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The Florida Panthers are once again champions of the National Hockey League, due in no small part to the stellar performance of winger Sam Reinhart in the series finale.

Reinhart tallied four goals as the Panthers eliminated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. In the process, he became only the second player in history to light the lamp four times in a Cup-clinching game.

“It’s pretty special,’ Reinhart said, according to NHL.com. ‘I mean, we’ve had guys step up all postseason long. It almost takes the pressure off us knowing that someone’s going to do it.’

Reinhart got his first goal off a turnover and his second after Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner misplayed the puck.

Reinhart added two empty-netters to become the first player to score seven goals in the final since the great Wayne Gretzky did it 40 years ago. He also scored the winning goal in Game 7 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

“I can’t really put into words what it means,” said Reinhart, who played despite suffering a Grade 2 MCL tear in the Eastern Conference Final series. “It’s something you never really think about. You know, in a lot of instances, this one was even harder to overcome and be here at the end.’

Reinhart, 29, said he’ll be looking forward to the Panthers’ championship parade — one he missed last year because of a friend’s wedding.

“And I’m not going to miss this one,” he vowed. “I’ll guarantee you that.”

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As lawmakers debate what role, if any, the United States should play in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, progressive ‘Squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., made the curious claim that no one has ‘attacked’ the United States. 

‘No one is attacking or has attacked Americans. It’s time to stop dragging Americans into war and letting Israel once again get America involved in their chosen war. Stand up for the Americans who believed you wanted peace and don’t commit another generation of Americans into a costly war,’ Omar said in response to President Donald Trump. 

Trump called for Iran’s ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’ on Truth Social on Tuesday, and said the United States won’t strike Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei ‘at least not for now,’ but signaled America’s ‘patience is wearing thin.’ 

A Fox News Digital report published Wednesday morning refutes Omar’s claim that Americans have not been attacked, including extensive examples of Iran’s direct and proxy strikes on U.S. forces, support for terror groups and assassination efforts.

Omar’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry about the validity of her claim. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday that Trump remains an Islamic Republic target. ‘They want to kill him. He’s enemy No. 1.’

The Department of Justice announced charges against an Iranian citizen and two New Yorkers in November for their role in a murder-for-hire plot targeting multiple American citizens, including Trump. 

Iran bears responsibility for the deaths of 603 U.S. service members in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to a 2019 Pentagon report cited by the Military Times. That figure accounted for 17% of U.S. deaths in the country during the period. 

In 2022, surviving family members and victims won a case against the Islamic Republic of Iran, using the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to hold the regime accountable for its support of terror actors who killed or injured 30 U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.

Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal who testified in support of the victims, told Fox News Digital that ‘Iran’s support for the Taliban and al Qaeda and the impact it had on the deaths and injuries to American soldiers and civilians is incalculable.’

‘Iran provided money, weapons, training, intelligence, and safe haven to Taliban subgroups across Afghanistan, including in the heart of the country in Kabul,’ Roggio said.

By Roggio’s estimation, ‘Iran’s support for the Taliban was only rivaled by that of Pakistan. I would argue that Iran’s extensive support facilitated nearly every Taliban attack on U.S. personnel.’

In 2020, in attempted retribution for the murder of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran targeted two U.S. bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq with surface-to-surface missiles.

In 2022, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., found that Iran likewise owed damages to the families and victims of 40 U.S. service members who were injured or killed in Iraq due to Iran’s support of terrorism in the country.

In 2023, Sayyed Issa Tabatabai, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in Lebanon, admitted during an interview with the state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that the Islamic Republic was involved in two 1983 bombings that killed Americans in Lebanon. 

The bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut resulted in the deaths of 63 victims, including 17 Americans. When two suicide truck bombs exploded at the barracks of multinational forces in Lebanon, 220 Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors and three U.S. Army soldiers were killed, and 58 French troops were murdered.

Between October 2023 and August 2024, Iranian-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq militias launched 180 attacks against U.S. forces in Syria, Iraq and Jordan. Throughout their ‘decades of experience,’ Roggio said, Iraqi militias ‘are estimated to have killed more than 600 U.S. service members.’

