NationalWatch

Senate Democrats are accusing President Donald Trump of trying to meddle in the upcoming election cycle, and Senate Republicans are calling them out. 

The topic of election integrity was again thrust back into the forefront by House Republicans last week, who demanded that voter ID legislation be included in a deal struck by Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to fund the government. 

While that ultimately never came to fruition, the talking point and legislative push has remained. 

THUNE REJECTS TRUMP’S CALL TO NATIONALIZE ELECTIONS, WARNS DEMS TRIED THE SAME

Trump has called on Republicans to nationalize elections throughout the week; the FBI conducted a raid on an election hub in Fulton County, Ga.; and a cohort from the Senate GOP are pushing for the SAVE America Act to get a shot in the upper chamber. 

Senate Democrats see the moves as laying the groundwork for election interference during the 2026 midterm election cycle — a point that they railed against Trump and Republicans for years. 

“I think as Trump gets more desperate, he’s looking at ways that he can rig the election anytime a Republican doesn’t win,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital. “He thinks it’s unfair, and so he wants to tilt the rules to make sure the Democrats don’t win.” 

“So yeah, I think we ultimately have to be really vigilant about this,” he continued. “The Constitution is crystal clear, the federal government can’t run state elections, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try.”

REPUBLICANS, TRUMP RUN INTO SENATE ROADBLOCK ON VOTER ID BILL

The accusation has made Senate Republicans balk, particularly after congressional Democrats raged against the GOP for questions of election integrity following the 2020 election and after Democrats pushed for their own, sweeping election reform packages under former President Joe Biden. 

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that Democrats’ charge was “ridiculous.” 

“Sounds like a conspiracy theory,” Schmitt said. 

“I think President Trump cares very deeply about the integrity of our elections,” he continued. “If you ask the American people, they support voter ID by overwhelming numbers. So look, they’ve got some outrage of the week every week.”

Trump’s comments to nationalize elections came first during an interview with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on his podcast, where the president said, “The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over, we should take over the voting in at least many — 15 places.’” 

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., shot back that a Democratic politician didn’t need to weigh in on the issue because Trump “said it with his own mouth.”

“You can take the president at his own words and believe what he says,” Slotkin told Fox News Digital. “And he’s had an obsession with this issue, certainly an obsession with Fulton County, since he lost the 2020 election, and he’s now weaponizing the federal government because of his obsession.”

SCHUMER NUKES GOP PUSH FOR ‘JIM CROW-ERA’ VOTER ID LAWS IN TRUMP-BACKED SHUTDOWN PACKAGE

But some Senate Republicans have pushed back on Trump’s desire to implement more federal control over elections. 

They argue that it’s a request that runs headfirst into the Constitution, which dictates that elections are run at the state and local levels with little impact from the federal government. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has also thrown cold water on the notion. 

“Distributed, decentralized elections held at state-level, in my view, are a protection against hacking and other things, so it’s a lot harder to hack 50 systems than it is one,” Thune said. “So, if that’s the issue, I’m a believer in keeping most of those administered — most issues, at least administered by the state. The issue of citizenship, when it comes to voting, would be an exception to that.”

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And while there is a push to pass the SAVE America Act, which would include voter ID, proof of citizenship to register to vote, and other reforms, it’s unlikely to survive in the Senate. 

That’s because of the 60-vote filibuster threshold and Senate Democrats’ near-unanimous disdain of the legislation, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called “Jim Crow 2.0.”

Still, Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., the three most vocal supporters of the bill, met with Trump to discuss a path forward on Thursday. 

“It is Democrats bending over backwards to prevent voter ID and proof of citizenship for American elections,” Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. “It is Democrats demanding that nobody ask questions about election security and irregularities. The projection is jaw-dropping.”

EXCLUSIVE: Federal transportation officials nabbed hundreds of truckers found not to be proficient in English, as otherwise routine stops at weigh stations led to thousands of violations amid a three-day national crackdown.

The latest iteration of Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) ran from Jan. 13–15 on trucking corridors in 26 states and the District of Columbia and removed nearly 2,000 unqualified truckers and other drivers from the road, USDOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) told Fox News Digital.

