WASHINGTON — What happens to federal employees who refuse to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda because they are waiting for the next administration?
The Daily Wire put that question directly to Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday, asking what the administration is doing about concerns that ideological employees inside the FBI and the Department of Justice could remain in place, resist the president’s policies, and simply try “waiting out” Trump and a possible future Republican administration.
“There’s concern among the MAGA base that there’s a lot of ideological actors in the FBI and DOJ still that are waiting out President Donald Trump and the next possible Republican administration to get back to doing what they were before,” Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked Blanche. “Are you concerned about that? And what are you doing about that?”
“Ideological — any ideology that any federal employee has, whether it’s a federal agent or somebody at the Department of Justice or any other agency that works in this administration — and the executive is never a good thing — whether it’s Republican or Democrat,” Blanche replied.
“And so, I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to, except for just generally,” he continued. “But one of the things that [FBI] Director [Kash] Patel has been doing, and that I’ve been doing and other cabinet secretaries have been doing, is making sure that everybody that works in this administration, whether you’re a career or a political, are doing work that’s consistent with the President’s agenda.”
“That’s what you have to do if you’re going to work in the executive,” Blanche added. “That’s what Article II says.”
“It’s not something that I ‘worry about,’ but when and if we learn about that happening, we’ll do whatever we can to stop it,” he concluded.
Article II of the Constitution vests executive power in the president and directs him to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The Constitution Annotated, maintained by Congress’ Library of Congress, says the Supreme Court has recognized presidential authority to supervise executive officials, while also noting that Congress has established statutory structures governing the federal workforce.
The question of career employees resisting presidential policy has been a recurring issue in the Trump era. During Trump’s first administration, disputes between political appointees and career officials became a major subject of debate <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/resistance-from-within-federal-workers-push-back-against-trump/2017/01/31/c65b110e-e7cb-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html">almost instantly</a>, and the issue returned to the forefront <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/nov/18/trump-federal-worker-civil-service-protections">immediately following</a> Trump’s 2024 victory as his allies argued that the federal bureaucracy had obstructed his first-term agenda.
The administration has since taken substantial steps to alter the federal workforce. In February, the Office of Personnel Management <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/06/2026-02375/improving-performance-accountability-and-responsiveness-in-the-civil-service">finalized a rule</a> creating the Schedule Policy/Career category for certain career positions involving policy-related work. The category, originally called “Schedule F,” essentially makes the positions within the category &#8220;at will&#8221; positions. OPM says those roles remain career-based and are filled on merit rather than being political appointments.
OPM also explicitly addressed “policy resistance” in the rulemaking, citing reports that career federal employees were resisting Trump administration policies and arguing that existing tools had proven insufficient to address the problem.
A September 2025 <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/14/trump-federal-workers-deep-state-civil-service-00558940">Politico</a> report similarly described career federal employees who had chosen to remain in government despite Trump’s effort to shrink the bureaucracy. Some employees told the outlet that they believed administrations come and go while career employees remain, though administration officials argued that federal workers still have an obligation to perform the duties assigned to them.
The FBI has been at the center of the dispute. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/us/politics/fbi-support-network-agents-trump-patel.html">In June</a>, former FBI officials established the FBI Support Network, an offshoot of the Justice Connection, to provide legal, mental-health, and employment assistance to current bureau employees amid the Trump administration’s restructuring efforts. Former officials described significant tension inside the bureau, while FBI Director Kash Patel has repeatedly rejected accusations that personnel decisions are politically motivated, saying the bureau is addressing bias and misconduct.
The competing visions go to the heart of the argument over the federal bureaucracy: whether career officials provide institutional expertise that should remain insulated from politics, or whether unelected officials can undermine the elected president when they disagree with his policies.

Attorney General Todd Blanche Holds White House Media Briefing In The Rose Garden