In January 2024, three Americans were killed, and 25 others were wounded in a drone attack on an outpost in Jordan near the border with Syria. Two Iranians, one of whom had dual U.S. citizenship, were charged in connection with the attack.

At the time of the attack, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Iranian proxies had ‘launched over 150 attacks on U.S. troops’ following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. 

Roggio reported that on June 14, Iranian-backed militias ‘launched three drones’ at Ain al Assad, a U.S. base in western Iraq. The drones were shot down before reaching their target. 

He said that the drone attack appeared to be an ‘unsanctioned strike by an unnamed Iranian militia. Unlike past attacks, no group has claimed credit, and there have been no follow-on strikes.’ He believes Iran ‘wants to keep the U.S. out of the fight, as the U.S. military has the capability to hit the underground nuclear facility at Fordow.’

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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a conservative fiscal hawk who refused to sign onto President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ is building an unlikely bipartisan coalition of lawmakers resisting the United States’ involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran. 

‘This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution,’ Massie said in a social media post announcing the War Powers Resolution that he introduced with Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California on Tuesday. 

Massie, whom Trump threatened to primary during the House GOP megabill negotiations, invited ‘all members of Congress to cosponsor this resolution.’ By Tuesday night, the bipartisan bill had picked up 27 cosponsors, including progressive ‘Squad’ members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

Across the political aisle, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., signaled her support, writing that Americans want an affordable cost of living, safe communities and quality education ‘not going into another foreign war.’

The bill’s original co-sponsors also include progressive Democrat Reps.Pramila Jayapal, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, who called it unconstitutional for ‘Trump to go to war without a vote in Congress.’

The War Powers Resolution would ‘remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic State of Iran’ and direct Trump to ‘terminate’ the deployment of American troops against Iran without an ‘authorized declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military forces against Iran.’

Lawmakers who oppose the United States’ joining the escalating conflict in the Middle East have sounded off on the unconstitutionality of Trump striking Iran without congressional approval. Congress has the sole power to declare war under Article I of the Constitution. 

‘The American people do not want to be dragged into another disastrous conflict in the Middle East. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan War Powers Resolution with Rep. Massie to reassert that any military action against Iran must be authorized by Congress,’ Khanna said. 

The president told reporters on Wednesday morning that he is weighing whether to sign off on military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. 

‘Yes, I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,’ Trump said. 

Trump called for Iran’s ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’ on Truth Social on Tuesday, and said the United States won’t strike Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei ‘at least not for now,’ but signaled America’s ‘patience is wearing thin.’ 

On the sixth consecutive night of strikes between Israel and Iran, Iran warned that the United States joining forces with Israel would mean an ‘all-out war,’ as Israel bombarded sites overnight it says would have allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium, as well as attack Israeli forces.

Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leaders last week, which the Islamic Republic considered a ‘declaration of war’ and has since launched its own strikes against Israel. 

Thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran’s weapons, but Trump said on Wednesday that ‘we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.’

The Jewish State targeted Iran’s nuclear capabilities after months of failed negotiations in the region and heightened concern over Iran developing nuclear weapons. 

But Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to Geneva, said Iran ‘will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes,’ as Israel continues to target Iran’s nuclear capabilities. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the bill. 

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. 

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Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III received a special release from prison Tuesday to speak at a Hope for Prisoners event in Las Vegas.

At the event, Ruggs apologized to the family of Tina Tintor, a 23-year-old woman he killed in a car crash on Nov. 2, 2021.

‘I wish I could turn back the hands of time,’ Ruggs said when asked what he would tell the family in a video taken by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. ‘I would love for them to meet the real Henry Ruggs and not the one that was escaping from something.’

Ruggs later clarified he was ‘escaping’ the pressure that came with being a first-round pick, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Ruggs traveled at speeds of up to 156 mph in Las Vegas on the night of the fatal crash and had a blood alcohol content of 0.161, more than twice the legal limit in Nevada.

