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A House committee summarily struck down an amendment to strip a measure from the massive annual defense policy bill that would provide Israel “a higher level of military-industrial integration" with the U.S. than Washington has "with any other country in the world.” Pro-Israel voices on the House Armed Services Committee argued that reports about Section 224 — that Congress was trying to integrate U.S. and Israeli military systems as a way to entrench aid without proper oversight — were disingenuous and wrong. In fact, members claimed that these were “existing initiatives” and that Section 224 “actually improves oversight and accountability...

In one of the latest examples of political extremes converging over Israel, Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie joined forces this week to challenge a provision expanding US-Israel defense cooperation. Khanna, a progressive California Democrat, and Massie, a Kentucky Republican, both said over the weekend that they would seek to remove a provision from the House’s annual defense bill that would expand US-Israeli defense technology cooperation. The section of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2027 that Khanna and Massie have taken aim at would require the Secretary of Defense to designate an “executive agent responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts...

Thomas Massie may be leaving Congress, but don't expect him to disappear from Republican politics anytime soon ... because he and Marjorie Taylor Greene have been cooking up plans behind the scenes to retake the GOP. Charlie caught up with the outgoing Kentucky Congressman Wednesday on Capitol Hill and asked about his recent Costa Rica vacay with Greene and her fiancé, Brian Glenn -- a trip TMZ first revealed after the group was spotted dining together. Massie praised Greene as someone who has "her finger on the pulse" of MAGA voters ... calling her an important voice for people who...

@mtgreenee We just said goodbye to our good friends Thomas and Carolyn Massie. The civil war in the Republican Party is successfully gutting the true America Firsters, like myself, Thomas and others. But I don’t think most Americans realize the extent of what’s happening, how bad it is, and what it’s going to produce. After taking the hard principled stand against war with Iran in June 2025 and releasing the Epstein files, the neocon controlled Republican establishment now backed by the President set out to destroy us. Thomas and I took two different routes but ended up in the same...

(In the first step towards shifting aid further into the shadows, the House's 2027 NDAA would all but fuse the two countries' armed forces together) At a time when the American public is expressing unprecedented levels of distrust in the Israeli government, Congress just proposed tying the U.S. to the Israeli military more than ever before. Buried in the House's version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released on Tuesday, is section 224, entitled “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.” The provision would arguably do more to intertwine the U.S. military with the Israeli military than the more...

Chehel Sotun is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Isfahan, Iran. The palace was completed in 1647 during the Safavid era. It is known for its twenty columns, wall paintings, mirror work, and wooden decorations. In the course of the recent conflict, the Governor's Office building located several hundred meters from the palace was struck. No direct hit occurred on the palace itself. However, shockwaves from the nearby strike caused observable damage to the structure.

Washington’s war hawks are molting down over President Trump’s outreach to Iran. Senator Ted Cruz says that he is “concerned.” Senator Roger Wicker fears a “disaster.” Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deemed a preliminary agreement with Iran “not remotely America First.” Trump and his advisors are having none of it. Responding to Pompeo, White House communications director Steve Cheung observed that “he should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals.” Trump, who angered Senate Republicans earlier this week by proposing a $1.8 billion slush fund for January 6 victims and by endorsing Ken Paxton...

@ky_statesman I've lived in KY-04 my entire life and closely follow the election results here. There is no way that the turnout legitimately doubled. This was election fraud carried out by the highest levels of our state & federal governments.

Andy Burnham could lead Labour to victory against Reform in a general election, polling reveals. The survey, carried out by More in Common, found that Labour would get an eight-point boost with Mr Burnham at its helm if he succeeded in his attempt to become the next party leader. The “Burnham bounce” would secure Labour 30 per cent of votes, three points ahead of Nigel Farage’s party which has consistently led the opinion polls since the autumn of 2025. This week, Mr Burnham was selected as Labour’s candidate to fight the Makerfield by-election, where he is tipped to beat Robert...

Donald Trump was for the Iran war before he was against it. His latest post on social media about the conflict indicated that he is once more calling off a sweeping military action, this time at the behest of his Gulf allies who are apparently quaking at the thought of a renewed conflict. Trump’s initial sentence was quite a mouthful: I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed rising gas prices as “peanuts,” even as new polling shows his economic approval rating falling to a new low. The remarks highlight growing pressure on the White House as inflation and fuel costs remain high, weighing on voters and shaping political sentiment ahead of the midterms. The disconnect could have broad implications for U.S. households and the 2026 elections, with rising prices and the Iran war expected to remain central campaign issues.

