(Headline USA) Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas wasn’t the first lawmaker ever to blurt out a shout of protest during a presidential address to Congress.
But he’s perhaps the only one in recent memory to actually be ejected from the hall Tuesday night by the Speaker of the House.
Green said afterward it was worth it to make his point — even if he is punished by House leaders, who later called for the congressman to be censured.
“The president was saying he had a mandate, and I was making it clear that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green told reporters, referring to the health care program used by 80 million Americans.
“It’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president.”
Green’s outburst came at the start of President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress and immediately set the tone. The night was already uneasy. Stone-faced Democrats, now the minority party, had been sitting silently on one side of the chamber, rambunctious Republicans on the other.
As Green rose to speak, shaking his walking cane at the president, the Republicans drowned him out with muscular chants of “USA! USA!”
Johnson eyed the situation from his perch on the dais behind Trump, appearing hesitant to interrupt the president’s address. But the speaker was shaking his head and clearly desiring decorum in the chamber.
The speaker issued a warning for order, banging the gavel. “Take your seat, sir!” But the long-serving congressman remained standing. And then Johnson ordered the Sergeant at Arms to restore order by removing Green from the chamber.
Johnson said afterward that Green should be censured by the House — among the more severe reprimands his colleagues could mete out.
“He’s made history in a terrible way,” Johnson told reporters afterward.
“If they want to make a 77-year-old heckling congressman the face of their resistance, if that’s the Democrat Party, so be it,” Johnson said. “But we will not tolerate it on the House floor.”
(Headline USA) Florida’s attorney general announced Tuesday that his office has opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, days after they returned to the U.S.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that he directed his office to work with law enforcement to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the Tate brothers.
“Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers,” Uthmeier said.
After the Tates landed in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that the brothers weren’t welcome in Florida and that he would have the attorney general examine whether the state may have any jurisdiction over their alleged crimes.
During an appearance Monday on the PPD Podcast, Andrew Tate said the governor was caving to media pressure. Tate said he has a U.S. passport and a right to visit his home country. He said he has broken no laws and that he has never even been tried, let alone convicted, of a crime.
The Tates, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, were arrested in late 2022 and formally indicted last year in Romania on charges they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to that country, where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny the allegations.
Andrew Tate, 38, is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who is a hugely successful social media figure, attracting millions of followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren drawn in by the luxurious lifestyle the influencer projects online.
Andrew Tate previously was banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook for hate speech and his misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for getting sexually assaulted.
The intelligence pause has had an immediate effect on Ukraine’s war effort since it has relied on US intelligence for tracking Russian troops, and it’s required for firing US-provided HIMARS rocket systems.
A US official told Axios that the pause on intelligence sharing was focused on information that Ukraine could use to launch attacks inside Russian territory, operations that have risked provoking a direct clash between the US and Russia.
White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz suggested that the pause on both intelligence sharing and military aid could be lifted once peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are set.
“I think if we can nail down these negotiations and move towards these negotiations and, in fact, put some confidence building measures on the table, then the president will take a hard look at lifting this pause,” Waltz said. “We have to know that both sides are sincerely negotiating towards a partial, then permanent, peace.”
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Oval Office argument he had with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance was “regrettable” and insisted he was ready to work toward peace. Zelensky also said he was ready to sign the economic deal with the US that would give the US access to revenues from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and other natural resources.
The Axios report said that the pause on intelligence sharing was the key issue that motivated Zelensky to put out the statement. But so far, Zelensky’s comments haven’t been enough for the US to resume weapons shipments and intelligence support.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe suggested that the US could soon resume supporting the war. He said the pause “will go away, and we will work with Ukraine shoulder to shoulder as we have to push back on the aggression that is there but to put the world at a better place for this peace negotiations to move forward.”
Judicial Watch previously tried to get footage released in August 2021 through the Freedom of Information Act, but was denied due to the footage being “part of an ongoing investigation and criminal proceeding.”
“The release of this information could interfere with the enforcement proceedings by revealing the direction and pace of the investigation,” the court document read. “It could also lead to attempts to destroy or alter evidence, reveal information about potential witnesses who could then be subjected to intimidation as part of an effort to frustrate future investigative activities, or could place witnesses in danger.”
