U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late Friday that he has revoked the visas of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his “allies on the court,” and their close relatives, citing an ongoing “political witch hunt” targeting former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and “censorship of protected expression in the United States.”

The decision came hours after Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered police to search Bolsonaro’s home and attach an electronic monitor to the former leader’s ankle. Bolsonaro, who has already had his passport confiscated, is now also subject to a nightly and weekend curfew.

Under the same order signed by de Moraes, Bolsonaro is barred from using social media, communicating with foreign diplomats, or getting close to foreign embassies. Earlier this year, he was denied a request to temporarily get his passport back so he could attend President Donald Trump’s second inauguration ceremony.

Separately, de Moraes is leading an aggressive investigation into so-called “digital militias” accused of spreading disinformation and hate speech during the Bolsonaro administration.

Last year, he temporarily banned X across the country after the Elon Musk-owned social media platform refused to remove certain accounts—many linked to Bolsonaro supporters—that de Moraes said had violated Brazilian law.

As Bill Pan reports for The Epoch Times, Rubio condemned the court’s actions as politically motivated repression.

“President Trump made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Rubio said in a statement.

“Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans,” he continued.

“I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members, effective immediately.”

De Moraes is presiding over Bolsonaro’s trial, in which the former president faces charges of an attempted coup related to the Jan. 8, 2023, protests at Brazil’s federal government buildings.

Authorities allege the protests were part of a broader conspiracy to overturn the 2022 election results that brought Bolsonaro’s left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power.

Bolsonaro has consistently denied wrongdoing or any involvement in the alleged coup plot. He has not been convicted, but is nonetheless barred from running for public office until 2030.

His treatment has become a flashpoint in the escalating standoff between the Trump and Lula administrations. Last week, the U.S. president threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods unless Bolsonaro’s prosecution was dropped.

Trump also cited Brazil’s non-tariff trade barriers in his decision to impose the new tariff rate. Meanwhile, Brazil is one of the roughly two dozen countries that run a trade deficit with the United States, while almost all other countries targeted by Trump’s tariff measures post large surpluses.

“There will be no Tariff if Brazil, or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture product within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely—in other words, in a matter of weeks,” Trump wrote.

Following Friday’s police raid, Bolsonaro’s son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, took to social media to urge Trump to “suspend the 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports and impose individual sanctions instead.”

The post was later deleted.

Lula has dismissed Trump’s accusations of unfair trade practices as false and denounced Rubio’s visa revocations as improper interference in Brazil’s judiciary.

“The interference of one country in another’s justice system is unacceptable and violates the basic principles of respect and sovereignty among nations,” Lula wrote on X.

“I am certain that no form of intimidation or threat, from anyone, will compromise the most important mission of national powers and institutions, which is to act permanently in defense and preservation of the Democratic Rule of Law.”

Authored by Anne Johnson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The highest tax rate you’ll pay on your income is called the marginal tax rate. The United States has a progressive tax system, which means that different tiers of income are taxed at varying rates.

You should know how the marginal rate works when planning your tax filings. This can be especially important if you receive bonuses from work or have other streams of income.

Marginal Tax Rate Depends on Last Dollar of Income

When people discuss what tax bracket they are in, they usually give a flat number. They may say they’re in the 22 percent tax bracket. But that isn’t entirely true. You may fall into the 22 percent tax bracket, but your total income isn’t taxed at 22 percent.

When people state this, they are usually talking about their marginal tax rate. Your marginal tax rate is the percentage of tax you pay on your last dollar of income. This means it’s the last tax bracket into which your income falls.

Keep in mind that with a progressive tax, you’re taxed at different rates according to how your income is tiered.

Using a single filer as an example, the IRS tax brackets for tax year 2025 are:

• 10 percent: for income $11,925 or less
• 12 percent: for income over $11,925
• 22 percent: for income over $48,475
• 24 percent: for income over $103,350
• 32 percent: for income over $197,300
• 35 percent: for income over $250,525
• 37 percent: for income over $626,350

An example of the marginal tax would be using single filer Frank with a taxable income of $50,000 (deductions have already been applied in this example).

