Poll: Majority of Americans Want Spending Cuts in Debt Ceiling Deal

(By Glenn Minnis, The Center Square) A large majority of voters say that President Joe Biden should compromise with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to cut government spending as part of a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, according to a new poll commissioned by America’s New Majority Project.

In a national survey of 2,000 people conducted by McLaughlin and Associates over a four-day period beginning on May 4, nearly 61% of voters polled agreed with the statement that “House Republicans have done their jobs and passed a responsible debt ceiling increase, now President Biden and Senate Democrats must do their job and negotiate a compromise.

The GOP-led House passed the “Limit, Save, Grow Act” last month that raises the debt ceiling to avoid default but cuts $4.5 trillion in federal spending. U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that if the debt ceiling is not raised, the country could begin defaulting on its debt by June 1.

A large majority of those surveyed rejected Biden’s call for a “clean” debt ceiling increase with no compromises on government spending. Voters want a check on government spending, with 64% branding the administration’s plan as a “dirty” debt ceiling increase because it would ultimately mean even greater debt and spending while weakening Social Security and Medicare.

“Americans want Congress to cut federal spending and they want Republicans and Democrats to compromise to get things done,” said Joe DeSantis, chief strategy officer at Gingrich 360. America’s New Majority Project is a project of Gingich 360. “Biden and the Democrats find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion on both issues.”

Given the choice between a GOP candidate who will only vote for a debt ceiling increase if it also cuts government spending and a Democratic candidate who will only vote for a debt ceiling increase if it does not cut government spending, voters in the poll selected the GOP candidate by a 49-35 margin, with Republicans gaining ground among independents, Gen X, Democrat and women voters.

In addition, more than six out of every 10 respondents (62%), including a majority of all parties, ethnicities, genders and age groups, support spending cuts to get the deficit under control even if it means more adjustments for them and their families.

Mayorkas FINALLY Admits Haitian Whipping Scandal a Hoax, Corrects Reporter

(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Embattled Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas offered a rare moment of truth-telling during a press briefing Thursday by correcting a reporter who was propagating a debunked hoax about Border Patrol agents whipping Haitian migrants. 

Although unidentified by several fellow journalists who tweeted about the exchange, the journalist in question is suspected to be April Ryan, a notorious race-baiting reporter who currently serves as press correspondent for The Grio and often focuses her questioning on issues related solely to the black community.

At the briefing—intended to give Mayorkas an opportunity to deflect blame for the crush of illegal immigrants flooding the border after the lapse of pandemic-era Title 42 protections—Ryan initially asked what DHS officials were doing specifically to protect black refugees who could not safely file asylum claims in their country of origin.

When Mayorkas failed to address her concerns, she followed up, invoking the September 2021 “whipping” scandal that Democrats used to redirect attention from their failed Afghanistan withdrawal.

“The southern border is not just Mexicans,” Ryan began. “It’s Haitians, it’s Africans—particularly with that issue with the Haitians being whipped with the with the reins on the horses, but what is there…”

Mayorkas then interjected to acknowledge that the besmirched border agents had been vindicated by a 500-page report last year.

“Well, let me just correct you right there, because actually the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur,” he said.

Ryan demurred, insisting that it had happened, while leaving open the possibility that the photos were altered.

“I’m sorry, I saw it differently,” she said. “They were whipped with something from the horse—reins from a horse. Maybe either the video or the picture was fixed, but what I saw was totally different.”

Mayorkas, however, stood his ground.

“Yeah, I’m gonna leave you as, uh, corrected,” he replied.

After Reuters videos of the Sept. 19, 2021, episode began gaining traction in the leftist press, Democrats quickly proceeded to pounce on the false narrative.

The video, which did not in fact show border agents whipping anyone, was “horrible to watch,” declared then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she said at a Sept. 20 press briefing.

Some, such as MSNBC race-hustler Joy Reid, suggested that the images of the mounted agents attempting to assist the migrants as they made their way illegally across the border were evocative of slavery.

But on Sept. 24 the photographer who took the images, Paul Ratje, came forward to refute the claims that the migrants were being whipped.

Shortly thereafter, the New York Times quietly corrected the record.

Nonetheless, President Joe Biden insisted that very same evening at a press conference that the agents responsible would pay the price.

“It was horrible what [they did]—to see people treated like they did: horses nearly running them over and people being strapped,” Biden said. “I promise you, those people will pay … an investigation is underway now, and there will be consequences.”

Even after a June 2022 report formally cleared the agents, DHS announced it would still punish them for “administrative violations.”

