Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, called the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on screen use harms released in May “a great success” and “the capstone of my career.”

She’s currently performing some of the Surgeon General’s duties while the office sits vacant pending Senate action on President Donald Trump’s nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier.

“We searched all of the body of evidence, compiled it all in one place. Pretty much ubiquitously, we are seeing consensus approval on this document where people are like, ‘Yes, this is a problem. Please let us know what we can do about it.'”

The advisory focuses on physical harms from increased screen use by children — obesity, nearsightedness — as well as mental health and behavioral issues.

Nearly 40% of the world’s children and adolescents will be nearsighted by 2050 if current trends continue, Haridopolos said, citing research estimates. Young people “unfortunately are having close screens and not getting outside, getting the sunlight in their eyes,” she told the DCNF.

Children need one to two hours of sunlight on their eyes daily, looking at the horizon at least 20 feet away, not straining at close screens.

Myopia will be a “big problem” for “future public health initiatives” because the condition often carries comorbidities like macular degeneration, which affects the part of the retina controlling sharp, straight-ahead vision.

The screen proliferation also caused “poor academic outcomes,” Haridopolos said. Introducing tech devices to classrooms “actually backfired.”

“They thought that tech education was going to be a good thing,” she told the DCNF. “And we’re seeing that now we have problems with neurocognitive delays, language delays, speech issues … executive function. So, I think that we need to roll back, especially with the very young. Giving them these interactive screens that keep their attention, unfortunately get their brains wired in the wrong way and then get them addicted to the hits with the short-form videos.”

The May advisory came with a toolkit for parents, educators, policymakers, researchers, tech companies, and providers.

“We describe the harms, but then we also say, ‘This is what you could do about it,'” she said. “What could you do to fix the problem with best-practice evidence guidelines right now?”

HHS will hold a Sept. 1 symposium with experts to discuss the advisory. Haridopolos teased that HHS will “be making some announcements that day, which will be great.”

For parents hesitant to take away iPads and other devices from a generation obsessed with them, Haridopolos — a mother of three — said parents want what’s best for their children when they understand the harms.

“Maybe they just don’t know that they’re increasing the problems of academia. Maybe they don’t know that it’s going to cause problems with their eyesight. If they did, maybe they would think twice.”

“We are not willing to wait—and that’s why we did this.”

Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, Director of National Communications for the Office of the Surgeon General, speaks at the Great American State Fair about the Surgeon General’s latest Advisory on the harms of screen use and the… pic.twitter.com/j7IzCjpRXD

— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) July 24, 2026

Haridopolos emphasized that the younger a child, the more critical parental monitoring becomes.

Infants and toddlers under 18 months should have zero access to screen devices. Children under six years of age should have a maximum of one hour of screen time daily outside educational use. That daily non-educational maximum only increases to two hours for children ages six to 18.

“There’s a difference between looking something up for purpose versus not having a purpose and doomscrolling for no intent,” Haridopolos stressed.

Hand-held devices are “slightly different” from television because TV is typically watched at a distance, not up close. Children today primarily use hand-held devices to watch short-form videos that cause dopamine hits, decreasing attention span and memory capacity.

“And there’s so many harms outside of just the development of the brain that kids are being exposed to online,” Haridopolos continued. “They have higher risk of drugs, cyberbullying. Unfortunately, sexploitation, the viral challenges, the teen takeovers, the just bad behavior associated with it. And the mental health, their depression and anxiety and possibly suicide.”

“We’re not saying technology shouldn’t be embraced. We should do it in a responsible way with digital citizenship,” she added. “We should do it in a way where we’re learning, we’re using it to our advantage, but it’s not consuming us and crowding out normal activities in life.”

When asked what the MAHA movement led by her boss, Kennedy, meant to her, Haridopolos told the DCNF it’s all about “thinking preventative.”

“As a family medicine physician, mother of three, I always thought about ‘How do I prevent disease?’ And so that was empowering patients with knowledge to live a healthy lifestyle and not just a knee-jerk reaction to prescription medication,” she said. “Of course, it’s necessary sometimes, but I’d much rather give you the tools for success by educating you on the best practices of a healthy lifestyle and then you making those decisions.”

“If someone came into my office and had a really high triglyceride level, I would say first, instead of just giving them a prescription for gemfibrozil, which would lower their triglycerides, I’d say, ‘What are you eating in the day?’ Let’s talk about that.”

She pointed to Kennedy’s HHS flipping the food pyramid “upside down” in January to emphasize more protein over carbohydrates and deemphasize ultra-processed foods.

