NationalWatch

Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland is expected to announce his retirement from Congress as soon as Thursday, Fox News confirmed, ending a decades-long career in the House.

Politico reported that Hoyer, 86, plans to step aside after serving in the House since 1981. The lawmaker teased a 10 a.m. ET House floor speech Thursday.

Hoyer represents a district stretching from the eastern suburbs of Washington, D.C., to southern Maryland and rose to become the second-ranking House Democrat under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

The Washington Post reported that Hoyer decided over the holidays not to seek re-election.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH TRUMP IN 2021 WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Hoyer is the third-longest-serving current member of the House, and his retirement would open a competitive Democratic primary for his deep-blue Maryland seat.

He has said he does not plan to make an early endorsement, according to The Washington Post.

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Hoyer’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Hoyer quickly climbed the leadership ranks to become the No. 2 Democrat after first coming to the U.S. House in 1981. He served as majority leader after Democrats swept to power after the 2006 election, and again in 2019 after they regained control during President Donald Trump’s first term.

During President Barack Obama’s two terms, Hoyer helped pass the Affordable Care Act and other legislation.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro kicked off his 2026 re-election campaign Thursday, a move seen as a potential stepping stone for a Democratic presidential run in 2028.

In a re-election campaign launch video shared with Fox News Digital, Shapiro highlighted his pragmatic approach as governor to get things done for Pennsylvanians.

“We’ve gotten shit done all across our Commonwealth to make a real difference in people’s lives. Now, Pennsylvania is open for business,” the governor said, repeating his unofficial slogan.

And Shapiro, who was high up on then-Vice President Kamala Harris‘s shortlist for running mate in the summer of 2024, after she replaced then-President Biden as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, pointed to the rebuilding of an interstate overpass that collapsed in 2023, shutting down one of the nation’s busiest highways.

JOSH SHAPIRO DEFENDS CLAIM THAT KAMALA HARRIS TRYING TO ‘COVER HER A—’ WITH CRITICAL BOOK EXCERPT

“When disaster struck, others underestimated us. But I never did. Reopen and ready for travelers, just 12 days after a devastating collapse,” Shaprio said in the video. “We cut through the red tape to get I-95 rebuilt in record time. We did it using materials from a Pennsylvania business and with the muscle and know-how of Pennsylvania union workers.”

In the video, which showcases the governor’s accomplishments, Shapiro also touts his bipartisan efforts, noting that “even with a divided state legislature — together — we’ve gotten a whole lot done on issues that have been stuck for decades. But there’s always more to do — more people to help, more Pennsylvanians to protect, more bridges to build.”

Following his video launch, the governor is scheduled to hold campaign kick-off events Thursday in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Shapiro’s launch comes two days after his campaign showcased their war chest, announcing that the governor hauled in $10 million in fundraising in the final quarter of last year and started the new year with more than $30 million in his coffers.

The governor, a former two-term Pennsylvania attorney general who defeated conservative state Sen. Doug Mastriano by 15 points four years ago in the key battleground state’s gubernatorial election, is likely to face state Treasurer Stacy Garrity as his Republican challenger this November.

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Garrity, hoping to avoid an expensive and divisive primary, has already lined up endorsements and support from many Pennsylvania Republicans, including the backing of the state GOP. And Mastriano, who had been mulling a second straight bid, announced on Wednesday that he wouldn’t run for governor this year.

“The truth is that Josh Shapiro ignored the problems facing hardworking Pennsylvanians to gallivant around the country to raise money from liberal billionaires,” Matt Beynon, a top Garrity campaign adviser, told Fox News Digital. “Less than half of 8th graders read at grade level, over 3,000 of our bridges are deficient, and Pennsylvania families have one of the highest tax burdens in the country.”

But Shapiro enters the new year with formidable approval and favorable ratings in public opinion polls, and his campaign, pointing to his fundraising, said the governor was “in a position of unprecedented strength.”

A release from the campaign highlighted that the governor “is reporting the most money raised and the highest ending cash balance during the off-year ahead of an election of any Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaign on record.”

DEMOCRATIC HEAVYWEIGHTS HARRIS, NEWSOM TURN HEADS, FUEL 2028 SPECULATION

A sizable November victory by Shapiro in the high-profile general election swing state could give the governor momentum heading into what is likely to be a crowded and competitive race for the next Democratic presidential nomination. And that field could include candidates with much higher name recognition, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Anybody who has shown any interest in running for president will absolutely be closely watched during this year’s elections, and it’s only natural that they’ll be judged initially on their abilities in their home state,” longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital.

Behind the scenes, Shapiro spent part of 2025 increasing his grip on the state party. And he recruited and cleared the field for a handful of congressional candidates in Pennsylvania running in what will likely be crucial midterm elections in the battle for the House majority.

The governor also campaigned for fellow Democrats on the ballot last year in Pennsylvania, helping his party to convincing victories in the off-year elections. And Shapiro also traveled to neighboring New Jersey to campaign on behalf of now-Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill in the high-profile gubernatorial showdown.

His efforts further raised his national profile and sparked further 2028 speculation.

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But John Brabender, a longtime Republican consultant who is advising Garrity, had a warning for Shapiro.

“The political graveyard is full of candidates who have miscalculated and have tried to run for multiple offices at the same time,” Brabender, who served as media consultant for President Donald Trump‘s 2024 campaign, said as he pointed to Shapiro’s likely national ambitions.

Congressional Republicans aren’t warming up to using military action to take a long-sought prize of President Donald Trump: Greenland.

The colossal, resource-rich arctic island reentered the Trump administration’s orbit following the successful capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

Top officials, like White House deputy chief of staff of policy Stephen Miller, reiterated earlier this week it was the position of the U.S. government that “Greenland should be part of the United States.” 

While the GOP has largely championed the Trump administration’s recent military action in Venezuela, lawmakers aren’t keen on replicating the same tactics to capture the Danish territory. 

TOP CANADIAN OFFICIALS TO VISIT GREENLAND AMID INTERNATIONAL FEARS AS TRUMP EYES NATO-LINKED TERRITORY

President Donald Trump has not made a push for military action there, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not rule it out during a news briefing Tuesday.

“All options are always on the table for President Trump as he examines what’s in the best interests of the United States,” Leavitt said. “But I will just say that the president’s first option always has been diplomacy.” 

