Author: Brittany Mays

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz faced sharp questioning at a House Oversight hearing and repeatedly stumbled when asked for basic numbers on a dramatic rise in autism spending and alleged Medicaid fraud under his watch. At the hearing, Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace pressed Gov. Walz about Minnesota’s skyrocketing autism expenditures and he came up empty-handed. When asked for a 2017 baseline figure, Walz could not produce the number on the spot. “I don’t have those numbers in front of me, Congresswoman.” The public record shows the 2017 autism spend was $1 million and by 2024 had climbed to $343 million, a…

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would consider dropping his senatorial bid if Congress would lift the filibuster in order to pass the SAVE America Act. Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn are headed to a runoff in May after neither candidate secured a majority of the vote during Tuesday’s primary. Ken Paxton’s comment lands at a tense moment in Texas GOP politics, where a runoff means every move gets magnified. Saying he might step aside to help pass the SAVE America Act turns a personal campaign into a bargaining point in Washington. That kind of tradeoff is blunt and…

The House approved a DHS funding bill on March 5 that extends Department of Homeland Security funding through fiscal year 2026, and the measure reflects the Trump administration’s second counteroffer in response to Democrats’ list of ten ICE and CBP reform demands. The House moved a bill on Thursday, March 5 to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded through fiscal year 2026, a clear effort to stabilize operations at the border and in enforcement agencies. This vote came amid intense negotiations over policy and resources, highlighting the sharp divide between party priorities on immigration enforcement. For Republicans, the primary…

Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested a Canadian man on charges of breaking into the Flamingo Las Vegas casino hotel and stealing a live flamingo named Peachy, multiple news outlets report. The arrest drew attention because it involved a live animal and a casino hotel renowned for its namesake birds, which makes this more than a typical theft. Officials say the incident unfolded at the Flamingo Las Vegas casino hotel, where guests and staff expect a certain degree of spectacle but not this kind of crime. The fact that a flamingo named Peachy was taken turned an odd headline into…

Polymarket traders profited after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, with six users correctly predicting the exact day of the attacks and others cashing in on the broader outcome. Online prediction markets are built on two basic ideas: people put money on future events and market prices reflect collective expectations. What happened here was straightforward: a subset of users on Polymarket placed bets tied to military action, and when strikes occurred, winners collected sizable payouts. That outcome exposed a sharp tension between private speculation and the real-world human and geopolitical stakes behind those events. From a Republican perspective, markets often…

The Supreme Court declined a watchdog’s petition this week to review lower court rulings that concluded Michigan’s voter rolls meet legal standards, leaving the state election list challenge unresolved at the high court level. Republicans and concerned citizens watching election integrity issues saw the court’s decision to pass on the case as a missed opportunity to set a clear national precedent. The watchdog had argued there were problems with how Michigan’s voter rolls were maintained, but the lower courts found them sufficient under existing law. With the Supreme Court stepping back, the practical outcome is that the lower court rulings…

Misty Roberts, the 43-year-old former mayor of DeRidder, Louisiana, is on trial again facing charges of third-degree rape and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles after an alleged late-night pool party encounter with a 16-year-old in 2024. The trial reopened after earlier judicial issues led to a mistrial and the dismissal of the original indictments, followed by a re-indictment and arraignment on the same charges. Roberts has pleaded not guilty and her case has drawn testimony from family members, friends, and teenagers who were present at the gathering. Jurors have been presented with text messages, witness accounts, and a forensic…

Rep. Nancy Mace faces a formal ethics review after the Office of Congressional Conduct reported “substantial reason to believe” misconduct, triggering a House ethics committee review that raises questions about procedure, timing, and political consequences. The Office of Congressional Conduct’s finding that there is “substantial reason to believe” prompted the committee to open an investigation into Representative Nancy Mace. That phrase now anchors a process that will determine whether formal charges move forward and whether the House takes disciplinary action. Republicans and independents alike will watch how evidence and procedure are handled. From a Republican perspective, the first concern is…

President Donald Trump ordered every federal agency to stop using Anthropic’s AI technology, citing the company’s effort to limit how the military could deploy its systems. The move creates a six-month phase-out window for agencies already using Anthropic products and escalates a broader fight over who controls AI in national defense. Trump announced the directive on Truth Social, framing it as a response to Anthropic’s attempt to impose restrictive conditions on how the Department of War might use its models. The command landed as a clear executive action aimed at removing corporate constraints from military operations. “I am directing EVERY…

Former President Joe Biden held a small, tightly controlled event at an art museum in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, drawing mainly state Democratic operatives and anyone willing to pay $125 for a ticket, with organizers setting up a cordoned stage to create the appearance of a crowd. The setting was an art museum in downtown Columbia, where seating and access were clearly limited and curated. Attendees included a number of South Carolina Democratic Party members along with ticket buyers who could afford the $125 price. The arrangement felt less like an open public rally and more like a closed fundraising…