Imagine getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a school bus you haven't even built.

That's how the Environmental Protection Agency's $5 billion Clean School Bus Program worked. Federal money went out before buses were delivered. Five years after Washington promised cleaner school transportation, hundreds of electric buses remain undelivered, and one manufacturer has gone bankrupt after receiving millions in federal funding.

Why was so much public money exposed to a manufacturer that ultimately could not fulfill all its obligations?

The money went out. The buses didn't always show up.

According to EPA figures reported by the New York Post in September, approximately 1,100 electric school buses had been delivered from the program's initial round of roughly 2,600 funded buses. Another 854 were reportedly delayed, and 140 were not expected to arrive at all.

Those figures do not cover every bus funded under the five-year program. But they raise serious questions about how Washington spent taxpayer money and whether the government did enough to ensure manufacturers could deliver what they promised.

Pay first, deliver later

Congress authorized the $5 billion Clean School Bus Program in 2021, allowing school districts and other eligible organizations to replace older buses with electric and other lower-emission models.

The Biden administration made electric buses a priority. By February 2026, approximately $2.7 billion in funding had been awarded under the program, with about 90% going toward electric buses, according to the EPA.

The program's rebate system allowed recipients to request payment after submitting purchase orders. The buses did not have to be delivered first. In some cases, manufacturers received federal money long before they completed production.

That arrangement created an obvious risk. What happens when a manufacturer takes the money but cannot deliver the buses?

Federal watchdogs had concerns about the program's oversight well before the latest delivery figures emerged. In a July 2024 report, the EPA's inspector general found weaknesses in the agency's procedures for selecting recipients. The agency had not adequately verified that applicants seeking electric buses had school districts with suitable local conditions to operate them.

In an April 2026 review, the inspector general identified additional problems with how the agency managed and accounted for program funds. EPA has completed or begun implementing corrective actions addressing those findings, according to the inspector general. But the delivery problems raise questions about whether those safeguards came soon enough.

These are basic safeguards when taxpayer money is involved. Before Washington commits hundreds of millions of dollars, it should know whether the equipment can be delivered, operated, and maintained.

Going broke

Consider Lion Electric, the Canadian manufacturer that entered creditor-protection proceedings in December 2024.

According to the EPA, Lion received approximately $160 million directly through the Clean School Bus Program. School districts also used their own federal awards to purchase Lion buses. Some buses remained undelivered, and others were not being adequately maintained.

Lion's own financial filings show how the system worked. The company received approximately $80 million in advance payments through the EPA's 2022 rebate program. As of September 2024, about $8.9 million of those payments remained on its books as deferred revenue because the associated buses had not yet been delivered. Lion's broader EPA-program deferred revenue, and liabilities totaled approximately $39 million.

The company also reported approximately $2.4 million in repayments during the first nine months of 2024. In October, it returned another $7.1 million to the EPA under its funding arrangements.

Two months later, Lion entered creditor protection.

In a report submitted to the Quebec court, Deloitte Restructuring identified deferred revenue from federal Clean School Bus grants among the company's unsecured liabilities.

That raised another problem for Washington: recovering money from a manufacturer that could no longer meet all its obligations. Unsecured creditors generally stand behind secured lenders when an insolvent company's assets are distributed.

In February 2026, the EPA acknowledged that some Lion buses remained undelivered and said it was evaluating its options in the bankruptcy proceedings. The agency did not disclose how much taxpayer money it had recovered or expected to recover. The financial filings establish that some money was repaid before bankruptcy, but they do not establish the government's final losses.

Why was so much public money exposed to a manufacturer that ultimately could not fulfill all its obligations?

School districts need more than a purchase order. They need buses that show up, operate reliably, and can be serviced for years. When a manufacturer collapses, questions about replacement parts, repairs, and warranty support become very real.

The cost of going electric

Electric school buses also come with a substantial upfront premium.

The Government Accountability Office reported in June 2025 that diesel school buses typically carried manufacturer-suggested prices between $98,000 and $154,000, compared with $300,000 to $440,000 for electric models. Charging equipment and electrical infrastructure can add to the cost.

Electric buses may save money on fuel and maintenance over time. They also eliminate tailpipe emissions, an important consideration for children riding to school. But the actual savings depend on how the buses are used, local electricity prices, charging infrastructure, and reliability.

A school district running short daily routes in a mild climate may find electric buses practical. Another district covering long rural routes in freezing temperatures may face different challenges.

These are decisions school transportation officials should make based on their actual operating needs, not a federal preference for one technology.

The GAO also found that EPA was not collecting complete information about some of the problems recipients encountered when putting new buses into service. Without that information, it becomes harder to determine whether the program is working as intended.

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Who is accountable?

On February 19, 2026, the Trump administration announced plans to overhaul the Clean School Bus Program, citing delivery failures, Lion Electric's bankruptcy, and concerns about how taxpayer money was spent.

That's a necessary discussion. But changing the program's priorities won't answer what happened to funds already distributed.

Taxpayers deserve a full accounting of which buses were ordered, which were delivered, which are operating, and what happened to the money spent on buses that never arrived.

Manufacturers receiving public funds should be able to demonstrate that they have the production capacity, financial stability, and service network to fulfill their contracts. And government agencies need enforceable safeguards when those promises fall apart.

This is not an argument that every electric school bus is a failure. Some districts are making them work. It is an argument against treating any technology as the predetermined winner before the costs, capabilities, and risks are understood.

School districts need reliable transportation for children, not expensive experiments that leave them waiting for buses.

If Washington is going to spend billions of taxpayer dollars, the buses ought to show up.

Hours after Democrats won the House on Tuesday, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), poised to chair the Oversight Committee, offered two words: “Lawyer up.” He has named four priorities: Trump family business dealings, Homeland Security and ICE, corporate corruption, and public hearings on the Epstein files. The JFK and RFK assassinations, the CIA’s MK-ULTRA experiments, and the government’s UFO secrecy are absent from that list.

That leaves the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets in trouble. Established by the Republican-led Oversight Committee, it will not automatically continue when the new Congress convenes January 3. Democrats could renew its work, but they would have to choose to do so.

If Congress walks away without even documenting the obstruction, every agency inclined to stall will have learned the same lesson: Waiting works.

At a hearing last year, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) accused agencies of making jokes and trying to distract investigators. “I think they’re just trying to run the clock out on us,” he said. The election has brought that warning uncomfortably close to reality.

The strange part is that the task force’s leading Republicans survived. Chairwoman Anna Paulina Luna won re-election in Florida, Eric Burlison held his Missouri seat, and Burchett prevailed in Tennessee. All three return in January, but without the majority that gave their investigation its authority.

I heard variations of Burchett’s complaint while reporting on the task force. Agencies can outlast a congressional investigation. Their officials have every incentive to delay if they believe the political winds will change.

When I interviewed Luna on July 30, I asked what remained unfinished. She said journalist Jefferson Morley was writing a final report on the JFK assassination. She said Sirhan Sirhan had agreed to testify about the murder of Robert F. Kennedy and that investigators planned ballistics tests on a firearm once owned by Thane Eugene Cesar, the security guard whose role has long figured in second-gunman theories.

