NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee next month, marking her second commitment to testify before Congress amid heightened scrutiny of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation agenda.

Noem will sit for a hearing with the House panel on March 4, Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in a brief interview.

Jordan said Noem’s appearance was part of routine oversight of Cabinet members over whom his panel has jurisdiction. He noted that it was unrelated to committee Democrats’ recent demand letter to Jordan that he bring Noem in for questioning about the two high-profile killings of U.S. citizens in Minnesota during immigration operations.

BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN VOWS TO STAY IN MINNESOTA ‘UNTIL THE PROBLEM’S GONE’

Both incidents are under investigation by the FBI, but the Democrats, led by ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., accused Noem of making premature remarks as a “cover-up” for her department’s mistakes.

Jordan said one of his focuses during the hearing will be on so-called sanctuary cities and states, which typically have policies in place that limit or block local law enforcement from notifying federal authorities about anyone who has been detained in a local jail who has a questionable immigration status.

Jordan said sanctuary jurisdictions raised a “fundamental question.” 

“You’ve got a guy in your jail who’s done some bad thing — that’s why he’s in your jail. — and, oh, also happens to be here illegally, and you’re not going to work with ICE. … I think the vast majority of the country thinks that’s just stupid,” Jordan said. “So I think that’s a point we have to stress.”

Noem is also set to appear on March 3 before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both testimonies come as DHS has been caught up in hundreds of court cases challenging arrests and detentions of suspected illegal immigrants.

It also comes after Noem initially said both Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two U.S. citizens killed by immigration authorities during chaotic altercations in Minnesota, were “domestic terrorists.”

Noem and other Trump administration officials’ jump to make such comments on the killings before the conclusion of an investigation spurred backlash, including from some Republicans. President Donald Trump responded by rearranging immigration operations in Minnesota, pushing out their leader, Greg Bovino, and bringing in border czar Tom Homan.

NOEM SAYS DHS CAN ‘ALWAYS DO BETTER’ WHEN PRESSED ON AGENCY’S ‘MISTAKES’ BEFORE HOMAN’S DEPLOYMENT

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Federal authorities are continuing to investigate whether agents legally used lethal force in the two incidents.

Trump recently defended Noem in a Truth Social post, accusing “Radical Left Lunatics” of targeting her “because she is a woman, and has done a really GREAT JOB!”

Congress is a very superstitious place. Only on Capitol Hill would temporal markers like Groundhog Day and Friday the 13th hold legislative resonance.

The partial government shutdown will continue until at least Tuesday. This impacts 78% of the federal government after Democrats scuttled a multi-bill spending plan last week over concerns about ICE.

The charge now for the House of Representatives is to align with a revised Senate-passed plan from Friday. This bill would fund the Pentagon, HUD, transportation programs and a host of agencies through September 30. But it would only operate DHS temporarily as Democrats demand reforms to ICE.

Many House Democrats balked at the plan supported by many Senate Democrats on Friday. That contributed to uncertainty about whether the House can reopen the government this week. First, House Democrats argued they weren’t a party to the deal cut by many Senate Democrats to partly fund the government and only apply a Band-Aid to DHS funding.

DEMOCRAT WHO BROKE WITH PARTY SAYS HIS DHS FUNDING VOTE A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER 2ND MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

House Democrats seethed — not so privately – last March when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats agreed to help Republicans avoid a shutdown. So last Thursday, I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) if he and Schumer were in sync this time.

“First of all, that question is, so March of 2025,” Jeffries chided.

He then ran through a litany of examples of House and Senate Democrats aligning, ranging from health care to the fall government shutdown. Jeffries then answered the question.

“Yes. Short answer. We are on the same page,” said Jeffries.

And then added a caveat — which is so February 2026.

“Now with respect to what emerges from the Senate, as is always the case, we will evaluate whatever bill comes over to us on its merits,” said Jeffries.

Some Democrats were fine with the funding deal. Moderate Democrats didn’t want to continue the government shutdown. It’s bad politics back home. Others embraced earmarks they secured in the funding package. Yet progressives argued they couldn’t support any funding bill until they saw concrete plans to reform ICE. That’s to say nothing of some on the left wanting to defund ICE.

“I will be voting no on this funding package. I refuse to send another cent to (White House Adviser) Stephen Miller or (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, planned to vote yes. The bill funds most of the government for the rest of the fiscal year. And it buys time to get a deal on ICE.

“If we do not do that, we will not be able to bring the kinds of pressure that is necessary to make sure that ICE does not continue to terrorize our communities,” said DeLauro.

So there may be the votes to pass the bill. But the real problem may be on a test vote, known as the rule.

The House must approve the rule first to determine how it will handle a bill on the floor. If the House adopts the rule, it can debate and vote on the bill. If the vote on the rule fails, the gig is up.

Some Republicans may oppose the rule. And Democrats made clear they would not assist on the procedural measure which is customarily carried by the majority party.

“Republicans have a responsibility to move the rule,” said Jeffries. “If they have some massive mandate, then go pass your rule.”

House Republicans feel the pressure.

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS DRAWS LINE ON DHS, ICE FUNDING AS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST FUELS SHUTDOWN RISK

“We always work until the midnight hour to get the votes. You never start the process with everyone on board,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

It’s about the math.

The Republican majority shrank Monday after the House swore-in Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX). He won a special election in Texas over the weekend. The GOP majority now holds a 218-214 advantage. In other words, Republican can lose one vote and still pass a bill on their own if every Member casts a ballot.

“Does his election make your job a little tougher tomorrow?” I asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as he met with Menefee for the ceremonial swearing-in.

“We have a one vote margin now. So what could go wrong? That’s fine. We’re happy for him. And, I hope the first vote is not to shut the government down. That’s not a good way to start,” said Johnson.

“Are you going to make the job a little harder on the Republican side tomorrow?” I queried Menefee.

“I just got elected on Saturday and just jumped off the plane to get here. So my first job is to figure out what the bathroom is,” said Menefee.

I followed up.

“Does that mean a no vote tomorrow?”

“It means I’ve got to consider the issues very thoughtfully and cast a vote that matches my values,” deflected Menefee.

“Good answer!” exclaimed an ecstatic Johnson.

So everything hinges on the rule vote. If the House crosses that procedural hurdle, it can probably pass the bill and end the shutdown. If not, there’s trouble.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he hoped there was a bipartisan solution to what he termed a “long, pointless and destructive shutdown.”

Perhaps it’s only appropriate that everyone was talking about ending a government shutdown on Groundhog Day. Especially after the record-breaking 43-day shutdown last autumn.

By the way, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. He forecast six more weeks of winter. After all of these funding fights, when is someone going to ask Phil for his prognostication about the shutdown?

But forget Groundhog Day. What everyone should really focus on is Friday the 13th. As in a week from Friday. If the House aligns with the Senate and ends the partial government shutdown, lawmakers only have until 11:59:59 pm et on Friday the 13th to fund DHS. Otherwise, DHS remains broke. Again. That means FEMA has issues. TSA agents aren’t getting paid. You name it.

