Category: Blaze Media
Mike Johnson changes course ahead of key Epstein vote
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is following in President Donald Trump’s footsteps ahead of the House vote to release the Epstein files.
After months of pushing back on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s Epstein discharge petition, Trump changed course and encouraged House Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution Tuesday.
‘We have nothing to do with Epstein.’
“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.
Rank-and-file Republicans followed suit and began to embrace Massie’s petition publicly, and Johnson, who previously expressed misgivings about the discharge petition, later announced that he will vote for the resolution.
However, there are a few caveats.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Johnson conceded that he would vote in favor of the resolution but maintained that there were several “dangers” regarding victim privacy, inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials, and the lack of protections for whistleblowers.
“There’s a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this,” Johnson said during the presser. “Because we don’t have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate.”
Despite these “dangers,” Johnson said he has a “high degree of confidence” that the Senate will implement the necessary changes, allowing him to vote yes on the resolution.
“Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency,” Johnson said. “So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now … is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, ‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.'”
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Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Massie and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-led the discharge petition, securing 218 signatures Wednesday to force a vote on the House floor. All 214 Democrats signed on to the petition alongside four Republicans: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Massie.
Although the petition received the support of only four Republicans, the vote is expected to pass with overwhelming GOP support after Trump gave the conference the green light on Sunday.
He also confirmed Monday that he would sign the resolution once it passes Congress.
“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “All of his friends were Democrats.”
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LeBron James’ closest allies now in the spotlight for shocking NBA gambling probe
Two members of LeBron James’ inner circle are being investigated as part of the NBA’s ongoing inquiries into gambling and insider tipoffs.
It’s been nearly a month since the FBI released the shocking indictments of an NBA coach and player, along with a former NBA player.
‘That player was not named in the team’s injury report at the time. James did not play in that game.’
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones were indicted. Rozier was accused of sharing insider information to gamblers, while Billups was allegedly involved in illegal poker games hosted by Italian mob families; Jones was reportedly involved in both.
Now as the NBA continues its investigation, disaster could be around the corner for the league as Los Angeles Lakers personnel and those in close contact with James have reportedly surrendered their cell phones to an inquiring law firm hired by the NBA.
According to the Athletic, firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has been contacting NBA teams to ask for cell phones, phone records, and other items. The firm has reportedly sought information from 10 Lakers employees, including assistant trainer Mike Mancias and executive administrator Randy Mims. Both have very close ties to James and reportedly gave up their cell phones voluntarily.
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Randy Mims (L) and LeBron James attend a quarterfinal game of the 2018 NBA Summer League between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 15, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Mancias, 48, has reportedly been training James for around 20 years, while 50-year-old Mims has been associated with James since he was in high school in Akron, Ohio. James was drafted out of high school at 18 years old in 2003. Mims was described as James’ uncle in a 2003 Sports Illustrated article.
The player connection
The following information reported by the Athletic is circumstantial in nature, and it is important to note that neither James, Mancias, nor Mims have been charged with any crimes.
As part of his alleged betting scheme, former player Jones is accused by law enforcement of selling information about the injuries of two Lakers players to bettors on at least two occasions. In his indictment, Jones is labeled as a coach or teammate of a “prominent NBA player,” described as “Player 3,” whose relationship he abused to sell information to professional gamblers.
According to prosecutors, Jones found out on February 9, 2023, that “Player 3” would not play in a game between the Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks and told someone to place a “big bet” on the Bucks based on Player 3’s absence. That player was not named in the team’s injury report at the time. James did not play in that game.
Furthermore, on January 15, 2024, Jones allegedly sold his knowledge on a “Player 4,” who was allegedly injured. Jones was accused of passing on knowledge that Player 4’s performance would be impacted by the injury in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Federal authorities reportedly said that Jones “claimed to have learned from the trainer for ‘Player 3’ and ‘Player 4’ that ‘Player 4’ was hurt.”
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The Miami Heat’s LeBron James gets stretched by trainer Mike Mancias during practice for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Saturday, June 16, 2012. David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
More connections, more charges
James’ business manager and known business partner Maverick Carter reportedly told federal agents in 2021 that he bet on NBA games with an illegal bookmaker. In November 2021, Carter told federal agents he “could not remember placing any bets on the Lakers” and also denied placing bets for others, ESPN reported.
