Uncensored Free Speech Platform

Social Security surpasses 100 million my Social Security account creations
Who's accountable for the results?

EXCLUSIVE — The Social Security Administration announced Monday it has crossed a major “milestone” in its transformation toward digital accessibility.

The agency informed the Washington Examiner that more than 100 million United States residents have created their my Social Security accounts, paving the way for these users to have readily available service. 

“This milestone underscores what we are working toward at SSA: providing convenient and best-in-class customer service that meets people where they are, whether it is online with my Social Security, on the phone, or in person at local field offices,” said Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano.

Using a My Social Security account allows users to access SSA’s services at any time of day, regardless of whether they are currently receiving SSA benefits. They can also manage their current benefits and estimate their future benefits. 

The SSA also highlighted how users can access a summary of their earnings, a tool that is timely as tax season quickly approaches.

In December, the SSA released a report confirming the agency’s improvements in customer service, including an average wait time of seven minutes. The SSA also assisted 65% more callers in 2025 compared to the year prior.

OPINION: PANAMA CANAL DECISION IS ANOTHER TRUMP WIN IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE

The SSA’s landmark in my Social Security accounts comes as the agency is still issuing payments to recipients. The agency’s first round of February’s Social Security payments will go out in two days and will be worth up to $5,108.

Meanwhile, Supplemental Security Income payments will go out on Feb. 27. SSI payments are typically issued on the first day of a month, but when the first of a month falls on a weekend or holiday, as is the case with March 1 this year, SSI payments are issued on the last business day of the previous month.

GOP accelerates Trump judge confirmations as pressure builds to kill Senate blue slip
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.

Senate Republicans confirmed half a dozen of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees last week, continuing a quick pace to green-light as many of his picks as possible.
While the Senate GOP is moving fast to confirm Trump's judicial nominees, the president and some of his allies want to see an over-century-old tradition in the Senate that provides bipartisan guardrails to the judicial nomination process be eviscerated.
They contend that the blue slip tradition is slowing down Republicans from being able to confirm picks, and that Democrats are holding the process hostage. 
TRUMP DELETES 'RACIST' POST AFTER WAVE OF REPUBLICAN BACKLASH, WHITE HOUSE SAYS HE DIDN'T KNOW
"Nuking the blue slip would be a huge mistake," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.
Tillis, like several other Republicans, has argued that the blue slips are a valuable tool of the minority, and that inevitably, the GOP would need to use the tradition to their advantage when Democrats regain control of the upper chamber.
The Senate has confirmed 33 judges since the start of Trump’s second term, a figure that dwarfs the number of total judicial nominees, including U.S. attorneys, district and circuit court judges, moved through the upper chamber during his first go-round in the White House.
TRUMP TAKES AIM AT SENATE 'BLUE SLIP' TRADITION AS GOP RESISTS CHANGE
During the first year of his first term, the Senate confirmed 19 Article III nominees, including the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. 
Though Republicans are far ahead of Trump's first time clip, Democrats under former President Joe Biden still outpaced them in this metric. Biden clocked 42 total judicial nominees confirmed during the first year of his term.
Whether the Senate can outpace Trump’s final total of 234 judicial nominees from his first term remains to be seen, but for now the blue slip appears to be safe. 
Still, Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should "get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with U.S. attorneys or having to do with judges."
REPUBLICANS BLAST DEMOCRATS' TRUMP ELECTION MEDDLING CLAIMS AS HYPOCRITICAL 'CONSPIRACY THEORY'
Much of his frustration with the tradition, which has been around for over 100 years in the upper chamber, likely stemmed from the nominations of Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan getting derailed by blue slips last year.
He’s taken his frustrations out on Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a vocal proponent of the …

Ghislaine Maxwell pleads Fifth Amendment, dodges questions in House Oversight Epstein probe
Ask who never gets charged.

