A WordPress Blog-THE CHURCH MILITANT Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse. ALL CONTENT FROM HTTPS://RATHEREXPOSETHEM.BLOGSPOT.COM MOVED TO THIS NEW BLOG, MAY 2020
Pennies lay in a pile July 6, 2006 in Des Plaines, Illinois. (Photo Illustration by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
OAN Staff James Meyers
9:20 AM – Friday, May 23, 2025
The U.S. Mint has placed its final order for penny blanks and will cease production entirely by early next year, bringing an end to one of the nation’s longest-standing forms of currency, the Treasury Department announced Thursday.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump stated in February that he had tasked the department to stop producing pennies, due to their high production cost. Pennies cost more to produce than they are worth — literally.
“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump said at the time.
According to the U.S. Mint, in the past 10 years, penny production costs have increased substantially from 1.3 cents per coin to 3.69 cents, skyrocketing 20% in fiscal year 2024 alone.
By cutting the penny, it is projected to bring immediate annual savings of $56 million for the U.S. economy, as more is expected from reduced facility usage and other changes as the coin becomes phased out.
Without enough pennies in circulation, businesses will then have to start rounding prices up or down to the nearest five cents, a similar move to what Canada did when it stopped producing its one cent coin, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While the penny has lost practical value, it still remains the most printed coin in the U.S.
The Mint reported making 3.2 billion of them last year, which is over half of all new coins that were produced. Currently, there are a staggering 114 billion pennies in circulation across the country, according to Mint.
Meanwhile, two bipartisan bills to end penny production have been introduced in Congress so far this year. On May 1st, Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the “Make Sense Not Cents Act.” A day prior, Representatives Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), along with Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), filed the “Common Cents Act.”
The U.S. penny was one of the first coins produced after the U.S. Mint was established in 1792.
Since its inception, the penny has undergone numerous transformations in design, symbolism, and metallic composition. Originally minted from pure copper, they are now produced using a copper-plated zinc alloy.
Abraham Lincoln’s face was first molded onto the coin in 1909 to honor the 16th president’s 100th birthday.
Correction: This story was updated May 23, 2025 at 11:08 a.m. to correct the year the U.S. Mint was established to 1792.
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Fox News' Mike Emanuel reports on the latest on Republicans' effort to shed light on the alleged Biden cover-up. 'Fox News Sunday' anchor Shannon Bream also weighs in and what she considers a 'big' win for the Trump White House.
CNN’s Jake Tapper helped promulgate one of the greatest cover-ups in American history. Just because he decided to write a book four years later saying anything to the contrary doesn’t change that. Nothing will, argues Victor Davis Hanson in today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:” “For the last four years, again and again and again, if anybody questioned the obvious mental decline of Joe Biden—his cognitive difficulties—Jake Tapper, on CNN, Jake Tapper tore them apart. “The locus classicus was Lara Trump, who said that he's obviously—as early as 2020—in decline. He suggested that she was berating him for a childhood stutter, which was absolutely ridiculous. “Why didn't Jake Tapper write this a year ago? Because he knows what would've happened. Somebody in the White House would've called up and said, 'Tapper, no one from CNN is going to get a seat at the press conference. There's not going to be any CNN interview.’ “So, he backed down. And now in a very cowardly fashion, now he comes out and he's blaming the White House cover-up. But what he doesn't tell us is that the White House cover-up would have been impossible had not CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NBC, ABC, CBS all conspired with the White House staff to downplay—not just downplay Biden's cognitive decline but attack people.”
On Thursday's Mark Levin Show, a terrorist executed two Israeli Embassy employees, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Rodriguez said he acted for Palestine and for Gaza and was arrested on the scene after discarding a 9mm handgun. He is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. We have this fusion of Marxist and Islamist ideologies threatening the West and antisemitic incidents globally.
Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) speaks at a news conference after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump’s agenda at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory 1:49 PM – Thursday, May 22, 2025
House Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill on Thursday morning, advancing it to the Senate — following an intense 48-hour effort to reconcile the priorities of fiscal conservatives and moderates from blue states.
The 215–214 vote allowed lawmakers to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) target of securing passage before the Memorial Day recess. However, the bill now faces heightened uncertainty in the Senate, where some Republicans are pushing for deeper spending cuts while simultaneously seeking to maintain existing Medicaid provisions.
“My friends it quite literally is, again, morning in America,” Johnson said in a speech, right before the vote.
“This One Big Beautiful Bill is the most consequential legislation that any party has ever passed, certainly under a majority this thin,” he continued.