Republicans slammed the administration’s sad attempt at saving face.

Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.

Biden’s FDA Flips on Gay Blood Donations

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) With the outbreak of monkeypox and the concerns it spread throughout the LGBT community still fresh in the public’s mind, the Biden regime’s Food and Drug Administration has decided now would be a good time to revise its policy on allowing gay men to donate blood.

Men who have sex with other men outside of a monogamous relationship will no longer be required to abstain from sex for three months prior to giving blood. The FDA’s guidelines had for years sought to guard the blood supply from HIV, which was predominantly transmitted by homosexuals.

Under the revised policy, all blood donors will be screened with a new questionnaire that evaluates their individual risks for HIV based on sexual behavior, recent partners and other factors. Potential donors — gay, straight, trans or otherwise sexually oriented — who report having anal sex with new partners in the last three months will be barred from giving until a later date.

“I’ve pushed FDA for years on this issue,” boasted Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer. “And today, this is a big step in the right direction to correct this misguided policy and allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood.”

The FDA, which dictates requirements and procedures for U.S. blood banks, “finalized its recommendations to expand eligibility for blood donation to include gender-inclusive, individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV,” a statement from the agency informed.

“The FDA has worked diligently to evaluate our policies and ensure we had the scientific evidence to support individual risk assessment for donor eligibility while maintaining appropriate safeguards to protect recipients of blood products,” said Peter Marks, M.D., PhD., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “The implementation of these recommendations will represent a significant milestone for the agency and the LGBTQI+ community.”

While public feedback was sprinkled with concerns about the possibility of HIV still being transferred under the FDA’s new policy, more alarms were raised about receiving blood tainted by people who had gone overboard with COVID jabs and the possibility of a monkeypox resurgence.

“I still don’t want it any more than I want vaccinated blood. Just my $.02,” wrote one commentator, while another asked “Can we get a different blood bank for unvaccinated and straight people?”

NYC Homeless Man Charged for Defecating on LGBT Pride Flags

(Abdul–Rahman Oladimeji Bello, Headline USA) A homeless man in New York was charged with several hate crimes for defecating on an LGBT Pride flag and wiping with another one at a Manhattan restaurant.

According to the NYPD, 45-year-old Fred Innocent walked into a tapas bar called Buceo 95 at about 10 a.m. on April 15 as the day crew was setting up. Innocent then grabbed two pride flags off a table, relieving himself on one and cleaning himself with the other.

A Daily News report noted that restaurant owner Courtney Barroll believed Innocent’s action to be “a total hate crime.”

“He came in within 15 minutes of us opening up the restaurant,” Barroll said. “He could have gone to Popeyes or McDonald’s around the corner. He could have used napkins.” 

She added that she puts up the rainbow flags to show the restaurant’s support for the LGBTQ+ community.

“We support everyone no matter what kind of background, race or lifestyle,” Barroll said. “He took the only two flags in the area, and he used one to defecate and the other to wipe himself.”

The report added that restaurant porter Enrique Trujillo discovered the mess Innocent created as he attempted to clean the dining shed.

“I smelled something really bad,” Trujillo said. “When I started to clean near the corners — that’s when I saw it. The man carried out his disgusting act beneath a surveillance camera.”

Barrel noted that the hate crimes detectives worked hard to track down Innocent, noting that she would press for the maximum charge if asked to go to court.

However, this incident happens to be controversial as social media users noted that flag desecration used to be an act of protected free speech under the First Amendment.

“I think charging him with a hate crime is a massive overreaction,” Misha Fitton tweeted. “He ruined their property, and this was obviously wrong, but I don’t think it should have been charged as a hate crime.”

Ice Brandon also wrote, “ Don’t mind the violent murders, robberies, muggings, rapes, etc… Focus on this shiny thing over here. NYC is being led into a gutter.”

Another puzzled user asked, “So you can burn an American flag, but pooping on a gay flag is somehow a crime?”

Finally, @verbal_chancla concluded, “Some flags are more equal than others.”

Did the NSA Spy on Devin Nunes?

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently said that the “head” of the House Intelligence Committee once told him that the National Security Agency was reading the congressman’s texts.

Evidence suggests that Carlson was speaking of former congressman Devin Nunes, who chaired the committee at the start of former President Donald Trump’s term and played an integral role in investigating—and ultimately exposing—the FBI’s Russia-collusion hoax.

After his California district was redrawn to force him into a primary, Nunes left Congress to accept a role as CEO of Trump’s Truth Social platform.