Carter revealed he put down about 20 bets on football and basketball games over the span of one year, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. The bookie Carter used, Wayne Nix, pleaded guilty to participating in a large, offshore betting ring.
Carter was named in the aforementioned 2003 Sports Illustrated piece as one of those “closest to James on a daily basis,” along with Mims. At the time, he was described as a former high school teammate who was three years older than James and employed by Nike to “take care of their $90 million man.”
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Democrat INFIGHTING: Progressives blast congresswoman for opposing leftist’s apparent rigged succession scam
The Democratic Party, whose unfavorability rating is 58% according to the RealClearPolitics poll average, appears to be consumed by internal squabbles. In the latest, one Democrat’s campaign to shame a colleague has prompted retaliation from other radicals on her side of the aisle.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) introduced a House resolution on Monday to formally rebuke one of her Democratic colleagues, Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, for allegedly “undermining the process of a free and fair election.”
Garcia filed to run for re-election on Oct. 27. Days later — after the deadline for candidates to file to run for Illinois’ 4th congressional district had passed — Garcia announced his retirement and indicated that he would be withdrawing his nominating petitions.
‘Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.’
What appears to have really rankled Perez and other Democrats was that while Garcia failed to provide anybody else with a heads-up about his real intentions, he apparently tipped off his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who managed to file to run in the district at the last minute, ensuring herself an opposition-free Democratic primary. Rep. Garcia subsequently endorsed his chief of staff.
Perez’s resolution, which was also supported by Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden, claimed that Garcia’s “actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution.”
Garcia’s office stated, “He followed every rule and every filing requirement laid out by the State of Illinois.”
“It’s not fun to call out a member of your own party,” Perez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “But I think it’s important that we’re consistent.”
“Election subversion is always wrong. That’s not how we run things in this country, and that’s not the party that I want to be a part of,” added Perez.
RELATED: Socialism ‘will f**k you’: Bill Maher warns Democrats the radical left is leading party to ruin
US Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia (D-Ill.). Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
Perez attempted last week to have Garcia punished for his underhanded succession play, prompting scorn from Garcia’s Progressive Caucus ally Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), who said of the Washington congresswoman, “Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.”
Unswayed by the criticism of her peers, Perez made the case for his reprimand on Monday, stating on the House floor, “No one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives.”
The House advanced Perez’s resolution as the motion to table it failed in a 211-206 vote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) defended Garcia on Monday, telling reporters, “I do not support this so-called resolution of disapproval, and I strongly support Congressman Chuy Garcia. He has been a progressive champion in disenfranchised communities for decades.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus members, all of whom reportedly stood up on Monday to condemn Perez, are reportedly now working to punish the Washington Democrat for championing transparency and choice in Democratic politics.
A lawmaker and a senior aide familiar with the matter told Axios that Progressive Caucus members are considering a resolution that would accuse Perez of lying about not taking corporate PAC donations.
Last year, End Citizens United, a group that endorsed and backed Perez’s congressional campaign, claimed that while then-Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent had supposedly taken money from corporate PACs, “Perez has continued to abide by her pledge to reject corporate PAC contributions.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee noted, however, that the Perez campaign had received numerous corporate PAC donations.
Sources told Axios that the resolution targeting Perez would reference reporting that her campaign and PAC accepted donations from various corporate sources, including the American Petroleum Institute PAC and American Forest and Paper Association PAC.
A spokesman for Perez did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.
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It’s not just you. X and vast tracts of the internet are down.
Large sections of the internet stopped working on Tuesday morning. Among the sites affected by the latest in a weeks-long series of outages were Amazon Web Services, X, League of Legends, the betting site bet365, Spotify, ChatGPT, and — ironically — the website that monitors online outages, Downdetector.
The problem appears to be the result of issues at Cloudflare, a San Francisco-headquartered tech company that effectively serves as a backbone to a myriad of sites, providing content delivery network and wide area network services, domain registration, and cybersecurity.
‘We saw a spike in unusual traffic.’
At the time of writing, the Cloudflare system status page indicated that the company was working toward restoring global network services, having hours earlier acknowledged “experiencing an internal service degradation” that could leave some services “intermittently impacted.”
The latest outages come just days after Cloudflare admitted an “issue which potentially impacts multiple customers” — an issue that was supposedly “resolved.”
