Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s efforts to cut his administration’s budget while calling for massive new spending has hit a rather embarrassing snag.

The socialist scion said he asked all government offices to come up with spending cuts that would add up to $1.7 billion savings for the annual budget of about $127 billion. He gave them a deadline of March 20.

The sum of the savings he reported was about $200 million — which comes to about one-tenth of 1% of the entire budget.

After the date came and went, the administration faced tough questions about how well it was meeting its targets.

Almost comically, he posted a video Wednesday touting a few of the meager savings by pretending to find money under cushions and behind paintings in the mayor’s mansion.

The sum of the savings he reported was about $200 million — which comes to about one-tenth of 1% of the entire budget.

The New York Post reported that city officials refused to release any information about the cuts but said to trust that they were hitting the targets.

Mamdani’s budget director, Sherif Soliman, was unable to answer many questions about the plan at a preliminary budget hearing with the city council on Wednesday. Instead he defended the controversial decision from City Hall to raid a rainy day fund as well as a retiree health benefit trust fund to balance the budget.

“We want to replenish reserves, and we want to grow reserves,” he told council members. “This was out of necessity for what was an inherited significant budget challenge that stems from under-budgeting.”

“We will continue to update as we identify more savings,” Soliman added.

He also blamed former Mayor Eric Adams (D) for the massive $5.4 billion deficit that needed to be filled by law. Mamdani also passed the buck onto Adams in a separate press conference Wednesday.

“While we all predicted that it would be a difficult fiscal situation that we would find in January, there are very few who believe that it would be at the scale that we have found,” the mayor said. “This is a fiscal crisis that has been entirely created within city government as opposed to one that can be blamed on external factors as we’ve seen in 2008.”

RELATED: Mamdani reverses controversial policy after 19 NYC residents die outdoors

Mamdani has demanded that the state pass new taxes on the wealthy to help him fulfill his promise for new massive social welfare spending, but even other state Democrats said they would oppose the effort.

The mayor then threatened to raise property taxes, but that effort was opposed by members of the city council and likely wouldn’t pass.

It has been 84 days since the socialist was sworn into office.

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President Trump started a task force on corruption led by JD Vance — and it’s a move that Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck believes is telling when it comes to whom President Trump will be choosing as his successor in 2028.

“I want you to think of everything through the eyes of 2028. And let’s look at the board the way a strategist would look at it,” Glenn begins.

“Where’s Marco Rubio right now? Marco Rubio has more jobs than anybody I’ve ever met. He is, right now, exactly where you’d expect him to be: deep in foreign policy, standing shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump and the administration in one of the most volatile geopolitical moments in my lifetime,” he explains.

Glenn calls the current situation in Iran and Israel the “highest stakes” he’s “ever seen a president play at.”

“High visibility, high risk, and whoever is with it is either a hero or a villain. And if it works, there’s stability. There’s lower oil prices. There’s a real peace dividend by ’26 or ’27. And Rubio will look like an amazing statesman. He becomes the natural heir, the man who helped steady the world,” he explains.

However, if the war doesn’t end and costs continue to rise, Rubio’s position “is an absolute anchor.”

“Where’s JD Vance right now on this issue?” Glenn asks.

“I’ve heard rumors — he’s not really with the president on this one — but I haven’t seen any statements, and I haven’t seen the president say, ‘Yeah, he’s kind of weak on this,’” he says, though he notes that Vance is very big on rooting out fraud and corruption.

“You have one potential successor tied to global outcomes that he can’t fully control, but he’s going to be tied with that. Another one being given a domestic mission that can be prosecuted daily, case by case, headline by headline, building a narrative that feeds directly into the next campaign,” Glenn says.

“JD Vance is going to be the guy against Gavin Newsom, because he’s going to find the corruption in California. So that pits him against Newsom. By 2028, we’ll know what the Republican message will be. Not just growth, not just strength abroad, but this: Your government was looted. The biggest theft in American history happened,” he explains.

