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No limits, no inspections: US and Russia face post–New START era as Trump pushes new nuclear deal
Who benefits from this decision?

The United States and Russia are entering a new phase of nuclear relations with no treaty limiting their arsenals, as President Donald Trump calls for a sweeping new arms control agreement and Russian officials warn that Washington’s approach would make any deal impossible.
The last agreement that capped U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons, known as New START, expired Thursday, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without legally binding limits on their arsenals or an inspection regime.
Trump called New START a "bad deal" that was being "grossly violated," and said the United States should instead pursue a "new, improved and modernized treaty."
Russian officials quickly pushed back. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia's security council, said U.S. criticism of New START "means one thing: there’ll never be a treaty under these terms," arguing Washington is demanding limits that ignore other nuclear-armed states and new weapons systems.
ENERGY SECRETARY REVEALS HOW US NUCLEAR TESTS WILL WORK
The United States and Russia have entered a new phase of nuclear relations with no treaty now limiting their arsenals, after the last remaining arms control agreement between the two powers expired this week. As the two powers seek to negotiate a new framework, each is seeking to expand restrictions on each other's allies, with the U.S. aiming to include China, and Russia countering by saying Britain and France should also be covered.
Speaking Wednesday at the Conference on Disarmament, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno said New START’s limits no longer reflect today’s nuclear landscape.
"As of yesterday, New START and its central limits have expired," DiNanno said. "Even if we could have legally extended the treaty, it would not have been beneficial for the United States — or the world — to do so."
TRUMP MUST TRIPLE SEVERELY OUTDATED NUKE ARSENAL TO OUTPACE CHINA AND RUSSIA, REPORT WARNS
"A bilateral treaty with only one nuclear power is simply inappropriate in 2026 and going forward," DiNanno said, pointing to Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons and China’s unconstrained buildup.
In practice, New START’s verification regime had already been largely dormant since 2023, when Russia stopped allowing on-site inspections of its nuclear facilities and halted required data exchanges under the treaty, even as both sides said they continued to observe its numerical limits.
But China remains far behind the United States and Russia in overall nuclear warheads and is unlikely to accept binding limits while it is still …

Im-Politic: What’s Really Wrong with Those Mass Washington Post Layoffs
This deserves loud pushback.

As a long-time subscriber to (but not a big fan of) the Washington Post, I’ve got to say that my biggest criticism of its dramatic restructuring decisions didn’t involve the scale of the cutbacks (a third of its editorial employees!).  Instead, it involved the money-losing news organization’s  priorities – which to this regular reader seemed largely upside down.

What the Post management decided to do was lay off about 300 staffers (including closing several foreign bureaus) and end the sports and book review sections.  

I’d have done things much differently.  Mainly, I’d have kept the sports section and the foreign bureaus, and fired the editorial board and all the columnists, and everyone connected with the Style section.

Not that the sports section has been perfect.  This native New Yorker for one has been especially sick and tired of the annual articles claiming that “this year will be different” for the long pathetic and indeed dysfunctional Commanders (nee Redskins).  Aside from that, daily reporting and analysis of local pro and college teams has been nothing special, but generally inoffensive.    

The section, however, has featured Chuck Culpepper’s unbelievably encyclopedic and stylistically creative coverage of college football and other topics, and his columnist Barry Svrluga is a pretty sensible pundit – and indeed a welcome change but the knowledgeable but insufferably home-team rooting Tom Boswell (thankfully retired a few years ago but still being published occasionally).

Moreover, the Post does a great job on local high school sports, which for a football and basketball fan is a real treat considering what a hotbed of talent for both the greater DC area has been.

Nothing of the kind, though, can be said for the Opinion section.  Major changes have been underway for a year, when owner (and founder Jeff Bezos) decided to diversify the  viewpoints carried on those pages, which eventually led to the resignations or layoffs of some of the paper’s more left-of-center columnists and pundits, and editorial board members, and hiring of some conservatives. (See here for a good summary.)

