TV News LIES

A bipartisan duo in the Senate has been garnering attention for a pitch aimed at shoring up the solvency of Social Security.

The idea, pushed by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), calls for investing $1.5 trillion over the next five years into an investment fund that would then be given 70 years to grow. 

“It is something to save Social Security, and to save the benefits flowing to the people, frankly, will either already depend on them or will depend upon them going forward,” Cassidy told The Hill last month.
While the senators have yet to release text for the plan, Cassidy said the government would create an investment fund separate from the existing Social Security trust funds, into which the government would place $300 billion annually over the next five years.
Here’s what lawmakers — and some experts — have said so far.

While the senators have yet to release text for the plan, Cassidy said the government would create an investment fund separate from the existing Social Security trust funds, into which the government would place $300 billion annually over the next five years.

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The Air Force will deny early retirement benefits to transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of military service, even in cases where an early retirement was already approved, according to a new memo.

Transgender service members, who were made to either voluntarily separate or be forced out of the military under a policy instituted by the Trump administration, will instead be offered enhanced voluntary separation pay, which falls short of the early retirement benefit and is typically given to service members who choose to leave active duty before they are eligible for retirement, according to an Aug. 4 memo obtained by The Hill and first reported by Reuters.

An earlier memo, sent in May by Gwendolyn R. Defilippi, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, said transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service could request Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA). In most military branches, including the Air Force, service members are eligible for retirement after 20 years.

An Air Force spokesperson did not immediately return The Hill’s request for comment on the new policy but told Reuters on Thursday that roughly a dozen transgender troops with between 15 and 18 years of military service were “prematurely notified” that their TERA applications were approved, and a “higher level review” was required.

In the Aug. 4 memo, Brian Scarlett, performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, wrote that, “after careful consideration of the individual applications,” he was “disapproving” TERA requests from trans service members with 15 to 18 years of service. The memo does not explain the decision.

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The White House announced on Thursday that it will use federal law enforcement officers to help police Washington D.C.

The move comes one day after President Donald Trump threatened to take over the city’s police force in response to an attempted hijacking that left one Trump administration staffer injured.

“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.

The effort will begin as a seven-day operation, with “the option to extend as needed,” according to a White House statement. Increased law enforcement will be present on the streets at midnight, led by the U.S. Park Police, with participation from all members of the “Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force” established under a March executive order.

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A federal judge on Aug. 7 ordered a temporary halt to further construction at an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," while a lawsuit over its environmental impact unfolds in court.

At a hearing in Miami, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued an order halting any new construction at the facility through Aug. 12, according to the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. Williams' temporary restraining order "means that new construction, including filling, paving, installation of new infrastructure, and installation of new lighting, must stop immediately," according to a statement from a coalition of Florida environmental and conservation groups.

The statement added: "That will last for 14 days while the parties complete their hearing on the conservation groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction. Meanwhile, the lawsuit, originally filed by the groups on June 27, is allowed to proceed."

The lawsuit, among other things, alleges that the center "poses serious threats to the sensitive Everglades ecosystem, endangered species, clean water, and dark night skies."

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Israeli authorities are moving forward with plans to dramatically expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite growing international condemnation and warnings that the move would destroy already moribund prospects for a two-state solution.

The Israeli government has set Wednesday as the date to discuss building thousands of new housing units in the E1 area, east of occupied East Jerusalem. The proposed expansion would link the large and illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement with Jerusalem, effectively bisecting the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government also appears on the cusp of announcing its intention to occupy all of Gaza as its genocidal war on the besieged enclave rages on.

The E1 plan in the West Bank has long been criticised by the international community, including the European Union and successive United States administrations. In 2022, Israel postponed the plan following US pressure, but in recent months, the government approved road-widening projects in the area and began restricting Palestinian access – a move rights groups say indicates a renewed push to entrench control.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will return from Moscow with a framework for peace between Russia and Ukraine. 

“The specific timing of it is not discussed,” Rubio told Larry Kudlow during an appearance on Fox Business Channel.

“I think what we have is a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end the war. We now have to compare that to what the Ukrainians and our European allies, but the Ukrainians primarily, of course, are willing to accept,” he added.

Witkoff has been gleaning information from talks in Russia as the Kremlin advances strikes on Kyiv and surrounding cities in its war with Ukraine.

In the past, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed to obtain Crimea and additional land before removing soldiers from the frontlines.

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The Israeli military has put parts of Gaza City and Khan Younis under new enforced displacement orders amid fears that the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is preparing to order the full occupation of the Palestinian territory later this week.

Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet on Thursday evening and sign off on plans for an expanded operation despite reported serious misgivings from senior military officers.

The order for Gaza – euphemistically described by the Israel Defense Forces as an “evacuation” – is the latest in dozens of such announcements that have displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s population, many on multiple occasions.

The orders came as the US president, Donald Trump, said any decision over expanded Israeli control in Gaza was up to Israel. “As far as the rest of it, I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

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An active-duty soldier opened fire at Fort Stewart military base in south-east Georgia on Wednesday, wounding five other soldiers before being taken into custody.

All victims are in stable condition and expected to recover. Three of the soldiers required surgery, and two were transferred to Memorial Health University medical center in Savannah, the top-level trauma center for coastal Georgia.

Brig Gen John Lubas, commander of the third infantry division and Fort Stewart-Hunter army airfield, said at a press conference on Wednesday that the alleged shooter was 28-year-old Sgt Quornelius Radford, who was assigned to Fort Stewart.

“The shooting occurred at the soldier’s place of work,” Lubas said. “It did involve his co-workers. We’re still not certain about the motivations, but again, he’s been interviewed by army investigators, and we believe we’ll gain more information here shortly.”

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