Daily Wire Asks What Happens To FBI, DOJ Employees Caught Putting Politics First

bureaucracy

department of justice

kash patel

politics

todd blanche

More than eight in 10 people charged with ISIS-related crimes in the United States since 2014 were citizens or lawful permanent residents, a new report found.
280 people have been federally charged with ISIS-related crimes since 2014. Of those, 231, or 82.5%, were U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, <a href="https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/ncitereportsresearch/170/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The report comes as the Justice Department announced Tuesday that the FBI arrested Jonathan Hunter Kramer, 21, of Valencia, Pennsylvania, who prosecutors say was preparing for an ISIS-inspired mass-casualty attack, according to the Justice Department.
The findings highlight the extent to which ISIS has been able to inspire supporters already living in the United States, even after the terrorist group lost the large territory that once made up its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria. 
The federal cases have continued every year since 2014 and have been spread across the country, with ISIS-related prosecutions documented in 36 states and Washington, D.C. New York had the most cases with 57, followed by Virginia with 25, Florida with 20, Texas with 19, Minnesota with 16, Michigan and California with 13 each, Illinois and New Jersey with 11 each, and Ohio with 9.
<div id="attachment_1179233" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1179233" class="size-large wp-image-1179233" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.31-PM-866x576.png" alt="" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.31-PM-866x576.png 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.31-PM-300x200.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.31-PM-768x511.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.31-PM.png 1070w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center</div>
The ISIS caseload has also skewed overwhelmingly male and relatively young: more than 90% of those charged were male, with ages ranging from 17 to 56 and an average age of 27.
Material support was the most common charge, with 208 of the 280 people charged — 74.28% — facing material-support charges.
As of September 1, 2026, 239 people, or 85.35%, had been found guilty or pleaded guilty. Among the 227 people sentenced, the average prison sentence was 12.93 years, with sentences ranging from time served to life in prison, according to the report.
The report’s database was compiled from open-source federal court records and includes cases in which a person was federally charged and either self-described as an ISIS member or adherent or was described that way by an investigating agency. The data does not include state-level charges.
In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-bust-terrorist-they-say-was-stockpiling-for-isis-mission-on-u-s-soil?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Feds+Bust+Terrorist+They+Say+Was+Stockpiling+For+ISIS+%E2%80%98Mission%E2%80%99+On+U.S.+Soil">the case of Kramer</a>, the FBI had him on its radar when he was a juvenile, after investigating him for allegedly plotting a mass-casualty incident and possessing child sexual abuse material. He was later adjudicated delinquent in Pennsylvania, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
<div id="attachment_1179239" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1179239" class="size-large wp-image-1179239" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.42-PM-1024x510.png" alt="" width="1024" height="510" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.42-PM-1024x510.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.42-PM-300x149.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.42-PM-768x383.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-3.22.42-PM.png 1064w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center</div>
The FBI then received an anonymous tip about Kramer on March 19, after he had been released from juvenile detention. The tipster reported alarming behavior, and investigators later identified an online persona allegedly used by Kramer, “Hamza Al Rashid,” who claimed an affiliation with ISIS and offered explosive manuals online.
According to the affidavit, Kramer said he was preparing for a “mission” but was missing a weapon.
On September 12, FBI agents surveilling Kramer watched him leave his residence carrying a bag and take a rideshare to a retail store, where he purchased a disposable cellphone. He later met another individual and received a long black bag from the trunk of a vehicle before going to a hotel in Cranberry Township.
Agents followed Kramer to the hotel and observed him carrying the bags into the parking lot. Investigators then approached him and found that he had purchased items from a sporting goods store, including equipment from the store’s gun counter.
Search warrants were subsequently executed on Kramer’s person, hotel room, and residence. Agents seized a semiautomatic rifle, five magazines — including two that were loaded — and approximately 190 rounds of rifle ammunition. Law enforcement also found a bipod, scope, entrenching tool, prayer rug, pepper spray, and roughly 30 knives.
The affidavit also says investigators found a handwritten note that read: “DoNt look For me[.] IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear[.]”
Prosecutors claim Kramer was preparing for an ISIS-inspired mass-casualty attack and that his acquisition of the rifle and ammunition was part of his preparations.
“As Americans observed the 25th anniversary of 9/11, our law enforcement partners were working to protect our country from the continued threat of terrorism,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Their outstanding work thwarted this alleged attack before innocent lives could be lost. The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue anyone who seeks to terrorize the American people and bring them to justice.”  
Kramer appeared in federal court on Monday. Prosecutors are seeking to have him detained without bond, arguing that he poses a danger to the community.
The federal complaint charges Kramer with receiving a firearm and ammunition knowing or having reasonable cause to believe they would be used to commit a felony or federal terrorism crime, including providing material support to ISIS.
“Once again, results like these are exactly why we made changes to this FBI and the way it runs — to save lives before would-be criminals can act,” <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/butler-county-man-charged-receiving-firearm-and-ammunition-intent-commit-terrorism-behalf">said</a> FBI Director Kash Patel. “It’s why this FBI has disrupted 1,097 terrorists, 20% more than the last 18 months before the Trump administration started — as well as executing 42% more Foreign Terrorist Organization-related arrests and dismantling 96% more FTOs.”

ISIS

Homegrown: What A New Report Reveals About ISIS Prosecutions In America

isis

terrorism

A group of five alleged smugglers are believed to have attempted to lure nearly 900 illegal immigrants to the United States by fraudulently obtaining visas for them and were just busted by the feds, The Daily Wire has learned.
Martha Aquino, 61, Evangelina Aquino De Galvan, 49, Julio Cervantes, 38, Marco Cervantes, 41, and Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez, 31, an illegal alien from Mexico, submitted fraudulent applications for H-2A temporary farmworker visas to bring the foreigners to the United States, the Justice Department said. All five of the accused have been hit with federal charges, some of which include visa fraud conspiracy and encouraging and inducing illegal entry.
The alleged smugglers lied about where the laborers would work and live, according to federal prosecutors. They also allegedly demanded payments from the workers before they applied or started any work in the United States, a violation of federal law, according to the Justice Department.
They seized their victims&#8217; identification documents and used violence against them to stop them from running away.
When the visas expired, the accused helped extend their stay in the United States and offered to bring them to another area of the country in exchange for cash.
&#8220;The H-2A is specifically designed to help farmers fill temporary or seasonal jobs when there is a shortage of domestic labor,&#8221; Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement.
&#8220;Instead of helping American farmers, these defendants allegedly concocted a scheme to enrich themselves by manipulating the program and smuggling aliens into the country for profit,&#8221; Duva added.
Authorities nabbed Aquino, Julio Cervantes, and Marco Cervantes this week, while Aquino De Galvan remains at large, according to the Justice Department.
In May 2026, Romero-Lopez was charged for unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien and has been detained ever since.
Aquino, Aquino De Galvan, and Julio Cervantes are charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud, visa fraud, and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States illegally for commercial advantage and private gain. Marco Cervantes is charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud and visa fraud.
Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez is charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
The Trump administration has launched a massive crackdown on fraud that includes investigating alleged birth tourists looking to exploit birthright citizenship, as well as those who became naturalized American citizens through fraudulent means.

