BARRED FROM TAKING THEIR SEAT - DISASTROUS NEWS HITS MAMDANI'S SOCIALISTS AFTER THEY WON THEIR PRIMARIES
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his progressive allies faced a pair of significant legal and political challenges this week, following a federal court defeat over a massive affordable housing dispute and a new congressional effort led by conservative lawmakers targeting a recently victorious democratic socialist candidate in the state's Democratic primary.
The legal setback unfolded in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, where Judge David Jones formally approved the $450 million sale of more than 5,000 rent-subsidized apartments formerly owned by the Pinnacle Group.
The ruling delivered a blow to the Mamdani administration, which had intervened in the bankruptcy proceedings to halt the auction to Summit Real Estate Holdings.
The properties are plagued by housing code violations. The Mamdani administration argued the sale should be delayed, alleging the new ownership could create additional housing instability and noting the company allegedly owed the city $12.7 million in unpaid fines.
However, Judge Jones ruled the sale could proceed, determining the city could not indefinitely block the transfer.
Concurrently, a separate controversy emerged in Washington, D.C., surrounding a Mamdani-endorsed congressional candidate.
Following the recent primary victories of several prominent progressive candidates in New York, Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) announced his intention to introduce a House rules amendment designed to prevent newly elected members from being seated if they refuse to swear the constitutional oath of office.
Steube’s proposal specifically targets Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who recently won her Democratic primary for a U.S. House seat. Steube and other Republicans point to Avila Chevalier's past activism as disqualifying for federal office.
According to Steube, the candidate co-founded the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) organization.
Republican critics have highlighted the group's published platform, which includes statements calling for “Death to America” and the “total eradication of Western Civilization,” alongside the use of militant force to achieve those objectives.
Furthermore, Steube referenced previously reported social media posts attributed to the candidate, including claims she joked about using an American flag as a napkin.
“Every member of Congress has to swear an oath to protect and uphold the Constitution,” Steube stated. “If she is refusing to do that, she should not be seated. I’m calling for a House rules change to ensure anyone who refuses the oath is barred from taking their seat.”
Steube argued that these positions are fundamentally incompatible with upholding the constitutional oath of office, which mandates that all members swear to support and defend the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies.
Steube has not yet released the specific legislative text detailing how the proposed rule would apply to questions surrounding a member's intent or past statements.
The proposal would require majority approval in the House at the beginning of the new Congress to take effect. If elected, Avila Chevalier would still be required to take the constitutional oath before assuming office.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
