NationalWatch

President Donald Trump said he issued a presidential proclamation reopening thousands of square miles of protected Atlantic Ocean waters off New England to commercial fishing, saying the move would reestablish fishing access and reduce what he called burdensome restrictions on fishermen.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social late Friday, writing that the move was “another BIG WIN for Maine, and all of New England.”

The proclamation would reestablish fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod that was created by former President Barack Obama. Trump rolled back protections in the area during his first term, and President Joe Biden later restored them.

“Today, I signed a Presidential Proclamation to UNLEASH Commercial Fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, advancing the America First Fishing Policy!” Trump wrote. “I am restoring nearly 5,000 square miles of fishing access off the Coast of New England, which will revitalize our fishing industry and strengthen our booming economy.”

ZELDIN OVERHAULS BIDEN-ERA WATER RULE TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ THAT LED ‘PUDDLES’ TO TRIGGER PRICY PERMITS

Trump has long been critical of the marine monument, which Obama described at the time as a way to protect vulnerable undersea corals and ecosystems. Trump has described the restrictions as an unfair penalty on commercial fishermen.

Trump said Democrats had imposed excessive and unnecessary regulations on fishermen for years.

“In my first term, I reversed the prohibitions placed on commercial fishing, but Joe Biden, or whoever was using the AUTOPEN, foolishly reinstated them,” Trump wrote. “Since Day One, I have taken historic action to end these disastrous policies.”

ENERGY GROUPS CELEBRATE TRUMP’S LATEST MOVE TO UNLEASH ALASKA DRILLING

Earlier this year, Trump also signed a broader order directing federal agencies to reduce the regulatory burden on fishermen, according to the White House.

Commercial fishing groups welcomed the move, saying it would expand access while allowing the industry to operate sustainably.

“We deserve to be rewarded, not penalized,” John Williams, president and owner of the New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Atlantic Red Crab Company, told The Associated Press. “We’re demonstrating that we can fish sustainably and continue to harvest on a sustainable level in perpetuity.”

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Environmental groups criticized the proclamation and warned that reopening the area could threaten sensitive marine ecosystems.

“The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was created to provide strong protections for the wide range of marine life that live in these unique habitats,” Gib Brogan, fisheries campaign director at environmental group Oceana, told the outlet.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The federal Small Business Administration suspended more than 111,000 California borrowers after uncovering $8.6 billion in suspected fraudulent activity linked to the COVID pandemic, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced Friday. 

“We have suspended nearly 112,000 borrowers tied to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud,” Loeffler said in a press release on Friday. “This staggering number represents the most significant crack-down on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden Administration tolerated for years.”

The SBA reported that all in, it suspended 111,620 California borrowers who received 118,489 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans, totaling $8.6 billion. 

THE BORDER GETS THE ATTENTION WHILE FRAUDULENT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS BLEED TAXPAYERS DRY

PPP loans were COVID-era federal relief program that gave small businesses money to keep workers on the payroll, while EIDL loans are part of an SBA program that provides low-interest disaster relief loans to help businesses survive during times of diaster, including the pandemic. 

“Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to deliver accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loffler continued. 

CHILDCARE EXPERT EXPOSES KEY ROADBLOCK TO UNCOVERING POTENTIAL FRAUD SCHEMES IN MINNESOTA: ‘REALLY DIFFICULT’

The announcement follows California Attorney General Rob Bonta saying on Thursday that the Trump administration was promoting “baseless claims” of persistent fraud in the state. 

“Trump claims California is wasting money when, in reality, our programs are helping lower-income individuals and lower-income families get healthcare, food and housing assistance,” Bonta said on Thursday. 

“Trump claims, wrongly, California is perpetuating fraud when we are the victim,” he added. 

Bonta’s office noted that California recovered nearly $2.7 billion in various fraud schemes across the last 10 years, “including by partnering with the federal government.” 

EXCLUSIVE: SENATE BILL TARGETS MINNESOTA-STYLE ‘RUNAWAY FRAUD’ TO FORCE SCAMMERS REPAY TAXPAYERS

Fox News Digital reached out to Bonta’s office on Friday for additional comment. 

Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to the Governor Newsom Press Office X account, which mocked the SBA announcement. 

“OMG. The Trump Administration found MAJOR FRAUD in programs THEY control, Newsom’s Press Office‘s X account posted, linking to a New York Post exclusive on the announcement. 

“The state has no role running / administering these programs.Were they hiding this??? California doesn’t hide fraud … we fight it. Nearly 1,000 arrests + over $125 billion STOPPED under @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom.”

Loeffler continued that the alleged California fraud comes after the SBA suspended 6,900 borrowers in Minnesota associated with 7,900 potentially fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans, which totaled roughly $400 million. 

“As we did in Minnesota, we are actively working with federal law enforcement to identify the criminals who defrauded American taxpayers, hold them to account, and recoup the stolen funds. As we continue our state-by-state work, our message is clear: pandemic-era fraudsters will not get a pass under this Administration,” Loeffler said, comparing California to its investigations in Minnesota. 

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Minnesota became ground zero for welfare and social services fraud surrounding the pandemic late in 2025, when investigators uncovered sweeping fraud schemes that could top $9 billion. 

Nigeria and some U.S. lawmakers have not always seen eye to eye on terrorism and the violence affecting Christian communities in Africa’s largest nation. This week, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu arrived in Washington to clear the air. 

America’s Christmas Day strike on Islamist militants in northwest Nigeria was a “blessing,” Tinubu said, signaling that her husband’s government welcomes further U.S. involvement as it confronts insurgents and criminal gangs.

“The intervention of the U.S. was quite a welcome development,” Tinubu told Fox News Digital during a week-long visit to Washington, D.C. 

“Nigeria is looking forward to collaboration” with the U.S. on security issues. “We are expecting that there will be more.”

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AT RISK IN AFRICA AS EXTREMISTS AND WAR TAKE THEIR TOLL

The fight against Islamist militants — whose attacks have included the kidnapping and killing of Christians and the desecration of churches — has become a focal point in U.S. political debate, drawing attention from President Donald Trump and some of his most vocal supporters.

Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over violations of religious freedom. Tinubu and her husband, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have pushed back on that characterization, arguing that the violence plaguing the country is real and severe, but not limited to any one faith.

Gunmen believed to be Islamic extremists killed at least 162 people in Nigeria’s Kwara state earlier this year, torching homes and looting shops in Muslim-majority villages where residents were targeted for refusing extremist ideology — an attack that underscored how the violence now cuts across regions and religious lines.

TRUMP TARGETS ISIS IN NIGERIA AMID WARNINGS SAHEL REGION IS BECOMING ‘EPICENTER OF TERRORISM’

“Terrorist groups hide in the forest, and also bandits and other people are kidnapping for ransom,” Tinubu said.

