A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico, near the Guatemala border, on Friday morning. A tsunami threat has been issued for the coasts of both countries. “The earthquake happened at 7:48 a.m. Pacific time, and was originally reported as a magnitude 7.4 before being recalculated as a magnitude 7.3,” FOX Weather stated. “The quake hit about 40 miles from the major port city of Puerto Madero, near the Guatemala border,” Fox News wrote. “The powerful tremor prompted a tsunami warning and was felt across parts of Central America,” it added. Watch the breaking news alert: BREAKING: A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Mexico's Pacific coast. The quake hit about 40 miles from the major port city of Puerto Madero, near the Guatemala border. The powerful tremor prompted a tsunami warning and was felt across parts of Central America. |… pic.twitter.com/yoOp4JyESw — Fox News (@FoxNews) July 17, 2026 FOX Weather has more: Shaking was reported in Guatemala and Mexico, but the USGS said strong shaking could be expected across western Mexico and Guatemala, especially near the coasts. This is the latest in a string of large earthquakes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is a 25,000-mile belt of volcanoes and earthquake zones surrounding much of the Pacific Ocean. Footage online shows some of the shaking felt in the region: BUILDINGS SHAKE ACROSS MEXICO Terrifying moments as buildings sway violently following a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake off Mexico's Pacific coast.#BreakingNews #Earthquake #Mexico #Tsunami #TsunamiWarning #Seismic #NaturalDisaster #PacificOcean pic.twitter.com/jrBR2BtvwT — Rosa News Official (@Mirha1206) July 17, 2026 7.4 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES MEXICO A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake has struck off the Pacific coast of Mexico, sending strong tremors across parts of the country.#BreakingNews #Earthquake #Mexico #Tsunami #TsunamiWarning #Seismic #NaturalDisaster #PacificOcean pic.twitter.com/Z2pSoJzSoS — Rosa News Official (@Mirha1206) July 17, 2026 USA TODAY shared further: Following the tremor, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said that hazardous tsunami waves were possible along coasts located within 186 miles of the epicenter. The waves could reach levels between 0.3 and 1 meter above tide level for some coasts in Mexico and Guatemala, it said. Mexico’s Navy secretary, Raymundo Morales, said water levels were not expected to rise more than half a meter, but advised people to stay away from beaches nevertheless. “There is no problem, no serious maritime impact,” Morales said during a regular government press conference. “We only expect some beaches to see a rise in water level of up to half a meter due to the tsunami effect from the earthquake.” A series of aftershocks, including some with magnitudes between 5 and 6, were also felt in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. In Guatemala City, the earthquake shook buildings and prompted some residents to dash from their homes to the streets, according to a Reuters witness. Local media in Guatemala showed footage of staff evacuating a government building as security protocols were activated. “I got really scared and it reminded me of the recent earthquake in Venezuela. So I ran out and went down the stairs because I live on the eighth floor. The shaking wouldn’t stop,” Alexander Valdez, a 29-year-old accountant, told Reuters in Guatemala City. The post DEVELOPING: Powerful Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake Hits Near Mexico, Tsunami Threat Issued appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.

