75K federal workers take buyout as Trump slashes bureaucracy

Mark 5:32-34

After Putin call, Trump says negotiations to end Ukraine war will start ‘immediately’
In a readout of the conversation posted on Truth Social, Trump said, “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.” The call lasted about 90 minutes.

White House says about 75K federal workers have accepted 'deferred resignation' offer
The offer’s deadline closed on Wednesday after a federal judge ruled to end a temporary pause to the program put in place last week.

Trump says he wants ‘con job’ Education Department closed ‘immediately’
President Trump said Wednesday he wants to shut down the Department of Education as soon as possible.

Trump Admin Formally Ends Biden's War on Gas Stoves
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is formally ending a review that it initiated during the Biden administration to assess the potential health risks posed by gas-powered stovetops.

Trump Adds New Gig To Jam-Packed Schedule
The Kennedy Center’s newly constituted board voted unanimously to elect President Trump as its chairman Wednesday.

At least one US citizen released from detention in Belarus, Trump official says
Adam Boehler, President Trump's nominee to be the envoy for hostage affairs, told reporters at the White House that the individual wants to remain private.

Noem claws back $50M FEMA payment to NYC migrant hotels, slams ‘deep state activists’
"I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels. FEMA was funding the Roosevelt Hotel that serves as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to house Laken Riley’s killer."

Lee Zeldin demands return of $20B ‘parked’ at a financial institution by ‘Biden EPA’ to dole out to climate groups
“This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight.”

DOGE subcommittee wages war on government waste in first hearing
"This week, we turn our attention to improper payments by the federal government, including Medicaid and Medicare," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who chairs the subcommittee, said.

DOGE update for Feb 12: Cancellation of 58 federal contracts
This saves tax payers over $150 million. Among the cuts: $405K at the DHS for "resilience, energy, and sustainability management support" and $4M at the DOT for "DEIA project management."

DOGE axes $25K grant for LGBTQIA+ refugee program in Greece
The Department of Government Efficiency uncovered and canceled a $25,000 award meant to provide "material, legal, and psychological support" for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers in Greece. The program also aimed to "raise awareness of civil society" on LGBTQIA+ issues.

JD Vance’s 12-year-old relative denied heart transplant because she is unvaccinated
Adaline — who was adopted from China when she was four — was treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for nearly 10 years, and her parents hoped she would get the transplant there.

Judge Blocking Trump Spending Freeze Likened Trump To A ‘Tyrant’
Judge John McConnell Jr., a Democrat donor and former Planned Parenthood volunteer, is seen in an unearthed video comparing Trump to a tyrant and claiming courts kept the country from “bursting” under his first term.

Senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard as DNI
"Miss Gabbard is a patriot," John Thune said. "She's someone who's been motivated by service. ... The intelligence community needs to refocus on its core mission, collecting intelligence and providing unbiased analysis of that information. That's what Tulsi Gabbard is committed to ensuring."

Taibbi: This is an Alamo moment for the First Amendment
Matt Taibbi's remarks made before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.

California’s insurer of last resort runs out of money to pay LA fire claims
To continue to pay claims, the plan asked California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to approve a $1 billion assessment of its membership, which is made up of the insurance companies that do business in the state. Insurers, in turn, are allowed to pass on a portion of that cost to their policyholders.

Bedford: Democrats’ lawfare is on a collision course with hard reality
Congress went AWOL years ago. Now, lawmakers want judges to do their work for them.

22 Blue States Joined Secret Anti-Trump Resistance Pact
Attorneys general from 22 Democrat-led states signed a secret pact to resist Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, prioritizing illegal immigrant voting power over real issues like inflation and crime.

Democrats Spiral Into Civil War Over How To Resist Trump, Lashing Out At Their Own Voters
With approval ratings cratering and voters mocking their protests, Democrats are divided between resistance and reluctant cooperation.

Reality Check: Trump Was Elected To End Biden’s Constitutional Crisis
After years of Biden trampling constitutional limits — censoring speech, defying the Supreme Court, and weaponizing the justice system — Democrats are now shrieking “constitutional crisis” because Trump is actually enforcing executive authority.

Biden White House collaborated from the start on Trump documents probe, emails show
Newly published emails show the Biden White House cooperated with the National Archives in the Justice Department's classified documents case against Trump — which allowed the White House to build a predicate for the federal case against Trump that was ultimately dismissed.

Ilhan Omar Is A Walking Case For Higher US Citizenship Standards
After America-hating Congresswoman Ilhan Omar hosted workshops advising illegal aliens on how to avoid being deported, Rep. Brandon Gill said what a lot of Americans were thinking: "America would be a better place if @IlhanMN were deported back to Somalia."

NC Democrats Sourced Nearly 80% Of 2024 Individual Contributions From Outside The State
While President Trump handily won North Carolina in 2024, the same cannot be said for statewide Republicans, who lost races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, as well as a legislative supermajority.

Ex-Illinois House speaker convicted on 10 corruption charges at trial that exposed Democrat greed
Michael Madigan was convicted Wednesday on 10 federal charges after a long-running influence peddling trial that exposed corruption and greed inside the state's Democrat establishment.

Video: A Democrat rep says 'manufacturing' is a sexist term meant to dissuade women from industry
The word "man" is in "manufacture."

Democrat Maxine Dexter: ‘We Have To F*** Trump!’
Based on her photo, I don't see that happening.

After Telling Democrats To ‘Feel Good’ About Economy Going Into Election, Politico Now Says Democrats Were ‘Tricked’
Politico now says Democrats were duped by misleading government stats, but for years, it was one of the loudest voices pushing Biden-Harris’ “booming economy” narrative.

Inflation, Grocery Prices Rose In January
Inflation in the U.S. increased 3% in January compared to the previous year, rising for the fourth straight month.