“We are concerned about our people’s safety,” she added, pointing to steps taken by the Nigerian government, including a nationwide security emergency, plans to recruit 50,000 new police officers and the redeployment of more than 11,000 officers from VIP protection duties to conflict-prone areas.

Despite the negative attention, the U.S.’s focus on Christian killings kicked off conversations between Nigeria and the U.S., according to Tinubu.

“We have that attention. We have the conversation going. And we are expecting that there will be more. You know, it’s going to yield better fruit for us, and both for us and also America.”

During her Washington visit, Tinubu met with senior administration officials, where she said she sought to explain the realities of Nigeria’s security crisis. “We live in Nigeria. We know the situation on the ground,” she said.

A political figure in her own right, Tinubu served as a senator until 2023. She is also part of an interfaith marriage at a time of deep religious tension in Nigeria: Tinubu is a Christian and an ordained pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the country’s largest megachurches, while her husband is Muslim.

NIGERIA NAMED EPICENTER OF GLOBAL KILLINGS OF CHRISTIANS OVER FAITH IN 2025, REPORT SAYS

Tinubu hosts a Christian podcast and carries out much of her outreach through the Renewed Hope Initiative, a nonprofit aligned with her husband’s agenda to support vulnerable communities. But this week, her presence in Washington places a prominent Christian voice at the center of Nigeria’s response to U.S. scrutiny over religious violence.

With a population of more than 230 million, Nigeria’s bustling and sometimes turbulent cities and villages are home to people of strikingly diverse backgrounds. The country’s more than 500 languages and mix of Islam, Christianity and traditional indigenous faiths have long been marred by tension, with Muslims dominating the northern regions and Christians concentrated in the south.

Despite vast oil and mineral wealth, decades of corruption and mismanagement have left much of the nation impoverished. Tinubu, whose husband took office in 2023, said his government inherited those missteps and is now trying to dig out of them.

NIGERIAN CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5 AMONG HUNDREDS KIDNAPPED, NUN SAYS

Nigeria’s growing cache of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other rare minerals has drawn quiet U.S. attention as Washington looks to counter China’s dominance in Africa’s critical-minerals market. The Commerce Department and U.S. International Development Finance Corp. have eyed investment opportunities in Nigeria’s nascent lithium industry, but persistent insecurity in mining regions threatens Western access and future development.

Addressing security concerns, Tinubu said, goes hand in hand with attracting foreign investment. She linked her trip not only to counterterrorism cooperation but also to reassuring investors that Nigeria is open for business.

“We’re doing all we can to make sure that when investors come, they can feel comfortable and their investment can yield,” she said.

Violence tied to Islamist insurgencies and criminal militias has killed tens of thousands of Nigerians over the past decade, destabilizing large swaths of the country. Groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, alongside bandit networks that often overlap with extremist elements, have carried out mass killings, kidnappings and raids.

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Christian advocacy organizations argue that Christians have borne a disproportionate share of the bloodshed, especially in rural communities where attacks on churches and clergy have been frequent. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law estimates that more than 50,000 Christians have been killed and tens of thousands abducted since 2009 — figures that are difficult to independently verify but widely cited by U.S. religious freedom advocates pressing Washington to take a harder line.

Tinubu’s government has paired its security push with painful economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidies and efforts to stabilize the currency, arguing that restoring growth and attracting investment will ultimately reduce the conditions that fuel violence.

The Senate Republican campaign chair has a stark warning for his party as the GOP defends its 53-47 majority in the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott, pointing to a ballot box deficit the GOP’s facing in the latest Fox News national poll, said it could impact specific Senate races this year.

And Scott said the toughest challenge may be in Maine, where longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election for a sixth six-year term in the blue-leaning northern New England state.

The straight talk from Scott, at a closed-door meeting earlier this week with fellow GOP senators, comes as Republicans, as the party in power in the nation’s capital, face traditional political headwinds in the midterms. And the GOP is also facing a rough political climate, with President Donald Trump‘s approval ratings remaining underwater while Democrats are energized as they work to win back the House majority and possibly recapture the Senate.

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

While the NRSC remains optimistic they can not only defend but expand their majority, the GOP will be playing defense in half a dozen key races.

Here’s a look at the most vulnerable Republican Senate seats up for grabs in the midterms.

Maine

Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election this year in a state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in her 2024 presidential election defeat to Trump.

TIM SCOTT TELLS MAGA VOTERS TRUMP ‘IS ON THE BALLOT’ AS GOP FIGHTS TO GROW SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026

And Collins has seen a deterioration of her poll numbers among Mainers from her last re-election six years ago.

But Collins, who has long been a top target of the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has proven tough to beat.

Complicating the Democrats’ push to flip the seat is a competitive primary between two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has the tacit backing of longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, and veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, who is running to the left of Mill and who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

North Carolina

Republicans are defending an open seat in the southeastern battleground state, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis retiring at the end of this year.

DEMOCRATS TARGET ‘VULNERABLE’ REPUBLICAN SENATORS AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES HEALTH CARE SHOWDOWN

Democrats landed their top recruit when former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper launched a Senate campaign last summer. Cooper enjoys tons of name ID in North Carolina and is 6-0 when running statewide races.

Republicans are rallying around former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, who has the president’s backing.

The race is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive Senate showdowns this year.

Ohio

Democrats scored another major recruiting victory when former longtime Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he would challenge Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

A former lieutenant governor, Husted was appointed to the Senate a year ago after then-Sen. JD Vance stepped down to serve as vice president.

Ohio, once a premiere general election battleground, has turned red over the past decade, and Democrats view Brown as their only competitive candidate in the race to serve the final two years of Vance’s term.

Brown lost re-election in 2024 by roughly four points while Trump carried Ohio by 11 points.

DEMOCRATS EYE NARROW PATH TO CAPTURE SENATE MAJORITY, BUT ONE WRONG MOVE COULD SINK THEM

Similar to North Carolina, the showdown is expected to be very expensive and competitive.

Alaska

Democrats were given a big boost in the red-leaning state when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced last month that she would challenge GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Peltola lost re-election last year in the at-large district that covers the entire state by three points, while Trump carried Alaska by 11 points.

Iowa

Republicans are defending an open seat in Iowa, a onetime swing state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade.

FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE 2026 MIDTERMS

But the GOP has rallied around Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is backed by Trump, in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

Hinson, a former local TV news anchor who flipped a Democratic-held seat in 2020, is seen as a rising star in the party.

Democrats have a contested primary that includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian, state Sen. Zach Wahls and military veteran Nathan Sage.

Texas

Longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is in the middle of a competitive and combustible GOP nomination battle against state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Trump, to date, has stayed neutral in the primary, which will be held early next month.

If neither Cornyn, Paxton, nor Hunt win a majority of the vote next month, a runoff will be held in May.

