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Today, the newly-elected Members of the House of Representatives will meet and among their mostly ceremonial duties they will carry out one important task – electing the Speaker of the House. Regular readers of CHQ will recall that after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted, we urged House Republicans to find and elect the most conservative Speaker that could garner the required 218 votes. Ultimately, that “most conservative Speaker who could get 218 votes” came down to Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana. The initial enthusiasm conservatives had for Johnson has dissipated to the point we have begun to refer to Mr. Johnson as Mike “The Disappointment” Johnson, but that doesn’t mean we are prepared to support another lengthy floor fight that bears no promise of electing someone more effective. Our friend Rick Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government, summed up the arguments in favor of retaining Speaker Johnson this way: President Trump’s entire Congressional agenda is at risk on day one of the new Congress when House Republicans decide whether to elect Trump-endorsed Speaker Mike Johnson or embark on yet another suicidal quest for the perfect Speaker. While it is understandable for many House conservatives to be disappointed that the past Congress did not do more to limit the size and scope of government, the only opportunity to move the aggressive Trump Make America Great Again agenda is through unity that will be forever shattered by a Speaker fight. Americans voted to end President Biden’s crazy, leftist policies and to cut government’s intrusive reach into their lives. If House Republicans want to legislatively end Biden’s immigration disaster, they need to stay the course with Speaker Johnson. If House Republicans want to reinstate and expand job-creating tax cuts, they must stay the course with Speaker Johnson. If House Republicans want to truly permanently downsize the federal government, they need to stay the course with Speaker Johnson. However, if they are unwilling to get 75% to 80% of their agenda passed in search of a unicorn, they will engage in a quixotic Speaker fight chasing windmills rather than getting the job done. At the end of the day Speaker Johnson has two very persuasive things going for him. First, President Trump likes and trusts him; Second, Johnson’s acknowledged personal conservative convictions give us some hope that with Donald Trump in the White House to help stiffen his spine he may yet produce the conservative policy outcomes we were expecting when he was first elected. The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), we urge CHQ readers and friends to call their Representative FIRST THING TODAY to demand they vote to elect Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana to preside over the House in the 119th Congress. 2024 Election Continuing Resolution Federal budget deficit national debt federal spending Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump administration Funding the government Democrat votes Republican House majority Congress favorability Trump inauguration 38 conservatives

In a recent Secure Freedom Minute our friend Frank Gaffney reminded us that on August 15, 2016, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gave one of his best speeches ever. It addressed with clarity and courage the threat of “radical Islamic terrorism” and what we need to do to “defeat it.” After New Year’s attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, his analysis of the toxic ideological wellspring of ISIS and other jihadists, and his policy prescriptions for countering them, should be required reading – and the basis for immediate action.   Regular readers of CHQ will recognize the concept of the “ Red-Green Axis ” as the alliance between anti-American Marxists and Islamists, those who wish to impose Muslim Sharia law on the entire world.   Under Biden and Harris those allied anti-American interests have deeply penetrated the government of the United States, achieving unrivaled influence and power at the State Department, Pentagon and White House. John D. Guandolo documented this in his must-read report The Hamas-Muslim Brotherhood Network in the United States   this war isn’t something that is happening “over there,” the Islamists are here in the United States prepared to bring jihadi terrorism and death to our towns and cities and their plans have progressed further than our federal government is willing to admit.   To counter the malign influence of the Red-Green Axis Mr. Gaffney is today launching a new Institute for the American Future to sponsor and maximize the impact of several groups anxious to help the new Trump administration take on such urgent tasks.   One called the Victory Coalition is dedicated to countering the ideology of radical Islam, best described as Sharia-supremacism.   Learn more about the Institute and how you can help the Victory Coalition at USFuture.org . 2024 Election Trump foreign policy Radical Islamic Terrorism New Orleans attack ISIS Red-Green Axis Sharia law Sharia supremacism State Department Pentagon John D. Guandolo Hamas Muslim Brotherhood

Narrowness of Republican House majority already shines a spotlight on the 2026 federal midterms   Seeing as today is the last unofficial day of the holiday season (the end of the first week after the New Year’s holiday), it’s a safe bet to assume not many Americans realize that it’s the first day of the new congressional term as well. With most of the news focus concentrating on the transition between the outgoing (good riddance!) administration of senile Joe Biden and 2024 presidential loser cackling Kamala Harris – and the incoming new leadership of victors Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance, the nation’s attention has mostly been diverted away from the constitutional commencing of the new Congress.   In years past on this date, Americans have marked the election and swearing in of new Speakers and the welcoming of freshman representatives and senators as well as accenting the exits of former officeholders who were defeated in elections or, on the rare occasion, retired from Washington entirely. Today, longtime Republican majority/minority leader Senator Mitch McConnell will pass the proverbial torch after a long, long time as head of the GOP upper chamber crew.   But there’s little doubt many observers will be preoccupied with the slim Republican House majority and how difficult it will be, regardless of the successes of the majority in implementing the new president’s MAGA agenda, to maintain chamber control after the 2026 federal midterm elections.   Yes, that’s right, Congress hasn’t even officially been sworn-in and already the politicians are fixated on the next  election, which is almost two years away and fully dependent on time, circumstances and events as to who will be in power come 2027. Democrats will rely on history and typical power swings to boot the GOP out of the Speaker’s chair, as is typically the case in a president’s first election after assuming the White House.   Can Trump avoid the so-called midterm curse? In an article titled “ Could 2024 Trump’s Victory Counter a 2026 ‘Midterm Curse’? ”, Susan Crabtree wrote at American Greatness on Christmas Day :   “Two years from now some 14 Democratic House members will be defending districts Trump won, compared to just three Republicans in districts carried by Vice President Kamala Harris...   “One reason House majorities have grown slimmer in recent years is the increasingly sophisticated redistricting fights waged by both parties. Over the last decade, Democrats and Republicans have engaged in a protracted battle over the redrawing of congressional districts involving millions of dollars in litigation, thousands of hours of closed-door negotiations, and multiple Supreme Court showdowns.   “Partly because of their efforts, Democrats limited the House majority to five seats this year – 220 to Democrats’ 215. But because of Trump’s popular vote victory, winning back the majority in 2026 will require Democrats to carve a path through Trump territory.”   Republicans certainly hope this is the case. Whereas Democrats have notoriously enjoyed national popular vote victories in twenty-first century presidential elections – the exceptions being 2004 and, somewhat surprisingly, this year – Republicans have done well in capturing more votes for House candidates. 2022 showed Republicans with a seven million vote advantage over Democrats, yet the size of the GOP’s seat majority did not reflect the preponderance and the citizens’ preferences.   