How Left-Wing Bureaucrats Hijacked the Bidding Process for Georgia's Multibillion-Dollar Medicaid Contract

How will you ensure access to dental care across the state of Georgia? That's the sort of question the state's Department of Community Health asked in 2015 to determine which insurance providers would administer Medicaid to millions of people across the state. Then, last year, the state reopened the bidding process for the multibillion-dollar contract—and senior career staffers hijacked it to insert a question related to transgender children into the bidding process, internal documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show.

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Democrat-Controlled Trade Tribunal Rules Against Menthol Vape-Maker, Contravening Trump's Opposition to Menthol Bans

A little-known, Democrat-controlled trade tribunal ruled against the maker of the country's only FDA-approved menthol e-cigarettes, a controversial decision that seemingly defies several aspects of the Trump administration agenda. The commission issued the ruling before President Donald Trump could fill two vacant positions at the tribunal, which is required by law to have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans.

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Inside State-Run 'Bias-Response Hotlines,' Where Fellow Citizens Can Report Your 'Offensive Joke'

In January 2020, the top law enforcement agency in the state of Oregon launched a "Bias Response Hotline" for residents to report "offensive ‘jokes.’" Staffed by "trauma-informed operators" and overseen by the Oregon Department of Justice, the hotline, which receives thousands of calls a year, doesn’t just solicit reports of hate crimes and hiring discrimination. It also asks for reports of "bias incidents"—cases of "non-criminal" expression that are motivated, "in part," by prejudice or hate. Oregonians are encouraged to report their fellow citizens for things like "creating racist images," "mocking someone with a disability," and "sharing offensive ‘jokes’ about someone’s identity."

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Biden wants to put a gloss on his foreign policy failures — these failures included



President Joe Biden, apparently keen to rewrite history before fading into it, will reportedly seize on the opportunity Monday to once again characterize his disastrous presidency and foreign policy blunders as successes.

According to the the Associated Press, the deeply unpopular 82-year-old Democrat is expected to claim in his capstone address regarding his foreign policy legacy that he and his administration restored American credibility on the world stage and strengthened critical alliances supposedly strained by his predecessor's prioritization of American citizens. Biden is reportedly also planning to suggest that he provided the world with a "steady hand" during his four scandal-plagued years in office.

Biden's Monday speech at the State Department's headquarters will bookend his first major foreign policy speech on-site where he suggested on Feb. 4, 2021, both that "the muscle of democratic alliances ... have atrophied over the past few years of neglect and, I would argue, abuse" and that the U.S. under President-elect Donald Trump had ceased to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and key partners."

In addition to promising to advance the security of the American people ahead of letting well over 10 million foreign nationals steal into the homeland, Biden said that he would be effective in dealing with Russia and counter communist China's "aggressive, coercive action," as well as end the war in Yemen, which is covered in the Obama administration's fingerprints.

Biden, Democratic lawmakers, and their devotees in the liberal media emphasized at the outset of his presidency that the "adults [we]re back in charge," President-elect Donald Trump serving as the point of comparison.

Trump, embracing Ronald Reagan's "peace through strength" approach in his first term, previously

  • brokered the formal normalization of diplomatic relations between various Arab states and Israel;
  • made good on past administrations' promises to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem;
  • whacked Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi;
  • signed an executive order temporarily banning nationals from six Islamic terrorism hotbeds from traveling to the U.S.;
  • pressured NATO allies to meet their financial obligations in the way of defense spending;
  • put North Korea’s Kim Jong-un on notice with the threat of "fire and fury like the world has never seen";
  • negotiated a new trade agreement with South Korea and an updated version of NAFTA with Canada and Mexico;
  • withdrew from the 2015 Paris climate accord and United Nations Human Rights Council;
  • largely defeated ISIS in Syria;
  • pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement;
  • reoriented the U.S. national security apparatus from a Middle Eastern focus to instead a focus on competing with communist China;
  • levied tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods;
  • re-established the Quad partnership with Australia, India, and Japan; and
  • managed various other foreign policy successes, including breaking from his predecessor's longstanding custom of starting a new war.

