NationalWatch

The Supreme Court is poised to rule soon on President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency wartime law to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. countries — and which brought to the fore key questions over the “major questions doctrine,” or the limiting principle by which courts can, in certain circumstances, move to curb the power of executive agencies.

During oral arguments over Trump’s tariffs in November, justices honed in on the so-called major questions doctrine — which allows courts to limit the power of executive agencies on actions with “vast economic and political significance” — and how it squares with Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact his sweeping global and reciprocal tariffs.

Plaintiffs told the court that Trump’s use of IEEPA to unilaterally impose his steep import duties violates the major questions doctrine, since IEEPA does not explicitly mention the word “tariffs.” Rather, it authorizes the president to “regulate … importation” during a declared national emergency — plaintiffs noted, arguing that it falls short of the standard needed to pass muster for MQD.

“Congress does not (and could not) use such vague terminology to grant the executive virtually unconstrained taxing power of such staggering economic effect — literally trillions of dollars — shouldered by American businesses and consumers,” they told the court in an earlier briefing.

TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFY

Lawyers for the Trump administration countered that text of the IEEPA emergency law is the “practical equivalent” of a tariff.

“Tomorrow’s United States Supreme Court case is, literally, LIFE OR DEATH for our Country,” Trump posted on Truth Social back in November.

“With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security. Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us,” Trump continued.

“Our Stock Market is consistently hitting Record Highs, and our Country has never been more respected than it is right now,” he added. “A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs, and the Deals that we have negotiated because of them.”

While U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer acknowledged to the justices that IEEPA does not explicitly give an executive the power to regulate tariffs, he stressed in November that the power to tariff is “the natural common sense inference” of IEEPA.

But whether the high court will back his argument remains to be seen.

That was the conclusion reached by the U.S. Court of International Trade last year. Judges on the  three-judge panel voted unanimously to block Trump’s tariffs from taking force, ruling that, as commander in chief, Trump does not have “unbounded authority” to impose tariffs under the emergency law. 

“The parties cite two doctrines—the nondelegation doctrine and the major questions doctrine—that the judiciary has developed to ensure that the branches do not impermissibly abdicate their respective constitutionally vested powers,” the court said in its ruling.

The doctrine was also a focus in November, as justices pressed lawyers for the administration over IEEPA’s applicability to tariffs, or taxation powers, and asked the administration what guardrails, if any, exist to limit the whims of the executive branch, should they ultimately rule in Trump’s favor.

Though it’s not clear how much the court will rely on the MQD in its ruling, legal experts told Fox News Digital that they would expect it to potentially be cited by the Supreme Court if it blocks Trump’s tariff regime.

US COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE SIDES WITH TRUMP IN TARIFF CASE

The high court agreed to take up the case on an expedited basis last fall, and a ruling is expected to be handed down within the coming days or weeks.

There’s very little precedent for major questions as a formal precedent cited by the courts, as noted by the University of Chicago College of Law in 2024.

The doctrine was cited formally by the Supreme Court for the first time ever in its 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, when the court’s majority cited the doctrine as its basis for invalidating the EPA’s emissions standards under the Clean Power Plan. 

Prior to that, the doctrine existed as a more amorphous strand of statutory interpretation — a phenomenon that Justice Elena Kagan noted in her dissent in the same case.

“The current Court is textualist only when being so suits it,” Kagan said then. “When that method would frustrate broader goals, special canons like the ‘major questions doctrine’ magically appear as get-out-of-text-free cards.”

SUPREME COURT FREEZES ORDER TO RETURN MAN FROM EL SALVADOR PRISON

One factor that could play in Trump’s favor is the fact that the tariffs case is to some degree a foreign policy issue, which is an area where executives enjoy a higher level of deference from the court. 

Still, if oral arguments were any indication, the justices seemed poised to block Trump’s use of IEEPA to continue his steep tariff plan. 

Justices pressed Sauer as to why Trump invoked IEEPA to impose his sweeping tariffs, noting that doing so would be the first time a president used the law to set import taxes on trading partners.

They also seemed skeptical of the administration’s assertion that they did not need additional permission from Congress to use the law in such a sweeping manner, and pressed the administration’s lawyers on their contention that EEPA is only narrowly reviewable by the courts.

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“We agree that it’s a major power, but it’s in the context of a statute that is explicitly conferring major powers,” Sauer said. “That the point of the statute is to confer major powers to address major questions — which are emergencies.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opened an investigation into the city of Minneapolis Thursday, alleging the city’s housing policies illegally prioritize resources based on race and national origin, Fox News Digital learned. 

“Minnesota has been ground zero for fraud and corruption because it plays a cynical game of racial and ethnic politics,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner told Fox News Digital. “This goes against our values as Americans, united by a common heritage, language, and commitment to equal treatment under law.” 

Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor sent a letter to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Thursday evening informing him that HUD had launched a probe into whether Minneapolis violated the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act through its housing plans, programs and internal equity directives.

The Fair Housing Act is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funding.

SEC SCOTT BESSENT: HOW TO STOP FRAUD IN MINNESOTA—AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY 

Minnesota has become the focal point of government fraud, as details emerged regarding an alleged sweeping COVID-era scheme involving money laundering and tied to multiple social-services programs. Nearly 100 people, most of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community, have been charged, while federal prosecutors estimated that the total amount of fraud across various state-administered social services programs could reach more than $9 billion.

Considering the alleged fraud involved taxpayer dollars, HUD officials said evidence suggests that racial politics also extended to Minneapolis’s housing policy. 

The letter argues that Minneapolis has “committed to making available and allocating housing resources based on race and nationality,” raising potential federal civil rights violations. 

HUD specifically cited language in the city’s “Minneapolis 2040” comprehensive plan, as well as the city’s Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan, as cause for concern. 

Minneapolis 2040, which went into effect in 2020 under Frey, is the city’s comprehensive plan outlining the economic, infrastructure and environmental vision of the city across the next decade and a half. It includes a section focused on establishing “cultural districts,” which are described as “contiguous area with a rich sense of cultural and/or linguistic identity rooted in communities significantly populated by people of color, Indigenous people, and/or immigrants.”

