Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
A high-ranking government official identifies a source of the mysterious drones seen flying over U.S. military bases, lawmakers introduce a number of critical bills dealing with a foreign adversary and the deadly drugs it’s bringing into our country, and the incoming administration’s border czar weighs in on his plan to address immigration, mass deportations, and more.
Also, Congress tries to avert a rapidly approaching government shutdown, and a popular food delivery service is fined millions of dollars for allegedly overcharging its customers—we’ll tell you all about it.
House Foreign Affairs Chair: Drones Flying Over US Bases Likely From China
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who’s the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says he thinks that some of the drones that have been spotted recently are “adversarial” in nature, and that they’re possibly spy drones that are being deployed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).McCaul also said that China is very good at this type of surveillance, that we know it has purchased land around military bases, and that this type of activity would be very consistent with its policy over the last couple of years.
The congressman says he’s not getting answers from federal officials regarding the sightings, that he thinks it’s because our government doesn’t know who’s behind them, and he finds that “in and of itself” very disturbing.
By the way, earlier this week, the Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Ohio reported a number of nearby drone sightings, which caused the base to briefly shut down over this past weekend.
Also, earlier this month, a Chinese national living here in the United States was arrested by federal law enforcement officials for flying a drone in an illegal manner near the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California.
So you know, federal officials and the White House have said that some of the sightings may include legally operated aircraft, and that they are not a risk to either national security or public safety.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump said he believes U.S. officials know more than what they are letting on to the public. He also said he can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was, they’d blast it out of the sky.
House Lawmakers Introduce 3 Bills Targeting China’s Role in US Fentanyl Crisis
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has just introduced three bills to tackle China’s export of ingredients used in the production of fentanyl, a drug that is fueling American overdose deaths.So you know, earlier this year, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) formed a group to raise awareness of the CCP’s role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, to deal with policies regarding the deadly drug, and to develop significant legislation to confront that threat.
The new bills include one that would set up a federal task force to combat the trafficking of synthetic narcotics; another that would cut off certain drug-related Chinese companies from the U.S. banking system; and a third that would impose harsh penalties on Chinese exporters who improperly ship to the United States certain chemical ingredients used in the manufacturing of fentanyl.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) tells The Epoch Times that China has been making money off the situation for far too long, and that this fight transcends politics because it’s about protecting the American people.
Additionally, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) explained to The Epoch Times that the fentanyl problem starts with China, and he called it a state-sponsored poisoning of the American people.
By the way, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2023, nearly 75,000 deaths were linked to the use of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.
Trump’s Border Czar Anticipates ‘Collateral Arrests’ in Mass Deportation Plan
Tom Homan says that beginning on Jan. 20—Inauguration Day—every U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office will be directed to begin looking for, arresting, detaining, and removing any illegal immigrant in the United States who has been arrested for a crime.Homan, who’s the former acting director of ICE, says that it’s not always possible to capture criminals when they’re in jail—namely in sanctuary cities, where local jails are often prevented from handing over criminal illegal immigrants—so federal agencies will have to go into the communities to find them.
Homan said that those who live in sanctuary cities can expect a lot of “collateral arrests” during the efforts, and illegal immigrants who are not accused or charged with other crimes should also expect to be detained and deported beginning next month.
So you know, collateral arrests refer to individuals who are detained during sweeps made by ICE officials, regardless of whether or not they were the target of the agency’s specific enforcement action.
Homan went on to say that he hopes to get U.S. military aircraft to help with the deportation efforts, because they would serve as what he calls “a force multiplier.”
By the way, a number of Democratic-led states, along with several sanctuary cities, say they will resist the deportation efforts.
Trump Announces Opposition to Short-Term Funding Bill
A government shutdown is scheduled to begin this Saturday morning just after midnight, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) recently unveiled a bipartisan bill to keep the government funded until March 14.Yesterday, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance both announced their opposition to the massive stopgap funding bill. In a joint statement, they both said the proposal would benefit government censors and would also give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas.
Trump’s opposition to the proposal, tied to concerns about the impending debt ceiling battle, all but guarantees that the bill, which is facing strong GOP pushback, will be withdrawn.
By the way, divisions among Republicans were amplified after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—close allies of Trump—came out against the legislation earlier in the day.
So you know, this new bill is known as a continuing resolution (CR), and had it passed, it would have kept government funding at its current level. It’s worth pointing out that a bill of this type usually gets bipartisan support.
However, Republicans have historically been split down the middle in their support for such measures, which have often passed due to broad support by Democrats.
By the way, if the legislation does not move forward, the alternative would likely be a totally clean CR package that would extend government funding to March, but would leave substantial issues such as agriculture, health, and hurricane aid for lawmakers to deal with when they return in January.
Grubhub to Pay $25 Million Settlement for Allegedly Harming Diners
Food delivery company Grubhub has just settled a complaint filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which accused the business of “an array of unlawful practices” that harmed customers, employees, and restaurants.The FTC alleged that Grubhub deceived diners about delivery charges, blocked them from accessing their accounts, and added junk fees to their bills, which led to a final price that was often more than double what had been originally advertised.
They also accused the company of deceiving workers about how much money they would make delivering food, and deceptively listing restaurants on the platform without their permission.
The FTC chair said Grubhub used these practices “in order to drive scale and accelerate growth,” and now, the company has just agreed to pay $25 million to settle the charges.
The food delivery service also pledged to make several major changes to its operations, which include communicating the full cost of delivery to customers, listing restaurants on the platform only after obtaining their consent, and making honest claims in advertising about how much money their delivery drivers can expect to earn.
For the record, Grubhub denies the allegations, and the company says that many of the FTC’s claims are wrong, misleading, or no longer applicable to the business. However, it said it agreed to settle in the “best interest” of the company, and that it remains committed to transparency regarding its business operations.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Thursday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Bing Crosby, who said: “Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it ‘white.’”
Bing Crosby was an American singer and actor, a pretty good dancer too, and no, he was not in the band Crosby, Stills & Nash—that was a different Crosby.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
