As the Trump administration investigates rampant welfare fraud in Democrat states, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) wants to toughen the penalties for foreign fraudsters.
Cotton introduced a <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/welfare_fraud_deterrence_and_recovery_act.pdf">bill</a> on Thursday that would set mandatory minimums for non-citizens convicted of fraud and allow for automatic deportation for those convicted of fraud. The Trump administration has launched major fraud investigations into states like California and Minnesota, where dozens of Somali migrants have been charged with crimes.
“Migrants who steal Arkansas taxpayer dollars by committing fraud shouldn’t be let off with just a slap on the wrist,” Cotton told The Daily Wire. “My bill will ensure these criminals face harsher consequences.”
Cotton’s &#8220;Welfare Fraud Deterrence and Recovery Act&#8221; would impose a two-year minimum prison sentence for non-citizens or naturalized citizens convicted of stealing federal welfare funds. If the person stole more than $100,000 worth of funds, the sentence would be no less than five years, according to a copy of the proposal shared with The Daily Wire.
Defrauding federal welfare programs would also come with immigration consequences. Foreigners who were denaturalized would be barred from reentry into the United States and foreigners convicted of fraud would be subject to expedited deportation. Cotton’s bill would also make it easier to denaturalize someone convicted of fraud.
Under the bill, a Fraud Recovery Task Force would be established by the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute fraud cases.
Cotton’s proposal comes after the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-freezes-welfare-funds-to-five-blue-states-over-fraud-concerns?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Freezes+Welfare+Funds+To+Five+Blue+States+Over+Fraud+Concerns">froze funding</a> for programs that provide childcare and food assistance in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York as officials probe whether the benefits are being illegally funneled to non-citizens. The specific programs being halted in those states are the Child Care Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and the Social Services Block Grant program.
Last week, Vice President JD Vance announced that a new assistant attorney general position out of the Justice Department would be formed to focus on fraud in Minnesota.
“To make sure that we prosecute the bad guys and do it as swiftly and efficiently as possible … we are creating a new assistant attorney general position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” Vance said at a press briefing. “Now, of course, that person’s efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort, because unfortunately, the American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way.”

Congress Is Running Out The Clock On Any Big Moves By Year’s End

Cotton Says Foreign Fraudsters Should Face Swift Deportation As Investigations Escalate

Crime

Fraud

Minnesota

Tom Cotton

Trump Administration

U.S.

After American troops captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in the early hours of Saturday morning, Washington quickly turned its attention to his number two: Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has remained loyal since Maduro&#8217;s capture.
&#8220;There is only one president in Venezuela, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,&#8221; she said in an address to Venezuela after his capture. Rodriguez, daughter of the Liga Socialista party founder, Jorge Antonio Rodriguez,  rose through the ranks alongside her brother, Jorge, who currently serves as the President of Venezuela&#8217;s National Assembly. Upon naming her vice president in 2018, Maduro said she was a &#8220;young woman, brave, seasoned, daughter of a martyr, revolutionary and tested in a thousand battles.&#8221;
But not everyone is sold on Rodriguez.
“I don’t think we can count on Delcy Rodriguez to be friendly to the United States until she proves it,” Senator Tom Cotton <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/04/politics/video/venezuela-strikes">told</a> CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday.
The Arkansas Republican acknowledged that, while it&#8217;s possible Rodriguez could attempt to work with the United States, it&#8217;s unlikely.
&#8220;There are recent examples of anti-American leaders around the world turning over a new leaf,” Cotton said, citing Libya&#8217;s Muammar al-Qaddafi and his reconciliation with the West in 2003. “But they made concrete concessions that benefited the United States. Delcy Rodriguez and other sanctioned and indicted ministers in Venezuela were in league with Maduro until yesterday so I don’t think we can count on them to be pro-American at all.”
On Saturday, Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsdkClL2_bg">noted</a> Maduro’s selection of Rodriguez had raised concerns, but said she was, for now, cooperating with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Well, I understand she was just sworn in, but she was, as you know, picked by Maduro. So Marco&#8217;s working on that directly,” Trump said. “He [Rubio] just had a conversation with her, and she&#8217;s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.&#8221;
Cotton later said that her promised cooperation with the United States aligns with Trump’s remarks about Washington effectively “running Venezuela.”
“When the President said the United States is going to be running Venezuela, he means the new leaders of Venezuela need to meet our demands,” clarified Cotton.
Rodriguez also served as Venezuela’s oil minister, presiding over an industry Trump has repeatedly singled out as requiring United States oversight.
“As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust, for a long period of time,” he exclaimed at Saturday’s press conference. “They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could have been pumping and what could&#8217;ve taken place. We&#8217;re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”
Beyond the energy sector, Trump argued that Venezuela needs a government capable of acting in the interests of its people: “We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
Cotton clarified that the Venezuelan government&#8217;s recognition of a new leader does not equate to recognition by the United States.
“We don’t recognize Delcy Rodriguez as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela. We didn’t recognize Nicolás Maduro as a legitimate ruler … It is a fact that she and other indicted and sanctioned officials are in Venezuela and have control of the military and security services. That does not make them a legitimate leader.”
Trump demonstrated that lack of recognition by issuing a warning to Venezuela&#8217;s remaining political and military figures, saying, “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them. It will happen to them if they aren&#8217;t just, fair, even to their people.”
For now, the president says he does not think the United States will need to initiate a second attack, but that if it becomes necessary the United States is prepared: “The first wave, if you&#8217;d like to call it that, the first attack was so successful we probably don&#8217;t have to do a second, but we&#8217;re prepared to do a second wave.”