US-IMMIGRATION-FARMWORKERS

EXCLUSIVE: Feds Uncover Massive Fraud Scheme Tied To Illegal Alien Smuggling Operation

h2a visa program

human smuggling

illegal immigration

visa fraud

The Justice Department charged a dozen foreign-born individuals with operating fake daycares in a scheme to steal more than $10 million from taxpayers, The Daily Wire has learned.
More than 250 law enforcement officers arrested the accused early Thursday morning and executed search warrants at their San Diego homes, which they claimed to be using as childcare centers, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. Eleven of those arrested are naturalized United States citizens, while one has a green card and a pending application for citizenship.
The fraudsters hail from Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan.
<div id="attachment_1178923" style="width: 921px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1178923" class="wp-image-1178923 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-15T104452.854-911x576.jpg" alt="" width="911" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-15T104452.854-911x576.jpg 911w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-15T104452.854-300x190.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-15T104452.854-768x486.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-15T104452.854.jpg 1230w" sizes=" (max-width: 911px) 100vw, 911px" />Credit: DOJ</div>
The 12 individuals obtained California licenses to open home childcare centers. They then registered with Child Development Associates (CDA) and the YMCA to receive subsidies to help low-income families pay for childcare.
California receives funding for the aid program from the Department of Health and Human Services.
To receive the funds, the defendants had to submit monthly attendance records showing the exact dates and times they cared for each child. The accused allegedly falsified attendance records to claim they cared for the children when they actually did not.
The individuals received the payments based on the fraudulent records, according to the Justice Department.
&#8220;Today is a bad day for home daycare fraud,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement on Tuesday. &#8220;These are the first charges alleging this type of fraud since the formation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.&#8221;
&#8220;These fraudsters may have criminally gamed the system before. But today, the game is over,&#8221; he said.
Abdulrahman Ayman Alawad, a 25-year-old who was born in Syria, claimed his daycare looked after 23 children in March 2026 and 25 children in April 2026, the Justice Department said.
Surveillance recordings taken during 57 days of those two months showed just one day of children coming and going from the facility, according to federal authorities. It happened to be the same day a state inspector showed up for an unannounced visit.
Abdulrahman and the children showed up only after the inspector arrived, the Justice Department said. Border crossing records also showed that Abdulrahman and several other defendants were not present in the United States when they submitted attendance records purporting to care for children at their California centers.
One of the individuals, Turkiya Mamdouh Alawad, also of Syria, departed the United States on or about January 1, 2024, before returning to the country around January 30, 2024, the Justice Department said. While she was out of the country, the 63-year-old submitted attendance records to CDA and the YMCA for January 2024 and received eight direct deposits from the organizations totaling $14,970 in February 2024.
Several of the accused received more than $1 million in payments while running their schemes.
All 12 of the accused are charged with wire fraud, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years behind bars and a fine of $500,000. Some of the alleged fraudsters have also been hit with money laundering charges, which carry the same punishment.
IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Jarod Koopman said the &#8220;takedown exposes a sprawling&#8221; and lucrative &#8220;fraud scheme.&#8221;
&#8220;By following the money, IRS Criminal Investigation uncovered patterns of deceit that revealed twelve ghost daycare operations billing for children who were never present,&#8221; Koopman said.
&#8220;This was not a victimless crime,&#8221; Koopman added. &#8220;It deprived working parents of critical support and eroded trust in programs meant to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. We remain steadfast in our commitment to safeguarding federal funds and ensuring that those who exploit public programs for personal gain are held fully accountable.&#8221;
The latest charges are part of efforts by the White House Fraud Task Force, led by Vice President JD Vance, to investigate and root out fraud throughout the United States. In May, Vance announced that the White House was suspending enrollment of home health companies in Ohio’s Medicaid program for six months following a Daily Wire investigative series into home healthcare waste, fraud, and abuse. In that series, The Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak exposed widespread alleged Medicaid fraud across the state in Ohio’s home health sector.
On Monday, the Justice Department and Small Business Administration announced that their summer crackdown on COVID-era fraud resulted in DOJ enforcement against 160 defendants who were tied to about $245 million in intended losses.
During a Kansas City press conference on Monday afternoon, Vance told The Daily Wire that officials in former President Joe Biden’s administration were aware of the fraud, calling the matter an “open secret.”
“Everybody knew people were skimming off the top,” he shared. “Absolutely, we need to be looking into the officials who are turning a blind eye to this stuff.”
As of August 2026, the Task Force says it has uncovered almost $230 billion in fraud, stopped $56 billion in fraudulent payments, and enforced more than $55 billion in indictments, civil penalties, and settlements.