“This plan strives to eliminate disparities among people of color and indigenous peoples compared with white people,” Minneapolis 2040 states.

MINNESOTA HEALTH CARE OWNER CHARGED WITH YEARS-LONG MEDICAID SCAM TOPPING $3M

The letter also cited Minneapolis’ Strategic and Racial Equity Action guide, which instructs city departments to align racial equity goals with their plans, programs and budgets. 

“Minneapolis’s current Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan claims to tangibly align ‘racial equity goals with department plans and budgets,'” the letter states. “For example, your Community Planning and Economic Development department will prioritize ‘rental housing for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Immigrant communities’ by ‘leveraging (its) rental licensing authority.’”

“That is not going to fly,” Trainor wrote in his letter to Frey. 

Turner told Fox News Digital that he “will continue to deliver on President Trump’s promise to support affordable housing for American families, in part by dismantling illegal racial and ethnic preferences that deny Americans their right to equal protection under the law.” 

“I am committed to delivering on this promise by thoroughly investigating any housing discrimination involving the City of Minneapolis,” he said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Frey’s office and the city of Minneapolis’ communications team Thursday evening for comment on the letter but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fallout from Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal spilled into the governor’s race in January, when Democratic Gov. Tim Walz ended his re-election bid. 

Walz, who has served as governor since 2019, said the wrongdoing unfolded on his watch. He took responsibility for oversight failures, while arguing Republicans had “sensationalized” the multibillion-dollar figures.

Frey said earlier in January of the fraud that “obviously, everybody could have done more to prevent” it, but that “you do not hold an entire community, any community, accountable for the actions of individuals,” referring to the Somali community. 

Minneapolis has been roiled by protests and agitators clashing with federal law enforcement deployed to the state amid the fraud investigations. The chaos heightened after the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in early January after she allegedly attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon against a federal officer. 

YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA’S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION

Turner joined Fox News at the start of the new year and said HUD officials were on the ground in Minnesota investigating funds delivered to public housing authorities. 

“We have investigators that are making sure that any HUD-funded programs in Minnesota are being carried out appropriately,” he said. “Also, we just launched an investigation and housing authorities, public housing authorities there in Minnesota. They receive about $108 million in Minneapolis, and also about $46 million in public housing assistance there. So we want to make sure that we’re being good stewards of taxpayer money.”

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Turner reported on X Monday that his department uncovered “up to $84 million in ineligible assistance during Biden’s final year — including $496,000 in improper assistance to 509 dead tenants.”

The Biden administration purchased a pulsed energy weapon suspected of being the type that may have caused “Havana Syndrome” which caused a series of mysterious ailments for U.S. diplomats and government workers in Cuba. 

The weapon was bought at the end of the Biden Administration and has since been tested by the Pentagon, Fox News has learned. House Republicans are demanding answers amid reports of the purchase of the device.

In a letter to Homeland Security Kristi Noem, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is asking for information on the procurement process for the weapon, its costs and the findings associated with its year-long testing related to Havana Syndrome, officially known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI). 

HAVANA SYNDROME ‘PATIENT ZERO’ REJECTS INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY FINDINGS THAT FOREIGN ADVERSARY ‘VERY UNLIKELY’

“The device in question is described as capable of producing pulsed radio waves and containing Russian components, though it is supposedly not entirely Russian in origin,” the letter states. “Following HSI’s successful acquisition of the device, it was reportedly transferred to DoW, which spent more than a year testing the device and its capabilities.”

Some U.S. intelligence agencies have said a foreign adversary could be behind the mysterious ailment. 

Fox News Digital previously reported that Adam, a former government employee whose identity Fox News agreed to protect, is considered to be “Patient Zero.”

He was first attacked in December 2016 while living in Havana on assignment. During his time on the Caribbean island, Adam experienced multiple attacks and described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.

HAVANA SYNDROME: FOREIGN ADVERSARIES’ MICROWAVE WEAPONS CAPABILITIES EXPLAINED BY PHYSICIST

“While assessments from the Intelligence Community (IC) do not conclusively identify the factors causing AHIs or any foreign actor responsible, an assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) presented a majority view concluding that it was ‘very unlikely’ that a foreign actor ‘used a novel weapon or prototype device to harm even a subset of the U.S. Government personnel,’ with five out of seven agencies agreeing with that assessment,” Garbarino wrote in his letter. 

“However, two agencies dissented from the majority view and assessed that there was a chance that foreign actors may have developed some sort of ‘novel weapon or prototype device’ that could have harmed U.S. personnel,” he added. 

However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the report and held a background call with reporters on Friday explaining that new reporting “led two components to shift their assessments about whether a foreign actor has a capability that could cause biological effects consistent with some of the symptoms reported as possible AHIs.”

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“This shift consequently led two IC components to subtly change their overall judgment about whether a foreign actor might have played a role in a small number of events,” the agency said. 

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report. 

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reinstated the National Coal Council, comprised of dozens of stakeholders from energy firms, utilities, governmental and tribal interests, saying that whether anthracite or bituminous, no industry affects Americans’ lives more.

The council, which will be chaired by Peabody Energy CEO Jim Grech and Core Natural Resources chairman Jimmy Brock, cut its proverbial ribbon at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus four years after then-President Biden dissolved the decades-old consortium.

“It’s crazy that this Coal Council was disabled,” Wright said, calling it a “combination of ignorance and arrogance.”

IN 2026, ENERGY WAR’S NEW FRONT IS AI, AND US MUST WIN THAT BATTLE, API CHIEF SAYS

Burgum spoke to the importance of the coal industry to not just the local economies – like those in his own state of North Dakota – where the mineral is extracted, but across national security, economic and commercial fields.

“No industry that does so much and means so much to every American,” he said.

“But the regulatory red tape onslaught going into this industry was like no other. And so if you’re standing here today and your company is providing reliable, affordable, American, secure-base-load-dispatch of power, you’re a hero to me,” Burgum said.

Wright added that people must only look at history to see what happens to societies that squander their coal reserves if they have them.