Wednesday saw several Trump administration officials provide closed-door, classified briefings on both sides of the Capitol on the strikes, next steps and a possible exit strategy in Venezuela. 

Several Republicans would not say afterward whether the topic of Greenland came up in the meeting, and many reiterated that any military action would be taboo, given that the island is a territory of Denmark, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally.

“To invade Greenland and attack its sovereignty, a fellow NATO country, would be weapons-grade stupid,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “President Trump is not weapons-grade stupid, nor is Marco Rubio.”

Miller’s comments triggered rebuttals from several of America’s European allies, who in a joint statement on Tuesday contended that Greenland “belongs to its people.” 

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., wouldn’t say whether Greenland, broadly or as a next likely target, was discussed in the classified briefing.

But he told Fox News Digital that the massive island, which could fit California, Montana and Texas combined, had been on his mind. 

“I think that Greenland would be a huge asset to America,” Marshall said. 

REPUBLICANS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP’S MILITARY STRIKE TO ARREST MADURO AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM: POLL

“I don’t want any military operation in Greenland,” he continued. “There’s no criminals there that I know of. I think it’s apples and oranges. It could be very critical to our national security. Going forward, I hope that we can work out a deal with Denmark.”

Despite the overseas saber-rattling, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the briefing he would be meeting with officials from Denmark next week, and he noted that it has “always been the president’s intent from the very beginning” to buy the ice-encased island. 

“He said it very early on,” Rubio said. “I mean, this is not new. He talked about it in his first term, and he’s not the first U.S. president that has examined or looked at how could we acquire Greenland. There’s an interest there.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is one of the few Republicans who has pushed back against the administration’s most recent strikes in Venezuela and previous strikes in the Caribbean against alleged drug boats. But he didn’t appear opposed to the notion of purchasing Greenland.

TRUMP GREENLAND TAKEOVER WOULD END NATO, DENMARK ASSERTS

“To acquire Greenland, the best way would be not to insult them,” Paul said. “If I want to buy your country, I would think I would start out with flattery and not denigration.

“I think Greenland would have to be encouraged to further their independence movement,” he continued. “Then they would have to be encouraged that being part of the U.S. would have advantages. I think they would have to vote, basically, to become part of the United States.”

In the House of Representatives, a number of Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital similarly said they recognized the security significance of Greenland but were hesitant when asked about the possibility of military force.

“I understand the strategic importance,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital. “I think (military force) is not an option in this case scenario.

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“The secretary of state has made it clear that the goal is to work with our ally toward a mutually agreeable solution.”

Rep. Derek Schmidt, R-Kan., said, “I don’t think we should use military force,” adding “discussion” about acquiring the territory “never hurts.”

“Greenland is very important strategically,” Schmidt said. “That’s not a uniquely American position, that’s a NATO position. Everybody recognizes that … but I think we need to work with our allies.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was more critical of the prospect of U.S. ownership.

“This is really dumb. Greenland and Denmark are our allies. There is no upside to demeaning our friends. But, it is causing wounds that will take time to heal,” he wrote on X this week.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is predicting that the Cuban regime will fall, possibly in 2026 or 2027.

Scott had said during an appearance last year on “60 Minutes” that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s days were “numbered,” predicting that “whether it’s internal or external,” something would “happen.” 

He also predicted that the removal of Maduro would “be the end of Cuba.”

So far, the first part of the senator’s prediction has been fulfilled, as the U.S. captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and extradited him to New York last week. 

SEN RICK SCOTT: I GREW UP IN PUBLIC HOUSING AND I KNOW HOW TO FIX OBAMACARE

Scott stood by his prognostication during a Tuesday appearance on NewsNation, forecasting that the end of the “Díaz-Canel regime” will “happen.”

“Everything takes longer than you think,” Scott said, noting that he thinks the Cuban regime will probably fall “maybe this year, maybe next year.”

CUBA IDENTIFIES 32 MILITARY PERSONNEL KILLED IN US OPERATION AGAINST MADURO REGIME IN VENEZUELA

“So who knows when it’s gonna happen. But we’re gonna get democracy,” Scott said.

TRUMP SAYS CUBA IS ‘READY TO FALL’ AFTER CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO

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President Donald Trump said during a Sunday gaggle aboard Air Force One that “Cuba is ready to fall.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday sent a letter inviting President Donald Trump to deliver the annual State of the Union Address before a Joint Session of Congress next month. 

“As our nation marks the Semiquincentennial Anniversary of American Independence, the United States stands stronger, freer, and more prosperous under your leadership and bold action,” the invitation states. “Together in 2025, your administration and the 119th Congress delivered one of the most consequential agendas in history, and Americans across this great country will experience the tangible results of commonsense governance.”

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Trump last addressed Congress on March 4, 2025, less than two months into his second term, but it was not a State of the Union. 

In his invitation, Johnson said Congress looks forward to “the important work ahead of us in 2026, serving the American people, defending liberty, and preserving this grand experiment in self-governance.”

MINNESOTA AG KEITH ELLISON DEFENDS FRAUD PROSECUTION, SAYS OFFICE HAS DONE ‘ENOUGH’

“To that end, it is my distinct honor and great privilege to invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, in the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives,” he wrote. 

During Trump’s 2025 address, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas., was ejected from the House chamber minutes into the speech following his outburst. 

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In his remarks, Trump called his 2024 election victory a “mandate” for what was to come. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. 

Secretary Marco Rubio insisted the U.S. has a plan for post-transition governing in Venezuela, pushing back on criticism from Democrats who say the Trump administration moved faster to capture leader Nicolás Maduro than to outline what would follow.

In remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill after briefing Congress Wednesday, Rubio said the plan consists of three phases: stabilization, recovery and transition.

Democrats who attended classified briefings in the House and Senate said they left unconvinced the administration had a detailed roadmap for what comes next.

“I heard no detailed plan,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.  

The dispute reflects a debate over whether the Trump administration has a coherent strategy for governing Venezuela after the removal of Maduro and whether U.S. policy is being driven primarily by military and economic leverage without a defined political end state.

SEN TIM KAINE: TRUMP’S VENEZUELA STRIKE TRAMPLED CONGRESS’ WAR POWERS. CONGRESS MUST STOP IT

“This is not just winging it,” Rubio said, rejecting claims the administration lacked a strategy beyond the initial operation. “It’s already happening.