SENATE DEMOCRATS THREATEN SHUTDOWN BY BLOCKING DHS FUNDING AFTER MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING

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It’s hard to address issues with ICE in such a tight timeframe.

“Republicans need to take a good look at what’s happening around the country and realize too that it’s time to rein in ICE’s abuses,” said Schumer.

Some Republicans agree.

“We should have been focusing on criminals and gang members and people with active deportation orders. I don’t think we should have been focusing on people that have been here for a long time, grandmothers, et cetera, that happen to be in a neighborhood when you’re doing an enforcement action,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) on Fox Business. “I think that that was a mistake and I think it’s coming back to haunt us right now.”

So there’s bipartisan agreement on addressing ICE. But those reforms must make it through both the House and Senate by Friday the 13th.

Only Congress could create a nightmare like this.

A federal judge in Washington has blocked the Trump administration from closing down a humanitarian program that allowed around 350,000 Haitians to live and work legally in the U.S., according to reports.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes granted an emergency request Monday to pause the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging the decision goes ahead, the Associated Press reported.

TPS allows eligible immigrants from countries facing unsafe conditions to stay in the U.S. and get work authorization, though it does not provide a path to citizenship. The Haitian designation was set to expire Feb. 3.

In a two-page order, Reyes said the termination would be “null, void, and of no legal effect” during the stay, preserving recipients’ ability to work and shielding them from arrest and removal.

FEDERAL COURT RULES NOEM TERMINATING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR VENEZUELANS IN US WAS ILLEGAL

The judge also said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their case and found it “substantially likely” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had preordained the decision because of “hostility to nonwhite immigrants.”

TPS can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary when conditions in a foreign country are deemed unsafe because of natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary circumstances.

Haiti first received the designation in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and has remained under TPS because of political instability, natural disasters and surging gang violence. 

The designation has been extended several times.

FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS TRUMP TPS POLICY, ACCUSES DHS OF MAKING MIGRANTS ‘ATONE FOR THEIR RACE’

“If the termination stands, people will almost certainly die,” attorneys representing Haitian TPS holders had warned in a December court filing. They cited violence, disease and food insecurity in Haiti.

The lawsuit also alleges that Noem failed to properly assess whether the country is still unsafe and that the decision was motivated by “racial animus.”

At the time, the Department of Homeland Security disputed those claims and said conditions in Haiti had improved.

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

Government attorneys argued that allegations of racial bias relied on statements taken out of context and insisted Noem provided “reasoned, facially sufficient explanations” for ending the protections.

A DHS notice issued in November had also pointed to the authorization of a new force to combat gangs and determined that continued TPS for Haitians was against the national interest.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that “Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago.”

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“It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Planned Parenthood announced it is voluntarily dropping its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s ability to withhold Medicaid payments under a provision in President Donald Trump’s tax bill.

The organization sued in July after President Donald Trump signed a spending bill that included prohibiting federal funding from going to abortion providers, a section of the legislation that Planned Parenthood attorneys argued unfairly targeted their clinics and would leave patients with even fewer health care options.

In December, a federal appeals court ruled that the administration could continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

A separate lawsuit filed by a group of mostly Democratic states suffered a similar setback in January but remains ongoing, and a related case filed in Maine was voluntarily dismissed in October.

SOUTH CAROLINA GOP LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BILL TO CRIMINALIZE ABORTION AS MURDER

A third lawsuit filed in Maine by a network of medical clinics that was also impacted by the spending bill was voluntarily dismissed in October.

Planned Parenthood moved on Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.

“The goal of this lawsuit has always been to help Planned Parenthood patients get the care they deserve from their trusted provider. Based on the 1st Circuit’s decision, it is clear that this lawsuit is no longer the best way to accomplish that goal,” the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah said in a joint statement.

Under the tax provision in Trump’s spending bill, Medicaid payments would be stopped if providers like Planned Parenthood primarily offered certain services, including abortion, and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.

Planned Parenthood was not specifically named in the legislation, but the organization’s leaders have said the law is intended to affect their clinics across the country, as Republicans at the federal and state level continue to target the organization.

Federal law bans taxpayer money from covering most abortions, but many Republicans have long argued that abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood used Medicaid money for other health services to subsidize abortion.

Planned Parenthood said 23 of their health clinics have been forced to close due to Trump’s spending bill. More than 50 clinics closed in 18 states last year, with most located in the Midwest.

PRO-LIFE LEADERS FIRMLY REJECT TRUMP’S CALL FOR HYDE AMENDMENT ‘FLEXIBILITY’ IN HEALTHCARE TALKS

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“President Trump and his allies in Congress have weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients — stripping people of the care they rely on,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.

“Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its focus: ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust,” she continued. “That will never change. Care continues, as does our commitment to fighting for everyone’s freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries unloaded on Republicans Monday, saying they “done eff’d up in Texas,” accusing the GOP of overreaching on redistricting and predicting they will fall well short of flipping five congressional seats.

During a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Jeffries was asked about a recent Texas state senate race in which a Democrat flipped a seat in a district President Donald Trump carried in 2020. Jeffries was also pressed on whether Democrats could win four of the five redistricted congressional seats in Texas.

“Yes, Republicans done eff’d up in Texas, and they know it,” Jeffries said. “We knew it months ago, and it’s because of a variety of reasons.”

DESANTIS LAUNCHES FLORIDA REDISTRICTING PUSH TO POTENTIALLY ADD MORE GOP HOUSE SEATS

Jeffries argued Republicans were never positioned to gain five seats but instead created a scenario in which they attempted to take seats from Democrats, believing there would be no response.

“California responded decisively, and we will pick up five seats as a result of Prop. 50,” he said, referring to a California ballot measure that reshaped redistricting rules and boosted Democratic chances in multiple congressional districts. 

“It remains to be seen what happens in Texas, but I can guarantee you they won’t win five seats,” Jeffries continued. “They’re going to struggle to win three based on 2024 performance alone.”

DEMS SCORE BIG IN TYPICALLY RED TEXAS DISTRICT THAT TRUMP EASILY WON IN 2024

Democrats scored another win Saturday when Taylor Rehmet captured a Texas state senate seat in a district long dominated by Republicans. Rehmet, a labor union leader and Air Force veteran, defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss in the Fort Worth-area district.

Jeffries praised Rehmet’s campaign, calling the victory decisive.

WHY 2026 SHOULD TERRIFY REPUBLICANS AFTER TENNESSEE SPECIAL ELECTION

“It was a shellacking for Republicans in Texas that even caught Ron DeSantis’ attention,” Jeffries said. “They can’t ignore it. Republicans have been losing elections, and Democrats have been winning elections since January of last year.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Republican Party of Texas for comment.

