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‘Time to Leave NATO’: Sen. Mike Lee Unveils Trio of Bills to Withdraw U.S., Expose Allied ‘Freeloaders,’ Demand Defense Transparency

As NATO leaders gather for another summit, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced sweeping legislation to withdraw the United States from the alliance and force America’s allies to pay their share, accusing European nations of relying on U.S. taxpayers to fund their defense.

“America’s withdrawal from NATO is long overdue,” Lee said in a statement Wednesday. “NATO has run its course — the threats that existed at its inception are no longer relevant 76 years later. If they were, Europe would be paying their fair share instead of making American taxpayers pick up the check for decades. My legislation will put America first by withdrawing us from the raw deal NATO has become.”

Lee’s latest bill, the Not A Trusted Organization (NATO) Act, would direct the president to formally notify NATO of U.S. withdrawal under Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty, fulfill the requirement for congressional authorization, and prohibit U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding NATO’s common budgets — including its civil and military programs.

“It’s time to leave NATO,” Lee posted Wednesday on X.

The Utah senator also introduced two companion bills on Tuesday— the Allied Burden Sharing Report Act and the NATO Burden Sharing Report Act — aimed at exposing which allied nations are failing to contribute their promised share to collective defense. The legislation would require the Department of Defense to produce annual reports detailing each ally’s defense spending, troop readiness, and limitations placed on military contributions. The NATO-specific report would go further by assessing each member state’s defense industrial base, contributions to Ukraine, and dependency on U.S. military assets.

“Year after year, our so-called allies shirk their commitments while we pay for the conflicts raging in their backyards,” Lee said. “By imposing annual reporting requirements, my legislation will identify delinquent allies — promoting accountability and putting them on notice to pay their fair share.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who supports the bills, delivered a scathing assessment of America’s role in the alliance.

“Our NATO allies expect the U.S. to be the sugar daddy and the world’s policeman while they sit back and let us do the heavy lifting. President Trump was right, it’s time for them to pull their own weight. Congress must stop giving blank checks to our allies and start demanding accountability. That’s why I’m pushing for the NATO Burden Sharing Report Act and the Allied Burden Sharing Report Act, to show the American people exactly who’s paying the bills and who’s shirking their share,” 

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“Drag The EU Into A Direct Conflict” – Orbán Confronts Zelensky, Tells Him EU Was Created For Peace, Not War

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is leading an effort to ensure Ukraine, which is currently at war with Russia, does not join the European Union due to the high potential for a conflict that could spread to all of Europe.

In this regard, he is now confronting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly on X on the issue.

“President (Zelensky), with all due respect: the European Union was founded to bring peace and prosperity to its member states. Accepting a country that is at war with Russia would immediately drag the EU into a direct conflict. It is unfair to expect any member state to take this risk,” wrote Orbán.

Orbán had responded to a post from Zelensky, in which the Ukrainian leader thanked EU leadership after a meeting, stating that they discussed, among other things, Ukraine’s ascension into the EU.

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Trump DOJ Sues Tampon Tim Walz and Minnesota for Providing Free and Discounted Tuition for Illegal Aliens

The Trump Administration is taking the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Tim Walz, and his state to court for prioritizing foreign nationals above Americans.

The Department of Justice issued a press release a short time ago announcing that they had filed a complaint seeking to overturn Minnesota laws that provide free and discounted in-state tuition for illegal aliens.

This violates federal law, specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a), which explicitly prohibits states from granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens unless all U.S. citizens—regardless of residency—are given the same benefit.

“Today, the United States is challenging laws in Minnesota that provide reduced in-state tuition — and in some cases, free tuition — for illegal aliens. These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same privileges, in direct conflict with federal law,” the press release reads.

“The Department of Justice has filed the complaint in the District of Minnesota. This challenge builds upon a recently successful lawsuit against the state of Texas on a similar law.”

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Former Biden Aide Neera Tanden Does Not Know Who Ordered President’s Autopen Signatures

Neera Tanden, a former top aide for President Joe Biden, told Congress that she had authorization to direct autopen signatures for the president but does not know who gave the final order.

Tanden served as the director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council and she told Congress during a testimony on Tuesday that the president used an automatic signature tool allowing for aides to sign pardons, memos, and other official documents in the White House. Tanden said she did not know who authorized those signatures. Per Fox News:

During Tanden’s interview before Congress, which lasted more than five hours, she told lawmakers that, in her role as staff secretary and senior advisor to the former president between 2021 and 2023, she was authorized to direct autopen signatures on behalf of Biden, an Oversight Committee official told Fox News.

