NationalWatch

A federal judge allowed the abortion pill mifepristone to continue being distributed by mail nationwide for now, but warned the Biden-era policy could soon face major legal changes as a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety review of the drug unfolds.

The legal challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s January 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) seeks to end the “certified pharmacies” regulation that allows for the drug to be mailed across state lines while the federal agency continues its review.

U.S. District Court Judge David C. Joseph, appointed by President Donald Trump, ruled against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill on Tuesday, citing what he referred to as a “government by lawsuit.”

“…It is the completion of FDA’s promised good faith, evidence-based, and expeditious review of the mifepristone REMS, not “government by lawsuit,” that this Court finds to be in the public interest,” Joseph wrote in his ruling.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ATTACKS HAWLEY EFFORT TO STRIP FDA APPROVAL OF MIFEPRISTONE

Joseph also cited a letter from both Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary asking their respective agencies to “conduct a comprehensive safety review” of the 2023 mifepristone REMS.

Murrill told Fox News Digital she plans on taking Joseph’s ruling to the Fifth Circuit despite the ongoing mifepristone REMS review from both agencies.

“Judge Joseph concluded that Louisiana has standing to sue and is likely to succeed in showing that the 2023 REMS is unlawful,” Murrill said to Fox News Digital in a statement.

YOUNG, GOP SENATORS URGES TRUMP TO REINSTATE ‘PROTECT LIFE RULE’ TO BLOCK TITLE X FUNDS FROM ABORTION CLINICS

“He also concluded that Louisiana suffers irreparable harm every day that the 2023 REMS remains in effect,” she added. “Accordingly, under binding Fifth Circuit precedent, the only thing left to do is vacate the 2023 REMS pending the outcome of this litigation. We will ask the Fifth Circuit to do so.”

The ruling sets up a high-stakes legal fight over abortion pills, with a federal appeals court showdown looming and the FDA under pressure to justify rules that dramatically expanded access in recent years.

In the past year, many red states nationwide have taken the 2023 REMS mail-order regulation to the courts. 

In one notable incident last year, a Texas man who fathered an unborn child sued a California doctor who prescribed his ex-girlfriend mifepristone through the organization “Aid Access.” His case, Rodriguez v. Coeytaux, is still ongoing.

HAWLEY INTRODUCES BILL TO STRIP FDA APPROVAL FROM ‘INHERENTLY DANGEROUS’ ABORTION PILL

In the State of Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Murrill seeks a full rollback of the REMS policy regardless of the findings of the review.

Joseph denied injunction without prejudice in the suit that Louisiana brought to the court, but also granted stay of the case. His ruling orders the FDA to complete their safety review, which had been postponed through the November midterm elections, and to report back in six months.

“Should the agency fail to complete its review and make any necessary revisions to the REMS within a reasonable timeframe, the Court’s analysis – and the weight accorded to these factors – will inevitably change,” Joseph wrote in his ruling.

Joseph did point to Louisiana’s standing in the suit, claiming the state is suffering “ongoing harm” after the Dobbs decision in 2022 allowed the state to ban abortion.

“Thus, in that post-Dobbs regulatory environment, there is evidence that the 2023 REMS was approved without adequate consideration, at least in part, as part of an effort to circumvent anti-abortion states’ ability to regulate abortion,” Joseph wrote. “Likewise, there is evidence that the consequences of this action were predictable – out-of-state providers and related entities would expand access to mifepristone in ways designed to reach into jurisdictions like Louisiana.”

PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATION CALLS ON HHS AND FDA TO SUSPEND ABORTION PILL APPROVAL, TIGHTEN SAFETY RULES

However, Joseph pointed to the FDA as the ultimate decision maker on the issue, as a matter of “public health judgment.”

Mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000 under strict guidelines, requiring a pregnancy at seven weeks’ gestation or fewer, and only administered in-person after being seen by a prescribing physician. 

The guidelines were first relaxed in 2016, where the gestational age of the proposed pregnancy was lengthened to 10 weeks, and required fewer in-person visits to obtain a prescription.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, where mifepristone was prescribed and sent via mail under unprecedented circumstances, the same rules were legalized under the FDA’s REMS in 2023.

Reuters reported that mifepristone is the single-most popular method of abortion in the U.S., representing about 60% of all abortions.

HAWLEY LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO ABORTION DRUG MANUFACTURERS OVER ‘GRAVE RISKS’ TO WOMEN

Joseph’s ruling orders the FDA to finish their review, which may revise rules under the 2023 REMS guidelines. It also allows the court to act if the agency continues to delay its safety review more than six months.

“Should the agency fail… the Court’s analysis… will inevitably change,” Joseph concluded.

Joseph maintained mifepristone access in Louisiana for now, but signaled the legal and scientific basis for those rules may not hold.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“This is one of the many reasons why the investigation into the FDA must be sped up so that states can begin to regulate abortions if the feds don’t,” 40 Days for Life President Shawn Carney told Fox News Digital. “This was one of the great promises by RFK that they initiated last year, because we now know how dangerous these abortion drugs are.”

“The investigation into the FDA must be sped up because every abortion pill sent through the mail is a huge, unregulated danger that has been a disaster since Biden deregulated it,” Carney added.

The FDA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in an election Tuesday, strengthening control in a key battleground state, in a ballot box showdown that drew limited nation attention but had plenty riding on the results.

Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former democratic state representative, defeated Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, a conservative, the Associated Press reports.

Taylor will succeed a retiring conservative justice and with the victory, liberals will expand their majority on the state Supreme Court to 5-2.

While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin have become extremely partisan in recent election cycles.

PRIMARY PAUSE, POLITICAL FIRESTORM: HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS THIS MONTH TAKE CENTER STAGE

With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contest, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers. Musk also personally handed out $1 million checks to voters.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

The liberal candidate won that election by a larger-than-expected margin to capture a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court.

Since the majority wasn’t at stake in this year’s showdown, the campaign battle wasn’t showered with national resources, money, or attention.

Liberals took control of the state Supreme Court in 2023, ending a decade and a half of conservative control. Since taking the majority, the liberals have reversed several election-related rulings by the prior conservative majority, including one that banned absentee ballot drop boxes.

This year’s campaign focused on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, and union rights cases that will likely come in front of the state Supreme Court.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The judicial ballot box showdown also came six months ahead of November’s elections, when Democrats in Wisconsin aim to keep control of the governor’s office and potentially flip the state legislature, which Republicans have controlled for 15 years.

RINGGOLD, GA — Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller just gave House Speaker Mike Johnson a little bit of breathing room as the GOP clings to a razor-thin majority in Congress.

Fuller, who was backed by President Donald Trump, on Tuesday defeated Democrat Shawn Harris in a special election to fill the empty U.S. House seat in Georgia’s solidly red 14th Congressional District, the Associated Press reports.

The seat was left vacant when MAGA firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a bitter falling out with Trump.

The special election came as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. The GOP was under the gun to make sure the Democrats didn’t pull off an upset in the special election, in a district in northwest Georgia that Trump carried by a whopping 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.

PRIMARY PAUSE, POLITICAL FIRESTORM: HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS THIS MONTH TAKE CENTER STAGE

“It’s extremely crucial, and we need the reinforcements,” Fuller told Fox News Digital on the eve of the runoff election.

Fuller, a local district attorney and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who’s served in the Air Force since 2009, added, “I think the voters in Georgia 14 understand that, and they’re looking forward to sending a MAGA America first fighter up on Capitol Hill to support that agenda.”

TRUMP HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN KEY BATTLEGROUND AS RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE HEATS UP

Asked if he was concerned that MAGA supporters would sit out what was expected to be a low turnout election since the president is not on the ballot, Fuller said Trump voters “would crawl through glass to make sure they have a representative up there that fight for them and fight for President Trump.”

Harris, a cattle farmer who spent four decades in the military and retired as an Army brigadier general, needed the support of crossover Republicans in order to pull off an upset.

