BREAKING: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to announce a 20 percent cut to slots slated for admirals and generals at the Pentagon as part of his push to overhaul the outlook of the department, a Pentagon official confirmed to The Hill.
U.S. forces are set to depart from bases in Iraq following two decades of American involvement that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and thousands of U.S. troops, and now leaves Iran at the center of the region’s future.
🚨 BOOM! SecWar Pete Hegseth just dropped this line: "No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals — just warriors!"
"Just tough, ready, committed troops. The War Department is colorblind, gender-neutral, and merit-based. Or, as the President likes to… pic.twitter.com/1Ko5nHTwmZ
Hegseth: "Today, at my direction, I'm establishing the Office of Religious Affairs. It will report straight to the top — a direct line to the secretary … as Psalm 33:12 extolls us, blessed is the nation in which God is the Lord" pic.twitter.com/YutqQAsqB3
Hegseth: "Enter a new core of cadets. To meet this critical need we are partnering with a new crop of premier higher ed institutions, including LSU, Liberty University, Tuskegee University, Mississippi State University, and Hillsdale College." pic.twitter.com/SsPiFlYqyI
Hegseth: "We need students of western civilization and the pillars of our republic. Leaders who understand the faith of Jerusalem, the philosophy of anthems — Athens. The power of Rome, and the freedom of Philadelphia circa 1776." pic.twitter.com/wA3kEsLDnF
Hegseth: "A free press is of course important, but partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops and the historic mission that they are undertaking is fundamentally anti-American. It's sick. It's a national betrayal. It's treason." pic.twitter.com/2WrXZEhs9C
How the Pentagon Is Escalating Trump’s Drug War in Latin America – By Shelby Holliday, Vera Bergengruen and Lara Seligman (The Wall Street Journal).- Gen. Francis Donovan shared exclusive new details on the use of high-tech drones in the jungle, says U.S.-assisted land strikes are an option
Jamie Raskin calls out the shitty ads as a crime (this was cited by CNN and other stories). This is the kind of Xitter post that I beg of @raskin.house.gov or other MoCs to cross-post over here — not least bc more people over here are likely to magnify it.
Tho I actually like this post better.IMO, one smart response to these ads is to taunt GOP MoCs that Trump is still sitting on mountains of $$ and instead using taxpayer dollars to remind voters what a corrupt asshole he is.
“Knowingly and willfully spending or obligating federal funds in violation of congressional appropriations limits can constitute a criminal violation of the Antideficiency Act" 31 U.S.C. § 1350. Does accepting those funds knowing expose MS NOW and CNN to possible criminal liability? #holdfast
RFK Jr. says AI can offer patients “a second opinion that is much better informed than any doctor in the country” and has the power to “free us from medical tyranny.”He spoke at an industry-backed MAHA Summit, whose sponsors included AI companies.www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h…
🤡 Schmitt beclowns himself 🤡Schmitt concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that Smith traveled to Atl for a Hawks game and to collude with Fani Willis, & flashed his "evidence" before accusing Smith of perjury. There's just one problem — his facts were totally wrong.Here's the whole sequence:
The internet is erupting in mockery after Eric Schmitt’s spectacular Jack Smith faceplant.
Now people are openly speculating: Did his team plant the glowing 2028 story AND coordinate with MAGA influencers in advance, expecting a victory lap that blew up in their faces?…
In a bid to frame Jack Smith as a liar, Sen. Schmitt (R-Missouri) accused the former special counsel of perjuring himself after he denied attending an Atlanta Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024.
It appears @bennyjohnson has now deleted his X post where he clearly pre-composed a post about Sen. Schmitt getting Jack Smith to perjure himself. Genuinely crazy how many big accts on this website appear to be coordinating with Republican politicians behind the scenes.
Schmitt: Who knew jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan? We had information he was at a basketball game. There was only one NBA game that night which is why I asked him if he was in Atlanta. He answered the question. That's what these hearings are for. You ask questions, you get… pic.twitter.com/FKwdbvierp
Shameless is Trump’s superpower. Schmitt is like one of those knock-off cosplaying Batman guys Heath Ledger’s Joker slaps around. pic.twitter.com/O6eHdSMO6b
NEW: Eric Schmitt says he did not mix up the Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes.
"There was no confusion between Hawkeyes and Hawk," the Republican senator told FOS after his questioning of Jack Smith went viral as he believed he was about to catch Smith perjuring himself.
Every single MAGA legislator in that hearing today predicted Jack Smith would plead the 5th. Not only did Jack Smith not plead the 5th, he answered every question, and he wiped the floor with that sleazy motherfucker Ted Cruz
Eric Schmitt is on The Charlie Kirk Show (yes it's still called that) — and believe it or not, hosts are pretending he owned Jack Smith with his embarrassingly botched gotcha
Rep. Jim Baird (R-Indiana), who expensed more for lodging and meals than any other House member in each of the past two years, including $39,789 in 2025, did not respond to multiple attempts to speak with him. Neither did Rep. Abraham Hamadeh (R-Arizona), a first-term member who was the second-biggest spender last year with $39,131.