“And we stopped it. That’s a pretty powerful argument against governors like Gavin Newsom or any other Democrat running on expanding programs and increasing spending and promising more systems, because the counter is going to be simple,” he continues.

“If it goes well, you have the possibility of the two best candidates I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, because we will know on record what they are capable of doing. We will have seen them in action,” he says. “This is how you build a successor without naming one.”

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Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James now faces two additional criminal referrals after a federal judge dismissed a previous criminal indictment accusing her of mortgage fraud.

Like the previous allegation, the new referrals come from evidence gathered by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.

‘They continue this improper revenge campaign instead of helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country.’

Pulte said that James may have falsified information in documents submitted to the Allstate Insurance Company in Illinois and Universal Property Insurance in Florida. He cited information posted by Mike Davis, an attorney and activist.

In a referral to U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois, Pulte wrote that James “made representations” in insurance documents “that the house would be occupied by a single adult, with no children.”

He added, “Instead, according to the post, she knew the house was actually occupied by four people — three children and her niece.”

In the referral to U.S. Attorney Jason Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Pulte accused James of falsely claiming her property would be unoccupied during five months of the year.

“The house was, in fact, occupied year-round by her niece,” he wrote.

James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, denied the allegations and blamed President Donald Trump.

“Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations,” Lowell said.

“They continue this improper revenge campaign instead of helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country,” Lowell added. “These desperate tactics will fail — just as every previous attempt has failed — and exposes an administration that has abandoned its responsibility to the American people in favor of petty political payback.”

RELATED: Letitia James gives unhinged rant after court hearing for bank fraud allegations: ‘This is not about me!’

The Trump administration has unsuccessfully tried to prosecute James multiple times for the previous mortgage fraud allegations.

James headed up the Sept. 2022 civil lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization, accusing them of committing real estate fraud. She won and obtained a massive $464 million judgment, but it was struck down on appeal as “excessive.”

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A video from a home renovation site in Maryland has gone viral over the detainment of several Guatemalan laborers.

On Monday morning, a group of men showed up to remodel a family home in Cambridge, Maryland. According to one of the workers, it did not take long for the job to turn into a federal investigation.

‘The owner of the house kind of called immigration.’

The men had reportedly traveled about an hour and a half from Glen Burnie to Cambridge to complete a remodeling job on a house that included roofing.

As the men were on the roof, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeared and began calling the laborers to come down.

Video of the exchange, posted online, was reportedly recorded by one of the workers, Bryan Polanco, who claimed the homeowner had notified authorities.

“We practically had a project to start today … when they started the work, the owner of the house kind of called immigration,” Polanco told N+ Univision DC, according to a translation.

Six Guatemalan workers, reportedly between 18 and 40 years old, were subsequently detained by ICE. Polanco was not detained because he is said to be a permanent resident.

RELATED: Soros-backed Democrat DA threatens ICE agents helping at airport: ‘President cannot pardon you’

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The viral video, which has been seen nearly 5 million times, contains claims from Polanco that ICE agents are “just hurting working people” who “contribute positively” to the United States.

Polanco also described the homeowner as harboring hate for the workers.

“Instead of going out and looking for criminals on the streets — for drug addicts — they come here to screw over people who are just trying to work. And it’s that same woman. … We were fixing up her house, and yet she still harbors such hatred in her heart.”

Polanco went on to tell Univision that the homeowner told him that “if immigrants return again to finish the project, she will always call ICE.”

The worker continued to conflate legal workers with illegal immigrants, telling the outlet, “Many Hispanics here in the United States have felt persecuted. We left home, and we don’t know if we are going to return.”

“Seeing it is not the same as living it. It is because I have already seen many videos, and sadly, today, I had to experience it. And I feel that it is something that really moves you a lot,” he recalled.

RELATED: The TSA showdown reveals a brutal truth about our politics

Ricky Carioti/Washington Post/Getty Images

According to Spanish-language outlet Conexion Migrante, Polanco can also be heard in the video calling the ICE agents “animals.”