The news comes just days after a Kyrgyz national caused a deadly wreck after he failed to brake for stopped traffic on a state road in Jay County, Indiana, crossed the median and slammed into oncoming traffic.

Bekzhan Beishekeev illegally used the Mayorkas-era CBP-1 app to enter the U.S. in 2023 and was later issued a CDL by PennDOT – leading DHS officials to lambast Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who in turn blamed Secretary Kristi Noem’s federal database management.

DUFFY EXPOSES 54% OF NORTH CAROLINA TRUCK LICENSES ISSUED ILLEGALLY TO ‘DANGEROUS DRIVERS’

USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Digital that Operation SafeDRIVE saw the FMCSA partner with state law enforcement in a high-visibility enforcement and education effort, addressing unsafe drivers of all types on the nation’s highways.

Operation SafeDRIVE conducted more than 8,200 inspections that led to 704 drivers being taken off the road and out of service.

About 500 of those truckers were penalized for violating English proficiency standards.

CALIFORNIA FATHER SAYS NEWSOM IGNORED HIM AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER LEFT DAUGHTER UNABLE TO WALK

There were 1,231 total vehicles stripped of their roadworthiness and 56 people were arrested, including several for DUI/DWI and illegal presence in the United States.

“Operation SafeDRIVE shows what happens when we work together with our law enforcement partners to pull unqualified drivers and vehicles off American roads,” Duffy told Fox News Digital.

“We need a whole-of-government approach to ensure the Trump Administration’s strong standards of safety are in place to protect American families and reduce road accidents.”

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED IN DEATHS OF COLLEGE SOCCER PLAYER, GIRLFRIEND HAD PRIOR DWI DISMISSED: RECORDS

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs added that the operation’s main goal was public safety.

“When drivers ignore the rules, operate without proper qualifications, or get behind the wheel impaired, they put all of our lives at risk,” Barrs said.

“Operation SafeDRIVE demonstrates the value of focused enforcement and strong partnerships in removing these drivers and vehicles from our roads.”

GRIEVING FATHER SAYS DAUGHTER’S DEATH BY ILLEGAL ALIEN SHOWS COST OF SANCTUARY POLICIES

In other recent cases of illegally-present or English-nonproficient drivers causing deadly or dangerous situations, an Indian national was arrested after passing through a weigh station in Oklahoma and found to be illegally present in the country.

His commercial driver’s license, issued by New York State, listed him as “NO NAME.” His identity was later confirmed to be Anmol Anmol, and he had illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 and was handed over to federal authorities under Oklahoma’s 287(g) cooperation agreement with I.C.E.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Anmol is indicative of the kind of people issued licenses under Albany’s widescale noncooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

NOEM DIGS AT AGITATORS, SANCTUARY POLITICIANS IN TOUTING ICE MISSION CONTINUES 1 YEAR INTO TRUMP’S SECOND TERM

“New York is not only failing to check if applicants applying to drive 18-wheelers are U.S. citizens but even failing to obtain the full legal names of individuals they are issuing commercial drivers’ licenses to,” she said.

After an Uzbek national wanted in Tashkent on terrorism charges was nabbed in Oklahoma — also wielding a PennDOT driver’s license — a similar dynamic ensued between Harrisburg and Washington, with both Shapiro and Noem blaming each other for the problem.

Fox News Digital obtained a letter from Shapiro cabinet officials to Pennsylvania legislative leaders — as Democrats hold the House and Republicans the Senate — rejecting some of the claims about the situation.

The letter, written by PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll, a Luzerne Democrat, and Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia Republican, called out “misstatements and ill-informed speculation” from critics. Schmidt and Carroll said the administration’s policy is not to allow illegal immigrants to receive licenses.

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“All non-citizens who apply for driver’s licenses… must provide PennDOT with proof of identity and must have their legal presence in this country verified through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database,” they said, citing the DHS database flagged by Shapiro and PennDOT spokeswoman Alexis Campbell in prior communications with Fox News Digital.