House members’ expenses surge in program that doesn’t require receipts
To manage the Hope Florida initiative, DCF moved workers away from administering Medicaid and food assistance. The staff left behind are less trained and poorly paid, and the DCF department is now failing by nearly every federal measure. #DefendDemocracyhttps://t.co/jp9bkCH9Zh
— Florida Center for Government Accountability (@FLCTRGA) September 28, 2026
Now @AshleyMoodyFL. Why would I want to abolish the police when I want you arrested and in jail for stealing $10 million from sick kids? BFFR
Ken Paxton is a corrupt con man who has used his office to enrich himself and live a lavish lifestyle with his various mistresses at taxpayer expense. pic.twitter.com/DYYqzJcFsD
Judge bars U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro from charging ex-Olympian in Reflecting Pool case after Trump’s comments http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus… via @nbcnews
DOJ is reviewing whether the special prosecutor’s office that investigated the Watergate break-in committed misconduct, according to people familiar with the matter, more than half a century after that scandal led to Nixon’s resignation. W @PhilipWegmann https://t.co/1AuZ47w9wB
Decades After Watergate, Justice Department Reviews Whether Nixon Got a Raw DealRevisionist historian went to DOJ headquarters to present his case that former president, his associates weren’t treated fairlyFREE WSJ GIFT ARTICLE 🎁 http://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/…
Next up, rethinking the conviction of Al Capone. After all, if he had his taxes treated the way Trump's have been, he'd still be a free man today. Admittedly he would be 127 years. But no criminal will go unavenged by Trump, Blanche & Co. http://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/…
White House continues with campaign to convince people that in an age of AI-led job destruction, it is honorable and lucrative to join the ranks of Plumbers.www.wsj.com/us-news/law/…
Virginia pastors, we invite you to add your name and stand with us for the sanctity of life and marriage. Virginia must vote no on the abortion and marriage amendments. Please read this letter and share it widely. https://t.co/nfx1vfyuFf
Phillip Jauregui and other religious-right leaders want to move the Supreme Court further to the right by insisting that future nominees pass their "biblical worldview" test.https://t.co/STcqskzHk9
Last night Trump filed his DC Circuit appeal seeking to rename the Kennedy Center. "[W]ithout appropriate recognition [for Trump], the Kennedy Center will" continue its "race toward physical & financial ruin. The stakes are existential."https://t.co/b9BH0hRq0rpic.twitter.com/GSk0NLWI8S
The ICC has condemned new US sanctions targeting its president and a senior trial lawyer, calling them “a flagrant attack” on the court's independence. The move expands a growing list of ICC officials barred from the US financial system.https://t.co/jRBfV39zBQ
(NYT) With the extra money granted by the GOP in Congress, the ICE agency is trying to add 5,000 more ICE agents by the end of the year. This is to make up for their horrible vetting of many ICE agents who were not trained well and did poorly.www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/u…
The statement is a remarkable break from Trump admin
“in this situation, with all that’s going on and all the stuff, we probably got to step back from it and say, 'Maybe we're doing something wrong here or there,' and then adjust to that.”
Trump on DataCenters: I'm very good at real estate. Some of those buildings are absolutely beautiful. They're big and they're, you know, big, strong, powerful buildings, but they're beautiful and they add greatly to a community pic.twitter.com/87JXU5FPeS
As MS Now has reported, FBI officials say the bureau has been placing people on the Most Wanted list whose capture is believed to be imminent. In other words, these officials tell us—they are gaming the system. One fugitive was captured in Mexico an hour and 13 minutes after… https://t.co/M1WWaLE0b1
47-51: Senate blocked Maryland Democratic Senator Van Hollen's resolution to require the State Dept. to report to Congress on violence in the West Bank and Israel's human rights practices. Paul was the only Republican to vote Yes & Fetterman the only Democrat to vote No. Cassidy… pic.twitter.com/Kas1ABL8nC
Cue Rachel Dratch and the womp-womp Debbie Downer music:G.O.P. Nominee in Texas Privately Said Trump’s Convention Hurt Him http://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u…
This is not good for paxton. trashing trump in a fundraiser. also trying to shift blame for his bad numbers. will be interesting to see if this gives SLF/Texas PAC the impetus to give up on their massive, $125M spend there. https://t.co/dt1Zwx9DfA
British PM Andy Burnham has made clear that an attempt to rejoin the EU could be among the options his government considers as it eyes a fundamental shift in the country’s relationship with the bloc.
