Senate votes to confirm Marco Rubio as
secretary of state, first Trump Cabinet
official to be approved
Posted By: Dreadnought, 1/20/2025 7:19:30 PM
The Senate voted on Monday to confirm Marco Rubio as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, the first high-level Cabinet official for the new administration to be approved by the chamber. The confirmation vote took place just hours after Trump was sworn in as president. The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote was 99 to 0 with no senators voting against the nomination. Rubio has served as a Republican senator from Florida since 2011, and his nomination drew strong support from a number of Senate Democrats, who called their colleague highly qualified for the role.
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Mysterious messages spelling "HELP" and "TRAFICO" have been discovered near the Union Pacific railroad yard at the intersection of E Cesar Chavez Ave and Mission Rd in Los Angeles.
The large-scale signs, visible from Google Maps, have sparked widespread speculation about their origin and meaning, ranging from concerns about human trafficking to protests against local displacement. The messages, created with debris, construction materials, and even spelled out on sidewalks, have drawn attention from community members and internet users alike. Some believe they could be cries for help from someone in distress. However, others suggest they are the work of a local homeless individual dealing with mental health challenges
Remember last week, when information leaked ahead of the incoming Trump administration's planned immigration raids in Chicago on Day Two (Tuesday)?
As I previously wrote, President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, wasn't having it, telling a legacy media member that it wouldn't slow down operations already in motion in sanctuary cities across the country. Well, there's some bad news for those in blue states and cities who were patting themselves on the back for thwarting the return of law and order via Trump 47; they are quickly learning that the Trump administration does what it promises to do, as the operations got underway in the Windy City on Sunday:
In the end, Donald Trump has Democrats to thank for delivering the first legislative victory of his second term.
Hours after he was sworn into office, a dozen Senate Democrats joined all Republicans in approving a bill that would require the detention and deportation of migrants accused of theft-related crimes. Moments later, the chamber unanimously confirmed their colleague, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, to be Trump’s secretary of state. The votes marked a sharp reversal from the early days of Trump’s first term, when his narrow electoral college win sparked a nationwide resistance movement and a succession of Democratic victories. But unlike eight years ago, Trump won the popular vote
Colombian president Gustavo Petro reportedly offered the use of his presidential plane to help repatriate deportees from the U.S. on Sunday, shortly after President Donald Trump threatened the country with retaliatory tariffs for having turned away two U.S. military aircraft carrying the deportees earlier in the day, according to CNN.
Petro said he was blocking the flights from entering the country because the U.S. “can’t treat Colombian migrants like criminals,” and he initially insisted upon the use of civilian planes to transport the detainees.
Furious Donald Trump has hit back at Colombia and vowed to immediately impose an 'emergency 25% tariff on all goods'. Trump has lashed out at Colombia President Gustavo Petro after two U.S. military C-17 aircraft flights from California with 80 Colombian migrants each were not allowed to land. The flights werre initially cleared for landing but President Petro decided to revoke all diplomatic clearances, according to officials. Responding on Truth Social, Trump laid out his drastic measures, insisting this was "just the beginning" in a worrying threat.
On Sunday afternoon, he wrote: "I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals,
President Trump greenlit the delivery of thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, according to a report.
As many as 1,800 MK-84 bombs will be shipped off to the Jewish state in the coming days — reversing a Biden administration hold on the explosive supply, Israeli officials told Axios.
The Israeli government was reportedly notified by the Pentagon about the release on Friday, the day before Hamas released four hostages as part of the cease-fire agreement. The massive bombs were held in storage since May, when Biden decided to hold off on a delivery out of concern Israel would cause significant civilian devastation by unleashing the weapons in densely populated areas of Gaza.
An arrest has been made in the fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a traffic stop in Vermont, according to the FBI, as bizarre details of the suspects' movements beforehand have been revealed in the arrest affidavit.
Teresa Youngblut, 21, of Washington state, was arrested on Friday and charged with assault on a federal law enforcement officer, according to a statement from the FBI.
