'U-Haul truck collided with individuals marching'

'Fixing the rigged system in DC'

While a massive welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota has garnered national attention, lawmakers are poised to examine new ways to prevent longstanding fraudulent use of tax dollars before it happens. House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, is leading a Tuesday hearing titled “Curbing Federal Fraud: Examining Innovative Tools to Detect and Prevent Fraud in Federal Programs.”  The federal government loses between $231 billion and $521 billion in taxpayer dollars each year to fraud, according to the Government Accountability Office. Many of the problems occurred during the Joe Biden administration, which rushed out more funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies, Sessions said. “In HHS, VA, and other agencies, the Biden administration increased the amount of money available and the speed it went out, which is only an inducement for fraud,” Sessions told The Daily Signal.  Sessions said a key problem in preventing fraud has been the “pay and chase” method, meaning that the government detects fraud after it pays out the benefits, and then pursues the money.  “The name of the game is to stop the fraud before it starts, because once the money is paid out, it is almost impossible to get it back,” Sessions said.  The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., and will include testimony on COVID-19 fraud from Ken Dieffenbach, executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, an independent oversight committee within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. House members will consider how to transition the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee–which had a specific and narrow mission–into a more permanent body.  Also set to testify at the hearing are Renata Miskell, deputy assistant Secretary for accounting policy and financial transparency at the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service; and Sterling Thomas, chief scientist at the Government Accountability Office, or GAO. The Trump administration has pushed for more transparency and accountability in the executive branch in establishing the White House office known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.  One of DOGE’s targets was the 18F program, a digital agency established in the General Services Administration during the Obama administration which was aimed at modernizing purchasing. The program built Login.gov, an authentication website for federal agencies. However, inspector general reports found the program ignored information and security procedures. One report said the administration “misled their customer agencies” on Login.gov’s “noncompliance” with digital identity standards. DOGE closed down the 18F program earlier this year. “Hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen or misdirected because of wrong addresses and wrong cell phone information,” Sessions said of the 18F program. The post ‘Pay and Chase’: House Probes How to Stop Billions in Government Fraud Before Payment appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain, is suing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the Trump administration announced plans to punish Kelly over his call for servicemembers to disobey illegal orders.   “I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms,” Kelly, D-Ariz., announced Monday.   Kelly filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington D.C. one week after Hegseth announced plans aimed at reducing his retirement military rank and pension. The Trump administration also sent Kelly a censure letter outlining “Kelly’s reckless misconduct,” Hegseth announced last week.   In November, Kelly participated in a video with other Democratic lawmakers urging members of the military and the intelligence community to disobey unlawful orders.  “This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers stated, with each participant saying different parts of the sentence.   “Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly said personally.   In turn, Hegseth announced the “administrative action” against Kelly last Monday, calling the video “reckless and seditious” and stating the War Department had launched proceedings to determine a reduction in rank and retirement pay for Kelly. He added that the letter of censure would be placed in Kelly’s permanent military file. “Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable,” Kelly said in the lawsuit announcement.   Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable. His unconstitutional…— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) January 12, 2026 “His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,” Kelly said.   “Now, Pete Hegseth wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn’t like what they’ve said,” Kelly continued. “That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it.”  The post Sitting Senator Sues Pete Hegseth   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Much like the Confederate South attempted to nullify federal law ahead of the Civil War, Democrats have pulled out the stops to vilify the enforcement of federal immigration law. