The Republican-controlled North Carolina House approved a new congressional map on Wednesday, a day after the measure cleared the state Senate, likely securing another U.S. House seat for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
The new map passed the state House along party lines in a vote of 66-48, as Democrats condemned the effort, the Raleigh News &amp; Observer <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article312584734.html">reported</a>. The current North Carolina House delegation is made up of 10 Republicans and four Democrats, and the new congressional map is projected to shift that to 11 Republicans and three Democrats.
State law does not allow North Carolina&#8217;s governor, Democrat Josh Stein, to veto the new map, meaning the process is finished, pending any legal challenges.
President Donald Trump has urged Republican-led states to draw new congressional maps that are more favorable to the GOP ahead of next year&#8217;s midterms. North Carolina House Republican Majority Leader Brenden Jones celebrated the map&#8217;s passage, saying, “It’s a fact that we will send one more Republican to Congress from this great state.”
Jones also responded to the criticism over the redistricting and had some advice for Democrats.
“You can be mad about redistricting all you want, but you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself, what got us here?” he said.
The new map will mostly affect Democratic Rep. Don Davis, whose district will shift from an area that voted for Trump by just three percentage points to one that voted for Trump by 11 points in the 2024 election.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The new North Carolina congressional map has PASSED the NC House and Senate.
The bill does not require the Governor&#8217;s signature and is now law
Change To Dem Rep Don Davis in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NC01?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NC01</a> 
🔴 Trump +3 -&gt; 🔴 Trump +11 <a href="https://t.co/wM921mJrB7">pic.twitter.com/wM921mJrB7</a>
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAPolls2022/status/1981041109934453186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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A spokesman for Davis <a href="https://x.com/ReubenJones1/status/1980345787109568915">told</a> Spectrum News that he will run again next year but is considering entering the race for the 3rd district, where Republicans would also be favored.
State House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said that the passage of the new map represented a grave omen for “our independence, our democracy.”
“I would ask that you mark this day, because one day they’re coming to you, they’re going to ask you to do something that you just can’t do,&#8221; Reives added. &#8220;And because we have set the precedent that only one man in this party matters, you’re going home.”
Republican state Senator Phil Berger <a href="https://x.com/SenatorBerger/status/1980641716311851245">said</a> that the new map &#8220;respects the will of the North Carolina voters who sent President Trump to the White House three times.&#8221;
So far, Texas, Missouri, and now North Carolina have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-gerrymandering-congress-trump-0af8561b1670032fae3e1d2aec7905f0">passed</a> new congressional maps that will likely help Republicans in the midterm elections. Other red states, including Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, and Louisiana, are also redistricting.
Democrat-led states, such as California, New York, and Illinois, have either introduced or are considering new congressional maps likely to put more Democrats in Congress. After Texas approved a new congressional map expected to give Republicans five additional House seats, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom urged residents in his state to respond in kind by backing a statewide measure on the November ballot that would change the Golden State&#8217;s congressional map to favor Democrats.

Donald Trump/U.S. House

Trump Scores Another Win: New North Carolina Congressional Map Boosts GOP’s Midterm Outlook