“I am a Democrat, but I’m not tied to the party,” Harris highlighted as he spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday. And Harris argued, “My opponent, Clay, cannot say that. He actually sold his soul to President Trump.”

Harris narrowly edged Fuller amid a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the first round of voting in early March. Since no candidate topped 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to Tuesday’s runoff.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

The congressional seat — which stretches from Atlanta’s outer suburbs to the state’s northwest borders with Alabama and Tennessee — was left vacant when Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

While Greene remains popular among Republicans in the district, Fuller said the voters he talked with on the campaign trail were “focused on the fights of the future, not anything that had happened in the past.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Asked if he spoke with Greene, Fuller said he “reached out to Rep. Greene, had conversations with her and got advice on the district, and I’ll keep those conversations confidential.”

Harris, who as a first-time candidate lost to Greene by nearly 29 points in her 2024 re-election, emphasized that he wasn’t “running against Marjorie Taylor Greene anymore,” and that his name “carries more weight than any other name in this district.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that, based on conversations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, he will delay the “bombing and attack of Iran” for two weeks.

Trump said the decision came after the leaders requested the U.S. “hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran,” which the president previously threatened would start at 8 p.m. eastern time if a deal was not reached.

The president said the postponement is subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

“This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.”

He added the administration received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and officials “believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump wrote. “On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”

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

Iran-backed Houthi forces are raising the prospect of a second global shipping choke point in the Red Sea, threatening to deepen pressure on energy markets and global trade as the conflict with Iran intensifies.

The Houthis entered the conflict in early April with missile and drone strikes on Israel and have since warned they could target shipping in the Bab al-Mandeb — a narrow corridor linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden — raising concerns the war could expand beyond the Strait of Hormuz and further disrupt global trade.

Analysts warn that if Houthi forces begin targeting vessels again, it could open a second maritime front in a conflict that has already choked off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, adding pressure to global energy markets and supply chains.

The Bab al-Mandeb is one of the world’s most critical shipping choke points, handling roughly 12% of global seaborne oil trade and serving as a key gateway for cargo moving between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal.

TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, are an Iran-backed armed group that controls much of northern Yemen and has been fighting a yearslong civil war against the country’s internationally recognized government.

Houthi leaders, in coordination with Iran, have framed the potential escalation as part of their response to U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran and its allies, warning they could target shipping or restrict access to the Red Sea if the conflict intensifies.

Iranian official Aliakbar Velayati posted on X on Sunday: “Today, the unified command of the Resistance front views Bab al-Mandeb as it does Hormuz. If the White House dares to repeat its foolish mistakes, it will soon realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move.”

The Red Sea has taken on added importance as the conflict disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing more cargo and energy flows toward alternative routes. That shift has increased reliance on the Bab al-Mandeb — a choke point that handles roughly $1 trillion in goods annually — raising the stakes of any renewed disruption.

Traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb is already running well below normal levels after earlier Houthi attacks pushed major shipping lines to reroute vessels around Africa. Ship-tracking data shows daily transits have fallen to roughly half of typical levels, underscoring that the route is already under strain even before any renewed escalation.

“It’s less about what they can actually do and more about the threat,” former Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan told Fox News Digital. “Once that risk is there, shipping companies decide not to take it.”

Even limited attacks or threats can drive up insurance costs and push major carriers to reroute vessels around Africa, effectively reducing traffic through the strait without a formal blockade.

The U.S. launched a major air and naval campaign in 2025 — known as Operation Rough Rider — to counter Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, after the group began targeting commercial vessels in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.

U.S. and allied forces carried out hundreds of strikes on missile launchers, drones, radar systems and other Houthi infrastructure across Yemen in an effort to restore freedom of navigation through the Red Sea.

RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE

The campaign degraded parts of the group’s capabilities but failed to fully eliminate the threat, as shipping companies continued to avoid the route due to ongoing security risks.

Both U.S. and regional experts say the Houthis lack the capability to fully shut down the Bab al-Mandeb, but retain the ability to harass vessels with missiles, drones and small boats — tactics that have previously disrupted shipping across the Red Sea.

The Houthis field a growing arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship weapons and drones, much of it derived from Iranian designs. While Iran has long supplied key components through smuggling networks, the group has also developed the ability to assemble and produce weapons inside Yemen — though analysts say those supply lines may now be constrained by the broader conflict.

“They do have the ability to pester international maritime traffic,” Middle East analyst Gregg Roman said, warning that broader attacks could trigger “a severe international response” from the U.S., Israel and Gulf allies.

So far, the Houthis have limited their involvement to strikes on Israel, avoiding the kind of sustained maritime attacks that disrupted global shipping in previous years — a sign analysts say reflects both strategic restraint and pressure from regional actors.

Officials and analysts say Iran could still encourage the group to escalate attacks on Red Sea shipping if the conflict deepens, positioning the Houthis as a secondary pressure point in the broader war.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

That dynamic has raised concerns the conflict could evolve into a multi-chokepoint crisis, testing the ability of the U.S. and its allies to keep critical global trade routes open.

Beyond the immediate threat to shipping, Donegan warned that efforts by Iran or its proxies to influence who can safely transit key waterways could challenge long-standing norms of free passage — raising concerns about how similar tactics could play out in other global choke points.

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia’s Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday ignored questions on whether she would entertain calls from the Department of Homeland Security to end sanctuary policies in the state.

“Governor Spanberger must end her sanctuary policies that allow these illegal aliens onto our streets and work with DHS to protect the citizens of the commonwealth,” the agency said in a post to social media.

Virginia — and in particular Fairfax County — has made headlines in recent weeks for a string of deadly attacks carried out by illegal aliens.

DHS BLASTS SPANBERGER ON POTENTIAL RELEASE OF ILLEGAL MIGRANT WITH 30+ ARRESTS CURRENTLY CHARGED WITH MURDER

Earlier this month, authorities charged 28-year-old Guatemala native Misael Lopez Gomez with the murder of his 3-month-old daughter. His arrest comes on the heels of an attack by Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, another Guatemalan charged with fatally stabbing a man in his home. The county was also where repeat offender and Sierra Leone national Abdul Jalloh, 32, stabbed a victim to death at a bus stop in February.

DHS noted that three of the four suspects charged with murders in Fairfax County so far in 2026 are illegal aliens.

Spanberger did not comment on the figure.

MIGRANT ACCUSED OF GROPING MULTIPLE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FACES CHARGES AS DHS WARNS SPANBERGER AGAINST RELEASE 

At the beginning of her term, Spanberger joined a handful of Democratic governors like California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker who have made it harder for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

On Jan. 17, Spanberger rescinded local-federal coordination requirements, arguing that Virginia’s resources would be better spent enforcing its own laws.

“Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger said in a press release.

“Federal authorities should enforce federal civil immigration laws — law enforcement in the Commonwealth should prioritize the safety and security of all residents in Virginia, the enforcement of local and state laws and coordination with federal entities on criminal matters,” she added.

Another illegal alien who has gotten attention in Virginia is Israel Flores Ortiz, 19, who is facing nine counts of assault and battery for groping girls at a Fairfax County high school he was attending. Victims and parents have alleged that Ortiz approached about 12 girls from behind in crowded hallways, grabbed them between the legs and groped their private areas, according to 7News.

DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said last month that the agency is “calling on Fairfax County sanctuary politicians to NOT release this predator from jail back into our communities to assault more teenage women.”

She went on to slam Spanberger for ending former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policy of cooperation with ICE, saying it is “siding with criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.”

NEW POLL REVEALS SPANBGERGER’S POPULARITY IS PLUMMETING AMID BACKLASH OVER GERRYMANDERING

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

DHS explained in a statement to Fox News Digital that it depends on partnerships to coordinate detention and removal of illegal aliens like Gomez, Muy and Jalloh.

