On Monday, the GOP-led House overwhelmingly passed a bill championed by First Lady Melania Trump to protect victims of non-consensual intimate imagery, including <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-leads-colleagues-in-unveiling-landmark-bill-to-protect-victims-of-deepfake-revenge-porn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revenge porn</a> using AI-generated deepfakes.
The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a>, called the &#8220;Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN) Act,&#8221; <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received</a> the support of 207 Republicans and 202 Democrats.
Once signed into law, the legislation would prohibit the non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions, including digital forgeries, imposing fines, imprisonment, and mandatory restitution for violations, particularly when intended to harm adults or exploit minors. The bill also requires online platforms hosting user-generated content to remove such depictions within 48 hours of a removal request, with the Federal Trade Commission enforcing compliance.
The Senate <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/index.php/2025/2/cruz-klobuchar-bill-to-protect-teenagers-from-deepfake-revenge-porn-unanimously-passes-the-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unanimously</a> passed the bill, authored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), in February. In the weeks that followed, Melania Trump encouraged the House to pass the bill during a roundtable discussion with Cruz, other lawmakers, survivors of non-consensual intimate imagery, and online safety advocates, according to the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/readout-from-first-lady-melania-trumps-roundtable-discussion-on-online-protection-and-the-take-it-down-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House</a>. During her remarks, the first lady <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yr6AvaDnXo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke</a> about protecting young people, especially girls, from &#8220;malicious online content&#8221; such as deepfakes.
&#8220;This toxic environment can be severely damaging. We must prioritize their well-being by equipping them with the support and tools necessary to navigate this hostile digital landscape,” she said. &#8220;Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themself freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.&#8221;
Having passed both chambers, the bill now awaits President Donald Trump’s signature.
&#8220;Today, the House took a critical step to combat the growing online publication of real and deepfake nonconsensual intimate images with the passage of the Take It Down Act. I want to thank First Lady Melania Trump for championing this important legislation that empowers and provides protections to victims of online sexual exploitation,&#8221; Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in a statement. “It also criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual intimate images and mandates their removal from online platforms once reported. The First Lady’s leadership has been instrumental in the bill’s passage, and we look forward to seeing this signed into law.&#8221;
Melania Trump also released a statement, mentioning her &#8220;Be Best&#8221; initiative.
&#8220;Today’s bipartisan passage of the Take It Down Act is a powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy, and safety of our children,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am thankful to the Members of Congress — both in the House and Senate — who voted to protect the well-being of our youth. Through this critical legislation and our continued focus with ‘Be Best,’ we are building a future where every child can thrive and achieve their full potential.&#8221;
Just two members, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Eric Burlison (R-MO), voted against it.
Before the House vote, Massie <a href="https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1916984817767579966" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X screenshots of a Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/08/take-it-down-act-deepfakes-ncii-flaws/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> that highlighted how critics said the deepfake bill is &#8220;flawed.&#8221; The Kentucky Republican said: &#8220;Tonight we’re voting on the &#8216;TAKE IT DOWN Act,&#8217; a bill that would impose federal criminal and civil penalties for publishing unauthorized intimate pictures generated with AI. I’m voting NO because I feel this is a slippery slope, ripe for abuse, with unintended consequences.&#8221;

