<div>The Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the state of Washington today that it is investigating whether the state&#8217;s prison policies violate the Constitution.</div>
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<div>The DOJ is launching a federal investigation into Washington State&#8217;s practice of housing men in women&#8217;s prisons, the Daily Wire can first report. It will investigate if these policies violate the constitutional rights of incarcerated women housed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, Washington.</div>
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<div>The Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) gives violent male convicts who self-identify as transgender full access to the women’s prisons, including cells, bathrooms, and showers.</div>
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<div>“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The constitutional rights of women cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasing unsupported and dangerous ideologies.”</div>
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<div>The DOJ investigation comes on the heels of an April 2026 <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/assets/uploads/files/AFPI_WDOC_Complaint_04.27.26.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> filed by The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) that argues forcing women to share a prison with violent men violates the fundamental constitutional rights of women to be safe while incarcerated. The lawsuit describes two women who were allegedly assaulted by Christopher Williams, a man who self-identifies as female. The lawsuit calls Williams a “six-foot-four, ‘biologically intact’ male” and “convicted child sex offender” with a history of violence against women.</div>
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<div>The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/women-sue-prison-system-for-allowing-violent-trans-male-to-terrorize-inmates?author=Megan+Brock&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Women+Terrorized+By+%E2%80%98Trans%E2%80%99+Male+Inmate+Launch+Massive+Lawsuit+Against+Prison+System" target="_blank" rel="noopener">uncovered</a> a document through a public records request showing the former Superintendent of a male prison where Williams had been incarcerated recommended against his transfer to WCCW due to his history of violence against women.</div>
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<div>The DOJ will investigate allegations of &#8220;cruel and unusual punishment&#8221; against female prisoners, including claims of sexual violence being perpetrated against women by male inmates at WCCW.</div>
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<div>&#8220;The Justice Department will investigate allegations of deprivation of female prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment, including Washington’s response to allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism, and sexual intimidation based on WCCW’s housing of male prisoners in the exclusively female facility,&#8221; a DOJ press release states.</div>
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<div>Washington DOC has some of the nation&#8217;s most radical transgender policies and provides tax-funded sex change surgeries to inmates who claim to be transgender. A Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/taxpayers-pay-millions-to-surgeon-who-performs-transgender-surgeries-in-prisons?author=Megan+Brock&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=23&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Just+How+Much+Of+Your+Money+Funds+Trans+Surgeries+In+Prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> showed the state of Washington gave millions of taxpayer dollars to a controversial “gender-affirming” surgeon who performs surgeries on prison inmates.</div>
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<div>The DOJ has launched a nationwide initiative examining men being housed in Women’s Prisons and is encouraging individuals with &#8220;relevant information&#8221; on this issue to contact the DOJ, according to the press release.</div>

Inmate Burnet County Jail

EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Investigating Prison System That Forces Women To Share Cells With Violent Men

