WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
🇺🇸 Vance to lead an anti-fraud task force. President Trump is preparing an executive order naming Vice President JD Vance as chairman of a new White House anti-fraud task force targeting welfare abuses in California and other states. The task force will investigate billions in fraud discovered in unemployment claims, pandemic assistance, and health care programs.
🏠 Housing firms pitch plan to build 1 million "Trump Homes." Major housing companies are considering a proposal to construct 1 million homes under President Trump's housing agenda, with one plan allowing tenants to pay rent to investors that would count toward a down payment after three years. The initiative aims to address America's housing crisis while giving renters a pathway to ownership.
🚂 NIH opens East Palestine office studying toxic spill. The National Institutes of Health launched a research hub in the Ohio town to study long-term health effects from the 2023 train crash that exposed residents to vinyl chloride. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the five-year, $10 million initiative will give residents "access to independent, gold-standard science."
🚫 SBA blocks non-citizens from small business loans. The Small Business Administration issued new policy guidance rescinding exceptions that allowed non-citizens to own any percentage of businesses seeking SBA loans. Democrats criticized the move as barring legal immigrants from pursuing the American Dream, though SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler defended it as ensuring taxpayer dollars only support Americans.
Similarly to how the Truman Committee’s exposure of waste, fraud, and abuse during World War II propelled then-Senator Harry Truman to national prominence, JD Vance now has a similar opportunity to prove his worth as an avalanche of news stories highlights widespread fraud across the country. — Brandon
INSIDER RADAR
Tom Homan shreds anti-ICE agitators’ tactics
Behind the paywall: Tom Homan, Josh Hawley, Ted Sarandos, Ro Khanna, Thomas Massie, Todd Blanche, Scott Bessent, and Maxine Waters.
THE MAIN STORY
Democrats make steep demands on ICE reform
_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
Democrats want Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents barred from wearing masks during operations and required to wear body cameras.
Despite the fact that Republicans would support certain measures to reform ICE, and already have, such as expanded use of body cameras, many of the demands made by Democrats threaten to place federal agents in danger.
Behind the paywall: What Democrats are demanding to “rein in” ICE, why Republicans see many of the proposals as dangerous nonstarters, and how the demands may lead to another government shutdown. Plus, our thoughts on the story.
Should Republicans back any of the Democrats’ demands?
MEDIA BIAS SPOTTER
How left and right outlets frame Democrats’ DHS funding demands
Behind the paywall: How The New York Times and Axios frame the story on the left, and The Daily Wire and Breitbart on the right.
TODAY’S DEBATE
📊 Which ICE reforms would you support?
POLL RESULTS FROM YESTERDAY
How should elections be conducted?
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🇺🇸 Fully nationalized (143)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📍 State by state, per the Constitution (434)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🏛️ State-run, but stronger federal standards (980)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Unsure (37)
🇺🇸 Fully nationalized: “Why should we let ‘permenantly’ blue states run their elections? They get caught cheating over and over again. It needs federal oversight.” — Rich
📍 State by state: “If ‘our side’ can violate the Constitution, we give permission for our corrupt enemies to do the same.” — Pam
🏛️ State-run, stronger federal standards: “No mail-in ballots, proof of citizenship w/ ID. Single day voting and active pole watchers. This is not nationalizing elections, it is enforcing voter law and common sense.” — Mike
WE WANT YOUR QUESTIONS
Have a question you want somebody on the team to answer? Submit it here.
POP QUIZ
Thanks for joining us today. We scoured 100s of sources to bring you stories and insights you won’t find in the mainstream media—Ariel David and Brandon Goldman.
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