VENEZUELA-US-DIPLOMACY

Thrust Into The Spotlight, Maduro’s Number 2 Draws Washington’s Skepticism

Dana Bash

Global Politics

Media

Nicolas Maduro

A new bill from Republican Senator Tom Cotton would protect National Guard troops from “deranged individuals” who attack or spit on them while they are on duty.
Cotton’s bill would create a 15-foot buffer zone around any National Guard member performing official duties, his office told The Daily Wire. The intent would be to shield troops from people trying to intimidate, harass, touch, or spit on them.
“The brave Arkansans who serve in our National Guard should be protected from deranged individuals. My bill ensures that anyone who attempts to intimidate or harass a Guardsmen will face the full force of the law,” Cotton told The Daily Wire.
Cotton’s legislation comes as President Donald Trump has deployed National Guard troops to cities across the country from Memphis to Los Angeles to assist in federal operations.
The bill, known as the ‘‘National Guard Protective Zone Act,” would create a federal misdemeanor for those who enter the protective zone to intimidate, harass, or impede a troop. It would also create a felony for anyone who spits on or throws an object at a National Guard member while on duty. That would be punishable by up to five years in prison.
“Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit activity protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that is conducted outside a posted protective zone,” the legislation reads.
Since being deployed to Washington, D.C., National Guard troops have faced protests and violence. Just before Thanksgiving, two National Guard troops were shot, with one dying while another was critically injured. The man suspected of shooting the troops was an Afghan refugee who entered the country under former President Joe Biden.
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In another high-profile incident, a man threw a subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol officer during part of the Trump administration’s law enforcement surge to the nation’s capital.
On Wednesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Trump administration could keep the National Guard deployed to the district while litigation plays out.
“Another important court victory for President Trump’s agenda: today, the D.C. Circuit unanimously issued a stay in favor of our National Guard deployment to Washington, DC,” Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2001375227465322966">said</a>. “Our federal surge in DC has saved countless lives, removed hundreds of illegal guns off the streets, and led to a dramatic drop in crime in our nation’s capital city.”

Senate Confirmation Held To Consider John Ratcliffe To Be CIA Director

National Guard Under Attack From ‘Deranged Individuals’ In U.S. Cities, Senator Says

Arkansas

Congress

National Guard

Politics

Washington D.C.

GOP Sen. Tom Cotton has no objections to releasing the full video of the U.S. military strike on a drug boat that has become central to Democratic claims of war crimes committed by the Trump administration.
The Arkansas senator appeared on NBC News’ “Meet The Press” on Sunday and defended the actions taken by the U.S. military to curb the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, specifically striking vehicles used to ferry drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
One incident in September has sparked accusations from Democrats that War Secretary Pete Hegseth committed a war crime after a second military strike was ordered on a drug boat that was not destroyed by an initial missile.
The accusations against Hegseth began after The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike/">reported</a> that the War secretary gave an order to “kill them all.” Top military officials have since testified to Congress that no such order was given, and Republican lawmakers who have seen the mission order have said that no such language exists in the order that would direct military personnel to commit war crimes.
Senate Republicans, including Cotton, have also reviewed the footage of the second strike on the drug boat and said that the strike did not constitute a war crime because the vessel, though damaged and capsized, still represented a valid military target and could have been used to call in additional narcoterrorists. Cotton said Sunday that he would have “no problem” releasing the video to the public, though the military may have national security reasons for not wanting the footage public.
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“I personally don&#8217;t have any problem with” releasing the footage, Cotton <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-december-7-2025-n1313135">said</a>. “It&#8217;s not gruesome. I didn&#8217;t find it distressing or disturbing. It looks like any number of dozens of strikes we&#8217;ve seen on Jeeps and pickup trucks in the Middle East over the years.”
“I will say that the department may have valid concerns about revealing what we know about tactics and techniques that these cartels are using or about our sources or methods,” he added. “I would trust Secretary Hegseth and his team to make the decision about whether they can declassify and release the video. But again, there&#8217;s nothing remarkable on that video in my opinion.”
Adm. Mitch Bradley testified to Congress last week, denying that Hegseth gave a “kill them all” order. Bradley said that while Hegseth was present to watch the first strike delivered against the drug boat in September, the War secretary left to attend to other matters. Bradley gave authorization for the second strike after assessing that the vessel was still a threat.
Hegseth’s orders at that point had not <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/even-the-new-york-times-isnt-sold-on-washington-post-hegseth-hit">specified</a> what to do if a drug boat was not completely destroyed in an initial strike, according to reporting from The New York Times.
Democrats have continued to push the story, alleging that Hegseth authorized a war crime and should be held accountable. Lawmakers have also <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/07/second-strike-democratic-lawmakers-demand-transparency-00679899">pushed</a> for release of the video depicting the second strike on the boat and suggested that service members who take part in illegal orders could be formally punished.

