Smash The Bubble

News and opinion from both the left and the right, mixed together so you can break out of your filter bubble.

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Today's Headlines

Biden Clemency Spree Continues with 2500+ 'Historic' Commutations

Sam Altman's OpenAI backing initiative headed by several anti-Trump staff pushing liberal causes

Sam Altman's OpenAI is backing a new AI initiative from a group where John Kerry was a founding member that has voiced support for liberal causes in the past.

More GOP Reps Join Call to Abolish ATF

A call by Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., to dismantle the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gained support Friday from more House Republicans.

Why ‘Late Regime’ Presidencies Fail

The coalition collapse that doomed Biden follows a grim precedent set by another Democratic leader: Jimmy Carter.

Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban-or-sale law slated to start Sunday

Donald Trump had asked the Supreme Court to delay TikTok’s ban-or-sale law to give him an opportunity to act once he returns to the White House.

The notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump

All eyes are on former President Donald Trump, who has launched another White House bid.

CA Burning: One of World's Largest Lithium Ion Battery Storage Plants Bursts Into Flames

How Kyrsten Sinema's decision makes Democrats' 2024 Senate map tighter

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema decided to shake up the political world on Friday by becoming an independent. The former Democrat is still caucusing with the party in the Senate, so the Democratic caucus still has 51 members. Now, instead of 49 Democr…

CNN Political Briefing

The political news you need to know, in 10 minutes or less. Hosted by David Chalian.

Three Hard Truths About California’s Fire Crisis

Climate change makes fires more dangerous. Government competence matters. And preventing catastrophic fires requires expensive, unpopular measures.

Rep. Cloud to Newsmax: Sunset Commission Would Ensure ROI for Taxpayers

The Federal Agency Sunset Commission introduced Thursday would "make sure that the federal government is turning a good ROI" for U.S. taxpayers, Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, said Friday on Newsmax.

The fine print of the Respect for Marriage Act

Let's start with the positive: Republicans and Democrats are coming together to protect same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court.

Trump likely to avoid inaugural crowd size controversy with swearing-in moved indoors

Controversy over President-elect Trump's inaugural crowd sizes likely will remain out of the conversation since the ceremony will be moved indoors due to harsh weather conditions.

How Santa Ana Winds Are Fuelling the Deadly fires in LA

It’s very hard to extinguish a fire under these conditions.

That’s Not How Constitutional Amendments Work

The president’s declaration that the Equal Rights Amendment is “the law of the land” doesn’t make it so.

Democratic senators send letters to tech CEOs probing donations

Meet the woman steering Biden's bipartisan winning streak on Capitol Hill

The Biden administration managed to rack up a long list of major legislative wins in its first two years despite facing one of the most closely-divided Congresses in history. From bipartisan action on infrastructure, gun safety and same-sex marria…

Rep. Tiffany to Newsmax: TikTok Ban Not Free Speech Suppression

The bank on TikTok is "not a suppression of free speech" because China's Communist Party is using the app "to mine data of Americans, perhaps even get state secrets and using that for their purposes," says Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.

Obama wishes wife Michelle happy birthday as she stays away from key public events

Former President Obama wished his wife, Michelle Obama, a happy birthday on Friday. Michelle has remained out of the spotlight in recent weeks.

The Tyranny of Fragility

How Alexis de Tocqueville foretold the rise of victimhood culture.

Biden's last-minute constitutional change slammed by legal experts: 'Cynical and irrelevant'

Legal experts called President Biden's announcement that the 28th Amendment was officially law "cynical and irrelevant" as well as "an embarrassingly pandering moment."

Margins of Error

Look closely at almost anything and you'll find data—lots of it. But what are those numbers really saying about who we are and what we believe? Harry Enten is on a mission to find out.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is tapped to fill JD Vance’s Senate seat in Ohio

The state’s governor, Mike DeWine, announced the appointment Friday, ending suspense over who would succeed the vice president-elect in the Senate.

Noem optimistic Laken Riley would still be alive if she were DHS secretary, as freshman senator rips Mayorkas

Trump DHS secretary nominee Kristi Noem told GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno in her confirmation hearing that she believes Laken Riley would be alive if she had been leading DHS.

