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Fraud Task Force Cuts About 760,000 ACA Enrollments Cited as Fraud
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud is removing about 760,000 Affordable Care Act exchange enrollments that officials say are ineligible, unauthorized, or fictitious. He estimated $2.2 billion in taxpayer savings from the return of premium tax credits. Officials said they will run additional verification on about 419,000 more people, including income and legal-residence checks. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said the agency is terminating the contracts of hundreds of brokers accused of implausible or unauthorized sign-ups and will pause new broker registrations. Vance said some enrollees did not know they were on a plan, already had employer coverage, exceeded income limits, or existed only on paper. CMS said last month it canceled 315,000 policies covering those enrollees.
đď¸ News & Politics
White House Pushes Official App After TV Pool Suspends Trump Coverage
The White House is urging the public to download its official app for livestreams after ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News suspended television pool coverage of President Donald Trump. The networks acted after the administration barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Pool chair Bryan Boughton said there would be no replacement presidential pool, while other Washington pool duties continue. The networks said no administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting. The three barred outlets said they would sue. The White House posted that the app streams events âstraight from the Trump Administration.â Without pool microphones, Trumpâs remarks at a Monday helipad ribbon-cutting were hard to hear on the official feed.
Editorâs Note: Againâand to be very clear on thisâthe First Amendment does not guarantee press access to the president, the White House, or any other federal department or agency. It protects against government censorship of the press. Access is not censorship.
8th Circuit Orders Missouri to Use 2025 Map That Would Flip Cleaverâs Seat
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Missouri must use its 2025 congressional map in November rather than the 2022 map ordered by the state Supreme Court. The 2025 map, used in last monthâs primaries, is projected as a 7-1 Republican split by breaking up US Rep. Emanuel Cleaverâs (D-MO) Kansas City district. The 2022 map is 6-2. The panel said that switching maps between the primary and general elections would violate Article I's continuity of constituencies. Judges James Loken, a George H.W. Bush appointee, and Justin Smith, a Trump appointee, formed the majority. Trump appointee David Stras dissented in part on standing. The order is stayed until Sept. 28 so the U.S. Supreme Court can act. The high court has already declined twice this month to put the 2025 map in force.
All 50 States Join Medicaid Most-Favored-Nation Drug Pricing Model
President Trump announced Friday that all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have applied to the GENEROUS Medicaid model, which uses most-favored-nation prices matched to other developed countries. Forty states and Puerto Rico have already signed agreements. Remaining states have until Sept. 30. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said participating manufacturers will invoice supplemental rebates so Medicaid does not pay more than the international price. The Council of Economic Advisers estimated $64.3 billion in taxpayer savings over 10 years. The administration has deals with 26 manufacturers covering 89 percent of the branded market. About 70 million people are on Medicaid. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said high drug costs are crowding out other state spending after rebates.
Editorâs Note: Now they need to work on Medicare drug costs. Most seniors end up paying more for their prescriptions after they turn 65.
Trump Asks Vought to Draft Order Giving White House Veto Over NIH Grants
President Trump on Friday directed Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to draft an executive order creating a board to decide which National Institutes of Health grants to fund. The board would include Vought and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and would need unanimous approval for awards. That would give Vought a direct role in $48 billion in congressionally appropriated research money. Officials said Trump asked Bhattacharya to cut Harvard funding and Bhattacharya refused. A stopgap spending bill had temporarily blocked an earlier version of Voughtâs plan. Vought has clashed with Bhattacharya over how tightly political appointees should steer scientific grants.
Editorâs Note: Given the crimes committed by Fauci and the NIH in the COVID fraud, someone needs to provide oversight beyond those who currently hold it.
Just The News, Reuters
Sununu Gains Ground as Democrats Sound Alarm Over New Hampshire Senate Seat
Former US Sen. John E. Sununu (R-NH) has pulled New Hampshireâs open Senate race into toss-up territory against US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), rattling Democrats who need four net pickups to take the chamber. Pappas has warned his party that ignoring the contest could sink those hopes. He said MAGA super PACs are spending millions a week to flip the Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) seat. State GOP Chair Scott Maltzie said Sununu is winning because voters want an independent voice and that Pappas voted with Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 222 of 223 times. Pappasâ Sept. 8 primary against Karishma Manzur left questions about left-wing turnout. Inside Elections still lists him as the favorite even after moving the race to toss-up. National Democrats have started sending senators to campaign in the state.
