This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Congress should offset 'that wasted $2 billion from the federal judiciary's $9.5 billion budget'

The U.S. Supreme Court, which stunningly and deliberately interfered in President Donald Trump's management of the executive branch, over which he is given authority by the U.S. Constitution, is facing a backlash over its decision.

"We're now urging Congress to offset that wasted $2 billion from the federal judiciary's $9.5 billion FY2025 discretionary budget," announced a spokesman for the Article III Project, Mike Davis.

The dispute is over just a portion of the massive spending fraud and waste that Trump's Department of Government Efficiency found in its agenda to eliminate fraud, waste and criminal activities in federal spending.

Ordered halted were payments of some $2 billion that had been authorized by Joe Biden, but reversed by President Trump.

The groups that were to get the funds sued, and the Supreme Court, 5-4, said those payments should go forward.

Davis' organization pointed out that Justice Samuel Alito expressed that he was "stunned" by the decision.

"In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS sided with an activist D.C. judge to sabotage the presidency and spend $2 billion in foreign-aid money over the President's objection. According to SCOTUS, the waste, fraud, and abuse at USAID must continue," the organization said.

"The D.C. District Court is out of control. This radical Biden judge and his fellow tyrants-in-robes need to be reined in. If SCOTUS won't do it, we will. The Article III Project will draft legislation to bring much-needed reforms to the D.C. District Court. That court's authority needs to be delegated to local D.C. crimes and not national policies."

A commentary at Federalist went even further.

It suggested that since the ruling was so far out of alignment with the Constitution, Trump might ignore it.

"The Supreme Court's shocking decision on Wednesday to allow a D.C. district court judge to order the Trump administration to disburse $2 billion in federal grant money is a major blow to the separation of powers undergirding our constitutional system of government," the commentary said. "But the thing about separation of powers is that they stand or fall together. All three branches of our government — legislative, executive, and judicial — have to respect the Constitution's clear separation of powers. If one of them doesn't, there's no reason that the others should."

It continued, "Put another way, if the Supreme Court can simply disregard the Executive branch's constitutional authority and allow it to be usurped by an inferior federal court, which is what happened, then there's no reason the executive branch under Trump should pay any attention to what the Supreme Court says in this case, because it's trying to assert an authority it simply doesn't have."

The Federalist explained that what had happened was purely routine: "As part of an administration-wide effort to crack down on fraudulent and wasteful federal spending, President Trump ordered a review of all federal grants, and also ordered that payments on all grants should be paused while the review is ongoing."

But the lawsuit was filed and the Supreme Court divided 5-4, insisting that those cash troves be handed out.

The decision was by three leftists on the Supreme Court plus Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

"The majority didn't give a reason for this denial, which is too bad, because the ruling should trigger a constitutional crisis," the report said.

But Alito's "blistering dissent" was clear: "Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic 'No,' but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise. I am stunned."

It was the district judge, Amir Ali, who claimed "for himself executive authority to disburse federal funds and determine the time and manner in which the funds will be disbursed — powers clearly vested not in the judiciary but in the executive branch, that is, with President Trump."

That alone, the report said, should be enough for Trump to ignore the ruling.

"But there's other problems too, like the fact that the lower federal court in this case lacks jurisdiction. Contract disputes with the federal government are only supposed to be heard by the Court of Federal Claims, not a D.C. district judge. Among other things, this means Ali's order requires President Trump to violate existing federal law."

And it noted that "the most serious problem," stems from "this pernicious notion that any district judge, anywhere in the country, can dictate to the executive branch what it must or must not do, under the guise of issuing a temporary restraining order or a universal injunction in a pending case."

This is the reason that leftists go judge-shopping when they have a case, to find an activist who already agrees with their agenda.

Years ago already, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that violates the Constitution.

"District courts, including the one here, have begun imposing universal injunctions without considering their authority to grant such sweeping relief," wrote Thomas at the time. "These injunctions are beginning to take a toll on the federal court system — preventing legal questions from percolating through the federal courts, encouraging forum shopping, and making every case a national emergency for the courts and for the Executive Branch."

He said it appears the Supreme Court must address the schemes.