Tom Cotton Has ‘No Problem’ With Releasing Video Of Drug Boat Double-Tap

Department of Defense

Department of War

Drug Cartels

Drugs

Pete Hegseth

World

As she prepared to launch a statewide campaign as a Democrat in deep red Arkansas, the woman hoping to unseat Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton appears to have scrubbed from the internet her work for a nonprofit dedicated to helping people &#8220;make decisions about their sexuality&#8221; in Peru, where she literally led a pro-transgender parade through the streets of the capital city.
&#8220;The only thing Hallie ever wanted to do was farm,&#8221; Democrat Hallie Shoffner&#8217;s campaign <a href="https://www.hallieshoffner.com/about-1">website</a> states. &#8220;But if she can’t farm, she’s going to fight.&#8221;
The tunnel-vision desire to farm somehow brought her to work in South America at Peru&#8217;s Center for the Promotion and Defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights, &#8220;a feminist non-governmental organization that, through political advocacy, knowledge generation and alliances, helps people to make decisions about their sexuality and reproduction with autonomy, dignity, justice and equality,&#8221; according to an English translation of its <a href="https://promsex.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>.
The group, generally referred to by the acronym PROMSEX, was founded in 2005 to advocate for &#8220;a more just society for all people, free from gender stereotypes and prejudices.&#8221; During her time with the group, Shoffner appears to have run a blog for the group, called <a href="https://perusinglima.blogspot.com/2010/07/pride-in-peru.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PERUsing Lima</a>. The blog was taken down at some point between November 2023 and August 2025, before Shoffner announced her Senate bid. Her work at the nonprofit is not listed on her LinkedIn page or on her campaign website.
But a Daily Wire review of Shoffner&#8217;s social media accounts and an archived version of the blog appear to confirm her involvement. In one LinkedIn post, she touted how she led a &#8220;Gay Pride Parade&#8221; in Peru in July 2010.
“I marched in Lima&#8217;s 9th Annual Gay Pride Parade yesterday (Saturday, July 10, 2010). Now, when I say I marched in Lima&#8217;s 9th Annual Gay Pride Parade, I marched in the FRONT of Lima&#8217;s 9th Annual Gay Pride Parade. I mean in the very front. Leading the charge. My org, Promsex, funded the parade so our staff carried the opening banner,” she wrote at the time, according to an internet <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231122025443/https:/perusinglima.blogspot.com/2010/07/pride-in-peru.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">archive</a> of the blog available on the Wayback Machine.
Shoffner&#8217;s behavior poses a sharp contrast to her state&#8217;s views on transgender issues. Arkansas has been a leader in socially conservative legislation related to transgender surgery for minors. The state&#8217;s Republican governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has aggressively pursued policies to protect women&#8217;s spaces from transgender-identifying men. She won her office by nearly thirty percentage points.
Shoffner said her experience &#8220;celebrating being gay, lesbian, transexual, [and] bisexual&#8221; was &#8220;incredible!&#8221;
“On occasion, while we were marching, I would stop to take a photo of the very colorful line behind us. When I did, I saw that the front truck would stop too. So when I say I was leading the parade, I&#8217;m not kidding. It was incredible!&#8221;
“The celebration of who you are and what you believe (a celebration of self-love and pride with pure happiness) also defies the nay-sayers. And what were we celebrating? Yes, we were celebrating being gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual&#8230;we were even celebrating being straight. But, primarily, we were celebrating love and humanity&#8217;s ability to love. That is what we should be most proud of. Some of Promsex&#8217;s staff&#8230;I&#8217;m so happy to be a part of the family!” she continued.
The blog also featured numerous photos of the parade, including shots of Shoffner herself.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1002183 size-full aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/parade-peru-2010-shoffner.jpg" alt="" width="512" height="341" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/parade-peru-2010-shoffner.jpg 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/parade-peru-2010-shoffner-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></div>
&nbsp;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1002181 size-full aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/shoffner.jpg" alt="" width="512" height="341" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/shoffner.jpg 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/shoffner-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></div>
Shoffner did not respond to a request for comment.
Republicans have criticized Shoffner, saying that her values make her a poor representative for Arkansas.
“Hallie Shoffner’s organization funded a trans-pride parade in Peru, she led the parade, and then she tried to hide it from Arkansans — what else is Hallie Shoffner hiding?&#8221; Bart Hester, President pro tempore of the Arkansas Senate, told The Daily Wire in a statement. &#8220;Arkansas has led the way in protecting our kids from trans surgeries, even when far-left activists attacked us. We were the first state to ban these harmful surgeries.&#8221;
“We also passed a law offering recourse to children who are victims of trans surgeries,” he continued. “It&#8217;s one thing for Hallie Shoffner to lead a trans pride parade in Peru, but for her to cover it up and try to hide the evidence shows she should be running for Senate in California, not in Arkansas.”
Cotton has introduced legislation to allows minors who have received “gender-transition procedures” to pursue damages if they choose to do so afterward.
“Gender-transition procedures aren’t safe or appropriate for children. Unfortunately, radical doctors in the United States perform dangerous, experimental, and even sterilizing gender-transition procedures on young kids, who cannot even provide informed consent,” Cotton said in a 2023 statement on the proposal.
Shoffner appears to have worked at PROMSEX while obtaining her Master&#8217;s of Public Service at the University of Arkansas&#8217; Clinton School of Public Service, which said that Shoffner &#8220;developed a fundraising strategy and donor database&#8221; for the organization, according to the school&#8217;s <a href="https://clintonschool.uasys.edu/news/panel-on-international-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">webpage</a>.
Currently, PROMSEX&#8217;s main initiative is NosoTrans, &#8220;a project that seeks to help trans women in vulnerable situations exercise their right to health, especially for hormone therapy processes, by accessing safe, reliable and transphobia-free health services in six areas of southern Lima.&#8221;

Arkansas Dem Hallie Shoffner Led Pro-Trans Parade In Peru, Derailing Moderate ‘Farmer’ Image

