Author: Eleanor Stratton

A photograph can end military careers now. Several Texas National Guard members deployed to Illinois last week got sent home after pictures showing their heavyset physiques went viral. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth celebrated the removal on social media Monday, declaring “Standards are back at The Department of War.” The photos showed National Guardsmen in fatigues…

Representative Michael Rulli wants to punish cities that replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. His proposed legislation would withhold federal funding from any jurisdiction that celebrates the wrong holiday. And Trump’s Cabinet applauded October 9 when the president signed a proclamation declaring “We’re back, Italians.” The bill transforms a federal holiday into a federal…

The troops will get paid on October 15. President Trump announced Saturday he’s directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to issue military paychecks despite the government shutdown. The Pentagon identified $8 billion in unobligated research and development money from the prior fiscal year to cover payroll. The announcement solves an immediate…

The hostages come home tomorrow. After nearly two years in captivity, 48 Israelis will cross back into their country in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. President Trump will arrive in Israel to claim credit for a ceasefire he calls historic. And buried in the celebration is a constitutional question no one seems eager to…

The president just accused his predecessor of orchestrating surveillance at an attack that happened while he himself was president. The claim collapses under the weight of basic chronology – but the constitutional implications extend far beyond a single social media post. Donald Trump stated on October 12 that “THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO…

The global economy runs on 17 obscure elements most Americans have never heard of. China controls the supply. And the United States just discovered what happens when trade war rhetoric collides with geological reality. President Trump threatened 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports on October 10, responding to Beijing’s new export restrictions on rare earth…

Here’s What Both Sides Aren’t Telling You Immigrant healthcare has become the rhetorical centerpiece of the government shutdown standoff. Republicans claim Democrats are demanding taxpayer funding for “illegal aliens.” Democrats insist they’re protecting American families’ access to affordable insurance. Both sides are talking past each other while millions of people wait to see if the…

Maria Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work promoting democracy in Venezuela. The White House immediately denounced the decision as proof the Nobel Committee “places politics over peace.” Hours later, Machado called Trump to tell him she was accepting the award in his honor because he “really deserved it.”…

The government has shut down. But this time is different. The White House has just confirmed that for thousands of federal workers, this will not be a temporary, unpaid vacation. It will be a permanent pink slip. The administration is using the chaos of a government shutdown to achieve a long-standing and constitutionally explosive goal:…

A federal grand jury in Virginia indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James Thursday on bank fraud charges and making false statements to a financial institution. The indictment came from U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan – the Trump-appointed prosecutor with no prior criminal law experience who replaced Erik Siebert after he was forced out for refusing…