"Support Builds on the Right for Prosecuting Women Who Get Abortions. ‘What is the accountability for these women?’” Of course this where the GOP is heading. The GOP is about religious fascism. Oppressing women is a big part of that. Gift link below http://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/u…
JUST IN: A federal judge (Trump-appointed Stephanie Gallagher) has held the Trump administration in contempt for deporting a man to El Salvador in violation of three court orders. She's ordering the government to return him. https://t.co/4AMi7SdUzcpic.twitter.com/S0bsoBeEy4
Flock wants to shut down the Flock Surveillance Map, a detailed map of its surveillance devices. The database not only shows the scope of Flock's reach, but also its vulnerability to data leaks. Read Nikita Mazurov's article at: theintercept.com/2026/09/24/h…
As I told @baylisswagner of the @nytimes here, this could be an impeachable offense. @POTUS has no right to use taxpayer money for campaign ads. Congress has expressly prohibited government sponsored political propaganda, which is dangerous for democracy.https://t.co/EIlOeAwJWI
New: The Trump administration has spent more than $1M in public funds so far to boost the president on the airwaves.
Experts including a Bush WH ethics lawyer said it likely violates federal laws against propaganda & political activity by gov’t staff. https://t.co/rOOvNncDND
It’s important we now have documentation that the Republican Party has corrupted itself to this degree. Republicans now support the Centralized State stealing taxpayers’ money to run ads for their political party. https://t.co/PQvnjcEENc
What’s crazy is it’s not that hard to for a White House to steer donors to an outside group who can run fluffer ads like this. But no, Trump and this administration wants to take the maximally corrupt route just to show you they can get away with it. https://t.co/VV3rrLNYpo
…except when we’re rolling out the red carpet for them even as they provide surveillance info for the Iranians to target our servicemembers? https://t.co/85BoiDRftJ
My latest report on Hope Florida focuses on the Florida Chamber of Commerce president for his critical role in the “scheme” to divert millions in taxpayer dollars meant to help poor children. @CBSMiami
🚨 STEVE HILTON BLASTS CALIFORNIA'S ONE-PARTY RULE FOR DESTROYING THE STATE@SteveHiltonx: "One party rule, 16 years, the highest costs for the worst results, and people are demanding change…I think that we can beat them if we get that energy going.” pic.twitter.com/11RV8IwwmZ
A Moms for Liberty activist and loyal Trump supporter is facing up to eight years in prison after she was found guilty on nine counts of election fraud last week. https://t.co/CVEJA7inTz
Republican voter election fraud in California! District Attorney Dan Dow announced today that a San Luis Obispo County jury has convicted Gaea Edde Powell (DOB 12/02/1962) on all nine counts charged
President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday for help ending most gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people in federal prisons. @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social http://www.courthousenews.com/trump-taps-s…
After first denying that the attacks occurred, the Hegseth Pentagon now acknowledges that Marines were injured during them. http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat…
“I know it’s not the president,” she said. “My people want to know why. I don’t have an answer.” And that’s the problem right there. apnews.com/article/spea…
The Trump administration floated an idea that would have virtually shut down mail voting: requiring all ballots to be delivered exclusively through certified mail, ProPublica has learned. by @jenafifield.bsky.social @peterelkind.bsky.social
The NFL has asked the Department of Homeland Security to remove a video of Hall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins that the agency posted on social media in support of immigration enforcement. https://t.co/YAPYLjb0fW
This is the official government account of DHS's top lawyer.
Your government is being run by edgelords and memesters chasing internet points, not competent professionals working to protect and preserve the United States. Demand better. https://t.co/iHncT9mGbS
Instead of addressing the military conflicts that the United States is involved in, Secretary Hegseth’s “State of the Force” speech focused on culture war nonsense. Retired Lt. Col. Amy McGrath and MS NOW’s David Rohde join Ali Velshi to discuss Hegseth’s wayward leadership and horrendous remarks.
If you go by the definition of terrorism used by the government now, this blog and I would be accused of supporting terrorism and I would be labeled a terrorist. Supoort a person’s right to be an atheist, be LGBTQ+, I support gender studies in learning, I am not a racist nor a bigot, and I am open to people living different lifestyles as suits them as long as they are not harming others. Hugs.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 15: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (L) gestures to U.S. President Donald Trump as he speaks during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel (C) provided an update on the Trump administration’s progress in reducing violent crime. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)LESS
The FBI has tapped employees from across federal law enforcement to crack down on dissent, including agents and analysts with the Internal Revenue Service, documents shared with TPM show.
They’re working at the FBI’s NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center, per records obtained through FOIA by watchdog group American Oversight.
In National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, the White House laid out a national strategy for federal law enforcement, directing it to treat beliefs like “anti-Americanism, anti-Capitalism, and anti-Christianity” and “extremism on migration, race, and gender” as indicators of domestic terrorism.
