NationalWatch

The federal government has entered its third partial shutdown of the last half-year after Congress failed to reach an agreement on all 12 of its annual spending bills.

Unlike past shutdowns, however, this one just affects the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It comes after Democrats walked away from a bipartisan deal to fund the department amid uproar over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

And while some 97% of the federal government has been funded at this point, a DHS shutdown will still have effects on everyday Americans — effects that will become more apparent the longer the standoff continues.

DHS SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS WITHOUT PAY, WHAT HAPPENS TO AIRPORTS AND DISASTER RESPONSE

Air travel delays

Disruptions to the TSA, whose agents are responsible for security checks at nearly 440 airports across the country, could perhaps be the most impactful part of the partial shutdown to Americans’ everyday lives.

Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday that around 95% of TSA employees — roughly 61,000 people — are deemed essential and will be forced to work without pay in the event of a shutdown.

“We heard reports of officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,” she said of the last shutdown.

But it would take some time before TSA funding could translate to delays. TSA agents, like other essential federal workers, received back pay once the shutdown was over. Those who did not miss shifts also got a $10,000 bonus for added relief.

FETTERMAN BUCKS DEMOCRATS, SAYS PARTY PUT POLITICS OVER COUNTRY IN DHS SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

TSA paychecks due to be issued on March 3 could see agents getting reduced pay depending on the length of the shutdown. Agents would not be at risk of missing a full paycheck until March 17.

If that happens, however, Americans could see delays or even cancellations at the country’s busiest airports as TSA agents are forced to call out of work and get second jobs to make ends meet.

Natural disaster reimbursement

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is one of the largest and most critical recipients of federal funding under DHS.

Associate Administrator of the Office of Response and Recovery Gregg Phillips told lawmakers on Wednesday that FEMA has enough funds to continue disaster response through a shutdown in the immediate future, but that its budget would be strained in the event of an unforeseen “catastrophic disaster.”

That means Americans hit by an unexpected natural disaster during the shutdown could see delayed federal reimbursement for their homes and small businesses.

Others who have already lived through a natural disaster in the last year but still have not received their checks — FEMA is currently working through a backlog worth billions of dollars — could see that relief delayed even further during the shutdown.

“In the 45 days I’ve been here … we have spent $3 billion in 45 days on 5,000 projects,” Phillips said. “We’re going as fast as we can. We’re committed to reducing the backlog. I can’t go any faster than we actually are. And if this lapses, that’s going to stop.”

Worker visa processing

American business owners who rely on certain types of worker visas could see processing times extended during a DHS shutdown.

That’s because United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) programs are run under DHS and are responsible for processing most immigration applications as well as temporary visas.

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The majority of those programs are funded by fees and are largely untouched. However, areas like e-Verify, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, Conrad 30 J-1 doctors, and non-minister religious workers all rely on funding appropriated by Congress, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

USCIS could allow employers to use alternate processes if e-Verify is disrupted during a shutdown, but it’s not clear how much time it would add to business owners’ day-to-day responsibilities to learn a new route for that paperwork.

Emboldened congressional Democrats are expanding their battleground map for this year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin majority in the House.

But the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman, Rep. Richard Hudson, isn’t buying it.

“I mean, I’ve read fiction my whole life, and I recognize it when I see it,” Hudson said in an exclusive with Fox News.

Republicans currently control the House 218-214, with two right-tilting districts and one left-leaning seat currently vacant. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats in the midterms to win back the majority for the first time in four years.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS ON OFFENSE: EXPAND GOP TARGET LIST

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) this week added five more offensive opportunities in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina and Virginia to their list of what they consider are vulnerable Republican-held House districts.

That brings the total number of districts Democrats are hoping to flip to 44. The DCCC notes that all five of the new districts they’re adding to their list of “offensive targets” were carried by President Donald Trump by 13 points or fewer in the 2024 elections.

FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE 2026 MIDTERMS

“Democrats are on offense, and our map reflects the fact that everyday Americans are tired of Republicans’ broken promises and ready for change in Congress,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene emphasized earlier this week.

And DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton told Fox News Digital, “In a political environment where Democrats are overperforming by more than 17 points in congressional special elections, it’s pretty clear we’re poised to re-take the majority. Momentum and the American people are on our side while Republicans are running scared.”

Asked about the DCCC’s move, Hudson scoffed.

“They’ve got to have a list they can present to their donors,” he said as he pointed to the DCCC. “But it’s not realistic. I mean, if you look at the map, there are very few seats up for grabs, and the majority of those seats are held by Democrats, but they’re seats that Donald Trump has carried or came very close….if you look at the seats that we’ll be competing for this fall. They’re they’re all favoring Republicans.”

The House GOP campaign chair added, “If you look at the map, it’s a Republican map. We just got to go out and win those races.”

The move by the DCCC comes as Democrats are energized, despite the party’s polling woes. Democrats, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, scored decisive victories in the 2025 elections and have won or over performed in a slew of scheduled and special ballot box contests since Trump returned to the White House over a year ago.

GOP CALLS TRUMP ITS ‘SECRET WEAPON’ — BUT POLLS SHOW WARNING SIGNS HEADING INTO MIDTERMS

Republicans, meanwhile, are facing traditional political headwinds in which the party in power in the nation’s capital normally suffers setbacks in the midterm elections. And the GOP is also dealing with Trump’s continued underwater approval ratings.

The latest national surveys, including the most recent Fox News poll, indicate the Democrats ahead of the Republicans by mid-single digits in the so-called generic ballot question, which asks respondents whether they’d back the Democratic or GOP candidate in their congressional district without offering specific candidate names.

Asked about the polls, Hudson said, “We almost never lead in the generic ballot. But a single digit generic ballot, we do very well.”

And the House GOP campaign chair added he remains “very bullish.”

Cost of living concerns helped boost Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories in 2024, but affordability and overall economic concerns may work against them this year.

While the latest AP/NORC national poll indicated the GOP with a slight advantage over Democrats on handling the economy, a bunch of surveys, including the latest Fox News poll, indicate many Americans feel things are worse off than they were a year ago and remain pessimistic about the economy.

But on Friday the latest government numbers indicated that inflation eased during January.

And Hudson says the economy is still a winning issue for Republicans.

CASH SURGE: HOUSE GOP SMASHES FUNDRAISING RECORDS AS REPUBLICANS GEAR UP TO DEFEND SLIM MAJORITY

Pointing to the numerous tax cuts kicking in this year in the GOP’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law last summer, Hudson touted “we put policies in place that are going to bring prosperity to the American people, and they’re starting to feel it.”

“And as we move into tax season…folks who work overtime, folks who work for tips, they’re going to see a lot more money in their pocket thanks to no tax on tips, no tax on overtime,” he added.

The GOP is also dealing with a low propensity issue: MAGA voters who don’t always go to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot.

“Our voters tend to be more working-class voters, and you have to put in extra effort to get them to the polls,” Hudson said. “We know that’s our challenge. President Trump knows that’s the challenge, and he’s committed to helping us.”

Pointing to the NRCC’s annual fundraising gala, which Trump will once again headline this year, Hudson said this dinner will be a great kickoff for this year. We raised a whole lot of money with President Trump last year. We plan to raise a lot of money in March with President Trump, and then he’s going to get out on the campaign trail and help us turn out those voters and make that case.”

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Asked about midterm election predictions, Hudson shied away from giving any hard numbers.

“Not going to give you a number, but we’re going to hold the majority,” he predicted. “President Trump was elected with a very specific agenda. We delivered almost his entire domestic agenda, and we’re going to go back to the voters and say promises made, promises kept, and they’re going to keep this House majority.”

Joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft and vessels have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, Sen. Dan Sullivan said in an interview with Fox News Digital, warning the activity amounts to coordinated pressure on America’s northern defenses.

Sullivan, R-Alaska, said data compiled by his office shows mostly airborne incursions — and at times joint patrols — along with several naval and “research” vessels operating inside the ADIZ, a buffer zone where aircraft must identify themselves but are not automatically denied access.

“They were spying on us,” Sullivan said, arguing the missions amount to strategic surveillance and have accelerated efforts to reopen the Navy base at Adak and expand Arctic infrastructure.

Sullivan led a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last month that secured $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for infrastructure upgrades such as a deepwater port in Nome — one of the closest U.S. cities to Russia — and additional Arctic icebreakers. The U.S. currently operates two icebreakers, one of which is out of service, compared with Russia’s reported 54.

RUSSIA, CHINA SQUEEZE US ARCTIC DEFENSE ZONE AS TRUMP EYES GREENLAND

Among the projects is a plan to reopen the military base on Adak Island near the end of the Aleutian chain, roughly 6,000 miles from Washington but on Russia’s doorstep.

Adak played a key role during World War II, when Japanese forces attacked parts of the Aleutians, and it later served as a Cold War outpost monitoring Soviet activity in the North Pacific.