“ICE can only detain illegals for the purpose of removal,” a DHS spokesperson said when asked how the agency coordinates handovers of suspects.

Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche showered President Donald Trump with praise during a Justice Department anti-fraud press conference and said any decision on permanently replacing Pam Bondi was up to the president.

“As to whether or not I want this job, I did not ask for this job. I love working for President Trump,” Blanche said in his first public remarks since Bondi’s firing. “It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime, and if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that’s an honor.”

Blanche added: “If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you sir.'”

PAM BONDI IS OUT AS AG — HERE ARE THE CONTENDERS WHO COULD REPLACE HER 

Blanche’s remarks came after Trump announced last week that Bondi would be leaving her role and that Blanche, his formal personal attorney and the DOJ’s deputy attorney general, would fill in indefinitely as acting attorney general.

Officials can serve in an acting capacity for up to 210 days. Trump has not signaled a nominee to take the role permanently, but he could nominate Blanche. Fox News Digital previously reported that the president has also had discussions with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin about taking the job.

Blanche noted that Bondi’s transition out of the department remained ongoing. Bondi announced last week that she would take the next 30 days to shift responsibilities to Blanche.

When asked why she was pushed out of her job, Blanche said “nobody has any idea … except for the president.” Trump had fired Bondi after she failed to secure successful indictments against some of Trump’s top political rivals and amid long-simmering frustrations with her handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case files.

“As far as Pam Bondi’s last day on the job, I am the acting attorney general,” Blanche said, adding, “We’ve been regularly communicating over the past several days for an appropriate transition. She is very much a big supporter of this department.”

Most of Blanche’s remarks focused on the DOJ’s crackdown on fraud, as he pointed to several recent cases totaling more than half a billion dollars in healthcare and COVID-19-related schemes.

Blanche cited a string of examples, including prosecutors securing a guilty plea in a $160 million healthcare enrollment fraud operation and a sentencing in a $100 million COVID-19 fraud case. He contended that such cases represented a fraction of the fraud occurring nationwide and formally rolled out the DOJ’s new National Fraud Enforcement Division, led by newly confirmed Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, who stood by Blanche during his remarks.

The division, Blanche said, would involve specialized prosecutors and expanded staffing in U.S. Attorney’s offices across the country, and it would use more advanced technology to more effectively investigate fraud.

JD VANCE ANNOUNCES MULTI-STATE FRAUD TASK FORCE IN WAKE OF MINNESOTA SCANDAL

“We have a storied history of combating fraud and bringing criminal actors to justice, but the department has never adopted a comprehensive and coordinated approach to investigating and prosecuting fraud against taxpayer dollars and taxpayer-funded programs,” Blanche said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Former U.S. Attorney John Fishwick of Virginia told Fox News Digital he thought Blanche appeared to be vying for the attorney general role.

“Todd Blanche seems to be trying out for the top job today in his opening press conference and surely trying to catch Trump’s attention with his criticism of many of the questions by the press,” Fishwick said in a statement, observing how Blanche derided some reporters for their questions.

Dozens of congressional Democrats are demanding that Republicans remove President Donald Trump for his latest threat against Iran, but one lawmaker says the idea isn’t “realistic.”

Several congressional Democrats want to invoke the 25th Amendment, a decades-old addition to the Constitution that empowers a president’s Cabinet to remove him from office if he is unable to do the job.

Some Democrats are arguing that Trump’s latest threat against Iran on Truth Social — where he declared that a “whole civilization will die tonight” unless his demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are met — is proof that he has lost the ability to carry out his role as commander in chief.

But Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., doesn’t believe now is the moment to pull the trigger on the 25th Amendment.

GRAHAM EYES ‘DOWN PAYMENT’ ON TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT WITHOUT DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT

“I’m getting a lot of traffic about the 25th Amendment after Trump’s mad rants,” Whitehouse said on X. “The president is facing serious mental decline; I’m with you on that.”

“But unfortunately, invoking the 25th is not realistic right now, given his oddball Cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics, and Republican ‘spines of foam,’” he continued. “We’re going to have to buckle down and win this the old-fashioned way.”

BIPARTISAN SENATORS PROBE KREMLIN-LINKED DELEGATION’S MEETINGS WITH US OFFICIALS

Doing so would require Vice President JD Vance and a majority of Trump’s Cabinet to agree to remove him. They would then send a declaration to Congress, which Trump would likely dispute, requiring a two-thirds vote in both chambers to officially remove him from office.

It’s a much higher bar than impeachment and conviction — and a move that has never been used to remove a sitting president.

While the measure has been used a handful of times since its ratification in the 1960s — either for brief transfers of power during medical procedures requiring anesthesia or to fill vacancies in the vice presidency — it has never been used to involuntarily remove a president.

HAWLEY, WARREN TEAM UP TO BACK TRUMP, CRACK DOWN ON DEFENSE CONTRACTOR PAYOUTS

Congressional Republicans similarly called for invoking the 25th Amendment against former President Joe Biden toward the end of his presidency, particularly after his debate performance against Trump in the summer of 2024.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Still, Democrats are seeking recourse over Trump’s Easter comments and his latest post Tuesday.

“If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on X. “This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Others are accusing Trump of being on the cusp of committing war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure. 

When asked if she believed that the administration would be carrying out a war crime by targeting power supply and bridges, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said, “No.”

“It’s an ongoing operation, and if he needs leverage, he’s using that leverage,” Ernst said.

Many Republicans have remained silent on Trump’s post. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and has not yet received a reply. 

President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as a deadline looms for Iran to agree to U.S. demands, escalating his rhetoric even as last-minute negotiations continue through intermediaries to avert sweeping military strikes.

Trump has set a Tuesday night deadline for Iran to accept terms that include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil artery, as U.S. officials — including Vice President JD Vance — continue back-channel talks through intermediaries such as Pakistan. 

But significant gaps remain, and the president’s latest comments raise the risk the U.S. may move forward with strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure, including power and transportation systems and beyond. 

TRUMP REVEALS IRAN MADE ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPOSAL’ AFTER ULTIMATUM, BUT ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’

Trump’s latest remarks mark a sharp escalation from earlier warnings focused on infrastructure. He also suggested Iran had undergone “complete and total regime change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail.”

Mojtaba Khamenei was named Iran’s supreme leader after U.S. strikes killed his father, Ali Khamenei, though his current status and control remain unclear amid conflicting reports. 

Iran has threatened to take action if Trump follows through on his threats. 

“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes,” said Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations. “It will exercise without hesitation its inherent right of self-defense, and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures.”

Diplomatic efforts to avert a wider conflict are ongoing but increasingly strained, with mediators including Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey working to broker a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before broader talks can begin.

“We are absolutely in touch with” Iran, a senior U.S. official told Fox News. “Absolutely. (The talks) have been positive. If we get lucky, we will have something by the end of the day.”

Iran repeatedly has rejected a temporary truce in favor of a permanent end to the war, while U.S. officials have dismissed Tehran’s proposals as insufficient, leaving key differences unresolved as the deadline approaches.

Trump underscored the threat in a profanity-laced Truth Social post Sunday, declaring that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day” in Iran and warning that the country’s infrastructure would be destroyed if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He told Iran to “open the F—in’ Strait … or you’ll be living in Hell.”

As the deadline nears, the conflict is already intensifying on the ground. Airstrikes hit parts of Iran’s capital city of Tehran Tuesday, while Iranian officials urged civilians to form human chains around power plants in an effort to deter potential U.S. attacks on critical infrastructure, Iranian state media reported. 

Overnight, the U.S. struck dozens of military sites on Kharg Island — including bunkers, radar stations and ammunition storage facilities — a senior U.S. official told Fox News. The island is Iran’s primary oil export hub, making it one of the regime’s most critical economic assets. 