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The Texas redistricting fight is part of a broader national battle for control of the House ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with similar clashes unfolding in Virginia, North Carolina and California as both parties jockey for seats that could ultimately determine the majority.

The Senate’s compromise to end the ongoing partial government shutdown survived an important hurdle on Monday night, teeing up the legislation for a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most bills get a chamberwide vote, advanced the upper chamber’s deal with the White House with little internal discord among Republicans on the panel.

But the measure could face issues on the House floor during a second procedural hurdle called a “rule vote,” which needs a simple majority of lawmakers to unlock debate and a vote on final passage. House votes normally fall along partisan lines, and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will need virtually all GOP lawmakers to vote in lockstep to succeed.

The current partial shutdown, affecting roughly 78% of the federal government, is in its third day after Congress failed to send its remaining spending bills to President Donald Trump’s desk by Jan. 30.

REPUBLICANS, DEMS BREAK THROUGH RESISTANCE, MOVE FORWARD WITH TRUMP-BACKED FUNDING PACKAGE

House lawmakers passed an initial set of bipartisan bills to finish funding the government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026, Sept. 30, but Democrats rebelled against the plan en masse in protest of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Senate Democrats walked away from the deal in protest of its funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after federal law enforcement shot and killed a second U.S. citizen during anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations in Minneapolis.

Trump has responded by removing Customs and Border Protection (CBP), whose agents shot the second person, from the Midwest city, and replacing senior officials leading the crackdown there.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES SKEPTICAL AS SENATE DEAL SACRIFICING DHS SPENDING REACHED: ‘NON-STARTER’

But Democrats are demanding further guardrails, like judicial warrants, to restrict agents in Minneapolis even further.

The resulting compromise would fund areas of government that were caught up in the political standoff — the departments of War, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Education — while simply extending the current federal spending levels for DHS for two weeks.

That two-week span is aimed at giving lawmakers time for more bipartisan negotiations on a longer-term deal.

TENSIONS BOIL IN HOUSE OVER EMERGING SENATE DEAL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

The Senate passed the new deal on Friday, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is sharply divided from his counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in his position.

Despite Schumer and Senate Democrats negotiating the plan with Trump’s White House, Jeffries told Johnson not to rely on House Democrats’ support to pass the bill.

It’s a stunning division between the top two Democrats in Congress, and one that will leave House Republicans largely on their own for much of the process of ending the shutdown.

But Trump managed to quell another rebellion on the conservative side earlier on Monday, easing at least one headache for House GOP leaders.

At least four House Republicans signaled they could vote against their own party during the rule vote on Tuesday over its exclusion of an unrelated measure requiring proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

The president posted on Truth Social earlier Monday demanding “NO CHANGES” to the current deal, effectively undercutting conservatives’ push for the legislation.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had been leading a group of conservatives threatening to tank the rule vote if the SAVE America Act was not attached.

But Luna told reporters on Monday night that she and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., both changed their minds after getting assurances from the White House that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would force a vote on the bill — called the SAVE America Act.

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“As of right now, with the current agreement that we have, as well as discussions, we will both be a yes on the rule,” Luna said. “There is something called a standing filibuster that would effectively allow Senator Thune to put voter ID on the floor of the Senate. We are hearing that that is going well and he is considering that…so we are very happy about that.”

It’s not clear if it’s enough for other House Republicans, however, some of whom are upset over the new deal opening up the need for bipartisan discussions on reining in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Johnson can only lose one House GOP vote for the funding deal to survive a chamber-wide rule vote.

In the meantime, nearly 14,000 air traffic controllers are expected to work without pay. Members of the military could also miss paychecks if the shutdown goes on long enough, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be limited in its ability to communicate public health updates to Americans.

EXCLUSIVE: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard detailed her ongoing election security assessment in a letter to congressional lawmakers Monday, saying President Trump “specifically directed” her to be present for the execution of a search warrant in Fulton County, Georgia last week as part of the probe.

Gabbard sent a letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, addressed to Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. The letter was also sent to House and Senate leadership, as well as GOP leadership on both committees.

TRUMP CONFIRMS WHAT TULSI GABBARD WAS DOING AT GEORGIA ELECTION CENTER

The letter is in response to one sent last week by Warner and Himes, in which they request Gabbard brief them on why she was present at the FBI search of an election office in Fulton County, Ga. last month.

Gabbard announced in April 2025 that ODNI was investigating electronic voting systems in order to protect election integrity.

In the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, Gabbard said President Trump “specifically directed” her to be at the FBI’s execution of a search warrant on the Office of the Clerk of the Court of Fulton County, Georgia last month—on Jan. 28, 2026.

“For a brief period of time, I accompanied FBI Deputy Director Bailey and Atlanta Acting Special Agent in Charge Pete Ellis in observing FBI personnel executing that search warrant, issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia pursuant to a probable cause finding,” she writes.

Gabbard said her “presence was requested by the President and executed under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence (CI), foreign and other malign influence and cybersecurity.”

“The FBI’s Intelligence/Counterintelligence divisions are one of the 18 elements that I oversee,” she said.

Gabbard said that in twelve FBI field offices across the country, including the Atlanta Field Office, the senior FBI official (assistant director in charge or special agent in charge) is “dual-hatted as my Domestic DNI-Representative.”

“The Domestic DNI-Rep program was established in 2011 through a Memorandum of Understanding between the ODNI and FBI,” Gabbard explained. “Domestic DNI-Reps are distributed by region and focus on specific domestic issues of concern or interest, including threats to critical infrastructure.”

Gabbard said that she has visited “several” of her Domestic DNI-Reps across the country.

“While visiting the FBI Field Office in Atlanta, I thanked the FBI agents for their professionalism and great work, and facilitated a brief phone call for the President to thank the agents personally for their work,” Gabbard said. “He did not ask any questions, nor did he or I issue any directives.”

FBI AGENTS SEARCH ELECTION HUB IN FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Gabbard stressed that the ODNI’s Office of General Counsel “has found my actions to be consistent and well within my statutory authority as the Director of National Intelligence.”

Last week, FBI agents were seen carrying out a search at an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, a location that became ground zero for concerns and complaints about voter fraud beginning in 2020. 

The search warrant authorized the seizure of election records, voting rolls and other data tied to the 2020 election, according to a copy of the warrant reviewed by Fox News.

Gabbard went on to address specific questions initially posed by Warner and Himes, first, detailing how election security “is a national security issue.”

“Interference in U.S. elections is a threat to our republic and a national security threat,” she writes. “The President and his Administration are committed to safeguarding the integrity of U.S. elections to ensure that neither foreign nor domestic powers undermine the American people’s right to determine who our elected leaders are.”

Gabbard said that President Trump “tasked ODNI with taking all appropriate actions” under her statutory authorities towards “ensuring the integrity of our elections and specifically directed by observance of the execution of the Fulton County search warrant.”

