NationalWatch

California Gov. Gavin Newsom jetted to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum and used the global stage to take aim at the Trump administration, a move that quickly spawned a string of viral moments and mockery. 

Trump administration officials and the president himself converged on Davos, Switzerland, this week to meet with global government and business leaders to discuss the economy at large, and as President Donald Trump upped the ante on pressuring European leaders to ink a deal for the U.S. to acquire Greenland. 

Trump dominated headlines as foreign dignitaries met with the deal-maker-in-chief at the high-profile annual forum, with Newsom simultaneously working to counter his longtime political foe. 

Fox News Digital took a look back at Newsom’s top moments that earned him millions of views on social media as Trump supporters and others lambasted the governor for his political stunts and commentary. 

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

Warns foreign leaders against kowtowing to Trump in bizarre ‘kneepads’ meltdown

Shortly after arriving to Switzerland, Newsom told the media from the sidelines of the annual meeting that he “should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders” interacting with Trump, calling them “pathetic” as he reprimanded that they “have a backbone” against the White House. 

He also compared Trump to a t.rex on the prowl to either mate or eat.

TRUMP KEEPS MACRON UNDER SPOTLIGHT AS GREENLAND TALKS GRIND FORWARD FROM DAVOS

“This is diplomacy with Donald Trump. He’s a T.rex. You mate with him, or he devours you, one or the other. The Europeans could be (devoured) if they continue down this path and process. They need to stand tall, stand firm, stand united,” Newsom said on Tuesday. 

“Look, a year ago we should have been having this conversation, and they didn’t. And now you’re paying the price — exactly what any one objective observer would have anticipated we’d be where we are today.” 

Video of his remarks quickly spread across social media, generating millions of views as MAGA supporters scratched their heads over the remarks or mocked Newsom for what critics called an “odd” or “vivid” or “bizarre MELTDOWN” online. 

Commentator Stephen A. Smith slammed Newsom for taking shots at Trump while on foreign soil, arguing the “America first” mentality should transcend domestic political differences while on a world stage. 

“I have no problem with Gavin Newsom being candid and open about his feelings about our president on United States soil. To go over to another country, Switzerland, to go over there and to be in the presence of other European leaders, speaking against the President of the United States — I’m not down with that,” Smith said on his  podcast, Fox Digital previously reported. 

Alex Soros photo blowback

Newsom received widespread backlash from conservatives online after left-wing billionaire donor Alex Soros posted a photo of the pair to social media on Tuesday.

“So glad he’s here calling out world leaders for believing appeasement works when it comes to Trump,” Soros captioned the photo of the pair. “It doesn’t. It only emboldens him to become more chaotic and destructive. World leaders could take a page out of Newsom’s book. It’s time to stand tall, stand firm, and stand united — before it’s too late.”

The photo sparked mockery and condemnation from Trump officials and social media commenters, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quipping that Newsom is like “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken.”  

He’s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is the perfect place for a man who, when everyone else was on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having $1,000 a night meals at the French Laundry,” Bessent continued during a Wednesday press conference. 

“Gavin Newscum auditioning to be Alex Soros’ next sugar baby is a waste of time – all the money in the world could not make Newscum’s pitiful presidential dreams come true,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. 

“Someone confiscate Alex Soros’ Instagram account,” Tim Miller, “Bulwark Podcast” host and MSNBC analyst wrote in response to Newsom and Soros showing off their friendship in Davos.

Newsom claims White House prevented him from holding Davos fireside chat 

Newsom took to X on Wednesday and claimed he was barred from speaking at an event in Davos, with his office pinning blame on the White House. 

“Under pressure from the White House and State Department, USA House (a church acting as the official U.S. pavilion) is now denying entry to @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom to speak with media after Fortune — the official media partner — invited him to speak,” Newsom’s press office said on Wednesday.

Newsom was invited to speak at USA House in Davos, which served as the U.S.’ main hub at the World Economic Forum and focused on celebrating America’s upcoming 250th anniversary as a nation, but was denied entry. 

“California was just denied at the USA House. Last we checked, California is part of USA,” Newsom posted on X. 

The White House weighed in shortly after, taking aim at the governor for spending time in Europe and not at home in California. Newsom has long been viewed as a potential 2028 Democratic candidate for the White House. 

“No one in Davos knows who third-rate governor Newscum is or why he is frolicking around Switzerland instead of fixing the many problems he created in California,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News of the remarks. 

Newsom caught on camera reacting to Trump’s speech 

The California governor had yet another viral moment on Wednesday when he attended Trump’s speech to the forum and was spotted smirking. 

Trump called Newsom out by name amid his remarks on Wednesday, which overwhelmingly focused on his administration’s first-year wins and heightened calls for the U.S. to acquire Greenland. 

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

“We’re going to help the people in California. We want to have no crime,” Trump said during his address. “I know Gavin was here. I used to get along so great with Gavin when I was president. Gavin’s a good guy, and we’re going to. If he needed it, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’d love to see. We did help them a lot in Los Angeles, a lot with the early, early in my term when they had some problems. But we would love to do it.”

Newsom was spotted in video footage and photos standing on the sidelines of the speech while listening to Trump, including appearing to smirk during the president’s address. 

Governor hows off Trump-styled kneepads 

After claiming that he should have brought kneepads for world leaders as they interact with Trump, Newsom whipped out a pair of what he called “Trump signature series kneepads” during a World Economic Forum session moderated by Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor. 

“It’s not what we should be doing. But you’ve got to point out the absurdity,” Newsom said of the political prop. 

The governor said the Trump administration has heightened its personal attacks against him, pointing to Bessent’s “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken” remark as evidence. 

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“We’re deeply in their head. I think the affordability agenda appears to be I’m living rent-free in the Trump administration’s head,” he said of the Trump administration. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office on Friday regarding his series of viral moments but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

Progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is moving to restrain President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on illegal immigration via a bill to create new transparency mandates on federal flights.

Crockett’s legislation is called the “Transparency Requirements for Aircraft Carriers to Know Immigration Conduct and Enforcement Act,” or the TRACK ICE Act.

She introduced it this week alongside Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., another Democrat who has made headlines for clashing with Trump.

The bill would make it easier to track detention and deportation flights commissioned by the federal government, as well as mandate new transparency disclosures for who is detained.

ICE FUNDING BILL DRAWS FIRE FROM LEFT AND RIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DEADLINE NEARS

“For far too long, the federal government has operated immigration flights without full transparency. These ghost flights are tearing families apart, leaving loved ones in the dark, and giving immigration agencies free rein to act without oversight, transparency, and justice. It is Congress’s job to ensure they aren’t operating above the law,” Crockett said in a statement on the legislation.

It comes as Democrats push to impose new guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the wake of fierce demonstrations in Minneapolis. Tensions erupted there after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car. 

Good was accused by Trump administration figures of impeding ICE operations at the time of her death, while Democrats have said the ICE agent who shot Good acted recklessly and even merits a criminal investigation.

TRUMP ADMIN WARNS OF ‘WIDESCALE DOXXING’ OF ICE IF HOUSE DEM’S NEW BILL PASSES

Crockett’s bill would mandate public disclosure of immigration flights commissioned by ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within 72 hours of them taking place. 

Details like aircraft identification code, departure and arrival times, and ICE Air mission designations would all need to be made public.

It would also require disclosure of detainees’ information including nationality, age group, sex and family status.