Empty preschool classroom with colorful children’s toys and furniture

EXCLUSIVE: Fraudsters From Terror-Plagued Countries Made Millions Off Fake U.S. Daycares

daycare fraud

jd vance

san diego

white house fraud task force

Former CIA Director John Brennan has been subpoenaed to testify before a Florida grand jury as part of a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired to deprive President Donald Trump of his civil rights.
According to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-brennan-justice-department-5f0935921aea43a8c92b77cd9730bf69">Associated Press</a>, Ken Wainstein — Brennan’s attorney — disclosed the subpoena Monday in a court filing, saying prosecutors presented it to his legal team last Thursday. Brennan has been ordered to appear October 15 before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Wainstein said the subpoena is part of a wide-ranging investigation into the government officials who investigated Trump over the past decade, including officials involved in the investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the later investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
The investigation, informally referred to as the “grand conspiracy” probe, is examining whether officials involved in those investigations coordinated in a way that violated Trump’s civil rights. The Florida investigation has not yet produced criminal charges against Brennan or the other officials under scrutiny.
Brennan’s subpoena comes as the investigation undergoes a shakeup. Joe diGenova, the prosecutor who had been overseeing the broader investigation, resigned from the Justice Department the same day the subpoena was delivered. 
A person familiar with the matter told the AP that diGenova&#8217;s departure followed reported disagreements over the pace and management of the probe. The Justice Department has not publicly announced a replacement.
Wainstein also said prosecutor Kurt Olsen informed him that Brennan remains a target in a separate Washington-based investigation into whether he made false statements to Congress during 2023 testimony. Brennan and his attorneys have repeatedly denied that he lied to Congress. 
Prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas seeking Brennan’s testimony in the spring but later withdrew them in favor of voluntary interviews. The newly issued subpoena now puts Brennan under compelled testimony in the broader Florida investigation. The two investigations are legally distinct. 
Brennan served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017, including during the period when U.S. intelligence agencies proclaimed that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
The Trump administration has spent months scrutinizing the origins and handling of that assessment. CIA Director John Ratcliffe previously referred Brennan for investigation after declassified records raised questions about the process behind the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, including the handling of information from the controversial Steele dossier.
Brennan has defended the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and has denied wrongdoing. The broader Justice Department investigation has also examined officials involved in other investigations of Trump, including the federal investigation that resulted in the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.
The investigation has become politically contentious, particularly because some of the officials now under scrutiny were involved in investigations that Trump and his allies have long characterized as politically motivated.
At the same time, previous investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election reached different conclusions about different aspects of the matter. The Mueller investigation, for example, could not establish that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election-interference activities. The current Justice Department investigation is examining a separate question: whether U.S. officials themselves unlawfully conspired against Trump.

