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‘This Is What FAFO Looks Like!’: Tough Guy Picks Wrong Person to Point a Gun At
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‘This Is What FAFO Looks Like!’: Tough Guy Picks Wrong Person to Point a Gun At

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Deputies from the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office responded Monday evening to a report of a physical altercation involving a weapon in Vernon, a town located about 40 minutes east of Syracuse. Officials said the incident occurred in the 3300 block of Simmons Road.

According to authorities, an individual at the location was acting erratically and pointed what was believed to be a handgun at two victims.

The victims attempted to retreat into a nearby residence, but officials said the suspect advanced toward them while still holding the weapon.

A struggle then took place between the suspect and one of the victims.

Officials said the victim was able to gain control of the weapon before deputies arrived.

Deputies took the suspect into custody without incident.

The suspect was identified as Glenn A. Wallis, 40, of Vernon.

He was transported to the Kurt B. Wyman Law Enforcement Building.

Wallis was charged with two counts of menacing in the second degree, which is classified as a class A misdemeanor, as well as one count of harassment in the second degree, which officials described as a “violation.”

A member of the Criminal Investigation Unit also charged Wallis with one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a class D felony.

WUTR-TV reported that the weapon involved was a pistol-style pellet gun.

Officials said Wallis was taken to the Oneida County Correctional Facility to await a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Jail records reviewed by Blaze News on Wednesday morning indicated that Wallis remained in custody.

The same jail record noted that the criminal possession of a weapon charge is listed as a “previous conviction.”

Comments posted under WUTR’s report on Yahoo News reacted to details of the incident.

One commenter wrote, “He appears to have brought a toy gun to an old-fashion[ed] beat down.”

Another commenter said, “Normal behavior for those a little further down the evolutionary ladder.”

Additional comments referenced the nature of the pellet gun.

“A pellet gun? He should thank the Good Lord it didn’t happen in some areas of Texas! He also looks VERY good for the circumstances, ’cause those two victims had mercy on him. There are folks who would’ve beat him TWICE as hard because it was a pellet gun!” another commenter stated.

Others reacted more broadly to the outcome.

“That didn’t work out so well for him apparently,” one commenter said.

Another wrote, “This is what FAFO looks like!”

Luna Drops Bombshell Numbers Tying Congress Members to Big Pharma, Vanguard, and BlackRock
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Luna Drops Bombshell Numbers Tying Congress Members to Big Pharma, Vanguard, and BlackRock

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna detailed what she described as extensive financial conflicts of interest in Congress, arguing that lawmakers’ personal investments in major corporations hinder their ability to address issues ranging from housing to pharmaceutical pricing.

In a public statement, Luna presented data on congressional stock holdings and urged immediate action to restrict individual trading by lawmakers.

“Okay, I brought numbers because numbers do not lie,” Luna said.

She noted that members of both parties often claim to have solutions for affordability, the housing crisis, and pharmaceutical costs, but their personal financial interests tell a different story.

“So when you hear members of both parties saying that they have solutions for affordability, the housing crisis, pharmaceuticals, all this, and yet, you look at their personal investments, you’ll know that it’s literally just political gamesmanship,” she said.

Luna criticized the lack of meaningful restrictions on congressional trading, pointing to what she described as daily occurrences of insider behavior.

“Unless we actually prevent insider trading, which is happening every single day in Congress, if people are telling you otherwise, they are lying to you,” she said.

Luna called for reforms similar to rules governing the executive branch, stating that without them, lawmakers will remain financially tied to the same industries they are tasked with regulating.

She identified three major areas of concern: Big Pharma, BlackRock, and Vanguard.

“You have people on both sides that are controlled up for the three big ones, BlackRock, Vanguard and Big Pharma,” Luna said.

Presenting the data, Luna continued: “Okay, so in the house, you have 25% of members, and in the Senate, 30% of members that own personally totaling about $100 million in stocks in Big Pharma.”

She added that BlackRock and Vanguard holdings also represent a significant exposure.

“Then you have black rock and vanguard in Black Rock, that big, spooky organization that, in my opinion, is contributing to the housing crisis in this country because you’re buying up all those single family homes. Yeah, you have about 13 members reported holdings, but that’s a significant number, especially when you have only 535, members,” she said.

