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Some 3 million Americans may benefit from higher Social Security payments beginning in April. Why It Matters In January, two provisions—the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)—that reduced Social Security benefits for millions of workers were repealed after bipartisan efforts in Congress. Signing the act into law, former President Joe Biden said it would boost Social Security benefits by an average of $360 a month for more than 2.8 million recipients. What To Know Beginning in April, these boosted payments will be made for all relevant recipients, the Social Security Administration confirmed in a news release...

Former White House adviser Susan Rice said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg being added to Signal group chat on military strikes against the Houthis between Trump administration officials was “the biggest national security debacle that any professional can remember.” Rice said, “It’s stunning. It’s likely the biggest national security debacle that any professional can remember. Let me explain a bit why this is so crazy. First of all national security advisors convene what is called the national security principals committee meeting. This is the cabinet level group that makes the most important decisions and recommendations...

President Donald Trump is standing by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, after a news report on Monday that senior White House officials included a journalist in a detailed discussion surrounding military air strikes on the Houthis in Yemen earlier this month over Signal, a nongovernment encrypted messaging app.

Washington -- As President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk work to overhaul the federal government, they are forcing out thousands of workers with insider knowledge and connections who now need a job. For Russia, China and other adversaries, the upheaval in Washington as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency guts government agencies presents an unprecedented opportunity to recruit informants, national security andintelligence experts say. Every former federal worker with knowledge of or access to sensitive information or systems could be a target. When thousands of them leave their jobs at the same time, that creates a lot of targets, as...

There has been considerable debate about Trump’s plan to incorporate Greenland into the American “empire,” something which I think has great strategic and security advantages. There has even been trolling, perhaps half serious, of Canada being absorbed as the 51st state of the U.S. But so far nothing has been said about Australia, which is of even greater strategic defense interest to the United States than Greenland. Many Americans may think that there is no problem here as we have the AUKUS treaty for defense. However, in this brief note I would like to ignite a debate about Australia/U.S. relations,...

The Tesla-focused blog Not a Tesla App reported that following last week’s Q1 2025 All-Hands Meeting, Tesla quietly updated the Cybertruck’s webpage to include a new Sentry Mode feature that plays loud music as a deterrent against unhinged individuals—particularly Democrats—attempting to damage the vehicles. The new feature appeared on the lower half of Cybertruck’s About page. The text reveals Sentry Mode will soon be able to play loud music when it’s triggered: Enable Sentry Mode to monitor your unattended vehicle or trailer, and automatically activate the alarm, increase the touchscreen brightness, and play music at max volume if a threat...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is set to close dozens of offices across the U.S. this year as part of the advisory Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) efforts to shrink the size of the federal government and cut waste. The closures, which will span 18 states, have raised concerns over their possible impact on the agency's efficiency and the delivery of benefits that millions of Americans receive every month. Why It Matters According to the SSA, more than 72.5 million of Americans receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, including some of the most vulnerable individuals in U.S....

March 22 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is investigating leaks of national security information, including using polygraph tests, one day after media reports about an upcoming briefing with White House senior adviser Elon Musk. Joe Kasper, the Defense Department's chief of staff, on Friday issued a memo about the "recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense demand immediate and thorough investigation." He said the "use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy." Polygraph tests are typically not admissible...

President Trump issued a memo Friday rescinding the security clearances of more than a dozen individuals, including former President Joe Biden and his entire family, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton. “I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump wrote in the memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies, before naming those he’s barring from receiving classified information. The list includes his three past presidential election opponents — Clinton, Biden and Harris — as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New...

In the ultimate act of seeking to 'Trump-proof' the NATO alliance, even well into the future, Europe's largest military powers are now drawing up plans to keep the alliance strong in case of a US exit from leadership over the next five to ten years. Informal discussions have involved the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Nordic countries, who are envisioning a managed transfer of power and leadership reshaping the NATO bloc. Financial Times writes that "The discussions are an attempt to avoid the chaos of a unilateral US withdrawal from Nato, a fear sparked by President Donald Trump’s repeated...

For years I've been using Cynwoody's Posting Form Enhancer and Tree Viewer extensions in Firefox to view and post comments on FreeRepublic. They have made the use of FreeRepublic so much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, a few days ago those extensions stopped working and Firefox now displays the following message for each of the extensions: "This extension could not be verified for use in Firefox and has been disabled." I'm curious whether anyone is currently successfully using those extensions and, if so, what version of Firefox is being used.