A Noem spokesperson said at the time that the Uzbek illegal immigrant — Akhror Bozorov — was unwisely issued a work authorization by the Biden administration, but that did not mean Harrisburg should have let him drive a bobtail — with the spokesperson dubbing Shapiro a “sanctuary politician.”

The situation first came to prominence after Indian national Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike in St. Lucie County and a sedan slammed into the rig, killing all occupants.

Singh had been given a CDL by California.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was grilled by Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill in back-to-back hearings this week that repeatedly erupted into shouting. Bessent was on the Hill to discuss the nation’s economic health but faced sharp questioning that at times derailed the proceedings.

The confrontations reflected broader Democratic frustrations over President Donald Trump’s trade agenda and renewed pressure on the Federal Reserve, sharpening concerns about inflation, borrowing costs and the administration’s economic direction.

Against that backdrop, cost-of-living pressures dominated the hearings, with Democratic lawmakers demanding clearer answers as Bessent defended the administration’s policies.

Here are the top contentious moments from Bessent’s hearings.

‘Can you shut him up?’

On Wednesday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was among the first to clash with Bessent over Trump’s economic agenda, with the irate congresswoman asking at one point if someone could “shut him up.”

The exchange took place during Bessent’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Waters, the panel’s ranking member, pressed Bessent on the potential inflationary effects of Trump’s tariffs on U.S. consumers, repeatedly calling for a yes-or-no answer.

Waters: So I ask you, Secretary Bessent, will you be the voice of reason in this administration and urge President Trump to stop waging a war on American consumers, harming housing affordability, and putting the economy at risk? Yes or no. You don’t have to explain.

Bessent: Representative—

Waters: Will you be the voice of reason? Will you be the voice of reason?

Bessent: A study from Wharton University has shown—

Waters: Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Mr. Chair, will you let him know when I ask to reclaim my time—

Rep. French Hill, R-Ariz., House Financial Services Committee chairman: The time does belong to the gentlewoman from California.

Bessent: Ten to twenty million immigrants—

Waters: Can you shut him up?

Bessent: What about the housing stock for working Americans? And can you maintain some level of dignity?

Hill: The gentlewoman’s time has expired.

Waters: No, my time has not expired.

Hill: Your time has expired. The gentleman—

Waters: The gentleman took up my time. I think you should recognize that, Mr. Chair.

Hill: The gentlewoman’s time has expired.

‘Stop covering for the president’

Following the contentious exchange with Waters, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) asked Bessent to commit to pausing and fully scrutinizing any Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) licensing tied to World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto firm.

He cited concerns about conflicts of interest and foreign influence that he said should be reviewed and shared with Congress. Bessent cited the OCC’s independence and declined to give a direct yes-or-no answer.

Meeks : All I need to know is will you halt it and do a complete investigation and scrutiny of this licensing application? Yes or no? 

Bessent: No, congressman. The OCC is an independent entity and I would note congressman—

Meeks: All you have to say is yes or no.

Bessent: In 2006, you traveled to Venezuela—

Meeks: I take that as a no.

Bessent: On behalf of your donors—

Meeks: I take that as a no. You do not want to answer that question.

Bessent: 110 years—

Meeks: I take that as a no.

CAN YOU SHUT HIM UP?: WATERS AND TREASURY’S BESSENT CLASH OVER TRUMP’S ECONOMIC AGENDA

Bessent: For 7 billion—

Meeks: I’m asking you to do your responsibility as Secretary of the Treasury.

Hill: Mr. Meeks. Your time has expired.

Meeks: He went past your time, Mr. Chairman. He did not answer my question and he went past the time.

Hill: He had six seconds left to try to answer your question.

Meeks: And it was a yes or no.

Hill: Gentleman, the chair recognizes the gentleman—

Meeks: Stop covering for the president. Stop being his flunky.

Hill: Gentlemen, gentlemen—

Meeks: Stop covering for the president, work for the American people.

Bessent: To make a trip to Venezuela—

Meeks: Don’t be a cover-up for a mob.

Hill: Mr. Meeks. Mr. Bessent please—

‘You’re plundering US tax dollars’

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., sparred with Bessent during a contentious Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, pressing him on President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the alleged leak of his tax records. 

