May 23, 2025
Good morning,
Welcome to the news for independent thinkers
Leading the News . . .
Biden Mental Decline Probe: House Oversight Demands 5 Former White House Staffers Reveal What They Knew . . . The House Oversight Committee is seeking answers from top Biden administration officials—including the 46th president's doctor—about Joe Biden's apparent mental decline while in office and his staff's use of an "autopen" to put his signature on official documents. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter Wednesday to five former Biden administration officials, calling them to appear before the committee for transcribed interviews. Daily Signal
This is a huge scandal that greatly endangered the country and requires congressional investigation. Some in the administration were concerned that Biden would not be able to handle being waken up in the middle of the night to oversee a crisis. Sadly, our enemies are unlikely to agree to attack during daytime hours only.
Politics
Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Heads to Senate, Where New Fights Loom . . . Senate Republicans are split. Some are eyeing further spending cuts, while others are looking for bigger tax relief or gentler phaseouts of clean-energy incentives. Hard-fought House sweeteners such as the higher cap on state-and-local tax deductions could face scrutiny. Any changes in the Senate would then have to be approved by the House before heading to Trump's desk. "I don't suspect we'll tear the whole thing apart, but we're probably going to repaint some of the interior walls," said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.). Wall Street Journal
Senate GOP weighs SALT changes despite 'big, beautiful bill' deal . . . Senate Republicans are staring down a collision course with the House as they weigh possible changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap as part of larger revisions to the party's massive tax bill. House Republicans hailing from high-tax blue states struck a deal with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to increase the SALT deduction cap to $40,000 from the current $10,000 mark shortly before the full chamber passed the "big, beautiful bill" early Thursday. The Hill
The Megabill Is a Total Bust, According to the GOP's Leading Economic Populist
House-Passed Budget Bill Defunds Planned Parenthood . . . In the bill, the House GOP removed Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the country. The move is a monumental win for pro-lifers because Planned Parenthood receives more than one-third of its overall funding from the U.S. government through grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements. That translates to about $2 million per day, which taxpayers are on the hook for. Daily Signal
How a Freedom Caucus Revolt Ended in the White House
Supreme Court signals Trump can't fire Fed Chair Powell but allows him to axe others from independent agencies . . . The Supreme Court on Thursday said the relationship between the president and the Federal Reserve is different from that of other independent agencies, signaling that Chair Jerome Powell is legally protected from being removed by President Donald Trump. The justices, in a ruling that blessed Trump's decision to fire members of two independent U.S. labor boards, said they did not think the case had implications for whether the president was allowed to fire Fed board members or other officials on the central bank's rate-setting committee. Politico
Trump says autism 'has to be artificially induced'
Mike Collins Within Striking Distance of Sen. Jon Ossoff in Senate Matchup, Poll Finds . . . New polling shows Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins within "striking distance" of incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff in a hypothetical matchup for one of the Senate seats representing the Peach State. The Cygnal poll, conducted from May 15 to May 17 among 800 likely voters, found Ossoff leading Collins 45.7% to 43.3%—well within the survey's 3.41 percentage point margin of error. Daily Signal
Culture
Trump Administration Blocks Harvard From Enrolling Foreign Students . . . The Trump administration is yanking Harvard University's authorization to enroll foreign students, a major escalation and financial blow in the government's pressure campaign against the nation's most prominent university. Harvard enrolls about 7,000 international students—more than 25% of the student body—and like many U.S. universities, it relies on their tuition payments, which are often full-fee. The Trump administration has already pulled billions of dollars in federal research funding from the school and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status, citing concerns about antisemitism and DEI. Wall Street Journal
MAHA Scores Big Wins Below Radar
Aaron Rodgers Opposes Men Competing in Women's Sports . . . NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers publicly announced his opposition to men competing in women's sports this week, calling the broader movement "anti-woman." Rodgers delivered his takedown of trans athletes competing in women's sports during an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. "The trans woman movement is actually anti-woman," Rodgers said before clarifying that he meant sports. Breitbart
International
Biden-era reports, genocide expert confirm Trump's human rights fears for South African farmers . . . The tit-for-tat battle the news media has waged against President Donald Trump over his administration's South African refugee policy is masking a harsh reality: that the country's farmers do in fact face a crisis of violence. Even Biden-era government reports and genocide watch group have raised flags, mostly being ignored until now. The only question is whether race or greed is the motive for the crimes. Just the News
North Korean leader furious over failed destroyer launch, vows to arrest those responsible . . . North Korea is seeking to arrest those responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, as it denied the warship suffered major damage — a claim quickly met with outside skepticism. A statement from North Korea on its handling of the botched launch came after leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over the incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said Friday that those responsible would be held accountable for their "unpardonable criminal act." Associated Press
Incentivizing success, North Korean style. Apparently, Kim himself was there to watch the fiasco.