Cornyn enjoys the backing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the NRSC, which worries that the seat would be vulnerable if Paxton, who has plenty of political baggage, wins the primary.

The Democrats, who are eyeing the seat in the right-leaning state, have a competitive contest for their nomination between progressive firebrand and vocal Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, a rising star in the party.

GOP on offense

While playing defense, the NRSC is also eyeing three Democratic-held Senate seats.

The GOP’s aiming to flip open seats in battleground Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is ending her long career, in which she made history as the first woman elected governor and senator.

Republicans are also eyeing battleground Georgia, where they view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election this year.

The NRSC is also spotlighting the open Senate seat in blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is retiring.

Former longtime sportscaster Michele Tafoya is being backed by the NRSC as she runs for the GOP nomination.

Some Republicans are calling last weekend’s double-digit shellacking in a special state Senate election in Texas in a district Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 a wake up call.

The stunning ballot box setback for Republicans, coming amid backlash over the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, is further energizing Democrats as they aim to win back congressional majorities.

The victory in Texas was the Democrats’ latest win or over performance in a slew of elections since Trump returned to power in the White House a year ago, as the party stays laser focused on the issue of affordability amid persistent inflation.

BLUE-LEANING STATE EMERGES AS TOP GOP TROUBLE SPOT AS SENATE CAMPAIGN CHIEF SOUNDS MIDTERM ALARM

“The White House needs to focus less on foreign policy and immigration and more on affordability to improve our chances in the midterms,” Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler, told Fox News Digital.

And Eberhart, pointing to some key Senate races, said he’s worried about “the money game.”

“We’re woefully behind in Georgia. We’re behind in North Carolina. I think that in Texas we’re going to have somebody limp out of a runoff,” he cautioned.

Thune, speaking to reporters this week following the NRSC briefing, said that “the Democrats are targeting a number of our incumbents. And so we’ve got some races that are going to be expensive and hard fought in places like Maine and North Carolina.”

But Thune added, “We feel really good about… where our Senate races are.” And he emphasized that “incumbents in our conference are seasoned veterans who will outwork any of their opponents.”

Meanwhile, DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital last month that “President Trump is creating a toxic agenda that’s harming people.”

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And Gillibrand emphasized she’s “optimistic that we have a shot to take back the majority.”

The Trump administration’s top immigration enforcement officials are urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom not to release more than 33,000 criminal illegal immigrants, some of whom have violent felony convictions, back onto the streets without notifying federal authorities. 

In a letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons are asking Newsom to honor ICE detainers of 33,179 inmates in California’s custody.

NOEM PUTS NEWSOM ON NOTICE, VOWS CALIFORNIA PROBE AFTER MINNESOTA FRAUD BUST

“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said Lyons. “We are calling on Governor Newsom and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 33,000 criminal illegal aliens in California’s custody.”

“It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans,” he added. 

All told, the inmates account for 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses,” DHS said. 

BORDER OFFICIAL FIRES BACK AT GAVIN NEWSOM’S POLITICAL ‘TANTRUM’ OVER IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN LOS ANGELES

Newsom’s office referred Fox News Digital to a Friday post on X: “California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS — like sick rapists and murderers — in our state prisons.”

Since Newsom took office in 2019, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has coordinated the transfer of more than 12,000 people, including murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders, into ICE custody.

“Contrary to Secretary Noem’s claims, California does not ‘harbor criminals,’” the governor’s office said in a news release. “California law ensures violent offenders are held accountable while also ensuring that victims and witnesses — including victims of domestic violence and human trafficking — are not terrorized into silence by fear of deportation.”

State law currently allows CDCR to notify and coordinate with ICE to take custody of individuals convicted of felony offenses who have served their terms in California’s state prisons.

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Newsom has heavily criticized ICE amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. California’s sanctuary state law – SB 54 – limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities for illegal immigrants unless they’ve committed certain serious crimes.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order requiring the government to assess foreign weapons sales based on their impact on U.S. production capacity for key systems and to favor allies whose defense investments and strategic importance align with U.S. national security priorities.

Under the order, obtained first by Fox News Digital, the Departments of War, State and Commerce are instructed to ensure that U.S. arms transfers support weapons systems deemed most operationally relevant to the National Security Strategy, reinforce critical supply chains, and prioritize partners that have invested in their own defense and occupy strategically important regions.

The administration argues that past arms transfer policy allowed foreign demand to shape U.S. production decisions, contributing to backlogs, cost overruns and delivery delays that left both the U.S. military and its allies waiting years for critical equipment.

“The America First Arms Transfer Strategy will now leverage over $300 billion in annual defense sales to strategically reindustrialize the United States and rapidly deliver American-manufactured weapons to help our partners and allies establish deterrence and defend themselves,” according to a White House fact sheet.

TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY BLUEPRINT DECLARES ‘ERA OF MASS MIGRATION IS OVER,’ TARGETS CHINA’S RISE

A central goal of the order is to speed up a foreign military sales process that defense officials and industry leaders have long criticized as slow and overly bureaucratic. The order directs federal agencies to identify ways to streamline enhanced end-use monitoring requirements, third-party transfer approvals and the congressional notification process — steps the administration says have contributed to years-long delays in delivering U.S. weapons overseas.

The order also creates a new Promoting American Military Sales Task Force charged with overseeing implementation of the strategy and tracking major defense sales across the government. In a move aimed at increasing accountability, the administration says agencies will be required to publish aggregate quarterly performance metrics showing how quickly defense sales cases are being executed.

 The strategy also signals a shift in how the United States prioritizes its partners. The order directs the government to favor countries that have invested in their own defense and occupy strategically important regions, effectively tying arms sales decisions more closely to U.S. military planning and geographic priorities.

HEGSETH SAYS DEPARTMENT OF WAR ‘WILL BE PREPARED TO DELIVER’ WHATEVER TRUMP WANTS FOLLOWING IRAN WARNING

Other partners could face longer timelines or lower priority if their requests do not align with U.S. strategic or industrial objectives. While the order does not name specific countries, it reflects an effort to focus limited U.S. production capacity on allies viewed as most critical to executing the National Security Strategy.

The order also instructs the War, State and Commerce departments to “find efficiencies in the Enhanced End Use Monitoring criteria, the Third-Party Transfer process, and the Congressional Notification process.”

Congress will likely be watching how the administration implements the order, especially provisions aimed at speeding both oversight of U.S. weapons once they are sold abroad and the process for notifying lawmakers about major arms deals. Lawmakers have argued those steps help prevent misuse of U.S. weapons, even as they have criticized delays that slow deliveries to allies.

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The order follows a series of recent defense-related executive actions taken by Trump. In January 2026, he signed an order directing defense contractors to prioritize production capacity, innovation and on-time delivery over stock buybacks and other corporate distributions.