First Lady Melania Trump

House Passes Melania-Backed Bill To Fight Deepfake Revenge Porn

Artificial Intelligence

Congress

Deepfake

Donald Trump

Melania Trump

Online porn

Politics

Pornography

Ted Cruz

U.S. House of Representatives

A bipartisan group of senators — led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — is discussing the most important issue of our time. The time.
They want to &#8220;lock the clock&#8221; and forever be done with the ridiculous, primitive practice of changing our clocks twice a year. And they&#8217;re discussing if the best way to do that is to make Daylight Saving Time, our current clock position, permanent.
This is the clear best way to go, and they seem to have won over President Donald Trump. After arguing for keeping Standard Time perfect just a few months ago, the president is now <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114319659315817918" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urging</a> Congress to &#8220;push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day.&#8221;
&#8220;The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day. Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!! DJT&#8221; he wrote on Truth Social.
On Thursday, Cruz focused his opening remarks on addressing the time change and examining how Congress can &#8220;end this outdated and harmful practice.&#8221; Later in the hearing, Cruz said that, among his Senate colleagues, there is general agreement on ending the time change by adopting DST. Others, however, want to stick to Standard Time permanently. These misguided individuals prefer daylight early in the mornings, and want to deprive normal people of sunshine later in the evenings when people are actually awake.
The defenders of Standard Time include so-called health experts who argue that Standard Time is more aligned with our Circadian rhythm and helps our sleep cycle. Another argument for Standard Time truthers, and probably a more convincing one, is that DST forces children to go to the bus stop in the dark while Standard Time provides some daylight for the early morning treks to school. But even this argument doesn&#8217;t stand up to much scrutiny, and could be easily solved with a slight bump to school start times.
Adopting DST is easy to defend. More sunlight in the evenings is far more valuable than daylight in the mornings. The evening is when most people get a chance to be outside, while mornings are usually spent inside getting ready for work and school.
DST is pro-family, pro-community, and pro-worker. The extended period of sunlight in the evening provides precious time for hardworking men and women to get chores done around the house, or enjoy time with the kids in the great outdoors after clocking out. More sunshine in the evening also allows youth sports teams more time for practices and games, and boosts foot traffic in entertainment districts before darkness takes over.
DST is also a big boost for golf courses, which get a huge chunk of their business from late afternoon and evening tee times. President Trump, a big golfer himself, surely understands that.
Cruz acknowledged in his remarks on Thursday, “There are very real and complicated issues and countervailing arguments on both sides.&#8221;
&#8220;There is widespread agreement on locking the clock … but the reason we’re holding these hearings is because these are real arguments and they have real impacts on people,&#8221; he said.
Hopefully, the truth that Daylight Saving is better for America will be made clear in these hearings. As of now, reason appears to be on the verge of victory.

Before the time change

Will Our Leaders Finally Make Daylight Saving Permanent? We Can Only Hope.

Elon Musk said during an interview this week that the United States will win the race for artificial intelligence in the near term, but that long-term success over China will come down to which nation has the stronger manufacturing base.
Musk made the remarks during an interview on Sen. Ted Cruz&#8217;s (R-TX) &#8220;Verdict&#8221; podcast with co-host Ben Ferguson when asked about how the technology will change people&#8217;s lives.
&#8220;In 10 years, probably AI could do anything better than a human can cognitively, probably almost, I think, in 10 years, based on the current rate of improvement, AI will be smarter than the smartest human,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There will also be a massive number of robots, so humanoid robots.&#8221;
He claimed that there would be &#8220;tens of billions of robots&#8221; in existence by then that will &#8220;make you anything or provide any service you want for basically next to nothing.&#8221;
Cruz then asked Musk how the United States could win the war for AI dominance against China, saying that he wanted to make sure that if robots turned out to be killing machines in the future that he preferred they be American killer robots instead of Chinese killer robots.
“Well, next few years, I think America is likely to win, then it will be a function of who controls the AI chip fabrication, the factories that make the AI chips, who controls them, if more of them are controlled by China, then China will win,&#8221; Musk said.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What will life look like 10 years from now? <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ElonMusk</a> gives his thoughts to where we are headed with AI. 
Download and listen to the latest episode of Verdict here! <a href="https://t.co/WGlGPSDJgZ">https://t.co/WGlGPSDJgZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/pQJPXCsACX">pic.twitter.com/pQJPXCsACX</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1901711131120742516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Elon Musk Meets with Senate Republicans