Tintor and her dog, Max, were burned to death after Ruggs’ Chevrolet Corvette slammed into the rear of her Toyota RAV-4. Ruggs and his girlfriend – Kiara Kilgo-Washington, who goes by Rudy Washington – suffered non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the crash.

‘I sincerely apologize for not only being a part of that situation, but the fact my face is always in the news, it’s always in the newspaper,’ Ruggs said. ‘So they have to constantly be reminded of the situation, be reminded of me. Those memories have to continue to rise because of all of the fame and the notoriety I have, which I never asked for. I never liked. I would just tell them that like I said I deeply apologize for being a part of that.’

Ruggs is eligible for parole beginning Aug. 5, 2026, per records from the Nevada Department of Corrections. He must be considered for parole release no later than July 4, 2027.

The 26-year-old was asked whether he would potentially like to return to the NFL in the future. His response?

‘Yes, I would love to,’ Ruggs said. ‘I’m in this newfound spiritual space, and I’m confident in who I am and what I can do, so, when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll be ready.’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

OMAHA, NE ― Maybe it was too early to panic about the SEC.

Long the nation’s premier baseball conference, the SEC got a record 13 bids to the NCAA tournament. But just four of those 13 teams advanced to super regionals and two to Omaha, leading to conversations about whether the league was overrated.

But those two teams − Arkansas and LSU − are two of the last four teams remaining in the 2025 Men’s College World Series after the Razorbacks’ win over UCLA to advance to the semifinals. One of the two teams is guaranteed to advance to the national championship series, with Arkansas needing to beat LSU twice to do so.

Whether LSU or Arkansas advances, it will make 16 times in the last 17 seasons that the SEC has had a team in the national championship series, with the 2016 matchup between Coastal Carolina and Arizona being the only season without one. Five of those series have seen two SEC teams facing each other, plus two more that featured now-SEC members Oklahoma and Texas when they were in the Big 12.

This time, the matchup of SEC heavyweights will take place in the semifinals rather than the finals; the winner will take on Louisville or Coastal Carolina.

Each of the last five completed seasons has seen a different national champion from the SEC: Vanderbilt in 2019, Mississippi State in 2021, Ole Miss in 2022, LSU in 2023 and Tennessee in 2024. Arkansas, which is seeking its first national title in baseball, could make it a sixth.

But it’ll have to go through the Tigers to get there. LSU won both the series between the two teams earlier this season and the opening game between the two of them on June 14.

‘We played them four times,’ Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. ‘We lost in extra innings. They whipped us. We beat them. And then what happened the other night. I remember them all. The first game finished about 1:15 in the morning. And then we got beat later that day. Then we won on a Sunday … They’re really good. They don’t have any weaknesses. They’ve got big-time arms. Their top six, seven arms, all are big time at this level. They’ve got power, got some speed. You just have to pitch well against them and you’ve got to score. If we don’t score, we’ll be in trouble.’

The Razorbacks have their pitching set up relatively well. Top two starters Gage Wood and Zach Root are unlikely to be available, as are top relievers Gabe Gaeckle and Aiden Jimenez. But Arkansas has several other options, including Landon Beidelschies, Cole Gibler, Ben Bybee, Dylan Carter, Tate McGuire, Colin Fisher and Parker Coil. If the Razorbacks can win the first semifinal to advance to Thursday, Gaeckle might be able to return after throwing six innings and 90 pitches in relief in the first game. But LSU would likely counter with ace Kade Anderson, who shut down Arkansas for seven innings of one-run ball the same day.

If one of Arkansas or LSU can clinch the national championship, all the hemming and hawing about the league from earlier in the postseason will prove moot. And even if one of them can’t, the SEC has proven that even in a down season, you can pencil the league into Omaha until the very end.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.

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Hear that? That’s New York Giants fans letting out a collective sigh of relief – albeit, a small one for now.

Star wide receiver Malik Nabers sat out all of New York’s spring practices at OTAs and minicamp while rehabbing a toe injury. It’s left many wondering how it could affect his availability in training camp and the preseason.

