Appeals court allows all White House ballroom
construction to resume
Posted By: EQKimball, 4/18/2026 2:49:02 PM
Construction of a ballroom and presidential bunker at the White House will continue for now, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted an administrative stay of an order earlier this week that blocked most above-ground construction. The next hearing in the case is set for June 5, according to the court's briefing schedule, so construction will likely continue through at least then.
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Construction of a ballroom and presidential bunker at the White House will continue for now, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted an administrative stay of an order earlier this week that blocked most above-ground construction. The next hearing in the case is set for June 5, according to the court's briefing schedule, so construction will likely continue through at least then.
The Minnesota National Guard was seen handing out coffee and donuts to anti-ICE protesters in St. Paul on Sunday. Video captured guardsmen in yellow vests offering donuts and coffee out the back of a vehicle. One National Guard member told WCCO-TV that this was a "demonstration of safety and security." The Minnesota National Guard posted on X earlier this month that if troops were deployed to the Twin Cities, they would wear reflective vests "to help distinguish them from other agencies in similar uniforms."
Federal agents were rammed and boxed in by 10 cars in Broadview, Ill., where anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crowds have been gathering for days, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
"Pritzker’s Chicago Police Department is leaving the shooting scene and refuses to assist us in securing the area. There is a growing crowd, and we are deploying special operations to control the scene," McLauglin wrote in a post on X.
Hamas on Friday agreed to release all Israeli hostages — living and dead — but wants to negotiate the other terms of President Trump’s comprehensive peace deal even after the commander in chief said there was “not much” room for discussion. [Snip] “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” Trump said in a statement posted to his Truth Social page.
The commander in chief later posted a short video on Truth, calling Friday a “very special, maybe unprecedented” day, while thanking countries including Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan for their help in hammering out the proposed peace deal.
Al Jazeera reported Friday that Hamas delivered its response to President Donald Trump’s peace plan, hours after the president gave the terror group a deadline of 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday or else face total destruction. [Snip] It is possible that a deal could be struck on or around the second anniversary of the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2023, that began the war.
Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin to Enforce
Deportations of Gang Members Under Alien
Enemies Act 6 replies
Deportations of Gang Members Under Alien
Enemies Act 6 replies
The Supreme Court of the United States lifted a block from U.S. District Judges James Boasberg, which prevented the Trump administration from deporting suspected illegal alien gang members under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. [Snip] Per the outlet, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court justices found that “the migrants had improperly challenged their deportations in Washington, D.C.,” when they should have challenged them in Texas, “where they were being held”:
The US Homeland Security secretary has said states need the power to shoot down drones following criticisms of the government’s response to sightings across the East Coast. Alejandro Mayorkas made the comments after state officials in New York and New Jersey said that Joe Biden’s administration had failed to get a grip on the issue. [Snip] State and local law enforcement agencies do not have the power to counter drone technology. Only a select number of agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, such as the US Secret Service, are authorized to take action.
NJ Mayor: Drones Should Be Taken Down,
There’s Refusal to Do So Even When They
Go Out to Sea 21 replies
There’s Refusal to Do So Even When They
Go Out to Sea 21 replies
In Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Belleville, NJ Mayor Michael Melham stated that the drones around the state have to be taken down and stated that there were briefings “that we’ve had Coast Guard working with our New Jersey State Police, our helicopters have seen them. We asked, well, when they go out to sea, are we going to shoot them down?” And they were told the drones wouldn’t be taken down due to fears of what might be on them.
Ukraine has fired British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time. Fragments of the bunker-busting rockets were found in the village of Marine, Kursk on Wednesday. [Snip] Up to 12 missiles were launched by a Ukrainian aircraft, according to reports. Britain's Storm Shadow missiles are a nightmare for enemies as they are capable of dodging air defences. The £800,000 weapons - which were already being fired within Ukraine - use GPS to precisely hit targets, and can travel at 600mph. A clip shared online recorded the sound of several missiles flying toward the Kursk region.
Two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been suddenly disrupted, according to local telecommunications companies, amid fresh warnings of possible Russian interference with global undersea infrastructure. A communications cable between Lithuania and Sweden was cut on Sunday morning around 10:00 a.m. local time, a spokesperson from telecommunications company Telia Lithuania confirmed to CNN.
Trump claims he has $500 million in cash
— despite not being able to secure $454
million bond 8 replies
— despite not being able to secure $454
million bond 8 replies
Former President Donald Trump's recent contradiction of his own legal team about the cash he has available could be explained by one of three possibilities, according to legal analyst Glenn Kirschner on Saturday. (snip) "Through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash, a substantial amount of which I intended to use in my campaign for president," Trump wrote in the post.
Biden's memory is 'hazy' and 'poor,' says
a special counsel's report raising questions
about his age 19 replies
a special counsel's report raising questions
about his age 19 replies
WASHINGTON -- The longstanding concerns about President Joe Biden's age and memory intensified on Thursday after the release of a special counsel's report investigating his possession of classified documents. The report described the 81-year-old Democrat's memory as “hazy,” “fuzzy,” “faulty,” “poor" and having “significant limitations.” It noted that Biden could not recall defining milestones in his own life.
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On Thursday’s broadcast of “CBS Mornings,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) said that democratic socialism “is a politics that can flourish anywhere” and at first, he “was told that you could only be a Democratic socialist in Northwest Queens. Then I became the Mayor. Now the next question is the state. Then it’ll be — the next question will be the country.”
