Democrat announces whistleblower allegations of construction problems at Kennedy Center

NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Updated Sat, July 11, 2026


The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is seen, as its sign remains covered by a tarp, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)


A Democratic senator on Saturday alleged that whistleblowers have detailed several problems stemming from rushed or improper reconstruction of the Kennedy Center, adding a new layer to the travails of the arts complex as President Donald Trump tried to seize control of it and its name.

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said in a release on Saturday that he had received a whistleblower disclosure from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower protection group, alleging that "the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President's aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December."

"The Center's subservience to the President's desires and its corner-cutting contracting practices have resulted in steel columns that are rusting through fresh paint, a reflecting pool that may have to be torn out and rebuilt, and a brand-new bathroom floor torn out over an offending tile color," Whitehouse continued. "This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project."

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump seized control of the arts and culture venue, named after former President John F. Kennedy, at the beginning of his second term. Trump ousted the center's prior leadership and replaced it with a Board of Trustees that named him chairman and added his name to the building.

Democrats sued to remove it and a federal judge ruled Trump's name must come off the venue, which had been wracked with boycotts by artists during the turmoil. He tried to close the center for two years, only to be ordered to keep it open by the court because only Congress could change its name.

Whitehouse released a letter he wrote to the center's executive director, Matt Floca, demanding answers by July 23. He said the whistleblower report included "firsthand accounts of multiple former Center project managers, supported by contemporaneous documents and photographs." He also included an 83-page appendix full of internal center documents, emails and photos of apparently shoddy construction.

The allegations include that the center rushed work before it was authorized by Congress because it wanted it to be complete for Trump to accept the new FIFA Peace Prize that the soccer federation awarded him. In doing so, the letter alleges the center didn't follow required contracting guidelines and wasted money replacing a bathroom because the president didn't like the color and inking no-bid contracts. One $8 million contract to replace the concert hall's floor went to a firm with no experience in concert halls, Whitehouse contended.

59-year-old US sandwich chain shuts down, lays off workers

Daniel Kline
Fri, July 10, 2026 

TheStreet 

Restaurant regulars usually notice the signs of trouble well before a location, or even a chain, shuts down.

Before the first On the Border bankruptcy, for example, I noticed half-empty restaurants while customers waited because the location we often visited lacked enough staff. The food quality, portions, and wait times were also inconsistent.

You could see that something was wrong, and when that happens over multiple visits, it's easy to see it's a declining situation, not a temporary one like a supplier issue or workers calling in sick.

Beef-a-Roo customers likely saw many of these signs over the past few weeks, and the noise went from subtle to impossible to ignore when the chain abruptly closed its company-owned restaurants on July 2.

That shutdown, which was called temporary by Elysian Capital, the Texas-based real estate investment company that owns Beef-A-Roo, occurred when workers had walked out at several locations after not being paid.

Now, the company has sent layoff notices to its workers and confirmed that the shutdowns are permanent, not temporary.

Beef-A-Roo's parent sent a layoff notice

Beef-a-Roo officially laid off hundreds of workers across the country on the night of July 7 after closing restaurants in Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas, and Texas, according to the Beloit Daily News.

The shutdown follows legal action taken against Elysian Capital by one of its landlords.

"The lawsuit filed in Greene County Circuit Court lists Beef-A-Roo Inc., Rocinate Equity Inc. (doing business as Elysian Capital Inc.), and Elysian Capital CEO Jeffrey Love as defendants. Beef-A-Roo owes the landlord $63,845.33 in rent and other sums, according to the suit, SGF Citizen reported.

Beef-a-Roo's closures impact all company-owned stores, but not any franchised locations.

Beef-a-Roo's website has also been taken down, TheStreet verified.

A visit to that website, through the internet Wayback Machine, showed what the chain considered its mission.

"Looking for a meal that tastes like home? At Beef-A-Roo, every sandwich, salad, and fry is made fresh to order with premium ingredients and a side of hometown pride. From our signature roast beef sandwiches to our famous loaded fries and hand-crafted burgers and shakes, we're here to serve up top-quality food that fits your busy day," the company posted on its former website.

Beef-a-Roo franchisees remain open. Shutterstock

Beef-a-Roo workers blindsided

Guy Cox, a former general manager of a Beef-a-Roo in Lebanon, Indiana, told WREX he is now searching for another job.

"They should have let us know sooner," Cox said. "I have a disconnect notice for my lights that's due tomorrow, and my truck payment is due tomorrow as well. So, I mean, now I'm just trying to rush around and get stuff done," Cox said.

Employees provided WREX emails appearing to be from Elysian Capital Inc., the venture capital and private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas, that owns more than two dozen Beef-a-Roo locations. The emails stated that "severe financial constraints made it impossible for the company to continue operations."