The Cook Political Report showed Republicans winning a little less than 4 million more votes than Democrats did in November , yet “only” hold a five seat majority going into this week.   Crabtree’s article does a terrific job in explaining the behind-the-scenes machinations of the parties in maneuvering redistricting and the litigation system to maximize their winning seekers. Needless to say, generally speaking, Democrats have managed to keep the margins close in the past couple elections.   According to Crabtree, several states will once again figure prominently in the 2026 midterms, and the parties’ wrangling over district maps doesn’t figure to let up in the next year and a half. Therefore, as with the presidential election, it will be imperative for Republicans to set a goal of winning on the district level beyond the margin of fraud, just as they did in 2024 to provide Donald J. Trump with a comfortable Electoral College majority.   Trump’s win was so thorough we’ve heard very little griping and scheming by Democrats in terms of attempts to overturn the result. Here’s thinking Democrats really don’t want to encourage a deep dive into elections integrity for the recently concluded vote – or they may stir up a can of legal worms they didn’t intend to unleash.   Beyond the procedural matters, how can Trump avoid a midterm curse?   Republican ground game upgrades will be even more vital in a lower turnout midterm election   After an election like 2024’s, it’s always tempting for the winning party’s backers to assume that the good electoral tidings will last forever and all they’ll need to sustain the momentum is ride the leadership of the prevailing pol to eternal bliss.   Democrats figured they’d only have to talk about Obama, Obama, Obama to enjoy a permanent Democrat advantage after 2008. They were proved wrong in the Republican wave election of 2010 (known as the Tea Party election, which rose up in response to Obama’s bailouts and the passing of Obamacare in 2010) and a similarly strong performance by the GOP in 2014.   Obama may have the “it” factor when his name is on the ballot, but voters didn’t extend the good feeling to Democrat congressional critters.   Republicans also went into their shells after the 2018 midterms. With Democrats retaking the House after that year, Nancy Pelosi got her wish – Trump was impeached by the House over a stupid phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Elections really do have consequences.   Giddy Republicans may get ahead of themselves and count on using the good name of Donald J. Trump to motivate his 77 million-plus 2024 voters  to be just as wild about pulling the lever for GOP candidates in 2026. I wouldn’t bank on it. Trump is a political phenomenon all to himself and the marginal occasional voter won’t necessarily be wowed by generic Republicans.   That’s just reality. Plus, Republicans have a habit of screwing up numbers advantages. Why else are they called “The Stupid Party”?   Trump and the GOP benefited from improved get out the vote efforts last November. Grassroots organizations led by Charlie Kirk and Ned Ryun, among others, used innovations in communications and good old fashioned data analysis to produce more votes for Trump. They’ll need to continue their good work in 2026 to stave off a “curse” in the midterms.   Trump’s success – and popularity – will have a major impact on the GOP’s 2026 fortunes   There’s no doubting that the redistricting map battles and litigation detailed in Crabtree’s report will determine the ultimate outcome of a good many races, but the single largest factor in the Republicans’ 2026 outcome will be whether the Trump MAGA agenda’s changes show up in the economy.   It shouldn’t be forgotten that policy evolutions such as greater immigration enforcement, stepped up deportations, setting the energy-producing sector free and reducing the bureaucratic regulatory burden will make a difference in the overall economy, but will the gains show up at the kitchen table?   Plus, the establishment media and Democrats will spare no effort to smear everything Trump and his cabinet officers do. Keeping up Trump’s positive approval numbers will make all the difference at the ballot box in 2026.   It will require a total party effort to boost the GOP campaigns less than two years from now. There’s no time to relax and be content with the 2024 win. The voters will ask, rightfully so, “What have you done for me lately?” Managing the polls will demand all of Donald Trump’s skills. And the “midterm curse” will take care of itself accordingly. Joe Biden economy inflation Biden cognitive decline gas prices, Nancy Pelosi Biden senile Kamala Harris candidacy Donald Trump campaign Harris Trump debates J.D. Vance Kamala vice president Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump assassination Donald Trump 2024 presidential election Tim Walz

The rapidly spinning news cycle and the good feelings engendered by Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior seem to have overshadowed a major blunder by President-elect Donald Trump that could drastically undermine his prospects for a successful second term. The unforced error was President Trump’s attack on the 38 conservative House Republicans who voted NO on a yearend spending package put forth as “Plan B” by Speaker of the House Mike “The Disappointment” Johnson. The bill, which Trump supported and argued was “a very good Deal for the American people,” mustered support from just two House Democrats, Reps. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and went down in a 174-235-1 vote. We call this a blunder on Trump’s part because the 38 conservative Republicans he attacked, who voted NO, would normally be among the strongest House supporters of the MAGA agenda, and he will need their votes on everything from immigration, to FBI and DOJ reforms, to ending DEI at the Pentagon and the rest of the federal government, to implementing his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recommendations. However, waiving the debt ceiling while not cutting spending was contrary to the campaign promises most of the NO votes made in the recent election – and they weren’t about to break those promises and set a precedent for increasing the national debt before the new GOP trifecta of White House, House and Senate took control of the federal government. These GOP representatives voted against the measure that would have suspended the debt limit: Aaron Bean (Fla.) Andy Biggs (Ariz.) Josh Brecheen (Okla.) Tim Burchett (Tenn.) Eric Burlison (Mo.) Kat Cammack (Fla.) Michael Cloud (Texas) Andrew Clyde (Ga.) Eli Crane (Ariz.) John Curtis (Utah) Jeff Duncan (S.C.) Russ Fulcher (Idaho) Bob Good (Va.) Paul Gosar (Ariz.) Andy Harris (Md.) Wesley Hunt (Texas) Doug Lamborn (Colo.) Debbie Lesko (Ariz.) Greg Lopez (Colo.) Morgan Luttrell (Texas) Nancy Mace (S.C.) Thomas Massie (Ky.) Richard McCormick (Ga.) Cory Mills (Fla.) Alexander Mooney ( W.Va .) Blake Moore (Utah) Nathaniel Moran (Texas) Ralph Norman (S.C.) Andy Ogles (Tenn.) Scott Perry (Pa.) Bill Posey (Fla.) Matt Rosendale (Mont.) Chip Roy (Texas) David Schweikert (Ariz.) Keith Self (Texas) Victoria Spartz (Ind.) Thomas Tiffany (Wis.) Beth Van Duyne (Texas) Trump was particularly harsh in his criticism of conservative stalwart Chip Roy, who had supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Republican primaries, but his vitriolic comments appeared to be applicable to the rest of the 38. Ultimately, a bill was passed to fund the government past President Trump’s second inauguration and to set the stage for one of the first big debates of his new administration to be about spending. And that appears to be something that the newly reelected President was not too happy about. The problem that Trump now has is that having called upon voters to primary his Republican opponents, with a slim two-vote majority in the House, he has just turned loose 38 Republicans who now have nothing to lose by opposing him again. What’s more, just a week before the year-end spending battle came to a head, President Trump was promoting the idea that his Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, was going to do the very thing that the 38 conservatives who voted NO on the spending package wanted done – cut spending. The U.S. budget deficit  hit a record high $1.8T in FY24, with the government paying for it through the sale of Treasury bonds (US10Y) and other securities. The deficit has gotten so bad it is stoking worries about a bond oversupply . Trump’s new advisory group, Department of Government Efficiency, whose co-head is Elon Musk, is looking for overall federal cuts of at least $2T. If DOGE and President Trump are going to have any chance of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget, then Trump is going to need the votes of every one of the Republican spending hawks he just attacked. We urge the President-elect to quickly make peace with conservatives in the House to get his agenda back on track, if he does not heal this rift, we fear the entire MAGA agenda, not just DOGE is in deep trouble. 2024 Election Continuing Resolution Federal budget deficit national debt federal spending Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump administration Funding the government Democrat votes Republican House majority Congress favorability Trump inauguration 38 conservatives