Luna emphasized that roughly a third of Congress has personal investments linked to the industries they oversee.

“So roughly, all that to say, roughly one in three members of Congress have exposure to either pharmaceutical, Big Pharma, BlackRock and Vanguard,” she said.

She questioned whether lawmakers could produce credible policy solutions while personally benefiting from those same sectors.

“Do you really think that they’re going to be able to fix and bring forward great solutions when they are personally benefiting and impacted off of the legislation that’s coming off the House floor? And the answer is no.”

She added that while she is willing to work with any lawmaker committed to reform, the current pace of action is insufficient.

“So look, I’m all for solutions. I will work with anyone to come forward with a solution, but to do nothing is not the angle.”

Luna referenced recent remarks by the Speaker of the House indicating support for addressing congressional stock trading.

“I know the speaker actually just went to the press and said that, you know, he’s wanting to stop the insider trading. That’s great. I think America wants us to stop instead of trading, and so I’m happy to work with him,” she said.

She concluded by calling on the public to demand change.

“But the point is is to do nothing is to do a great disservice to the American people. And I’m not going to be quiet, and I’m not going to let this go, because this is a serious issue. We really want to talk about the crux of the problems in this country. Look no further than the insider trading. It is really bad. It needs to stop. Frankly, the American people should be letting their voices heard on this.”

WATCH:

Stephen Miller ‘Goes NUCLEAR On Democrats for PROTECTING NARCO-TERRORISTS’
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Stephen Miller ‘Goes NUCLEAR On Democrats for PROTECTING NARCO-TERRORISTS’

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In a segment on Fox News, Jesse Watters spoke with White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and homeland security Stephen Miller about Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump’s designation of cartel groups as foreign terrorist organizations.

Miller said the reaction from Democrats shows they are refusing to acknowledge the brutality of the cartels operating along the U.S.–Mexico border.

Watters opened the discussion by asking Miller whether he had ever seen a political controversy develop in this way.

“Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and homeland security, Stephen Miller, all right. Miller, have you ever heard of a controversy like this in your life?” Watters asked.

“No, this is the first time I can ever think where a major political party has sided with narco trafficking, murdering terrorist scum,” Miller replied.

He referenced public comments from Democratic lawmakers objecting to the term “narco-terrorist.”

“You know, you play one of those clips from a Democrat who said there’s no such thing as a narco terrorist. They’re just Narco persons.”

Miller drew comparisons between the tactics of ISIS and the methods used by cartel groups.

“The ISIS and these Narco terrorists in our hemisphere use the same tactics. They use rape as a weapon. They skin people alive, they cut off their heads. They burn them to death,” he said.

“These Narco terrorists, if a politician opposes them, they kidnap their family. If they don’t give them what they want, they murder their family.”

Miller said cartel influence along the southern border is well known to U.S. officials who monitor conditions in the region.

“You can go to the border patrol here in the United States, and you can say, draw me a map of the border. And on the Mexican side, tell me which cartel controls every inch of territory, and the border agents can literally say mile by mile, which cartel controls which section of the border, not the Mexican government. They don’t control it, which cartel,” he said.

Watters asked Miller how the administration interprets the pushback from Democrats, who argue against labeling cartel organizations as foreign terrorist entities.

Miller said the designation is a central part of the president’s strategy.

“When President Trump declared these organizations, foreign terrorist organizations, that wasn’t just a talking point, that wasn’t just a buzz word, it was a promise,” Miller said.

He added that the purpose of the designation was to use national power to prevent cartel groups from harming Americans.

“A promise from this President to use hard American power to kill and to stop these terrorists, these enemies of the United States, from killing our families, from killing our children, from taking over our communities. And that’s what President Trump is doing.”

Miller said the administration views the terrorist designation as a necessary measure to respond to cartel violence, which officials say has expanded across multiple regions of Mexico and continues to affect communities near the border.

WATCH:

Josh Shapiro Angrily Rejects Harris Book Claims, Calls Them ‘Complete and Utter Bullsh*t’
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Josh Shapiro Angrily Rejects Harris Book Claims, Calls Them ‘Complete and Utter Bullsh*t’

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro publicly pushed back against claims made about him in former Vice President Kamala Harris’ new book on the 2024 presidential campaign, sharply disputing her characterization of their vice-presidential selection meeting, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.