With his alternatively "steady hands" on the reins, Biden steered Americans into danger and American foreign policy through embarrassment after embarrassment.

For instance, Biden botched the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Amid the confused exit during which the U.S.-backed Afghan government imploded, an Islamic terrorist — who reportedly had been released amid the chaos just days earlier from the Parwan prison at Bagram Air Base — detonated a suicide bomb on Aug. 26, 2021, at Abbey Gate, the last route open for Afghans into the Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing 11 U.S. Marines, a soldier, a sailor, and hundreds of Afghans, and leaving 45 other U.S. service members wounded.

Beside endangering service members and leaving multitudes of Americans behind, Biden also left the Taliban with over $7 billion worth of military equipment.

One intelligence assessment estimated that among the hardware left behind for the Islamic extremist regime were 2,000 armored vehicles and 40 aircraft, including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones.

Biden proved unable or unwilling to extend a steady hand to the hundreds of thousands of Christian Armenians of the former Republic of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, who were violently displaced in recent years by the Islamic Azerbaijani regime.

Azerbaijan, which the Biden administration has provided with military assistance despite its alleged war crimes and torture of Armenian prisoners, launched a blitzkrieg on the Armenian enclave in September 2023, killing hundreds of people, destroying churches, and forcing the Christian population to flee, in many cases on foot.

The apparent ethnic cleansing took place within days of a State Department official suggesting that the U.S. would not "countenance any action or effort, short-term or long-term, to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh."

'The United States is in a worse geopolitical position today than it was four years ago.'

Azerbaijan was not the first aggressor nation to realize that Biden was big on talk and light on action.

Despite Biden's "steady hand" and foreknowledge of an imminent "incursion," Russia invaded Ukraine under the Democratic president's watch, this time on a scale far exceeding its previous invasion of Crimea during the Obama-Biden years. Biden has slapped Russia with numerous sanctions, poured over $175 billion into the occupied nation, and risked a direct shooting war with Russia by authorizing Ukraine's use of long-range American missiles, yet an armistice in the region remains out of his reach.

During a press conference ahead of the invasion where Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin "does not want any full-blown war," the Democratic president stressed that Putin "is trying to find his place in the world between China and the West." It appears that with the Biden administration's persistent nudging, Putin has found a close friend in communist China — constituting another major foreign policy blunder.

Brahma Chellaney, professor emeritus of strategic studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, noted last year that:

It is U.S. President Joe Biden's foreign policy that has helped turn two natural competitors into strategic collaborators. A forward-looking approach would have avoided confronting Russia and China simultaneously, lest it drive the two nuclear-armed powers into an unholy alliance. But Biden has managed to lock horns with both Moscow and Beijing simultaneously, though it should be noted that his China policy is comparatively softer and more conciliatory.

Like other critics, Chellaney noted that U.S. sanctions on Russia have effectively transformed Beijing into Moscow's banker and more than doubled trade between the two nations.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in October 2024 that Beijing's relationship with Moscow would be strengthened in the coming months, as Russian gas exports to China continue to surge and the BRICs organization continues to grow in strength relative to American-led economic organizations.

Just a year into Biden's presidency, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) noted that "the president's weakness on the world stage has only emboldened our adversaries to become more aggressive in their rhetoric and their actions."

Over the past four years, China, America's preeminent adversary, has ramped up its attacks on American cyber infrastructure and sovereignty, evidently thinking little of Biden and his occasional tough talk.

The Wall Street Journal revealed in September, for instance, that the Chinese state-sponsored hacking group Salt Typhoon compromised at least eight American telecommunications companies, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI said in a joint statement, "We have identified that PRC-affiliated actors have compromised networks at multiple telecommunications companies to enable the theft of customer call records data, the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity, and the copying of certain information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders."

Chinese hackers with ties to the communist government also stole at least 60,000 emails from State Department accounts during Biden's tenure; gained access to the computer networks of a major American transportation hub; and compromised Treasury Department computers.