Frank would be taxed:

• 10 percent on the first $11,925, which equals $1,192.50
• 12 percent on the next $36,550, which equals $4,386
• 22 percent on the remaining $1,525, which equals $335.50

Frank’s marginal tax rate is 22 percent because it’s the rate applied to his last dollar of income. That 22 percent doesn’t apply to all his income.

It’s important to know your marginal tax rate. It can help you make decisions concerning bonuses, investments, or other earnings. The marginal rate will inform you of the top tier of your tax rate.

What Is the Effective Tax Rate?

The effective tax rate is the average rate you’ll pay on all your income. It gives you a more accurate picture of your tax burden.

To find your effective rate, divide your total tax liability by your total taxable income and multiply by 100.

So, Frank, with $50,000 in income and a $5,914 tax liability, would have an effective tax rate of 11.83 percent. In other words, 11.83 percent of Frank’s income would go toward paying federal taxes.

Can Tax Credits Lower Your Marginal Tax Rate?

Tax credits like the Child Tax Credit will not lower your marginal tax rate. The Child Tax Credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for 2025 is $2,200—with adjustments for inflation—according to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means.This tax credit isn’t used to lower your income; it reduces your tax liability. So, using Frank’s tax liability amount of $5,914, he could apply the tax credit and now owe $3,714.

How to Lower Your Marginal Tax Rate

There are several ways to lower your marginal tax rate. Start with maximizing your retirement contributions. You can lower your taxable income dollar-for-dollar with yearly contributions to a 401(k), a traditional IRA, or other retirement accounts.

For example, the maximum 401(k) limit in 2025, according to the IRS, is $23,500, and the traditional IRA limit is $7,000.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) can also help lower your taxable income. According to the IRS, an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan can contribute a maximum of $4,300 to an HSA.

If you expect a large bonus at the end of the year, you may want to consider deferring it to next year. This especially works if you anticipate an income reduction in the future. You may want to ask to defer a severance if you are laid off. In fact, any payments that you could defer may help reduce your marginal tax rate.

If you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD), which could affect your marginal tax rate, consider donating to charity. Eligible IRA owners can make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) up to $108,000 per individual for tax year 2025, according to the IRS. Payments must be made directly from the IRA to the qualified charity in order to avoid the amount being applied to your income.

Marginal Tax Rate Determines Additional Amount Paid

The marginal tax rate helps you think about future earnings. For example, if you are considering taking a new job with a large pay raise, it may push you into a higher marginal tax rate. You should know what that will be so you can understand the tax implications.

Likewise, if you are anticipating selling something for a profit, knowing your marginal tax rate can help you determine when to sell.

The Epoch Times copyright © 2025. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Friday that it will cut about 23 percent of its workforce and eliminate its research and development office as part of the agency’s restructuring effort.

The agency stated that it expects its workforce to reduce from 16,155 to 12,448 employees, noting that many have opted to resign through voluntary early retirement and a deferred resignation program.

The layoffs will affect the Research and Development Office, according to its statement. The agency said the restructuring effort is expected to help it save about $748.8 million after completion.

The EPA said it plans to create an Applied Science and Environmental Solutions Office that will enable it to focus on research and science “more than ever before,” placing them “at the forefront of rulemakings and technical assistance to states.”

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the reorganization is intended to ensure the agency is “better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback” under the Trump administration.

“This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,” he said.

The Office of Research and Development functions as the EPA’s scientific research arm, according to the agency’s website. The office carries out “leading-edge research” that “informs agency decisions and supports the emerging needs of EPA stakeholders, including the agency’s state, tribal, and community partners,” it stated.

Critics said cutting the office’s workforce will affect the EPA’s ability to respond to those risks properly.

Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) said on March 18 that the office is “vital to understanding and addressing environmental risks.”

“The Trump Administration’s plan to dissolve the EPA’s Office of Research and Development and lay-off over 1,000 scientists is yet another step in their scheme to fully gut this agency,” Foushee said.

The EPA had previously announced that it planned to enhance its scientific and research efforts within program offices to address its “statutory obligations and mission essential functions,” particularly within its air, water, and chemical offices, according to its statement.

The announcement followed the Supreme Court’s decision on July 8 to lift a lower court ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with mass layoffs of federal workers and an overhaul of federal agencies.

