Don't miss...
9 Republicans aid Democrats to advance Obamacare subsidies
Nine Republicans voted to advance the Democrat-led health care bill Wednesday, defying the GOP to extend Obamacare subsidies.
Republican Reps. Nick LaLota of New York, Thomas Kean of New Jersey, Mike Lawler of New York, Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania, David Valadao of California, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Max Miller of Ohio, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, and Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida joined Democrats to bring a vote on the health care subsidies that expired at the end of 2025.
‘DEMOCRATS have increased health care costs exponentially.’
Notably Lawler, Fitzpatrick, Bresnahan, and Mackenzie also signed onto House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-N.Y.) discharge petition last month that would have forced a House vote to extend the subsidies.
A final vote on the bill is now expected to take place Thursday.
RELATED: Senate tanks GOP solution to Obamacare subsidy problems
Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Lawler defended his vote aiding Democrats, saying the solution to fix the “broken” health care system is “through a bipartisan approach.”
“Republicans and Democrats can agree that our healthcare system is broken and must be fixed through a bipartisan approach,” Lawler wrote. “Enough of the blame game on both sides. Let’s focus on actually delivering affordable healthcare for Americans.”
RELATED: California Republican suddenly dies at age 65
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has maintained that the Affordable Care Act, especially the COVID-era subsidies, are responsible for skyrocketing premiums.
“Obamacare was created and passed entirely by DEMOCRATS,” Johnson said in a post on X during the 2025 government shutdown. “Since Obamacare took effect, health insurance premiums have SKYROCKETED. The Obamacare COVID-era subsidies were also passed entirely by DEMOCRATS, and set to expire at the end of this year.”
“DEMOCRATS have increased health care costs exponentially, and are now shutting down the government — as they try to cover up THEIR OWN FAILURES and somehow blame Republicans.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
‘Reckoning day’ for Newsom: Trump DOT yanks $160 million over illegal trucker licenses
As the Trump administration continues to meet resistance from blue-state governors across the nation, California is now reaping what it sowed by illegally issuing trucker licenses to foreigners.
On Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that it was “reckoning day” for the state of California and its Democrat governor, Gavin Newsom.
‘Gavin refused. So now I am pulling nearly $160 MILLION from California.’
In a social media post, Duffy explained the Trump administration’s “demands”: “Follow the rules. Revoke the unlawfully-issued licenses to dangerous foreign drivers. Fix the system so this never happens again.”
Duffy’s post comes after months of demanding that California revoke commercial driver’s licenses illegally issued to foreigners. Duffy provided a short video showing that Newsom had many opportunities to comply with federal law.
RELATED: Illegal alien truckers with California licenses accused of hauling $7M in cocaine across state lines
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
However, “Gavin refused,” Duffy said. “So now I am pulling nearly $160 MILLION from California. Under @POTUS, federal dollars won’t fund this CHARADE.”
The funding will be withheld from California beginning in fiscal year 2027.
California agreed in November to revoke every illegally issued license within 60 days. As of the January 5, 2026, deadline, California has failed to follow through on this agreement, leading to the major withholding of federal funding.
At least 17,000 licenses were expected to be revoked on Monday, per the original agreement.
According to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit reviewed by Fox News, more than 20,000 active non-domiciled CDLs were issued in violation of federal rules. The FMCSA reportedly described the situation in California as a “systemic collapse” of the commercial licensing program.
“Federal regulations are clear: states must correct safety deficiencies on a schedule mutually agreed upon by the agency, and California failed to meet its commitment to rescind these unlawfully issued licenses by January 5,” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said, according to Fox News.
“We will not accept a corrective plan that knowingly leaves thousands of drivers holding noncompliant licenses behind the wheel of 80,000-pound trucks in open defiance of federal safety regulations,” Barrs added.
California DMV spokesperson Eva Spiegel responded to the loss of federal funding in a statement: “We strongly disagree with the federal government’s decision to withhold vital transportation funding from California — their action jeopardizes public safety because these funds are critical for maintaining and improving the roadways we all rely on every day.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Left melts down over childhood vaccine schedule change — but Sara Gonzales says, ‘It’s not enough’
While most MAHA-minded Americans are cheering in light of the CDC’s latest alteration to the U.S. childhood immunization schedule — which dropped from 17 to 11 diseases — BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales believes it’s “not enough.”
“I don’t want that to distract you from applauding what is happening now, because it’s all good changes. He can’t just like totally just bust up the entire system immediately. He’s got to get there,” she explains.
The new schedule also doesn’t recommend against getting your children vaccinated for certain diseases but instead breaks a longer list of diseases down into three categories.
In the category that’s recommended for all children, there are 11 diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal conjugate, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, HPV, and varicella.
RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal are now in the group that’s “recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations,” and rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, hep A, hep B, and meningococcal are in a third group titled “recommended based on shared clinical decision-making.”
“I don’t agree with any of these,” Gonzales says.
“So there is still work to be done. However, if they want to stair-step this, the way that they have stair-stepped everything else, they would do it in this way,” she adds.
And while Gonzales doesn’t believe the Trump administration has gone far enough, the left of course is claiming it’s gone too far.
“There’s always the fearmongering. ‘Oh my God, RFK is taking away our right to vaccines. How many children, how many beautiful children are going to be killed because RFK didn’t give them their precious chickenpox shots?’ Well, actually, spoiler alert, zero probably,” Gonzales says.
“But let’s just be clear … no vaccine has been eliminated. OK. The CDC is still requiring insurance companies to cover the vaccines if people want them,” Gonzales says, before playing a clip of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) claiming otherwise.
“You promised that you would not take away vaccines from anyone who wanted them,” Warren yelled at RFK Jr.
“I know you’ve taken $855,000 from pharmaceutical companies, senator,” he responds.
“I’m not taking them away,” he added, while she continued to argue.
“Elizabeth Warren,” Gonzales comments, annoyed, “has to be the most insufferable on the Senate side.”
“Just the shrill, just like the Karen energy of like her voice makes me want to jump off a building,” she adds.
Want more from Sara Gonzales?
To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Nadine Lustre, handa na kayang bumuo ng sariling pamilya?
Handa na kaya si Nadine Lustre na maging asawa bumuo ng sariling pamilya kasama ang kaniyang nobyong si Christophe Bariou? Alamin ang kaniyang tugon sa vlog interview ni Vice Ganda.
Alden Richards sa kaniyang role sa upcoming series na ‘Code Gray’: ‘I’m very excited”
Sinabi ni Alden Richards na excited siya sa kaniyang magiging role sa upcoming Kapuso medical drama series na “Code Gray.”
