Biden Official Claims Lloyd Austin ‘Never Compromised American Lives’; All Hell Breaks Loose On CNN

 A CNN panel discussion went off the rails on Wednesday after a guest who had served in President Joe Biden’s administration claimed that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had “never compromised American lives.”

Dan Koh, who was the White House Deputy Cabinet Secretary during the Biden administration, began the exchange by suggesting that military leadership in President Donald Trump’s administration was putting people at risk and “no one was facing consequences.”

“That’s when people check out and realize that their democracy may not be what they thought it was,” Koh continued.

WATCH:

Republican commentator Scott Jennings pushed back, noting that Koh “held a high-ranking position with Joe Biden.”

“Yes, I did, you did with George W. Bush,” Koh replied.

“Did you recall a single person in your White House or in your Democratic Party asking for the resignation of Lloyd Austin after Afghanistan, after the drone strike vaporized those kids, or after he went AWOL, yes or no?” Jennings asked, referencing the fact that Austin had been in charge when the Biden administration had closed Bagram Air Base and evacuated everyone — both military and civilian — through the crowded international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The end result of that decision was a chaotic withdrawal that left American equipment behind, American allies at the mercy of Taliban leaders who immediately took power, and a suicide bombing that killed 13 American service members and dozens of Afghan citizens.

“Secretary Austin never compromised American lives,” Koh replied, but the words had barely left his mouth when everyone at the table began talking at once.

Exclamations came from all directions: “That’s a no,” “He did,” and, “Thirteen of them.”

Jennings looked straight at the camera in apparent disbelief for a split second before he joined the fray, exclaiming, “Thirteen! Thirteen! Thirteen American lives were more than compromised. They were ended!”

‘A Privilege, Not A Right’: Trump Admin Gives K-12 Schools Ultimatum On DEI

 The Department of Education sent letters on Thursday to state education commissioners, warning them to end unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at K-12 schools or face loss of federal funding. 

The letters, sent to all state commissioners overseeing state education agencies, told the officials that they must certify within 10 days their compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws and the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action. If schools retain programs with identity-based stipulations, their federal funding could be slashed, the education department warned.   

“Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right. When state education commissioners accept federal funds, they agree to abide by federal antidiscrimination requirements,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said. “Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation of Title VI.”

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act stipulates that federal funding cannot go toward programs or entities that discriminate against a person based on their race.

Trainor said the letters were meant to ensure that states comply with the majority decision in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, which ruled that affirmative action admission programs at universities were unconstitutional because they violated equal protection under the law.  

“No student should be denied opportunities or treated differently because of his or her race,” Trainor said. “We hope all State and Local Education Agencies agree and certify their compliance with this legal and constitutional principle.” 

The letter gives state commissioners until April 13 to sign a certificationsignifying that they reached out to all local education agencies in their states and agreed to comply with Title VI and the Supreme Court affirmative action decision. The certification document specifically mentions DEI programs as being problematic.

The certification said that DEI programs were unlawful and impermissible if they were designed “to advantage one’s race over another.” If these programs were continued, federal funding could be cut off, school governing boards could face legal action from the Justice Department and potential legal fines.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education has aggressively sought to crack down on DEI, slashing $600 million in grants that funded training teachers in concepts such as Critical Race Theory, DEI, social justice activism, and “anti-racism.”

The department also launched a portal for parents and teachers around the country to submit complaints of alleged racial or sexual discrimination happening at their schools. Officials will use these submissions to identify locations for possible investigations. 

At the same time, Trump has been pushing to send more educational responsibilities back to the states and signed an executive order last month directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the department.

ICE Captures Over Three Dozen Illegal Aliens In Workplace Raid

 Federal immigration enforcement agents arrested over three dozen illegal aliens who they say submitted fraudulent documents to illegally gain employment at a roofing company in northern Washington state.

A total of 37 illegal aliens were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Mt. Baker Roofing warehouse in Bellingham, Washington, near the Canadian border.

ICE spokesman David Yost said that the federal immigration enforcement agents carried out the raid “based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the unlawful employment of aliens without legal work authorization in violation of federal law.”

Yost explained that the illegal aliens “fraudulently represented their immigration status and submitted fraudulent documents” or false information to gain employment.

“They corralled us into a room in the back of the building. They had a list and pictures of everyone who was undocumented and took them away,” said Tomas Fuerte, who has been with the company for 12 years.

The company says that it is “fully cooperating with the authorities while also ensuring that our employees are treated fairly and respectfully under the law.”

With an estimated 18.6 million illegal aliens currently present in the United States, some immigration experts say that new policies could prevent illegal employment while also encouraging illegal aliens to self-deport. Congress could take action to prevent illegal aliens from illegally obtained employment by passing a national mandate for employers to use E-Verify, a free service from the Department of Homeland Security that allows businesses to check the legal status of applicants.

“If employers were mandated to use E-Verify and the government demonstrated the resolve to hold employers accountable, that would go a long way toward drying up the supply of jobs for illegal aliens, thereby eliminating the biggest incentive to come or remain here illegally,” Federation for American Immigration Reform Media Director Ira Mehlman told The Daily Wire.