As far as GOP dissenters go, Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted against the motion — along with 212 other Democrats. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who leads the House Freedom Caucus, simply voted “present.”
Harris and Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) led a group of Freedom Caucus defectors who attempted to obstruct the package less than 24 hours before the final vote — forcing Trump to meet with them at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
According to Johnson, that prompted a few informal agreements on new executive actions or legislation as he returned to Capitol Hill.
“I voted to move the bill along in the process for the President. There is still a lot of work to be done in deficit reduction and ending waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program,” Harris said on Thursday.
GOP holdouts rejected the bill for postponing Medicaid work rules until 2029 and preserving green-energy tax credits from the last Biden administration — according to the New York Post.
“It has massive deficits in the first five years because we’re not addressing the structural reform that we’re talking about right here,” Roy asserted, “including very specifically eliminating the 45% of the subsidies under the Green New Scam that continue.”
Blue-state Republicans, including New York Representative Mike Lawler, secured a last-minute agreement—reached just hours before the Freedom Caucus revolt—to raise the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap to $40,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples filing separately, provided their incomes do not exceed $500,000 and $250,000, respectively.
The final “Manager’s Amendment” incorporated this provision, while also accelerating the implementation of Medicaid work requirements to no later than December 31, 2026. It rescinded tax credits for wind, solar, and battery storage facilities that begin construction more than 60 days after the bill’s enactment, or to commence operations after December 31, 2028.
Johnson later noted that the GOP count would have reached 217 votes if Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) had not voted too early and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) had not accidentally missed the vote—reportedly after “falling asleep” in the chamber.
“I’m going to just strangle him,” the House speaker said jokingly at a press conference after its passing. “But he’s my dear friend.”
Meanwhile, GOP Rep. Garbarino played a pivotal role in brokering the SALT-related compromise among Republicans, which raised the state and local tax deduction cap—a key concession for members from high-tax states—while also opposing certain green energy rollbacks championed by the Freedom Caucus.
The legislation approved on Thursday extends the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts and temporarily suspends taxes on qualified tips, overtime wages, and auto loan interest. However, it stops short of eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits, instead offering seniors an enhanced deduction.
Additionally, the bill allocates several hundred billion dollars in increased funding for border security and national defense, while reclaiming portions of green energy subsidies enacted under former President Joe Biden. It also maintains the revised $40,000 SALT deduction cap, a provision critical for Republicans representing blue-state constituencies such as New York and California.
“’THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ has PASSED the House of Representatives!” Trump said in a Thursday Truth Social post.
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 22, 2025
“Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! There is no time to waste,” he continued.
“The Democrats have lost control of themselves, and are aimlessly wandering around, showing no confidence, grit, or determination,” he added. “They have forgotten their landslide loss in the Presidential Election, and are warped in the past, hoping someday to revive Open Borders for the World’s criminals to be able to pour into our Country, men to be able to play in women’s sports, and transgender for everybody. They don’t realize that these things, and so many more like them, will NEVER AGAIN happen!”
Johnson also seized the opportunity to tout his legislative win while responding pointedly to his critics — among them House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who used his allotted “magic minute” on the floor to criticize the bill’s tax breaks and other spending reductions.
The GOP Speaker praised Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), lauding her as the “Iron Lady” of the House Republican conference for her firm leadership in managing the deluge of Democrat amendments aimed at delaying the bill’s progress to the floor.
Other significant provisions of the bill:
Raising the cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction to $20,000 for married individuals filing separately (subject to a $250,000 income threshold) and to $40,000 for all other filers (with a $500,000 income cap).
Increasing the federal debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
Allocating $175 billion for border security, including $46.5 billion specifically earmarked for the construction of a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border.
Appropriating an additional $150 billion for national defense, with specific allocations including $25 billion for President Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system, $34 billion to enhance naval capabilities and shipbuilding, $21 billion to replenish the nation’s ammunition reserves, and $5 billion dedicated to border enforcement.
Instituting a monthly 80-hour work requirement — which may include employment, volunteer service, or education — for able-bodied adults aged 19 to 64 as a condition for Medicaid eligibility.
Expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements to include able-bodied, childless adults up to age 64.
Establishing an expedited permitting process for natural gas projects, contingent upon applicants contributing either 1% of the project’s total cost or $10 million, whichever is less.
Repealing the Biden-era directive mandating that two-thirds of new vehicle sales be electric by 2032.
Introducing federally backed “Trump” savings accounts for children born between January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2029, with an initial government contribution of $1,000 per account.
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OAN Staff Abril Elfi 1:46 PM – Thursday, May 22, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that they will be eliminating the student visa program at Harvard University — due to the school’s “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests.
