Musk, Ramaswamy recruit for DOGE: No pay, 80-hour weeks

Bucks County commissioners vote to count illegal ballots in Pennsylvania recount
The three-member board voted two to one to count these illegal ballots in the Senate race recount.

J6 shocker: Phone companies dispute FBI testimony on pipe bombs suspect, key lawmaker reveals
Cellular carriers have told Congress they possess intact phone usage data from the vicinity where two pipe bombs were planted during the Jan. 6 incident, directly disputing FBI testimony that agents couldn't identify a suspect because the phone data was corrupted.

Judges delay two Jan. 6 trials, citing Trump victory
U.S. District Judges Carl Nichols and Rudolph Contreras, who were appointed by Trump and former President Barack Obama, respectively, overruled objections from the Biden Justice Department to keep the trials on schedule.

Florida Sues FEMA For ‘Conspiring’ To Deny Disaster Relief To Trump Supporters
The suit names FEMA Director Deanne Criswell and now-fired supervisor Marn’i Washington, who told workers to ignore Trump supporters.

Somali pirates sentenced to 30 years for holding American hostage for over 2 1/2 years
One of the two kidnappers was a naturalized U.S. citizen, arrested in Minneapolis.

NYC adds $9 'congestion pricing' for drivers
"New Yorkers will look back on this moment with pride, a moment where we chose to do hard things that make our city a better place, not just for us, but for our children."

Trump ruffles more feathers with RFK Jr. Cabinet pick
Not all Democrats assailed the pick. Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, in fact, cheered it, claiming that RFK Jr. would help take "on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly."

RFK Jr. promises to be an 'honest public servant' if confirmed as HHS secretary
"I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families," Kennedy wrote on X. "My commitment to the American people is to be an honest public servant."

NY Times: Kennedy’s FDA Wish List: Raw Milk, Stem Cells, Heavy Metals
The FDA does not decide who can sell raw milk; states do. But since the 1980s, the agency has ensured that raw milk is not shipped out of the 30 states where sales are permitted.

The FBI’s Matt Gaetz Operation Sidelined An Effective Republican Voice At A Crucial Time. That Was The Point.
Gaetz was a highly effective member of Congress. Then all that changed with the publication of an anonymously sourced report accusing him of possibly being a child sex trafficker.

Ethics report could sink Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general
Gaetz repeatedly has denied all wrongdoing and resigned on Wednesday, quashing a looming Ethics Committee vote on the charges. But senators say they want to see the report before they vote on his nomination.

Ron Johnson gives hilarious response to Matt Gaetz's nomination
Johnson printed out pictures of two Biden officials, Rachel Levine and Sam Brinton. When pressed about Gaetz' nomination, Johnson held up the photos and asked reporters whether they ever "harassed" Democratic lawmakers about those nominees.

Trump Reveals What Biden Said In Oval Office When Cameras Left
The president-elect said that he and Biden discussed the war in Ukraine and the ongoing war in the Middle East. “I wanted — I asked for his views and he gave them to me,” Trump told the NY Post.

Musk and Ramaswamy gather resumes for DOGE jobs: ‘Work 80+ hours per week’
"Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero," Musk said in an X post Thursday, adding, "What a great deal!"

Javier Milei, first world leader to meet with President-elect Trump
"This has been the greatest political comeback in history, defying the entire political establishment, even at the risk of his own life."

Trump lawyer weighs in on White House press secretary job
Alina Habba announced on Thursday that while she has been "flattered" by the calls for her to be the next White House press secretary, she has decided to turn down the high-profile role.

Chris Cuomo Unloads On Viewer Who Says Trump Won’t Try To Unite Country
"How do I know I’m right and not you? Well, one, I know him and you don’t."

Sunny Hostin Admits She Gave Kamala A Softball, Which Backfired
Hostin asked Harris if there was anything “she would have done differently” from Biden in the last four years. "The reason I followed up was because that wasn't a gotcha question. That was a layup, really," Hostin said.

Lame-duck Biden arrives in South America for global summits after mid-flight press revolt over lack of access
“Biden wants to engage with leaders. He is not choosing to engage with the press. There is no press conference on either leg of this trip. He has a matter of days left. I mean, what was the issue?” one journalist vented during a mid-air press gaggle.

AP, New York Times: GOP Wins The House
The legacy news outlets were days behind Decision Desk HQ, which determined at 7:13 p.m. ET on Monday that Republicans had won enough races to take the House.

Rick Scott pushes Lara Trump for Rubio Senate seat
Sen. Rick Scott joins Sen. Katie Britt and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to say Lara Trump is their pick to fill the seat being vacated by Rubio, who has been nominated for secretary of state.

Susan Collins plans to run for sixth term in the Senate
Collins would be one of the most vulnerable incumbents as Republicans navigate a less favorable Senate map next cycle.

Pelosi files to run for re-election in 2026
The 84-year-old filed a statement of candidacy Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

Democrats push to clarify 22nd Amendment to stop talks of third Trump term
"Any attempt by Donald Trump to do so is blatantly unconstitutional, and I call on my colleagues — D or R — to stand by their oath to defend the Constitution,” some fearmongering Democrat rep you never heard of told the NY Times.

Barack Obama: The Political Genius That Wasn’t
The presidential election was as much about Barack Obama as it was about Kamala Harris and the Democrats, revealing that the former president holds little sway over voters eager to "turn the page."

Leftist can’t afford to cut Trump supporters out of their lives
The Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols wrote, “Family is irreplaceable ... but replace ‘Trump’ with, say, ‘David Duke’ and ask: Would I want to hang out with my uncle or cousin who thinks David Duke is awesome? ‘Trump isn’t Duke’ isn’t an answer: He’s more dangerous. Some things transcend politics.”