That built on an April 2025 order aimed at improving speed and accountability in the foreign military sales system, as well as a January 2025 order focused on modernizing defense acquisitions and reducing red tape across the defense industrial base.

The Trump administration will not comply with a court order requiring due process for hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador last year, DOJ lawyers said. It sets up a heated clash in court next week in a case that is almost certainly headed back to the Supreme Court.

The status and plight of 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to a Salvadoran prison last March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act have emerged as one of the defining court fights of Trump’s second term, allowing the administration to test its mettle against the federal courts and the practical limits of judicial authority, on one of Trump’s biggest policy priorities.

It’s a fight that has also put U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who is overseeing the Alien Enemies Act case, squarely in the Trump administration’s crosshairs as he attempts to determine what due process protections, if any, the administration is legally obligated to provide and how far the courts can go to enforce them. 

A new filing from the Justice Department made clear the administration believes it owes the migrants no additional due process at all. Should the court try to order otherwise, lawyers for the administration said they would promptly seek intervention from higher courts. 

SUPREME COURT FREEZES ORDER TO RETURN MAN FROM EL SALVADOR PRISON

In its filing Monday, the Justice Department argued again that the administration is powerless to return the Venezuelan migrants who were summarily deported last year. The department rejected the notion that the U.S. could “facilitate” due process proceedings for the migrants in question as previously ordered by the court, describing the options to do so as either legally impossible or practically unworkable due to national security concerns and the fragile political situation in Venezuela after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro during a raid in Caracas last month.

The DOJ also reiterated its argument that bringing petitioners back to the U.S. would harm “critical” foreign policy negotiations with Venezuela and carry “profound” national security risks, citing the alleged gang member status of the migrants in question. (The alleged gang member status of many of the individuals has been called into question.)

DOJ lawyers also rejected the notion of conducting the proceedings overseas, including at the U.S. embassy in Venezuela, citing the U.S. capture and arrest of Maduro and his wife. 

The U.S., they said, lacks custody to conduct the habeas proceedings on foreign soil and doing so would risk “injecting an extremely complicated issue into what is already a delicate situation” in Venezuela, potentially “negatively affecting U.S. efforts toward stabilization and transition that aim to benefit tens of millions of Venezuelans.”

The deportations, carried out under the Alien Enemies Act despite an emergency court order from Judge Boasberg, prompted an eleven-month legal battle that reached the Supreme Court in April and months of fights in the lower courts, including a subsequent order from Boasberg in December for the government to “facilitate” due process for the deported migrants.

DEFIANT MADURO DECLARES HE IS A ‘PRISONER OF WAR’ IN FIRST US COURT APPEARANCE

The Supreme Court said then that individuals removed under the Alien Enemies Act must have the ability to contest their removal and have a meaningful opportunity and notice to do so before they are removed.

Boasberg has spent the months since attempting to determine the status of the hundreds of CECOT plaintiffs and what ability the U.S. has to facilitate their return or to provide the class of migrants with due process and habeas protections, including the ability to challenge their alleged gang status.

His December order required the Trump administration to submit to the court in writing its plans to provide due process to the class of migrants deported to El Salvador. Boasberg said the administration could do this by either returning the migrants to the U.S. to have their cases heard in person or facilitate hearings abroad with members of the class that “satisfy the requirements of due process.”

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT

Lawyers for the Justice Department previewed similar arguments last month before an “en banc” 17-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which convened to weigh the legality of the Trump administration’s use of the 227-year-old law.

The Justice Department told judges then that the U.S. indictment against Maduro “reinforces the Proclamation’s findings that the Maduro regime and TdA have formed a ‘hybrid criminal state’ directed by the regime” and justified the decision to use the Alien Enemies Act law to quickly deport them to the third-country prison.

“These new developments underscore the Maduro Regime’s control over TdA and TdA’s violent invasion or predatory incursion on American soil. As a result, it is even clearer that the President’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was part of a high-level national security mission that exists outside the realm of judicial interference.”

ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt told the judges during the same hearing that the Alien Enemies Act does not give the administration “a blank check” for a president to “use his war powers any time he considers it valuable.”

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Regardless of how Boasberg rules, the new filing made clear that the Trump administration views the fight as far from over.

“If, over defendants’ vehement legal and practical objections, the Court issues an injunction, defendants intend to immediately appeal, and will seek a stay pending appeal from this Court (and, if necessary, from the D.C. Circuit),” the Justice Department said. 

The Department of War said Friday that it will end all professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth slammed the university in a video announcement posted on X, saying the department would be cutting ties with Harvard for active-duty service members beginning in the 2026–27 school year — a move he said was “long overdue.”

“Harvard is woke; The War Department is not,” Hegseth stated.

While Hegseth, who has a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said the U.S. military has had a “rich tradition” with the Ivy League school, he argued that Harvard has become one of the “red-hot centers of Hate America activism.”

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING

“Too many faculty members openly loathe our military. They cast our armed forces in a negative light and squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings, all while charging enormous tuition. It’s not worth it,” he said.
”They’ve replaced open inquiry and honest debate with rigid orthodoxy.”

The announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with the Ivy League school.

President Donald Trump said Monday he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, which the Trump administration has made a primary target in its effort to leverage federal funding to crack down on antisemitism and “woke” ideology.

40-YEAR HARVARD PROFESSOR PENS SCATHING PIECE ON SCHOOL’S ‘EXCLUSION OF WHITE MALES,’ ANTI-WESTERN TRENDS

Lawyers for the Trump administration have appealed a judge’s order requiring the restoration of $2.7 billion in frozen federal research funding to Harvard. The university sued the administration in April over the funding freeze, arguing in court that the move amounted to an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” aimed at influencing and exerting control over elite academic institutions.

Hegseth also criticized Harvard’s campus environment, alleging that research programs have partnered with the Chinese Communist Party and that university leadership has encouraged an atmosphere that celebrates Hamas, allows attacks on Jews, and prioritizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

“Why should the War Department support an environment that’s destructive to our nation and the principles that the vast majority of Americans hold dear?” Hegseth said.
”The answer to that question is that we should not, and we will not.”

HARVARD DEAN REMOVED AFTER ANTI-WHITE, ANTI-POLICE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS RESURFACED

“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” he continued. “Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”

In addition to Harvard, Hegseth took aim at much of the Ivy League, saying the schools have a “pervasive institutional bias” and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the “coddling of toxic ideologies,” that he said undercuts the military’s mission.

He said that in the coming weeks, all departments at the Pentagon will evaluate existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at Ivy League schools and other civilian universities.