“I was in the Senate. When the other party is in power, that’s always what they say.” 

The first phase, Rubio said, focuses on stabilizing the country and preventing chaos, a goal he said would be enforced largely through U.S. control of Venezuela’s oil exports.

“As you’ve seen today, we are in the midst right now and, in fact, about to execute on a deal to take all the oil they have that’s stuck in Venezuela. They can’t move it because of our sanctions,” Rubio said. “That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is disbursed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”

Rubio said the administration expects to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil as part of that effort.

The second phase, which Rubio described as “recovery,” would include ensuring American and other Western companies have fair access to Venezuela’s oil markets, while also releasing political prisoners, granting amnesty, allowing exiled opposition figures to return and beginning to rebuild civil society.

The third phase — the transition — was less clearly defined.

“In the end, it will be up to the Venezuelan people to transform their country,” Rubio said.

Rubio did not outline a timeline for elections or describe how a future Venezuelan government would be selected.

THE BRIEFING: HOW CAPITOL HILL REACTED TO NEWS OF NICOLÁS MADURO’S CAPTURE

One lawmaker who attended the House’s briefing told Fox News Digital there was “very clear recognition” by Trump officials that current remaining figures in the Venezuelan government “are all in finger-pointing mode.”

“You’ve got individuals who are now jockeying for power. They’re trying to coalesce people … and we’re having to navigate that,” the House lawmaker said.

But most Republicans who attended the briefings largely defended the administration’s approach, though some acknowledged uncertainty about what comes next.

“No, we don’t know what comes next,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “We have a plan. It’s like Mike Tyson said, ‘Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face.’”

Other Republicans said Rubio’s presentation showed extensive preparation.

“If people could hear everything that we just heard, I think they’d have renewed confidence in both the planning leading up to it and the planning going forward,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said, “I thought it was a good briefing, timely. It was good that we hit that quickly and (got a) very thorough explanation.

“I think what was uniting was that everyone supports our military and, you know, you can’t deny how effectively it was done.”

Questions over the transition were heightened after President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether opposition leader María Corina Machado has sufficient support inside Venezuela to govern, even as she remains a favored figure among Western governments.

The administration also raised eyebrows when it appeared to signal openness to the ascendance of Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, rather than immediately backing Machado and opposition figure Edmundo González.

VENEZUELA’S NEW INTERIM LEADER DELCY RODRÍGUEZ ‘HATES THE WEST,’ EX OFFICIAL WARNS

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration believes it has decisive influence over how Rodríguez rules the country, even if she is affiliated with Maduro’s communist regime. 

“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now,” Leavitt said Wednesday. 

Multiple lawmakers who attended the briefings told Fox News Digital the administration did not share a timeline for new elections.

“There’s no playbook for this,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said. “There’s a goal I have in mind, and I’m pretty sure the administration shares that goal — to get to a free and democratic Venezuela.”

Some Republicans acknowledged the transition would take time and ultimately would involve elections.

“We are four days in. It’s going to take time,” said Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont. “Eventually, we want to see Machado and the opposition movement, hopefully, be elected again.”

Democrats said the briefings left them with unanswered questions about the administration’s objectives and endgame.

“I emerged having more questions than they had answered,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “The main question is, what is our objective and what is our exit strategy?”

Blumenthal also questioned the continued military posture in the region.

“We continue to have about one-fifth of our naval strength in that area,” he said. “If this is a law enforcement function, why are we continuing to have all of this military strength in the area when we’ve already apprehended the target?”

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told Fox News Digital, “They were not forthright, and we know that they’ve been lying about this whole operation the whole time. But the problem with lying is you don’t really know exactly when they’re lying.”

He said the House briefing “only decreased my confidence in this administration for their ability to either tell the truth or know what the hell they’re doing.”

Other Democrats warned the administration’s approach risks repeating past U.S. mistakes abroad.

“This is an insane plan,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “They’re talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint for an undefined period of time as leverage to micromanage the country.”

Murphy said the strategy amounted to using economic force to drive regime change without a clear end state.

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“An embargo is an act of force,” he said. “They are going to take the oil for as long as is necessary in order to try to facilitate regime change in Venezuela.

“That sounds like a recipe for disaster,” Murphy added. “It is just slightly different than the mistakes we made in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The Trump administration is withholding roughly $160 million in federal transportation funding from California beginning in fiscal year 2027 after the state failed to revoke more than 17,000 commercial drivers’ licenses (CDLs), which federal regulators say were unlawfully issued, by a federally agreed-upon deadline, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday.

The funding penalty follows a “final determination” issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) after California missed a Jan. 5, 2026, deadline to cancel the licenses. Federal officials say this allowed foreign drivers whose licenses did not comply with federal lawful-presence requirements to continue operating heavy commercial vehicles on U.S. roads.

“It’s reckoning day for [Gov.] Gavin Newsom and California. Our demands were simple: follow the rules, revoke the unlawfully-issued licenses to dangerous foreign drivers, and fix the system so this never happens again,” Duffy said in a statement. 

“Gavin Newsom has failed to do so, putting the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WITHHOLDS $40M FROM CALIFORNIA OVER TRUCKER ENGLISH PROFICIENCY RULES

Duffy added the administration is pulling the funding “to ensure federal tax dollars don’t fund this charade.”

According to the FMCSA, the agency’s audit uncovered what it described as a “systemic collapse” of California’s non-domiciled CDL program. Federal officials said the state illegally issued licenses with expiration dates extending years beyond a driver’s lawful presence and granted CDLs to individuals who were ineligible to hold them under federal safety regulations.

Overall, more than 20,000 active non-domiciled — people whose permanent home is located outside the U.S. — CDLs were issued by California in violation of federal rules, according to the audit.

TRUMP THREATENS TO CUT $75M FROM PENNSYLVANIA OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CDL SCANDAL

“Federal regulations are clear: states must correct safety deficiencies on a schedule mutually agreed upon by the Agency, and California failed to meet its commitment to rescind these unlawfully-issued licenses by January 5,” FMCSA Administrator Derek D. Barrs said. “We will not accept a corrective plan that knowingly leaves thousands of drivers holding noncompliant licenses behind the wheel of 80,000-pound trucks in open defiance of federal safety regulations.”