Carlson’s statement comes from an interview he did with former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

“He had been drinking and said, ‘We have to talk about this.’ I said, ‘I’ll text you,’ and he said, ‘I can’t text … because the NSA reads my texts,’” Carlson told Gabbard.

“I said, ‘You’re the head guy of the intel oversight committee. You’re their boss. He said, ‘Yeah, well they’re still spying on me.’”

Carlson did not identify the specific member he was talking to, but the list of House Intelligence Committee chairs over the last decade is not long: Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio (2023-present); Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., (2019-2023); Nunes (2015-2019); and former Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Mich. (2011-2015).

Headline USA contacted each of these officials. All of them but Nunes denied speaking to Carlson about the NSA.

“It was not Mr. Rogers who told Tucker Carlson that,” said Rogers’s executive assistant, Michelle Miller.

“To answer your question: No,” said Turner’s communications director, Jeff Naft.

“It was not Adam!” said Schiff’s press secretary, Maryam Ahmed.

There is another compelling reason to believe that Nunes was the one who told Carlson about the NSA: Nunes was the member of Congress who spearheaded an investigation into whether the NSA was spying on Carlson.

That investigation came in 2021, after Carlson said he had received evidence that the NSA has been reading his communications.

“A whistleblower, who is in a position to know, repeated back to us information about a story that we are working on that could have only come directly from my texts and emails,” Carlson said at the time, explaining that the whistleblower told him the NSA tapped his phone because he sought an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

An internal NSA review reportedly confirmed that the NSA had monitored Carlson’s communications.

“The nation’s top electronic spy agency found that Carlson was mentioned in communications between third parties and his name was subsequently revealed through ‘unmasking,’ a process in which relevant government officials can request the identities of American citizens in intelligence reports to be divulged provided there is an official reason,” The Record reported in July 2021.

Along with probing the NSA over Carlson, Nunes has also been a thorn in the agency’s ability to renew its controversial Section 702 spy powers, which allows the U.S. government to conduct warrantless surveillance on Americans when they’re communicating with foreign targeted outside the U.S. for intelligence purposes. Section 702 is set to expire by the end of this year unless renewed by lawmakers.

Nunes wouldn’t be the first intel chief to be spied on by the U.S. government.

When Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, launched an investigation into the CIA torturing Muslims in the wake of 9/11, she soon found that the CIA was monitoring her committee.

“I have grave concerns that the CIA’s search may well have violated the separation-of-powers principles embodied in the United States Constitution, including the speech-and-debate clause,” Feinstein said in 2014. “Besides the constitutional implications, the CIA search may also have violated the Fourth Amendment [and] the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.”

The NSA also found itself at the center of a spying scandal involving incoming Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. After the agency intercepted conversations between Flynn and Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak in December 2016, at least 16 top Obama administration officials illegally unmasked Flynn’s identity from the NSA report.

They subsequently used that knowledge to leak to the media about the report and then accused Flynn of violating the archaic Logan Act, a 1799 law that prohibits civilians from conducting U.S. diplomacy.

Under those pretenses, the FBI opened an investigation into Flynn and ensnared him in a perjury trap that ultimately led to his forced resignation within weeks of the new presidency.

Nunes denounced the unmasking scandal after it became public knowledge.

“There is no justification for the exorbitant number of times Michael Flynn’s name was unmasked, briefed to senior Obama officials, and even spread outside the FBI in unmasked form,” he said. “The Flynn leak was a major crime, yet even after this investigation, no one was held accountable.”

Nunes, who retired from Congress at the end of 2021, did not respond to multiple messages over the last several days seeking comment. Carlson, for his part, could not be reached for comment, while the NSA has yet to respond to an email query about the matter.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report. 

Media Floats Manchin Running as Conservative Spoiler to Rescue Biden

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) White House water-carriers at Axios ran a report floating the idea of Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.V., running a “non-partisan” presidential ticket in 2024 to help President Joe Biden secure reelection.

Manchin, who often finds himself caught between Republicans and Democrats on major policy decisions, recently courted Iowa voters.

In a Wednesday meeting with Iowa business leaders, for example, Manchin told those present that he is “fiscally responsible and socially compassionate.” He also positioned himself as a friend to the people and a helper.

“I believe the government should be your partner. I’m not your provider,” he added.

With his term up in 2024, Manchin will have to decide whether or not he should run again in the increasingly-red West Virginia, or pursue other opportunities. When asked about his potential presidential ambitions, Manchin said that he is most concerned about saving the nation.