A spokesperson for Cloudflare said in a statement obtained by the Guardian, “We saw a spike in unusual traffic to one of Cloudflare’s services beginning at 11:20am [London time]. That caused some traffic passing through Cloudflare’s network to experience errors. While most traffic for most services continued to flow as normal, there were elevated errors across multiple Cloudflare services.”
“We do not yet know the cause of the spike in unusual traffic,” continued the spokesperson. “We are all hands on deck to make sure all traffic is served without errors. After that, we will turn our attention to investigating the cause of the unusual spike in traffic.”
The company’s engineers were reportedly scheduled to conduct some maintenance work on data centers in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tahiti, and Santiago, Chile. It’s unclear whether their efforts had anything to do with the technical issues.
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Amazon wants Warner Bros. so it can rule your screen
Last month, Warner Brothers Discovery put itself up for sale, triggering what could become a bidding war for one of America’s most iconic studios. Days later, reports emerged that Amazon plans to make a run at the company, immediately raising the stakes.
Consumers and regulators should treat every Big Tech bidder with skepticism, but Amazon’s interest demands special scrutiny. The world’s largest online retailer has a long record of distorting markets, crushing rivals, and cozying up to foreign adversaries — most notably China. Letting Amazon absorb yet another major media asset would tighten its grip on an entertainment industry already buckling under corporate consolidation.
Why would antitrust officials hand Amazon even more power in a sector already suffocating under concentration?
Amazon may be a household name, but it is not an America-first company. It bullies smaller retailers, copies their ideas, and funnels profits and supply-chain leverage through China. That behavior undermines the ingenuity and fair competition that built the U.S. economy.
Amazon already wields enormous influence over media. Last year, Prime Video topped U.S. streaming charts for the third straight year. Amazon controls a sprawling production studio, reinforced by its 2022 purchase of MGM. It holds high-dollar sports rights, including “Thursday Night Football” and an 11-year deal with the NBA.
Amazon doesn’t need Warner Brothers Discovery to survive. It wants the company to force more Americans into its digital universe, dominate an even larger share of the market, and use that dominance to trap users and raise prices. Buying competitors beats out-competing them — a classic monopolist playbook that burdens consumers and smothers innovation.
A Warner Brothers takeover would give Amazon exactly what it wants: a massive content library, the third-largest streaming platform, and a lineup of lucrative cable properties. With the deal sealed, Amazon would control more than a third of the streaming video on demand market — roughly 50% more than its nearest rival.
Why would antitrust officials hand Amazon even more power in a sector already suffocating under concentration? They likely won’t.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Gail Slater, have made clear that they intend to protect small businesses and consumers from predatory corporate behavior.
The Trump administration has backed those promises with action. Within nine months of taking office, the FTC forced Amazon to pay $2.5 million for trapping customers in Prime subscriptions. Ferguson’s vow to ensure that “Amazon never does this again” shows that this White House will not give repeat offenders a free pass.
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Lexi Critchett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The regulatory terrain also looks dramatically different from 2022, when Amazon bought MGM — an acquisition the Biden administration should have challenged and likely would challenge today. After that merger, the FTC rewrote its merger and acquisition guidelines to strengthen oversight. President Trump kept those rules and appears ready to use them.
Some critics claim Amazon earned goodwill with the administration by contributing to White House renovation projects. That accusation doesn’t survive contact with the facts. Candidate Trump warned about Amazon’s “huge antitrust problem” as early as 2016. The company has grown eightfold since then. Trump hasn’t softened.
And Amazon hardly functioned as a friend of the right. The company backed Joe Biden heavily in 2020, donating nearly $2.3 million to his campaign. Biden’s FTC did not treat Amazon kindly either, suing the company for “anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power.” That case remains unresolved.
The sale of Warner Brothers Discovery will shape the future of American media — either by giving the company a fighting chance to innovate and compete, or by cementing Big Tech control over what Americans watch, read, and hear. If Amazon tries to tighten that grip, I expect the Trump administration to step in.
Let’s hope the sale doesn’t force the administration’s hand.
Feds, local cops rescue over 100 kids in Florida, just in time for Thanksgiving
A multi-agency operation led to the recovery of over 100 children from Florida and several other states.
Operation Home for the Holidays was led by the U.S. Marshals Service and involved partnerships with the FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and other federal, state, and local entities.