House Intelligence Cmte Holds Hearing On Russian Interference In U.S. Election

John Brennan Summoned In Trump ‘Grand Conspiracy’ Investigation

donald trump

john brennan

mar a lago

russia investigation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Justice Department and Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Monday that a summer crackdown on COVID-era loan fraud produced enforcement actions against more than 160 defendants tied to approximately $245 million in intended losses to taxpayers.
Ahead of the presser, Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, and Colin McDonald of the Fraud Task Force held a roundtable with their partners at an FBI facility in Kansas City.
During the post-roundtable press conference Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked Vice President JD Vance whether the administration had reason to believe officials in the Biden administration knew about widespread Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud — and whether the federal fraud task force would investigate them.
“That&#8217;s a great question, and certainly the fraud task force is looking into that,” Vance responded. He then said officials during the Biden administration were aware of the fraud. “This stuff was going on. Of course, they did. It was an open secret,” Vance said, pointing to conversations he said he had with state officials during 2022 and 2023.
Vance specifically recalled speaking with then-Ohio Lieutenant Governor John Husted, now a U.S. senator, whom he said was “exasperated” that the federal government was not taking the fraud more seriously.
“Everybody knew people were skimming off the top,” Vance said. “Absolutely, we need to be looking into the officials who are turning a blind eye to this stuff,” Vance concluded.
He framed the investigation as part of a broader effort to restore public confidence in government spending. “If you&#8217;re a taxpayer and you write a check to the government and you have no confidence that the federal government is going to protect your money, why do you pay taxes at all?” Vance said.
The announcement, dubbed “Operation No Doze,” represents the Justice Department’s latest effort to pursue fraud stemming from the massive emergency loan programs created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the roundtable, the Trump administration officials impressed upon their counterparts that they are deadly serious about stopping fraud around the United States, and they shared their excitement at achieving such startling results.
“The cavalry is here,” McDonald told the room.
Between June 12 and September 1, federal prosecutors and investigators obtained felony charges against nearly 80 defendants accused of causing approximately $100 million in intended losses. Another roughly 43 defendants pleaded guilty in COVID-related SBA fraud cases involving approximately $44 million in intended losses, while approximately 40 defendants were sentenced in cases involving nearly $100 million in intended losses.
Altogether, the summer enforcement surge involved more than 160 criminal defendants and approximately $245 million in intended losses, according to the Justice Department. But the administration announced another number Monday that dwarfs the criminal cases: roughly 870,000 borrowers are being suspended from future access to SBA loans over suspected 
fraudulent activity.
Vance appeared alongside the roundtable members for the press conference in which he announced the government would no longer allow people suspected of defrauding federal programs to continue receiving government-backed loans.
“If you screwed the American taxpayer, the federal government is now going to say you&#8217;re cut off, no more,” Vance said. Vance added that the PPP was created during the first Trump administration to keep small businesses operating and workers employed during the pandemic, but argued that people subsequently exploited the program.
“If you were caught stealing from the American taxpayer, you shouldn&#8217;t be able to benefit from these loans anymore,” Vance said.
The SBA said the 870,000 suspended borrowers are tied to approximately $39 billion in suspected fraudulent PPP and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan activity. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency is also sending demand letters to suspected fraudsters and referring debts to the Treasury Department for collection.
The Justice Department’s announcement came with several examples of the alleged schemes investigators uncovered. In one case, prosecutors in the Western District of Missouri charged Jamie Gray with allegedly attempting to obtain more than $55 million through hundreds of fraudulent loan applications. Prosecutors say Gray claimed to own dozens of businesses that existed before the pandemic, even though nearly all of them allegedly did not exist.
One purported business, called Fur Lives Matter, did exist, prosecutors said. But people who actually worked there allegedly told investigators they had never heard of Gray. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the cases announced Monday represent only part of the federal government’s broader effort. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), who was among the elected officials leading the round table, emphasized the taxpayer cost of fraud.
“Fraud is not a victimless bookkeeping problem — it is organized theft on a national scale, and hardworking Americans continue to pay the price,” Schmitt said in a statement to The Daily Wire. “Every dollar stolen from the government came from an American taxpayer.”
The State Financial Officers Foundation, which represents state treasurers, auditors and comptrollers, was among the groups participating in the effort. SFOF CEO O.J. Oleka said the Kansas City gathering demonstrated the importance of cooperation between state and federal officials in pursuing taxpayer fraud. “State financial officers, the most trusted elected officials in 
our country, are proud to be fighting on the frontlines each day to expose waste, fraud, and abuse against taxpayers,” Oleka said in a statement obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire.
The administration’s announcement comes more than five years after the federal government launched the emergency pandemic loan programs. The Paycheck Protection Program ultimately provided hundreds of billions of dollars to businesses during the pandemic, while the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provided additional assistance to businesses affected by the economic disruption.
The scale of the programs also created an enormous target for fraudsters. The Government Accountability Office has previously found substantial problems with pandemic-relief fraud referrals, including incomplete, incorrect and duplicate information that complicated efforts to investigate suspected fraud.

US-POLITICS-JD VANCE-TASK FORCE

Daily Wire Asks Vance About Biden’s COVID Fraud ‘Open Secret’

covid relief fraud

paycheck protection program

Parents, remember the baby formula shortage panic of 2022? I was driving from Boca Raton, Florida, all the way to Key West — five hours — checking every single store along the way. I was posting on Facebook, asking anyone and everyone to check their stores. I had people flying formula in from around the country just to make sure I could feed my baby. And I wasn’t alone.
Years later, we’re now learning what the government says was happening behind the scenes at one of the plants making that formula. And some of the details are enough to make any parent’s stomach turn.
Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay nearly $385 million to settle allegations tied to baby formula and nutritional products manufactured at its plants between 2018 and 2022, The Daily Wire has learned.
And we’re not talking about some minor paperwork violation here.
There were allegedly roof leaks. Lots of them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
SCOOP: Baby formula maker Abbott has agreed to pay over $384 million related to its contaminated infant formula. DOJ wants to send a message that America&#8217;s food supply is &#8220;nonnegotiable,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdailywire</a> has learned.
“Abbott will pay a substantial sum to resolve serious…
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://x.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/2099523990561730745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to the government’s complaint, leaks were so common inside the Sturgis, Michigan, plant that water would run and drip over equipment. Instead of permanently fixing what was causing them, prosecutors say Abbott used temporary fixes, including something called “roof leak umbrellas,” to divert the water away from areas where products were being processed.
All while, according to the complaint, company leadership understood that a wet environment increased the risk of microorganism contamination.
Then there were the spray dryers.
These are the massive pieces of equipment used to turn liquid formula into the powder parents scoop into their babies’ bottles. The government alleges Abbott continued running them even after cracks and pits had been documented inside, conditions prosecutors say also increased the risk of contamination, particularly when moisture was present.
But somehow, it gets worse.
The Justice Department alleges Abbott increased the number of batches that went through the dryers between cleaning cycles, allowing the company to pump out more product.
And then there’s perhaps the most stunning allegation of all: what Abbott allegedly chose not to test.
According to the complaint, Abbott intentionally avoided testing for bacterial growth because it did not want to get positive results showing contamination. The government also alleges that in some instances when testing did show microorganism contamination, Abbott failed to disclose those results while responding to FDA requests during inspections in 2019 and 2022. 
Abbott has now agreed to pay $384,999,040 to resolve the allegations.
Roughly $348.7 million will go to the federal government to settle False Claims Act allegations, while another $36.3 million will go to states over claims involving Medicaid and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known to just about every parent as WIC.
And that taxpayer connection matters.
More than half of all infant formula purchased in the United States is paid for with USDA funds through WIC, according to the Justice Department. State Medicaid programs also pay for certain infant formulas.
The case was originally brought by three former Abbott employees, Scott Millard, Kristine Cooper, and Loren Cooper, under whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.
Their share of the federal settlement? $69 million.
The allegations also bring parents right back to the Abbott plant that became a household name for all the wrong reasons during the 2022 formula crisis.
Federal officials had already raised serious concerns about conditions at the Sturgis facility. FDA testing found Cronobacter sakazakii at the plant, a bacteria that can cause serious and even deadly infections in babies. Abbott eventually reached an agreement with the federal government outlining what the company had to do before it could restart production.