2026 Midterms

Donald Trump

Elections

House Democrats

House Republicans

North Carolina

Politics

WASHINGTON—There is a Republican push for President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration to put an end to tax code provisions that make it more cost-effective for Americans to obtain transgender medical procedures and surgeries, The Daily Wire has learned.
The IRS currently designates so-called gender procedures as a &#8220;qualifying medical expense,&#8221; meaning patients can pay for these procedures with tax-advantaged Health Savings Accounts and subsidized Affordable Care Act insurance plans. In a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire, Missouri congressman Bob Onder is asking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to take a look at changing what qualifies.
&#8220;Hardworking American taxpayers across the country are unknowingly made complicit in underwriting these costly, dangerous, and deadly medical procedures,&#8221; Onder writes, urging Bessent to &#8220;remove sex-trait altering drug regimens, procedures, and related providers from tax-advantaged qualified medical expenses.&#8221;
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&#8220;The tacit tolerance of a radical movement that has subjected thousands of American children to baseless medical treatments with grave consequences should be of serious concern to all of us,&#8221; Onder said. &#8220;We must ensure that this misguided acceptance does not result in Americans unknowingly and indirectly subsidizing the cost of these procedures.&#8221;
Bessent, who serves as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, is able to define which procedures as qualified medical expenses, the letter notes. Gender-affirming care is now broadly considered a qualified expense, meaning patients can pay for everything from chest binders and hormone therapy to surgeries using tax-advantaged HSA and FSA accounts, or taxpayer-subsidized Obamacare insurance plans.
The push to change this comes as the Trump administration redoubles its efforts to combat radical gender ideology in the wake of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/calls-to-investigate-trans-domestic-terrorism-escalate-after-devastating-school-shooting">string of deadly attacks</a> perpetrated by transgender-identifying assailants. Last week, the president told The Daily Wire that his administration is &#8220;very strongly&#8221; examining the pattern of transgender violence, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt similarly told The Daily Wire that transgender violence is “definitely something worth looking into.&#8221;
&#8220;Anyone who denies that at this point is being willfully ignorant,&#8221; Leavitt said.
In his letter, Onder lays out five major mass shootings that have been &#8220;conducted by transgender individuals with proven political motivations&#8221; since 2018.
That would include <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-attempted-kavanaugh-assassin-identifies-as-transgender-woman-legal-filings-show?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Attempted+Kavanaugh+Assassin+Identifies+As+Transgender+Woman%2C+Legal+Filings+Show">Robin Westman</a>, a trans-identifying 23-year-old man who opened fire last month on Catholic schoolchildren while they were praying in Minneapolis. It also follows the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, whose accused killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was living with a 22-year-old trans-identifying male named Lance Twiggs.
&#8220;As Congress and the Trump Administration consider advancing policy proposals aimed at addressing the underlying conditions that led to Mr. Kirk’s assassination, it would be a grave mistake not to acknowledge the role transgender ideology has played in inflicting harm on our nation’s children,&#8221; Onder wrote.
Onder further notes that advocates of transgender procedures are taking advantage of vulnerable young people, coaxing them into experimental medical procedures that often cause irreparable harm, and indoctrinating them into a radical ideology.
Citing a May <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf">report</a> from the Department of Health and Human Services that found there is &#8220;minimal evidence to support the benefits of sex-trait altering procedures,&#8221; Onder argues that these procedures often lead to &#8220;severe health consequences&#8221; that &#8220;have sparked equally devastating societal consequences.&#8221;
&#8220;We are witnessing a disturbing rise in left-wing political violence with increasing rates of mental illness and political radicalization, which is incredibly concerning and warrants concerted examination,&#8221; he tells Bessent. &#8220;These &#8216;activists&#8217; are systematically exploiting the confusion of these vulnerable individuals, weaponizing their distress to target anyone they perceive as a political or ideological opponent.&#8221;
Onder is a member of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in Congress, which has led the charge against both <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-riley-gaines-to-join-republican-study-committee-members-lunch">transgender ideology</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-call-for-an-end-to-violent-rhetoric-on-the-anniversary-of-butler-shooting">political violence.</a> In 2022, then-RSC Chairman Jim Banks introduced <a href="https://rsc-pfluger.house.gov/news/press-releases/reps-banks-lamalfa-sen-cotton-introduce-protecting-minors-medical-malpractice">legislation</a> that would protect minors from transgender procedures. The RSC — which counts among its members prominent lawmakers, including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Steve Scalise (R-LA), and Kat Cammack (R-FL) — has seen its efforts to fight gender ideology pay off under President Donald Trump.
Shortly after taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order declaring &#8220;federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.&#8221; The Trump Justice Department is considering a ban on firearm purchases for individuals who identify as transgender, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-doj-considering-gun-ban-for-transgenders?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=15&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+DOJ+Deliberates+Over+Gun+Ban+For+Transgenders">previously reported.</a> And in June, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee&#8217;s ban on transgender procedures for minors, a decision RSC Chairman August Pfulger (R-Texas) hailed as &#8220;a huge win for parental rights and defeating the woke ideology of the Left.&#8221;
Other RSC members are expected to sign on to Onder&#8217;s letter in the coming days, sources with knowledge of the matter tell The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Children are the most vulnerable members of our country, and they deserve leaders who will protect them,&#8221; Onder writes. &#8220;This action alone will make a marked impact on the well-being of children nationwide, and will end this country’s moral retreat into the acceptance of a radical ideology that defies biological reality and puts our citizens at risk.&#8221;

Untitled (1200 x 675 px)

As Transgender Violence Mounts, Republicans Push Trump To End Tax Advantage For Gender Procedures

Charlie Kirk

Leftism

Obamacare

Scott Bessent

Transgender

Violence

The Republican congressman said that what happened reflects everything he loves about America.
Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-MN) was driving down Interstate 35 near Osceola, Iowa, on Saturday when he witnessed a car crash in his rearview mirror.
“I’m watching a Dodge Grand minivan disintegrate. It seemed to drift off the road at about 70 miles per hour, more so on the passenger side of the car,” the Wisconsin Republican <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3759434/van-orden-and-roadside-warriors-save-11-year-old/">said</a>. “My wife, Sarah, was like, what happened? I looked at it, I said, someone just died,” he said.
Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL, says he parked his truck in the grass divider and rushed over to see if he could help.
“I ran to the passenger side, where all the damage was, and there was this 11-year-old kid, and I looked at him, and his calf, which is about as big as my thigh, was completely ripped apart, so I could see his tibia and his fibula, just a big chunk of him bleeding. And he had an arterial bleed in his right wrist.”
He ran back to his truck, dug into his luggage, and grabbed two socks for makeshift tourniquets. “By then, probably 10 people had also pulled over to help, I’m like, does somebody have a knife? And they’re like, yep. So I cut the seat belts off and then made tourniquets.”
“Some big old Iowa farm dude, probably 60-something, rips off a windshield wiper for his arm, then another lady there said she was a medic. She wound up grabbing a piece of metal and made a tourniquet on his leg, and then all of us packed him up and got him up into the ambulance.”
Van Orden says that everyone’s quick actions saved the boy’s life. Due to their remote location, first responders wouldn’t have been able to arrive in time. “It took about 10 to 15 minutes. He would’ve bled to death. He would’ve been gone.”
He later visited the boy in the hospital in Des Moines.
He said that what happened embodies “everything that I love about America.”
“We’re in the middle of somewhere, and this happens, and people just start showing up. They start asking, ‘Hey, can we do this? Can we do that?”
While Van Orden was securing the tourniquet on the boy’s leg, he said there were men behind him doing traffic control.
“It’s amazing,” he said of everyone’s eagerness to help.
On X, Van Orden noted that the accident occurred on the second anniversary of his daughter’s passing.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
God works in mysterious ways.
This happened last Saturday but the story came out today, the second anniversary of our sweet daughter’s passing.
I am so thankful to have been able to make sure this young man’s father did not join the one club you never want to be in. <a href="https://t.co/NBvhbjZfjl">https://t.co/NBvhbjZfjl</a>
— Derrick Van Orden (@derrickvanorden) <a href="https://twitter.com/derrickvanorden/status/1957807197108269422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“God works in mysterious ways,” Van Orden wrote. “I am so thankful to have been able to make sure this young man’s father did not join the one club you never want to be in.”