He said that while much of the world was still relying on woodburning for energy, England had such a booming industry during the Glorious Revolution of 1707 that it comprised 50% of its energy industry.

The rest of the world did not hit 50% coal power until 1900, when it finally surpassed wood, Wright continued.

BURGUM CALLS CALIFORNIA A ‘NATIONAL SECURITY RISK’ AS ENERGY CHIEF WARNS BLUE STATES ARE SKEWING COST AVERAGES

With the “barbarians at the wall,” the little island country held its own thanks in part to its coal industry, he said of England and later Scotland.

By present-day, the United Kingdom decided to reverse all of that progress and shutter its coal industry, along with similarly-industrious Germany.

BURGUM, ZELDIN, WRIGHT: THIS IS HOW AMERICA WILL ACHIEVE ENERGY DOMINANCE

With the advent of the AI race, Wright said the need for a stable, booming American coal sector is paramount.

“China opened up 93 gigawatts of coal… one gigawatt [can power the entire] Denver Metro,” he said.

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America needs between 50 and 100 GW of additional coal power to win the AI arms race with China, Wright said in response to a question from Fox News Digital.

In September, Wright’s office also announced $625 million would be put toward reinvigorating the U.S. coal industry in response to Trump’s executive order calling for such, and another directive to “strengthen the reliability and security of the U.S. energy grid.”

Wright’s office said in a release that the administration has saved more than 15GW of coal-powered electricity, in part through relaunching the council.

Last July, a DOE analysis found that the loss of coal-fired power plants would make grid reliability unsustainable, while also finding that 100GW more peak-hour supply is needed by 2030.

President Donald Trump’s push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland could carry an estimated price tag of $700 billion, according to reports.

The estimate, reported by NBC News, was said to have been calculated by scholars and former U.S. officials involved in early planning discussions surrounding Trump’s interest in acquiring the 800,000-square-mile island as a strategic buffer in the Arctic against adversaries including Russia and China.

The figure would exceed half of the Defense Department’s annual budget and reflects what officials described as a significant national security priority for the Trump administration.

The reported cost comes as new Reuters polling shows the Trump proposal is unpopular with Americans, but also continues to strain relations with U.S. allies.

EUROPEAN ALLIES WORKING ON PLAN IF US ACTS ON ACQUIRING GREENLAND: REPORT

“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of national security,” Trump wrote Wednesday in a Truth Social post and warned that if the U.S. does not act, “Russia or China will.”

The president added that “anything less” than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable” and argued that the Arctic territory is vital to American defense interests, including the “Golden Dome” missile defense system in development.

Trump’s renewed push has increased tensions with Denmark and other NATO allies.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, troops from several European countries deployed to Greenland Thursday for a two-day mission aimed at boosting the territory’s defenses.

France, Germany, Sweden and Norway are participating in the exercise, Fox News said, with leaders saying the mission is intended to demonstrate NATO’s ability to deploy military assets quickly in the Arctic.

TRUMP ISSUES STERN WARNING TO NATO AHEAD OF VANCE’S HIGH-STAKES GREENLAND MEETING

NBC News also reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been tasked with developing a proposal to purchase Greenland that will be presented to Trump in the coming weeks.

Rubio and Vice President JD Vance are also expected to meet with officials from Denmark and Greenland in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Trump has vowed to acquire Greenland “one way or the other,” a remark Danish and Greenlandic officials have sharply rejected.

Danish leaders have warned that any military action against another NATO member could jeopardize the alliance itself.

GREENLAND LEADERS PUSH BACK ON TRUMP’S CALLS FOR US CONTROL OF THE ISLAND: ‘WE DON’T WANT TO BE AMERICANS’

A Reuters/Ipsos poll also found just 17% of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, with 47% opposed, and 35% unsure.

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Greenland is the world’s largest island and has a population of roughly 56,000 people with most people living along its ice-free coastline. About 80% of the territory is covered by ice caps and glaciers.

Fishing, hunting, whaling, sealing and tourism are the backbone of its local economy.

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

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday called for peace amid escalating protests, a sharp shift in tone after he demanded days earlier that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “get the f— out” of the city. 

Frey appeared at a late news conference following the shooting of an illegal immigrant from Venezuela in the leg after he allegedly ambushed a federal agent with a shovel. 

“I’m calling for peace,” Frey told reporters. “Everybody has a role in achieving that peace — and we’re going to try and do everything we can to keep it.”

DHS DEMANDS MN LEADERS HONOR ICE DETAINERS, ALLEGES HUNDREDS OF CRIMINAL ALIENS HAVE BEEN RELEASED UNDER WALZ

Frey has repeatedly condemned ICE’s mmigration enforcement operations, and again called for ICE to leave Minneapolis. 

“There’s still a lot that we don’t know at this time, but what I can tell you for certain is that this is not sustainable,” he said. “This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in.” 

“We’re in a position right now where we have residents that are asking the very limited number of police officers that we have to fight ICE agents on the street,” he added. “We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another.” 

He said ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents were “creating chaos,” despite many being confronted, sometimes violently, by protesters upset at the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign. 

“I’ve seen conduct by ICE that is disgusting and intolerable,” he said. 

He urged protesters not to “take the bait” from President Donald Trump. 

JD VANCE, ICE FLIP SCRIPT ON SANCTUARY CITY LEADERS AS ‘CHAOS’ ERUPTS ACROSS MN: ‘THIS IS DANGEROUS’

“And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight, stop,” he said. “That is not helpful … You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city. You are not helping the people that call this place home.”

The mayor’s tone is a stark difference from the tirade he unleashed last week following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent. 

“To ICE, get the f–k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here,” Frey said during a press conference after the shooting. “Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.”

On Wednesday, Frey maintained that he has not engaged in violent rhetoric. 

“Show a single place where I have encouraged anything other than peace. Show me a single place where we have encouraged violence,” Frey added. 

DHS TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ARRESTING OVER 10K ILLEGAL ALIENS IN DEEP BLUE CITY DESPITE VIOLENT RIOTS

The Department of Homeland Security said a federal agent had opened fire on an illegal immigrant who allegedly fled a traffic stop and then beat the agent with a snow shovel.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if local authorities failed to restore control.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” he raged in a Truth Social post.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday pleaded with Trump to “turn the temperature down.”