Aside from the EPA, the State Department has also announced plans to proceed with restructuring efforts following the Supreme Court ruling. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on July 10 that the reorganization plan is now “moving into implementation,” but declined to provide a specific timeline for when layoffs will occur.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

We all understand that mass adoption of humanoid robots is still years out. But the timeline is accelerating—bipedal, autonomous robots and so-called “robo-dogs” are already reaching early adopters. While mass adoption may still be years away, the affordability inflection point could arrive by the early 2030s—perhaps bringing us closer to the kind of household companion seen in Bicentennial Man, the late-1990s film starring Robin Williams. 

But warning signs around AI and humanoid robotics are already flashing yellow, with a hint of red. First, a recent study from AI research firm Anthropic warned advanced AI bots could be willing to harm humans to avoid being shut down or replaced. Second, investing legend Paul Tudor Jones issued a stark, apocalyptic warning about AI back in May. And now, in China, humanoid robots have gained the ability to recharge autonomously. 

According to the South China Morning Post, Chinese firm UBTech Robotics rolled out the Walker S2, the world’s first humanoid robot capable of autonomously swapping its own batteries, allowing it to operate 24/7 without human assistance. 

#WalkerS2 – The World’s First #HumanoidRobot Capable of Autonomous Battery Swapping.
→ Anthropomorphic Bipedal Locomotion → Autonomous hot-swappable battery system→ Autonomous battery swapping, 24/7 continuous operations
Swarm Intelligence 2.0 is coming soon! pic.twitter.com/gDyLWrgG25

— UBTECH Robotics (@UBTECHRobotics) July 17, 2025

This development underscores China’s rapid progress in robotics, drones, AI, smartphones, semiconductors, and electric vehicles—technologies that often share similar production ecosystems. The nation that controls the development and supply chains of these technologies will dominate the 2030s. 

The emerging fear isn’t just that China is becoming a “robotics powerhouse,” as Moody’s noted last week—but that its robots are now gaining the ability to operate autonomously and recharge themselves, edging closer to full independence from human control. With a mind of their own, there’s no telling what these robots will do if one of them becomes rogue. Remember this…

중국 Unitree H1 휴머노이드, 불완전한 코딩 → 돌발행동

중국꺼 사면 다 이리될지도….
일부로 이렇게 만들어서 사람 죽게 만들지도…. pic.twitter.com/iZVPGYxKWl

— 와썹🇰🇷🇺🇸🇯🇵🇮🇱 (@uimusog6125) May 2, 2025

Related:

• Goldman’s Chat With Top Robotics Firm Reveals Skynet Humanoid Timeline
• Goldman’s Investing Guide To Skynet
• “Here Come Humanoids”: Morgan Stanley Braces For The Looming Phase Shift in AI
• There’s An iPhone Moment Happening With Humanoids

And this…

• China Warns of Rogue Robot Troops Unleashing Terminator-Style “Indiscriminate Killings”

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

This week, the legacy media’s obsession with dragging President Donald Trump into the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein stooped to a shameful new low.

The Wall Street Journal embarrassed itself with a hyped-up Trump-Epstein “bombshell” that amounted to nothing more than a birthday card that Trump supposedly sent to Epstein in 2003.

Curiously, the evidence in this bombshell is under wraps, but Trump denies writing and threatened to sue over the bogus report.

Attorneys have now filed that lawsuit.

This latest smear attempt is just another chapter in the media’s ongoing effort to tie Trump to Epstein, despite the lack of evidence and Trump’s documented decision to ban Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, Epstein’s deep ties to Democrats, especially Bill Clinton, who flew on Epstein’s jet multiple times and visited his island, consistently get downplayed or ignored. The double standard is as blatant as it is dishonest.

One might think, after years of “Russian collusion” hoaxes, the “very fine people” lie, and endless misquotations — debunked every time — these outlets would be wary of another wild goose chase.

But no.

When it comes to Trump, the normal rules of evidence or integrity are suspended.

Opponents and their media mouthpieces were so eager to make hay over any Epstein association — even an obviously fake note — that they abandoned the last shred of credibility their institutions had left.

Now, Trump has filed a $10 billion libel lawsuit in federal court in Florida against the Wall Street Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones, the reporters who wrote the story, News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch himself. 