“We have Adak Navy Base being reopened. We have this strategic deepwater port of Nome that’s finally being built [where] every essential Navy or Coast Guard asset with the exception of an aircraft carrier can port, and the icebreaker Storis being homeported in Juneau. There’s a lot going on,” Sullivan said.  “We’re continuing to press it, and you know what I like to do with all the military services is press, press, press, press.”

TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND’S DEFENSE IS ‘TWO DOG SLEDS’ AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY

Adak also hosts a 20-million-gallon fuel repository, Sullivan said, adding that revitalizing the compound would give U.S. destroyers and other vessels a crucial waypoint as malign activity heats up.

Sullivan said the incursions should concern all Americans, dismissing any suggestion the vessels were conducting benign research or trying to “save the whales.” 

“They were there spying on us and looking at submarine routes, looking at cables,” he said, pointing to trans-Pacific communication lines that pass through Alaska. “That’s really, really strategic.”

He added that joint Russian-Chinese naval task forces operating in the U.S. ADIZ — alongside coordinated bomber patrols with armed fighters — is “unprecedented” in American territory.

NATO AMBASSADOR SAYS EUROPE ‘HAS A TENDENCY TO OVERREACT’ OVER GREENLAND DISPUTE

When incursions occur, U.S. aircraft are dispatched from bases as far as 1,000 miles away, including Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, a logistical stretch similar to sending New York City responders to a fire in Chicago.

The Nome port, Adak base and other new infrastructure will slash response times, increase defensive presence and keep America safer, he said.

“We are the Arctic part of America, but we’re America. And when our adversaries are pressing into us, we need to respond with force and infrastructure and capabilities. Our military’s doing it. We’re building that up with the Coast Guard, with the Air Force, with the Army,” he said.

TRUMP EYES ACTION ON GREENLAND, SETTING UP WHITE HOUSE FACE-OFF WITH DENMARK

A recent report from The Wall Street Journal detailing a Chinese vessel that transited the Bering Strait, icebreaking along Russia’s Arctic coast before docking in Poland, as further evidence of Beijing’s expanding Arctic reach.

Sullivan called the merchant vessel’s junket a prime example of why action is needed now to bolster America’s Arctic.

USAF Gen. Alexus Grynkewich — NATO’s top military official — told The Wall Street Journal the alliance sees China “being more and more aggressive” across the Arctic.

“It’s our territory, right? And we just need to be ready to defend it and have assets that can monitor whether that’s a merchant ship or a spy ship,” Sullivan added.

“The good news is with the Trump administration, with the Budget Reconciliation Bill, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, and you saw the president before, and he wants a top line number for our military of about $1.5 trillion, that’s sending a message to China, Russia and all of our adversaries that we’re not going to let incursions into our airspace and our waters happen on a regular basis without forceful responses from the U.S. military.”

Sullivan said another development is expanding capacity at Point Barrow — at the “top of North America” — which, along with Adak, would allow the U.S. to intercept malign aircraft more quickly.

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The dynamic is also shaping global geopolitics, he said, as NATO shifts toward an “Arctic-capable alliance” — with allies Finland, Sweden and Norway similarly cognizant of the threats. Finland and Sweden recently joined NATO, he noted, which has been key to this situation.

Looking at the globe from above — rather than straight on — places the U.S., Canada and Scandinavia directly across from Russia and, increasingly, China, which has declared itself a “Near-Arctic power.”

Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.

In a crucial decision on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a high-stakes referendum scheduled for April 21 on congressional redistricting can go forward.

It’s a victory for Democrats in Virginia, who are fast-tracking a proposed new congressional map that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterm elections.

Virginia is the latest battleground, with Florida on deck, in the ongoing crucial battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections.

Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.

VIRGINIA JUDGE STRIKES BLOW TO DEMOCRATS REDISTRICTING PUSH

But the proposed map in Virginia, which the Democrat-controlled legislature is expected to give final approval in the coming days, followed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signing it, still needs the approval of voters in the Commonwealth.

Republicans had challenged the validity of the referendum, arguing that Democrats had erred procedurally when the legislature approved amendments to the state Constitution. And last month, a lower court ruled in the GOP’s favor.

But the ruling by the state Supreme Court greenlights the ballot measure, which asks voters to give the legislature, rather than Virginia’s current non-partisan commission, redistricting power through the 2030 election.

“Today’s order is a huge win for Virginia voters,” Dan Gottlieb, spokesperson for Democrat-aligned Virginians for Fair Elections, said in a statement. “The Court made it clear that nothing in this case stops the April 21 referendum from moving forward and that Virginians will have the final say.”

Early voting on the referendum is scheduled to start on March 6.

Longtime Republican state lawmaker Terry Kilgore, looking ahead to the referendum vote, told reporters, “we’re going to make our case to Virginians that this is unfair. This is unprecedented. And, quite frankly it’s against the law we believe.”

Friday’s ruling on the referendum doesn’t mean the legal challenges are over. Democrats are still defending their ability to redraw the maps, and the state Supreme Court may schedule arguments in that case.

“Last October, democrats took an unprecedented step to illegally pass a constitutional amendment at the 11th hour. The judiciary agreed, and the Supreme Court has taken up and fast-tracked the case. Make no mistake, the rule of law will prevail,” Republican state Sen. Ryan McDougle, the Virginia Senate MInority Leader told Fox News Digital.

Republicans charge that the Democrats’ redistricting effort is an “unconstitutional power grab.”

Virginians for Fair Maps, a Republican-aligned group that opposes the redistricting push, has highlighted that “Virginians came together to pass bipartisan redistricting reform — a process that took the power to draw maps out of politicians’ hands. Now, politicians in Richmond want to undo that progress.”

And the Republican National Committee has called the Democrats’ push in Virginia a “power grab.”

But Democrats have countered that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented in other states by the GOP.

Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump’s first target was Texas.

BIG WIN FOR TRUMP AS SUPREME COURT GREENLIGHTS TEXAS’ NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country.

Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio, and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

In blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

But Utah Republicans have appealed to the state Supreme Court to block a new court-ordered map for this year’s elections.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House. The showdown in the Indiana statehouse grabbed plenty of national attention.

Florida’s next up.

Two-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers in the GOP-dominated legislature are hoping to pick up an additional three to five right-leaning seats through a redistricting push during a special legislative session in April.

But the bid by DeSantis and Republicans in Tallahassee last week drew its first lawsuit, from a group aligned with Florida Democrats. The lawsuit contends that the governor and Secretary of State Cordy Byrd don’t have the legal authority to reshape election laws, after Byrd pushed back congressional qualifying dates from April to June.

Democrats in solidly blue Maryland are also pushing redistricting, which could result in one extra left-leaning congressional seat. But the effort, pushed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and green-lighted by state House Democrats, is facing opposition from Senate President Bill Ferguson, a fellow Democrat.

Lastly, Republicans in South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas and New Hampshire, and Democrats in Illinois and Washington State are also exploring possible bids to redraw the maps.

Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case that may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act.

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If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.

But it is very much up in the air — when the court will rule, and what it will actually do.

President Donald Trump says the military will start “buying a lot of coal” as part of a new push to boost domestic coal production and strengthen what he describes as the reliability of the U.S. power grid. Turning that pledge into reality, however, will require navigating Pentagon procurement rules, congressional funding limits and the physical constraints of the electric grid.

A new executive order, signed Wednesday, directs the secretary of war to “seek to procure” power from coal-fired facilities through long-term power purchase agreements serving military installations and other mission-critical facilities. It also calls on the Department of Energy to help keep certain coal plants online.

But executive orders set policy direction — they do not automatically create new funding or rewrite electricity market rules. The order itself states that implementation must be consistent with applicable law and “subject to the availability of appropriations.”

“Executive orders can’t drive appropriations,” said Jerry McGinn, a former Pentagon official and now executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

LIZ PEEK: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE FIRED UP ABOUT KING COAL’S RETURN TO POWER

The administration said it believes the Defense Department has sufficient existing statutory authority and funding to implement the policy without additional congressional action.

Asked how installations connected to regional grids would ensure they receive power specifically from coal-fired facilities, a White House official told Fox News Digital the War and Energy departments are “actively working on this matter.”

The official said the primary goal is to enhance national security by ensuring military assets have access to what the administration describes as “the most reliable power,” adding that providing financial support to the domestic coal fleet is an additional benefit.

What the War Department can do is direct its contracting offices to pursue agreements with coal-fired plants where feasible. 

The military routinely enters into long-term electricity supply agreements to power individual installations, including projects at bases such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Fort Cavazos in Texas, where on-site generation has been developed through third-party contracts.

In theory, it could structure deals with nearby coal facilities if officials determine the contracts enhance grid reliability, fuel security or mission assurance — priorities outlined in the order.

“They have a great amount of flexibility,” McGinn said, noting that energy sourcing decisions would depend on what is workable at individual installations.

That flexibility, however, operates base by base — not nationwide.

The War Department does not regulate regional electricity markets. It can sign contracts for power serving specific installations, but it does not set dispatch rules for grid operators or dictate fuel choices for civilian utilities.