“ Property in a thing consists not merely in its ownership and possession, but in the unrestricted right of use, enjoyment, and disposal. Anything which destroys any of the elements of property, to that extent, destroys the property itself. The substantial value of property lies in its use. If the right of use be denied, the value of the property is annihilated, and ownership is rendered a barren right. ”  Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Sanders Without the right to property, we only have the right to our thoughts; all else will be controlled by others. John Adams said, “ The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. ” That is not an exaggeration. Without the right to property, we are slaves. Our founding fathers realized that and were careful to correct the original Constitution by adding the Bill of Rights, among other things. From official U.S. government founding documents: 1st Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (Without the right to property, we would not have places to meet – assemble – to stand up and protect our property rights.) 2nd Amendment: protects the right to keep and bear arms. (Without guns, we would find ourselves trying to protect our rights with pitchforks, axes, and sticks.) 3rd Amendment: prevents the government from forcing homeowners to allow soldiers to use their homes. Before the Revolutionary War, laws gave British soldiers the right to take over private homes. 4th Amendment bars the government from unreasonable search and seizure of an individual or their private property. 9th Amendment states that listing specific rights in the Constitution does not mean that people do not have other rights that have not been spelled out. 10th Amendment says that the Federal Government only has those powers delegated in the Constitution. If it isn’t listed, it belongs to the states or to the people.   Read the above carefully, then think about this:   “By 2030, you’ll own nothing and be happy.” ~ Klaus Schwab, Founder/Chairman WEF   That would only be true if we all had lobotomies or were constantly high on hallucinogenic drugs. Oops, that’s the plan our government – via the Department of Health Education and Welfare — working with the Michigan State University to devise a plan to dumb down all the useless-eater children. It’s called the BSTEP — Behavioral Science Teacher Educator Program .   One short excerpt: Page 255 of BSTEP (288 of the PDF) has a chart “Detailing the Controlling Elite,” the Overview reads:   Description   The Protestant Ethic will atrophy as more and more enjoy varied leisure and guaranteed sustenance.  Work as the means (illegible) end of living will diminish in importance except for a few with exceptional motivation, drive, or aspiration. No major source of a sense of worth and dignity will replace the Protestant Ethic. Most people will tend to be hedonistic, and a dominant elite will provide “bread and circuses” to keep social dissension and disruption at a minimum.   Consequences   A small elite will carry society’s burdens. The resulting impersonal manipulation of most people’s lifestyles will be softened by provisions for pleasure-seeking and guaranteed physical necessities. Participatory democracy in the American-ideal mold will mainly disappear. The worth and dignity of individuals will be endangered on every hand. Only exceptional individuals will be able to maintain a sense of worth and dignity.   That was done in 1969. Most people today think that we, who have been telling them about the global “elite” plan, have made it all up. Yes, it was made up, but not by us – it was made up by them to wrest control of the entire world and control all of us. They are close to their goal, but the latest election in the U.S. shows that a lot of people were just asleep – not fully braindead from the brainwashing that has been inundating them in the education system and mainstream media. Back to property. Since early in this recent election process, the writing on the wall has been read by most. The power elite (PE) were not going to be able to reach enough dead people in time to outvote the awake. So, they are doing everything still in their power to get us further down the road to serfdom while they still control our government and other entities. Note the push to ban eating meat. The PE who have megabucks are buying up farm and ranch land as fast as they can. Their minions, the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), mostly created by them, are doing their fair share of controlling our natural resources. They are working diligently on putting as much land into national trusts, land trusts, and programs like 30X30 – removing 30% of the planet’s oceans, lands, and freshwaters from any human use whatsoever. And there are the big companies, the Blackwaters, J.P. Morgans, State Streets, the big banks, and billionaires grabbing land. Oh, and another way big industries are getting land is to plan a green-power construction project across acres and miles of little people’s properties, then (after being awarded via the U.S. Supreme Court’s egregiously unconstitutional decision in the Kelo Case . Many of those companies probably have no intent of putting up wind or solar power now – knowing that it can never replace “fossil fuels”, but the government has decreed that the properties the company “takes” as they are beginning to set up construction are theirs to keep – even if they never put up one solar panel or windmill. And, of course, there are all the things being banned because they are supposedly unsustainable — causing or abetting “climate change”. For instance, grazing of livestock, disturbing the soil surface, fencing of pastures or paddocks, agriculture, modern farm production systems, building materials, industrial activities, human-made caves of brick and mortar or concrete and steel, paved and tarred roads and highways, railroads, floor and wall tiles, aquaculture, farmlands, rangelands, pastures, fish ponds, modern hunting, fisheries, scuba diving, agricultural development, forestry urbanization, logging, fossil fuels, dams, reservoirs, straightening rivers, power line construction, private property, population growth, consumerism, and many, many more. From Global Biodiversity Assessment: Cambridge University Press , the 7-pound book that spells out what we humans are going to be banned from using or even looking at. I want you to understand that “property rights” mean much more than owning a house and some acreage. Those who rent also need to understand that they may have a lease, but it will be as useful as toilet paper when those so-called elites are ready to take over control of the world.  The late Rosa Koire spells it out perfectly. “ UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development is the action plan to inventory and control all land, all water, all minerals, all plants, all animals, all construction, all means of production, all information, all energy, and all human beings in the world. INVENTORY AND CONTROL! ” I truly believe that the globalists believe they must finish us off now; that too many people have awakened and are becoming aware of the threat now facing us. There are far more of us than them, and we are Americans, raised on the belief that the tenets of the U.S. Constitution provide for our freedom, safety, and prosperity – if we stay strong and support the principles it upholds. We are truly in the fight for our lives and beliefs. It is now or never. It is time to take back this once-great country and restore its life-sustaining, honorable principles. To do that, we must start at the local level among our neighbors and friends. What are you waiting for? Build or join a Freedom Pod  today. P.S. Think I’m crazy? Just in: No packing necessary – Japan Airlines pushes “rental clothes” to travelers at their destination to reduce the weight of baggage and reduce carbon emissions. Author Kathleen Marquardt  has been an advocate for property rights and freedom for decades. Today, she serves as Vice President of American Policy Center. To learn more about American Policy Center and its work, including its Freedom Pod program go to www.americanpolicy.org   2024 Election Red Flag Law Tennessee Governor Bill Lee Gun confiscation mental health Second Amendment gun rights inner city violence gun control self defense leftist agenda property rights