These Bizarre Theories About the L.A. Wildfires Endanger Everyone

Societies that scapegoat foreign powers for domestic problems erode their ability to solve those problems.

Biden Commutes Sentences of Nearly 2,500 Drug Offenders

The action, aimed at inmates who received harsher sentences based on old disparities in drug laws, is the broadest commutation of individual sentences ever issued by a U.S. president.

Energy expert weighs in on 23 state attorneys general suing EPA over new methane emissions fee

Steve Milloy, a former Trump administration EPA official, said that Congress needs to remake the law in order for the new methane emissions rule to be reversed.

BREAKING: Unanimous SCOTUS Upholds TikTok Ban

Should You Be Prepping for Trump?

Some liberals are stocking up on and freeze-drying food—and say that others should be too.

Golden Rulebreakers: CNN Gets to Break Out That Defamation Checkbook

Politics of the Day

Politics of the Day

Live updates: Trump’s inauguration to be moved indoors due to extreme cold in Washington

The Senate is holding more confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks ahead of his return to office on Monday.

Treasury Department recoups $31 million in improper government payments to dead people

The Treasury Department announced this week that it had recouped more than $31 million in fraud and improper payments to dead people during just five months of having access to the Social Security Administration's federal death database.

Fareed explains why AI's massive energy demands are straining the power grid, but also why AI could enable big breakthroughs in sustainability and clean energy.

Detransitioned Student Prevented from Speaking About His Experience on Campus

Biden is commuting sentences of nearly 2,500 nonviolent drug offenders

The announcement follows President Joe Biden’s dramatic step to commute the sentences of 37 federal inmates facing execution to life without parole.

Trump Doesn’t Believe Anything. That’s Why He Wins.

Transactionalism is Trump’s secret weapon.

Newsom Should Resign

California's progressive governance contributed to the significant damage the L.A. wildfires have caused.

Trump Victory Leads Global Surge of Right-Wing Parties

President-elect Donald Trump's victory in November along with Republicans taking control of Congress capped off a year in which right-wing political groups worldwide gained more power than at any time since the end of the Cold War.

Vivek Will NOT Replace Vance in Senate

An Illustrated Guide to Trump’s Conflict of Interest Risks

President-elect Donald J. Trump has a range of new business ventures that could expose him to even greater potential conflicts of interest than during his first term.

Senator Blumenthal to Kristi Noem: Ignore the 300,000 Missing Children...

Agitprop at the AHA

If the American Historical Association formally adopts a resolution accusing Israel of “scholasticide,” it could destroy the organisation’s reputation for serious scholarship.

Vice president-elect JD Vance assembles his senior staff

Report Projecting Drop in Freshman Enrollment Delivered Incorrect Findings

The National Student Clearinghouse, which produced the report, reversed its conclusions after identifying methodological errors in its research.

Vivek Ramaswamy plans to announce Ohio gubernatorial run

The co-leader of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative plans to announce a run for Ohio governor, two people familiar with his plans said.

Judge Cannon Mulls Release of Trump Documents Report to Congress

The decision by Judge Aileen M. Cannon not to issue an immediate ruling raised the possibility that President-elect Donald J. Trump would take office in the meantime and have power over the report’s release.

Bipartisan Lawmakers: US Needs to Boost Security in Arctic

As President-elect Donald Trump pushes for the U.S. to acquire Greenland from Denmark, politicians from both sides of the aisle say more security around the Arctic is needed.

The Solzhenitsyn Test

Lying is a prerequisite for securing a Trump appointment.

Trump and His Envoy Impact Mideast Before Inauguration

Multiple officials tell Just the News that Trump pressure helped Qataris to quickly close Hamas-Israel ceasefire that Biden had negotiated months earlier.

Eyes on the Prize: Samizdat

Ioften quip that I'm the last of the bison when it comes to American journalists-a description Ring Lardner applied to Gene Fowler in the 1930s. It's a nice line, but it's not quite right. There are more of us remaining in the news business than y…

Drop the Outrage Over Trump’s Foreign-Policy Bluster

The way to deal with the bombast is by turning it against a leader who leads a movement that is actually deeply divided.