One of the co-authors of the WSJ report, Joe Palazzolo, previously wrote for a publication called Main Justice, which was founded by Mary Jacoby, who happens to be the wife of Glenn Simpson, the Fusion GPS founder behind the debunked Steele Dossier and the Russia hoax.

Both Simpson and Jacoby previously worked at the Wall Street Journal themselves, which tells you everything you need to know about the political rot festering in that newsroom.

Trump summed it up best on Truth Social:

“It has truly turned out to be a ‘Disgusting and Filthy Rag’ and, writing defamatory lies like this, shows their desperation to remain relevant.

If there were any truth at all on the Epstein Hoax, as it pertains to President Trump, this information would have been revealed by Comey, Brennan, Crooked Hillary, and other Radical Left Lunatics years ago.

It certainly would not have sat in a file waiting for ‘TRUMP’ to have won three Elections. This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS!”

The Journal’s irresponsible coverage comes just as public interest surges over the Epstein saga.

Recent government conclusions, confirming Epstein’s death as suicide and, conveniently, denying that any “client list” exists, only stoke further doubts about media motives.

The American people see right through these coordinated smear attempts. Trump has made clear he will not back down, nor give the mainstream media an inch when it comes to outright lies.

The death toll from a past week of spiraling violence in Syria’s Sweida province, a stronghold of the Druze minority – which also has a presence of Christians – has climbed to 940 since last weekend, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, despite a recent declared ceasefire.

Among the dead are 326 Druze fighters and 262 Druze civilians, including 182 reportedly executed on the spot by forces from Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham government fighters.

The Observatory also reported the deaths of 312 government security forces and 21 Sunni Bedouins—three of whom were civilians allegedly executed by Druze fighters. Additionally, some 15 Syrian government troops were killed in Israeli airstrikes amid the intermittent intervention by Israeli warplanes.

Damascus announced a ceasefire early on Saturday, saying in a statement the truce is badly needed in order “to spare Syrian blood, preserve the unity of Syrian territory, the safety of its people.”

In a televised address, the country’s self-appointed president Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that he “received international calls to intervene in what is happening in Suwayda and restore security to the country.”

He described that Israeli military intervention has “reignited tensions” in the city of Sweida, with fighting there at “a dangerous turning point.” Interestingly he also at one point thanked the United States for its support.

Al Jazeera has observed that tens of thousands have been fleeing the fighting:

According to Syria’s Health Ministry, the death toll from fighting in the Druze-majority city is now at least 260. An estimated 80,000 people have fled the area, according to the International Organization for Migration.

“A lot of extrajudicial killings [are] being reported,” said Vall. “People are suffering, even those who have been killed or forced to flee, they don’t have electricity, they don’t have water, because most of those services have been badly affected by the fighting.”

Government forces further say they want to defeat Druze leaders who have allied themselves with a foreign power – Israel.

Israel has of late made no secret that it is backing the Druze cause, but critics see Netanyahu expansionist ‘divide and rule’ policies at work.

Heartbreaking, Father Tony Boutros, representative of the Greek Catholic Church in Sweida, Syria, makes an appeal to the international community to save Christians and Druze from an Islamist genocide.

“We Christians and Druze are one. Look at the massacre they are committing… pic.twitter.com/DiBZLMBuze

— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) July 18, 2025

HTS has just taken off the US-designated terrorism list earlier this month, after Trump had posed with its leader Sharaa (Jolani, who had earlier been a member of ISIS) while visiting Riyadh, expressing hope that he’ll make for a good post-Assad ruler. HTS fighters have lately been massacring Druze, Christians, and Alawites – waging war against non-Sunni minorities.

Authored by Gary Abernathy via The Empowerment Alliance,

ABC News, June 18, 2025: “U.S. oil prices hovered near a five-month high on Wednesday as President Donald Trump weighed direct involvement in support of Israeli strikes on Iran, making it all but certain that gasoline prices would rise for Americans within days, industry analysts told ABC News.”

CNN, June 24, 2025: “Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before the Iran-Israel conflict, as investors cheered news of a ceasefire, albeit fragile, between the two countries.”

Predictions of skyrocketing oil prices if President Trump decided to bomb Iranian nuclear sites permeated the media. The reality over the course of just six days from before and after the actual bombing was much different.