Newly sworn-in Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, the late Lindsey Graham’s sister, is reportedly considering running in the August special primary to seek a full Senate term. Graham was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to serve the remainder of her brother’s term, which concludes in January 2027. Semafor: Newly appointed U.S. Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) — sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham — has told the White House she is seriously considering a run in the special August Republican primary for the full six-year Senate term. pic.twitter.com/YNDzkxp8gr — InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 17, 2026 POLITICO has more: The filing window for candidates in the August 11 primary opens Tuesday. The field of candidates could include Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette; Reps. Russell Fry, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman; businessman Mark Lynch; and former Gov. Mark Sanford, among others. On Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) hinted that Graham could join their ranks. “Darline has so far been off to a remarkable start,” Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CBS News. “Why not her?” A spokesperson for Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The news of her interest in running for a full term came as a surprise to some prominent South Carolina Republicans. “My understanding is that she told Governor [Henry] McMaster that she would accept the appointment to fill the rest of the term, not to be a candidate for it,” said South Carolina Republican Party Chair Drew McKissick. Although President Trump supported Graham to serve the remainder of her brother’s term, it’s unclear if he would back her for a full term. Amid reports of her interest in a full term, Graham is among the favorites in the August special primary. NEW FRONTRUNNER: Darline Graham Nordone, Lindsey Graham’s sister, is now the favorite to be the South Carolina Republican Senate primary winner pic.twitter.com/GaefTjnKwx — Kalshi Politics (@KalshiPolitics) July 17, 2026 CBS News shared further: Earlier, Scott had praised Darline Graham for having “grace and grit” when South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her Monday as her brother’s replacement for the remainder of his current term, which ends in January. “I was, like, wow. A Graham is a Graham is a Graham,” Scott said about her demeanor during “one of the hardest days in her life.” She isn’t the first person to take over a political office once held by a family member: Rep. Debbie Dingell holds the Michigan U.S. House seat that was held for decades by her husband, John, and former Sen. Jean Carnahan was appointed to a Missouri U.S. Senate seat in 2001 after her husband died shortly before winning an election. The post Lindsey Graham’s Sister Reportedly Considering A Run For Full Senate Term appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.

The timing is startling. But the facts still have to be kept in a straight line. Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele has died at age 77, according to a new report, just eight days after he ordered federal immigration officials to release a convicted Cuban plane hijacker from ICE custody. No cause of death has been publicly announced. There is also no evidence at this point connecting Steele’s death to the ruling that had suddenly placed his name in national headlines. Two extraordinary facts can sit next to each other without one proving the other. Judge who freed Cuban plane hijacker dies suddenly days after controversial ruling https://t.co/kD03xuAx2t pic.twitter.com/uPfg0MQQCQ — New York Post (@nypost) July 16, 2026 The New York Post reported that Steele’s death was confirmed by a Miami legal source and by a law clerk for Chief U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard. The circumstances of his death were not disclosed. The report identified Steele as the senior Middle District of Florida judge who had just handled Morales’ habeas petition. It also recounted the hijacking conviction and the release order that triggered a fierce response from DHS and Congress. The report appeared eight days after Steele signed the Morales release order and one day after an impeachment resolution was introduced against him in Congress. It noted that remarkable timing, but it did not allege that the events were connected. The Post cited no medical finding, law-enforcement allegation or official statement suggesting foul play. It also did not identify a cause or place of death. That missing information matters. Until Steele’s family or the federal court releases more, anyone claiming to know what happened is moving beyond the known facts. What is known is that Steele had just issued one of the most controversial orders of his career. On July 8, he directed ICE to release Miakel Guerra Morales, a Cuban national convicted for his role in the 2003 hijacking of a commuter plane bound for Havana. Plane hijacker awaiting deportation freed by Dem-appointed 'activist' judge https://t.co/Oy6fHZFC2d pic.twitter.com/Ysf9YMSc3Y — New York Post (@nypost) July 14, 2026 The actual federal court order lays out a case more complicated than a judge simply deciding that a convicted hijacker deserved freedom. Steele signed the 17-page decision on July 8 in Miakel Guerra Morales v. Field Office Director, case number 2:26-cv-133-JES-DNF. The court was deciding whether ICE could keep holding Morales after his prison sentence while actual removal from the country remained uncertain. Morales and at least 11 others boarded a Cuban commuter aircraft on March 19, 2003, assaulted members of the crew and forced the pilot to fly to Key West. The order says the group used knives and other force during the takeover. Morales was later sentenced to 264 months in federal prison for aircraft piracy and conspiracy to interfere with a flight crew. That conviction was never overturned