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> Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdqBmeg4XmY

> https://www.npr.org/2025/12/23/nx-s1-5653312/student-loans-default-education-department

The Trump administration will resume garnishing wages from student loan borrowers in default in early 2026, the U.S. Education Department confirmed to NPR.

The move comes after a years-long pause in wage garnishment due to the pandemic.

"We expect the first notices to be sent to approximately 1,000 defaulted borrowers the week of January 7," a department spokesperson told NPR. The spokesperson said wage garnishment notices are expected to increase on a monthly basis throughout the year.

A borrower is in default when they have not made loan payments in more than 270 days. Once that happens, the federal government can try to collect on the debt by seizing tax refunds and Social Security benefits, and also by ordering an employer to withhold up to 15% of a borrower's pay. Borrowers should receive a 30-day notice from the Education Department before this wage garnishment begins.

Betsy Mayotte, the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, says even though borrowers have expected this, the timing is unfortunate.

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The Supreme Court has rebuffed President Donald Trump’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois to protect federal officials carrying out his mass-deportation policy.

In their ruling Tuesday, the justices noted that federal law generally bars use of the military for law enforcement, and they declared that the law Trump used to activate the Guard is likely to only apply when regular armed forces — the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — are insufficient to maintain order.

“At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the high court said in an unsigned order released more than two months after the administration asked the justices to weigh in.

Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — dissented, while another conservative, Brett Kavanaugh, declined to join the majority’s explanation of the ruling.

The Supreme Court’s decision turned down the administration’s bid to lift lower court orders that halted the president’s plan to use 500 National Guard soldiers from Illinois and Texas to respond to protests and unrest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Chicago.

The ruling is a rare loss for the president following a string of wins he has racked up on the high court’s emergency docket in the first year of his second term. The justices cleared the way for him to fire leaders of federal agencies, dismiss tens of thousands of government employees and halt thousands of federal grants and contracts.

>https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/23/supreme-court-national-guard-ruling-00704962

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Three days after releasing a large tranche of Jeffrey Epstein documents that contained few mentions of President Donald Trump, the Justice Department on Monday disclosed thousands more files that included wide-ranging references to the president.

The documents show that a subpoena was sent to Mar-a-Lago in 2021 for records that pertained to the government’s case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice in sex trafficking. They include notes from an assistant U.S. attorney in New York about the number of times Trump flew on Epstein’s plane, including one flight that included just Trump, Epstein and a 20-year-old woman, according to the notes.

The newly released documents also include several tips that were collected by the FBI about Trump’s involvement with Epstein and parties at their properties in the early 2000s. The documents do not show whether any follow-up investigations took place or whether any of the tips were corroborated.

The documents were available for several hours Monday afternoon and evening on the Justice Department website but appear to have been taken down around 8 p.m. The Washington Post downloaded the full set of files while they were accessible.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about why the documents had been posted and then apparently removed. The White House also did not respond to requests for comment about the newly released documents.

>https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/22/epstein-trump-file-release/

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https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5659963-bari-weiss-cbs-60-minutes-segment/
Bari Weiss, CBS’s new editor in chief, is facing widespread blowback across the media for a decision to pull a “60 Minutes” segment she argues was not ready for publication, while a top journalist at the network contends the decision was based on political pressure and capitulation to the Trump administration.

The controversy comes as Paramount, CBS’s parent company, is under a microscope over its relationship with the administration while it seeks to expand its media empire and retool the network’s editorial direction.

Here’s what to know about the latest “60 Minutes” conflict:
Sharyn Alfonsi blasts her new boss

CBS abruptly announced it would not run the segment, which was set to highlight conditions inside the notorious Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration has deported Venezuelan migrants, after promoting it in the days prior.

Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the piece for CBS, hours later wrote to colleagues at the network saying her bosses had pulled the segment for what she argued were insufficient reasons.

“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote in her note, which was shared with multiple media outlets. “It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”

Alfonsi’s pushback on her bosses is an extraordinary step for a top journalist working at one of the nation’s leading news programs. Her condemnation of top brass comes as the network has invited scrutiny since President Trump won reelection.