Trump’s Tariff Threat Stokes Anxiety in Canada’s Auto-Industry Hub

The president-elect’s vow to impose 25 percent duties on Canadian imports could ravage Canada’s auto industry and decimate Windsor, a city deeply tied to the U.S.

‘La Migra!’ A Glimpse of Trump’s Promised Deportation Storm

Sweeps by Border Patrol agents in California have stoked fears among undocumented migrant workers on the eve of Donald J. Trump’s presidential inauguration.

A Perfectly Charming Chinese Girl

Against long odds and in the face of exclusionary casting, Anna May Wong bequeathed us an extraordinary cinematic legacy.

The 2024 Election and U.S. Regional Cultures

A quarter century of political, social, and economic upheaval has left little mark on the political behavior of the American Nations regions.

Fighting Fire with Fire

We know how to prevent catastrophic bushfires. For more than half a century, Western Australia has been reducing forest fuel loads through a systematic program of ‘prescribed burns.’

DOGE caucus plans for biggest impact, eyeing key tools to expedite cutting waste

The DOGE caucus on Thursday discussed strategic ways to address as much government waste as possible.

Where Have All the Young Democrats Gone?

Since the 2008 election, Democrats have been counting on young voters as an essential part of what they called a

Georgia Court Affirms Dismissals in Trump Election Case

An appeals court in Georgia Friday unanimously affirmed the dismissals of six counts from the state's election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump and his allies, agreeing with a trial judge that the cases lacked vital details.

The Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows

Tens of millions of American Christians are embracing a charismatic movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to destroy the secular state.

In the wake of the Republican National Convention earlier this month, Fareed speaks with historian Niall Ferguson about how and why the modern-day GOP has changed since the Reagan era of the 1980s.

F.A.A. Temporarily Halts Launches of Musk’s Starship After Explosion

The agency launched an investigation into the “space vehicle mishap” on Thursday night that forced commercial flights to divert and caused debris to rain toward Caribbean islands.

Why Is This Man Glaring?

At a moment of peak triumph and celebration, President-elect Donald J. Trump looks stern in his inauguration portrait.

Treasury to begin ‘extraordinary measures’ to prevent default

What Biden’s Move on the Equal Rights Amendment Could Actually Do

Presidents have no direct role in approving constitutional amendments. So what could President Biden’s pronouncement recognizing a new one actually do?

DOJ 'politicized' under Biden, Ted Cruz confident Pam Bondi will reverse it

Sen. Ted Cruz supports Pam Bondi's confirmation as attorney general, calling her Trump's most crucial nominee and praising her strong hearing performance.

TikTok CEO Thanks Trump for Seeking Solution in US

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Friday thanked President-elect Donald Trump for a "commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States."

Rasmussen Poll: 55 Percent Worried Trump Unsafe at Inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump may have survived two assassination attempts while on the campaign trail last year, but a majority of voters in a new Rasmussen Reports poll say they're concerned he won't be safe at his inauguration on Monday.

We Won the Battle – Now We Must Win the War

Can Trump Make America Safe Again?

The new administration should return federal law enforcement agencies to their original missions.

Pete Hegseth Declines to Answer

At his confirmation hearing, the defense-secretary nominee looked like a man who understood that the fix was in.

Inside the Capitol Rotunda, workers have gone fast to work assembling a new podium, dramatically smaller...

Zoomers Discover The Little Red Book as TikTok Faces Closure

The Deeply American Roots of Trump's Territorial Ambitions

The new president's designs on Canada and Greenland fit into a very old American tradition.

My Experience Working With Justin Trudeau: Quillette Cetera Episode 43

Zoe interviews her colleague Jonathan Kay, who once ghostwrote for Trudeau, about his time working with the Canadian soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister.

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Go beyond the soundbites and get to know some of the most interesting players in politics.

U.S. to Deploy ‘Extraordinary Measures’ to Avoid Default on Jan. 21

Janet L. Yellen, the outgoing Treasury secretary, urged lawmakers to raise the debt limit and protect the full faith and credit of the United States.

U.S. Reveals Once-Secret Support for Ukraine’s Drone Industry

The development of a new generation of drones has revolutionized how wars are fought, according to U.S. officials.