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Somalia, is the most recent figure to echo this dangerous rhetoric. On Sunday, Omar demonized Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an “occupying force” and suggested that ICE has no authority anywhere except on the United States’ borders. “Federal law enforcement is being sent as an occupying force into Minneapolis,” Omar said Sunday on MSNOW (the network too ashamed of its past to still go by the name MSNBC). While she acknowledged that previous administrations had carried out immigration raids, she claimed they only deployed small groups of agents. “There is no reason to be roaming the streets, stopping people, stopping cars, trying to go door by door in a neighborhood,” she said. “The American people know that ICE agents and border patrol agents have no jurisdiction over them. … They’re only supposed to interact with them if they’re crossing a border, or if they are doing something that relates to immigration and customs.” Omar claimed that the Department of Homeland Security sent ICE “to create fear” and “terrorize our communities.” She further claimed that the Trump administration is “looking for there to be deadly encounters so they can invoke the Insurrection Act and have martial law.” ?ILHAN OMAR'S NEO-CONFEDERATE RHETORICThis weekend, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Somalia, called ICE an "occupying force." This echoes the same neo-Confederate rhetoric from Tim Walz that aims to nullify federal law by constant demonization.https://t.co/Ox7Bd1dOlt pic.twitter.com/NVAc2al5gR— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 12, 2026 An Occupying Force? At first, Omar’s complaint seems reasonable. President Donald Trump’s ICE raids are unusual, and former President Barack Obama did deport people with fewer incidents. But why is Trump sending ICE agents en masse into Minneapolis? In part because it is a “sanctuary city,” which means local law actually forbids law enforcement from providing too much help to ICE. In other words, if Trump does want to enforce U.S. immigration law, he can’t just send a couple ICE agents to help deport a few illegal aliens the local cops already identified. Furthermore, Democrats themselves are responsible for the extreme hostility that ICE currently faces. Federal agents have faced an unprecedented number of threats and attacks, coinciding with the Left demonizing the enforcement of immigration law. Since Trump’s first term, Democrats and their allies have demonized the enforcement of immigration law. They condemned Trump for “putting kids in cages,” while he engaged in the same sort of immigration enforcement Obama carried out. They opposed Trump so vehemently that when President Joe Biden took over, he opened the border and actually imported illegal immigrants from countries like Venezuela. When Trump came back in last year, closing the border and attempting to deport illegal aliens, the same left-wing groups that advised the Biden administration geared up to sue to prevent Trump from reversing Biden’s policies. Meanwhile, Democrat governors like JB Pritzker of Illinois, or Gavin Newsom of California, or Tina Kotek of Oregon, openly say that immigration law should not be enforced in their jurisdictions. Democrats have even whittled away at America’s sovereignty by making my birth state of Colorado a “sanctuary state.” Make no mistake: immigration law is a federal matter and attempts to nullify it on the state level directly echo the nullification crises before the Civil War. The states rightly enjoy many powers not reserved to the federal government, but immigration law is a matter of American sovereignty. If we, as a democratic republic, cannot prevent illegal aliens from entering our country, and if we cannot prevent them from voting, we lose our self-determination as a country. Democrats say they don’t want this, but it is hard for me to interpret their open borders policies and opposition to voter ID laws as anything else. The Left’s Shock Troops Omar’s remarks would be bad enough if they occured in this context, but they also come days after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Trump was at war with his state. Walz suggested he would deploy the National Guard against “rogue” ICE agents. When a reporter asked about the prospect of National Guard troops facing off against federal agents, Walz gave a chilling response: “We’ve never been at war with our federal government.” In context, it seems he meant they’d never been at war before now. None of us expects Walz, that shining example of virility, to get on a horse, unsheathe a sabre, and rush at ICE. Similarly, Omar isn’t exactly a modern-day Boadicea. However, when Walz and Omar echo the old Confederate nullification arguments, they’re emboldening the protesters and agitators on the streets who try to stop ICE by force. They’re providing a permission structure for people like Renee Nicole Good to use their bodies or their vehicles to block ICE from carrying out its mission. These activists, propped up by a network of NGOs, will only grow more violent as the neo-Confederate rhetoric continues. It is high time the Left reverse course on demonizing immigration law. The post Ilhan Omar’s Dangerous Neo-Confederate Rhetoric appeared first on The Daily Signal.