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ICE responded with a post on X. 

“The buck stops with you, Governor,” the post states. “Tone down the hostile, inflammatory anti-ICE rhetoric. Honor our immigration detainers. And work with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens from MN streets.”

A federal judge criticized the process by which California’s voter-approved congressional map to redraw districts to favor Democrats in a dissenting opinion, saying the state engaged in “racial gerrymandering.”

Judge Kenneth Lee noted his concerns about race being a factor in his dissent as a panel of judges voted 2-1 to uphold the map.

“California sullied its hands with this sordid business when it engaged in racial gerrymandering as part of its mid-decade congressional redistricting plan to add five more Democratic House seats,” Lee wrote. 

“We know race likely played a predominant role in drawing at least one district because the smoking gun is in the hands of Paul Mitchell, the mapmaker who drew the congressional redistricting map adopted by the California state legislature,” he added. 

DOJ ACCUSES DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN ARM OF OBSTRUCTION IN LAWSUIT OVER CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING

The court rejected a claim by Republicans that the map approved as part of Proposition 50 violated the Voting Rights Act by drawing maps to favor Hispanic and Latino voters.

READ THE COURT ORDER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

The decision allows California to use the map, which could give Democrats more House seats. The California Republican Party said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency injunction. 

“The well-reasoned dissenting opinion better reflects our interpretation of the law and the facts, which we will reassert to the Supreme Court,” California GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin said in a statement. “The map drawer’s plain statements acknowledging that he racially gerrymandered the Proposition 50 maps, which he and the legislature refused to explain or deny, in addition to our experts’ testimony, established that the courts should stop the implementation of the Prop 50 map. We look forward to continuing this fight in the courts.” 

REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK OVER ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM’ IN BLOCKBUSTER REDISTRICTING FIGHT

Lee noted that mapmaker Paul Mitchell refused to appear before the panel, but had allegedly publicly boasted to his political allies that he drew the map to “ensure that the Latino districts.”

“In embarking on a mid-decade redistricting plan to create more Democratic-friendly districts, California relied on race to create at least one Latino-majority congressional district,” he wrote. “To be clear, as the majority explains, California began its mid-cycle redistricting attempt after Texas initiated its own redistricting in favor of Republicans. But that larger partisan goal does not negate that California’s Democratic state legislature sought to maintain and expand a racial spoils system.”

Prop 50 was the result of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders asking voters whether the state should redraw congressional lines by targeting five Republican strongholds. 

The move was a countermeasure to Texas’ efforts to send more Republicans to the House. 

“Republicans’ weak attempt to silence voters failed,” Newsom said in a statement. “California voters overwhelmingly supported Prop 50 – to respond to Trump’s rigging in Texas – and that is exactly what this court concluded.”

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House maps are typically redrawn every 10 years following the census, and the process rarely takes place mid-decade.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report. 

As President Donald Trump turns up the volume on his efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark, two new national polls put a spotlight on the fact that most Americans oppose taking over the massive and crucially strategic island that lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

Eighty-six percent of voters nationwide questioned in a Quinnipiac University poll said they would oppose military action to take over Greenland.

That includes 95% of Democrats, 94% of Independents, and even more than two-thirds (68%) of Republicans surveyed by Quinnipiac late last week through Monday.

WHY TROOPS FROM EUROPE ARE DEPLOYING TO GREENLAND

Three-quarters of Americans questioned in a CNN poll conducted at the same time said they opposed a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Ninety-four percent of Democrats and eight in 10 Independents said they would oppose such a move, with Republicans split 50%-50%.

Meanwhile, by a 55%-37% margin, voters questioned in the Quinnipiac survey said they opposed any U.S. effort to try and buy Greenland.

DENMARK IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS AS US MAKES AMBITIOUS APPEAL TO GREENLAND

But there’s a stark political divide on this question, with the vast majority of Democrats and nearly six in 10 Independents opposed to buying Greenland, and more than two-thirds of Republicans supporting such efforts.

“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of national security,” the president argued in a social media post Wednesday.

EUROPEAN ALLIES WORKING ON PLAN IF US ACTS ON ACQUIRING GREENLAND: REPORT

And the president emphasized that “anything less” than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable.”

Trump’s push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland is causing tension with Denmark and other NATO allies who insist that the semiautonomous Danish territory should determine its own future. 

Trump officials are openly considering all options, including military force, to take Greenland, spurring bipartisan opposition from some in Congress.

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Troops from several European countries deployed to Greenland this week for a brief two-day mission to bolster the territory’s defenses. 

France, Germany, Sweden and Norway are participating in the exercise, Fox News has learned. Leaders say the mission is meant to demonstrate they can deploy military assets “quickly.” 

Fox News’ Gillian Turner and Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: House Democrats are demanding a congressional inquiry into the Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is joining forces with Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and other members of their party to ask Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to open the probe.

“As Jerome Powell, the Trump-appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, explained to the nation on Sunday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a sham criminal investigation into statements Chair Powell made about renovations to the Board’s historic building,” the letter read.

“That investigation is a flagrant attempt by the President to bully and intimidate the Board into setting interest rates not based on evidence, economic conditions, or the public interest but instead based on the President’s own whims.”

GOP SENATOR SUGGESTS FED CHAIR POWELL RESIGN NOW TO DODGE POTENTIAL CRIMINAL INDICTMENT

The Democrats called the DOJ’s probe a “systematic assault on the independence of our central bank.”

They asked Jordan to hold a public hearing on the issue and even potentially subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi and relevant Department of Justice (DOJ) officials to testify.

The investigation into Powell is being led by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, who accused Powell of not cooperating with her office’s search for information.

Pirro also suggested there was no immediate threat of a criminal indictment, something Powell mentioned in his statement responding to the probe.

“The United States Attorney’s Office contacted the Federal Reserve on multiple occasions to discuss cost overruns and the chairman’s congressional testimony, but were ignored, necessitating the use of legal process—which is not a threat. The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s,” Pirro wrote on X.