President Donald Trump granted clemency to every individuals that was charged or convicted of Jan. 6 charges when he returned to the presidency in January.
As the footage was claimed to be held due to pending charges, it would now be possible for for it to be released to the public; however, the police department wants Judicial Watch to pay up.
The group said there are supposedly over one thousand hours of footage from Jan. 6.
“There never has been a legitimate reason to withhold the January 6 police bodycam videos,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “If they wanted the videos out for political reasons, they’d be public, but instead the DC government wants more than $1.5 million in order for the public to view its January 6 videos.”
The non-profit has been a fixture in Jan. 6 coverage and is currently suing the federal government for $30 million over the wrongful death of Ashli Babbitt. She was shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The group is suing on behalf of Babbitt’s estate.
(José Niño, Headline USA) Florida Republican Rep. Monique Miller is in hot water with gun rights groups for refusing to accept the delivery of thousands of petitions from constituents, and for her moves to block the passage of open carry legislation.
Delivering petitions is an activity protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, Miller wanted nothing to do with the petition delivery and ordered the Florida House Sergeant at Arms to kick Florida Gun Rights Executive Director Logan Edge out of the state capitol.
On Tuesday, the National Association for Gun Rights and Florida Gun Rights published a Joint statement criticizing Miller’s actions.
“This isn’t just a slap in the face to gun owners—it’s a deliberate attempt to bury the Open Carry bill while hiding behind a cheap political stunt,” declared Ryan Flugaur, Vice President of the National Association for Gun Rights, the parent organization of Florida Gun Rights.
“For weeks, Miller has been squatting on the Open Carry bill, refusing to introduce it, despite Governor DeSantis’ call in his State of the State Address for lawmakers to advance pro-gun legislation,” added Flugaur. “Other than Florida, only New York, California, and Illinois continue to have this gun control on the books, in defiance of the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen Decision.”
“Governor Ron DeSantis said, ‘In spite of us saying we’re a free state, we’ve definitely lagged on that issue,’ while calling for Open Carry and repeal of Red Flag gun confiscation in his address today, and Rep. Monique Miller’s shameful actions are proof of that,” noted Edge.
“On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of pro-gun Floridians who want to bring Florida in line with the other 28 Constitutional Carry states, we’re urging Rep. Miller to apologize for her actions immediately, accept the petitions, and introduce the Open Carry bill without further delay,” Edge added.
The National Association for Gun Rights legal council is currently investigating this incident to determine if Edge’s and each petition signer’s First Amendment rights were violated.
Florida, along with California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New York and the District of Columbia, are the only jurisdictions that currently ban open carry.
NAGR is one of the fastest growing “no compromise” lobbies in the United States. It currently boasts 4.5 million members and its FLGR affiliate purports to be the “largest “No Compromise” gun rights group in the Sunshine State.”
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
(José Niño, Headline USA) On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote to reinstate a lower-court order for the Trump administration to release frozen foreign aid.
The court threw out an emergency appeal from the Trump administration. It also instructed U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his previous order that required the quick release of close to $2 billion in aid for work that had already been rendered.
While this ruling is a short-term defeat for President Donald Trump, the non-profit organizations and businesses that took the Trump administration to court are still anxiously waiting for their compensation.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissenting opinion, arguing Ali does not have the authority to order the payments. Alito asserted that the Court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris and imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”
The court’s ruling keeps Ali’s temporary restraining order that had halted the spending freeze. Ali is presiding over a hearing Thursday to mull over the implementation of a much longer pause.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, two conservatives and the latter being appointed to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump in 2020, sided with the three liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson to form the majority opinion.
Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch joined Alito in dissenting on this question.
The United States Agency for International Development controversy kicked off when the Trump administration issued an executive order to wipe out roughly 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts. This decision resulted in the termination of close to 5,800 out of 6,200 multi-year USAID contract awards, representing a cut of $54 billion. On top of that, 4,100 State Department awards were scrapped.
The Trump administration, in addition to Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk, have contended that USAID projects promote a liberal agenda, are financially wasteful, and do not advance genuine U.S. interests.