“Even the neighbors and passersby here were trying to support us, but there’s nothing to be done with these animals.”

The wife of one of the Guatemalan workers spoke to Univision in a phone call under the promise of anonymity. The woman said she felt “sad” and “desperate” for her husband, who was detained.

“We are here to get ahead, not to do evil,” she stated.

Although no official information has been provided, Univision, citing relatives, reported that those detained do not have the required documentation to remain in the U.S.

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The Trump administration’s new Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, is moving to suspend dozens of Los Angeles businesses.

On March 16, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the task force, announcing that it would advise the president and coordinate efforts to end fraud, waste, and abuse in government benefit programs.

‘The American people deserve better than being ripped off by people who hate this country.’

The task force is working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to identify and suspend hospice and home health providers flagged as high risk.

CMS has suspended 70 providers, a source told Blaze News.

“As the task force to root out waste, fraud, and abuse ramps up its work, we expect this number to grow exponentially,” the source stated.

This latest action from the CMS builds on a February announcement of action to protect taxpayers by cracking down on fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid systems. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz joined Vance to reveal that the administration had deferred $259.5 million in quarterly Medicaid funding in Minnesota due to fraud concerns. Additionally, the CMS implemented a six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for certain durable medical equipment suppliers.

RELATED: ‘Minnesota was big but California is even bigger’: Nick Shirley uncovers staggering alleged fraud right under Newsom’s nose

Federal agents raid Minnesota health care services provider in December 2025. Christopher Juhn/Anadolu/Getty Images

The task force plans to utilize the CMS’ existing template, which involves an AI-driven internal fraud detection system that either blocks claims or flags them for review, a source told Blaze News.

This system can be scaled across the government to root out waste, fraud, and abuse nationwide more effectively. The task force is actively hiring CMS technologists to deploy this system.

“Vice President Vance looks forward to carrying out the president’s war on fraud,” a spokesperson for Vance told Blaze News. “The American people deserve better than being ripped off by people who hate this country, and the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud will ensure that essential taxpayer-funded services are used to support the hardworking Americans who rely on them, instead of being used by fraudsters and criminals.”

RELATED: At-large Azerbaijani national accused of massive $90 million health care scam in California

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The White House’s announcement about the establishment of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud followed a bombshell investigation in December by journalist Nick Shirley, who uncovered a massive social-services fraud scandal in Minnesota.

The Trump administration appeared to confirm these reports, stating in its task force fact sheet that Medicaid fraud in Minnesota “could total billions,” adding that it was taking action to end the “epidemic.”

“There is strong reason to believe similar vulnerabilities exist in California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, where insufficient safeguards and weak oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud,” the White House wrote.

Earlier this month, Shirley revealed over $170 million in alleged day-care and hospice fraud in California.

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The most notably progressive “Star Trek” series will be canceled by CBS Studios and Paramount+, prompting one of its actors to demand the show’s lore nevertheless become more “woke.”

Studios were so supportive of “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” that Paramount+ picked it up for a second season before the show even aired; but that will be all.

‘The world is still not ready to hear the message of love, peace, [and] infinite diversity.’

The show’s demise began when it launched for free on YouTube — an already bad sign — garnering just over 85,000 views in the first 24 hours; not good for a show with an estimated budget of $10 to $20 million per episode.

Nothing could prepare audiences for the show’s trajectory though. The new series boasted polyamorous refugee Klingons, Stephen Colbert, and gender activist Tig Notaro playing a teacher pushing DEI ideology on cadets.

Progressivism certainly flowed through the series’ actors. Case in point, Gina Yashere, who played Lura Thok.

Yashere took to Instagram after the show’s cancelation to declare that audiences aren’t ready to hear about love and tolerance and that future iterations must avoid becoming too white.