“None of this would have happened if they had just responded to our outreach. This office makes decisions based on the merits, nothing more and nothing less. We agree with the chairman of the Federal Reserve that no one is above the law, and that is why we expect his full cooperation.”

REPUBLICAN SENATOR VOWS TO BLOCK TRUMP FED NOMINEE OVER POWELL INVESTIGATION

Powell said in a statement Sunday that DOJ was “threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June.”

He alleged, however, that the investigation was really motivated by the Fed’s independence in setting interest rates despite President Donald Trump publicly pressuring the body to lower them at a faster pace.

Trump has criticized Powell publicly on multiple occasions, including for the Fed’s pace of lowering interest rates.

Trump denied any involvement in starting the probe in an interview with NBC News earlier this week, though adding, “he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings.”

The president also told Reuters on Wednesday that he had no current plans to fire Powell.

The probe nevertheless has caused some heartburn on both sides of Capitol Hill, with virtually all Democrats and even some Republicans pushing back against it.

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“Pursuing criminal charges relating to his testimony on building renovations at a time when the nation’s economy requires focus and creates an unnecessary distraction,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., said in a statement. “The Federal Reserve is led by strong, capable individuals appointed by President Trump, and this action could undermine this and future Administrations’ ability to make sound monetary policy decisions.”

The White House referred Fox News Digital to the DOJ for comment on Democrats’ letter. Pirro’s office declined to comment.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Jordan’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.

While some prominent elderly members of the House of Representatives and Senate have announced that they will not pursue re-election, others in the 80 or older age bracket are aiming to keep their jobs even longer.

Out of 24 figures from the Silent Generation serving in Congress, 13 have opted to run again in 2026, according to a review by NBC News. The outlet appears to be including Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, of Washington, D.C., in that tally of 13. 

NBC News assesses that the 119th Congress is the third-oldest in U.S. history. A few of the senators in the batch of two dozen lawmakers have terms that stretch beyond this year, so they have time to decide on their political futures. 

REPUBLICAN SENATOR CONDEMNS ALLEGED SYRIAN ARMY ABUSES AS CEASEFIRE FOLLOWS ALEPPO FIGHTING

It seems to remain unclear whether Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., will run again. The congressman has said he will decide in the coming weeks, according to NBC.

“I don’t know what the Silent Generation is. I didn’t know that we were silent,” Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho quipped, according to the outlet. “You got to like the job, and you got to have enough time to spend with your family, and you got to have your health, and if you’ve got your health, and you’re doing what you want to do, why not?”

The senator will turn 83 later this year and would be 89 by the end of another six-year Senate term.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., will turn 88 later this year prior to Election Day.

REP. MAXINE WATERS CALLS FOR USING THE 25TH AMENDMENT TO FIND OUT WHAT’S ‘WRONG’ WITH DONALD TRUMP

“My work is not finished, and I don’t know if it will ever be finished,” the congresswoman told the outlet.

NBC News reported that 88-year-old Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., noted, “As long as I can be helpful to the constituents I represent, I’ll keep working.”

NANCY PELOSI WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION, ENDING DECADES-LONG HOUSE CAREER

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But some longtime congressional figures, like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a former House speaker, have announced that they will not run for re-election.

President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado at the White House Thursday. 

Trump announced Jan. 3 that the U.S. had captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and that the U.S. would be running Venezuela until a safe transition could occur. But instead of endorsing Machado, Trump cast doubt on her abilities to lead the country. 

“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters on Jan. 3. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.” 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration chose not to support Machado because the U.S. didn’t want to make similar mistakes to the ones it’s previously made in the Middle East in Latin America, although he said he had “tremendous admiration” for Machado.

TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET

“But there’s the mission that we are on right now. … A lot of people analyze everything that happens in foreign policy through the lens of Iraq, Libya, or Afghanistan,” Rubio said Jan. 4 in an interview with CBS. “This is not the Middle East. This is the Western Hemisphere, and our mission here is very different.”

A classified CIA assessment, which senior policymakers requested and presented to Trump, evaluated who would be the best fit to oversee an interim government in Venezuela following the overthrow of Maduro, a source familiar with the intelligence told Fox News Digital. Ultimately, it determined that Marduro’s vice president, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would be best situated to lead the country. 

Although the Washington Post reported that Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 — an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him — the White House claimed that Trump’s choices were based on “realistic decisions.” 

As a result, Trump has put his support behind Rodríguez who is now serving as interim president. On Wednesday, Trump shared he had a call with Rodríguez, and later described her as a “terrific” person.”  

“We are making tremendous progress, as we help Venezuela stabilize and recover,” Trump said in a social media post Wednesday.

RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’

“This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL,” Trump said. “Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”

Specifically, Trump said that he and Rodríguez discussed oil, minerals and national security matters. On Jan. 7, Trump announced that Venezuela would provide the U.S. with 50 million barrels of oil that would be sold “immediately.”

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Rodríguez voiced similar sentiments following the call, and said that the two’s “courteous” call “addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments.” 

Meanwhile, Machado has praised Trump for his role overthrowing Maduro, and told CBS News that the president and the U.S. have “done much more than anybody thought was possible.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on what Trump and Machado planned to discuss. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

Democratic legislators are proposing legislation to block federal authorities from carrying out immigration enforcement across the country.

While some of the legislation is being pushed in red states where it is unlikely find purchase, the wave of bills is also pushing blue states further to the left. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for a bill to allow people to sue federal officers alleging violations of their constitutional rights. Other New York Democrats are pushing to require federal authorities to secure warrants to search schools, hospitals and houses of worship.

Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal agents for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.

New Jersey Democrats have sent a trio of bills to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk that, if passed, would establish New Jersey as a “sanctuary state.”

ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS PASS BILL BANNING ICE IMMIGRATION ARRESTS NEAR COURTHOUSES

The three bills would ban local police from assisting in federal immigration raids, prohibit law enforcement from stopping someone based on their suspected immigration status, and prohibit government entities and health care facilities from sharing private data with ICE without a judicial warrant.