It's unclear how many franchised Beef-a-Roo locations remain open because the company has taken down its website.

The shutdown comes after a failed effort to sell the brand to another, unnamed private equity company.

Attempts to reach Elysian Capital by phone were unsuccessful. Calls to the human resources extension and to Beef-a-Roo's president also were not answered, according to WREX.

Beef-a-Roo's management was laid off, too

The layoffs also included the executive who had been handling media inquiries, making it more difficult to obtain comment from the company.

An email from the company, seen by the Rock River Current, detailed the reach of the layoffs.

The email said the layoffs include all members of the leadership team, including Jeremy Wise, the company vice president who had previously been communicating information about Beef-a-Roo to employees and members of the media.

"This decision affects every level of the organization and was made only after all other available options had been exhausted," the company said in the email. "We recognize the significant impact this decision has on you and your families. We are sincerely grateful for your hard work, dedication, and commitment to the company."

Workers told WREX that they still have not been fully paid. The company said that will change.

"The company is actively working to secure the funds necessary to meet its remaining payroll obligations," the email states. "Final paychecks, including any wages owed in accordance with applicable law, will be issued as quickly as possible once funding becomes available."

Beef-a-Roo restaurants are known for their roast beef sandwiches, cheddar fries, and milkshakes.

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jul 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Texas Hispanics swung hard to Trump. A new poll shows they’re furious at his deportations.

Samuel Benson
Sun, July 12, 2026 


Texas Hispanics swung hard to Trump. A new poll shows they’re furious at his deportations.

Benny Melendez voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. But since Trump returned to the White House, it has been increasingly difficult for Melendez to run his small construction company in south Texas. He says immigration officers have detained workers at his job sites and while driving his company trucks. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 10 of those workers have been deported.

The chaos of the past year-and-a-half has convinced Melendez to abandon his support for Trump and Republicans, and instead back the Democrat in this year's U.S. Senate election, state Rep. James Talarico.

"How can we continue voting for someone that is targeting our community?" Melendez said. "There's no way possible we're going to support that. No way."

Melendez is not alone. One in five Hispanic business owners in Texas say they've had an employee deported in the past year, according to a new survey commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and shared first with POLITICO. Seven in ten said their businesses had been impacted by Trump's tariffs. Among those surveyed, Talarico holds a seven-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, even though a plurality of the over 1,000 respondents self-identify as Republican. Almost one quarter who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary now say they'll back Talarico, while over half say they'll back Paxton.

The survey is the clearest sign yet of Paxton's vulnerability among Texas' robust Hispanic business community amidst broader signs that Hispanic voters around the country are swinging hard against him, thanks to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and the shaky economy. The survey was conducted from June 2 to 15 and included 1,012 Texas-based USHBC members. Respondents included business owners in construction, food services, retail, manufacturing and other industries.

Those business owners pointed to the fear the deportation push created in the community, as well as their bottom lines, for why they were turning on Trump and toward Talarico.

"The fear factor that it creates, the disruption that it creates, the environment that it creates, is debilitating," said Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of USHBC. "If you've got a small business of 10 people or so, and you get even one person deported, you can imagine what that does to the morale of that business unit and to the fear of the business owner."

Meanwhile, Paxton, long an immigration hardliner, has doubled down, touting his support for a controversial Texas immigration law and suing to stop publicly funded legal defense for undocumented immigrants.

The Texas Senate race will be one of the nation's most watched — and most expensive — this cycle. Early polling shows it in a dead heat: A New York Times/Siena poll released last month showed Paxton and Talarico tied. Among Hispanic voters, Talarico led by 32 points. In 2024, Trump won Texas Latinos by 10 points.

In a statement, Paxton spokesperson Madison Cercy said Hispanic voters want "lower taxes, less regulation, affordable energy, and a strong economy."

"Ken Paxton has a proven record of fighting for those priorities, while James Talarico has consistently opposed the tax-cutting policies that help Texans thrive, declares that 'God is non-binary,' and said that there are 'six biological sexes,'" Cercy said. "Texans deserve to hear the truth about Talarico's radical record and the damage his agenda would do to families and businesses across our state. Once they do, it will kill Talacreepo's campaign for their vote."

In a statement, Talarico offered an olive branch to Hispanic voters: "We should be supporting Hispanic small businesses — not crushing them under the weight of high costs and failed immigration policies," he said. "Here's my message to Hispanic communities across Texas: if you feel like you've been conned, if you feel like you've been let down by both political parties, if you feel like politicians aren't doing anything to lower your costs or fix this broken immigration system — you've got a place in this campaign."

