TIS A PITY THEY CAN’T BOTH LOSE… OH, WAIT — THEY DID: Katie Porter Whacked Eric Swalwell To Come In 5th. “That’s right, Katie Porter, who we were told was the Democrat insider’s choice for governor, and the reason then-leading Democrat Swalwell had to be shived, garnered less than 5% of the vote.”

FORBIDDEN FRUIT: Once Again, No One Sells More Guns in America Than Gun-Grabbing Politicians. “Recent FBI data suggests Virginia gun stores are seeing a huge surge in demand. In May, Virginia recorded 75,376 background checks — more than double the total from the same month last year. While background checks are not a direct measure of gun sales, they’re widely used as an industry indicator.”

AND THE WASTE GOES ON: Four major federal departments had improper payments percentages above 10 percent all four years of the Biden administration, including the IRS within Treasury that saw 72 percent of its payments under one program going to the wrong receiver.

That’s according to the latest Government Accounting Office (GAO) assessment of the extent of improper payments. But, as I report today for The Washington Stand, there are reasons to think real progress is starting to be made.

SENATOR ERIC SCHMITT GOES ABSOLUTELY NUCLEAR ON MAZIE HIRONO:

Senator Eric Schmitt absolutely blasted his colleague, Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono, in a Senate hearing after Hirono went to bat for fraudsters and criminals, including murderers and rapists, from being deported.

“Your comments are astounding, Senator,” Schmitt said. “You mention a few words: horrific. I think, to the American taxpayer, that’s been ripped off by people who came to this country to rip them off, that’s horrific.”

“You talk about bizarre,” Schmitted continued as Hirono tried to interrupt him. “No, no, no. It’s my time now. It’s my time. You went over time. It’s my time. Bizarre is the idea that you would be here in this committee defending violent murderers from being deported. That you would be defending violent rapists from being deported. That you would defend people who took advantage of the good people of this country, their taxpayer dollars. That is bizarre.”

Related:

Considering that 1990s-era Democrats at least paid lip service to stopping fraud and illegal immigrants, this is very much true:

Not really shocking, but there’s some weirdness going on here…Politico looks at US “journalist” (yes, those are my scare quotes) pleading guilty at being an unregistered foreign agent, for China.

 

A MUST-READ FROM J.D. VANCE:

UM, WHAT? ‘Khamenei’ says US, Israel hit by ‘decisive blow’ amid mixed signals on talks, US security alert. “Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard in public since being wounded in strikes that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28. His message, read out by a prayer leader at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, came amid weeks of talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence that have so far failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows.”

Kudos to the Times of Israel headline writer who put scare quotes around “Khamenei.”

MORNING IN AMERICA: US job market notches third straight month of solid growth.

The U.S. economy posted a third straight month of strong job gains in May, confirming the labor market was gaining traction after stumbling last year and giving the Federal Reserve ​more room to keep interest rates unchanged amid rising inflation due to the war in the Middle East.

The closely watched employment report from the Labor Department on Friday ‌painted an upbeat picture of the jobs market. The economy added 93,000 more jobs in March and April than previously estimated and the unemployment rate held at 4.3% for a third consecutive month. While financial markets boosted the chances of an interest rate hike in December, economists said the bar remains high for monetary policy tightening.

Economists say fiscal stimulus, in the form of tax and import tariff refunds, has cushioned the impact of the U.S.-backed war with Iran, which has stoked inflation through ​a surge in oil prices. Corporate profits have increased since the second quarter of 2025, allowing businesses to refrain from large-scale layoffs. Economists, however, warned of risks to the labor market ​if the war persists.
“This report is likely to confirm to the Fed that the labor market is in a stable place, allowing inflation to be the ⁠only focus and driver of Fed policy heading into the June meeting,” said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, a senior economist at FHN Financial.

Exit question: “Donald Trump finally got the economic success he has touted since his re-election. Will it come in time to boost the GOP’s midterm chances?”

THE UNEXPECTEDLIES MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION UNDER A DEMOCRAT PRESIDENT, AND IN THE OTHER DIRECTION UNDER A REPUBLICAN:

GRAHAM PLATNER AND AL QAEDA’S CONGRESSMAN-ELECT FROM NEW JERSEY ARE THE CONSEQUENCE OF DEMOCRATS FAILING THE “DAVID DUKE TEST” WITH MAMDANI:

In August 2025, in the run-up to the mayoral election in New York City, I wrote a piece for The Blaze outlining how that election was a “David Duke” test for the Democrats. They had the choice of a supporting a racist adversary of the United States in Zohran Mamdani, or repudiating Mamdani and supporting the Republican, no matter how unpalatable they might find the decision to vote “R.”

Democrats failed the test, choosing to rally around Mamdani, who is now New York’s mayor.

The consequences are being realized quickly, with Jew-hatred and virulent anti-Americanism now mainstreamed in the Democratic party, as evidenced by Democrats clearing the field for Nazi fanboy Graham Platner to win the Maine senate nomination, and Adam Hamawy winning the Democrat nomination to a Congressional seat in New Jersey. Mr. Hamawy is a squad-endorsed former Al-Qaeda volunteer who also palled around with the original Twin Towers bomber, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman (aka “The Blind Sheik.”) Hamawy actually testified as a character witness for the Blind Sheik in the trial following the first World Trade Center bombing in 1995.

It’s been quite an eventful decade:

IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™: A Medicaid Scam You Never Saw Coming Has California Circling the… Drums “What’s the emptiest place on the West Coast, Messed Coast™ this week? It appears to be the election counting offices in California where navel-gazing vote counters are taking their sweet time to tell Californians if their vote for change has been diluted by Tom Steyer and Karen Bass ballot harvesters and vote ‘cure’ experts. We have an update.”

THE NEEDS OF THE PARTY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE, COMRADE:

HEY, BIG SPENDER: SpaceX tells banks it won’t move its $135-a-share IPO price.

SpaceX told banks in its $75 billion initial public offering ​that it is set on the $135-a-share price ‌that the firm disclosed on Wednesday in its amended IPO filing, sources told Reuters.

The company’s decision ​is the latest sign that Elon Musk ​is intent on holding the largest ever initial ⁠offering according to his preferences, upending ​Wall Street tradition — though sources stressed that the ​decision is subject to change before the IPO takes place. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request ​for comment.

SpaceX began meeting with investors on ​Thursday in its IPO roadshow – where securities issuers and their ‌bankers ⁠typically gather investor feedback before determining the final IPO price at a meeting held a day before the shares begin trading.

Needless to say, the company’s orbital AI data centers require a lot of cash.