Prison

Transgender

Washington

Washington state has never had an income tax. Every time voters were asked whether they wanted one, they said no. They have said no eleven times, in fact, with margins as steep as 77% against. In 2024, Washington’s citizens forced the Legislature to enact I-2111, a measure that explicitly banned a state income tax, after gathering over 446,000 signatures for the initiative.
Democrats looked at all of that, shrugged, and passed one anyway.
On March 10, the Washington House voted 51-46 to approve SB 6346, imposing a 9.9% tax on individual income above $1 million. Governor Bob Ferguson, who had publicly flirted with vetoing it before deciding not to, pledged to sign it. It was all a performance to pretend that he was getting taxpayer benefits out of targeting the millionaires to pay “their fair share.” Democrats dressed it up as a narrow &#8220;millionaire&#8217;s tax&#8221; and insisted you have nothing to worry about. That is exactly what they want you to believe. It is not true.
Why this income tax is unconstitutional by design
Here is the legal reality. Under the 1933 Washington Supreme Court ruling in Culliton v. Chase, income is classified as property under the state constitution. A graduated income tax violates the uniformity clause. That precedent has been confirmed and reconfirmed for nearly a century. Former Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, former Justice Phil Talmadge, and former Attorney General Rob McKenna have all stated unequivocally that income is intangible property under Washington&#8217;s constitution. The correct vehicle to change that has always been a constitutional amendment put to voters.
Democrats tried that route, too, and got crushed at the ballot box repeatedly. So they stopped asking.
Washington Democrats passed a law they know is unconstitutional because the real target was never the millionaires. The real target is the Washington State Supreme Court. When Democrats passed the capital gains tax a few years ago, the justices who upheld it practically begged someone to bring them a case that would let them torch Culliton entirely. SB 6346 is that case.
Once a legal challenge is filed, and it will be filed immediately, Democrats expect their sympathetic Supreme Court to use the vehicle to wipe out 90 years of precedent and legalize a permanent, broadened income tax for everyone, without a single voter ever getting a say.
The &#8216;millionaires only&#8217; promise is a lie
If you live outside Washington and think this has nothing to do with you, pay attention. This is the playbook.
Washington already has a capital gains tax that Democrats sold as a modest levy on investment gains. They also have an estate tax (a death tax) that activates at one of the lowest thresholds in the country. Every new layer of taxation arrives with the same promise that it targets only the wealthy and that everyone else is safe. The income tax is the next layer. The threshold today is $1 million. The moment the Supreme Court blesses the structure, the number is up for negotiation, and lawmakers will negotiate it down.
Democrats made their intentions concrete when they specifically amended SB 6346 to exempt it from I-2111, the voter-passed ban on a state income tax. Read that again. Voters banned an income tax. Democrats passed one and wrote language into the bill to neutralize voters&#8217; own protections. That is not an oversight. That is a statement of hostility toward the voters&#8217; will. And this law may not be subject to a referendum, since Democrats inserted a “necessity clause” that precludes the voter challenge. They pretended this was a necessary, emergency piece of legislation. That it doesn’t go into effect until 2028 undercuts that emergency message, but Democrats don’t seem to care how transparent their scam is.
The wealth exodus is already underway
The wealthy are not waiting for a court ruling. On the same night the income tax cleared the House, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, who built his company from a single Pike Place coffee shop into one of the most recognized brands on earth, <a href="https://seattlered.com/seattle-red/jason-rantz-opinion/wa-income-tax-howard-schultz/4117148">announced he and his wife are leaving Seattle for Miami</a> after 44 years in Washington. He is taking his taxable income with him. Jeff Bezos made the same calculation after the capital gains tax passed.
Zach Abraham, principal and CIO of Bulwark Capital Management, which oversees roughly $1.1 billion in assets, <a href="https://seattlered.com/taxes/bulwark-leaving-wa-income-tax/4117239">told me on The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM</a> that he is leaving Washington and relocating his business. He calculated that his effective rate would fall between 49% and 51% once all state taxes are factored in. At one recent board meeting in Woodinville, Washington, just outside of Seattle, he sat alongside a small group of investors who collectively manage around $4 billion. Every person in that room is getting out, he said.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t feel that I have a choice,&#8221; Abraham told me.
An Association of Washington Business survey found 17% of Washington businesses are now considering leaving the state entirely, up 9% from a year ago. The CEO of Moment, a Seattle-based mobile photography company, <a href="https://seattlered.com/taxes/moment-ceo-marc-barros-leaves-seattle-washington-digital-ad-tax/4117241">just announced he’s moving the business to Wyoming</a> after Washington&#8217;s separate new digital advertising tax added $200,000 in overnight annual costs.
Washington is following a blueprint that already failed
Washington Democrats do not have to guess how this ends.
California spent years dismissing warnings that its tax-and-regulate model was pushing out the businesses and high earners who funded the whole operation. Then Oracle left. Then Hewlett-Packard. Then Tesla. Then Charles Schwab. The departures were written off as isolated decisions until the state&#8217;s own budget office could no longer ignore the revenue gap left behind.
New York has watched the same pattern play out, with financial firms and high-net-worth residents flooding into Florida and Texas at a pace that has forced even Democratic lawmakers to acknowledge the damage. The Tax Foundation has consistently documented that high-income earners are among the most mobile taxpayers in the country and the most responsive to rate changes.
Washington is not pioneering a bold new model. It is copying a failure that two of the largest states in the country are still trying to reverse. The receipts already exist, and Democrats are simply choosing to ignore them.
What happens when the court rules
Washington Democrats have spent nine decades trying to create an income tax for everyone in the state. They are now five Supreme Court votes away from doing it without ever winning another election on the subject. They bypassed voters, neutralized a voter-approved ban, and handed a cooperative court the exact vehicle it has been waiting for.
The millionaire&#8217;s tax is the opening bid. Everyone else is the closing argument. You have been warned.
***
Jason Rantz is a <a href="https://seattlered.com/podcast_results?i=1676&amp;n=The+Jason+Rantz+Show">Seattle-based talk show host</a> and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Killing-America-Radical-Destruction/dp/1546006141/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0">“What’s Killing America: Inside the Radical Left’s Tragic Destruction of Our Cities.”</a>
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EatTheRichWashington

