Republicans Decide to Focus on Biden Autopen as Shutdown Stretches On

House Republicans have turned their focus back to former President Joe Biden’s “autopen” while regular Americans—particuarly federal workers and SNAP recipients—suffer the consequences of the ongoing government shutdown. 

The House Oversight Committee issued a 93-page report Tuesday on Biden’s use of the autopen, a fairly standard practice among U.S. presidents, and called on the Department of Justice to begin an investigation. The report urges Attorney General Pam Bondi to consider whether the pardons or clemency Biden granted to individuals  are still valid, as well as any “executive actions that were signed using the Autopen.”

The Republican report alleges a “cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline” on the part of Dr. Kevin O’Connor and Biden aides Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini. 

“The cost of the scheme to hide the fallout of President Biden’s diminished physical and mental acuity was great but will likely never be fully calculated,” the report reads. “Barring evidence of executive actions taken during the Biden presidency showing that [he] indeed took a particular executive action, the committee deems those actions taken through use of the autopen as void.”

Of course, the GOP’s  probe did not include any evidence that anyone other than Biden made the decisions that his staff later carried out. Rather, it seems like another Trump vendetta, this time during the longest full shutdown in U.S. history.

“Other than the Rigged Presidential Election of 2020, the Biggest Scandal in American History is the ‘AUTOPEN!’ Whoever used it was usurping the power of the Presidency, and it should be very easy to find out who that person (or persons) is,” Trump posted back in May. “They did things that a Joe Biden, of sound mind, would have never done, like, Open Borders, Transgender for everyone, men in women’s sports, and far more. Fear not, however, we will bring America BACK, BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

Biden has repeatedly said that he made every final decision in the White House. 

President Donald Trump’s feeble attempts to kiss up to yet another authoritarian leader don’t appear to be working.

Ahead of Trump’s visit to Asia this week, the U.S. president made efforts to meet with Kim Jong Un, suggesting that he could use discussions about sanctions to bring North Korea’s reclusive leader to the table. It seems to have failed.

North Korea released a statement Tuesday that appeared to express support for China in ongoing trade disputes with the United States, according to journalist John Delury. The statement described a spokesperson for the Chinese government’s response to Trump’s recent threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on China starting on November 1.

“It is not a proper way of interacting with China to threaten China with high tariffs rather than reflecting upon themselves, the spokesperson added and urged the U.S. to correct its wrong approach,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s top diplomat Choe Son Hui met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, and expressed “invariable sympathy” and support for Russia’s efforts in its military campaign against Ukraine, Delury reported.

“Everything is going according to plan. Please convey my best wishes to him (Kim),” Putin told Choe, according to Reuters. North Korea has deployed an estimated 10,000 troops in Russia’s war in Ukraine, in return for military and economic aid from Russia.

On Monday, Trump met with the families of Japanese citizens abducted by the North Korean government, which Delury suggested meant he may have given up on the hope of meeting with the notorious dictator. It appears that Trump’s disastrous foreign economic policy has only pushed Russia, North Korea, and China closer together.

Zohran Mamdani has been forced to explain what the word “aunt” means in South Asian culture.

On Friday, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor made a speech about Islamophobia outside of a Bronx mosque. The speech highlighted how Muslims in New York City deal with discrimination and prejudice, especially after the 9/11 attacks. Mamdani spoke of a personal experience where one of his loved ones was fearful of experiencing prejudice in the city.

“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” Mamdani said, while getting emotional. “I want to speak to the Muslim who works for our city, whether they teach in our schools or walk the beat for the NYPD.”

But, rather than actually listening to his story or perhaps engaging in some introspection about prejudice others face in America, right-wing media seized upon Mamdani’s mention of his “aunt” to try to claim some kind of gotcha. The Murdoch-owned New York Post and Fox News both claimed to find Mamdani’s actual aunt, who doesn’t wear a head covering.

On Tuesday morning, Mamdani had to clarify what the word “aunt” means in South Asian culture, explaining that he was speaking about his father’s cousin Zehra fuhi, who passed away a few years ago. An “aunt” can refer not just to a sister of a parent but to any elder female relative or even a friend or acquaintance.