and was not challenged in Steele’s immigration-detention ruling. After serving roughly 21 years, Morales entered immigration custody. An immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States but deferred his removal to Cuba under the Convention Against Torture. ICE released Morales under supervision in March 2023, then arrested him again on December 30, 2025, while attempting to arrange his removal to Mexico. That is where the government’s case ran into a serious legal problem. By the time Steele ruled, Morales had been back in immigration detention for more than six months. The judge wrote that the government had produced no evidence that Mexico had agreed to accept him, that Mexican travel documents had been requested or that removal to any other country was likely in the foreseeable future. Under the Supreme Court’s 2001 decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, the government generally cannot hold a noncitizen under a final removal order indefinitely when there is no significant likelihood of actual removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. Steele did not erase Morales’ conviction. He did not give him legal status. He ordered ICE to release him within 24 hours under the same supervision framework that had applied before the December arrest. The order also made clear that Morales could face penalties for violating those conditions and could be detained again if his removal later became reasonably foreseeable. That explains the legal basis for Steele’s decision. It does not make the result any less alarming to Americans who watched a man convicted of taking over a plane at knifepoint walk back out of federal custody. In a July 14 official statement, the Department of Homeland Security blasted the ruling and said the release put the public at risk. DHS stressed the violence of the original crime, Morales’ aircraft-piracy conviction and the 264-month prison sentence. The department also argued that federal judges should not prevent the administration from detaining what it described as dangerous criminal illegal aliens while removal efforts continue. The agency said ICE had taken Morales back into custody in December 2025 after previously releasing him under supervision. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis framed Steele’s order as judicial overreach and argued that the administration was trying to protect American communities while pursuing deportation. The dispute was real: Steele concluded the Constitution and controlling Supreme Court precedent barred continued detention on the record before him. DHS believed the result placed a convicted hijacker back into an American community while officials were still trying to deport him. The backlash reached Congress almost immediately. On July 15, Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube introduced articles of impeachment against Steele. A Cuban national convicted of hijacking a plane at knifepoint in 2003 should never have been released back into our communities. @DHSgov is right to call this out for what it is: activist judicial overreach. I introduced articles of impeachment against Judge John E. Steele for… — Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) July 16, 2026 The official congressional record for H.Res. 1431 shows that Steube introduced the resolution on July 15 and that it was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. The measure formally accused Steele of conduct warranting impeachment over the Morales release. It was an introduced resolution, not an impeachment vote by the full House, and the referral placed it at the beginning of the congressional process. That sequence is important: the court order came July 8, DHS issued its public condemnation July 14, and Steube filed the impeachment resolution July 15. Steele’s death was reported the following day. His death now ends any practical question of removing him from a judicial office he no longer holds. It does not settle the wider fight over the release order or answer whether the government could have built a stronger record for continued detention. Steele’s official court biography says President Bill Clinton nominated him to the federal bench on June 6, 2000. The Senate confirmed him on July 21, 2000, and he received his commission five days later. Steele took senior status in June 2015 after nearly 15 years as an active district judge. Before becoming a district judge, Steele served as a federal magistrate judge in the Middle District of Florida from 1991 to 2000. His earlier career included work as a county prosecutor in Michigan and as an assistant U.S. attorney in both Michigan and Florida. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit in 1971 and his law degree there in 1973. By the time of the Morales ruling, Steele had spent roughly 35 years on the federal bench. His final days now leave two separate questions hanging in the air. One is legal: whether ICE could have supplied stronger evidence that Morales’ removal was actually progressing and therefore justified continued detention. The other is personal: what caused Judge Steele’s sudden death at 77. The first question can be argued from the court record. The second cannot be answered until more information is released. Steele’s order can be criticized. His death can be regarded as deeply startling. Neither fact gives anyone permission to invent the missing pieces. Here is what the public record supports: a Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered a convicted plane hijacker released from ICE custody, a member of Congress moved to impeach him, and within days the judge’s death was reported. That sequence is extraordinary enough without adding a single unsupported word. This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here. The post Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Dies Suddenly Days After Ordering Convicted Plane Hijacker Released From ICE Custody appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.