‘Many of these kids have been victimized in unspeakable ways. We will prosecute their abusers to the fullest extent of the law.’
Jason Carley, the FBI field office’s special agent in charge, explained that the mission aimed to “find missing and potentially trafficked children.”
“In these types of operations, partnerships are essential,” he added.
The law enforcement operation, which ran over two weeks, resulted in the recovery of 122 children, FBI Jacksonville reported on Monday. The children were connected to care and services.
“Protecting our children is at the core of the FBI’s mission. This operation represents the very best of what can be accomplished when state, local and federal partners come together with a shared commitment,” FBI Jacksonville stated.
Image source: FBI Jacksonville
Law enforcement agents rescued 57 children from Tampa, 14 from Orlando, 22 from Jacksonville, 29 from Fort Myers, and 13 from other states and internationally, according to the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
“The children ranged in age from 23 months to 17 years old, and many had experienced various levels of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or exposure to other criminal activity,” a statement from the AG’s office read.
Six individuals were reportedly arrested on felony charges, including child neglect, custodial interference, narcotics possession, sexual assault, terroristic threats, and endangerment.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called the operation one of the nation’s largest child-recovery efforts.
“Many of these kids have been victimized in unspeakable ways. We will prosecute their abusers to the fullest extent of the law,” Uthmeier stated.
Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images
“What allows our Middle Florida-based child recovery initiatives to stand out is the emphasis placed on what happens after,” said William Berger, the U.S. marshal for the Middle District of Florida. “We know these children will have needs once we find them. It only makes sense to build these operations alongside like-minded partners from across the child welfare space.”
“The United States Marshals Service is proud to stand with our partners across the state of Florida in pursuit of the safety and welfare of our children,” Berger continued. “This operation was built based upon the wants and needs of our communities. We are honored to play a leading role in answering those calls. Welcome Home and Happy Holidays!”
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Mom allegedly left her children in filthy apartment with trash, human and animal feces, according to police
A woman was arrested and charged with child neglect on Nov. 9 for allegedly leaving her children in a filthy apartment full of human and animal feces, Michigan police said.
Police were called to a residence on South Francis Street over a possible break-in, but instead found the “deplorable conditions” that led them to arrest 31-year-old Teriomas Tremice Johnson, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
‘It defies understanding how parents blessed with the gift of a child could show such cruelty.’
Deputies found a 12-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl, and a 9-year-old boy alone in the apartment. There was no working plumbing, and the children were forced to defecate in a cardboard box. Police said three cats also lived in the home and all of the sinks were clogged.
The sheriff’s department also said that the children only sporadically attended school.
The children were placed into the custody of their fathers by Children’s Protective Services.
Johnson is facing three felony charges of second-degree child abuse. Each charge may be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. She had been on probation for 36 months after a conviction on retail fraud and other charges.
The sheriff’s department posted two photographs from the apartment on social media.
“It defies understanding how parents blessed with the gift of a child could show such cruelty,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. “The complete lack of compassion and humanity is heartbreaking, and I am eager to see justice served for this unconscionable act.”
Bond for Johnson was initially set at $250,000, but Magistrate Angelena Thomas-Scruggs revoked the bond after the suspect threw a chair and yelled an expletive at the official, according to the sheriff’s office.
The School District of the City of Pontiac said the district is cooperating with the police investigation.
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Mamdani sells socialism — and Republicans peddle the Temu version
New York City has elected a self-professed socialist as mayor. Critics worry about Zohran Mamdani’s inexperience, his approach to law and order, and his views on Israel and Islamic radicalism. But the most urgent issue inside the walls of City Hall is his economic agenda.
Mamdani promises “free” bus transit, a freeze on rent increases, a $30 minimum wage, government-run grocery stores, free child care, and higher taxes in a city already crushed by some of the nation’s highest tax burdens. His brand of socialism isn’t subtle. It’s explicit — and guaranteed to fail.
A movement confident in free enterprise can beat socialism — first in the arena of ideas, then at the ballot box. But only if we choose clarity over imitation.
Many on the right treat Mamdani’s victory as cosmic justice for a deep-blue city that keeps moving left. Others welcome his rise, convinced that showcasing a hard-left mayor will repel voters nationwide. That might be true. It might also be fantasy.
New Yorkers didn’t elect Mamdani so conservatives could score a talking point. His win advances ideas — and conservatives must decide whether they still believe ours are better.
