From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Cohen

Former President Joe Biden received a diagnosis of prostate cancer on Friday, according to a Sunday announcement by his personal office.

The statement characterizes the cancer Biden has as “a more aggressive form of the disease” that has metastasized to the bone, but the statement adds that it can be effectively managed. The diagnosis follows renewed scrutiny on Biden’s physical and mental decline, along with its cover-up, ahead of the release of a book on the subject titled “Original Sin” by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson.

“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” the statement reads. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

A Gleason score of nine indicates high-grade cancer, meaning that the tumor is more likely to spread aggressively, according to Mount Sinai. A lower Gleason score would indicate that the cancer does not grow as quickly and is less likely to spread elsewhere.

Since leaving office in January, Biden has delivered one major public speech and participated in interviews with “The View” and BBC. In his May 8 appearance on “The View,” he denied reports that he experienced cognitive decline during his presidency.

After Biden’s son Beau passed away from brain cancer in 2015, he decided not to run for president in 2016 before running again and securing the White House in 2020. Excerpts from “Original Sin” and other revelations about the Biden presidency indicate that the former president was in declining physical and mental condition throughout his term, and that the extent of his decline was no longer deniable after his poor performance in the June 2024 debate against President Donald Trump.

Trump issued a statement on Truth Social shortly after news of Biden’s diagnosis broke on Sunday.

“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” Trump wrote. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Wallace White

U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan took aim at the rampant waste in the Navy during a Wednesday posture hearing with the House Appropriations Committee.

Phelan and acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby laid out the Navy’s bloated acquisitions contracting system and inefficient workforce, which employs 56,000 people but only processes two contracts a month per employee on average. Phelan, a former Wall Street executive, stressed his mission is to cut waste and utilize his unorthodox background to promote efficiency in keeping America’s Navy ready to fight and win wars.

Phelan said the Navy processed a total of 217,000 contracts in 2024, with an average employee processing 34 in total.

“I’ll also be honest, when I look at our contracting, it’s poor,” Phelan said during the hearing. “We don’t control our [intellectual property]. We can’t repair stuff. We don’t have very good penalties built in for lack of performance. These are all things we are going to really try to change.”

Phelan already slashed a slew of Navy programs in April in the name of cost savings, worth a grand total of $568 million, according to DefenseScoop. In the hearing, he expressed interest in shrinking the overall workforce while maintaining vital employees.

The secretary also pledged to have the Navy pass a financial audit, even as the Pentagon failed its seventh consecutive audit in 2024. The Defense Department’s budget is set to balloon to over $1 trillion in 2026 as the various branches of the armed forces jockey for funding.

“Accountability is not just a regulatory requirement. It is the bedrock upon which we will build a stronger, more efficient Navy and Marine Corps,” Phelan said in the hearing. “Under my leadership, the Department of the Navy will achieve a clean audit, following the example set by the Marine Corps, which has completed two consecutive unmodified audits.”

While the Navy struggles with overspending and a bloated contract system, it is also struggling to put ships in the water at a time when China is being aggressive in the Pacific Ocean.

The Navy has struggled to maintain its existing ships, while new ships have been plagued by massive delays, with some contractors extending their deadlines for ship delivery by up to three years. China maintains the upper hand in military shipbuilding, surpassing the U.S. Navy’s total ship count in 2020 with 360 ships compared to just 296 in the U.S. fleets, according to a January Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

Phelan and Kilby aim to shift the Navy’s focus towards shipbuilding to fulfill President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for increased ship production.

“I will lead this department with three focus areas that will guide our Navy and Marine Corps: strengthen shipbuilding and the maritime industrial base, foster an adaptive, accountable, and innovative warfighter culture, improve the health, welfare, and training of our people,” Phelan said during the briefing.