baby formula shortage still affecting the United Sates

EXCLUSIVE: Remember The Baby Formula Panic? Feds Just Revealed What Was Happening

abbott laboratories

baby formula shortage

food and drug administration

food safety

whistleblower

A decision from a Biden-appointed judge earlier this week paves the way for gender-confused boys to continue competing against girls in California. 
The female federal judge on Monday blocked a lawsuit from the Trump administration challenging California policies allowing males to compete on female sports teams. The suit accused California of violating Title IX by failing to keep boys who identify as transgender off of girls&#8217; sports teams. 
The judge did not rule on whether California policies violated Title IX, but instead argued the state did not receive proper notice they could lose federal funding if they did not change their policies. In 2025, California&#8217;s Department of Education received about $44 billion in federal aid. 
“Even assuming Title IX requires what Plaintiff contends, [California Department of Education] lacked clear notice of that requirement as a condition of federal funding. The Spending Clause therefore bars Plaintiff from enforcing the asserted funding condition in this action,” U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.978008/gov.uscourts.cacd.978008.54.0.pdf">wrote</a> Monday. 
“Plaintiff seeks to enforce a categorical exclusion rule as a condition of federal funding. The Spending Clause inquiry is therefore whether Title IX and its implementing regulations clearly required California to exclude transgender girls from girls’ teams and sex-separated facilities,” she added. 
The lawsuit was filed in July 2025 by the Justice Department against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation. The DOJ argued that California was breaking federal civil rights protections because Title IX entitled girls to have their own sports teams and private facilities. 
Responding to the decision, a spokesman for the Justice Department said that officials <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/01/us-news/doj-plans-to-renew-challenge-to-californias-transgender-sports-policy/">are</a> “disappointed by the Court’s order and remain committed to enforcing President Trump’s agenda of preventing boys from playing in girls’ sports.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon appeared to suggest further action from the Justice Department, <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/2095008635029975091">noting</a> on X the decision came from a “California judge” and telling people to “stay tuned.” 
In her decision, Valenzuela argued that the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing states to keep sports teams separate on the basis of sex did not mean that all states were required to do so under Title IX. 
“The Court thus upheld the biological-sex eligibility rules before it without holding that Title IX requires every school to adopt the same rule,” she said. “The Court also declined to decide whether Title IX permits transgender girls to participate on girls’ and women’s teams.”
The Trump administration has challenged numerous states and school districts over their adoption of policies depriving young girls of private facilities and athletic teams. 
“The Justice Department will not stand for policies that deprive girls of their hard-earned athletic trophies and ignore their safety on the field and in private spaces,” Dhillon said at the time the lawsuit was filed. “Young women should not have to sacrifice their rights to compete for scholarships, opportunities, and awards on the altar of woke gender ideology.”

Female Athletes And Allies Rally In Washington DC On 50th Anniversary Of Title IX

