Jordan slams sanctuary mayor for Venezuelan gang member's alleged attack on ICE agents



Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) grilled Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) on Wednesday over the city's refusal to comply with federal immigration officials' detainer requests.

During a congressional oversight hearing on sanctuary policies, Jordan blasted the mayor for a preventable violent clash, allegedly between a gang member and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

'An officer got assaulted because of your policy.'

New York Mayor Eric Adams (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) were also in the hot seat on Wednesday.

Jordan opened his comments by asking Johnston about Abraham Gonzalez, an alleged Venezuelan gang member who was released from jail on Friday.

The congressman explained that Gonzalez was charged with aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, and felony menacing. Despite ICE's detainer request, Gonzalez was released back onto Denver streets.

ICE had requested a 48-hour notice of Gonzalez's release. However, according to Jordan, Denver law enforcement officials provided the federal immigration agency with a one-hour notice.

Johnston argued that, in this instance and 1,200 others, Denver cooperated with ICE's detainer requests by notifying the agency about the planned release. Yet, he did not deny Jordan's claim that ICE was given only one-hour notice.

"We notified them of release. There was six ICE agents present when he was released, so they had enough time to respond and to be present," Johnston stated.

Jordan explained that the alleged gang member was not turned over to ICE inside of the jail. Instead, he was released out onto the streets outside of the prison, where several ICE agents were waiting to arrest him in the parking lot.

"Guess what happened in the parking lot?" Jordan asked. "One of the ICE officers got assaulted, didn't he? They had to tase the guy, didn't they?"

Jordan further noted that only two ICE officers would have been necessary to turn the individual over to federal custody if the transfer had been completed inside the safety of the jail.

"Do you know why you don't do it that way?" Jordan asked Johnston. "Because you're a sanctuary city."

Johnston continued to deny that Denver shields illegal aliens from law enforcement officials. The mayor claimed that since the altercation, he has contacted ICE to "coordinate on strategies" for release.

"An officer got assaulted because of your policy," Jordan remarked.

John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director, responded to Johnston's comments in a post on X, stating that the mayor "does not care about the safety of citizens."

"He cares about illegal aliens and gang members more. American citizens should come first," he added.

On Tuesday, Fabbricatore spoke before the oversight committee's subcommittee Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation. During the hearing, he detailed how Colorado's sanctuary policies "limit cooperation" with ICE, including restrictions on the department of motor vehicles and state labor records.

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House committee shockingly reveals IRS tax record leaks under Biden were 5 times worse than originally reported



Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee published a new disclosure Tuesday that unveiled the true scale of IRS leaks under President Joe Biden.

The new disclosure revealed that the IRS leaked taxpayer information of over 405,000 Americans, including President Donald Trump, rather than the initial 70,000 figure.

"The IRS’s admission confirms the Committee’s suspicion and recent reports that show the scope of the leak was much broader than what the Biden Administration’s IRS initially led the public to believe," the committee stated Tuesday.

'The left is in meltdown mode accusing Elon of accessing their personal data when it was BIDEN’S IRS that leaked the data of 405,000 Americans!'

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who chairs the committee, attributed this discrepancy to political convenience, noting that the IRS had previously been weaponized by Democratic administrations.

"The Obama IRS targeted conservatives," Jordan said in a Tuesday post on X. "The Biden IRS leaked your data."

"Just the latest example of corruption in our government," Republican Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama echoed. "Not only did the Biden IRS allow this leak to happen, they lied to the American people about how many taxpayers it affected."

One Republican pointed out the hypocritical outrage in response to Elon Musk's DOGE directive to access similar data in order to track down federal fraud and corruption.

"The left is in meltdown mode accusing Elon of accessing their personal data when it was BIDEN’S IRS that leaked the data of 405,000 Americans!" Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy of New York said in a Tuesday post on X.

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Trump, Vance challenge limits of judicial authority, sparking separation-of-powers debate



President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance seem to be gearing up for a battle about the separation of powers after weighing in on whether the federal judiciary should be able to curtail executive authority.

Early Saturday morning, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a ruling that temporarily blocks Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from gaining access to the payment system of the Treasury Department, which is under the purview of the executive branch. The judge also ordered anyone outside the Treasury Department who has already gained access to the system to destroy all downloaded information.

Musk and DOGE have attempted to audit the agency to uncover possible fraud, waste, and other inefficiencies.