World War II Army Rangers Gold Medal

Republican Congressman Helped Save A Child From A Car Crash

Car Crash

Wisconsin

The conservative movement lost one of its founding fathers this week.
Dr. Edwin J. Feulner built the intellectual foundation upon which modern conservatism stands, and gave us the institutions — like the Heritage Foundation and the Republican Study Committee — that work tirelessly to defend it.
As the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, I stand on the shoulders of this giant. Ed Feulner didn&#8217;t just participate in the conservative revolution — he engineered it, fundamentally transforming how conservative ideas reach the halls of power and become the policies that strengthen families and communities across America.
Ed understood something that too many in Washington forget: people are policy. This was more than just a phrase to him, it was at the center of everything he built. He knew that lasting change doesn&#8217;t come from eloquent speeches but from developing principled leaders who will fight for American values year after year.
The Republican Study Committee exists today because Ed saw what was needed before anyone else did. Working as a congressional aide in the early 1970s, he recognized that conservative members of Congress needed an organizational home. A place to develop policy, coordinate strategy, and advance the principles that make America exceptional. As the Republican Study Committee’s founder, Ed created what became the largest caucus in Congress and the intellectual engine of the House conservative movement.
His influence on the Republican Study Committee and Capitol Hill at large cannot be overstated. Every bill we produce, every strategy session we hold, and every fight we wage bears his fingerprints. The Study Committee’s current membership of 189 House Republicans stands as a testament to his vision.
But Ed&#8217;s vision reached far beyond Congress. When he founded the Heritage Foundation in 1973, he built a beacon for truth in a city too often corrupted by power. Under his leadership, Heritage rapidly evolved into the strategic braintrust that would fuel Ronald Reagan&#8217;s conservative revolution. Ed transformed how conservative ideas move from theory to reality, creating an intellectual machine that could produce policy solutions at the speed of politics rather than the pace of academia.
What made Ed truly exceptional wasn&#8217;t just his strategic brilliance. It was his unwavering optimism and absolute refusal to be discouraged. He lived by another favorite saying: &#8220;In Washington, there are no permanent victories and no permanent defeats.&#8221; This recognition that the fight for freedom requires constant vigilance drove everything he did.
Ed embodied the best of American conservatism: principled without being rigid, strategic without being calculating, and always focused on mission over personal glory. He understood that our movement wins through multiplication and addition, not division and subtraction. He brought together diverse voices around shared principles, building lasting coalitions that could govern.
The bond between the Republican Study Committee and the Heritage Foundation remains strong today because of the foundations Ed laid. Both institutions continue advancing the conservative principles he championed, working hand-in-hand to develop policy solutions and train the next generation of leaders. The Republican Study Committee’s members regularly benefit from Heritage research, just as Heritage benefits from the committee’s legislative expertise. This is precisely the kind of mutually-beneficial relationship Ed envisioned.
Even in his later years, Ed remained actively engaged in the conservative cause. His continued involvement in preparing conservative policy blueprints demonstrated that his commitment never wavered. He understood that each generation must be equipped to carry the torch of freedom forward.
The institutions Ed built will endure, but more importantly, the leaders he mentored will continue his work. From the Republican Study Committee to the Heritage Foundation, from state capitals to corporate boardrooms, the men and women Ed influenced are advancing conservative principles with the same courage and determination he modeled.
As President Reagan once stated, Ed was &#8220;a combination of many things: intellectual, administrator, politician, diplomat, but most of all, dreamer and darer.&#8221; That combination of the ability to dream big and dare to make those dreams reality is what made Ed irreplaceable to our movement.
Ed&#8217;s legacy extends far beyond any accomplishment. He was a devoted husband to his wife, Linda, and a beloved father and grandfather. In his life and work, he showed us that devotion to limited government and freedom can build institutions that outlast any single generation.
The conservative movement will honor Ed&#8217;s memory by advancing his vision with unwavering commitment to the founding ideals that make America exceptional. The Republican Study Committee will continue the work he started, developing conservative policy and leaders for generations to come.
Feulner’s work lives on in all of us who believe America&#8217;s best days lie ahead. We will continue to fight for the values he espoused and the movement he built. As he was so fond of saying:
&#8220;Onward. Always.&#8221;
Congressman August Pfluger represents Texas&#8217;s 11th district in the House of Representatives, where he chairs the Republican Study Committee.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