Federal officials said a nationwide audit conducted in September found that more than 25% of California’s non-domiciled CDLs were unlawfully issued, including licenses extended as many as four years beyond the expiration of lawful presence documentation.

The audit cited one case in which California issued a CDL to a driver from Brazil with endorsements to operate a passenger bus and a school bus, even though the license remained valid for months after the driver’s legal presence expired.

In November, California agreed to revoke every illegally issued license within 60 days and to work with federal officials so the agency could verify that the failures allowing the licenses to be issued had been corrected, according to the release. 

Federal officials said the state failed to meet that commitment and attempted to extend the revocation deadline without federal approval.

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Newsom’s office, the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California State Transportation Agency did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this reporting.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests.

The memorandum follows a State Department review ordered earlier this year under Executive Order 14199 and applies to 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations entities, according to the White House.

In the memorandum, Trump said he reviewed Secretary Rubio’s findings and determined it is “contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support” to the listed organizations.

The order directs all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawals as soon as possible. For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to the extent permitted by law.

RUBIO UNLOADS ON ‘ALARMISTS,’ TOUTS STATE DEPT DISASTER RESPONSE AFTER USAID CLOSURE

The administration framed the move as part of Trump’s broader “America First” agenda aimed at restoring American sovereignty and ending taxpayer support for organizations it views as wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests. 

Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing, according to the White House.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the withdrawals fulfill a key commitment of Trump’s presidency.

“Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations,” Rubio said in a post on X. “Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing.”

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Rubio said the administration concluded the institutions were “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”

“It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it,” Rubio said. “The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.”

The list includes organizations involved in areas such as climate, energy, development, governance, migration and gender policy, according to the White House. The White House published the full list alongside the order.

Rubio said the withdrawals reflect a shift in how the administration views international engagement.

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“We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests,” Rubio said. “We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.”

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump has approved a Russian sanctions bill designed to pressure Moscow to end its war with Ukraine.

Graham revealed the development in a post on X, describing it as a pivotal shift in the U.S. approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said. 

“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent.”

TRUMP TOUTS ‘TREMENDOUS PROGRESS’ BUT SAYS HE’LL MEET PUTIN AND ZELENSKYY ‘ONLY WHEN’ PEACE DEAL IS FINAL

According to the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, the bipartisan legislation is designed to grant Trump sweeping, almost unprecedented, authority to economically isolate Russia and penalize major global economies that continue to trade with Moscow and finance its war against Ukraine.

Most notably, the bill would require the United States to impose a 500% tariff on all goods imported from any country that continues to purchase Russian oil, petroleum products or uranium. The measure would effectively squeeze Russia financially while deterring foreign governments from undermining U.S. sanctions.

TRUMP CASTS MADURO’S OUSTER AS ‘SMART’ MOVE AS RUSSIA, CHINA ENTER THE FRAY

“This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said.

“This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine.”

Graham said voting could take place as early as next week and that he is looking forward to a strong bipartisan vote.

US MILITARY SEIZES TWO SANCTIONED TANKERS IN ATLANTIC OCEAN

The move on the Russian sanctions bill follows another sharp escalation in America’s clampdown on Moscow. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. forces reportedly seized an oil tanker attempting to transport sanctioned Venezuelan oil to Russia.

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Graham publicly celebrated the seizure in another post on X, describing it as part of a broader winning streak of U.S. intervention aimed at Venezuela and Cuba. 

In the post, he also took aim at critics such as Sen. Rand Paul, who has opposed the bill, arguing that it would damage America’s trade relations with much of the world.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday called on Congress during a Senate hearing to impeach two federal judges, making his most elaborate case yet for imposing the extraordinary sanction on a pair of closely scrutinized jurists.

Cruz acknowledged that impeaching federal judges is exceedingly rare — 15 have been impeached in history, typically for straightforward crimes like bribery — but the Texas Republican argued it was warranted for judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman.

“Rarer still, until now, were the deeper offenses the framers feared most — judges who, without necessarily breaking a criminal statute, violate the public trust, subvert the constitutional order or wield their office in ways that injure society itself,” Cruz said. “That is why, throughout history, Congress recognized that impeachable misconduct need not be criminal.”

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

Cruz, a Senate Judiciary Committee member with an extensive legal background, said the House needed to initiate impeachment proceedings over controversial gag orders Boasberg signed in 2023 and a sentence Boardman handed down last year in the case of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s attempted assassin.

Impeachment proceedings must be initiated in the House and typically run through the House Judiciary Committee.

Russell Dye, a spokesman for the GOP-led committee, said “everything is on the table” when asked if Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was open to the idea. If the House were to vote in favor of impeachment, it would then advance to the Senate. Two-thirds of senators would need to vote to convict the judges and remove them, a highly improbable scenario because the vote would require some support from Democrats.

Cruz’s counterpart at the hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., defended the judges and accused Republicans of threatening impeachment as an effort to intimidate the judiciary because it routinely issues adverse rulings against the Trump administration.

“There was a time when I’d have hoped a Senate Judiciary subcommittee would not be roped into a scheme to amplify pressure and threats against a sitting federal judge,” Whitehouse said. “But here we are.”

In the case of Boardman, a Biden appointee, the judge sentenced Sophie Roske, who previously went by Nicholas Roske, to eight years in prison after the Department of Justice sought a 30-year sentence. Roske pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Kavanaugh. Boardman said she factored into her sentence that Roske identified as transgender and therefore faced unique adversity.

Cruz argued Democrats’ concerns about threats that judges have faced for ruling against President Donald Trump fell on deaf ears, in his view, because they did not speak out about Boardman’s leniency toward Roske.

“My Democrat colleagues on this committee do not get to give great speeches about how opposed they are to violence against the judiciary, and, at the same time, cheer on a judge saying, ‘Well, if you attempt to murder a Supreme Court justice, and you happen to be transgender, not a problem. We’re going to deviate downward by more than two decades,'” Cruz said.

In the case of Boasberg, former special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed several Republican Congress members’ phone records while conducting an investigation into the 2020 election and Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Smith sought gag orders so that the senators would not immediately be notified about the subpoenas, and Boasberg authorized those orders.

JUSTICE KAVANAUGH’S ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON

Prosecutors seeking gag orders is not unusual, but senators have layers of protection from prosecution under the Constitution. The targeted Republicans have decried the subpoenas, saying their rights were violated.

