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Florida attorney general calls for feds to ‘denaturalize and deport' congresswoman

Florida attorney general calls for feds to ‘denaturalize and deport' congresswoman

Yahoo4 hours ago

Florida's attorney general responded to a Minnesota congresswoman's criticisms of the Trump administration by calling on Tuesday for her deportation.
James Uthmeier posted 'Denaturalize and Deport' on X in response to a video of Rep. Ilhan Omar condemning President Donald Trump's organization of a military parade last Saturday. She encouraged people to participate in protests at the time.
'The military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights,' Omar said in the video, 'while our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator.'
Omar's office declined to comment.
Omar was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a refugee in the 1990s, becoming the first African refugee and Muslim woman to be elected to Congress in 2019, as a Democrat. She is a naturalized citizen.
Omar's origins have been a routine bullseye for Republicans in Trump's orbit, including Trump himself. And it's not the first time a Florida official has made her a target. While running for president, Gov. Ron DeSantis also called for her deportation in January of 2024, responding to reports that Omar had told people in Somali that she was 'Somali first, Muslim second' — Omar later claimed this was a mistranslation of her remarks.
Uthmeier was DeSantis' presidential campaign manager at the time.
Uthmeier is about four months into his tenure as attorney general after DeSantis appointed him in February to fill an open spot left by Ashley Moody, now a U.S. Senator. He is currently campaigning to keep his position, up for election in 2026.

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Social Security fund could run out in 8 years, trustees say. Is there hope?
Social Security fund could run out in 8 years, trustees say. Is there hope?

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Social Security fund could run out in 8 years, trustees say. Is there hope?