LGBT

Senate

Transgender

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) is done waiting — and after last week’s bombshell indictment of a Hamas-linked terrorist hiding out in Louisiana, he&#8217;s <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/cotton-urges-dhs-to-review-biden-era-visas-after-indictment-of-alleged-hamas-terrorist-living-in-louisiana/">calling</a> for a top-down security purge of Biden-era immigration policies.
On Wednesday, Cotton issued a <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dhs_letter.pdf">letter</a> to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding an immediate, comprehensive audit of all visas granted since 2021 — focusing specifically on applicants from high-risk nations like Egypt, Gaza, and elsewhere in the Middle East. The trigger? The arrest of Mahmoud Amin Ya’Qub al-Muhtadi, a 33-year-old Gazan national who allegedly took part in the brutal October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel — then slipped into the U.S. using a fraudulent visa under the Biden administration.
Cotton minced no words. “Since October 7, 2023, thousands of visa applications from Palestinians have been processed through Egypt, often without adequate review of digital footprints or terrorist watchlist cross-checks. The vetting process for al-Muhtadi’s application overlooked easily accessible evidence of his terrorist ties,” he wrote. “I urge DHS to conduct an audit of all visas issued through high-risk countries since 2021, prioritizing potential affiliations with Hamas or other designated terrorist groups.”
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The evidence is chilling. Federal prosecutors revealed al-Muhtadi’s cell phone was geolocated near Kibbutz Kfar Aza, the site of one of the deadliest Hamas-led slaughters on Oct. 7, where 60 innocents — some of them Americans — were butchered. FBI documents show al-Muhtadi issued battlefield-style commands over messaging apps: “Bring the rifles,” “get ready,” and “If you have a full magazine, bring it to me.” He wasn&#8217;t just a foot soldier. He was organizing fighters.
And yet, this man — an open member of the National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) — was granted a visa and green card by the Biden administration after applying in Cairo. His social media? Filled with images of him in fatigues, training with Russian weapons. All of this slipped past the State Department’s so-called “vetting.”
Al-Muhtadi entered through Dallas-Fort Worth in September 2024, lived in Tulsa, then Lafayette, Louisiana — where he was working in a restaurant when federal agents finally caught up with him. Cotton warned that al-Muhtadi is just one of many who may have quietly slipped into the U.S. under Biden’s lax oversight.
Cotton is now demanding a real-time terrorist watchlist that would proactively screen applicants from extremist-linked regions and immediate enhanced social media checks. &#8220;No terrorist should be able to slip through undetected,&#8221; he wrote, urging DHS and the FBI to coordinate.
This isn’t the first time Cotton’s led the charge on national security. In July, as pro-Hamas mobs defaced U.S. monuments and waved terrorist flags in D.C., Cotton introduced the No Visas for Violent Criminals Act, mandating deportation within 60 days for foreign nationals convicted of protest-related crimes. And last December, he introduced a bill requiring the U.S. to drop the term “West Bank” in favor of “Judea and Samaria,” reinforcing historical Jewish claims to the land.
Cotton’s broader message? America was at risk — not because terrorists are sneaking across borders—but because they were being invited in by a government asleep at the switch. The Biden administration’s blind spots weren’t just ideological — they were lethal.

Sen. Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton Pushes Full Purge Of Biden Immigration Policies Over Terrorist Caught In U.S.

Hamas

Palestinians

Visas

Several Republican lawmakers are expected to introduce a bill on Thursday aimed at stopping illegal aliens from getting licenses to drive commercial trucks in deep blue regions.
Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr has partnered with Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee to advance legislation that would authorize the Trump administration to crack down on states found to be granting Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) to illegal aliens, according to documents reviewed by The Daily Wire.
Under the legislation, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would have the authority to revoke a state’s ability to grant “non-domiciled CDLs,” or commercial licenses for applicants who live out of state, if the state were found in violation of federal rules around CDLs.
“By issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants, states like California are undermining federal law and endangering public safety,” Barr, who is running to succeed Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, told The Daily Wire. “Our bill restores accountability by strengthening President Trump’s authority to hold liberal states in check when they defy federal law and recklessly grant CDLs to illegal immigrants.”
The bill would also standardize some rules about the CDL process by requiring all testing to be conducted in English and that all CDL applicants hold a driver’s license for at least one year.
“For everyone’s safety, you must be able to read and understand English road signs when operating a commercial vehicle. Our bill would require commercial drivers to pass the test given in English,” said Cotton in a statement.
Duffy has taken action to clamp down on California’s CDL program after authorities say an illegal alien trucker <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/18/criminal-illegal-alien-recklessly-driving-18-wheeler-kills-three-florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caused</a> a wreck in Florida that killed three Americans. The trucker, Harjinder Singh, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/19/us-news/illegal-migrant-truck-driver-in-deadly-florida-crash-failed-english-road-sign-tests-despite-getting-licenses-from-2-sanctuary-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a> a CDL most recently in California and allegedly caused the wreck after attempting an illegal U-turn. Singh is believed to have illegally entered the United States in 2018.
The Transportation Secretary has targeted California’s federal funding. On Wednesday, Duffy’s department <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-announces-consequences-californias" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it had revoked over $40 million in funding for California from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Duffy slashed funding for the deep blue state after the Department of Transportation investigation into California’s CDL program <a href="https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-takes-emergency-action-protect-americas-roads#:~:text=Moving%20forward%2C%20non%2Dcitizens%20will,presence%20in%20the%20U.S.%20expired" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that more than a quarter of non-domiciled commercial licenses issued by the state were improperly awarded.
While Duffy can revoke funding, the Republican-led legislation would give the Transportation Secretary further authority to pull a state’s ability to issue commercial licenses altogether.

Semi trucks

Republican Bill Takes Aim At Democrat States Giving Truck Licenses To Illegal Aliens