Smith and an official representing the federal courts have both said that Boasberg was not notified that the subpoenas and gag orders were related to members of Congress.

Rob Luther, a law professor at George Mason University, was a witness for Republicans at the hearing and said Boasberg still should not have signed the gag orders without knowing who they applied to. Luther cited stipulations included in the orders.

“One must ask on what basis Judge Boasberg found that the disclosure of subpoenas would result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and cause serious jeopardy to the investigation, end quote,” Luther said. “Did Judge Boasberg merely rubber stamp the requested gag order, or was he willfully blind?”

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Smith’s actions also aligned with a DOJ policy at the time that did not require the special counsel to alert the court that the subpoenas targeted senators, a point raised by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., during the hearing. Luther said the policy did not matter.

“DOJ policy does not supplant federal law,” he said.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said arrangements are being made for representatives of the United States and Colombia to meet at the White House.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Colombian President Gustavo Petro “called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements” between the two countries, adding that the two leaders are expected to meet in the near future.

“It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” Trump wrote. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.”

Trump said arrangements were also being coordinated between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Colombia’s foreign minister, adding that the meeting will take place at the White House.

TRUMP ISSUES DIRECT WARNING TO VENEZUELA’S NEW LEADER DELCY RODRÍGUEZ FOLLOWING MADURO CAPTURE

The announcement came after Trump issued a warning to the Colombian president following a U.S. military operation over the weekend that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

“Colombia’s very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long. Let me tell you,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

When asked by a reporter to clarify his remarks, Trump claimed that Petro has “cocaine mills and cocaine factories.”

TRUMP EMBRACES US INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA, OPENS DOOR TO BROADER LATIN AMERICA PUSH

When Trump was asked if the U.S. would carry out an operation in Colombia, he responded, “It sounds good to me.”

On Monday, Petro responded to Trump’s comments, saying he would “take up arms” against the U.S. if it attacks his country.

“Although I have not been a military man, I know about war and clandestinity,” Petro wrote in a post on X, translated to English from Spanish. “I swore not to touch a weapon again since the 1989 Peace Pact, but for the Homeland I will take up arms again that I do not want.”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES VENEZUELA TURNING OVER MILLIONS OF BARRELS OF OIL TO US GOVERNMENT ‘IMMEDIATELY’

Petro also dismissed Trump’s claims that he is linked to drug trafficking.

“I am not illegitimate, nor am I a narco,” he wrote. “I only have as assets my family home that I still pay for with my salary. My bank statements have been published. No one could say that I have spent more than my salary. I am not greedy.”

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Petro, a former member of the leftist M-19 guerrilla movement that demobilized in the early 1990s, has condemned U.S. strikes in the region, which the U.S. has said target suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Emma Bussey contributed to this report.

The Trump administration is demanding California hand over a list of people and groups that receive taxpayer funds amid concerns the money was fraudulently funneled to noncitizens.

On Tuesday, the administration announced that it will pause more than $10 billion in funds to five Democratic-led states, including California, amid widespread claims of fraud. 

In a series of letters to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Administration for Children and Families said the Department of Health and Human Services will halt taxpayer funding to the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and the Social Services Block Grant.

NEW YORK REPUBLICANS CALL FOR INDEPENDENT FRAUD INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING MINNESOTA REVELATIONS

The letters asked Newsom for “verified attendance documentation” for subsidized child care services that include logs of hours and payment info from providers, the New York Post reported. 

The letter from TANF asked for recipients’ names, addresses, social security numbers and dates of birth.

“These concerns have been heightened by recent federal prosecutions and additional allegations that substantial portions of federal resources were fraudulently diverted away from the American families they were intended to assist,” ACS Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams said in the letters, according to the post. 

“Additionally, ACF has reason to believe that the State of California is illicitly providing illegal aliens with CCDF benefits intended for American citizens and lawful permanent residents,” he added. 

More than $7.3 billion in TANF funding would be withheld from the five states – California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York — along with nearly $2.4 billion from the CCDF and another $869 million from the Social Services Block Grant.

GOP LAWMAKER DEMANDS MINNESOTA FRAUD BE TREATED AS ‘ORGANIZED CRIME’ SCHEME

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom’s office said the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) administers child care and other essential programs that allow working families to “afford safe, reliable care so parents can go to work, support their families, and contribute to their communities.”

“These funds are not optional — they are critical lifelines for working families across California,” his office said. “The State of California aggressively investigates and prosecutes fraud. Using unsupported allegations to withhold child care funding only from states that didn’t vote for the President doesn’t stop fraud — it harms struggling moms and dads President Trump claims to be fighting for.”

President Donald Trump has been highly critical of California, as well as Newsom. 

“California, under Governor Gavin Newscum, is more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible??? The Fraud Investigation of California has begun. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. 

The pause came amid heavy scrutiny of Minnesota’s massive welfare assistance fraud scandal.

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More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme.

How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

Venezuelan crude oil is being shipped to the U.S. at speed and in bulk following the arrest of former President Nicolás Maduro, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.

As many as “15 very large crude carrier shipments” carrying 50 million barrels will end up en route, said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, which has tracked oil tanker movements around the troubled region for months.

“The moves overnight that were announced to sell about 30 to 50 million barrels of oil,” Wiese Bockmann said at a press conference.

“That’s equivalent to about 15 very large crude carrier shipments,” the analyst added.

TRUMP’S MADURO TAKEDOWN RESETS THE GLOBAL CHESSBOARD AND REASSERTS AMERICAN POWER

The rapid surge in shipments comes days after President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela would move between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S., worth roughly $2.8 billion at current prices.

Trump said Tuesday the oil would be sold at market value and that he would control the proceeds to ensure they are “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”

Windward maritime intelligence data indicates massive oil flows are already materializing, according to Wiese Bockmann.

“And just for comparison, over December, using our commodities tracking partners, Vortex, about 47 million barrels of crude and containers were shipped from Venezuela,” she noted.

“They’re going to be taken by storage ships to the U.S.,” Wiese Bockmann added.

According to the analyst, U.S. infrastructure is well-prepared to handle the influx.

TRUMP UNLEASHES THE ‘DONROE DOCTRINE’ AND PUTS SOCIALISTS ON NOTICE WORLDWIDE

“U.S. refineries have been configured for Venezuela’s heavy crude,” she said, adding that “we’re already very quickly seeing some action there.”