There's already a recent precedent for the president to ignore a Supreme Court ruling: Joe Biden did it with his massive cash-handout scheme in which he relieved borrowers of the responsibility of paying back student loans, instead demanding that taxpayers shoulder that financial burden.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

President will be briefed on investigations soon, plans to release report to the public

There have been two, at least, high-profile assassination attempts against President Trump, both while he was a candidate.

In one, a bullet nicked his ear and he publicly has expressed the belief God saved him in order that he might work to save America.

That culprit was shot and killed by police. In the other, a suspect was spotted by Secret Service, chased down and arrested.

Now the president says he wants to see the investigation results into those incidents.

He is asked, "It's been seven months. Why do you think we don't know more about the guy who shot you in the year?"

"I want to find the answers," Trump responded. "They are giving me a report next week sometime. I want to release the report."

He did say there could end up being circumstances that would prevent the release of all the information, but he didn't know right now.

Trump did openly wonder why one of the suspect's had "six or seven" cell phones, suggesting that there would have been a conspiracy among bad actors in the plot.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Ruling on an attempt to thwart some of President Trump's efforts to freeze funding of foreign projects by the controversial USAID, the Supreme Court Wednesday voted 5-4 to force the administration to restart $2 billion in payments for work already completed.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three more liberal justices in agreeing with a lower court judge who had ruled against Trump's emergency request to pause foreign-aid funding. The court's order was unsigned and represents one of its first forays into legal attempts to stop many of the president's executive actions.

Justices on the losing end of the decision decried the majority.

"Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic 'No,' but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise. I am stunned," wrote Justice Samuel Alito, who was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Alito said the high court should have put the enforcement of the previous ruling on hold until the government could petition the justices to consider the case more fully.

The Wall Street Journal explained that the ruling came after U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., last month issued a temporary restraining order that blocked the government from canceling all aid contracts while legal proceedings continued, finding the categorical spending freeze was likely unlawful.

The Supreme Court rejected the arguments of acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris, who called Ali's deadline an "impossible order" since it gave officials only about 36 hours to comply.

In response to the decision, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., called for the defunding of USAID:

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

President Donald Trump is proposing to sell off 443 underused federal buildings.

These are buildings in 47 states, Washington and even Puerto Rico that would be part of his agenda to slash government waste and drain the swamp.

A report at the Gateway Pundit explained that the properties are "bloated with bureaucracy," and include even the headquarters of the DOJ, FBI and the General Services Administration.

Many of the locations are "regional" operations for various federal agencies.

"We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces," the GSA explained.

"Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions."

One of the buildings apparently heading for the auction block would be the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in her home district in California.

The report explained the buildings include some 80 million square feet of office space, equal to about 12 Pentagons.

The annual savings from disposing of the buildings is estimated at $430 million.

Also on the list is the Dick Cheney Federal Building in Wyoming.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

PALM BEACH, Florida – James Dennehy, the head of the FBI field office in New York, resigned his position Monday after the U.S. Department of Justice accused his office of intentionally concealing thousands of documents related to convicted Palm Beach pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

"Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did. I was not given a reason for this decision," Dennehy said in an email to staff.

CNBC reported that Dennehy "was given a choice to resign or be fired. He was eligible for retirement and has officially retired."

Last month, Dennehy wrote another email to his staff after the DOJ demanded a list of FBI employees who worked cases against the hundreds of Trump supporters who rallied at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

"Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own as good people are being walked out of the FBI," Dennehy wrote at the time.

"And others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

President Donald Trump had been planning on an agreement Friday with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to mine rare earth minerals there, a plan that was derailed by Zelensky's demands when he met with Trump in the White House.

But it may not be a significant setback, as a second nation already is proposing a deal with America to give it access to rare earths.

The Washington Examiner reported President Felix Tshisekedi, of the Congo, wants to have the U.S. support his nation's fight against Rwandan-backed rebels in exchange for mining access.

"Eyeing the critical mineral deal President Donald Trump is striking with Ukraine, Tshisekedi is hoping to use his country's vast mineral wealth to earn U.S. support," the report explained.

"President Tshisekedi invites the USA, whose companies source strategic raw materials from Rwanda, materials that are looted from the [Democratic Republic of Congo] and smuggled to Rwanda while our populations are massacred, to purchase them directly from us the rightful owners," a spokeswoman for Congo's chief, Tina Salama, explained on social media.

