A top Russian official has warned of “the end of the world” if Donald Trump manages to secure Greenland for the US. It comes as tensions are continuing to rise between Washington and Copenhagen over the future of the island. Trump has been reiterating the need for the US to own Greenland, a semi-autonomous region […]

A Minnesota district court judge ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters. Judge Kate Menendez, a Joe Biden appointee, noted that people observing the agents – as Renee Nicole Good and her wife allegedly were – are also not allowed to be detained. While the ruling comes […]

How Gavin Newsom Avoids His Record

A federal judge just ordered ICE agents not to retaliate against peaceful protesters in Minnesota in a lawsuit brought by activists. The judge, a Biden appointee, said they also can’t use pepper . . .

Former President Trump released a campaign proposal Friday to punish human traffickers with the death penalty, his latest tough-on-crime policy unveiled as part of his 2024 White House bid. "When I am back in the White House, I will immediately end the Biden border nightmare that traffickers are using to exploit vulnerable women and children," Trump said in a video released by his campaign...

President Donald Trump's administration is close to implementing a rule that would end long-standing legal protections for whistleblowers among senior federal employees, according to documents reviewed by Reuters, prompting backlash from lawyers representing government workers. The rule, if finalized, would follow Trump's April proposal to change employment standards for federal workers and build on a series of actions by the administration to minimize dissent across the government...

