In a move that has rattled both humanitarian advocates and political observers, the United States government announced on August 16, 2025, that it is suspending all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza. The abrupt decision came just one day after a series of incendiary social media posts by far-right influencer Laura Loomer, underscoring her growing, and some say alarming, influence over the Trump administration’s personnel and policy decisions.
According to a statement released by the State Department—now led by Secretary Marco Rubio—"all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days." This sweeping action follows Loomer’s public outcry over wounded Palestinians, specifically children, arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment. Loomer, who has built a reputation for promoting conspiracy theories and targeting political adversaries, accused the recent arrivals of being "pro-HAMAS," "affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood," and even suggested, without evidence, that Qatar was "flooding our country with jihadis."
Loomer’s target was the U.S.-based charity HEAL Palestine, which had just facilitated the largest single medical evacuation of injured children from Gaza to the United States. The charity confirmed that 11 critically wounded Gazan children, along with their caregivers and siblings, arrived safely in the U.S. for urgent medical care. For these children, the stakes could not be higher; as HEAL Palestine stated on its website, the collapse of Gaza’s medical infrastructure means such evacuations are often a matter of life and death.
Yet, Loomer’s campaign quickly gained traction among conservative lawmakers. Republican Congressman Randy Fine wasted no time in praising her efforts, posting on X (formerly Twitter), "Massive credit needs to be given to @LauraLoomer for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura." Loomer herself boasted about her influence, writing, "No other content creator or journalist has gotten as many Biden holdovers fired from the Trump admin!"
For humanitarian organizations, the visa suspension was met with shock and condemnation. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a U.S.-based charity with a long history of evacuating Palestinian children for medical care, called on the Trump administration to reverse what it described as a "dangerous and inhumane decision." The charity emphasized, "Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza."
While Loomer holds no official government position, her sway over the current administration is undeniable—and growing. Over the past several months, Loomer has emerged as a de facto personnel director within Trump’s inner circle. According to Politico, more than a dozen recent firings of government staff have been attributed to her pressure campaigns. She has even established a tip line to help identify and purge hundreds of staffers she deems disloyal to the Trump cause.
Loomer’s tactics are direct and often public. In one high-profile episode this past July, she targeted a job offer extended to a Biden-era official for a prestigious post at West Point military academy. The Pentagon rescinded the offer within a day of her campaign. In another instance, Trump fired both the head and deputy head of the National Security Agency—Timothy Haugh and Wendy Noble, respectively—in April 2025, apparently at Loomer’s urging after she met with the President at the White House.
Her latest focus is on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), specifically targeting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his deputy chief of staff, Stefanie Spear. Loomer has raised concerns about what she calls a "vetting crisis" under Kennedy, pointing to Spear’s past as an environmental activist and founder of EcoWatch, as well as her role as Kennedy’s press secretary during his 2024 presidential campaign. Loomer has not minced words, labeling Spear a "Marxist" and a "National Security Threat," and has repeatedly accused Kennedy of appointing "full-throttled Marxists and Trump haters to work under him at HHS."
In August 2025, Loomer told Politico, "I’m not naive enough to think that the president is going to get rid of RFK, but there are concerns about some of the staffing decisions over at [the Department of Health and Human Services]." She further alleged, citing unnamed sources, that Spear was "laying the groundwork for a 2028 RFK presidential run." An unnamed Trump administration official acknowledged that Kennedy might consider such a bid, but downplayed it as "not a real threat."
Loomer’s influence was also felt in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where she campaigned for the removal of top official Vinay Prasad, whom she accused of being a "progressive leftist saboteur" based on his past criticisms of Trump and support for progressive politicians. Although Prasad was ousted, he was later reinstated—a move seen as a victory for Kennedy, who had opposed his removal. Loomer called the reversal "egregious" and pledged to intensify her "exposés of officials within HHS and FDA."
Since May 2025, Loomer has repeatedly attacked Kennedy and Spear online, escalating her rhetoric and warning, "People will fully understand why in 2028." Her ongoing campaigns, often based on ideological litmus tests and personal vendettas, have left many in Washington wary of her growing power and the willingness of the administration to heed her calls.
From the outside, Loomer’s ascent is both remarkable and deeply polarizing. Her critics accuse her of promoting racist and conspiratorial narratives, while her supporters see her as a fearless watchdog rooting out disloyalty and left-wing influence. What is clear is that Loomer, operating from the fringes of social media, has managed to become a central figure in shaping policy and personnel in the highest levels of government—sometimes with a single tweet.
As the debate over the visa suspension for Gazans continues to roil humanitarian circles and political corridors alike, one thing is certain: Laura Loomer’s influence in Trump’s Washington is no fleeting phenomenon. Her ability to set the agenda, target individuals, and drive policy decisions—often with little more than a well-timed social media campaign—has redefined the boundaries of power, for better or worse, in the nation’s capital.