Social Security's reserves could vanish in eight years, roughly on par with previous estimates, according to a new report. At that point, if no adjustments are made, the entitlement program's trust fund will be able to pay out just 77% of benefits to seniors. Medicare is in the same boat. That's the latest projection for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, according to the 2025 Social Security and Medicare Trustees annual report released Wednesday. Is there any hope? Only if Congress gets its act together and makes some fixes, which are doable. "A huge number that lawmakers have allowed this to run out of control — but it doesn't change the fact that we have the tools we need to address this problem and turn the ship around," Emerson Sprick, an economist and associate director of the Economic Policy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Yahoo Finance. Some slightly good news: If the OASI were combined with the fund that pays out disability benefits — the Disability Insurance Trust Fund — the reserve fund would not go broke until the third quarter of 2034, three quarters sooner than reported last year, and it would shell out 81% of scheduled benefits. However, the two funds can't be combined, at least for now. The combined projection of the two funds is frequently used to indicate the overall status of the Social Security program. But the situation is worse than you think. 'Since last year's report, one law was enacted that is projected to have a substantial effect on Social Security's financial status — The Social Security Fairness Act was enacted on January 5th, 2025,' said a senior government official. Read more: What is the retirement age for Social Security, 401(k), and IRA withdrawals? This law, the Social Security Fairness Act, impacts more than 3 million Social Security recipients by increasing monthly benefits for certain types of workers, including some teachers, firefighters, and police officers in many states, federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, and people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system. 'Although it's not reflected in the projected year of trust fund depletion, the report shows clearly that Social Security's financial outlook has worsened over the last year, mainly due to the enactment of the act," said Sprick, the economist. The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund will also exhaust its reserves in 2033, three years earlier than projected last year, primarily due to the change in projected expenditures. The projected shortfall for Medicare — which covers 67.6 million people: 60.3 million aged 65 and older, and 7.3 million disabled — largely stems from the rising cost of healthcare. This increase is mainly a result of higher-than-anticipated 2024 expenditures and higher projected spending for inpatient hospital and hospice services, according to the senior government official. Read more: Medicare open enrollment: How to add or adjust your coverage How broadly would these cuts be felt? The Social Security program paid nearly $1.47 trillion in benefits last year to about 68 million Americans. For about half of seniors, Social Security provides at least half of their income, and for about 1 in 4 seniors, it accounts for at least 90% of their income. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy There are plenty of factors beyond the new law that are responsible for the dwindling till and have been festering for years. Stepping back to look at the bigger picture over 75 years, the Trustees project that the Social Security trust funds face a 3.82% taxable payroll shortfall, up significantly from 3.5% last year, according to the senior official. That's a persistent problem — the share of total earnings subject to payroll tax has decreased significantly. Social Security is mostly a pay-as-you-go program. Payroll taxes collected from workers now pay out the benefits to current recipients. Part of the problem is that people are living longer and the birth rate is falling, so the ratio of workers to beneficiaries is shrinking. During 2024, an estimated 184 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes on those earnings. Total income, including interest, to the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds amounted to $1.42 trillion in 2024. Almost 91% of that revenue, or $1.29 trillion, came from payroll taxes, $55 billion from taxation of Social Security benefits, and $69 billion in interest earned on the government bonds held by the trust funds. However, much of wage growth has gone to higher earners, reducing the percentage of wages subject to Social Security tax, the official said. 'Earnings for the roughly 6% of workers above the taxable maximum level increased much more rapidly than earnings for the 94% of workers below the taxable maximum level, so that the share of total earnings subject to the payroll tax has declined." The ceiling: $176,100. That means payroll taxes will contribute a smaller percentage to Social Security's revenues. This factor is largely responsible for the worsening financial status of the trust funds compared to the projections in 1983 after the last major amendments, when the combined trust funds were projected to become depleted after 2050. Read more: When will I get my Social Security check? Payment schedule for 2025. Certainly, other issues will be tossed into the equation moving ahead. One possibility that the trustees will be watching is the impact the administration's immigration policy might have on future population growth and, subsequently, future workers paying into the Social Security system, including the number of foreign-born workers who pay into the program. 'Congress must act," AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said in a solutions exist to fix the shortfall, including ratcheting up payroll taxes, which currently fund the program at 12.4%, split evenly between employees and employers. Other proposals include raising the retirement age for younger workers or lifting the cap on the amount of a person's income that is subject to the Social Security tax. For 2025, the Social Security tax limit is $176,100. The current rate for Medicare is 1.45% for the employer and 1.45% for the employee, or 2.9% total. There is no wage cap for Medicare. And employers are responsible for withholding 0.9% additional Medicare tax on an individual's wages paid in excess of $200,000. 'Congress has always acted to avert past shortfalls, and will again. Allowing a 15-20% immediate benefit cut to go into effect would be political suicide,' said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works. Congress has eight years, and the clock is ticking. Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the forthcoming "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work" and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Republicans uncover no new intel on Biden during hearing on his cognitive abilities
Republicans uncover no new intel on Biden during hearing on his cognitive abilities

Yahoo

time26 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Republicans uncover no new intel on Biden during hearing on his cognitive abilities