Tanden, who reportedly said during her testimony that she had limited interactions with Biden in her role, according to sources familiar with her testimony, described an approval process that left her – at least partly – in the dark about who specifically was giving final approval on the decisions to use the automatic signature tool, even though she simultaneously insisted Biden was in charge.

Tanden reportedly testified that to get approval for the use of autopen signatures she would send decision memos to members of Biden’s inner circle. However, she added that she was not aware of what actions or approvals took place between the time she sent the decision memo and the time she received it back with the necessary approval, according to the source familiar.

A minority member of the Oversight Committee called Tanden’s characterization “a lie,” with a statement from a former White House staffer saying that they received a “written sign off [from Biden] on every executive action she presented him with.”

“Any other characterization is a distortion of the testimony,” the official said. “To intimate that Neera Tanden said President Biden did not approve every single presidential decision and sign off on every executive action coming out of the White House is a lie.”

Tanden’s attorney, Michael Bromwich, agreed with the staffer, adding that the autopens were used after Biden approved the decisions.

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How To Free America From EU Censorship

On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second presidential term, Donald Trump signed an executive order: “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” The bad old days of the “censorship-industrial complex,” allegedly responsible for suppressing online speech under President Joe Biden, were over.

Except they weren’t. The driving force behind online censorship had never been the U.S. government, which meant that freedom of speech could not be restored by the stroke of a president’s pen. Rather, the European Union has wielded its Digital Services Act (DSA) to restrict the speech not just of Europeans but especially of Americans and other English-speakers. The E.U. has not violated the free-speech rights of Americans, since it has no obligations under the U.S. Constitution. But it has vitiated those rights, essentially nullifying the First Amendment in cyberspace.

The DSA is not a “threat” to free speech, as some American commentators put it, implying that possible danger lies in the future. Because the DSA is in force now, all major online platforms and search engines must comply with it to remain on the E.U. market. There is effectively no free speech on the internet nowadays, at least not on the major platforms falling under the DSA’s strictest provisions, but only more or less heavily curated, algorithmically managed speech.

Some supporters of President Trump might find this hard to believe. After all, the president’s most prominent ally and advisor is Elon Musk, whose purchase of Twitter in 2022 was said to be motivated by a desire to restore free speech to the platform. But Musk has always insisted that “freedom of speech is not freedom of reach,” and there’s the rub. Using platform algorithms to restrict reach artificially is a form of censorship, one that is not only compatible with the DSA but even encouraged by the E.U.

The Trump Administration can truly restore free speech to the internet only by confronting the European Union. The administration needs to challenge the DSA, to get it repealed or at least neutered. If the E.U. refuses to back down, then the administration will need to work with Congress to pass a law ensuring that American tech companies cannot comply with the DSA by restricting Americans’ First Amendment rights.

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Trump Sues All 15 Federal Judges in Maryland Over Their Unlawful Practice of Issuing “Automatic Injunctions” to Stop Deportations of Criminal Aliens

Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sued the entire federal district court bench in Maryland on Tuesday evening over an order blocking deportations of criminal aliens.

The lawsuit was filed after the US District Court for the District of Maryland issued an order that required the clerk to automatically enter an injunction against removing any illegal alien that challenges their deportation and files a habeas petition.

“This lawsuit involves yet another regrettable example of the unlawful use of equitable powers to restrain the Executive. Specifically, Defendants have instituted an avowedly automatic injunction against the federal government, issued outside the context of any particular case or controversy. They did so by promulgating a standing order (“Standing Order”) and amended standing order (“Amended Standing Order”; together, “Orders”) that require the court clerk to automatically enter an injunction against removing, or changing the legal status of, any alien detained in Maryland who files a habeas petition,” the lawsuit against the judges said.

“Defendants’ automatic injunction issues whether or not the alien needs or seeks emergency relief, whether or not the court has jurisdiction over the alien’s claims, and no matter how frivolous the alien’s claims may be,” the lawsuit said.

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Rare Earth Startups Say Without Subsidies and Support, US Can’t Shake China’s Control

Without a federally supported market and strategic reserve stockpile, the United States will remain reliant on China for critical minerals and rare earth refining, experts told a House panel during two-plus hours of testimony on June 24 that exposed how vulnerable the global economy and the nation’s defense is to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party.

Even with swift deregulation, permitting reform, and rapid recycling ramp-up, they warned, it will take years of government support to untether domestic manufacturing from a supply chain China has strategically built for decades.

