Despite efforts by President Trump and SecDef Hegseth to the restore the military following an unlawful COVID-19 shot mandate, service members are still getting booted for their objection.

On January 27, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to reinstate service members who were separated from the military for objecting to the now-rescinded 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate. For the thousands who refused the shot and were booted from service, full pay and benefits are being offered. And on May 7, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth energized the military community, calling the mandate “unlawful as implemented” in a memo sent to Department of Defense leaders.

Despite the president’s Executive Order and Hegseth’s memo, service members who remain within the military are still being separated. Take, for example, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Budge. After 18 years of honorable service in the Army as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, CW3 Budge objected to the so-called vaccine in 2021 due to concerns about his health and he was punished for it.

The Gateway Pundit spoke to the Army pilot who said, in late 2021, he was grounded for 18 months, unable to operate a Blackhawk. During this time, he was given a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR), and as an act he considers reprisal, he was also forced to go through a Flying Evaluation Board. Though the FEB exonerated him of any wrongdoing, his command still issued a GOMOR which eventually resulted in a loss of promotion status through a Special Selections Review Board. “This entire debacle has cost my family nearly $40,000 in legal fees and nearly $40,000 in lost pay on top of all the emotional and psychological stress,” he lamented.

CW3 Budge was advised in March 2025 to make his plea to right the Army’s wrongs through the Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMR). His packet was filed on March 27, and on May 22, a letter was received stating that his application was denied.

A few days later, he posted a copy of the letter on X, which has garnered over 360,000 views to date.

Hey @DODResponse here’s what the ARMY BOARD OF CORRECTIONS DOES WITH OUR APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FOLLOWING THE COVID MESS.

My application was denied. I lost CW4, I was given a GOMOR, my family and I were put through hell. We were drug through the mud.

This is what four years… pic.twitter.com/YKMFo2SAPT

— Substitution (@Lucky7_BLB) May 28, 2025

The heartbreaking news comes after “[General Randy George, Chief of Staff of the Army,] promised me on a phone call that he would get it fixed,” according to CW3 Budge. If the shot mandate was truly “unlawful as implemented” and “an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden,” the service member over 21 years questions whether the BCMR understands the intent of President Trump and SecDef Hegseth to right the wrongs committed against him and others like him. “I know others in exactly the same position I’m in and it sickens me,” he said.

CW3 Budge opposed the shot mandate for good reason. “I saw young guys having chest pains and that just didn’t sit well with me,” he explained. “On top of that, the shot being offered was experimental and I’m not a lab rat.” He admitted taking other vaccines while in service, but noted none of them were considered experimental like the COVID-19 shot that is now known to induce myocarditis, heart attacks, strokes, neurological maladies, and more.

After fighting for four arduous years to save his career, the BCMR became the “stop gap” that ultimately failed him. This Army chief warrant officer, who had the moral courage and fortitude to stand up against an unlawful mandate, is set to be separated from service on September 1. With a wife and seven children to provide for, he hopes President Trump or Defense Secretary Hegseth will quickly remedy his situation. The stress for each is near unbearable and families like the Budge family simply deserve better.

Attorney Davis Younts, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former judge advocate general (JAG), has agreed to assist CW3 Budge with a request for reconsideration by the Board because he believes “this case is critical to the fight to restore service members who were impacted by the unlawful COVID mandate.”

“Although the details of every case are unique, there is little doubt that CW3 Budge and his family have suffered greatly because of the retaliation and reprisal that resulted from his stance against an unlawful and unethical order to receive and experimental vaccine,” Younts shared. “It is my hope that he finally sees some relief and that his case is the first of many where the Army does right by an excellent officer and a patriot.”

The post With a September 1 Date to be Separated From Service Over the COVID-19 Shot Mandate, an Army Pilot Makes a Desperate Plea to President Trump and SecDef Hegseth appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Trump responded to the Biden health cover-up and the autopen scandal during a press conference in the Oval Office on Friday in response to whether or not he thinks Jill Biden should be called to testify on what she witnessed in the White House. 

Trump said he hates the idea of Jill Biden, “the wife of a man who was going through a lot of problems,” being called to testify before a Congressional Committee about her role in the cover-up. Still, “they have to do what’s right,” he told reporters.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, House Oversight Chairman James Comer has said that Jill Biden and Hunter Biden may be called in to testify under oath about Joe Biden’s condition during his presidency.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Jill Biden’s possible testimony, saying she thinks Jill “should certainly speak up about what she saw in regards to her husband, and when she saw and what she knew.” Leavitt further called the lies from Biden and the Democrats “insulting” and said “she needs to answer for it.”

