Chief Justice John Roberts pauses judge’s order for Trump admin to pay foreign aid contractors by midnight

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a federal judge’s order that required the Trump administration to pay around $2 billion in foreign aid funds to contractors by midnight.

The ruling comes after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block the release of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding, which the federal judge had required by midnight. Officials had said they would not be able to comply with the judge’s order.

The Trump administration said U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali’s order had created “an untenable payment plan at odds with the President’s obligations under Article II to protect the integrity of the federal fisc and make appropriate judgements(sic) about foreign aid – clear forms of irreparable harm.”

Any response from the groups that are fighting the Trump administration is due before Friday at 12 p.m., meaning the pause could potentially be relatively short-lived.

The Trump administration said it was eliminating more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad.

Actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, have been found dead at their home, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office says.
In an interview with Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said there was no indication of foul play and their dog had also died.

He said Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63 and a classical pianist, were found dead on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday AEDT) at their home in Santa Fe Summit north-east of the New Mexican city.

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said deputies responded to a request to do a welfare check at the home on Wednesday about 1.45pm and found the bodies.

Mendoza did not provide a cause of death for the actor, one of the industry’s most respected and honored performers, or Arakawa, his wife of more than 30 years.

 The Great Unraveling.

For the last few weeks we have been watching one of the greatest collections of weaponized autistics in the world going happily about their task of unraveling exactly how much of our money was directed through previously undetected means for previously undetected and wholly curious ends. The Doge crew are going at it with the zeal and joy of unleashed rat terriers turned loose on a field of suitable prey, in tracking millions of dollars’ worth of our money into various progressive slush funds.

And interesting things are suddenly happening. Although coincidence is not causality, by any means … still, there are things that people on the conservativish side of things have wondered about for the last decade. Things like … strangely well-choreographed protests, with tens and hundreds of participants (who mostly have no obvious means of support) appearing almost like magic, carrying professionally-printed signs. Hmmm … we all wondered in times past: who is footing the bill for all this?

It may very well turn out that we all were – just as it has turned out that USAID grants went out to support practically every cause beloved by progressives nationally and world-wide. To non-governmental organizations playing hopscotch with international migrants. To champion the causes of LGBTWXYZLOL-whatever, around the world in our own back yard and in our elementary schools. To progressive media voices, like the BBC. What the ever-loving H-E-double hockey sticks? Don’t those smooth-talking euro-snob Jew-haters get enough moola from their own government, they have to vacuum up from us as well, like a coke addict snorting a line as long as the US-Canada border?

And while I’m on the topic of our very own dear media, what about the ongoing slaughter of careers and the driving rain of pink slips falling at CBS and NBC? Joy Reid, Lester Holt and other expensive performers are being pried out of their comfortable sinecures. Personalities whom I have never particularly followed and only hear about when they have been spectacularly stupid on camera and the conservative blogosphere takes notice. I imagine their superiors pried them loose, like a dentist with an impacted molar – but why now?

Is it because top management at the various media enterprises have suddenly realized with the election of Trump that a large chunk of the public ignores them – and they have not anything like the power that they thought they had? Have they figured out that advertising on their programs was money wasted, and business sponsors know it? This is a new world for our national establishment media organs, where CBS Sixty Minutes counts for naught, and a podcaster like Joe Rogan may have put Trump and Vance over the top with an important segment of the voting public through doing searching, free-form long-format interviews.

Or could it be that laundered government funds were holding up our own media, at least as much as paid advertising? Now that such funds are being short-stopped – is that another reason for the collapsing of our media’s house of cards, now that the gravy train has come to a halt?

Pam Bondi Dismisses Biden-Era DEI Lawsuits Involving Merit-Based Hiring of Firefighters, Cops

As part of President Donald Trump’s plans to end racist DEI policies, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Civil Rights Division to dismiss several Biden-era lawsuits involving the hiring of police officers and firefighters on the basis of merit.

These lawsuits, launched by the Biden-Harris administration, “unjustly targeted” various fire and police departments across the country for using standard aptitude tests to screen candidates, according to a DOJ press release issued Wednesday.

