Lobbying in Washington is booming to record-high levels, and companies are rushing to hire Trump-allied firms in their efforts to influence the policy pronouncements spilling out of the White House. Overall, federal lobbying spending is up by 21% compared with last year, according to the Washington Post’s tally of expenditures through the third quarter of 2025. In the surge, the firm of Trump campaign fundraiser Brian Ballard has become the highest-paid lobbying shop, and other Trump-aligned firms are seeing an influx of clients as trade and tariff policies churn.
The pharmaceutical industry has juiced its lobbying spending: heavyweight PhRMA is certain to blow past its record high in lobbying spending set last year. The nearly $29.7 million the drugmakers’ group has spent through Q3 approaches the amount that it spent in all of 2024. Health industry lobbyists are weighing in on moves by the Trump administration and the GOP-led Congress to cut Medicaid funding and fire staffers in the overhaul of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-led Department of Health and Human Services.
The anti-science, DNC-serving (allegedly) site Phys.org is raising alarms about the rise of “far right” communities in rural areas that are in some way, shape, or form, self-sustaining. The article “Far right extremists are setting up rural enclaves around the world” warns, “Close-knit networks and insular communities, which can characterize these projects, have been shown to play a role in deep ideological entrenchment. This can mean the ideology of these communities can become deeply ingrained within its members.”
MIA would not endorse any completely self-isolating and violence-justifying communities; however, the overwhelming majority of these communities are a threat to phys.org because self-sustainability is immunity from the party’s favorite soft power weapon, economic assassination. The fact that they are noticing meaning the “movement” is further along than we had hoped it was.
… Close-knit networks and insular communities, which can characterize these projects, have been shown to play a role in deep ideological entrenchment. This can mean the ideology of these communities can become deeply ingrained within its members.These far-right initiatives are often rooted in a worldview outlining the illegitimacy of the state or the promotion of violence against the state or other identities. This means the ideological entrenchment process that can accompany these far-right rural enclaves poses an extremist challenge. They can serve to create a cohort of highly committed members whose belief system is one characterized by hate. This can also be amplified in offline echo chambers.At the same time, rural-based extremist enclaves have the potential to diffuse beyond their specific communities into the broader environment. Surveys across democracies underscore the depth of rural disenchantment, where rural communities have often expressed a feeling of being “left behind.” They are also more likely to express concerns that government policies do not understand local realities.
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The Trump administration announced Wednesday that a group of far-right media outlets have been given press access to the Pentagon.
The announcement comes a week after actual journalists staged a walkout and refused to sign on to new rules that require all reporting to be pre-approved by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Even Fox News stood against the new rules.
The October 16 poll from Trafalgar showed Democrat Abigail Spanberger had only a two-point lead over her Republican challenger, incumbent Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Trafalgar was the closest in polling for the 2024 election, with their final poll being 0.01 points off from the actual election results.
With that in mind, we have to wonder if the Democrats aren’t a little concerned about this race. A recent panel on MSNBC seems to think Spanberger is struggling, although they totally miss the reasons why Spanberger might be in trouble.
Morning Joe: The reason Abigail Spanberger is struggling is because Americans are sexist; “other countries have no problem electing women” pic.twitter.com/3CmMLhQKKD
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a live stream in support of California’s Proposition 50, October 22, 2025.YouTube/California Office of the Governor
On Wednesday, former President Barack Obama joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a livestream for volunteers in support of Proposition 50, the governor’s redistricting measure, and the sole question on the ballot in the November 4 special election.
Donald Trump could “topple” a weakened Russia and Vladimir Putin but has “chosen not to” for a disturbing reason, a former staffer has sensationally claimed. Anthony Scaramucci raised millions of dollars for the US president’s first election campaign in 2016 before becoming his White House director of communications.
He was fired after just 11 days when he slammed colleagues in a conversation he wrongly thought was off the record – and has since turned his fire on Mr Trump to become one of his biggest critics. While he says there is “good Trump and bad Trump” and that he admires some aspects of the Republican’s character, Mr Scaramucci believes his ex-boss’s relationship with Putin is a cause for concern.