Elon Musk Reveals Key For U.S. To Win AI Race Vs. China

Communist China

Elon Musk

Technology

World

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ripped the Democrat Party this week for their outpouring of support for pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by federal authorities this week and is awaiting deportation.
Cruz made the remarks on his &#8220;Verdict&#8221; podcast with co-host Ben Ferguson while talking about the legality of the Trump administration&#8217;s move to kick Khalil out of the country.
&#8220;Let me be clear, under U.S. law, American citizens are protected by the First Amendment, foreigners are not,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;A visa to come to this country as a student, that is a permissive decision, and you do not have a right if you are a guest to this country to actively undermine America. Let me be clear to anyone: if you hate America, if you want to undermine America, do not come to this country.&#8221;
Cruz said that he believes there will be more pro-Hamas protesters arrested and deported.
&#8220;And what I&#8217;ve said from the beginning, if you are threatening other students, if you are attacking America, if you are embracing terrorists and you&#8217;re a foreign student, you should be expelled and you should be deported,&#8221; he said.
He then trained his fire on the Democrat Party, saying that those in the political system who align themselves with pro-Hamas protesters are Democrats.
&#8220;They are the party of Hamas,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They are the party of the radicals. If you actually side with Israel, if you side with Jewish students, if you side with America, if you don&#8217;t like Hamas terrorists that want to kill us, well, it is amazing, the divide we have, and this is a simple, clear divide.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
American citizens are protected by the First Amendment.
Mahmoud Khalil is not a citizen. He is a guest in this country, and he has no right to actively undermine America or spread hate and violence here.
The Trump administration rightly arrested Mahmoud and is planning to… <a href="https://t.co/l3rXPL9WS4">pic.twitter.com/l3rXPL9WS4</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1899917355255537688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Senate Judiciary Committee 11/14

Ted Cruz Blasts Democrats For Supporting Pro-Hamas Activist Mahmoud Khalil

Democratic Party

Hamas

Terrorism

U.S.

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, on fire after President Donald Trump&#8217;s address to Congress on Tuesday night, lambasted the Democrats for their refusal to stand and applaud, with one exception.
&#8220;Tonight was incredible. This is the fifth State of the Union address I’ve seen Trump give; it was by far his best,&#8221; Cruz told Fox News&#8217;s Sean Hannity. &#8220;We’re just over a month into it, and he had a litany of victories that we’ve already won, one after the other after the other. I thought he was joyful. I thought he was forward-looking. I thought he had the promise of America front and center.&#8221;
Then, Cruz segued to the Democrats and their hostile response: &#8220;And I gotta say the contrast — I have never seen such a disgraceful display as the Democrats put on. I’ve been to 13 State of the Union addresses altogether since I’ve been in the Senate; I’ve been to every one; I’ve never missed one.&#8221;
&#8220;It started from the moment he walked in and was introduced, the President of the United States,&#8221; he elaborated. &#8220;Not a single Democrat stood, not a single Democrat applauded. Not one. I’ve never seen that happen.&#8221;
&#8220;Every time Joe Biden walked into that chamber and they introduced him as president of the United States, I stood my butt up and I clapped,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;Every time Barack Obama walked in, I stood up and clapped. Even when I couldn’t stand their policies, even when I was horrified at what they were doing, I respect the office of President of the United States and I respect the American people.&#8221;
&#8220;The contempt those Democrats had; they wouldn’t stand, as you noted, for the mom of Jocelyn Nungaray,&#8221; he said, referring to the 12-year-old girl allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants. &#8220;They wouldn’t stand for Laken Riley‘s family; they wouldn’t stand for the 13-year-old kid who survived brain cancer; they didn’t stand for the young man whose father was a slain police officer who Trump admitted to West Point in the middle of the speech. They wouldn’t stand for him. Even the Joint Chiefs applauded the kid going to West Point.&#8221;
&#8220;There was one thing the entire night they applauded for: that we sent hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine. And they all stood and cheered that we sent money to Ukraine, but they will not applaud for America,&#8221; he concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Democrats wouldn&#39;t clap for the families of Jocelyn Nungaray, Laken Riley, the 13-year-old boy with brain cancer, or the kid of a fallen police officer. 
In all 13 State of the Unions I&#39;ve attended, I have never seen such a disgraceful display from the Democrats. <a href="https://t.co/jZlDGQYYZX">pic.twitter.com/jZlDGQYYZX</a>
&mdash; Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1897153153617027347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

First Lady Melania Trump Joins Roundtable Discussion On “Take It Down Act”

‘I Have Never Seen Such A Disgraceful Display’: Cruz Rips Dems Hostile Reaction To Trump’s Speech