Across south Texas, business owners say immigration enforcement is a major reason why they're turning on the GOP. In 2024, Trump rode concerns over former President Joe Biden's border policy to victory in the heavily Latino communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, a massive shift in the historically deep-blue region. Trump won 14 of those 18 border counties, including Starr County, a 90-percent Latino county that Hillary Clinton won with 79 percent of the vote in 2016 and hadn't gone for a Republican since the 1890s.

But now, many feel the Trump administration's interior enforcement policy has gone too far. 70 percent of those surveyed in the USHBC poll had a negative view of the immigration raids on the workforce, and that impact on families and businesses risks kneebuckling Republicans running in those same border districts.

"I didn't like what Biden was doing here on the border," Melendez said. "But now with Trump, it's all the opposite, 180 degree change. He doesn't let us work. He's taking the best we have."

Earlier this year, construction executives in south Texas sounded the alarm on immigration enforcement. Some trade association leaders met with officials in the White House and Congress to discuss concerns in February.

Immigration enforcement at worksites subsided for several months, executives said. But activity ticked up again last month. Now, Melendez says, immigration officers are again rounding up workers at construction sites and pulling over vehicles that have work equipment like ladders. The Department of Homeland Security didn't immediately respond to request for comment on this characterization of enforcement.

"It just seems now more than ever, if you're brown, they're gonna stop you," said Mario Guerrero, a three-time Trump voter who leads the South Texas Builders Association. "And I know that sounds really racist, but it's what we're facing, man."

Across the state, story after story of the immigration crackdown consume local media: An undocumented man in Houston shot and killed by an ICE officer; a mariachi musician in San Antonio detained after playing at a birthday party; a Catholic nun in McAllen detained while walking to Sunday Mass.

Even some Republican officials have denounced the activity. "As I have repeatedly said, our immigration enforcement should target violent criminals," GOP Rep. Monica de la Cruz, who represents a battleground district in the Rio Grande Valley, wrote on Facebook. "A Catholic nun on her way to church is not a threat to our community."

One construction company owner in south Texas, granted anonymity to speak openly, said the nun's arrest — which was plastered all over local news last month — was "the final nail in the coffin" for many Hispanics in the community who had voted for Republicans.

"We're pissed off at the current administration. Everybody's pissed off down here in south Texas," the construction executive said, noting that most Hispanics in the area are Catholic. "Remember, we're conservative, we're not far left. We're in the middle, conservative Latinos in south Texas. It doesn't make sense."

Guerrero, who leads a trade group with over 160 members across south Texas, said the idea that deportations will create jobs for American workers is ill-informed. "When people say, 'Why don't you hire American citizens to do foundation or to do concrete?' I'm like, 'Dude, tell me what f—ing United States citizen is gonna want to go and pour concrete at 103 degrees down here in the valley,'" Guerrero said.

Palomarez echoed that sentiment.

"This notion that these immigrants are taking American jobs is bullshit," said Palomarez. "The districts in South Texas that swung decidedly Republican are paying the price, because that fear-mongering has come home to roost. And now you don't have employees, or enough employees, to get that project done."

Trump's approval rating drops among White working-class voters

Chris Kenning, 

USA TODAY
Updated Sun, July 12, 2026 

President Donald Trump dances after speaking during a rally to kick off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Freedom 250-backed Great American State Fair celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States with pavilions, live performances, military demonstrations, and exhibits and runs through July 10th.(Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump's vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden.

Reed, 22, who has worked at an auto equipment factory and a heating and air-conditioning company, has since seen prices rise and a war in Iran of the kind Trump promised to avoid. He also has been uneasy about Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.

A few months ago, Reed priced an Affordable Care Act health insurance plan for his wife and discovered it was too expensive after Trump and congressional Republicans allowed pandemic-era subsidies to expire. More recently, Reed, who does not have a four-year college degree, was laid off from his HVAC job.

"A huge chunk of why I voted for him in 2024 was because of economics," Reed said of Trump. "Obviously not happy with him at all."

Since Trump first ran for president a decade ago, White working class and rural voters have been an important base of support, drawn to his vows to bring back manufacturing and crack down on immigration. In 2024, 2 in 3 White working-class voters backed him, according to research group PRRI's post-election survey. Trump won 69% of the rural vote in 2024, according to Pew Research Center exit polling.

But polling over recent months has shown rising disapproval from those groups, reaching majorities in some polls, especially on the economy – fueling a potential new vulnerability for Republicans heading into midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

A CBS News-YouGov poll in May found 54% of White, noncollege voters disapproved of Trump's performance, up from 32% in February 2025. That disapproval hit 49% in a June NPR/PBS/Marist poll and 51% in an April Fox News poll. Among rural voters, a June Reuters/Ipsos poll found 48% disapproved of Trump, up from 34% the month after he returned to office.