(VIDEO) Karoline Leavitt Slams Jill Biden For Covering up Joe Biden’s Health in Response to Question About Potential Congressional Testimony – “She Needs to Answer for It!”

President Trump then addressed Biden's rigged election and the scandals that followed. "I think the autopen is going to become one of the great scandals of all time," he said.

He then explained the true purpose of the autopen and how it could have been abused without Biden's knowledge. It would be "very hard" for someone in the Trump administration to get away with signing something without the President's knowledge, "because the next day, or sooner, I'd be reading about something that I knew nothing about," Trump said. With Biden, however, they seemingly took advantage of his cognitive state.

"Autopens, to me, are used to sign letters to people because we get, I think they said 20,000 letters a week," he said, adding that he prefers to sign every action or letter to a foreign dignitary by hand.

"I understand he signed almost everything with an autopen. It's a very dangerous thing. It really means you're not President," Trump added before confirming that "we think we know" who operated the pen, and that it was multiple individuals.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump-appointed Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks recently alleged that Elizabeth Warren was one of the individuals and, perhaps, the top person who controlled Biden's autopen. House Oversight Chairman James Comer also identified five Biden aides who were involved in the cover-up of Joe Biden’s mental decline and the autopen scandal.

WATCH:

Doocy: Biden aides, who used to work here are in talks with Republicans in Congress to go and testify about what they did or didn't do to possibly conceal President Biden's decline. Do you think that Dr. Jill Biden should also have to come in and testify about what she did or didn't do?

Trump: Well, I hate the concept of it. It's the wife of a man who was going through a lot of problems, and everybody that dealt with him understood that. And I guess it came out during the debate loud and clear. That was a big— that was the biggest signal of all. They have to do what's right. The country was— there was a lot of dishonesty in the election, as you know, 2020; that's been now caught. People understand it was a rigged election.

And when you go further out, when you see the autopen. I mean, I think the autopen is going to become one of the great scandals of all time, because you have somebody operating it, or a number of people operating, because I knew Joe Biden. Joe Biden wasn't in favor of opening up borders, letting 21 million people in from prisons and mental institutions and gang members. He wasn't into that at all. And you know, who signed these orders, proclamations, and all of the different things that he signed that set our country so far back? That was that was so bad for our country.

Doocy: With the autopen, how did it work? Like, we're in the Oval Office right now. If there was a group of rogue staffers that worked for you, who wanted to advance a bill or an executive order without your knowledge, How could they do it?

Trump: Well, it's very hard, because I read your newspapers or your media the next day and I’d say, ‘Well, I didn't approve that,’ and I would find it. I mean, they wouldn't get away with it for long because I'd say, ‘I never signed that. Who the hell signed that?’ Autopens, to me, are used to sign letters to people because we get, I think they said 20,000 letters a week, and you like to be able— when somebody takes the time to write a letter, it's nice to sort of write back. And autopens are meant for that.

Autopens are not meant to sign major proclamations or tax cuts or borders, anything having to do with the border, which is so important. And if it happened on my watch, I would be able to see it because the next day, or sooner, I'd be reading about something that I knew nothing about. And who the hell signed this? So, I almost never use the autopen. In fact, yesterday I was signing about 81— I think it was 81 proclamations and statements to people that I think should be signed by us. I think when you write letters to foreign dignitaries or presidents or prime ministers, you should be signing those letters, not done with autopens. I understand he signed almost everything with an autopen. It's a very dangerous thing. It really means you're not President. Whoever operated the autopen, and we think we know who that is, and it was actually more than one person, but that's not what the presidency is all about. I hardly use the autopen.

The post WATCH: President Trump Responds to Potential Jill Biden Testimony, Signals he Knows who Operated the Autopen – “It was Actually More Than One Person” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has told off the American Bar Association, saying that because the ABA is no longer fair, it will no longer get special treatment.

“The American Bar Association has lost its way, and we do not believe it serves as a fair arbiter of judicial nominees,” she wrote on X.

“For several decades, the American Bar Association has received special treatment and enjoyed special access to judicial nominees,” Bondi wrote in a letter to ABA President William Bay

“In some administrations, the ABA received notice of nominees before a nomination was announced to the public.

The American Bar Association has lost its way, and we do not believe it serves as a fair arbiter of judicial nominees.@TheJusticeDept will no longer give the ABA the access they’ve taken for granted. pic.twitter.com/ViqX9IRa7w

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) May 29, 2025

“Some administrations would even decide whether to nominate an individual based on a rating assigned by the ABA.”

But the Trump administration will not kowtow to the organization, she said.