The comments came during an interview with The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta, who had an advance copy of Harris’ book, “107 Days,” when he met with Shapiro earlier this fall.

Vice President Kamala Harris greets the crowd in Jenison Field House on the Michigan State campus Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.

Alberta wrote that Shapiro had received no advance notice of what Harris planned to publish. When the reporter told him that the book included criticism of his conduct during the running-mate vetting process, Shapiro’s reaction shifted noticeably.

“The man I observed over the next several minutes was unrecognizable. Gone was his equilibrium,” Alberta recounted, noting that Shapiro moved “between outrage and exasperation” as excerpts were read to him.

According to Alberta, Harris wrote that Shapiro behaved as if he were “measuring the drapes,” asking about featuring Pennsylvania artists in the vice-presidential residence and signaling “that he would want to be in the room for every decision” she would make if elected.

Harris also claimed Shapiro attempted to dominate their meeting about potentially joining her ticket, to the point that she reminded him “that he would not be co-president.”

“She wrote that in her book?” Shapiro asked when Alberta relayed the claim about the residence artwork.

“That’s complete and utter bullsh*t.”

Shapiro added, “I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”

Alberta reported that sources familiar with the meeting from both the Harris and Shapiro camps found Harris’ account “mostly consistent” with their own understanding of the interaction.

He wrote that Shapiro arrived “in an edgy mood,” frustrated by internal Democratic criticism surrounding his consideration for the ticket.

Alberta noted that Shapiro, who is Jewish, was “especially irked by anti-Semitic innuendo from the left.” According to the reporter, Shapiro conducted the meeting as though he were interviewing Harris instead of the other way around.

Shapiro acknowledged he had asked many questions. “I did ask a bunch of questions,” he said. “Wouldn’t you ask questions if someone was talking to you about forming a partnership and working together?”

When asked whether he felt betrayed by Harris for including the claims in her book, Shapiro replied, “I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her ass.”

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a campaign rally on Wednesday October 30, 2024 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis.

Alberta wrote that Shapiro paused, appeared frustrated, and then corrected himself. “I shouldn’t say ‘cover her ass.’ I think that’s not appropriate,” he said. “She’s trying to sell books. Period.”

Shapiro also discussed former President Donald Trump, offering an assessment of his political impact. “Donald Trump has been a once-in-a-generation political figure who’s managed to connect on a deeper cultural level,” he said.

Reflecting on the 2024 election, Shapiro said, “We can’t ignore the fact that elections are binary choices. And so you’re asking people, at least in the last case, to choose between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.”

He added, “We can have this kind of theoretical conversation about Trump, but, like, it was always Trump versus somebody.”

‘Democrats Are So Butthurt,’ Trying to Create Narrative That Doesn’t Exist: Scott Jennings
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‘Democrats Are So Butthurt,’ Trying to Create Narrative That Doesn’t Exist: Scott Jennings

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Republican strategist Scott Jennings on Tuesday rejected Democratic suggestions that President Donald Trump’s recent MRI indicated any health concerns, calling the claims unfounded during a panel appearance on “The Arena with Kasie Hunt.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan in October as part of a routine executive physical.

The imaging was conducted to rule out cardiovascular issues and was described by the White House as a preventive measure commonly used for men in Trump’s age group.

During the panel discussion, Hunt questioned why Trump referenced the MRI during remarks on Sunday and whether that indicated confusion or a medical issue.

Jennings said the implication was baseless.

“I honestly think this is an attempt to create a narrative about this guy that just doesn’t exist because Democrats are so butthurt over having to live through the humiliation of the White House under Biden, claiming he was fine when he clearly wasn’t,” Jennings told Hunt.

“They want to transfer that to Donald Trump. It’s just not the same. It’s not true. And, you know, I can only speak from my personal experience. He seemed fine to me.”

Jennings said Trump led a three-hour Cabinet meeting earlier Tuesday before taking questions from reporters in his usual format.

He referenced a recent Oval Office meeting to underscore his view of Trump’s condition.

“I saw the man a few days ago in the Oval Office for about an hour. He looked and sounded fine to me. We talked about a wide range of issues. There were people coming and going. It was as bustling as it’s ever been in there when I’ve been in there,” Jennings said.