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday digging into the cognitive abilities of former President Joe Biden and claims of whether his aides helped what they say was a cover up of his alleged mental decline -- claims the former president and many on his staff have denied. The probe didn't uncover any new information on the former president -- with Democratic members of the subcommittee boycotting the hearing. Democratic senators on the committee walked out of the hearing shortly after it began, with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin blasting the panel for even holding the hearing, while he says a number of timely investigations should be going on related to President Donald Trump's current actions. "So far this year, the Republican majority on this committee has not held a single oversight hearing, despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that are under our jurisdiction," Durbin said. MORE: GOP senators plan hearing on Biden's perceived cognitive decline The GOP panel repeatedly accused Democrats -- and the media -- of concealing the former president's alleged real health conditions in order to prevent Trump's 2024 victory. "Today's hearing is about competency, corruption and cover up within the Biden administration. Simply put, the last administration was rudderless from one crisis to another. The Biden Administration failed and folded. The partisan media did their best to cover up those failures," Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley claimed. Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who was among the witnesses, compared his time working under Trump in his first term to his observations of Biden, praising Trump's energy and mental focus. Spicer never worked for the Biden administration. Spicer also criticized "legacy media" for questions raised about Trump's fitness for office in his first term, while he claims they were not questioning Biden the same way. "Many, rightly so, believe the media in this country is culpable in covering up the obvious decline of the 46th president and leaders of the free world -- the president of the United States. The scrutiny that was baselessly directed at President Trump during his first term was wholly absent from the media coverage of the Biden White House," Spicer claimed. Republicans on the committee also focused on Trump -- saying he is in command and makes skillful decisions. "The public is counting on us to ensure this never happens again, because we won't always be fortunate enough to have a leader like President Trump, who is so unmistakably in command," Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt said. In May, Senate Republicans announced their plans to launch the probe into Biden's mental fitness while in office -- including his use of autopen, a mechanical device to automatically add a signature to a document that's been utilized by several past presidents, including Trump in his first term. The hearing also comes after Trump earlier this month ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether Biden's administration sought to conspire to cover up his alleged mental state while in office. The move by the White House represents a significant escalation, as it is a directive to the Justice Department to formally investigate. MORE: Trump directs DOJ, White House counsel to investigate Biden's mental state in office Biden responded to the Trump order, saying "Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency." "I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false," Biden said in a statement. In May, House Oversight Chairman James Comer requested Biden's White House physician, Kevin O'Connor, appear for a transcribed interview as part of an investigation into Biden's mental fitness and use of a presidential autopen while in office. Comer asked O'Connor to sit for an interview on June 25. The calls for the probes into Biden also come after the recent release of "Original Sin" by CNN host Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, claiming the Bidens had a "capacity for denial and the lengths they would go to avoid transparency about health issues." In response to the book's release, a Biden spokesman said "there is nothing in this book that shows Joe Biden failed to do his job, as the authors have alleged, nor did they prove their allegation that there was a cover up or conspiracy." On Wednesday morning, Trump -- who often criticizes Biden -- lambasted the former president's use of autopen and claimed that Biden didn't have control while leading the country. "All these people, all the scum that was around the Oval, you know, the Oval Office, or around the beautiful Resolute desk, telling this guy here, 'Do this,' 'Do that,' and not even tell him. They just go over to the autopen and sign whatever the hell they wanted to sign," he said. Trump claimed that it was aides who were making decisions for Biden -- employing the autopen to carry out an agenda. "He wasn't for open borders, he wasn't for transgender for everybody. He wasn't for men playing in women's sports. But he has no idea what the hell -- he has no idea," Trump claimed.

GUY BENSON SHOW: Rep. Ritchie Torres Talks Israel's Strikes Against Iran, NYC Mayoral Race, Potential Gubernatorial Run
GUY BENSON SHOW: Rep. Ritchie Torres Talks Israel's Strikes Against Iran, NYC Mayoral Race, Potential Gubernatorial Run

Fox News

time26 minutes ago

  • Fox News

GUY BENSON SHOW: Rep. Ritchie Torres Talks Israel's Strikes Against Iran, NYC Mayoral Race, Potential Gubernatorial Run

Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY), one of Israel's most vocal Democratic defenders in Congress, joined The Guy Benson Show today to explain why he supports Israel's preemptive strikes against Iran, where Torres says that the strikes are in the best interest of the United States and the free world. Torres emphasized Iran's bloody history against Americans and warned against allowing the world's top state sponsor of terrorism to go nuclear. Torres said that Israel should attempt to destroy Fordo themselves, but said that he would support the U.S. intervening in a limited capacity to assist. Guy and Torres then weighed in on the NYC mayoral race and warned of the dangers if Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the NYC mayoral race, and didn't mince words in calling Governor Kathy Hochul 'the least effective executive' on the face of the earth when asked why he'd consider running for governor of New York. Listen below. Listen to the full interview below: Listen to the full podcast below:

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