When Bessent said any payout would come from the U.S. Treasury, Gallego pushed back, arguing the cost would ultimately be borne by U.S. taxpayers.

Bessent tried to interject but Gallego continued, “I’m controlling the time here. You’re not obeying the law. You’re plundering U.S. taxpayer dollars.”

‘This one should be an easy one, Mr. Secretary’

In the same hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pressed Bessent to explain a joke Trump made about Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh.

Warren, the panel’s ranking member, asked Bessent about comments Trump made over the weekend, when he joked — or appeared to joke — about suing Warsh if he failed to lower the national interest rate. The question triggered a shouting match between the two.

WARREN AND BESSENT ERUPT INTO SHOUTING MATCH OVER TRUMP’S WARSH JOKE

Warren: This one should be an easy one. Mr. Secretary, can you commit right here and now that Trump’s Fed nominee, Kevin Warsh, will not be sued, will not be investigated by the Department of Justice, if he doesn’t cut interest rates exactly the way Donald Trump wants?

Bessent: That’s up to the president. Can you commit that you will— 

Warren: I’m sorry? You can’t say that he won’t be sued if he doesn’t drop interest rates?

Bessent: Can you commit that you will not hold up— 

Warren: And he won’t be criminally investigated? 

Bessent: The president also made a joke about you — one I won’t repeat.

Warren: That was supposed to be a softball. That was the easy one. If this was a joke, why not just say so?

Bessent: It was a joke, and he made a joke about you, too, Senator Warren. It got a lot of laughs, it got a lot of laughs. I don’t know if you want to respond to that. 

Warren: I do want to respond, I think the American people are laughing, they are the ones that are struggling.

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Last week, Trump nominated Warsh to lead the world’s most powerful central bank. If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would assume one of the most powerful positions in U.S. economic policymaking, with direct influence over interest rate decisions and the central bank’s battle against inflation. 

Kiera McDonald and Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a jab at President Donald Trump during a speech on Wednesday, saying that he “crowned himself king.”

During her remarks at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s annual congressional dinner, Pelosi claimed that the nation “is in a crisis of conscience.”

She said the country’s president “has crowned himself king,” the nation’s Congress has “abolished itself” and the U.S. Supreme Court “has gone rogue.”

NANCY PELOSI FACES SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH OVER BEHAVIOR AT BOB WEIR TRIBUTE EVENT

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

Pelosi, a California Democrat, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since mid-1987.

PELOSI SAYS TRUMP’S ‘MENTAL INCAPACITY’ WAS ON DISPLAY DURING ADDRESS TO NATION

She announced in November that she would not seek re-election.

Trump reacted to that news last year by lambasting the congresswoman.

DON LEMON SAYS NANCY PELOSI TOLD HIM HE’D BE ‘FACE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT’ AFTER ARREST

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“Nancy Pelosi, the old and broken political hack who Impeached me twice and lost, is finally calling it ‘quits.’ She illegally made a fortune in the Stock Market, ripped off the American Public, and was a disaster for America. I’m glad to see the stench of Nancy Pelosi go!!!” the president said in a November Truth Social post.

FIRST ON FOX: The Republican National Committee is upping its social media presence and following President Donald Trump’s lead by officially launching a TikTok account, marking a strategic shift for the party as it continues to look to connect with younger voters.

The RNC’s plan to make an impact on the digital front lines involves the official launch of @Republicans on TikTok, which is designed to engage a critical demographic, voters under 30 who may not follow traditional political news but rely heavily on social media for information.

The move comes at the same time polling from Pew Research shows that 63% of Americans aged 18-29 use TikTok. The platform has become an essential battleground for reaching the next generation of voters.

Trump has credited TikTok with being a key part of his election victory in 2024.

TIKTOK AFTER THE US SALE: WHAT CHANGED AND HOW TO USE IT SAFELY

“I wasn’t a fan of TikTok, and then I got to use it,” Trump said last fall. “And I became a fan, and it helped me win the election in a landslide.”

The data shows that TikTok was a valuable tool for Trump and his administration. Reuters reported he amassed roughly 3 million followers in just 24 hours after joining the platform and quickly began drawing tens of millions of views. 