GOP Bill Takes Aim At Democrat States Giving CDLs To Illegal Aliens

Bill Hagerty

California

Department of Transportation

Following a light prison sentence for the transgender-identifying man who plotted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced new legislation on Wednesday to bar far-left judges from using gender identity as a condition in sentencing. 
Cotton’s “Fair Sentencing Act” would ensure that transgender-identifying criminals do not get off the hook because of their gender confusion, according to a copy of the bill obtained by The Daily Wire. Cotton said the bill would keep sentencing fair and the American public safe. 
“Criminals are criminals. Radical left judges shouldn’t be able to use ‘gender confusion’ as a reason to assign shorter sentences. My bill will keep Americans safer by ensuring all criminals are properly sentenced,” the Arkansas Republican told The Daily Wire. 
If passed, the bill would make sure that judges could not shorten a sentence over someone’s perceived gender identity. 
Cotton’s proposal comes after a Biden-appointed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-man-who-planned-to-assassinate-brett-kavanaugh-gets-off-easy-will-serve-just-8-years?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Transgender+Man+Who+Planned+To+Assassinate+Brett+Kavanaugh+Will+Serve+Just+8+Years">judge sentenced</a> Nicholas Roske, the man who planned to assassinate Kavanaugh after the leak of a decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, to just eight years in prison. The sentence was 22 years lighter than the 30-year minimum recommended by federal sentencing guidelines. 
The sentencing took more than seven hours, with much of the time dedicated to discussing how Roske’s transgender identity meant he should get a lighter sentence, The Daily Wire reported. 
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Cotton also put forth <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/preventing_violence_against_women_act.pdf">new legislation</a> to keep men and women in separate prisons, regardless of gender identity. 
“Prisoners should be placed based on their biological sex, not on what they chose to ‘identify’ as. Documented cases prove that placing men—including men who ‘identify’ as women—in women’s prisons puts female inmates at increased risk of sexual assault,” he told The Daily Wire. “My bill decreases the risk for women by ensuring men and women are separated in federal prison.”
Cotton’s ‘‘Preventing Violence Against Female Inmates Act of 2025’’ would prohibit housing prisoners of different sexes together and would block states from receiving grants if they put men in women’s prisons. 
The bill would codify executive action from Trump barring the Bureau of Prisons from housing men in women’s prisons. That order has been challenged by multiple transgender-identifying prisoners who claim the order violates their rights. 
In states where men have been placed with women in prison, women often fear for their own safety. In one example in California, a male double rapist was transferred to a female prison. The issue also came up during Roske’s sentencing, with the judge lamenting the fact that he would have to be housed in a male prison.

Senate Intelligence Cmte Holds Confirmation Hearing For DNI Nominee Tulsi Gabbard

Tom Cotton Takes Action After Trans Man Who Plotted To Kill Kavanaugh Receives Light Sentence

Tom Cotton Takes Action After Light Sentence For Trans Man Who Plotted To Kill Kavanaugh

assassination

Brett Kavanaugh

Judge

A top IRS lawyer involved in high-level policy interpretations has advocated action to “resist” President Donald Trump and holds radical far-left policy positions, pushing for Democrats to abolish prisons and pack the court to defy Trump.
Anthony Sacco, an attorney for the powerful IRS Office of Chief Counsel, openly advocated for far-left positions for years prior to joining the agency, a Daily Wire review of his social media found. Sacco, who holds a key role in interpreting complicated federal tax law, has called for people to “resist” the GOP and attacked the police. 
Sacco has co-authored multiple <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/understanding-irs-guidance-a-brief-primer">revenue rulings</a>, including as recently as April 17, 2025, three months into the Trump administration. Revenue rulings are official IRS interpretations of how tax laws are applied in specific situations and impact how government officials, tax professionals, and taxpayers maintain compliance with federal law.
Before joining the IRS in September 2022 by the Biden administration, Sacco <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-sacco-5a4319a4/">worked</a> under Oregon Democratic senator Ron Wyden for the Senate Finance Committee, according to his LinkedIn. His social media activity demonstrated his strong opposition to the Trump administration. In 2020, for example, he attacked Republicans ahead of the Senate vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. 
“The Republican Party has completely obliterated principles, integrity, and norms. Screw ‘going high.’ Pack the Court.<a href="https://archive.ph/o/UtXC5/https://x.com/hashtag/resist?src=hashtag_click"> #resist</a><a href="https://archive.ph/o/UtXC5/https://x.com/hashtag/gop?src=hashtag_click"> #gop</a><a href="https://archive.ph/o/UtXC5/https://x.com/hashtag/election?src=hashtag_click"> #election</a><a href="https://archive.ph/o/UtXC5/https://x.com/hashtag/vote?src=hashtag_click"> #vote</a><a href="https://archive.ph/o/UtXC5/https://x.com/hashtag/packthecourt?src=hashtag_click"> #packthecourt</a>,” he posted to X.
Shortly after The Daily Wire reached out to Sacco for comment on his previous views, he <a href="https://x.com/APSacco">locked</a> his X account, restricting who can see his posts — but not before The Daily Wire archived and saved the posts. Sacco did not respond to the inquiry. Briefed on the posts by The Daily Wire, Arkansas Republican senator Tom Cotton said Sacco &#8220;should be fired immediately.&#8221;
“With deep state leftists in its leadership, it is no wonder the IRS has repeatedly targeted conservatives and conservative organizations,” Cotton told The Daily Wire. “This individual should be fired immediately.”
<div id="attachment_962657" style="width: 1175px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-962657" class="size-full wp-image-962657" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-9.58.57-AM.png" alt="" width="1165" height="1063" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-9.58.57-AM.png 1165w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-9.58.57-AM-300x274.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-9.58.57-AM-631x576.png 631w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-9.58.57-AM-768x701.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1165px) 100vw, 1165px" />Sacco post on X.</div>
Sacco is currently one of the main attorneys for IRS’s Chief Counsel’s office who specializes in looking at pass-through businesses, a tax structure where owners are taxed at the individual rather than corporate level.
The revenue <a href="https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-19_IRB">ruling</a> he drafted in April withdrew <a href="https://www.irs.gov/irb/2024-28_IRB">one</a> he had written under Biden, which increased regulations on certain business partnerships. It was based on an executive order from Trump ordering his administration to cut unnecessary regulations, meaning a advocate for resisting Trump was left responsible for putting his orders into effect.
According to one senior Republican aide who works on finance issues in the Senate, Sacco&#8217;s office was viewed as a politicized office in the financial policy world. It was, for example, behind plans that would supercharge the IRS beyond its current form. The aide pointed to the IRS’s push for a “direct file” program that was approved by the Chief Counsel’s Office during the Biden administration, which Republicans <a href="https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-irs-direct-file-pilot-project#">argued</a> would have turned the IRS into &#8220;tax preparer, tax collector, and tax enforcer.&#8221;
“The idea that a far-left &#8216;resister&#8217; who helped the Biden IRS set policy is now setting policy for Trump is deeply concerning,” the aide told The Daily Wire, adding that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent &#8220;should clean house to get this politicization out.&#8221;
“I’m not surprised he’s said those far-left things because that’s how he has operated in the Chief Counsel’s Office,” the aide added. “We shouldn’t trust leftwing ideologues at the IRS in light of their weaponization of the agency during the Obama and Biden administrations.”
Outside of social media, Sacco helped prepare a lengthy <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-133/abolition-constitutionalism/">academic article </a>arguing that prisons should be abolished published by the Harvard Law Review. In the forward, the  primary author argued “that white supremacy is deeply woven into the fabric of every legal institution in the United States.”
In a post discussing his work on the project, Sacco contemplated the future of criminal justice in America. 
“It was truly amazing to work with Prof. Roberts and my fellow RAs on this piece over the past summer. It&#8217;s not easy to imagine a society without prisons, but I look at the prison system and mass incarceration completely different now after this experience,” he posted. 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-962663 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-4.05.58-PM.png" alt="" width="525" height="406" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-4.05.58-PM.png 525w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-4.05.58-PM-300x232.png 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px" /></div>
The author of the article wrote that there “is good reason to renounce the Constitution because constitutional law has been critical to upholding the interests of the racial capitalist regime while advancing legal theories that justify its inhumanity.”
“Indeed, it is the realization that white supremacy is deeply woven into the fabric of every legal institution in the United States and upheld by U.S. constitutional law that made me an abolitionist in the first place,” the author added. 
Sacco also frequently posted anti-police messages on his account, including a call from anthem-kneeler Colin Kaepernick to “abolish” the “white supremacist institution of policing” and another post that claimed “policing is based on race” and that the job itself was “racist.” 
<div id="attachment_962661" style="width: 1164px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-962661" class="size-full wp-image-962661" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-10.20.53-AM.png" alt="" width="1154" height="509" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-10.20.53-AM.png 1154w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-10.20.53-AM-300x132.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-10.20.53-AM-1024x452.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-10.20.53-AM-768x339.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1154px) 100vw, 1154px" />Screenshot of Sacco repost.</div>
Sacco&#8217;s account, now locked, states that he is currently &#8220;focused on tax policy, racial and criminal justice.&#8221;
The IRS did not respond to request for comment on Sacco&#8217;s status at the agency.