Luna also told me that government insiders had been released from nondisclosure agreements so they could speak and that the CIA had located missing MK-ULTRA files and included them in a declassification order.

As far as I can determine from the public record, Sirhan has not testified, no new Cesar ballistics findings have been released, and the MK-ULTRA material Luna described has not appeared. Morley has confirmed that he is working on the JFK report. The public still needs to see it.

RELATED: Inside the Langley showdown over JFK and MK-Ultra secrets

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I want to be fair. Some Democrats on the task force took some whistleblower questions seriously. Nothing prevents a Democrat majority from continuing this work, and if its members believe in transparency, they should. But I have watched Washington long enough to know how this can go: The inquiry ends, the staff moves on, witnesses stop returning calls, and five years later someone writes a book about how close Congress came.

Luna and her colleagues have less than two months. Publish Morley’s report. Pursue Sirhan’s testimony and the Cesar ballistics. Press for release of any MK-ULTRA records that can lawfully be made public. And for every unfinished lead, leave a written accounting: which agency has the records, what it promised, what it withheld, and how long Congress waited.

January 3 need not be the end of the search for answers. But if Congress walks away without even documenting the obstruction, every agency inclined to stall will have learned the same lesson: Waiting works.

Democrats love to claim that Republicans are fascists and then turn out and collude with Big Tech to censor speech, force people to get vaccines, and treat certain political opinions as threats to be managed by the state.

BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales calls it “projection.”

“Constantly they're screaming that Donald Trump's a fascist, and he's literally Hitler, and Republicans are the authoritarians and the fascists,” she says, “and it's just a projection from them.”

“There's no truth to it. There's no receipts that they can show. They just make it up because they are the party of projection.”

The latest example of this, she argues, comes from none other than Hillary Clinton.

For roughly a decade, the twice-defeated Democratic nominee has fearmongered that Donald Trump would weaponize the justice system to target political opponents.

“The fact of the matter is if that were true, she'd be in jail,” says Sara.

“Except she's not. So she knows that that's not the case. She knows that it's actually her party who's been doing this.”

But it’s not just her party; Clinton herself recently violated the very principle she has long accused Trump of abusing.

On Monday, during an appearance on the "Pivot" podcast with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, she argued that once Democrats control Congress, they should subpoena Elon Musk and force him to testify. She specifically noted that even if President Trump pardons Musk for any federal crimes, that wouldn’t stop a congressional subpoena.

“And in fact, some legal experts argue that if you're pardoned, then you have no protection. You cannot take the Fifth Amendment because you have no jeopardy,” she added, “So let him pardon Elon and then let's call him in and figure out what he has to say.”

Sara points out the irony of Clinton’s argument. In July, after receiving a broad preemptive pardon from Biden, Anthony Fauci was subpoenaed to testify before a Senate committee. He invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times, refusing to answer questions about COVID origins and related matters.

“Speaking of legal experts, you should also add in Rand Paul said it during the hearing,” says Sara, playing a clip of the Kentucky senator telling Fauci that obstructing a congressional investigation is against the law and that there would be repercussions for his refusal to testify.

“So if she were being true in her principles and her morals and her convictions that we know that she doesn't have ... I am sure that Hillary Clinton will soon go on the record as supporting getting answers from Anthony Fauci, and if he refuses, he should go to jail,” she mocks.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

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America loves competition, except, apparently, when it comes to your phone bill. For years, the wireless market has been dominated by three Mafia-like fat cats: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. They compete for customers, of course. But Americans could be forgiven for wondering whether somebody forgot to invite a fourth player to the party. The monthly bills keep coming. The dead zones remain, and escaping one carrier often means signing up for another version of the same expensive headache.

Now, as the Washington Post recently reported, Elon Musk wants in. Through SpaceX, he's exploring ways to enter the $235 billion wireless market, potentially by acquiring Boost Mobile or using its network. His aim is to combine conventional mobile connectivity with Starlink satellites, challenging the way Americans have traditionally accessed wireless service.

Rural America has spent far too long paying full price for half-baked service.

It's an audacious undertaking, with enormous technical and commercial obstacles. But Musk loves a challenge. And the prospect of a serious new competitor should give America's established players something to sweat about.

The wireless cartel has operated like a medieval feudal system for two decades. Three lords divided the fiefdom, then charged the peasants $200 a month for four lines and provided customer service reps who sounded like they were reading scripts at gunpoint. You hand over a small fortune every thirty days. Yet the moment you step onto a rural highway or enter a basement grocery store, your $1,200 smartphone turns into a rather luxurious paperweight.

Dodging the opposition

The corporate titans prefer this arrangement. Musk approached Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile to buy wholesale access to their cellular networks. All three slammed the door in his face. Standard corporate paranoia drove the refusal. Nobody invites a sledgehammer into a glass house.

So Musk pivoted toward EchoStar, the corporate parent of Boost Mobile. Acquiring Boost would give SpaceX millions of existing subscribers overnight, along with valuable rights to use the airwaves. Boost currently leases network capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile. Buying Boost could give Musk a back door into the market, letting him sidestep the barriers established carriers put in his way.

RELATED: 'Defund Musk': Robert Reich calls for government takeover of SpaceX and Starlink — and Elon responds

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To be clear, building a competitive nationwide terrestrial network requires years of hard graft and hundreds of billions of dollars. But Musk could skip the shovel work entirely. He already operates over 6,000 active Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. He builds rockets in Texas, launches them from Florida, and controls the sky.

Traditional carriers build cell towers. They secure local zoning permits and pray a passing tornado doesn't knock out coverage for three counties. SpaceX hangs its cell towers in space. By bonding low Earth orbit satellites directly to mobile networks, Musk can route a signal anywhere the sun hits the soil.

The merger of orbital satellites and ground networks fundamentally alters the math for everyday Americans. Farmers operating combines in North Dakota could finally maintain high-speed connections across 4,000 acres of wheat. Long-haul truckers crossing remote stretches of Interstate 80 in Wyoming would no longer lose navigation maps mid-route. Emergency services operating in fire-consumed canyons could bypass incinerated ground cables entirely.

Rural America has spent far too long paying full price for half-baked service. City dwellers enjoy five distinct bands of high-speed coverage while ranching families in Montana pay identical rates for a single, dodgy signal bar. Musk’s hybrid model treats geography as an engineering nuisance, not an excuse for extortion.

A revolution in the making

National security demands this kind of structural redundancy. The defense establishment already understands this reality. The U.S. military increasingly depends on private space companies to keep communications secure, while traditional defense contractors can take years to deliver even basic equipment. Musk moves faster than federal procurement officers can write meeting agendas.

If America's first trillionaire's plan comes to fruition, the commercial fallout will hit home fast. The traditional carriers will fight this expansion in courtrooms, regulatory hearings, and corporate PR campaigns. They will claim satellite signals drop during heavy rainstorms. They will insist spectrum transfers threaten consumer safety. The unholy trinity can fight Musk all they want, but they can't easily stop Americans from wanting cheaper bills and better coverage.