Money
Bond Market to Washington: We'll Make You Pay . . . At 4.55%, the 10-year Treasury yield is back to where it started the year, and still below the 5% hit in the fall of 2023. It adds to the evidence that something fundamental has changed in the financial markets. The prepandemic era, when too much savings chased too few bonds, is over. Governments everywhere must pay up, and big budget deficits are more dangerous. The trend is global, but the U.S. is an especially big piece of the story because of annual deficits likely to top $2 trillion on the way to $3 trillion, and the potential erosion of the dollar's reserve status. Wall Stret Journal
Trump's Memecoin Gala Dinner Draws Crypto Tycoons, a Basketball Star and Protests . . . In the ballroom, a crowd of admirers cheered on Trump. Among them was the crypto billionaire Justin Sun, whose large stake of $TRUMP coins assured him a spot in Trump's VIP reception at the event, and former basketball star Lamar Odom, who recently launched a memecoin of his own. Outside, on a damp spring evening, protesters waved signs highlighting the unusual circumstances that brought the president and the crypto industry together: A dinner exclusively for those who bought digital coins Trump issued earlier this year. Wall Street Journal
You should also know
'Heartbreaking': Young People Honor Couple Slain Outside Jewish Museum . . . Adrian Huizenga stood on Thursday afternoon outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., where less than 24 hours earlier, a couple—Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim—were fatally shot. "It's just so sad, just heartbreaking that … you see this rhetoric and this antisemitic violence going on that is very clearly targeting Jewish people," said Huizenga, 26, who knew Milgrim in a work context as young professionals in Washington. Daily Signal
Far-left, anti-Israel Bronx activist group shockingly cheers accused DC Jewish Museum terrorist Elias Rodriguez . . . A far-left, anti-Israel group in the Bronx disgustingly cheered the suspected terrorist accused of gunning down the two Israeli Embassy staffers in an antisemitic attack. The Bronx Anti-War group said what alleged gunman Elias Rodriguez "did is the highest expression of anti-Zionism" and "We need more Elias Rodriguez in this world" in a pair of social media posts on Thursday. New York Post
Wild moment Army Rangers go rogue and open fire at crowded Florida beach in mock sea battle gone wrong . . . A group of at least 18 Army Rangers apparently went rogue when they opened fire at a crowded Florida beach last Friday and sent boaters and sunbathers ducking for cover. The soldiers were caught on video wearing their military fatigues and Army Ranger t-shirts in two row boats off of Crab Island when they fired blanks into the air next to people wading through the shallow water and enjoying the warm weather. Daily Mail
A bather commented, "That was no day at the beach, I'll tell ya."
Sorry.
Guilty Pleasures
Indigenous Amazon tribe says New York Times story led to its members being smeared as porn addicts . . . An Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued The New York Times, saying the newspaper's reporting on the tribe's first exposure to the internet led to its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography. The Marubo Tribe of the Javari Valley, a sovereign community of about 2,000 people in the rainforest, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles. Associated Press
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