Gabbard again noted that ODNI has been “actively reviewing intelligence reporting and assessments on election integrity” since she took office.

“As part of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center’s responsibility to lead, manage, and coordinate counterintelligence matters related to election security, NCSC personnel traveled with me to Fulton County to support this effort,” Gabbard wrote. “They were not present during the execution of the warrant.” 

Gabbard goes on to stress that the DNI has “broad authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security.” Gabbard also added that ODNI is “the lead intelligence agency in the Joint Cyber Planning Office,” which coordinates and oversees the nation’s strategy to secure critical cyber infrastructure, “including cyber infrastructure used for elections.”

Gabbard also told lawmakers that ODNI “will not irresponsibly share incomplete intelligence assessments concerning foreign or other malign interference in U.S. elections.” 

“As I publicly stated on 10 April 2025, there is information and intelligence reporting suggesting that electronic voting systems being used in the United States have long been vulnerable to exploitation that could result in enabling determined actors to manipulate the results of the votes being cast with the intent of changing the outcome of an election,” she wrote.

“ODNI and the IC continue to collect and assess all available intelligence concerning this threat to ensure the security and integrity of our elections,” she said.

In April 2025, Gabbard said ODNI is investigating election integrity. She said, at the time, that ODNI had “evidence of how electronic voting systems have been vulnerable to hackers for a very long time and vulnerable to exploitation, to manipulate the results of the votes being cast.” Gabbard made the comments during a Cabinet meeting, stressing to the president that the information “further drives forward your m mandate to bring about paper ballots across the country so that voters can have faith in the integrity of our elections.” 

Meanwhile, in the letter, Gabbard explained that the process of assessing the intelligence “ensures that the IC’s finished intelligence products are objective, independent of political considerations, and based on all available sources.”

“I will share our intelligence assessments with Congress once they are complete,” she said.

Gabbard said that the National Security Act of 1947 specifically highlights that the law does “not require that the president obtain approval from the congressional intelligence committees before initiating a significant intelligence activity.”

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“Moreover, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued the search warrant on the Office of the Clerk of The Court of Fulton County under seal,” she writes. “As such, I have not seen the warrant or the evidence of probable cause that the DOJ submitted to Court for approval.”

She added: “Therefore, the ODNI had no ability, authority, or responsibility to inform the committees about the search warrant ahead of its execution.”

President Trump last week touted Gabbard on her work to protect elections in the U.S. 

“She’s working very hard on trying to keep the election safe. And she’s done a very good job,” Trump said. “And they, as you know, they got into the votes, you got a signed judge’s order in Georgia…And you’re going to see some interesting things happening. They’ve been trying to get there for a long time.”

Meanwhile, the Justice Department sued Fulton County in December seeking access to ballots related to the 2020 lawsuit, though the FBI’s search appears unrelated. 

Fulton County is fighting the lawsuit and says the Justice Department has not made a valid argument for accessing the records.

Fox News’ Breanna Deppisch contributed to this report. 

The House Republican majority just got reduced to a perilously slim one-vote margin thanks to a Democrat’s victory in Texas over the weekend.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., swore in newly minted Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, on Monday evening, bringing the overall House of Representatives margin to 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats.

That means if a bill gets no Democratic support and the House is in full attendance, losing more than one GOP vote will result in a 216-216 tie — meaning it would fail to pass.

DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER FEARS SOAR AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS CLING TO FRAGILE MAJORITY

Johnson is no stranger to dealing with slim margins and has eked out significant GOP victories while dealing with majorities between two and three seats. 

But this is a particularly difficult week for House GOP leaders who are scrambling to end an ongoing partial government shutdown.

The House is expected to vote on a funding compromise hashed out between Senate Democrats and the White House sometime on Tuesday, and Republicans will need nearly everyone in lockstep for the legislation to survive a chamber-wide “rule vote.”

Rule votes are procedural hurdles that traditionally fall along partisan lines.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: HOUSE EXODUS THREATENS JOHNSON’S GRIP ON POWER AS OVER 40 MEMBERS HEAD FOR EXIT

Menefee, a former attorney for Houston’s Harris County, won a special congressional election in a left-leaning district in Texas that has been vacant for nearly a year.

He’s replacing the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, who died while in office in March 2025.

The Associated Press reported that Menefee defeated former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, a fellow Democrat, in Saturday’s runoff election to fill the seat left vacant when Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner died last March.

Sylvester, a former longtime state lawmaker, served two terms as Houston mayor before winning election to Congress in 2024 to fill the seat of the late longtime Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

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While Texas has redrawn its congressional maps for the 2026 midterms, as part of the high-stakes redistricting battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats, the special election used the state’s current district lines.

The addition of another lawmaker into the House Democrats’ ranks will give Republican leadership in the chamber further headaches.

And House GOP leaders are painfully aware of the politically difficult situation they’re in.

“They’d better be here,” Johnson said of his Republican members last month. “I told everybody, and not in jest, I said, no adventure sports, no risk-taking, take your vitamins. Stay healthy and be here.”

As the emphasis on implementing artificial intelligence across society grows, voters think the use of AI technology is happening too fast — and they have little confidence the federal government can regulate it properly.

The latest Fox News poll finds 6 in 10 registered voters feel the use of artificial intelligence is moving too quickly in the United States, while another 3 in 10 feels it’s progressing at the right pace. Just 6% say it’s moving too slowly.

Although most think the use of AI is going too fast, there are some differences along demographic lines: Women, White voters, those ages 65+, and Democrats are more likely to say things are moving too fast compared to men, nonwhite voters, those under age 30, and Republicans.

FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE 2026 MIDTERMS

In addition, 63% lack faith in the federal government’s ability to properly regulate AI, a view that has been largely consistent since 2023.  Thirty-six percent have a great deal or some confidence in the government’s ability.

The main demographic groups where more than half are confident in the government regulating AI include MAGA supporters (57%), Republican men (55%), and very conservatives (52%).

FOX NEWS POLL: 59% OF VOTERS SAY ICE IS TOO AGGRESSIVE, UP 10 POINTS SINCE JULY

Despite all the hype, a slim majority of voters (53%) say artificial intelligence has not made much difference in their life, while the remaining half splits between saying AI has personally helped them (26%) vs. harmed them (20%). 

Those most likely to feel artificial intelligence has helped them are subsets of men, including dads (46%) and men under age 45 (43%).  Voters under age 30 also feel AI has more likely benefited them (45% helped, 28% harmed). Those most likely to feel harmed are nonwhite women (33%) and moms (29%).

Conducted January 23-26, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,005 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (106) and cellphones (645) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (254). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.

EXCLUSIVE: Nearly half of state attorneys general will demand the House Judiciary Committee expand its probe into climate policy-related influence on federal judges to include a gold-standard guide judges use to examine subjects they are not typically versed in.