Washington State’s Democrats Vote To Eat The Rich

Blue States

Taxes

A reported assault at Lucille Umbarger Middle School in Skagit County, Washington, is under police investigation after an eighth-grade girl was allegedly attacked by two classmates over her perceived support for President Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The incident, which was captured on cellphone video that has since circulated among students and on social media, allegedly stems from TikTok posts made by the victim’s boyfriend. &#8220;Plan A: marry a nice girl, have kids, get rich,&#8221; he stated. In another, he wrote &#8220;Plan B: become an ICE agent.&#8221;
According to the 13-year-old girl and her mother, the student was cornered in a school locker room by two classmates who demanded to know her political stances. Reporter Brandi Kruse of unDivided, who said she has been in contact with the family, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/9Dp04NreQAI?t=1849s">reported</a> that the students asked whether the girl supported President Trump and ICE. When she responded that it was none of their business, the family alleges she was &#8220;violently&#8221; assaulted.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/friendly-fire?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_content=20260224_sotu_aa_desktop&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=banner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Watch the State of the Union with The Daily Wire! Live coverage from the nation&#8217;s capital begins at 7:45 ET.</a>
Video of the incident appears to show two students punching the girl, pulling her hair, and attempting to drag her to the floor while other students watched or recorded the altercation.
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GRAPHIC WARING: Two students BEAT a girl senseless at Lucille Umbarger Middle School in Burlington, WA, after demanding to know whether she supports Trump and ICE. She told them it was none of their business. Police are involved. More today on our live show at 12pm. <a href="https://t.co/GYWfxgPu8t">pic.twitter.com/GYWfxgPu8t</a>
&mdash; Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandiKruse/status/2026004328704811108?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The victim’s family has expressed outrage not only over the alleged assault but also over what they describe as a delayed response from the school district. Kruse reported that although the video had been shared among students and staff for days, it took the school’s principal five days to contact the alleged victim’s mother. The family alleges the school only reached out after media inquiries began.
Burlington Police Chief Kevin Turner confirmed that the department has opened an active investigation into the incident. &#8220;We are working through all the details,&#8221; Turner stated, adding that because the case involves juveniles, further information cannot be released at this time.
The school district is reportedly developing a &#8220;safety plan&#8221; to allow the student to return to campus. According to Kruse, local law enforcement has recommended extending the suspension of the two alleged attackers until the girl&#8217;s safety can be ensured.
As of press time, the Burlington-Edison School District has not issued a formal public statement. The girl’s mother, who authorized the release of the details to the public, remains critical of how the administration handled the immediate aftermath, describing the attack on her daughter as &#8220;savage.&#8221;

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GRAPHIC VIDEO: 13-Year-Old Girl Attacked After Students Question Her Trump Support