By targeting military sites while avoiding energy infrastructure, the strikes suggest the U.S. is applying pressure while holding Iran’s oil lifeline at risk as a potential next step if the deadline passes without a deal.

Israel also has signaled a potential expansion of the target set to include Iran’s rail network, warning civilians to avoid trains ahead of possible strikes. Rail lines play a critical role in moving military forces and equipment, particularly in and out of Tehran, and disrupting them could significantly limit Iran’s ability to reposition assets and sustain operations.

While Trump has centered his deadline on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the negotiations have expanded into a broader dispute over ending the war, including Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, sanctions relief and security guarantees — issues that remain unresolved as both sides clash over what concessions must come first.

Trump’s “civilization” remarks have raised new questions about whether the potential U.S. target set could extend beyond bridges and power plants to include additional infrastructure or systems tied to the Iranian regime’s ability to maintain power.

IRAN’S TALLEST BRIDGE COLLAPSES AFTER REPORTED US AIRSTRIKES, IRAN THREATENS AMERICAN ALLIES IN RETALIATION

Trump has warned that “every bridge in Iran will be decimated” and that power plants could be left “burning, exploding and never to be used again” if Tehran fails to meet his demands, underscoring the scale of potential infrastructure strikes.

Trump also has repeatedly extended similar deadlines in recent weeks, delaying threatened strikes as negotiations continued before issuing new ultimatums. The pattern has raised questions about whether the latest deadline will hold — or serve as another pressure tactic in the final hours of talks.

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes in peacetime — already has sent shockwaves through global markets, raising pressure on the administration to reach a resolution while increasing the stakes of any potential military escalation.

Military options now on the table

Trump’s rhetoric has fueled questions about how far a potential U.S. strike campaign could extend beyond the infrastructure targets he has publicly identified. 

Military analysts say options range from continued infrastructure strikes aimed at crippling Iran’s ability to function to a broader campaign targeting the regime’s core power centers.

The White House rapid response team shot down a post on X which quoted Vance and suggested it implied “Trump might use nuclear weapons.” 

“Literally nothing @VP said here “implies” this, you absolute buffoons.”

“The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States. Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 

A U.S. operation could focus on disabling Iran’s electrical grid, transportation networks and energy facilities — a strategy designed to create nationwide disruption and pressure leadership. Such strikes could trigger cascading effects across communications, water systems and industrial production and would impact the civilian population.

Other options could involve further targeting of leadership, facilities tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including command-and-control nodes, weapons production sites and economic assets that fund the regime’s operations. 

Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum, said the president’s language suggests a focus on dismantling the regime’s underlying power structures rather than targeting Iran as a nation.

“I really think that what he’s talking about are the fundamental roots and the anchors of the Islamic Republic, not of the country of Iran,” Roman said.

“Everything that the United States would target in a hypothetical attack on power plants, bridges, other key points of infrastructure would really have to focus on those that are connected to the ability of the generals who are currently in charge of this regime and their ability to maintain power,” he added.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Roman said Trump’s reference to “civilization” likely reflects the 47-year rule of the Islamic Republic rather than Iranian society as a whole.

“I don’t think he’s speaking about Persian civilization. I think he speaking about the 47 years that the Islamic Republic has ruled as a polity.”

Iranian officials have called on civilians to help protect key infrastructure. Earlier, Iranian official Alireza Rahimi issued a video message calling on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants.

Iranian Preisdent Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Iranians are willing to give their lives in defense of Iran. 

“More than 14 million brave Iranians have so far declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives to defend Iran. I have also sacrificed my life for Iran, I am, and I will continue to do so,” he wrote on X.

Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, Jennifer Griffin and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump, hours away from the deadline he put on Iran to reach a deal, took a few moments on Tuesday to hail Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in an impromptu call-in to a campaign rally address by Vice President JD Vance.

“Mr. President, you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots, and I think they love you even more than they love Viktor Orban,” Vance told the president in a call that blared over the speakers at the event in Hungary.

Speaking by phone to what attendees described as roughly 5,000 supporters before Sunday’s election, Trump praised Orban as “a fantastic man” who has “done a fantastic job” leading his country.

“I love Hungary and I love that Viktor, I’ll tell you,” Trump said. “He’s a fantastic man. We’ve had a tremendous relationship, and he does a job. Remember this? He didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have and ruin their countries.”

TRUMP SAYS HUNGARY’S BORDER STANCE KEEPS CRIME DOWN, SAYS EUROPE ‘FLOODING’ WITH MIGRANTS

“Frankly, he’s kept your country good. He’s kept Hungarian people in your country. And he’s done a fantastic job,” Trump added.

Trump credited Orban’s hard-line immigration stance with keeping Hungary “strong” and said Hungarians were “my kind of people.”

HUNGARIAN OFFICIAL TOUTS ‘GOLDEN AGE’ OF US RELATIONSHIP, CREDITS TRUMP WITH BOOSTING NATO AND INVESTMENT

Trump said he and the U.S. are with Orban “all the way.”

After Trump’s remarks, Vance told the crowd they had to get Orban reelected as Hungary’s prime minister.

Vance’s visit to Budapest, just days before a vote that independent polls suggest Orban might lose, underscores how crucial Trump’s “MAGA” movement deems the veteran Hungarian nationalist’s reelection.

TRUMP ALLY ORBAN ISSUES SCATHING LETTER DEMANDING ZELENSKYY CHANGE UKRAINE’S ‘ANTI-HUNGARIAN POLICY’

“It’s a real honor to talk to you: You’re really incredible people with great enthusiasm and brilliance,” Trump told the crowd to conclude brief remarks.

“Brilliant people, and I really love it. You have a man that kept your country strong and he kept your country good, and you don’t have problems with all of the problems that so many other countries have because they let their countries be invaded,” Trump added. “And you don’t have that problem because of Viktor Orban. That’s the only reason you don’t have that problem. There was a lot of pressure on him to do it, and those other countries made big mistakes. So I wish you a lot of luck and I love you all.”

Earlier, Vance lashed out at what he called “disgraceful” interference from the European Union in the Hungarian election.

RUBIO SEALS CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH HUNGARY

“What has happened in this country, what has happened in the midst of this election campaign, is one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I’ve ever seen or ever even read about,” Vance told a news conference. “The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers, and they’ve done it all because they hate this guy [Orban].”

TRUMP HAILS VANCE AND RUBIO AS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ DUO: HAMMER AND VELVET GLOVE

The visit broke with the norms of prior U.S. presidential administrations of not openly campaigning in foreign elections, especially for a government that has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Orban has maintained cordial ties with Moscow despite the Ukraine war, and says Russian energy is essential for Hungary.

Trump has already personally endorsed Orban, 62, as “a truly strong and powerful leader” and Vance lavished praise on the Hungarian prime minister’s policies on everything from energy to the war in Ukraine.

“I’m here because of the moral cooperation between our two countries, because what the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor’s leadership and under President Trump’s leadership is the defense of Western civilization,” Vance said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Orban, fighting the toughest reelection bid of his career after 16 years in power, hailed what he called “a golden age” in relations between Hungary and the U.S. under Trump’s leadership.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“25TH AMENDMENT!!! Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness,” Greene wrote on X.

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

Greene’s post featured a screenshot of Trump’s Tuesday Truth Social post in which he ominously warned that Iran’s “civilization will die tonight.”

FORMER REP MTG VENTS THAT SHE’S ‘SO BEYOND DONE,’ CHARACTERIZING TRUMP’S ADDRESS AS ‘WAR WAR WAR’

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump declared in the Truth Social post.

“However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” he added.

Greene, a once-fierce Trump ally, had a bitter falling out with the president last year and has become a vociferous critic of the commander in chief.

Some sitting Democratic lawmakers have also called for the president to be booted from office.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of the progressive cadre of lawmakers known as “The Squad,” is one of those calling for Trump’s ouster.