Most military bases are connected to regional grids, where electricity from multiple sources — natural gas, nuclear, renewables and coal — is pooled together and dispatched according to market rules. Even if the Pentagon signs a contract with a specific coal plant, the electricity physically delivered to a base would still come from the broader grid mix.

In practice, such agreements would function primarily as financial commitments to particular facilities rather than a literal rerouting of coal-generated power.

TRUMP’S ENERGY DOMINANCE REWRITES THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE AFTER BIDEN DRAWDOWNS

Scale presents another constraint. Coal plants are large generators, often producing far more electricity than a single installation consumes. While military bases use significant power, contracts would need to be sizable and long term to meaningfully sustain entire commercial facilities.

If shifting energy sourcing at certain bases requires infrastructure changes or new contractual arrangements, that could require additional Defense or Energy Department investment, McGinn said. 

“It would sort of be a determination on where does this make sense, where can we do this easily, and where do we want to invest,” he said.

Any significant expansion of contracts or infrastructure spending would likely involve Congress. 

Utility costs for bases are typically paid through operations and maintenance accounts approved by lawmakers. If implementing the policy requires new construction, transmission upgrades or higher long-term energy costs, additional appropriations could be required.

The administration says the directive is meant to ensure uninterrupted, on-demand baseload power for military installations and critical defense facilities, grounded in the belief that coal provides reliable and resilient energy that intermittent sources do not, according to the White House fact sheet. 

The fact sheet also explicitly ties the policy to broader aims of energy security, economic stability and “energy dominance.”

Trump and his team repeatedly have described the move as part of a broader push to revitalize coal production and protect coal jobs — including the $175 million in Department of Energy funding for coal plant upgrades and “beautiful, clean coal” rhetoric at the signing event. At that event, he said the military will be “buying a lot of coal” and framed the actions as support for hard-working miners and “reliable power.”

The White House is pursuing a parallel strategy to revive certain coal plants that have shut down or face retirement. Trump said the Department of Energy would issue funds to facilities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky to keep them operating or restart idled units.

Recommissioning a coal plant can vary significantly depending on its status. 

Facilities that have been temporarily idled or “mothballed” may be able to return to service in months. Fully retired plants, however, can require extensive equipment repairs, environmental compliance reviews, workforce rehiring and transmission readiness upgrades — a process that can take considerably longer.

“Thanks to the President, beautiful, clean coal will continue to play a critical role in protecting our national security and economic stability,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement. 

A Pentagon spokesperson said the Department intends to move forward under existing authorities.

“The Department of War fully supports the President’s Executive Order to strengthen national defense through reliable coal power,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a Friday statement. “In coordination with the Department of Energy, we will prioritize and seek to procure long-term Power Purchase Agreements with coal-fired facilities where they enhance grid reliability, prevent blackouts, and ensure mission assurance for critical defense and intelligence operations.”

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Ultimately, the impact of Trump’s directive will depend on execution. Targeted contracts near specific installations could provide limited support to certain facilities. 

A broader effort to use military purchasing power to sustain multiple commercial coal plants would likely require substantial funding, careful contract structuring and congressional backing.

President Donald Trump recounted the military’s strength during the successful operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro during an event in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Friday honoring U.S. special forces and their families for their roles in the capture. 

“It was in a matter of minutes before (Maduro) was on a helicopter being taken out of there. They had to go through steel doors,” Trump said Friday afternoon. “The steels were like it was like papier-maché. You know what papier-maché is? That’s weak paper.”

U.S. special operations forces carried out the successful capture of Maduro and his wife on sweeping narcotics charges. Trump celebrated that the mission did not kill any U.S. military personnel or damage U.S. military equipment in a nation that is heavily militarized, with Maduro himself living on a protected military base.

STATE DEPT CONFIRMS ‘LIMITED NUMBER’ OF PERSONNEL IN CARACAS WORKING TO RESUME VENEZUELA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“These guys blasted through every door,” Trump continued Friday. “They got up to him before he got to the big safe. But that wouldn’t have worked either, because they had equipment that was going to knock that out in a matter of minutes, but he never got there. It went so fast.”

Trump continued that the operation had been “precise” and “incredible.”

HEGSETH SIGNS OFF ON WOUNDED US TROOPS KEEPING BULLETS, SHRAPNEL REMOVED FROM THEIR BODIES AFTER MADURO RAID

“Think of it in a matter of minutes,” he continued. “When people realize what happened, they’re looking up, and there’s the helicopter heading back to the aircraft carriers. So that night, the entire world saw what the full military might the U.S. military is capable of. And that was an unbelievable operation, but that was a smaller operation.” 

WIFE OF FORMER AMERICAN DETAINEE RELEASED AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR IN VENEZUELAN PRISON

Maduro was whisked off on a helicopter, before he was brought to the U.S., where he faces federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and weapons-related offenses. He’s being held in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. 

First lady Melania Trump joined the president on the trip to North Carolina, with Trump joking that they enjoy the area so much, they might move there in the future. 

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“Maybe I’ll maybe I’ll move here with our great movie star,” Trump quipped, giving a nod to Melania Trump’s new documentary, “Melania.” “We’ll move here with our first lady. We’ll move to Fort Bragg. Would you like that, darling?  She loves you. It’s a possibility.”

The third government shutdown in under half a year has officially begun just after midnight on Saturday after Democrats and Republicans spent recent weeks battling over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Just one area of government has been left without federal funding as of midnight — the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress has completed roughly 97% of its yearly government spending responsibilities, but a deal on DHS has proved elusive after Democrats walked away from an initial bipartisan plan released last month.

Now DHS, the third-largest Cabinet agency with nearly 272,000 employees, will see key areas of operation limited or paused altogether. Some 90% of DHS workers will continue on the job during the funding lapse, many without pay, according to the department’s Sept. 2025 government shutdown plan.

Established in 2003 after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, DHS has jurisdiction over a wide array of agencies and offices. That includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Secret Service, among others.

DHS SHUTDOWN LOOMS AS JOHNSON NAVIGATES GOP DIVIDE OVER STOPGAP SOLUTIONS

Among those working without pay will be some 64,000 TSA agents and 56,000 active-duty, reserve, and civilian Coast Guard personnel. Those people and others are expected to receive back pay when the shutdown is over.

But as of Friday afternoon, it does not appear the two parties are any closer to an agreement despite the Trump White House sending a potential compromise offer on Wednesday night.

“It’s our expectation that we will respond to the unserious offer that Republicans have made that clearly omits things that need to happen,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during a press conference. 

“There are a variety of different areas where clearly the administration has fallen short of doing things that make things better for the American people. Until that happens, unfortunately, it appears that Donald Trump and the Republicans have decided to shut down other parts of the Department of Homeland Security.”

NOEM SLAMS DEMS BLOCKING DHS FUNDING BILL CITING TSA, FEMA, COAST GUARD: ‘I HOPE THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES’

Democrats blew up bipartisan negotiations over DHS funding last month after federal law enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during anti-ICE demonstrations there.

They are now demanding significant reforms to rein in ICE and CBP, many of which Republicans in Congress have long panned as non-starters, including banning ICE agents from wearing masks and requiring them to obtain judicial warrants before pursuing suspected illegal immigrants.

What happens next will be up to Senate Democrats and the White House, who are expected to continue negotiating through the weekend and into next week if need be.

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS

Both sides have traded proposals and legislative text on a compromise DHS funding bill, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus remained steadfast in their position that the GOP’s offer didn’t go far enough.

Meanwhile, the majority of House and Senate lawmakers left Washington on Thursday and are not currently expected to return until Feb. 23.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that he would give lawmakers 24 hours’ notice to return to Washington, D.C., should there be a breakthrough, and remained optimistic that there was a path forward despite Democrats’ blockade. 

“Every iteration of this gets a step closer, because I think the White House is giving more and more ground on some of these key issues,” Thune said. “But so far, they’re not getting any kind of response to Democrats, even allowing us to continue this, allowing [the] government to stay open.”

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But Democrats have reiterated several times that they believe their demands are simple. 

“Again, the only — the fundamental ask is that ICE abide by the same principles and policies of every other police force in the country, and if we can get there, then we can resolve the problem,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave House lawmakers his blessing to leave Washington with a 48 hours’ notice to return pending Senate action, two sources told Fox News Digital.

Two of President Donald Trump’s top Democratic critics are using appearances at a high-profile European gathering to blast the Republican president’s agenda and beef up their foreign policy chops on the world state ahead of possible 2028 White House runs.

“Donald Trump is temporary,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday during a climate change discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. “He’ll be gone in three years.”

And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, during a town hall at the prestigious conference, pointed to Trump and charged, “We are seeing our presidential administration tear apart the transatlantic partnership, rip up every democratic norm.”

Newsom and Ocasio-Cortez are the most well known of a small group of potential Democratic presidential contenders using appearances in Munich to criticize Trump’s international agenda and offer a contrast to Vice President JD Vance, the perceived 2028 Republican front-runner, who delivered a scathing attack on Europe during his speech at the security forum last year.