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Seattle's broken criminal justice system has allowed an old lady to have her eye gouged out by a random thug with a history of stabbing and assaulting strangers.

The man has been arrested nearly a dozen times in the past for similar crimes, and the progressives in Seattle refuse to get him help and would rather allow him to prey on innocent grannies
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/12/21/repeat-offender-blinds-woman-in-random-attack-n4947351
Repeat Offender Blinds Woman in Random Attack

A woman slashed across the face by a serial criminal allowed to roam the streets of Seattle has just learned she is permanently blind in her injured eye. The attack was utterly avoidable if authorities had simply enforced justice for his previous offenses.

As of December 19, video of the attack was newly released, showing the aftermath of Fale Vaigalepa Pea randomly assaulting 75-year-old Jeanette Marken outside the King County Courthouse. Court charges viewed by KOMO News accuse Pea of using a wooden board with a screw at the end, which permanently destroyed Marken’s eyesight. Pea had previously been convicted in a double stabbing.

Marken is yet another victim of soft-on-crime Democrat policies, like Iryna Zarutska and the Reston man murdered by the serial criminal illegal alien who was released just before the killing. And as usual, leftists have done everything possible to ensure that more attacks happen

Bodycam footage from police also shed light on the case, revealing how Pea is a serial offender — and apparently a serial violent offender. Seattle is of course a city run by Democrats, which is how Pea could assault people on a regular basis and yet not be in jail. “Is that Fale Pea?" a Seattle police officer says on the bodycam footage. "He's notorious for random assaults on Third," the first officer explains.

An EMT is shown in the bodycam footage questioning an officer about the suspect. "Who is this guy?" The officer answers, "He's a regular"

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https://www.reuters.com/world/iranian-state-media-report-missile-drills-different-iranian-cities-2025-12-22/
DUBAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Iran held missile drills in various cities on Monday, state media reported, citing unnamed sources and witnesses, in what was the second such reported exercise in a month.
NBC News reported on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump was to be briefed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any expansion of Iran's ballistic missile programme poses a threat that could necessitate swift action.

Western powers regard Iran's ballistic missile arsenal both as a conventional military threat to Middle East stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them. It denies any intent to build atomic bombs.
The Telegram channel of Iran's public broadcaster and semi-official Nournews published videos of what appeared to be missile launches, without specifying the whereabouts.
However, the outlets said launches took place from the capital Tehran and the cities of Isfahan and Mashhad. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
State media later on Monday cited "informed sources" as denying that missiles were tested and saying the circulated images were of "high-altitude aircraft". No clarification regarding the conflicting reports was provided.
NBC reported that Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the U.S. bombed in June, and were preparing to brief Trump for options on attacking the missile programme again.
Earlier this month, the navy of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards held a two-day exercise aimed at countering foreign threats, firing ballistic and cruise missiles at simulated targets in the Gulf.

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https://apnews.com/article/russia-explosion-general-killed-sarvarov-73413ae5936609832f706ab26f864b3c
MOSCOW (AP) — A car bomb killed a Russian general on Monday, the third such killing of a senior military officer in a year. Investigators said Ukraine may be behind the attack.

Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, died from his injuries, said Svetlana Petrenko, the spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee, the nation’s top criminal investigation agency.

“Investigators are pursuing numerous lines of inquiry regarding the murder. One of these is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence services,” Petrenko said.

Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them. It has not yet commented on Monday’s death.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had been immediately informed about the killing of Sarvarov, who fought in Chechnya and had taken part in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria.

Russia has blamed a series of other apparent assassinations on Ukraine.

Just over a year ago, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.


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Financial advisors’ confidence in both the equity markets and the U.S. economy fell in November, and a growing number say the future isn’t looking so bright either.

Current sentiment around U.S. economy fell five points, or almost 5% from the previous month. Likewise, advisor sentiment in the stock market fell nine index points, or 7%. The index has been dropping monthly since the summer and is 12% lower than the 12-month high reached in July.

Prospects for the U.S. economy in the year ahead continued to turn negative among advisors. Some 42% of advisors see a less healthy economy by the end of next year. That’s the highest percentage of advisors to express such a view all year. In June, only 21% of advisors took that view.