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đ˘ The American Fifth Column
Fifth Circuit Throws Out Interstate Handgun Ban Backed by Federal Gun Controllers
Federal gun controllers lost at the Fifth Circuit on Sept. 18 when a panel struck down the long-standing ban on buying handguns directly from out-of-state dealers. Rifles and shotguns already move across state lines. Handguns had to be shipped to a home-state-licensed dealer at an extra cost. Judge Jerry E. Smith, a Reagan appointee, joined by Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a George W. Bush appointee, said the rule is a purchase ban that fails Bruenâs text-and-tradition test. The court rejected a Second Circuit decision that had kept the same statute alive. Judge Catharina Haynes, a Bush appointee, dissented. The panel reversed Northern District of Texas Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, and entered judgment for Firearms Policy Coalition and Elite Precision Customs.
All 10 ActBlue Witnesses Take the Fifth as House GOP Presses On
All 10 ActBlue employees and board members deposed by House investigators invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer questions about the Democrat fundraising platform. Five were board members deposed in the past five weeks. Co-founder Matt DeBergalis took the Fifth, as did CEO Regina Wallace-Jones at a public hearing. A third committee report last week alleged ActBlue accepted foreign and fraudulent donations with light checks. House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said the probe is far from over. House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) said ActBlueâs passport check confirmed character count, not a real passport. Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordanâs (R-OH) panel said more depositions are coming. The National Republican Congressional Committee called on House Democrats to drop ActBlue and return illegal contributions. ActBlue denied wrongdoing and said a review found nearly all 2023 dollars came from U.S. addresses or passport numbers.
Flanagan Says Sheâs Appalled by Fraud as Longtime Friendâs Autism Center Faces Medicaid Probe
Minnesota Democrat Senate nominee Peggy Flanagan has said she is appalled by welfare fraud. In a December 2025 video at Minneapolisâs Karmel Mall, she wore a hijab, called the Somali community âpart of the fabric of the state,â and introduced Nimco Ahmed as a friend of almost 25 years. Ahmed is CEO of Milestone Development Center. The Minnesota Department of Human Services said it has open investigations into Milestone and Spectrum Therapy Center, terminated both from Medicaid months ago in its Revalidate 2026 review, and that both have appealed. Former therapist Grant Morgan said he worked at Milestone in late 2023, saw little professional supervision, was never asked to write session notes, and thought some clients did not appear autistic. He said Ahmed âdidnât seem to care.â Ahmed denied the claims, saying the center follows state rules and is audited. Flanagan has said fraud is unacceptable and that more should have been done sooner.
Spanberger Drops Youngkin Rule Aimed at Keeping Boys Out of Girlsâ Sports
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanbergerâs (D) administration withdrew a proposed health regulation that would have required school sports and some sex-specific facilities to be divided by biological sex. The State Board of Health had voted 14-0 in August 2025 to start the rule after a petition from female athletes during former Gov. Glenn Youngkinâs (R) term. Health Commissioner Cameron Webb said the agency and the governorâs office did not proceed. The withdrawal was filed on July 30, after the comment period, and was not announced in a press release. Spanbergerâs office has said the proposal fell outside the stateâs authority. Former Del. Kim Taylor (D) said she was furious that girlsâ privacy, safety, and a level playing field had become controversial. Del. Wren Williams (R) called it saying one thing and doing another. The Youngkin-appointed Board of Health chair said she did not know the process was ending.
ICE Holds Hong Kong Staffer Hired by California Assembly Democrat
ICE arrested Ho-Yin Mo, a Hong Kong native working as a field representative for California Assemblywoman Catherine Stefani (D), at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Homeland Security said the former KTSF Chinese-language news anchor entered the United States lawfully from Hong Kong on Jan. 13, 2020, on a temporary basis and failed to leave by May 15, 2020. Officials said work authorization or a pending application does not confer legal status. Mo joined Stefaniâs Assembly office in 2025. He is expected to remain in custody pending removal and was reported to be held at Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump. DHS said people in the country illegally may no longer fly domestically, except to leave the country. Stefaniâs office did not comment.