Vegetable gardening has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years, with individuals and communities alike embracing the benefits of growing their own fresh produce. Recognizing the significance of this movement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now encouraging people to register their vegetable gardens. This new initiative aims to better understand and support the efforts of home gardeners, while also contributing to a more sustainable local food system. The decision by the USDA to ask people to register their vegetable gardens stems from a deep appreciation for the positive impact that these gardens can have on both individuals...

Donald Trump’s tariff policies remain a lightning rod for debate. Democrats are sounding the alarm, warning of dire economic fallout and painting a picture of looming catastrophe. Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor of Newsweek, made one of the strongest, most effective cases yet for former President Donald Trump’s tariffs during the latest episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.” She broke down exactly why these tariffs are necessary, and by the end, she left Bill Maher flustered. Ungar-Sargon’s explanation couldn’t have been clearer: manufacturing jobs and economic nationalism are crucial for the American middle class. When the conversation turned to...

Hunter Biden fled last week to South Africa for a luxury vacation — with round-the-clock Secret Service protection — avoiding a grueling deposition scheduled for this week in a California lawsuit. California District Court Judge Herman Vera granted Hunter’s motion to dismiss the case Thursday after the former first son claimed he was too broke to continue suing former Trump staffer Garrett Ziegler and his nonprofit Marco Polo. But photographs show Hunter was already in Cape Town the day the case was dismissed, staying in a $500-a-night beachfront villa described on its website as an “ultra-luxurious designer home with spectacular...

In recent days, the Trump administration has announced two high-profile and controversial policy changes it says are meant to combat waste and fraud in Social Security. First, the agency said it would resume garnishing entire benefit checks from Americans who receive overpayments, undoing a reform that had capped clawbacks at a smaller amount. Social Security officials claim the change will help the government recover an additional $7 billion over 10 years. Later, the agency announced that enrollees would no longer be allowed to change their direct deposit information over the phone but would instead be required to use an online...

Joe Biden received information about Obama Briefings, Situation Room meetings, policy memos about foreign nations, including Iraq, all sent to his personal email address while he was Vice-President. Our friends at “Just the News” received thousand of emails sent by White House staffers to Joe Biden’s RobinWare45@gmail.com address. Every federal agency forbids the use of personal email addresses, yet Joe Biden determined he was above the law. Many of the emails are redacted, suggesting they contain classified information. This Podcast exposes the security risk, some of what was written and why these emails may have compromised National Security. Also Real...

WTH, Great Britain?President Trump is working to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student who has been an organizer of pro-Hamas rallies and who has been committing crimes, recruiting others to commit crimes, and illegally supporting a terrorist organization as an alien. John has been doing yeoman's work covering this case. Immigration law is explicit about the last: you may not have, may not now, nor may you at any point as a visa or green card holder support terrorists. It is black letter law. The Left is going crazy, because, well, the Left. If it is bad, they support...

Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) this week blocked a border reform bill introduced by freshman Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), despite his plea to Democrats to unite on something so common sense. “I know that my Democrat colleagues are in a mode where they want to fight everything that we’re doing, Mr. President, but we should at least come together on this,” Moreno said on the floor. “As I look over at my democratic colleague, there’s only two of us — two of us as entire chamber — that are naturalized U.S. citizens,” he said of himself and Hirono. “We know...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) said it is reinstating a plan to recover 100% of overpayments to beneficiaries, a policy the agency had abandoned last year after an outcry over cases in which the practice led some Americans to receive shock bills amounting to thousands of dollars. In a statement, SSA said late Friday that it will increase the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security recipients to 100% of a person's monthly benefit, the same level that it had in place before last year's reform. The agency is required by law to claw back overpaid benefits. Because of public...

U.S. President Donald Trump complained Thursday that his country's bilateral security arrangement with Japan, signed in 1960, was one-sided. In response, Japan pointed out the cooperative nature of the agreement. “I love Japan. We have a great relationship with Japan. But we have an interesting deal with Japan where we have to protect them but they don't have to protect us,” Trump told reporters. “That's the way the deal reads. We have to protect Japan. Under no circumstances do they have to protect us,” the president said, adding that Japan was making a fortune off the U.S. economically. The Japanese...