In the wake of the latest firings, I couldn’t find any full rosters today.  But the Opinion pages still offer too many burnt-out cases (like George F. Will and David Ignatius), too much dead wood (like Kathleen Parker) and too many thoroughly predictable globalist foreign policy Blob-ers (like Max Boot and Fareed Zakaria).  Moreover, the right-of-center columnists it’s recently hired are overwhelmingly neoconservatives (that is, right-of-center foreign policy Blob-ers) like Marc Thiessen (who’s at least not Trump-ly deranged), or country club quasi-libertarian Republicans like Dominic Pino). Since it’s hard to imagine anyone outside their echo Beltway chamber waking up in the morning and asking, e.g., “I wonder what Karen Tumulty says about X,” I’d cashier the lot of them.

The same for the editorial board, which has moved away from Trump Derangement Syndrome on issues like immigration (e.g., here) and climate (e.g., here), but is still awful on trade policy (e.g., here) and pretty bad on some foreign policy matters (e.g., here). …

Noem rips Dems for using families as ‘political weapons’ as DHS funding fight threatens life beyond ICE
Who's accountable for the results?

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned that a potential lapse in DHS funding centered on Democrat demands for ICE overhauls would have sweeping ripple effects across the entire department — potentially disrupting everything from airport screening to FEMA disaster operations.
"I think they (Democrats) are using families as political weapons," Noem told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. "And this is a little bit different, because when it's the whole government that they shut down, they're not necessarily just attacking security."
"This feels like a direct attack on the security of our country, our homeland. And it's almost as though they've gotten so extreme, they don't care if we're out there on the front lines keeping our country safe from terrorists, keeping our country safe from murderers and rapists," the DHS secretary continued. 
DHS funding is in flux after lawmakers carved the department out of a larger funding package enacted earlier this month, following Democratic demands for immigration enforcement reforms. For now, DHS is operating under a short-term extension that expires Feb. 13.
REPUBLICANS WARN DEMOCRATS' ICE REFORM PUSH IS COVER TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT
Republicans have accused Democrats of holding DHS hostage as its funding deadline nears, while Democrats issued a series of 10 demands for reforms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, insisting they be added to the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
As Democrats focus on forcing ICE reforms, a DHS funding lapse would ripple far beyond immigration enforcement, Noem told Fox Digital. ICE is about 11% of the department’s total budget and the other 89% would fall inside the blast radius. 
The Department of Homeland Security is one of Washington’s largest departments, made up of 23 agencies whose work touches daily life — from airport screening and travel to disaster response — while also carrying out core homeland security and immigration enforcement missions.
Just a handful of agencies within the Department of Homeland Security include: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, and the Federal Protective Service.
If DHS funding lapses, Americans will feel the impact quickly, Noem said, warning that Democrats’ focus …

Rep Thomas Massie responds after Trump calls him a 'moron' in National Prayer Breakfast speech
This is performative politics again.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., responded with a quip on Friday after President Donald Trump called him a "moron" during a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.
"I’m glad to know I’m in the President’s prayers," the lawmaker wrote in a Friday text message to Fox News Digital.
While speaking at the event on Thursday, Trump accused Massie of being "an automatic no" on measures backed by other Republicans in the House of Representatives. 
Trump said there is "something wrong with him. We call him Rand Paul Jr," the president said, referring to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
THESE ARE THE 21 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO HELD OUT AGAINST TRUMP, JOHNSON ON $1.2T SPENDING BILL
"They love voting no," Trump said.
Massie defended his voting record on Thursday.
"The President of the United States called me a moron at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning because I’m still fighting for what he promised the American people: Reduce big spending, DOGE, no new wars, end foreign aid, defend 1A 2A 4A, prolife, and expose sex traffickers," the congressman wrote in a Thursday post on X.
In a post on his campaign account, Massie, a staunch fiscal hawk, wrote, "#FeelingBlessed," along with the praying hands emoji, before adding, "Trump attacked me at the National Prayer Breakfast today. I vote with the GOP in DC 91% of the time, because 9% of the time they’re bankrupting our country, starting another war, or covering up for pedophiles."
Trump is backing Ed Gallrein, a GOP primary challenger running against Massie in the Bluegrass State's 4th Congressional District.
TRUMP JOKES HE ‘HANGS AROUND’ MIKE JOHNSON BECAUSE HE FEELS ‘PROTECTED’ AT PRAYER BREAKFAST
"People are saying that Thomas Massie became a Liberal because his new wife, blessed be their marriage, is supposedly a Radical Left ‘flamethrower.’ This new union all went so fast that maybe he didn’t know what he was getting into but, nevertheless, he is an absolutely terrible and unreliable ‘Republican’ — Perhaps a RINO, or maybe even worse!" Trump asserted in a Monday Truth Social post.
Massie's first wife died in 2024, and he remarried in 2025.
"Ed Gallrein, a Farmer and War Hero, is running against Massie. He is a HIGH QUALITY individual, and there is no Candidate for Congress that could be better. He is running because he realizes Thomas Massie has been totally disloyal to the President of the United States, and the Republican Party. He never votes for us, he always goes with the Democrats. Thomas Massie is a Complete and Total Disaster, we must make sure he loses, BIG!" Trump added in the post.
TRUMP CONTINUES …