“And I didn’t notice anything at all. And so I watched most of the cabinet meeting today, which took a very long time because it lasted three hours. And at the end of it, the president then did his customary gaggle with the press and answered all of their questions.”

Leavitt said Monday that Trump’s MRI and related imaging were normal and showed no signs of inflammation or clotting.

She said the scans served a preventive purpose, offering detailed cardiovascular and abdominal evaluation as part of Trump’s routine physical.

According to Leavitt, this level of diagnostic testing is standard for the executive physical and is intended to identify any potential issues early.

She said the results aligned with the president’s overall health profile.

The White House released a physician’s note stating that Trump remains in “excellent overall health.”

That assessment matched Trump’s own comments on Sunday, when he briefly mentioned the MRI and said he had “no idea” what part of his body doctors had examined.

Fraud Fallout Sparks Massive ICE Operation in Minneapolis Somali Enclave
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Fraud Fallout Sparks Massive ICE Operation in Minneapolis Somali Enclave

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The Trump administration has launched a new effort in Minneapolis aimed at locating and removing illegal Somali immigrants, deploying more than 100 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of an expanded enforcement operation.

According to multiple reports, immigration agents are focusing on as many as 500 Somalis believed to be in the country illegally.

Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, estimated at more than 80,000.

The action comes after disclosures from the Minnesota Department of Human Services that individuals in the Somali migrant community carried out large-scale fraud schemes costing the state approximately $1 billion.

The schemes occurred during the tenure of Gov. Tim Walz, according to the department’s findings.

President Trump addressed the issue during a White House cabinet meeting Tuesday.

“I don’t want them in our country,” he said, referring to Somali illegal immigrants.

He also described Somalia as a nation that “stinks,” and criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who was born in Somalia, calling her “garbage.”

As the enforcement effort expanded, the Department of Homeland Security emphasized that the operation was not directed at any specific ethnic community.

ICE teams also increased activity in New Orleans as part of the broader initiative.

“Every day, ICE enforces the laws of the nation across the country. What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally. We do not discuss future or potential operations,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Wednesday in a statement as the operation began.

Reports indicate that the Minneapolis effort involves door-to-door actions, surveillance and coordinated movements by federal officers intended to locate individuals with outstanding removal orders.

The estimate of up to 500 potential targets is based on internal assessments of individuals who have exhausted legal avenues to remain in the country.

Minneapolis and surrounding communities have been a focal point for federal immigration discussions due to the size of the Somali population and the recent revelations of fraud within the state’s benefits system.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has stated that the schemes involved fraudulent billing and improper use of public funds, with losses totaling around $1 billion. State records show that the activity spanned multiple years and involved numerous participants.

The Trump administration’s move marks one of the largest targeted immigration operations in Minnesota in recent years.

Federal sources cited the combination of illegal residency cases and the recent fraud findings as factors prompting the deployment of additional personnel.

The operation will continue in Minneapolis and New Orleans, with DHS maintaining that enforcement activity is based solely on immigration status and existing removal orders.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez Strongly Backs Trump Administration Strikes on Narco-Terrorist Vessels
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Rep. Carlos Gimenez Strongly Backs Trump Administration Strikes on Narco-Terrorist Vessels

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Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., offered an unequivocal endorsement of the Trump administration’s expanded military operations targeting narcotics-trafficking vessels, telling Newsmax on Wednesday that he supports the actions “150%” and believes they are necessary to protect American lives.

Gimenez, who serves on both the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, made the remarks during an interview on “Wake Up America.”

He said he has “zero problem” with the administration’s decision to destroy suspected drug-smuggling boats operating near Venezuela, describing the traffickers as “narco-terrorists” whose shipments fuel an epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.

“I support them 150%,” Gimenez said. “That boatload has more potential to kill more Americans than a boatload full of explosives.”

During the interview, Gimenez said fentanyl and cocaine trafficking constitutes an ongoing war being waged against the United States.

He argued that the federal government has not treated the threat with the seriousness it deserves and that decisive military action is long overdue.

With more than half a million overdose deaths in recent years, he said it is time for Washington to “take the war to them.”

Gimenez also criticized Democrats who have attacked Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over recent strikes, including allegations that Hegseth committed a war crime by authorizing a second strike after an initial hit left a suspected smuggling vessel burning at sea.