UNIVERSITIES SLASH 9,000+ POSITIONS IN 2025 AS TRUMP TARGETS FEDERAL FUNDING AND FOREIGN STUDENTS: REPORT

“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost effective strategic education for future senior leaders, when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said. “At the War Department, we will strive to maximize taxpayer value in building lethality to establish deterrence. It’s that simple. That no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country.”

Hegseth concluded his message, saying, “We train warriors, not wokesters. Harvard, good riddance.”

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Harvard University did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Former President Bill Clinton said on X that he has shared what he knows about the crimes of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in a sworn statement shared with the House Oversight Committee, which both Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in front of under subpoena pressure.  

“I have called for the full release of the Epstein files. I have provided a sworn statement of what I know,” the former president said on X Friday afternoon. “And just this week, I’ve agreed to appear in person before the committee. But it’s still not enough for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.”

In the wake of news the Clintons would comply with House Republicans’ subpoenas to testify after concerns they would not and subsequent threats of contempt, Republicans accused the Clintons of “trying to dodge contempt by requesting special treatment.”

LAWMAKERS ESCALATE EPSTEIN PROBE WITH POSSIBLE BILL GATES SUBPOENA

The Clintons’ attorneys sent the House Oversight Committee a letter, made public earlier this week, indicating they would comply and testify under certain conditions, such as that their testimony be open, filmed and transcribed. 

Robert Garcia, the Democrat ranking member of the committee, said the agreement amounted to full compliance with the committee’s demands.

However, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer disputed the characterization, telling Fox News Digital the agreement lacked specificity. In a post on X, the Republicans on the committee accused Clinton of “trying to dodge contempt by requesting special treatment.”   

“The Clintons’ counsel has said they agree to terms, but those terms lack clarity yet again, and they have provided no dates for their depositions,” Comer said. 

“The only reason they have said they agree to terms is because the House has moved forward with contempt. I will clarify the terms they are agreeing to and then discuss next steps with my committee members.”

The Clintons’ change of heart led the House to temporarily pause proceedings on holding them in contempt Monday night.

Democrats on the committee have pointed out that Comer has not pushed to hold others who did not appear in contempt, nor has he made any threats against the DOJ for failing to produce all of its documents on Epstein by a deadline agreed to by Congress late last year. The department has produced a fraction of the documents expected so far.

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“Now, Chairman Comer says he wants cameras, but only behind closed doors. Who benefits from this arrangement? It’s not Epstein’s victims, who deserve justice,” Clinton said in his X post Friday afternoon. “Not the public, who deserve the truth. It serves only partisan interests. This is not fact-finding, it’s pure politics.

“I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared,” he continued. “If they want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about.”

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

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday that two West Virginia National Guard members — Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe — who were shot in an ambush-style attack near the White House late last year, will receive the Purple Heart.

Calling the Nov. 26 incident “a terrible thing” and saying the troops were “attacked by a radical,” Hegseth made the announcement while speaking at a National Guard reenlistment ceremony at the Washington Monument, where he administered the oath of enlistment to more than 100 Guardsmen from nine states serving in Washington, D.C.

“And we had a terrible thing happen a number of months ago,” Hegseth said. “Andrew Wolfe, Sarah Beckstrom, one lost, one recovered, thank God, in miraculous ways. Both soon to be Purple Heart recipients because they were attacked by a radical.”

The remarks mark the first public confirmation from Hegseth that the service members will receive the Purple Heart, one of the nation’s oldest military decorations, awarded to those killed or wounded by enemy action.

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The Purple Heart traces its origins to the American Revolution, when George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit in 1782, to recognize enlisted soldiers wounded or killed in service. The modern Purple Heart was revived in 1932, and is awarded in the name of the president to U.S. service members wounded or killed by enemy action.

Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24, were shot just blocks from the White House in what officials described as an ambush-style attack.

Beckstrom died a day after the shooting. Wolfe was seriously wounded and continues to recover.

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The accused gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces nine charges related to the shooting, including first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. He has pleaded not guilty.

In a statement posted on X, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey thanked Hegseth for the announcement and said the recognition was long overdue.

“I thank Secretary @PeteHegseth for announcing that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe will soon receive the Purple Heart, an honor that reflects their courage and sacrifice in defense of our nation,” Morrisey wrote.

Morrisey said he formally requested the Purple Heart awards Dec. 19, adding that the announcement “brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others.”

Hegseth’s remarks Friday came during a ceremony honoring the National Guard’s ongoing security mission in the nation’s capital. 

According to a War Department news release, more than 100 Guardsmen from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia reenlisted Friday as part of the mission.

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Those troops are among more than 2,600 National Guard members currently deployed in Washington at the direction of President Donald Trump in support of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established in August 2025 after the president declared a crime emergency in the city.

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Addressing the Guardsmen, Hegseth described their service in Washington as “front lines” duty.

“This is not an easy assignment. It’s the real deal. It’s front lines,” he said. “You’ve done it, and you’ve done well.”

The Army could not immediately provide comment after being reached by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this story.

Democrats evaded questions on Friday about whether there could be a link between their past heated rhetoric towards Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and news that a man had been charged with attempting to kill him.

Authorities arrested Colin Demarco, 26, for arriving at Vought’s residence with a firearm after stating an intent to murder him last year.

The offices of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and other high-ranking Democrats who have described Vought as a threat to the country did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.

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One Democrat, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., did not address the questions about rhetoric but reacted to the arrest.

“I am deeply alarmed by the news that a man allegedly planned to murder OMB Director Vought. I am relieved the suspect was caught before any violence occurred,” Boyle said in a statement.

“Political violence is unacceptable and represents an attack not only on an individual but on our democracy itself. There is no place for political violence in the United States of America.”

However, in the past, many Democrats — including Boyle — have characterized Vought as a threat to the country.

GUNFIRE, ARSON AND VANDALISM: TRACKING POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

“Make no mistake — his nomination is as dangerous as it gets. His views aren’t just extreme; they are a direct threat to our democracy, the rule of law and the basic principles of our government,” Boyle said last year when Trump announced Vought as the pick to lead OMB.

Similarly, Schumer called Vought “a danger to working people, a danger to America’s beliefs and ideals” in a speech delivered on the Senate floor.

According to authorities, Demarco approached Vought’s residence in Arlington, Va., on Aug. 10 while wearing a surgical mask and rubber gloves, carrying a backpack and concealing a weapon under his shirt.

Authorities arrived on the scene in time to deter Demarco’s alleged plans.

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Police said a search of Demarco’s communications revealed he expressed intent to kill his target in online messages.

Demarco faces four charges: attempted murder, criminal solicitation to commit murder, wearing a mask in public to conceal identity and carrying a concealed weapon.

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Vought, who was among the first Cabinet members nominated by Trump, has had a high level of influence on the administration even ahead of the election.

Vought was one of the chief architects behind Project 2025, a policy platform published by the conservative-leaning think tank, the Heritage Foundation, that the administration has mirrored on issues like immigration, the federal workforce and public funding.

