Monday, February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump's record-breaking start rattles Washington, rankles rivals, but earns raves from voters . . . President Trump, in a burst of presidential action unmatched in modern U.S. history, has loosed a flurry of executive orders to shore up the border and deport illegal immigrants, dismantle the Washington bureaucracy, oust his opponents in the deep state and reset global alliances. Mr. Trump has issued 90 executive orders, memorandums and directives, an average of three per day. That's more than three times the pace of his first administration and more in four weeks than the combined number of similar actions by Presidents Biden, Obama and Clinton. Polls show that Mr. Trump's early actions have been popular with voters, and his job approval rating remains positive. Washington Times

Politics

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Fire Ethics Watchdog . . . President Trump's campaign to remake the federal government reached the Supreme Court on Sunday, when the Justice Department filed emergency papers arguing that Trump holds the constitutional power to dismiss an executive-branch ethics watchdog. Delliger's five-year term is Senate-confirmed, and federal law protects him from arbitrary dismissal. After the firing, Dellinger sued, arguing that his dismissal was illegal because the president provided no rationale. Wall Street Journal

This is a first test of the "unitary executive theory," which holds that the Constitution gives the president full authority over the executive branch. Therefore, he can fire anyone he wants.

'President Trump Saved My Life': Pardoned Pro-Lifers Reflect on Incarceration, Newfound Freedom . . . Pro-lifers convicted under the FACE Act and released from prison after President Donald Trump pardoned them on Jan. 24 tell The Daily Signal they are grateful to God and to Trump for returning them to their families. Trump pardoned 23 pro-lifers who were convicted for actions including praying outside abortion clinics and encouraging women in unplanned pregnancies to choose life. "They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted," the president said. The Daily Signal

Vance sends shockwaves through Europe with warning about censorship, political intolerance . . . Vice President J.D. Vance's first foreign assignment roiled Europe with a stark warning that the continent's drift toward censorship and political intolerance posed the greatest risk to its security alliance with America. While the warning was met with shock and derision from some officials in attendance, the vice president noted several recent moves by European governments and officials that he says bare a striking resemblance to the behavior of the Soviet Union. Just the News

USDA Axes Millions in Contracts, Including $230K for 'Brazilian Forest and Gender Consultant' . . . The U.S. Department of Agriculture has slashed millions in contracts that were active under the Biden administration, including for a "Brazilian forest and gender consultant" and a "Central American gender assessment consultant." Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the cuts on Friday, saying that the department has terminated 78 contracts totaling more than $132 million. Rollins said 1,000 contracts are also currently under review for potential termination. Breitbart

Kamala's word salad is back on the menu . . .

Culture

Hidden Camera Video Shows Texas DEI Director Discussing Transgender Sports 'Workarounds' . . . A Texas school district's DEI director resigned after being recorded on hidden camera discussing ways to circumvent state law regarding transgender student athletes. In the recording from Accuracy in Media, Hutto Independent School District Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Keyawna Glaze told an undercover journalist there were "workarounds" to Texas law requiring student athletes to compete on teams matching their birth certificate. Daily Signal

'Just the Beginning': Californians Fight Back Against Leftist Gender Ideology . . . With the announcement of new legislation in the state Assembly on Friday to protect girls and women's sports as well as parental rights, advocates say they want California to set a precedent for other liberal blue states. The three bills would allow parents to opt their children out of instruction about transgender concepts in school, amend child abuse codes to exclude parental refusal to medically or socially transition their child, and return to sex-segregated athletics, restrooms, and changing rooms. Daily Signal

Tennessee Approves School Voucher Laws, Excluding Children of Illegal Aliens . . . Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday signed legislation designed to drastically expand school voucher access throughout the Volunteer State that will allow families to use taxpayer dollars on private school expenses regardless of income. Republican leaders included a key provision: Students living in the country illegally will be prohibited from participating. Associated Press

National Security

China Rehearses for a Blockade of Taiwan . . . Adm. Sam Paparo, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Adm. Paparo said this week that China's "aggressive maneuvers around Taiwan right now are not exercises, as they call them. They are rehearsals" for "the forced unification of Taiwan to the mainland." Two months ago Beijing practiced sealing off the First Island Chain, which runs from Japan south to Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. The goal is to cut off Western support for Taiwan in a blockade or invasion. Wall Street Journal

'I think that's ridiculous': Tom Homan on quid pro quo speculation over Eric Adams . . . White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday rejected claims that the Trump Department of Justice dismissed a criminal bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for his cooperation over immigration. The mayor on Thursday committed to allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents back into the city's Rikers Island jail complex. "It was cop to cop, not border czar to mayor, cop to cop," Homan told Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union." Politico

International

Pope's health a 'complex clinical situation', Vatican says . . . Pope Francis is being treated for a "complex clinical situation" and will remain in hospital for as long as necessary, the Vatican has said. The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday to undergo treatment and tests for bronchitis. In an update on Monday, the Vatican said the pontiff has a "polymicrobial infection" of his respiratory tract, which has required a change in his treatment. BBC

Released Gaza Hostages are Facing Long, Wrenching Recoveries . . . Some 250 people were taken hostage on Oct. 7, including 40 children. About 70 remain in Gaza, although Israeli officials think more than 30 of them are dead. Those believed to be alive have thus far endured nearly 500 days in captivity. Former hostages, family members and therapists said the lives of those who are released will never be the same. Wall Street Journal

Money

The New Plan for Western Companies Is ABC: 'Anything But China' . . . In recent years, many multinationals decided they had become overreliant on suppliers in China, prompting them to pursue a so-called "China Plus 1" strategy of augmenting China-based suppliers with those in other countries. Now, with U.S.-China tensions soaring again, many tech businesses are accelerating moves to shift production out of China and look for suppliers elsewhere, signifying a global tech world that is increasingly bifurcated between the two powers. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

William Byron captures 2nd straight Daytona 500 victory in overtime lap thriller . . . William Byron won the Daytona 500, which was a marathon on Sunday night, after rain delays and yellow caution flags ultimately led to some overtime laps. And those two overtime laps were an absolute thrill that saw multiple spin-outs and crashes that allowed Byron to win the Daytona 500 for the second consecutive year. Fox News

CBS host blasted for 'bonkers' claim that Nazi Germany 'weaponized' free speech . . . CBS host Margaret Brennan made what many called an "incredibly dumb" and "deeply ignorant" statement claiming Nazi Germany "weaponized free speech" during her show on Sunday. The "Face the Nation" host clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over Vice President JD Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany last week. After Vance criticized European allies for adopting a "soviet"-style approach to censorship, Brennan implied free speech likely led to the Holocaust. "Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide," Brennan replied. Fox News

Measles Outbreak Rages in Texas with 48 Cases . . . Officials are investigating a measles outbreak hitting areas in west Texas, with more than a dozen patients hospitalized, the news coming after health agencies said the childhood disease was eliminated in 2000. Officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services said approximately 48 cases were identified, with symptom onset in the past few weeks, Fox News reported Saturday. Breitbart

Ten best moments as stars mark 50 years of Saturday Night Live

Guilty Pleasures

Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy Falls for Parody Page . . . An X account with the handle "@laratrumppage" (not to be confused with the real page of President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, @LaraLeaTrump) made a post calling for border czar Tom Homan to arrest Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, completely triggering Murphy on Friday: "It takes some fucking gall to have Vance lecturing Europe on 'free speech' when at the exact same time the Trump regime is threatening Democrats back home with arrest if they even explain people's rights to them," Murphy wrotet. Breitbart

Trump's social media team reacted, calling Murphy "a moron."

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