The lawsuit that was filed in response to Trump’s order argued that the pause in foreign aid was in violation of federal law.
On Feb. 13, 2025, Ali issued a ruling ordering the restoration of the funding. In response, the Trump administration appealed, describing Ali’s order “incredibly intrusive and profoundly erroneous” and protesting the timeline to release the money.
USAID was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to counter Soviet Union influence during the Cold War and advance U.S. soft power through socioeconomic development. But since then, it’s been involved in fomenting unrest against democratically elected governments abroad.
In 2003, for instance, the Bush administration used the USAID to foment a coup against the Georgian government. According to antiwar.com editorial director Scott Horton, the coup was assisted by a non-profit organization called the Liberty Institute, which at the time was funded by the USAID and George Soros.
More recently, the Biden administration’s head of USAID, Samantha Power, was involved in numerous regime-change efforts—most notoriously, in Libya.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
The 13-year-old, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018, always dreamed of being a police officer. Trump decided to bestow the honorary title to a visibly shocked Daniel, which cause the crowd to cheer and give a standing ovation.
Maddow tried to claim it was “disgusting” and attempted to act as though Trump was making the moment political.
Rachel Maddow says it’s “disgusting“ that Trump celebrated a young child who battled cancer
“For the record, and this is disgusting, the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the president had something to do with that,” Maddow said.
Social media users called it a new low and said Maddow completely missed the point of honoring Daniel.
Wallace tried to bring Jan. 6 into the discussion and said she hoped he would not commit suicide.
“I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer,” Wallace began. “But I hope he never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump’s supporters, and if he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide.”
Media personality Charlie Kirk labeled it as “the most repulsive comment” he has heard in recent time.
This is genuinely the most repulsive comment I've heard in a very long time from anyone on television.
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace politicizes young DJ’s moment at Trump’s speech:
“I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer, but I hope he never has to defend the United… pic.twitter.com/fcPA26djrx
“They are despicable. There is no end to their hate,” one user wrote about the hosts.
The two MSNBC hosts were not the only Democrats to exhibit disgusting behavior while Daniel was being celebrated.
Social media users noted how Democrats in attendance of Trump’s speech did not clap nor stand for Daniel.
“If the Ds can’t clap for a beautiful 13-year old boy who wants to become a cop, there’s something really wrong with them,” former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer wrote.
Journalist Nick Sortor said Rep. Laura Gillen was the only Democrat to stand and cheer for the Texas child.
Gillen later took to social media to express her disappointment with members of her party.
“I was disappointed that more of my colleagues didn’t join me in honoring DJ’s tenacity and courage — his fight rises above the level of petty politics,” Gillen wrote.
(Money Metals News Service) In this episode of the Money Metals Midweek Memo, host Mike Maharrey dives deep into the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, the ongoing trade war, and the gold market’s volatility.
With interest rate speculation dominating headlines, Maharrey urges listeners to shift their focus to the Fed’s balance sheet, a key indicator that often goes overlooked but holds crucial clues about the broader economy and inflation.
Stop Watching the Puck: Why the Balance Sheet Matters More Than Interest Rates
Maharrey, a longtime hockey fan, likens the market’s obsession with Federal Reserve interest rate policy to following the puck in a game—if you only focus on one thing, you miss everything else that shapes the bigger picture.
Instead, Maharrey urges listeners to pay closer attention to the Fed’s balance sheet, which reflects the actual money supply and the Fed’s quantitative easing (QE) and tightening (QT) actions. The balance sheet is where real monetary inflation happens, which ultimately drives price inflation.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed’s balance sheet has ballooned from $900 billion to nearly $9 trillion—a massive increase that fueled asset bubbles and devalued the dollar.
Gold Market Chaos and Rising Tariffs: What’s Driving Volatility?
The past week saw significant turbulence in the gold market. On Friday, gold prices dropped to $2,857 per ounce, breaking below the key $2,900 support level. However, by Tuesday, gold rebounded to $2,929, showing the volatility that has defined recent weeks.
The primary driver of this turbulence?
Tariffs.
After months of threats, the trade war officially escalated this week, with the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, prompting immediate retaliatory measures. Markets hate uncertainty, and gold—often seen as a safe haven—has reacted accordingly.