Some right-wing commentators then tried to claim “Zehra Fuhi” isn’t a real person, believing fuhi is a surname, rather than a term for paternal aunt in Urdu, Hindi, and Gujarati.

The whole saga is another bigoted attempt to smear Mamdani based on his religion. Mamdani’s opponent Andrew Cuomo, along with right-wing media, has made multiple Islamophobic attacks in a desperate attempt to gain ground on the surging Democratic candidate. Cuomo and the media have tried to claim that Mamdani is pro-Hamas, wants a global intifada, and is close to Siraj Wahaj, an imam in the city baselessly accused of supporting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. These efforts have only demonstrated how pervasive Islamophobia is in New York and American politics, proving the points Mamdani made in his Bronx speech.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has called for an investigation into former Barclays CEO Jes Staley and “all current and former U.S. banking executives who may have facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s illicit conduct,” according to a letter seen by The Guardian.

Staley, who, like the Democratic senator, is from Massachusetts, was known as one of the chief financial enablers of Epstein, allowing the late sexual predator to continue his account with JPMorgan in the midst of his crimes coming to light. The New York Times described Staley as Epstein’s “chief defender” at JPMorgan, which processed more than a billion dollars for him even as Epstein’s abuse and trafficking crimes were public.

Warren also noted that Staley is already banned for life in the U.K. banking industry for his connections to Epstein, and referred to court documents suggesting that Staley told Epstein about the bank’s apprehension toward him (and his large cash withdrawals), allowing him to alter his approach so that his account wouldn’t raise further suspicion.

JPMorgan has paid $290 million in settlements to Epstein’s victims, but according to Warren, “Staley has so far avoided accountability in the United States.”

Warren has urged the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, to announce plans for an investigation by November 7.

“It is critical to send a message to the public and current bank employees that this type of egregious misconduct has no place in the American banking system,” Warren wrote.

“Staley is not the only bank executive with concerning ties to Epstein. For example, according to Staley’s sworn deposition, he discussed Epstein with [JPMorgan] CEO Jamie Dimon on at least two occasions,” she continued. “The Fed, OCC, and FDIC should investigate any other current or former banking executives who engaged in similar conduct to determine whether their conduct satisfies the legal standards for a ban on working in the banking industry and civil monetary penalties.… Any banking executives who facilitated the crimes of one of the world’s most notorious sex criminals should be held to account.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth won’t even look at any soldiers with beards during his upcoming South Korean engagement.

An email from the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base in South Korea formally restricts any “members with shaving waivers” from attending the military chief’s speaking engagement at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, according to a screenshot shared to an unofficial Air Force Facebook page. The post was made on Sunday, ahead of Hegseth’s visit to South Korea alongside Donald Trump.

The memo underscored that unshaven members are “NOT authorized” to attend the event.

“No Beardos allowed at Osan,” the post captioned the image.

An Air Force official confirmed the memo’s authenticity to Task & Purpose.

Last month, Hegseth ordered hundreds of America’s top military commanders to leave their international posts to attend a mandatory in-person assembly in Quantico, Virginia. The meeting unveiled the hairphobic ex–Fox News host’s latest efforts to de-woke the country’s armed forces—part of which included snipping shaving waivers away entirely.

That policy is expected to disproportionately affect Black service members due to the potentially injurious effects of frequently shaving their faces, given the curl pattern of their hair.

“No more beardos,” Hegseth said, during his September address. “Calling someone to shave, or work hard, is exactly the kind of work force we want.”

“The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done,” Hegseth continued, adding that anyone unwilling to comply should look for a “new position or a new profession.”

Hegseth is far from the first commander to redefine the military’s relationship with facial hair. The armed forces have a long and strange history with beards, changing hygiene requirements and regulations every few decades.

But that’s far from Hegseth’s only hyperfixation on physical appearance. In the same address, Hegseth also announced that he would be changing physical standards for combat roles to the “highest male standard only,” a revision that could eject women from their positions.

Hegseth has openly said before that he does not believe women should serve in combat roles. During a November interview on The Shawn Ryan Show, Hegseth said, “I’m straight-up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated.”