Co-host Vladimir Duthiers asked, “After your campaign win, there were a lot of questions about whether Democrats across the country could have similar success. Do you think it’s possible a democratic socialist platform can translate into something that’s electorally viable in a statewide election or a national
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar blamed an accounting “discrepancy” for errors in a financial disclosure that listed her net worth at up to $30 million – while doubling down that she is not a millionaire, a report said. The lefty “Squad” lawmaker – facing fraud probe calls from President Trump – insisted the initial figures in a disclosure filed last May were completely off-base, as an amended filing now shows shared assets with her husband of up to just $95,000, according to The Wall Street Journal. “The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” her spokesperson, Jacklyn Rogers, told the outlet.
The Mystery Sweeping D.C.: Who Executed
the Political Hitjob That Destroyed Eric Swalwell? 20 replies
the Political Hitjob That Destroyed Eric Swalwell? 20 replies
The same eagle-eyed journalists who were gobsmacked — gobsmacked, I say! — to discover that Joe Biden’s brain was AWOL are now feigning disbelief over the Eric Swalwell sexual assault allegations. Who knew this young, promising, handsome politician, who was elected to Congress in his early 30s and was poised to become California’s next governor, had such a dark side?
Well, apparently everyone: If true, it sets a peculiar timeline: Swalwell joined Congress in 2013. For over a dozen years, he was a powerful member of the political elite. A popular presence on cable TV shows, Swalwell always made time for the mainstream media.
President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran “agreed to everything” in negotiations with the United States following a news-packed morning that included the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump made the comments to NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer, who called the president after he announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that the United States will retrieve enriched uranium from sites bombed in Operation Midnight Hammer last June. Trump said, “Yes,” when Meyer asked if Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium.
“They agreed to everything,” he told her.
When Meyer asked him if he was surprised, he said, “I’m not surprised by anything,” and soon ended the call.
John Thune’s Senate has delayed weaponization
prosecutors in John Brennan probe for
two months 16 replies
prosecutors in John Brennan probe for
two months 16 replies
Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department asked two Senate committees to provide transcripts and records of contacts with former CIA Director John Brennan regarding the now-discredited Russia collusion allegations, signaling there was an active investigation into whether the former spy boss had misled or obstructed Congress. The letters gave a hard deadline of Feb. 23 for compliance.
Two months later, the body run by Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has not complied, slowing a key angle of a grand jury investigation based in Fort Pierce, Fla., into whether Obama and Biden-era government officials engaged in a conspiracy —
Everything about California Governor Gavin Newsom is fake. Even the numbers on his book sales.
His new book is being touted by his allies as a best seller, but the main reason it’s selling so well is because his own political action committee has spent upwards of $1.5 million buying thousands of copies of it.
That’s one way to get on the New York Times best seller list. It’s not honest, but it’ll probably work.
Not a single thing about this man is genuine. Newsom PAC bought thousands of memoir copies about his hardships, juicing sales
Making Cars Fun To Drive Again
15 replies
Has there ever been an automobile feature as widely despised as the stop-start system that the Obama administration forced on the country? Unlikely. Which is why new federal action that kills the requirement is cause for celebration.
The “feature,” which is the wrong word for what’s truly a nuisance, automatically shuts off a car’s internal-combustion engine when it is idling at a red light or stuck in traffic. It restarts the engine when either the foot comes off the brake pedal or the accelerator is pressed. The action is jerky — it too often feels like a minor collision — distracting and tiring, producing a
Ilhan Omar Blames ‘Accounting Error’
For Financial Disclosure Showing Multimillion-Dollar Wealth 14 replies
For Financial Disclosure Showing Multimillion-Dollar Wealth 14 replies
Rep. Ilhan Omar has dramatically revised financial disclosures that previously showed multimillion-dollar assets, now claiming the figures were the result of an “accounting error.”
The far-left Somali Democrat, who regularly demands that lawmakers raise taxes on the super-rich, had reported assets between $6 million and $30 million in a prior filing.
Yet according to The Wall Street Journal, an amended disclosure now places total assets at just $18,004 to $95,000.
CAIRO — The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz quickly escalated again Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass, in retaliation after the United States pressed ahead with its blockade choking off Iranian ports.
Confusion over the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict. The ceasefire between them is due to run out by mid-next week, and Pakistani mediators were working to put together a new round of direct negotiations to keep the truce going.
A Mexican national illegal alien accused of randomly setting a New York City apartment building on fire that killed four people and injured seven others, could be released back onto the streets as Department of Homeland Security officials say the city is refusing a request to turn him over to immigration authorities.
Roman Amatitla, 38, of Maspeth, is charged with eight counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson after allegedly lighting a three-story Flushing building on fire March 16, which he selected at random.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that on the day of the blaze, Amatitla entered and exited the Avery Avenue building multiple times,
Ten House Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday evening to keep roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals in the United States on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) despite the Trump administration seeking to end the quasi-amnesty. The House passed the measure, led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Laura Gillen (D-NY), after advancing the bill through a discharge petition maneuver, with help from half a dozen Republicans. Essentially, the bill would keep about 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. via TPS just as President Donald Trump fights in the Supreme Court to end the quasi-amnesty.
The 10 House Republicans who joined Democrats to defy the Trump administration and move the bill to the Senate are:
There are numerous headlines like the one above out there Friday, so I won’t pick on one particular outlet. There are longer ones like “European Leaders Welcome Hormuz Reopening and Push for Permanent Navigation Security.” Why did this make me chuckle? Because of course they’re pleased — and they had nothing to do with it.
But don’t worry, they’re going to have meetings about the situation very soon: I can barely contain my excitement. And Macron has “demands”:
Comments:
Hopefully, the administration will point out that the West Wing and its extension, along with the Truman Balcony, were built without prior congressional approval. The East Wing extension, like the Truman Balcony, is being built with private funds.