Adding to the instability is a massive movement of gold from London to New York, as big institutions seek to profit from price discrepancies caused by tariff fears. The latest data shows that nearly 800 tons (over 25.7 million ounces) of gold have shifted to New York vaults—numbers not seen since the early pandemic years.
Meanwhile, market volatility isn’t limited to gold. The VIX volatility index has surged 54% since February 19, and stocks took a major hit this week as investors grapple with economic uncertainty.
The Fed’s Silent Move: Balance Sheet Reduction Slowing Again
While mainstream media focuses on whether the Fed will cut interest rates, Maharrey points out a more significant shift: The Fed has already been easing its monetary policy since June 2024 by slowing the pace of balance sheet reduction.
By reducing the speed at which it shrinks its balance sheet, the Fed has effectively been injecting more liquidity into the financial system—contradicting its supposed fight against inflation.
Now, new reports indicate the Fed may further slow or even halt balance sheet reduction in response to government debt concerns.
With the federal government hitting its debt ceiling in early 2025, the U.S. Treasury is using “extraordinary measures” to keep the government running. But if the Fed continues reducing its balance sheet, it could pull too much liquidity out of the system, exacerbating financial instability.
Key takeaway: The Fed faces a no-win scenario. It needs to keep shrinking the balance sheet to fight inflation, but doing so risks destabilizing markets and making government borrowing more difficult.
With this much money still circulating, inflation isn’t going anywhere—no matter what the Fed says.
Gold and Silver: The Best Protection Against Monetary Chaos
Maharrey closes the episode with a clear message: Gold and silver remain the best hedge against the coming monetary storm.
The Fed is likely to slow or halt balance sheet reduction, which will inject even more liquidity into the system.
Market volatility is rising, with stocks, gold, and the dollar all swinging unpredictably.
The Federal Reserve is boxed in—unable to fight inflation without triggering an economic collapse.
In this uncertain environment, owning physical gold and silver is a crucial step for preserving wealth.
With current price volatility, investors should watch for dips and use them as buying opportunities before gold prices move higher in response to renewed inflation concerns.
For those interested in acquiring physical metals, Maharrey recommends calling Money Metals Exchange at 800-800-1865 or visiting MoneyMetals.com to explore options and speak with a precious metals specialist.
Final Thoughts
The Fed’s actions speak louder than words.
Despite hawkish rhetoric about fighting inflation, its moves on the balance sheet suggest it is preparing to accommodate more government spending and debt issuance—even if it means fueling more inflation.
For savvy investors, this means one thing: Gold and silver are more important than ever.
(Headline USA) A suspected senior planner in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 American service members during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has been taken into custody and will appear Wednesday in federal court in the United States to face charges.
President Donald Trump announced the arrest during his Tuesday night address to Congress, with the White House and the Justice Department subsequently identifying the suspect as Mohammad Sharifullah. Officials accuse him of being a member of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, known as ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, and say he admitted his role in that attack and others during an interview with FBI agents on Sunday after being taken into custody.
We thank US President Donald Trump for acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan's role and support in counter terrorism efforts across the region, in the context of Pakistan Security Forces’ recent apprehension of ISKP’s top tier operational commander Shareefullah, who is an…
Senior Pakistani intelligence officers on Wednesday confirmed the arrest and said Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, was captured in the country’s restive southwest Balochistan province near the border with Afghanistan after multiple operations had failed to seize him. The officers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said Sharifullah had joined the militant group in 2016 and was involved in numerous attacks across Afghanistan.
Sharifullah is charged in federal court in Virginia with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death. He will face a judge on Wednesday and be assigned a lawyer to speak on his behalf. Additional charges are possible as the case moves through the court system.
Trump, in his address to Congress, said he was “pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity. And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”
The Abbey Gate bombing, in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country amid the withdrawal by U.S. forces from the country, occurred in August 2021 when a suicide bomber attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport. Besides 13 U.S. service members, about 170 Afghans were also killed in the attack, which triggered widespread congressional criticism and undermined public confidence in President Joe Biden’s administration.