Likewise, optimism in the future of the markets is on the decline.

Many advisors believe the stock market, particularly large cap tech, is significantly overvalued. Respondents frequently cited bubbles, stretched valuations and excessive concentration as risks that could trigger a correction.

Almost one in three (35%) of advisors anticipate a decline in the state of the market 12 months from now. However, that number has risen for the fifth consecutive month; in April, only 18% of advisors shared the sentiment.

Inflation remains one of the most frequently mentioned concerns. Even where markets appear strong, many believe underlying economic conditions for everyday Americans remain fragile.

Several advisors who offered their opinions alongside the survey pointed to weakening job reports, a softening labor market and concerns that AI-driven layoffs will complicate the Fed’s decisions and pressure the broader economy. Some respondents fear that concentrated corporate gains mask underlying employment risk. Others raised concerns about sector-specific slowdowns (e.g., agriculture), which could add to future economic strain.

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https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-hegseth-new-warship-the-battleship-63367854
President Trump will announce Monday that the Navy is to build a new “Trump-class” battleship, which will become the centerpiece of the president’s vision for a new “Golden Fleet,” according to a U.S. official.

The news follows the Navy’s announcement last week that it will commission a new class of frigates. Trump has for years advocated for revamping America’s fleet of warships, which he has said are “terrible-looking” and covered in rust. In his first term, he called for a return to steam-powered catapults to launch jets from aircraft carriers, in a move that wasn’t successful, and complained about the aesthetics of the Navy’s destroyers. He has been personally involved in crafting plans for the Golden Fleet, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. The first ship in the class will be the USS Defiant, the official said.
The new battleship will be an upgrade to the Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which are the workhorse of the current fleet and which Trump has compared unfavorably to rival navies, according to the U.S. official and another person familiar with the discussions. The “battleship” name harks back to the ships with large main guns used until the end of the Cold War, but the new ships will feature a next-generation design.

Another U.S. official said the president would make an announcement on Monday afternoon alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan, but wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the announcement.

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https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-880819

The Trump administration is pitching “Project Sunrise,” a plan that will reportedly rebuild the Gaza Strip into a “futuristic coastal destination,” according to a Friday report by the Wall Street Journal.

It noted that US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, along with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and two other White House aides, drafted a proposal comprising 32 PowerPoint slides to transform Gaza.

The presentation, depicted as “sensitive but unclassified,” was shown to Turkey, Egypt, and several investors and wealthy Gulf kingdoms, according to the report.

This reconstruction would cost $112.1 billion over 10 years, according to the WSJ, which cited the draft proposal. The US would provide $60b. in grants, with the plan stating that Gaza would eventually be able to self-fund many projects.

The WSJ also notes that the presentation doesn’t specify which countries or companies would fund the reconstruction, nor where Gaza’s residents would live during the rebuilding. This has caused some US officials to express doubt about the plan, with some saying that Hamas will refuse to disarm in the first place.

The proposal was developed over 45 days, with Kushner and Witkoff enlisting the help of senior White House aide Josh Gruenbaum.

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https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/19/texas-judge-same-sex-marriage-supreme-court-obergefell/

A Waco justice of the peace who refused to marry same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit Friday that asks the courts to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that recognized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The case, filed by Judge Dianne Hensley against the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, asserts that the Obergefell ruling was unconstitutional because it “subordinat[ed] state law to the policy preferences of unelected judges.” Hensley is represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a conservative attorney best known as the architect of Texas’ 2021 abortion ban that skirted around the legal protections of Roe v. Wade.

“The federal judiciary has no authority to recognize or invent ‘fundamental’ constitutional rights,” Mitchell wrote.

In November, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a similar case from Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk.

While Mitchell acknowledged that a lower court does not have the authority to overturn a Supreme Court precedent, he indicated in the filing that he was introducing this argument now with the hopes of the case eventually reaching the high court.

Hensley’s case goes back to 2015, soon after the Supreme Court’s decision, when she opted to stop performing marriages due to her religious opposition to same-sex marriage. The next year, she resumed performing marriages for opposite-sex couples and began referring same-sex couples to other officiants.