Gimenez rejected the allegations as politically motivated.

“It’s OK if [then-] President [Barack] Obama did it, but now they’re calling this a war crime?” he said. “It’s a double standard.”

Gimenez compared current criticism of Hegseth to the relative silence from Democrats during the Obama-era drone operations, which at times targeted American citizens who had joined terrorist groups overseas.

He argued that if those actions were not met with similar condemnation, the current criticism lacks credibility.

According to Gimenez, Hegseth was fulfilling his responsibility to neutralize a narcotics shipment capable of inflicting more deaths on Americans than terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS or al-Qaida.

He added that military leaders must have the authority to complete their missions when confronting armed traffickers operating under unstable foreign regimes.

“I’m not going to second-guess an admiral destroying a boat full of narco-terrorists,” Gimenez said. “The number one job of government is to protect its people.”

Sen. Ron Johnson Says His Team Was Offered Hunter Biden’s Laptop in 2020 but Declined After FBI Warning
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Sen. Ron Johnson Says His Team Was Offered Hunter Biden’s Laptop in 2020 but Declined After FBI Warning

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Sen. Ron Johnson said his team was offered a copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop weeks before the New York Post published its October 2020 report, but he chose not to accept it due to concerns about the circumstances and an FBI briefing he later described as an “ambush.”

Johnson discussed the episode during an interview on “Pod Force One” with The Post’s Miranda Devine, as reported by The New York Post.

“You got the one that was going to be given to us, but we couldn’t accept,” Johnson said, recalling how the offer first came to his staff.

Hunter Biden leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, after jury selection in his federal gun trial in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday June 3, 2024.

“It did sound like a suspicious story. I mean, something you had to be careful. You had to properly vet it. You had to do your due diligence on it. So, we thought it could have been stolen property. I had no idea. So, we had to kind of follow our rules of integrity.”

The laptop, abandoned in 2019 at a Delaware repair shop, was believed by the shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, to have been dropped off by Hunter Biden, although he could not be completely certain.

Copies of the hard drive were circulated before ultimately reaching The Post, which published its report on Oct. 14, 2020, three weeks before the election.

The story included an email suggesting Hunter Biden introduced Burisma adviser Vadym Pozharskyi to his father, then–Vice President Joe Biden.

Following publication, the story was suppressed by Facebook and X, which restricted sharing of the report and temporarily blocked The Post from its account.

Additionally, 51 current and former intelligence officials publicly questioned the authenticity of the laptop material at the time. The device was later cited by federal prosecutors in Hunter Biden’s firearms case.

“The FBI, obviously got Hunter Biden’s laptop in December of 2019. So, they could authenticate it, they knew it was real,” Johnson said.

Johnson described how, in August 2020, shortly before his team was offered the hard drive, the FBI summoned him and Sen. Chuck Grassley for briefings warning them about potential Russian and Ukrainian disinformation.

He recalled being told, “you got to be careful about what you hear out of Russia and out of Ukraine, and spread disinformation.”

Johnson said agents also suggested that negative information about Hunter Biden could be part of such efforts.

He said he became “quite livid,” arguing that the briefing contained nothing new and questioning the motivations behind it.

When asked if it was an ambush, he responded, “Yes, it absolutely was. It was meant to throw us off the track.”

Johnson said his team received the offered laptop copy in late September 2020 and contacted the FBI, only to be met with weeks of delays. The FBI already had the device in its possession.

Johnson, who chairs the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, noted that he did not originally run for office to conduct inquiries.

“I didn’t come to the Senate to investigate,” he said, explaining that his focus had been on issues such as Obamacare and the national debt. He became involved in investigative work after becoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in 2015.

“When the Hillary Clinton email scandal broke, not only is it my responsibility to investigate corruption within government, but specifically, this had to do with federal records and the law she probably broke in terms of the Federal Records Act,” he said.

“So, that began my investigatory career.”

Trump’s DOT Drops the Hammer: Thousands of CDL Trainers Shut Down
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Trump’s DOT Drops the Hammer: Thousands of CDL Trainers Shut Down

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The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation announced a broad enforcement action on Monday aimed at tightening oversight of commercial driver training programs and ensuring compliance with federal safety standards.