President Donald Trump‘s administration has said that non-cooperation policies in sanctuary jurisdictions only make immigration enforcement more dangerous and difficult.

California lawmakers are seeking to block immigration officials from making arrests at court appearances as well as ban state and local law enforcement from accepting roles with the Department of Homeland Security.

DEM-BACKED ‘DIGNITY’ BILL COULD STRIP ICE OF DETENTION POWERS, ERASE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT, CRITICS WARN

Democrats in red states are also sounding off, though their legislation is unlikely to go the distance. In Georgia, Democrats are pushing a four-bill package that would drastically limit federal immigration enforcement in the state.

Republicans are fending off similar efforts in New Hampshire and Tennessee.

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Meanwhile, the Trump administration has threatened to file lawsuits against sanctuary cities and states. The administration points out that immigration arrests in normal jurisdictions typically see federal authorities take custody of migrants at jails. It is only in sanctuary areas where federal authorities must track down migrants after they are released.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump warned Thursday that he would invoke the Insurrection Act if people in Minnesota don’t obey the law and continue attacking federal agents there.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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

A Colorado appeals court appeared skeptical of a sentence for a pro-Trump elections official convicted of assisting in a breach of elections equipment in 2020 on Wednesday.

While judges on the panel expressed little sympathy for the arguments from lawyers for former county clerk Tina Peters, they also grilled state lawyers. Judges were particularly critical of claims that Peters should be held accountable for spreading election conspiracies in 2020.

“The court cannot punish her for her First Amendment rights,” Appeals Judge Craig Welling said.

Peters used another person’s security badge to allow a former surfer, Conan Hayes, to watch a software update of her county’s election management system. Prosecutors said he made copies of the system’s hard drive before and after the upgrade, and that partially redacted security passwords later turned up online. Hayes was not charged with any wrongdoing.

TRUMP ISSUES SWEEPING PARDONS FOR 2020 ELECTION ALLIES — WHAT THE MOVE REALLY MEANS

Peters, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump in December, spent her Christmas in a Colorado prison after being convicted in October 2024 as the state resists the pressure from Trump.

Her lawyers nevertheless argue that a state-level pardon from Gov. Jared Polis is on its way. Trump had threatened the state with a loss of federal funding if Polis doesn’t issue a pardon. Polis, for his part, has described Peters’ nine-year sentence as “harsh.”

Trump has posted on social media about Peters’ case multiple times, describing her as a “patriot.”

NEW MOTION SEEKS COLORADO CLERK TINA PETERS’ RELEASE, CHALLENGING STATE AFTER TRUMP PARDON

“Instead of protecting Americans and their Tax Dollars, Democrats chose instead to prosecute anyone they can find that wanted Safe and Secure Elections,” Trump posted. “Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest.”

“Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections,” Trump continued. “Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Peters’ attorney, Peter Ticktin, said the pardon should be applicable to state charges.

“I have great confidence that the appeal will be determined in Tina’s favor,” Ticktin explained. “However, the pardon which was issued by the grace of President Trump and for which we are extremely grateful could have put us in a difficult position.

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“Contrary to Colorado’s governor, we see the pardon as applicable to state charges,” Peters’ attorney added. “Hence, the Colorado Court of Appeals may or may not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal, which has been pending.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina declared in a Wednesday post on X that the U.S. should utilize “any means necessary” to stop the individuals “responsible for killing” Iranians.

“People often ask me what should we do next when it comes to the murderous, religious Nazi regime in Iran. It’s pretty simple. Stand by the protesters demanding an end to their oppression. But it’s going to take more than standing by them. We must stop those who are responsible for killing the people by any means necessary ASAP. Make The Iranian People Safe Again,” the hawkish lawmaker said in the post on X.

Protesters in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been met with a deadly crackdown.

“We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” President Donald Trump said on Wednesday afternoon, noting, “we’ve been told on good authority. And I hope it’s true.”

GRAHAM SUGGESTS TRUMP ‘HELP’ IRAN PROTESTERS WITH ‘MILITARY, CYBER AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTACKS’ AGAINST REGIME

But in a Wednesday night post on X, Graham said, “Every indication that I’ve seen says that the Iranian regime’s killing of protestors is still very much in full swing. The death toll is mounting by the hour. Hoping that help is on the way.”

President Trump has been declaring his support for Iranian dissidents and promising that help is coming.

TRUMP TOLD IRAN HAS HALTED KILLINGS AMID MOUNTING PROTEST PRESSURE

“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!” the U.S. commander in chief declared in a Tuesday Truth Social post, using an acronym to abbreviate the phrase “Make Iran Great Again.”

Graham, an advocate for U.S. intervention against the Iranian regime, shared a screenshot of the president’s post and discussed the issue.

“The tipping point of this long journey will be President Trump’s resolve. No boots on the ground, but unleashing holy hell — as he promised — on the regime that has trampled every red line. A massive wave of military, cyber and psychological attacks is the meat and bones of ‘help is on the way,’” Graham declared in the post.

TOP IRANIAN OFFICIAL DOWNPLAYS DEATH TOLL, BLAMES ‘ISRAELI PLOT’ AS US CONSIDERS STRIKES

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“What am I looking for? Destroy the infrastructure that allows the massacre and slaughter of the Iranian people, and take down the leaders responsible for the killing,” he noted.

Several Democratic lawmakers gathered on Wednesday, one week after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, for a news conference in which they slammed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and called for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The conference was orchestrated by Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and included several high-profile Democrats.

On Jan. 7, Good was fatally shot during an interaction with an ICE agent. The incident sparked nationwide outrage and protests against federal immigration enforcement.

“Renee Good was a mother of three children. She was a wife, a writer, a poet, a devoted Christian and a U.S. citizen,” Thompson said at the opening of the news conference.

The ranking member then said that the Trump administration’s actions following the shooting had been “hateful” and “harmful.” He singled out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in particular, accusing her of telling “lies” about the situation. Thompson claimed that Noem’s “disgusting response set the stage for a brazenly political federal investigation,” decrying the alleged exclusion of state and local officials from the probe, saying it was “clearly intended to shield the shooter from prosecution.”