Windward tracking data shows increasing tanker activity tied to Western operators, with four Western-linked tankers being tracked sailing for Venezuela, she said, as well as reports of tankers already chartered.

The developments follow dramatic geopolitical events earlier this month, when U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife and transported them to New York City to face criminal drug charges.

Trump later said the U.S. would temporarily run Caracas until a safe transition could occur, warning he was “ready to stage a second and much larger attack” if necessary.

“There are reports of more tankers chartered,” the analyst said.

“Two arrived at Jose Terminal on the fifth and sixth of January, and two have sailed so far for the U.S. on Jan. 2 and Jan. 6.” she claimed. 

US MILITARY SEIZES TWO SANCTIONED TANKERS IN ATLANTIC OCEAN

According to reports, Venezuela is said to hold more than 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, which is more than Saudi Arabia, Iran or Kuwait, but sanctions and isolation have impacted production and exports.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been tasked with executing Trump’s plan “immediately,” as major U.S. energy companies such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil prepare for White House meeting Friday to revive Venezuela’s oil industry.

But Wiese Bockmann said the arrest of Maduro had disrupted the so-called dark fleet trade that had been taking Venezuelan crude to Asia.

“We’ve had this phenomenon of the dark fleet exploding since Russia invaded Ukraine,” she added.

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“And we’ve had this axis of Venezuela, Iran, Russia, China basically trading oil between them.

“If it’s condensate from Iran to Venezuela or if it’s crude back from Venezuela to China, which is about 600,000 barrels a day on average,” she added.

“These days, Asia-bound exports remain poor and are paralyzed, but we have seen a very quick resumption of crude flows to the U.S. after the seizure of Maduro.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday withdrawing the United States from the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), formally pulling the country out of an international body tied to the United Nations’ Global Compact for Migration.

The move ends U.S. participation in a forum critics have long argued promotes mass migration and undermines national sovereignty by advancing the concept of an international “right” to migrate.

The Global Forum on Migration and Development played a key role in shaping the U.N.’s Global Compact for Migration, a nonbinding framework that seeks to expand international cooperation on migration policy and migrant rights. The Trump administration has opposed the compact, arguing it erodes the ability of sovereign nations to enforce their own immigration laws and border controls.

“For too long, international organizations have fueled an endless flow of mass migration and have sought to compel Americans to accept the same destructive agenda,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement. “Under President Trump, the era of mass migration is over.”

TRUMP REWRITES NATIONAL SECURITY PLAYBOOK AS MASS MIGRATION OVERTAKES TERRORISM AS TOP US THREAT

Pigott said the administration will not support organizations that “run cover for illegal immigration or attempt to erode America’s sovereignty,” adding that the GFMD was among the leading international bodies promoting the idea of an international right to migration.

The Biden administration previously supported the Global Compact for Migration and maintained U.S. engagement with the GFMD, a position Trump officials now describe as a sharp departure from the former president’s border enforcement agenda.

The GFMD has drawn criticism from immigration hawks for opposing what it calls the “criminalization of migration” and for partnering with advocacy groups that condemn large-scale deportations. The organization also has hosted events warning against the “normalization of rapid mass deportations” and narratives that portray migrants as criminals.

TRUMP CUTS FAMILY REUNIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR SEVEN COUNTRIES CITING FRAUD AND SECURITY CONCERNS

In a 2020 document aimed at shaping public opinion, the GFMD urged governments and media to move away from terms such as “illegal migrant,” arguing that such language fuels polarization. The group has acknowledged receiving input from left-wing billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundation as part of its work on migration messaging.

The organization has also promoted remittances sent by migrants to their home countries as a positive global economic force — a practice critics say drains hundreds of billions of dollars from the U.S. economy annually.

Administration officials say the withdrawal underscores Trump’s broader effort to reassert U.S. control over immigration policy and reject what they view as globalist pressure campaigns aimed at normalizing mass migration.

“The United States will not hesitate to assert sovereign control of its border, protect the true God-given natural rights, and end wasteful globalist spending,” Pigott said.

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During his first term, Trump withdrew from or declined to join several U.N.-backed frameworks, arguing they conflicted with domestic law and U.S. sovereignty, including the Paris climate agreement.

The administration has frequently cited Europe’s migrant crisis as a warning, arguing that permissive migration policies have fueled social unrest, overwhelmed public services, and weakened internal security across the continent.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-Latest ICE car-ramming attack again follows incendiary rhetoric from city leaders

-GOP lawmaker moves to award congressional medal for journalist who exposed Minnesota fraud

-RFK Jr.’s barnyard ringtone interrupts White House MAHA briefing, sparks laughs

Mayor Jacob Frey tells ICE to ‘get the f— out of Minneapolis,’ rejects DHS self-defense statement

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday told federal immigration authorities to “get the f—” out of the city following the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer during an enforcement operation. 

The Department of Homeland Security said authorities were conducting an operation when rioters began blocking ICE vehicles. The driver of one vehicle allegedly attempted to “weaponize her vehicle” to hit law enforcement officials in what they described as an act of “domestic terrorism.”

The woman was confirmed dead at a local hospital, officials said…READ MORE.
 

White House

FRAUD CRACKDOWN: Pam Bondi dispatches federal prosecutors to Minnesota following Somali fraud allegations

PROTEST TOO MUCH: Noem unloads on Walz over ICE raid criticism: ‘Really? You’re worried about taxpayer dollars?’