In 2025, the White House joined TikTok and quickly gained traction, racking up 5 million followers and 80 million-plus likes as of early January. In addition to launching its own account, the RNC is encouraging Republican candidates across the country to follow its lead and join the platform to engage with voters and level the playing field in a space where Democrats have historically dominated. 

11 DEMOCRATS RUNNING TO KEEP BLUE-LEANING SEAT IN PARTY HANDS AS GOP HOUSE MAJORITY ON THE BRINK

“President Trump proved how powerful TikTok can be and took decisive action to secure this platform for American users,” RNC Chair Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital. 

“Our new account will deliver America First content directly to younger voters who get their news online, and we’re encouraging Republican candidates nationwide to do the same now that the platform is safe.”

Earlier this year, TikTok announced it reached a historic deal to launch a majority American-owned joint venture, a move guided by Trump and aimed at averting a potential U.S. ban on the popular social media app and hoping to alleviate concerns about China’s ability to influence Americans on the app.

“I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Gains by Trump and Republicans in courting younger voters helped the GOP win back the White House and the Senate and hold their House majority in last year’s elections.

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Republicans will be hoping to repeat that success in the upcoming midterms as they attempt to hold onto a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives and a three-seat majority in the Senate despite historical trends suggesting Democrats have the advantage.

“I think the President of the United States is our secret weapon. … He’s laser focused,” Gruters said in a national digital exclusive sit-down interview with Fox News last month.

Pointing to Trump’s unprecedented agenda during his first year back in the White House, Gruters argued, “I think it’s going to pay huge dividends across the board, whether you’re running for governor, Senate, House or whether you’re running for a local seat.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

A far-left candidate backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, is close to pulling off an upset victory with votes still being counted in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.

Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, has a slight lead – 486 votes out of more than 61,000 counted – over former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November’s gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

HOUSE GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO JUST ONE VOTE AS JOHNSON SWEARS IN NEW HOUSE DEMOCRAT

But Malinowski, an assistant Secretary of State in former President Barack Obama’s administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.

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

The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives.

Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race.

Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.

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

The GOP may land a reinforcement in the House before the general election for the open seat in New Jersey is held.

JOHNSON WARNS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO ‘STAY HEALTHY’ AS GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO THE EDGE

That’s because a special election is scheduled on March 10 in Georgia’s solidly red 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally in early January stepped away from Congress a year before her term ended.

A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in the Georgia showdown.

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

WHO TRUJMP IS BACKING IN RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE

Trump on Wednesday endorsed Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller, a Republican, in the race.

Greene won re-election in 2024 to the seat by nearly 30 points and Trump carried the district, which is located in northwest Georgia, by 37 points.

There’s one more vacant seat in Congress, in California’s 1st Congressional District, following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa.

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A primary in the race to fill LaMalfa’s seat will be held on June 2, which is primary day in California. And the special general election will be held on Aug. 4.

The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that some cartel drug traffickers operating in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility have halted narcotics activity following recent U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean.

“WINNING: Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the @SOUTHCOM AOR have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean,” Hegsth wrote in a post on X.

Hegseth credited President Donald Trump with directing the military actions, calling the effort a lifesaving deterrent.

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

“This is deterrence through strength. @POTUS is SAVING American lives,” he wrote.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised the military action, writing on X, “Well done @SecWar and to all under your command. We must continue to verify and monitor. We can’t trust drug cartels.”

PENTAGON WATCHDOG WARNS DRONE INCURSIONS REQUIRE ‘IMMEDIATE ATTENTION’ AT US MILITARY BASES

The Trump administration has been pursuing a policy of conducting deadly attacks against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”

SOUTHCOM announced a strike that killed two on Thursday.

US FORCES KILL TWO SUSPECTED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE OPERATION

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“On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” Southern Command noted in a post on X.

Editor’s note: This story includes graphic images of the remains of an animal that some readers may find disturbing.

EXCLUSIVE: The University of Minnesota is facing a proposed penalty of over $14,000 after it was discovered that a green energy initiative funded by a grant from the Obama administration was responsible for the gruesome death of an American bald eagle.