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The Trump administration appears to be gearing up for a substantial response to Iran, Washington state allegedly spends millions on gender surgeries for inmates, and whiplash hits Moderna as the Food and Drug Administration reverses its decision not to review the company’s new flu vaccine.
It’s Thursday, February 19, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iran-response-imminent-gender-surgeon-scrutinized-2-19-26/id1576594336?i=1000750462173" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.S. Surrounds Iran</h2>
Amid escalating tensions over Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and the killings of thousands of protesters, the Trump administration appears to be gearing up for an armed response. 
Over the last 36 hours, the Middle East has seen the largest military buildup in decades. Hundreds of cargo flights have transported weapons systems to the region, as hundreds of fighter jets, dozens of warships, and multiple aircraft carrier groups have also made their way towards Iran. 
This may be a negotiating tactic by the United States to secure concessions from Tehran as diplomatic talks continue. But numerous advisers to President Donald Trump, <a href="https://x.com/rcpvideo/status/2024169941696459097?s=20">including</a> his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said they don’t think it’s a bluff. Trump reportedly feels emboldened by the success of his bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities back in June and the operation to grab Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January. 
As one former American diplomat put it to The Wall Street Journal, the president’s offer to Iran “is similar to Venezuela, surrender and we won’t attack you.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Blue State Spends Millions On Gender Surgeon</h2>
A new investigation found that Washington state has spent millions on the services of a gender surgeon who performs surgeries on prison inmates. 
The Washington State Healthcare Authority has paid more than $4.3 million since July 2019 for the services of Dr. Jeffrey Stiller. 
He is a prolific transgender surgeon, and according to his website, he&#8217;s performed more than 1,000 vaginoplasties, averaging five procedures per week, describing his services as extremely sought-after. 
Importantly, for this investigation, public records obtained by The Daily Wire show that Dr. Stiller&#8217;s clientele included a steady stream of inmates from Washington Department of Corrections facilities.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">FDA’s Moderna Reversal</h2>
There’s whiplash at Moderna as the Food and Drug Administration reverses its decision not to review the company’s new flu vaccine. 
The FDA decided it will allow Moderna to move forward with its new mRNA flu vaccine. The agency blocked it last week, but allowed it to move forward again after the pharma company agreed to additional testing. 
The vaccine is expected to be brought to market in two phases: the first for people 65 and older through a process of “accelerated approval,” which will allow it to move forward with limited evidence. The vaccine for that cohort can later receive full approval with more tests. After those are completed, the vaccine will also be released for adults ages 50-64, assuming the results of those tests come back positive.

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Morning Brief: U.S. Surrounds Iran, Prisoners Get ‘Gender Surgeries,’ & FDA’s Moderna Reversal

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A new report details a serious allegation of sexual assault and a subsequent breakdown in institutional oversight within Washington&#8217;s Puyallup School District. The story centers on Kallie Keeler, a 16-year-old female sophomore wrestler at Rogers High School who has competed in the sport since early childhood.
During a wrestling match on December 6, Keeler competed in the 190-pound weight class against an opponent from Emerald Ridge High School. Video from the bout appears to show Keeler in visible distress. According to her testimony, the opponent, a transgender-identifying boy, forcefully inserted his fingers into her private area during a move, causing her to feel violated and disoriented. Keeler later said she allowed herself to be pinned in order to end the match and escape the situation.
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16-year-old Kallie Keeler didn&#8217;t even realize she was wrestling a boy. She didn&#8217;t find out until after she says he forcefully pushed his fingers into her vagina. The Puyallup (WA) School District is accused of burying her complaint – now there&#8217;s now a criminal investigation. <a href="https://t.co/4LRo0ft0wI">pic.twitter.com/4LRo0ft0wI</a>
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandiKruse/status/2021052492180840920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
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“I didn&#8217;t really know what to do or how to handle that situation. I just wanted the match to be over,” Keeler said.
Immediately after the match, Keeler told her mother what she said had occurred and attempted to locate her coach. It was only afterward, she said, that a coach from a different school informed her that her opponent had been permitted to compete in the girls&#8217; division despite being a biological male. Keeler expressed a sense of double violation: first by the alleged physical assault, and second by the realization that she had been tricked into competing against a male athlete in a high-contact sport without her knowledge or consent.
To assess whether the contact could have been accidental, reporter Brandi Kruse consulted wrestling experts with decades of experience. After reviewing the video, the experts concluded that the position executed did not require the type of contact alleged. They noted that in similar situations, a wrestler typically grips the opponent&#8217;s thigh or knee rather than making prolonged contact in a prohibited area.
The most significant administrative issue centers on the Puyallup School District’s response. Despite Keeler reporting the incident immediately and her parents emailing coaches, the district reportedly took no formal action for nearly two months. This delay came despite Washington state law requiring school officials to report suspected sexual assault to law enforcement within 48 hours.
The district did not report the incident to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office until January 30, one day after the media contacted the district for comment. The Sheriff’s Office has since confirmed that an active criminal investigation is underway. Critics have accused district officials of remaining silent in order to protect what they describe as &#8220;radical gender ideology&#8221; at the expense of student safety and state law. Keeler continues to advocate for policy changes, asserting that biological males should not compete in women&#8217;s strength-based sports.