People watch as President Donald Trump speaks during a rally to start the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026, in Washington, DC(Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images)

President Donald Trump dances after speaking during a rally to kick off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Freedom 250-backed Great American State Fair celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States with pavilions, live performances, military demonstrations, and exhibits and runs through July 10th.(Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)More

"The decline is significant given that White working-class voters were a pretty stable support between 2016 and 2020 for Trump after trending Republican since the early 1990s," said Noam Lupu, a Vanderbilt University political science professor.

The main driver of the discontent is higher prices for necessities like gas and food, pushed up by the Iran war and tariffs, experts said.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said that gas prices and inflation will drop once the Iran conflict resolves. And the Treasury Department recently sought to highlight how families have benefited from tax cuts.

Although Trump won't be on the November ballot, growing disapproval could bleed into the GOP's midterm fortunes, Lupu said. While "stickiness" of U.S. party affiliation means relatively few such voters are likely to switch allegiances to Democrats, it may hurt Republicans by dampening turnout.

Reed, who no longer supports the MAGA movement for a variety of reasons, said plenty of people in his largely conservative part of Missouri, just west of the Mississippi River, still do. But Reed predicted he won't be the only former Trump voter who is "going to possibly vote for a Democrat for the first time in their lives" in the midterms.

A person drinks water ahead of a rally to kick off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Freedom 250-backed Great American State Fair celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States with pavilions, live performances, military demonstrations, and exhibits and runs through July 10th.(Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

Economic pinch driving more disapproval

In Hazard, Kentucky, a small town tucked into the Appalachian region where coal once reigned supreme, resident Denver Feltner also had high hopes when he voted for Trump's return.

The 38-year-old father of five, who works two jobs – as a public safety dispatcher and a process server for court papers – felt Trump had shepherded the economy well in his first term before the COVID-19 pandemic. He believed he could do it again.

"Not anymore," he said in July.

Instead of costs of living decreasing, Feltner's grocery bills have spiked and his health insurance premiums went up fourfold after the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits expired last year, leaving Feltner to go without for months despite a history of health problems. A Fox News April poll found that 38% of White, noncollege respondents approved of Trump's handling of inflation.

"I was pretty good under his first term, but it's completely different," he said.

Feltner lives in Perry County, which is part of an eastern Kentucky region with high rates of poverty and chronic disease. About 44% of residents in the region's congressional district relied on Medicaid in 2024, according to Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

Medicaid rolls are expected to drop because of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which is projected to cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and a related children's health program and leave millions nationally without coverage.

Those without four-year degrees aren't all in traditional blue-collar jobs and can include anyone from well-paid skilled tradespeople and small business owners to a typically low-paid home health care worker or retail workers. Some are also in more traditional fields like mining and manufacturing.

Trump's tariffs were meant in part to fuel a manufacturing revival. While there have been new investments in some industries, those efforts take a long time to come to fruition or be noticed by voters, said Heath Brown, a professor of public policy at John Jay College in New York.

Overall, manufacturing jobs have seen a slight decline since Trump took office. Some auto companies have scaled back or shelved EV projects as the administration rolled back Biden-era support and environmental regulation.

In June, the Trump administration announced a nearly $700 million plan to boost coal-fired power plants and coal exports, which came after coal exports fell in 2025 amid tariff battles with China.

In Feltner's part of Appalachian Kentucky, many coal unions and residents historically backed Democrats as the party of the working class. Over time, the region has evolved into a deep red Republican stronghold.

Patient Denver Feltner talks with a physician at the Primary Care Centers of Eastern Kentucky clinic in Perry County, Kentucky.

This fall, the region's Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, who has served in Congress since 1981, is being challenged by an attorney running as a Democrat who has highlighted Medicaid cuts. It's widely viewed as an uphill campaign. Rogers ran uncontested in 2024 and beat a Democratic challenger in 2022 with 82% of the vote.



Feltner, who plans to vote in the midterms, said he never was a party-line voter. He hasn't looked into candidates' policies yet, he said, but affordable health care is a high priority.

Whichever candidate is "wanting to try and fix the medical situation, he will more than likely get my vote," Feltner said.
Farmers face strains, but some say Trump is on the right path

In rural southwest Minnesota, Bob Worth farms 1,700 acres of soybeans and corn on the Lincoln County farm that he took over from his father straight out of high school.

"It's a rewarding life, but it's a very tough financial life," the 73-year-old said, noting he is accustomed to ups and downs. That includes struggles with prices and costs during the Biden administration that helped fuel his vote for Trump in 2024.