The incident occurred at the University of Minnesota’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Field Station in Dakota County, Minnesota.

Photos obtained by Fox News Digital show the moment a University of Minnesota wind turbine struck the bald eagle, dismembering it into three pieces and leaving a bloodied carcass on the floor below.

A violation notice says the university violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by killing the eagles without what is called an “incidental take permit.” As such, the university is facing a proposed civil penalty of $14,536 for illegally killing what one Department of the Interior official called a “national treasure.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER CCP-LINKED FAKE RESEARCH THREATENING US TAXPAYER-FUNDED SCIENCE

According to a Department of the Interior violation notice reviewed by Fox News Digital, the university was aware that bird collisions were a danger and was in the process of testing its collision detection sensors when the incident occurred.

The eagle’s remains were discovered in pieces. The lower torso and tail were found by technicians first, while the head and wings were not found until over a month later.  

Following the incident, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent the university a letter, urging the institution to reassess the turbine’s danger to eagles and to consider applying for a long-term permit for incidental take of eagles. However, the January notice of violation issued by the DOI does not indicate that the university has since obtained any such permit.

SNOWSTORM COULD’VE SPARKED GRID CATASTROPHE IF BIDEN CLIMATE POLICIES WEREN’T REVERSED: ENERGY DEPT

The Minnesota turbine is a part of the university’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium, a wind-energy research collaboration. The construction of the turbine was funded by a $7.9 million grant from the Obama Department of Energy awarded in 2010, according to local outlet the Minnesota Daily.

One of former President Barack Obama’s first major legislative achievements was the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which according to a report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, appropriated an “unprecedented $90 billion to ‘lay the foundation for a clean energy economy of the future,’ of which the U.S. Department of Energy received $35.2 billion.”

The Minnesota incident is not the only such killing to have occurred in recent years.

In November, Fox News Digital reported on FWS proposing hefty fines on renewable energy company Ørsted Onshore North America for two bald eagle kills by wind turbines in Nebraska and Illinois. In January, FWS issued notice of finalized fines of a total of $32,340 for the two eagles killed by Ørsted turbines.

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSING ALL OFF SHORE WIND PROJECT CONSTRUCTION DUE TO NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

U.S. Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum has previously criticized solar and wind projects, saying they are “destabilizing our grid and driving up prices.” 

“When you think about the green new scam, it was pro-China, and it’s anti-American, and it’s also unaffordable and unreliable,” Burgum said on Jesse Watters Primetime in June.

Matthew Middleton, a spokesperson for DOI, commented on the killings, telling Fox News Digital that under President Donald Trump and Secretary Doug Burgum, the department “is enforcing the law to protect these iconic birds and demand accountability from an industry that has jeopardized these protected species.”

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“America’s bald eagles are a national treasure, not collateral damage for costly wind experiments,” said Middleton, adding, “Wind companies will no longer get a free pass as this administration safeguards bald eagles and advances energy policies that prioritize affordability and strengthen America’s economy.”

A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota confirmed to Fox News Digital that the university had received DOI’s notice and said it is “currently under review.”

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

House GOP leaders are forging ahead on legislation aimed at imposing new federal guardrails to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in national elections.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed to Fox News Digital that the chamber would vote on the SAVE America Act introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, next week.

It comes after conservatives threatened to extend the partial government shutdown earlier this week if the legislation was not included in Congress’ bipartisan funding bills. But those lawmakers backed off their demands after getting assurances from the White House that the Senate would give the bill serious consideration.

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH TO DEPORT, DENATURALIZE FRAUDSTERS AMID MINNESOTA SCANDAL

The House’s vote next week hikes the growing pressure on the Senate to take up the bill, where it will face long odds of passing. Its backers are hoping a little-known maneuver called a “standing filibuster” will be key to breaking through Democratic opposition, however. 

“These are common-sense measures that protect American voters,” Scalise explained to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“Only Democrats in Congress could oppose these basic requirements that prevent voter fraud, and that’s because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections. Why else would they support open borders, oppose deporting illegal aliens, and oppose election security like picture ID?”

