TV News LIES

Several Republican-led states are deploying more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to address what President Trump has called a "crime emergency" in the nation's capital. Several lawmakers and military officials, including former top official of the National Guard Major Gen. Randy E. Manner, have expressed concern that the guard is being politicized.

"Military vehicles in front of public buildings and the idea of them constantly there with weapons, that is absolutely called intimidation," Manner, who served as acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, told Morning Edition. "I'm very concerned about the impact on both our recruiting, as well as, the perception of many of the people of color as they see the National Guardsmen from other states coming in to occupy Washington, D.C."

Despite protests and legal challenges, Trump has repeatedly touted extending federal control over the nation's capital, even though data shared by the Justice Department shows violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year.

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The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is experiencing “severe” staff shortages at all its hospitals, with the number of shortages increasing by 50% this fiscal year, according to a new report from the agency’s independent watchdog.

The report, released on Tuesday, came a day after the Guardian revealed the department had lost thousands of healthcare professionals deemed “core” to the system under Donald Trump, without which, the agency said, “mission-critical work cannot be completed”.

The inspector general found 94% of VA facilities faced a “severe” shortage of doctors, while 79% faced a severe shortage of nurses. Psychology was “the most frequently reported clinical occupational staffing shortage”. A majority of VA facilities also reported severe shortages of police officers, who keep veteran patients and staff safe.

The VA operates the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, serving 9 million veterans annually. The report is required under two laws, one signed by Trump in 2017, which require the agency’s inspector general annually to determine the extent of staffing shortages within each medical center.

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The DC national guard will begin deploying on the city’s streets Tuesday night, the White House confirmed to the Guardian, a day after Donald Trump ordered their arrival and took control of the city’s police force, calling Washington DC a “lawless” city, despite official crime statistics saying otherwise. A White House official told the Washington Post that the national guard is expected to “begin being on the streets starting tonight”. Defense officials said a small number of the roughly 800 guard members planned for the mission had already been mobilized by Tuesday afternoon, with more expected to arrive in the coming days.
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About 850 officers and agents took part in a “massive law enforcement surge” across Washington DC on Monday night and made nearly two dozen arrests, the White House has said. The show of force came after Donald Trump announced he was sending the national guard into the capital and putting city police under federal control, even though the violent crime rate is at a 30-year low. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday: “As part of the president’s massive law enforcement surge, last night approximately 850 officers and agents were surged across the city. They made a total of 23 arrests, including multiple other contacts.”

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The verbal gymnastics by our Defense secretary whenever he orders a Confederate monument to go back up is truly Olympian.

To wit, Secretary Pete Hegseth just ordered the army to refurbish a 1914 Arlington Confederate Monument to the tune of $10 million and restore it by 2027. Hegseth called it a “reconciliation monument … taken down by woke lemmings.”

In his announcement, Hegseth avoids the actual name of the monument, “The Arlington Confederate Monument.” In fact, nothing in his statement mentions the Confederacy at all. There’s a reason for that: Congress passed a law in 2019 preventing the Department of Defense from naming or renaming anything after the Confederacy. Hence, “reconciliation monument.”

In his announcement, Hegseth avoids the actual name of the monument, “The Arlington Confederate Monument.” In fact, nothing in his statement mentions the Confederacy at all. There’s a reason for that: Congress passed a law in 2019 preventing the Department of Defense from naming or renaming anything after the Confederacy. Hence, “reconciliation monument.”

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The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently shared a video in which several pastors say women should no longer be allowed to vote, prompting one progressive evangelical organization to express concern.

Hegseth reposted a CNN segment on X on Thursday that focuses on pastor Doug Wilson, a Christian nationalist who co-founded the Idaho-based Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), In the segment, he raises the idea of women not voting.

“I would like to see this nation being a Christian nation, and I would like this world to be a Christian world,” Wilson said.

Another pastor interview by CNN for its segment, Toby Sumpter, said: “In my ideal society, we would vote as households. I would ordinarily be the one to cast the vote, but I would cast the vote having discussed it with my household.”

A congregant interviewed for the segment remarked that she considers her husband as the head their household, and added: “I do submit to him.”

Hegseth reposted the nearly seven-minute report with the caption: “All of Christ for All of Life.”

Later in the video, Wilson says he does not believe women should hold leadership positions in the military or be able to fill high-profile combat roles.

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The Air Force will deny early retirement benefits to transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of military service, even in cases where an early retirement was already approved, according to a new memo.

Transgender service members, who were made to either voluntarily separate or be forced out of the military under a policy instituted by the Trump administration, will instead be offered enhanced voluntary separation pay, which falls short of the early retirement benefit and is typically given to service members who choose to leave active duty before they are eligible for retirement, according to an Aug. 4 memo obtained by The Hill and first reported by Reuters.

An earlier memo, sent in May by Gwendolyn R. Defilippi, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, said transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service could request Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA). In most military branches, including the Air Force, service members are eligible for retirement after 20 years.

An Air Force spokesperson did not immediately return The Hill’s request for comment on the new policy but told Reuters on Thursday that roughly a dozen transgender troops with between 15 and 18 years of military service were “prematurely notified” that their TERA applications were approved, and a “higher level review” was required.

In the Aug. 4 memo, Brian Scarlett, performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, wrote that, “after careful consideration of the individual applications,” he was “disapproving” TERA requests from trans service members with 15 to 18 years of service. The memo does not explain the decision.

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