Minnesota Soybean Growers Association Director Bob Worth (left) shows Sen. Amy Klobuchar (middle) how his soybean crop is progressing during a July 2023 visit to his family farm in Lake Benton, Minn.More

In 2025, U.S. soybean growers were hit hard by disputes over Trump's tariffs that halted important sales to China, which began buying soybeans from South America. Since then, China has agreed to buy a certain amount of U.S. soybeans each year through 2028, which he said had helped.

But Worth, who has served in various roles on the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, said low prices for crops and high costs for fuel and fertilizer – which have been driven up by the war in Iran – have combined to create ongoing challenges. Worth said he's lucky to have little debt, but that's not the case for many younger farmers.

"Our cash flows right now are in the red," he said.

Tim Slack, a professor of sociology at Louisiana State University who studies rural America, said higher fuel prices especially hurt rural areas because people drive longer distances for jobs, schools and groceries, and farms rely on trucks and equipment.

In other parts of the country, Trump's immigration crackdown has at times made it harder for farmers and milk producers to get enough farm labor. Farm bankruptcies increased 46% in 2025 from a year earlier, according to the Farm Bureau.

The Fox News poll from April found that 69% of White rural voters said the economy was getting worse.

But Trump supporters have long given the president leeway. Worth, who said he's voted for candidates of different stripes, believes that the Iran war was worthwhile to keep the regime from developing nuclear weapons.

"I'm thinking he's going in the right direction. We won't know until we get a little bit further in it. I still have hope and faith in him to get it done; he's a businessman, he's not a politician," he said.

Worth didn't detail his voting preferences for November but said he'll be focused on candidates who want to help farmers. And he expects many people will be motivated to come out and vote: "I think you're going to see a big turnout for the election," despite what he said was fatigue over politics on both sides.

Will the dissatisfaction impact midterms?

Voting signs in Atlanta on May 19, 2026.

It's typical that a president's party loses congressional seats in midterm elections. During Trump's first term, the GOP lost 41 House seats but retained the Senate.

But in 2018, working-class White voters still approved of Trump's economic management by margins of 30 percentage points, a New York Times analysis of polling found. Now, polls show them disapproving by anywhere from 14 to more than 30 points.

To be sure, disapproval from former Trump voters does not mean they will necessarily cross party lines, especially because the Democratic brand has suffered in some rural and heavily White working-class regions, such as Appalachia, in recent decades.

Still, an April NPR/PBS/Marist poll found 44% of White noncollege voters said they were more likely to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate than for a Republican, up from just 30% ahead of the 2018 midterms. That could come into play in rural states.

In Iowa, for example, which Trump carried by 13 percentage points in 2024 and whose six House seats are held by Republicans, The Wall Street Journal reported that the race for governor and two of its four House seats are now rated as toss-ups amid rural economic angst.

The larger question, Lupu said, is whether the polling represents a temporary, price-driven grumble that reverses once inflation cools, or if it marks durable cracks in working-class and rural voters' yearslong move toward Republicans.

It was that ideological alignment, and not just economic discontent, that helped Trump garner that group's support in 2024, according a Center for Politics at the University of Virginia report.

"People change their preferences and their voting behavior typically very, very slowly, and often not at all," Lupu said. "A lot of the big changes we see in American politics are often generational."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's approval rating drops among White working-class voters

CEO under fire for mass layoffs amid foreign worker hiring spree now appointed to Fed's task force on jobs

Peter D'Abrosca
Fri, July 10, 2026 at 10:22 AM MDT
FOX NEWS

xbox ceo asha sharma

Key takeaways

Microsoft CEO Asha Sharma faced backlash for laying off 1,600 workers while being approved to hire thousands of foreign visa workers.See more

The CEO of a popular U.S. gaming brand on Thursday was appointed to a high-level Federal Reserve task force despite ongoing fury over her company's recent firing of 1,600 workers while being approved to hire thousands of foreign visa workers.

Asha Sharma, who heads Microsoft's Xbox division, announced the layoffs earlier this week. Microsoft said that it will lay off 4,800 people in total, while it had been approved earlier this year to hire 2,273 foreign H-1B visa employees, according to data from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS).

At the height of the wrath over the layoffs this week, the Federal Reserve moved forward with appointing Sharma to a newly-created advisory role within the central bank.

Fury Erupts As Us Brand Fires 1,600 Employees After Securing Thousands Of Foreign Worker Visas

Asha Sharma, chief executive officer of Xbox, during the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. The event brings together the leading CEOs, investors and innovators who are harnessing technology to change the world around us.More

Sharma will serve on a task force on "Productivity and Jobs" alongside Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen and Stanford University economics professor Charles I. Jones.

"The Federal Reserve's commitment to price stability and maximum employment is unwavering. As is our resolve to pursue our mandate with rigor," said new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh in a statement on the appointments.

"Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers' means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon," he continued. "I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution."

Many of the same critics who raged at Sharma, Xbox and Microsoft over the perceived replacement of American employees with foreign visa workers continued their tirades after the announcement.

Microsoft said that 740 of this year's visas were to hire employees already in the U.S. from other companies, while the other 1,533 were renewals of existing visas.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh speaks during his first news conference since taking the helm at the central bank on June 17, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Warsh was appointed by President Donald Trump after former chair Jerome Powell's tenure ended in May.More

"It's like asking El Chapo to lead the DEA," one person said online.

Another critic said the Federal Reserve is trying to "incentivize" mass layoff of American workers in favor of foreign ones with their hiring of the XBOX executive.

"The Federal Reserve needs help firing Americans," another person quipped.

A fourth person called the move "totally unexplainable"

Ftc Chief Accuses Democrats Of 'Trying To Protect The Fraudsters' By Withholding Data From Trump Admin

Some have claimed a racial component to the importation of H-1B visa workers, the vast majority of whom come from India. Sharma has Indian heritage but was born in Wisconsin.

"Reminder that she had zero gaming experience when she was promoted to run Xbox, and she has zero finance or economic experience now that she's promoted to advise the Federal Reserve, said one X user. "Her one function is to purge white Americans and replace them with Indian cheap foreign labor."

The Federal Reserve did not return Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

Pontiac, Michigan, A rally outside the Oakland County government complex supports a proposal to require government contractors to use the federal E-Verify database to check the immigration status of job applicants.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance announced on Tuesday a large-scale investigation into H-1B visa fraud.

"Today, I'm proud to announce that the federal Department of Labor has started dozens of subpoenas and investigations into foreign fraudsters who are trying to take advantage of the H-1B visa program," he said during a press conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"American jobs ought to go to American workers and not foreign fraudsters and the Department of Labor is fighting back against it."

In response to a request for comment, Microsoft directed Fox News Digital to a post on X by a company spokesperson.

"The H-1B figures being referenced are Microsoft-wide visa renewals and new hire applications. They are not specific to XBOX and represent a small percentage of Microsoft's overall workforce. And the majority of roles impacted were not American roles," Frank Shaw said on X, adding that XBOX is the largest employer of American workers in the gaming industry.

Jack White Invites ‘Satanic’ Band Twin Temple to Open for Him

Joseph Hudak
Fri, July 10, 2026 


Jack White Invites ‘Satanic’ Band Twin Temple to Open for Him

When one portal to hell closes, another opens. Twin Temple, the L.A. duo who record songs with titles like "Let's Have a Satanic Orgy" and use upside-down crosses and pentagrams in their artwork, were reportedly kicked off the Charley Crockett tour earlier this week because of their "satanic imagery." On Friday, Jack White offered them an opening slot.

"Twin Temple, would you like to open my show in L.A. on September 29th at the Hollywood Palladium?" the singer-guitarist, who dropped his new album, Frozen Charlotte, on Friday, wrote. "Let me know. Get in front of me Satan!"

The sign-off was seemingly a winking allusion to Get Behind Me Satan, White's 2005 album with the White Stripes.

On Thursday, Crockett confirmed to RS that Twin Temple were cut from opening a string of shows for the country singer. "I thought they were like Black Sabbath, but they ain't. Not today, Satan," Crockett told Rolling Stone. On Wednesday, the husband-and-wife duo of Alexandra and Zachary James posted they were "informed that Charley Crockett has decided to remove Twin Temple from his upcoming shows next week due to our Satanic imagery."

The duo told fans that they were "grateful for your support, not only of Twin Temple, but more importantly of artistic freedom," adding an exclamatory "Hail Satan!" for good measure.

A rep for Twin Temple did not immediately reply to a request for comment about White's offer.

White, who celebrated his 51st birthday this week, is on tour in support of Frozen Charlotte. He's set to play the Anthem in Washington, D.C., on Friday before heading to Brooklyn for a pair of New York shows this weekend. He has two dates booked at the Hollywood Palladium, for Sept. 28 and 29. It's unclear who may open.

Israeli Settlers Attack CNN Journalists as They Report on Anniversary of West Bank Killing

Four settlers were arrested after attacking CNN and other independent journalists' cars while commemorating the one-year anniversary of 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet's death

Tess Patton
Mon, July 13, 2026 

Israeli settlers attack car full of CNN journalists while reporting in the West Bank (Credit: CNN)

A group of Israeli settlers attacked a CNN crew over the weekend as the journalists commemorated the first anniversary of 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet's death — all while the reporters were accompanied by the man's father.

Kamel Musallet was visiting the West Bank spot where his son, an American citizen, was killed with the news network on Saturday. But "within seconds," settlers descended upon them.