2025 New Year’s political resolutions are easy to make, hard to sustain   I don’t know about you, but I found it especially difficult to make meaningful resolutions for the brand new year of 2025. It’s not because I’d suddenly realized perfection and happiness beyond compare, either. No, new resolutions going into another twelve-month period are very much in order, but the amount of uncertainty we face makes them tricky to articulate.   While most people settle for low hanging fruit in terms of vows to do things differently now the 2024 has been relegated to the archives in our memories, simply promising to exercise more, tighten up the waistline, reconnect with old friends or accept every social opportunity won’t cut it.   Americans were front row spectators to a political earthquake in 2024, and 2025 will reveal – slowly and possibly all at once – the reverberations of the new order. People the world over took a bit of a break over the holidays to reflect and contemplate. Not everyone is excited by Donald J. Trump becoming leader of the free world again in 18 days’ time, but chances are they’ll experience some sort of adjustments one way or another.   Personal vows to improve aren’t enough. What should  our leaders resolve to do? In no particular order:   Donald Trump  – The president-elect isn’t exactly regarded as a private man. He wears his thoughts on his sleeve, which hasn’t always turned out to be a good thing for him, but even his closest advisors would likely concede that Trump occasionally surprises them.   Ask Trump a question and he’ll answer it; but the response is difficult to anticipate and sometimes causes more public relations damage and controversy than not saying anything at all.   Therefore, Trump should resolve to be more careful in who he grants interviews to. Trump has seemingly taken a “all publicity is good” attitude towards the establishment media throughout his professional career. This position may have benefitted him in business and celebrity circles, but politics is a different game entirely.   Donald Trump has ridden a wave of (mostly) goodwill since his election two months ago, but experience and history suggests the good feelings will not endure forever. Popularity ebbs and flows with everyone in political office. Ronald Reagan, for example, was reelected with a huge 49-state landslide in 1984, yet his second term was not a smooth one. Iran Contra was only one of Reagan’s hitches in his second four years. He gave in to political pressure and signed an immigration amnesty bill precedent that continues to fester today.   For Trump in 2025, it cannot be overstated how important it will be to maintain voter support for his MAGA agenda. Portions of the public will peel away from him as time and events transpire and the Democrats work their black magic in a mission to ruin his presidency. It’s as predictable as the tides. Managing the PR game will be one of Trump’s salient duties. His presidency’s success depends on it.   Trump should not give in to his instincts regarding the supposed beneficial nature of all publicity. That’s one resolution he must keep.   Speaker Mike Johnson – Assuming the current Speaker wins reelection to the House leadership top spot – which is not a given by any means, considering his lukewarm record at the helm in recent times – Johnson should resolve to reject the blubbering of his GOP establishment members and follow a principled track that eventually might achieve real results in the lower chamber.   Only a fool would insinuate Johnson doesn’t have a monumentally challenging job – herding cats might be simpler to master – but there’s nothing that demands Republicans prevail in every legislative battle to be deemed successful in conservatives’ eyes. Johnson can essentially win by losing in some respects. Etching votes into the record may be good enough for conservatives to isolate those representatives who are holding up Trump’s drive to implement the MAGA agenda.   Conservatives will only make progress on government accountability by culling the fat, so to speak, and electing more principled, limited government conservatives to bolster numbers.   Johnson needs a backbone. Will he locate one if he makes a resolution?   Trump’s cabinet members – Though New Year’s resolutions are usually considered personal endeavors, there’s one new goal every Trump cabinet member should vow to uphold.   Namely, Trump’s cabinet can individually resolve to place the aims of the administration above their own career ambitions and seek to do what’s right regardless of what it might cost them in reputation and elite prestige. In other words, put MAGA above themselves.   There aren’t many certainties other than death and taxes, but a third such guarantee would be intense opposition to everything they try to do to drain the proverbial swamp. Trump’s cabinet secretaries will be taking flak from all directions and most of them can’t hide in shadow to stay out of the glare.   None of them have been confirmed, yet, so the arduous part won’t end with simple senate confirmation. They must have thick skins. They also must have a willingness to take orders themselves and always maintain an attitude that the ends are bigger than petty slights and antagonistic inferiors with vendettas.   Change of this magnitude is never easy. None of Trump’s appointees should go into the next four years with rose colored glasses on. They won’t be heroes to anyone in official Washington, but they have to regularly remind themselves that the “little folk” out in the hinterlands have got their backs. Trump will gladly absorb the balance of the negativity, but he’ll also assume most of the credit for successes.   Trump’s cabinet will win as a team – or they’ll fail on their own. How did Ben Franklin put it? “ We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately .”   Hanging together is preferable.   MAGA voters  – There’s little doubt Trump’s MAGA voters are an ideologically diverse lot. Ask a hundred people why they voted for Donald Trump and you’d likely get just about as many responses, ranging from, “He was the lesser of two evils”, to “I chose heads in the coin flip” to “Donald Trump will go down in history as the best president ever. The choice was easy.”   What the voters lack in similarity of purpose they share in one way – they’ll all need to resolve to be patient. Trump has promised to achieve a lot very quickly – halt illegal immigration, ramp up energy production, slap punitive tariffs on certain countries to motivate them to cooperate with the United States and to end the war in Ukraine – but it will take time, a lot  of time, to realize most of what Trump offered to the electorate.   Sure, Kamala Harris was a once-in-a-generation awful opposition candidate, but most Americans voted for  Trump rather than against  Harris. And they’ve got high expectations for the new administration.   Trump welcomes the pressure and wouldn’t have it any other way.   Donald Trump is one of those unique individuals who thrives under duress. Having observed him over these nine-plus years at the pinnacle of politics, there doesn’t appear to be much that phases him. Trump hasn’t always handled tight situations well – the first debate in 2020 and last September’s matchup with Kamala Harris in Philadelphia came to mind – but he has rarely been flustered by adversity.   Simply stated, Trump the political superman hasn’t yet uncovered his version of kryptonite.   Now that it’s 2025, Americans are more anxious than ever for a political changing of the guard in Washington. 2025 isn’t going to be much like 2017 – and it’s definitely not close to 2021 – but Inauguration Day is creeping closer with each passing sunset. Trump is on his way, and he couldn’t get here fast enough for the country. Joe Biden economy inflation Biden cognitive decline gas prices, Nancy Pelosi Biden senile Kamala Harris candidacy Donald Trump campaign Harris Trump debates J.D. Vance Kamala vice president Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump assassination Donald Trump 2024 presidential election Tim Walz