AP-FEULNER

A Tribute To Ed Feulner, Founding Father Of American Conservatism

Congress

Conservatism

Heritage Foundation

WASHINGTON—Congressman August Pfluger recalled the devastation that swept through his hometown during the July 4th floods in a candid interview with The Daily Wire on Tuesday.
The Texas Republican spoke with Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan during the &#8220;new media row&#8221; event sponsored by the Republican Study Committee, which he chairs. Pfluger represents Texas&#8217;s 11th district, which includes many of the communities stricken by the floods.
He said two of his daughters were at Camp Mystic when the floods hit.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a horrible feeling as a parent to know that you&#8217;re not sure whether your children are okay,&#8221; Pfluger said. &#8220;And in this case of my two daughters that were there and had been going to this camp for a long time, it was a very scary moment.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re lucky my daughters, who were at the camp, are safe,&#8221; Pfluger said. &#8220;You know, it was very, very stressful and hard to go through that, but Texans are strong &#8230; We need a lot of prayers from around the country right now.&#8221;
Twenty-seven Camp Mystic campers, many around eight years old, and several camp counselors, died in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unimaginable-tragedy-camp-mystic-says-27-campers-and-counselors-killed-in-sudden-flash-floods" target="_blank" rel="noopener">floods</a>.
&#8220;It&#8217;s truly tragic,&#8221; Pfluger said. &#8220;So many families are grieving right now. … It&#8217;s hard to even describe what happened. I mean, just something on a scale and magnitude that we&#8217;ve never seen. And our prayers were with a lot of families.&#8221;
Pfluger expressed his gratitude to the quick actions of Texas Governor Abbot and the Trump administration for declaring disasters in the state.
When some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/libs-dragged-for-blaming-texas-flood-disaster-on-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commentators</a> began to inject politics into the bleak situation, Pfluger noted that this travesty was an opportunity for those who sit in different political camps to come together.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve had many Democrats who have reached out to me in this period,&#8221; Pfluger said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve learned a lot about those people, and they didn&#8217;t say one thing about any of the politicization, but there are those who have chosen to do that.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s no place for [politicization]. … I think the rest of us — the rest of society — just want to know how can we help. That&#8217;s the first question that most people ask. That&#8217;s the part of society that I want to be with. Those are the people that I think are going to help all of us rise up and be strong, whose voices are louder right now.&#8221;
While the final toll of the devastation will not be fully known until the affected communities recover, there are still countless searches ongoing. Those in central Texas not searching for a loved one have begun attempting to return their communities to normalcy.
&#8220;If you know somebody and most people have a connection in Texas, especially to somebody who was affected by this, reach out to them, ask him how they&#8217;re doing,&#8221; Pfluger urged Americans.
&#8220;It&#8217;s okay if you asked them before. Ask them again.&#8221;

House Lawmakers Work On Funding Deal As Possible Government Shutdown Looms

Congressman August Pfluger Shares Firsthand Experience During Texas Floods

FEMA

Floods

Texas

WASHINGTON—The Republican Study Committee marked the anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump by warning of the dangers of violent political rhetoric.
Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) on Monday introduced a <a href="https://kelly.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-kelly-rsc-chairman-pfluger-introduce-resolution-marking-one-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> condemning the attempts on Trump’s life as well as “those who incite violence against political officials.” The resolution specifically mentioned the recent fatal shooting of a Minnesota state representative, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro’s home.
Pfluger and Kelly discussed the resolution in a Monday <a href="https://www.news9.com/story/68757532494364ff6a727e77/watch-republican-study-committee-press-conference-on-first-anniversary-of-trump-assassination-attempt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press conference</a>, saying that it was up to lawmakers to combat violent rhetoric, lest it lead people to violence.
“We can pass resolution after resolution. We can go to church on Sunday and abhor what’s taking place and we leave that church and we go out and we practice what we just condemned in our churches,” Kelly said. “The illness has far deeper roots than we know.”
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) said the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/13/politics/trump-butler-assassination-maga-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would-be assassin</a> who shot Trump last year in Butler, Pennsylvania, was inspired by the Left’s violent rhetoric.
“Leftists on the other side of the aisle were slandering that same then presidential candidate, saying that he is a threat to democracy, that he’s a wannabe dictator, that he is literally Hitler, in their words,” he said. “And some people on their side of the aisle take those words at face value. And they tried to assassinate him.”
Several Study Committee members noted that they had received death threats. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she received a syringe in the mail; Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) said he was run off the road, and Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) said his daughters were both sent envelopes containing “urine, blood, and feces” that read “This will be on your father’s tombstone.”
Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) told The Daily Wire that his district offices examined their own security after the June 14 assassination of Minnesota State Representative <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/14/us/melissa-hortman-minnesota-assassination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melissa Hortman</a>.
But, Harris said he’s “not sure there&#8217;s enough money in the world to actually solve the problem because the problem comes from individuals, and there are plenty of individuals that are on the edge.”
Harris said the resolution was “simply calling out everybody to dial back the rhetoric and recognizing how we’ve got to somehow in this nation get back to having civil discourse.”
“One of the things that is so clear to me is we&#8217;ve allowed our politics to become far more focused on personalities and persons than we have focused on policy,” Harris added. “Unfortunately, when you don&#8217;t really have anything to say that people will buy into for policy, then you choose to just go after a person. That’s where you get into trouble.”
And while Harris noted that “you can&#8217;t legislate” violent rhetoric away, he said that political leaders nevertheless “have a responsibility to talk about the issue.”
Still, he said, the only way for things to really change is for “the American people say enough is enough” and “start punishing the politicians that are attacking personalities.”