Despite no evidence of intentional discrimination, per the Trump DOJ, only statistical disparities, Biden officials branded the aptitude tests as discriminatory. This effort sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications.

“American communities deserve firefighters and police officers to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety – not to meet DEI quotas,” Bondi said in a statement.

Under Bondi, the DOJ is now dedicated to ending racial discrimination in the name of DEI and restoring merit-based opportunities nationwide. This issue is particularly important for frontline workers who protect the American people, according to the Trump DOJ, and prioritizing DEI over merit when selecting our firefighters and cops thereby jeopardizes public safety.

On February 5, Bondi circulated an internal memo within the DOJ explaining that the department’s Civil Rights Division will “investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds.”

Wednesday’s dismissal is an early step toward “eradicating” such DEI practices across the government and in the private sector, the Trump DOJ touted.

One more goobermint disaster to lay right at the feet of the demoncraps

National Security NIGHTMARE: How Radical Trans Activists Hijacked America’s Spy Agencies

Everything you suspected might be going on in the Federal Government these past fours years is turning out to be true.

For instance, if you thought radical transgenderism was being pushed on agencies and employees to the detriment of the government’s core mission, it looks like you can take off the tin foil hat. One whistleblower says it’s all true, and it’s probably worse than you imagined.

RedState’s Bonchie reported earlier this week how the National Security Agency’s Intelink messaging program was used by federal employees to engage in debauched conversations about transgender fetishes and transitioning. From Bonchie:

While the mainstream press screams bloody murder over the Trump administration’s trimming back of the bureaucratic state, shocking new details have emerged about how government resources were being misused. A new report from City Journal has obtained chat logs showing NSA representatives, including from the CIA and FBI, used the NSA’s government interlink program to discuss various transgender fetishes and aspects of “transitioning.”…..

On Wednesday, Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and conservative commentator, pulled back the curtain even more by sharing what an NSA whistleblower revealed to him in an interview: “It’s going to get people killed in the field.” And that’s because, as Rufo noted in the interview prologue, the shenanigans at the NSA are high stakes: “The agency is responsible for overseeing America’s digital intelligence-gathering and is, in theory, a key part of our national security apparatus.” The stakes can’t get much higher than that.

 

The whistleblower explained that things started out on a small scale about a decade ago — a meeting here, a potluck there. Couched as “employee resource groups,” staffers were gathered to discuss things like racism, veterans issues and, of course, gay pride. Said the whistleblower: “Then it started to get more and more. Instead of just one day a month, it was one week a month, or the whole month.”

Things got really out of hand.

And then everything became Pride. You would go to a training, and it would be about “privilege” and “how to be a better ally.” A lady would give classes on how to talk “gender-neutral” to people.

You had analysts that didn’t want to do the reporting they were supposed to be doing because they were going to have to report on somebody’s “dead name.”

They were having this crisis of conscience about reporting the adversary’s actual name because they thought it was their “dead name,” and they didn’t want to disrespect the person. It was like a cult that was hellbent on pushing gender ideology.

When asked by Rufo about the role a “clique” of male-to-female transitioners played in spreading the trans propaganda throughout the agency, the whistleblower responded:

There is a very small number of them, but they wield an enormous amount of power. And outside of the sick stuff, you also see a prevalent Marxist philosophy going on with these people in their chat rooms. They hate capitalism. They hate Christians. They’re always espousing socialist and Marxist beliefs.

The new Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, oversees the NSA and has acted quickly to root out the radicals in the agency, giving a Friday deadline for identifying the participants in the smutty chats. They can all expect to get pink slips.

It’s a good start, but, as the whistleblower told Rufo, it won’t be easy to root them all out. “I wish I could say I see it playing out well, with them following the orders and doing it. But after the last four years, I just don’t know.”

NYT Obliterates the Myth That Planned Parenthood Is About Anything Other than Abortion

Once in a while, the mainstream media does something useful — even if it’s just saying the quiet part out loud.

I came across a New York Times piece from earlier this month that makes some startling revelations about one of the left’s biggest sacred cows: Planned Parenthood. Reporter Katie Benner begins her piece by telling the story of a woman who went to Planned Parenthood for an abortion.