2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championship

Betrayed On The Mat: Teen Wrestler Says She Was Sexually Assaulted By Trans-Identifying Opponent

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The Trump administration on Tuesday took action against six blue states that it says have failed to comply with requests to produce their voter rolls. 
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-six-additional-states-failure-provide-voter-registration-rolls">announced</a> suits against Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington for not producing statewide registration lists. Without these lists, the Justice Department said that they cannot certify that the states are maintaining an accurate count of eligible voters. 
&#8220;Accurate voter rolls are the cornerstone of fair and free elections, and too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance,&#8221; said Attorney General Pam Bondi. &#8220;The Department of Justice will continue filing proactive election integrity litigation until states comply with basic election safeguards.&#8221;
The suits come amid a push from Republicans nationwide to crack down on non-citizen voting and maintain clean voter registration lists.
The lawsuits say that the states are not acting in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, which compel states to maintain accurate voter lists. The attorney general is empowered to enforce those laws and has a right to access the lists under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the suits say.
&#8220;States that continue to defy federal voting laws interfere with our mission of ensuring that Americans have accurate voter lists as they go to the polls, that every vote counts equally, and that all voters have confidence in election results. At this Department of Justice, we will not stand for this open defiance of federal civil rights laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
The <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1419811/dl?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery">lawsuit</a> against Rhode Island says that on September 16 Rhode Island sent a letter to the Justice Department refusing a September 8 request for voter roll information. The letter said that the states “objects to providing” the requested information, according to the suit. This requested information includes driver license information and the last four digits of Social Security numbers used to register for voting. 
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Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha claimed the suit was an example of Trump weaponizing the Justice Department. 
“We stand with and will defend the secretary, and win, because lawsuits concerning lawful conduct are largely unsuccessful,” he said. “But I’m not surprised that this administration is confused about what it means to behave lawfully.”
In September, the Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-dept-sues-six-states-for-refusing-to-hand-over-key-voter-data">announced</a> suits against Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and New York over the same issue.

Justice Department Announces Federal Enforcement Action Against International Criminal Organization

Justice Department Moves To Safeguard Elections In Blue States

Delaware

Department of Justice

Election Fraud

Harmeet Dhillon

Maryland

New Mexico

Pam Bondi

Rhode Island

Trump Administration

Vermont

Voting

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday gave California, New Mexico, and Washington 30 days to comply with federal English proficiency rules for truckers or risk losing federal funding.
Duffy criticized the three states for failing to enforce new Trump administration rules requiring English proficiency for truck drivers. He announced the move after the Department of Transportation launched an investigation into a deadly August 12 crash on the Florida Turnpike, in which an illegal immigrant driver allegedly killed three people after making an illegal U-turn.
“We at DOT and Federal Motor Carriers, we are not going to tolerate states that don’t comply with the rules that come from this department,” Duffy said at a press conference. “We are going to give these states 30 days to come into compliance with truck drivers speaking proficiently the English language, or we’re going to look at the federal funding that they receive under the Motor Carriers Safety Assistance Program.”
Harjinder Singh, the accused driver in the Florida crash, was given a commercial driver&#8217;s license by both California and Washington. New Mexico law enforcement also failed to administer an English proficiency test to Singh when he was pulled over in July for speeding, the Transportation Department found.
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California could lose $30 million, Washington $10 million, and New Mexico $7 million if they don’t align with the English proficiency standards. The policy was first announced in May and then implemented at the end of June.
“When we did that, there was a lot of press that complained to us that we were being unfair to people, that we were being mean to people,” Duffy said. “And what we said was, ‘no, this is a safety issue.’ Making sure drivers of very heavy, 80,000-pound rigs can speak the language is truly a critical safety issue.”
Duffy said his department would take additional steps to ensure compliance if the states did not satisfy the requirements.
An investigation from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that from June 25 to August 21, California allowed at least 23 drivers with documented violations of English proficiency in other states to remain on the road.
During that same period, Washington allowed four drivers to stay on the road with proficiency violations from other states and two drivers who violated proficiency regulations in Washington.
New Mexico also allowed seven drivers to stay on the road who had documented failures in English proficiency.
The Trump administration has taken other steps to crack down on the number of truck drivers who are unable to understand English. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week that he had paused the issuance of work visas for commercial truck drivers.