Over the past few days, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been in China in an open attempt to pivot to China and spurn Canada’s relationship with the United States. In a jubilant press release on Friday, the prime minister’s office declared that Carney is “forg[ing] [a] new strategic partnership with the People’s Republic of China.” The government went on to repeatedly tout this “new strategic partnership,” framing the relationship as entirely overhauled. Further, Carney announced that Canada is dropping tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from 100 percent to 6.1 percent, opening the door to importing cheap Chinese cars (heavily subsidized by the communist government) that promise to sink the Canadian car industry. That decision signals a major break from Canada’s previously united stance with the U.S. against such vehicles. The reset is quite dramatic. Chinese–Canadian relations had been tense for years, owing to Chinese meddling in Canadian elections, secret Chinese police stations inside Canada that surveilled Chinese-Canadians, violations of Canadian sovereignty by way of Chinese ghost ships in arctic waters, the detainment under false premises of two Canadian citizens in retaliation to Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou — deemed the “two Michaels” affair, and retaliatory Chinese tariffs on Canadian agricultural goods, particularly on canola seeds. Carney further said in his press conference Thursday that the “progress” China and Canada have made in their relationship “sets us up well for the new world order.” Yet Carney seems ready to brush that all away and start fresh. He said that Canada’s relationship with China is “more predictable” than its relationship with the United States and that “you see results coming from that.” Carney further said in his press conference Thursday that the “progress” China and Canada have made in their relationship “sets us up well for the new world order.” (RELATED: Canadians Fear US Invasion After Maduro Seizure) Carney even seemed to bow to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s demand that Canada treat China with “respect,” which is clearly asking Canada to avoid speaking out against China’s dismal human rights record, including its mass detention, indoctrination of, and sterilization of Uyghurs; decades of forced abortions; suppression of freedom of speech; crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong; religious persecution and control; and detainment of democracy activists. Two Canadian lawmakers even departed early from diplomatic trips to Taiwan due to Carney’s desire to avoid offending the Chinese dictator. Carney went on and on praising Xi and China. “We’re heartened by the leadership of President Xi Jinping and the speed with which our relationship has progressed,” he told Zhao Leji, the third-highest-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party, according to Reuters. The news outlet further reported that Carney told the second-highest-ranking member of the CCP, Li Qiang, that Canada and China are “together” bringing their relationship “back toward where it should be.” In his press release, Carney said that Canada and China “will deepen our engagement on improved global governance,” indicating a willingness to engage China in shaping international institutions. (RELATED: The Myth of the ‘Liberal International Order’) No doubt, Chinese officials are quite pleased that Canada is moving closer into their orbit and further away from the United States. They will be benefiting quite significantly from Carney’s decision to allow Chinese electric vehicles to be imported from China. Moreover, the concession they gave in exchange for this did not compare in value or significance. They agreed to lower tariffs on canola seeds from 85 percent to 15 percent. China had raised the tariff on those seeds in retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou and her extradition to the U.S. That means Canada gave a huge concession to China’s government that will harm its own economy, especially the economy in Ontario, and received only the end of a sanction made because of a lawful arrest of a woman who was years ago released back to China. Many in China are not happy that Carney’s agreements with China hurt Canadian automakers. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been outspoken and harsh in his criticism of Carney’s rollback of tariffs. “The federal government is inviting a flood of cheap made-in-China electric vehicles without any real guarantee of equal or immediate investments in Canada’s economy, auto sector or supply chain,” he said. Ford warned that Carney’s decision will likely harm Canada’s relationship with the United States. “Worse, by lowering tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this lopsided deal risks closing the door on Canadian automakers to the American market, our largest export destination, which would hurt our economy and lead to job losses,” he said. Ford said that Carney did not speak to him or Canadian carmakers before proceeding with revoking tariffs on Chinese vehicles. Carney is motivated by his belief that Trump is making the U.S. into an authoritarian threat that must be combatted by expanding Canada’s international ties and trading partnerships with other countries. But perhaps he also is incentivized by his long-term obsession with combatting climate change, which makes China’s offer of cheap electric vehicles sound irresistible. Carney’s office said that “central” to the “new partnership” between Canada and China is “an agreement to collaborate in energy, clean technology, and climate competitiveness.” His office further said that both countries are focused on “reducing emissions and scaling up investments in batteries, solar, wind, and energy storage.” (RELATED: Mark Carney’s Pseudo-Faith-Based War on CO2) Sure, Trump has been aggressive toward Canada by imposing tariffs on Canadian imports and making half-playful threats to make Canada America’s 51st state, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for Canada to cozy up to an authoritarian nation with terrible human rights abuses. Last year, Taiwan’s ambassador to Canada, Harry Tseng, attempted to warn Canada against falling into this trap of turning to China instead of the U.S. He argued that China wants to increase trade with Canada as part of its plot to grow its global influence. China, he said, is unpredictable and “not an ally.” “You’re unhappy with the U.S., I understand that,” Tseng said. “But … you and the United States have been helping each other be prosperous in the past decades.” Trump signaled Friday he was unbothered by Canada’s dealings with China. “That’s OK,” Trump said when asked about the two countries’ trade deal. “That’s what he should be doing. I mean, it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.” READ MORE from Ellie Gardey Holmes: Why Is RFK Jr.’s FDA Allowing Abortionists to Flood Red States With Pills? College Fine Arts and Theater Programs Are About to Be In Trouble Gavin Newsom, ‘King of Fraud’

