News
Compiled by Michael Hernandez, 2-16-25
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: the Trump admin ramp-up, immigration (migrants and illegals), wars, weaponization of government (the deep state) against Trump and conservatives, our nation going bankrupt, massive inflation, climate change controversy and related expenses of government, industry attempting to address these issues, the Chinese threat, drones, national security, abortion, anti-Christian hate, terrorist attacks and Los Angeles fires. Here are just a few:
Feb. 10: Breitbart By Hannah Knudsen
Over 65,000 Federal Workers Reportedly Accept Trump Administration Buyout Offer
More than 65,000 federal workers have reportedly accepted the Trump administration’s buyout offer as a federal judge is expected to weigh in on the matter Monday. Last week, the figure appeared to top out at around 40,000 federal workers accepting the offer from the Trump administration — to either quit their government job willingly with extended pay and benefits or stay and risk downsizing anyway.
“If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason),” the memo sent in January to roughly 2 million federal employees reads in part, warning that employees who wish to stay will face “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct.” And still, there would be the risk of elimination.
Feb. 10: Breitbart By Joel Pollak
Former Lead Recovery Consultants At Hagerty, Firm Hired By LA Mayor Bass, Pleaded Guilty To Stealing Disaster Funds
Two former disaster recovery experts at Hagerty Consulting, which L.A. Mayor Karen Bass appointed to lead rebuilding efforts after the recent wildfires, pleaded guilty in 2022 and 2023 to defrauding New York City of Hurricane Sandy relief funds.
Walter Melnick, who had been hired as a contractor for Evanston, Illinois-based Hagerty Consulting firm, was accused in 2022 of having claimed lodging reimbursements to which he was not entitled, and of making false statements to investigators. Another then-Hagerty consultant, Mark O’Mara, was accused of claiming more than $250,000 in reimbursements to which he was not entitled, and of trying to destroy evidence. Both pleaded guilty after reaching plea agreements.=
Feb. 10: Fox News By Brooke Singman
Trump Says Ceasefire Should Be Canceled If Hostages Aren’t Released By Saturday: ‘Let All Hell Break Out”
President Donald Trump said if Hamas does not return all hostages by noon on Saturday, he will call for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to be canceled and “let all hell break out.” Trump made the comments after signing executive orders in the Oval Office Monday evening. When asked if he felt the ceasefire deal should be canceled, the president said that is “Israel’s decision.”
Feb. 11: Fox News By Greg Norman
Israeli Cabinet Backs Trump’s Demand For Hamas To Release All Hostages By Saturday Deadline
Israel’s security cabinet fully supports President Donald Trump’s demand that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas release all of its hostages by noon on Saturday or that “all hell is going to break out,” an Israeli official told Fox News. The declaration comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet Tuesday after Hamas announced it would delay the next release of Israeli hostages.
“The decision I passed in the Cabinet unanimously is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon – the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will resume intense combat until Hamas is decisively defeated,” Netanyahu said in a statement after the meeting. “In light of Hamas’ announcement of its decision to violate the agreement and not release our hostages, I instructed the IDF last night to amass forces inside and around the Gaza Strip. This operation is currently underway and will be completed as soon as possible,” Netanyahu added.
Feb. 12: Breitbart News by Katherine Hamilton
Dept. Of Education Launches Investigation Into Two Athletic Associations That Publicly Defied Trump’s Order Protecting Girls’ Sports
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is launching investigations into two blue state athletic associations that have publicly announced plans to flout President Donald Trump’s executive order protecting women’s and girls’ sports teams from the incursion of male athletes who identify as transgender.
The DOE sent letters to both the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) on Wednesday notifying the organizations that they are under investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Breitbart News has exclusively learned. In the letters the DOE told the associations, which govern high school sports in their states, that state law “does not preempt or otherwise nullify federal anti-discrimination laws,” and that “member schools remain subject to Title IX and its implementing regulations.”
“The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor told Breitbart News in a statement.
Feb. 12: Fox News By Julia Johnson
Tulsi Gabbard Sworn In At White House Hours After Senate Confirmation
President Donald Trump’s new director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, was sworn in at the White House on Wednesday, just hours after being confirmed by the Senate. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during her briefing, “Senate Republicans continued to confirm President Trump’s exceptionally qualified nominees, most recently Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who will be joining us later at the White House for her swearing-in ceremony.” Gabbard was sworn in by Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Oval Office. The event took place just after 4 p.m. and Trump was in attendance for the ceremony. The Senate confirmed Gabbard in a 52-48 vote. The divide was along party lines, with the exception of former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who opposed her.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tulsi-gabbard-sworn-white-house-hours-after-senate-confirmation
Feb. 12: Fox News By Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin
‘Clawed Back’: DHS Chief Noem Secures Eye-Popping Sum Sent To NYC For Migrant Hotels
The Department of Homeland Security says it has taken back $59 million in FEMA funds earmarked for hotels housing migrants in New York City, a day after it fired those involved in making the payment. “Secretary Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” they said.
Feb. 13: Fox News By Christina Shaw
EPA Administrator Zeldin Demands Return of $20B In Taxpayer Money Wasted By Biden Administration
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday that his team has located $20 billion in tax dollars that the Biden administration purposely wasted.
“An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,” Zeldin said in a video posted to X, citing another video from December. “The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it.”
Zeldin said the EPA has plans to recover the “gold bars” that were found “parked at an outside financial institution,” which he does not mention by name. He said that “this scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight” before Inauguration Day.