Critics of Democrats’ transparency efforts have said forcing ICE to disclose too much information could endanger agents and targets of federal operations.

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But people on the left are contending that the agency operates with too much impunity.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a response to the bill.

Deportation flights have sharply increased under Trump, rising 44% between 2024 and 2025 according to Human Rights First.

The Department of Justice alleged to the Supreme Court on Thursday that California improperly factored race into its newly redrawn congressional map, arguing that the high court should block the map because it violated the Voting Rights Act.

Solicitor General John Sauer said the map, approved by California voters under the ballot measure Proposition 50 in November, was “tainted by an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.” The Supreme Court should quickly intervene and pause a lower court’s decision that upheld the map, Sauer said.

The DOJ’s arguments came as part of a lawsuit state Republicans brought against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over Proposition 50. The DOJ intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the Republicans. 

HIGH-STAKES MAP FIGHT: HERE ARE THE NEXT BATTLEGROUNDS IN THE TRUMP VS. DEMOCRATS REDISTRICTING SHOWDOWN

California lawyers said in court papers that Republicans used the “flimsy veneer of racial gerrymandering” to challenge the map in court after failing to convince California voters to reject it. The lawyers argued that Republicans did not meet the “especially stringent” burden required to prove the maps were unconstitutionally redrawn with race at top of mind.

The court battle is one of several mid-decade redistricting fights to crop up ahead of the midterms. In response to a warning from the DOJ Civil Rights Division, Texas’ legislature approved a new Republican-friendly map last year that Democrats argued was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

The Supreme Court upheld Texas’ map in December in an unsigned order in which the three liberal justices dissented.

Newsom responded to Texas by announcing that California would redraw its map to directly offset Republicans’ gains in Texas. California voters approved the ballot measure in November, which allowed the state to enact the map.

DOJ BACKS TEXAS IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT OVER REPUBLICAN-DRAWN MAP

Democrats have said the map was drawn for political purposes and gives them a five-seat advantage heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Sauer argued that race, and not politics, “predominated” in the redrawing of at least one of the districts.

“Unlike Texas’s map, the Prop 50 map suffers from a fatal constitutional flaw: one of the districts (District 13) was clearly drawn ‘on the basis of race,’” Sauer argued.

The solicitor general said the mapmaker, Paul Mitchell, openly said the district would bolster the Latino vote, particularly in the Central Valley, where the district in question is located.

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Republicans asked the Supreme Court for an immediate response because candidates for the 2026 midterm elections will begin submitting their paperwork under the new map on Feb. 9.

The Newsom administration has until Jan. 29 to respond to the Supreme Court, and the justices could issue a decision anytime thereafter.

President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday that he would implement 100% tariffs on Canada if it strikes a deal to become a “drop off port” for China.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a “drop off port” for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.,” the president added.

Trump referred to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as a “governor,” echoing comments he made while campaigning for a second term about annexing America’s northern neighbor. He previously used the same term when speaking about Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau.

Carney made his first official visit to China earlier this month as he and Chinese President Xi Jinping work together to forge an improved bond between their countries. 

During the Jan. 14-17 visit, the leaders of the two nations reached an agreement that would allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles to enter the Canadian market at a lower tariff rate of 6.1%, Carney’s office announced. 

“At its best, the Canada-China relationship has created massive opportunities for both our peoples. By leveraging our strengths and focusing on trade, energy, agri-food, and areas where we can make huge gains, we are forging a new strategic partnership that builds on the best of our past, reflects the world as it is today, and benefits the people of both our nations,” Carney said in the statement.

Additionally, by March 1, China is expected to drop its tariff on Canadian canola seed to a combined rate of 15%. Carney’s office said that Canada expects that its canola meal, lobsters, crabs, and peas will not be subject to relevant anti-discrimination tariffs beginning March 1 “until at least the end of this year.”

It is unclear what deal would trigger a response from Trump in the wake of the ones made during Carney’s trip to China.

Tensions between Carney and Trump have flared in recent days, as the leaders took swipes at one another at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — and at home after the conference.

Carney, fresh off his trip to China, delievered a speech that garnered international attention. While he did not mention Trump by name, he made a reference to the U.S., saying that “rules-based order is fading.” Many, including the U.S. president, saw this as a jab at Trump.

“Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,” Carney said. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.” 

He admitted that there were benefits to U.S. leadership on the world stage, but painted the entire concept of a rules-based international order as a falsity that is actively failing. Additionally, in his address, Carney urged middle powers, like Canada, to assert themselves and take the opportunity to “build a new order that embodies our values.”

“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Carney said. 

When delivering his address on Wednesday, Trump did not shy away from taking aim at Carney. He said that Canada “should be grateful” because the country gets “a lot of freebies” from the U.S., though he did not say what he was referring to.

“I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful,” Trump said. “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

In another apparent swipe at Carney, Trump issued an “open letter” to the Canadian leader on Truth Social revoking Canada’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, a U.S.-led council tasked with managing Gaza’s post-war future.

“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The inauguration of the Board of Peace took place after Carney had already departed, according to The Associated Press.

Upon his return to Canada, Carney addressed a cabinet retreat and took the opportunity to reject Trump’s claim.

“Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security, and in a rich cultural exchange,” Carney said on Thursday while speaking in Plains of Abraham, Québec, during a cabinet retreat. 

“But Canada doesn’t ‘live because of the United States’,” he said, referencing Trump’s remark. “Canada thrives because we are Canadian. We are masters in our own house. This is our country. This is our future. The choice is ours.”

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

President Donald Trump is waging war against a century-old tradition in the Senate that both Republicans and Democrats don’t want to touch.

Trump has ebbed and flowed in his disdain for the blue slip tradition in the upper chamber, taking out his frustrations on Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other Republicans who have drawn a firm line in the sand for their support of the practice.

Much of his anger stemmed from the blue slip’s role in derailing a pair of his hand-picked U.S. attorney nominees — Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan — last year.

SENATE DEMOCRATS REBEL AGAINST THEIR OWN LEADERSHIP OVER DHS FUNDING PACKAGE, INCREASING SHUTDOWN ODDS

Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should “get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with US attorneys or having to do with judges.”

But the practice, which has been around since World War I, is likely not going anywhere, given that it’s been a valuable tool for minority parties to block nominees.

The tradition allows for home state senators to weigh in on judicial nominees, giving them a say on who does and doesn’t move forward. Returning a blue slip is the equivalent of giving a thumbs up to the nominees moving forward, while keeping the slip effectively blocks the process.

While the tradition was used to block both Halligan and Habba, both of whom served as Trump’s attorneys while in between stints in the White House, Republicans have still been successful in confirming several of the president’s judicial picks.

REPUBLICANS NARROWLY REJECT EFFORTS TO HANDCUFF TRUMP’S WAR POWERS IN VENEZUELA

Grassley noted in a post on X that “nearly 1/5 of the 417 nominees who were confirmed this [year] went” through his committee.

“I’m ready to process even more in the new [year] just need materials from WH and DOJ so [committee] can continue contributing to Senate’s historic nominations progress,” he said.

While Senate Democrats tried to block as many of Trump’s nominees throughout last year, Republicans changed the rules to ram more through. That resulted in the upper chamber confirming 36 U.S. attorneys and 26 federal judges.

Four of those were from Democratic senators with blue slips in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota, where the Trump administration’s usage of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has faced legal challenges.