Butler Anniversary Presser

House Republicans Call For An End To Violent Rhetoric On The Anniversary Of Butler Shooting

Butler

Political Violence

Congressional Republicans are advancing a bill that would make it a federal crime to block interstate highways after mass demonstrations in Los Angeles caused major backups on key roadways.
Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia reintroduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1057">bill</a>, the Safe Passage on Interstates Act, in February after it stalled in the Senate last year. The legislation would create a federal law against the intentional obstruction of interstate highways.
“There is nothing ‘peaceful’ about the riots and looting we’ve seen in Los Angeles. Blue states and cities have shown that they would rather have lawlessness and disfunction over law and order, and we need to get these people off our streets and in jail where they belong,” Collins told The Daily Wire in a statement. “The Safe Passage on Interstates Act would give [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and [FBI Director] Kash Patel the tools to put an end to highway protests and lock these criminals up.”
The push to give more tools to federal authorities comes after demonstrators have repeatedly flooded the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles, stopping traffic and causing backups. Protesters again took over the freeway on Tuesday evening, until Los Angeles Police Department officers pushed the mob off the freeway onto a parallel road.
Similar demonstrations could <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/08/us/la-immigration-protests-photos-map.html">break out</a> in major cities across the United States. Protests took place in at least two dozen other major cities on Monday, from Seattle, Washington, to Jacksonville, Florida. Demonstrators marched in opposition to federal authorities enforcing immigration law and deporting illegal aliens.
In statements to The Daily Wire, co-sponsors of the bill and members of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House, of which Collins is a member, are pushing Collins’ bill as an antidote to the flashes of anarchy that have broken out on interstate highways. The bill is needed sooner rather than later to prevent riots from spreading throughout the country.
California Rep. Tom McClintock said the bill “will save lives.”
“All Americans have the right to peaceful protest, but when cars are lit on fire and ambulances are blocked on major roadways, it is no longer peaceful,” said McClintock.
Oklahoma Rep. Stephanie Bice blamed the chaos in Los Angeles on “local leaders” such as Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Bice called Collins’ bill “a step towards restoring law and order and safeguarding communities from radical protestors intent on sowing chaos throughout the country.”
Ohio’s Dave Taylor said that &#8220;From families driving their children to school, to truck drivers transporting goods, to law enforcement responding to emergencies, we all depend on our Nation’s roads being clear and safe every day.”
Texas Rep. Andy Weber called the bill “more critical than ever.”
&#8220;Blocking our highways and disrupting the daily lives of law-abiding Americans is not a form of protest – it&#8217;s lawlessness, and it must not be tolerated,” he said.

101 freeway

Republicans Push Federal Ban On Blocking Interstates After L.A. Riots Cause Highway Chaos

Los Angeles

The father of the terrorist who killed two Israeli embassy staffers on Wednesday was invited to attend President Donald Trump’s March joint address in Congress at the behest of a far-Left member of Congress.
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), <a href="https://x.com/RepChuyGarcia/status/1710746107683217744" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who called for a ceasefire</a> on October 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists were still raping and slaughtering Israeli civilians, hosted Eric Rodriguez—the father of suspected murderer Elias Rodriguez— at Trump’s March 4 speech.
“Eric Rodriguez was our guest during the President’s Joint Speech to Congress, but we don’t know his family,” a spokesperson for Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/23/us-news/dc-jewish-shooting-suspect-elias-rodriguez-father-eric-rodriquez-invited-to-trump-address-by-far-left-lawmaker-chuy-rodriguez/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the New York Post</a> Thursday.
Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was detained by police on suspicion of murdering Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. The couple was shot at close range, and Milgrim was shot multiple times while crawling away, according to court documents. According to police, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/charges-revealed-in-d-c-terror-attack-shooter-did-it-for-palestine-fbi-says?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Charges+Revealed+In+D.C.+Terror+Attack%3B+Shooter+%E2%80%98Did+It+For+Palestine%2C%E2%80%99+FBI+Says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the terrorist told</a> officers he “did it for Palestine.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israeli-embassy-staff-murdered-by-unidentified-shooter-outside-capitol-jewish-museum?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Two+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+Murdered+By+Keffiyeh-Wearing+Man+Shouting+%E2%80%98Free+Palestine%E2%80%99+In+DC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TWO ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS MURDERED BY KEFFIYEH-WEARING MAN SHOUTING ‘FREE PALESTINE’ IN DC</a>
García <a href="https://chuygarcia.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-garcia-to-spotlight-attacks-on-veterans-and-workers-rights-at-presidential-joint-address">announced</a> Rodriguez&#8217;s invitation the day before the speech, claiming that “his presence at the Joint Address is a powerful statement: we will not sit back while veterans and workers are treated as political pawns.”
Rodriguez is a disabled Army veteran and an employee at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Illinois, according to the statement.
&#8220;We’ve seen this playbook before—divide and weaken workers, then hand over public services to private interests,&#8221; García wrote. &#8220;But this time, we’re ready. With leaders like Eric and the power of our unions, we’re fighting back stronger than ever.&#8221;
In a video for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1153962276435857" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Service Employees International Union</a> on the same day, Rodriguez said he was in Washington, D.C., because he is “concerned about what Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE are doing to the VA system.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/friends-family-react-to-murder-of-israeli-embassy-staffers-by-keffiyeh-wearing-terrorist?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Friends%2C+Family+React+To+Murder+Of+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+By+Keffiyeh-Wearing+Terrorist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FRIENDS, FAMILY REACT TO MURDER OF ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS BY KEFFIYEH-WEARING TERRORIST</a>
García has been a critic of Israel since it launched its defense war against Hamas, <a href="https://chuygarcia.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-garcia-s-statement-on-today-s-votes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including opposing</a> military aid to Israel; last April, he claimed that he rejects “U.S. complicity in the devastation of Palestinian life in Gaza.” García said he opposed sending offensive weapons because “it would signal support for an expanded invasion of Rafah,” the city where six hostages were murdered shortly before being found by the IDF and where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was later killed.
“The US cannot continue to be complicit in the destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza,” <a href="https://x.com/RepChuyGarcia/status/1782395207213826332" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he posted</a>.
In September, García <a href="https://x.com/RepChuyGarcia/status/1836891353415819500" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposed cutting</a> funding to UNRWA, despite its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-n-fires-multiple-unrwa-employees-after-discovering-evidence-of-alleged-involvement-in-october-7-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">workers&#8217; participation</a> in the October 7 massacre and the testimony of hostages saying they <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj91ygv803xo">were held</a> in UNRWA facilities. UNRWA has also been criticized for promoting antisemitism in its schools and promoting Palestinian dependency on the global community by granting refugee status to the descendants of refugees, which no other group is granted.
On Friday, a group of over 50 House Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-condemn-evil-murder-of-israeli-embassy-staffers-antisemitic-terrorism?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=House+Republicans+Condemn+%E2%80%98Evil%E2%80%99+Murder+Of+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers%3A+%E2%80%98Antisemitic+Terrorism%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced a resolution</a> condemning the murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.
<div id="attachment_924077" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-924077" class="size-large wp-image-924077" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-864x576.jpg" alt="Sarah Milgrim" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Sarah Milgrim, an American citizen and Israeli embassy staffer, was murdered on Wednesday night when attending an event with her boyfriend. The attacker has a history of anti-Israel and radical leftist rhetoric. (Photo: X)</div>
Elias Rodriguez was once affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a leftist group linked to Chinese Communist Party funding networks that have been repeatedly contacted by sanctioned Iranian state media, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/terrorist-who-killed-israeli-embassy-staffers-was-influenced-by-a-foreign-linked-leftist-org?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Terrorist+Who+Killed+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+Was+Influenced+By+A+Foreign-Linked+Leftist+Org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a report</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-threatens-to-snatch-visas-from-pro-hamas-thugs-at-columbia-university?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Rubio+Threatens+To+Snatch+Visas+From+%E2%80%98Pro-Hamas+Thugs%E2%80%99+At+Columbia+University" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RUBIO THREATENS TO SNATCH VISAS FROM ‘PRO-HAMAS THUGS’ AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY</a>
Sarah Milgrim’s father, who is an American Jew from the Kansas City suburbs, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/father-of-murdered-israeli-embassy-staffer-says-daughter-was-dedicated-to-peace-building?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Father+Of+Murdered+Israeli+Embassy+Staffer+Says+Daughter+Was+Dedicated+To+Peace-Building" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said his daughter</a> was dedicated to peace-building. She was a full-time employee at the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy. 
At a Wednesday night press conference, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Lischinsky and Milgrim were about to get engaged.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
“The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of free Palestine is a couple that was about to be engaged,” he said. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple who came to enjoy an evening in Washington’s cultural center.”
Lischinsky, 30, was a German-Israeli dual citizen and a devout evangelical Christian who immigrated to Israel at the age of 16 and served in the Israel Defense Forces.