“Over the years it’s taken for us to do nothing, the Chinese have dominated. They and their government have been extremely supportive of their ability to create world dominance in this, and it was part of a strategy,” U.S. Critical Materials Executive Director Harvey Kaye said during the hearing before the House Small Business Committee.

This glaring vulnerability is confirmed by the Congressional Research Service’s April 2024 report documenting the nation’s 100 percent import reliance for 12 of 50 “most critical” minerals, and more than 50 percent import reliance for another 29.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries January 2025 report paints an even scarier picture. Of 31 critical minerals needed to produce everything from iPhones to F-35 fighter jets, the United States cannot domestically source any and can commercially refine only one, beryllium.

China, meanwhile, is the lead source for eight and the near-exclusive provider of 17 minerals needed for a rapidly electrifying economy. China processes two-thirds of the world’s lithium and cobalt, supplying 60 percent to 90 percent of the world’s processed minerals.

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FBI silent seven months later on nationwide racist texts sent to college students, others

The FBI will not comment on the status of its investigation into racist texts reportedly sent across the country soon after the 2024 presidential election.

“The FBI’s policy is to neither confirm nor deny if we are conducting an investigation,” a media representative told The College Fix via email.

The law enforcement agency said it has “no further information” and referenced their public statement released in November immediately following the messages.

“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter,” the original statement read. “As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities.”

Soon after President Donald Trump’s election last November, Americans, including high school and college students, reported they had received texts targeting them on the basis of their race. Black Americans reportedly received texts saying they needed to go pick cotton, while Hispanic students reportedly were told they would be deported.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was quick to blame it on Trump.

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House Republican Introduces Bill to Increase Penalties for Spies Working for US Adversaries

Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) has introduced new legislation that would mandate harsher prison terms for those responsible for carrying out espionage for America’s top adversaries, namely China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

Harrigan, who serves on the House’s Armed Services and Science, Space and Technology committees, introduced the Foreign Adversary Federal Offense (FAFO) Act (HR 4081), which would set a minimum prison sentence of 15 years for defense-related espionage and at least 10 years in prison without parole for economic espionage.

Corporations or other organizations found guilty of economic espionage would face a fine of $20 million or five times the value of the stolen trade secret.

“My FAFO Act is a direct response to the growing threat posed by foreign adversaries targeting the United States from within,” Harrigan said in a statement on June 24. “When individuals steal defense secrets or compromise our critical infrastructure on behalf of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, they are committing an act of betrayal against this country.

“This legislation ensures they face severe, unrelenting consequences. There will be no plea deals, no light sentences, and no path to parole. If you betray America, you will face the full weight of American justice.”

According to the bill, the penalties would be specific to those advancing the interests of a “covered nation” under a U.S. law restricting the Department of Defense’s procurement of sensitive materials from a list of foreign countries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

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ISIS-Inspired Drone War Plans Leaked From US National Security Council

According to leaked documents, British and American academics advised the U.S. National Security Council to encourage Ukraine to adopt ISIS-style drone tactics against Russian railways.

In a report published by investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg for The Grayzone on Monday, Project Alchemy, a secret academic-intelligence cell whose mission was “to keep Ukraine fighting” by imposing “strategic dilemmas, costs and frictions upon Russia” was revealed as the network allegedly behind these plans.

The academic recommendations were delivered to Colonel Tim Wright, who served as the Biden administration’s Director for Russia at the National Security Council from August 2021 to July 2022. The proposals came from three key drone experts within a broader Ukraine Working Group composed of “approximately 60 experts hailing from states throughout NATO” who sought to “assist Ukraine’s defense (short of deploying combat forces).”

Zachary Kallenborn from George Mason University’s Schar School advocated for “two-stage attacks like ISIS did frequently” on Russian railways, recommending Ukraine “break the track, and wait for the engineers to come to fix it, then use the drone to kill them.”

An unnamed Durham University researcher identified as “M.E.D.” cited Islamic State’s “innovative” use of drones as documented in a July 2018 West Point paper, suggesting commercial drones could be “modified via a simple drop mechanism… to serve as effective munitions delivery platforms.”

Dominika Kunertova, formerly of ETH Zurich’s Center for Security Studies and currently directing drone warfare research at the Atlantic Council, recommended targeting “anything that uses” railroads as opposed to the infrastructure itself.

These academic blueprints proved prophetic when Ukraine launched Operation Spider Web late last month conducting bold drone attacks inside Russia that killed seven people and injured more than 30, including two children.

The timing proved particularly significant as these attacks took place “on the eve of scheduled negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.”

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