Both of Minnesota’s Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, who aren’t quiet critics of Trump and his administration, returned their blue slips for U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen last year.

“Putting aside political differences, he is respected across the board in Minnesota, and so I thought he would be a good U.S. attorney,” Smith said.

And notably, the blue slip tradition was used by Republicans to ensure that Trump would have 15 judges to appoint once he took office, blocking several of former President Joe Biden’s nominees in the process. There is also not a single blue slip holding up a judicial nominee currently making its way through the process.

HOUSE JAMS SENATE BY ATTACHING REPEAL OF JACK SMITH PROVISION TO $1.2T FUNDING PACKAGE

There have also been several Senate Republicans who have pushed back against Trump’s demand to decimate the tradition, including Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Kennedy, R-La., both members of the Judiciary Committee.

They argued that the entire point of the blue slip was to ensure that individual senators got to have a say on the matter, and that the “issue cut both ways.”

“I would urge my colleagues to respectfully tell the president that we would do damage to this institution, and we would do damage to the power of individual senators if we were to rescind the blue slip,” Tillis said on the Senate floor last year.

Like many instances of Trump’s desire to take a sledgehammer to Senate tradition or procedure, Republicans largely aren’t biting.

And neither are members of Senate GOP leadership, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who last year argued that there was more of an “intense feeling about preserving the blue slip maybe even than there is the filibuster.”

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Thune noted that he and fellow South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds both took advantage of the blue slip process to ensure that their state had a Republican-appointed district court judge for the first time since former President Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

“There were two vacancies,” Thune said. “They wanted one Dem, we gave them a Dem, we got a Republican person into that position in South Dakota. So it’s — there are examples of how that process, I think, works to our advantage, and that’s what most senators hang on to when it comes to a discussion about the blue slip.”

After making historic inroads with Hispanic voters in the last several election cycles, the Republican Party is going all in on winning the Latino vote this midterm election. The party, which currently holds a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, is confident that Hispanic voters will help it retain and shape the future of its majority both this November and in the years to come.  

Longtime South Texas Democratic Judge Tano Tijerina told Fox News Digital during an interview that he and Hispanics are ready to buck the Democrats and embrace a “new generation” of political leadership.

Alongside former assistant U.S. attorney Eric Flores and former California mayor Kevin Lincoln, Tijerina is one of three Hispanic Republicans running to unseat Democrats in Congress who have been endorsed by President Donald Trump. There are eight other Hispanic Republicans running in competitive, heavily Latino districts in border states, Texas, New Mexico and California.

If elected, these candidates will join an already influential group of Hispanics in Congress, including Reps. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., and Gabe Evans, R-Colo.

HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS

Tijerina is running to unseat longtime Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in a district along the Texas-Mexico border. He said that despite long being a Democratic stronghold, the Biden administration’s mismanagement of the border and prioritization of DEI “really opened up a lot of eyes of the Hispanics down here in South Texas.”

“Being a Democrat after so many years, I’m just sick and tired of seeing all the social issues that the Democrats are [promoting]. And I’m not the only one. That’s why Webb County, that’s why South Texas, voted for Trump plus 10 numbers.”

“We have always been conservative, everybody knows it,” he went on, adding, “Down here in South Texas, the only thing that we care about is good-paying jobs [and] making sure that we’re getting protected.”

Cuellar also counts himself as one of the last “blue dog” conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives. He was highly critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the border and immigration issues. Cuellar has said that it was this stance that led to him being indicted by the Biden Department of Justice on foreign bribery charges. He was later given an unconditional pardon by Trump, who also posited that the charges were politically motivated.  

Though there was much speculation that Cuellar would switch parties after his pardon, he rebuffed those rumors, saying he would remain a blue dog Democrat. Tijerina said that it is just as well because the people of South Texas “deserve somebody that’s actually going to go fight for them and not fight for themselves.”

“[Cuellar] comes around and says, ‘I’m your money guy, I’m the one that brings the money.’ When in all reality, I, as a county judge, know that we’ve gone through commissioner’s court, we’re the ones with the ideas, we’re are the ones that ask for the federal funding, we’re the ones who do the cash match,” said Tijerina.

“Henry’s been for Henry all these years, and it’s very obvious,” he went on. “It’s time for a new generation.”

CALL TO DUTY: IN BATTLE FOR HOUSE, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO VETERANS

In response, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Spokesperson Madison Andrus told Fox News Digital that “during his time in office, Congressman Cuellar has brought billions of dollars back home to South Texas through his powerful position on the House Appropriations Committee.”

Andrus knocked Tijerina for “fighting for a controversial $10 million spending project in Webb County” to purchase property for a new tax office.

“Tano should focus on his own backyard and do his homework on how members bring money back to their districts,” she said.

A national Democratic strategist told Fox News Digital that Tijerina’s assertion that Cuellar has failed to bring money back to the district stems from a “misunderstanding” of how the House appropriations process works.

“Just based on how the House works, Tano will not be able to bring as much money to the district as Cuellar is,” said the strategist, adding, “It is exceedingly rare that a freshman member of Congress gets a seat on the Appropriations Committee. So, Tano would not be able to sit on it, that just wouldn’t happen. And so, that would necessarily lead to a significant decrease in the federal funding that Texas 28 would get.”

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOHN THUNE PREVIEWS REPUBLICAN MIDTERM MESSAGE HEADING INTO 2026

Tijerina, however, is not the only candidate forecasting that the Democrats’ hold on the Hispanic vote is nearing its end.

“For too long, Democrats took South Texas for granted, assuming our votes were virtually guaranteed, while they turned their backs on our values,” said Flores, an Army veteran running as a Republican in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Flores asserted that Democrats have “traded the needs of hardworking families for a radical agenda that has left our borders open and our economy in shambles.”

Lest one think this phenomenon is isolated to the Texas border, this sentiment was further echoed by Lincoln, a Marine veteran who is also running in California.

Lincoln told Fox News Digital that Hispanic families in the California Central Valley are “feeling the crushing pressures of the affordability crisis driven by Democrats from Sacramento to Washington who put political ideology ahead of kitchen table issues.”

“Generations of families like mine came to America in pursuit of the American Dream, and the Republican Party is earning their trust by working to restore the affordability and opportunity that allows working families to get ahead again,” said Lincoln.

GOP SEIZES ON DEM CIVIL WAR AS PROGRESSIVES JUMP INTO KEY 2026 SENATE RACES: ‘THEY’RE IN SHAMBLES’

Despite this, the Democratic Party is also leaning into the affordability message and remains confident that Hispanic voters will stand by them.

“While Republicans are pushing policies that make everyday life unaffordable, Democrats are focused on lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, and protecting health care for every American,” DCCC spokesperson Bridget Gonzalez told Fox News Digital.

“Latino voters see through the GOP’s empty, hypocritical rhetoric because they’re living with the consequences of Republican extremism every day,” said Gonzalez, adding, “Republicans can trot out all the talking points they want, but Latino families know who’s actually fighting for them — it’s the Democrats.”

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Meanwhile, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Christian Martinez told Fox News Digital that “outstanding” candidates like Flores, Lincoln and Tijerina “reflect their communities, understand the challenges working families face, and are stepping up to help grow a House majority focused on opportunity, security, and the American Dream.”

“Republicans aren’t just talking about earning Hispanic voters’ trust, we’re continuing to work and build it,” said Martinez.