Luna: This Is How We Make the SAVE Act Law
Confidence requires clarity.

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wants the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and photo identification for voters in federal elections, to become law. For that to happen, she says it might have to be attached to a “must-pass” foreign intelligence bill.

“The Senate has now sat on this for over 300 days,” Luna, R-Fla., told Punchbowl News in an interview published Friday. “Something that… many members of Congress are tired of is ‘messaging bills’… It doesn’t actually feel like we’re doing much of anything.”

“Messaging bills,” are pieces of legislation with little possibility of becoming law that members support to amplify their political messaging.

Next week, the House will vote on the SAVE America Act. A previous version of the bill, the SAVE Act, passed by a 220-208 vote in April 2025.

The new bill, if signed into law, would enforce a national requirement of photo identification in order to vote in federal elections, in addition to requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration.

It would also, as in the original SAVE Act, require states to clear voter rolls of individuals who cannot prove their citizenship, for federal elections.

? FLY OUT DAY OUT NOW ??

Florida @RepLuna stopped by the Punchbowl News Townhouse — and covered a lot.

From the SAVE Act and the filibuster to the Russia-Ukraine war and even UFOs

?? PLUS: @mychaelschnell and @bresreports jump in for a spirited round of That’s Not Gonna Fly!
— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) February 5, 2026

But Luna said that, in order to pressure Congress to approve it, Republicans may have to insert the bill into another bill reauthorizing part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

On April 20, the federal government’s authority to conduct warrantless surveillance on non-citizens will sunset and require renewal from Congress.

“I do believe that the only way voter ID is going to pass is if it is attached to a must-pass piece of legislation. I think that that’s going to be FISA,” said Luna, who noted her previous opposition to FISA.

Asked if she believed Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., agreed, Luna replied, “I think the speaker is with me on this understanding that… we’re going to do it on a stand-alone and hope the Senate does the right thing, but that it’s likely going to have to go in FISA.”

Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request from The Daily Signal to confirm or deny Luna’s description of his views.

Luna has also recently called for Senate Republicans to overcome the typical 60-vote threshold for debate to end a bill, the filibuster, by forcing Democrats to speak continuously to stall passage of the SAVE Act, a procedural move known as the “talking filibuster.”

Luna added in the interview, “I don’t speak for the speaker, but that’s based on my conversations.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a supporter of the SAVE Act, recently told The Daily Signal that he believes Republicans must place it in must-pass legislation in order for it to become law.

“If we want any leverage, I think we should attach voter ID … If not the whole SAVE Act, some subset of the SAVE Act should be put …

James Comer launches investigation into Ilhan Omar’s husband’s business dealings
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has launched an investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) husband’s dealings over suspicions of corruption.

In a Wednesday letter to Timothy Mynett, Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, connected the inquiry to recent investigations into fraud among the Somali community in Minneapolis. He cited the immense amount of money Mynett’s companies have made in recent years as justifying the investigation. Comer pointed out that eStCru and Rose Lake Capital, which Mynett holds ownership stakes in, shot from $51,000 to around $30 million in value from 2023 to 2024.

“Given that these companies do not publicly list their investors or where their money comes from, this sudden jump in value raises concerns that unknown individuals may be investing to gain influence with your wife,” he wrote. “Media reports further suggest that you may have raised money from investors using misleading information, meaning some of those funds may have been obtained improperly.”