Milgrim and Lichinsky

Father Of D.C. Terror Suspect Attended Trump Joint Address At Behest Of Far-Left House Democrat

antisemitism

Israel

U.S.

A group of over 50 House Republicans on Friday introduced a resolution condemning the murder of Israeli embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.
“This wasn’t just a tragedy, it was a targeted act of antisemitic terrorism carried out by a radical leftist,” Rep. Addison McDowell, who introduced the resolution, told The Daily Wire.
“Yaron and Sarah were murdered for being Jewish and for believing in peace. When a movement sympathizes with terrorists, we shouldn’t be surprised when that same movement produces actual terrorists.”
Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was detained by police on suspicion of murdering Lischinsky, 30, and Milgrim, 26, on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. The couple was shot at close range, and Milgrim was shot multiple times while crawling away, according to court documents. According to police, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/charges-revealed-in-d-c-terror-attack-shooter-did-it-for-palestine-fbi-says?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Charges+Revealed+In+D.C.+Terror+Attack%3B+Shooter+%E2%80%98Did+It+For+Palestine%2C%E2%80%99+FBI+Says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the terrorist told </a>officers he “did it for Palestine.”
No Democrats signed on to the resolution.
Cosponsors of the bill include heavy hitters like Reps. Lisa McClain (R-MI), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Max Miller (R-OH), who is Jewish.
McDowell said he introduced the resolution to condemn growing antisemitism and to honor the lives of the slain couple.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israeli-embassy-staff-murdered-by-unidentified-shooter-outside-capitol-jewish-museum?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Two+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+Murdered+By+Keffiyeh-Wearing+Man+Shouting+%E2%80%98Free+Palestine%E2%80%99+In+DC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TWO ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS MURDERED BY KEFFIYEH-WEARING MAN SHOUTING ‘FREE PALESTINE’ IN DC</a>
“I want Congress to be on the record that it’s not just that antisemitism is evil, but also that the killer was part of an evil movement that seems to be growing in our country,” he said. “We can’t paper over that. We need to address it head on.”
The resolution, titled “Condemning Antisemitism and Remembering Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim,” identifies antisemitism as a “centuries-old form of hatred and discrimination that has led to immeasurable suffering, persecution, and loss of life, culminating most horrifically in the Holocaust, and continues to manifest in violence, vandalism, and policies targeting Jewish communities around the world.”
It cites the rise of antisemitic incidents in the United States, including attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools, museums, cultural centers, and individuals perceived as Jewish.
<div id="attachment_924077" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-924077" class="size-large wp-image-924077" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-864x576.jpg" alt="Sarah Milgrim" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/2.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Sarah Milgrim, an American citizen and Israeli embassy staffer, was murdered on Wednesday night while attending an event with her boyfriend. The attacker has a history of anti-Israel and radical leftist rhetoric. (Photo: X)</div>
Rodriguez was once affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a leftist group linked to Chinese Communist Party funding networks that have been repeatedly contacted by sanctioned Iranian state media, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/terrorist-who-killed-israeli-embassy-staffers-was-influenced-by-a-foreign-linked-leftist-org?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Terrorist+Who+Killed+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+Was+Influenced+By+A+Foreign-Linked+Leftist+Org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a report</a>.
Milgrim and Lischinsky&#8217;s bodies are expected to arrive in Israel for burial on Friday. The families have requested privacy and that no media be present.
Sarah Milgrim&#8217;s father, who is an American Jew, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/father-of-murdered-israeli-embassy-staffer-says-daughter-was-dedicated-to-peace-building?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Father+Of+Murdered+Israeli+Embassy+Staffer+Says+Daughter+Was+Dedicated+To+Peace-Building" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said his daughter</a> was dedicated to peace-building.
Robert Milgrim, 73, told the New York Post that his daughter was attending an event about getting more humanitarian aid to Gazans.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/friends-family-react-to-murder-of-israeli-embassy-staffers-by-keffiyeh-wearing-terrorist?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Friends%2C+Family+React+To+Murder+Of+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+By+Keffiyeh-Wearing+Terrorist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FRIENDS, FAMILY REACT TO MURDER OF ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS BY KEFFIYEH-WEARING TERRORIST</a>
“Last night, she was attending an affair to figure out how to get more aid into Gaza,” <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/22/us-news/gunned-down-israeli-embassy-staffer-sarah-milgrim-worked-on-peace-building-between-palestinians-and-israelis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Milgrim said</a>. “The night she was killed, she was trying to help the situation — that’s the irony.”
Milgrim, who grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, was a full-time employee at the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy. She received her Master of Arts at American University and was also a graduate of the University for Peace.
The “About” section on her LinkedIn profile says her “passion lies at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work.”
Robert said his daughter spent multiple summers in Israel working with “peace-building groups” to mend the divide between Israelis and Arabs. He added that his daughter was supposed to travel to Israel on Sunday to meet Lischinsky&#8217;s family.