The development comes after a Fox News Digital report highlighted criticisms of the latest edition of the Federal Judicial Center’s (FJC) 1,600-page “Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence.” Critics said the traditionally apolitical reference guide is now rife with climate change–related ideological bias, citing extensive footnotes drawn from left-leaning and climate-alarmist sources.

The Federal Judicial Center itself is the research and education agency of the federal judiciary, and its governing board is chaired by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers is leading the effort, writing to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, urging them to expand their improper-influence probe to include what they call an “inappropriate attempt to rig case outcomes in favor of one side.”

SCOOP: HOUSE REPUBLICANS REVIVE PUSH TO IMPEACH ‘ACTIVIST’ JUDGES AFTER JOHNSON’S GREEN LIGHT

The latest edition was published December 31 and includes a foreword by Justice Elena Kagan before delving into subject matter footnoted to environmental law expert Jessica Wentz, climatologist Michael Mann, and a slew of others involved in climate change research and advocacy.

“Those same improper influence concerns apply to the Federal Judicial Center and its new ‘Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence’,” the attorney generals wrote in part.

They noted that Kagan’s foreword said previous editions of the manual helped “bring about better and fairer legal decisions,” but argued her words would not echo the same in the latest edition.

FIRM BEHIND CLIMATE LAWSUITS FACES DOJ REFERRAL AFTER COURT FINDS ‘MISCONDUCT BORDERING ON CRIMINAL’

“Like [the] Climate Judiciary Project that the Committee is investigating, the new chapter presents a highly biased, agenda-driven view favoring radical interests pursuing lawsuits against producers and users of traditional forms of fossil fuel energy,” the attorneys general argued, citing the inclusion of findings from Jessica Wentz, a climate change advocate at Columbia University, among other names.

They cited a court brief crafted by Wentz in opposition to the Willow drilling project in Alaska, where she was quoted as saying “the world needs to phase out fossil fuels as rapidly as possible in order to avert potentially catastrophic levels of global warming and climate change.”

The prosecutors also pointed to the inclusion of work from an attorney who represented the city of Honolulu in cases against traditional energy firms.

TRUMP FOE BOASBERG HIT WITH ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT

“Not surprisingly, given the strong biases of its authors, reviewers, and sources, the climate change chapter presents as settled the very methodologies that plaintiffs rely on to impose liability on fossil-fuel defendants,” the letter reads.

“The chapter presents this science as authoritative without acknowledging contrary views or disclosing the many conflicts of the authors, reviewers, and sources. Ethics experts have noted that these issues raise serious ethics concerns.”

In comments to Fox News Digital, Hilgers said the FJC’s new science manual should present complex evidence impartially, but instead “appears to embed the views of climate activists and diversity, equity, and inclusion ideologues into what is presented as neutral guidance.”

CRUZ DEMANDS IMPEACHMENT OF BOASBERG AND JUDGE WHO SENTENCED KAVANAUGH’S ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN

“When the same advocates and experts who are actively litigating climate cases help write and review a chapter that will be used by federal judges behind the scenes, it raises obvious and serious concerns about the impartiality of the judicial system,” Hilgers said.

“Nebraskans, and all Americans, deserve courts that are neutral and fair.”

The letter was also signed by Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and their fellow state prosecutors in Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.

TOP ENERGY GROUP CALLS FOR PROBE INTO SECRETIVE ‘NATIONAL LAWFARE CAMPAIGN’ TO INFLUENCE JUDGES ON CLIMATE

“We’ve seen ridiculous legal warfare grow across the country — politically motivated groups, using our courts and liberal justices to push their climate agenda. That’s bad enough,” McCuskey told Fox News Digital, saying it is time to prevent the influence of ‘junk science.'”

“We… must protect our judicial system and its impartiality,” he said.

McCuskey also fired off a missive to the FJC itself, co-signed by Marshall, Uthmeier, Cox and others.

He told the center’s director — Obama-appointed federal judge Robin Rosenberg of Florida — that the manual’s ubiquity must remain trusted.

“At least up to this point, [FJC] has been careful to stress that the Manual merely “describes basic principles of major scientific fields… Instead, the Fourth Edition places the judiciary firmly on one side of some of the most hotly disputed questions in current litigation: climate-related science and ‘attribution’.”

“Such work undermines the judiciary’s impartiality and places a thumb on one side of the scale,” McCuskey said.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RALLY BEHIND PUSH TO IMPEACH JUDGE BOASBERG OVER ROLE IN TRUMP INVESTIGATION

American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac added that the FJC wrongly used taxpayer funds to publish a reference manual that “embeds disputed, plaintiff-driven climate alarmist theories into materials judges consult.”

“That is not education, it is outcome-shaping, and it directly undermines judicial impartiality,” Isaac said.

O.H. Skinner of Alliance for Consumers called the development “the woke lawfare playbook in action” and said climate change activists see the courtroom as their best chance to bring permanence to their ideology.

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When reached for comment on the matter of her footnotes coming under scrutiny, Wentz replied, “no comment.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Jordan and Grassley for comment, as well as the FJC.

The White House is hitting back against those who are worried that President Donald Trump’s reported plans for a new triumphal arch inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris are too large and would obfuscate the Washington skyline. 

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Trump is considering installing a 250-foot Independence Arch to commemorate America’s 250th birthday overlooking the Potomac River between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. The Post story quoted an expert who claimed that the arch would obstruct the view of nearby monuments. 

“The ‘experts’ who think it’s ‘too big’ are used to living with things being small,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a social media post Sunday night. 

PHOTOS: THE MAKING OF TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, A LOOK AT THE CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

The White House did not confirm the exact dimensions of the arch that Trump is considering, but said that it would become a key landmark in Washington.

“The Arch is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” White House spokesman David Ingle said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “President Trump’s bold vision will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and be felt by generations to come. His successes will continue to give the greatest Nation on earth — America — the glory it deserves.”

TRUMP ADMIN DEFENDS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM AS NATIONAL SECURITY MATTER

Trump also did not address questions about the dimensions of the arch when reporters pressed him on the matter Saturday aboard Air Force One, but confirmed he wants a large structure in place. 

“I’d like it to be the biggest one of all,” Trump told reporters. “We’re the biggest, most powerful nation.”

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Although Trump has previously considered smaller arches, the Post reported that Trump is set on the 250-foot structure because it is the most impressive and that “250 for 250” match. 

The Post’s story quoted art critic Catesby Leigh, who had previously advocated for a smaller arch for the 250th birthday celebration. 

“I don’t think an arch that large belongs there,” Leigh told the Post. 

Meanwhile, the proposed 250-foot structure far surpasses the scope of other major buildings in the area. For example, the White House is only 70 feet tall, while the Lincoln Memorial stands at roughly 100 feet tall. 

The proposed arch, which Trump has floated since late 2025, is one of several projects the Trump administration has spearheaded. Others include constructing a new White House ballroom and paving the White House’s Rose Garden. 

Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump has vowed not to bring federal law enforcement into Democrat cities amid protests “unless and until” officials there “ask us” for help— and do so politely.

