TYB
>>24601357 lb
Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as 17th Fed Chair
Kevin Warsh will officially become the new head of the Federal Reserve.
The Senate voted 54–45 on May 13 to confirm Warsh’s four-year term as the 17th Fed chair.
This comes a day after the upper chamber approved Warsh’s 14-year term on the central bank’s Board of Governors. He previously served on the board from 2006 to 2011.
Warsh’s ascent to chairman was one of the most partisan votes in the institution’s century-long history.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the lone Democrat to vote for President Donald Trump’s pick. Other Democratic lawmakers had expressed reluctance to support Warsh’s nomination.
Prior to the floor vote, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said Warsh could erode the Fed’s independence.
“As soon as Donald Trump became president a second time, Mr. Warsh began shouting from the rooftops that the Fed should cut interest rates. In exchange for abandoning his principles, the President offered Mr. Warsh his dream job,” Warren said.
But Warsh has reaffirmed his commitment to central bank independence, arguing that he would prefer to see the Fed return to the dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment rather than engage in mission creep.
He also assured lawmakers that Trump never asked him to lower interest rates.
Ultimately, Warsh said, it is up to the Fed to remain independent.
“The Fed must stay in its lane,” Warsh told the committee. “Fed independence is placed at greatest risk when it strays into fiscal and social policies where it has neither authority nor expertise.”
At the same time, Warsh noted, Fed independence is not threatened when elected officials provide their opinions on monetary policy.
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/senate-confirms-kevin-warsh-as-new-fed-chair-6025168
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‘Regime Change’ of Policy and Personnel
Warsh, 56, has regularly advocated for a “regime change” of policy and personnel at the Fed.
Citing its track record over the past few years, he believes various changes are needed to restore its credibility and public trust. While he has yet to offer an official list of reforms, Warsh has alluded to different routes the institution could take moving forward.
One main issue is interest rates.
“My broad view is that interest rates need to be forward-looking,” he said.
In the past, he has supported lowering rates amid what he sees as a disinflationary climate from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
This could be a challenge for the incoming chairman as he grapples with brewing inflationary pressures and mixed employment conditions.
“As for policy, he enters at a time where inflation is rising, the labor market is concerned about the impact of AI and a potential spike in unemployment and three voting members have dissented about using easing language in their most recent remarks,” Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told The Epoch Times in a note.
“For a Chair that wants to lower rates, he sure has his work cut out for him.”
With 11 other voting members, Warsh would need to convince several of his colleagues, including outgoing chair Jerome Powell, to loosen policy constraints.
Powell has said he plans to maintain a low profile as a governor.
“I plan to keep a low profile as a governor. There is only ever one chair of the Federal Reserve Board. When Kevin Warsh is confirmed and sworn in, he will be that chair,” Powell told reporters last month.
Investors do not expect any rate actions this year, and many traders are gradually pricing in a rate hike next year.
Warsh has also championed using less of the balance sheet.
Since the global financial crisis, the central bank has purchased Treasury and mortgage-backed securities to cushion economic blows and bring down rates. He has stated that this go-to quantitative easing tool for the Fed has benefited Wall Street but distorted financial markets.
Economists warn that by trimming its holdings, the Fed would risk rising long-term yields. However, Warsh believes this could be offset by reducing the policy rate.
Warsh has also indicated that he would apply more focus on trimmed average or mean inflation. This measure would eliminate wild month-to-month swings, whether it be eggs or airfares.
“The measures I prefer are looking at things that are called trimmed averages,” Warsh told lawmakers. “We take out all of the tail-risks, all of the one-off items, and we ask ourselves whether the generalized change in prices is having second-order effects on the economy.”
The oil price shock emanating from the war in Iran—nearing its 12th week—has caused headline inflation to balloon.
April’s annual consumer inflation rate popped to 3.8 percent, the highest in almost three years. This was fueled almost entirely by energy prices. Additionally, the March Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index—the Fed’s preferred inflation measurement—rose to 3.5 percent.
Using the trimmed 12-month PCE inflation rate, calculated by the Dallas Fed, the reading would be 2.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Warsh has also suggested changes to the Fed’s communication, particularly regarding forward guidance. This tool, introduced by Alan Greenspan, is designed to shape expectations for the path of monetary policy, effectively allowing markets to adjust to future conditions.