Narrowing down the highlights of 2024 poses the greatest challenge to synopsizing history   Of all the topics that presented difficulty in this ultra-fateful year of 2024, none were more so than separating out the most striking political memories from the past twelve months. Seeing as it’s the last day of the year, it’s fitting to look back and isolate a few episodes that will stick with us not only for the next four years – Donald J. Trump’s second term – but also for the rest of our lives.   It seems like an eternity ago, but 2024 began with a boatload of uncertainty. Not only was broken-down president senile Joe Biden bent on running for reelection, but the Republican Party looked to be hopelessly – and nearly irretrievably – divided. Still facing legal and criminal dilemmas that would trouble most people, Trump acted as though none of the “noise” bothered him at all.   More worrisome to the former president were the petty gripes and concerns among the small group of “challengers” for the party presidential nomination, led by, at least from appearances, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Trump U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who represented the GOP establishment, corporate interests – and generally, everyone who still didn’t like Trump.   DeSantis’s and Haley’s main rationales for going away from Trump centered on a “So many people despise him he’s simply not electable” argument. DeSantis hoped to entice conservatives away from the 45th president’s re-election effort. Haley, the lone woman in the primary field, centered her pitch on presenting a “moderate” voice who would appeal to independents and Democrats who were fed up with Biden.   Trump barely broke a sweat in dispatching the so-called rivals once the votes were cast. Simply put, it was the most boring presidential primary contest ever, rivaled only by the lack of interest stemming from the Democrats’ inability to challenge senile Joe Biden before the dunce eventually took himself out of the running in mid-July.   Other highlights (using the term loosely):   Lawfare against Trump fails to ruin his chances to win a second term .   Few would dispute that the legal cases involving Donald Trump took up a good share of the news headlines in the first half of the year, including the jury verdict in New York City finding the Republican guilty on multiple felony counts, an occurrence Democrats swore would finally derail the Trump train and make him toxic to American voters of good conscience.   It didn’t.   As was easily foreseeable, Trump’s unfair treatment at the hands of Democrat local prosecutors and the Biden Justice Department only served to turn him into a sympathetic character in voters’ eyes. Democrats always go overboard with their hysteria regarding Trump, and 2024’s legal proceedings reinforced the point. Cases in Washington, DC, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia only made it worse for the Trump-haters.   Assassination attempts focused the nation on what would happen if Trump were to suddenly disappear   In the craziest of all political years – 2024 – nothing rivaled America’s shock over witnessing, over and over again, news footage of a would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, getting off multiple shots at a nearby Trump as the candidate delivered a rally speech in the critical swing state.   “Geez, they’re really out to get him” was the likely typical reaction. Though the investigative authorities are yet to determine a motive – or they simply aren’t saying – one surmises there were a plethora of leftwing kooks out there who craved an opportunity to make a try at Trump.   Yet another unhinged and motivated left-winger attempted it in Florida a couple months later, shining the spotlight on the Secret Service’s lack of seriousness in protecting a former president and major party presidential candidate.   “Assassination theater” focused folks on the proposals Trump advanced. Democrats couldn’t take him down.   Conjecture over who Trump would nominate for his running mate failed to predict J.D. Vance   Coming just days after he was nearly killed in Pennsylvania, Trump once again took control of the news narrative by nominating Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio to fill out his ticket.   As expected, critics hated the choice, dismissing the young senator with an unmatchable life story as someone who didn’t add to Trump’s chances to beat Joe Biden (at the time). The negative naysayers, again, failed to take into account Vance’s intangibles as a political partner for Trump. J.D. was confident, positive, immensely articulate and fearless in doing battle with the establishment media. In other words, Vance did everything he was asked to do… and more.   Here's surmising Vance’s vice presidential debate takedown of the hapless cackling Kamala Harris’s choice for number two, Tim Walz, was a key to Trump’s late surge in the 2024 race.   Who did Americans want to be president? J.D. Vance helped clarify the answer.   Trump wins the 2024 election in a victory commentators labeled a “landslide” .   Some were undoubtedly disappointed, but all the drama on Election Night was largely over in terms of who would win by about midnight eastern time as it was clear by then that Donald Trump had defied all the liberal pundits, Democrat apparatchiks and the leftist anti-Trump establishment to win a second term going away.   Trump had done what many considered to be impossible – overcome every single obstacle the left had thrown at him to win (outright, this time, beyond the margin of fraud) – to earn the right to be inaugurated again three weeks from now.   Adjectives are still being invented to describe what Trump did. The American people made the choice – and it was evident they opted for competent leadership and a forward-looking vision to the “woke” nothingness of cackling Kamala Harris and the rest of the Democrats.   Trump also won the all-important (for argument’s sake) popular vote, adding an exclamation point to his success.   2024 will never be forgotten by historians. It was quite a memorable one.   Trump’s transition has been mostly smooth and sets the tone for a consequential 2025   Donald Trump’s resounding win in this year’s election would’ve felt incomplete if he’d been content to rest on his laurels and simply bide his time and enjoy what he’d accomplished as a real estate developer, tabloid celebrity, reality TV star, media mogul, first-time politician-turned outsider president – and then do what no one thought was possible, rise from the negativity to make the MAGA agenda a reality.   Few would have found fault with him if Trump had taken a few weeks to recover. But he didn’t.   Instead of allowing the establishment media to set the tone for his upcoming do-over administration, Trump unleashed a torrid of aggressive anti-establishment go-getters who will, starting the first day, figuratively wreck the nation’s corrupted government institutions and install new policies that (hopefully) will bring promised results for the American people.   That’s precisely what Americans hired Trump to do – lay waste to the keepers of the Swamp and the status quo. Business-as-usual simply wouldn’t do for a man like Donald Trump. The new president is serious about keeping the promises he made on the campaign trail, and the people he’s bringing in to run the executive departments share his urgency.   No one claims it will be simple to enact the MAGA agenda. Democrats retain too much power to foul things up on Capitol Hill, the Republican blue bloods are mostly still there and the establishment media won’t exactly dissolve itself and begin to support Trump and his mission.   But if 2024 is remembered for anything, it will be for providing a chance to bring in leaders who reject the current state of American politics and won’t be hesitant to devise new solutions to old problems, protect cherished God-given constitutional rights – and do things the right way. Donald Trump isn’t and has never been perfect. But he’s just the right man for the job in 2025. Joe Biden economy inflation Biden cognitive decline gas prices, Nancy Pelosi Biden senile Kamala Harris candidacy Donald Trump campaign Harris Trump debates J.D. Vance Kamala vice president Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump assassination Donald Trump 2024 presidential election Tim Walz