Feb 13: Breitbart By Simon Kent
Senate Confirms RFK Jr. As Trump’s Health Secretary
The U.S. Senate voted 52-48 on Thursday afternoon to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr., better known as RFK Jr., as President Donald Trump’s head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The vote broke nearly along party lines, with 52 Republicans in favor, and 48 Democrats opposed. Former GOP leader Mitch McConnell was the sole Republican to vote no.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Kennedy placed an emphasis on ending the chronic disease epidemic in the country. He also pledged to tackle obesity and ultra-processed foods as two key priorities that lie ahead.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/13/senate-confirms-rfk-jr-as-trumps-health-secretary/
Feb. 14: Breitbart By Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk: What Is Democracy?
As I’ve explained more than once on my campus visits, America is not a democracy and never has been; few societies outside ancient Greece have ever been true democracies. Instead, we are a constitutional republic that holds democratic elections.
But let’s grant as a premise that, even if America isn’t a democracy, then our system has democratic features. The next time you run into somebody in the real world babbling about the peril to “our democracy,” I invite you to ask just a few follow-up questions. Starting with this one: “Just what do you mean by democracy?”
Then, be ready with follow-up questions. For example:
-What’s more democratic: An elected official like Donald Trump deciding where federal funds go, or an unelected bureaucrat chosen by nobody?
-What is “democratic” about a district court judge, chosen by a president who no longer holds office, issuing nationwide injunctions to try to bar an elected president from doing things like pausing taxpayer funds going to foreign countries?
-Can you name a single thing Trump is doing right now that doesn’t match what he promised to do before being democratically elected?
That last question is especially critical: Far from being a “liar” or a bait-and-switch con artist, President Trump is one of the most straightforward politicians to ever live. He runs on a set of promises, then does his best to fulfill them.
Consider DOGE, for instance. At a rally last summer, Trump overtly said he would like to name Elon Musk as an adviser to his administration. At his Madison Square Garden rally days before the election, Musk boasted about the trillions of dollars DOGE would be able to cut from federal spending. There was nothing surprising about DOGE: Trump promised to give America’s most famous businessman a wide berth to slash spending.
The American people heard that promise, and they handed Trump every single swing state and a 2.3-million popular vote margin.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/14/charlie-kirk-what-is-democracy/
Feb. 14: Fox News By Rachel del Guidice
Independent Disapprove Of Democratic Party Antics
A focus group of voters showed Independents were disapproving of the Democratic Party’s antics of opposition to President Donald Trump. Independent viewers in the focus group responded negatively to a protest earlier this month led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The focus group consisted of 75 Democrats, 49 independents and 32 Republicans, and was represented by blue, yellow and red lines, respectively.
Feb. 15: Breitbart By Hannah Knudsen
DOGE Discovers $1.9 Billion HUD Money ‘Misplaced’ By Biden Administration
$1.9 billion was “misplaced” by the Biden administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced this week in detailing the startling discovery. “$1.9 billion of HUD money was just recovered after being misplaced during the Biden administration due to a broken process,” DOGE revealed on X, posting screenshots of the receipts. “These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed. @SecretaryTurner and @DOGE worked together to fix the issue and de-obligated the funds which are now available for other use by the Treasury,” DOGE added.
Feb. 15: Gateway Pundit By Jim Hoft
Shocking Scandal: Over $151 Million Intended For Soldiers’ Meals At 11 Major Army Bases Spent Elsewhere
A bombshell report has exposed that more than $151 million meant to feed soldiers at 11 of the Army’s largest bases was repurposed for undisclosed uses. This revelation, first reported by Steve Beynon of Military.com, comes as junior enlisted soldiers struggle to access nutritious food on base, with some being forced to survive on substandard meals.
The funds in question are deducted directly from service members’ Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS), a monthly $460 allotment meant to cover food costs for soldiers living in barracks. For junior enlisted personnel earning approximately $30,000 annually, this deduction represents a significant financial burden. Yet, instead of using these funds to provide adequate meals, the Army appears to be diverting them elsewhere.
Feb. 16: Gateway Pundit By Jim Hoft
“Treason!” — Elon Musk Blasts Gavin Newsom For Allocating $9.5 Billion On Free Healthcare For Over 700,000 Illegal Aliens
California Governor Gavin Newsom is once again proving his loyalty—not to the hardworking taxpayers of his state, but to the ever-growing population of illegal immigrants who have flooded California thanks to the Democrats and Biden administration’s disastrous open-border policies.
During the first budget hearing of 2025 for the California Assembly, Newsom’s office admitted that they grossly underestimated the cost of providing free, taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal aliens. Originally projected at $6.5 billion, the true cost has now skyrocketed to $9.5 billion—a staggering 46.2% increase from what was initially claimed.
That’s nearly $10 billion of California taxpayers’ hard-earned money being funneled into services for illegal immigrants while the state struggles with a crippling $68 billion budget deficit and soaring taxes on legal residents.
Feb. 16: Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft
Trump’s U.S. Department Of Education Orders All 50 States To Eliminate DEI Programs Within 14 Days… Or Lose Federal Funding
The U.S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to all federally funded educational institutions: eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within 14 days, or face the complete withdrawal of federal funding.
The directive, outlined in a letter from the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), comes in response to “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences” that have turned America’s schools into indoctrination camps.
The letter explicitly warns schools, universities, and state education agencies that their reliance on DEI initiatives—which serve as racial discrimination—violates federal civil rights law. According to the document, which cites the Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Department of Education has found that DEI programs not only promote racial division but also directly contradict federal anti-discrimination laws.
Michael Hernandez, from California is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes.”