Brushing Biden's "steady hand" aside, Beijing has also sent spy craft over the mainland U.S.; operated illegal police stations on American soil; threatened diplomats; and dispatched agents to execute espionage and political destabilization missions.

"The United States is in a worse geopolitical position today than it was four years ago," Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, recently told CBS News. "The United States is immersed in a massive war on the European continent with serious escalation risks; it's back to bombing the Middle East with no end in sight; and it has entered into a full-spectrum strategic rivalry with China."

"The United States cannot expect to prioritize China while remaining the leading military power in Europe and the Middle East. If the United States truly wants to prioritize China, it needs to pull back elsewhere," added Wertheim.

Biden told USA Today in an interview last week, "I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world."

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Anti-Semitism, DEI, and Skyrocketing Costs: The Challenges Facing Incoming Education Secretary Linda McMahon

Over the past four years, colleges and universities have violated the civil rights of Jewish students. Transgender ideology has proliferated, threatening women's sports. And diversity, equity, and inclusion have increasingly trumped merit in the hiring and accreditation processes.

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Top Neuropsychology Organizations Poised To Make ‘Equity, Justice, and Inclusion’ a Core Part of Training Guidelines

The top neuropsychology organizations in North America may soon adopt training guidelines that call on clinicians to use "social justice frameworks," acknowledge "systemic oppression," and pursue "equitable and just scientific knowledge," according to a copy of the guidelines reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

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England legalizes assisted suicide — former prime minister says government abuse will be prevented



Members of Parliament have voted to pass legislation that makes assisted suicide legal in England and Wales.

The new legislation will allow for the death of those in the two countries who are over the age of 18 and are registered with a general practitioner for at least 12 months.

The bill passed with a vote of 330 to 275 and will allow patients to expect to be killed within six months of their request.

'As a religious person, I understand and appreciate the deep moral and philosophical concerns that many people have about this issue.'

Other parameters, the BBC reported, included making sure the patient has the mental capacity to make the decision in a clear, settled, and informed manner that is free from coercion.

Two separate declarations must be made by the patient, with two "independent doctors" declaring the patient is eligible at least seven days apart.

Additionally, a High Court judge would have to rule each time a person makes a request to die, after which the patient has to wait another 14 days after the ruling to reflect on whether they want the government to kill them.

A doctor would reportedly prepare a substance that would kill the patient, but the patient has to ingest the substance themselves.

Conservative former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote in the Darlington and Stockton Times that he agrees with the decision and voted in favor of it.

The "bill is sufficiently tightly drawn to prevent" abuse of the law by the government, Sunak wrote. "Pressuring someone into ending their life will be a criminal offence."

He added, "As a religious person, I understand and appreciate the deep moral and philosophical concerns that many people have about this issue."

Blaze News previously reported on the rise of government-assisted suicide across the world.

In the United States, euthanasia was first made legal in Oregon in 1997. California, Vermont, and Washington have also approved the death method, but it is not federally legalized.

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ecuador, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland have all legalized assisted suicide. Switzerland has made headlines as of late due to an ongoing debate and investigation surrounding the use of suicide pods in the country.

In the Netherlands, assisted suicide is allowed for terminally ill children ages 1-12. Those who are 5-10 years old can be killed if they are determined to be suffering unbearably or have no hope of improvement.

“The end of life for this group is the only reasonable alternative to the child’s unbearable and hopeless suffering,” the government said in 2023, per the Guardian.

Canada, which boasts a robust suicide system, paused its program for those who are mentally ill in February 2024. In August, state-facilitated suicide was the leading cause of death in Canada.

In November 2011, Russia passed a law banning euthanasia, making it the only country in the world in which all forms of euthanasia are illegal.

As for the English and Welsh legislation, it will be illegal to use dishonesty, pressure, or coercion to encourage someone to end their life, with a 14-year prison sentence for those found guilty of doing so. It is unclear how that would be determined.