At the time of his confirmation, Vought’s calls to shrink the government’s footprint brought fierce condemnation from critics like Warren.

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“You can absolutely bet on Russ Vought pulling out the rug from working people over and over again. We don’t know where he will stop,” Warren said in remarks on the Senate floor.

“We don’t know how far Russ Vought’s extremism will go, but we can’t afford to wait and find out,” she added.

Other Democrats followed up on her calls.

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“Vought is an extremist who believes the president is all-powerful. He has a radical plan to destroy and dismantle Congress’ investments in our families’ health, safety, and prosperity,” DeLauro, a top Democrat in the House, said of his plans to cut government programs.

Demarco is due in court on Feb. 23 for a preliminary hearing, according to the Arlington General District Court.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Friday that it suspended more than 100,000 California borrowers amid suspected fraud, with the alleged abuse totaling nearly $9 billion.

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency suspended 111,620 California borrowers tied to suspected fraudulent activity across SBA pandemic-era loan programs. Those borrowers received 118,489 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans totaling more than $8.6 billion.

“Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to deliver accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loeffler said in a statement.

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

“Today, we announced we have suspended nearly 112,000 borrowers tied to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud,” she said. “This staggering number represents the most significant crack-down on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden Administration tolerated for years.”

Loeffler referenced the Trump administration’s fraud crackdown in another blue state, saying, “As we did in Minnesota, we are actively working with federal law enforcement to identify the criminals who defrauded American taxpayers, hold them to account, and recoup the stolen funds.”

She added that, “As we continue our state-by-state work, our message is clear: pandemic-era fraudsters will not get a pass under this Administration.”

GOP SENATORS LAUNCH TASK FORCE TO CRACK DOWN ON FRAUD TIED TO MINNESOTA SCANDAL

The announcement comes after the SBA said last month that it suspended 6,900 Minnesota borrowers after uncovering what it said was widespread suspected fraud.

The agency previously reviewed thousands of PPP and EIDL loans approved in Minnesota, identifying nearly $400 million in potentially fraudulent loans tied to borrowers.

That suspected activity included 7,900 PPP and EIDL loans approved during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Loeffler.

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The SBA previously said that at least $2.5 million in PPP and EIDL funds issued during the pandemic era were connected to a Somali-linked fraud scheme based in Minneapolis.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is calling on lawmakers to strengthen protections for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel when assisting local and state law enforcement.

In January, Gonzales introduced the Homeland Threat Response Act, which would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the deployment and assistance of CBP for investigations of certain violent acts, shootings, and mass killings, and for other purposes, including big events. 

He cited BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) and BORSTAR (Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue), elite units within the U.S. Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group (SOG) which are often called upon to assist local authorities in matters not related to immigration enforcement. 

SWEEPING BILL TO CRUSH SANCTUARY CITIES, PROTECT ICE AGENTS UNVEILED IN SENATE

“They’re doing so at a risk,” Gonzales told Fox News Digital, saying the CBP personnel currently aren’t afforded the same level of protection as other law enforcement officers while working in matters apart from their jurisdiction. “They’re called upon and asked to operate in other spaces that aren’t their necessarily primary duty.” 

“This creates a level playing field when it comes to protection,” he added. 

The legislation came as the United States is poised to host several big sporting events in which CBP may be called upon to assist, Gonzales said. On Sunday, Super Bowl LX will be played in Santa Clara, California.

In addition, several American cities will host games for the FIFA World Cup in July and Los Angeles will be the site of the 2028 Summer Olympics. 

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“It’s going to be this group that’s going to keep us safe,” Gonzales said.

Border Patrol SOG teams have supported or directly participated in several major domestic incidents, including mass shootings, the capture of criminal illegal immigrants and prisoners.

Gonzales noted that the SOG personnel are some of the best trained officers in law enforcement amid talks by some Democrats who want to defund the Department of Homeland Security because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly in Minnesota. 

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“I’m seeing Democrats cave to the liberal left that want to defund and want to make it harder for law enforcement to do its job,” he said. “Let’s make sure that a federal officer in this space isn’t thinking about ‘what if…’ they are focused solely on their mission and completing the mission like they’re trained to do.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the CBP. 

Anti-ICE protesters have surrounded federal agents, Democratic leaders have denounced enforcement operations and tensions in Minneapolis have boiled over, but legal experts say none of it yet crosses the line into a constitutional breakdown or would justify the use of federal emergency powers by President Donald Trump.

Legal analysts say the unrest, while volatile, does not inhibit the federal government’s constitutional authority to enforce immigration law. That threshold would only be crossed if state officials themselves moved to block or materially obstruct federal agents, raising Supremacy Clause concerns.

Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor, told Fox News Digital that hindering federal agents’ work, even aggressively, does not rise to that level.

“There is no general principle of law which says that anything that makes the work of federal agents more difficult in any way somehow violates the Constitution,” Somin said.

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Protesters have taken to the streets of Minneapolis in recent weeks to confront immigration officers during Operation Metro Surge, a federal enforcement effort that has deployed thousands of ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents to Minnesota. During enforcement actions, protesters have at times surrounded ICE agents with shouting, whistles, filming and unruly crowds, creating a tense mix of peaceful demonstrators and coordinated agitators that has occasionally escalated into blockades or violence.

The dynamics at play have centered on two legal principles. On one hand, the anti-commandeering doctrine prevents the federal government from forcing state and local officials to enforce federal law. On the other, obstruction of federal law enforcement is unlawful and could violate the supremacy clause, which says federal law trumps state law when the two are in conflict.

If the state were to pass laws that obstruct federal law enforcement from performing its job duties, that would trigger supremacy clause concerns, Somin said, but he noted that such conditions are not present in Minnesota. 

Operation Metro Surge began in December, sending 3,000 immigration agents to Minneapolis and St. Paul. The effort has led to thousands of arrests, but it has spurred resistance from residents and resulted in two high-profile deaths of U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration agents, which fueled further public outrage. The FBI is now investigating those incidents.

Democratic state leaders, meanwhile, have widely criticized the operation and drawn blame from Republicans for exacerbating tension with their rhetoric. At one point, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz compared ICE’s presence to the Civil War.

“I mean, is this a Fort Sumter?” Walz told The Atlantic. “It’s a physical assault. It’s an armed force that’s assaulting, that’s killing my constituents, my citizens.”

Asked whether the resistant nature of Minnesota’s Democratic leaders could amount to “nullification,” Somin rejected the idea.

“Nullification is when the state officials themselves resist the enforcement of federal law. If they merely fail to help the feds against private parties, that is something that’s protected by the anti-commandeering principles of the Tenth Amendment,” Somin said.