When Tesla entered the automotive market in 2008, Detroit executives laughed off the idea of a Silicon Valley start-up manufacturing family cars. Tesla subsequently forced every major auto manufacturer on Earth to overhaul their entire production lines. When SpaceX launched its first commercial rockets, legacy aerospace contractors declared reusable boosters mathematically impossible. SpaceX now launches more tonnage into orbit than every other country combined.

The wireless market represents the next logical domino. Musk doesn't need to convert every smartphone user in North America to win this war. Stealing 10% of market share forces Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile to slash prices and actually repair dead zones. Healthy competition makes companies work for their money.

The American consumer wins the second a real fight breaks out. For 20 years, phone bills have acted like a mandatory utility tax administered by a corporate triad. Musk brings capital. He brings orbit-proven hardware and a total disregard for industry decorum. He has been written off many times before and has always come through. Only a fool would bet against him now.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has repeatedly predicted that a day is coming soon when AI and robotics will make traditional work optional in a utopian age of abundance, where humans will rely on universal high income while pursuing personal interests.

Trading the daily grind for a life of comfort and leisure may be compelling, but is it good for the human soul?

That’s the question Allie Beth Stuckey asked Stonebridge Bible Church Pastor Jonny Ardavanis, whose new book, “Get to Work: Seeing Your Daily Grind as God’s Good Gift,” explores why work is a divine gift rather than a burden to escape.

“I just think that’s going to be a horrible, horrible existence,” Ardavanis says of Musk’s AI utopia.

Regardless of one’s belief system, there’s an intrinsic understanding that work is a necessary part of the human experience, he argues, citing the oft-used expression “a job well done.”

“You mow the lawn, you see the stripes in your lawn, and you put your hands on your hips and you go, ‘There’s something Edenic about this,”’ Ardavanis says.

This sense of fulfillment, he says, can be traced back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were first charged to cultivate and keep the garden as part of God’s original good design.

“Deep down, God has hardwired Eden into our souls, and we’re pining away to get back there,” he tells Allie, citing Ecclesiastes 3:11’s reminder that God has “set eternity in the human heart.”

But if AI removes the necessity of work, Ardavanis warns that the human heart, with its God-given orientation toward purpose and vocation, will wither.

“When a robot starts mowing your lawn, you know, you’re going to start to be stripped and starved of the opportunities to reflect God in that way. And I think it is going to be soul-crushing,” he says.

Work, he points out, isn’t just about doing; it’s also about thinking. When robots can think in our stead, what happens to the God-created mind?

“What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Well, it means we have a mind. It means that we are to engage that mind,” Ardavanis says. “Almost all of the instruction in the New Testament regarding the Christian life is what we do with our mind.”

“Your mind is God's gift to you, to employ it.”

This longing isn’t limited to believers. Even non-Christians recognize the irreplicable uniqueness of the human experience. Ardavanis points to globally famous actor Tom Cruise, who, in response to a question about AI’s impact on filmmaking, said, “There is nothing like human.”

“Even though Tom Cruise doesn’t know the God of the Bible, the God of the Bible has hardwired something into Tom Cruise’s heart,” he says. “We are to mirror and mimic God. When we do so, it gives us joy, and it gives us a level of purpose and meaning.”

“I’m looking into a world where people are excited about the absence of work, the three-day work week ... and biblically speaking, I think that that’s hard to reconcile with the fact that we’ve been given a mission by God.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

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With shrinking enrollment and ballooning expenses, public school districts across the country are not only facing massive budget deficits but are also quickly losing the goodwill of the public.

Here in Texas, districts like Houston and Austin are seeing huge budget shortfalls. Around the country, school systems are on the path to bankruptcy yet have done little to cut spending.

So many meetings, conferences, and email exchanges could be phased out, leaving more time to actually teach students.

Many district leaders and their respective school boards seem to believe that these enrollment drops are nothing serious or that they can blame someone else for the problem and absolve themselves of responsibility. Consequently, instead of making significant spending cuts, they go on draining rainy-day funds or spending money they don’t have.

Worse still, the bulk of these expenses do not go toward hiring more teachers, but instead go toward administrative staff, extracurricular programs, curriculum and technology specialists, and countless office workers with undefined roles working in office buildings that the district inexplicably owns and maintains.

In the rare instances that cuts are made, it is mostly the teaching staff — that is, the actual people in the classroom working with students — who are affected.

Realistically, can anything be done to prevent these districts from imploding in spectacular fashion? Speaking as a teacher currently in the trenches, this might be a place where AI can reduce costs while boosting instructional quality.

I’m not talking about replacing teachers with AI-enhanced educational software, turning classrooms into computer lounges, and replacing principals with bored babysitters making sure the kids continue vegetating in front of their screens.

According to a recent essay in the New York Times, this is the bold new idea at Alpha private schools: “At Alpha, there are no traditional teachers, few books, and little paper. All of the academic lessons are delivered via apps, and students can earn lavish prizes for completing their work. Adults are present, but only as motivational guides.”

Predictably, this approach to education has mixed results. While the stronger students usually cruise through content and perform well on their standardized tests, the weaker students who need more help will often experience delays in their progress and opt out of the program altogether.

More importantly, it neglects the most important aspects of schooling: socialization and humanization. Education is as much about results as it is about relationships. Teachers do not merely dispense information to compliant drones who mentally download this information through note-taking and worksheets. Teachers are supposed to design their instruction around the needs of their students, govern their classes equitably, and connect the content of their subject to the world outside the classroom.

RELATED: The forgotten colleges that could restore hope to American education

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When this learning is outsourced to a computer and mediated through a screen, everything is reduced and flattened — of course, the superficial people in tech will mistake this for efficiency.

Separated from the outside world, students engage with material through drill-and-kill pedagogy, working through assessments that offer practice on state standards. While this works well enough for math instruction, it becomes far less effective in the sciences or humanities.

With all this said, there still might be a key role for AI in public education. While it can’t replace teachers, it can replace many of the people around them. And if used properly, it can also enhance the work that teachers do.

In terms of cutting down bureaucratic bloat, all districts, even solvent ones, could use a DOGE-style audit to identify useless positions, departments, and redundancies. There are countless individuals in a school district who could permanently disappear without anyone noticing. Many of them are collecting paychecks and later pensions for irrelevant work, but no one notices them because they are usually hidden.

Case in point: Years ago, I had a question about one of my paychecks. I sent out emails to the dozen HR people listed on the district website to see who could answer my question. When no one replied, I took a half-day off and drove over to the administration building to see if I could talk to someone face-to-face. Apparently, I went to the wrong administrative building and had to drive to the other one a mile away.

Once there, the receptionist directed me to a hallway on the fourth floor to look for a person who knew about paychecks. After wandering about for 10 minutes, I finally found someone who directed me to yet another person who finally had the answer to my question.

RELATED: AI doesn’t know you, but a good physician does

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Most public teachers have a story like this. Some random thing prompts them to take a journey through their district’s Kafkaesque bureaucracy, and then they realize just how many useless people are on the payroll. Today, most queries could be answered in a few seconds with a chatbot. Moreover, most duties done by non-teaching staff, like setting up schedules, organizing information, compiling data and documentation, and making presentations, could be done with AI.

Just as importantly, the people who work with students could accomplish far more with AI support. So many meetings, conferences, and email exchanges could be phased out, leaving more time to actually teach students. So many roles requiring specialized training and higher salaries could either be removed entirely or replaced by those with general experience and aptitude.