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-12-20/jury-acquits-la-man-who-towed-ice-vehicle-during-influencers-arrest

A federal jury has acquitted a South L.A. man who was charged with stealing government property by towing an immigration agent’s vehicle during the arrest of a TikTok influencer in downtown Los Angeles earlier this year.

Bobby Nunez was arrested Sept. 2 after he was accused of interfering with the detainment of Tatiana Mafla-Martinez while she live-streamed her Aug. 15 arrest. Video of the incident showed an SUV being towed away from the parking garage of the Da Vinci Apartments, where Martinez is being pinned to the ground by agents.

The SUV was one of two vehicles being used to box in Martinez’s car and prevent her from escaping the luxury apartment complex, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. Nunez was 33 at the time of the incident, and Martinez was 23.

After a four-day trial and more than three hours of deliberation, the jury found Nunez not guilty of one count of theft of government property Friday, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, which declined to comment on the verdict. He had faced up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.

Nunez’s attorneys, Deputy Federal Public Defenders Rebecca Harris and David Menninger, said they were pleased the jury exonerated their client.

“We thank the jurors for their service as an essential backstop against prosecutorial overreach in our constitutional system,” they said in a statement to The Times.

During the trial, the defense attorneys argued that the law enforcement vehicle was blocking the driveway to the complex and their client had moved it around the corner — just one block away. They said that the car was returned within 13 minutes.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/22/denamark-to-summon-us-ambassador-over-trumps-greenland-special-envoy.html
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Monday he will summon the U.S. ambassador to Denmark for a conversation about President Donald Trump’s appointment of a special envoy to Greenland.

“I’m deeply upset about the appointment and the statement, which I find completely unacceptable,” Løkke Rasmussen told Danish media TV2 in an interview Monday morning. He added he hoped a meeting could take place today or tomorrow.

Since starting his second term as president, Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. needs the resource-rich Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for security reasons. He has refused to rule out the use of force.

Meanwhile, Greenland has shown little interest in becoming a top mining nation, and its leaders have criticized the U.S. administration’s calls for the country to become a U.S. territory.

Late Sunday, Trump posted on social media that he had appointed Governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry, as the U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland.

The Danish foreign ministry declined to comment further and referred to Løkke Rasmussen’s TV2 interview.

In an Instagram post translated by CNBC, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, and the U.S. should not take over Greenland.”


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This is a long one, give me a bit.

> Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff9-cXStQW0

> https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/cisa-acting-director-madhu-gottumukkala-polygraph-investigation-00701996

At least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed.

The Department of Homeland Security opened an investigation into whether the staff provided “false information” about the need for the test — which was scheduled after Gottumukkala sought access to certain highly sensitive cyber intelligence shared with the agency.

This article is based on interviews with eight current and four former U.S. cybersecurity officials, including multiple Trump administration appointees, who have either worked closely with Gottumukkala or have knowledge of the polygraph examination and the chain of events that followed. They were granted anonymity for fear of retribution.

The incident this July and the subsequent fallout — which has not been reported before — have angered career staff, alarmed fellow Trump administration appointees and raised questions about Gottumukkala’s leadership of the nearly $3 billion cyber defense agency.

“Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” said a current official, who described Gottumukkala’s tenure at CISA so far as “a nightmare” for the agency.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdd5j9jdvy9o
A pair of US lawmakers have threatened legal action against US Attorney General Pam Bondi, after her deadline to release all government files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was met only in part.

The release of the Department of Justice documents was highly anticipated but in the end, only a portion of the available material was made public.

A leading campaigner on the issue, Republican congressman Thomas Massie, said he could try to bring contempt proceedings against the attorney general as a result.

The DoJ insists it is complying with its legal obligations, and Bondi herself has said she is part of "the most transparent administration in American history".

The phrase "Epstein files" refer to the trove of information that was amassed by the US justice department.

A law that compelled the release of the full trove was signed by US President Donald Trump in November, after pressure from his supporters and members of his own Republican Party. Friday was the deadline for the release of the material.

Although some material was released, there were many redactions and other information was withheld - which angered Massie and his allies, as well as survivors of Epstein's abuse. Trump himself is yet to comment.


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