The SAVE America Act is an updated version of Roy’s Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

“It’s all the same concept, right? I mean, you want citizenship, and then you want to guarantee that the person voting is the person voting. Photo ID is, I think, a critically important element to that, and we want to require that for federal elections,” Roy told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

The bill is expected to easily pass the House — the original SAVE Act got support from all Republicans and four Democrats — but its survival in the Senate is more complicated.

Most legislation needs 60 votes to break through a filibuster, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to vote with Republicans to advance the bill. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., led a small coalition of conservatives threatening to extend the most recent government shutdown if the SAVE America Act was not attached to the funding bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday.

Luna told reporters she spoke with the White House on Monday night where she got assurances that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is looking at using a maneuver called a “standing filibuster” to ensure a vote on the bill.

It would restore antiquated filibuster rules in the Senate that require opponents of a bill to be physically present in the chamber and speaking continuously to delay its consideration. 

The move would also eliminate the need for 60 votes to break a filibuster, which currently does not require lawmakers to be present in the chamber until a vote — rather, it would end when opponents were done speaking. Each senator can give a maximum of two speeches, though without any time constraints.

The downside of such a move is that it would grind Senate proceedings to a halt until the filibuster was over. But Roy argued that any such delay in the upper chamber’s duties would fall squarely on Democrats’ shoulders.

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“What we’re trying to say is that for something as important as sovereignty in our elections, we should force that question,” Roy said. “If Democrats want … a long, drawn-out, talking filibuster, then let them explain that to the American people.”

Scalise told Fox News Digital, “Once House Republicans pass this bill — and we will — I urge the Senate to quickly put it on the floor so we can send it to President Trump’s desk. The American people are demanding action — Congress must answer their call and pass this critical legislation.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Arctic blast that snowed in much of the East exposed not only the need for road salt but the possibility that untold taxpayer dollars were wasted on risky electric bus subsidy programs under the Biden administration, according to critics of those initiatives.

That’s the claim from Power the Future, a top energy advocacy and watchdog group that also compared the disbursement of more than $8 billion over at least two related federal subsidy programs to oversight failures by the Minnesota government involving its Medicaid and childcare entitlement crises recently exposed.

E-buses have been purchased by transit agencies in part through a “Low-No” emissions grant program mainly through the Federal Transit Administration that received a $1.6 billion infusion during the Biden years.

DEM-APPOINTED EDUCATION OFFICIALS FACE NEW SCRUTINY AS FEEDING OUR FUTURE SCANDAL WIDENS, TRUMP TARGETS FRAUD

“Given the scale of this investment, there must be an examination into whether taxpayers are receiving the reliable, deployable transit assets capable of serving the communities for which they were funded,” Power the Future (PTF) President Daniel Turner said.

Similarly, PTF highlighted a 2024 EPA Inspector General audit that found the agency failed to meaningfully track the deployment of electric school buses under a 2022 rebate program through which $836 million was handed out by federal officials.

Only about 7% of participating school districts had completed the processes needed to put the buses into service, such as installing charging infrastructure.

“When hundreds of millions of dollars are awarded without confirmation that buses are delivered, operable or in service, the absence of oversight echoes the failures that are being highlighted in Minnesota,” PTF wrote.

PTF said the Biden administration’s “broader record” on “green infrastructure” spending is further exposed by these and other disbursements and requires Zeldin’s immediate attention.I

It cited an additional $7.5 billion spent on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, under which fewer than 400 charging ports were built as of late.

“When this failure is viewed alongside electric buses that cannot operate in cold weather, school buses that sit idle and grants producing little to no functional infrastructure, a troubling pattern emerges,” PTF said.

“Taken together, these outcomes raise the same red flags now familiar from the Minnesota daycare fraud scandal: large federal payouts with minimal verification, poor oversight and taxpayers left holding the bill.”

An EPA Inspector General statement from October regarding the school bus program said “three material weaknesses so significant that they could lead to material misstatements in the Agency’s financial statements” were found.