“Sickeningly evil. Donald Trump must be impeached. When will it be enough for my Republican colleagues to grow spines and remove him from office?” she wrote in a Tuesday post on X.

ILHAN OMAR CALLS TRUMP AN ‘UNHINGED LUNATIC,’ URGES BOOTING HIM OUT OF OFFICE

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., declared in a Tuesday post on X, “25th Amendment RIGHT NOW! Trump is too unhinged, dangerous, and deranged to have the nuclear codes!”

Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., who last year introduced impeachment articles against Trump, declared in a Tuesday post on X, “Trump just threatened to slaughter 100 million people. It’s clear he’s unfit to be president, the 25th amendment must be invoked. If Vance, Rubio & the others continue to be spineless cowards, Congress must do everything possible to stop Trump & this war.”

In a Truth Social post issued on Easter Sunday, the president warned, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F[—]kin’ Strait, you crazy b——, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

Omar responded to the president’s comments, declaring in a Monday post on X, “This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office.”

TRUMP WARNS ‘WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT,’ AS IRANIAN OFFICIAL URGES HUMAN CHAINS AROUND POWER PLANTS

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Greene declared in a Sunday post on X that the president had “gone insane.”

“Everyone in his administration that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump’s madness. I know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit,” she asserted in part of the lengthy post. “This is not making America great again, this is evil.”

Vice President JD Vance said that Iran has “two pathways” it can take regarding the conclusion of the war as President Donald Trump’s 12-hour deadline is looming Tuesday for the regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges. 

Vance, speaking in Hungary, also said he is praying that the United States is on “God’s side” in its pursuit to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

“There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives,” Vance said. “There are still some things that we’d like to do, for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons, that we’d like to do a little bit more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed.” 

“I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit, but I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country. They’re not going to fund terrorism anymore. They’re going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange,” Vance continued. “And that’s going to mean much better things for them economically. It’s going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It’s going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That’s option A.” 

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP DEADLINE FOR IRAN TICKS CLOSER AS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC REJECTS TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE

“Option B is that the Iranians don’t come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel but of course their Arab neighbors too. Then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad. And frankly, it will probably get worse,” the vice president said. 

“The president also has been very clear that while the Iranians are trying to exact as much economic cost through the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has the ability to extract much greater economic costs on Iran than Iran has an ability to extract costs on us or on our friends in the world,” Vance also said. “So I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now, and the United States, we’re going to find out. But there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.” 

HEGSETH TIES IRAN RESCUE TO EASTER STORY AND JESUS CHRIST: ‘A PILOT REBORN’

Vance told reporters Tuesday that his attitude toward military conflict has been to pray that “we are on God’s side.”

“We’re doing this because we don’t want a regime that has committed acts of terrorism to have the world’s most dangerous weapon. Because that would mean a lot of innocent people dead,” Vance said about the war. “I certainly hope that God agrees with the decision that Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon, but I’ll keep praying about it.” 

Vance also accused Iran of unleashing “acts of economic terrorism” that are obstructing the free flow of gas and oil around the world. 

“So they’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,” he warned. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Vance also confirmed Tuesday that “we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island” and “I believe we have done so.”

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., is mounting a long-shot bid to impeach President Donald Trump as he stares down a primary threat from younger challengers, who seek to thwart his bid for a 15th House term. 

Larson, 77, introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday, citing the president’s military intervention in Venezuela, the deployment of National Guard troops to cities across the country and his executive order to curtail birthright citizenship, among other charges.

Larson also charged Trump with “murder, war crimes and piracy” for ordering a naval blockade around Venezuela targeting U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers ahead of the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and for launching dozens of strikes against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.

“Through his serial usurpation of the congressional war power and commission of murder, war crimes, and piracy, Donald J. Trump has acted contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of law, liberty, and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the resolution reads in part.

COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURE RULED AS CAUSE OF PAUSING EPISODE DURING HOUSE FLOOR SPEECH, DEM CONGRESSMAN SAYS

The resolution has little chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled House or resulting in a Senate trial, even if Larson chooses to force a vote when lawmakers return the week of April 13.

However, Larson’s impeachment push comes as the septuagenarian congressman faces a heated primary challenge from several younger candidates running on a mantle of generational change.

Larson, a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, notably suffered a complex partial seizure while delivering a speech on the House floor in February 2025.

VOCAL ANTI-TRUMP DEM REVEALS WHICH INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO OUST HIM FROM HOUSE SEAT: ‘I WAS A TARGET’

Primary challenger Luke Bronin, 46, a former Hartford mayor and military veteran, has called on Larson to step aside after nearly three decades in the House. Bronin, who is backed by Democratic-aligned veterans groups, outraised Larson during the first two months after launching his insurgent campaign in 2025.

It is unclear whether Larson’s impeachment push is supported by House Democratic leadership. A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Larson is the latest in a string of House Democrats to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump since he began his second term.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump has repeatedly warned that Democrats will attempt to impeach him for a third time if the party retakes control of the House chamber in 2027.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did not rule out that possibility during an interview with MS NOW last week, but added that Democrats would focus on addressing cost-of-living issues.

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

As President Donald Trump’s administration pushes back against radical leftist gender ideology, the Department of Education is taking aim at agreements from prior administrations.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has rolled back provisions of resolution agreements stemming from previous administrations, unshackling schools from unlawful enforcement of Title IX, according to the department.

“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement.

EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON ACCUSES CRITICS OF HAVING ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’

“While previous Administrations launched Title IX investigations based on ‘misgendering,’ the Trump Administration is investigating allegations of girls and women being injured by men on their sports team or feeling violated by men in their intimate spaces,” she added.

“Today is yet another demonstration of the Trump Administration’s commitment to uphold the law, protect our students, and restore common sense. No longer will the federal government force educational institutions to violate the law or punish them for upholding it,” Richey declared.

The Department of Education listed Cape Henlopen School District, Delaware Valley School District, Fife School District, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, Sacramento City Unified and Taft College.

DETRANSITIONER CHLOE COLE ACCUSES MEDIA OF ‘TRYING TO SUPPRESS’ COVERAGE OF TRANSGENDER SHOOTERS

“OCR is rescinding portions of six resolution agreements that were reached through the illegal, heavy-handed manipulation of Title IX. The Department will therefore no longer monitor or enforce these agreements,” the department said.

A settlement that Delaware Valley School District had with the Obama administration required the district to allow students to utilize restrooms that matched their gender identity, according to The Associated Press.

In February, the Trump administration sent the district a letter saying it was rescinding the settlement. 

The administration required the district to rescind antidiscrimination protections for transgender pupils, the AP reported.

HARVARD ALUM PRAISES TRUMP ADMIN TARGETING UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS POLICIES, HANDLING OF ANTISEMITISM

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The school board voted last month to alter its transgender student policies to comply with the administration’s requirements, the outlet reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

The Artemis II cew literally went where no man, or woman, had gone before on a historic trek around the dark side of the moon on Monday, and the crew did it with pilot Victor Glover making a quick request for divine assistance.

“I’d like to ask, what was your feeling when you had no communication?” President Donald Trump asked in a call arranged by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman from Houston mission control to “Integrity,” the crew’s chosen name for the Orion capsule. “Zero communication all of a sudden: It was cut off by obviously your very special location; what was your feeling when you had no communication? A little bit different, perhaps.”

“Yes, Mr. President, it was,” Glover replied. “I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling.”

The prayer was quick, because when things went dark, the crew had to get to work during the 45-minute communications outage.

NASA’S ARTEMIS II CREW COMMITS TO MOON TRAJECTORY AFTER CRITICAL BURN SENDS ORION INTO DEEP SPACE

“I was actually recording scientific observations of the far side of the moon,” Glover continued. “You know, that is actually the time when we were the farthest and the closest to the moon.

“And so we were really able to make some of our most detailed observations of the far side of the moon up close. And so we were busy up here working really hard. And I must say it was actually quite nice.”