According to a report from Fox News Digital, the DHS will be eliminating the program as a “consequence” of the school’s refusal to comply with requests for behavioral records of student visa holders, in addition to the school’s lack of effort in combating antisemitism on campus.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
Additionally, Harvard may no longer accept foreign students for the 2025-2026 school year, and current foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status to remain in the United States before the next academic year begins.
“As a result of your brazen refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas rhetoric, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” Noem wrote in a letter to Maureen Martin, the university’s director of immigration services.
The DHS secretary offered Harvard 72 hours to provide the information requested for an opportunity to regain its visa program for the next school year. She went on to call the move the “direct result of Harvard’s epic failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.”
The information includes any video footage of protest activities involving students on visas, as well as all students’ disciplinary records from the previous five years.
Noem stated last month that she had requested records on visa-holding students enrolled at the university, and Harvard’s counsel did not offer sufficient material to meet the demand. After the DHS general counsel requested the material again, Harvard supplied a “insufficient, incomplete, and unacceptable response.”
“Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of antisemitism in society and campuses,” said Noem.
Requested data also include film or other forms of documentation of illegal, harmful, or violent activities by student visa holders — as well as any recordings of threats or violations of the rights of other students or university workers.
Last month, Harvard declared that it would enable foreign students to accept admission to both Harvard and a foreign university as a backup, despite the Trump administration’s threats to revoke Harvard’s permission to host them.
Typically, students must accept admission to Harvard by May 1st and they cannot commit to another university.
At least a dozen Harvard students’ study permits in the United States have been withdrawn due to campus protests.
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Harvard’s Radicalization: Lower Standards, Middle Eastern Cash, Politicization | Victor Davis Hanson
Earlier this month, Harvard Law School students participated in a “Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon” workshop. Students were asked to "gather data to edit the Wikipedia pages of big law firms to reflect cases they have recently argued," according to The Washington Free Beacon. What happened? Several students singled out and warped the Wikipedia pages of big law firms who previously that they would cut back recruitment from universities that did not curb the spread of anti-Semitism on-campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. What are we getting at? For decades, America’s elite law schools have degraded their standards in the pursuit of social justice and have become wholly dependent on foreign money. Now, it’s finally catching up to them, argues Victor Davis Hanson in today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
Trump blocks Harvard's ability to enroll international students
The Trump administration is ramping up its battle with Harvard University, with the Department of Homeland Security announcing the school is barred from enrolling foreign students and orders more than 6,700 currently enrolled international students to transfer or lose their legal status. It comes as Robert. F. Kennedy Jr. releases a report that paints a grim picture of the health of American children. NBC’s Garrett Haake reports for TODAY.
FBI Director Kash Patel is shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C.—a decision originally made under the Biden administration’s FBI. Symbolically, the closure speaks volumes. Victor Davis Hanson walks us through the troubling legacy left behind at the FBI HQ in today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, is the head of the Special Counsel’s Office. Remember that? He had a dream team—the all-stars, a hunter/killer team—with the Left. He was almost giddy about that they were going to get Donald Trump on Russian collusion. “ That same office then gave us Christopher Wray. Why was he spying on parents at school board meetings? Why was he spying on what they called ‘radical-traditional Catholics’? Why did they go after abortion protesters, but not in the same way people who were protesting pro-life?”
Interim United States attorney for Washington, DC Jeanine Pirro, formerly a long-time Fox News host, gave an update on the murder of a Jewish couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum in DC. 2 Israeli Embassy staffers killed outside DC Jewish museum identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.Suspect Elias Rodriguez, 31, detained after allegedly firing at victims. The incident unfolded amid heightened tensions over Israel-Gaza conflict and the suspect reportedly chanted “Free Palestine”.
JUST IN: US Attorney Jeanine Pirro Provides Update On Killings Of 2 Israeli Embassy Staff Members
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro held a press briefing with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and law enforcement officials to provide an update on the investigation and case against the suspect in the killing of 2 Israeli Embassy staff members.
A Historic Crash Under the Brooklyn Bridge – What Really Happened? On May 17, 2025, the Mexican Navy’s tall ship Cuauhtémoc unexpectedly collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, shocking New Yorkers and maritime experts alike. In this video, we explain exactly how it happened: the reversing maneuver, the tugboat’s role, the westerly wind, and the strong eastbound current that may have sealed the ship’s fate.
(May 13, 2025 – Chicago) — The Chicago Board of Education and the New York-based David Lynch Foundation will pay out $2.6 million to former Chicago Public Schools high school students over forced Transcendental Meditation indoctrination. On May 13, 2025, Judge Matthew Kennelly of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois approved the class action settlement.