The president, over the weekend, announced that he directed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “under no circumstances” put federal law enforcement inside far-left states to aid in protests unless they ask for help. 

TRUMP VOWS NOT TO HELP BLUE CITIES WITH RIOTS, INSTRUCTS ICE AND BORDER PATROL TO PROTECT FEDERAL PROPERTY

“I have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday.

The president said, however, that the federal government will “guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists.”

“Please be aware that I have instructed ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property,” the president wrote. “There will be no spitting in the faces of our Officers, there will be no punching or kicking the headlights of our cars, and there will be no rock or brick throwing at our vehicles, or at our Patriot Warriors. If there is, those people will suffer an equal, or more, consequence.”

It is unclear if the phrase “equal, or more, consequence” refers to criminal charges.

Trump said the statement serves as notice to local governments that they must protect their own state and local property and are obligated to protect federal property, including buildings and parks.

DEMS BLASTED FOR TRYING TO ‘DEPORT’ ICE FROM SWING COUNTY, REFERENCING ‘BLOOD MONEY’ RENT

The “ask us” policy would be for local governments who are “unable to handle the insurrectionists, agitators and anarchists” involved in protests.

The president said if local governments “ask us,” he will ensure that federal law enforcement officers “immediately go to the location where such help is requested, and take care of the situation very easily and methodically.”

The president pointed to the Los Angeles Riots one year ago, and quoted a police chief who said: “We couldn’t have done it without the help of the Federal Government.’’

The president said that local governments, governors and mayors should use the word “PLEASE” if they decide to request federal assistance.

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“Remember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE—ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property,” he wrote. 

“We will not allow our Courthouses, Federal Buildings, or anything else under our protection, to be damaged in any way, shape, or form. I was elected on a Policy of Border Control (which has now been perfected!), National Security, and LAW AND ORDER—That’s what America wants, and that’s what America is getting!”

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that if House Republicans try to jam voter ID legislation into the Trump-backed funding deal, it would be dead on arrival in the Senate.

House Republicans want to walk away from the current spending fight with a victory of sorts, despite President Donald Trump taking the lead and negotiating a temporary funding truce with Schumer and Senate Democrats. 

They’re demanding that the five-bill funding package, which stripped out the controversial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill in favor of a two-week funding extension, also include the House Republicans’ updated Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, dubbed the SAVE America Act. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR HOUSE GOP REBELLION AGAINST FUNDING PACKAGE, VOTER ID LEGISLATION

But doing so is a bridge too far for Schumer. The top Senate Democrat argued that the legislation, which has been sitting on the shelf in the House for months, is “reminiscent of Jim Crow-era laws,” and would act as a means to suppress voters rather than encourage more secure elections. 

“I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow-type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Schumer said in a statement. 

“It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to. If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown,” he continued. 

HOUSE DEMOCRATS MUTINY SCHUMER’S DEAL WITH WHITE HOUSE, THREATENING LONGER SHUTDOWN

The updated version of the SAVE Act would require that people present photo identification before voting, states obtain proof of citizenship in-person when people register to vote and remove non-citizens from voter rolls.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who is leading the push to attach the voter ID legislation to the funding package, countered Schumer’s accusation in a post on X.

“If you are a minority that wants a voter ID, apparently you are for racist policies according to [Schumer],” she said.

Schumer’s edict touches on the reality of the partisan divide in the Senate and the nature of passing any legislation in most cases. In order for the SAVE Act to become law, it would have to get at least 60 votes in the upper chamber. And given Senate Democrats’ disdain for the bill, that is unlikely. 

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

And adding the bill would further disincentivize House Democrats, who are already leery of the deal. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., may need their support given the anger simmering in his conference. 

Further complicating matters is that if the modified package with the SAVE Act were to make it out of the House, it would have to go back to the Senate, creating a virtual ping-pong between the chambers as what was meant to be a short-term partial government shutdown drags on.

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Still, House Republicans aren’t backing off of their demands and have backup in the upper chamber from Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, and a co-sponsor of the updated SAVE Act.

“House Republicans shouldn’t let Schumer dictate the terms of government funding,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said on X. “If Dems want to play games, no spending package should come out of the House without the SAVE Act attached — securing American elections must be a non-negotiable.”

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing renewed backlash over characterizing his childhood as financially difficult despite cozy ties to one of the most prominent and wealthy families in the world: the Gettys. 

“People assume Newsom comes from money. He doesn’t. Access, yes. Privilege, yes. Money, no. The most compelling aspect of Newsom’s biography is his schizophrenic upbringing, vis-à-vis wealth,” a profile published in Vogue Sunday that also previewed an upcoming memoir from Newsom. “After his parents’ divorce, his father seems not to have provided much financial support. Tessa Newsom, née Menzies, scrambled to keep the family afloat.”

“Young Gavin chipped in, picking up a newspaper route and a job as a busboy. They took in foster kids because the government stipend helped pay the rent. Meanwhile, there were the Gettys,” Vogue continued before launching into the Newsom family ties to the powerful Getty family, an American dynasty built on oil. 

Newsom’s memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” is slated for release Feb. 24. Vogue spotlighted him in a lengthy profile published Sunday, featuring photos by famed portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. Newsom is widely viewed as a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, and he’s set to leave office in 2027 as California’s term-limited governor.

CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVES THINK NEWSOM COURTING CONSERVATIVES ON HIS PODCAST IS A ‘TOUGH SWALLOW’

“Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address,” the Vogue article kicks off on the prominent Democrat and longtime political foe of President Donald Trump. 

Conservative critics unleashed on Newsom attempting to portray himself as having a struggling childhood when his father worked as a “consigliere” — or trusted advisor — for the Getty family, with Gordon Getty, son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, taking Gavin Newsom and his sister, Hilary, on vacations to Kenya or Canada. 

Newsom’s family ties to the Gettys have long been in the background of his career, including Gordon Getty helping bankroll Newsom’s PlumpJack Group, a hospitality company that includes Northern California wineries. 

NEWSOM’S DAVOS DETOUR: 5 CRINGE MOMENTS THAT OVERSHADOWED HIGH-PROFILE SUMMIT

Gordon “Getty, a billionaire heir to the J. Paul Getty oil fortune, used to include Gavin and his sister, Hilary, on Getty family vacations to watch whales in Canada and elephants in Kenya,” The New Yorker magazine reported in 2004. 

The profile chronicled that Newsom’s father, Bill, was a close friend with Gordon Getty. Bill Newsom worked as an attorney for the Getty family and was the lawyer charged with dispatching to Italy in 1973, armed with ransom money, to recover John Paul Getty III after he was kidnapped. 

John Paul Getty III was recovered alive after one of the most infamous kidnappings ever to hit an American dynasty.