Haridopolos told the DCNF that this, along with the screen use advisory and Kennedy’s June decision to restore the Presidential Fitness Test for children, all “will equal, hopefully in the future, us having less chronic disease, a healthier nation that has increased lifespan, but more importantly, health span, disease free.”

This, she says, “will then help our economy with spending less on chronic diseases and sick care, and focusing more on actually investing in upstream healthcare.”

The move comes as North Korea has ramped up weapons testing this month with two ballistic missile launches in six days.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump noted that while it was too late to cancel the drills entirely, he was dissatisfied with the longstanding military arrangement between Washington and Seoul.

“THESE EXERCISES ARE NOT ONLY COSTLY, WITH MUCH OF THESE COSTS PAID FOR BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (AS USUAL!), BUT SEND A SIGNAL THAT IS TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE AND HOSTILE, TO A COUNTRY THAT, AS LONG AS DONALD J. TRUMP HAS BEEN PRESIDENT, HAS BEEN UNTHREATENING AND RESPECTFUL.”

Trump’s directive came a day before the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, an 11-day annual joint military drill scheduled to begin Monday. This year’s exercise is set to involve roughly 18,000 South Korean troops, a level similar to previous years.

The routine maneuvers are designed to strengthen defense readiness across the Korean Peninsula, where about 28,500 U.S. service members are stationed as part of U.S. Forces Korea.

Pyongyang has consistently opposed the annual drills. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the exercise “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” last week in a statement carried by state media, according to Reuters.

Trump went further in his Truth Social post, linking his frustration over the military exercises to a separate diplomatic exchange regarding Iran.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!'” Trump wrote, referring to Lee Jae Myung.

The president criticized Seoul for declining to join U.S. efforts to denuclearize Iran while expecting continued American military support.

Trump’s order to scale back operations follows a fresh surge in weapons testing by Pyongyang, which conducted two ballistic missile launches within six days this month.

Following the most recent test on Aug. 12, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it was consulting closely with regional allies, adding that its assessment indicated the launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory or allies.

U.S. officials issued a similar response after the earlier launch on Aug. 6, saying Washington remained committed to defending the U.S. homeland and its regional allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also warned that Pyongyang is using Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to test and refine its military hardware on active battlefields.

“For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,” Zelenskyy said in a statement posted to social media.

“NORTH KOREA’S BALLISTIC MISSILES AND OTHER WEAPONS ARE BEING IMPROVED THROUGH ITS COLLABORATION WITH RUSSIA. THE MORE NORTH KOREAN STRIKES THERE ARE HERE IN UKRAINE, IN EUROPE, THE MORE THEIR MISSILES AND SOLDIERS ARE USED, THE MORE THEY CORRECT THEIR SHORTCOMINGS AND BLIND SPOTS, THE GREATER THE DANGER WILL LATER BE FOR JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, THE PHILIPPINES, AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION.”

This is not the first time Trump has scaled back joint exercises with South Korea. During his first term, following his initial Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un, he called the “war games” provocative and expensive.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield drill begins Monday with a reduced U.S. presence per Trump’s directive.

De la Espriella, a Trump ally who won his June presidential election with Trump’s endorsement, spoke with the president Saturday night for ten minutes. The conversation centered on U.S. humanitarian aid — and economic relief Colombia desperately needs.

“I just spoke for ten minutes with President Donald Trump. I deeply thanked him for all the economic aid and the support of the United States rescue teams in the face of the tragedy we are experiencing. President Trump also expressed his condolences for the victims of the earthquake and his solidarity with the affected Colombian families.”

The U.S. has already mobilized $26.5 million in humanitarian assistance — food, health protection, and shelter funds — and deployed specialized urban search and rescue teams over the weekend. U.S. Southern Command is transporting supplies on the ground.

But De la Espriella told Trump the country faces a second crisis: rebuilding an economy he described as “extremely difficult and apocalyptic” — inherited from the previous administration.

“I told him that we have a huge challenge ahead: rebuilding Colombia amid the extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation that I inherited. I also asked him to consider the temporary suspension of the high tariffs that affect Colombian products, in order to provide relief to our businesspeople, who are facing very difficult times due to the effects of the earthquake.”

The earthquake struck cities in western Colombia including Pereira, Cali, and Quibdo, as well as Pacific coastal areas. Its epicenter was in Choco, one of the poorest regions in the country.

The quake destroyed 14,705 homes, damaged over 81,000 others, and injured nearly 4,000 people. Colombia’s government reports 143 people missing, though independent databases put the number in the thousands. More than 70 people were lost in Cali alone — the country’s third-largest city.