In such a system — which would resemble something like Singapore’s exceptional educational program — good teachers would be rewarded with more respect, authority, and income while administrators would function as their subordinates. Good teachers are far less replaceable than administrators, so they should be encouraged to stay in the classroom and help more students.

Like any large organization, most school districts have grown into something so unwieldy and chaotic that enacting meaningful reform is next to impossible. Those with the authority to do so are usually too incompetent and complacent to do anything, and those with competence and wherewithal to do something lack the authority. Meanwhile, taxpayers funding public schools tend to focus their ire on the people they can see and ignore the true source of the problem.

It may be difficult to imagine an alternative to the current dysfunction, but it can be done. And if done right, it will be a good thing for everyone involved.

"I'm lucky to be alive," 77-year-old Herb Freeborn told WPVI-TV in the wake of a brutal, unprovoked attack he suffered just after noon Wednesday in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, while he was riding his e-bike.

Ridley Township is just under 30 minutes southwest of Philadelphia.

'I ain't used to people helping me like that, you know.'

Freeborn told the station he was waiting to cross Chester Pike in the Crum Lynne section when a male approached him from behind and began punching him.

Surveillance video shows the suspect crossing through traffic and heading toward the victim before the attack, WPVI said.

"This guy came up behind me, started punching me and punching me," Freeborn recalled to the station.

WPVI asked him if the suspect said anything during the attack, but Freeborn said, "No, didn't say nothing, just came up to me and started hitting me."

The station said Freeborn suffered injuries to his eye and face.

RELATED: Laughing 'piece of s**t' thug caught on video punching victim in face as pair pass each other in Philly crosswalk

Surveillance video shows Freeborn managing to run from the attacker, WPVI reported.

At that point, one might expect the suspect to make off with the victim's e-bike — but he didn't.

The station said the suspect actually threw Freeborn's e-bike and walked away.

Surveillance video also captured a bystander — Danny Doyle — stepping in to help, WPVI noted.

Doyle told the station he saw the incident and went to assist Freeborn, grabbing the victim's e-bike and checking on his condition.

"At first I thought he was stealing his bike; that's why I went and grabbed it for him," Doyle recalled to WPVI.

Freeborn told the station that Doyle's actions meant a lot to him: "I want to thank him very, very much. I appreciate everything he done for me."

The elderly man then added a gut-wrenching admission WPVI: "I ain't used to people helping me like that, you know."

Ridley Township police released surveillance photos of the suspect and announced just before 4 p.m. Wednesday that he had been taken into custody.

Police on Friday didn’t immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for more information about the arrested suspect.

"If he did it to me, why wouldn't he do it to somebody else?" Freeborn asked the station.

Commenters under the police department's Facebook post about the incident didn't hold back:

• "Typical coward. Prey on the elderly. Not surprised," one user stated.
• "Piece of s**t," another commenter declared. "I hope they find out what he did when he goes to jail, and those boys stomp him out for it."
• "Like why WTF," another user wrote.
• "Always carry ... end them," another commenter suggested.

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The results of the midterm elections are clear; their meaning is not. The blue tsunami apparently has not budged either of the dominant intellectual factions on the right. The so-called “doomers” see fresh support for their conviction that the republic is sliding more or less inexorably into ruin. The more conventional old guard, who find such talk alarming, continue to insist that “you win some, you lose some” and that Republicans will live to fight another day.

What makes the current political scene so perplexing is that both sides can point to certain undeniable facts to support their position. The United States is, for now, neither all one thing nor all the other. James Madison’s Constitution, though beaten and bruised, is still functioning, according to the conventionalists. American politics remains fundamentally “normal.”

To what degree the ruling class actually believes in or cares about the various oppressed classes it purports to champion is an open question.

In reply, the pessimistic wing accuses the “normie-cons” of naivete and complacency. The original Constitution, they argue, has by now been almost entirely pushed aside by a new, second Constitution, based on a new understanding of justice and human nature and fanatically devoted to implementing the ideological left’s agenda.

It is hard to deny that virtually all aspects of our public life have become distorted and dysfunctional in a way the founders would hardly recognize. Yet the old guard does seem to be correct to insist that elections — the most important safeguard of popular consent — are still respected by both sides, however tenuously.

Despite a few vocal outliers and occasionally heated rhetoric, both parties have grudgingly accepted the results of the last several voting cycles, if not in equal measure. (It is worth noting that during Joe Biden’s entire four-year term, no one from the allegedly extreme party of gun violence tried to assassinate him.)

Presumably, this will still hold in two years, even if — as seems quite possible now — the Democrats not only maintain significant majorities in both chambers of Congress, but take control of the White House as well. That, oddly enough, could represent a notable return to something very traditional and normal in American politics: the “realigning election.”

Until a few decades ago, the regularity of realigning elections had been such a reliable feature of American history that political scientists had come to treat the phenomenon as almost an iron law. Beginning in 1800, the American people seemed to prefer that one party hold authoritative control of the federal government for a full generation or so, at which point they decisively switched their allegiance to the other party.

Thus, Republicans and Democrats essentially traded control over the national government every few decades: in 1828, 1860, 1896, 1932, and then, perhaps, in 1968 or ’72 — but this is where things took a turn.

In an essay titled “Political Parties, the Constitution, and the Future of American Politics,” Charles Kesler notes that realigning elections consistently allowed the American people to choose between two “well-developed interpretations” of the Constitution: “a more democratic or a more republican view.” “The former view emphasized popular sovereignty, the latter popular responsibility.”

RELATED: Trump conquered the Republican Party. What a waste of a victory.

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Parties competed to prove their fidelity to the Constitution, each grudgingly conceding the legitimacy of the other(s), but insisting on its own superior credentials — and thus its right to define what was common ground, and what was forbidden, in public life.

In practice, these boundaries were set by the majority party, but the fight was always over who would get to set them — whose view of the Constitution would prevail. When the competing views became sufficiently discordant, the American people faced a critical election whose consequences might include the overturn of the existing majority party, and the establishment of a new one.

Such realigning elections are rare but revealing: They set the grounds of electoral competition for the next generation or two, and renew the nation’s dedication to the moral and political goals of republicanism proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and incorporated in the Constitution. Thus America’s party system reflected the continuing vitality of the Constitution, and presupposed a healthy respect and even reverence for it.

Kesler notes that this regular process seems to have stalled in the 1980s. The Reagan revolution ought to have solidified Nixon’s 1972 landslide re-election and inaugurated a generation of Republican dominance. But by this point, the federal government itself had become a significant — perhaps the most significant — faction in American politics.

The will of the voters now had to contend with the will of the bureaucracy. As a result, Kesler notes, the United States has “tilted away from elective representation and party politics and towards new, non-elective and non-deliberative modes of representation.” Consent steadily yielded to the benevolent administration of scientific experts.

Picking up on this theme, the late Angelo Codevilla, another great Claremont scholar, noted in 2020 that the institutional changes wrought by the second Constitution have been driven by a potent intellectual critique that guided “the campaigns for social improvement into which Progressives have led the American people ever since the 1930s, and especially since the 1960s.”

