TV News LIES

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered thousands of furloughed employees to return to work despite most of the agency remaining unfunded by Congress amid the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the agency said it "will be utilizing available funding" to recall its entire workforce. It wasn't clear how many employees in total have been ordered to return to work. The agency, which is among the largest departments in the federal government, employs more than 260,000 people.

The return-to-work notices come after President Donald Trump on April 3 signed a memorandum ordering all DHS employees to receive pay and benefits lost during the partial government shutdown.

In the order, Trump directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to use funds with “a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS to provide each and every employee of DHS with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them" if not for the shutdown.

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Two immigration judges who ruled against the Trump administration in the deportation cases of pro-Palestinian university students have been fired by the Department of Justice.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that the justice department had terminated six judges, including Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, who oversaw deportation proceedings against Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, two students who were arrested last year as part of Trump’s campaign against the Gaza protest movement.

In an interview with the Guardian, Patel said she did not view her dismissal as “directly retaliatory” for any one case. She said it fit within a broader pattern of the administration dismissing judges near the end of their probationary term, particularly those who have experience representing immigrants in court.

“I think there’s a broader agenda of trying to reshape the immigration bench to be more reflective of the political agenda of the administration,” Patel said.

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An AI-generated image President Donald Trump posted online depicting himself as a Christ-like figure sparked an uproar among some religious conservatives, including criticism that the image was blasphemous.

Less than a day later, the image of a man wearing a white caftan draped with a red shawl was removed from Trump's social media feed in what appeared to be a rare concession to critics. Trump later said the i“This is gross blasphemy,” Brilyn Hollyhand, the former chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council and a self-described “full time Christian” said of the image in a social media post. “Faith is not a prop. You dhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HFwaOZhW0AAX2Dl?format=png&name=900x900on’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.”doctor not Jesus.

“This is gross blasphemy,” Brilyn Hollyhand, the former chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council and a self-described “full time Christian” said of the image in a social media post. “Faith is not a prop. You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.”

The president posted the image on his Truth Social account on April 12. It depicted Trump laying his hand on the forehead of a man who appears to be in a sick bed. A light glows in Trump’s other hand and light shines around the sick man’s head. An American flag waves in the background as a bald eagle flies nearby.

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First lady Melania Trump made a statement at the White House on Thursday to slam reports about any connections she may have had with Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

She also called on Congress to allow testimony from Epstein victims and to enter them into the official record. She denied being a victim herself and said an email exchange with Maxwell amounted to a “trivial note.”

She also called Epstein “disgraceful” and called for “lies” about her association with him to end “today.”

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect,” Trump said from the White House’s Grand Foyer. “I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirite.

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Eligible men will automatically be registered into the military draft pool by December as part of an effort to streamline the previous process of self-registration and save money.

The Selective Service System (SSS) — the government agency that maintains a database of men to be called up to serve in the case of a national emergency — submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, according to the office’s website.

Most men between the ages of 18 and 25 are already required to register with the Selective Service, but automatic registration was mandated in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

The change, which was meant to save money, “transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” according to the website.

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When not firing off social media posts threatening potential war crimes against 93 million Iranians, Donald Trump is busy quietly killing the so-called American dream. With gasoline at US$4 a gallon, credit card debt hitting a record US$1.28tn, and stagnating wages, Americans are struggling to detect the prosperity their president promised them. Regardless, Trump plans to spend a record $1.5tn on the military in 2027 – a 40% increase for the Pentagon at a time when farm bankruptcies have increased by 46%.

But if Trump’s illegal war on Iran has taught us anything, it is this: Americans will pay any price for freedom, except if it increases the price of groceries or gasoline. People in the Maga heartlands tolerated the erosion of civil liberties, democracy and the rule of law during the first year of Trump’s second presidency but they will be unforgiving if their standard of living declines.

My wife and I moved from Fremantle to New York for our careers 15 years ago, bringing our three small children with us. All of them are US citizens. But we recently took a family decision to return to Australia. To be honest, it feels like an escape.

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