Rescue teams are still pulling survivors from the rubble. Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder said miracles are happening despite the time that has passed since the quake struck.

“Miracles do happen. We are working where we know there are still victims; we are working in the hope of rescuing people alive.”

De la Espriella leaned on his personal relationship with Trump throughout the call, describing the conversation as “very friendly and cordial.”

“President Trump was supremely warm and expressed his affection for Colombia and his fondness for our people. I reiterated my deep gratitude for the solidarity and support of the United States toward Colombia. Today, more than ever, the alliance between Colombia and the United States is an imperative for the reconstruction of our beloved nation.”

Acabo de hablar durante diez minutos con el presidente Donald Trump. Le agradecí profundamente toda la ayuda económica y el apoyo de los equipos de rescate de los Estados Unidos frente a la tragedia que estamos viviendo.

El presidente Trump también manifestó sus condolencias por…

— Abelardo De La Espriella (@ABDELAESPRIELLA) August 15, 2026

Trump endorsed De la Espriella — nicknamed “El Tigre” (The Tiger) — heading into his June runoff election. He defeated far-left candidate Iván Cepeda Castro by less than 1%.

Trump celebrated the win on Truth Social at the time, calling it a “Great Honor” to endorse the new Colombian president and promising to build “a powerful relationship between Colombia and the United States of America, which will bring new levels of Greatness for both of our Countries.”

That alliance is now being tested — and Trump is responding with both humanitarian support and an open line to a key Latin American partner.

In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump demanded senators vote on the legislation immediately, citing crime prevention and the chaos caused by changing clocks.

“The Senate must vote on the NO MORE CHANGING THE CLOCKS ACT as soon as possible. More sun later in the day is better (including for fighting crime!), but, even more importantly, NO MORE RIDICULOUSLY CHANGING CLOCKS AND WATCHES TWICE YEARLY, with all of the disruption and chaos it causes. FINALLY, GET IT DONE!!!”

The Senate must vote on the NO MORE CHANGING THE CLOCKS ACT as soon as possible. More sun later in the day is better (including for fighting crime!), but, even more importantly, NO MORE RIDICULOUSLY CHANGING CLOCKS AND WATCHES TWICE YEARLY, with all of the disruption and chaos it… pic.twitter.com/ra1IdvRYWb

— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 16, 2026

The House already passed the bill by a 308–117 margin after it cleared the Energy and Commerce Committee 41-1 in May. Now it sits with the Senate — which returns from recess in mid-September.

Trump has long backed year-round daylight saving time. About a month before his second inauguration, he declared the Republican Party would work to eliminate the twice-yearly time change, calling it “inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”

In July, Trump argued ending the clock changes would save the country hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks. Many of these Clocks are located in Towers, and the cost of renting, or using, Heavy Equipment to do this twice a year is prohibitive!”

He added it would be “a very nice WIN for the Republican Party.”

But not every Republican senator is on board.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) voted against similar legislation in committee last month, citing concerns about very late winter sunrises in South Dakota.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also opposed the measure during an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” telling host Alex Marlow that permanent daylight saving time would mean sunrise wouldn’t come until well after 8 a.m. in Arkansas during winter.

“I understand that all Americans hate changing the clock. I hate changing the clock. But I think you have to think through the second-order implications … of what permanent daylight savings time would mean. It may sound great in the summer months, and it may sound great if you live in Florida and you like to play golf, but if you live in Bentonville, Arkansas, the sun wouldn’t come up in the depths of winter until well after 8 o’clock, maybe even 8:30.”

The bill would allow states to opt into year-round daylight saving time. Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii both already observe standard time year-round and are expected to keep their current schedules regardless of whether the bill becomes law.

Trump’s call comes as the Senate prepares to return from recess — and the president made clear he expects action.

Entire towns were swallowed by murky water as rising rivers exceeded their banks. The scale of the inundation caught many residents off guard, with water levels rising rapidly in areas that had never experienced significant flooding before. Residents took to kayaks and small boats to rescue neighbors or escape the surging waters.

The White River — a 362-mile waterway running directly through Indianapolis — just kept rising Saturday in the wake of heavy rains. The river serves as a major tributary system for central Indiana, draining much of the metropolitan area and surrounding communities before eventually flowing into the Wabash River. A number of rivers reached record levels as more than a dozen counties declared local disasters.

Much of the damage concentrated along the river from Hamilton County into northern Indianapolis suburbs. The geography of the region, with relatively flat terrain and numerous smaller tributaries feeding into the White River, created conditions where water had nowhere to go as the deluge continued.