Trump Threatens To Pull State Funds Over English Language Rule

Three States Could Lose Federal Funding For Defying Trump’s Trucking Mandate

Duffy Gives Three States 30 Days To Enforce English Rules For Truckers Or Lose Federal Funding

California

Department of Transportation

General

Immigration

Politics

Sean Duffy

Truckers

Washington state violated federal safety rules when it granted a commercial driver’s licence to an illegal immigrant now accused of vehicular homicide in a deadly Florida car crash, and New Mexico State Police did not administer a required English Language Proficiency test during a traffic stop involving the same individual, a preliminary review from the Department of Transportation found.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that he had launched an <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-announces-investigation-deadly-florida-truck-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> into an August 12 crash on the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County, where a semi-truck driver allegedly made an illegal U-turn that caused a fatal collision with a minivan, resulting in the deaths of three individuals. Authorities have identified the driver of the truck as 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India who crossed into the country in 2018. 
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A 37-year-old woman, a 54-year-old man, and a 30-year-old man died in the crash. Singh has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide. Duffy said the investigation by the feds would support Florida’s criminal investigation. 
“If states had followed the rules, this driver would never have been behind the wheel and three precious lives would still be with us,” Duffy said. “This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures.”
Duffy said that the probe from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would focus on Singh and White Hawk Carriers, the California-based company that owned the truck involved in the crash, which has a <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article311752619.html">history</a> of safety violations. 
Initial findings from the Department of Transportation indicate that Washington issued Singh a regular full-term Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) on July 15, 2023, even though illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are not eligible for such licenses. 
California also issued Singh a limited-term/non-domiciled CDL on July 23, 2024. Duffy said that the issuance of this license was still under investigation to determine if it was done in accordance with federal law. The Trump administration and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom have clashed in recent days over responsibility for the fatal crash. 
The investigation also found that Singh was pulled over by New Mexico State Police on July 3, and given a roadside inspection and speeding ticket. Investigators found that law enforcement did not administer an English Language Proficiency test despite being required to under Trump administration guidelines implemented on June 25. 
When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interviewed Singh, officials found that he was not proficient in English and did not understand basic road signs. He could only provide correct responses on two out of twelve verbal questions and only identified one out of four highway traffic signs, investigators found. 
“Non-enforcement and radical immigration policies have turned the trucking industry into a lawless frontier, resulting in unqualified foreign drivers improperly acquiring licenses to operate 40-ton vehicles,” Duffy added. “We will use every tool at our disposal to hold these states and bad actors accountable. President Trump and I will restore safety to our roads. The families of the deceased deserve justice.”

MixCollage-20-Aug-2025-07-58-AM-812

‘Preventable Tragedy’: Duffy Blames Multiple States As Illegal Alien Faces Charges In Florida Crash

Crime

Florida

WASHINGTON—Building off President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order targeting crime and disorder on American streets, Senator Tom Cotton is introducing legislation aimed at cleaning up the nation&#8217;s capital.
The Daily Wire can first report that the Arkansas Republican will introduce the Prohibiting Encampments on Public Grounds Act on Tuesday. The bill would make it unlawful to set up, maintain, or establish camps or temporary abodes on public property in Washington, D.C.
“Our nation’s capital should be a point of pride, not littered with homeless encampments that endanger visitors like the thousands of Arkansans who visit each year,&#8221; Cotton told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This bill would clean up D.C.’s public property and allow law enforcement officials to maintain order in the streets of our nation’s capital.&#8221; 
Those who violate the terms of the bill would be fined $500, imprisoned for up to 30 days, or both.
<div id="attachment_953593" style="width: 838px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-tom-cottons-new-bill-supercharges-trumps-efforts-to-make-d-c-safe-again/president-trump-signs-executive-order-urging-cities-to-remove-homeless-off-streets" rel="attachment wp-att-953593"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-953593" class="wp-image-953593 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-828x576.jpg" alt="" width="828" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-828x576.jpg 828w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-300x209.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-768x534.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px" /></a>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; JULY 25: A person sleeps in Freedom Plaza on July 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)</div>
The president&#8217;s executive order, signed July 24, directs the Attorney General to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees that are block state and local governments from committing &#8220;individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s order was aimed at &#8220;making America safe again,&#8221; one of the president&#8217;s major campaign promises. It also requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to work with other administration officials to prioritize grants for both states and municipalities that enforce bans on &#8220;open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.&#8221;
The executive order focuses attention on providing both shelter and mental health resources to the homeless, and, in addition to allowing programs to exclusively house women and children — as opposed to men who identify as transgender women — it blocks sex offenders who are receiving homelessness assistance from being housed with children.
The Trump administration has argued that shifting the homeless into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment is the best way to restore public order, pointing to the highest number ever recorded of individuals living on American streets on a single night during the last year of the Biden administration: 274,224.
Most of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have mental health disorders, or both, according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/ending-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets/">fact sheet</a> from the White House, which argues that federal and state governments have spent billions seeking to address homelessness without addressing the root causes.
Asked last week about homeless individuals sleeping outside the gates of the White House, the president responded: &#8220;I think it&#8217;s terrible and we&#8217;ll have them removed immediately.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve gotta get the mayor to run this city properly,&#8221; he told reporters.