Oil prices rose and global bonds wobbled on Monday, as fresh tensions in the Middle East fed inflation fears and bets that central banks will have to increase interest rates. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose on Monday, after an attack on a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. It came as peace talks between the US and Iran stalled in the sixth week of ceasefire. Donald Trump wrote on social media: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE...

But if Massie loses, it's not just the end of his career. (He told Mangu-Ward that if GOP primary voters send him packing, he's going back to his plow and "nobody will ever hear from me again"). It would also effectively be the end of what used to be called the Tea Party, a loose conglomeration of Republican representatives and senators who rode a wave of anti-Barack Obama and anti-George W. Bush sentiment to office in the early 2010s. Although some said that the tea in Tea Party stood for the "taxed-enough already," the rallying cry of the early Tea...

The pro-Israel lobby that’s pumped millions into Democratic primaries this year is facing the next test of its political power on the right in ruby-red Kentucky. [AIPAC] and other pro-Israel interest groups have uncorked over $9 million in a bid to unseat Republican Rep. Thomas Massie on Tuesday in a competitive primary that has shattered spending records. Prominent pro-Israel GOP donors have funneled millions more into a super PAC stood up by President Donald Trump’s political operation that has spent nearly $7 million on the race. Overall ad spending has topped $32 million, making it the most expensive House primary...

Rep. Thomas Massie, the maverick Republican who pushed back against Trump on the Epstein files and Iran, aimed a not-so-subtle dig at the pro-Israel establishment that has bankrolled efforts to unseat himWASHINGTON – Rep. Thomas Massie, the harshest Republican critic of Israel in Congress and stated foe of the American-Jewish establishment, has introduced legislation aimed at attacking foreign lobbying efforts days before his Kentucky primary race.

Naftali Bennett, a former Netanyahu aide who is seeking to replace him as prime minister for a second time, is offering voters a straightforward promise: a “rebuild.” Israel’s main anti-Netanyahu alliance, led by Bennett and Yair Lapid…offered a conservative, hawkish vision that carries echoes of Netanyahu — but none of his baggage. Their pitch will be tested in a momentous election this year that will reveal whether voters want younger faces to lead Israel through a period of growing domestic division and international isolation… Lapid’s centrist supporters say they do not agree on all issues with Bennett…But he is someone...

The Trump administration has moved to seize more than 14 acres of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to expand border‑wall infrastructure near Mount Cristo Rey in southern New Mexico, according to court documents reported by KVIA. The effort puts federal border‑security construction on a collision course with religious‑freedom protections tied to one of the region’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage sites. If approved by a judge, the action could disrupt annual pilgrimages and set a legal test for using eminent domain against religious institutions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The civil case was filed at the request of...

A decorated FBI official who is suing the agency for wrongful dismissal said he was asked to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump during his vetting for the role. In his first interview since leaving the FBI in 2025, Brian Driscoll, who served as the interim director of the agency under the US president, told CNN he was repeatedly asked about his personal political views while being interviewed for the role. Mr Driscoll and two other senior FBI officials are suing Kash Patel, the head of the agency, and the FBI over allegations of wrongful termination. The lawsuit accuses Mr Patel...

When a career CIA operative steps before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today, the moment carries more than procedural weight. This is not another bureaucratic exercise in finger-pointing. It is the latest—and potentially most damaging—crack in the edifice of official denial that has shielded the federal government’s role in the origins of COVID-19 for more than six years. Senator Rand Paul, the committee chairman, has made clear what is coming: confirmation from inside the intelligence community that the lab-leak reality was known early, suppressed aggressively, and that American taxpayer dollars helped make it possible. Paul told Fox...

Washington — As inflation rose to its highest rate in years and CBS News polling shows high prices at the pump are causing financial strain for many Americans, President Trump told reporters Tuesday, "I don't think about Americans' financial situation" as a motivation for negotiations with Iran, and said he is only concerned with preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. When asked by a reporter how much Americans' finances are "motivating you to make a deal," Mr. Trump responded: "Not even a little bit."