"This solemn sacred moment won't last," CNN's Jeremy Diamond reported. "Within seconds, we spot a car speeding towards us."

As the crew tried to drive away, four settlers blocked the dirt path and approached the car armed with clubs and a knife. The settlers slashed the car tires of the armored vehicle; a group of independent journalists and activists were in the car behind the CNN crew, but their car was not armored. Footage from that car showed the clubs cracking the glass windshield and making dents in the doors.

More settlers met them later down the road, blocking the path, chasing the vehicle and hitting the armored car with clubs. The CNN crew called the military, but settlers had gotten to them first.

"These soldiers are only interested in harassing us, refusing to take action against the settlers," the anchor said as one of the soldiers flipped off the camera. A commander of a different battalion arrived later, saying, "We will take care of it." Four settlers were ultimately arrested, according to the Israeli police.

Earlier this year, MS NOW reporter David Noriega noted that this violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians has gotten worse since the United States' war with Iran began.



When he visited the same part of the West Bank with Musallet earlier this year, they were also attacked by settlers. Noriega and his crew asked Musallet to take them as close as he could to the land in question; it was not long before the crew was spotted and a vehicle started speeding toward them, as well as a group of settlers.

Afterward, Musallet told Noriega, "They knew you guys were press, but they didn't care. They're not afraid."

The post Israeli Settlers Attack CNN Journalists as They Report on Anniversary of West Bank Killing appeared first on TheWrap.

US congressman says ‘IDF is lying’ about his detention by West Bank settlers and soldiers

Robert Mackey
Sun, July 12, 2026 

THE GUARDIAN

Armed Israeli settlers were seen blocking the convoy of a visiting US congressman, Ro Khanna, in an image provided by another member of the delegation, Cameron Kasky.Photograph: Cameron Kasky/AP

Ro Khanna accused the Israeli government and military of "lying" on Sunday about the US congressman's detention by armed settlers and Israeli soldiers during a recent visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Khanna – a California Democrat – had posted video evidence on social media of Israeli settlers and soldiers blocking the path of his convoy on Wednesday in the South Hebron hills, near the village of Zanuta, where Israelis have driven Palestinians from their homes in what Amnesty International calls a government-backed "ethnic cleansing campaign".

During an interview with NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday, the California Democrat was asked about the Israeli military's claim that its soldiers "quickly dispersed" the Israeli civilians and reopened the blocked road.

"The IDF is lying," Khanna said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. "What happened was unprecedented. They had violent settlers detain American citizens, including an American government official. You had these settlers brandishing M4 [rifles], kicking the tires of our van, laughing at us, mocking at us, videotaping us.

"We were detained for about 20 minutes, fearful of our lives. Then the IDF comes, four soldiers. They tell our translator that they're on the side of the settlers. They further detain us and block us in."

Khanna was also asked about comments by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared before him on Meet the Press and called the armed settlers who stopped the congressman's vehicle as a small band of "juvenile delinquents". Netanyahu maintained they are not part of what he called the "law-abiding" community of Israeli settlers.

Every Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law.

"I heard the prime minister, and he said Israel is a country of law and order," Khanna replied. "Let me be very specific: the prime minister needs to open an investigation on these violent settlers who are connected to Yinon Levi, who has destroyed Zanuta's village and is a known person who has killed Palestinians," Khanna added, invoking the name of an Israeli settler who was recorded on video about a year earlier firing what appeared to be a fatal shot that killed a Palestinian activist, Awdah Hathaleen, in the same region.

Despite video evidence, including images filmed by Hathaleen himself as he was shot, Levi was not prosecuted by Israeli authorities for the killing.

Israeli settler violence aimed at driving Palestinians in the region from their homes was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, which Hathaleen had worked on.

Netanyahu "needs to have an investigation on these four IDF officers," Khanna added. "Security cameras can see that they were involved in the detention of American citizens. How dare they mistreat people with an American passport that way?"

Israeli officials responded to Khanna's detention by claiming that he had rejected their effort to shape his visit to the region by adding a meeting with former Israeli hostages held in Gaza after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. They told the New York Post: "Congressman Khanna didn't come to understand the situation – he came looking for a headline."

Khanna responded on social media: "The Israeli government is lying to cover up for 4 IDF soldiers who aided violent settlers.

"I have met with Israeli hostages and condemned the brutal, terrorist attacks of Oct 7. That does [not] excuse the IDF from detaining American citizens."

In an interview on Sunday on CBS News' Face the Nation, Israel's US-born ambassador to the US, Michael Leiter, accused Khanna of visiting the West Bank as a political stunt – both to distract from his past support of Graham Platner, the former Maine US Senate candidate accused of sexual assault, and to promote his potential run for the White House in 2028.