MixCollage-20-Aug-2025-12-18-PM-8990

Top IRS Lawyer Under Trump Pledged To ‘Resist’ President, Is Former Dem Aide

Court Packing

Donald Trump

Supreme Court

President Donald Trump on Thursday called for Intel’s CEO to resign as the tech company battles falling fortunes and criticism from the nation’s capital.
“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114987288040725570">posted</a> on Truth Social.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s past business dealings with Chinese companies and government-linked entities have fueled distrust among top Republicans, who argue that his close ties to Beijing pose a risk to America&#8217;s chip industry—a sector the White House deems critical to national security in the AI race against China. The Silicon Valley-based company is best known as one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, producing microchips that power computers and other devices.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the top Republican and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, outlined his concerns in a <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-intel-ceos-ties-to-china-are-concerning">letter</a> to Intel earlier this week.
“Mr. Tan reportedly controls dozens of Chinese companies and has a stake in hundreds of Chinese advanced-manufacturing and chip firms. At least eight of these companies reportedly have ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army,” Cotton wrote.
“Mr. Tan was most recently the CEO of Cadence Design Systems, a company that makes electronic design automation (EDA) technology, which is a key enabler of advanced chip design. Last week, Cadence pleaded guilty to illegally selling its products to a Chinese military university and transferring its technology to an associated Chinese semiconductor company without obtaining licenses. These illegal activities occurred under Mr. Tan’s tenure,” Cotton added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Senator Tom Cotton is not wrong here. Sharing an infographic from <a href="https://twitter.com/thewirechina?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thewirechina</a>, a news magazine founded by Pulitzer Prize winner and former China correspondent David Barboza, mapping the Intel head Lip-Bu Tan&#8217;s venture capital firm Walden and its ties to Chinese companies: <a href="https://t.co/u2cfJRkf4L">https://t.co/u2cfJRkf4L</a> <a href="https://t.co/O5bi2lWB97">pic.twitter.com/O5bi2lWB97</a>
— Melissa Chan (@melissakchan) <a href="https://twitter.com/melissakchan/status/1953536377150476303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a companywide email on Thursday, Tan, who is from Malaysia, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-lip-bu-tan-trump-resignation-call-response-2025-8">reportedly</a> denied any wrongdoing, insisting he has always held &#8220;the highest legal and ethical standards.&#8221;
&#8220;The United States has been my home for more than 40 years,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;Leading Intel at this critical moment is not just a job &#8211; it&#8217;s a privilege.&#8221;
Tan founded the venture capital firm Walden International, through which Tan has participated in billions of dollars worth of investment deals with Chinese companies, some of which fall on U.S. government watch lists.
Intel received the largest grant awarded to a single company under the CHIPS and Science Act signed by President Joe Biden in 2022: nearly $8 billion. Tan’s deep web of business ties across China has thrown that grant into question and added more instability on top of Intel’s already turbulent business.
“Intel, the Board of Directors, and Lip-Bu Tan are deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the president’s America First agenda,” the company said in a <a href="https://x.com/PatrickMoorhead/status/1953573020565668054">statement</a> after Trump’s call for Tan to step down.
The tech company, once a leader in the tech industry, has struggled in recent years, and the backlash from political leaders has worsened its position. The company’s share price fell 3% on Thursday after the salvo from Trump. Since the start of last year, Intel’s share price has fallen roughly 60%, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/trump-intel-ceo-lip-bu-tan-resign-china-ties-cotton-ce111513">The Wall Street Journal</a>.