The House Oversight Committee's deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell ended less than an hour after it began on Monday morning, when the convicted accomplice of the late Jeffrey Epstein pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
Maxwell appeared before lawmakers virtually for a closed-door interview in the House bipartisan probe into the federal government's handling of Epstein's case.
She is currently serving out a 20-year sentence at a Texas prison.
NEW GHISLAINE MAXWELL MUGSHOT INCLUDED IN DOJ'S LATEST EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE
Both House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a member of the committee, said they expected Maxwell to plead the Fifth Amendment in the lead-up to her scheduled sit-down.
The former British socialite was found guilty in December 2021 of being an accomplice in Epstein's scheme to sexually traffic and exploit female minors.
The DOJ said at the time of her sentencing that Maxwell "enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways."
DEMOCRATS SAY CLINTONS' AGREEMENT TO TESTIFY UNDERCUTS SUBPOENA PUSH, WON'T BRING NEW EPSTEIN ANSWERS
Comer announced lawmakers would hear from Maxwell late last month during a meeting on holding former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for his Epstein probe.
"We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition. Our lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, Feb. 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee," Comer said at the time.
Contempt proceedings against the Clintons stalled, however, after they agreed via their attorneys to appear in person on Capitol Hill just days before the full House of Representatives was expected to vote on referring the pair to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges.
Comer's team had been in a back-and-forth with Maxwell's attorney for months trying to nail down a date for her to speak to committee lawyers.
He agreed to delay her previous planned deposition in August after her lawyer asked him to wait until after the Supreme Court decided whether it would hear her appeal. The Supreme Court turned down Maxwell's case in October.
She and the Clintons' depositions are part of the House Oversight Committee's months-long probe into how the government handled Epstein's case. 

Rick Jackson’s campaign launch threatens Burt Jones’s lock on MAGA base in Georgia governor race

After entering the Georgia gubernatorial race last week, billionaire Rick Jackson has already upset the Republican primary field as he aims to pull support away from Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.

The primary race was considered settled after President Donald Trump endorsed Jones, who is the presumed front-runner. However, Jackson’s self-funded campaign launch may pull some support from Jones’s pro-Trump base.

The billionaire founder of Jackson Healthcare cast himself as a MAGA-aligned outsider looking to challenge a “career politician,” like Jones.

“If you want another career politician who will bow to the cartel, my opponents are for you,” Jackson told supporters and Jackson Healthcare employees at his campaign kickoff event. “But if you want a governor who’s like President Trump, who will stand up to the radical left, the media, the bureaucracy, and anyone else that tries to take advantage of Georgians, then I’m your man.”

Jackson said he plans to invest at least $50 million into the race to back his bid, starting with a $40 million advertising campaign. This would set him apart from the rest of the GOP primary candidates, who are relying on their current or prior political experience to rally Georgia voters rather than on money.

While his self-funded campaign is advantageous, Jackson is facing an ethics complaint from Jones supporter Allen Kennedy for spending funds on advertisements before properly registering as a campaign committee. The complaint accuses the political newcomer’s campaign of violating state law.

Jackson’s entry also pits him against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.

Both Raffensperger and Carr sued Jones, alleging that Georgia’s campaign finance laws gave their primary opponent an unfair advantage by allowing him to raise and spend unlimited campaign funds while they could not. Both lawsuits were later dismissed, although Raffensperger has appealed the ruling concerning his legal challenge.

Multiple polls compiled by the New York Times show Jones with a sizable lead over Raffensperger and Carr. It remains to be seen whether Jackson will alter Jones’s lead at all.

It’s unlikely Jackson will nab Trump’s endorsement from Jones, although the president has endorsed more than one Republican candidate in a race before. He did so in the Arizona gubernatorial race by handing his endorsements to conservative attorney Karrin Taylor Robson and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ).

STACEY ABRAMS RULES OUT …

US forces seize Venezuela-linked oil tanker tracked from Caribbean Sea to Indian Ocean
What's the administration thinking here?

War Department officials said Monday that U.S. military forces seized a Venezuela-linked oil tanker that Indo-Pacific Command tracked down from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean.

“The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” the War Department posted on X. “It ran, and we followed. The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean. No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain.”

The seizure was part of an effort to enforce sanctions put in place by President Donald Trump to quarantine vessels transporting oil to or from Venezuela, according to the War Department.

Monday’s operation marks the eighth such action to take hold of a Venezuela-linked oil vessel.

“The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain,” the War Department posted.

The vessel was traveling under a Panamanian flag and reportedly departed from Venezuela in January carrying roughly 700,000 barrels of crude oil bound for China.

Under Trump’s “quarantine” policy, all Venezuelan oil exports must be coordinated through “proper and lawful” channels to prevent the circumvention of international economic sanctions.

A video posted on X shows U.S. forces fast-roping onto the Aquila II as crew members are corralled to one side of the ship. Additional photos show a sniper observing the tanker from a helicopter.