Female Biden Judge Paves The Way For Boys To Dominate Girls’ Sports

california department of education

harmeet dhillon

title ix

transgender in sports

The Trump administration says states accepting federal welfare funds must require every state agency, not only welfare offices, to report illegal immigrants benefiting from welfare programs or risk losing program funding, The Daily Wire has learned.
The Department of Justice&#8217;s Office of Legal Counsel reached that conclusion in a new opinion obtained by The Daily Wire on Wednesday. States that refuse to share the information with federal officials will risk losing federal dollars, according to the Justice Department.
The opinion applies to all states participating in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and several American territories participate in the welfare programs.
&#8220;Congress wrote this requirement plainly,&#8221; T. Elliot Gaiser, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, said in a statement. &#8220;When a state chooses to participate in TANF, it accepts the obligation to report illegal aliens in the United States. Tax dollars intended to help vulnerable Americans should not perversely encourage illegal entry into the United States, but rather should reinforce our laws and our borders.&#8221;
With its latest opinion, the Justice Department withdrew a 1998 opinion that held only state agencies administering the welfare benefits were required to provide information on illegal immigrants to federal immigration authorities.
&#8220;Our clarification does not impose new obligations on states,&#8221; Joshua Craddock, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel and author of the opinion, said.
&#8220;It simply restores the original meaning of the statute Congress enacted and ensures that DHS receives the information it is legally entitled to. States that accept TANF funding must abide by federal law, and failure to comply may lead to serious consequences, including loss of program funding,&#8221; Craddock said.
The latest action comes as the Trump administration continues its ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants exploiting the welfare system.
Last week, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-pauses-all-immigrant-visa-appointments?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Pauses+All+Immigrant+Visa+Appointments">paused</a> all visa appointments worldwide to train consular staff to better evaluate whether applicants are likely to become dependent on the American welfare system, the Washington Post reported.
“A more prosperous America means ensuring that visa applicants are not likely to become a public charge, as defined under U.S. law and regulation, and not likely to become dependent on U.S. public benefits reserved for qualified Americans in need,” the State Department said in a recent statement.
The goal of the training is to ensure consular officers &#8220;are fully equipped to evaluate every visa applicant comprehensively and consistently,&#8221; the department said. The pause does not appear to affect visas for tourists, foreign workers, or students, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Flood Of Migrants Overwhelms Arizona Border Crossings

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Threatens States Refusing To Report Illegal Immigrants Receiving Welfare

temporary assistance for needy families

trump administration

welfare

Seventeen members of an Iran-based hacking operation have been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/17-iranians-charged-conducting-massive-cyber-theft-campaign-behalf-islamic-revolutionary">charged</a> in a massive cyber theft campaign that prosecutors say targeted hundreds of universities and other institutions around the world, stealing more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property in attacks conducted in part on behalf of Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A 14-count superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday in New York describes a campaign that began around 2013 and continued through at least late 2017. Prosecutors say the Mabna Institute targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts and successfully compromised roughly 8,000 of them at 144 U.S. universities and 178 universities in other countries.
Once inside the accounts, the hackers allegedly stole research papers, theses, dissertations, academic journals, and other materials. U.S. universities spent more than $3.4 billion to license and obtain the kind of research and intellectual property taken by the defendants, according to prosecutors.
Nine of the defendants were first charged in 2018. The new filing adds eight more defendants and, according to the Justice Department, reveals a broader network behind the operation.
“[A]t the behest of entities including the IRGC, these defendants hacked into universities and other research institutions worldwide, including the United States, stealing at least 31 terabytes of information and intellectual property of untold value,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said. 
According to the indictment, Gholamreza Rafatnejad and Ehsan Mohammadi founded the Mabna Institute around 2013 “to assist Iranian universities and scientific and research organizations in stealing access to non-Iranian scientific resources.” The company later contracted with a network of hackers for hire to carry out the intrusions.
The hackers allegedly used stolen credentials to access university library systems and moved the stolen academic material to servers outside the United States.
Some of the stolen information was later sold to customers inside Iran through two websites connected to one of the defendants. One site offered the stolen materials directly, while another allowed customers to use compromised professor accounts to access university library systems.
The alleged operation extended beyond universities. Members of the network also compromised employee email accounts at private companies and government offices, with victims including at least 42 U.S. companies, 11 foreign companies, five U.S. federal and state agencies, and two non-governmental organizations. 
Targets included the Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the states of Hawaii and Indiana, the United Nations, and the United Nations Children&#8217;s Fund.
Several of the defendants were also allegedly involved in the 2017 hack of HBO, in which hackers stole proprietary data and attempted to extort the company for roughly $6 million in bitcoin. Behzad Mesri was previously charged in connection with hacking HBO systems.
In other attacks against private companies and government entities, prosecutors say some of the defendants used techniques that caused victims to rack up more than $20 million in investigation and remediation costs. 
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for any information leading to the location of five of the defendants.