Now that Trump got the second term he richly deserved, are diehard anti-Trumpers lamenting their years-long “Never” stance?   I don’t know about you, but one of the first thoughts I had when it was certain Donald Trump had completed the ultimate political rebirth and would be legally sanctioned to govern the greatest nation in the world for another term, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to all the holier-than-thou Republican types who’d stayed irrevocably married to their anti-Trump positions during the past eight years and woke up on November 6th with a dodo-sized egg splattered all over their obstinate faces?   Where was Chris Christie recently when you actually wanted to hear from him? Heck, even 2024 GOP runner-up Nikki Haley had appeared to throw-in with Trump in the heat of the battle. But there was a small collection of stalwarts who stuck with their opposition to the bitter end, not boasting they would vote for Kamala Harris yet refusing to “just say it” and revel in the Trump win like everyone else?   Is there any coming back from such disgrace? What if the outcasts, gulp, acknowledged they were wrong to be so intractable this whole time?   In an article titled “ NYT columnist throws in towel on 'Never Trump' label: We 'never quite got the point' of the MAGA movement ”, Joseph A. Wulfsohn reported at Fox News  last week :   “New York Times columnist Bret Stephens appears to be giving up on the ‘Never Trump’ identity he embraced during the first Trump era, realizing that he and his media colleagues missed the mark following the 2024 election...   “’Could his second term be as bad as his most fervent critics fear? Yes. Is it time to drop the heavy moralizing and incessant doomsaying that typified so much of the Never Trump movement — and that rendered it politically impotent and frequently obtuse? Yes, please,’ he conceded...   “’Let’s enter the new year by wishing the new administration well, by giving some of Trump’s cabinet picks the benefit of the doubt, by dropping the lurid historical comparisons to past dictators, by not sounding paranoid about the ever-looming end of democracy, by hoping for the best and knowing that we need to fight the wrongs that are real and not merely what we fear, that whatever happens, this too shall pass,’ Stephens said.”   Very rational, no? One speculates a good number of NeverTrumpers have traveled a similar path as RINO Bret Stephens, but here’s guessing a great many haven’t, either. For the gaggle of former Bush Republicans who now find their livelihoods linked to MSNBC or CNN – or who’ve taken to penning columns for The Bulwark (or whatever their publications are called) – there’s no going back. It would be career suicide, since the small slice of the conservative/Republican electorate that still tolerates a NeverTrump mindset would not likely be so forgiving.   Of course, as would be expected, Stephens spends a significant portion of his contrition column by justifying why the NeverTrumpers weren’t necessarily wrong to oppose Trump in the beginning, them being the “principled” ones who recognized what Trump was (supposedly) about and stumping on a soap box to stand up for what conservatives had always believed.   Like yeah, sure, everyone else is a political sycophant who fell for the big orange man’s spiel, while me and that guy over there and the good dudes and gals at The Lincoln Project can rest easy knowing they stuck to their pop-less guns all along and didn’t fall for the populist fury that enveloped those tens of millions of MAGA-wearing J6-in-waiting folks in their lonely quest to cling to Trump.   And while one is tempted to let dead dogs lie, and not kick a political observer when he’s down, there are still a ton of NeverTrumpers who’ve yet to make the journey and admit fault like Stephens did. Where are they now?   The nobodies in media that no one cares about – well, they can persist in their inane opposition and hardly a citizen would notice it. But what about the George W. Bushes or Paul Ryans of the world? Or George Will? Or John Kasich? Or Jonah Goldberg? The ones who’d made a career and a livelihood out of representing mostly-good constituents and now face permanent banishment to the outer reaches because of their lack of loyalty?   Heck, even Mitt Romney was on a Sunday show a couple weeks ago gushing about how Donald Trump “won convincingly” and had a much better finger on the pulse of the nation than he ever did. What else is Mitt supposed to say – that he was right all along?   Still, the few NeverTrumpers like Stephens who’ve had the bravado to come out publicly and say “Uh, maybe we did assess it wrong all along” and are seemingly asking for a new chance to join the good guys and pretend to like Trump on a few of the issues… should they be welcomed back under the tent roof?   Who knows, there are probably some families out there on the Fruited Plain where Christmas dinner was saved from certain ruin by the crazy uncle or outcast grandmother who suddenly experienced a fit of regret and fessed up to no longer being against Trump. It’s kind of like being in church when the “official” position taken by the congregants is to pray for the success of our political leaders no matter who they are.   Knowing the ideological predilections of some of those folks in my former church, there’s no WAY they would ever pray for Trump.   Don’t lie about it, NeverTrumpers. If indeed you’re inclined to jump aboard the MAGA bandwagon, you’d better stay on through the tough times ahead. And there will be plenty of moments where Trump looks to have lost his post-election mojo. Trump won’t be perfect. He’s not a grounded, principled conservative. But this isn’t a one-time thing.   NeverTrumpers who “repent” like Bret Stephens deserve to be given a pardon. The rest? We’ll see.   To primary or not to primary, that is the question   With the new congressional term set to begin in just the next few days, the focus on Donald Trump’s administration nominees will be intense. Not on the appointees themselves. Trump backers don’t really even need to recognize their names or what they’re being tapped to do. We know we trust Trump to isolate those he wants to help him in the mission to Make America Great Again.   Instead, the concentration will be on the holdouts in the Republican congressional caucus, specifically the news headline-craving senators who seek to exhibit their “independence” by expressing doubt in the bona fides of such and such hoping for confirmation to position X and Y.   As has been repeatedly pointed out, these same senators held their tongue when such-and-such Biden nominee’s turn was to run the gauntlet, yet they’re claiming being “principled” now by waffling over a Trump designee.   For showing such lack of support – and it makes a difference on whether the appointee successfully navigates the interrogators – should the naysayer face a primary challenge when they’re up for reelection ?   Blindly supporting Trump is one thing; playing the Benedict Arnold on the agenda is quite another. For example, many conservatives objected to voting to pass the bloated budget proposal recently. They were simply tired of the runaround on Capitol Hill that always takes place when politicians need to agree on anything – especially cutting or reducing spending.   To make a long story short, Rep. Chip Roy won’t lose a primary battle for opposing a Trump directive.   But those senators who make spectacles of themselves by lodging objections to a Trump nominee because of personal reasons? Who are they to judge?   Senators like Lisa Murkowski only threaten to vote a nominee down for personal reasons of their own. It’s not a fit of principles – it’s a vendetta. And the fact they appreciate being adored by the establishment media. Nothing else.   Yes, they deserve to face primary challenges. Bring it on. Joe Biden economy inflation Biden cognitive decline gas prices, Nancy Pelosi Biden senile Kamala Harris candidacy Donald Trump campaign Harris Trump debates J.D. Vance Kamala vice president Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump assassination Donald Trump 2024 presidential election Tim Walz