“The most severe flooding has occurred along the White River corridor, particularly in and around Indianapolis, Noblesville, Anderson, Ravenswood and Nora.”

President Donald Trump acted quickly on news of the deluge, approving an emergency declaration for the state. The move makes federal disaster assistance available to residents and municipalities. This federal support will be critical for both immediate rescue and recovery operations, as well as longer-term rebuilding efforts that could take months or even years to complete.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said the city was experiencing its most severe flooding in more than 30 years. That timeline points back to major flooding events in the mid-1990s, though the current situation appears to exceed even those historical benchmarks in terms of both water levels and geographic scope.

Residents from hundreds of homes in neighborhoods between the river and parallel canals were evacuated Saturday as 911 dispatchers received scores of calls for help. Emergency services were stretched thin as calls continued to pour in throughout the day, with first responders working around the clock to reach those stranded by the rapidly rising waters.

The Indianapolis Fire Department reported rescues of 95 people and 45 pets as of late afternoon Saturday. Those numbers were expected to climb as rescue operations continued into the evening hours and as floodwaters revealed additional areas where residents remained trapped or isolated.

Among the confirmed losses: a four-year-old boy who perished when a tree fell on his home. A 58-year-old woman was swept away after driving into floodwaters. A 19-year-old man was found lost after jumping into a river Wednesday. The tragic deaths underscore the dangers posed by both the flooding itself and the secondary hazards created by extreme weather conditions, including weakened trees and swift-moving currents in areas normally safe for travel.

Marion County Director of Emergency Management Jacob Spencer called the event a “once-in-a-lifetime flooding.” Such characterizations from emergency officials highlight the extraordinary nature of the meteorological conditions that produced the disaster.

“This is an unprecedented event, and unfortunately we’re setting some new records.”

The National Weather Service reported that more than 11 inches of rain fell over a two-day period in some areas. That volume of precipitation in such a compressed timeframe overwhelmed drainage systems designed for typical weather patterns, turning streets into rivers and low-lying areas into temporary lakes.

The White River crested at more than 24 feet in Anderson and Noblesville — surpassing records set in 1913. Breaking records that stood for more than a century demonstrates the severity of this weather event and raises questions about infrastructure resilience and flood management planning in an era of increasingly extreme weather.

While some floodwaters were receding north of Indianapolis, flash-flood watches and warnings continued late into Saturday across a swath of central Indiana. Authorities warned that even as water levels dropped in some areas, the danger remained far from over, with saturated ground conditions and continued rainfall potential creating ongoing risks for additional flooding.

This situation is quite unfortunate. People here mentioned at 6 am that nothing was happening, but a few hours later, the area was flooded. I am currently located on Keystone and 80th Street. pic.twitter.com/le1AWWy18p

— WI-JO-® (@wijors) August 15, 2026

Indiana whitewater river flood yesterday pic.twitter.com/ltdUwriWjU

— The Rubber Chicken (@Gunblaze1969) August 14, 2026

That’s the alarming finding from a new Independent Women’s Forum report calling for conservatives to re-form welfare reform before the 2026 midterms.

The report shows the U.S. now spends over $1 trillion annually on more than 80 anti-poverty programs, with 85% of that spending automatic and mandatory. Together, these programs have become one of the largest spending categories in the federal budget — driven by waste, fraud, and relaxed enforcement.

“Only 21% of adult TANF recipients are working.”

Welfare reform in the 1990s brought tremendous success. Adults and children moved out of poverty. Mothers joined the workforce in greater numbers. A strict work requirement was implemented for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — cash benefits — and recipients could receive benefits for a lifetime limit of five years.

Welfare reform in the 1990s moved families away from government dependence and closer to the ability to support themselves sustainably.

Thirty years later, however, those same programs have once again made families dependent on benefits.

Eligibility expansions, sweeping policies, and economic downturns have expanded welfare rolls over the years. Categorical eligibility — a practice that allows individuals to qualify for one welfare program by qualifying for another — has allowed the programs to grow unchecked.

Work requirements have been relaxed or poorly enforced. The strict requirements that made TANF successful were cast aside.

Alarmingly, poor verification processes have allowed waste, fraud, and abuse to go largely unaddressed.

Welfare and entitlement programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and SNAP made up 67% of improper payments across the federal government in 2025, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

TANF has been deemed susceptible to such significant improper payments that the estimate for waste in that program is not reported.

The Independent Women’s report offers a roadmap to fix the broken system: prioritize work, reduce unnecessary government burdens, and combat fraud by refocusing welfare programs to serve their intended populations.