“The Fed tells the whole world what their forecasts are going to be,” Warsh said. “Well, the Fed’s human, and then they hold on to those forecasts longer than they should.”
This could also mean changes to the number of post-meeting press conferences and the Summary of Economic Projections—a quarterly update on the Fed’s expectations for policy and the economy.
Warsh will lead his first meeting next month when the Federal Open Market Committee convenes the June 16–17 policy gathering.
Georgia Governor Calls Special Session to Redraw State’s Congressional Maps
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a proclamation on May 13 that ordered state lawmakers to attend a special session focused on redrawing maps for congressional districts.
The Republican’s proclamation on Wednesday will require the state’s General Assembly to convene on June 17 and “consider enacting, revisiting, repealing or amending general law for the division of the State into appropriate districts.”
Any changes to the current map would take effect in the 2028 election cycle, not the upcoming midterms, according to the proclamation.
Georgia is the latest state to pursue redistricting efforts after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 29 that race could not be used as the primary factor when drawing boundaries for electoral districts.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/georgia-governor-calls-special-session-to-redraw-states-congressional-maps-6025393
>>24599141 pb
>The CCP’s Greatest Insecurity—and America’s Greatest Weapon
>American Thought Leaders - The Epoch Times
>video at link
now on YouTube
Sam Brownback: It’s Time to Stop Treating Communist China Like a Normal Country
It’s time to fundamentally rethink America’s approach to the Chinese Communist Party, argues Sam Brownback, former U.S. senator, Kansas governor, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, and author of the new book “China’s War on Faith.”
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, I’m sitting down with Brownback to understand what’s really at stake and why he believes America is wasting the greatest leverage it has had.
“I think we’ve just got to recognize: … This is an evil regime. They've killed more of their own people than any other regime in the history of mankind, and we've been treating them like a normal country,” Brownback says.
Brownback lays out the case that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is currently conducting three genocides—against the Uyghur Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, and Tibetan Buddhists—through mass detention, torture, cultural eradication, and forced organ harvesting. At the same time, the regime is escalating its war on Christianity, arresting pastors, and crushing underground churches, Brownback says.
Now, the CCP is also exporting the technologies it uses to surveil and persecute dissidents to at least 80 other countries, he says.
For decades, human rights and religious freedom has been a “red line” for the Chinese regime that American leaders and diplomats have tiptoed around.
But the reality is that human rights and religious freedom are the CCP’s deepest vulnerability and insecurity—and America’s most potent weapon and leverage against this regime, Brownback argues.
Premiered 56 minutes ago 45:24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of3SBOiPHok
NBC News
Utah mom Kouri Richins sentenced to life without parole for husband's murder
The Utah mother who wrote a book about grief following her husband's death before being charged with his murder was sentenced to life without parole. Richins’ sentencing comes two months after she was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, fraud, and forgery in the March 4, 2022, death of Eric Richins.
27 minutes ago 13,898 May 13, 2026 views 4:22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufL97NQYxxI
Kouri Richins is Too Dangerous to be Free
Grief author Kouri Richins gives 40-minute rant about love and calls husband's poisoning murder a 'tragedy' as she learns fate in Moscow Mule slaying… and sends deranged message to her sons
The 35-year-old killer pulled faces as representatives for her own three children, aged just 13, 11 and nine, spoke of her abusive treatment of them after murdering their father, their fear that she would harm them if she was freed and how much they missed their dad. …
https://www.dailymail.com/crime-desk/article-15814777/kouri-richins-sentence-utah-eric-sons-statement.html
>>24601023 lb
>>24601173 lb
>>24600674 bp
Leading Report
CIA seized 40 boxes of JFK and MK-ULTRA files that were being processed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for declassification.
2:01 PM · May 13, 2026·2M Views
https://x.com/LeadingReport/status/2054623083353301339
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
The CIA has 24 hours to return the documents to Tulsi Gabbard’s office or else I will make a motion to issue a subpoena. These documents have been requested by Congress. @DNIGabbard @CIADirector
2:57 PM · May 13, 2026·1.5M Views
https://x.com/i/status/2054637198679367875
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
Given the nature of docs in question, we are sending a preservation notice. Docs need to be returned to ODNI given that ODNI was given direction and authority by the President to declass RFK, MLK, & JFK. Regarding MKULTRA, these were documents specifically requested by my Task Force and currently being used for our investigation.
