Trump Instructs DOJ to Fire All Remaining Biden-Era US Attorneys

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/doj-attorneys-biden/2025/02/18/id/1199598/

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 06:59 PM EST

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has instructed the Justice Department to terminate all remaining Biden-era U.S. attorneys, asserting that the department had been "politicized like never before."

"We must 'clean house' IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System - THAT BEGINS TODAY," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, the White House sent termination notices to several U.S. attorneys around the country who had been appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden.

On Monday, several U.S. attorneys appointed by Biden announced they were stepping down. Others left the government last week.

While it is customary for U.S. Attorneys to step down after a change in the presidential administration, usually the incoming administration asks for their resignations and does not issue tersely worded termination letters, current and former Justice Department lawyers say.

The termination of the U.S. attorneys, who serve as the top federal law enforcement officers in their districts, is the latest in shake-ups at the Justice Department since Trump took office last month.

Career Justice Department officials normally remain in office from one administration to the next. Yet dozens in cities including Washington and New York have been fired or quit since Trump took office.

Trump campaigned on a vow to end the "weaponization" at the Justice Department that he says was used against him during his years out of power.

>>22611422

I want to hear them say all tax debts for citizens to IRS are now settled.

That would be a great start to closing down the IRS, and with 57 billion saved so far, that would go a long way.

Tom Homan to Newsmax: 'Working On' Striking Cartels in Mexico

https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/border-mexico-cartels/2025/02/18/id/1199536/

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 01:15 PM EST

President Donald Trump declared Mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations on his first day in office, and now border czar Tom Homan says there are active discussions about U.S. military strikes on terrorist targets in Mexico.

"That's something we're working on now," Homan told Monday night's "Finnerty" on Newsmax, suggesting it is talk on the table and not actively a military strike plan in the works.

While striking a target in Mexico will also require work with the Mexican government and its military, Homan suggested there might be an override over fair warning if American border patrol agents are under an active threat.

"But I can tell you, President Trump has made Mexico cartels who put a death threat against Border Patrol agents or our military, if they harm a Border Patrol agent or the military, President Trump will wipe them off the face of the Earth," Homan said.

Thus far, Trump is not likely to overstep with military action, barring an imminent threat, because relations are in a good spot, according to Homan.

"I think President Trump has them where he wants them," Homan said. "They've now put military on the on their northern border and our southern border. They are now participating and beginning to participate in 'Remain in Mexico.'

"President Trump is demanding they take action and we're monitoring them. President Trump, you know, he's a game changer. President Trump has already got Mexico where he wants them, and he's going to force more out of them in the near future."

>>22611426

Musk Mulls Sending All Americans $5,000 Checks Using DOGE Savings

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/02/18/musk-mulls-sending-all-americans-5000-checks-using-doge-savings/

Billionaire DOGE head Elon Musk said on X, formerly known as Twitter, he would ask President Donald Trump about a proposal for a “DOGE Dividend” that would give taxpayers a refund check of $5,000 funded by the savings from his Department of Government Efficiency.

James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria and reportedly an outside adviser to DOGE, pitched the idea of “a tax refund check to be sent after the expiration of DOGE in July 2026 funded exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE” on social media on Friday, and continued posting about it Tuesday, tagging Musk in a tweet about the proposal.

The proposal calls for 20% of DOGE’s targeted $2 trillion in savings to be returned to “the ~79 million tax-paying households,” which Fishback said would result in about a $5,000 return per household.

Musk responded to Fishback’s proposal, saying he “will check with the president.”

After Musk’s response to Fishback gained traction, he responded to another tweet about the proposed dividend couching the commitment slightly, saying: “Obviously, the President is the Commander-in-Chief, so this is entirely up to him.”

“Honored that @ElonMusk has expressed interest in our DOGE Dividend proposal for President Trump,” Fishback said on X after Musk responded.

$55 billion. That’s how much DOGE estimates it has saved the U.S. as of Monday, according to doge.gov. The site says the savings are from a combination of “fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.”

DOGE has drawn widespread controversy and criticism as Musk—who has been unofficially leading the agency—and his team have been quickly working to reduce costs through cancelling grants and contracts and reducing the federal workforce. DOGE has received blowback for its seemingly unrestricted access to sensitive federal data across departments including the Treasury Department and Education Department. It’s not clear what authority DOGE has to be handling sensitive data, and the agency and Musk are facing a number of lawsuits seeking to answer that and restrict access. DOGE was created by executive order on Trump’s first day back in office last month, and the order declared its purpose was “to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

>>22611436

o7

GOP growing some backbone?

Kan. Bans Gender Care for Minors as GOP Lawmakers Reverse Gov's Veto

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/transgender-health-care-minors-kansas/2025/02/18/id/1199609/

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 07:58 PM EST

Kansas became the latest state to ban gender care for minors Tuesday after the Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the Democratic governor's veto of the measure.

Kansas is the 27th state to ban or restrict such care. GOP lawmakers reversed Gov. Laura Kelly's veto less than a month after President Donald Trump issued an order barring federal support for gender-affirming care for youth under 19.

“I just held my 16-year-old daughter, and we cried while we watched them try to erase her existence,” Elise Flatland, a Kansas City-area mother of two transgender children, said in a text message after livestreams of the votes.

The new law is set to take effect this month, and critics have predicted that doctors or parents or both will file a state-court lawsuit challenging it.

Supporters of such bans argued that they protect vulnerable children from what they see as a “radical” ideology about gender and from making irreversible medical decisions too young.

“This is a fork in the road,” said Republican state Rep. Ron Bryce, a southeastern Kansas doctor who backed the ban. “This is who we are as a people, as a state.”

The Kansas law will prohibit puberty blockers, hormone therapies or surgery for a minor to transition away from their gender assigned at birth. State employees caring for children won’t be allowed to provide or encourage such treatment — or encourage social transitioning.

The votes to override Kelly's veto were 85-34 in the House and 31-9 in the Senate. Republicans hold supermajorities in both, and only one GOP lawmaker voted against overturning the veto.

Groups backing transgender rights immediately announced that they would provide financial assistance and other help to families seeking care for transgender youth outside Kansas.