Wide eligibility thresholds and a lack of reporting and accountability in welfare programs such as SNAP and TANF have allowed waste, fraud, and abuse to increase federal spending without better outcomes.

The report recommends ending self-certification and verifying data before program enrollment, tightening eligibility requirements, and instituting consequences for states that allow waste, fraud, and abuse in these programs.

Stricter eligibility requirements will ensure that only indigent people qualify for benefits. Stronger verification processes before benefits are paid will prevent improper payments.

Technology can help expedite the verification process by facilitating collaboration and data sharing across agencies and governments.

“Welfare reform served Americans well and allowed families to thrive in the 1990s by rewarding work, moving families toward independence from the government, while still giving assistance to families in need.”

Enforcing work requirements for able-bodied adults and parents with older children will promote needed independence and encourage individuals to thrive in the American economy.

What worked 30 years ago can work again.

Policymakers must deliver accountability and oversight over social support programs to ensure they truly serve those who need them — not trap families in generational dependence.

The reformers leading the charge aren’t foreign policy veterans. They’re a former Green Beret congressman and a Pennsylvania real estate lawyer.

At a recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) confronted Ambassador Jeff Bartos directly about his qualifications: “As I understand it, you had no prior government service, no diplomatic experience, and nothing really to recommend you to serve in this role, because you’re a real estate lawyer.”

The U.S. mission fired back on X, posting the clip with the caption: “Actually, the Rep. from Nevada is right! [Bartos] is not a career politician. He’s bringing a business leader’s resolve to reforming the UN.”

“We cut [the budget] by $1 billion over the last six months alone. And by the way, that requires consensus of all 190 countries to agree on every line of the budget.”

That consensus requirement — getting 193 member states to agree on budget cuts — is what makes the achievement so remarkable. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, the former Green Beret, told lawmakers the organization had “tried to become all things to all people” while its budget tripled over 25 years. “I don’t think we’ve seen a tripling of peace break out around the world.”

Bartos, the Pennsylvania businessman nominated as deputy ambassador for management and reform, has an unlikely defender in Congress: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). The two were opponents in a race for lieutenant governor before forming what observers called a “political bromance.”

Fetterman told the Washington Examiner they are “doing a great job holding the organization accountable.”

Trump’s approach mirrors his signature management style — bypass the establishment, install outsiders, demand results. Waltz and Bartos don’t sound like traditional diplomats. During the July hearing, Waltz spoke about “mission” while Bartos hammered “leadership, execution, incentives, and accountability.”

They sounded less like ambassadors than executives conducting a corporate turnaround.

“My charge from President Trump is to help the U.N. realize its potential,” Waltz testified. “We are getting the United Nations back to basics, back to maintaining the peace and maintaining security around the world.”

Bartos focuses on management fundamentals most diplomats ignore — troop reimbursements, procurement formulas, pension obligations, warehouse logistics. He returned repeatedly to one idea: large institutions fail because of broken incentives, not ideology.

“What wasn’t there before we got to post was the leadership,” Bartos said. “The Trump administration has brought the leadership that so many reform advocates have been yearning for for their entire careers.”

The reforms target waste everywhere. Why are troops receiving rations based on 4,600 calories a day when modern military standards suggest far less? Why does the UN maintain pension structures that have disappeared from private industry?

Over the past year, the administration reduced roughly 4,000 civilian positions across the UN system and secured over $1 billion in budget reductions. Waltz described consolidating warehouses, logistics, and administrative support so more humanitarian funding reaches victims rather than supporting what he called a “nongovernmental organization industrial complex.”

“We are putting the U.N. on a diet. A healthier U.N. is a more useful U.N.”

Bartos traveled to the Central African Republic earlier this year, visiting refugee camps near the Sudanese border where hundreds of thousands have fled genocide. He watched UN humanitarian workers risk their lives providing food, water, medical care, and shelter.

“I’ve never been around a group of people who are risking their lives for total strangers at that scale,” Bartos said. “They’re not leaving hell to get to a hotel in Ibiza. They’re leaving hell to get to something slightly better than hell.”

That experience drives his reform push — the people risking their lives in refugee camps deserve an institution that works as efficiently as they do.

But budget cuts are the easy part. The harder battle: changing UN culture.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestinian territories, repeatedly drew condemnation for statements the U.S. and allied governments viewed as antisemitic. The institution continues allowing her to operate under the UN banner.

Bartos didn’t mince words: “It’s impossible for me to reconcile that the same organization risking their lives working in Central Africa with one that allows a lunatic like Francesca Albanese to put on the U.N. uniform and spew her vile, anti-American, anti-West, anti-capitalist, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel vitriol.”