The single mother still experienced bleeding and cramps after the procedure, so she returned to Planned Parenthood, where clinicians told her that she was fine and that nothing was wrong. She later delivered a stillborn baby at 12 weeks. It’s a heartbreaking account, but it’s also a worthwhile springboard to Planned Parenthood’s failures.

Benner reports:

Planned Parenthood is synonymous with the fight to preserve abortion rights. But it is also the health care provider of last resort to millions of the poorest Americans. Its clinics offer cancer screenings, birth control, annual gynecological exams, and prenatal care, regardless of whether patients can afford to pay. The organization is unique in its reach, one of the few health care providers with a presence in all 50 states.

But a New York Times review of clinic documents and legal filings, as well as interviews with more than 50 current and former Planned Parenthood executives, consultants, and medical staff members, found that some clinics are so short of cash that care has suffered. Many operate with aging equipment and poorly trained staff, as turnover has increased because of rock-bottom salaries. Patient counts have shrunk from a high of five million and 900 clinics in the 1990s to 2.1 million patients and 600 clinics today.

Planned Parenthood has massively fundraised off the Dobbs decision in 2022, to the tune of nearly $500 million that year alone. However, the organization’s bylaws require that the vast majority of that money go toward lobbying for baby-killing. Thus, the functions of Planned Parenthood that genuinely help people go underfunded or totally unfunded.

Benner points out that much of the funding for healthcare at Planned Parenthood clinics comes from Medicaid, and that varies from state to state. To be fair, the disjointed nature of state funding hurts the healthcare side of the organization.

However, another one of the left’s sacred cows is at odds with this part of Planned Parenthood’s mission. Obamacare is giving poor women more options for healthcare, which means that fewer of them go to these clinics for procedures other than abortion.

Clinics are running out of money for healthcare options, so they’re running out of supplies, failing to properly keep up facilities, and laying off staff. But can you guess which aspect of Planned Parenthood thrives? You guessed it: abortion.

“There are bright spots, especially in areas of the country that support abortion rights,” Benner reports. It’s tremendously sad to see the phrases “bright spots” and “abortion rights” in the same sentence.

She continues:

Planned Parenthood in Illinois recently opened an 11,200 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in Carbondale, a few hours drive from the borders of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri, which have banned or severely restricted abortion. The affiliate boosted salaries for staff and improved benefit packages as it prepared to welcome women from nearby states who were seeking abortions.

An affiliate in Ohio made substantial upgrades to an abortion clinic, and clinics in Southern New England have kept wait times low.

In conservative media, we often use the clickbait phrase “saying the quiet part out loud” in headlines. In this case, the New York Times did just that.

In lamenting Planned Parenthood’s trouble with healthcare funding, Benner reveals that the organization is keeping the main thing the main thing and focusing on abortion. That has always been Planned Parenthood’s primary mission and always will be — regardless of how hard the left tries to push the myth that Planned Parenthood is all about healthcare.

Group Alleges 2.5k+ Unlawful Deaths at the Hands of CCW Holders

There are an estimated 21.46 million concealed carry weapon permit holders in the United States. Violence Policy Center is a group that’s known to try to put their finger on the scale, and they’re directing their ire at those CCW holders today. They pushed out a release vilifying the practice. VPC once was a very powerful group that affected policy on firearms in the U.S. Now, they’re seemingly a shell of what they were. On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, they came forward stating there were “More Than 2,500 Non-Self Defense Deaths Involving Concealed Carry Killers Since 2007.”

VPC is known for being less than genuine in their practices. We’ve covered it before and we’ll cover it again. VPC was the group responsible for pushing the so-called “assault weapon” narrative.

The 1988 VPC publication, “Assault Weapons and Accessories in America,” highlighted what Josh Sugarmann, the founder of the group, really thinks about the American people [emphasis added]:

Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. 
In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.

One of the other disingenuous things Sugarmann did was see that the “relief from disabilities” statute was financially gutted. Under federal law, those who have had their Second Amendment rights removed used to be able to apply to have them returned. Sugarmann had the financing for this gutted via his lobbying efforts in the 1990’s.

Sugarmann leaned on statistics to implore Congress to defund the vehicle for people to actually get their rights back. What statistic was that? He found an alleged 2.6% rate of recidivism on those who received relief but subsequently fell back into criminal activity.