Democrats

State of the Union

First Lady Melania Trump appeared on Capitol Hill on Monday and called out Democrats for not taking on the serious issue of youth online safety with the passage of the “Take it Down Act.”
Introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1896643926146105364">first lady</a> said during her first solo public appearance that she was there “with a common goal, to protect our youth from online harm,” calling on Congress to pass the act from Cruz that would “criminalize the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII),&#8221; including AI-generated &#8221;deepfake pornography,” per a Cruz office <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2024/6/sen-cruz-leads-colleagues-in-unveiling-landmark-bill-to-protect-victims-of-deepfake-revenge-porn">release</a>.
“Addressing this issue is essential for fostering a safe and supportive environment for our young people,” Melania said during a panel discussion with victims of NCII. “I hope today’s roundtable builds awareness of the harm caused by non-consensual intimate imagery and eventually the approval of the ‘Take it Down Act’ in Congress.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
First Lady <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FLOTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MELANIATRUMP</a> on &#8216;Take it Down Act&#8217;: &#8220;I must admit, however, I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue. Surely as adults we can prioritize America&#8217;s children ahead of partisan politics.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/0j9MIRv3cu">pic.twitter.com/0j9MIRv3cu</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1896643926146105364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;In today&#8217;s AI-driven world, the threat of privacy breaches is alarmingly high. As organizations harness the power of our data, the risk of unauthorized access and misuse of personal information escalates,” she added. “We must prioritize robust security measures and uphold strict ethical standards to protect individual privacy.&#8221;
“I was heartened to learn that Sen. Cruz and Sen. Klobuchar [D-MN] unified to prioritize this fundamental matter,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;I must admit, however, I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue. Surely, as adults we can prioritize America’s children ahead of partisan politics.”
The first lady then called on Congress to “prioritize the passage of the ‘Take it Down Act’ bill,” calling it essential to deal with the “growing concerns of online safety.”
Ahead of Monday’s roundtable, Cruz posted on <a href="https://x.com/SenTedCruz/status/1896639815766168017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>, “I am looking forward to a robust discussion with @FLOTUS.”
“My bill, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, passed unanimously in the Senate with a 100-0 vote,” he added. “This crucial legislation will protect ALL Americans, especially teenagers and young women. We need to get this done!&#8221;
The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support in February, but has yet to pass the House, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/02/politics/melania-trump-public-remarks-deepfake/index.html">CNN</a> noted.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, Melania introduced her “Be Best” initiative, which dealt with making the online platform safer for young people. At Monday’s event, the <a href="https://x.com/FLOTUS/status/1896628735136379010">first lady</a> noted that the “Take it Down Act” supports her “Be Best” platform by providing “important legislation to safeguard our youth.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/melania-trumps-plans-as-first-lady-second-time-around-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melania Trump’s Plans As First Lady Second Time Around: Report</a>

Melania Trump 3-3

Melania Chides Democrats For Skipping Meeting On Revenge Porn Bill

Capitol Hill

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ripped Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday over the way that he acted during his Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump earlier in the day.
Cruz&#8217;s remarks on his &#8220;Verdict&#8221; podcast with co-host Ben Ferguson come after the meeting ended with Trump canceling his joint press conference with Zelensky and the mineral deal they were supposed to sign. Trump went as fas as to kick Zelensky out of the White House.
The senator said that he thought Zelensky showed up to the Oval Office believing that he needed to &#8220;battle&#8221; Trump.
&#8220;And without exaggeration, I believe this will go down as the most disastrous Oval Office meeting in the history of our nation,&#8221; Cruz said.
Cruz later predicted that he believes the meeting could &#8220;easily end President Zelensky’s tenure.&#8221;
&#8220;Zelensky is going to deeply regret doing so,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;And what&#8217;s amazing is he keeps doubling down. I think there&#8217;s a very good possibility, as I said, that Zelensky does not politically survive this, and within days that he&#8217;s out of office.&#8221;
He went as far as to say that he believes Zelensky hurt his own country and world peace with his performance.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Zelenskyy Crashes &amp; Burns | Verdict Ep.213" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4yvPIQyhhsU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The White House told The Daily Wire on Friday that the situation that unfolded in the Oval Office was definitely not preplanned.
“Absolutely not an ambush or pre-planned,” a senior White House official shared. “We expected a great day, econ deal signing, and demonstration to the world that we are partners” with Ukraine “and leading a movement to peace.”
Zelensky came in with “the same nonsense” that the White House had “been dealing with” since Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent went to Kiev, the official added. That official described Zelensky’s behavior as “intransigence” and “a complete missed opportunity” for Ukraine.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/absolutely-not-an-ambush-oval-office-brawl-with-zelensky-was-not-pre-planned-wh-officials-say">‘Absolutely Not An Ambush’: Oval Office Brawl With Zelensky Was Not Pre-Planned, WH Officials Say</a>