Then France erupted.

Days after the House hearing, the French UN mission attacked the U.S. over Bartos’s testimony about how the “U.N. human rights system has been losing credibility for decades.” France posted: “The U.S. used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated.”

The American delegation staged a walkout during France’s remarks. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee posted ominously: “This is disappointing and shows just how opposed some are to sorely needed UN reform.” The committee specifically named Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, warning: “Without real and systemic change, the U.S. will be forced to reconsider its entire relationship with the UN.”

Bartos suggested the real battle had barely begun.

“By slashing the U.N.’s budget and cutting over 4,000 bureaucratic posts over the past six months, we have made consequential and durable reforms to the U.N.’s spending problem,” he said. “While we continue to work every day on additional fiscal reforms, we are focused on reforming and repairing the institutional rot that former U.N. Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan eloquently called out in his Nov. 10, 1975, General Assembly speech.”

Bartos reads Moynihan’s 1975 address monthly — the speech where Moynihan accused the UN of abandoning truth for politics after it equated Zionism with racism. That’s the standard Trump’s team is using 51 years later.

The budget battles required persuading member states to embrace better management. Repairing an institution whose culture and moral credibility have eroded over decades will require something far harder — persuading the UN to remember what it was created to stand for.

Actually, the Rep. from Nevada is right!@AmbUNReform is not a career politician. He’s bringing a business leader’s resolve to reforming the UN. pic.twitter.com/62i4FheVSL

— U.S. Mission to the UN (@USUN) July 22, 2026

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News Saturday, the Republican Senate candidate told Political Editor Bradley Jaye that the stakes in his race against Democrat James Talarico couldn’t be higher. “If we lose Texas, the Senate’s gone,” Paxton warned. “We’re not going to hold the Senate.”

Paxton emerged from a bruising three-month Republican runoff in June to find himself facing a massive fundraising gap. While he started June with “basically $0,” Talarico had spent those same three months raising money — $30 million, according to Paxton, mostly from California and New York.

“I started June 1 with basically $0. [Talarico] had just raised 30 million.”

The financial disadvantage showed quickly. Paxton said Talarico began spending approximately $3 million a week on television advertising in early to mid-July, while his own campaign was still scrambling to raise enough money to respond.

But Paxton said he’s seeing momentum shift as summer ends and Republican voters return from vacation. After rallies over the previous two weeks, he told Jaye, “I’ve never seen more excitement at things that I’ve been at.”

“I know that our voters are starting to get motivated, and that’s the key,” Paxton said.

His strategy is two-pronged: turn out the Republican base while exposing what he calls Talarico’s radical record. Paxton accused the Democrat of “trying to deceive voters right now” and “running from all these radical positions that he voted on” — citing girls’ sports, gender transitions for children, a state income tax, and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in schools.

Paxton characterized Talarico as “really a radical socialist” and asked Texans to imagine what the state would look like with him in the Senate.

“Now open your eyes up. That’s a nightmare.”

The race has national implications that go beyond the Senate majority. Paxton argued that Texas is on Democrats’ “top wish list” because of its electoral importance. “If they take Texas, we’re not going to elect another president from the Republican Party,” he said, adding that Republicans would also struggle to maintain a congressional majority.

He pointed to Beto O’Rourke’s close challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz — a race that ended with less than a two-point margin — as proof Democrats believe Texas is winnable. “They’re hoping for the same thing here,” Paxton said. “We just got to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Paxton also addressed Republican unity following the contentious primary. He recently announced endorsements from 18 Republican members of Congress from Texas and said he’s been “doing a lot of work reaching out to people” to bring the party together.

“This is a binary choice,” Paxton said, contrasting “a radical leftist and a conservative Republican.”

He acknowledged that Republicans don’t always get their preferred candidate but said he ultimately moves on and supports the Republican nominee. “Everybody I vote for doesn’t win, but eventually I move on and vote for the Republican,” Paxton said. He added that he would have supported incumbent Sen. John Cornyn had Cornyn won the primary, calling Talarico “the most dangerous candidate in Texas that we’ve ever had.”

Paxton said he’s had “great conversations with leadership in the Senate” and believes national Republicans now understand the consequences of losing the Texas seat. “I think they’ve been very supportive,” he said, though he was still waiting for campaign resources. “I’m waiting, obviously, on some financial assistance, which I think is coming.”

The conversation also turned to the SAVE America Act, which Jaye described as a top legislative priority for President Donald Trump. Paxton had previously said during the runoff that he would consider dropping out of the Senate race if the Senate acted to pass the legislation — a move Jaye characterized as an effort to spur establishment senators to act.