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Rubio and the Return of the Monroe Doctrine

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Florida senator Marco Rubio (R.) to lead the State Department. Rubio is, among other things, a full-spectrum opponent of China's nefarious activities, and the news of his nomination dismayed the soft-on-China crowd. He is also tough on Iran and should focus America's diplomats on promoting the nation's interests rather than exporting the culture wars. But Rubio's most distinctive foreign policy contribution is likely to be in Latin America, where he can bring the Monroe Doctrine back to the center of U.S. foreign policy.

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Trump names his border czar, revealing he means business



President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Thomas D. Homan will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration.

"The Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation's Borders ('The Border Czar'), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," Trump noted on Truth Social.

"I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders. Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin," continued Trump. "Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job."

Homan, the president and CEO of Border911, has proven himself to be a no-nonsense law enforcement official, unwavering in his belief that like other criminals, illegal aliens "should be afraid" when flouting America's laws.

Trump promoted Homan to acting ICE director in January 2017, then nominated him as director. According to the New York Times, illegal immigration arrests skyrocketed 38% under Homan from Jan. 22 to April 29, as compared with the previous year under former President Barack Obama, who gave him the government's highest civil service award in 2015.

"These statistics reflect President Trump's commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board," Homan said at the time.

Extra to criticizing so-called sanctuary cities and demonstrating a willingness to go after any of the tens of millions of illegal aliens who had stolen into the homeland, Homan helped blow up Democrats' family-separation talking point, underscoring that the U.S. has separated minors and adults at the border for over three decades.

'I got down on my knees, put my hand on the child's head, and said a prayer.'

When Homan — whose Senate confirmation never came — retired in April 2018, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stated,

Under his exceptional leadership, the men and women of ICE have made significant progress in restoring the rule of law to our immigration system. Consistent with the priorities set out by President Trump, the past year has seen arrests increase by 40 percent, interior removals increase by 30 percent, and the highest number of MS-13 arrests since 2008. But perhaps most important to Tom is that employee morale at ICE is the highest it has been since 2010, which I believe is due in large part to his passionate leadership.

While the liberal media has attempted in recent years to characterize Homan as callous, he revealed to the Atlantic in 2022 that his desire to end illegal immigration and secure the border was not born solely out of a sense of duty to the nation and his fellow citizens but also out of a sense of humanitarian responsibility to would-be border-jumpers.

In 2003, he was reportedly called to a crime scene in Victoria, Texas, where over 70 illegal aliens had been found crammed into a semitruck. When the trailer was opened, corpses tumbled out. Seventeen were dead, and two more would ultimately die. Among the dead was a 5-year-old boy — the same age as Homan's son at the time.

"I got down on my knees, put my hand on the child's head, and said a prayer, because I could only imagine what his last hour of life must have been like, how scared he must have been. Couldn't breathe, pitch black, begging his father to help him. His father couldn't help," said Homan. "What was his father thinking? He'd put him in that position, right? His father was probably saying, 'I can't believe I did this.'"

'What price do you put on national security?'

Homan added, "That one instance made me who I am today, because it's preventable. We could stop this."

Homan demonstrated the continued strength of his resolve in an interview last month with CBS News' "60 Minutes." When asked about the potential cost of deporting one million illegal aliens a year, Homan said, "What price do you put on national security?"

The former ICE boss further revealed a resistance to emotional manipulation.

Correspondent Cecilia Vega concern-mongered about the possibility families might be separated as a consequence of mass deportation. Homan reassured Vega, "Families can be deported together."

While Homan is likely to succeed in the position, the previous border czar, failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, set the bar incredibly low. After all, she oversaw the illegal entry of tens of millions of foreign nationals into the country, including terroristic gang members and human traffickers.

Homan told Fox News over the weekend that the deportation campaign is "going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They're good at it."

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Delusion, Hypocrisy, and the Threat to Democracy

"Ungoverning" is a term invented by Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum, political scientists respectively at Dartmouth and Harvard, to describe the project of "deconstructing the administrative state [conducted] by a reactionary movement." This would include elected Republican officials and Supreme Court justices, aimed at depriving government of ability to govern. The individual they hold most responsible for this is Donald Trump, who brought decades of preexisting "hostility toward government to a crescendo."

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