California Already Needs to Double the Wealth Tax

NPR Critic-at-Large Eric Deggans penned a pessimistic media analysis for Saturday: "2026 looks ominous for media, from Hollywood to journalism." That means an ominous Trumpian trend, but it's amusing how liberal bias aggressively opposing Trump equals a "gold standard" of "fair, accurate reporting."  Deggans began:  The worst thing about today's media environment is that — bad as it is — it is easy to imagine how things might get worse in 2026. Traditional journalism outlets buffeted on all sides by misinformation, weak-kneed ownership and a hostile White House will struggle to earn back public trust even as the need for fair, accurate reporting grows. Smaller groups of wealthy businesspeople control larger swaths of the country's information ecosystem, pitting their overall corporate interests against the public's desire for accurate journalism challenging powerful institutions in society. Liberals need to push for more aggressive liberalism, like pushing for Jimmy Kimmel's return after he lied about Charlie Kirk's killer being pro-Trump:  The real wild card here is the audience, which has more power than it realizes. The fall and rise of Jimmy Kimmel proved that viewers can make their preferences known in ways that preserve free expression, forcing media owners to show some backbone.  But the public will have to get more involved in 2026, weighing in with their viewing choices and their pocketbooks to make sure the options that bring the most freedom and ethical behavior are also the most profitable. Here's the Deggans list of ominous trends:  1. "No matter who wins the contest to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the public may be the biggest loser." That's the classic leftist position: all mega-corporations suck, which is why "public" broadcasting is somehow the best option.  2. "2026 could be a do-or-die moment for the film industry, which must find a better way to make its case to consumers." See #1, with Netflix winning the WBD war. 3. "Vulnerable traditional news outlets will face vaguely explained overhauls from owners with troubling agendas." Liberal bias is "vulnerable," and curtailing that is a "troubling agenda." This is all about CBS News appointing Bari Weiss as Editor-in-Chief. CBS News stands as Exhibit A of this phenomenon, with new evening anchor Tony Dokoupil sending a message to viewers Jan. 1 saying the press "put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you." It's a nervy statement to make as he becomes the face of a news operation once considered the gold standard of television journalism...media critics like me worry that nonsensical culture war language like that is mostly a smoke screen for changing news coverage to fit the ideological preferences of new owners at Paramount and CBS News' new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. My concern, as a longtime media critic, is that someone who has clashed ideologically with traditional news outlets is now imposing her political views — and the views of her bosses, Paramount's ownership — under the guise of addressing journalism issues. Feel free to giggle at the idea that classic CBS News was never "imposing their political views" on the public.  4. "The Trump administration's racist language will challenge news outlets." This is where Deggans, the author of a book called Race Baiter, is performing a classic leftist pounce.  Deggans claimed Vice President Vance “has used language about white pride that some politicians feel comes too close to the language utilized by white supremacists.” What language was that? Vance boasted the DEI was on the run, and “In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.” Deggans should probably change his name to DEI-ggans. President Trump saying certain countries like Somalia are “s—tholes” is also racist. He found what was "more disturbing is how little these instances have dented the news cycle, challenging traditional news outlets to consistently and constantly report on these actions as the displays of open racism they truly are." You have to scream "Racist" or you're not "fair and accurate." 5. "Public media will find ways to stand on its own, but with a notable loss." Deggans mourned that conservatives won't be forced to fund journalism that slams them as demagogic racists.  Federal money for public media ensured that, on some level, every tax-paying American helped fund work done by NPR, PBS and assorted public media outlets. Opponents may have believed public media was biased, but a majority of Americans supported federal funding for public media." Every American had a vested interest in the system, and everyone in public media knew and respected that. Pants On Fire! NPR and PBS never respected the conservative audience. "Public" outlets never attempted to meet their audience in the center, as you can see from their hyperbolic loathing of Weiss and Dokoupil. 

While fraud rings in Minnesota's Somali community have been under federal investigation for years, it was investigative journalist and BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo’s reporting that brought the billion-dollar scandals to national attention. Back in November 2025, Rufo published a report titled “The Largest Funder of Al-Shabaab Is the Minnesota Taxpayer,” in which he and co-author Ryan Thorpe alleged that billions of taxpayer funds were being stolen through schemes in Minneapolis’ Somali community and that millions of those funds were being funneled to the Al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia.Rufo's reporting sparked massive federal action, including revoking Temporary Protected Status for Somalis, surging Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, freezing child-care funds, and ramping up prosecutions. Most notably, it led Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to visit Minnesota in January 2026 and launch major FinCEN probes into hawala businesses, IRS audits, and enhanced transfer reporting.In this exclusive BlazeTV interview with Rufo, Bessent shares what his team’s investigations have revealed about Minnesota’s Somali fraud operations and what steps the Treasury is taking to ensure it stops. Bessent says his team’s investigations confirmed that the fraud schemes were “bigger than anyone thought” and that money — either excess government-issued funds or stolen funds — are indeed being sent illegally out of the country.One positive result of the investigations into Minnesota’s fraud rings, however, is that they will provide a “model” for future investigations in the other 49 states.