‘DEFIES COMMON SENSE’: Watchdog urges DOJ probe of top research university over alleged illegal DEI practices: ‘Defies common sense’

‘FAR LESS TAINTED’: Trump endorses Cuellar opponent after pardoning Dem rep

World Stage

TAKING CHARGE: White House says Venezuela’s future ‘dictated’ by US as Trump embraces ‘American dominance’

PETRO PLAYBOOK: Trump admin to control Venezuelan oil sales in radical shift aimed at restarting crude flow

Capitol Hill

FLIP FLOP: Homeland Security Dem blasted Trump for not ousting Maduro in 2019, calls arrest ‘above the law’

‘YOU HAVE FAILED’: ‘You have failed’: Comer clashes with Democrat as Minnesota fraud probe sparks shouting match

‘LOT OF BULLS—‘: Minnesota AG blasts House hearing on fraud scandal in his state: ‘A lot of bulls— from Republicans’

LOCKED AND LOADED: Graham warns Iranian ayatollah: ‘Trump is gonna kill you’ if internal crackdown continues

Across America 

BILLION DOLLAR CON: Top health policy expert calls Minnesota fraud ‘disgusting,’ warns Obamacare issues are nationwide

ENVIRONMENTAL CLASH: San Diego sues to stop border wall construction

SEATS IN PLAY: DeSantis launches Florida redistricting push to potentially add more GOP House seats

‘OPERATION PARRIS’: Feds launch operation targeting Minnesota refugees for potential deportation amid fraud investigation

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

EXCLUSIVE: A House GOP lawmaker is working to find more information after learning one of her constituents was possibly detained by Venezuela’s government.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital she was “advocating for the State Department to assist” with a U.S. citizen from her district who is possibly being held by the Latin American government.

“My biggest issue at the moment is that I have a constituent that is suspected of being unlawfully detained by the Venezuelan government,” Malliotakis told Fox News Digital.

She said she was appealing to the State Department to use its “leverage” to get the man released.

TRUMP BACKS MADURO LOYALIST OVER VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER IN POST-CAPTURE TRANSITION

The New York City-area Republican said he had likely been detained for “a couple of weeks,” before Maduro’s ouster.

Malliotakis said his family suspected him of being unlawfully detained, but it’s not clear if he’s classified as such by the U.S. government.

Her office sent Fox News Digital a longer statement, “While we have not been contacted by the family of James Luckey-Lange, we learned about the situation from the media on Friday and immediately contacted the U.S. Department of State.”

FROM SANCTIONS TO SEIZURE: WHAT MADURO’S CAPTURE MEANS FOR VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY

“For months, the State Department has advised American citizens not to travel to Venezuela, determining a very high risk of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals in the country. While we have not yet been able to confirm he has been detained, we are engaged, actively monitoring the situation, and have elevated our concern directly to the White House and the Secretary of State, and the State Department has been in contact with the family,” Malliotakis’ office said.

“It is our hope that our constituent will soon safely return to the United States.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for further information.

AFTER MADURO, VENEZUELA POWER VACUUM EXPOSES BRUTAL INSIDERS AND ENFORCERS

Her comments came after a House-wide classified briefing on the government’s Venezuela operation on Wednesday, which was led by top Trump administration officials.

Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, were extracted after precision strikes in the capital city of Caracas and are currently facing trial on terrorism-related charges at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

A story published in the Staten Island Advance, a local outlet in Malliotakis’ district, cited the New York Post in naming Luckey-Lange as being potentially detained by Venezuela since arriving there in December.

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The outlets reported that it’s not clear if he had a visa to enter Venezuela.

President Donald Trump said last weekend that the U.S. would “run” the country until an adequate transition were to occur. 

Meanwhile, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as acting president on Tuesday.

The White House said that the Trump administration is working in tandem with interim Venezuelan authorities and has made it clear that U.S. dominance will prevail after the toppling of dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime. 

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. had conducted strikes in Caracas, Venezuela, captured Maduro, and that the U.S. would run the country until a safe transition could occur. Currently, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, is serving as interim president. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other members of the president’s national security team are working in “close coordination with the interim authorities, and their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America.” 

“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now. And the president has made it very clear that this is a country … close by the United States that is no longer going to be sending illegal drugs to the United States of America. It’s no longer going to be sending and trafficking illegal people and criminal cartels to kill American citizens, as they have in the past. And the president is fully deploying his peace through strength foreign policy agenda.”

UNITED NATIONS ‘UPSET’ THAT TRUMP TOOK ‘BOLD ACTION’ TO IMPROVE VENEZUELA, SAYS UN AMB. MIKE WALTZ

“The administration has made it quite clear to the interim authorities in Venezuela that this is the Western Hemisphere, and American dominance is going to continue under this president,” Leavitt said. 

Trump announced Tuesday that Venezuela’s interim government would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., and that the oil would be sold “immediately.” 

Rubio told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. has the upper hand right now in Venezuela, due to a “quarantine” on sanctioned oil from Venezuela. 

“They are not generating any revenue from their oil right now,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday. “They can’t move it unless we allow it to move because we have sanctions, because we’re enforcing those sanctions. This is tremendous leverage. We are exercising it in a positive way.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. seized two sanctioned tankers in the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday. 

Trump announced Saturday that U.S. special forces conducted a strike against Caracas, Venezuela, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The two were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Monday on drug charges. Both pleaded not guilty.

In addition to running Venezuela, Trump said the U.S. was “ready to stage a second and much larger attack” if needed in Venezuela. 

AFTER MADURO, VENEZUELA POWER VACUUM EXPOSES BRUTAL INSIDERS AND ENFORCERS

The effort came after months of pressure on Venezuela as the Trump administration conducted more than 20 strikes in Latin American waters targeting alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s broader initiative to curb the influx of drugs into the U.S.

Even so, the Trump administration repeatedly stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and insisted he was the leader of a drug cartel. Trump also said in December 2025 he thought it would be “smart” for Maduro to step down. 

The Trump administration has claimed that its actions seizing Maduro were justified as a “law enforcement” operation, and Rubio said Congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an “invasion.” 

But lawmakers, primarily Democrats, have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval.

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“This has been a profound constitutional failure,” the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Saturday. “Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power.

“The question now is not whether Maduro deserved removal — it is what precedent the United States has just set, and what comes next.”

The city of San Diego sued the federal government to stop the construction of razor wire fencing on city-owned land near the U.S.-Mexico border, accusing federal agencies of trespassing and causing environmental damage.

The city filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for Southern California on Monday. The complaint named Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth among the defendants.

The city accused the federal government of acting without legal authority when they entered city property in Marron Valley and began installing razor wire fencing.

“The City of San Diego will not allow federal agencies to disregard the law and damage City property,” said City Attorney Heather Ferbert in a news release. She said the lawsuit aims to protect sensitive habitats and ensure environmental commitments are upheld.

NEWSOM SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT ORDER TO OREGON

According to the lawsuit, federal personnel including U.S. Marines accessed the land without the city’s consent, and damaged environmentally sensitive areas protected under long-standing conservation agreements.