The ruling class chided Americans for insufficient commitment to education, to well-being for the poor and disadvantaged, to a healthy natural environment, and to public health, as well as for oppressing women, and, above all, for racism. The campaigns for remedying these conditions have been based on propositions advanced by the most highly credentialed persons in America — experts certified by the U.S. government, whom the media treated as truth-telling scientists, their opponents as enemies of the people.

RELATED: The day after tomorrow: A new GOP

Tom Brenner/Getty Images

Not surprisingly, this ostensibly moral agenda coincided very nicely with the political and economic interests of the ruling class, which appointed itself the guardian of the progressive second Constitution.

To what degree the ruling class actually believes in or cares about the various oppressed classes it purports to champion is an open question. As Codevilla perceptively emphasizes, its disdain for traditional, working-class voters is evident; the desire to actually improve life for the American citizenry is less clear. If this were nothing more than hypocrisy, it would hardly matter.

But the political problem, not just for the left but for America, is that the ideological cart to which the ruling class hitched its pursuit of power — the postmodern crusades for sexual liberation, racial grievances, and the autonomy of the uninhibited self — turns out to be rather difficult to manage.

The radical vanguard that supplies the Democrats with energy, zeal, and fashionable cachet, what Codevilla calls the “intersectional” component of the left, believes (not without good reason) that it is in charge. This makes for an uneasy coalition. “For most ruling class notables,” Codevilla observes, “enjoying and parceling out victory’s prerogatives is the revolution’s point.”

They would prefer to suppress the deplorables while minimizing disruption of the economy and avoiding violence. For these chiefs, rubbing the deplorables’ faces in excrement is mostly an instrument of conflict. But for the intersectionals, it is the revolution’s very objective, its driving logic. For them, vengeance is electoral victory’s foremost prerogative. Determined as the chiefs may be that the intersectional tail must not wag the revolutionary dog, the fact is that each and every part of the intersectional coalition sees itself as the dog.

The crucial question in 2028 and beyond will be: Who is really the top dog in the ruling class?

A few days ago, National Review’s Dan McLaughlin — hardly a MAGA extremist — tweeted, “I understand entirely the instinct to teach the House GOP a lesson. But if you punish the Senate GOP, it will be 6 years before they can do anything about it. And we can lose the Republic before then.” If this week’s midterm elections does indeed foretell a critical realignment to the left in 2028, it will mean not six but at least 30 years of unchallenged dominance by the Democrats — with very little assurance that the neoliberal oligarchs will be able to moderate the intersectional fanatics. That might be enough to make even the most complacent “normie-con” blanch.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the American Mind.

An Oklahoma pastor claimed to be a part of the notorious MS-13 criminal gang in order to coerce members of his flock to work for him without pay.

Elmer Baca Flores, 41, told his church members to quit their jobs and work for him, according to a post from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

'As parents, we have to be hypervigilant about protecting them. Ninety percent of the time, children are abused by someone they know, love, and trust.'

Officers interviewed several people who said their family members had gone to church and didn't come back home. Flores used his influence as a spiritual leader to coerce the members to leave their families.

The scheme was first reported after a family told police their daughter had been sexually abused.

"One victim told Agents that Flores gave her a test to prove her ability to resist temptation. During this test, the victim was sexually battered by Flores," said Mark Woodward, a public information officer with the OBN.

"Flores used his influence as a pastor to spiritually coerce the victims by targeting their religious convictions," Woodward added.

Flores was arrested in April 2025 and booked on three charges of lewd conduct with a child.

Six months later, the charges were amended to include human trafficking for labor and one count of sexual battery.

On Tuesday, he was convicted of 13 counts of human trafficking for labor as well as various child sex charges.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender. He also faces deportation.

He called his church the "Ministerio Levantando Adoradores Para Cristo Inc.," which was based in his home. A sign of the church from a KOCO-TV report indicated that it was Pentecostal.

RELATED: Pastor allegedly tried to meet minor for sex — he ran for Congress as a Democrat and was an NAACP leader

The OBN said Flores' conviction for human trafficking for forced labor was the first such conviction in the state of Oklahoma.

"I appreciate the amazing work by our Human Trafficking Unit and the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office in this landmark case," OBN Director Donnie Anderson said. "And I applaud the bravery of these victims for coming forward to hold their trafficker accountable."

Stacy McNeiland, the founder of ROAR at the Care Center, told KOCO that parents need to be vigilant against predators manipulating their children.

"As parents, we have to be hypervigilant about protecting them. Ninety percent of the time, children are abused by someone they know, love, and trust,” McNeiland said.

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Conservatives get smeared as anti-immigrant, but the truth is simple: They want people who come here legally, respect the process, and actually want to become Americans. Miguel Rojas is exactly that immigrant.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray played a clip of the newly retired Dodgers infielder and two-time World Series champion explaining how he approached the U.S. citizenship test he passed last month.

When asked by reporters if he was nervous about the test, Rojas didn’t flinch: “No, I wasn’t nervous because I was prepared.”

“I felt like I was ready for it. I didn't know what to expect because it's kind of like my first time going into a conference room with an official … but at the end of the day, I knew all the 100 questions, and I knew the answers,” he added confidently.

Rojas then expressed pride in becoming an American.

“It makes me feel really special, really proud because of my family, because of my kids, because of what I've been doing the last 21 years in this country. This country opened their doors to me to be a professional baseball player, and kind of I took that opportunity as a life opportunity as well, and I don't take it for granted,” he said.

He also noted that he was glad that the person who administered his citizenship test didn’t recognize him because he did not want to be shown any “preference.”

“Because this process has nothing to do with baseball. I felt like as a citizen, as a human being, I always wanted to be a good person off the field and not let my performance influence anything because we all know how hard this game can be and how high you can be and how low you can be one day,” Rojas explained. “So I don't want to be kind of like judged by my performance on the field. I want to be judged by the person who I am and my preparation.”

Pat is delighted by Rojas’ response.

“That’s what you like to see is an immigrant who’s doing it the right way, came here legally … appreciates his opportunities here, appreciates the country, loves the country, wants to be a part of it,” he raves.

“Doesn’t need an interpreter,” adds co-host Jeffy, highlighting Rojas’ excellent English.

“People like that, you welcome with open arms. … It’s great to have you here,” says Pat.

To see the clip of Rojas and hear more of Pat and the panel’s commentary, watch the episode above.

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Did somebody cast a “Reducio” spell?

The crowd of trans activists who showed up to protest the opening of London’s new “Harry Potter” flagship store on Wednesday was vanishingly small.

President Donald Trump allowed not only for the midterm elections to proceed, but for his party to take a whupping as a result. Heck of a way to organize a fascist takeover.

Just 16 people.

The protesters were there to denounce “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who earned the enmity of the left in 2020 by saying she didn’t align with every element of the trans movement’s agenda.

She’s been under fire ever since and has even received death threats. But while her enemies are unusually loud, they didn’t make much of an impression on the crowds lining up to enter the store.

Variety has the sads over that detail:

The queue — which wrapped around a nearby alleyway — slowly filed into the store, mostly ignoring the protest.