Cruz Rips Zelensky Over ‘Most Disastrous Oval Office Meeting’ In History

Global Politics

JD Vance

Ukraine-Russia War

Volodymyr Zelensky

A big tech company that deplatformed conservative groups agreed to turn over documents related to that decision just days after Senator Ted Cruz announced plans to obtain them through subpoena, the Texas Republican told The Daily Wire. 
Cruz said Friday that Bonterra, a massive online service provider, will comply with his requests for information related to cancelled contracts with the Independent Women’s Forum and the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Bonterra, which helps nonprofits fundraise and manage operations, previously told Cruz it ended its contract with Independent Women&#8217;s Forum because it was anti-LGBT.
On Monday, Cruz, who leads the Senate Commerce Committee, said he planned to subpoena Bonterra for internal documents and communications related to its treatment of conservative companies. In response, Bonterra committed to producing the documents by March 19, Cruz&#8217;s office told The Daily Wire. 
“Once I announced my intention to seek the Committee’s authorization for a subpoena, Bonterra quickly agreed to produce requested documents,” Cruz told The Daily Wire on Friday. “This is a victory for groups like the Independent Women’s Forum and the Pennsylvania Family Institute whose contracts were not renewed because of their beliefs.”
He added that the documents, internal communications, and communications with third parties “will help us better understand how tech companies weaponize contractual terms to deny service to conservatives.”
The desired documents include communications between Bonterra and any third parties that advised Bonterra on its “business ethics” provision or its anti-hate speech policy, a senior aide for the committee told The Daily Wire. The committee will also demand communications with third parties who flagged users for alleged violations, and documents that will help it identify accounts removed by Bonterra for hate speech.
Bonterra previously told Cruz that it ended its relationship with the Independent Women&#8217;s Forum because the organization, which opposes transgender ideology, “works to restrict the rights of the LGBTQ community. Bizarrely, it added that it does not focus on “positions of the organization” when making decisions about terms of service violations.
The Independent Women’s Forum is a conservative nonprofit that aims to “engage and inform women about how policy issues impact them and their loved ones.” It has emerged as one of the most prominent voices defending women’s sports from the invasion of transgender-identifying men.
Cruz said he would move “swiftly to compel” Bonterra if it failed “in any way to fulfill its obligation to the Committee.”

Pam Bondi Swears In Kash Patel As FBI Director

Big Tech Company That Deplatformed Conservative Group Will Comply With Cruz Investigation

Big Tech

Censorship

Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN) introduced a bill on Thursday that would make President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization permanent, barring massing reform. 
The <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/services/files/E5F2FE62-438C-4157-98FE-439FA3126326" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> would block taxpayer dollars from either funding WHO programs or American membership in the organization unless the organization took significant steps to demonstrate independence from China and root out leftist ideology. Blackburn&#8217;s fellow Republican Senators John Barrasso (WY), Rick Scott (FL), and Ted Cruz joined Blackburn in putting the legislation forward.
“The World Health Organization has long been a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party, grossly mismanaging the COVID pandemic and taking over a billion dollars of U.S. funding without advancing our interests,” Blackburn told The Daily Wire. “We must support President Trump’s actions to hold the WHO accountable by ensuring any future president who wants to rejoin meets concrete conditions of improvement.”
The bill would codify Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-u-s-to-withdraw-from-world-health-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">day one executive order</a> withdrawing the United States from the organization, citing WHO handling of COVID and demands for &#8220;onerous&#8221; and unfair payments. 
Under certain conditions, the legislation said that it would be possible for the United States to rejoin WHO. These conditions include the WHO adopting reforms to ensure that humanitarian aid is not politicized, demonstrate independence from the Chinese Communist Party, grant observer status to Taiwan, and end funding or promotion of things like abortion, climate change, and sex-change procedures. 
Another condition would stipulate that humanitarian aid and medical supplies could not be diverted to Iran, Syria, and North Korea. 
“American tax dollars cannot be used to fund the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) and World Health Organization’s (WHO) cover-up of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mismanagement, failed transparency, and lack of independence at the WHO is inexcusable,” Barrasso told The Daily Wire. “Our bill ensures that not one penny of taxpayer money is spent rejoining the WHO if serious reforms aren’t made to prevent another failed pandemic response.”
A companion version has been introduced in the House by Republican Representatives Jodey Arrington (TX), Ron Estes (KS), Greg Steube (FL), and Anna Paulina Luna (FL).
When Trump issued the executive order last month to pull America out of WHO, he said that the country was paying too much to be a member of the United Nations-backed organization in comparison to other countries like China. 
“So we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here and I terminated it,” Trump said, adding that it “seemed a little unfair” because China was paying around $39 million to the organization. 
Trump ended American participation in WHO back in 2020, but that decision was later reversed by Joe Biden.