ON THIS DAY IN 1776:
21-year-old Captain Nathan Hale of the Continental Army was hanged by the British without a trial for espionage in New York City. Before his execution, it is said that he famously declared, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
đ International
US Signs UN Deal With Denmark and Greenland for Larger U.S. Arctic Presence
President Trump signed a trilateral security agreement Tuesday at the United Nations with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen. Trump said the pact gives the United States permanent control over security and bars adversaries from military presence or sensitive investment without written U.S. approval. Frederiksen said it expands the 1951 defense arrangement, can last indefinitely, and keeps Greenlandâs territorial integrity and self-determination. Nielsen said Greenland signed as a party, not only as a subject. The deal is expected to allow two additional sites at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, in addition to Pituffik Space Base. Full text details were not fully public at signing.
Thousands Rally at U.N. Against Iran Executions and Pezeshkianâs Address
Thousands of Iranian Americans and National Council of Resistance of Iran supporters rallied Tuesday at Dag HammarskjĂśld Plaza across from U.N. headquarters as the General Assembly opened. Organizers timed the protest to President Trumpâs speech and plan another when Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the body Wednesday. They want an end to political hangings, say Pezeshkian does not represent Iranians, and call for a democratic secular republic and U.N. recognition of the NCRI. A smaller protest was held Monday outside Pezeshkianâs New York hotel. Human Rights Watch said Iran executed at least 59 men on vague national-security charges from March 18 through August, including 29 tied to winter protests and three tied to 2022 unrest. Five were hanged in public. NCRI president-elect Maryam Rajavi said Iranâs U.N. seat belongs to the people and their resistance.
Editorâs Note: And letâs not forget that the Iranian regime slaughtered close to 40,000 of its own people for wanting to be free.
Houthis Push Into Yemenâs Kahboub Highlands After Seizing Red Sea Coast
Houthi forces have opened a new offensive in Yemenâs Kahboub Mountains across Taiz and Lahij after taking the Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month. The heights sit between those coastal gains and Presidential Leadership Council territory, including supply routes and a path toward Aden. PLC units, including southern fighters, have mobilized, and Saudi airstrikes have increased. Analysts warn a Houthi drive around Taiz could isolate the city. Prime Minister Shaya Mohsen al Zindani said the fight is not over and that the government intends to retake lost ground, including the strait. The International Organization for Migration said about 130,000 people have been displaced in seven governorates since fighting reignited in July.
Armed Group Shuts Sharara Pipeline Valve, Slashing Libyaâs Top Oil Field
An armed group closed Valve No. 7 on the pipeline from Libyaâs Sharara oil field to the Zawiya export port, the National Oil Corporation said. Pressure built in the line and output at the Akakus-operated field fell from about 340,000 barrels a day to about 120,000. NOC said continued closure would halt production, transport, and exports, and could trigger a force majeure declaration. The company said that would cut state revenue and expose the transport system to operational risk. The field is Libyaâs largest.
Romania Detains 2024 First-Round Winner Georgescu in âŹ1.1 Million Fraud Case
Romanian organized-crime prosecutors stopped CÄlin Georgescu in traffic early Monday, searched his home for about nine hours, and placed him in 24-hour custody while seeking 30 days of preventive arrest. His son was in the car when officers took him to the MogoČoaia house. DIICOT and the national police executed five search warrants in Bucharest and nearby towns, saying they found âŹ5,000. Georgescu left headquarters in handcuffs and spent the night in Bucharest detention. Prosecutors accuse him and others of belonging to an organized crime group and of aggravated fraud over alleged 2021 promises of Swiss loans to businessman RÄzvan Leu, who they say handed over more than âŹ1.1 million. They claim some money later aided his 2024 campaign. Businessman Ionel Rusen was detained on the same charges. Georgescu won the first round of the 2024 presidential election. The Constitutional Court later annulled the vote, citing claims of a Russian online campaign. AUR leader George Simion called the raid an abuse and said Romania is a dictatorship.