Iran’s top prosecutor Thursday denied President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran, Iran, halted mass executions of imprisoned protesters under U.S. pressure — a rebuttal that comes as Trump openly warned Iran it would face consequences more severe than recent U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities if the executions went forward.

Trump has said he pulled back from threats to intervene militarily after Iran agreed to stop the execution of as many as 800 detained demonstrators following days of anti-regime unrest.

“This claim is completely false, no such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision,” Mohammad Movahedi was quoted by Iranian state media as saying Friday. 

“We have a separation of powers, the responsibilities of each institution are clearly defined, and we do not, under any circumstances, take instructions from foreign powers,” he added.

IRAN STRIKES COULD SIGNAL LIMITS OF BEIJING, MOSCOW’S POWER AS US FLEXES STRENGTH

Movahedi is an Iranian cleric and judge who serves as the nation’s prosecutor general. He previously warned that those taking part in the protests were “enemies of God,” a crime punishable by death. 

Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the discrepancy between Trump and Movahedi’s claims. Fox News Digital also reached out to the State Department for more details and has not yet received a response. 

A White House official said Trump “is watching the situation in Iran very seriously and all options are on the table if the regime executes protesters.” 

The official declined to say where Trump had learned executions were being halted but added: “As a result of President Trump’s warnings, Iranian protesters who were scheduled to be sentenced to death were not. As President Trump stated, he thinks this is good news and hopes this trend continues.”

The denial reopens questions raised in the past week, when Trump publicly warned Iran and encouraged protesters by saying “help is on its way,” setting expectations of U.S. action as security forces carried out a violent crackdown. U.S. and regional security officials said at the time that restraint reflected concern over retaliation against U.S. forces and allies — not a retreat from confrontation.

Trump has since argued that pressure worked, saying Iran backed away from planned executions after he warned of severe consequences. Iran’s rejection of that claim now sharpens the stakes, raising the prospect that Washington may soon face a test of whether it is prepared to act if executions resume — or risk its warnings being dismissed.

Trump on Thursday told reporters that a U.S. “armada” was heading toward Iran, signaling that Washington is prepared to escalate if the country continues executions or intensifies its crackdown.

Recalling a conversation with Iranian envoys, Trump said: “I said, if you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit.”

“It will make what we did to Iran nuclear look like peanuts,” he said. “And an hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled. And they actually said they canceled and they didn’t postpone it they canceled it. So that was a good sign.” 

INSIDE TRUMP’S IRAN WARNING — AND THE UNEXPECTED PAUSE THAT FOLLOWED

“We have an armada heading in that direction. And maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said. “We’ll see,” 

The president said the U.S. has “a big force going to Iran,” adding, “I’d rather not see anything happen,” but warning that “we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case.”

The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group set sail from the South China Sea toward the Middle East in the past week and is expected to arrive in the region soon, placing significant U.S. firepower within striking distance of Iran amid rising tensions. The Lincoln carries F-35C stealth fighters, F/A-18 Super Hornets and destroyer escorts armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and advanced air-defense systems.

The deployment has renewed questions over whether the United States is prepared to intervene militarily if Iran resumes executions or continues its crackdown on protesters, which already has left thousands dead.

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Iranian state television has acknowledged that more than 3,000 people have been killed during the unrest, while activists and human rights groups say the true death toll is significantly higher — a discrepancy that underscores the regime’s tight control over information as international scrutiny intensifies.

By publicly tying U.S. military action to the fate of detained protesters, Trump has drawn a clear red line. Iran’s refusal to acknowledge U.S. pressure, even as American naval forces move closer, leaves little room for ambiguity — and raises the risk of escalation as both sides test each other’s resolve.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, returned to the Lone Star State Friday after a photo went viral on social media of him boarding a plane as the state prepares for a potentially historic winter storm.

The senator appeared to poke fun at himself on Friday as online chatter swirled over the past few days about whether he would once again be absent as his constituents hunkered down during a major weather event.

“I’ve returned home from my work trip. It’s 66 degrees & beautiful. A storm is expected tomorrow night,” Cruz wrote in an X post Friday.

“But I am reliably informed by Twitter that if I simply raise up my hand on Texas soil, the storm will turn around & sunshine, rainbows & unicorns will emerge. Let it be,” he continued.

TRUMP MOCKS ‘ENVIRONMENTAL INSURRECTIONISTS’ AS AMERICANS BRACE FOR MASSIVE WINTER STORMS: ‘GLOBAL WARMING?’

In 2021, Cruz was slammed for traveling to Cancun, Mexico, with his family the same week that Texas dealt with a winter storm that left millions of people without power and ultimately caused 246 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Cruz later admitted that the decision was “obviously a mistake.”

His comments Friday came after a photo was posted on X on Tuesday showing Cruz aboard a plane that was reportedly heading to Laguna Beach, California.

FOX WEATHER TO PROVIDE EXTENDED LIVE COVERAGE OF WINTER STORM IMPACTING THE NATION

The post quickly went viral, gaining more than 9 million views, with users both defending and blasting the senator.

“I’m noticing a pattern,” one person responded.

A spokesperson for Cruz confirmed to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth that the senator left Tuesday on a pre-planned trip, vowing that the senator would return ahead of the inclement weather.

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The winter storm is expected to impact 235 million Americans across 40 states this weekend, according to FOX Weather, and many areas will experience life-threatening cold weather, heavy snow and crippling ice.

Republicans are clinging to a razor-thin 218-213 House majority.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson shouldn’t expect many reinforcements anytime soon.

This month’s shocking early House retirement of MAGA firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and the unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California further shrunk the GOP’s margins in the chamber.

And that has House GOP leaders keeping a tight leash on the party’s rank and file members.

DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER FEARS SOAR AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS CLING TO FRAGILE MAJORITY

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

And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office confirmed it is advising members that “outside of life-and-death circumstances,” they expect Republican lawmakers to be on Capitol Hill.

REP. LAMALFA’S DEATH FURTHER SHRINKS REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY

There are currently four vacant House districts, which means four special elections to fill the seats. But it’s the Democrats rather than the Republicans who will likely benefit more from the ballot box results in the short run.

Here’s a look at the special elections that are on deck:

Jan. 31

Voters in Texas’ Democrat-dominated 18th Congressional District, which is anchored by downtown Houston and surrounding areas, head to the polls on the last day of January to choose a successor to fill the seat left vacant when Rep. Sylvester Turner died last March.

Democrats Christian Menefee, a former attorney for Houston’s Harris County, and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards are facing off in the special election. They were the top two finishers in a field of 16 candidates that faced off in an initial election in November.

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 will use the state’s current district lines.

FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY WARNS MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE IS ‘THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE’

The winner of the special election will give the Democrats one additional House member, giving Republican leadership further headaches.

Feb. 5

Eleven candidates are running in the Democratic Party primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

The seat was left vacant after now New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November’s gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16.

The suburban district in northern New Jersey leans to the left, with Sherrill winning re-election in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.

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

But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.

March 10

A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in a special election in the 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed Greene.

According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7.

The district in northwestern Georgia is solidly Republican, with Greene winning re-election in 2024 by nearly 30 points and Trump carrying the district by 37 points.

June 2

Primary Day in California for the 2026 elections will also include a primary for the special election in the state’s 1st Congressional District, in the race to fill LaMalfa’s seat. The general election will be held on Aug. 4.