Twitter Whistleblower Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee

EXCLUSIVE: Blackburn Bill Would Make Trump’s World Health Organization Exit Permanent

China

COVID-19

John Barrasso

Marsha Blackburn

Rick Scott

United Nations

World Health Organization

Ted Cruz laid the case last year for how online service providers were the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ted-cruz-exposes-the-lefts-newest-strategy-for-censoring-conservatives">new secret weapon to systemically censor conservatives</a>. Now, armed with new powers in the U.S. Senate majority, the Texas Republican is out to prove it for good.
On Monday, Ted Cruz&#8217;s Senate Commerce Committee informed a massive online service provider called Bonterra that it intends to subpoena it for documents related to its actions that deplatformed a prominent conservative group. The company, which is used by nonprofits across the country to help fundraise and manage operations, was investigated by Cruz last year for cutting off service to the Independent Women&#8217;s Forum over claims that it violated the company&#8217;s terms of service.
Cruz told The Daily Wire on Monday that its work laying out how Bonterra mistreated Independent Women&#8217;s Forum was just the beginning. He wants to see whether other conservative groups were victims of discrimination, and also understand how it was carried out.
&#8220;I believe it is important that the Committee subpoena additional information to learn whether Bonterra blacklisted other conservative groups and to understand exactly how Big Tech crafts seemingly benign contract terms that exist solely to justify discrimination on the basis of politics,&#8221; Cruz said.
The subpoena will target documents and communications between Bonterra and any third parties that advised Bonterra on its “business ethics” provision or its anti-hate speech policy, a senior aide for the committee told The Daily Wire. The committee will also demand communications with third parties who flagged users for alleged violations, and documents that will help it identify accounts removed by Bonterra for hate speech.
Bonterra never disclosed to Independent Women&#8217;s Forum why it terminated service, but it disclosed to Cruz&#8217;s committee during last year&#8217;s investigation that it was over claims that the group &#8220;works to restrict the rights of the LGBTQ community.&#8221; It also claimed to the committee, bizarrely, that it does not focus on “positions of the organization” when making decisions about terms of service violations.
The Independent Women&#8217;s Forum is a conservative nonprofit that aims to &#8220;engage and inform women about how policy issues impact them and their loved ones.&#8221; It has emerged as one of the most prominent voices defending women&#8217;s sports from the invasion of transgender-identifying men.
&#8220;Big Tech companies like Bonterra weaponized their terms of service to systematically deplatform conservatives,&#8221; Cruz said on Monday. &#8220;Bonterra decided that it no longer wanted to allow the Independent Women’s Forum to use its product, so, citing a preposterous &#8216;business ethics&#8217; policy that would allow for terminating a contract, Bonterra falsely accused IWF of advocating for hate and discrimination.&#8221;
Cruz&#8217;s investigation last year spotlighted the fact that while Bonterra was sparring with Independent Women&#8217;s Forum, it continued to provide services to actual hate groups like Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Institute for Palestine Studies, which openly celebrated the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Bonterra is the first company to find itself in the committee&#8217;s crosshairs since Republicans took the majority, but it is unlikely that it will be the last. Cruz&#8217;s investigation last year also revealed that companies such as Eventbrite were weaponizing terms of service claims to deplatform conservatives. That company, one of the most common online event organization tools in the country, declared that events featuring The Daily Wire&#8217;s movie &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman">What Is A Woman?</a>&#8221; violated its &#8220;hateful events policy.&#8221;
When Cruz initially set out to investigate companies like Bonterra and Eventbrite, he was not chairman of the Commerce Committee and therefore didn&#8217;t have access to its full investigative toolset. Now that he does, he&#8217;s determined to &#8220;put a stop&#8221; to the practice of weaponizing terms of service, which last year he characterized as the latest frontier in the Left&#8217;s censorship campaign.
&#8220;Unless we put a stop to Big Tech’s growing weaponization of standard terms of service, more conservatives may find themselves unable to carry out essential administrative work, harming the entire movement and depriving President Trump and his administration of critical allies and supporters,&#8221; Cruz said.
Bonterra, which the committee says was notified of the subpoena on Monday, did not respond to a request for comment.