MINNESOTA SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER SWEEPING IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN TWIN CITIES

“Kristi Noem has plainly tried to signal to ICE that they are free to act with impunity, to personally manufacture and escalate confrontations and even execute whomever they please,” Thompson said. “She has unleashed ICE and other federal law enforcement officers upon American communities, not to protect them, but to attack them and to sow fear violence and chaos.”

While Thompson did not go so far as to call for Noem’s impeachment, other lawmakers at the news conference were not shy about the matter. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was one of the lawmakers who explicitly called for Noem to be impeached.

“ICE’s reckless actions have taken a mother from three children, a partner from a wife and inflicted unfathomable pain on our community… We will not stop fighting until we achieve real justice and accountability. That must begin with impeaching Kristi Noem and ensuring no federal agent can act as a judge, jury and executioner on our streets. It must also include full and transparent investigation and legal action against ICE,” Omar said on Wednesday.

JD VANCE, ICE FLIP SCRIPT ON SANCTUARY CITY LEADERS AS ‘CHAOS’ ERUPTS ACROSS MN: ‘THIS IS DANGEROUS’

Rather than speak about the circumstances that led to the shooting, Omar instead said that Good died “because she chose love and solidarity over fear.”

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., called for an “immediate and independent investigation, including the release of all video footage” of the fatal shooting. She also said that the lawmakers were calling on ICE to suspend operations in Minnesota “to de-escalate the situation,” referring to protests that have erupted in the wake of the deadly shooting.

During the news conference, Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., not only called for Noem’s impeachment but also abolition of ICE.

REP RO KHANNA DEMANDS PROSECUTION OF ICE AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS FATAL SHOOTING

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., took to the microphone to address Noem personally, taking swipes at the secretary.

“You are terrible at doing your job. You are incompetent. You are shameless. But most of all, you are cruel,” McIver said. “The American people do not want you. We do not want you. And we will do whatever we need to do to make sure you will not hold that post soon. God will judge you and Democrats are going to remove you from office that you never deserved to hold in the first place.”

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stood by the agent’s conduct and labeled Good a “domestic terrorist.”

“Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism,” DHS wrote on X. “An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers.”

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other members of the administration have made statements backing the ICE officer involved in the shooting.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to crack down on childcare providers convicted of fraud with legislation that would, among a handful of tweaks to current law, require the fraudsters to pay back the misspent taxpayer money.

The bill from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, would amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act to impose harsher penalties on childcare providers convicted of fraud, and one of several moves in the upper chamber to tackle the sprawling Minnesota fraud scandal.

Cornyn’s bill, the Stop Fraud by Strengthening Oversight and More Accountability for Lying and Illegal Activity (SOMALIA) Act, is narrowly tailored toward addressing fraudulent activity in childcare and daycare centers, but the breadth and scope of the unfurling scandal goes beyond that.

‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’: SENATE REPUBLICANS PRESS GOV WALZ OVER MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

Federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics.

“The Minnesota scandal has exposed a deep-rooted, morally bankrupt fraud empire, and it is clear more must be done to rid our nation of these heinous criminals,” Cornyn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The legislation would require mandatory permanent debarment from all federally funded child care assistance programs, repay misspent federal funds, require referral for federal criminal investigations, and require states to enforce the above bans and halt providers from evading debarment by restructuring the business or changing the business name.

MINNESOTA FACES FUNDING DEADLINE AFTER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FREEZES CHILD CARE PAYMENTS

There’s also an immigration component to the bill that would make non-citizens convicted of fraud deportable, bar them from asylum, adjustment of status, and subject them to mandatory detention and expedited removal.

Cornyn’s effort is one of many coming from the Senate GOP, where lawmakers are looking at several options to crack down on fraud, both in Minnesota and more broadly in the federal government.

USDA IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDS ALL FEDERAL FUNDING TO MINNESOTA AMID FRAUD INVESTIGATION

Every Senate Republican joined in on a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz last week, and demanded that he provide a paper trail on the state’s role in the scandal. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., floated that budget reconciliation, the same procedure used to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” could be used to deal with fraud.

And the Trump administration has moved to or threatened cancellation of federal funds to the state in the wake of the scandal.

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“I applaud President Trump for his efforts to end this corruption, and I’m proud to take it a step further with the Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act, which would ensure these consequences are enshrined into law before any more funds are misused or sent overseas to fund American-hating terrorist networks like we saw in now-disgraced Governor Walz’s state,” Cornyn said.

California can move forward with a new U.S. House map that would boost Democrats’ chances in the 2026 midterms, a federal court ruled Wednesday.

A three-judge panel in Los Angeles ruled 2-1 to deny requests from both state Republicans and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to block the map from being used, giving Democrats a realistic chance at flipping up to five House seats in the midterm election.

In November, California voters passed a ballot initiative, known as Proposition 50, dramatically altering the state’s congressional districts. The pursuit of the new map was largely viewed as an attempt to offset recent redistricting in Texas, which generated more Republican-leaning districts.

“Republicans’ weak attempt to silence voters failed,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California voters overwhelmingly supported Prop 50 – to respond to Trump’s rigging in Texas – and that is exactly what this court concluded.”

FEDERAL JUDGES BLOCK TEXAS FROM USING REDRAWN CONGRESSIONAL MAP

The complaint challenged California’s efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map, with DOJ Civil Rights Division lawyers arguing that race was “used as a proxy” to justify creating districts that benefit Democrats.

But California Democrats argued that the map was legal because it was drawn for partisan advantage.

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering is a political question and not one for federal courts to decide. On Wednesday, the California panel sided with the state’s argument, saying there was insufficient evidence that the maps were drawn based on race.

RED STATE MOVES FORWARD ON TRUMP-BACKED PUSH FOR NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP

“After reviewing the evidence, we conclude that it was exactly as one would think: it was partisan,” the judges wrote.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Lee, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said in dissent that at least one district was drawn using race as a factor “to curry favor with Latino groups and voters.”

Still, Republicans are expected to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

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

The panel’s ruling constitutes a major victory for Democrats following the implementation of new congressional maps in several Republican-led states.