NEWSOM STOP IN KEY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY STATE SPARKS MORE 2028 SPECULATION

The other Democrats with likely national ambitions making the rounds at the confab and meeting with international leaders are Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and former Commerce Secretary. Gina Raimondo.

Ocasio-Cortez pointed to her fellow Democrats in Munich and said, “I think many of us are here to say we are here, and we are ready for the next chapter, not to have the world turn to isolation, but to deepen our partnership … and increase our commitment to integrity to our values.”

At a second discussion later on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez argued that “the United States is very much in a compromised position compared to where we were five years ago. Our relationships with our allies are strained. Our commitment and demonstrated consistency on democratic values and human rights are also incredibly strained.”

JD VANCE SAYS ‘DUMBEST’ DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE WILL WIN NOMINATION IN 2028

Newsom, who is speaking at his third major international conference in recent months, following appearances last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and late last year at a world climate conference in Brazil, hammered Trump over climate policy, arguing the president is “doubling down on stupid.”

“Never in the history of the United States of America has there been a more destructive president than the current occupant of the White House in Washington, D.C.,” Newsom charged. “Donald Trump is trying to turn back the clock.”

THE 2028 WHITE HOUSE RACE IS ALREADY UNDERWAY

The White House, responding to the criticism from Newsom and Ocasio-Cortez, argued in a statement to Fox News Digital that “Gavin Newscum and AOC should be fixing California and New York’s many problems, but instead, they are frolicking in Europe, where no one knows or cares who they are.”

Ocasio-Cortez, during the first of her two appearances at the conference, was asked by the town hall moderator, “When you run for president, are you going to impose a wealth tax or a billionaire’s tax?”

Responding with a laugh, the four-term federal lawmaker who has long advocated for significant tax increases on the ultra-wealthy to fund progressive initiatives then said, “We don’t have to wait for any one president to impose a wealth tax… That needs to be done expeditiously.”

Matthew Bartlett, who served at the State Department during the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital that “the regular foreign policy crowd is turning into something of a cattle call for 2028 as numerous Democrats take Munich to articulate their vision and try to develop some sort of foreign policy credential as the next presidential race is on the horizon.”

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And Terry Shumaker, who served as U.S. ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago during the Clinton administration, noted that the appearances in Munich by the potential candidates “gives them experience, confidence, and something to refer back to on the campaign trail when they’re asked about their foreign policy experience.”

And Shumaker, a longtime New Hampshire-based attorney and Democratic Party activist, said it also signals to the world “that Trump is not a monolith. That there’s another side of the story in the United States.”

President Donald Trump Friday sharply criticized former President Joe Biden’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it an “embarrassment” and arguing his administration would not have left military equipment behind.

“You remember that where they left all the military equipment behind? We didn’t. We wouldn’t have left anything,” Trump said while speaking at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “We were going to get out with dignity and strength, respect. We looked like we were running. We don’t run from anybody. That was a Biden embarrassment.”

Trump also questioned why aircraft were not flown out of the country.

“We don’t leave equipment behind. We don’t leave jets behind,” he said. “I said, why do you leave those jets behind, sir? I thought it was cheaper to leave it behind. You know, $150 million plane. All they had to do is put a little jet fuel in there and fly it to wherever they want to fly it.”

He said the U.S. military had been rebuilt during his first term and is now stronger than ever.

“So with the help of everyone in this room, America is the strongest military on the face of the earth. We rebuilt it. We really did,” Trump said. “We rebuilt it in my first term.”

FOUR YEARS AFTER ABBEY GATE, VETERANS WHO SAVED CIVILIANS DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY

TRUMP HAILS ‘GREAT AND VERY BRAVE’ UK SOLDIERS AFTER SLAMMING NATO ALLIES’ AFGHANISTAN SERVICE

His remarks came during a visit that honored the special operators involved in the operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which he contrasted as an “extraordinary military operation.” 

The U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 after nearly 20 years of war. The evacuation followed a February 2020 agreement negotiated during Trump’s first term that set a timeline for U.S. forces to leave the country.

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Biden oversaw the final withdrawal as Taliban forces rapidly seized control of Afghanistan, culminating in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians.

Biden has argued that he was bound by the withdrawal agreement negotiated during Trump’s first term and faced the choice of completing the pullout or sending more U.S. troops back into combat. Trump has rejected that claim, saying his deal with the Taliban was “conditions-based” and that he would not have withdrawn if the Taliban failed to meet its commitments.

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden Friday for comment and has yet to receive a reply. 

The overstuffed white binders appeared a few moments before Attorney General Pam Bondi exited her motorcade, and strode through the horseshoe entrance of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Roll Call photographer Tom Williams and I stood in the hallway, negotiating our positions for Bondi’s entrance. Williams would position himself on the far side. I slid to the wall nearest the horseshoe entrance. Ali Vitali of MS NOW and Jay O’Brien of ABC worked the sidewall.

A coterie of Bondi’s aides appeared. One bogged down by the massive binders.

BONDI HEARING DEVOLVES INTO CHAOS OF SHOUTS AS AG ACCUSES TOP DEMOCRATS OF ‘THEATRICS’

“Let her get into the room,” instructed the aide.

I politely reminded the aide that the corridor was an open hallway on Capitol Hill. It wasn’t closed off by the U.S. Capitol Police. So, tossing questions at the Attorney General was fair game.

And, thus began another dance between reporters, security details, the U.S. Capitol Police, aides and Cabinet members when they appear for major Congressional hearings.

At the time, we had no clue what was in the binders. But you couldn’t ignore the sheer size of them.

It’s not uncommon for aides to haul in briefing books for a principal when they testify. However, no one has seen binders like this since Kinko’s was still in business.

The contents of what the binders contained was about to play a central role in Bondi’s testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.

But the first charge of the morning was to query Bondi. There was so much going on. All of which were subjects that the Attorney General could address.

Speaking of files…

Bondi wasn’t there to testify about the Epstein files, per se. But Democrats – and one Republican – would make the Justice Department’s release of partially redacted documents the focus of the hearing. So there was plenty to ask Bondi about that.

DOJ’S EPSTEIN DISCLOSURE DRAWS FIRE FOR WEBSITE GLITCHES, MISSING DOCUMENTS, REDACTIONS

However, there were overnight developments from Arizona. Authorities detained a person near the Mexico border in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. What Bondi might know about the FBI’s role in this was worth a question. 

Then, there was a cryptic alert that officials were shutting off the airport in El Paso to all air traffic for ten days. Was there a threat of terrorism? Something about cartels? Finally, a story broke overnight that the Justice Department sought to indict six Democratic lawmakers for their video telling service members they didn’t have to comply with unlawful orders. A District of Columbia grand jury refused to indict any of them.

So the press corps waited for Bondi and her security detail to breeze through the door. We’d have about a minute to pepper her with questions as she walked from the horseshoe entrance to a back anteroom.

Reporters must be strategic with such brief “walk-and-talks.” Rapid, Gatling gun-like questions. Succinct. Straight to the point. And agile enough to skip to the next line of inquiry if the figure arriving on Capitol Hill doesn’t answer or gives a brief response.

In another universe, I may have started with Epstein. But the Nancy Guthrie story has consumed the nation for weeks now. There was a development overnight. Nearly every story on the planet always occupies a lane somewhere on Capitol Hill. The Nancy Guthrie saga was no exception.

I had positioned myself on the inside track as we walked down the hall. Able to sidle up close to Bondi as she moved through the building.

“Madam Attorney General, any comment about the investigation of Guthrie? Any update on that right now?” I began, getting to Bondi first.

“Yeah, I can’t talk about that now. Praying for Savannah and her family,” replied Bondi.

Check. Moving on.

“What happened in El Paso? Why did they close off El Paso? Is that something you don’t know about? Or you just can’t comment?” I asked.

“I cant discuss it,” responded Bondi.

EPSTEIN FILES EXPLODE OPEN AS DOJ DETAILS DISCOVERY OF POWERFUL FIGURES AND MORE THAN 1,200 VICTIMS

Then, the main event.

“And what about the Epstein files? A lot of members have been upset that some of these files have not been fully unredacted. What do you say to that?” I inquired.

“We’re going to discuss that today,” answered Bondi.

I backed off to allow my colleagues a chance to pose questions.

“But why was certain information redacted that’s against the nature of the law? Why was certain information redacted that’s against the law?” asked Vitali.

No response.

So I tagged back in, returning to the initial lines of questioning.

“Did you get any updates overnight on the Guthrie investigation? Were they keeping you informed overnight on that? And when did you first find out about the El Paso situation? When did you first hear about the El Paso situation, Madam Attorney General?”

Bondi was silent.

The scrum processed down the hall, camera operators and reporters bumping all over one another, edging backwards. A semi-blob of security personnel slightly shielded Bondi.

But the end was near. The throng approached the backdoor to the Judiciary Committee. Bondi would soon turn right and disappear inside.

Just enough time for one final topic.

“What about the attempt to prosecute the six lawmakers? Any comment on that failed grand jury indictment?” I hollered.

“I’ll refer that to U.S. Attorney Pirro,” replied Bondi, referring to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro, who tried to indict the six.