That hands-off approach has extended beyond rhetoric. Walz has welcomed a reduction in federal personnel but urged a faster drawdown, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said the city would not assist with immigration enforcement.

“We were never going to agree, and we have not agreed, to enforce federal immigration law. Why? It’s not our job,” Frey said in a New York Times interview.

As state and local leaders have declined to intervene, opposition to the ICE operation has increasingly taken shape on the ground. Networks of activists have mobilized to confront and monitor federal immigration agents, activity that legal experts distinguish from unlawful, state-led obstruction.

Central to that resistance is Defend the 612, a network of private citizens that has coordinated what activists describe as “ICE watching,” using encrypted messaging apps to track enforcement activity and share information about agents’ movements, according to reporting by the conservative City Journal.

In addition to street confrontations, activists have staged protests at sensitive locations, including a disruption of a church service in St. Paul, where the pastor is also an ICE field director. Several participants, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, were arrested and charged under a federal statute typically used to protect abortion clinics and pregnancy counseling centers.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION VICTORY IN A MINNESOTA COURT IS A WIN FOR ALL LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS

Federal authorities have moved to arrest individuals accused of directly impeding immigration enforcement. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced charges against 16 agitators accused of blocking agents, assaulting officers or interfering with enforcement actions, while the Justice Department also charged a Minneapolis man, a self-described Antifa member, with cyberstalking after he allegedly called for attacks on ICE and doxxed a pro-ICE individual.

Even so, legal experts stress that, so far, all the anti-ICE activity falls short of a collapse of federal authority. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, said existing laws already prohibit mob violence and obstruction, adding that Minnesota’s hands-off approach has been “irresponsible” but not illegal.

The DOJ in January subpoenaed Walz, Frey and three others for information on whether they, too, conspired to interfere with ICE’s work. A DOJ spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the status of that probe.

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Should unrest intensify, the Trump administration has floated the Insurrection Act, a rarely used provision that allows the president to respond to unlawful obstructions of federal authority. The president has said that while it remains an option, it is not currently necessary. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who is leading immigration operations in Minneapolis, likewise downplayed the impact of anti-ICE agitators. 

“You’re not going to stop ICE. You’re not going to stop Border Patrol,” Homan said. “These roadblocks they’re putting up? It’s a joke. It’s not going to work, and it’s only going to get you arrested.”

Ilan Wurman, a Minnesota law professor, said in a podcast that while Trump “probably” could invoke the Insurrection Act, by constitutional standards a president should only call upon the military to enforce federal law as a “last resort.” 

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley spelled out when the Insurrection Act could be appropriate, noting it was deferential to the president.

“The establishment of roadblocks and direct interference with the enforcement of federal laws can support such an invocation,” Turley said. “During the Civil Rights period, opposition to and obstruction of civil rights laws justified the use of military force.”

Still, Turley and others emphasize that the Minnesota protests, as intense and at times chaotic as they’ve been, do not yet meet the criteria for such drastic federal action.

“The promise of some Democratic leaders to arrest and prosecute ICE agents is likely to fail. Roadblocks to bar federal agents would also constitute obstruction and, if supported by the state, would violate the constitutional authority of the federal government,” Turley said.

Eddie Speir is not afraid of a fight with the Florida GOP establishment. In 2024, he took on 10-term incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and won just under 40% of the vote, positioning himself as a constitutional conservative outsider against an entrenched moderate Republican.

Now, with Buchanan’s Jan. 27 announcement that he would be retiring after a nearly two-decade stint in D.C., Speir is launching another grassroots, outsider candidacy to challenge the “RINO Republicans” that he frequently derides.

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“This is just a continuation of what I did in ’24, which was run against Vern Buchanan to expose the RINOs [Republicans In Name Only] that are not representing the district…and the taxpayers of Florida. So we need somebody that’s gonna step up and actually represent and go to Washington D.C. with a bold agenda and not compromise to the elite social circles that are up there in D.C.”

Speir said he believes that his messaging and grassroots support will carry him through to victory in the Aug. 18 primary.

“We were the largest grassroots movement in this district’s history…Nobody else had even come close to earning 40% in the entire state of Florida. … So, it’s hard to push against an incumbent here in Florida. But now there’s not even an incumbent, so we’re just gonna continue the same momentum that we had and get the message out.”

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Florida political observers have batted about several possible contenders that might join Speir in the GOP primary. Chief among these is close Trump ally Joe Gruters, who cut his political teeth working on Buchanan’s campaign and would be the establishment heir apparent.

However, Gruters’ potential candidacy is complicated by the three high-level positions he currently holds. He is a sitting Florida state senator, the RNC chairman, as well as the current candidate for Florida Chief Financial Officer in 2026.

Gruters is seen as the most likely establishment opponent to Speir, and some believe he may abandon his Florida CFO candidacy to run in Florida’s 16th district.

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New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran has also been discussed as a potential candidate. Speir was appointed to the New College of Florida board of trustees by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2023, but the Florida Senate refused to confirm his appointment.

Speir’s controversial tenure at New College, and the subsequent rejection of his confirmation by the Florida Senate, catapulted Speir onto the national stage at a time when the Florida GOP was conspicuously seeking to rebrand the school as the “Hillsdale of the South.”

Additional candidates who may join the field include former state Rep. Mike Beltran, developer Carlos Beruff, former state Senate President Bill Galvano, and Manatee County Commissioner Mike Rahn.

Speir said he realizes he is likely to be facing off not merely against the local GOP establishment, but against President Donald Trump as well:

“In the ’24 primary, Vern Buchanan had one of the worst records possible, and Donald Trump endorsed him with a number of other horrific candidates. So we’ve got to be able to separate Trump’s priorities and his constitutional conservative push, versus the political machine that he’s working with, because that political machine is not doing any favors to the Republican Party,” Speir said.

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“So I think the endorsements mean a little bit less. Now, that doesn’t mean that I won’t try to get Trump’s endorsement, but we already gained [a] historic vote, and as a challenger in 2024.”

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Mark Amodei, R-Nev., announced Friday he will retire from Congress at the end of his term, saying after 15 years of service, “it is the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch.”

Amodei said he will complete his current term, which runs through January 2027, and framed the decision as a personal milestone rather than a political one.

“Serving the people of Nevada has been the honor of my lifetime,” Amodei said in a statement released via X. “Nobody is prouder of our Nevada Congressional District than me. Thank you for the honor.”

Amodei said he entered Congress “to solve problems” and to ensure that “our State and Nation have strong voice in the federal policy and oversight processes,” adding, “I look forward to finishing my term.”

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The veteran lawmaker represents Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the northern half of the state and includes Reno, the district’s largest city. The seat leans Republican and, prior to Friday’s announcement, was rated Solid Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. 

Nevada’s other three congressional districts are held by Democrats and are considered more competitive.