For decades, I led state health and human services agencies and dealt directly with federal bureaucracies that write the rules but rarely live with the consequences. I have seen honest public servants fight to protect taxpayers. I have also seen the dominant reality: fraud, waste, and abuse are not occasional glitches in the federal system. They are predictable outputs of a machine built to move money quickly, discourage oversight, and reward insiders. Take Medicaid. For 30 years, Washington has known that states keep paying benefits for people who are dead, then claim federal matching dollars anyway. The practice is so entrenched that even when watchdogs document it, the system shrugs and moves on. I laid out the history in “Medicaid’s 30 Year Refusal to Stop Funding the Dead.” And the mechanics are not speculative. The HHS Office of the Inspector General has repeatedly found wrong monthly payments to Medicaid managed care plans for people who were already dead, including a nationwide estimate of $207.5 million in unallowable payments in a single year. (RELATED: How Medicaid Made a Billion-Dollar Crime Inevitable) The point is that when Washington creates giant pipelines of money with weak verification and fragmented accountability, organized fraud will follow, and state and local governments are left managing the wreckage. Minnesota offers a different window into the same federal failure. The Feeding Our Future case was a roughly $250 million scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program, and federal prosecutors have secured major convictions. The point is not to smear any community. The point is that when Washington creates giant pipelines of money with weak verification and fragmented accountability, organized fraud will follow, and state and local governments are left managing the wreckage. Now, suddenly, we are told Washington has “woken up.” The administration is invoking widespread fraud across federal programs and using that claim to justify extraordinary freezes and threats. HHS itself announced it was freezing billions in child care and family assistance grants to five states over fraud concerns. The Associated Press reports the administration is withholding social safety net funding from five states while demanding additional documentation to release funds. Reuters reports a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze of more than $10 billion in child and family aid. Here is the uncomfortable truth. This is not a new discovery. Washington did not just learn yesterday that fraud exists. Inspectors general and auditors have been flagging these failures for years. The difference is not awareness. The difference is political theater and blunt force tactics that still avoid the root cause: a federal apparatus too big to control and too insulated to reform itself. (RELATED: Minnesota Welfare Scandal Is the Fraud Warning Americans Finally Noticed) The federal government is to blame for the larger mess across domestic policy. Immigration decisions made far from local communities create immediate costs at the state and municipal level: housing, emergency healthcare, schools, and law enforcement. Federal education policy bloats administration while outcomes stagnate. Public welfare programs, especially Medicaid, do not merely spend money; they shape entire state bureaucracies around compliance and claims-making instead of outcomes. Federal procurement feeds permanent industries: health, weapons, transportation, and the consulting layer that lives off all of them. (RELATED: Washington’s Reverse Midas Touch) When I led state agencies, the incentives were never subtle. Do not rock the boat. Do not slow the money. Do not design controls that might reduce enrollment. Do not ask for flexibility if the answer might be no. States are treated like contractors, not sovereign partners, except that, unlike contractors, states cannot walk away. They must comply, staff up, build systems, and absorb political fallout when the program fails in plain sight. Appointees arrive, discover where power and money flow, and then begin planning their next landing spot. The revolving door is an operating model. This is why agencies like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are structurally incapable of fixing the problems they have created. The bureaucracy is too large, too fragmented, and too protected. Appointees arrive, discover where power and money flow, and then begin planning their next landing spot. The revolving door is an operating model. And the lobbying class not only influences policy, it often writes it, markets it, and profits from it. No presidential administration or Congress is immune. The incentives capture everyone eventually. And there is another reason Washington will not simplify. Too many powerful interests profit from complexity. A sprawling federal program does not just produce benefits for recipients. It produces revenue streams for Medicaid middlemen, billing and compliance vendors, consultants, contractors, and lobbying shops whose business model depends on ever-thicker rulebooks and ever-larger appropriations. Complexity has become the market in Washington. The more opaque the system becomes, the easier it is for insiders and fraudsters alike to siphon money while taxpayers are told the solution is, once again, more bureaucracy. Meanwhile, the middle class pays for the entire circus. Healthcare, food, fuel, housing, and basic stability become less affordable, while Washington congratulates itself for new initiatives that mostly expand staffing and paperwork. And the national debt keeps climbing. The U.S. Treasury’s Fiscal