HOW PAM BONDI AND THE DEMOCRATS TURNED A HEARING INTO HYSTERIA, RIGHT IN FRONT OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S VICTIMS

“Do you know why that went wrong?” I asked.

But that was it. The shot clock expired.

Bondi ignored the question, turning right with her security detail and retreating into the anteroom.

When he hosted Meet the Press on NBC, late host Tim Russert would sometimes boast that they had the Vice President or Secretary of State “for the whole hour.”

The exchanges with Bondi were a fraction of that, consuming a meager one minute and three seconds. From 9:42:03 am et until 9:43:06 am et. There was efficient questioning. And Bondi fielded the questions. But there wasn’t a lot which advanced any of the stories. Still, it’s important to pose the questions and get the exchanges on camera. That made it a productive exercise. Sometimes the Capitol press corps never even sees the big witnesses arrive. Or if we do, they don’t even respond to questions.

The group of aides ducked into the Judiciary Committee suite, one aide lugging the ginormous binders like a stack of Christmas presents.

These binders were about to become the most famous folios in American politics since former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) proclaimed he had “binders full of women” during a 2012 debate with President Obama.

The hearing would start a few moments later, carried live on multiple TV networks. The purpose of the binders soon became clear. Each binder contained dossiers on every single Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Bondi would turn to a specific section in each binder, mining for barbs to lob back at Democrats on the dais. Sometimes about their voting history. Sometimes about a law enforcement or immigration issue in their district. Bondi frequently lashed Democrats – and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) – with ad hominem attacks. She derided Massie as a “failed politician.” She called Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the panel “a washed-up, loser lawyer.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) tried to bait Bondi, asking her to “give me your best” bit of opposition research. The Florida Democrat would then grade what Bondi’s staff concocted.

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The hearing devolved into five hours of shouting, screaming and mayhem. One of the most chaotic, cacophonous hearings in recent memory. The spectacle spoke volumes.

All of which could fill a stack of overstuffed binders.

President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to fire court-appointed U.S. attorneys, even if judges legally appointed them, according to former Justice Department official John Yoo, who said the Constitution gives the president broad removal power over executive branch officers.

“Otherwise, you could have U.S. attorneys who are enforcing federal law differently than the president would, and it’s the president who all of us in the country elect and to whom the president is accountable,” Yoo told Fox News Digital in an interview.

Trump exercised that power this week by terminating Donald Kinsella just hours after federal judges in the Northern District of New York voted to install him to fill the vacancy left by Trump appointee John Sarcone, whose temporary term had expired. 

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed the move in a fiery social media post, declaring that judges “don’t pick” U.S. attorneys and thrusting the fight deeper into a constitutional dispute over who ultimately controls them.

FEDERAL JUDGE DISQUALIFIES US ATTORNEY, TOSSES SUBPOENAS TARGETING NY AG LETITIA JAMES

At the center of the most recent dispute is a law that allows federal courts to appoint temporary U.S. attorneys when a presidential nominee has not been confirmed by the Senate and an acting official’s term has expired. Blanche suggested the court’s move to fill a U.S. attorney vacancy was unconstitutional, a comment that comes as the DOJ appeals Judge Lorna Schofield’s decision last month to disqualify Sarcone over his expired tenure.

But Yoo, a law professor at University of California, Berkeley, said both that the judges’ actions were legal due to a “quirk” in the law and that the president still has authority to fire Kinsella.

“No matter how an executive officer is appointed … none of these positions under the Constitution have any specific way to remove the officers, and so the president can remove all officers in the executive branch, particularly all officers in the Justice Department,” Yoo said.

Yoo said the Constitution lays out detailed processes for appointing U.S. attorneys but is “silent” on how they are removed.

“It has elaborate procedures … about how you appoint them to office. It doesn’t actually discuss at all how you remove them from office,” Yoo said, referencing the complex federal vacancy laws that govern how interim and acting U.S. attorneys are appointed.

He noted that existing law and Supreme Court precedent have long given the president the ultimate power to fire inferior officers in the executive branch, meaning an official like the attorney general cannot remove the appointees chosen by the courts, such as Kinsella, but Trump can.

Kinsella did not respond to a request for comment on his termination.

Under the law, U.S. attorneys are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. But if the Senate does not act, the president can install a temporary U.S. attorney for a limited period, typically 120 days. If that term expires without confirmation of a nominee, the law gives the district court’s judges the power to appoint a replacement to avoid a vacancy in the office.

FORMER TRUMP LAWYER HALLIGAN DEFENDS US PROSECUTOR STATUS IN WAKE OF COMEY, JAMES DISMISSALS

Trump, for his part, has struggled to secure Senate confirmations of his U.S. attorney nominees in blue states, where the upper chamber’s blue slip tradition has meant that home state senators must greenlight his nominees. 

His interim appointees in these states, including New York, California, Nevada, New Jersey and Virginia, have faced legal setbacks as federal judges have uniformly found that Trump cannot repeatedly reappoint the same person to consecutive temporary terms.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has ruled out approving any of Trump’s nominees in New York, for example. After Trump fired Kinsella, a veteran federal prosecutor, Schumer said in a statement the president wanted an unqualified “political loyalist” in office. 

“Everyone knows Trump only cares about one quality in a U.S. Attorney — complete political subservience,” Schumer said.

In New Jersey, Trump quickly fired a court-appointed U.S. attorney after a lower court found Alina Habba’s temporary term had expired. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit upheld the lower court’s finding that Habba was unlawfully serving.

In the Eastern District of Virginia, the top prosecutor’s role also remains in limbo as the DOJ appeals a judge’s decision to disqualify Lindsey Halligan, who brought high-profile indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey. The judge tossed those cases, finding Halligan was improperly appointed.

The Trump DOJ used a variety of loopholes in the law to install Sarcone, Habba, Halligan and others, and has argued in appeals that the judges disqualifying them — and replacing them with U.S. attorneys of the court’s choosing — were misreading the law.

“It is important that a DOJ component is overseen by someone who has the support of the Executive Branch, and that a U.S. Attorney’s Office can continue to function even when there is no Senate-confirmed or interim U.S. Attorney,” DOJ attorneys wrote in court papers in Habba’s case.

Yoo signaled that the courts were right to honor the statutory time constraints on acting and interm tenures, but he reiterated that Trump had sole removal power.

From the founding, he said, officers who enforce federal law have been removable at will by the president under Article II of the Constitution and the take care clause, the duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

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“Any subordinates who are carrying out federal law have to be accountable to him,” Yoo said.

The DOJ has not at this stage elevated any of the U.S. attorney cases to the Supreme Court. Habba’s case is the furthest along, and a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the DOJ would appeal that decision.

Virginia’s new Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is being widely mocked for a photo of her grilling, with many on social media expressing alarm and disgust over what appears to be some type of shredded meat over the fire.

Spanberger, who ran as a moderate Democrat, has been criticized for enacting radical day one policies, including moving to end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and restore diversity, equity and inclusion. But this week the primary criticism against her was over a photo she posted of herself smiling over a grill on Thursday with the caption, “Order up.”

The post garnered immediate mockery, with many comparing it to the viral photo of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in which the senator could be seen smiling with several of what appeared to be uncooked burger patties, one of which already had cheese on it.

Conservative commentator Greg Price reacted to the photo of Spanberger alongside images of Schumer, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in front of grills, with the caption, “I hope Democrat politicians never stop doing photo ops behind a grill.”

TOM HOMAN VOWS TO WORK AROUND NEW DEM VA GOV SPANBERGER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING ICE COOPERATION

Though the new governor was wearing a black apron with the words, “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner,” her post was flooded with comments asking what the strange-looking meat on the grill truly was.

“Ma’am, what is that?” reacted independent journalist Breanna Morello.

Popular satire account Three Year Letterman commented, “How many neighborhood cats are missing” and “arrest her.”

“Did you cut your meat with a weed wacker?” wrote Parker Thayer, a researcher at Capital Research Center.

Heritage Foundation research fellow Jason Bedrick commented, “What you did to that meat violates the Geneva Convention.”

Another user, conservative commentator David Freeman, simply reacted, “No thanks.”

SPANBERGER TAKES SWIPE AT TRUMP ADMIN, SAYS VIRGINIANS WORRIED ABOUT ‘RECKLESSNESS COMING OUT OF WASHINGTON’

Beef supplier Merriwether Farms wrote, “Virginia is in trouble.”

In 2024, Schumer took similar criticism over a Father’s Day post, which the New York Democrat eventually deleted, showing off his backyard grill.

Our family has lived in an apartment building for all our years, but my daughter and her wife just bought a house with a backyard and for the first time we’re having a barbeque with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill!” Schumer posted on X on Sunday. “Father’s Day Heaven!”

VIRGINIA GOV. SPANBERGER CUTS TIES WITH ICE IN FEDERAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION

The post was immediately criticized by conservatives accusing him of placing cheese on one of the burger patties prematurely and not knowing how to properly grill the burger.