The tanker seizure comes amid heightened tensions surrounding Venezuela’s fragile political landscape. Juan Pablo Guanipa, a politician and close ally of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, was taken by armed men in Caracas less than a day after his release from prison.

While much of former dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime has crumbled since his capture by U.S. forces earlier this year, his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has taken power, though under immense restrictions.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FACES COURT TEST OVER VENEZUELANS FLOWN TO EL SALVADOR

Guanipa’s allies have said they will hold Rodriguez accountable for any harm done to the politician.

“We call on the international community for the immediate release of Juan Pablo Guanipa and for an immediate and unconditional end to the persecution of the opposition,” Justice First posted on X. “Venezuela is determined to change and yearns for justice.”

Trump Slams Anti-ICE Super Bowl Singer for ‘Slap in the Face’ to US
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

President Donald Trump slammed artist Bad Bunny for performing “one of the worst” Super Bowl halftime shows in history.

“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.”

Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican immigrant who raps in Spanish, said “ICE out” during his recent Grammy acceptance speech in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts across the country.

“Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,” Trump said. “This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day — including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History!”

Trump said the halftime show included “nothing inspirational, but added the “fake news” will give it great reviews.

“And, by the way, the NFL should immediately replace its ridiculous new Kickoff Rule. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote.

The post Trump Slams Anti-ICE Super Bowl Singer for ‘Slap in the Face’ to US appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Venezuela attorney general orders rearrest of opposition leader hours after prison release
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab asked a court on Monday to approve the rearrest of Juan Pablo Guanipa shortly after he was kidnapped by “heavily armed men” in Caracas, as claimed by opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

The abduction was announced by Machado shortly after Guanipa was released from prison on Sunday. The Venezuelan lawyer and opposition figure was among nearly three dozen political prisoners who were freed, but he found himself detained again less than 12 hours after his release.

“Just a few minutes ago, Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped in the Los Chorros urbanization in Caracas,” Machado posted on X. “Heavily armed men, dressed in civilian clothes, arrived in 4 vehicles and violently took him away. We demand his immediate release.”

Saab’s office later announced it had “requested the competent court to revoke the precautionary measure granted to Juan Pablo Guanipa, due to his non-compliance with the conditions imposed by the aforementioned court.” The attorney general’s office did not specify what the conditions were but noted the government was seeking house arrest for Machado’s ally.

As of Monday morning, Guanipa’s condition and whereabouts are unknown.

Ramon Guanipa Linares said on social media his father was kidnapped by a “group of approximately 10 unidentified people.” Linares demanded “immediate proof of life” in addition to his release.

International outrage followed over Guanipa’s detainment, with many U.S. lawmakers presuming Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez’s government carried out the operation.

“Where is Juan Pablo Guanipa?” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) asked on X.

“This is the dictatorship’s playbook: kidnap, intimidate, and silence anyone who dares to speak the truth. A cowardly act that confirms the repression in Venezuela has not stopped for a single moment,” Salazar said. “Every hour without answers further exposes the brutality of a regime that fears its own people and sustains itself through persecution and terror. Juan Pablo Guanipa must be released immediately and unconditionally.”

Rodriguez assumed control over Venezuela after the U.S. military captured former dictator Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York to face federal charges for narcoterrorism and drug trafficking.

The acting president has tried to cooperate with the Trump administration, but lawmakers claim she is employing the same authoritarian tactics as Maduro.

“Maduro’s thuggish regime has once again …

Labor Department orders lawyers to cut ties with ABA, slams group as ‘radical’ activist force
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Labor’s top lawyer ordered staff on Monday to stop engaging with the American Bar Association in their official capacities, saying the organization partakes in liberal activism and that any federal participation would only boost its influence.
Trump-appointed Solicitor Jonathan Berry wrote in an email that the hundreds of attorneys at the Department of Labor are not to use taxpayer funds to participate in any ABA events or use their government job titles at them, according to a copy of the email reviewed by Fox News Digital.
"The ABA is strategically equivocal about its ideological stance," Berry wrote. "Equivocal in that the ABA holds itself out as non-ideological at certain times, but takes decidedly radical ideological positions at others."
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES
His email marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to weaken the ABA, the nation’s largest association of lawyers and other legal personnel. 
The Department of Justice implemented a similar policy last year and terminated more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs before a judge found that ending the funds was unconstitutional. The Federal Trade Commission likewise severed its ties with the ABA's antitrust arm, saying it "promotes the business interests of Big Tech."
Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA's website touts that it is the "national voice of the legal profession" and showcases work that includes support for "LGBTQ+" initiatives, abortion access, stricter gun control measures, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The ABA has also taken a stance against President Donald Trump, condemning what its president described as the administration's "wide-scale affronts to the rule of law."
The ABA wields enormous power, weighing in on nominations of federal judges, engaging in litigation and involving itself in the hiring processes across the legal industry. One arm of the ABA also handles law school accreditation.
In a reversal of a decades-long practice, Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA last year that the DOJ would not give the association a heads up on judicial nominees before they are announced, stripping the ABA of the ability to rate the nominees in advance.
DOJ OUTLINES 10 ‘WINS’ UNDER TRUMP, SAYS AGENCY RESTORED AFTER BIDEN ERA
Berry wrote in his email to staff that the Labor Department lawyers' …