Just to put that whopping 2.6% recidivism rate into perspective, data from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics found that “66% of released state prisoners were rearrested within three years and 82% were arrested at least once during a ten year follow-up.”

One study on criminal activity and the police noted that, “Google News searches resulted in the identification of 6,724 cases in which sworn law enforcement officers were arrested during the time period January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2011.”

As we dive into VPC’s data, keep in mind that near seven-year period indicating almost 7,000 arrests of police officers. VPC’s data set examines alleged “non-self defense deaths” from 2007 to present – an 18-year period.

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Will Absorbing the ATF Into the FBI Rein in Each Agency’s Abuses?
The ATF, charged with regulating firearms, has a history of abuse and incompetence.

By appointing FBI Director Kash Patel as acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), President Donald Trump took a step towards reining in a federal agency justifiably viewed by many as a threat to self-defense rights. He also signaled that he may consolidate government bodies that overlap in their responsibilities. Fans of big government and opponents of privately owned firearms won’t like the move, but the idea of combining the agencies is hardly unprecedented. After all, President Bill Clinton had the same idea three decades ago.

Patel Wears Two Hats

“ATF welcomes Acting Director Kash Patel to ATF, who was sworn in and had his first visit to ATF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. today,” the ATF posted on X on February 24. “We are enthusiastic to work together for a safer America!”

Patel takes over from Steven Dettelbach, who resigned just before Trump took office. Dettelbach presided over an ATF seen as even more hostile to gun owners than has historically been the case.

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On this day in 1991, U.S. and Allied warplanes attack Saddam Hussein’s defeated, but not surrendering army as it retreats from Kuwait.
The road becomes known as the “Highway of Death.”

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CNN: Deep State Bureaucrats Threaten To Sell State Secrets If Trump Isn’t Nice To Them

CNN warns that intelligence employees who get the axe are valuable — and that those same employees will sell national secrets if fired. Which is it?

Brace yourself as the propaganda press tries to stop President Donald Trump from culling corruption from the deep state. Expect “news” stories screaming about ordinary budget and staff cuts that would happen in any bloated private business but under Trump will be described as unfair or even dangerous.

Take, for example, the Feb. 24 number from CNN, “How Trump’s government-cutting moves risk exposing the CIA’s secrets.” The short report required four CNN writers, Katie Bo Lillis (who was involved in a story that led to a defamation trial in which a jury found that CNN was literally fake news), Phil Mattingly, Natasha Bertrand, and Zachary Cohen.

Exposing CIA secrets? That sounds pretty dangerous. Just how much danger are we in?

In the piece, CNN warned, “As the CIA weighs staff cuts, current and former intelligence officials say that mass firings could offer a rich recruitment opportunity for foreign intelligence services — like China or Russia — who may seek to exploit financially vulnerable or resentful former employees.”

The piece goes on.

“… on the CIA’s 7th floor — home to top leadership — some officers are also quietly discussing how mass firings and the buyouts already offered to staff risk creating a group of disgruntled former employees who might be motivated to take what they know to a foreign intelligence service.” (So “quietly,” apparently, that CNN could hear them, as Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway pointed out.)

Is that a threat from the CIA? Is CNN reporting that Trump should keep everyone employed because, if he doesn’t, former CIA agents will spill U.S. secrets to our enemies? Apparently so.

But if that’s the case, these are exactly the employees who should be fired. Those with too little integrity to exit with grace should not be employed in jobs with access to sensitive information. The CIA employees CNN describes should not be trusted with any more secrets.

Within the same piece, CNN ridiculously makes it sound as if valued, model intelligence employees will get the axe — and that those same employees have loose lips and are ripe for the picking. Which is it, CNN?

The media want you to be worried because they are worried. If Trump cleans house, it will destroy their business model. CNN and other propagandists have exploited unethical leaking of deep state sources, treating their whispers as gospel, and amplifying their aims through high-profile “news” stories.

If Trump fires their sources, it will be harder for the media to collude with the intelligence community to craft propaganda to sell to the public. The connection between CNN and the deep state has been too cozy for too long.

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