RELATED: New ‘Star Trek’ DEI disaster flops despite airing for free: A ‘huge, gay, glee club middle finger’

“Obviously, the world is still not ready to hear the message of love, peace, infinite diversity, acceptance, the eschewing of violence and senseless wars,” she said in a video, first reported by Fandom Pulse.

She added, “And ‘Star Trek’ will be back stronger than ever. And preferably with the same message and not completely whitewashed.”

In her written caption, Yashere made it abundantly clear she was proud of the show’s woke ideology as well.

“Be safe out there peeps. Stay woke. Wokeywoke. Wokest of the woke. Wokeyliscious. A cacophony of woke.”

The show’s messaging was never left for interpretation either. Its actors and showrunners will have to come to terms with the fact that they fully presented their intent, and it was not viewed favorably.

RELATED: Polyamorous refugee Klingons: New ‘Star Trek’ writer makes ‘three-parent household’ a priority

Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

When the show first aired, series creator Alex Kurtzman said he was “not slowing down on representation in any way,” while characterizing “representation” as being the “beating heart” of the show.

Karim Diane, who played the aforementioned Klingon who wore a skirt and dress, said back in January that his character would have his sexuality “explored.”

This manifested in a Klingon/human love story the character had with an allegedly “nonbinary” person.

Diane has since promised the second season is “basically just Season 1 turned all the way up.”

In a statement to Variety, both CBS and Paramount said that while they were “incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity” the series showcased, it will not receive a third season.

Variety also reported that “Starfleet Academy” failed to secure a significant audience and did not rank among Nielsen’s Top 10 charts for streaming viewership.

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Best known for his snarky celebrity gossip blog, famous for its vicious takes on Hollywood’s biggest dramas, Perez Hilton recently returned from a grueling hospital ordeal with a shocking message: God is not only real — He is good.

After a bout of the flu that escalated into a perforated stomach ulcer and ultimately sepsis, Hilton was hospitalized for 21 brutal days of procedures and surgeries. During this tumultuous time, he claims he encountered God — not in the kind of drug-induced delirium we often hear about from people in near-death situations, but while he was apparently fully conscious.

‘He is in my heart, and He is the main reason why I am healing so quickly.’

“God presented himself to me,” Hilton said in a 25-minute video released on March 23.

“I was very lucid. It was real, and this has been life-changing,” he added tearfully.

Even though Hilton had a religious upbringing — baptized, confirmed, and schooled in the Catholic faith as a youth — he was “never a believer” until this “miraculous” experience turned his world upside down.

After two weeks of invasive procedures, stubborn infections that wouldn’t heal, new complications picked up in the hospital, and the humbling ordeal of needing help with basic bodily functions, Hilton reached a rock-bottom place he described as “hell.”

But it seems God met him in that darkness and not only spared his earthly life (Hilton is now home and steadily recovering) but, I pray, his eternal one as well.

The 48-year-old, openly gay single father of three surrogate-born children says he’s now “excited to start taking the kids to church” and hopes to enroll them in a local Catholic school near their Las Vegas residence.

RELATED: Gwen Stefani reveals ‘miracle’ that brought her to God at 44

ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images

What’s more, his spiritual experience has compelled him to make adjustments in his personal life. “I’m ashamed of myself,” Hilton admitted. “I felt this need to produce for my family so much that I was doing this and that … and not doing the little things,” he said, calling himself a “workaholic.”

“It was Grandma who would do dinner with the kids every night. No more. I’m gonna have dinner with my kids and my mom every night from now on,” he vowed.

In an even more recent video, Hilton announced that he has “zero desire to drink” alcohol after his encounter with God.

The video, captioned “goodbye and good riddance,” highlighted how “clear” his eyes look now.

“The future is bright. God is good. I’ve continued my journey with God, and I’m speaking to Him, and He is in my heart, and He is the main reason why I am healing so quickly,” he said, smiling.

Despite his rapid weight loss and exhausted countenance, Hilton appears to be a changed man.