Engelmayer's ruling is set to expire on Friday, when a hearing will be held before a federal judge in New York, who will consider the issue on a more permanent basis. The case was brought by 19 state attorneys general — all Democrats — who argued that Musk and DOGE should not have access to sensitive data within the payment system.

Engelmayer agreed. "The Court’s firm assessment is that, for the reasons stated by the States, they will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief," he wrote.

"That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking."

'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.'

Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller countered on Fox News that hindering executive control over executive agencies has allowed the deep state to flourish with no accountability:

What we continue to see here is the idea that rogue bureaucrats who are elected by no one, who answer to no one, who have lifetime tenure jobs, who we would be told can never be fired, which, of course, is not true, that the power has been cemented and accumulated for years, whether it be with the Treasury bureaucrats or the FBI bureaucrats or the CIA bureaucrats or the USAID bureaucrats, with this unelected shadow force that is running our government and running our country.

Federal judges routinely blocked elements of Trump's agenda during his first term. From the travel ban to pushing back against sanctuary cities to border wall funding, federal judges, often at the district level, stymied the efforts of the president of the United States to fulfill his campaign promises.

On his way to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Trump suggested federal judges should not have the authority to block a democratically elected POTUS. "No judge should frankly be allowed to make that kind of a decision," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"We’re very disappointed with the judges that would make such a ruling, but we have a long way to go."

Vance also weighed in on the limits of judicial oversight on Sunday, likely in response to Engelmayer's ruling. Vance claimed that federal judges should not have the ability to prevent the president from exercising "legitimate" control over executive agencies.

"If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power," he wrote.

— (@)

Vance also retweeted Harvard Law Professor Adrian Vermeule, who likewise argued that such judicial blocks ran afoul of the established separation of powers: "Judicial interference with legitimate acts of state, especially the internal functioning of a co-equal branch, is a violation of the separation of powers."

Republicans in Congress have also stood behind President Trump, defending executive authority in the face of apparent judicial overreach. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called Engelmayer's decision "outrageous," claiming it was not based on legal precedent and yet would still have the effect of impeding the work of the secretary of the treasury.

Though the Constitution empowers a president to nominate members of his Cabinet, those nominees must first be approved by the Senate before they can take office. So judicial interference in the actions of a president's Cabinet has separation-of-powers implications regarding the legislative branch as well.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) indicated that a showdown about the reach of judicial authority was imminent. "I assume we will argue this out in court, like the other 17 or 18 decisions we have seen in the last several days. That all is going to get argued out in court. And, frankly, we knew the left, we knew the Democrats were going to do this," he said Sunday on CNN.

X has also been flooded with recollections of President Andrew Jackson, a proto Democrat who famously engaged in a standoff with the federal judiciary. After the Supreme Court ruled on a case related to Native American sovereignty rights in 1832, Jackson allegedly quipped, "The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it."

With Jackson's quote as a backdrop, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) seemingly warned Vance not to ignore the courts, even as he stopped short of claiming that doing so would be illegal.

"JD, we both went to law school. But we don’t have to be lawyers to know that ignoring court decisions we don’t like puts us on a dangerous path to lawlessness. We just have to swear an oath [to] the constitution. And mean it," he said.

The Democratic Biden-Harris administration infamously ignored SCOTUS' rulings regarding student loan forgiveness.

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How Trump's 'Midas touch' shepherds the Republican Party



After President-elect Donald Trump swept all seven swing states and the popular vote on November 5, the Republican Party has largely fallen behind his MAGA mandate.

Although Trump has become the face of the Republican Party, some defectors have required the shepherding of the president-elect in order to effectively implement this MAGA mandate.

While Republicans control both the executive and the legislative branches, the narrow majorities in the House and Senate have left the GOP with very little wiggle room to implement Trump's policy agenda. But where pressure is needed, pressure has been applied, and it has worked.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Trump is the only Republican with the Midas touch of political viability.

One of the earliest examples of Trump's effective pressure campaign was when Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa withheld from formally endorsing Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran who was nominated to head the Department of Defense. Ernst, who focuses much of her advocacy towards victims of sexual abuse in the military, privately expressed reservations about Hegseth, who was facing several allegations, including sexual misconduct. Importantly, Hegseth and many of his former colleagues have firmly denied these allegations.