Forecasts about how world events will shape energy prices and the reality once such events unfold are rarely aligned. Most Americans have grown weary of “experts” foreseeing disaster, predictions which intensify when Donald Trump is sitting in the Oval Office. From energy prices to the overall economy to foreign affairs, “expert” predictions and analysis are routinely much more reflective of political bias than actual industry expertise.

The far-left (formerly mainstream) media revels in rolling out alarmist headlines based on the ruminations of analysts, forecasters and, these days, “influencers.” Scroll the websites of any of the leading mainstream publications and you’ll find the content littered with gloom-and-doom prophecies about Trump administration actions and policies that almost never prove accurate.

What they do achieve is providing fodder for a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week cable news cycle, as roundtables of analysts weigh in on the latest predictions. It’s a round-robin tournament of endless negative chatter based on dissecting the negative chatter that kicked off the latest 24-hour cycle.

As the hot summer months progress, warnings of potential blackouts and an overall strain on the electric grid are once again in the news. Some blackouts have already occurred, and a predictable blame game is well underway, with adherents of the climate cult blaming global warming and rising temperatures instead of identifying the true culprit – compromised power grids.

In reality, the climate doomsayers’ prescription of more solar and wind simply exacerbates the disease. The main reason for grid strain and power failures is an overreliance on “alternatives” that are not up to the task of supplying the demands of an energy-devouring nation – demands that are exponentially increasing with the proliferation of data centers needed to power emerging AI technologies.

One sure way to guarantee power shortages is to follow radical edicts to phase out oil and gas in favor of wind and solar. We started down that road during the Obama and Biden administrations, and the final destination is demonstrably disastrous (see Spain, Portugal and France). Fortunately, the Trump administration has mapped a new course and is attempting a rescue mission, just in the nick of time.

The federal level is not the only place where common sense is making a return. Louisiana recently became the first state in the nation to codify affordable, reliable and clean energy security into law. As Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said when signing House Bill 692, the legislation “sets the stage for an energy renaissance—not only here, but in America. … This bill positions Louisiana as an economic powerhouse, where we can not only join the industrial South that we’ve been missing out on, but we can lead in that industrial South.”

While supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and providing more transparency to ratepayers, the bill most importantly “ensures equal treatment for all energy sources, contributing to grid reliability and resiliency,” as the governor put it.

In other words, Louisiana has codified the inclusion of traditional energy sources as eligible – even preferred – choices when it comes to governmental decisions about energy projects and usage. No longer will Louisianans be pawns in the “green new deal” scam supported by “experts” whose main goals are more political than science-based.

The “alternatives” con is coming to an end. The government subsidies that supported the rip-off are being phased out. Energy freedom is returning for Americans who rely on affordable and trustworthy energy sources.

Hope is on the rise. Other states are considering legislation similar to the Louisiana model. Ideally, Congress will enact legislation that will make affordable, reliable and clean energy the law of the land and a cornerstone of national security.

There is one prediction that is solidly based in fact and reliably backed by previous experience: Energy prices will remain affordable, power failures will be rare, and freedom from being held hostage by foreign suppliers of energy will be assured if natural gas and other traditional energy sources are allowed to flourish. Let’s insist that our state and federal lawmakers make this prediction come true.

Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation. Abernathy’s “TEA Takes” column will be published every Wednesday and delivered to your inbox!

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Justice has proposed a rule to restore the Second Amendment rights of people who have been convicted of certain crimes but who are not “likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.”

The Department submitted the proposed rule “regarding the exercise of the Attorney General’s authority under 18 U.S.C. 925(c) to grant relief to individuals who are otherwise precluded from possessing firearms,” to the Federal Register on Friday.

Federal law rescinds the firearms rights of convicted felons regardless of whether or not they were convicted of a violent crime. The law also empowers the attorney general to restore Second Amendment rights to individuals who are not “likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.”

No applications have been processed since 1992, when funding for that was blocked by House Democrats.

A July 18 press release from the Justice Department states that President Donald Trump directed the department to “address the ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens—all of them.”

According to the press release, an official copy of the rule will be published on the Federal Register website the week of July 21.