The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.

Similar to Texas, California is also altering its congressional maps as part of the redistricting wars, but the special election will be held under the current district lines.

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The White House and congressional Republicans criticized the decision by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to not hold a special election to fill LaMalfa’s seat until August, six months after the late congressman’s death.

But Democrats similarly complained about Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas not scheduling the special election to fill Turner’s seat until eight months after the late lawmaker died.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkins contributed to this story.

The Department of the Navy issued an apology letter Friday to former military personnel “unjustly removed” from service because of the COVID vaccine mandate during the Biden administration.

Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao emphasized that the Department of War is committed to “righting past wrongs” and welcoming back former service members who were dismissed during the pandemic.

“To the sailors and marines who were wrongfully discharged during COVID, we failed you,” Hung said in a video posted on X. “We will never allow this to happen again, not on my watch. We are ready for you to come back, and we want to correct your records.”

Cao, the Department of the Navy’s chief operating and chief management officer, overseeing roughly one million Navy, Marine Corps and civilian personnel, acknowledged the impact of the mandate on those it forced out.

HEGSETH ORDERS ABOUT FACE ON PENTAGON’S SLIPPING GROOMING STANDARDS

“We are righting this wrong and it starts with this formal letter of apology,” he said.

President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14184 shortly after returning to office last January, directing federal agencies to identify service members affected by the former vaccine requirement and take steps to reinstate them or restore certain benefits.

The order applies to former members of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force and Coast Guard who were discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

VA REVERSES BIDEN ADMIN POLICY PROVIDING ABORTION SERVICES AGENCY CALLS CONTRARY TO FEDERAL LAW

The former secretary of defense mandated in 2021 that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a policy that was rescinded in 2023.

“The military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received,” Trump’s executive order states.

The Department of War issued guidance to all the secretaries of military departments to contact former service members with information about potential reinstatement and to correct their discharge records.

TRUMP DECLARES ‘REAWAKENING’ OF ‘WARRIOR SPIRIT,’ UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR MILITARY: ‘I HAVE YOUR BACKS’

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 8,000 service members were separated after the Biden administration’s Department of Defense issued the vaccination mandate.

“It is unconscionable that thousands of former Service members who held true to their personal and religious convictions were not just separated, but separated with general (under honorable conditions), rather than honorable, discharge characterizations,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a December memo. “While many have applied for and received relief from our Military Department review boards, I believe the onus is on us to make this right.”

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Hegseth said he directed a proactive review of personnel records to identify individuals involuntarily discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and facilitate appropriate discharge upgrades.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Navy for additional information.

As President Donald Trump aims to build a ballroom at the White House, federal Judge Richard Leon on Thursday reportedly asked Justice Department lawyers to point to what authority allows the president to engage in a construction project at the White House.

“Where do you see the authority for the president to tear down the East Wing and build something in its place?” the judge asked, according to The Washington Post. 

While the outlet reported that Leon said he could issue a decision next month, NBC News reported that the judge promised that he would issue a decision in February.

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO REPORTS TRUMP NAMED NEW BALLROOM AFTER HIMSELF

Attorney Thad Heuer, who represents the National Trust for Historic Preservation, contended that the president lacks the constitutional power to rip down the East Wing and build a ballroom, according to NBC News, which quoted Heuer as saying, “He’s not the owner.”

The outlet reported that the judge seemed to be leaning in the direction of pausing the project.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS EAST WING DEMOLITION WAS NECESSARY DUE TO STRUCTURAL ISSUES

“The president didn’t want $400 million in taxpayer money to be used for this,” Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said, according to NBC News. 

“He wanted to use donations,” Roth noted.

The project began last year at the behest of Trump, but he has asserted that it is being funded by private donations, not taxpayer dollars.

WARREN-LED INQUIRY DRAWS NEW DETAILS ON TRUMP BALLROOM DONATIONS FROM MAJOR CORPORATIONS

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“I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!” Trump declared in an October Truth Social post. “The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!” 

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is expanding a probe into social services fraud allegedly perpetrated in Minnesota, according to a press release.

“The Committee requests a staff-level briefing, as well as all underlying documents and communications related to any review the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) conducted regarding the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and allegations of fraud in the State of Minnesota,” Comer noted in a letter to Minnesota Legislative Auditor Judy Randall.

The state’s Office of the Legislative Auditor issued a report earlier this month about a performance audit regarding Department of Human Services Behavioral Health Administration grants during a period spanning July 1, 2022, through 2024.

TRUMP CITES MINNESOTA FRAUD CASES TO WARN AGAINST MIGRATION FROM ‘FAILED’ SOCIETIES

The report’s conclusion asserts, “The Behavioral Health Administration did not comply with most requirements we tested and did not have adequate internal controls over grant funds.” 

Comer also issued a letter calling for temporary Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services Shireen Gandhi to deliver “testimony at an in-person transcribed interview on January 30, 2026.”

‘YOU HAVE FAILED’: COMER CLASHES WITH DEMOCRAT AS MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE SPARKS SHOUTING MATCH

“If you do not voluntarily appear for the interview, we will be forced to evaluate the use of the compulsory process,” the letter warns.

The committee’s investigation was launched last month before independent journalist and YouTuber Nick Shirley released a viral report about alleged widespread fraud in the state.

JOURNALIST WHO EXPOSED ALLEGED MINNESOTA FRAUD SAYS NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA ARE HIS NEXT TARGETS

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“Criminals in Minnesota have stolen an estimated $9 billion in taxpayer funds intended to feed children, support autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans and provide healthcare to vulnerable Medicaid recipients,” the congressional committee’s press release noted.

A federal judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration this week from detaining or otherwise “retaliating” against pro-Palestinian academics and student protesters on college campuses nationwide, saying in a new court order that plaintiffs have the right to challenge any attempts to remove them from the U.S. in federal court. 

U.S. District Judge William G. Young, a Reagan appointee, had ruled last fall that the Trump administration’s actions violated the First Amendment and amounted to what he described as an “unconstitutional conspiracy.” 

“There doesn’t seem to be an understanding of what the First Amendment is by this government,” he said.

FEDERAL JUDGE LAUNCHES SCATHING BROADSIDE OF TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO DEPORT PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS

The new order codified what Young described last week as “remedial sanctions” that he said he planned to issue to protect “certain plaintiffs’ noncitizen members” from “any retribution for the free exercise of their constitutional rights.” 

The judge’s order applies to pro-Palestinian noncitizen academic protesters and students on college campuses whom he previously ruled had been “illegally” and “intentionally” targeted by Trump officials.

Young ruled in September that noncitizens in the U.S. have the same free speech protections as citizens, and vowed to enshrine those protections in a court order. 

The new order says all the plaintiffs in the case have the right to seek relief via the federal courts before any retaliatory removal.

The only caveats, he said, are that the individuals in question must show that they are a member of either the American Association of University Professors, or the Middle East Studies Association — the two academic groups that sued the Trump administration last year. They must also submit documentation proving that their U.S. immigration status had not expired, and showing that they had not been accused of any crimes since last September.

“Upon such proof, it shall be presumed that the alteration in immigration status is in retribution for the exercise during the course of the present case of their First Amendment rights,” Young said. 

JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA

Young’s remedial order comes after he ruled last fall that the Trump administration had unlawfully targeted noncitizen pro-Palestinian academic protesters on college campuses, in violation of the First Amendment.

He scheduled a hearing last week to craft a remedy protecting the noncitizens in question from deportation or changes to their immigration status, barring certain circumstances.

But what transpired over the hours-long affair was a remarkable dressing-down of top Trump officials, including President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. 

“I find it breathtaking that I have been compelled on the evidence to find the conduct of such high-level officers of our government — cabinet secretaries — conspired to infringe the First Amendment rights of people with such rights here in the United States,” Young said during the hearing.

“These cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution,” he added. 

Lawyers for the Trump administration have argued that their actions are part of a broader fight against antisemitism, including on college campuses, and that the individuals in question were “pro-Hamas.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BAN FOR ALL INFANTS, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS

In response to Young’s remarks, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that it’s “bizarre that this judge is broadcasting his intent to engage in left-wing activism against the democratically elected President of the United States.”

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, fired back at the judge in a statement provided to Fox News Digital late last week.

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” she said.

During last week’s hearing, Young said he plans to make public a large amount of the materials used as evidence in the case, overruling the administration’s request that they remain sealed.

Trump and his senior advisors have adopted a “fearful approach” to freedom of speech to “exclude from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them,” Young said.

His ruling is almost certain to be appealed to a higher court.

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It’s not the first time Young has raised eyebrows for his sharp criticisms of the president.  

In June, Young ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it slashed funding for NIH research grants and ordered the funding to be restored.

He also used the order to describe the cuts as “appalling” evidence of what he described as “racial discrimination” and discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

The Supreme Court later ruled 5-4 to lift the injunction, and two justices chastised Young for the manner in which he issued the opinion.

It all started back in the summer. A furor erupted over releasing the Epstein files.

The House began its summer vacation a day early. That halted spending bills. Congressional Republican leaders were concerned that bipartisan lawmakers wanted to attach provisions to the measures to compel release of the Epstein files.

But there was a weird détente — if you can call it that — on the House Oversight Committee.

COMER RIPS ‘PAID DISRUPTER’ AS BRIEFING ON CLINTON CONTEMPT PUSH DEVOLVES INTO CHAOS

On what turned out to be the final day for the House before the lengthy “August recess,” which consumed lots of July, all of August and some of September, the Oversight Committee conducted a hearing on international trafficking.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., popped a surprise on the committee. She engineered a plan to subpoena the Epstein files.

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., countered Lee’s effort. He concocted an amendment to subpoena former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with other luminaries who may have some information about the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and the sexual abuse of underage girls in 2005. Epstein later secured what critics termed a “sweetheart deal,” by then U.S. Attorney and future Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. Among those Perry wanted to hear from in depositions were former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales. Perry also asked to hear from former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller.

That’s quite a list.

Most never came in for interviews. Some simply had communication with the committee that they had no knowledge of Epstein or the original prosecution.

HILLARY CLINTON EXPECTED TO DEFY EPSTEIN PROBE SUBPOENA, RISKING CRIMINAL CHARGES

But the Clintons were another matter.

Particularly former President Bill Clinton.

Firstly, he’s a former president. Secondly, he traveled periodically with Epstein and was documented in photographs together. Third, the former president has a lot of baggage after his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

The Clintons were supposed to meet with House Oversight Committee investigators in October. But that was moved until mid-December. The couple then begged off because of a funeral. The Oversight Committee assigned the duo separate dates in mid-January. Both failed to materialize. So House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., threatened them with contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena.

“It always seems that the Democrat Party has rules for thee, not for me,” said Rep. John McGuire, R-Va. “But we have oversight and we have subpoena power. And we can put a case and give it to the DOJ and let them prosecute. They need to hold them accountable.”

Of course, Democrats screeched that former Trump advisors Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro didn’t comply with subpoenas from the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The House then voted to hold Bannon and Navarro in contempt of Congress.

“What do you suppose ol’ Steve Bannon has to say about contempt of Congress? They either need to show up or go to jail,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis. They’re like extra super special people? Hell no they’re not. They’re American citizens. We are a country of laws. They break the law. They go to jail. I don’t care who it is.”

CLINTON SPOKESMAN LASHES OUT AT COMER OVER EPSTEIN PROBE AS CONTEMPT VOTE NEARS

In 2022, the same Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., along with Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Perry and former Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., for depositions about the riot. All refused to comply with the subpoena because they were members of Congress. The Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause inoculates lawmakers from having to fulfill such demands. Moreover, it was argued that the House could always refer them to the Ethics Committee for not adhering to a congressional mandate. The Constitution stipulates that the House can discipline its members and establish codes of conduct.

Those lawmakers argued that the Jan. 6 committee wasn’t valid because former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., vetoed McCarthy’s picks for the panel: Jordan and Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who served in the House at the time.

So the Oversight Committee voted to hold both the former president and former Secretary of State in contempt of Congress. There were two extraordinary votes.

“Subpoenas are not mere suggestions,” said Comer. “He is not above the law.”

Nine Democrats voted alongside all Republicans to hold the former Democratic president in contempt.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., was among them.

“I’m just focused on survivors,” said Pressley. “We want to hear from anyone who has information. And that should not be limited to party lines.”

Lee joined her.

“I do believe that our subpoena is legally binding,” said Lee. “I did not feel like I could let one off.”

A contempt citation must go before the entire House. If the House approves it, the body makes a criminal referral to the Department of Justice for prosecution. That’s what happened with Bannon and Navarro. But some Democrats predict that potentially prosecuting a former President will backfire.

“If we launch criminal contempt proceedings, we will not hear from the Clintons. That is a fact. It’ll be tied up in court,” said Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif.

‘THE VIEW’ HOSTS CALL ON CLINTONS TO COMPLY WITH SUBPOENA, TESTIFY ON EPSTEIN

The Clintons may have ducked multiple depositions as part of the Epstein probe. But Comer doesn’t think they can skip out forever. Especially since the House likely has the votes — on a bipartisan basis — to refer them to DOJ for prosecution.

“I think the Clintons probably are thinking more about how they can get out of this today than they were for the last five months, because the court of public opinion is not on the Clintons’ side,” said Comer.

Of course, there are legal issues about prosecuting a president. And even a former president.

But some Democrats believe all the focus on the Clintons is an effort to divert attention from releasing all Epstein documents.

“It’s about protecting one man: Donald J. Trump,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va.

And since the documents aren’t out, some Democrats believe the committee should target someone else. And no. It’s not Trump.

“The only person who should be held in contempt right now is [Attorney General] Pam Bondi. We need to be releasing these files,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

But at least one Democrat casts a broader net.

“We should hold everybody in contempt that had anything to do to cover this up,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. “All I needed to do is hear the survivors tell us, ‘Please, do something.’ These are people that have impacted their lives forever.”

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Comer broke news that the committee will hold a virtual deposition with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Feb. 9. Any member of the committee can ask questions. And Comer also announced that the House Judiciary Committee will hear from Bondi in mid-February, too. Expect the Epstein issue to be prominent there as well.

The calendar is now pressing up against February. And even though it’s the dead of winter, Congress is still wrestling with the same issue that sidetracked things last July.

The Pentagon said in an unclassified national defense strategy document titled “Restoring peace through strength for a new golden age of America” on Friday, that it plans to shift more of the responsibility of deterring North Korea to South Korea.