On Wednesday, head coach Brian Daboll shared that the team remains undeterred by Nabers’ injury outlook. He told reporters that Nabers is ‘doing good’ and that there were still no concerns that the wideout could miss the start of training camp, which will begin on July 22.

News of Nabers’ toe injury resurfaced in late May as the receiver sat out the Giants’ first round of OTA practices. Daboll said at the time that it was an injury that had originally occurred in college before Nabers aggravated it last season. Having Nabers sit out of spring practices is the Giants’ way of being extra cautious.

‘We’re being mindful of his toe that he’s had. Nothing serious,’ Daboll said at the time. ‘We’re being smart with him in terms of the rehab part of it.’

No procedure has been necessary for the issue. Instead, the team has put Nabers on a rehabilitation plan that involves a lot of rest from normal practice activities.

Nabers, who is entering his second season in 2025, was one of the lone bright spots for the 3-14 Giants. He finished the season with 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns despite a chaotic situation at quarterback that unfolded throughout the season.

Provided he returns from his injury by training camp, as the Giants predict, Nabers is slated to be the clear No. 1 target in New York’s passing offense this year.

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Maybe one of these days FIFA’s actions will back up its big talk about combatting hate and discrimination.

Today is not that day, however.

A month after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said racism and bigotry were such a blight on the beautiful game that offenders deserve criminal penalties, the federation seems to have lost the messages that had become a staple of its anti-discrimination campaigns. The PSAs on the Jumbotron, the decals and banners on the field, the messages on the P.A. system, the posts on social media — they’re nowhere to be found at the Club World Cup.

Maybe they got misplaced on the way from FIFA headquarters. Maybe FIFA ran out of money after making its gaudy new trophy for the Club World Cup — you know, the one Infantino made sure to etch his name on.

Or maybe, just maybe, Infantino saw how sensitive U.S. President Donald Trump is to anything that dares suggest racism is bad or that Black and brown people are entitled to respect and decided it was best if FIFA didn’t bring it up.

If this sounds familiar, it should. The last time there was a major tournament in a country run by a great and all-powerful Oz, Infantino and FIFA were quick to abandon their values, too.

Rather than risk offending their Qatari hosts, they threw both longtime partner AB InBev and the LGBTQ community under the bus during the men’s World Cup in 2022. Now FIFA is abandoning what should be one of its highest priorities: Calling out the racism and discrimination that remains far too prevalent in soccer.

As if any reminder of why it’s so imperative for FIFA to challenge discrimination in full throat, a Spanish court on Monday issued prison sentences to four people convicted of a hate crime for hanging an effigy of Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian has been subjected to repeated racist abuse since joining Real Madrid, which just so happens to be one of the 32 teams playing in the Club World Cup.

Real Madrid’s first game in the tournament is Wednesday, June 18, against Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.

“I play in Spain, where I suffered a lot and still suffer sometimes,” Vinicius Jr. said last year. “But of course, it is less with the help of all the clubs, of all the people who are doing everything possible to combat racism.”

That FIFA can no longer be counted on to be part of that is appalling. That it’s done so voluntarily is infuriating.

FIFA hasn’t commented on why it is suddenly caving on its commitment to calling out racism and discrimination, either to The Athletic, which first reported the absence of the messages, or USA TODAY Sports. But really, what’s there to say?

Infantino had his fingers crossed behind his back when he said last month that, and I quote, “Racism and discrimination — they are not just wrong, they are crimes”? FIFA really does want to stamp out racism but it wants to avoid Trump’s ire more? They’re just trying to get the Club World Cup, and next year’s men’s World Cup, played without Trump and Stephen Miller realizing the tournaments will bring an influx of thousands of Black and brown people to the United States?

If Infantino and FIFA do actually believe racism, and every other form of discrimination, is bad and has no place in the game, it shouldn’t matter where a tournament is being played. If Infantino and FIFA truly want soccer to be a game that belongs to everyone, the “local customs” of a host nation and the personal prejudices of its leaders ought to be irrelevant.

But by their actions, first in Qatar and now in the United States, Infantino and FIFA have made it clear their supposed core values of equality and respect have limits. Or come with a whole lot of asterisks attached. Airing a PSA, making a couple of social posts and slapping signs on the field and the LED boards that surround it is the bare minimum of what FIFA should be doing, and it can’t even muster the courage to do that.

It’s easy to have convictions when they’re not being put to the test. Infantino and FIFA’s are, and they’re failing miserably.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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Republican lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee admonished Democratic colleagues for boycotting and walking out of a Wednesday morning hearing examining former President Joe Biden’s health decline while he was in the Oval Office.

‘I will note that few of my Democratic colleagues are here today,’ Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday. ‘Thank you to Sen. Welch from Vermont for being here, leaving us with no other option than to take the boycott of this hearing as an admission of guilt for their role in this crisis.

‘We must not turn away from the search for answers, and it is not an overstatement to say that the future of our country could one day hinge on how we choose to act or not act on this very issue,’ Cornyn continued.

The Senate committee held a hearing Wednesday morning dubbed, ‘Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution.’ 

Vermont Democrat Sen. Peter Welch and Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin did attend the start of the hearing, with Durbin abruptly walking out after describing the hearing as a distraction and accusing Republican colleagues of being ‘asleep at the wheel’ with other legal issues within the Trump administration due to their focus on Biden. 

‘In the last week alone, several events have demanded this committee’s immediate attention,’ Durbin said Wednesday. ‘The horrific assassination in Minnesota, the treatment of our colleague Sen. Padilla by federal agents in Los Angeles, and President Trump’s unprecedented deployment of the U.S. military in Los Angeles.

‘We should hear without delay from Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Patel about what they are doing to address the unacceptable political violence in our country, including threats to Article III judges and justices, as well as members of Congress,’ Durbin said. ‘And we need to hear from the Homeland Security Secretary Noem about the treatment of our colleague, Sen. Padilla, and this administration’s mass deportation campaign against immigrants.’ 

Welch also left the hearing after declaring it would not benefit his constituents. 

There are 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including lawmakers such as Sens. Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Adam Schiff of California. The press secretary for Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats directed Fox Digital to Durbin’s initial participation in the hearing and his remarks when asked about GOP lawmakers arguing Democrats’ boycott of the hearing was an admission of guilt. 

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz seethed that Democrats and the media ‘lied’ and covered up Biden’s health decline, while slamming Democrats for their lack of participation. 

‘Not a single Democrat is here today because not a single one of them gives a d— about the fact that they lied to the American people for four years,’ Cruz said at the hearing. ‘They knew. Every one of them knew that Joe Biden was mentally not competent to do the job. The White House press secretary, she knew, when she stood in front of the American people and lied over and over and over again. And they’re not here because they can’t defend themselves. It wasn’t a surprise, for four years, the White House hid President Biden from Republican senators. Would not let him meet with us.’ 

Other Republicans railed against Democratic counterparts for skipping the hearing, such as Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmidt. 

‘Today, as we seek to answer this question, it is deeply disappointing, but not surprising, that most Democrats on this committee have chosen all but boycott the hearing and failed to call a single witness,’ Schmidt said at the hearing.’They have chosen to ignore this issue like they ignored President Biden’s decline. Their absence speaks volumes, an implicit admission that the truth is too inconvenient to face. By refusing to engage in this critical examination, they abdicate their responsibility to the American people. This de facto boycott is not just a refusal to participate. It’s a refusal to serve the American people who deserve answers about who was truly leading their government.

‘The title of the hearing, ‘Unfit to Serve,’ captures a sobering and undeniable truth,’ Schmidt added. ‘President Biden was mentally unfit to carry out the responsibilities of the most powerful office in the world. Given his mental incapacity, the American people deserve to know who was running the country the last four years.’

The hearing included testimony from three experts, including University of Virginia law professor John Harrison, conservative think tank Heritage Foundation fellow Theodore Wold, and a former White House press secretary from the first Trump administration, Sean Spicer. 

