; Emergency and disaster assistance; Superfund response work; EPA’s emergency response readiness operations," the news outlet noted.
What won't be carried on are functions like "Issuing new grants or interagency agreements; Civil enforcement inspections; Approvals of pending state requests, such as authorized/delegated state-issued EPA permits, SIPs, TMDLs, Water Quality Standards." Nevertheless, the agency has continued to operate despite Democrats' unwillingness to vote to keep the lights on.
Some of the functions successfully carried out include remediation of several "superfund" sites that are tainted with hazardous waste, including Glycerin Traders in La Porte, Indiana, and Berry’s Creek in Bergen County, New Jersey. It has also continued to play an advisory role in wildfire prevention and cleanup.
It appears that the EPA is performing well, despite having to reduce some services due to the shutdown that Democrats continue to perpetuate. Still, many employees are worried about their jobs, especially since they may be on the chopping block due to Trump.
One employee is concerned about seeing reduction-in-force orders come through for those temporarily out of a job due to the shutdown. "I’m worried that I and other furloughed employees will be RIFed," an unidentified staffer said.
"I’d rather go hungry than lose our democracy. I refuse to stay quiet and let them use us feds as an excuse to accept a bad deal," another employee said, clearly showing the leftist bent that many share in government and the EPA, particularly.
Meanwhile, Trump's EPA spokesperson, Brigit Hirsch, said that they've "been intentional and aggressive in establishing a structure to ensure EPA is focused on statutory obligations & Presidential priorities, not the overreach of the previous administration," she told E&E News. "There is zero uncertainty at EPA about what we are working on and who is advancing these priorities," Hirsch added.
Regardless of how it gets done, it's always good news for taxpayers when the government workforce is cut in a significant way. The Democrats have decided to play this game of chicken with Trump, and it appears that once again, he has gotten the best of them.
Chess great Daniel Naroditsky, who gained fame by offering online lessons and livestreams, has passed away at the age of 29, according to Fox News. The former World Junior Champion's family said that his death was "unexpected" and that no cause of death has been released to date.
The announcement came from his family on Oct. 20 that Naroditsky had died. The Charlotte Chess Center, where Naroditsky worked as an instructor, shared the statement from his family on X, formerly Twitter.
"The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves," the organization posted.
The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves. pic.twitter.com/otNdUxDKtL
— Charlotte Chess Center (@CLTchesscenter) October 20, 2025
The statement from Naroditsky's family expressed the depth of their grief and briefly eulogized him. "It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected passing of Daniel Naroditsky," the family wrote.
"Daniel was a talented chess player, commentator, and educator, and a cherished member of the chess community, admired and respected by fans and players around the world. He was also a loving son and brother, and a loyal friend to many," his family added.
The family then asked for privacy to grieve. Naroditsky, whose parents are Jewish immigrants from Azerbaijan and Ukraine, grew up in San Mateo County, California. He was a child chess prodigy, winning the Under-12 World Championship before eventually earning the title of Grandmaster at the age of 18.
At just 14 years old, Naroditsky penned Mastering Positional Chess, a book of game strategies, and was the youngest person to author such a chess manual. The young man would go on to bring chess into the online sphere and amassed a sizeable following on YouTube and Twitch with his popular livestreams.
His most recent accolades include clinching the top spot at the U.S. National Blitz Championship in August. He also notched a notable win in 2021 when he bested the World No. 2 and then-reigning U.S. Champion Fabiano Caruana.
According to People, Naroditsky's death came after the chess great was away from his streaming channels for a bit. In his final stream before his death, the chess great explained the reason for the hiatus and promised more content would be coming.
"You thought I was gone forever, but little do you know, I'm actually back and better than ever. I know that the episodes have been few and far between," Naroditsky told his more than half a million viewers.
"I've been sort of taking a kind of creative break, deciding future avenues of content. I won't delve too much into it now because I know everybody's excited for some chess games," he added.
Naroditsky didn't open up about the nature of the struggles he was having, but he did "like" several comments on the stream that encouraged him. One commenter wrote, "Look after yourself, mate, there is so much love for you out in the world!"
While there is still much unknown about Naroditsky's demise, the last stream perhaps gives a glimpse of what his frame of mind was. Regardless of the manner of his death, Naroditsky's fans and the entire chess world will grieve such a massive loss.