6:43 PM · May 13, 2026·35.1K Views
https://x.com/i/status/2054693936120164756
Justice Department Files Complaint Against D.C. Bar Disciplinary Authorities Over Their Weaponization of the Bar Disciplinary Process Against Federal Government Attorneys
The Justice Department today filed a complaint against D.C. Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton P. Fox III, the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility over their improper use of bar discipline to regulate the official actions of Federal Government attorneys. The filing advances President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government and Presidential Memorandum on Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Courts. Specifically, the complaint seeks to nullify the D.C. Bar’s unlawful prosecution of former Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark based on internal deliberations relating to potential fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, which remains the subject of litigation nearly six years later.
"As our complaint and history make clear, the DC Bar has long acted as a blatantly partisan arm of leftist causes. No more,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“President Trump promised to put an end to the weaponization of the legal process, and today’s lawsuit against the D.C. Bar makes good on that promise,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “The D.C. Bar will no longer be permitted to probe sensitive Executive Branch deliberations and target Executive Branch officials with whom they happen to politically disagree, and Federal attorneys will once again be free to share their candid legal advice with their bosses and colleagues.”
Just last week, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in support of former interim United States Attorney Ed Martin, who is seeking to have the D.C. Bar’s unlawful prosecution of him heard in a neutral Federal tribunal.
As three former Attorneys General recently recognized, the D.C. Bar’s efforts to discipline Justice Department attorneys “for making recommendations, factual assertions, and providing legal advice during confidential internal agency deliberations on law enforcement and sensitive public policy” are “improper and constitutionally impermissible.”
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward filed the complaint. The complaint is available here. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1440681/dl
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-complaint-against-dc-bar-disciplinary-authorities-over-their
U.S. Department of Justice
Justice Department Files Complaint Against D.C. Bar Disciplinary Authorities Over Their Weaponization of the Bar Disciplinary Process Against Federal Government Attorneys
The filing advances President Trump’s Executive Order Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government and Presidential Memorandum on Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Courts.
"As our complaint and history make clear, the DC Bar has long acted as a blatantly partisan arm of leftist causes. No more,” said Acting Attorney General
@DAGToddBlanche.
🔗: >>24602368
https://justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-complaint-against-dc-bar-disciplinary-authorities-over-their
7:42 PM · May 13, 2026·6,550 Views
https://x.com/i/status/2054708888956751962
U.S. Department of Justice
“President Trump promised to put an end to the weaponization of the legal process, and today’s lawsuit against the D.C. Bar makes good on that promise,” said @ASGWoodward. “The D.C. Bar will no longer be permitted to probe sensitive Executive Branch deliberations and target Executive Branch officials with whom they happen to politically disagree, and Federal attorneys will once again be free to share their candid legal advice with their bosses and colleagues.”
7:42 PM · May 13, 2026·2,470 Views
https://x.com/i/status/2054708892874019298
Rand Paul
Today, a CIA whistleblower sat before my committee and confirmed what I've said for years:government officials, including Dr. Fauci, deliberately misled the American people about the origins of COVID-19.This is not a conspiracy theory. This is sworn testimony. 🧵
6:56 PM · May 13, 2026·47.1K Views
https://x.com/i/status/2054697442172436484
Just the News
FBI documents reveal a plot to re-indict President Trump
"Documents we got from Kash Patel's FBI reveal something a little troubling…the FBI created a memo laying out how they could resume the case [against President Trump]."
John Solomon reports on newly discovered FBI documents from the "Arctic Frost" investigation, alleging a coordinated plan to re-indict President Trump after his current term ends in 2029.
1 hour ago May 13, 2026 1:27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq3RBgnbTzE
Greg Gutfeld: 'The Don' enters the dragon…
‘The Five’ co-hosts discuss upcoming talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Premiered 54 minutes ago 36,307 views 10:58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgUj7EtFDqk
Rand Paul
@RandPaul
Let me be clear about what we know. Taxpayer dollars funded risky gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci denied it under oath. The evidence says otherwise.
6:56 PM · May 13, 2026·17.7K Views
https://x.com/i/status/2054697444202451308