Sen. Ted Cruz

EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz Subpoenas Big Tech Company He Says Targeted Conservatives

Women Sports

The National Science Foundation spent more than $2 billion funding &#8220;science&#8221; projects that were often more about activism and critical race theory than science, the Senate Commerce Committee found.
The committee found that one in 10 grants awarded between January 2021 and April 2024 had to do with oppression, social or environmental justice, gender, or race. The figure was dramatically higher in grants issued more recently, as what counted as &#8220;science&#8221; transformed dramatically under the Biden administration.
&#8220;While only 0.29% of all grants with start-dates in 2021 centered on DEI initiatives, by 2024, more than a quarter (27%) of new grants pushed far-left perspectives,&#8221; the Commerce Committee said in a <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/4BD2D522-2092-4246-91A5-58EEF99750BC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released Monday.
“Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has been taking a sledgehammer to the radical left’s woke nonsense. DEI initiatives have poisoned research efforts, eroded confidence in the scientific community, and fueled division among Americans,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the committee&#8217;s chairman, told The Daily Wire in a statement. &#8220;Congress must end the politicization of NSF funding and restore integrity to scientific research.”
Scientists have warned that anticipated cuts under the Trump administration could harm life-saving research. However, few of them complained when, in recent years, soft-science and activist academics began siphoning off money that could have otherwise gone to things like cancer research.
Cruz said that wasn&#8217;t the only way DEI activism masquerading as research was harming real scientists, saying it also reduced the public&#8217;s confidence in the field as a whole. More than a quarter of the American public has no or not much confidence in scientists, double what it was a few years ago, he said. Low-quality &#8220;research,&#8221; where academics start with an ideological conclusion and work backwards to justify it, is also dangerous because it could lead to a faulty understanding of the world, he said.
Some papers from left-wing academics have said that the scientific method, the written word, and hard work are all racist, making it all the more surprising that mainstream scientists have failed to condemn it.
The NSF spent half a million dollars  on a project called &#8220;Reviewer Zero,&#8221; which says that peer-reviewing papers — a crucial step in assuring quality — is racist because peer reviewers disproportionately find that minorities&#8217; research is not accurate.
&#8220;The accepted values and practices in science can serve as roadblocks and barriers to the inclusion and advancement of minoritized scholars,&#8221; its study said. &#8220;The overrepresentation of people from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies shapes the way research is done.&#8221;
In 2022, NSF gave a $4.4 million grant to Columbia University to &#8220;decolonize geoscience.&#8221; Another million dollars went to a project that says that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/500000-national-science-foundation-grant-produced-paper-saying-science-is-racist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">physics is racist.</a> In exchange for the hefty government funding, two scholars — a “chronically ill and disabled, physics-Ph.D.-holding, thin wealthy white woman” and a black man — watched videos of four science lessons, and spoke to two students and the teacher over Zoom. Their conclusion rested on a single several-minute video of an undergrad group project, in which a Middle Eastern student did most of the work while a white and Hispanic student cracked jokes. It concluded that the Middle Eastern student exemplified “whiteness” by being “centered” (receiving attention since he was the one actually doing the work) while the others were “marginalized.”
Cruz said radical left-wing ideology that deems anything mainstream or successful to be oppressive or colonizing has contributed to unrest on college campuses, including outbreaks of blatant anti-Semitism.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-zealand-scrapped-all-social-science-funding-trump-could-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Zealand Scrapped All ‘Social Science’ Funding. Trump Could Too.</a>
NSF began prioritizing ideological grants in response to a Biden administration executive order that said it DEI should be in every area of government. A Biden task force said &#8220;[a]ctivities counter to DEIA values are disruptive to the conduct of science.&#8221; Left-wing colleges then took that mandate even further, interpreting it in ways that may have flagrantly violated civil rights laws.
Shirin Vossoughi, an associate professor at Northwestern University, is co-principal investigator for a $1 million NSF grant, awarded in 2023, for &#8220;Storywork for Racial Equity in STEM.&#8221; Vossoughi cited Karl Marx to justify teaching children anti-Israel concepts after Hamas attacked Israel.
Millions in federal funds were spent politicizing artificial intelligence in ways that could have profound effects on society. NSF awarded more than a million dollars to the University of Pittsburgh&#8217;s Angela Stewart, who wrote that artificial intelligence should not be neutral, because that &#8220;only serves the capitalist, racist, heteronormative, patriarchal, etc society.&#8221;
Cruz&#8217;s committee gathered more than 3,000 grants matching DEI keywords, which The Daily Wire has made searchable and browsable below:
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Senator Ted Cruz