Iran, Pro-government Protest Rally In Tehran

17 Iranian Hackers Charged In Massive U.S. University Cybertheft Scheme

cybersecurity

hacking

iran

islamic revolutionary guard corps

Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching a new federal process that could give as many as 30 million Americans a pathway to regain their Second Amendment rights, reviving a mechanism that has been effectively unavailable for more than three decades.
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-blanche-launches-new-process-restore-federal-firearm-rights">finalized a rule</a> Monday establishing a process for individuals prohibited from possessing firearms to petition the federal government to restore their firearm rights.
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they pose a danger to public safety,” Blanche said. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been unable to process such applications since 1992, when Congress prohibited the agency from using appropriated funds for that purpose. Congress authorized the attorney general to restore firearm rights under Section 925(c). The new Justice Department program establishes a separate process through which eligible individuals can apply for relief.
U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward Martin said the new program provides a pathway for approximately 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights. “President Trump keeps making history — this time by his unprecedented restoration of firearms rights to millions of Americans,” Martin said. “Over the past months, we have worked at the direction of Attorney General Todd Blanche to build a program to give a pathway for restoration for the 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights.”
The rule does not automatically restore firearm rights to anyone currently prohibited from possessing a gun. Instead, applicants will have to demonstrate to the attorney general’s satisfaction that the circumstances leading to their firearm prohibition, combined with their record, reputation, and subsequent conduct, show they will not act in a manner dangerous to public safety. The Justice Department will review applications individually and maintain strong presumptions against granting relief to people considered to pose heightened risks to public safety.
&#8220;Each applicant must establish to the Attorney General’s satisfaction that the circumstances giving rise to the prohibition, together with the applicant’s record, reputation, and subsequent conduct, demonstrate that the applicant is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest,&#8221; according to the press release from the DOJ.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, violent felons, registered sex offenders, illegal aliens, and others who present an ongoing danger will remain presumptively ineligible. It will not override independent restrictions imposed by state law.
The National Rifle Association, which has long advocated for restoring firearm rights to people who have completed their sentences and are not considered dangerous, welcomed the announcement while noting that it had sought several changes to the final rule.
“NRA has long championed full restoration of Second Amendment rights for individuals who paid their debts to society and who are not demonstrably dangerous to public safety,” John Commerford, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, told The Daily Wire. “While the final rule falls short on a few of these suggestions, it is an important step in the right direction.”
“As ever, we will continue our advocacy to ensure no American is unduly deprived of the right to keep and bear arms,” Commerford concluded.
Federal law bars various categories of people from possessing firearms, with felony convictions among the most common grounds for a federal firearm disability. The restrictions have increasingly come under scrutiny following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association v. Bruen, which established that modern firearm regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Individuals seeking restoration of their federal firearm rights can access eligibility information, application instructions, and the Justice Department&#8217;s application process through the Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Program.

US-WEAPONS-STORE

Trump Admin Takes Aim At Decades Old Roadblock To Restoring Gun Rights

gun control

national rifle association

second amendment

The Trump administration is working to revive charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia as it continues to fight for his deportation.
The Justice Department filed an appeal on Monday, asking a federal court to reinstate human smuggling charges against the alleged MS-13 gang member. In May, a federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the charges against Abrego Garcia, ruling that federal prosecutors&#8217; motivation in the case was “vindictive.”
In a statement on Monday, the Justice Department argued that the charges were justified and that the case must resume.
&#8220;The decision to seek an indictment against Abrego Garcia for human smuggling was made by career prosecutors based on the evidence, the law, and their firm belief that there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Abrego Garcia had committed the offenses charged,&#8221; the Justice Department said. &#8220;The indictment and prosecution of Abrego Garcia in the Middle District of Tennessee was not vindictive and the evidence before the district court established that it was not.&#8221;
&#8220;Instead, the evidence in the district court proved that charges were brought against Abrego Garcia because, in the view of career prosecutors, the evidence conclusively established that he had committed a serious crime, and not for any vindictive motive,&#8221; the DOJ added.
Abrego Garcia&#8217;s legal team <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-asks-court-reinstate-charges-kilmar-abrego-garcia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CBS News that the Justice Department&#8217;s statement was &#8220;flat wrong,&#8221; arguing that &#8220;the indictment and prosecution of Abrego Garcia was, in fact, vindictive; the evidence before the district court established just that; and the proof was clear notwithstanding the DOJ&#8217;s refusal to call the actual decision makers, including AG [Todd] Blanche, to testify under oath.&#8221;
&#8220;This case was initiated vindictively and on instructions from the White House after our client successfully won his Supreme Court case,&#8221; his defense team said.
The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia to his native country of El Salvador in March 2025, which officials later said was done out of an “administrative error.”
Federal authorities eventually brought him back to the United States that June on human smuggling charges stemming from a November 2022 Tennessee traffic stop, where state troopers observed him transporting eight individuals from Texas to Maryland.
Officers grew suspicious because the group had no luggage in the car despite being on the road for days. Law enforcement noted that the situation had the appearance of “a human trafficking incident.”
At the time, the officers let Abrego Garcia go with a citation for driving with an expired license.
Following his deportation, the Salvadoran national became the darling of many Democratic lawmakers opposing the Trump administration&#8217;s mass deportation campaign.
In a show of support for the alleged gang member, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled to El Salvador to meet Abrego Garcia before he was ultimately returned to the United States.
The federal government is also pushing for Abrego Garcia&#8217;s second deportation in a separate case. The Trump administration initially sought to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia, but the effort was blocked by a federal judge.
In June, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin indicated his willingness to deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica, which has indicated a willingness to accept him. Abrego Garcia has also agreed to go to Costa Rica.
Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally in 2011 and was later identified by authorities in Maryland as an MS-13 member.
His wife, who has since become one of his fiercest advocates, accused him of beating her in two separate court filings.
Abrego Garcia previously pleaded not guilty to the now-dismissed charges.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen Meets With Wrongly Imprisoned Man Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in El Salvador

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