When the right copies the left
Mocking government-run grocery stores is easy. Yet national Republicans just embraced government ownership in Intel — a massive corporation that dwarfs any Manhattan supermarket. Some even support a federal sovereign wealth fund to buy equity across private industry, handing Washington the power to pick winners.
Mamdani demonizes Wall Street and high earners who keep the city solvent. Republicans respond by demonizing “big pharma” and pushing policies that treat major U.S. innovators as villains.
Mamdani wants to redistribute income with New York’s already-extreme tax code. Some on the right now call for $2,000 government checks to lower-income households — financed with borrowed money and paid back by business owners already hit with $350 billion in new tariff taxes this year.
Mamdani would freeze rents because, in his telling, landlords “make a killing.” His economics ignore taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance costs that devour margins across New York’s rental market. Yet GOP proposals on health care routinely blame insurers for “making a killing while the little guy suffers.” The overlap with left-wing rhetoric isn’t coincidence. It’s drift.
High grocery prices fuel Mamdani’s push for government-run grocery stores. He blames “capitalistic greed.” Republicans answered high beef prices by accusing meat companies of “price fixing.” Again, the same logic — just delivered with a different logo.
Resurrecting failed policies
Mamdani’s worldview mirrors the same interventionist thinking that powered the Affordable Care Act. Subsidies, mandates, and price controls promised relief. They delivered higher premiums, higher costs, and lower-quality care.
Conservatives should highlight that failure. Instead, too many mimic the left’s solutions — regulation dressed up as populism, government expansion sold as “tough on corporations,” and class warfare renamed as “standing up for workers.”
If Mamdani’s win teaches anything, it’s that conservatives must draw a bright line: free enterprise or the road to socialism. Blurring that line weakens the argument and cedes the moral ground socialism feeds on.
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Bettmann/Getty Images
The real fight
The conservative movement faces serious internal debates — debates worth having. But Mamdani’s election exposes one fight we cannot dodge: the fight for limited government and competitive markets.
We cannot counter socialism with lighter versions of the same policies. We cannot attack Mamdani’s economic program while pushing our own price controls, government takeovers, and redistribution schemes. A movement that refuses to defend free enterprise won’t defeat socialism. It won’t even understand the threat.
Mamdani comes into office with plenty of flaws. New Yorkers will feel the consequences soon enough. But conservatives face a choice: defend our own principles or mimic the left and call it “the new right.”
A movement confident in free enterprise can beat socialism — first in the arena of ideas, then at the ballot box. But only if we choose clarity over imitation.
The CHILLING online trail of Trump’s would-be assassin
Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ digital footprint has been exposed — but not by the FBI. Rather, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has revealed disturbing comments Crooks allegedly made on social media leading up to his decision to fire at President Trump.
This online history dates back years and includes him engaging in conversations in YouTube comment sections where he explains that the “only way to fight the gov is with terrorism style attacks.”
Crooks’ Google searches also reveal a mentally unwell young man, with searches as far back as 2019 centering around mass shootings, how to build a bomb, and “firing an AR15 as fast as possible.”
Prior to 2020, Crooks’ comments appeared to be pro-Trump and against the left. But all that switched, seemingly overnight.
While the FBI has countered Carlson’s claims, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales isn’t buying it.
“This is a guy who is not well. And I’m just wondering, with so many people on the FBI radar, and the fact that the FBI radar can be so vast at times — I mean, they can track down anyone for anything. Unless you’re the pipe bomber and unless you try to assassinate the president, then running for office,” Gonzales says.
“And all of a sudden, we can’t find anything. … I’m telling you guys, this man was on their radar,” she says. “They won’t tell you that. This is my opinion.”
Gonzales believes that the YouTube comments — where Crooks was replying to an anonymous account discussing violent attacks — point to the possibility that he was “programmed to want to kill Trump.”
Gonzales also points out that while Crooks was engaging in violent rhetoric in the YouTube comment sections, she herself was getting censored for far less.
“I know for a fact YouTube is all over their stuff because I’ve been demonetized for two years of my life, two-plus years of my life, for saying something far more benign than calling for assassination. I misgendered someone, and I almost lost my entire YouTube account,” she explains.
“We deserve answers. … We deserve more answers than, ‘Trust us, bro, we’re the FBI,’” she adds.