“For too long, countless Americans with criminal histories have been permanently disenfranchised from exercising the right to keep and bear arms—a right every bit as constitutionally enshrined as the right to vote, the right to free speech, and the right to free exercise of religion—irrespective of whether they actually pose a threat,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

A Second Amendment advocacy group praised the new rule.

“This proposed rule to grant relief to certain individuals convicted of non-violent crimes is long overdue,” Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. “The Second Amendment Foundation has been fighting for decades in courts to restore rights to people that are no threat to society.”

Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, echoed those sentiments. He said his organization will continue to support the expansion and preservation of gun rights in America.

“GOA has long supported this effort, and we’re encouraged to see the Department of Justice continue to acknowledge that non-violent citizens should not be denied their constitutional rights,” Pratt wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

Gun control organizations did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. Past moves to change the longstanding policy drew criticism on the groups’ webpages.

Last March, in a step toward overturning the policy, the DOJ took responsibility for processing the applications from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and gave it to the attorney general.

This changed a policy that had been in place for more than 30 years.

In a March 19 statement on the Everytown for Gun Safety website, the group’s president blasted that change.

“The Trump Administration is throwing out decades of bipartisan precedent and laying the groundwork to put guns back in the hands of domestic abusers and violent criminals,” wrote John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

The rule proposed on Friday would provide citizens whose firearm rights have been rescinded a way to restore those rights.

The press release states that the attorney general would decide each application on a case-by-case basis. Violent felons, registered sex offenders, and illegal aliens will remain presumptively ineligible for relief, according to the Justice Department press release.

Part of Trump’s Plan

“General Bondi’s support of the rebooted 925(c) program is consistent with President Donald J. Trump’s promise to the American people to support the beautiful Second Amendment,” said U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr.

Once the proposed rule is published, the public comment period will begin. Communities that could be affected by a final rule, including law enforcement, victims’ advocates, elected officials, and individuals who would like to apply to have their gun rights restored, as well as the general public, can place comments here once the proposed rule is published.

Pratt said his organization will encourage its members to comment.

“We look forward to working with the grassroots and our members to submit comments to ensure the proposed rule benefits the Second Amendment community and the marginalized individuals who are working to reclaim their rights under the Constitution,” Pratt said.

The Justice Department recommends that individuals seeking the restoration of their firearm rights review and comment on the proposed process rather than submit applications at this time, according to the press release.

Interested parties may view the proposed rule here. An official copy is expected to be published next week, according to the Justice Department.

Authored by Elma Aksalic via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Daredevil athlete Felix Baumgartner, best known for his record-breaking 2012 skydive from space, has died at 56 years old in a paragliding accident in Italy.

According to officials in the coastal city of Porto Sant’Elpidio, Baumgartner died on July 17 after crashing into the side of a swimming pool.

“Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight,” the town’s mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said in a statement.

The exact cause of the incident remains unknown; however, Ciarpella noted that a “fatal illness” prior to the crash could have led to the accident.

“Porto Sant’Elpidio stands with his family and loved ones in this moment of grief,” the statement continued.

“On behalf of the Municipal Administration and all citizens, I express my sincerest condolences for this irreparable loss.”

The Austrian native made international headlines on Oct. 14, 2012, when he jumped out of a capsule in the stratosphere, free-falling for 24 miles towards Earth.

The jump was sponsored by Red Bull, an Austrian-owned energy drink company, with Baumgartner breaking the sound barrier during the feat.

He reached speeds of up to 843 miles per hour before opening his parachute and landing safely on the ground in New Mexico.

In a statement, Red Bull paid tribute to Baumgartner, thanking him for being “unyielding,” while remembering him as a colleague and friend.

“You always sought out the greatest challenges and mastered them with sharp thinking, relentless precision and a good dose of courage,” the statement read.

“You delved deep into every project. No detail was too small, no risk too great—as long as you could calculate it.”

“We grew with you and you with us. We wouldn’t trade a single day we had together. You will stay with us as a colleague, a loyal companion, but most of all as a friend.”

Baumgartner, a former military parachutist, teamed up with Red Bull in 1988 and over the course of his career made thousands of jumps from bridges, planes, skyscrapers, and famed global landmarks.

He broke 14 world records, including the highest parachute jump from the Petronas Towers in 1999, flying across the English Channel in a carbon fiber wing in 2003, and the world’s lowest BASE jump from the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in 2011.