The policy was also endorsed by Vice President JD Vance when he was a Senator. “E Verify might be the single most important immigration issue,” Vance asserted in 2022 while he was co-sponsoring legislation to mandate the program.

‘We Do Not Ask Permission From Far-Left Democrats’: Vance Scorches Dems Over Deportations

 Vice President JD Vance made it clear on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s administration had no intention of slowing down efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens, regardless of what “far Left Democrats” thought of their policies.

Vance joined “Fox & Friends” host Lawrence Jones to discuss the Trump administration’s deportation efforts — which have resulted in a number of suspected gang members allegedly affiliated with either MS-13 or Tren de Aragua being delivered to a mega-prison in El Salvador.

Jones asked specifically about one case, which Democrats have been using as evidence to claim that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are not thoroughly vetting people before deporting them.

WATCH:

Asking Vance to put his “lawyer hat” on, Jones said, “They’re pointing to one of these cases of a gentleman that they said should not have been deported to El Salvador. They said he was not connected to MS-13. What would you tell them about that case? Because they’re saying that this was a person that was a great member of society. You’ve looked at the court records. You’ve talked to the men and women on the ground, what can you tell us about that situation?”

“There have been a few cases out there where Democrats and the media say, ‘Oh, this person was just an innocent father of three,’ and then you find out, for example — I think this is the case that you’re talking about — back in 2019 an immigration judge looked at all the evidence, looked at all the data, and concluded that this allegedly innocent person that we sent to El Salvador was actually a member of an MS-13 gang,” Vance explained. “He had also committed some traffic violations, he had not shown up for some court dates. This is not exactly father of the year, here, this a person that we don’t think should be in our country.”

“We do not ask permission from far-Left Democrats before we deport illegal immigrants. We do the American people’s business,” Vance added.

He went on to say that he didn’t understand where Democrats were coming from because they seemed far more upset about deporting illegal immigrants than they did about the victims of the crimes those illegal immigrants had committed.

“What they’re getting fired up about, what they’re most angry about, is not that Jocelyn Nungaray was murdered, but that the person who murdered her is getting shipped back home where they belong,” he said.

Biden Official Claims Lloyd Austin ‘Never Compromised American Lives’; All Hell Breaks Loose On CNN

 A CNN panel discussion went off the rails on Wednesday after a guest who had served in President Joe Biden’s administration claimed that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had “never compromised American lives.”

Dan Koh, who was the White House Deputy Cabinet Secretary during the Biden administration, began the exchange by suggesting that military leadership in President Donald Trump’s administration was putting people at risk and “no one was facing consequences.”

“That’s when people check out and realize that their democracy may not be what they thought it was,” Koh continued.

WATCH:

Republican commentator Scott Jennings pushed back, noting that Koh “held a high-ranking position with Joe Biden.”

“Yes, I did, you did with George W. Bush,” Koh replied.

“Did you recall a single person in your White House or in your Democratic Party asking for the resignation of Lloyd Austin after Afghanistan, after the drone strike vaporized those kids, or after he went AWOL, yes or no?” Jennings asked, referencing the fact that Austin had been in charge when the Biden administration had closed Bagram Air Base and evacuated everyone — both military and civilian — through the crowded international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The end result of that decision was a chaotic withdrawal that left American equipment behind, American allies at the mercy of Taliban leaders who immediately took power, and a suicide bombing that killed 13 American service members and dozens of Afghan citizens.

“Secretary Austin never compromised American lives,” Koh replied, but the words had barely left his mouth when everyone at the table began talking at once.

Exclamations came from all directions: “That’s a no,” “He did,” and, “Thirteen of them.”

Jennings looked straight at the camera in apparent disbelief for a split second before he joined the fray, exclaiming, “Thirteen! Thirteen! Thirteen American lives were more than compromised. They were ended!”

Multiple National Security Council Staffers Fired After Laura Loomer White House Visit

  Up to ten officials from President Donald Trump’s National Security Council were fired following a White House visit from activist journalist Laura Loomer, who reportedly presented opposition research on several White House staffers to the president.

Axios first reported the firings on Thursday, suggesting that the firings were linked to Loomer’s Wednesday visit to the Oval Office in which she reportedly presented Trump with research on National Security staff and pressed Trump to fire specific individuals. A source familiar with the meeting told Axios that that the firings were “being labeled as an anti-neocon move.”

Trump confirmed the personnel moves to reporters aboard Air Force One, but didn’t directly credit Loomer for them.

“We’re always going to let go of people — people we don’t like or people that take advantage of or people that may have loyalties to someone else,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

“Laura Loomer is a great patriot. She’s a very strong person,” Trump said, when asked about the activist reporter. “She makes recommendations and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations. I listen to everybody and then I make a decision. She always has something to say and it’s usually constructive … She recommended some people for jobs.”

That official told Axios that Loomer was angry that “neocons” had “slipped through” the Trump administration’s vetting process, saying: “She went to the White House yesterday and presented them with her research and evidence.” The official also said that three senior NSC members had been fired, and as many as ten staff members had been fired total, warning that it was looking like a “bloodbath.”