The affidavit unsealed by investigators reveals some new details about the movements of the two individuals who were involved in the fatal shooting of Border Patrol agent David Maland.
Kristi Noem successfully passed 50 votes in the GOP-controlled Senate to become the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Saturday, placing the Republican governor in charge of President Donald Trump’s plans to curtail illegal immigration.
The upper chamber voted 59–34 to confirm Noem midday Saturday, followed by a vote to advance Trump’s Treasury secretary nominee, Scott Bessent.
The vote comes after all Republican senators, joined by eight Democrats, broke a filibuster
President Trump summarily dismissed 17 agency inspectors general Friday night in a move that caught official Washington by surprise.
The inspectors general were dismissed via emails from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, with no notice sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who have pledged bipartisan support for the watchdogs, in advance of the firings, the person said. The emails gave no substantive explanation for the dismissals, with at least one citing “changing priorities” for the move, the person added.
President Donald Trump fired 17 independent watchdogs at multiple government agencies on Friday, a person with knowledge of the matter said, eliminating a critical oversight component and clearing the way to replace them with loyalists.
The inspectors general at agencies including the departments of state, defense and transportation were notified by emails from the White House personnel director that they had been terminated immediately, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires the president to give both houses of Congress reasons for the dismissals 30 days in advance.
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has expressed that he likely would have been diagnosed with autism as a child, if assessed today. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, ahead of the release of his memoir Source Code, the 69-year-old shared insights into his childhood behaviours that he now recognises as characteristics associated with autism. Gates explained, “This whole thing of Asperger's or on the spectrum is a fairly new thing, you know? It used to be autism had a fairly narrow definition that was you know clearly identifiable,” he said.
After President Donald Trump visited Hurricane Helene-devastated areas in western North Carolina and pledged massive support along with executive orders to address FEMA's myriad failures, he headed to California to see the wildfire-impacted parts of Los Angeles.
As we reported, Trump and the state's Democrat governor, Gavin Newsom, have been engaging in a cross-country war of words well before Trump's inauguration over Newsom's atrocious handling of the Golden State's money, manpower, and natural resources.
Trump has, in a nutshell, accused "New-scum" of doing a terrible job, while Newsom went whining to then-President Joe Biden about Trump allegedly spreading "misinformation,"
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Graham on Jan. 6 pardons: ‘I don’t
like it’ 45 replies
like it’ 45 replies
Sen. Lindsey Graham said he doesn’t approve of President Trump’s pardoning of the Jan. 6 rioters, especially those who “beat up cops” who were defending the Capitol.
“No,” Graham said, when asked whether he’s okay with the most violent offenders on Jan. 6 getting pardoned, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I’ve always said that I think when you pardon people who attack police officers, you’re sending the wrong signal to the public at large, and that’s not what you want to do to protect cops,” Graham continued. “But he has that power.”
A “Calexit” initiative to allow California to secede from the United States has been cleared to legally gather signatures. If passed, the proposed measure — “Calexit,” a nod to the Brexit vote in the UK — would be on the ballot in 2028 and ask voters: “Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?” For the measure to pass, at least 50% of registered voters must participate in the election, and at least 55% — or more than 500,000 people, must vote “yes” by July 22.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had good qualities. He pushed through Trump’s judicial nominees during the first presidency, got his tax cuts passed, and is a noted legislative strategist and tactician. It doesn’t mean he always bats a thousand, but McConnell got key portions of the Trump agenda passed after the 2016 election. Now, he’s erased all that goodwill with this dastardly vote against Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. McConnell’s defection, plus that of Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), led to Vice President JD Vance performing his constitutional duty to break the tie.
Rev. Al Sharpton leads Costco ‘buy-cott’
in support of company’s controversial
DEI commitment 31 replies
in support of company’s controversial
DEI commitment 31 replies
Rev. Al Sharpton and about 100 of his followers descended on an East Harlem Costco Saturday in support of the company’s commitment to controversial diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
“We’re supporting those who are not rolling back DEI,” Patrice Perry, crisis director for Sharpton’s nonprofit, the National Action Network, told The Post.