Leiter first complained that Khanna had shunned the Israeli government's effort to help plan his trip, choosing instead to work with dissident groups like Breaking the Silence, an Israeli human rights group founded by former Israeli soldiers who oppose Israel's six-decade occupation of Palestinian territories seized in 1967.

He then suggested that the timing of Khanna's visit and revelation of his detention was suspicious. "To have this incident on Wednesday and wait to release it on Saturday, maybe this had more something to do with his support of Graham Platner beforehand and the difficulties he had with that, and trying to shift the focus to something else," Leiter said.

The ambassador's theory that Khanna went to the West Bank to shift attention away from Platner elicited an audible laugh from Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.

After Brennan interjected to say that Khanna had asked for the news to be held until after he left Israeli-controlled territory, Leiter further accused the congressman of making the visit to appeal to Democratic voters in the US.

Khanna had previously cautioned Israelis against detaining "long-shot presidential candidates".

"It's kind of interesting that somebody wants to declare a presidential run by running off to Israel," the Pennsylvania-born Leiter said. "Not strange?"

Khanna's account of what happened was supported by Nadav Weiman, the director of Breaking the Silence, who accompanied him.

"Armed settlers were the first to arrive, and then, as has become the norm, Israeli soldiers joined them," Weiman wrote on social media. "Together they detained the delegation for over an hour. The IDF is lying and not for the first time.

"I went to speak with the soldiers to ask them to use their authority to remove the settlers who had threatened us and blocked the road. Instead, [I] saw how the settlers were giving the orders not the other way around."

The incident was documented on social media by Khanna's aide, Cameron Kasky, a Parkland school shooting survivor who works on digital strategy for the congressman. Kasky has been credited with using the hashtag #NeverAgain to call for an end to school shootings in the aftermath of that deadly attack, repurposing a slogan linked to Holocaust commemoration.

"I am always surprised when people ask me why I focus so much on Palestine," Kasky wrote last year. "Beyond my Jewish identity making me strongly opposed to genocide, I'm a school shooting survivor-turned-activist. I started my adult life demanding an end to American-made weapons slaughtering children."

Trinidad and Tobago signs agreements with US companies that pave the way for data centers

ANSELM GIBBS
Updated Sat, July 11, 2026 


FILE - Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar stands at the State Department in Washington, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Trinidad and Tobago has signed agreements paving the way for U.S. companies to begin groundwork for installing large data centers in the Caribbean nation, sparking concerns about potential energy consumption and environmental impacts.

The memorandums of understanding with the Florida-headquartered Hummingbird AI Holdings and New York-based Ernst and Young LLP were signed on Friday, according to a statement from the office of Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. These are the first such agreements with a Caribbean country.

The deal with Ernst and Young LLP will set out the framework for collaboration on developing large-scale data centers, with the company planning to "partner with third parties in the development" of a 300 megawatt data center, the statement said.

The agreement with Hummingbird AI Holdings sets up the framework for "preliminary cooperation, due diligence and coordination" for a proposed 150 MW AI infrastructure and data center facility.

Data centers are listed with a megawatt figure to indicate their electrical power capacity to operate at peak load. The 300 MW center has a capacity of 300 million watts of electricity.

The deals raised online questions about the environmental impact of the centers.

Renowned social activist Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh told The Associated Press he was concerned about the energy consumption by the planned data centers.

The government is "trying to present something which looks like development, but which is not development," he said.

Trinidad and Tobago has long grappled with chronic water shortages and intermittent supply, raising concerns that large, water-intensive data centers could place additional strain on an already overstretched system.

The majority of the twin-island country functions on water schedules set by the state's utility company. Most homes have water tanks since the supply in their taps can be as rare as once a week. In some instances, communities have gone weeks without water being supplied by the state company.

Data centers could account for nearly 3% of the world's projected electricity use by 2030, with 935 trillion watt-hours, according to a recent United Nations University report. The environmental footprint of data centers already rivals some of the world's largest countries, according to the report.

Electricity supply in Trinidad and Tobago has improved over the years. While there are still power outages at times in parts of the country, they are rare.

Trinidad and Tobago's government signed a third agreement with another American company, Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation, which recently acquired a local iron and steel plant. Government officials said the agreement allows for further talks on recommissioning operating the plant.

The government said the three initiatives, combined, are expected to generate over 5,000 jobs.

The prime minister has been a strong supporter of the Trump administration. Her office said the U.S. government played a role in facilitating the parties involved in the agreements.

"They're going to invest here to work on data centers, two for data centers, and one to help us rejuvenate and rebuild our steel industry," Persad-Bissessar said Friday night, speaking at a U.S. independence anniversary celebration ceremony hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago.