Alex Henderson

During President Donald Trump’s second term, Newark Liberty International Airport in northern New Jersey near New York City has been suffering delays and outages. The airport’s system completely failed on April 28, and thousands of passengers have been inconvenienced by flight cancellations.

The problems at Newark Airport come at a time when the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are drawing scathing criticism from Democrats for mass layoffs of federal workers that are affecting the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and many other agencies as well.

MAGA Republican Sean Duffy, transportation secretary for the Trump Administration, is blaming the Biden Administration —including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — for Newark Airport’s woes. Air traffic control for the airport was transferred to Philadelphia in July 2024, when then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris were still in office.

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But according to CNN sources, problems with Newark Airport were brewing during Trump’s first term.

In an article published by CNN’s website on May 22, reporters Rene Marsh, Blake Ellis and Alexandra Skores explain, “Though the move to Philadelphia took place under President Joe Biden, internal FAA documents reviewed by CNN, which have not been previously reported, show the plan was well underway during the first Trump Administration, including an engineering plan that was done just one month before the 2020 election. Duffy has defended the plan but said the Biden Administration ‘bungled this move’ by failing to properly harden the telecom lines feeding radar and other flight data from Newark’s airspace to the control facility in Philadelphia.

At a recent press conference, Duffy claimed, “Without addressing the underlying infrastructure, they added more risk to the system.”

CNN, according to Marsh, Ellis and Skores, “spoke to nine current and former air traffic controllers familiar with the situation around Newark, all of whom said the real issue wasn’t the execution of the plan, but the plan itself.”

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A former air traffic controller, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told CNN, “The problem isn’t just aging equipment; the problem is the setup at this facility. Commercial telecommunications lines were never built for mission critical data like this, including radar data.”

Another former air traffic controller told CNN, “It was a terrible idea. People on the ground knew it was bad,” said

Marsh, Ellis and Skores report, “One internal FAA document depicts an overview of the project, explaining that the FAA conducted a feasibility study for the plan on February 19, 2020. A separate document from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union which represents air traffic controllers, shows just six months later, the Trump Administration’s FAA informed the union of its intent to relocate controllers to Philadelphia with ‘an expected completion in Q1 2022.'”

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Read the full CNN article at this link.

President Donald Trump is making it clear that he wants House Republicans to pass his “big, beautiful bill” sooner rather than later. But GOP lawmakers are still fighting over the particulars, with hardcore budget hawks in the House Freedom Caucus and the Tea Party butting heads with Republicans in swing districts who are worried about the 2026 midterms.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), who chairs the Freedom Caucus, showed how tense things have become when speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, May 21.

Harris, in an exchange broadcast by CNN, told reporters, “We demand that waste, fraud and abuse be addressed in Medicaid. It’s inadequately addressed in the current bill, and we believe that as much of the Green New (Deal) scam should be eliminated as is possible.”

Asked by a reporter why “y’all are moving the goalposts,” Harris grew even more irate.

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“Let me address the goalpost nonsense,” he said. “We are working within the goalposts.”

The Freedom Caucus chairman continued, “We’re not saying we need to move the amount of cuts up because goodness knows, we moved the amount of spending yesterday with the SALT agreement. We’re saying work within the goalposts, rearrange it within the goalposts in accordance with what the president wants. End waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, which is wasting dollars that should be spent on the truly vulnerable and then end as much of the Green New (Deal) scam as possible.”

Harris fumed when a reporter noted that “the president” and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) “say you’ve gotten what you’ve asked for,” adding, “You’re saying they’re wrong?”

Harris’ ally, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), jumped in, forcefully telling the reporter, “The White House was very clear about what we’re working on together to actually deliver on what the chairman, Chairman Harris, just talked about. We’re talking about specifics.”

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Watch the full CNN video below or at this link.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is among the progressive prosecutors who MAGA Republicans love to hate. And much to MAGA’s chagrin, he moved closer to a third term following a landslide Democratic primary victory on Tuesday, May 20.

Krasner received an aggressive primary challenge from Judge Pat Dugan, who attacked Krasner as soft on crime and ran as a centrist Blue Dog Democrat. The Philly DA, however, defended his record, arguing that his emphasis on criminal justice reform has reduced, not increased, violent crime in the city. And Krasner made the election a referendum on national politics, railing against President Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk.

The primary’s outcome wasn’t even close: Krasner defeated Dugan by roughly 28 percent. Dugan has ruled out the possibility of running as a Republican in the general election, and so far, no one in the GOP has entered the race for Philly DA.

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Krasner’s victory is receiving a lot of responses on the Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter — some of them from angry MAGA Republicans.

The Protect Kamala Harris account tweeted, “Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has won the Democratic primary for his re-election campaign. Krasner is known for suing Elon Musk for election interference in 2024 and being tough on Trump. RETWEET to congratulate Krasner on his victory!”

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Daniel Pearson had a moderate tone, posting, “If there was really widespread anger and discontent with Larry Krasner, he wouldn’t be winning comfortably tonight, and turnout wouldn’t be in the gutter….. Do I think Philadelphia loves Larry? No. But for the most part people think he’s doing okay even if they have a few grievances.”

But MAGA users are furious.

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The Joe Kernan’s Bodyguard account, @JoeKernenSentry, tweeted, “Krasner won yet again in my beloved city of Philadelphia. Soon the city will be depleted. This guy is the biggest POS. It’s such a shame.”

Republican Billy Davember posted, “Knew Larry Krasner was going to defeat Pat Dugan, doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt. I wish people in Philly weren’t so r——-.”

The Philly Crime Update account wrote, “Larry Krasner wins again and no one can really complain about that. He won convincingly This is what the folks want.”

In a separate tweet, Philly Crime Update posted, “Philly is a special place. People obviously like the things he says and don’t pay attention to his failures.

Daniel Lacinski told Philly Crime Update, “I agree it’s a special place but unless the residents are ‘special ed,’ the system is rigged.”

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