“It’s very important to be here,” Perry added.
(Photo) The demonstration was in response to President Trump’s crackdown on DEI initiatives this week, which put federal employees working on such initiatives on paid leave and shuttered offices dedicated to it.
CIA now says Covid DID come from Chinese
lab in stunning reversal after years of
denial under Biden 31 replies
lab in stunning reversal after years of
denial under Biden 31 replies
The CIA has today revealed its belief that COVID-19 was likely leaked from a Chinese lab after years of denial under the Biden administration.
A spokesperson for the agency said on Saturday that they now favor the lab theory.
Officials said that there is no new evidence behind their shift in opinion - it is based on the same evidence they have been mulling over for months.
'CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting.
Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense in a late night confirmation vote on Friday night.
Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote on Friday after toxic RINO Senators McConnell, Murkowski and Collins voted “no.”
WATCH: (Video) It was already known that GOP Senators Murkowski and Collins were going to vote against Hegseth on Friday evening, so all eyes were on McConnell after Fox News’ Chad Pergram said the Kentucky Senator might defect.
Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” warned the Trump administration that his local law enforcement “will stand up for those law-abiding, undocumented people” facing deportation.
Host Dana Bash said, “How are you preparing, particularly if they do target schools, churches and small businesses as they are now allowed to do?”Pritzker said, “Well, let me start by being clear that when we’re talking about violent criminals who have been convicted and who are undocumented, we don’t want them in our state. We want them out of the country. We hope they do get deported. And if that’s who they’re picking up, we’re all for it.
President Donald Trump is demanding the return of a staggering $7 billion in U.S. military gear left behind during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden administration. In a move that’s drawing both support and criticism, Trump has called on the Taliban to recover the equipment, which includes advanced weapons, vehicles, and other critical resources. The request has sparked debate over accountability and the handling of the withdrawal, with Trump arguing that the gear should never have been abandoned in the first place. However, the Taliban is refusing to give it back to its rightful owners.
A prominent Hollywood talent manager believes that Kamala Harris’ loss to President Donald Trump in November shows that Hollywood no longer drives the culture as it once did since the plethora of celebrities who endorsed Harris failed to alter the outcome of the election.
“Hollywood doesn’t matter as much as it thinks it matters,” the unnamed talent manager with A-list clients told Vulture. “You had the biggest stars in the world support Kamala Harris. She couldn’t have drawn more powerful advocates. And it didn’t move the needle. What does that tell you? It’s unsettling because the people and things you hold in high esteem don’t drive the culture.
The corrupt ANC government just starved dozens of black miners to death to gain control over the diamond trade. The regime suffered a massive decline in popularity forcing it to cut deals even as it hiked welfare spending and taxes. [SNIP] President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday signed the Expropriation Bill into law.
In a statement, the Presidency said the Bill allows for local, provincial and national authorities “to expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons that seek, among others, to promote inclusivity and access to natural resources”.
President Donald Trump (won't get tired of typing that for a long time) has done so much, so fast, that it's hard to believe. He's 78 years old but seems to have the energy of a much younger man. He has signed a huge host of executive orders, many of them revoking the previous administration's policies. He has engaged the press in free-wheeling, unscripted conversations. (Snip) The man is a flippin' prodigy. So much so, in fact, that we sometimes forget that there was another guy who served four years as president, and in between the two non-consecutive Trump terms, at that.
What was his name again?
Former President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, joined a historically black Freemason lodge just one day before he left the presidency, an offense punishable by excommunication in the Church.
Biden was conferred with “Master Mason membership” and “full honors” on Jan. 19 at the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of South Carolina, according to the Conference of Grand Masters announcement. Joining the Freemasons as a Catholic forbids an individual from receiving communion, with the potential for excommunication, according to canon law of the Catholic Church.