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“Chuck is making an E. coli with cheese,” Cavalry founding partner Michael Duncan posted on X. 

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

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the U.S. delegation to the high-profile Munich Security Conference — one year after Vice President JD Vance took the German stage in a speech that stunned many in Europe and became one of the defining moments of Trump’s early second term abroad. 

“President Trump has assembled the most talented team in history, including Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio, who are working in lockstep to notch wins for the American people,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital ahead of Rubio’s speech. 

“The President and his team have flexed their foreign policy prowess to end decades-long wars, secure peace in the Middle East, and restore American dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The entire administration is working together to restore peace through strength and put America First.”

The Munich Security Conference is an annual high-level forum in Germany that draws hundreds of senior decision-makers — including heads of state, top ministers, military leaders and policy influencers — for closed-door and public talks on global security crises. 

VANCE, RUBIO CHEER ON TEAM USA WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY IN THEIR WINTER OLYMPICS OPENING WIN

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California are among notable Democrats attending the conference, in addition to Rubio. 

Vance became one of the central figures at the 2025 Munich gathering after a widely publicized speech that drew heavy attention and applause from conservatives following the Biden administration. It also sparked backlash among some European officials who viewed his remarks as confrontational. 

Rubio’s attendance at the 2026 meeting follows a lengthy history of the State Department chief earning a series of different roles under the second administration, including acting national security advisor, secretary of state, acting archivist of the United States and acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Amid rising trans-Atlantic tension, the secretary of state issued a warning to Europe as he departed for his trip to Germany Thursday. 

VANCE, RUBIO GREET AMERICAN WINTER OLYMPIANS IN ITALY

“The Old World is gone,” Rubio told reporters as he departed for Europe Thursday. “Frankly, the world I grew up in, and we live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.”

President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly have put Europe on notice for allegedly devolving into a culture of political correctness, speech policing, and a security system that heavily relies on U.S. funding and military might. Amid the rhetoric on Europe, the administration has continued to underscore the importance of U.S.-Europe relations, including Rubio on Thursday. 

“We’re very tightly linked together with Europe,” he told reporters. “Most people in this country can trace both, either their cultural or their personal heritage, back to Europe. So, we just have to talk about that.”

Vance used his Munich Security Conference speech to deliver a blunt warning to Europe’s political class 2025, arguing the continent’s biggest danger is not Moscow or Beijing, but what he described as internal democratic decay that has festered due to political correctness and censorship. 

RUBIO WARNS NATO ALLIES US IS ‘NOT SIMPLY FOCUSED ON EUROPE,’ DOESN’T HAVE UNLIMITED RESOURCES

He accused European governments and institutions of drifting toward censorship, citing policies he said police speech, curb religious expression and pressure online platforms. He also argued elites allegedly were trying to manage elections and debate by dismissing unwelcome outcomes and branding dissent as “misinformation” to sideline populists and blunt voter backlash.

“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values — values shared with the United States of America,” Vance said in 2025 in the speech that left many European leaders stunned, according to reports at the time. 

Vance also is overseas this week, holding meetings with Armenia and Azerbaijan, including signing a peaceful nuclear cooperation with Armenia and a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan. 

That trip followed both Vance and Rubio joining a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni earlier in February in Italy, and Vance leading a delegation that included Rubio during the Olympics’ opening ceremony in Milan. 

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that there were never plans for the vice president to attend the 2026 conference in Munich. 

TRUMP HAILS RUBIO AS DIPLOMATIC MENTOR AS SECRETARY OF STATE’S POWER GROWS

Vance’s foreign policy footprint became subject of political media scrutiny earlier in 2026 when the U.S. military successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Vance was not among high-profile U.S. leaders who joined Trump at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, resort to monitor the operation, unlike Rubio who was with the president. 

The VP’s office brushed off media alarm over his absence, citing  Trump and Vance limit the “frequency and duration” of time they spend together outside the White House due to “increased security concerns.” 

The vice president is by no means is expected to attend the Munich Security Conference each year, with former Vice President Mike Pence, for example, attending the conference twice under the first Trump administration, and former Vice President Kamala Harris attending three times under the Biden administration. Previous secretaries of state such as John Kerry, Antony Blinken and Hillary Clinton have attended and addressed the body in previous years. 

Vance additionally attended a separate Munich Security Conference event, the Leaders Conference, in Washington, D.C., in May 2025.

Trump praised Vance’s 2025 speech as “brilliant” in a statement to reporters at the time, remarking that “they’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech” in Europe and that Vance made a strong case against much of Europe’s lax immigration polices. 

Since then, Trump’s team repeatedly has echoed the same critique in official channels, including a State Department push that has blasted European speech restrictions and targeted the European Union’s Digital Services Act as “Orwellian” censorship, alongside new visa restrictions aimed at foreign officials accused of censoring Americans online.

Just in December 2025, Trump blasted European nations for not being “recognizable” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, teeing up what could be another fiery speech from Americans on European soil on Saturday. 

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“I don’t want to insult anybody and say I don’t recognize it,” Trump said during his special address in Davos. “And that’s not in a positive way. That’s in a very negative way. And I love Europe and I want to see Europe do good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment on the address Friday. 

A suburban Maryland board meeting was taken off the air after whistling and protests erupted moments after officials approved a resolution endorsing cooperation with DHS, including the purchase of a warehouse in Williamsport that sparked Democratic outrage.

A few miles south of the meeting, DHS had completed the purchase of the $102 million property in Williamsport, just across the Potomac River from Falling Waters, West Virginia and about 75 miles from Washington, D.C.

The property soon became the site of protests, including a video posted by Total Wine billionaire David Trone — who is running for his former U.S. House seat — in which he stood by a snowbank behind the center and declared ICE was “executing people” and did not belong in Maryland.

PHILLY DA’S ‘HUNT YOU DOWN’ WARNING TO ICE DRAWS CALLS FOR DOJ CRIMINAL PROBE

Washington County Board President John Barr slammed his gavel Tuesday as outrage erupted over the resolution, declaring the “safety and security of our community is of utmost importance” and that “DHS [and] ICE play a crucial role in safeguarding our nation’s borders and is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, protecting the country from potential threats, and maintaining the rule of law for public safety.”

Barr’s voice vote appeared to reflect most if not all board members saying “aye” but elicited “nay!” and “no” from the audience — where people began loudly whistling, clapping and pointing at Barr.

Barr calmly announced, “clear the room,” and a broadcast producer could be heard saying, “Off air! Off air” before the TV feed was cut.

DHS FIRES BACK AFTER DEM BILLIONAIRE DAVID TRONE CLAIMS ICE IS ‘EXECUTING PEOPLE’

Outside the building on Washington Street, a throng of anti-ICE protesters similarly whistled and waved signs reading “no concentration camps” and “No ICE Jail.”

“These ICE facilities; they’re inhumane; I don’t want them here,” protester Richard Hartman told Baltimore’s NBC affiliate.

Two counter-protesters waved signs saying “Trump is Your President” and “We Love ICE.”

Maryland federal lawmakers urged the county not to pass the resolution. Rep. April McClain-Delaney — whom Trone is facing in the primary — called the plan “sweeping and dangerous” and forged in “darkness.”

“[It] is yet another example of the Trump administration acting without transparency, accountability, or regard for human life,” she said.

Washington County sits in a transitional area. To the east, deep-blue Washington suburbs reliably vote Democrat. To the west, “Mountain Maryland” and the Maryland panhandle form a Republican-friendly bastion, though they are grouped with some of the aforementioned suburbs in a congressional district that trends blue.

ANTI-ICE LEGISLATION HEADS TO DESK OF RISING STAR DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR, TESTING HIS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS

Closer to the nation’s capital, officials in once-moderate Howard County blocked another ICE facility in Elkridge, according to the Baltimore station.

To the north in Pennsylvania, Democrats have opposed similar transactions, including a facility just off US-22 in Shartlesville – a rural community recently home to the now-defunct Roadside America attraction.

In a statement to Fox News Digital about the Williamsport center, Trone said ICE has “detained children as young as 5 years old, American citizens, and military veterans.”

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“ICE only needs to expand its detention space because reprehensible legislation was passed by Congress—with the support of Rep. April McClain Delaney—that strips due process rights and expands this Administration’s ability to carry out this cruel agenda.”

Republicans running for the seat, including Robin Ficker and Chris Burnett, have signaled support for immigration enforcement – and state Del. Neil Parrott of Hagerstown, who has formed an exploratory committee but not formally declared, said as much in prior comments to Fox News Digital.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the case Friday for the passage of the SAVE America Act, accusing opponents of the bill of favoring access to the ballot box for illegal immigrants. 

Noem was in the Phoenix area, where she pushed the Trump administration’s efforts to shore up election integrity and voter security. 

She touched on the Save America Act, a bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, photo identification to vote in federal elections and that states remove noncitizens from their voter rolls. 

She noted that wide majorities of Republicans and Democrats approve of the legislation. 