Lip-Bu Tan

Trump Demands Intel CEO Quit Over China Ties: ‘Highly Conflicted’

Business

China

Executive

Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the third-highest ranking GOP senator who serves as the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, delivered a blistering speech in which he denounced critics of Israel around the world and in the U.S. Senate, who he said side with Hamas and propagandize to help the terrorist organization.
&#8220;Hamas is on the verge of defeat so it’s cranked up the propaganda machine once again,&#8221; he began. &#8220;Now Hamas wants the world to believe that Israel has undertaken a campaign of deliberate starvation of the Gazan population, and as usual, Hamas can count on an international media and political chorus to fight their battles for them and try to bully Israel in submission.&#8221;
&#8220;Israel has helped bring into Gaza approximately 96,000 trucks containing nearly one and a half million tons of food, 46,000 tons of medical supplies, 60,000 tons of water and around 170,000 tons of shelter equipment,&#8221; he noted. &#8220;Put simply: Children aren’t going hungry because of lack of supplies from Israel; they’re suffering because Hamas uses food and humanitarian aid as a weapon to stay in power.&#8221;
Slamming members of the Senate who have used photos of Gazan children to buttress their attacks on Israel, Cotton asserted, &#8220;&#8216;Gullible&#8217; might be a charitable way to describe their motives, much like The New York Times buying hook, line, and sinker, the images of Gazan children afflicted with terrible diseases, but passed off as malnourished.&#8221; He then displayed photos of the massive amount of pallets of food simply waiting to be distributed to the people of Gaza, noting they are &#8220;are sitting and baking in the hot sun instead of feeding hungry kids. While the situation is shocking, it’s not all surprising; after all, Hamas’ infiltration of UN aid mechanisms is well-documented. Time and again, we have seen Hamas terrorists divert shipments to themselves or loot delivery trucks, only to resell the supplies on the black market at outrageous prices. Last year, this terrorist-infiltrated aid system managed by the UN and others allowed Hamas to rake in more than half a billion dollars in profit, profits that fund Hamas’ campaign of terror against Israel and its own people.&#8221;
&#8220;How critical is this systematic theft to Hamas’ grip on power?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Well, one of Hamas’s chief demands in recent cease-fire negotiations has been the dismantling of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a new charity created specifically to end Hamas’s stranglehold on aid and supplies. The foundation has even offered to distribute UN aid for free, despite the risk to its own people. And much of this aid, which is sitting in the sun and partly taxpayer-funded, is already inside Gaza; it simply needs to be picked up and distributed. But the offer has fallen on deaf ears because Hamas uses humanitarian aid as a tool to fund, facilitate and fight its war against innocent children, against Israel, against the civilized world. And Hamas’s cheerleaders, apologists, and dupes in Europe and America, and sadly, here in the U.S. Senate, once again, turn a blind eye to Hamas’ crimes, blaming instead Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. They demand that Israel agree to a cease-fire that preserves and rewards Hamas, while also delivering even more humanitarian aid to Gaza for Hamas to steal and exploit. They expect Israel to feed the very people who attacked, raped, and murdered innocent Israeli men, women, and children on October 7. And I would remind everyone, not a few American victims as well.&#8221;
Turning to history, Cotton — who deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq and served in combat units including the 506th Infantry Regiment and the 101st Airborne — commented, &#8220;Once again, Israel is facing demands placed on no other nation in the world. I don’t recall from my history lessons, for instance, the United States providing humanitarian aid in Germany and Japan in World War II. On the contrary, the Allies imposed naval blockades that led to widespread shortages in those enemy nations. When in the annals of history has the victim of an unprovoked war of aggression ever been held responsible for the nutrition of the aggressor? Put simply, Israel doesn’t have any responsibility to send a single loaf of bread to Gaza. I wonder why so many senators, pundits, podcasters and European politicians impose this unique standard on the Jewish nation?&#8221;
&#8220;Why could it be?&#8221; he asked bluntly.
&#8220;But despite all that, despite the brutal slaughter of nearly 1200 Israelis on October 7, despite Hamas’ continued repression of its own people, Israel is still delivering aid to Gaza while Hamas rips it from the hands of hungry children,&#8221; he pointed out. &#8220;Once again we see very simply and very clearly in this war who is on the side of justice and who is on the side of evil. And I would ask anyone who places these singular demands on Israel: Whose side do you want to be on? And if you truly care about the children in Gaza, as I do, as Israelis do, as any decent person surely does, I would encourage you to support President Trump’s statement of moral clarity and strength from earlier this morning: &#8216;The fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I&#39;d like to set the record straight.
Children in Gaza aren&#39;t going hungry because of Israel. They&#39;re suffering because Hamas uses food and aid as a weapon to stay in power. <a href="https://t.co/a2dGKThz0u">pic.twitter.com/a2dGKThz0u</a>
&mdash; Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1951083222516797451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Republican Senators Hold Capitol Hill News Conference On Border Enforcement