Keir Starmer defiant as Scottish Labour leader demands he resign over Mandelson affair
This deserves loud pushback.

Scottish Labour Party leader Anas Sarwar is demanding that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resign amid scandals he deems “intolerable,” but that will not be happening, according to 10 Downing Street.

Sarwar, speaking at a Monday press conference in Glasgow, said the prime minister must step down amid political chaos caused by revelations about former British Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson’s close relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

“The distraction needs to end, and leadership in Downing Street needs to change,” Sarwar told reporters, adding that “there have been too many incidences where the wrong judgment calls have been made.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar speaks at a Glasgow press conference, calling for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down. (Photo by Robert Perry/PA Images via Getty Images)

Affirming that he still considers Starmer a personal friend, Sarwar said he must “put [his] country first.”

Emails released in late January indicate that Mandelson, prior to being appointed ambassador to the U.S., received approximately $75,000 from Epstein and offered the convicted sex trafficker insights on political affairs while serving in former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

The story has dominated British headlines ever since, and the Labour government has tried to distance itself from the ambassador whom it selected, vetted, and appointed.

“Keir Starmer is a decent man, and it is not secret that I have always got on well with him,” Sarwar said, affirming that the prime minister has “dedicated himself to public service.”

He praised the Labour government for accomplishing “so many great things” but said voters “can’t see them and they can’t hear them” amid the spectacle of the Mandelson affair.

Sarwar said he spoke with Starmer before calling the press conference and that he will not be backing any particular alternative for leadership, stressing that he is only concerned with maintaining Labour leadership in Scotland.

“Does this cause me personal hurt and pain? Of course it does,” Sarwar said. “This man is someone I regard as a friend and who I have a certain level of loyalty to. But my first priority and my first loyalty, has to be to my country, Scotland.”

Sarwar’s demands fell on deaf ears — a spokesperson at 10 Downing Street released a statement in the middle of the Scottish Labour leader’s press conference, entirely dismissing the notion of Starmer resigning.

“Keir Starmer is one of only …

Florida driver license tests now only given in English
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.

English is now the only language in which people can take driver's license tests in the Sunshine State.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced last month that the change to English as the only language for the tests would start February 6.
"Previously, knowledge exams for most non-commercial driver license classifications were offered in multiple languages, while Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) and Commercial Driver License (CDL) knowledge exams were only available in English and Spanish," the department explained in a January 30 press release. "Under the updated policy, all driver license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English."
OVER 5,000 COLD-STUNNED IGUANAS REMOVED IN TWO DAYS DURING STATE'S RECORD FREEZE
"To implement this change, FLHSMV has updated its driver license testing system statewide. Language translation services will no longer be permitted for knowledge or skills examinations, and any printed exams in languages other than English will be removed for use," the department explained.
Gov. Ron DeSantis hailed the move.
DESANTIS CELEBRATES END OF ‘WITCH HUNT’ AFTER TRUMP DOJ REPORTEDLY DROPS HOPE FLORIDA FOUNDATION COMPLAINT
"Good reform by @FLHSMV to require driver exams be conducted only in English. Need to be able to read the road signs!" the governor declared in a January 31 post on X.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Republican who launched a gubernatorial bid last month, also expressed support for the move.
CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND VOWS TO PURGE ‘RINOS’ IN BATTLE TO REPLACE RETIRING VERN BUCHANAN IN OPEN FLORIDA SEAT
"Thank you to FLHSMV for taking a commonsense step to strengthen highway safety. Ensuring drivers can understand road signs, instructions, and safety commands in English helps keep everyone on our roads safer," Collins wrote in a January 30 post on X.