DOT Secretary Sean Duffy said the department revoked nearly 3,000 of the approximately 16,000 commercial driver’s license (CDL) training providers listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry.

The Training Provider Registry includes all organizations authorized to offer entry-level driver instruction for CDL applicants.

According to a DOT press release, the providers removed from the registry were cited for “failing to equip trainees with the Trump administration’s standards of readiness.”

The department listed several reasons for removal, including “falsifying or manipulating training data”; “neglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications”; and “failing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.”

DOT officials said that in addition to the revoked providers, another 4,500 organizations were issued warnings for potential non-compliance and given 30 days to submit evidence demonstrating compliance with federal rules.

Providers that fail to do so may also be removed from the registry.

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said the department’s action is intended to prevent unqualified drivers from entering the country’s commercial trucking workforce.

“If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence,” Barrs said.

Secretary Duffy said the enforcement effort is part of a broader crackdown on “corrupt operators” in the trucking sector.

“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy said.

“Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways. Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.”

He added, “Under President Trump, we are reigning [sic] in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”

Also on Monday, the DOT released findings from a federal audit of Minnesota’s CDL program.

According to the department, one-third of the state’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses were issued illegally.

DOT officials said Minnesota has 30 days to correct the violations and revoke licenses issued in violation of federal rules.

If the state does not comply, up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding may be withheld.

Barrs said Minnesota “openly and blatantly” violated federal requirements.

“Under the Trump administration, states have two choices: Meet our standards or face the consequences. Following the law is not optional,” he said.

Duffy said the audit results reflect broader issues in the state’s licensing system.

“Our audit exposes yet another example of foreigners taking advantage of Minnesota services under Governor Walz’s watch,” Duffy said.

“Minnesota failed to follow the law and illegally doled out trucking licenses to unsafe, unqualified noncitizens — endangering American families on the road.”

The warning to Minnesota follows earlier enforcement actions by the DOT.

The department previously took similar steps against Pennsylvania and has already announced plans to withhold federal funding from California after determining the state failed to comply with CDL issuance regulations.

New York Pastor Announces Gender Transition During Sunday Service
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New York Pastor Announces Gender Transition During Sunday Service

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A pastor in upstate New York publicly announced a gender transition during a Nov. 23 Sunday service, telling the congregation that pastoral duties will continue unchanged despite the personal update.

Rev. Phillip Phaneuf of North Chili United Methodist Church in Rochester informed church members that the transition process has already begun and that the 51-year-old now identifies as asexual, as reported by The New York Post.

Phaneuf delivered the announcement from the pulpit while wearing a rainbow stole. “So I get to announce with joy that I’m transitioning,” Phaneuf told the congregation.

“I’m affirming to all of you that I am transgender. The best way to put this is that I’m not becoming a woman, I’m giving up pretending to be a man. This is a process, and it may be shocking for some as to what this all means.”

Phaneuf went on to say that the pastor now identifies as asexual. “I’m in the category of what they call asexual,” Phaneuf said.

“I’ve been that way since we’ve all been together, in that I am not living my life in a way that involves looking for romance.”

The pastor said a name change to Phillippa is forthcoming and requested the use of she/her pronouns.

Phaneuf confirmed that hormone replacement therapy has been underway for three months and that changes in appearance, voice, and hair are expected as part of the process.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, Phaneuf said the details of the transition are accurate and added that the congregation has responded positively.

“Since coming out to my congregation, they have been overwhelmingly affirming!” Phaneuf said.

Phaneuf also said that the transition has the support of the bishop, church, and theology. According to Phaneuf, the bishop was consulted before the announcement and pastoral responsibilities will not change.

“What will stay the same is my deepening love for all of you,” Phaneuf told congregants.

Phaneuf noted during the sermon that the pastor’s parents do not support the decision. “They asked me to tell you all that they do not support me,” Phaneuf said. “They asked me to tell you this.”

The announcement comes after the United Methodist Church updated its position last year, reversing rules that condemned LGBTQ+ identities.

According to the denomination’s official website, the church now affirms human sexuality “as a sacred gift” applicable to “all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The UMC also states, “The United Methodist Church commits to befriending and caring for all persons, including LGBTQ persons in our churches and communities.”


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