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Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Joe Biden’s Tarnished Legacy

Hill: Here’s a legacy that now-former President Biden failed to mention in his self-congratulatory farewell address last week: an exploding federal debt — $36.4 trillion, up from $28.4 trillion in 2021. That’s the past, what about the future? The Congressional Budget Office just released its Budget and Economic Outlook, 2025-2035, and it’s not a pretty picture. The federal deficit for fiscal 2025 (which began Oct. 1, 2024) will be $1.9 trillion. The deficit is the amount the federal government is expected to spend this year over and above the revenue it takes in. The situation doesn’t improve in later years. The CBO projects the federal deficit will gradually rise, hitting $2.7 trillion by 2035. And yes, entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare play a role in that growth, but much of that future deficit spending, plus the interest on all that new debt, is a direct result of legislation passed by Joe Biden and Democrats (Hill). Victor Davis Hanson: The Biden legacy? He did almost everything he swore he would not—serially lying, and serving as a waxen effigy for his far-left puppeteers. And yet they abruptly disposed of him when he no longer could fulfill even the bargained part of an empty figurine (X).

Border Patrol Agent Murdered by Illegal in Vermont During Trump’s Inauguration

Newsweek: A Border Patrol agent in northern Vermont was fatally shot in the neck by what is reported to be an illegal immigrant, just after President Donald Trump was being sworn in hundreds of miles away in Washington on a promise to deem the border crisis a “national emergency” on his first day in office. NewsNation’s Ali Bradley reported Monday that the border agent was shot while conducting a traffic stop. The shooter, whom Bradley referred to as a “visa overstay,” was also reportedly killed (Newsweek). Border Patrol Union: Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and coworkers of our fallen brother in green in Vermont (X).

Trump Designates Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism

Just the News: President Donald Trump reinstated Cuba as a designated state sponsor of terrorism, reversing a decision made by former President Joe Biden. The Biden administration removed the designation of Cuba as part of an agreement to free political prisoners in the country. Due to the agreement, Cuba released some political protesters. Some of them were arrested while protesting the government in 2021 (Just the News). CBS: Mr. Trump’s reversal aligns with his administration’s hardline stance on Cuba and is supported by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long advocated for sanctions against the island nation (CBS).

Trump Removes Pro-Abortion Website from HHS

Townhall: The Trump White House wasted no time making changes. On Monday, not long after President Donald Trump took office for his second term, people noticed there were some changes to certain White House websites, including those representing far-left priorities of the Biden administration. Chief among them is that reproductiverights.gov is gone. The website went up for the Department Health & Human Services (HHS) in 2022, the same year that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision (Townhall). Live Action: President Trump has shut down the pro-abortion reproductiverights.gov HHS website (X).

Trump Issues Executive Order Stating There Are Only Two Biological Sexes

Townhall: President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order defining a person’s sex as “male or female” and requiring federal agencies to use these designations on forms and IDs. The order will also alter federal prison policies related to trans-identified inmates (Townhall). CNN: Titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” the order says that “sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” The federal government will also shift from using the term “gender” to “sex,” and that sex is “an individual’s immutable biological classification,” a Trump administration official told reporters Monday (CNN). ADF CEO Kristen Waggoner: “President Trump’s executive order to end the U.S. government’s promotion of gender ideology and restore the true definition of ‘sex’ in federal law is momentous. It’s a 180-degree turn back toward reality and common sense. “Men and women have real biological differences. When the law denies this, people suffer (ADF).

Trump Withdraws from World Health Organization

National Review: President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) because of its Covid failings, allegations of being soft on China, and the disproportionate share of funding borne by the United States. There is even more wrong in how WHO leaders have wielded their influence. In recent years, the organization has not just been about promoting public-health internationally, but also in using its clout to impose woke cultural agendas on the world — including areas that have traditional moral values — and in seeking to construct an international technocracy. WHO sought to force a radical abortion regime on the world by allowing abortion through the ninth month and curtailing the right of conscience by doctors to refuse to terminate a pregnancy (National Review). Patrick Bet-David: President Trump has just withdrawn the 🇺🇸 from the World Health Organization (WHO). I’m sure big pharma and the globalists aren’t too happy about this (X).

India to Work With Trump to Identify, Deport 18,000 Illegal Immigrants in Country

Bloomberg: India’s government is prepared to work with Donald Trump’s administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the US, an early signal from New Delhi that it’s willing to comply with the incoming American president and avoid a trade war. The US has identified some 18,000 illegal Indian migrants to be sent back home, for which India will verify and start the process of deportation (Bloomberg). Mario Nawfal: Trump’s tough stance on immigration is already driving results, with India signaling early cooperation to keep trade relations smooth. Sources suggest the real number could be much higher, making this just the beginning of a major shift in immigration policy (X).

Trump Purges Over 1,000 Biden Appointees

New York Post: President Donald Trump started purging more than 1,000 appointees from former President Joe Biden’s administration overnight – starting with celebrity chef Jose Andres and embattled retired General Mark Milley. The new commander-in-chief fired off the “official notice of dismissal” to four Biden appointees in a midnight social media post, bluntly warning that his team were hunting down even more to throw out of office (New York Post). Donald Trump: My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again (Truth).

Trump Appoints Former Navy Seal as Interim FEMA Director

Catholic Vote: President Donald Trump named former Navy Seal Cameron Hamilton as the new interim director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Jan. 20. Hamilton has consistently criticized FEMA’s mishandling of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina (Catholic Vote). Reporter Matt Von Swol: I am incredibly encouraged by Trump’s newly appointed FEMA interim director and former Navy Seal, Cameron Hamilton. In a recent podcast, he clearly criticizes using federal funds to help other countries overseas while Americans in North Carolina need help. This is amazing (X)!

10.

Carrie Underwood’s Improvised A Capella Performance at Trump’s Inauguration Steals the Show

BBC: After Trump’s inaugural address concluded, country singer Carrie Underwood arrived on stage to sing the patriotic song America the Beautiful… Underwood’s performance didn’t start out smoothly – a technical malfunction cut off backing music just as she was to perform. “You know the words, help me out here, ” she said after a few moments waiting for the music to return. The crowd in the rotunda joined her in signing an a cappella version of America the Beautiful that ended with applause (BBC). Jerry Bowyer: Where an older, more tired, and more fatalistic society might have just said, “Oh well, the sound isn’t working,” she turned to the assembled citizens and said, “Y’all know the words,” and then belted out a beautiful rendition of the classic hymn a cappella, inviting all those present to join her. Alexis de Tocqueville remarked that when a problem occurs in Europe, the people turn to the central authority to fix it, whereas when a problem occurs in America, the people turn to each other to form a voluntary association to fix it. Carrie Underwood did just that… asking God on behalf of America to “shed His grace on thee.” What a beautiful moment (Townhall Review).

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