Tom Cotton Blisters Hamas Cheerleaders In Senate And Across The Globe

Israel

New York Times

U.S. Senate

Imagine leaving your front door unlocked with a note that reads, “Back in 15. Please don’t steal the silverware.” That, in essence, is what the United States government — yes, including the Pentagon — may have unwittingly done through its long-standing relationship with Microsoft and the tech giant’s disturbingly lax attitude toward cybersecurity oversight.
Microsoft’s China-linked engineers should be setting off DEFCON-level alarms in Washington. Instead, we’ve mostly gotten silence, shrugs, and vague murmurs. According <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-tech-support-government-cybersecurity-china-doj-treasury">to reports</a>, Microsoft gave foreign nationals access to parts of the software that power critical U.S. military infrastructure.
You read that right. Engineers based in China, working for a U.S. tech behemoth under no formal federal contract, had proximity to the digital equivalent of the Pentagon’s control room.
Even worse? Microsoft allegedly failed to tell the Pentagon about it.
This is no small &#8220;oopsie.&#8221; We’re talking about a company that provides essential software infrastructure to every arm of the U.S. government — military included — quietly hiring engineers from a geopolitical rival with a track record of industrial espionage, cyber warfare, and digital sabotage. If you think China wouldn’t exploit this access, you haven’t been paying attention.
Microsoft has since responded to the report from <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/defense-department-pentagon-microsoft-digital-escort-china">ProPublica</a> that exposed the issue. “In response to concerns raised earlier this week about US-supervised foreign engineers, Microsoft has made changes to our support for US Government customers to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD Government cloud and related services,” stated Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communications officer.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), however, is now asking some <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/chairman-cotton-to-hegseth-current-dod-agreements-and-practices-fail-to-account-for-threat-of-china">very pointed</a> questions, and rightly so. Why was this program not disclosed? Why were Chinese nationals permitted to work on products used by the Department of Defense? And who, exactly, at Microsoft thought this was a good idea?
<div id="attachment_954433" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-954433" class="size-large wp-image-954433" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 14: U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) questions U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hegseth, an Army veteran and the former host of “FOX &amp; Friends Weekend” on FOX News will be the first of the incoming Trump administration’s nominees to face questions from Senators. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193887719.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</div>
The problem isn&#8217;t just Microsoft&#8217;s apparent blind spot for national security. The deeper issue is how cavalier we&#8217;ve become with <a href="https://www.spyhunter.com/shm/why-is-endpoint-protection-important/">endpoint protection </a>— that last line of defense between a secure network and total compromise. Whether it&#8217;s a government agency or a private company, relying on outdated firewalls and blind trust in tech titans is like wearing a screen door for armor.
This is the same Microsoft, mind you, that in just the last year alone has racked up a staggering number of <a href="https://www.enigmasoftware.com/cve202553770zerodayvulnerability-removal/">Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs)</a>. These aren’t minor bugs; these are gaping holes in the digital fabric — many of which can be exploited with a single click. One CVE alone allowed hackers to access Outlook inboxes without requiring the user to even open an email. Just receiving it was enough. That’s not an email; that’s a digital landmine.
Add in the explosion of <a href="https://www.spywareremove.com/remove-fake-virus.html">tech support scams</a>, the thousands of reported of <a href="https://www.enigmasoftware.com/verificationfailedemailscam-removal/">phishing schemes</a>, and malware attacks that install silently with a <a href="https://www.cyclonis.com/remove-oneclik-malware/">single mistimed click</a>, and we’ve got ourselves a cyber hygiene crisis. Criminals and state-backed hackers alike have figured out that Americans are highly advanced at building systems, but dangerously naive at guarding them.
Want another cherry on this data breach sundae? Microsoft’s move to hire foreign engineers coincided with its transition to a &#8220;cloud-first&#8221; infrastructure. Translation: the very people with questionable loyalties were potentially helping build and maintain systems that store terabytes of sensitive U.S. government data — offsite, off-premises, and off the radar of traditional defense monitoring.
Here’s a scary thought: if you were a Chinese intelligence officer dreaming of getting into Pentagon systems, would you rather recruit a spy, build a malware strain, or just… get hired by Microsoft?
You can’t blame China for trying. The blame lies with Microsoft for leaving the vault open and pretending it’s a broom closet.
The solution isn’t to boycott Microsoft (though the pressure to modernize and secure their systems needs to be immediate and non-negotiable). The real fix lies in overhauling our government’s relationship with Big Tech. We need rigorous vetting of foreign hires working on national security products. We need independent audits of source code, vulnerability testing, and real-time threat modeling. And we absolutely need to build up our domestic cybersecurity talent pool so that we’re not outsourcing our digital sovereignty to countries with conflicting interests.
Most importantly, endpoint security must become as ubiquitous in government as badge scanners and background checks. Every workstation, laptop, mobile device, and cloud node must be locked down with zero-trust architecture, real-time behavioral analytics, and automatic quarantine capabilities. Anything less is an open invitation to espionage.
This isn’t just a Microsoft problem or a Pentagon problem. It’s an American problem. We’re letting convenience and tech monopolies override prudence and national defense. The same way we wouldn’t allow a Chinese company to handle nuclear launch codes, we shouldn’t let their engineers code the operating systems that support those platforms.
Let’s not forget: the Chinese Communist Party plays a long game. They don’t need to hack into Fort Knox if we’re leaving the digital vault open with a &#8220;Welcome&#8221; sign in Mandarin. And Microsoft, by cozying up to foreign nationals while serving American defense clients, has done exactly that.
President Trump built his first administration on the promise of draining the swamp and putting America First. That promise must now extend to cybersecurity. Our digital borders are every bit as vital as our physical ones. It’s time to hold tech giants accountable and ensure our software backbone isn’t quietly being rewritten by our adversaries.
Because when the dragon’s inside the network, it’s already too late to “build” a firewall.
* * *
Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, cybersecurity researcher, founder of <a href="https://www.itfunk.org/">ItFunk.Org</a>, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, which is focused on cybersecurity and politics, is regularly published by many of the largest news organizations in the world.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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