Last year, Missouri moved forward with congressional redistricting that favors Republicans, and North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature signed off on a new map that may lead to an additional congressional victory for the GOP.

“Californians overwhelmingly voted in favor of Proposition 50. Today’s decision upholds the will of the people. It also means that, to date, every single challenge against Proposition 50 has failed,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “I couldn’t be prouder of my team for successfully defending this ballot initiative in court on behalf of Governor Newsom and Secretary of State Weber. We remain confident in the legality of Proposition 50.”

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House maps are typically redrawn every 10 years following the census, and the process rarely takes place mid-decade. California relies on an independent commission to draw maps, while other states, including Texas, allow lawmakers to lead the effort.

To retake control of the House in the midterms, Democrats need to pick up only a handful of seats. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority with 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Ashley Oliver and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday doubled down on his position of not cooperating with federal immigration authorities when asked about the case of an illegal alien who killed a local woman while allegedly driving drunk. 

Frey, who has repeatedly called for the Trump administration to claw back the deployment of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the city, defended his stance during a Wednesday appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“We are willing to work with people when it’s about murder and when it’s about crime. But the truth is that this ain’t about that,” Frey said. “We love them and we care about them,” he said of the city’s immigrant community. 

MINNEAPOLIS-AREA LEADERS CONDEMN ICE, CALL FOR REMOVAL AMID TRUMP DEPORTATION CAMPAIGN

Fox News’ Griff Jenkins then asked Frey about the case of Victoria Eileen Harwell, who was killed in August 2024, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Ecuador. 

Llangari Inga was arrested on suspicion of the crime before ICE lodged a detainer request with the Hennepin County Jail, which released Inga without notifying federal authorities. 

Llangari was arrested again on May 10, 2025, on a warrant for vehicular homicide by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and ICE placed a detainer the same day. He was released three days later without notification of ICE. 

ICE eventually arrested Inga on May 16, 2025. A preliminary breathalyzer revealed that Inga’s blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota. A test of a blood sample collected by police about 2.5 hours later found his BAC was 0.141%, still well above the legal limit, authorities said. 

“Remember sanctuary politicians are fighting for criminal illegal aliens,” Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said at the time. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are fighting for the victims of illegal alien crime, like Eileen Harwell.”

Since Trump took office, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Frey have refused to cooperate with ICE and released nearly 470 criminal illegal immigrants back onto the streets of Minnesota—including the suspect in Victoria Eileen Harwell’s death, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. 

ICE DIRECTOR FIRES BACK AT ‘SQUAD’ LAWMAKERS OVER ‘POLITICAL RHETORIC’ AFTER FATAL MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING

Jenkins asked Frey why his administration won’t cooperate with ICE to safely take illegal immigrants with criminal records or those wanted for crimes into federal custody. 

The mayor maintained that most of the people being arrested by ICE are not “a problem” for the city. 

“If you commit a crime, if you commit fraud, if you commit carjacking or a murder, you should be investigated, charged, prosecuted, held accountable, and yes, arrested and put in jail,” Frey said. “That is my position. If you commit a crime and you are a problem on the streets of the city of Minneapolis, that has made us less safe.”

“What I am saying is that a lot of the people that ICE is picking up right now in our city are not a problem for Minneapolis,” he added. 

He said many of the city’s immigrants have opened businesses and have been in the city for longer than he has.

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“We’ve got to be thinking about other people as if it were ourselves,” he said. “What would we do in these situations? How would we handle ourselves? 

“We care deeply about our immigrant population. We care about everybody in our city, and what we’re seeing right now is the kind of chaos that is being caused by this massive influx of ICE agents isn’t helpful.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is supporting legislation that would allow state residents to sue ICE agents for violating their constitutional rights.

The governor said on Tuesday during her State of the State address that she wants to allow New Yorkers to “hold ICE agents accountable in court when they act outside the scope of their duties.”

“This doesn’t interfere with lawful enforcement or public safety,” Hochul said. “It simply affirms a core truth: Power does not justify abuse. And if someone’s constitutional rights are violated here in the state of New York, I say they deserve their day in court.”

Last year, New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Micah Lasher proposed measures to allow private citizens to file lawsuits against federal officials who violate their constitutional rights.

REP RO KHANNA DEMANDS PROSECUTION OF ICE AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING

Lasher’s version cites Title 42, Section 1983 of the U.S. Code, which allows people to sue state and local officials for violating their rights. The proposal highlights that New York does not have a law in place allowing citizens to sue federal officials.

“Every day, ICE is terrorizing our communities & violating our civil rights. We must be able to hold them accountable,” Lasher, who is running for Congress, wrote on X, adding that he is glad Hochul is taking up his legislation.

Multiple states, including California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, have implemented similar laws allowing residents to sue federal officials.

Hochul also proposed other immigration guardrails, including a measure to require judicial warrants before ICE can conduct raids in sensitive locations like schools, churches and hospitals.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration reversed a Biden administration policy barring immigration arrests in these sensitive locations.

The governor also announced that New York “will not allow the use of state resources to assist in federal immigration raids on people who have not committed serious crimes.”

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin alleged in a statement to The Hill that Hochul “continues to smear law enforcement who are simply enforcing the rule of law and are putting their lives on the line to remove violent criminals from New York.”

ICE HEAD SAYS AGENTS FACING ‘CONSTANT IMPEDIMENTS’ AFTER MIGRANT SEEN RAMMING CARS WHILE TRYING TO FLEE

McLaughlin also argued that there has been an increase in threats against federal law enforcement officers who she purports have shown “incredible restraint and professionalism in exhausting all options before any kind of non-lethal force is used.”

This debate has intensified after a recent incident in Minneapoliss, where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by an ICE agent during an enforcement action. Protests followed in multiple cities, and Democrats and local residents have condemned the shooting and urged charges against the agent.

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The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have defended the incident by arguing that it was a justified shooting.

Officials are also investigating a second ICE-involved shooting that happened in Minneapolis on Wednesday, as the mayor continues to demand that the agency leave the city and state.