Donald Trump Meets With Republican Senators At The NRSC

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Cotton’s New Bill Supercharges Trump’s Efforts To Make D.C. Safe Again

Homeless

Tom Cotton

An ex-Army Sergeant faces up to ten years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempting to give American military secrets to China. 
Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, last stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, pled guilty on Wednesday to charges of attempting to deliver national defense information and retention of national defense information. He will be sentenced in September by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour. In addition to prison, Schmidt could be hit with a $250,000 fine.  
Schmidt was an active duty soldier from January 2015 to January 2020 and mainly worked with the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. During his military service, he had access to information designated as secret and top secret, according to the Justice Department. 
After leaving the military in January 2020, Schmidt emailed the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and the Chinese security service, offering to provide them with national defense information. 
In March 2020, Schmidt flew to Hong Kong, where he attempted to give Chinese security officials intelligence he had kept from his time in the military. According to the Justice Department, he produced multiple documents detailing the “high level secrets” he had in his possession and offered to give a device that allows access to secure military computers to the Chinese. 
He flew back to the United States in October 2023 when he was arrested in San Francisco. 
“Joseph Daniel Schmidt was once a trusted guardian of our nation’s secrets and swore an oath to defend and protect U.S. national security,” Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said in October 2023 when Schmidt was indicted. “As alleged by the government, Schmidt betrayed his promise and potentially placed our nation at risk in his attempts to pass national defense information to Chinese security services.”
In recent years, the FBI has made a number of arrests involving former American soldiers accused of attempting to give sensitive military information to China. 
Earlier this year, former Army intelligence officer Korbein Schultz was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-army-intel-officer-sentenced-after-selling-u-s-military-secrets-to-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to seven years in prison for selling critical military documents to an individual believed to be tied to the Chinese government. Schultz was paid $42,000 for information on American military exercises and technical equipment manuals.
Just last month, the Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/active-duty-and-former-us-army-soldiers-arrested-theft-government-property-and-bribery">announced</a> that Jian Zhao and Li Tian, both active duty Army soldiers also stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and former soldier Ruoyu Duan had been charged with stealing U.S. military secrets. They were accused of taking top-secret hard drives, information on weapon systems, and documents on missile defenses to sell to individuals based in China.

TOPSHOT-ASIAD-2022-2023-HANGZHOU-OPENING

Ex-U.S. Army Soldier Admits Plot To Provide China With Sensitive Military Intel

Ex-U.S. Army Soldier Admits To Plot To Provide China With Sensitive Military Intel