According to an FBI affidavit filed as part of the case, Sharifullah admitted under questioning to having joined ISIS-K in 2016 and to having participated in the Abbey Gate bombing by scouting a route to the airport for the bomber and communicating to other members of the militant group that the path was clear. The bomber was later identified as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State group militant who had been in an Afghan prison but was released by the Taliban as the group took control of the country that summer.
During his FBI interrogation, Sharifullah also said he had shared firearms and weapons instructions before a March 2024 attack in Moscow that was also carried out by ISIS-K, authorities said.
Sharifullah was arrested in 2019 by the U.S.-backed Afghan government at the time but escaped from prison on Aug. 15, 2021, as the Taliban took Kabul.
The Pakistani officials said Sharifullah had planned the bombing from behind bars with other senior militant figures. They said he remained on the run in the border areas of Balochistan until his arrest through a joint intelligence-sharing operation between Pakistan and the U.S.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for “acknowledging and appreciating” the country’s role in counter terrorism efforts in Afghanistan.
“We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” Sharif said on the social platform X.
From Kabul, the Taliban chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid declined to comment beyond saying that the arrest “on Pakistani soil” of an Afghan national and member of the Islamic State group shows that IS group figures “have taken refuge and established havens” inside Pakistan.
“This issue has nothing to do with Afghanistan,” Mujahid said. The regional Islamic State affiliate is a rival group to the Afghan Taliban.
Trump, a Republican, had repeatedly condemned Biden’s role in the Afghanistan withdrawal on the campaign trail and blamed Biden, a Democrat, for the Abbey Gate attack. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity Tuesday night to discuss a case that had yet to be unsealed, said Sharifullah’s arrest came after fresh U.S. intelligence community coordination, increased intelligence sharing and pressure on regional partners to bring those responsible for the attack to account since Trump’s swearing-in in January.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Oran Alexander Routh, the son of alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh, is still trying to get out of prison after pleading guilty to one count of possessing child pornography in January.
Oran, who faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, had been on house arrest leading up to his January guilty plea. After a judge remanded him to custody, Routh filed an appeal with the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court—arguing that his case’s unusual circumstances merit his release until sentencing on May 14.
Routh’s Tuesday appeal reveals how the FBI came to search his home in the first place.
UPDATE: Alleged would-be Trump assassin's son filed an appeal yesterday to get out of jail until his sentencing in May. The appeal argues that Ryan Routh's notoriety has placed his son in danger. The most interesting part is it reveals how the FBI came to search Oran's property… https://t.co/0DmSjWEahspic.twitter.com/FQDCRycrUW
According to his appeal, the FBI searched one of Ryan’s phones, finding text messages about a letter he mailed to his son shortly before his Sept. 15 alleged assassination attempt.
“This discovery led the FBI to contact [Oran] Routh and ultimately obtain and execute search warrants … The FBI seized cellular devices located at Routh’s residence and on his person. It was during the subsequent search of these devices that the materials that are the subject of this prosecution were found,” Oran’s appeal states.
Oran argued that the notoriety of his father has made him a marked man in prison. Being convicted of possessing child porn hasn’t helped his cause, either, he added.
“While awaiting sentencing in a local jail, Routh faces the very real possibility of physical harm based on the alleged actions of his father and the intense publicity surrounding President Trump. In this politically charged atmosphere, Routh is at great risk of suffering serious injury or even death at the hands of other inmates who harbor strong political views about the attempted assassination of President Trump—on both sides of the coin,” the appeal states.
“Because of the enormous publicity surrounding Routh and his father, an inmate can easily discover that Routh has been charged with and pled guilty to child pornography offenses and would then spread the word to everyone at the jail. The unusual notoriety and the nature of the charges make Routh especially vulnerable to being stigmatized and at high risk for being physically attacked while in a local jail.”
The Justice Department has yet to respond to Routh’s appeal.
Law enforcement started investigating Oran for child pornography in late 2023, when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, or NCMEC, flagged a video allegedly on his phone. NCMEC passed that tip along to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, which visited his mother’s home last February. Law enforcement didn’t follow up until Oran’s father allegedly tried to kill Trump.
The father faces trial for attempted assassination in September.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