Amodei has consistently won re-election by wide margins. He defeated his Democrat challenger by 19 points in 2024 and won the 2022 midterm election by 22 points. President Donald Trump carried the district by 14 points in 2024.

On Capitol Hill, Amodei chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, a role that places him at the center of funding decisions for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). His retirement announcement comes as DHS faces another looming funding deadline, with current funding set to expire in just over a week.

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Amodei is the latest House Republican to announce plans to leave Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In his statement, Amodei did not reference the political landscape or the upcoming election cycle, instead emphasizing gratitude and continuity through the remainder of his term.

“Every achievement worth doing began with listening to Nevadans and fighting for our values,” he said. “After 15 years of service, I believe it is the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch.”

Amodei was first elected to Congress in 2011 and has served continuously since, building a reputation as a reliable conservative vote in the lower House.

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His announcement sets the stage for an open-seat contest in Nevada’s 2nd District in the upcoming midterm elections.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this reporting.

A federal judge dealt the Trump administration a blow on Thursday by blocking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from providing residential addresses to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani — who was nominated by former President Barack Obama — argued that the sharing of data could violate a section of the Tax Act of 1976, which includes privacy protections for taxpayers. The judge’s order blocks ICE and the IRS from sharing data while also prohibiting the use of data that had already been transferred pending a court review.

“Defendants DHS, Secretary Noem, ICE, Acting Director Lyons, and their agents, are enjoined from inspecting, viewing, using, copying, distributing, relying on, or otherwise acting upon any return information that had been obtained from or disclosed by the IRS Defendants pursuant to the information sharing arrangements, including the information received August 7, 2025,” Talwani’s order reads.

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In addition to concerns about taxpayers’ privacy, Talwani addressed the chilling effect this could have on tax filings by immigrants, as well as the possibility that people could be wrongfully arrested due to mistaken identity. She said that the plaintiffs had “demonstrated that a significant portion of immigrant communities not only share common last names… but also live in shared homes or in the same apartment complexes,” adding to concerns about mistaken identities.

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The plaintiffs in the case were four community groups: Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts (CEDC), National Parents Union (NPU), National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and UndocuBlack Network, Inc. (UBN).

The order states that on April 7, 2025, the IRS and ICE established a Memorandum of Understanding to share taxpayer data, supporting a federal crackdown on illegal immigration. ICE subsequently issued three data requests, including an initial June 5 query for 7.6 million individuals, a June 24 request for 7.3 million records and a final June 27 submission for 1.2 million people. While the IRS rejected the first two for legal deficiencies, it approved the third and ultimately transferred over 47,000 addresses to ICE in August 2025. However, now that information is being frozen and cannot be used.

“We disagree with this activist judge’s ruling. Under President Trump’s leadership, the government is finally doing what it should have all along — sharing information across the federal government to solve problems. Biden not only allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood into our country, but he lost them through incompetence and improper processing,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“Information sharing across agencies is essential to identify who is in our country, including violent criminals, determine what public safety and terror threats may exist so we can neutralize them, scrub these individuals from voter rolls, and identify what public benefits these aliens are using at taxpayer expense. With the IRS information specifically, DHS plans to focus on enforcing long-neglected criminal laws that apply to illegal aliens but which the Biden Administration ignored,” the spokesperson added.

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Talwani is the second judge to block the IRS-ICE information sharing agreement. The first was U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who said it violated a taxpayer confidentiality law, Politico noted. The outlet added that Kollar-Kotelly had also blocked Treasury Secretary and acting IRS commissioner Scott Bessent from disclosing taxpayer information to DHS unless it was being transferred to someone working on a non-tax criminal probe. Kollar-Kotelly was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.

The White House said a video “erroneously” posted to President Donald Trump’s social media account on Friday that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle has been taken down.

The video focused on voting fraud claims from the 2020 presidential election. In the final moments, the Obamas’ heads are seen superimposed on primates’ bodies as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background.

Other elected officials were also portrayed superimposed over the bodies of various animals. The White House told Fox News Digital that a staffer had “erroneously” posted the video before it was taken down. 

Democrats immediately criticized the video as racist. Some Republicans also spoke out against it. 

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“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., called the video “wrong” and “incredibly offensive.”

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He said “whether intentional or a mistake,” the video “should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic, urged Republicans to condemn Trump over the video, calling his behavior “disgusting.”

Last year, Trump shared an AI-generated video depicting Obama sitting in the Oval Office before being arrested by agents as the song “YMCA” plays. 

An AI-generated version of Trump grins as Obama is apprehended and eventually thrown in a jail cell. The AI-generated Obama is also seen wearing an orange jumpsuit behind bars.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Barack and Michelle Obama’s office for comment. 

House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced Friday that he’s investigating companies linked to Ilhan Omar’s, D-Minn., husband, citing a dramatic increase in value in a short time and raising questions about whether their success could be tied to widespread fraud schemes uncovered in Minnesota. 

In a letter published Friday morning, Comer said the Oversight Committee would conduct a closer look at the ventures of Tim Mynett, who married Omar in March 2020.

“We want to know: who’s funding this? And who’s buying access?” Comer said.

In his letter, Comer described how two of Mynett’s companies, eStCru LL. and Rose Lake Capital LL., went from being worth $51,000 in 2023 to up to $30 million in 2024.

“Given that these companies do not publicly list their investors or where their money comes from, this sudden jump in values raises concerns that unknown individuals may be investing to gain influence with your wife,” Comer wrote in his letter to Mynett, citing congressional financial disclosures.

The Oversight Committee is asking Mynett to produce communications regarding the companies’ latest audits, communications with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), correspondence with any other federal agencies and travel records to or from the United Arab Emirates, Somalia or Kenya.

Comer did not explain how the committee is approaching the investigation but hinted that lawmakers were on guard for possible connections to the fraud schemes in Minnesota.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social service programs,” Comer told Mynett in his letter.

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Mynett and Omar have come under public scrutiny in recent months as financial reports revealed that the pair’s wealth has grown exponentially since Omar arrived in Congress in 2019.

Those concerns overlap with ongoing federal, state and congressional probes into as much as $9 billion in state funding that Minnesota may have lost to fraud. Through scores of schemes, fraudsters allegedly siphoned funding from government programs like daycare centers and health clinics while returning no benefits, greatly exaggerating their services and pocketing government funding.

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the House whip and No. 2 Republican in the chamber, said he expects the public will soon secure answers through the Oversight Committee’s demands for additional details.

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“As President Trump said last month: Time will tell all. I’m confident that Rep. Comer’s investigation into Ilhan Omar’s suspiciously exploding wealth will reveal the truth. The truth sets some people free, but it may send Ilhan packing.”

The committee has asked to see its requested information no later than Feb. 19.

Rep. Omar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.