<div id="attachment_923893" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-923893" class="size-large wp-image-923893" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Templates-864x576.png" alt="The two Israeli Embassy staffers killed" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Templates-864x576.png 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Templates-300x200.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Templates-768x512.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Templates.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered in Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. (Photo: Yaron Lichinsky/X)</div>
“She was happier now than she ever was in her life,” Robert said. “She was truly in love with Yaron and vice versa.”
At a Wednesday night press conference, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Lischinsky and Milgrim were about to get engaged.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
“The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of free Palestine is a couple that was about to be engaged,” he said. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple who came to enjoy an evening in Washington’s cultural center.”
Lischinsky, 30, was a German-Israeli dual citizen and a devout evangelical Christian who immigrated to Israel at the age of 16 and served in the Israel Defense Forces. He studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was fluent in German, Hebrew, English, and Japanese.
He moved to work as a political analyst at the Israeli embassy in 2022.

Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky

House Republicans Condemn ‘Evil’ Murder Of Israeli Embassy Staffers: ‘Antisemitic Terrorism’

House of Representatives

President Donald Trump paid a visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, pushing House Republicans to pass the &#8220;one big, beautiful bill&#8221; with encouragement mixed with some criticism.
Trump told reporters his meeting with GOP lawmakers was about &#8220;love&#8221; and &#8220;unity,&#8221; but then mentioned, &#8220;Anybody that didn&#8217;t support it as a Republican, I would consider to be a fool.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
President Trump after meeting with <a href="https://twitter.com/HouseGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HouseGOP</a>: &#8220;It was a meeting of unity&#8230;Anybody that didn&#8217;t support it as a Republican I would consider to be a fool&#8230;This was a meeting of love.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/cARFr21Ps9">pic.twitter.com/cARFr21Ps9</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1924846821857267952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
House Republicans continue to clash about spending cuts and certain provisions in the bill that is progressing through Congress via the reconciliation process, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/passing-trump-one-big-beautiful-bill-gop-duty-voters-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aiming</a> to provide funding for Trump’s domestic priorities, retain the 2017 tax cuts, raise the debt limit, and more.
One key component that threatens to derail the House bid to pass the bill is the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. GOP members from high-tax blue states are fighting for a higher limit than the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-tax-deduction-cap-threatens-to-derail-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$30,000</a> that made it into the legislation.
Trump urged House Republicans not to let SALT impede the bill&#8217;s progress, noting they could fight about the issue in the future, a source familiar with the matter told The Daily Wire.
Medicaid has been another sticking point.
According to the source, Trump told Republicans not to touch the program, except for removing waste, fraud, and abuse — such as booting off illegal immigrants and common-sense work requirements.
Trump conveyed that he is losing patience with all holdouts in the House GOP, including the SALT Caucus and the conservative House Freedom Caucus pushing for more extensive spending cuts, per the source. He also made it clear that he wants every Republican to vote in favor of the bill.
With a slim House majority and near-certain Democrat opposition, Republicans can likely afford only a few defectors to send the bill to the Senate.
One person Trump publicly called out was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) after a reporter noted that the congressman <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1924819640665936195" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> the bill would result in &#8220;Biden levels&#8221; of spending and bigger deficits.
&#8220;I don’t think Thomas Massie understands government. I think he’s a grandstander, frankly,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1924819640665936195" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> before the meeting, adding later, &#8220;I think he should be voted out of office.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
President Trump on <a href="https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepThomasMassie</a>: &#8220;I don&#8217;t think Thomas Massie understands government. I think he&#8217;s a grand-stander, frankly&#8230;I think he should be voted out of office.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/YCLdSac95d">pic.twitter.com/YCLdSac95d</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1924819640665936195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1924831698442653802" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X that Trump &#8220;griped&#8221; about Massie while speaking to House Republicans. &#8220;He asked if Massie was in the room, which he was, and then compared him to [Republican Senator from Kentucky] RAND PAUL. He said he could never get their votes no matter what,&#8221; the journalist added.
Massie alluded to the exchange with a tongue-in-cheek post of his own.
&#8220;I usually don’t talk about private conversations in our GOP meetings but the rumors are true… President Trump said that although I have similar hair to @RandPaul, he thinks mine is better,&#8221; Massie <a href="https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1924849560431562992" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

