President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Friday that he commuted the sentence of disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., after several campaign finance violations.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump wrote. 

“I started to think about George when the subject of Democrat Senator Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal came up again…. This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” President Trump added.

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”

FORMER CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS DELIVERS ‘GLAMOROUS’ FAREWELL BEFORE GOING TO PRISON: ‘THE CURTAIN FALLS’

Santos had reported to serve his sentence in federal prison at the end of July earlier this year, with a theatrical X post in which he wrote, “Well, darlings… The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed.”

The former representative pleaded guilty in 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos was assessed the maximum sentence in April by U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert. Seybert also ordered Santos to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $205,000 in fraud proceeds.

Santos “traded in his integrity for designer clothes and a luxury lifestyle,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement at the time.

The former representative and his campaign treasurer had doctored donor reports to qualify for national Republican Party funding, including falsely reporting a $500,000 loan from Santos when he had under $8,000 cumulatively in his accounts.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE URGES TRUMP TO COMMUTE GEORGE SANTOS’ FEDERAL PRISON SENTENCE: ‘FAR WORSE OFFENSES’

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos arrives at court in Central Islip, N.Y., Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

According to the DOJ, Santos made unauthorized charges to fund both campaign and personal expenses from stolen donor credit card information, including those from “victims he knew were elderly persons suffering from cognitive impairment or decline.” He also used a fake political fundraising company to solicit tens of thousands of dollars which he spent on “designer clothing.”

Santos flipped New York’s third congressional district in 2022 for the GOP despite falsifying his biography, including claiming his family had ties to 9/11 and the Holocaust that were debunked at the time.

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., poses for a photo outside the U.S. Capitol after the House failed to pass the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act, Sept. 29, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Santos was expelled by the House of Representatives in December 2023, after a scathing ethics report, making him the sixth member of Congress in history to have been removed.

In Santos’ July X post, he added, “I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit.”

“Good luck George, have a great life!” the President concluded.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the Democratic Party of being taken over by far-left “Marxists” on Day 16 of the federal government shutdown.

The leader of the House of Representatives was visibly frustrated while speaking to reporters on Thursday, accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrat leaders of prolonging the fiscal standoff for political gain.

“This is not your grandfather’s Democratic Party. It truly has become the far-left, Marxist-left, that are running that whole operation. And it has real effects on real people,” Johnson said.

Senate Democrats have now rejected Republicans’ federal funding plan 10 times.

JOHNSON RAISES STAKES ON SCHUMER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BARRELS INTO WEEK 3

Republicans put forward last month a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a long-term deal for FY2026.

But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in those talks. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said their caucuses would not accept any deal that does not include serious healthcare concessions, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Johnson and Republicans have accused Schumer of kowtowing to pressure by progressives after he was key to helping the same funding bill pass the Senate in March, avoiding a shutdown earlier this year. That move saw Schumer face a barrage of attacks from his left flank.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters near his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 18, 2025. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo)

“The only explanation for this is that Chuck Schumer does not want to face the heat and the scrutiny and the abuse that he took in March for doing the right, responsible thing by the far-left voices in his party,” Johnson said.

He said the “voices of the party” were Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as well as New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

“Look, Mamdani is on a path, shockingly, sadly, frighteningly, to become the elected mayor of the largest city in America, the once-cradle of capitalism. There is a Marxist rise in the Democratic Party,” Johnson said.

“The old guard — and I’m saying old guard, Chuck Schumer has been here for 44 years — he is not the flavor of the month, and he knows that he’s going to get a challenge. If it’s not AOC, it’ll be another disciple of Mamdani or somebody like that.”

New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during an interview on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Fox News in New York City, Oct. 15, 2025. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

He said Democrats “have to stand for the farthest left ideas, socialism, communism, Marxism, right now to be in favor in the Democratic Party.”

Schumer, in turn, has criticized Johnson for his decision to keep the House in recess while the Senate’s fiscal standoff continues.

“Republican leaders, especially Speaker Johnson, continue to dig in. The speaker has now kept the House Republicans on vacation for three weeks, as if they can make the issue go away by letting House Republicans hide. Well, the American people don’t have time for Republican inaction,” Schumer said Wednesday.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a plan to offer $11 insulin pens through the state’s pharmaceutical venture.

Beginning Jan. 1, consumers can purchase a five-pack of pens for a suggested price of $55, according to the governor’s office. The packs will be available to California pharmacies for $45.

California is the first state in the nation to sell its own brand of generic prescription drugs as Newsom and other state leaders seek ways to drive down rising healthcare costs.

Insulin users without health insurance today can pay $400 for a small vial.

Newsom, in a statement Thursday, said that Californians shouldn’t “ration insulin or go into debt to stay alive.”

“California didn’t wait for the pharmaceutical industry to do the right thing — we took matters into our own hands,” Newsom said.

Officials hope the drug will lower costs across the board, not just for the consumers ultimately picking up the drug. Major drug companies have also cut prices on insulin, but critics contend those cost savings are passed on to other consumers.

Earlier this week, Newsom signed legislation, Senate Bill 40, capping insulin co-pays at $35 for the first time in California.

“This law ensures no family will be forced to choose between buying insulin and putting food on the table in California again,” the bill’s author, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), said in a statement.

Newsom, who vowed to be the “healthcare governor” during his campaign, in 2020 unveiled a proposal for California to make its own line of generic drugs.

Three years later, he announced a $50-million contract with the nonprofit generic drugmaker Civica to produce insulin under the state’s own label.

Earlier this year, the state began selling Naloxone, a medication that blocks the effects of opioids, at below market prices.