NASA CHIEF JARED ISAACMAN SAYS ARTEMIS II WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE ‘IF IT WASN’T FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’

Trump drilled down on the observations.

“Did you see a difference, a big difference between the far side of the moon and the near side of the moon?” Trump asked. “Was there a difference in feel or difference in look, what did you see?”

The lack of light “certainly did” change the perspective, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said, noting the far side looked strikingly different from the near side, with far fewer of the dark plains visible from Earth.

GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND: AMERICA’S SPACE EDGE IS AT STAKE AS ARTEMIS II HEADS TO THE MOON

“The gravitational pull of the Earth has had a profound effect on the near side of the moon, changing all those dark mares, those dark patches of the moon you see from Earth. It’s very different on the far side.

“While you see some small patches of those mare and deep craters, it’s very much absent on that side. So that’s really neat.”

Hansen also took a moment to thank Trump on behalf of Canada, a country that has had at-times testy dealings with Trump.

NUTELLA CAPITALIZES ON GREATEST FREE ADVERTISING MOMENT IN HISTORY ON NASA MOON MISSION

“And while I have the microphone, sir, I just want to thank you on behalf of Canada: The space leadership you spoke of from America truly is extraordinary,” Hansen said. “I’ve said this many times before, a nation that leads like that and creates and sets big goals for humanity, that brings other countries along with it, is truly incredible.

“And I know that’s a very intentional, not a necessary decision, intentional decision to lead by example and to allow other countries like Canada to share our gifts and help you achieve these mutually beneficial goals, like establishing a presence on the moon and eventually going to Mars.

“And Canadians are so proud to be a part of this program.”

TRUMP HYPES MOON MISSION AS ARTEMIS II PREPARES TO LIFT OFF UNDER PRESSURE FROM PAST FAILURES

Trump referenced Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky and said the country is proud of Hansen’s bravery.

“They are so proud of you, and you have a lot of courage,” Trump said. “I’m not sure if they’d want to do that. I’m not even sure if The Great One would want to do that, to be honest with you. But you have a lot of courage doing what you’re doing, a lot of bravery and a lot of of genius. But they’re very, very proud of you.”

ASTRONAUT VICTOR GLOVER PRAISED FOR SAYING MOON MISSION IS ‘HUMAN HISTORY,’ NOT ‘BLACK HISTORY’

Mission specialist Christina Koch spoke about regaining sight of Earth after the blackout and the importance of U.S. leadership in deep-space exploration.

“One of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again, after being out of communication for about 45 minutes,” said Koch, the first woman to the moon, who already holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days) and was part of the first all-female spacewalk.

“It really just reminds you what a special place we have and how important it is for our nation to work, to lead and not follow in exploring deep space.”

Commander Reid Wiseman told Trump the crew had witnessed views that were first sights for humanity, including a solar corona during an eclipse and planets lining up beyond the moon.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We saw sights hat no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us,” Wiseman said. “And then the surprise of the day, we just came out of an eclipse where the sun, moon — the entire dark moon about that big right out the window that we were watching — we could see the corona of the sun, and then we could see the planet train line up, and Mars.

“And all of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation, and this planet become a two-planet species.”

The White House tore into Democrat activist and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Monday after she argued President Donald Trump‘s executive order seeking to rein in mail-in voting was “illegal.”

“Has Stacey Abrams conceded the multiple elections she lost yet or is she still pretending to be Governor?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “Election integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump, and the American people sent him back to the White House because they overwhelmingly supported his commonsense election integrity agenda.”

The comment was in response to Abrams, who said during an appearance on MS NOW over the weekend that Trump’s order would disenfranchise voters, resurfacing long-held tensions with the president amid his latest push to enhance voter security ahead of the midterms. Abrams previously ran for Georgia governor twice and refused to formally concede her 2018 election. 

“It is patently illegal, and it is entirely in the playbook of voter suppression that Republicans, including Donald Trump, have been using for the last decade or so,” Abrams said.

STACEY ABRAMS TOUTS 10 STEPS TO AUTOCRACY, SAYS ‘DO NOT LET PROPAGANDA WIN’

Trump’s order, called “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” directs the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, in coordination with state leaders, to create a list of citizens, and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail-in ballots to people on the list.

“The president will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them – that’s only controversial for Democrats like Stacey,” Jackson added.

Abrams founded Fair Fight Action after her 2018 loss to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying Georgia’s election system suppressed voters. The group was later ordered to reimburse the state more than $200,000 in legal costs after an unsuccessful lawsuit. 

Separately, Abrams-linked advocacy groups have faced campaign-finance and nonprofit-compliance scrutiny, including a Georgia Ethics Commission case involving the New Georgia Project and a 2025 IRS complaint targeting Fair Fight Action.

Abrams has since criticized Republican-led voting initiatives at the federal and state level as relics of the Jim Crow era and designed to disenfranchise racial minorities.

“The Constitution gives to the states the authority to determine how elections are held,” Abrams said. “What the Republican regime is upset about is that democracy has been working.”

Trump criticized Abrams as far back as 2018 over her stance on voting, accusing her of wanting “illegal aliens to vote.” Abrams “opposed requiring proof of American citizenship at the ballot box,” Trump said at the time.

Trump has long argued that noncitizen voting, which is illegal, is a widespread problem in U.S. elections. In addition to his executive order, Trump has urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act before the 2026 elections to impose a physical identification requirement on people registering to vote, though it lacks the needed support from Democratic senators to advance in the upper chamber.

While the White House has framed Trump’s executive order as an effort to bolster election integrity, Abrams and other critics argued it intruded on state authority and would unfairly suppress votes.

“The biggest risk for Americans right now is that we see these as piecemeal, and we don’t recognize it’s part of a pattern,” Abrams said. “This is step 10 in an authoritarian playbook. You end democracy.”

JAMES CARVILLE TELLS EX-CNN HOST HE’S WORRIED TRUMP WILL TAMPER WITH 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Abrams also alleged that the executive order would serve to create a master list of voters, effectively usurping state control over voter registration lists and federalizing elections.

“The creation of a database … should terrify all of us,” Abrams said. “That is an attempt to do national surveillance.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In addition to Abrams’ criticisms, roughly two dozen states and voting rights groups filed lawsuits seeking to block the executive order, arguing Trump’s directives violated the Constitution by encroaching on states’ authority to administer elections.

Fox News Digital reached out to an Abrams representative for comment.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called President Donald Trump an “unhinged lunatic” in a Monday post on X, advocating for him to be ousted from office.

“This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office,” she asserted.

The left-wing lawmaker made the comments while sharing a screenshot of the president’s controversial Easter Sunday Truth Social post threatening attacks against Iranian power plants and bridges.

TRUMP WARNS IRAN HE MAY STRIKE ‘EVERY POWER PLANT’ AS DEADLINE TO REOPEN HORMUZ NEARS

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Trump wrote in the post, referring to the Strait of Hormuz. 

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., warned in a Monday post on X, “Threatening to target power plants and other non-military targets is not strength. If those words become orders to destroy civilian infrastructure with no valid military purpose, it’s hard to see how they would not violate the laws of armed conflict. America leads best with strength, discipline, and professionalism. Illegal orders to make civilians suffer would be a black mark on our military and our country.”

MARK KELLY PRESSED ON WHETHER HE WOULD REFUSE ORDERS IF HE WAS STILL IN UNIFORM

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., declared in a Sunday post on X, “President Trump’s profanity-laden Easter threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure—power plants and bridges—are the words of a frustrated and immoral madman. Many experts agree that such attacks would be war crimes under international law. To our military leaders, remember this: You are legally required to refuse orders to commit war crimes.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., characterized Trump’s comments as “the ravings of a dangerous and mentally unbalanced individual,” asserting in a Sunday post on X, “Congress has got to act NOW. End this war.”