President Trump Attends GOP House Caucus Meeting On Capitol Hill As Budget Bill Faces Resistance

In Capitol Hill Visit, Trump Tells House GOP: Back ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Or Be A ‘Fool’

Spending Bill

Taxes

Thomas Massie

U.S. House of Representatives

This week, every GOP senator except one and 177 out of 220 GOP members of the House signed a <a href="https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Document_250514_125039.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to President Donald Trump supporting his past statements and urging that Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium be permanently eliminated.
The effort was spearheaded by Nebraska Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts and House Republican Study Committee Chair Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX). Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican senator who would not sign the letter.
The signatories acknowledged Trump’s “strong support&#8221; for &#8220;efforts to secure a deal with Iran that dismantles its nuclear program, and to reinforce the explicit warnings that you and officials in your administration have issued that the regime must permanently give up any capacity for enrichment.”
After noting Trump’s first-term withdrawal from the “deeply broken” Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and his imposition of maximum pressure on the regime, the signatories pointed out that the Obama JCPOA deal “allowed Iran to sell oil, provided waivers allowing third countries to help Iran build out its nuclear program, and included the termination of United Nations sanctions on the regime.&#8221;
They noted that Trump’s maximum pressure campaign had deterred Iran from making substantial nuclear progress. “Tragically, the Biden administration systematically undid that pressure, functionally re-implementing the nuclear deal. They immediately rescinded your decision to reimpose U.N. sanctions, allowed Iran to sell oil at JCPOA-levels, and even re-issued waivers allowing Iran to build out its nuclear program,” they continued.
“As you predicted, those policies indeed allowed Iran to reach the brink of nuclear breakout, which is where they are today,” they asserted. “The scope and breadth of Iran’s nuclear buildout have made it impossible to verify any new deal that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium. In its most recent report, published on February 26, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that because of Iran’s activities over the last four years, ‘the Agency has lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the production and current inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and UOC, which it will not be possible to restore.’”
They quoted Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum that stated, “Iran’s nuclear program, including its enrichment- and reprocessing-related capabilities and nuclear-capable missiles, poses an existential danger to the United States and the entire civilized world,” then additionally quoted him saying recently that only “full dismantlement” of those capabilities would be acceptable.
“We cannot afford another agreement that enables Iran to play for time, as the JCPOA did. The Iranian regime should know that the administration has Congressional backing to ensure their ability to enrich uranium is permanently eliminated,” they concluded.

MixCollage-16-May-2025-10-53-AM-8010

Nearly Every Congressional Republican Wants Trump To Show No Mercy With Iran Deal

Executive

Iran

Iran Nuclear Deal

U.S. Senate

Republicans in Congress have proposed charging asylum seekers $1,000 to gain entry into the United States.
The proposal is part of a 116-page bill released by the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, which Republicans are seeking to include in a larger package implementing President Donald Trump&#8217;s agenda, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/us/politics/house-republicans-asylum-fees.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. If passed, the Republicans&#8217; proposal would mark the first time the United States charged migrants to claim asylum from countries where they face persecution. The money generated by the asylum claims would go toward securing the southern border.
Backers of the proposal say it would cut down on the total number of asylum claims and allow those with legitimate asylum claims to be admitted into the country more quickly. Proponents also argue that the $1,000 fee would weed out those from the process who are only trying to get a free ride to the United States and deter illegal entries at the southern border, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5271541-republicans-immigration-bill-judiciary-trump-agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a>.
Those sponsoring children would face a $3,500 fee, and asylees already in the United States would be charged $550 to apply for a work authorization, according to the House GOP proposal. The measure was proposed after the Trump administration unveiled a program in February to give wealthy foreigners a path to citizenship in the United States with a &#8220;Trump Gold Card,&#8221; which would be sold for $5 million. The president said that he hoped the Gold Card would generate trillions of dollars in revenue, which could go toward paying off the national debt.
Revenue from the GOP-proposed asylee fees would likely go toward building new immigration detention centers, hiring more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staff, and helping immigration judges better staff their courts. The Times reported that the Republicans&#8217; budget blueprint calls for $45 billion for immigration detention centers and $8 billion for ICE staff.
Earlier this month, House Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hold-trump-scores-big-beautiful-victory-house-budget-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a budget plan that gets the ball rolling for Trump&#8217;s domestic agenda and allows for lawmakers in both the House and the Senate to begin developing legislation. The House Judiciary Committee is set to discuss its legislation, which includes the plan for asylee fees, this week. After House committees mark up individual bills that deal with their respective jurisdictions, Republicans will combine them into one reconciliation measure and try to pass the legislation with a simple majority vote.

Non-governmental Organizations Offer Support To Migrants Stranded In Mexico City

House Republicans Propose Fees For Asylum Seekers

House Judiciary Committee

Immigration

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