Republican Speaker of the House Mike “The Disappointment” Johnson’s popularity has taken a serious nosedive which may endanger the MAGA agenda in President Donald Trump’s second term. After the latest House year-end spending bill fiasco that saw Johnson once again abandon conservative principles while floundering through not one, not two, but three attempts to pass a bill to fund the government through President Trump’s Inauguration, Johnson lost some 38 conservative votes and relied on Democrat votes to pass the third and final bill. As leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Johnson’s weak leadership was in the spotlight last week when Congress passed a spending package that funded the government past the Trump inauguration. After Johnson went to the Democrats for votes, forty-two percent (42%) of self-identified conservative voters have at least a somewhat unfavorable impression of Johnson (or don’t know). The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey found that only 38% of Likely U.S. Voters have a favorable impression of Johnson – down from 44% in April – including 14% with a Very Favorable opinion of the Louisiana Republican. Thirty-six percent (36%) view Johnson unfavorably, including 19% with a Very Unfavorable impression. Another 27% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here .) This puts Johnson well on the way to a Nancy Pelosi-level of unfavourability. Back in 2021 an NBC News poll conducted among 1,000 adults between Aug. 14 and Aug. 17, found that just 31% of Americans had a positive view of the San Francisco Democrat, compared with 53% who held negative views towards her (a 22-percentage point split). For reference, at that time Trump had 38% favorable rating and 49% unfavorable rating, and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was 15% favorable and 27% unfavorable. The recent Rasmussen poll found Johnson is viewed at least somewhat favorably by 54% of Republicans, 25% of Democrats and 35% of voters not affiliated with either major party.   Twenty percent (20%) of Likely Voters believe Johnson is better than most recent Speakers of the House, while 24% think he is worse and 41% say Johnson is about the same as most recent House Speakers. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.   Thirty-two percent (32%) of Republicans, 12% of Democrats and 17% of unaffiliated voters think Johnson is better than most recent Speakers of the House. Thirty-three percent (33%) of Democrats, 13% of Republicans and 26% of unaffiliated voters believe Johnson is worse than most recent speakers. Forty-two percent (42%) of Republicans and 40% of both Democrats and unaffiliated voters say Johnson is about the same as most recent House Speakers.   More men (43%) than women voters (33%) have a favorable opinion of Speaker Johnson.   Voters under 40 are more likely than their elders to believe Johnson is better than most recent Speakers of the House.   Johnson is viewed favorably by 36% of whites, 34% of black voters, 45% of Hispanics and 43% of other minorities.   Fifty-eight percent (58%) of self-identified conservative voters have at least a somewhat favorable impression of Johnson, compared to 32% of moderates and 12% of liberal voters.   Breaking down the electorate by income categories, voters earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year have the most favorable impression of Johnson, while those with annual incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 are most likely to think Johnson is worse than most recent House Speakers.   President Trump has spoken in favor of retaining Johnson as Speaker, but Johnson’s inability to craft an agenda that garners conservative votes shows that the MAGA agenda is in serious trouble under his leadership. 2024 Election Continuing Resolution Federal budget deficit national debt federal spending Speaker Mike Johnson Donald Trump administration Funding the government Democrat votes Republican House majority Congress favorability Trump inauguration

Our friends at SAVE recently gave us the heads-up that numerous groups and members of Congress have expressed deep concern over the recent report by Parents Defending Education (1) revealing the Department of Education has spent over $1 billion for grants supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) programs in schools around the nation. Such programs openly violate laws designed to end racial and sex discrimination in schools — laws that the Department of Education is charged with enforcing.   Examples of these statements of concern include:   “DEI is the woke addiction that the Biden-Harris administration simply cannot quit. PDE’s new report is jaw-dropping, and it confirms that this administration was more concerned about contorting the minds of America’s future leaders, rather than educating them."  -- House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (2)  "The Department of Education doled out over $1Billion dollars in DEI Grants since 2021.  President Trump will end this woke B.S. on Day One of his term. America's kids will learn the subjects they're supposed to be taught, rather than being indoctrinated." -- Senator Ted Cruz (3) The Parents Defending Education report reveals that since 2021, the Biden administration's Department of Education has spent over $1 billion for 229 D.E.I. grants. (4)   The PDE report documents grants that were awarded amounting to $489,883,797 on D.E.I hiring efforts, $343,337,286 for D.E.I programming and $169,301,221 for Based Mental Health /Social Emotional Learning (SEL). (5)   K-12 school districts across the country have implemented policies or plans that base the hiring and retention of teachers and staff on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. (D.E.I) (6)    For example, the Illinois Math and Science Academy now requires “that every faculty opening requires interviewing at least two candidates who identify as a Black, Indigenous Person of Color.” The school also states that it will “incorporate best practices on diversity, equity and inclusion” in the hiring process which includes “critical race theory.” (7)   Over the past four years, the Department of Education has allowed itself to become politicized by persons seeking to use the student loan program to gain favor among young voters to win their vote during the November 5 elections; (8) to enshrine into law an unscientific and dangerous definition of “gender identity;” (9) and now to instill un-American D.E.I programs in the nations’ schools. (10)   No wonder so many are now calling for the abolition of the US Department of Education. (11) The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), we urge CHQ readers and friends to call their Senators and Representative TODAY to demand they vote to end all DEI funding in the new GOP-controlled Congress.   SAVE – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments – is a 501(c)3 organization working to assure due process and fairness. The Title IX Network consists of 240 national and state organizational members that are working to stop the Title IX Biden regulation and end the Gender Agenda.   Links:   1.    https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/ 2.    https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=412095 3.    https://x.com/SenTedCruz/status/1867301761750348281 4.    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/dec/13/doge-zeroes-report-showing-biden-doe-spent-1-billi/ 5.    https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/ 6.    https://defendinged.org/investigations/dei-hiring-in-k-12-schools/ 7.    https://defendinged.org/investigations/dei-hiring-in-k-12-schools/ 8.    https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4086053-student-debt-democrats-seek-to-galvanize-young-voters-over-supreme-court-ruling/ 9.    https://www.saveservices.org/2022-policy/abolish-doe/ 10.  https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/   11.  https://www.saveservices.org/2022-policy/abolish-doe/ 2024 Election Department of Education Diversity Equity Inclusion Programs DEI Kamala Harris Teachers Unions Parents Defending Education Racial and sex discrimination Government grants Education grants Critical Race Theory

