🛂 DOJ Ties Federal Benefits Funding to Immigrant Reporting
The Justice Department issued a new legal interpretation Wednesday requiring states to report undocumented immigrants to federal authorities or risk losing access to key federal funding streams.
The opinion targets funding tied to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income programs, pressuring states to share immigration status information with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation effort.
The move escalates the administration's push to enlist state governments in immigration enforcement, putting jurisdictions with sanctuary policies in direct conflict with federal funding requirements.
The FBI has opened an investigation after digital scans of more than 153 million driver's licenses appeared for sale on the dark web in what appears to be a major identity theft breach.
The stolen records belong to U.S. and Canadian residents and include medical cards, residence cards, and other identity documents. Investigators believe the data was obtained by hacking an identity verification service, with a Louisiana-based firm identified as a possible source.
The scale of the breach places it among the largest identity data exposures on record, raising significant concerns about the security of third-party verification services that store sensitive government-issued documents.
🌍 G7 Debt Costs Rise as Bond Yields Climb Since US-Iran War
Rising bond yields since the start of the U.S.-Iran war have added tens of billions of dollars to the financing costs of the world's largest developed economies.
The G7 nations are facing heavier burdens on public finances as higher yields push up the cost of issuing and rolling over government debt, compounding fiscal pressures already present across the bloc.
The development signals that the conflict's economic fallout is extending well beyond energy markets, directly straining government budgets across the U.S., Europe and Japan.
The Department of Education has appealed a June court ruling that blocked its plan to narrow eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments.
The administration's rule, set to take effect July 1, would have excluded employers deemed inconsistent with its definition of "public service" — including those providing gender-affirming care or supporting illegal immigration. District Judge Amir Ali blocked it, ruling Congress had not granted the education secretary that authority. No immediate changes to PSLF are in effect while the appeal proceeds.
🇷🇺 CIA Chief Warned Moscow: Russia Losing Ground, Putin May Not Know
CIA Director John Ratcliffe secretly traveled to Moscow and briefed senior Russian intelligence officials that Russia's military and economic position is deteriorating — and that President Putin may not be receiving an accurate picture of the war, the New York Times reports.
Ratcliffe reportedly passed the FSB director unfavorable intelligence about Russia's real battlefield situation and urged Russian officials to agree to a peace deal before conditions worsen further.
U.S. intelligence has reportedly questioned whether Putin is being given an accurate assessment of the war by his own advisers.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, will face a U.S. military court beginning June 5, 2028, a Guantanamo Bay spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Mohammed, known as "KSM," was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and has been held at Guantanamo ever since. He was considered one of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants. Three other alleged 9/11 conspirators are also set for trial in 2028.
The proceedings mark a potential resolution to one of the longest-running military tribunal cases in U.S. history, more than two decades after the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.