Paxton argued that election security is existential. “We have to protect the elections,” he said. “Elections are not safe right now.”

He said that in “almost any of the Democratic states,” people don’t have to show photo identification, officials “don’t have to check” voter rolls to make sure noncitizens aren’t voting, and mail-in ballots can be sent out without adequate ballot security.

“That has to be fixed, or we are going to lose this country.”

Paxton said he believes lawmakers understand the issue but lack the political courage to act. “It’s just a matter of having the courage to do it,” he said. He said there were “a few Republican senators” who would not vote for the measure and expressed interest in hearing their reasoning.

“I’d love to talk to them,” Paxton said, asking why senators opposed to the measure are “not interested in protecting national elections.”

Paxton also praised President Trump’s endorsement during the Republican runoff and Vice President J.D. Vance’s subsequent comments that the endorsement should serve as a message to Republican senators about supporting the president’s agenda.

“I love President Trump. I love his agenda. I think we should support it,” Paxton said.

He argued that Republicans have “limited time to make a difference for America” and “shouldn’t waste a single day.” Elected officials should be responsive to voters, listen to them, and “at least engage with them and try to understand what they want,” he said.

Paxton again cited the SAVE America Act as an example. “I don’t think there’s a more popular issue in America than the Save America Act. So why don’t we pass it?”

“It doesn’t make sense to be non-responsive to the people that elected you,” Paxton added.

Paxton urged supporters to contribute so his campaign can “close the gap” and get on television to highlight Talarico’s record. He argued that Talarico’s own commercials would “try to cover it all up,” while his campaign would use its resources to tell voters “who this guy really is.”

The “Blue States, High Rates” report from Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research analyzed all 50 states and Washington, D.C., tracking renewable portfolio standards, carbon pricing, natural gas restrictions, and utility net-zero pledges.

The findings: 86% of states with above-average electricity prices voted Democrat in both 2020 and 2024. Meanwhile, 90% of the ten cheapest states voted Republican in both elections.

“While there are many factors that influence electricity rates, the one constant we see is that states that have pursued climate or net-zero policies above all else have some of the highest rates in the country.”

Tom Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, said the correlation is impossible to ignore.

California and New York illustrate the cost of climate ideology. California mandates 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045 and runs a cap-and-trade program — its average electricity price has climbed from 16.6 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2018 to 27.6 cents today.

New York requires a zero-emissions grid by 2040. Its rates jumped from 14.8 cents to 21.6 cents in the same period.

Amy Cooke, president and CEO of Always On Energy Research, said the numbers confirm what energy-policy watchdogs have warned for years.

“Bad energy policy leads to higher electricity rates.”

The analysis breaks down policy impacts state by state. North Dakota has the lowest rates at just $0.082 per kilowatt-hour. The state has no binding renewable portfolio standard, no carbon pricing, no cap-and-trade, and no utility net-zero pledges. North Dakota consumers get 83.4% of their electricity from coal and natural gas.

Renewable-energy advocates often point to North Dakota’s 40% renewable generation as proof that wind and solar lower costs — but that’s generation exported to other states, not what North Dakotans actually consume.

Hawaii has the highest rates in the nation, partly due to its remote location and reliance on imported petroleum. But the state compounds those costs with aggressive climate policies — renewable mandates, limited natural gas infrastructure, and utility net-zero pledges.

Rhode Island ranks third-highest with a renewable portfolio standard, net metering, carbon pricing, hostility to natural gas pipelines, and utility net-zero pledges.

An Ipsos poll released in May showed 79% of respondents would support a political candidate who promises to lower their utility bill. The same poll found 58% of Americans don’t understand what drives their utility costs.

Alex Stevens, manager of policy and communications for the Institute for Energy Research, said the report gives voters clarity heading into the midterms.

“Every decision made at the local and state level carries real financial consequences for that state’s residents,” Pyle said. “Understanding the connection between state policy and electricity prices helps provide greater transparency and accountability and empowers ratepayers to push back against bad energy policies.”

The average American household consumes about 899 kilowatt-hours per month. In California, that’s a $248 monthly bill. In North Dakota, it’s $74.

Patriots watching their electricity bills climb now have the receipts showing exactly who’s responsible.

Allison Roberts is now suing Portland Public Schools for violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, alleging the district weaponized a vague harassment policy to silence her peaceful advocacy.

The lawsuit, filed by the Liberty Justice Center’s new PARENTS Initiative, seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the Oregon district from enforcing its harassment and nondisclosure policies against Roberts. It also demands the district stop making public statements “denigrating her character” and cease its ongoing investigation.