FCC's Carr Probes Big Tech 'Censorship Cartel,' NewsGuard
In a letter sent Wednesday, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote to the CEOs at the four largest tech companies — Apple's Tim Cook, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai — demanding information about the censorship activities.

How Trump can be the housing president
Trump’s plan to unlock portions of vast, federally owned lands isn’t just innovative — it’s necessary. By putting these lands back in the hands of the people, we can solve our housing shortage and bring prices back to a reasonable level.

Rand Paul Says He’ll Bring Back Major Trump-Era Border Program As Senate Chair
The senator said Thursday he will work to reinstate the Remain in Mexico program as the upcoming leader of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Three-quarters have faith Trump will win deportation war
The majority of every demographic showed expectations that Trump will do as promised, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey.

Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang spreads to 'every major city' in Tennessee says TBI
"They are back in all our major cities. They are running human trafficking operations."

Rand Paul Will Continue His COVID-19 Investigations From Atop The Senate Homeland Security Committee
In a letter to his colleagues, Paul says the committee's "mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself."

Trump and Hegseth on collision course with senior military leaders
His pick of Pete Hegseth signals he fully intends to carry out that campaign promise, and the most high profile casualty could be Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

AOC tells Joy Reid that Tulsi is 'pro-war'
"Let's be very clear, a Tulsi Gabbard nomination, is a pro-war nomination."

Trump’s nominee for Pentagon chief suggested new temple could be built on Temple Mount
“There’s no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is not possible,” Hegseth said. “I don’t know how it would happen. You don’t know how it would happen, but I know that it could happen,” he added.

Singer John Ondrasik Calls ‘Free Palestine’ a ‘Con Job,’ Labels Current College Campuses a ‘Ground Zero for Antisemitism’
“Free Palestine has become the greatest, like, con job in the history of the planet,” John Ondrasik, singer-songwriter for Five for Fighting, said at Cornell on Monday night.

Blinken Says Biden Will Funnel As Much Money As Possible To Ukraine Before Trump Takes Over
"We’ve obligated just recently and pushed out the door another $8 billion in security assistance for Ukraine."

In Ukraine, Trump election met with anxiety but also hope he might end the war
Some Ukrainian officials, commanders, soldiers, as well as public commentators, have said they had hoped Trump would win the election, seeing it as at least a chance to end the war that they feel is not going in Ukraine's favor, even if it is an opportunity also fraught with risks.

Russia open to any Ukraine peace talks if Trump starts them, envoy says
Gennady Gatilov, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, said any such negotiations needed to be based on the "realities on the ground," describing Ukraine as being on the back foot in the more-than-two-year conflict.

Oprah finally explains the controversial $1 million Kamala Harris fee
"My production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew, producers, and every other item necessary (including the benches and chairs we sat on) to put on a live production," she wrote.

Eva Longoria escapes ‘dystopian’ US to split time between two homes abroad
“I’m privileged,” Longoria said in an interview with Marie Claire. “I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them.”

Michael Douglas admits GOP under MAGA is 'party of the people,' Dems are just 'elitists'
Douglas said the Democrats never seemed to understand that the election was all about the economy and how average Americans felt the party had abandoned them.

Charlamagne wonders ‘what happened to all the fascist talk’ about Trump
“Well, I just don’t understand the White House visit ... what happened to the ‘threat of democracy’ talk? What happened to the ‘fascist’ talk? By the way, I know I’ve said those things about Trump, as well — but I’m not talking about me."

Taylor Swift Opens Toronto Concert With Land Acknowledgment
“We acknowledge that we are performing today at Rogers Centre, located on Treaty 13 lands,” read a graphic projected on stage before Swift’s performance. “We acknowledge the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples whose original and treaty territories we stand upon.”

MSNBC Host Joy Reid Becomes Latest Lib To Quit X Following Trump’s Triumph
She says the "abuse" and "negativity" on the platform were "not worth it."

Stephen King quits X
He follows a long line of losers out the door.

Denzel Washington Says Gay Kiss Scene Got Cut From ‘Gladiator 2’
"I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet."

Collegiate Women’s Volleyball Players File Title IX Lawsuit Against Schools Over Trans Players
"The NCAA, Mountain West Conference, and college athletic directors around the country are failing women," the lead attorney said.

Riley Gaines repeatedly tears into AOC for taking pronouns out of X bio after advocating for trans athletes
“They’ll pretend they never embraced (or even celebrated) the insanity. Don’t forget who the compliant, virtue-signaling sheep were.”

Oldest stone tablet inscribed with Bible’s Ten Commandments to be sold at auction
The 1,500-year-old tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament is expected to fetch up to $2 million when it goes up for auction next month.

Pentagon says nearly two dozen UFO sightings can’t be explained: ‘True anomalies’
In a blow to those hopeful that we are not alone in the universe, the report confirms that “AARO has discovered no verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology."

Jake Paul goes off after Mike Tyson’s weigh-in slap: ‘He must die’
"He’s angry, he’s an angry little elf. Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap buddy, but tomorrow you’re gonna get knocked the f*** out." The two fight Friday night at AT&T stadium in Arlington.

Tampa Bay Rays will play their home games at the Yankees' spring training field
The moves comes after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field. Steinbrenner Field, located across the street from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, seats 11,000.

Human in Bear Suit Was Used to Defraud Insurance Companies, Officials Say
Investigators consulted a biologist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who they said confirmed their hunch that they were not dealing with a particularly dexterous bear but rather “clearly a human in a bear suit.”