“You have got to fight for the reasonable, responsible middle and no one is doing that,” he said. “There’s no options.”

Meanwhile, as the nation heads full steam towards a Trump-Biden presidential rematch, a political group called No Labels is attempting to promote a centrist 2024 ticket.

“We like to say one-ticket, one-time. This is not a third party, it’s one Democrat and one Republican. Everyone will have a seat at the table,” Nancy Jacobson, the founder and CEO of No Labels, said, describing her group.

“This is an insurance policy for a unique American moment.”

Manchin has positioned himself for such a run, simultaneously leading a campaign against President Joe Biden’s “radical climate agenda” while also supporting the far-left Inflation Reduction Act.

In Manchin’s words, “this administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability.”

He also accused the Biden administration of creating policies to “kill the fossil industry by a thousand cuts.”

Oscar-Winning Actress Vows to ‘F-Up’ Anyone Who Objects to Drag Shows

(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) While professing love, Hollywood star Charlize Theron appear to have zero tolerance for any criticism of drag queens.

In a video selfie with some friends in the background in connection with the “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” telethon, Theron, whose choice of words may have indicated that she was somewhat carried away by the moment, asserted as follows:

“We love you queens. We’re in your corner, and we’ve got you, and I will f— anybody up who is, like, trying to f— with anything with you guys.”

In both scripted content and in the real world (and there is obviously overlap in show business), the entertainment community seems to be enamored with the F-bomb, even though the jarring terminology often detracts from the impact of a performance or messaging.

“In all seriousness,” she continued, “there are so many things that are hurting and really, killing our kids, and we all know what I’m talking about right now. And it ain’t no drag queen, because if you’ve ever seen a drag queen lip sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only makes you love more. It makes you a better person….”

Theron may have been alluding to deadly shooting incidents and presumably bemoaning the lack of additional gun control measures, the latter which is one of the Left’s go-to agenda items amidst rising crime.

According to the Daily Mail, “Theron, whose adopted son identifies as female, said children faced greater dangers in the world, seemingly referencing gun violence, which she has spoken out against in the past.”

Ironically, and as many observers have often noted, Hollywood has made a fortune on movies and TV shows featuring, if not glorifying, gunplay, even while many of its celebrities vocally condemn guns when they’re not overtly role-playing.

Theron, 47, who won an Academy Award for her performance as a serial killer in Monster (2003), is hardly a stranger to action roles in her extensive filmography, including the 2015 Mad Max reboot.

In a grim footnote that is nothing to make light of, Charlize Theron was, as a teen, an eyewitness to a family tragedy involving a firearm used in self-defense.

The actress concluded the selfie by encouraging viewers to, “Please support all the great organizations that are out there helping all of this nonsense going away like it should, all of these incredibly stupid policies…No more room for hate — only love, and love equals drag queens!”

In the context of “nonsense” and “stupid policies,” Theron presumably was lamenting bills in red state legislatures to ban drag queen shows when minors are present, exhibitions that conservative lawmakers and any parent supporting traditional values consider a form of child grooming.

NYC Mayor Temporarily Suspends Sanctuary for Illegals

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would temporarily suspend its sanctuary for illegal immigrants, including so-called Right-to-Shelter Rules, as the lapse of pandemic-era Title 42 protections threatened to bring a new migrant influx to the overburdened metropolis, the New York Times reported.

“This is not a decision taken lightly, and we will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible, as we have done since Day 1,” Adams spokesman Fabien Levy said in a statement announcing the policy change.

Levy said the city was doing what it can, “but without more support from our federal and state partners, we are concerned the worst may be yet to come.”

Joshua Goldfein, a staff lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, which represents the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless, said that he would be watching keenly to see what the city decided to do without its sanctuary policy in place.

“We all hope that they never have to take any actions that would be in violation of these rules that they’re suspending,” he said.

He also suggested that Adams and the city may now suspend protections for families who have been sheltered in hotels for more than 30 days, removing their immunity to eviction as well.

“They want the ability to turn off their key cards and lock them out,” Goldfein said.

It was the latest stunt from Adams, who has become increasingly critical of the Biden administration’s open-border policy as his city is increasingly overrun with crime and filth.

The Democrat mayor has awkwardly tried to stem the flow of illegals both by accusing red states of racism for sending them to New York and, in turn, threatening to export them from the Big Apple into neighboring Republican districts with far fewer resources.

As Adams flounders in his attempt to control the immigration crisis, Republicans in the state legislature have tried to take matters into their own hands.