“Unfortunately, the ABA no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees’ qualifications, and its ratings invariably and demonstrably favor nominees put forth by Democratic administrations,” Bondi continued.

“There is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations and the Department of Justice will not do so.”

The letter said special ABA access to judicial nominees is over.

“Accordingly, while the ABA is free to comment on judicial nominations along with other activist organizations, there is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations and the Department of Justice will not do so,” she wrote.

“Specifically, the Office of Legal Policy will no longer direct nominees to provide waivers allowing the ABA access to non-public information, including bar records. Nominees will also not respond to questionnaires prepared by the ABA and will not sit for interviews with the ABA,” she wrote.

And that’s a wrap. No more ABA involvement. pic.twitter.com/Eik18AtCna

— Mike Fragoso (@mike_frags) May 29, 2025

President Donald Trump this week announced six new judicial nominees.

Among the nominees is the nomination of Justice Department official Emil Bove to become a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, according to Time.

“It is my great honor to nominate Emil Bove to serve as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Emil is a distinguished graduate of Georgetown Law, and served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York for nearly a decade, where he was the Co-Chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Emil is SMART, TOUGH, and respected by everyone. He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Emil Bove will never let you down!”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Pam Bondi Drops American Bar Association, Ends Special Treatment from DOJ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Elon Musk on Friday demolished the Russiagate-hoaxers at the New York Times in response to a question in the Oval Office about a recent hit job they published about the DOGE chief. 

President Trump and Elon Musk held a press conference on Friday to commemorate Musk’s last day as a special government employee as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

On Friday morning, the New York Times published a report using anonymous sources, alleging that Musk “juggled drugs” during the 2024 election cycle and was “using drugs far more intensely than previously known” and crediting the eccentric billionaire’s “erratic” behavior to potential drug abuse. “He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it,” the Times claims.

As Fox correspondent Peter Doocy began asking the question, Musk already knew what he was going to say and cut him off, saying, “Wait, is New York Times, is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate?”

Railing against the fake news outlet, Musk highlighted the failed dismisal of Trump’s defamation case against the Pulitzer Prize Board and the far-left outlet for pushing debunked and totally falsified claims about the Russiagate hoax, which they won a Pulitzer for.

Trump Scores Another Legal Win in Lawsuit Against NYT and ‘Washington Compost’ in His Case Against Pulitzer Board and Their Award for Fake News Reporting

Musk went on a brief rant about the New York Times' record of publishing completely fake stories, highlighting the fact that they might need to return the Pulitzer Prize. "That New York Times? Let's move on," he said.

WATCH:

Doocy: The President mentioned the US deal with all the slings and arrows during your time, at DOGE…

Musk: You know, some of the media organizations in this room were the slingers.

Doocy: There is a New York Times report today that accuses you of blurring the lines between…

Musk: Wait, is New York Times, is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate? Is it the same organization? I think it is.

I think the judge just ruled against New York Times for their lies about the Russiagate hoax and that they might have to give back that Pulitzer Prize. That New York Times? Let's move on.

The post HILARIOUS! Elon Musk GRILLS New York Times When Asked About Reporting on Alleged Drug Use – “The Same Publication That Got a Pulitzer Prize for False Reporting on Russiagate?” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Trump on Friday abruptly fired Kim Sajet as the Director of the National Portrait Gallery.

“Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am herby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery. She is a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position. Her replacement will be named shortly. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said on Truth Social on Friday.

Kim Sajet’s X feed is full of BLM praise and toxic leftism.

@louisabertman #feminist #portraits #powerofportraiture pic.twitter.com/QNdxg2PJFK

— Kim Sajet (@KimSajet) January 22, 2021

Portraiture is powerful & this one by #lelaniefoster especially so! #representationmatters #JusticeKetanjiBrownJackson #portrait https://t.co/lgJJd2ww07

— Kim Sajet (@KimSajet) April 8, 2022

What a wonderful #portrait of history & achievement. https://t.co/JtiaYuQJJb

— Kim Sajet (@KimSajet) August 23, 2021

I am proud that @smithsonian is advancing this important initiative & so pleased that @smithsoniannpg will be involved. Thx @SmithsonianSec @BankofAmerica https://t.co/gGlMAO9Yme

— Kim Sajet (@KimSajet) June 8, 2021

When you get vaccinated ⁦@smithsonian⁩ you have ⁦@NMNH⁩ looking on….#vaccinated #secondshot pic.twitter.com/iX2VdTKswm

— Kim Sajet (@KimSajet) May 7, 2021

The post President Trump Abruptly Fires Director of the National Portrait Gallery… ‘Highly Partisan Person and Strong Supporter of DEI’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.