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

‘GOD IS GOOD’: INSIDE THE HIGH-RISK US MISSION TO SAVE A WOUNDED AIRMAN SHOT DOWN IN IRAN

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

During remarks on Monday, Trump indicated the U.S. has “a plan … where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock.”

“We don’t want that to happen,” he said.

ROME, GA — Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller says that Tuesday’s special election runoff in Georgia is “extremely crucial.”

Fuller is facing off against Democrat Shawn Harris in the race to fill the seat in Georgia’s solidly red 14th Congressional District — in the northwest part of the state — left vacant when MAGA firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a bitter falling out with President Donald Trump.

The special election, held on the same day as a state Supreme Court contest in battleground Wisconsin, comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. The GOP cannot afford any surprises and allow the Democrats to pull an upset in the special election, in a district Trump carried by a whopping 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.

“We need the reinforcements,” Fuller, a local district attorney and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who’s served in the Air Force since 2009, emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the runoff election, as he pointed to the GOP’s fragile majority. “I think the voters in Georgia 14 understand that, and they’re looking forward to sending a MAGA America first fighter up on Capitol Hill to support that agenda.”

PRIMARY PAUSE, POLITICAL FIRESTORM: HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS THIS MONTH TAKE CENTER STAGE

Asked if he was concerned that MAGA supporters would sit out what may be a low turnout election since the president is not on the ballot, Fuller said voters “would crawl through glass to make sure they have a representative up there that fight for them and fight for President Trump, and that’s why we’re going to have the votes pouring out on April 7.”

TRUMP HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN KEY BATTLEGROUND AS RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE HEATS UP

Harris, a cattle farmer who spent four decades in the military and retired as an Army brigadier general, needs the support of crossover Republicans in order to pull off an upset.

“I am a Democrat, but I’m not tied to the party,” Harris highlighted as he spoke with Fox News Digital. And Harris argued, “My opponent, Clay, cannot say that. He actually sold his soul to President Trump.”

Harris, pointing to surging gas prices fueled by Trump’s military attack on Iran, said when voters “go to the polls, they will have to stop at the pump, and that’ll be the last thing they think about before they go and vote. And they’re going to say, ‘You know what, Shawn Harris is the only one that’s talking about bringing down costs, Shawn Harris is the only one is saying, ‘I’m going to stand up for the people here in Northwest Georgia, period.”

“We will win this war militarily. However, if we don’t watch it and be clear with the American people, based on these gas prices and diesel prices, we could actually lose this war politically.”

Harris said he “will support President Trump on things like the…southern border.” But he added “when it comes to things like…a forever war. Send me. I will push back.”

Fuller said that “the voters in Georgia-14 support the president in this endeavor. They understand that the Iranian regime was a long term threat to our national security…they understand that President Trump is making the world safer, and they understand that there may be short term pain at the gas pump, and they’ll expect those prices to drop as soon as this conflict is over.”

Harris grabbed 37% of the vote, with Fuller at 35% amid a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the first round of voting in early March. Since no candidate topped 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to Tuesday’s runoff.

The congressional seat — which stretches from Atlanta’s outer suburbs to the state’s northwest borders with Alabama and Tennessee — was left vacant when Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

While Greene remains popular among Republicans in the district, Fuller said the voters he’s talked with on the campaign trail “are focused on the fights of the future, not anything that had happened in the past.”

Asked if he’s talked with Greene, Fuller said he “reached out to Rep. Greene, had conversations with her and got advice on the district, and I’ll keep those conversations confidential.”

Harris, who as a first-time candidate lost to Greene by nearly 29 points in her 2024 re-election, emphasized that “I’m not running against Marjorie Taylor Greene anymore,” and that his name “carries more weight than any other name in this district.”

If Harris loses but holds Fuller’s margin to the mid-teens or less, national Democrats will argue the election is the latest in nearly 15 months since Trump returned to the White House in which they’ve overperformed.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

The ballot box brawl in Northwest Georgia isn’t the only electoral showdown on Tuesday. There’s also a state Supreme Court election in battleground Wisconsin.

While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin have become extremely partisan in recent years.

With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contest, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers.

Democrats won that election by a larger-than-expected margin and currently hold a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s highest court.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

With a conservative justice retiring, the majority isn’t at stake in this year’s election, although if state Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former democratic state representative, wins, liberals would expand their majority on the high court to 5-2.

If Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, a conservative, wins or keeps the margins close, the GOP may claim a moral victory.

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said he doesn’t think mobilizing ground troops in Iran will be “necessary” to open up the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade waterway that has been blocked by the Iranian military for more than a month.

Turner, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday, just hours after President Donald Trump threatened Iran to “open the F—–‘ Strait” or else “you’ll be living in Hell.”

Stephanopoulos asked Turner if he thinks the Strait of Hormuz could be opened without military intervention.

At first, Turner didn’t directly answer the question. Instead, he spoke broadly about the conflict, saying that Iran’s efforts to become a nuclear state are being “eliminated” thanks to President Donald Trump’s military interventions. He also blamed the Obama administration for failing to “undertake the conflict.”

TRUMP SAYS IRAN ‘NO LONGER A THREAT’ AFTER 32 DAYS — OUTLINES NEXT PHASE OF US WAR

“If you just step back and watch, as the Obama administration was going to do while Iran became a nuclear power and they became North Korea, we wouldn’t be looking at the Strait of Hormuz,” Turner said.

Stephanopoulos then asked Turner again if he thought mobilizing ground troops to open up the important waterway would be necessary.

“Well, I think, you’re certainly seeing that even as this conflict evolves, that that is being put in place, and I don‘t think U.S. ground troops are going to be necessary in any direct conflict,” Turner said.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP’S IRAN ADDRESS

“In this instance, we‘re seeing that the conflict is continuing with the president beginning to, in conjunction with Israel, significantly diminish Iran‘s military capabilities, both their navy, their missile capabilities, overall are continuing, and certainly, their nuclear capabilities are being continually diminished. And that was the goal, and that is an incredibly important goal for the safety of the United States,” Turner continued.

In a follow-up post on Truth Social, Trump gave Iran a deadline of “Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump also urged European countries to assist with reopening the waterway in a Wednesday address to the nation.

TRUMP ORDERS WAR DEPT TO POSTPONE STRIKES ON IRANIAN ENERGY SITES, CITING ‘PRODUCTIVE’ TALKS TO END WAR

“The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it and we don’t need it,” Trump said.

“We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on,” he continued.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Even though the United States imports very little oil through the Persian Gulf, a disruption to the supply chain will send shocks throughout the global supply. Since the start of the war, the average price for gas in the United States has jumped to more than $4 a gallon.

Fox News Digital reached out to Turner for further comment.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s departure last week was the latest in a series of high-profile firings or resignations of America’s top law enforcement officer, from a key Watergate figure to a well-respected attorney whose differences with the president became irreconcilable.

Former President George Washington appointed Founding Father and former Virginia Gov. Edmund Randolph the nation’s first attorney general in 1789, and in the years since, there have been dozens of successors, some lost to history and others more memorable.

Eliot Richardson and Richard Kleindienst — Nixon

Eliot Richardson, the secretary of defense at the time of the Watergate burglary, was named to succeed Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, who resigned amid the scandal after reportedly being pressured by a member of the Watergate “plumbers” to assuage the situation.

“Plumbers” was the moniker for the group accused in the burglary at the DNC headquarters, then located at the Watergate Hotel in Foggy Bottom, D.C. They were organized by CIA officer E. Howard Hunt and FBI agent-turned-future conservative talk radio star G. Gordon Liddy. The name purportedly came from the dual meaning of “leaks” — political versus pipes.

TOP DOJ OFFICIALS TO BRIEF HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE FOR JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE

Kleindienst was playing golf at Burning Tree in Bethesda, Md., in June 1972 when Liddy reportedly approached him to say that the Committee to Re-elect the President (Nixon’s committee) was involved in the burglary, according to an account from the UK Guardian.

Kleindienst reportedly told the G-man to get lost, and the federal investigation ensued as normal.

As the scandal raged on April 30, 1973, Nixon announced he had accepted the resignations of Kleindienst, and presidential assistants John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman — and fired White House Counsel John Dean — who has often called President Donald Trump’s tenure worse than that of his old boss.

“Mr. Kleindienst asked to be relieved as Attorney General because he felt that he could not appropriately continue as head of the Justice Department now that it appears its investigation of the Watergate and related cases may implicate individuals with whom he has had a close personal and professional association,” Nixon said in a public letter that day.

Richardson’s tenure began thereafter and ended with one of the most significant executive branch departures in history: the “Saturday Night Massacre.”

On October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox shortly after Cox subpoenaed the Oval Office recordings. Richardson, who appointed Cox and reportedly pledged not to fire him without cause, refused and resigned.

TRUMP FIRES JUDGE-PICKED US ATTORNEY AS TOP DOJ OFFICIAL WARNS COURTS TO STAY IN THEIR LANE

Nixon then asked Richardson’s deputy, William Ruckelshaus, to fire Cox, and he also resigned instead of carrying out the order.

Nixon then ordered Ruckelshaus’ deputy, Solicitor General Robert Bork, who is better known for his unsuccessful nomination to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, to fire Cox. Bork did so and reportedly considered resigning but stayed on at the urging of his predecessors to ensure stability at the DOJ.

That November, an LBJ-appointed federal judge found that Cox’s firing had been unlawful.

Nixon himself ultimately resigned almost one year later on August 9, 1974.

Richardson’s legacy became that of a cabinet official who, in times of crisis, sacrificed professional status for personal integrity, as described by the Constitution Center and others.

Alberto Gonzales — G.W. Bush

Alberto Gonzales was one of President George W. Bush’s closest advisers, going back to his time as Texas governor. He was also the first Hispanic attorney general and the highest-ranking Hispanic cabinet official until Trump named Marco Rubio to secretary of state in 2025.

Gonzales ultimately resigned the top cop post in 2007 amid mounting bipartisan criticism of the DOJ’s firing of several U.S. attorneys and allegations that he was not forthright during congressional inquiries about whether politics played a role in the firings.

Bush lamented his friend’s resignation, saying “it is sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.”

Gonzales faced mounting pressure and criticism amid the firings and regarding comments defending enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists.

He stated “I do not recall” or similar framings of the statement dozens of times during a contentious Senate hearing where he battled Republicans like Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter and Democrats including California’s Dianne Feinstein.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., later confronted Gonzales over his responses.

KARL ROVE: TRUMP DROPPED BONDI, BUT THE REAL POLITICAL FIGHT IS JUST BEGINNING

“You’ve answered ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t recall’ to close to a hundred questions. You’re not familiar with much of the workings of your own department. And we still don’t have convincing explanations of the who, when and why, in regard to the firing of the majority of the eight U.S. attorneys,” Schumer fumed, according to a transcript posted to the left-wing outlet DemocracyNow.

In his testimony, Gonzales said U.S. Attorneys indeed serve at the pleasure of the president, and that the Justice Department makes “decisions based on the evidence, not whether the target is a Republican or a Democrat.”

“I know that I did not, and would not, ask for a resignation of any individual in order to interfere with or influence a particular prosecution for partisan political gain,” Gonzales said. “I also have no basis to believe that anyone involved in this process sought the removal of a U.S. Attorney for an improper reason.”

Bush nonetheless remained behind his pick, rebuking a “no confidence” resolution drafted by Schumer, Feinstein and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. as the controversy continued.

Ultimately, Gonzales announced on August 27, 2007, that he would be stepping down on September 17.

“Yesterday I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government service as attorney general… let me say that it’s been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice,” Gonzales said in his resignation announcement.

“I have great admiration and respect for the men and women who work here. I have made a point as attorney general to personally meet as many of them as possible, and today I want to again thank them for their service to our nation.”

Jeff Sessions — Trump

Former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions was the first in the upper chamber to endorse then-developer Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential bid.

The immigration enforcement hardliner and Trump loyalist, however, saw his relationship with the new president fray early in their term.

Sessions recused himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, citing his own campaigning for Trump amid reports he also met personally with Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak.

The recusal incensed Trump and led him to regularly bash Sessions in the press, and also to blame Sessions for the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller III as special counsel in the Russia case.

Trump also faulted Sessions for declining to criminally pursue Hillary Clinton.

Sessions’ tenure ended the day after Republicans lost the House in the 2018 midterm elections, but left the Alabamian with a successful professional record in reversing Obama-era policies and cracking down on sanctuary city policies.

US INTERIM ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE CALLS SPECULATION SURROUNDING BONDI’S FIRING ‘SIMPLY NOT TRUE’

But Trump’s firing of Sessions only further invigorated his Democratic critics, as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker called it an “alarming development that brings us one step closer to a constitutional crisis.”

Booker claimed Trump fired Sessions because he was scared Mueller would “implicat[e]” him in the Russia investigation.

William Barr — Trump

Former Attorney General William Barr resigned from his second tenure as the nation’s top cop in December 2020, amid disputes over whether the prior month’s election had been subject to widespread fraud.

Barr, who previously served under President George H.W. Bush, appeared to irritate Trump when he told The Associated Press he had not seen “fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”

In announcing the departure, Trump tweeted that he had a “nice meeting” with Barr and that his relationship “has been a very good one; he has done an outstanding job.”

Barr also touted Trump’s first-term record amid what he called a “partisan onslaught” and “relentless, implacable resistance.”

In comments to NBC News in 2022 ahead of the release of his book “One Damn Thing After Another,” Barr said he told Trump at the White House that he understood the president was frustrated with him, and that he was willing to submit his resignation.

“Accepted,” Trump supposedly said, but the president himself reportedly claimed he asked for Barr’s resignation, not that the AG quit.

PAM BONDI IS OUT AS AG — HERE ARE THE CONTENDERS WHO COULD REPLACE HER

“The absurd lengths to which he took his stolen election claim led to the rioting on Capitol Hill,” Barr said, while adding that Trump’s actions still wouldn’t reach the legal level of “incitement” as claimed by Democrats.

In his resignation letter, Barr applauded Trump’s ability to “weather” the Russia investigation and Democrats’ attempts to “cripple if not oust [the] administration,” and said the president restored the U.S. military and curbed illegal immigration.

Harry Daugherty — Harding and Coolidge

The first attorney general of the modern era to be ousted was Harry Daugherty, a member of President Warren Harding’s administration.

Daugherty was part of the so-called “Ohio Gang” of longtime Harding confidants from his home state.

Daugherty’s fall began amid the Teapot Dome Scandal — the most infamous incident prior to Watergate — which led to the imprisonment of Interior Secretary Albert Fall.

Fall was implicated in low- or no-bid oil leases at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, in 1923, and jailed for accepting bribes from energy companies.

Daugherty was later investigated for allegedly failing to prosecute people involved in Teapot Dome, and was allegedly implicated in a handful of other scandals, including being charged with conspiracy amid the sale of illegal liquor permits during prohibition.

He was also accused of influence peddling and members of the “Ohio Gang” were accused of selling government appointments.

Daugherty’s brother Mal was president of a bank, which was later closed by the state of Ohio after the Senate was unable to “pry” during its investigation into Attorney General Daugherty, according to a 1930 TIME report.

The sibling’s bank recorded “heavy withdrawals” during that time, which caught the attention of regulators in Columbus.

Harry Daugherty ultimately met his ouster after Harding died in office in August 1923.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

New President Calvin Coolidge booted him from the DOJ over loss of public trust and refusal to turn over departmental records regarding alleged corruption.

Daugherty was never convicted.