TREASURY CHIEF UNLOADS ON GAVIN NEWSOM’S DAVOS STUNT, MOCKS GOVERNOR’S ‘BRAIN THE SIZE OF A WALNUT’

Bill Newsom became friends with Gordon Getty, and his brother Paul Getty, as youth while they attended San Francisco Catholic prep school St.Ignatius, according to the 2004 profile. 

“I think of Gavin as a son,” Gordon Getty told The New Yorker at the time. 

Conservatives reflected on Newsom’s close ties to the Gettys in their criticisms of the governor. 

“What a joke this whole act is,” Steve Hilton, who is running as a Republican to serve as California governor, said of the profile, according to the New York Post. “There’s no better example of elitist privilege than Gavin Newsom. Look at his family and his connections, going back generations. In any other country you’d call it aristocracy.”

“You really can’t make this up. From the new Vogue profile of Gavin Newsom,” conservative columnist Byron York posted to X before quoting Vogue. “Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence…lithe, ardent, energetic, a glimmer of optimism in his eye; Kennedy-esque. Add to that his stunning wife and four adorable kids, and the executive strut of a self-made millionaire.”

STEPHEN A SMITH SHREDS NEWSOM FOR VIOLATING ‘AMERICA FIRST’ WITH DISPARAGEMENT OF TRUMP IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY

“Gavin Newsom thinks the hallmark of being poor is not affording Wonder bread. He’s so disconnected that he doesn’t even know how to fake being poor,” another critic posted to X. 

“Governor who’s spent years polishing a national image now rolling out a memoir about his own hardships is the kind of self‑portrait only the political‑celebrity class could take seriously & the backlash shows voters are tired of being sold struggle by someone who’s never lived it,” another posted. 

NEWSOM SHOWS OFF TRUMP ‘KNEEPADS,’ CONCEDES WHITE HOUSE FEUD IS ‘DEEPLY UNBECOMING’

Newsom has previously faced criticisms from conservatives for claiming he faced a financially-difficult childhood after his parents divorced when he was two, including in 2025 when he said his mom “came from no money and just hustled” with “two and a half jobs” to make ends meet for him and his sister. 

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“It was also about paying the bills, man. It was just like hustling, and so I was out there, kind of raising myself, turning on the TV, just getting obsessed. I was sitting there with the Wonder Bread,” Newsom said on the “All the Smoke” podcast.

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment Monday but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff and a longtime aide to President Donald Trump, got married Sunday at Mar-a-Lago in a ceremony attended by the president and a host of senior administration officials.

Speaking briefly to reporters ahead of the wedding, Trump called it a “big day” and praised the attendees as “very loyal, very fantastic people.”

Among those in attendance were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Billionaire Elon Musk was also present.

Other senior figures included White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and policy chief Stephen Miller.

KAROLINE LEAVITT IS EXPECTING A BABY GIRL IN MAY 2026, SAYS MOTHERHOOD IS ‘CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN ON EARTH’

Several members of the Trump family attended, including Donald Trump Jr., his fiancée Bettina Anderson, his ex-wife Vanessa Trump, and their daughter Kai.

WHITE HOUSE TOUTS TRUMP’S ‘BOLD VISION’ FOR TOWERING INDEPENDENCE ARCH FOR AMERICA 250

“Congratulations! Wonderful wedding with amazing people,” Musk wrote on X following the ceremony.

First lady Melania Trump was not in attendance.

Scavino, 50, announced his engagement in September, sharing footage of the proposal online. 

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A fixture in Trump’s inner circle since 2015, Scavino has served in multiple senior communications roles across both administrations.

A Russian cargo plane typically used to transfer military equipment landed at a military airfield in Havana Sunday night, echoing flight patterns seen ahead of the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

The U.S.-sanctioned Ilyushin Il-76, operated by Russian state-linked airline Aviacon Zitotrans, was tracked landing at San Antonio de los Baños Airfield, a Cuban military installation roughly 30 miles south of Havana, according to public flight data.

Flight-tracking records show the aircraft stopped in St. Petersburg and Sochi in Russia; Mauritania, Africa; and the Dominican Republic. Each landing would have required approval from host governments, offering a window into which countries are continuing to permit Russian military-linked aviation activity despite Western sanctions.

The same aircraft conducted flights to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba in late October 2025, as tensions between Washington and Caracas escalated. That movement preceded U.S. military action in Venezuela that ultimately ended Maduro’s rule — a sequence U.S. officials and analysts have since pointed to as a warning indicator when evaluating similar Russian aviation activity in the region.

MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION

Now, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel finds himself under mounting pressure from President Donald Trump, who has sharply intensified U.S. policy toward Havana in recent weeks.

On Thursday, Trump declared a national emergency related to Cuba, asserting that the Cuban government poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The administration also said it would impose penalties on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba without U.S. authorization.

Trump confirmed Sunday that the U.S. is engaged in direct talks with Cuban officials.

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

“Cuba is a failing nation. It has been for a long time, but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Florida. “So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens. I think we’re going to make a deal with Cuba.”

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both have indicated support for political change in Havana, though the administration has not said whether it would pursue that objective through military action.

Russian military ties to Cuba have repeatedly triggered concern in Washington. While the Soviet Union’s footprint on the island receded after the Cold War, Moscow has steadily rebuilt defense and intelligence cooperation with Havana over the past decade. U.S. officials have warned that renewed Russian activity in Cuba could pose security risks close to the U.S. mainland.

The Il-76 is a heavy transport aircraft capable of carrying roughly 50 tons of cargo or up to 200 personnel, a capability that has drawn scrutiny given the operator’s history. Aviacon Zitotrans has been sanctioned by the United States, Canada and Ukraine for supporting Russia’s defense sector.

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“Aviacon Zitotrans has shipped military equipment such as rockets, warheads, and helicopter parts all over the world,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in January 2023, when it added the airline to its sanctions list.

It remains unclear what cargo the aircraft carried on its most recent flight. During earlier operations in Venezuela, Russian state media and a Russian lawmaker said the same aircraft delivered Pantsir-S1 short-range and Buk-M2E medium-range air defense systems to Caracas. 

FIRST ON FOX: A new report from a Senate Republican showed that in the last year, the federal government wasted millions on transgender animal tests, lab testing beagles in China and aborted fetal tissue research. 

In his 9th annual edition of “Federal Fumbles,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., found several instances of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, and he laid out a game plan to address some of the shortcomings of the past year. 

Lankford noted that after the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, the Republican-controlled Congress was able to improve efficiency, save billions in taxpayer dollars and redefine spending in Washington, D.C. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR HOUSE GOP REBELLION AGAINST FUNDING PACKAGE, VOTER ID LEGISLATION

“However, the work is far from over,” Lankford wrote in the report.

“Too often, the federal government is gridlocked, unresponsive and inefficient,” he continued. “We must continue pushing through bureaucratic red tape to make the government work better for you, the taxpayer. We have so much still to do.”

Some of the more egregious examples of federal waste laid out in the report included a handful of grant programs from the National Institute of Health (NIH) held over from the Biden administration.