“There are serious public concerns about how your businesses increased so dramatically in value only a year after reporting very limited assets,” Comer added. “Further, after these reports about financial trouble and alleged fraud, the Committee has serious questions about how eStCru’s valuation increased by up to $5 million in a single year.”

He also voiced suspicions about the company’s opacity, taking issue with the lack of publicly available information about it.

Suspicions around Mynett were first raised in September 2025, when Omar’s 2024 financial disclosure report was released, showing an explosion in net worth through her husband. The revelation that she had a net worth of $6 million to $30 million drew criticism due to her previous insistence that she was “barely worth thousands.”

“My salary is $174,000 before taxes, I don’t have stock or own a home and still paying off my student debt,” she said in a social media post on Feb. 10, 2025. “So if you are going to lie on something that is public, maybe try checking my public financial statements and you will see I barely have thousands let alone millions.”

She elaborated on this in a statement to Business Insider, describing accusations that she was worth millions of dollars as a “coordinated right-wing disinformation campaign” and calling the “ridiculous” claim “categorically false.”

FILINGS SHOW ILHAN OMAR’S NET WORTH UP BY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

“I am a working mom with student loan …

White House removes social media video showing Obamas as apes after criticism
Be honest—this is ridiculous.

The White House said a video "erroneously" posted to President Donald Trump's social media account on Friday that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle has been taken down.
The video focused on voting fraud claims from the 2020 presidential election. In the final moments, the Obamas’ heads are seen superimposed on primates’ bodies as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" plays in the background.
Other elected officials were also portrayed superimposed over the bodies of various animals. The White House told Fox News Digital that a staffer had "erroneously" posted the video before it was taken down. 
Democrats immediately criticized the video as racist. Some Republicans also spoke out against it. 
TRUMP GETS FRESH DIGS IN AT BIDEN, OBAMA WITH NEW PLAQUES ADDED TO WHITE HOUSE 'PRESIDENTIAL WALK OF FAME'
"Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it," said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., called the video "wrong" and "incredibly offensive."
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He said "whether intentional or a mistake," the video "should be deleted immediately with an apology offered."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic, urged Republicans to condemn Trump over the video, calling his behavior "disgusting."
Last year, Trump shared an AI-generated video depicting Obama sitting in the Oval Office before being arrested by agents as the song "YMCA" plays. 
An AI-generated version of Trump grins as Obama is apprehended and eventually thrown in a jail cell. The AI-generated Obama is also seen wearing an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Barack and Michelle Obama's office for comment. 

Trump deletes 'racist' post after wave of Republican backlash, White House says he didn't know
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

President Donald Trump took down an inflammatory post from Truth Social that depicted the Obamas as monkeys after a wave of backlash from some of the president's top allies on Capitol Hill. 
The post first appeared on Thursday night and went under the radar until Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the lone Black member of the Senate GOP, demanded Trump take it down.
The post in question depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys or apes.
REPUBLICANS WARN DEMOCRATS' ICE REFORM PUSH IS COVER TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT
"Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House," Scott said. "The President should remove it."
His reaction opened a floodgate of responses from other congressional Republicans, who didn't buy the White House's initial explanation for the video. 
"This is totally unacceptable," Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said on X. "The president should take it down and apologize." 
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote the post off as a "meme" that was part of a video depicting Trump as the king of the jungle from "The Lion King." 
SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS
"Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this," Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said in a post on X. "The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize."
Still, it took several hours for the post to be removed. 
A Trump advisor told Fox News Digital that "the president did not see the video before it was posted."
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said on X, "This content was rightfully removed, should have never been posted to begin with, and is not who we are as a nation."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., similarly called on Trump to take the post down. 
THUNE BLASTS JEFFRIES, SCHUMER AS 'AFRAID OF THEIR SHADOWS' AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT HEATS UP
"Racist. Vile. Abhorrent. This is dangerous and degrades our country — where are Senate Republicans? The President must immediately delete the post and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look like a small, envious man," Schumer said on X. 
The post has since been removed, and a Trump advisor told Fox News Digital that "the president did not see the video before it was posted."
Scott and Trump have shared a warm relationship since he ran and ultimately dropped out of the Republican presidential race last year. 
He now chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP's …

Homeland Security: ACLU ‘Demonizing’ ICE Agents With Demand for UN Probe
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

If the United Nations launches an investigation in Minnesota, it should be into the plight of crime victims, a Department of Homeland Security official says.  