The district threatened a permanent ban if Roberts didn’t stop her “harassment” — which consisted of distributing letters on public property.

“To this day, Allison remains unaware of what specific speech or other activities the District deems ‘harassment,’ and out of fear of permanent trespass has ceased all speech and petitioning efforts.”

Portland Public Schools Director of Media Relations Valerie Feder declined to comment on the litigation.

‘Identity Flower’ From LGBTQ Activist Group

Roberts, described in the lawsuit as a “liberal” Christian who loves Portland’s “vibrant multi-cultural and gay community,” first raised concerns when her son brought home an “identity flower” assignment.

The materials came from GLSEN, an LGBTQ activist group that recently rebranded to “Glisten” to hide its gay and lesbian origins, according to the lawsuit.

The assignment was “part of a larger lesson encouraging children to question their sex and gender identity” and even consider that their gender changes day to day, the suit alleges. Roberts also learned students were taught about “puberty blockers for transgender youth.”

When Roberts met with Principal Deanne Froehlich to ask how many gender assignments students were given without parental notice, she was ambushed by both of her children’s teachers and a school counselor. Her son’s teacher snapped at her when she pressed for answers, according to the lawsuit.

Roberts received no satisfactory response — and no notice or opt-out opportunity for the following school year.

Sidewalk Advocacy Triggers Trespass Order

In January, Roberts wrote an open letter to other parents criticizing school leaders for rebuffing her concerns. She alleged the school was presenting a “hotly contested subject” as “instructional” and that gender identity lessons “blur the line between same sex attraction and medicalized identity.”

Roberts and a companion handed out the letter on a public sidewalk outside the school — without incident and without targeting students.

But after a “respectful” conversation with another mother during school pickup about PTA matters, the woman’s husband confronted Roberts the next day, grilled her about her politics, and yelled “White people are disgusting!” when she said she had voted for Donald Trump.

The next day, police served Roberts a one-year trespass order alleging she committed “harmful, unlawful and/or disruptive behavior” and was “threatening and intimidating members of the school community.”

When Roberts asked for specifics, Senior Director of Schools Chandra Wilson-Cooper emailed her nothing more than “generalized statements,” saying she violated district harassment policy.

Principal Froehlich sent an email to the school community accusing Roberts of “harassment, intimidation, and threatening behavior” toward “vulnerable members of our community” for the “past several months.” Froehlich said district “teams” for civil rights and social justice were investigating Roberts’ “hate speech” and encouraged parents to report Roberts if they felt “unsafe.”

‘Two Janitors and a Basketball Coach’

Roberts appealed the trespass order. Her hearing panel consisted of “two janitors and a basketball coach” in a half-hour Zoom call with no witnesses and no specifics of her alleged harassment, according to the lawsuit.

The district rejected her appeal two days later. Roberts missed her son’s graduation.

After the graduation she was barred from attending, Roberts wrote a second open letter challenging officials’ allegations and punishments. She passed it out with a family friend on the sidewalk outside the school, “this time offered via QR code.”

Principal Froehlich again criticized Roberts in an email to the school community, calling her speech “antithetical to everything we stand for as a community” and saying the school was responding to “disrupt the harm” she caused.

Three days later, the district threatened a permanent district-wide trespass order if Roberts didn’t stop her “harassment” — evidenced by having “distributed a letter.”

Roberts has stopped speaking on the issue entirely out of fear. She asked the district to clarify the scope of the harassment policy and specify what’s prohibited. The district hasn’t answered.

“The district can’t use vague harassment policies and trespass threats to punish a mother for peacefully expressing her views and seeking transparency about her children’s education.” — Timothy Snowball, Liberty Justice Center senior counsel

Supreme Court Just Reaffirmed Parental Rights

The Portland case comes on the heels of two major Supreme Court rulings on parental rights in public education.

The high court first ordered Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools to notify parents before exposing their children to LGBTQ “storybooks” and let them opt out. Then it issued an emergency order reinstating a permanent injunction against California’s so-called gender secrecy policies, accusing lower courts of ignoring a century of its precedents.

Earlier this month, the California ruling prompted U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Michigan to reinstate religious liberty claims against Rockford Public School District’s gender secrecy policies.

“Likely this court made a[n] error of law by relying” on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ interpretation of the Maryland ruling as a “narrow and limited decision,” the judge wrote Aug. 7, acknowledging that “at least three” justices rejected that reading.

Portland Public Schools is already under federal investigation by the Trump administration for alleged racial discrimination for giving money to a black-focused program while rejecting funding for an indigenous program.