CHICAGO — President Donald Trump’s attempts to deploy the military in Democratic-led cities — over the objections of mayors and governors — has brought a head-spinning array of court challenges and overlapping rulings.
As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders whether to clear the way for the National Guard in Chicago, a federal appeals court is hearing arguments in California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s challenge to the deployment of troops in Los Angeles. Guard troops could also soon be on the ground in Portland, pending legal developments there.
Democrats are getting aggressive with their moves to draw a distinction between the rich elites who have shut down the government, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay, while they are still collecting paychecks.
Other members of Congress have introduced legislation to prevent members of the House and Senate from getting paid during the shutdown, but Rep. John Larson not only wants to not pay members of Congress, he also wants to not pay Donald Trump, JD Vance, and White House officials.
Besides making sure that Congress doesn’t paid during the shutdown, Larson’s bill also states that Trump and Vance aren’t getting paid:
(a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any day during a pay period occurring during the term of office of the President or Vice President a Government shutdown is in effect, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall— (1) deposit in an escrow account and exclude from the payments otherwise required to be made with respect to that pay period for the compensation of the President and the Vice President an amount equal to the product of— (A) the daily rate of pay of the President or Vice President (as the case may be) under applicable law;
The trend of the late night hosts devolving from comedians into DNC talking heads continued on Monday as they gushed over the weekend’s No Kings protestors. According to them, the size of the crowds should discredit the idea they were actually quite radical.
On The Late Show, CBS’s Stephen Colbert excitedly wondered, “Do you feel that? Do you feel the vibe? It’s electric in here. You can feel the energy in this room because these folks are still high from the No Kings rally this weekend. That was beautiful! It’s a beautiful sight to see. On Saturday, 7 million people turned out in over 2,700 events in all 50 states.”
The “No Kings” protests over the weekend exposed the dark and disturbing underbelly of the Democrat’s anti-Trump movement, despite remaining “mostly peaceful” by day.
Many of the demonstrators proudly and openly wished death upon President Donald Trump and/or approved of the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.
For many years now, CBS News’ 60 Minutes has served as a clear-cut example of left-wing media propaganda. So, it wasn’t completely shocking when the program ran to a discredited ex-Justice Department official to trash the Trump administration amid its ongoing legal battles.
This past weekend’s episode included a sit-down interview with Erez Reuveni, who served as acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation until early April, when he was suspended and subsequently fired for failing to “zealously advocate on behalf of the United States” in court, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi. As The Federalist previously reported, his dismissal purportedly centered around his conduct in the DOJ’s efforts to deport Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a credibly accused wife-beater and MS-13 gang member.
Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears swiftly condemned those tied to a Young Republicans group chat scandal—and now she’s calling on her opponent, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, to do the same with regard to her own running mate, attorney general nominee Jay Jones.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Virginia said Earle-Sears “must call on participants of a leaked Young Republicans chat that used racist language to step down from their roles joining Virginia Young Republican Thomas Turner”—something the lieutenant governor had no problem doing.
“Easy,” she replied, “they absolutely must step down.”
Just this morning, I wrote that the reason Democrats can’t moderate their unpopular political positions on things such as transgenderism and immigration is that they’ve backed themselves into logical corners that do not allow any moderation or compromise. This is why they can’t move on the budget. To them, $3.9 million in “LGBTQ+ democracy grants” for the Balkans is as important as welfare checks at home.
And today, as if by magic, one of my leftist Facebook friends re-posted one of the most insane and extreme pro-abortion things I’ve ever seen. (Many have wondered why I continue to have leftist friends on Facebook. The reason is that I’m a writer and they provide me with endless inspiration.)
On Sunday the New York Post reported that New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s campaign took in nearly $13,000 in “potentially illegal foreign donations.” Unsurprisingly, the party that spent four years claiming “no one is above the law” when justifying their lawfare against President Donald Trump is now silent on such alleged election law violations simply because Mamdani is one of their own.