This week, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the United Nations to launch a probe into the Trump administration’s actions in the state, regarding immigration enforcement and response to agitators.  

This comes amid the administration’s claims of escalating danger for agents in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as in Customs and Border Protection. 

“The ACLU is once again demonizing ICE and CBP law enforcement [who] are facing a more than 1300% increase in assaults and 8000% increase in death threats against them,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told The Daily Signal in a statement.  

The agency released statistics in late January that showed a massive increase in threats and assaults against federal agents.  

“The ACLU has shown time and time again it does not care about the innocent American lives taken at the hands of gang members, murderers, drug traffickers, and rapists who have no right to be in this country,” McLaughlin added. “Perhaps the United Nations should investigate the ‘human rights crisis’ that is Minneapolis’ crime rate.” 

DHS referred to illegal aliens that ICE arrested in Minnesota who had been charged with violent crimes.  

This included one arrest of a foreign national who is a suspected terrorist. Another was previously convicted for terroristic threats, domestic assault, and driving while intoxicated. 

Another illegal alien wasn arrested for malicious punishment of a child. Similarly, another was arrested for malicious punishment of a child and disorderly conduct. 

One criminal illegal alien was convicted of domestic violence. Another was convicted of larceny.  

DHS noted another criminal illegal alien from Cuba was convicted of drug trafficking, while another was convicted of assault. 

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Minnesota sent an “urgent submission” to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, asking them to investigate alleged discrimination against protesters in the state by federal immigration enforcement.  

The U.N. committee defines early warning measures as “aimed at preventing existing situations escalating into conflicts.” It defines urgent procedures as responding to “problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations.” 

The ACLU request calls for the U.N. committee to use its early warning and urgent action procedures to probe alleged violations of international human rights obligations.  

“The Trump administration’s egregious crackdown in Minnesota is not only flouting the Constitution but also United States international human rights obligations that prohibit the use of racial and ethnic profiling, extra-judicial killings, and unlawful use of force against protesters and observers,” said Jamil Dakwar, director of the Human Rights Program at the American Civil Liberties Union.   

The ACLU did not immediately respond to inquiries for this story.

The post Homeland Security: ACLU …

Retired federal judge who wrote anti-Trump op-ed reportedly faced misconduct inquiry before resigning
Who's accountable for the results?

Mark Wolf, who in November retired from his post as senior judge with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, was the subject of an inquiry into alleged misconduct that was nixed due to his resignation, NPR reported, citing a source familiar with the probe.
Wolf, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, pointed to President Donald Trump last year in an opinion piece explaining his reason for stepping down from the judiciary.
"My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom. President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench," he asserted in the piece. 
REAGAN-APPOINTED JUDGE RESIGNS IN PROTEST OF TRUMP, WARNS OF PRESIDENT'S 'ASSAULT ON THE RULE OF LAW'
"The White House’s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable," he wrote.
In a Nov. 24, 2025, order, Chief Judge David Barron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit noted that a former law clerk of a district judge had alleged misconduct.
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"I conducted a limited inquiry… which included lengthy oral interviews of the subject judge and the former law clerk, respectively, review of the written summary of these interviews, several conversations with the subject judge, and review of a number of written submissions from the subject judge," Barron wrote. 
"The interviews were conducted by designees who are experienced in such investigations," a footnote clarified.
"However, further ‘action on the complaint is no longer necessary because of intervening events,’ and, accordingly, the complaint is concluded pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 352(b)(2)," Barron noted.
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The website of Todd & Weld LLP indicates that Wolf is senior counsel. Fox News Digital reached out on Friday to request a comment from the retired judge.
"Chief Judge Denise J. Casper notes that 'Judge Wolf has served on this Court with distinction for over four decades,'" a November press release about Wolf's retirement from the federal court stated.