Data site currently puts federal debt at about $38.43 trillion. (RELATED: Is the Middle Class ‘Shrinking’ or ‘Struggling’? The Difference Is Important.) This is exactly the sort of regime the American Revolution was fought against. The Founders detested distant rule, concentrated authority, and a governing class that taxed, regulated, and dispensed favors while ordinary families bore the costs. They rejected a system where decisions were made far from the people affected, by officials who did not answer to local communities. They warned that power accretes, factions form, and the public treasury becomes prey. Every action of the federal government has a negative reaction at the state and local levels. When Washington expands, states must expand to keep up with the chaos. More federal rules require more state compliance offices. More federal money requires more state claims and reporting. More federal mandates require more state administrators, lawyers, and contractors. The bureaucracy balloons in tandem, and citizens are told it is modern governance rather than the predictable result of centralization. So what do we do, beyond venting? If Washington is going to fund programs, it must stop subsidizing negligence. That means more frequent eligibility redeterminations and stricter verification in Medicaid, especially for able-bodied adults, and mandatory routine cross-checks against death data to stop payments for deceased enrollees. The new law in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill requires quarterly audits against the Social Security Administration’s Full Death Master File starting in 2027, a recognition that the old trust model has failed. States with persistently high wrong payment rates should face real financial consequences, not polite letters and technical assistance. Washington must also stop encouraging financing gimmicks that inflate federal matching dollars without real state contributions. Hospital tax schemes and special payment deals used to draw more federal matching funds have become a cottage industry, and as long as the federal match is open-ended, the game will continue. The federal government cannot keep pretending it is buying integrity while rewarding manipulation. (RELATED: How Great Is the Great Healthcare Plan?) Across all programs, we need real work incentives and targeted enrollment, not permanent dependency and open-ended growth. Work requirements, properly designed with reasonable exemptions, are not a punishment. They are a boundary and a signal: benefits are a bridge, not a lifestyle. This is the moral logic of welfare reform aimed at independence and fiscal responsibility. We should also use modern tools to prevent fraud upstream rather than celebrate prosecutions after the money is gone. Review claims before paying them. Share data across states to stop duplicate enrollment. Build automated flags that catch suspicious patterns immediately. Prosecutions matter, but prevention is the only scalable strategy. Overall spending caps, block grants, or block grants with basic federal guardrails deserve serious consideration. Open-ended matching creates perverse incentives: expand rolls, expand claims, expand spending, then blame need. Fixed funding with flexibility changes the incentives. It caps federal exposure, reduces the over-enrollment temptation, and forces states to design programs that match local reality. Critics will warn about uneven outcomes, but the current system already produces uneven outcomes, plus fraud, plus exploding costs. Rhode Island achieved real success with a model like this in 2009. Their Global Waiver gave the state budget certainty through an overall spending cap and allowed faster program redesign without constant federal micromanagement. In its first three years, the waiver saved Rhode Island approximately $100 million while holding Medicaid spending far below what the old trajectory would have produced. Enforcement must be real. Dedicated anti-fraud units, clear audit authority, and tougher prosecutions matter. Even here, the federal government should follow best practice rather than improvisation. GAO’s fraud playbook is basic and correct: assess fraud risks, design an antifraud strategy, build controls that prevent and detect losses, and measure results. These approaches are not substitutes for the larger point. Ultimately, the only lasting solution is to shrink Washington’s role in domestic policy and return authority to states and localities where programs can be tailored, monitored, and corrected in real time. Welfare reform that genuinely empowers recipients and restores fiscal responsibility requires structural devolution, not just new slogans or new grant conditions. If Washington truly wants to fight fraud, waste, and abuse, it should begin with humility and subtraction. Fewer mandates. Fewer blank checks. Clear lines of accountability and performance measurement. Stronger state authority to design, verify, and enforce. Technology that prevents losses before they happen. Incentives that reward accuracy, not volume. The fraud is real. The waste is enormous. The abuse is chronic. But the deeper scandal is this: the system is working exactly as a bloated, centralized, incentive-driven bureaucracy will always work. The question is whether Americans are ready to admit that and demand a different design. READ MORE from Gary D. Alexander: Medicaid’s 30-Year Refusal to Stop Funding the Dead The ACA’s Unraveling: Fifteen Years of Unintended Consequences The Bureaucracy Has Become the Mission Gary D. Alexander served as Rhode Island’s and Pennsylvania’s secretary of health and human services.