“Just because of the population sizes — California, Illinois, New York — that what's going on [in Minnesota] is a microcosm of what's going on there. And it's like someone on the panel said today: Benefits have been turned into businesses. It is a cottage industry of teaching people how to form multiple LLCs, how to game the system, how to move money around,” says Bessent, pledging to “follow the money” and explore “recoveries” for cheated Americans.Rufo calls these predominantly Somali-orchestrated fraud rings Minnesota’s “open secret.” Fraudsters were successful largely because they knew that the cultural standard of “Minnesota nice” and politicians’ “fear of being called racist” would result in the turning of blind eyes everywhere.“What do you think the right attitude should be as you look at these frauds moving forward?” he asks.“Clearly the governor's office does not want to do investigations. So we just want the facts. We want to see where they lead, and we want to put the bad guys in jail,” says Bessent.Further Minnesota’s soft-on-crime policies that “incentivize” criminality need to be addressed. “You could steal hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars, and under the Minnesota laws, you might not even get jail time. You might get a series of paroles,” Bessent adds.“We have the ability to bring in IRS enforcement, and they don't monkey around. So the incentive is going to be to stop this.”Rufo then posed the question that conservatives nationwide are eagerly awaiting an answer to: Will we finally see any big names face justice?“From [Gov. Tim Walz] on down appears to be at a minimum to have turned a blind eye. There are rumors circulating around this building right now that in fact some have been complicit in these schemes. Is that something your office is looking into?” he asks.“That's part of following the money. There are evidently some disturbing tapes of AG Ellison in meetings with people who donated to him calling for political favors to stop the investigations. So we'll see,” says Bessent.“And Chris, I can guarantee you when the bear trap snaps, we're going to get these folks.”To hear the rest of Rufo’s exclusive interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, watch the video above.Want more from Rufo & Lomez?To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to enhance vetting of foreign nationals entering the U.S., resulting in a record number of visa revocations.The Department of State announced that in 2025, it revoked over 100,000 foreign visas, including 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized worker visas. That figure is more than double the number of visas that were revoked in 2024 — 40,000 — under former President Joe Biden's leadership. 'The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security.'Foreign nationals whose visas were canceled included those who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity, the State Department reported. "We will continue to deport these thugs to keep America safe," the department stated.The majority of those revoked by the State Department were for business and tourist travelers who overstayed their visas, Fox News Digital reported.Some students and specialized workers who had their visas revoked also reportedly lost their legal status.RELATED: Trump admin to vet all visa holders — revoke and deport threats to America Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesHalf of the specialized workers whose visas were revoked had previously been arrested for drunk driving; 30% for assault, battery, or confinement charges; and 20% for theft, child abuse, substance abuse and distribution, and fraud and embezzlement charges. A department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that nearly 500 students lost their visas for charges related to drug possession and distribution. The State Department announced in August plans to review all of the more than 55 million current visa holders to uncover potential ineligibility, such as overstays, criminal activity, public safety threats, and ties to terrorism. RELATED: Trump strips 4,000 student visas over first 100 days — 90% flagged for 'serious' crimes Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images"The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggott told Fox News Digital.During a press conference last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the administration's increased efforts to revoke and deport foreign nationals. "Who you allow to visit your country should reflect the national interest. We said that from the very beginning," Rubio told reporters. "There are some times we'll deny people visas because of activities they've undertaken overseas," he continued. "Other times it's people that have visas but are in the United States doing things that run counter to our national interests. And the law gives us the right — and, in fact, I would argue, the obligation — to remove people like that from our country." — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona says he filed a lawsuit against Department of War Sec. Pete Hegseth on Monday.Hegseth has accused Kelly of committing sedition by suggesting that members of the U.S. military should refuse to comply with orders from the administration. Kelly has said that he intended only for members to refuse unlawful orders.'I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.'Hegseth had ordered Kelly's military retirement pay to be cut and censured the senator, who is a retired U.S. Navy officer."Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him — and this or any administration — accountable," said Kelly in a statement on social media. "His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted."He went on to accuse Hegseth of trying to intimidate other critics of the administration by targeting Kelly.Kelly concluded, "Today, I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms."The lawsuit lists Hegseth, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Navy as defendants.President Donald Trump had also accused Kelly of committing sedition by his comments."It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!" the president wrote on social media. RELATED: Pete Hegseth orders investigation into 'catastrophic' withdrawal from Afghanistan under Biden Hegseth had said that Kelly might face additional punishment over his comments. "Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action," Hegseth said. "These actions are based on Captain Kelly's public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders."A Blaze News request for comment to the Department of War was not immediately answered.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!