Among those were a roughly $240 million study on transgender “animal experiments involving mice, rats and monkeys.” That grant program was eventually terminated by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“These NIH-funded studies attempted to model transgender adults and children by subjecting animals to hormone regimens and surgical procedures,” Lankford wrote. 

HOUSE DEMOCRATS MUTINY SCHUMER’S DEAL WITH WHITE HOUSE, THREATENING LONGER SHUTDOWN

In 2024, the Biden-led NIH funded $53 million worth of grants that allowed for “research using human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions.” And last year it was found that 17 of those grants were still active. 

Lankford noted that the NIH canceled the grants when the money flow became public after watchdog the White Coat Waste Project found that the agency was still funding them, and that the Trump administration went a step further to cancel all research involving aborted fetal tissue. 

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

Still, Lankford argued that unless Congress passed a law regarding the issue, “another pro-abortion Administration could resume or expand such projects at any time, forcing taxpayers to fund research that is both immoral and scientifically obsolete.”

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Though the sums were not as eye-popping, Lankford also found that $124,000 in taxpayer money was sent to China to conduct drug research and experiments on “up to 300 beagles per week.” 

Lankford said NIH announced it would not renew the contract after national scrutiny, but that there are still “18 Chinese animal research laboratories, including several with troubling ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, [that] still hold NIH approval to receive U.S. funding.”

A federal appeals court dismissed a Justice Department misconduct complaint against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, according to court documents revealed this week.

Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissed the complaint on December 19, but news of the ruling only arrived this weekend. The DOJ alleged misconduct on the grounds that Boasberg had made comments at a judicial conference saying the Trump administration would trigger a “constitutional crisis” by disregarding federal court rulings.

His comments at the conference came just days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights.

Sutton argued that the government had failed to provide evidence of Boasberg’s comments or sufficient context surrounding them.

FIX IS IN IN MINNESOTA, WHERE ANTI-ICE FEDERAL JUDGE LEAVES HIS LANE TO SIDE WITH MOB

“A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them. And a repetition of uncorroborated statements rarely supplies a basis for a valid misconduct complaint,” Sutton said in his ruling.

News of the ruling comes days after the White House confirmed its support for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry involving Boasberg and another judge Republicans have described as an activist.

“Left-wing, activist judges have gone totally rogue,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “They’re undermining the rule of law in service of their own radical agenda. It needs to stop. And the White House fully embraces impeachment efforts.”

COURT SAYS BOASBERG DIDN’T KNOW ARCTIC FROST SUBPOENAS HIT LAWMAKERS, GRASSLEY CALLS THAT ‘DEEPLY TROUBLING’

The White House official continued that President Donald Trump must be able to “lawfully implement the agenda the American people elected him on,” arguing that judges who repeatedly issue partisan rulings have abused their offices and forfeited their claim to impartiality.

Boasberg has become a prime target for Republicans over a string of rulings tied to Trump-era immigration policies — including cases involving the transfer of migrants to El Salvador and other countries rather than holding them in U.S. detention.

More recently, he drew fresh GOP backlash after reports surfaced that he approved warrants in former special counsel Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe that enabled investigators to seize phone records connected to some Republican lawmakers.

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He first faced articles of impeachment in March 2025 for preventing the administration from deporting some illegal migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, and again in November over the Arctic Frost decision. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson gave his prediction for when the partial government shutdown will end, as he fends off Democrats who are trying to kill funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Johnson appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday and said he his hopeful that the shutdown will end “at least” by Tuesday. The Senate on Friday passed a funding bill that separates DHS funding and allots a two-week window for Congress to debate that topic specifically, while allowing the rest of the government to trundle on.

“I’m confident that we’ll do it at least by Tuesday,” Johnson said. “We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town and because of the conversation I had with Hakeem Jeffries, I know that we’ve got to pass a rule and probably do this mostly on our own.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said Democrats will not support the current version of the bill because it provides stopgap funding for the DHS through the two-week window of debate.

TRUMP, SCHUMER REACH GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEAL, SACRIFICE DHS SPENDING BILL IN THE PROCESS

“What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed,” Jeffries told ABC News on Sunday, adding that the Senate bill is a “meaningful step in the right direction.”

Other Democrats were more obstinate, however, with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., saying he refuses to “give more money to ICE agents as they’re violating our Constitutional rights.”

The rebellion from House Democrats flouted the leadership of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who negotiated the Senate deal with the White House.

TENSIONS BOIL IN HOUSE OVER EMERGING SENATE DEAL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Republicans first have to pass a procedural rule to bring the legislation forward. The House Rules Committee is set to consider the Senate bill on Monday.

The bill must then survive a House-wide “rule vote,” a procedural test vote that normally falls on party lines, before voting on final passage.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES SKEPTICAL AS SENATE DEAL SACRIFICING DHS SPENDING REACHED: ‘NON-STARTER’

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The federal government has been in a partial shutdown since early Saturday morning after Congress failed to find a compromise on the yearly budget by the end of Jan. 30.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave his city after federal agents deployed tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators, including young children, outside an ICE facility over the weekend.

Mayor Keith Wilson characterized the protests on Saturday as peaceful, as federal agents reportedly used tear gas, pepper balls, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets against the anti-ICE demonstrators.

Wilson urged ICE agents to resign and for the agency to leave Portland, denouncing their “use of violence” and the “trampling of the Constitution.”

“Today, federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON PUTS ICE ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER SEEKING PROSECUTION OF AGENTS

“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people,” the mayor continued.

The mayor added that this nation “will never accept a federal presence where agents wield deadly force against the very people they are sworn to serve.”

“I share the impatience with those who demand we use every legal tool at our disposal to push back against this inexcusable, unconscionable, and unacceptable violence against our community,” Wilson said. “I share the need to act. Actions that can withstand the scrutiny of the justice system take time – and we cannot afford to lose this fight.”

CBP/BORDER PATROL AGENTS PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER DEADLY CONFRONTATION WITH ALEX PRETTI

Portland officials are working to operationalize an ordinance, which went into effect last month, that imposes a fee on detention facilities that use chemical agents, the mayor said.

“As we prepare to put that law into action, we are also documenting today’s events and preserving evidence. The federal government must, and will, be held accountable,” he wrote.

“Portland will continue to stand firmly with our immigrant neighbors, who deserve safety, dignity, and the full protection of the communities they help build,” he continued. “We are also proud of the Portlanders who showed up today in peaceful solidarity, demonstrating the strength and clarity of those shared values in the face of federal overreach.”

This comes amid national unrest and bipartisan scrutiny of immigration enforcement tactics following two killings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents last month in Minneapolis.

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Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, and Alex Pretti was fatally shot on Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez while he was recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city.

Pretti, an ICU nurse, appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked down when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground and beaten, according to video and witness accounts. An agent was later seen pulling Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him.