MURKOWSKI BREAKS WITH GOP ON VOTER ID, SAYS PUSH ‘IS NOT HOW WE BUILD TRUST’

However, she criticized the bill’s opponents who say it will disenfranchise millions of voters. 

“Each of the arguments that have been laid out to criticize this bill are baseless speculation from the radical left because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections,” Noem told reporters during a news conference. 

“They want to disenfranchise American citizens by telling them that their votes don’t matter. There’s only one reason that anyone would oppose this bill, and that’s because they would want to cheat.

“They want illegal people and aliens in this country to be able to vote for them and to rob the United States citizens of their vote,” she added. “And that’s why they resist us at every single level.”

REPUBLICANS, TRUMP RUN INTO SENATE ROADBLOCK ON VOTER ID BILL

Congressional Democrats have characterized the bill as an effort to remove millions of Americans from voter rolls, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it “Jim Crow 2.0,” a term used by some to describe modern so-called voter suppression laws.

During her remarks, Noem mentioned a handful of illegal immigrants who were registered to vote in various states.

“There is no room in our election system for people that aren’t Americans,” she said. “There is no room in our election system for fraudsters and foreign influence.”

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The secretary also called for Arizona to clean up its voter rolls, noting that DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements can be used to do just that. The program helps local, state and federal agencies determine the citizenship and immigration status of individuals.

“Maybe people who’ve passed away, people that aren’t citizens, people that don’t live here,” she said. “That would make sure that, in your next election, when people are casting their votes, they know they’re voting for the right decisions and that those votes are counted. And they’re counted appropriately. And someone else didn’t get to weigh in on their leadership.”

The Trump administration swiftly removed Carrie Prejen Boller, a former Miss California winner, from a White House religious council amid accusations she worked to “hijack” a hearing on antisemitism, earning applause from religious leaders and conservatives. 

“Carrie Prejean was thrown off the Religious Liberty Commission, and thank God,” a former Trump White House official told Fox News Digital in reaction to the ouster. “These commissions exist to advance the President’s agenda, not to serve as a personal Jew-hating platform.” 

Prejean Boller was ousted from the White House Religious Liberty Commission after she worked to “hijack a hearing” held Monday regarding antisemitism in the U.S. to promote her “own personal and political agenda on any issue,” according to chair of the commission, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. 

Prejean Boller is the 2009 Miss California USA winner who was stripped of her crown over allegations of breaching contract. She gained nationwide attention in 2009 for speaking out against legalizing gay marriage from the pageant’s stage. 

MAMDANI’S ANTISEMITISM CZAR ONCE SLAMMED POST CONDEMNING HAMAS TERROR ATTACKS

Trump owned the Miss Universe Organization at the time and defended Prejean Boller, then Carrie Prejean. 

Trump established the religious liberty commission in May via an executive order directing the Department of Justice to provide support to the newly formed body focused on upholding “Federal laws that protect all citizens’ full participation in a pluralistic democracy, and protect the free exercise of religion.”

The commission held a hearing Monday at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on combating antisemitism and upholding religious freedom, where Prejean Boller wore a Palestinian flag pin and got into tense exchanges. 

Prejean Boller converted to Catholicism from evangelical Christianity in April and invoked her Catholic faith in comments rejecting Zionism during the hearing. 

TARGETED FOR THEIR FAITH OVERSEAS, PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS GET A WHITE HOUSE WELCOME UNDER TRUMP

“I am a Catholic, and Catholics don’t embrace Zionism,” she said. 

Catholic League President Bill Donohue swiftly called for her ouster in an opinion piece published on his organization’s website, underscoring that she did not represent Catholics in her remarks. 

“Prejean Boller is a former Miss California and a convert to Catholicism,” he wrote Wednesday. “She does not run a Catholic organization, has no Catholic credentials as an author or instructor, and indeed represents no one but herself. For her to say, without qualification, that ‘Catholics do not embrace Zionism,’ is presumptuous and arrogant.”

“Zionism is a movement that promotes Jewish self-determination in a homeland,” he said. “There are millions of Catholics like myself who, even if they do not identify themselves as Zionists, recognize the Jewish state of Israel. Prejean Boller apparently does not—she is more comfortable showing up at the Religious Liberty Commission wearing a Palestinian flag pin. So telling.” 

Shawn Carney, president and CEO of 40 Days for Life pro-life group, added in comment to Fox Digital that her “claim that Catholics are against Jews is absurd.”

“This division is a recent fad and an online invention,” Carney said. “For centuries, Catholics have understood that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom and that our faith comes from the Jews. Catholic teaching holds that the Church is the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Covenant. To suddenly claim that Catholics are against Jews is absurd — it is a modern, internet-based error.” 

He added that Trump has a very strong track record of hiring and appointing Catholics to his administration, noting “no president in modern history has done more to protect religious liberty for both Catholics and Jews.”

At one point, Prejean Boller got into a heated exchange with Shabbos Kestenbaum, a former Harvard student who sued the university over its response to antisemitism.

“Are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?” Prejean Boller asked Kestenbaum during the hearing. “You won’t condemn that? Just on the record.”

She also defended Candace Owens when pressed by Babylon Bee Founder and CEO Seth Dillon if the commentator had ever made antisemitic remarks. 

“Do you think anything Candace has said is antisemitic?” he asked her, after referring to Owens as one of the “most famous antisemites” in the current political landscape. 

“No, I don’t,” Prejean Boller replied.

The former Trump White House official continued in comment to Fox Digital that backing Israel has long been a priority for President Donald Trump. 

“President Donald Trump has been clear for decades that he stands proudly with the Jewish people and with America’s closest ally, Israel,” the former official said. “Supporting Israel and standing with Jewish Americans is not just morally right, it is America First.” 

TRUMP SAYS GOP, MAGA MOVEMENT DOESN’T NEED, DISLIKES PEOPLE WITH ANTISEMITIC VIEWS

“President Trump delivered historic victories for the Jewish people. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there. He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He brokered the Abraham Accords and reshaped the Middle East. He kept his promise to bring every last hostage home and made clear that antisemitism at home will be confronted head on, including holding universities accountable when Jewish students are targeted.”

Conservatives and others on social media celebrated her ouster while condemning her remarks at the hearing. 

“The only one who brought up Zionism at the event was … Carrie Prejean Boller,” account Bonchie posted. “Classic grifter play happening here. Cause a scene of her own making, claim to be the victim, profit. A story as old as time.”

“Whatever you think of the rest of Carrie Prejean Boller’s views, wearing a Palestinian flag to a hearing on religious liberty is disgraceful,” president of WorldStrat information warfare firm and chief editor of the Middle East Forum Jim Hanson posted. 

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said that while he does not personally know Prejean Boller, what he saw of her actions was “just sad.”

“There are 57 Muslim countries on earth; this poor thing has been deluded into thinking that the fact that Israel exists — in the promised land given to the Jewish people thousands of years ago by Jehovah — is somehow the source of all her troubles.” he wrote.  “And no, Catholics don’t hate Israel. As Charlie Kirk said repeatedly, antisemitism is a brain rot, and someone has been pouring this poison into her head.”

FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: WALZ SHOCKS WITH MISGUIDED HOLOCAUST COMPARISON

Patrick said he personally made the decision to remove her, while Prejean Boller responded on X that only the president could order her removal. 

“You did not appoint me to the Commission, and you lack authority to remove me from it,” Prejean Boller wrote on X in response to Patrick. “This is a gross overstepping of your role and leads me to believe you are acting in alignment with a Zionist political framework that hijacked the hearing, rather than in defense of religious liberty.” 

Cruz shot back on X: “Let’s be clear: it was President Trump who fired her.”

The former Miss California has continued to stick by her remarks, saying she “will never bend the knee to the state of Israel. Ever.”

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“Christians have been manipulated into believing that God blesses bombing, starvation, and mass killing,” Prejean posted to X. “That is the opposite of Christ, who came to stand with the suffering and confront power. I reject that lie completely. I am not owned by money, donors, or access. I belong to Christ alone who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I would rather die than bend the knee to Israel.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment on the matter Thursday, and attempted to reach Prejean Boller Friday for comment. 

A battle between elected Democrat officials and the Trump administration is developing in New York City involving a Pride flag being flown at a government monument outside the historic Stonewall Inn.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration removed a Pride flag from the national monument outside the Stonewall Inn, the site of a clash between police and patrons of a gay bar seen by many as the start of the gay rights movement in the 1960s, in a move it says is in accordance with decades-old federal code. 

The administration says that only the American flag, Department of Interior flag, or POW flags are permitted to fly on national monuments rather than political flags, and Pride flags have continued to be displayed around the monument at the Stonewall Inn itself, located nearby. 

The move sparked outrage from activists and Democrat leaders in New York City, including the city’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who posted on X that he was “outraged” and “our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it.”

MAMDANI’S ANTISEMITISM CZAR ONCE SLAMMED POST CONDEMNING HAMAS TERROR ATTACKS

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters watched as local officials re-raised the Pride flag at the national monument, Fox 5 New York reported, prompting a scathing response from the Department of Interior, which manages the country’s national parks. 