According to the Post, “At least 170 of the nearly 54,000 contributions … came from donors with addresses outside the United States, an examination of NYC Campaign Finance Board records found.” As noted by the Post, only U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents can legally contribute to political campaigns and action committees. Any illegal donations must be returned.
Jihadi Zohran Mamdani ran for Gaza on the day the hostages were released -the UNRWA 5K for Gaza. UNRWA, the organization UNRWA whose employees took part in the October 7th massacre and subsequently kept the hostages in captivity. This is who Mamdani is raising money for.
The federal government has already cut off funding to this terror linked organization last year.
Mamdani wants to keep the refugee status of Palestinians into perpetuity to help with his cause of the eliminating Israel.
First his wife glorifies a Hamas Terrorist on her Instagram Stories.
Then he raises money for Hamas-run UNRWA.
No self-respecting New Yorker should vote for Mamdani as Mayor of NYC. https://t.co/p3VQHtOZWJ
This morning I ran the NYC Gaza 5K in Prospect Park for the third time, alongside the Harlem Run Club, to raise money for @unrwausa, which delivers critical humanitarian aid and services to Palestinians in Gaza.
After federal agents raided an apartment building in Chicago to arrest Tren de Aragua gang members, MSNBC personalities repeatedly spread the fake news that agents zip-tied children. And, even though no one died in the raid, they also promoted hyperbolic comparisons to the Gestapo, the Tulsa killings of 1921, and the MOVE Philadelphia bombing of 1985.
Fox News not only highlighted DHS’s fact check that debunks Democrat misinformation on the subject, but Fox reporters also informed viewers that most of those living in the building were illegal squatters.
Skirmishes between ICE and “activists” continue to break out in Chicago, and some “journalists” are learning that claiming that title after the fact isn’t a get-out-of-detainment-free card.
Despite the Democrat-led city being ravaged by a murder epidemic, mostly caused by out-of-control gang violence, left-wingers have decided that the real problem is ICE deporting violent illegal aliens. Using tracking apps and other means, they show up at facilities and during raids to try to impede federal immigration officials. One of those people was Debbie Brockman, who is a video editor and producer for the creative services department of Chicago television station WGN.
Video shows her pinned on the ground by ICE agents as she’s detained and placed in the back of a vehicle. During the scene, she started proclaiming she’s a journalist.
Trump held a White House event late on Friday afternoon, supposedly about drug prices, that, if it were covered by an objective media that was complicit and collaborating with the current administration, would sound alarm bells about whether any Democratic president ever sounded as incoherent as Donald Trump did.
The video can be easily glossed over, especially when someone has told as many lies and babbled as many words as Donald Trump has over the past decade, but transcripts of the words that the man actually puts together are more revealing.
Time for another entry in the continuing saga of the U.S. government being reassigned to work on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In the most recent development, hundreds of Department of Homeland Security employees in jobs unrelated to immigration have been ordered to transfer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and the Federal Protective Service.
You might not be as familiar with the last one, which protects federal buildings. That might sound a bit sleepier than working for ICE or CBP, but not these days.
After a judge ordered Virginia Democrat governor nominee Abigail Spanberger to give sworn answers in a defamation case against the Virginia Democratic Party, the Democrats hired a new lawyer in what the plaintiff says is a transparent effort to cocoon Spanberger from political peril ahead of the November election.
Thomas Speciale, a retired Army intelligence officer and former Republican U.S. Senate candidate, alleges that the party concocted a devious scheme enlisting the House of Delegates speaker to serve as its lawyer, thereby delaying the case and preventing Spanberger from being forced to deliver what could be politically catastrophic testimony as a witness.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, where he offered a surprisingly upbeat endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential 2028 presidential contender, even though she lost decisively to Donald Trump in 2024.
Kelly was asked directly by host Kristen Welker whether Harris would be “a strong candidate in 2028.”
Q: “Do you think Kamala Harris would be a strong candidate in 2028?”