A deeper standard

But if you’re anything like me, these kinds of sudden, highly emotional conversions give you pause — especially when they happen to people with large platforms who depend on clicks and clout.

You may recall the story of 24-year-old British OnlyFans model Lily Phillips, who publicly converted to Christianity and was baptized in December 2025 after going viral for completing the horrendous challenge of sleeping with 101 men in a single day.

I was thrilled to see what initially looked like repentance from Lily. I celebrate when anyone accepts Christ but especially people with grimy, dark backgrounds. If genuine, their testimonies become some of the most powerful, compelling cases for God’s incomprehensible grace — drawing broken people who believe they are unredeemable into the family of God. I love to see it.

But tragically, Lily immediately returned to making, and posting pornographic content, even justifying her pornographic content, saying, “I understand that my faith and my work don’t fit neatly into everyone’s expectations of what a Christian ‘should’ look like,” she recently claimed. “… Christianity, for me, isn’t about pretending I have everything figured out or meeting other people’s standards.”

You won’t ever hear me make the final call on someone’s heart or salvific status. That is God’s role alone. But Scripture does give us instruction about evaluating the legitimacy of our own and others’ faith.

Trees can be judged by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). Some seeds sprout quickly and then wither shortly after (Matthew 13:5-6). Faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Obedience — not simply claiming to know the Lord — is the primary indicator of true faith (Matthew 7:21).

These instructions, of course, must be weighed against the grueling process of sanctification — that painfully slow stripping away of our innate bend toward sin. But from what I have witnessed and personally experienced, the process of sanctification doesn’t begin until we let God reign.

When we do, that doesn’t mean we suddenly stop sinning altogether, but it does mean that we’re no longer comfortable in our rebellion. It means we want to stop doing the things that nailed our Savior to a cross — even if it takes years to actually stop doing them.

Time will tell?

I pray that’s the case with Lily — and I pray for the same for Perez Hilton. His public statements of faith in the aftermath of his spiritual encounter initially read, at least to me, as authentic. Not just because he sounds sincere in the videos he’s posted, but because there already seems to be the beginnings of fruits in his life.

Choosing sobriety, taking your kids to church, and setting intentions to put family above work are all promising signs that his professed faith is deeper than the emotional and physical trauma he just survived.

I’m tempted to say time will tell, but it won’t, because, again, hearts can only be read by God. But time will give us clues. Once the emotions of contending with his own death stabilize, once trials and tribulations return, as they always do, once he reckons with the reality that parts of his lifestyle are in rebellion against God — then perhaps we will have a better understanding of what Perez Hilton really believes in.

In the meantime, we should sincerely pray for him. It isn’t easy for a public figure — especially one whose platform is intertwined with the sick and twisted world of Hollywood — to come out as a Christian. I imagine the road ahead of him will be difficult if his faith is sincere. I hope we can ease some of that burden by contending for him in our prayers.

​Faith 

Social media users have been mulling over some puzzling posts made by the White House earlier this week.

The posts, reportedly made within an hour of each other on Wednesday night, have raised more questions than answers due to their cryptic nature.

‘All true patriots, GO!’

One of the posts, which has since been deleted, contained a video showing a woman’s feet and a voice saying, “It’s launching soon, right?”

When asked about the video, a source familiar with the matter told Blaze News, “I wonder what’s launching soon!”

RELATED: ‘Utterly false’: White House sets the record straight over media’s ‘laughable’ Iran narratives

Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The second video remains available on the White House’s X page. It has received over 16.6 million views at the time of writing.

The four-second video shows a black screen that then flashes an image of an American flag on a flagpole. The flashing image of the flag is accompanied by a recognizable phone text tone. The caption features two emojis: a phone emoji and a volume emoji.

Some commentators joked in the comments about the possible meaning of the video.

“Activation signal received,” Jack Posobiec said.

“All true patriots, GO!” Raw Egg Nationalist joked.

“Standing back and standing by,” Nic Carter wrote.

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