CNN reported Thursday that three of those fired are Brian Walsh, Thomas Boodry, and David Feith. Walsh was director for intelligence and a former staffer for Marco Rubio. Boodry was a senior director for legislative affairs who formerly served as Mike Waltz’s legislative director in Congress. Feith was a senior director overseeing technology and national security matters who had previously served in the State Department under the first Trump administration.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and director of the Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor also took part in the meeting, the Associated Press reported. Axios reported that Loomer did not believe the staff she presented to Trump were sufficiently loyal to his agenda.

NSC spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment on the firings, telling The Daily Wire that the NSC does not comment on personnel matters.

(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Loomer did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire, but in a post on X on Thursday morning, she accused “people in and around the West Wing” of leaking to the “hostile, left-wing media” about Trump’s private meetings in the Oval Office.

“I want to reiterate how important it is that people who gain access to the White House or the administration respect the privacy of their conversations with President Trump and his senior staff,” she added. “Out of respect for President @realDonaldTrump and the privacy of the Oval Office, I’m going to decline on divulging any details about my Oval Office meeting with President Trump.”

“It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings,” she continued. “I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America, and our national security.”

Per the president’s travel pool, Waltz, Wiles, Gor, and a few other senior officials accompanied Trump to Florida.

Alaska Natives cheer Trump’s energy revival: “Our voices are finally being heard”

 For decades, Alaska’s vast natural resources have been caught in the crossfire of Washington’s political battles. But now, under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a new era of energy independence and tribal empowerment is dawning. Native Alaskan leaders are celebrating the Trump administration’s decisive reversal of Biden-era drilling restrictions—a move they say will restore economic vitality, tribal sovereignty and America’s energy dominance.

A stark reversal: From Biden’s lockdown to Trump’s unleashing

On March 20, Secretary Burgum announced sweeping actions to reopen oil and gas leasing in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), fulfilling a key promise of Trump’s "American Energy Dominance" agenda. The decision directly overturns the Biden administration’s 2023 rule, which sought to shut down development in these regions by 2024—a policy that Alaskan tribal leaders called "deeply flawed" and economically devastating.

“It’s cautious optimism,” said Nagruk Harcharek, president of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat (VOICE), a coalition representing 21 Native communities. “We feel like we’re going to be able to get some things done with a more favorable administration.”

The contrast between the two administrations couldn’t be starker. While Biden officials touted their policies as protective of Indigenous rights and the environment, tribal leaders say they were sidelined—and their livelihoods threatened.

“We found out policy changes in the news”

Harcharek didn’t mince words about the Biden administration’s approach. Despite promises of being the "most tribally friendly administration in history," he said, “We didn’t get that sentiment whatsoever.”

The Biden DOI, led by Secretary Deb Haaland, frequently invoked "Indigenous Knowledge" to justify locking up Alaska’s resources. Yet, according to Harcharek, meaningful consultation never materialized.

“Oftentimes we were finding out policy changes in the news,” he said. “Which is not ideal when they have our phone numbers.”

Doreen Leavitt, natural resources director for the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, echoed this frustration. “Secretary Haaland’s leadership… was not just deeply frustrating, but it was saddening,” she told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Her lack of respect for our region was frustrating, to say the least.”

Oil, gas and survival: Why energy development matters

For Alaska Natives, this isn’t just about politics—it’s about survival. Harcharek emphasized that 95% of the North Slope’s budget comes from oil and gas taxes, funding schools, healthcare and infrastructure.

“The economy in the North Slope is oil and gas activity,” he said. Without it, communities would be forced to “rely on the state and the federal government”—a prospect he called unsustainable.

Charles Lampe, president of the Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation, praised Burgum’s decision, saying it “suggests our community’s voice is finally being heard in Washington.” He noted that reopening ANWR’s Coastal Plain has “overwhelming support” from his people.

A return to energy dominance

The Trump administration’s actions align with its broader energy agenda. In February 2025, Trump established the National Energy Dominance Council, chaired by Burgum, to streamline permitting, boost production and reduce reliance on foreign adversaries like China and Russia.

Alaska Republican Rep. Nick Begich hailed the DOI’s decision as a victory for both his state and the nation:

“When Alaskans have the freedom to develop our vast natural resources, every American stands to benefit—from lower energy prices to stronger national security. Energy is freedom.”

The road ahead: Tribal partnerships and economic revival

While tribal leaders welcome the policy shift, they stress the need for ongoing dialogue. Leavitt urged the Trump-Vance administration to maintain “open, ongoing engagement” to ensure long-term benefits for Native communities.

For now, the message from Alaska is clear: After years of federal overreach, the Trump administration’s pro-energy, pro-tribal policies are restoring hope—and prosperity—to America’s last frontier.

As Harcharek put it: “We are here to advocate for an economic base to support our culture.” And with Alaska’s resources finally unleashed, that culture—and America’s energy future—looks brighter than ever.

The battle over Alaska’s energy potential is a microcosm of a larger national struggle: Will America embrace its resource abundance, or surrender to radical environmentalism at the expense of working families? Under Trump, the answer is clear—energy freedom wins.