Communist China

Military

Spying

U.S. Army

Macklemore, a rapper best known for the 2012 song “Thrift Shop,” was the victim of a home invasion at his Seattle residence over the weekend while his children and nanny were there. 
According to the police report, two men allegedly entered the residence just after midnight on Saturday morning. A woman later identified as the family nanny was able to escape and call 911 after she was hit with a blast of bear spray. 
“She escaped, but three children were still inside the house,” the report said, per <a href="https://people.com/macklemore-seattle-home-reportedly-robbed-3-children-inside-cops-11751678">People</a>. “[The caller] also added that the house belonged to a high-profile individual.”
The woman claims the intruders yelled at her, asking, “Where are the jewels, b*tch?” She then said she brought them to a bedroom and observed as the thieves “went through drawers, cabinets and raided the closet full of clothing, jewelry, and shoes.”
Social media users are pointing out the hypocrisy of police being dispatched to his home during a crisis after the rapper released the song “Hind’s Hall” last year, which was critical of law enforcement and referred to police officers as “actors with badges.”
The report also noted that the nanny believed the attack was “politically motivated for some reason.”
The 41-year-old recording artist, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, shares three children with his wife. The family lives in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. 
Macklemore was in Ireland at the time of the alleged break-in, per <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/06/10/macklemore-seattle-home-burglary-nanny-bear-maced/">TMZ</a>.
Macklemore&#8217;s anti-police single is also explicitly anti-Israel.
“Block the barricade until Palestine is free/When I was seven, I learned a lesson from Cube and Eazy-E,” the lyrics say. “What was it again? Oh yeah, f** the police/Actors in badges protecting property/And a system that was designed by white supremacy.”
The song was also critical of former President Joe Biden. &#8220;The blood is on your hands Biden, we can see it all,&#8221; the lyrics said. &#8220;And f*** no, I’m not voting for you in the fall.&#8221;
In 2023, at an anti-Israel rally in Washington, D.C., Macklemore took the stage and told the crowd, “I don’t know enough, but I know enough that this is a genocide,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rapper-slammed-after-encouraging-crowd-to-chant-fk-america">reported</a>.  Macklemore made headlines in 2024 for encouraging a crowd at a Seattle concert to chant, &#8220;F*** America.&#8221;

Macklemore

Rapper Who Called Cops ‘Actors With Badges’ Mocked After Police Respond To Home Invasion

Rapper Who Called Cops 'Actors With Badges' Had Seattle PD Dispatched During Home Invasion

Entertainment

Police

Rapper

Robbery

Seattle

U.S.

The same trans-identifying male high schooler who dominated last year&#8217;s girls’ Washington state track high school championship did it again over the weekend.
Verónica Garcia, 17, snagged his second state title in two years when he won the girls&#8217; 2A 400-meter race on Saturday.
In video of the race, Garcia can be seen crossing the finish line with a healthy lead over the second place runner.
Garcia, who runs on the girls&#8217; team at East Valley High School, won the same race last year with a record-smashing time of 55.59, close to his time this year, 55.75.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Update from Lauren Matthew, the real state champ!🏆
XX≠XY <a href="https://t.co/XvC9iVbu4S">https://t.co/XvC9iVbu4S</a> <a href="https://t.co/RHoh44uJYO">pic.twitter.com/RHoh44uJYO</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1928926375047557145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Garcia was heckled and booed by the crowd both before and after the race.
One man wearing a shirt that read &#8220;Save women&#8217;s sports&#8221; <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/high-school/wa-transgender-athlete-veronica-garcia-repeats-as-state-track-champion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> shouted “Let’s go girls!” and “girls’ race!”
The crowd also reportedly cheered for every female runner during the medal ceremony, but booed when Garcia was announced as the winner.
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After the race, Garcia lashed out at his critics, saying said the heckling made him &#8220;angry&#8221; and want to win even more.
“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/high-school/wa-transgender-athlete-veronica-garcia-repeats-as-state-track-champion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Seattle Times. “But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I’m going to push.&#8221;
“I’m going to put this in the most PG-13 way, I’m just going to say it’s a damn shame they don’t have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people.”
He previously placed near the bottom when he ran for the boys&#8217; team several years ago. In October 2022, Garcia ran in the boys’ 5,000-meter junior varsity race and <a href="https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/209254/results/874400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placed</a> 164th out of 172.
Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer whose 2022 loss to trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas helped ignite the battle to keep men out of women’s sports, praised the girl who placed second behind Garcia on Saturday.
&#8220;Congratulations to Lauren Matthew, the real Washington State Champion in the girls&#8217; 400m,&#8221; Gaines posted on X.
In another post, Matthew appeared holding a sign that read “Washington State Track and Field Real Girls 2A 400m Champion.”
In 2007, Washington state became the first state to pass legislation allowing trans-identifying males to participate in women&#8217;s sports. However, state law now conflicts with President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order banning federal funds for schools that allow males in girls&#8217; sports.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs high school sports in the state, still allows trans-identifying students to compete on the team of the opposite sex.
In December, a group of 14 school districts proposed changing the policy to keep males off female teams, but ultimately, no action was taken.

Back view of runner woman doing stretching and warming up her body before running in running track.

Trans-Identifying Male Runner Wins Girls’ Washington State Championship Race… Again

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