She said the offer is good for Europe as well.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Democrats and other leftists frantically have been filing lawsuits against President Donald Trump over his agenda to cut fraud, waste and corruption in government spending, sometimes gaining from leftist judges delays in his plans.

But now Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has intervened in one case, setting a startling precedent for the lawfare that's being waged against Trump.

Roberts simply ordered a halt to the lower court's ruling until he, or the full Supreme Court, makes a decision.

He ordered, "that the February 25, 2025 orders of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, case Nos. 1:25-cv-00400 and 1:25-cv-00402, are hereby stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court. It is further ordered that any response to the application be filed on or before Friday, February 28, 2025, by 12 p.m. (EST)."

At issue was a claim from District Judge Amir H. Ali that he could order Trump to issue payments under various U.S. Agency for International Development schemes that Trump had halted.

A report at Fox News said the lower court judge demanded the federal government pay some $2 billion to contractors who operate in the "foreign aid" realm.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Thousands of former employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was documented by President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency to have been handing out billions of dollars of American taxpayer cash to inappropriate projects like social agenda plays and comic books, soon are being separated from the government payroll.

And one report at Newsmax explains that they were given just 15 minutes at their former work stations to collect personal belongings.

Further, the notice instructing them a time frame for that retrieval expressly told them not to bring weapons, such as firearms, "spear guns" and "hand grenades" to the agency offices.

"The administration's efforts to slash the federal government are facing various lawsuits, but court challenges to temporarily halt the shutdown of USAID have been unsuccessful," the report said.

A federal judge this week ordered the Trump administration to pay billions of dollars in foreign aid, but the Supreme Court blocked that instruction, with Chief Justice John Roberts explaining that order is suspended until the high court can further review.

The case came about when dozens of nonprofit groups that had been taking American taxpayer money through USAID demanded that the funds keep coming.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Legendary actor Gene Hackman, a two-time Oscar-winner who's known for his roles in "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven," has been found dead in his home in Santa Fe, beside his dead wife classical pianist Betsy Arakawa and their dead dog.

He was 95, she was 63.

Fox News reported the suspicious circumstances were under investigation, but authorities said "foul play" appeared not to be involved.

"On February 26, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased," the Santa Fe County Sheriff's office said in a statement.

Hackman took on a long list of wide-ranging roles from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

His was in "Bonnie and Clyde," "Young Frankenstein" and "Superman."

Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the 1974 "The Conversation" in which Hackman appeared, said, "The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution."

He was born Jan. 30, 1931 in San Bernardino, Calif., and grew up in Danville, Ill., where his father worked as a pressman.

Fox reported, "When Gene was 13, his father waved goodbye and drove off, never to return. The abandonment was a lasting injury to Gene. His mother had become an alcoholic and was constantly at odds with her mother, with whom the shattered family lived (Gene had a younger brother). At 16, he 'suddenly got the itch to get out.' Lying about his age, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines."

He served from 1947 to 1952 as a broadcast journalist and field radio operator, seeing assignments in Qingdao, China, and Shanghai.

He later worked at radio stations in Florida and Illinois, then moved to New York to study painting, before finally switching to acting.

His first marriage, the Fay Maltese, lasted from 1956 to the 1980s, and resulted in a son and two daughters.

His latter years were spent at his ranch in Santa Fe.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Fani Willis, the infamous prosecutor in Atlanta who paid her boyfriend $600,000 to assemble the Democrats' "RICO" lawfare case against President Donald Trump, has been ordered to appear before a state Senate committee investigating her.

A report at the Gateway Pundit said the ruling is from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram.

Ingram's order will have Willis testify under oath about her actions during that RICO case, in which she was trying to put Trump in jail.

The report noted she's been subpoenaed by a state senate committee.

"As previously reported, Fani Willis tried to block subpoenas requiring her to testify before a Georgia State Senate Committee about her relationship with Nathan Wade after she was caught perjuring herself," the Gateway Pundit explained.

Willis had a relationship with Nathan Wade, who was the prosecutor she hired to target Trump. A judge later ordered Wade off the case because of the conflict that was there, and an appeals court later ordered Willis also to leave the case, which then collapsed.

To date, lawmakers had been unable to question her because she was a no-show.