Concern over Biden’s mental acuity hit a fever pitch in 2024 as the election cycle heated up, when the then-president delivered a dismal debate performance against now-President Donald Trump in June. The debate opened the floodgates of criticism, including traditional Democrat allies calling for Biden to drop out of the presidential race after conservatives had already long argued that Biden’s mental acuity was slipping and he was unfit to serve as commander in chief.

Concerns over his health have continued after his presidential tenure ended, including with the revelation that the Biden admin frequently used an autopen to sign official presidential documents, the release of Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur, and Biden’s shock announcement in May that he had advanced prostate cancer.

The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier in 2025 and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature.

Heritage fellow Wold testified before the committee and described the alleged cover-up of Biden’s declining health a ‘constitutional crisis.’

‘I will say the 25th Amendment. It’s a modern contrivance, but it still is consistent with the American Constitution, which assumes that officers of the United States will act virtuously and morally,’ Wold said. ‘And the idea that members of the Cabinet would go to the length of avoiding the Oval Office so as to abdicate their responsibility to verify the appropriateness of the president’s acuity or the ability to authenticate actions taken by the president. If that’s not a constitutional scandal, I honestly, I don’t know what would what would constitute such.

‘There could be the potential for crimes,’ he said. ‘But moreover, the 25th Amendment can only function in its sole mechanisms if people are actually willing to call a spade a spade.’ 

The U.S. Constitution’s 25th Amendment states that ‘whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.’ 

Biden’s Cabinet, other administration officials and Democrat lawmakers fiercely defended his health amid outcry from Republicans and others that Biden’s health had cratered and that he was likely unfit to serve as president.

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President Donald Trump touted his poll numbers while speaking with reporters on the White House lawn Wednesday.

‘My approval rating is the highest it’s ever been,’ the president declared, pointing to a newly released national survey.

But five months into his second tour of duty in the White House, Trump’s approval ratings remain underwater in most, but not all, of the latest national polls conducted over the past three weeks.

An average of the most recent surveys suggests the president’s approval rating stands in the upper 40s, with his disapproval rating hovering slightly above 50%.

Trump has aggressively asserted executive authority in his second term, overturning longstanding government policy and aiming to make major cuts to the federal workforce through an avalanche of sweeping and controversial executive orders and actions, some aimed at addressing grievances he has held since his first term.

And the president, true to form, has been continuously grabbing headlines, including in the last two weeks for sending National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into Los Angeles in an effort to quell protests over ICE detentions and deportations of illegal migrants and over his mulling of the U.S. joining Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump started his second administration with poll numbers in positive territory, but his poll numbers started to slide soon after his late-January inauguration. The president’s approval ratings sank underwater by early March and have remained in negative territory ever since in most national surveys.

Former President Joe Biden, whose single term in the White House is sandwiched by Trump’s two terms, enjoyed positive approval ratings in June 2021, five months into his tenure. 

However, Biden’s numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, after his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan and amid soaring inflation and a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

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A new king reigns in TV land.

Streaming has officially surpassed broadcast and cable as a share of total television viewing, according to Nielsen data.

In May, streaming accounted for 44.8% of viewership, while broadcast (20.1%) and cable (24.1%) together represented 44.2% of overall people tuning in.

‘While many have expected this milestone to have occurred sooner, sporting events, news and new-season content have kept broadcast and cable TV surprisingly resilient,’ Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president at Nielsen, said in a video for Nielsen’s The Gauge monthly viewership report. ‘The trend, however, has been very consistent.’

While Netflix has boasted the most overall TV use for four years straight, YouTube has now seen four straight months of TV share increase, Nielsen said. The platform, owned by Google and its parent company, Alphabet, boasted the highest share of TV consumption among all streamers in May, with a 12.5% share. Rounding out the top five were Netflix, Disney-owned platforms including ESPN and Hulu, Amazon’s Prime Video, and the Roku Channel.

The three largest so-called free, ad-supported services, or FAST channels — Paramount’s Pluto TV, the Roku Channel and Fox’s Tubi — combined for 5.7% of total TV viewing in May, more than any individual broadcast network.

Streaming’s overall share is likely to remain neck and neck with traditional TV viewership for some time before it eventually surpasses it permanently in the near future, Nielsen said.

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