The funds will be distributed among 773 individuals who, while students at Chicago public high schools, were either required to participate in Transcendental Meditation as part of their in-school curriculum or were deprived daily of a half-hour of academic instruction and required to maintain silence while their classmates focused their minds on secret mantras.
The Chicago Board of Education partnered with the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, which was founded by filmmaker David Lynch to fund Transcendental Meditation instruction in schools. Though presented as a nonreligious exercise, Transcendental Meditation is rooted in Hinduism. The Hindu American Foundation describes the practice as “wholly and unequivocally Hindu.”
The schools’ compulsory participation violated students’ rights and even included nondisclosure agreements. At least one student shared how she and a classmate were instructed not to tell anyone—including their parents—about the program. A representative from the David Lynch Foundation allegedly warned them specifically not to inform religious parents.
Attorney John Mauck of Mauck & Baker represented the student class, along with court-appointed lead plaintiff Kaya Hudgins.
“This settlement vindicates the concerns of former students and parents that the initiation ceremony and daily meditation regime were effectively demonic invocations and thus violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution,” stated Mauck. “We hope this settlement will deter those who exploit young people and that it will encourage the Chicago Board of Education to be wary of harming students by allowing wolves to prey on the sheep they are obligated to protect.”
Hudgins, now 22 years old, was the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit. She recounted that, at age 16, she was forced to take part in the program called “Quiet Time.” Her participation was mandatory, despite any personal objections. She described how, despite its innocuous title, the program included a private one-on-one Hindu “Puja” worship ceremony in a darkened room, chanting, religious paraphernalia, and secret mantras that were actually the names of Hindu gods.
“I was just a teenager when I was pressured into a program I didn’t understand and wasn’t allowed to question,” said Kaya Hudgins. “No student should ever be forced into a religious practice against their will—especially not in a public school. This settlement is a step toward accountability and a reminder that our constitutional rights don’t stop at the classroom door.”
Hudgins’ attorneys petitioned the court for class action status, which was granted on April 19, 2024, for all students who participated in the Quiet Time program in Chicago Public Schools during the academic years from Fall 2015 through Spring 2019 and who reached age eighteen on or after January 13, 2021.
In a similar case, former Chicago Public Schools student Mariyah Green, also represented by Mauck & Baker, was awarded $150,000 in damages and legal fees by Illinois Circuit Court on October 23, 2023. The court found that the Board of Education of the City of Chicago and the David Lynch Foundation had violated her constitutional rights by requiring participation in Hindu rituals under the guise of a public-school program. Green’s complaint was filed in February 2023.
Read the Final Order and Judgment Confirming Class Certification, Approving Class Action Settlement, Award of Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Class Representative Service Award issued May 13, 2025, by District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, awarding a $2.6 million settlement to former CPS student Kaya Hudgins and others included in the class action lawsuit, Hudgins v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago et al —here.
About Mauck & Baker, LLC Mauck & Baker, established in Chicago in 2001, is nationally known for its practice in the area of religious liberty. It works with individuals, religious institutions, and businesses. For more information, please visit mauckbaker.com.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes a question from a member of the media (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Blake Wolf 4:17 PM – Saturday, May 17, 2025
President Donald Trump called on Walmart to “eat the tariffs” rather than raising prices and blaming the Trump administration for price hikes.
“Walmart should STOP trying to blame tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning Truth Social post.
Trump’s remarks came after Walmart CEO Doug McMillon suggested that the retailer might increase prices on general merchandise, largely sourced from China, due to the new tariffs.
“We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins,” the company told Reuters.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey echoed the company’s sentiment on Thursday, stating that “We have not seen price increases at this magnitude, at this speed at which they’re coming at us before, and so it makes for a challenging environment.”
Rainey also responded to the deal the Trump administration was able to agree to with China, lowering tariffs from a sky high 145% down to 30%.
Rainey stated that he is “pleased with the progress that’s been made by the administration on tariffs from the levels that were announced in early April, but they’re still too high.”
President Trump has maintained that a tariff policy incentivizes companies to manufacture products in the United States to avoid an overreliance on China, while also bringing factory jobs back to the U.S.
The recent tariff deal made with China lasts for 90 days.
“If I didn’t do that deal with China, I think China would have broken apart. We are not going to break up,” Trump stated on Friday. “Our country has a lot of spirit.”
President Trump previously met with McMillon to discuss the impact of tariffs on imported goods, with a Walmart spokesperson characterizing the meeting as “productive.”
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