27% Of National Science Foundation Grants Went To DEI Projects, Study Finds

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Joe Biden

Science

Leftist Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in a desperate attempt to protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – an entity she created that, unlike other federal regulatory bodies and enforcement agencies, determines for itself how much money it needs and obtains it directly from the Federal Reserve, as the Heritage Foundation has <a href="https://www.heritage.org/courts/report/money-nothing-thats-not-the-way-you-do-it-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau">noted</a>, actually <a href="https://grabien.com/file/getmedia?id=2788522&amp;key=8c4de1fc2c5ba3aa88f5040b362a9044&amp;userid=9685">praised</a> President Donald Trump.
In late January, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Defund the CFPB Act, which would zero out the transfer payments from the Federal Reserve to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“The CFPB is an unelected, unaccountable bureaucratic agency that has imposed burdensome and harmful regulations on American businesses, banks, and credit unions,” Cruz stated. “It is an unchecked Obama-era executive arm and the Federal Reserve should not be transferring funds to it. Enacting this legislation would save American taxpayers billions of dollars and I call on the Senate to expeditiously take it up and pass it.” 
“Under Joe Biden–appointed Rohit Chopra, businesses and consumers have found themselves harassed, hectored, and micromanaged,” David B. McGarry has <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/author/david-b-mcgarry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written</a>. “The New York Times summed up the license taken by the agency well, <a href="https://archive.is/o/SrPsD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/business/rohit-chopra-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-wallstreet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing</a> that ‘Chopra insists that he always follows the rules,’ but ‘his view is that he’s simply more expansive than others in determining what those rules are.’ As Chopra’s tenure shows, ‘more expansive’ quickly expands into lawlessness.”
On May 24, 2018, President Trump signed into law the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Growth,_Regulatory_Relief_and_Consumer_Protection_Act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act</a>, which exempted numerous banks from the CFPB&#8217;s regulations.
On Wednesday, Warren, speaking of debanking, said her staff “found that just four big banks, Bank of America, JP, Morgan, Wells Fargo and Citibank, accounted for half of all the complaints filed at the CFPB.”
She then praised Trump. saying, “Donald Trump was on to a real problem when he criticized Bank of America for its debanking practices.”
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Then she made her pitch for her brainchild, arguing, “We can prevent these abuses. I know that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a favorite whipping boy of the Republicans on this committee, but the CFPB is the main agency in our government that is actively working to stop unfair debanking. Let me say that again, the CFPB is the one agency that is actively working to stop unfair debanking. Right now, the agency has five different rules, either in place or in progress, that would help prevent debanking by addressing some of the root causes, from overdraft fee practices to religious discrimination, and the CFPB is working to hold banks accountable when they close law-abiding citizens and businesses accounts for no good reason.”
“I sent a letter to President Trump today that walks through the CFPB&#8217;s work. &#8230; I said that the CFPB is the one agency fighting back against debanking, but that may be at risk. Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary and acting CFPB Director Scott Bessent halted all CFPB rule-making enforcement, investigations and litigation against financial institutions that are breaking the law, including the banks that are wrongfully debanking their customers. The freeze Secretary Bessent put on the CFPB means more Americans across this country will be unfairly debanked, and they will lose the one agency that is working to help them.”

Elizabeth Warren

LOL: Warren, Desperate To Protect Her Brainchild That’s On Chopping Block, Actually Praises Trump

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

debanking

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