Someone should have whipped out the Palestinian flag. That would have drawn a crowd in London …

‘Sleepy’ Sidney

Here comes another “reimagining” or, in unofficial Hollywood-speak, a new way to wring blood out of an old IP.

Sydney Sweeney is set to star in a retelling of the “Sleepy Hollow” yarn. This time, the story will be told through her character’s lens — she plays Katrina Van Tassel. Now, it’s just called “Hollow.” The film is based on an upcoming feminist novel, and the director is the book’s author — Lindsey Anderson Beer.

Let’s hope Sweeney doesn’t bare any skin during the promotional push for the film …

NBC fetches ‘Files’

Who you gonna call? Ghostbu — Jim Rockford!

There’s a new “Rockford Files” coming our way Jan. 2, as if the previous item wasn’t enough of a warning about Hollywood’s IP addiction. The ’70s detective saga was a keeper, and it boasted one of the best TV theme songs ever (with apologies to “Barney Miller”).

The magic, of course, came from star James Garner. His rugged presence and everyman appeal made the show special. Huge shoes to fill, and it’s up to David Boreanaz to do the honors.

One factor in the “Angel” alum’s favor? He has the blessing of Gigi Garner, the late star’s daughter.

To hype the upcoming show, NBC shelled out big bucks for billboards asking us to call the fictional character. It’s (760) JIM-ROCK, for anyone with a fake case to solve …

Fascism fail

He’s still the worst dictator ever.

President Donald Trump allowed not only for the midterm elections to proceed, but for his party to take a whupping as a result. Heck of a way to organize a fascist takeover.

Nonetheless, the left is still using its pre-election talking points.

All together now ... he’s a dictator! That’s how “The Daily Show” guest Harvard Kennedy School Prof. Erica Chenoweth referred to Trump this week. Imagine paying all that tuition money to expose your young adults to that warped thinking …

RELATED: BASS-ACKWARD: Los Angeles may dump its mayor and move farther left

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Sly praise

That’s a relief!

“I Play Rocky,” opening in select cities this weekend but nationwide Nov. 20, recalls how Sylvester Stallone battled the odds to star in “Rocky.” Stallone wrote the script, one that the studio in question loved. It wanted a “star” in the title role, though, not a nobody with a speech impediment.

Stallone refused to give up the script unless he got the lead role. “I play Rocky,” he says repeatedly in the new film. Get it?

But the real Stallone wasn’t necessarily eager to see his life on the big screen. He didn’t have a role in the film’s production, although he did give director Peter Farrelly his permission to go forward with the movie.

That said, he has finally seen “I Play Rocky.” He and wife Jennifer Flavin screened it at home.

And? They loved it. Flavin cried. It’s the best news possible for a film that’s generating a huge response from festival audiences.

Will it go the distance in the Oscar race? It’s got a puncher’s chance …

Hollywood ending?

“Say goodbye to Hollywood … say goodbye, my baby,” Billy Joel sang back in 1976. The tune comes to mind following the recent L.A. mayoral race. The city traded out its inept progressive Mayor Karen Bass for democratic socialist Nithya Raman.

She has no executive experience and bows to the altar of DSA Nation. That didn’t stop Hollywood stars like Tina Fey, Colin Jost, Mindy Kaling, and director Nicholas Stoller from supporting Raman’s campaign.

That means a town on the edge of collapse — Hollywood — just voted to get it gooder and harder.

Maybe the next rebooted IP should be “Escape from L.A.” It might end up as a documentary.

The Department of Homeland Security said a Venezuelan man was arrested after an investigation into his suspicious behavior near the White House in Washington, D.C.

The man allegedly told U.S. Secret Service officers that he heard voices in his head telling him to assassinate President Donald Trump.

'Thanks to our brave Secret Service officers, this illegal alien with three firearms in his vehicle was arrested near the White House before he could harm anyone.'

On Thursday evening, the officers approached the man, who was found to be in a stolen car on Constitution Avenue.

After an investigation, they found numerous firearms that included two handguns, an AR-15-style rifle, and dozens of rounds of ammunition.

He was identified as Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos.

Chrinos was released at the Texas border in March 2024 under the "catch and release policy of the Biden administration," DHS said to the Daily Mail.

Catch and release was rescinded under President Donald Trump.

DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin released a statement to Fox News about the arrest.

"Thanks to our brave Secret Service officers, this illegal alien with three firearms in his vehicle was arrested near the White House before he could harm anyone,” Mullin said.

RELATED: LGBTQIA+ activist called for Trump to be assassinated and for harassment of his attorney, feds say

"On top of threatening President Trump, he is an illegal alien from Venezuela who had no business being in our country in the first place," he added. "This is just an example of the incredible work done by the men and women of the Secret Service every single day."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer for Chrinos with the U.S. Marshals Service.

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Controversial Marxist influencer Hasan Piker was granted a platform on PBS to lob more attacks at the Democratic establishment and map out the democratic socialist plan.

Piker claimed the midterm massacre of Republicans bolstered support for the far-left wing of the party in an interview with Amy Goodman on "Democracy Now!"

'They have to follow through on their just and righteous desires. We have to, of course, scale back on endless militarism all around the world.'

"I think what happened on Tuesday was the final chapter of MAGA closing after a decade of death and destruction and destabilization. I've thought quite a bit about this," he claimed.

He pointed out that many of the candidates supported by the Democratic Socialists of America had a "phenomenal" night on Election Day. He also blasted the Democratic leadership for trying to characterize some extremist Democrats as moderate and reject the "class warfare" framing preferable to Piker and the DSA.

Piker then offered his plan to ensure the Democrats stamp out what he called the "fascism" of the Republican Party.

"What needs to happen going forward in order to ensure that this defeat of MAGA is permanent, to ensure that there are real consequences for those in positions of power, and to make sure that this truly becomes an anti-fascist coalition, the Democrats have to do the unthinkable," he said.

"They have to listen to the demands of their voters. They have to follow through on their just and righteous desires. We have to, of course, scale back on endless militarism all around the world," Piker added.

"Another demand that voters have made very clearly a big part of the reason why this election was such a wipeout of Republicans across the board was not just because of the gas prices but also because of the Iran war," he said.

Piker went on to say he would marshal the "forces" necessary to hold Democrats accountable if they don't follow through on their promises.

RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez REFUSES to distance herself from extremist influencer

Later in the interview, Piker said he would back Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) if he ran to lead the U.S. Senate.

"Bernie Sanders could run for anything he wants to, and I would support him," he said. "But yes, I think Bernie Sanders is far more reflective of the wishes of the Democratic base of support."

He pointed out that current Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) were deeply unpopular despite being at the helm during the massive Democratic midterm success.

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Colorado has voted in favor of two propositions that progressives say will result in more "hate" in the state.

For others, they will ban barbaric gender-related operations on minors and keep girls' sports teams for girls only.

'No one ... becomes transgender on a whim.'

Proposition 135 was fairly straightforward and asked voters to decided whether they support a ban on gender-related procedures for minors.

Voting "yes" on the proposition meant prohibiting health care professionals from "performing or providing surgeries to individuals under age 18 for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics," while prohibiting state and federal funds and insurance coverage from paying for such procedures.

A "no" vote opposed all of the above.