The U.S. would take a “more limited” role in keeping North Korea in line, the Pentagon said in the document obtained by Fox News Digital.

“With its powerful military, supported by high defense spending, a robust defense industry, and mandatory conscription, South Korea is capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea with critical but more limited U.S. support,” the document said.

It added, “South Korea also has the will to do so, given that it faces a direct and clear threat from North Korea. This shift in the balance of responsibility is consistent with America’s interest in updating U.S. force posture on the Korean Peninsula. In this way, we can ensure a stronger and more mutually beneficial alliance relationship that is better aligned with America’s defense priorities, thereby setting conditions for lasting peace.”

IRAN ALLEGEDLY AIRS 97 ‘COERCIVE’ CONFESSIONS’ AMID RECORD-BREAKING NORTH KOREA-STYLE INTERNET BLACKOUT

The new policy plan on North Korea followed similar strategies for other parts of the world, with the wide-ranging document adding that the department will “no longer be distracted by interventionism, endless wars, regime change, and nation building. Instead, we will put our people’s practical concrete interests first.”

The document clarified the policy doesn’t mean “isolationism,” but rather a “strategic approach to the threats our nation faces.”

Further down it added, “We will insist our allies and partners do their part and lend them a helping hand when they step up.”

NORTH KOREA TEST LAUNCHES HYPERSONIC MISSILE SYSTEM IN FRONT OF KIM, NATION SAYS

The document said under a section titled “Increase Burden-Sharing with U.S. Allies and Partners” that it plans to deter China “through strength, not confrontation,” and as the “Department rightly prioritizes Homeland defense and deterring China, other threats will persist, and our allies will be essential to dealing with all of them. Our allies will do so not as a favor to us, but out of their own interests.”

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On Russia, it said the country “will remain a persistent but manageable threat to NATO’s eastern members for the foreseeable future,” and on Iran, it stated that President Donald Trump has made it clear that Iran won’t be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

This year, South Korea raised its military budget by 7.5% while around 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed there in defense of North Korea.

Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal continues with the blue state now “on the clock” to comply with federal officials.

“We asked Minnesota for evidence that child care funding goes to legitimate providers,” Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), wrote in an X post video alongside HHS Assistant Secretary Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Alex Adams. “Six weeks later, they still have not sent this information.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP FROM CUTTING CHILDCARE FUNDS TO DEMOCRATIC STATES OVER FRAUD CONCERNS

The ACF sent a “preliminary notice of non-compliance” to the state, according to O’Neill.

“We are no longer asking, we are demanding,” Adams said. “Since Minnesota refused to comply with their federally approved state plan and regulations, ACF has sent a preliminary notice of non-compliance to Minnesota.”

O’Neill said the state has 60 days to send the desired documents to federal officials.

“We put Minnesota on the clock,” O’Neill said in the video. “If their response is insufficient, we’ll pursue full penalties under the law against the state.”

O’Neill said HHS sends approximately $20 billion to the state annually.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS CALL MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE ‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’ AS MORE BLUE STATES FACE SCRUTINY

“Every dollar that the state diverts into fraud is stolen from the intended Minnesota recipient. The status quo was to trust the state to stop fraud. That clearly did not work,” O’Neill said.

On Dec. 30, O’Neill and Adams announced a childcare payment freeze to the state after an alleged fraud scandal was exposed, involving daycare centers in the state.

“Intrepid journalists have made shocking, incredible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota’s childcare programs,” O’Neill said in a Dec. 30 video posted on X. “We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake daycares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade.” 

Last month, O’Neill demanded Gov. Tim Walz turn over a comprehensive audit of certain daycare centers, including attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

MINNESOTA’S WELFARE FRAUD DISASTER EXPOSES A NATIONAL SYSTEM DESIGNED TO FAIL

A spokesperson for Walz’s office told Fox News in December that they felt the investigation was politically motivated.

“Fraud is a serious issue. But this is a transparent attempt to politicize the issue to hurt Minnesotans and defund government programs that help people,” the spokesperson said.

Adams said the ACF has a team on the ground in the state conducting an “on-site monitoring visit,” where the department plans to attempt to gather records the state has not provided.

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“We will continue to pursue every credible lead, and we will restore integrity to programs that serve America’s most vulnerable people,” O’Neill concluded.

The ACF and the state Department of Health office of the inspector general did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

A letter delivered to a local Republican Party chapter in Northern California called for an all-out war against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, including the use of homemade explosives to send them “home in a body bag.”

The 12-page letter, titled “A Real American Response to Foreign Terrorist Invasions,” was sent to the Sonoma County Republican Party. The lengthy document mocks ICE agents for “living out their ‘Call of Duty’ fantasy army roles, only with real assault weapons.”

No name or return address was listed, and there was no mention of Sonoma County in the document, the local GOP said.

NEW JERSEY TWINS CHARGED IN THREATS TO KILL DHS OFFICIAL, ‘SHOOT ICE ON SIGHT’

“NOTE: No official of any party had anything to do with the composing or distributing of this document; it is strictly a private ‘patriotic effort,’ like Donald Trump’s January 6th Washington, D.C., insurgents,” the letter states on page seven.

The letter’s opening line mentions the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month. The Department of Homeland Security said Good was trying to ram her vehicle into an ICE agent when he opened fire in self-defense.

“It is clear that every private citizen’s life, immigrant or not, is at risk of annihilation by these low-IQ, trigger-happy domestic terrorists, with no restraints from their commanders in the field. NO ONE IS SAFE NOW,” the writer states.

The sender also accused ICE of inflicting a “real foreign invasion–style war” on unarmed men, women, and children.

WHITE HOUSE BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR ICE VIOLENCE AS MINNEAPOLIS ERUPTS, INSURRECTION ACT THREAT LOOMS

“They now need to feel real war, just as any foreign invading army would,” the letter said, before condemning Republican congressional lawmakers for backing the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The letter then went on to urge violence against ICE personnel.

“Since ICE-DHS make so light of our innocent citizens’ lives, then it is time to show ICE how light and worthless their lives are,” the letter said, while also calling those who support the agent “fair game.”

“ICE agents and their backers need to become the targets,” the letter continued. “IED’d, run over with vehicles, shot at by snipers, sprayed with toxic chemicals.”

ANTI-ICE THREAT SPRAY-PAINTED ON VEHICLE BELIEVED TO BE USED BY FEDERAL OFFICERS DURING MINNEAPOLIS UNREST

Several Trump administration officials are also mentioned, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, as well as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who has been sharply critical of ICE and the Trump administration’s crackdown on criminal illegal immigrants. 

Pages two and three give detailed instructions on how to make a chemical improvised explosive device (IED) in a section of the letter titled “Carrying the War Back to the ICE Invader Murderers and Protecting Our Personnel.”

The anonymous person or group responsible for the letter included several images of ICE agents carrying out their duties.

“A shrapnel device guaranteed to shred the legs, genitals, face, eyeballs, and hands of murdering ICE agents and their bosses,” one note said.

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The Sonoma County GOP reported the letter to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department, which has not responded to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Earlier this month, DHS said ICE is facing a 1,300% increase in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats toward its agents.

The Texas border town sheriff and brother of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who was pardoned by President Trump earlier this year after the Biden Justice Department indicted him on federal bribery charges, is now facing his own public corruption charges.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar Jr. was indicted after he and his assistant chief, Alejandro Gutierrez, allegedly used public funds, staff and resources to run a for-profit disinfecting business called Disinfect Pro Master during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Justice Department (DOJ). 