DOJ announces lawsuit against New York, Hochul, and state AG James over ‘sanctuary’ status
“This is a new DOJ,” Bondi announced. “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops. It stops today.”

Biden immigration crisis was a boon for Catholic Charities, which raked in billions in grant money
Many of Catholic Charities’ local subsidiary offices received a game-changing influx of cash. The money was allocated for migrant settlement and other services. For many local chapters, these new funds dwarfed the grants they had been awarded in previous years.

Newsweek Fudges Numbers To Falsely Claim Biden Outpaced Trump On Deportations
If you compare apples-to-apples numbers, Trump is deporting three times as many illegal aliens per week as the Biden administration ever did.

Democrats demonize black pastor as ‘white supremacist’ over church sign on open borders
Illinois Pastor James Pittman is under attack after his church posted a sign reading, “Heaven Has Strict Immigration Laws. Hell Has Open Borders.”

NYT: Top NIH Official Abruptly Resigns
As acting director of the National Institutes of Health last year, Tabak pushed back against Republicans on the lab leak theory. He told lawmakers that viruses being studied at a laboratory in Wuhan bore no resemblance to the one that set off the world’s worst public health crisis in a century.

Pentagon to Focus on Winning Wars, Not Global Warming, Hegseth Says
The Defense Department is in the business of "deterring and winning wars," not "solving the global thermostat," Hegseth said.

Israel reportedly tells Hamas that ceasefire can continue if three hostages freed on Saturday
A report quoted Egyptian sources saying that “things headed toward a breakthrough” after a meeting between Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and a Hamas delegation in Cairo.

Jerusalem Post: Hamas must decide to continue the deal or let 'all hell break loose'
Hamas’ latest step back from the hostage deal will come at a heavy price. Israel, backed by strong U.S. support, will not hesitate to respond with overwhelming force.

Nobel winners offer to nominate Trump for Peace Prize if he gets all hostages freed
Four prominent Israeli scientists signed a letter sent to Trump, saying that they support his call for Hamas to free all the hostages held in Gaza, adding that they will nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize if he succeeds in securing their release.

Hamas forced Daniella Gilboa to stage her own death during captivity, her mother says
In November, a spokesman for Hamas’ military wing claimed that “one of the enemy’s female prisoners was killed in an area that is under Zionist aggression in the northern Gaza Strip.”

Israel Reportedly Planning To Launch ‘Significant Strikes’ Against Iran Nuclear Sites This Year
The Wall Street Journal reported that the analysis, which was done during the final days of the Biden administration, concluded that Israel is looking to take maximal advantage of Iran’s weakened state.

China proposes Putin-Trump summit to end Ukraine war, WSJ reports
Chinese officials in recent weeks have raised a proposal with the Trump team through intermediaries to hold a summit between the two leaders and to facilitate peacekeeping efforts after an eventual truce.

Bloomberg: Trump’s Ukraine Plans Mean a $3 Trillion Bill for European Allies
Whatever the U.S. president decides is his goal for Ukraine, one thing is clear: Europe isn’t ready to shoulder its huge share of the burden.

Oil falls as potential Ukraine peace deal may ease supply disruptions
Oil prices slid as Trump initiated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, raising expectations that sanctions on Russian crude could be lifted.

Canadian PM Candidate Threatens Trump With ‘Biggest Trade Blow US Has Ever Endured’
Chrystia Freeland is vying to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party.

JD Vance Tours Notre Dame In Paris With His Family, 5-Year-Old Vivek Steals The Show
Vance read a Dr. Seuss book aloud on the Senate floor in February 2024, apologizing for missing Vivek's birthday dinner.

JD Vance to visit Dachau concentration camp on Thursday
The American vice president will visit the site of the Dachau concentration camp on Thursday, the latest in a string of senior U.S. officials to travel to the former Nazi camp.

Florida appeals court blisters Pulitzer board and rules in favor of Trump in defamation lawsuit
The three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled that Trump has met his burden of proof and establishing jurisdiction to proceed with the case.

Toobin's New Beat: Renowned Masturbator Joins New York Times
You gotta hand it to him.

Trump Goes to War Against Universally Hated Paper Straws
These policies were a direct descendant of cities' and states' plastic bag bans and taxes. They were spurred along in the public imagination by the viral statistic, created by a 9-year old, that Americans use 500 million plastic straws a day.

New Hampshire High School Trans Athletes Take Their Fight to Trump
A lawsuit appears to be the first challenge to the constitutionality of an executive order barring male athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams.

Federal Government To Spend Over $1.5 Million Funding LGBT Youth Mentorship And Campus Activism
The Lifeworks Mentorship program is one of the initiatives from the Los Angeles LGBT Center that’s benefiting from the financial backing of the federal government, with the Department of Health and Human Services agreeing to put up nearly a million dollars in support of it.

Kansas' Democrat governor vetoes ban on child sex-change changes
The Democratic governor's veto is purely symbolic because Republican lawmakers have the votes to override her.

School Board Walks Out On Parents Angry Over ‘Rainbow Parade’ Book For Kindergarteners
The book shows men in BDSM gear holding hands, drag queens, and naked people.

Harvard Medical School, Citing Trump NIH Cuts, Encourages Distressed Students To 'Take Advantage' of 'Countway Cuddles' Pet Therapy
Trump's policy places a cap on "indirect" research funding used to pay for energy bills, admin salaries, and, in one infamous case, a yacht.

NBA star Anthony Edwards allegedly tells baby momma to ‘get da abortion’
After she texted him, saying she was pregnant, Edwards allegedly replied, “Ok lol. Get da abortion lol.” When she said she would not, Edwards replied, “Omg [laughing emojis] bye.”