Coloradoans voted in favorite of banning the procedures, with 52% of them voting "yes" on the proposition, according to NBC News.

RELATED: We need to talk about homecoming dresses. Christian moms: What’s going on?

Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images

Proposition 135 in Colorado had a lot of money pumped into the campaign, specifically for the "no" vote.

According to Ballotpedia, campaign finance figures showed that more than $4.4 million was contributed to the "no" campaign, versus just over $215,000 for the "yes" campaign.

Before the vote, 27 states already had laws or policies restricting gender-related surgeries for minors, according to KFF.

Many coastal states, including California and New York, do not have restrictions on such operations.

RELATED: Spam texts and robocalls cost Americans billions — the biggest victims are not those you suspect

Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images

As expected, progressives were against the proposition, with activist groups like GLAAD calling that proposition, along with another ballot proposition to require separating school sports by gender, "anti-LGBTQ ballot measures."

At the same time, Colorado Sun columnist Mario Nicolais said that passing the measures would make Colorado a "hate state."

Nicolais said that the propositions should not be passed because "the transgender community has been singled out." "No one of any age becomes transgender on a whim," he wrote. "No one does so just to play sports."

The proposition to keep "people with male reproductive systems" off of female school sports teams in Colorado, Proposition 134, also won, by a slightly higher margin: 52.3% to 47.7%.

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Ilhan Omar has won another term in Congress, but her victory celebration was anything but American.

“Just to kind of underscore how far we’ve fallen as a country as we try to navigate how to get our country back, I think it’s an important study to look at Minnesomalia. That’s what we’re calling it now. It’s just Minnesomalia,” Gonzales says, before playing a video of Ilhan Omar celebrating her win with supporters.

In the clip, she’s dancing while surrounded by Muslim women in burkas and hijabs.

“The Democrats say that they love DEI,” Gonzales says, though noting that she doesn’t “see a lot of diversity in that room.”

“Now, you would think that Ilhan Omar would have addressed many of the controversies in her victory speech,” Gonzales says.

“Like, you would think that she would have, I don’t know, maybe … give it quick mention, give some answers to the questions that we all have,” she continues.

Instead, Omar gave her victory speech completely in Somalian.

“I don’t prefer the languages where it requires you to have thick mucus in your throat in order to speak it well,” Gonzales says.

“But you obviously were expecting Ilhan to win, because this is Little Somalia now,” she adds.

It’s become so un-American that even a DFL day-care owner won a Minnesota House seat despite reports of no children being seen at his day care.

“He’s one of the people that Nick Shirley’s been like, ‘Knock, knock,’” she says. “‘Why are there no kids here?’”

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A former pre-kindergarten teacher's aide from New Jersey — first accused of sexually abusing four children, all siblings, for over a decade at his home — has been hit with a slew of child sex crime charges after police uncovered disturbing new evidence against him.

The Cape May County Prosecutor's Office last week announced in a statement that 44-year-old Shaun M. Stebbins, of Somers Point in Atlantic County, has been hit with 61 criminal charges, including 29 counts of first-degree manufacturing child sex abuse material, 14 second-degree counts of endangering the welfare of a child, 13 second-degree counts of sexual assault by sexual contact, and five first-degree counts of aggravated sexual assault.

'Children are among our most vulnerable population, and we have a responsibility to protect their safety and well-being.'

The statement said Stebbins was employed as a teacher's aide at Woodbine Elementary School in Cape May County from February 2022 until his arrest in Atlantic County on March 29, 2026.

According to WABC-TV, Stebbins was first accused amid his March arrest of sexually abusing four children, all siblings, for over a decade at his home in Somers Point.

However, the investigation subsequently expanded when allegations involving students at Woodbine Elementary surfaced.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Somers Point Police Department notified the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office that Stebbins was under investigation for alleged sexual assaults in Atlantic County and may have also committed crimes in Cape May County.

Prosecutors said one of Stebbins' alleged victims — who is now an adult — came forward with allegations against the former teacher's aide, which prompted investigators to examine possible child sex crimes at Woodbine Elementary.

"The search of Shaun Stebbins’ devices revealed numerous images and videos of students from the Woodbine Elementary School in Cape May County," the statement read.

RELATED: Former first-grade teacher pleads guilty to sex crimes against teen student after she allegedly admitted affair to husband

People magazine reported that the initial allegations that led to his arrest date back to 2012 — and that Atlantic County prosecutors alleged he committed sexual acts against multiple children under the age of 13 through 2025.

WABC said court documents allege Stebbins photographed and recorded children's genitalia in school restrooms and recorded himself performing sexual acts on children in the restroom during nap time.

Police identified multiple alleged victims, including children as young as 3 and 4 years old, according to prosecutors.

The prosecutor's office noted that a person convicted of a first-degree crime in New Jersey could face a term of 10 to 20 years in state prison, and an individual convicted of a second-degree crime "typically carries a sentencing range of five to 10 years" in state prison.

Stebbins is in custody at the Atlantic County Detention Center, according to jail records.

Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland stated, "Children are among our most vulnerable population, and we have a responsibility to protect their safety and well-being. Anyone who harms a child will be held accountable through our justice system."

Police said the investigation remains ongoing.

Those with information related to this case are urged to contact the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit at 609-465-1135.

The Woodbine School District did not immediately reply to Blaze News' request for comment.

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Four nationals from the Dominican Republic were caught trying to smuggle a massive amount of cocaine to Puerto Rico, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

The vessel was detected north of Puerto Rico on Oct. 28 by a New Orleans Branch Air and Marine Operations aircraft, according to a CBP press release obtained by Blaze News.

'This operation reflects the critical role of Air and Marine Operations in protecting our maritime borders and disrupting criminal smuggling networks in the Caribbean.'

Later that evening, air and marine crews "initiated an interdiction response" after the vessel of interest was detected near Carolina, Puerto Rico.

CBP says rather than slow down during the interdiction operation, the vessel sped up and failed to stop. The vessel occupants then allegedly tossed bales into the water before the vessel came to a stop north of Loíza in Puerto Rico.

Four individuals from the vessel were arrested by air and marine crews. The one woman and three men claimed to be nationals of the Dominican Republic, CBP said.

The San Juan and Fajardo Marine Interdiction agents recovered nearly 200 pounds of cocaine, which they estimated to be worth about $1.5 million, CBP claimed.

"Through the coordinated efforts of our air and marine crews, we were able to detect, track, and safely interdict this vessel before it could reach Puerto Rico," said Caribbean Air and Marine Branch Director Christopher Hunter.

"This operation reflects the critical role of Air and Marine Operations in protecting our maritime borders and disrupting criminal smuggling networks in the Caribbean," he added.

RELATED: Police dog detects 'staggering' amount of meth in semitruck tank by Mexican national: CBP

In a similar action from May, three people onboard a suspicious vessel tossed packages into the waters near Puerto Rico before getting caught by the CBP Air and Marine Operations.

Four hundred pounds of alleged cocaine was recovered from that ship, and the people arrested were identified as Dominican nationals as well.

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Among the Democrats voted into office on Tuesday are a handful of radicals facing criminal charges and at least one convicted felon.

