President Trump said he has nothing to do with Pam Bondi’s charges against Jerome Powell. If that is the case or not, there had better be something there since it follows the year-long attacks on Powell by the President. Commentator Scott Jennings expressed concerns. He is a strong Trump supporter and has said he converted […] The post Scott Jennings Questions the Powell Indictment appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Attorney General Pam Bondi fired a warning shot Thursday after a federal three-judge panel ruled, by a 2–1 margin, that California may use its newly minted congressional map — a voter-approved redraw designed to juice Democrats’ prospects in the 2026 midterms. Bondi made clear the fight is far from over, writing on X that California “impermissibly drew its new congressional map based on race,” calling the move unconstitutional and pledging that the Justice Department is reviewing “all legal options.” We disagree with yesterday’s 2-1 ruling on California’s redistricting map. California impermissibly drew its new congressional map based on race. That’s unconstitutional. We are reviewing all legal options. — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 15, 2026 The ruling rejected challenges from state Republicans and the DOJ, both of which argued that the map violated the Constitution by using race — particularly to favor Hispanic voters — as a driving factor in redrawing district lines. The panel instead accepted California Democrats’ insistence that the map was drawn for nakedly partisan purposes, a distinction that has become legally decisive since the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that partisan gerrymandering presents a “political question” beyond the reach of federal courts. Proposition 50, pushed aggressively by California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and approved decisively by voters in November, could hand Democrats as many as five additional House seats. Newsom, widely viewed as eyeing a 2028 presidential run, framed the effort as retaliation for a Texas mid-decade redistricting plan backed by President Donald Trump. Republicans currently hold just nine of California’s 52 House seats, making the Golden State a tempting battlefield in the escalating national map war. Democrats celebrated the ruling as a win for voters, with Newsom dismissing the lawsuit as a “weak attempt to silence” them. Republicans were less sanguine. California GOP chair Corrin Rankin vowed an appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the dissenting opinion — authored by Trump-appointed Judge Kenneth Lee — more accurately reflected the law and the facts. Lee warned that at least one district was drawn using race “to curry favor with Latino groups and voters,” undercutting the majority’s claim that the map was purely partisan. The decision lands amid an increasingly brazen, state-by-state arms race over redistricting. Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have moved to redraw maps mid-decade, while a judge forced Republican-run Utah to adopt a Democratic-leaning district. Notably, the Justice Department has sued only California. The stakes are unmistakable. House Democrats need just a handful of seats to flip control of the chamber, potentially grinding Trump’s agenda to a halt and opening the floodgates to congressional investigations. With Republicans holding a razor-thin majority, California’s maps may prove decisive — or become the next front in a Supreme Court showdown over whether “partisan” gerrymandering is simply racial gerrymandering by another name.

President Donald Trump praised a “highly respected Minnesota judge” on Thursday after she declined to issue a restraining order against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Democrat-run state. On Wednesday, Kate Menendez, a Biden-appointed U.S. District Court judge, rejected Minnesota’s request to temporarily block ICE from continuing immigration enforcement operations in the state as Minnesota’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement moves forward. “A highly respected judge declined to block I.C.E. operations in the very politically corrupt State of Minnesota. I.C.E. will therefore be allowed to continue its highly successful operation of removing some of the most violent and vicious criminals anywhere in the World, many of them murderers, from the State,” Trump said. “The great patriots of Law Enforcement will continue to make our Country safe. RECORD LOW CRIME NUMBERS!!!” Menendez said her decision did not indicate how she would ultimately rule on Minnesota’s lawsuit against the federal government, CBS News reported. “I think the issues are really important and I don’t want to suggest by not acting immediately one way or the other that I think they are unimportant,” Menendez said. “To the contrary, I understand this is important to everybody.” Minnesota argued that a two-week restraining order was needed to give the state time to prepare for the case, arguing that the 3,000 federal agents in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas are violating citizens’ rights. The federal government must respond to Minnesota’s lawsuit by January 19, and Judge Menendez denied a federal prosecutor’s request to postpone the date due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Menendez said the case was too urgent to delay. Leftist Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Monday that the state filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to stop its surge of federal agents into the state. Ellison described Trump’s immigration operation in Minnesota as an “invasion.” The lawsuit was filed just days after Minneapolis resident Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent after she drove her vehicle toward him during a confrontation. The shooting death has sparked massive protests, which have continued for more than a week, and the Trump administration has deployed more federal agents to the city. Another ICE shooting on Wednesday night sparked more outrage in Minneapolis. A federal agent was ambushed and attacked by three people while attempting to detain a suspected Venezuelan illegal immigrant in the city’s Northside, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Trump also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act on Thursday as demonstrations continued. “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you for you [sic] attention to this matter!” LIVE UPDATES: Minnesota Dems Angry After Second ICE Shooting, Protesters Throw Fireworks At Police

There’s something about singing karaoke that’s so liberating. You chose the song and just how you want to sing it. If you’re good, people might start making requests. And the next thing you know, you’re the hit of the party. Of course, if it’s Kellyoke and you’re Kelly Clarkson, you’re always the best singer in the world. If we’re being honest, that’s our favorite kind of karaoke. No matter what she sings, Kelly positively nails it, no matter the genre. Fans often send in suggestions for what they’d like to hear. In the latest installment, Kellyoke took on KPop Demon Hunters, and naturally, she slayed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Kelly Clarkson Show (@kellyclarksonshow) “KPop Demon Hunters” Kellyoke is Just What We Need Kelly Clarkson sang What It Sounds Like from Kpop Demon Hunters during this week’s Kellyoke, and she sounded perfect. Kelly started slow before kicking the track into high gear. Per the usual, fans loved Kelly’s performance. “This is the best song in Kpop Demon Hunters imo! Makes me cry everytime, and now Kelly’s beautiful version,” someone gushed. “This is by far my favourite song in the film, and you NAILED it,” another person wrote. This fan could not get over KPop Demon Hunters getting the Kellyoke treatment. “Watching @kellyclarkson cover a K-Pop Demon Hunters track is the exact kind of high-octane emotional simulation my brain needs to function. I’m not saying this performance fixed my entire life, but it definitely just bumped my dopamine levels to a point where I might actually respond to the emails I’ve been ignoring for three weeks. It is the vocal agility and the unhinged joy for me. Pure cinema,” they wrote. “Ughhhh PERFECTION! Fearless and undefined is truly what this sounded like! Golden next??” A fan requested. This story’s featured image can be found here.

'A queer black woman is up here doing the job of two mediocre white guys'