Disinfect Pro Master entered into service agreements with local businesses, even a school district, but allegedly never had any employees or supplies of its own. The school district contract secured Cuellar and Gutierrez a half million dollars, but the DOJ said they completed the work using county staff and resources. 

Cuellar is a border town sheriff out of Laredo, Texas, which is also part of his brother’s congressional district. Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife were recently pardoned by President Trump after they were accused by the Biden administration DOJ of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan government-controlled oil and gas company and a Mexico City-headquartered bank. 

WATCH: DEM LAWMAKER THANKS TRUMP FOR PARDON, SAYS IT CAME AS A SURPRISE AMID RE-ELECTION BID

In a statement released by the sheriff after he appeared in court this week, Cuellar vehemently defended himself and insisted that he would be “fully vindicated.”

“Over the course of my career — as a Texas State Trooper, a narcotics Sergeant investigator, Narcotics Lieutenant and now as your Sheriff — I have learned the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and I know what I did and did not do,” the statement says. 

“While this process moves forward, I ask the public to let the facts — not rumors, not speculation — guide their judgement. My responsibility remains the same as it was yesterday and the day before. … I remain fully engaged in my duties and in communication with the community. Public safety does not pause, and neither does my commitment to this office.”

Congressman Cuellar’s office also released a statement echoing his brother’s comments, adding that he has “a deep respect for the law” and would be vindicated in the end. 

“Under our constitution, he is innocent until proven guilty,” the congressman’s statement said. “My brother Martin has served our community as a peace officer for more than forty years with integrity, professionalism, and a deep respect for the law. He is an honest man.”

TRUMP ENDORSES CUELLAR OPPONENT AFTER PARDONING DEM REP

If convicted, Sheriff Cuellar could face up to 10 years in federal prison and could incur up to a $250,000 fine. Cuellar was also charged with money laundering, which would carry an additional maximum 10-year sentence and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of money involved in the transactions, according to the DOJ.

President Trump previously said he had pardoned Congressman Cuellar because he believed the Biden DOJ had been weaponized against him for speaking out against the former president’s open border policies. Trump also indicated he was influenced by a letter from the congressman’s daughter urging him to grant her father and mother clemency. 

However, after Cuellar decided a few days later to run for re-election as a Democrat, the president had some choice words for him. 

“Such a lack of LOYALTY,” Trump subsequently posted on his platform, Truth Social.

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When reached for comment, the White House referred Fox News Digital to the Justice Department.

“The Cuellar Crime Family will screw over small businesses and local schools if it means enriching themselves,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Zachary Kraft said.

“South Texans deserve leaders focused on serving taxpayers, not those focused on finding new ways to illegally funnel money into their own pockets,” he continued. “Voters are going to send a strong message in November that they’ve had enough of the family who puts their self-interests above South Texas values.” 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Friday the state is filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) asserting federal jurisdiction over two state oil pipelines and green lighting their restart.

The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration has “unlawfully given the company Sable Offshore Corp. the green light to restart pumping oil through to onshore pipelines that originate and terminate within California, starting in Santa Barbara County and ending in Kern County,” Bonta said in a news conference at Dockweiler State Beach.

He noted that one of the two Los Flores pipelines ruptured in 2015 due to corroded pipes, causing that Refugio oil spill disaster that “dumped more than 100,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the environment and at least 21,000 gallons of oil into the ocean.”

Bonta claimed PHMSA’S approval of the restart of the pipeline the “latest example of Trump doing the oil industry’s bidding.”

NEWSOM VOWS TO BLOCK TRUMP’S REPORTED ENERGY PLAN IN CALIFORNIA, EXPERTS PUSH BACK

Bonta claims because the pipelines are located solely in California without crossing state lines and without going into federal waters, “oversight of the pipelines is controlled by California, not the federal government.”

“The Trump administration unlawfully undermined California’s authority, unlawfully federalized the pipelines, and usurped state control and unlawfully issued Sable a sham emergency permit to begin pumping oil when there’s absolutely no emergency,” he said. 

TRUMP ADMIN URGES JUDGE LIMITING ICE IN MINNESOTA WOULD BE ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ OVERREACH

Bonta added, “In short, the Trump administration broke the law again, which is why we are suing again.”

Bonta said this marks the 55th lawsuit California has brought against the Trump administration.

He said the lawsuit isn’t about whether the pipelines should be restarted, but whether California or the Trump administration gets to make the decision.

“The answer is clear: the state of California gets to decide,” Bonta said.

He explained that Sable asked the Trump administration to declare the pipelines “interstate,” meaning “the pipelines are part of a larger system that extends into federal waters on the outer continental shelf. That is a fantasy. That is not true.”

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He called it a “pretext to usurp state oversight.”

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

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is taking a big step toward holding its first-ever midterm convention.

The RNC on Friday approved a change to the party’s rules that would allow Chair Joe Gruters to convene a convention during a midterm election year.

National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate their party’s presidential candidates, normally take place during presidential election years.

But with Republicans aiming to protect their narrow control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in this year’s elections, President Donald Trump announced in September that the GOP would hold a convention ahead of the midterms “in order to show the great things we have done” since recapturing the White House.

FIRST ON FOX: GOP TAKES BIG STEP TOWARDS HOLDING MIDTERM CONVENTION

As first reported by Fox News Digital, the rule change was adopted Thursday evening by the RNC’s Rules Committee during the party’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California.

The full RNC membership, meeting Friday during the confab’s general session, approved the rule change in a unanimous vote.

RNC CHAIR BETS ON ‘SECRET WEAPON’ TO DEFY MIDTERM HISTORY, PROTECT GOP MAJORITIES

A memo obtained by Fox News Digital highlighted “the possibility of an America First midterm convention-style gathering aligned with President Trump’s vision for energizing the party this fall.”

And speaking with reporters on Friday, Gruters called the convention a “Trump-a-palooza” where “we can really highlight all the incredible things that this president has done.”

But the president’s approval ratings remain well underwater, with many Americans giving him a big thumbs down on the job he’s doing with the economy and the issue of affordability.

“Trump has historically low approval ratings because he has put America last, sold out working families to hand out favors to billionaires, and made life unaffordable,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin told Fox News Digital in a statement.

The party in power, in this case the Republicans, normally faces stiff political headwinds in the midterms. And the hope among Trump and top Republicans is that a midterm convention would give the GOP a high-profile platform to showcase the president’s record and their congressional candidates running in the midterms.

Gruters, in a statement to Fox News Digital, touted that the RNC’s winter meeting “shows how completely united Republicans are behind President Trump and our efforts to win the midterms. The RNC has been aggressively focused on expanding our war chest, turning out voters and protecting the ballot in this fall’s elections. We’re building the operation needed to protect our majorities and give President Trump a full four-year term with a Republican Congress.”

Details on the date and location of the midterm convention will come at a later date and will likely be announced by the president.

But a Republican source told Fox News Digital it’s probable the convention would be held at the same time as the RNC’s summer meeting, which typically occurs in August.

The DNC may also hold a midterm convention. Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital last summer that Martin and other party leaders were quietly pushing the idea of a convention ahead of the midterms.

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Democrats held a handful of midterm conventions in the 1970s and 1980s.