Kelly: “Candidate? Ya, absolutely.”
Q: “You would encourage her to run?”
Kelly: “I think she would be incredibly strong. I think you’re gonna have a dozen, if not more, folks running.” pic.twitter.com/bWT3oOQM8P
“Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, she was, she was the nominee last time. I think you would encourage her to run. I think she would be incredibly strong. I think you’re going to have, you know, a dozen, if not more, folks running, probably on either side,” Kelly said.
Vice President J.D. Vance was nearly 13 minutes into a masterful media takedown of ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday when he was muted and the show abruptly cut to a commercial break.
Stephanopoulos’ swift censorship of his guest came mere moments after Vance checked him for “going down some weird left-wing rabbit hole” by insinuating White House Border Czar Tom Homan engaged in criminal activity.
“George, you’ve covered this story ad nauseam. Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It’s a ridiculous smear. And the reason you guys are going after Tom Homan so aggressively is because he’s doing the job of enforcing the law,” Vance said earlier in the segment.
CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour snidely guessed on Monday morning that Israeli hostages were “probably being treated better than the average Gazan” on Monday, hours after Hamas released the last 20 living hostages. PBS actually simulcasts this woman’s nasty takes.
Fifty years ago, an Amanpour type would have greeted American POWs coming out of Vietnam by suggesting our tortured POWs were “probably treated better than the average Vietnamese.”
In a CNN News Central special, anchor Kaitlan Collins asked about Western journalists being denied access to covering Gaza, which cued Amanpour to lecture:
AMANPOUR: Kaitlan, you can imagine that’s a question that I’m asking every day. And surely all of my colleagues, it is unconscionable that us, we have not been able to go in and help our Gaza colleagues tell the full story to the world That is just something that I’ve never seen any democratic nation forbid, outside journalists, and I’ve asked every Israeli official who I’ve interacted with over the last two years, publicly and privately, to open the doors and let us in. And I pretty much can assure you that one, that once those I those doors are opened, it will be a scene of absolute, abject horror.
A man who spent his presidency alienating Israel and coddling its enemies just proved he hasn’t learned a thing.
In a post published Thursday to the social media platform X, former President Barack Obama managed such a mealy-mouthed comment on news of a cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas war that he managed to infuriate partisans on all sides.
But most of all, he proved just how petty a former president can really be.
He still prioritized Israeli families and called this ‘genocide’ a conflict. Apparently, for Mr. Obama, only Israelis have families; others are the ‘people of Gaza.’ He didn’t even call them Palestinians.
Moral depravity in plain sight. Obama has not said anything meaningful…
Disney’s late-night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel said he didn’t see what the “problem” was with his comments about slain conservative icon and free speech martyr Charlie Kirk, and blamed “right-wing media networks” for the backlash he received, claiming conservative reporters “intentionally” and “maliciously mischaracterized” his controversial remarks.
“I didn’t think there was a big problem, You know? I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks, and I aimed to correct it,” Kimmel said of his comments about Kirk’s assassination during a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw for Bloomberg Screentime.
“Sometimes you think, ‘Oh, this is not a problem,’ and then it turns into a big problem, and then sometimes it goes the other way, where you think, ‘Uh oh, this is going to be a problem,’ and then nobody really notices.”
Democrats’ hardline opposition to rising health care costs isn’t earning them voters’ trust on economic issues — a disconnect that lays bare the party’s challenge heading into next year’s midterms.
Voters blame Republicans more than Democrats for the federal government shutdown, according to a review of polling conducted after services shuttered. An Economist/YouGov survey of 1,648 Americans showed 41 percent hold the GOP accountable for the lapse in federal funding, compared to 30 percent who point a finger at Democrats and 23 percent who hold the parties equally responsible. A 2,441-person CBS News/YouGov survey also found Americans blame Republicans more than Democrats — 39 percent to 30 percent — with 31 percent faulting both. And a Harvard/Harris poll demonstrated 2,413 voters impugned Republicans more than Democrats by 6 points.