How low can this get? A comedian and social-media personality says she carried a cake to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Capitol Hill office on Tuesday, just days after his death and on the same day his grieving sister was sworn in to finish his term. The cake bore a smiling photograph of Graham beneath one grotesque made-up word: “CONGRATUDOLENCES!” Elizabeth Booker Houston then aimed the rest of her message directly at Darline Graham, writing that her brother was “burning in hell” and that she was now working for the devil. Houston’s post had been viewed more than 1.6 million times by Friday afternoon. This was not a stray insult buried in a comment section. Houston photographed the cake, publicized the alleged delivery, named the newly sworn-in senator, and turned a family’s grief into content. Houston Documented The Stunt Fox News reported Friday that Houston posted the cake photo Tuesday and claimed she had dropped it off at Graham’s office. The outlet described the white-frosted cake, its blue roses, the photograph of the late senator, and the reaction that followed online. Some users applauded Houston. Many others called the stunt hateful, ghoulish, and a sign that partisan obsession had overwhelmed basic decency. Fox said it contacted Houston, Darline Graham’s office, and the United States Capitol Police for comment. The report did not include confirmation from the office or police that the cake was accepted, so Houston’s delivery claim remains just that: her claim. And Houston went far beyond one photograph. Video circulating on X shows her discussing the idea, displaying the cake, traveling with it, and filming outside in Washington. The repost’s caption says Houston had initially contemplated using the concept after Sen. Mitch McConnell’s death, then redirected it toward Graham after his sudden passing. That detail strips away any pretense that this was spontaneous political commentary. The cruelty was the point. The target was interchangeable. Darline Was Sworn In That Same Day Gov. Henry McMaster’s official appointment announcement says Darline Graham became the first woman to represent South Carolina in the United States Senate. She was selected to serve through January 3, 2027, while the state proceeds toward its November election. The announcement also lays out a public-service career spanning nearly 30 years. Darline has served as commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind since 2019 and previously worked at Clemson University, the state Department of Employment and Workforce, and the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. She was not taking a victory lap when Houston says the cake arrived. She had just taken an oath to finish the work of the brother she had lost only days earlier. Sen. Tim Scott welcomed her with an entirely different message: Scott’s official statement recalled the bond between Lindsey and Darline after their parents died 15 months apart. Lindsey took responsibility for his younger sister and later adopted her so she could receive military benefits while he served in the Air Force. Scott noted that Darline spent her career helping people with disabilities find work. He described her appointment as a tribute to a brother who had spent his life looking out for her and welcomed South Carolina’s first female senator with the support of her colleagues. The contrast could hardly be clearer. One side saw a newly bereaved sister stepping into public service under extraordinary circumstances. The other apparently saw an opportunity to order dessert, write “burning in hell” online, and chase attention. Americans can disagree with Lindsey Graham’s politics, votes, and legacy. That is part of public life. Tormenting his sister days after his death is not brave political comedy. It is cruelty dressed up as a punchline, and Houston made sure the whole country could see exactly who delivered it. This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here. The post SICK: “Comedian” Says She Delivered Vile Cake To Lindsey Graham’s Office Days After His Death appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.

Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Trump’s latest nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in a Senate confirmation hearing that she believes mRNA technology is “safe and effective.” “I do believe that mRNA technology is safe and effective,” Schwartz said. “She’s being nominated to LEAD the agency responsible for our public health, disease prevention, vaccine recommendations, safety monitoring, outbreak response, and health policy guidance for the U.S.,” the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation stated. “This includes significant influence over immunization schedules, technology oversight (like for mRNA and related programs),” it added. Watch below: CDC Director nominee Dr. Erica Schwartz states LAUGHING, “I do believe that mRNA technology is safe and effective.” She’s being nominated to LEAD the agency responsible for our public health, disease prevention, vaccine recommendations, safety monitoring, outbreak response, and… pic.twitter.com/c7RuS4DqQS — Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (@VacSafety) July 16, 2026 More from the Associated Press: Dr. Erica Schwartz told the Senate health committee she “will never betray the science” and pledged to use “radical transparency” in a bid to rebuild public trust in the agency. But several senators questioned how she might handle pressure from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly moved to alter U.S. vaccine and CDC policies. Schwartz repeatedly declined to dissent from some of those actions. Schwartz, 54, is up for director of the Atlanta-based CDC, which is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats. Her career has largely been spent in military uniform, including in a leadership position at the U.S. Coast Guard where she oversaw the organization’s system of 41 clinics and 150 sick bays — as well as policies promoting vaccinations of service members. She later served as deputy surgeon general, where she helped lead uniformed medical and health professionals posted at the CDC and government health agencies that serve the general public. The CDC long enjoyed a sterling international reputation but has been in turmoil since Trump returned to office last year. Largely due to layoffs and resignations, the agency has lost more than 3,000 employees, or more than a quarter of its workforce. Morale has plummeted as a succession of mostly temporary leaders have come and gone — the front office filled with political appointees, many of them with little or no training in medicine or public health. Attorney Aaron Siri said Schwartz would “likely be a disaster.” “Schwartz led nationwide Covid-19 vaccine deployment and her long track record of directly issuing rights-crushing civilian and military vaccine mandates, including mandating injection of smallpox, anthrax, and flu vaccines into U.S. Forces, and discipling those that refused, reflects she lacks the basic ethics and morals to lead the CDC. This agency does not need another cheerleader for industry; it needs a regulator over industry,” Siri said. “Her prior promotion, let alone mandates, of nearly a dozen different vaccines leave little hope she will objectively oversee CDC’s vaccine program which has, between 1986 and the 2026, gone from 3 injections to 29 injections, including in utero, by an infant’s first birthday, while chronic childhood disease has gone from under 10% to over 40% of children, most related to immune system dysregulation,” he continued. Trump's pick to head the CDC, Erica Schwartz, would likely be a disaster. Schwartz led nationwide Covid-19 vaccine deployment and her long track record of directly issuing rights-crushing civilian and military vaccine mandates, including mandating injection of smallpox,… — Aaron Siri (@AaronSiriSG) April 16, 2026 CIDRAP shared further: Several committee members, particularly Democrats, used the hearing to lambast Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has worked to reduce access to vaccines. During Kennedy’s leadership, senators noted, the United States has experienced its largest measles outbreak in 35 years and is currently in the midst of a nationwide outbreak of explosive diarrhea caused by Cyclospora infections that has sickened nearly 7,000 people. “Let us be clear: The major reason we are here today is because Secretary Kennedy fired Dr. Susan Monarez, the first Senate-confirmed CDC director, after less than one month on the job,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and ranking minority committee member. Monarez “refused to act as a rubber stamp for Secretary Kennedy’s very dangerous agenda to limit the use of safe and effective vaccines,” Sanders said. “Dr. Monarez, to her credit, stood up for science, public health, and for the scientific method. Frankly, she stood up for protecting the well-being of the American people, and that was the reason that she was fired. On a number of occasions, senators pressed Schwartz to provide a yes or no answer, but didn’t get one. Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, noted that Kennedy canceled a CDC campaign to promote flu vaccines in 2025 during an influenza season in which nearly 300 children died. She asked Schwartz multiple times how she would respond to such a move. If Kennedy “ordered you to stop promoting the flu vaccine during a deadly flu season for children, would you carry out that order?” “I don’t speak in hypotheticals,” Schwartz said. “So, yes or no?” Hassan asked. “ Are you going to protect our kids, or are you going to follow an uninformed order from the secretary?” Schwartz answered, “Senator, I will always, always protect our children.” Hassan asked again, “You would refuse that order, yes or no?” Schwartz responded, “Senator, my understanding of what happened back then was that the secretary has, he has various priorities, and as he’s as he’s looking at his priorities in terms of what…” Hassan cut in, “I’m sorry, that’s not acceptable.” The post “I Do Believe That mRNA Technology Is Safe And Effective” – CDC Director Nominee Says appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.