San Diego argues the fencing has blocked the city’s ability to manage and assess its own property and could jeopardize compliance with environmental obligations.

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The lawsuit also accuses the federal government of trespassing and beginning construction without proper authority or environmental review, and unconstitutionally taking the land in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS and the Pentagon for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: Maryland’s top election officials are facing renewed scrutiny from Congressional Republicans after the state’s administrator of elections declined to provide definitive answers concerning the state’s voter rolls after it was discovered an illegal immigrant serving as a superintendent of a massive school system in Iowa was fraudulently registered to vote in Maryland, Fox News Digital learned. 

“Maryland’s chief elections official failed to provide complete answers, leaving serious concerns unresolved — chiefly whether Ian Roberts ever received a live ballot and whether the State has implemented new protocols to verify citizenship after this bombshell report,” Republican Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil exclusively told Fox News Digital Wednesday. 

“This case underscores the urgent need for stronger citizenship verification requirements when registering to vote — which was reaffirmed by President Trump just yesterday in his meeting with House lawmakers. The Committee’s investigation will continue,” he continued. 

Steil is the chair of the House Committee on House Administration. He and Vice Chair Laurel Lee, R-Fla., sent a letter to Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis in December 2025, demanding answers regarding illegal immigrant Ian Andre Roberts’ registration to vote in the state despite not holding U.S. citizenship. Roberts is originally from Guyana with ties to the U.S. going back to the 1990s. 

TRUMP DOJ DEMANDS MINNESOTA VOTING RECORDS OVER SAME-DAY REGISTRATION ‘VOUCHING’ CONCERNS

The House Administration Committee oversees House operations and oversight and also is charged with considering proposals to amend federal election law. 

The committee pressed for answers to questions such as: “Is Roberts still a registered voter in Maryland?;” “Has Mr. Roberts ever voted in Maryland? If yes, what election(s) did he participate in?;” “Was Mr. Roberts ever mailed an absentee ballot? If yes, for which election(s)?” and “How does the State Board of Elections fulfill their obligations under 52 U.S.C. §20507 to conduct a general program to remove ineligible voters from the rolls?”

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained DeMarinis’ response letter to the House Committee on House Administration, which defended the state’s voter registration system but stopped short of confirming whether Ian Andre Roberts, an illegal immigrant later arrested by ICE, was ever mailed an absentee ballot or remains registered to vote. 

MINNESOTA LETS VOTERS ‘VOUCH’ FOR UP TO 8 OTHERS AS FRAUD SCANDALS FUEL CALLS FOR FEDERAL CRACKDOWN

“While no voter should be on the Maryland voter rolls if they are not a citizen of the United States, being on the voter rolls does not equate to having voted in an election. This is an important distinction as we investigate potential illegalities and potential prosecution,” DeMarinis wrote in the response letter dated Jan. 5. 

The Maryland State Administrator of Elections did acknowledge the House Administration Committee’s questions specifically as they relate to Roberts, but could not offer definitive information. 

DEM STATE ELECTION BOARD UNDER FIRE AFTER ICE-ARRESTED SUPERINTENDENT SURFACES ON VOTER ROLLS

“Regarding the Committee’s questions concerning Ian Andre Roberts, SBE does not and cannot confirm that the identity of a voter matches that of another voter record in another state, based merely on the public facing information available,” he wrote. “Even in other states, as in Maryland, public information on those voter lookups is limited in order to protect personal identifying information (PII) from disclosure. Public voter lookup tools are not designed to perform voter list maintenance procedures. Therefore, SBE will not confirm whether the individual in question is or is not or was or was not a registered voter in Maryland.”

He added that public voting history in Maryland did not yield results that “any individual with the name Ian Andre Roberts in Maryland” had a voting history in the blue state. 

Maryland Republican Delegate Matt Morgan, chairman of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, told Fox Digital on Wednesday that, “The Maryland State Board of Elections is dropping the ball.”

“By failing to comply with a basic data request, they are fueling suspicion,” he said. “Their primary job is to prove our elections are secure and restricted to citizens, yet they’ve chosen secrecy over transparency. If there’s nothing to conceal, why withhold the data? It’s time for the SBE to stop dodging questions and start providing answers.”

Roberts’ voter registration documents have faced intense scrutiny from conservatives, including when a Maryland county board of elections released redacted versions of the files in November that blacked out how Roberts answered the citizenship question. 

DeMarinis said the redactions of “the original production of the voter record was made with redactions applying to general requests for information under Maryland’s Public information Act, rather than requests specifically for a voter record.”

“Once realized, a corrected record was produced. The information redacted was redacted pursuant to State and federal laws that permit withholding of certain voter information. Federal law requires the redaction of source of voter registration,” he said, referring to an updated release of the documents that showed Roberts reported he was a U.S. citizen on his voter application. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION STRIKES DEAL WITH OHIO TO CLEAN UP STATE VOTER ROLLS USING FEDERAL DATABASE

Roberts served as superintendent of the Des Moines school district, the largest school district in Iowa, at the time of his arrest in October. The state revoked Roberts’ education license following his arrest and is no longer serving as the district’s top leader. 

He initially attempted to flee law enforcement officers, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and was found to be in possession of $3,000 in cash, a Glock 9 mm pistol and a hunting knife at the time of his arrest. 

The charges are his latest in a lengthy rap sheet that goes back to 1996, federal officials have previously said. 

“In the end, it is important to remember as our guiding principle that as the Maryland Declaration of Rights states, ‘the right of the People to participate in the Legislature is the best security of liberty and the foundation of all free Government; . . . and every citizen having the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution, ought to have the right of suffrage,’” DeMarinis concluded his letter. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to DeMarinis’ office Wednesday regarding Steil’s comment but did not immediately receive a reply. 

The Trump administration is taking aim at ultra-processed foods while reversing long-held U.S. government stances on red meat and saturated fats.

The new guidance comes in stark contrast to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s report released in the final days of President Joe Biden‘s term, which garnered criticism over a lack of directives on ultra-processed foods.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made overhauling the U.S. food supply a crucial focus of his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda, which is aimed at addressing chronic disease and childhood illnesses. The secretary has argued that the nation’s food practices have harmed Americans and led to skyrocketing healthcare costs.

More details are being announced during White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s briefing on Wednesday. Kennedy and other Cabinet officials are expected to join.

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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.