Assemblyman Matt Slater, a Republican from Hudson Valley, proposed a new bill seeking to get a handle on New York’s growing migrant crisis by requiring state officials to vet and monitor migrants sent to New York from the U.S. southern border, the New York Post reported.

“It’s not denying the state’s responsibility to helping those who are seeking asylum, but it is providing security checks and balances and scrutiny to make sure that we’re protecting New Yorkers at the same time as protecting those seeking asylum here in our state,” Slater told the Post.

DeSantis: Sanctuary States’ Fake IDs for Illegals May Be Felony in Fla.

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that prohibits illegal immigrants from using their sanctuary state IDs as proof of citizenship, the Washington Examiner reported.

“In Florida, we will not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties to protect our country,” DeSantis said in a tweet announcing the new law.

“The legislation I signed today gives Florida the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration laws in the country, fighting back against reckless federal government policies and ensuring the Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration,” he added.

Florida Democrats denounced the move, arguing that the law would harm illegal immigrants.

“This bill is politically driven, and it’s an anti-immigrant bill that will hurt and even kill undocumented immigrants,” Democratic state Rep. Susan Valdes said.

Currently 19 of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have laws permitting driver’s licenses to be issued to illegals, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

That has raised particular concern for election-integrity advocates who say the IDs could be used falsely to assert voter eligibility—even in states that maintain voter ID policies—as well as other rights and privileges conferred on U.S. citizens.

DeSantis said his state will no longer recognize those IDs and that anyone attempting to use them under false pretenses may be charged with a felony.

The Republican governor and likely presidential contender also said in his statement that under the Left’s rule, the illegal immigration problem has magnified.

“The Biden Border Crisis has wreaked havoc across the United States and has put Americans in danger,” he said.

All private employers with more than 25 employees must now use the state’s E-Verify program for new hires, meaning that they will be unable to hire illegal immigrants.

The law also will require that those seeking medical care be asked whether or not they are U.S. citizens.

Moreover, the bill will increase funding for the state to transport illegal immigrants into so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. DeSantis notably forced leftist elites to acknowledge their hypocritical NIMBYism last year by flying roughly 50 illegals to the liberal seaside enclave of Martha’s Vineyard.

Other self-declared sanctuary cities—notably New York City and Chicago—also have grown increasingly bitter over the transport of asylum-seeking illegals into their jurisdictions from red states such as Texas.

The good news for Floridians comes as President Joe Biden and his administration are letting the pandemic-era Title 42 protections expire, leading to yet another mass influx of illegals at the U.S. southern border.

WVU Coach Ordered to Sensitivity Training, Hit w/ Salary Reduction for Gay Slur

Corine Gatti, Headline USA) West Virginia University men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins is in hot water after calling rivals a gay slur during a May 8 interview on the “Bill Cunningham Show.” 

Huggins used the pejorative in reference to rival Xavier University after saying that “any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, my God, they can get away with anything,” the Daily Caller reported.

In turn, Cunningham questioned if the incident was a transgender night. Huggins responded it “was all those fags, those Catholic fags, I think.”

Huggins was ordered to undergo sensitivity training and received a $1 million pay cut, in addition to a three-game suspension, with more conditions for the coach to follow if he wants to keep his job with the Mountaineers.

Huggins is also expected to meet with “LGBTQ+ leaders” at the school, said a joint statement from WVU President E. Gordon Gee and Athletic Director Wren Baker.

“We expect Coach Huggins, in accordance with these partners, to engage in additional opportunities to show support for the LGBTQ+ community,” it said.

Funds deducted from Huggins’s salary will go to WVU’s Carruth Center, which offers counseling and psychological services, as well as other organizations that support marginalized communities.

The university also will partner with two local gay activist groups, Fairness WV and Morgantown Pride.

Additionally, Huggins will make a donation to Xavier University to support its Center for Faith and Justice, and its Center for Diversity and Inclusion after his remarks disparaging the Catholic faith. 

In a statement released to the media, Huggins acknowledged his mistake and offered his deepest apologies to those he had insulted, including the Xavier University community and West Virginia University.

He expressed that there was simply no excuse for his insensitive language, and he fully accepted any consequences that may come his way. 

“I am ashamed and embarrassed and heartbroken for those I have hurt. I must do better, and I will,” he said.

The university statement indicated that additional incidents of misconduct from the coach will result in the termination of his position. It also changed Huggins’s contract from a long-term agreement to a yearly one that started on May 10 and will end on April 30, 2024.

The 69-year-old coach, who played for three season at WVU, has more than 900 wins at the collegiate level and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year.