Shakespeare Versus the Girlboss

Jodi Picoult’s latest novel is a ham-fisted expression of cultural rage, embodying the most anodyne values of corporate human-resources departments.

Fox News Politics Newsletter: Time's Up for TikTok

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Rep. Meuser to Newsmax: Considering Run for Pa. Governor

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Newsmax on Friday that he might run for governor of Pennsylvania, noting that he's giving the idea strong consideration with an eye on following the examples set by other Republican-led states.

The Incoherence of the End of the Biden Presidency

One reason the president goes out with low approval ratings is that his agenda was internally contradictory.

New York City Mayor Meets with Trump

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday went "well," but declined to immediately talk about what they discussed.

Chair of House committee wants to move Education Dept. functions to other agencies

How Biden Destroyed His Legacy

The president’s accomplishments are considerable, but on his signature issue of preserving democracy, he failed spectacularly.

The Intellectual Rationalization for Annexing Greenland

Donald Trump’s defenders have little choice but to cast his trolling as a clever geopolitical stratagem.

Supreme Court to hear case on opting out of lessons with LGBTQ+ books

Parents in Montgomery Count, Maryland, want to be able to opt out of instruction on gender and sexuality that they say goes against their religious convictions.

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem

The One Trump Pick Democrats Actually Like

Does Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination for labor secretary signal a shift in the GOP’s stance toward unions?

Appeals Court Rejects Biden Plan For 'Dreamer' Migrants

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against outgoing President Joe Biden's effort to protect illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, siding with Texas just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a former US senator from California who previously served as the state's attorney general, could be the first Black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket after receiving President Joe Biden's support t…

More Biden: I Hereby Commute ERA's 1982 Deadline Too

U.S. Will Be Better Off When Biden Exits the Stage

President Joe Biden's farewell address to Americans served as a final reminder of why we'll be glad when he's gone from the White House.

CNN Found Guilty of Defaming Security Contractor

Zachary Young alleged CNN defamed him in a report by chief security correspondent Alex Marquardt that said he operated in a

Jihadist at a Crossroads

Syria’s new leader will have to balance his Islamist beliefs with the more pressing tasks of state-building and economic development.

Everything you need to know about Biden's student loan forgiveness program

President Joe Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program, which promises to deliver up to $20,000 of debt relief for millions of borrowers, is on hold indefinitely as legal challenges work their way through the courts.

House Republicans Mull 200+ Budget Cuts, Breaks, Tariffs

House Budget Committee Republicans are eyeing more than 200 changes to the federal budget ahead of the vast reconciliation bill, including myriad spending cuts, tax breaks, tariffs as well as tweaks to Medicare and Social Security, it was reported…

Memorial Daze

Notions of injury or exclusion are often based on shifting cultural sensitivities and political pressures, rather than on any permanent, universal measure of good and evil.

Flames Erased Lives, Homes and Stories of Los Angeles

Letters and photos, diaries and documents stashed in bankers boxes or file cabinets or kitchen drawers turned to ash in the Palisades and Eaton fires.

The Left's Mangled Guardrails

They've spent eight years trying to kill democracy in the name of saving it.

C.I.A. Analyst Pleads Guilty to Leaking Classified Documents About Israel

The analyst was charged with two counts of violating the Espionage Act and faces up to a decade in prison for disclosing sensitive information about Israel’s response to an Iranian attack.

Syrian Torture, Then and Now

The atrocities committed by the Assad regime were no secret—but they were met with Western inaction.

Border Patrol Chief Owens announces retirement, Texas border czar to take over

Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens is retiring in April, and will be replaced by Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, after a historic crisis at the southern border.

Dem senator quizzes Noem on how she will work with Homan: ‘Who is in charge?’

Kristi Noem, President-elect Trump's pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was asked to clarify how she will work with border czar Tom Homan.

Biden declares there is now a 28th Amendment. There is not.

A 28th Amendment has not suddenly been appended to the Constitution per the president’s decree.

Podcast #267: The Tragedy of California’s Wildfires

Jonathan Kay speaks with University of Southern California scholar William Deverell about what he calls the ‘new fire regime in the American West.’

Trump's Inauguration Moving Indoors Because of Freezing Weather