The records obtained by American Oversight include organizational charts for the NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center and a list of thirteen IRS employees — names redacted — who are detailed to work at the center. Emails obtained by American Oversight between IRS employees, including one assigned to the Tax Exempt and Government Entities division and another assigned to Criminal Investigations, also reference a “Violent Anarchist Task Force Working Group Meeting.”
The org charts, dated May 20, show that two attorneys from the DOJ’s Office of the Deputy Attorney General — the nerve center that runs the Justice Department — are a part of the Joint Mission Center.
The records reveal details of the architecture that federal law enforcement has built to implement NSPM-7 and fight “Antifa,” the loose network of anti-fascist activists that the administration has deemed a terrorist threat. The records are heavily redacted.
Against the backdrop of an administration in which the president has wielded law enforcement as a tool to target his political opponents, the disclosures suggest that the government’s financial investigators are starting to play a role in cases brought to serve partisan political ends.
NSPM-7, issued last year as the Trump administration, sought to capitalize on Charlie Kirk’s assassination as a means to justify a wide-ranging crackdown on the left, and the administration’s political opponents. It has, over the last year, turned into an onslaught against freedom of speech. In Minneapolis, federal agents with DHS cited the memo as they deployed undercover agents and aggressive financial investigative maneuvers to surveil unions, churches, and other groups protesting the administration’s occupation of the city, Operation Metro Surge, and its aftermath. In other cases, NSPM-7 has been invoked as the administration charges people for posting threats on social media.
NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center organizational chart, obtained by American Oversight via FOIA
At the DOJ, operationalizing NSPM-7 has meant the creation of Joint Task Force Vanguard. That effort is co-led by Brian W. Lynch, who prosecuted organized crime as an assistant district attorney in Ohio and then nationally as a federal prosecutor. He also marched on the Capitol on January 6, TPM first reported. Vanguard’s other co-director, Jason Kellhofer, is a longtime counterterrorism prosecutor.
The DOJ declined to comment. In the past, it’s strenuously denied that its efforts to implement NSPM-7 infringe on freedom of speech.
The role of the IRS in NSPM-7 hasn’t been fully fleshed out. Using the Trump administration’s definition of terrorism, NSPM-7 directed the IRS commissioner to ensure that no nonprofits “are directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism.”
The IRS wields broad powers over civil society. A large proportion of advocacy and research groups are registered as nonprofits, granting the IRS the ability to scrutinize their nonprofit status.
But so far, and in spite of striking fear in the hearts of nonprofits across the country, the IRS has, as far as we know, not yet attempted to revoke a charity’s nonprofit status for political reasons. Some have argued that doing so could provoke an equal response under a future Democratic administration.
The records show that three analysts and ten agents from IRS’s Criminal Investigations have been detailed to the center. An email from December obtained by American Oversight shows a thread between Adrian Gonzalez, Director of Compliance Planning and Classification in the IRS’s Tax Exempt and Government Entities division, corresponding with an employee of Criminal Investigations under the subject line “Violent Anarchist Task Force (VATF) Working Group Meeting.”
Jarod Koopman, the new head of Criminal Investigations at the IRS, reportedly said last month that he planned to focus enforcement on nonprofits as part of a crackdown on terrorism.
The Joint Mission Center is doing much of the work of collecting information relevant to and helping enforce NSPM-7, FBI co-deputy director Chris Raia said in an interview released by the FBI earlier this month. Raia described the center as the bureau’s answer to NSPM-7, and likened it to the way the agency had “worked the Iranian threat.”
“There are pieces of this threat that encompass our criminal division. There are pieces of this threat that encompass the cyber division. There’s pieces that, uh, encompass [counterterrorism], even [counterintelligence], believe it or not,” he said. “We took bodies from all these different divisions. We put them under one roof, so to speak.”
“And then we’ve added, of course, our partners at [Homeland Security Investigations], Department of Treasury, IRS, and we have them all sitting in the same space,” he added.
The existence of the FBI’s NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center was first revealed in a budget request to Congress in March.
Per the organizational charts, the center divides the country up into the Eastern and Western Continental United States. Each half has three “Conus” (Continental United States) subdivisions. One chart is fully redacted apart from a label that reads “embedded intel.” Another chart, titled “Ops,” refers to “Nationwide Partner Support” without additional detail made public.
The office is run by a section chief, has a unit titled “intel,” and several program analyst positions assigned to it.
The FBI and Treasury didn’t return requests for comment.
Josh Kovensky is an investigative reporter for Talking Points Memo, based in New York. He previously worked for the Kyiv Post in Ukraine, covering politics, business, and corruption there.
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Here is a video by Aron Ra who talks about this and other attacks on freedom in the US.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 15: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (L) gestures to U.S. President Donald Trump as he speaks during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel (C) provided an update on the Trump administration’s progress in reducing violent crime. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) LESS