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Utah Republicans just let Democrats steal a seat they could never win
A Utah judge just turned a safe Republican congressional seat into a near-guaranteed Democrat seat — and she did it in a state controlled top to bottom by Republicans. How does that happen? A generation of weak Republicans in the elected branches handed liberals control of the judicial branch and gave them the ballot initiative system they needed to take over the state piece by piece.
Democrats can’t win statewide office in half the country, so they’ve turned ballot initiatives into their weapon of choice. Pollsters craft soothing messaging, activists gather signatures, and voters — thinking they’re supporting neutrality — unknowingly approve measures that shift power to Democrats.
Supermajority states serve as a control group. The problem isn’t power; the problem is the GOP’s refusal to wield it.
The “nonpartisan redistricting commission” scam remains their most effective tool. These commissions always promise fairness, and they always produce more Democratic seats.
Utah proved the point in 2018, when 66% of voters approved Proposition 4, even though most Utahns don’t want Democrats running the state. The same tactic produced Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization. None of these measures would have survived the legislature — but they passed once voters encountered them in isolation.
James Madison warned against pure democracy for this exact reason. A republic draws authority from the “great body of the society,” not from a small faction or self-appointed elite. Ballot-initiative commissions flip that logic on its head. They let unelected actors redraw power for themselves.
Here comes the judge
After the 2020 census, Utah’s legislature drew a fourth Republican congressional seat, as the state constitution requires. Democrats and their allies at the League of Women Voters sued to nullify the map and force a Salt Lake-centered Democrat seat.
In August, Third District Judge Dianna Gibson obliged. She declared the legislature’s map unconstitutional because, in her view, it ignored Prop. 4 — even though the constitution explicitly vests redistricting power in the legislature. She ordered a new process for 2026 and told both sides to submit maps.
The GOP-controlled legislature complied, proposing a compromise map and passing SB 1011 to impose “partisan fairness” tests on future redistricting so the commission couldn’t hand Democrats a permanent advantage.
Gibson ignored all of it. On Nov. 10, she tossed the legislative map, sidelined SB 1011, and adopted the map drawn by the very activist groups suing the state — the same groups that engineered Prop. 4.
Plainly unconstitutional
Nothing in Utah’s constitution supports what Gibson did. Article IX, Section 1 states that the legislature “shall divide the state” into congressional districts. A commission cannot do it. A judge cannot do it. Activists certainly cannot do it.
Yet Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson signed off on Gibson’s map, even though state law required her to certify only lawful maps. That decision reflects a deeper problem: Too many Utah Republicans treat constitutional violations as minor inconveniences and concede ground to Democrats who never reciprocate.
Democrats defend Gibson’s ruling by citing Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2015), when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reinterpreted the word “legislature” to include ballot initiatives. Even if you grant that tortured reading of the U.S. Constitution, Utah’s constitution is far more explicit. Only the legislature draws maps.
RELATED: Democrats crown judges while crying about kings
Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Make impeachment great again
At the federal level, impeachment has become an empty threat. Senate math makes convictions nearly impossible. But red states with Republican supermajorities don’t face that obstacle.
Utah’s legislature holds a 61-14 majority in the House and a 22-6 majority in the Senate. Rep. Trevor Lee (R-Utah) on my show last week called for the impeachment of both Judge Gibson and Lt. Gov. Henderson for violating the state constitution. Republicans have the votes to do it — and the constitutional duty to rein in judicial usurpation.
Other states have shown it can be done. In 2018, West Virginia impeached all five members of its Supreme Court for corruption and removed them. Red states such as Oklahoma, Montana, Missouri, and South Carolina face the same problem Utah now faces: liberal judges empowered by timid Republicans.
A perilous path
Utah proves a point conservatives hate to admit. Republicans in Washington often claim they can’t implement the party’s agenda because they lack power. But in Utah, Republicans hold all the power — and still refuse to use it. They allow commissions to override them, courts to embarrass them, and Democrats to seize ground they could never win through elections.
Supermajority states serve as a control group. The problem isn’t power; the problem is the GOP’s refusal to wield it.
Unless Republicans act with conviction, Utah will follow Colorado’s path. Democrats chipped away at Colorado one institution at a time while Republicans shrugged. Now Colorado is a Democratic Party fortress.
Utah is heading down the same trail — unless Republicans use the constitutional tools they still possess.