After the pair first met on Capitol Hill, sources close to the Senate confirmed to Blaze News that Ernst had begun lobbying against Hegseth's nomination. One source told Blaze News that Ernst lends her ear to the old guard, establishment Republicans in the Senate, serving as a "useful proxy" for former leader Mitch McConnell.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (C) walks through the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 3, 2024 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Once reports shed light on Ernst's disapproval of Hegseth, the Trump world launched an online pressure campaign to sway the senator. Trump even threatened to primary Republican senators who withheld support from his Cabinet nominees. Ernst quickly caved to the pressure, warming up to Hegseth and leaning into more of the MAGA message.

At the same time, this was not an isolated incident. During the December funding fight on the House side, Trump put his thumb on the scale to produce a more favorable outcome.

Speaker Mike Johnson initially introduced a bloated 1,547-page continuing resolution just days before the government was set to shut down, prompting outrage from fiscal conservatives in the Republican conference. MAGA allies like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy also chimed in and criticized the funding bill. However, Trump's condemnation of the CR was the final blow.

Johnson quickly returned to the drawing board and made as many amendments as Trump demanded. The amended CR went up for a vote but was struck down due to a provision that raised the debt ceiling, one of Trump's demands. Despite this, the House eventually passed the slimmer 116-page CR that omitted the debt ceiling provision, averting a government shutdown.

Despite some blunders, Johnson has secured Trump's blessing.

Shortly after the end-of-year spending fight, Johnson was facing a challenging reelection to the speakership. Ahead of the January 3 election, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky vowed to vote against Johnson, who could only afford one "no vote" given the GOP's historically slim margins. Despite Trump's endorsement of the Speaker, several other fiscal conservatives also expressed hesitancies about reelecting Johnson.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a press conference at Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on April 12, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

While the election was taking place, seven Republicans initially refrained from voting for Johnson altogether. Among them was Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a staunch fiscal conservative who, along with Massie, endorsed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primary. Although Roy had previously defected from Trump, he eventually changed his vote to Johnson because of his "steadfast support of President Trump."

This left Johnson with a total of three defections. Massie voted for Majority Whip Tom Emmer, which remained unchanged in the final vote tally. Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina officially voted for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Rep. Keith Self of Texas voted for Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida.

At this point, Johnson had come up two votes short of securing a second term. Rather than moving on to a second round of voting, which has historically lost votes for candidates, Johnson, Norman, Self, and other Republicans huddled in a room off of the House floor.

In order to secure another political victory, Trump reportedly called Norman and Self in order to sway their votes. Just minutes later, the two defectors approached the clerk and voted for Johnson, securing his speakership in just one round of votes.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Trump is the only Republican with the Midas touch of political viability.

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Johnson narrowly secures speakership despite Republican defectors



The House narrowly elected Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for a second term in the first round of votes on Friday.

In the final tally, Johnson received 218 votes, the bare minimum to secure the speakership. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) received 215 votes.

Seven Republicans, including Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, initially skipped out on the election, later changing their vote to Johnson. Three Republicans initially voted for other members entirely. Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina voted for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Rep. Keith Self of Texasa voted for Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, although they both eventually changed their votes to Johnson.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the only member in the final tally who voted against Johnson, opting instead for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).

Given the Republicans' narrow, four-seat majority, Johnson could afford only one "no" vote, which Massie claimed leading up to Friday. In addition to Massie, several Republicans like Roy expressed hesitancy about supporting Johnson, citing fiscal concerns.

'Republicans have a mandate to implement the America First Agenda, and as Speaker, this will be my priority.'

"We saw this movie in 2023, and everyone knows the sequel always sucks," Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia said in an X post following the vote.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) hold a press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on April 12, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Just minutes before the House was set to vote for a speaker, Johnson released a lengthy commitment to "return to fiscal sanity" in a last-ditch attempt to appeal to the potential defectors and secure his second term.

"Republicans have a real opportunity in the next two years to make meaningful spending reforms to eliminate trillions in waste, fraud, and abuse, and end the weaponization of government," Johnson said. "Along with advancing President Trump’s America First agenda, I will lead the House Republicans to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory."

"If we want to restore fiscal responsibility, we must start by being transparent about the dollars that are spent, address the issues we find, and then hold those accountable who have misspent funds," Johnson continued. "Republicans have a mandate to implement the America First Agenda, and as Speaker, this will be my priority."

Despite the tumultuous end-of-year spending fight, Johnson also secured President-elect Donald Trump's endorsement on Monday, as well as a last-minute boost of "good luck" on Friday just hours before the 119th Congress was gaveled in.

"Good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability, who is very close to having 100% support," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential Presidential Election!! - A BIG AFFIRMATION, INDEED. MAGA!"

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