The accounting of baffling Biden Administration nominations and appointments to key positions within the government were not limited to the highest profile positions within the Department of Defense or the Department of Justice. Rather in the Departments of Health and Human Services and Energy we find easily the most troubling examples of Democrats’ nakedly political, not-merit driven selections that even more disturbingly, so-called Republicans went along with. The most egregious examples of this phenomenon were Assistant Deputy Secretary of Health Dr. Richard “Rachel” Levine, ex officio appointed Admiral of the uniformed Public Health Service making him the first “openly transgender” flag officer in American military history; Biden’s Transportation Secretary, the openly homosexual former Mayor of South Bend, IN, Pete Buttigieg; and the appointed, not confirmed so-called ‘genderfluid’ ex-Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy Sam Brinton who resigned in disgrace after being charged in a series of luggage thefts. All three officials were placed in their roles explicitly due to their sexual orientation or gender ideology, and their appointments were even officially praised by the Biden White House as such, often by Press Secretary Karrine Jean Pierre, who was likewise appointed primarily based upon her race, gender and sexual orientation. In a moment of clarity satirists at The Babylon Bee observed that the Biden Administration has declared President-Elect Trump’s cabinet nominees “unqualified,” while appropriately sharing images of Levine, Buttigieg, Jean Pierre and Brinton. In the case of Dr. Levine, the Pennsylvania pediatrician was confirmed by a razor-thin margin of 52-48 through the defection of Republican Senators Suzanne Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). As noted by Libby Emmons writing for The Federalist, Levine previously held the top Health Department post in Pennsylvania where he controversially removed his own mother from a nursing facility while forcing them to accept COVID-positive patients. The decision reportedly led to the deaths of over 10,000 elderly patients. As reported by NBC News  Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement following Levine’s appointment, "Admiral Levine’s historic appointment as the first openly transgender four-star officer is a giant step forward towards equality as a nation.” Emmons, a Senior Contributor to The Federalist and Senior Editor for The Post Millennial wrote , “Levine’s ‘transness’ means the Biden appointee publicly levels up and is given opportunities based on concepts of equity that result merely in yet another white male running things. Only now, it’s a white male with obvious delusions as opposed to one whose head is screwed on straight. Levine, who blathers on about being a woman, clearly doesn’t.” Levine has strongly advocated for so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ insistently claiming that a medical consensus exists that "gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective." In a post to X he wrote , “Accredited medical professional groups agree that gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth. States should translate this knowledge into more compassionate policies that protect rather than undermine youth mental health.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a far more worrisome vote was confirmed by an overwhelming bipartisan  margin  that saw all but thirteen Republican Senators align with the Democrats to place the then 38-year-old ex-Mayor in charge of one of the most massive logistical problems in the history of humanity: the decaying post-war and post-Cold War infrastructure of the United States. The 86-13 vote would see Senators like Barrasso, Blunt, Boozman, Braun, Burr, and Capito join Collins and Murkowski along with Cornyn, and even John Kennedy, Mike Lee and Rand Paul siding with the likes of Mitt Romney to usher him into office.  Buttigieg’s tenure has been punctuated by bizarre claims of racial impact and bias in the transportation system of the nation. In a 2021 interview with The Grio  he infamously claimed “There is racism physically built into some of our highways.” The White House’s proposed $1.9 trillion in infrastructure spending, including $20 billion for an initiative that would "reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments," and was derided by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as “not about rebuilding America’s backbone," explaining, "Less than 6% of this massive proposal goes to roads and bridges.” Early in the administration the devastating chemical train derailment in East Palestine, OH and Buttigieg’s public lack-of-a-response drew a massive wave of criticism toward the Secretary, only to be highlighted in subsequent disasters such as the Baltimore shipping collision which destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Brinton held a position with the Department of Energy that required no confirmation, however, his fall from his lofty perch was no less noteworthy and indicative of the staffing priorities of the Biden Administration, based almost purely upon identity politics rather than on occupational merit or strength of character. Brinton would plead “no contest” to misdemeanor charges related to a luggage theft at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas after facing a felony charge that was later pleaded down with $3,500 of restitution and a suspended sentence of 180-days. He was later implicated in stealing a woman's baggage from Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and another allegation of stolen property in luggage from Reagan National Airport in 2023 according to The Daily Wire . All the while, Press Secretary Karrine Jean-Pierre’s incapacity to smooth over these among all of the Biden administration’s other shortcomings to the Press and the American people at large has been on display daily since her appointment replacing previous Secretary Jen Psaki, who seemed to outperform her with the ability to deflect questions with endless promises to “circle back,” that never came to fruition. In sum, the Biden Administration revealed itself to be more driven by radical racial, sexual preference and gender ideology than by any concern for merit or ability to govern, and a disturbing number of Republicans seemingly contented themselves with it. The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), we urge CHQ readers and friends to call their Senators TODAY to demand they vote to promptly confirm each and every one of President Trump’s cabinet nominees. Matthew Holloway is a contributor for  Conservative HQ .  Follow him on X  for his latest stories, or email tips to  Matthew@theconservativefreelancer.com .

Charles Dickens’ Christmas ghosts couldn’t convince Joe Biden to become a better man before he became president. Did a year’s worth of experience change Joe’s mind?   For those who’ve followed Joe Biden’s half-century-plus political career, you realized at some point that the Delawarean dolt was just in it for the perks and riches that come to a sleazy politician who knows how to play the Washington game.   We all know Biden learned how to work the system to enrich himself, his family, friends and campaign contributors throughout his career. The phony façade senile Joe erected around himself over his decades in Washington fooled just about everyone – including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi and cohorts until it became obvious the jig was up and the party brains had to combine talents and toss the old idiot onto the pile of used-up and no longer useful politicians.   One could surmise that senile Joe would’ve still had the wherewithal after his first year in office to change himself so as to fulfill a semblance of a useful mission in life. To that end, as we’ll find out in the sequel to “A Campaign Christmas Carol” – titled “A Washington DC Christmas Carol” – a second set of ghostly visitations accomplished no such result:   https://www.conservativehq.com/post/christmas-comedy-joe-biden-and-donald-trump-star-in-a-washington-dc-christmas-carol   Here’s an excerpt:   “Biden marveled at what seemed to be a very patient Donald Trump, one that he wouldn’t expect in a million campaigns. Joe closed his eyes and they were transported to a Border Patrol outpost on the southern line with Mexico. A half dozen federal agents were watching as a smuggler towed a raft full of presumed illegal aliens -- about 50 in all -- and pulled up to the American side of the Rio Grande River.    “’As with Pocahontas Warren last hour, we will be unseen and unheard, Joe. If only America could be so lucky all the rest of the time when it comes to you. You mumble so much no one understands you,’ Trump said matter of factly.   “The border patrol agents were communicating with each other through radios and were in touch with a central command post. This situation was a daily -- if not hourly -- occurrence, so the personnel was conditioned to the onslaught. Catch as many of ‘em as you can. Try to process ‘em. Don’t worry about what diseases they’re carrying, COVID the least concerning among them. And try to ignore the fact that the people who are helping them break American laws are armed to the hilt and wouldn’t hesitate to kill if anyone gets too close to them….”   https://www.conservativehq.com/post/christmas-comedy-joe-biden-and-donald-trump-star-in-a-washington-dc-christmas-carol     As with the 2020 version, I had not re-read the sequel prior to this week. Predicting Joe Biden’s presidency was easy. Find out for yourself just how many things I was able to foresee a few years down the road.   Enjoy!