Lakesha Womack, a black identitarian who vowed to apply an "equity-focused lens to legislation," unseated Republican incumbent Rep. Tim Moore in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District on Tuesday, beating him 51.1%-48.9%.

'There are no plans to restore his committee assignments.'

Last month, the Polk County Sheriff's Office served the 49-year-old Democrat with a felony warrant regarding her alleged failure to return a rental vehicle.

According to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department incident report dated Nov. 26, 2019, "The listed suspect rented the vehicle from the listed business on 10/07/2019 at 11:31am and the vehicle was to be returned on 10/23/2019 at 12:00pm, but the suspect did not return the vehicle. Attempts to locate the suspect have been unsuccessful."

The missing vehicle was valued at $20,000.

While she has masqueraded as a victim, Womack said in an Oct. 12 video that she made a "mistake" and admitted, "I do owe them people some money."

Womack's court appearance regarding the felony car theft charge is scheduled for Tuesday, reported the New York Post.

RELATED: Democrats' state-level takeover is staggering

L/R: Brandon Bell/Getty Images; Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Ericka Lomick, a Texas Democrat who won a race for the Texas House of Representatives weeks after suspending her campaign, also has a checkered past that may actually preclude her from taking office.

According to federal court records reviewed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Lomick — who in February denied having a criminal record — was convicted in 2011 of mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She was sentenced to 63 months in prison for her various crimes.

Texas law requires that to be eligible for public elective office, a candidate must not have been convicted of a felony.

Tarrant County Democratic Party Executive Director Reyne Telles said, "We are working closely with our Tarrant County Democratic Party legal counsel in step with the Texas Democratic Party lawyers, along with the candidate and her team, as well as Tarrant County elections and the secretary of state's office, to best interpret the law and determine the best path forward for voters," reported CBS News.

Alan Blaylock, the Republican whom Lomick ran against, has indicated his team is working to ensure that Texans in House District 93 will have an eligible representative in office.

LaMonica McIver is another prize whom voters awarded power on Tuesday.

In May 2025, McIver — who won re-election to Congress in New Jersey's 10th Congressional District on Tuesday — was charged with two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding certain officers or employees.

The criminal complaint alleges that McIver attempted to prevent a fellow radical's arrest during an anti-ICE protest outside a New Jersey detention center; slammed her forearm into the body of a Homeland Security Investigations agent and tried to restrain him; and pushed then struck an ICE officer.

McIver's case remains active.

Anthony Ealy won his re-election bid on Tuesday to the Missouri House of Representatives. The next day, the 32-year-old Democrat was arrested in Jefferson City and charged with assault in the fourth degree and a peace disturbance.

According to a probable cause statement, multiple witnesses alleged to police that:

the Defendant had been yelling outside a business while a family was making arrangements for a deceased family member. The Victim approached the Defendant in an attempt to deescalate the situation. During the encounter, the Defendant mentioned having a firearm, lunged toward the Victim, and repeatedly stated, "I'm gonna kill you. Call the police, I'm gonna kill you."

State Democrats urged Ealy not to run for re-election, but he did so anyway, reported NewsNation.

Marc Powers, chief of staff for the minority leader's office in the Missouri House, said in a statement obtained by KRCG-TV, "Rep. Ealy was removed from committees this spring so he could address his personal issues. There are no plans to restore his committee assignments for the upcoming session."

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A gunman who killed a 9-year-old girl after she had just purchased ice cream on a summer evening in Chicago three years ago has learned his fate.

Serabi Medina was outside her family’s apartment building in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue on a Saturday evening in August 2023 while her father talked with friends, CWB Chicago reported.

'That's been what's keeping me going, getting her justice.'

One of the friends gave Serabi money to buy treats from an ice cream truck, and she returned with ice cream for herself and her father, the outlet said.

A few minutes later, a gunshot rang out nearby, prompting Serabi’s father to tell her to take her scooter and go inside, the outlet said, citing prosecutors.

But as Serabi reached the front door, Michael Goodman came out of his apartment building across the street with a gun, walked up to Serabi, and shot her in the head as her father ran toward him, the outlet said, citing prosecutors.

Serabi’s father tackled Goodman in the vestibule of the Medina family’s apartment building, which caused the gun to discharge — and the bullet struck Goodman in the eye, CWB Chicago said.

The father and all three friends who witnessed the shooting identified Goodman as the gunman, the outlet added.

RELATED: 14-year-old thug body-slams, head-stomps girl on Harlem street — reportedly after she wouldn't give him her phone number

Chicago police recovered one shell casing outside the front door of Serabi’s apartment building and another casing jammed inside a gun found on the vestibule floor, the outlet said.

Investigators who searched Goodman’s apartment found a bullet lodged in a wall, a shell casing, and a box of ammunition with the same headstamp as the casings recovered at the murder scene, CWB Chicago said, citing prosecutors.

Police also found evidence linking Goodman to the murder weapon, the outlet said.

Goodman had no prior criminal record, CWB Chicago said, adding that his attorney said he was suffering from mental health disorders and was under the influence of ketamine at the time of the shooting.

Goodman was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison, the outlet said, adding that he must serve the entire sentence Judge Tyria Walton imposed after he pleaded guilty to one count of murder.

He will receive credit for the three years he has spent in the Cook County Jail, CWB Chicago said.

Jail records accessed Friday indicate Goodman is 46 years old.

"That's been what's keeping me going, getting her justice," the victim's cousin told WFLD-TV outside the courtroom before adding that "now all that's left is to grieve her."

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The president of the United States is not expected to be accessible to whomever feels like reaching out to him, but on election night, that all changed.

Following the midterm results, Politico reporter Dasha Burns decided to call Donald Trump in the middle of a live broadcast — which BlazeTV host Pat Gray notes is “illegal.”

“This is illegal, by the way,” Gray says. “Technically what she’s doing is illegal. You can’t just put somebody on the air live. You can’t do that without getting their permission first. You must obtain their permission first.”

“Which leads me to believe that they already had it,” Jeff Fisher comments.

“I don’t think so. This unfolds in kind of a natural way,” Gray argues, before playing the clip of Burns speaking to the president.

When Burns asked Trump what he thought happened with the Republican Party, the president responded, “I wasn’t on the ballot, and we didn’t get the people out, but I wasn’t on the ballot. If I was on the ballot, we would have won. We would have won it all very easily.”

Burns also pressed Trump on whether or not he believed some Republican candidates didn’t do enough to win, and Trump surprisingly answered that he didn’t “want to blame anybody.”

“It was a very interesting period of time. I watched with great interest, learned from it,” Trump said.

“What did you learn sir?” Burns asked.

“Well, we’re going to work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country. Very important. They’ve already called, and they want to work with me. I have the right to veto everything, but I don’t want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything. They want to see things happen too,” Trump replied.

Burns then asked if Trump would “consider doing an immigration deal with Democrats,” to which he replied, “I would consider doing whatever I think is appropriate and good for the country.”

Finally, she asked him how much he believes the results change “the trajectory of the final two years” of the Trump administration.

“I’ll let you know in a year from now,” he said.

“That shows you, and he gets no credit for it, how accessible Donald Trump is,” Gray comments.

“They hate him for it,” Fisher adds.

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