“Instead of addressing the basic needs of their constituents, city leaders seem more focused on theatrics than solutions,” a Department of Interior spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Residents are left wondering why their elected officials are prioritizing headlines over heating. Every day that these issues go unresolved is another day families are forced to live with the consequences of mismanagement and neglect.”

“Hundreds of families in New York City went without power during this year’s severe cold weather, people are being found dead on the streets, and trash has piled up so high it towers over city residents. This is Mayor Mamdani and city officials’ New York City. While today’s political stunt is a distraction from their recent deadly failures, it would be a better use of their time to get the trash buildup off city streets, ensure there are no more avoidable deaths, and work to keep the power on for the people of New York City.”

HOUSE GOP LEADER RIPS ‘SOCIALIST’ ZOHRAN MAMDANI AFTER 18 PEOPLE FREEZE TO DEATH IN NYC

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. 

The Department of Interior maintains that recent adjustments to flag displays at the monument are part of “longstanding federal flag policy” and to ensure “consistency with federal guidance.”

“Stonewall National Monument remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site through its exhibits, programs, and educational initiatives.”

A source familiar with the situation tells Fox News Digital that an American flag was previously not displayed at the monument and park officials had to purchase one in order to be compliant with the U.S. Code.

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The source explained that this issue is not specifically targeted at the Stonewall Monument but rather part of broader concerns about the politicization of national monuments carried out by what are known as “Resistance Rangers,” employees who are openly working against the Trump administration from the inside. 

A report from Outside Magazine last fall highlighted an upside-down American flag being displayed on Yosemite National Park’s famed El Capitan cliff and similar incidents at other national parks as part of a campaign by fired National Park Service employees, activists, and the group of anonymous employees within the National Park Service calling themselves the “Resistance Rangers.”

President Barack Obama established the Stonewall National Monument on June 24, 2016, designating the area around the Stonewall Inn in New York City as a protected historic site. The move marked the first time a U.S. national monument was dedicated to LGBTQ history.

President Donald Trump is visiting Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Friday to honor U.S. special forces and their families for their roles in the high-profile military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in January.

Trump will be joined by first lady Melania Trump, who also is slated to spend time with military families during the base visit — one of the largest home stations for U.S. Army special operations forces. 

Trump’s social media posts ahead of the visit highlighted what he called “extraordinary” relations between the United States and Venezuela’s interim leadership, including cooperation on oil revenue and transition planning. 

After the dramatic capture of Maduro, his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, took over as Venezuela’s leader. 

DEA ZEROES IN ON CARTEL OF THE SUNS BOSSES AS MADURO IS HAULED INTO US NARCO CASE

Rodríguez has publicly maintained that both Maduro and Cilia Flores are “innocent,” rejecting assertions of wrongdoing that led to their capture. Despite her alignment with Maduro, the U.S. has insisted it could assert influence over her leadership.

 In late January, the U.S. and the interim Rodríguez government signed a massive energy pact. The U.S. has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude oil, with proceeds flowing into U.S.-controlled accounts to be disbursed at the discretion of the U.S. government.

Nearly 200 U.S. troops were involved in the Maduro operation, known as Operation Absolute Resolve. Seven were injured. 

Venezuela’s defense ministry said 83 people were killed in the mission on its own side, including Venezuelan security forces and 32 Cuban security personnel.

Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is also home to units that could be deployed if diplomatic efforts in the Middle East falter, including Trump’s push for Iran to reach an agreement or face what he has warned could be a “very traumatic” outcome. The visit comes just as the U.S. deployed a second aircraft carrier, the USS Ford, to the region while talks continue.

The Pentagon has not revealed which military units were involved in the operation.

LAWMAKER WHO FLED COMMUNISM DRAFTS SPECIAL RESOLUTION HONORING TRUMP AFTER MADURO OUSTER

Trump has repeatedly hailed the Maduro capture as a “spectacular” operation that showed the U.S.’s capability to assert dominance in its own backyard. He called the special operators involved a “group of unbelievable talented patriotic people that love our country. You couldn’t hold them back.”

The president has also hinted at a secret weapon he calls the “discombobulator” used in the operation to disable Venezuelan communications and equipment and disorient personnel.

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“I’m not allowed to talk about it,” Trump said in an interview  with NBC News. “But let me just tell you, you know what it does? None of their equipment works, that’s what it does.

“Everything was discombobulated.”

The highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is arguing that President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his state is already producing incredible results.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Operation Metro Surge, the federal law enforcement action in Minneapolis, helped recover some 3,000 migrant children who were previously thought to be missing.

“Do you realize that Operation Metro Surge picked up 4,000 illegal alien criminals? Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers — 4,000!” Emmer said.

“And by the way, I was told that, coming down here from the [House floor], that they’ve also located 3,000 missing migrant children. I mean, that’s just in the Minneapolis area. You gotta be kidding me.”

BORDER CZAR HOMAN MEETS WITH MINNESOTA OFFICIALS FOLLOWING IMMIGRATION OPERATION TENSIONS

Emmer, who has emerged as one of Trump’s most outspoken congressional allies during his second White House term, is also an aggressive critic of his state’s Democratic leadership.

He accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison of rooting against the success of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

“Their crazy sanctuary state and sanctuary city policies literally have allowed these criminals to roam our streets and put our law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizens’ — good Minnesotans’ — lives at risk,” Emmer said.

LEAVITT VOWS NOTHING WILL STOP ICE ENFORCEMENT AFTER 4,000 ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIMINALS CAUGHT IN MINNESOTA

Trump ordered a surge of federal law enforcement, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to the progressive-run city in a bid to find and arrest illegal immigrants that have been shielded by its sanctuary policies.

The administration announced on Thursday that it was ending the deployment.

The federal operation in Minneapolis has been controversial at times and led to fierce clashes between law enforcement and city residents. Criticism or praise have largely fallen along partisan lines.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for added scrutiny after two U.S. citizens were shot during anti-ICE demonstrations there. Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent after being accused of hitting him with her car while attempting to drive away, while Alex Pretti was fatally shot multiple times by Border Patrol weeks later.

Emmer blamed the chaos on a refusal by state and city Democrats to cooperate with federal authorities.

“I don’t care if you think they were in the right place, the wrong place, it doesn’t matter. A loss of a life is tragic, but it didn’t have to be this way,” he said. “Had there been cooperation, none of this would have happened. If they will cooperate, which it sounds like they are now going forward, things are going to settle down very fast.”

Trump had responded to the uproar by replacing federal leadership there, bringing in border czar Tom Homan to lead the government effort instead of Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino. Homan’s appointment has been praised by Republicans.

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Emmer said Homan took a “great step” in announcing the drawdown on Thursday, arguing “the numbers speak for themselves.”

“I think what the administration has done is frankly excellent. Tom Homan, I think, announced … that Operation Metro Surge was successful and that they’re going to be ending it and the president approved of that, which tells me that they’re getting the cooperation that they need [from state and local authorities],” he said.

Karrin Taylor Robson dropped out of the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary despite being one of the two candidates in the race backed by President Donald Trump.

“After deep reflection, prayer, and many conversations with my family, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Governor,” Robson said in a statement posted to X on Thursday.

She explained that she does not want to contribute to a contentious GOP primary. 

HOCHUL PRIMARY CHALLENGER ANTONIO DELGADOO ENDS CAMPAIGN FOR NEW YORK GOVERNOR

“We cannot afford a divisive Republican primary that drains resources and turns into months of intraparty attacks. It only weakens our conservative cause and gives the left exactly what they want: a fractured Republican Party heading into November. With so much on the line in 2026, I am not willing to contribute to that outcome,” she noted in the statement.

Robson did not make an endorsement.

“I remain committed to helping Republicans win in 2026 and to ensuring Arizona remains strong, safe, and free for generations to come,” she noted in the statement.

Trump had pledged to support her for governor in 2024. 

“Are you running for governor? I think so, Karrin, cuz if you do, you’re gonna have my support,” Trump said at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in December 2024.

ADAM SCHIFF MAKES ENDORSEMENT IN CALFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., launched a gubernatorial bid in January 2025, and Robson launched her bid in February 2025 — but in April 2025, Trump made the unorthodox move of announcing that he endorsed both of them.

“I like Karrin Taylor Robson of Arizona a lot, and when she asked me to Endorse her, with nobody else running, I Endorsed her, and was happy to do so. When Andy Biggs decided to run for Governor, quite unexpectedly, I had a problem — Two fantastic candidates, two terrific people, two wonderful champions, and it is therefore my Great Honor TO GIVE MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT TO BOTH. Either one will never let you down. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump declared in an April 2025 Truth Social post.

In 2022, Robson lost the GOP gubernatorial primary in Arizona to Kari Lake, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat Katie Hobbs.

TRUMP BACKS REPUBLICAN RIVALS IN ARIZONA GOVERNOR’S RACE AFTER REP. BIGGS ENTERS CONTEST: ‘I HAD A PROBLEM’

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Hobbs is seeking re-election this year.

Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, is another Republican seeking the Grand Canyon State governorship.