“The EPA did not monitor bus deployment status and recipient use of over $836 million of 2022 Clean School Bus, or CSB, Program rebates, despite the Agency stating it would do so,” another OIG report from 2024 said.

“At a minimum, these programs warrant immediate scrutiny to determine whether incompetence alone explains the results or whether fraud and misrepresentation are also at play,” PTF wrote.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES $20B GREEN GRANTS ENRICHED BIDEN ALLIES

As a test case, Turner pointed to buses purchased by Vermont’s Green Mountain Transit, which had previously procured five electric buses with the help of federal funds.

During the recent storm, Turner said, e-buses have a tougher time charging and operating in below-freezing temperatures, as evidenced by cases in New York and New England. This is a known limitation of battery performance in cold weather.

School districts in Western New York have had issues piloting the buses in the cold, and Turner told Fox News Digital the grants do not take into account the needs of schoolchildren over prioritizing green politics.

PTF also cited a case in Maine, where a school superintendent said her district received four “bad buses” from a now-bankrupt Canadian EV firm. One e-bus’s brakes failed recently and crashed into a snowbank, according to WGME.

“Costing nearly $8 million, more than 95 percent of the funding for these five buses came from American taxpayers [and] requires serious questions be asked,” PTF wrote to Zeldin.

“These buses were purchased to operate in Vermont’s climate, yet reports indicate they cannot be reliably charged in temperatures below 41 degrees. With the average winter temperature in Burlington hovering in the mid 20s, the vehicles, which cost more than $1.5 million apiece, are unusable under predictable winter conditions.”

Green Mountain Transit General Manager Clayton Clark told Fox News Digital that his five e-buses “being inoperable have nothing to do with the storm. The batteries were recalled by the manufacturer,” adding local media erroneously reported the snow had been the main factor.

He also said that media reports had incorrectly stated the 41-degree issue always existed, quipping, “We never would have purchased buses with that [requirement] in Vermont” and that the threshold originated from new recall information from the manufacturer.

“We know that the manufacturer will be 18–24 months [until we get] new batteries. We look at this as the buses were working A-OK before this situation. Considering the 12-year life cycle to be out for a few months is not indicative of the program being a failure. This is no different than a safety recall that we would get for a diesel bus.

“Folks across the political spectrum (are) looking to make hay, [but we] don’t look at it as a failure of the program.”

Asked about Clark’s comments, Turner said that cold-weather agencies should have known they were using experimental technology not as proven as internal-combustion buses.

“At no point does anyone who has a gas-powered bus have to play these games, introducing new sets of variables. We are still sacrificing the children for a pretend cause.”

Turner told Fox News Digital that while “these [green] games are ongoing, there are schoolchildren who cannot get to class because they are fixing problems that they themselves created.”

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

EPA spokesman Michael Bastasch told Fox News Digital the EPA is actively “revamping the Clean School Bus Program in accordance with President Trump’s executive order: Unleashing American Energy to ensure hard-earned American tax dollars are being put to the best use possible and not frivolously wasted as was often the case under the previous administration.”

“Under Administrator Zeldin’s leadership, EPA is committed to being exceptional stewards of taxpayer dollars and delivering measured results for American families, while still fulfilling Congressional intent,” Bastasch said, adding that Zeldin has already canceled $30 billion in wasteful grants and contracts.

President Donald Trump addressed a recent controversy over Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard’s presence at an FBI search of the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia.

“She took a lot of heat two days ag,o because she went in at Pam’s insistence. She went in, and she looked at votes … because Pam wanted her to do it,” Trump said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi, while speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

The president went on to slam critics who said that Gabbard’s presence during the FBI search was inappropriate and outside of her job description.

GEORGIA’S FULTON COUNTY FILES MOTION SEEKING RETURN OF 2020 ELECTION MATERIALS SEIZED BY FBI

Trump had previously spoken about the controversy at the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s movie “MELANIA” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He defended Gabbard and said she was “working very hard on trying to keep the election safe.”

In a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn, which was obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, Gabbard said that Trump had “specifically directed” her to be present at the raid. The letter was written in response to one that Warner and Himes sent in late January, in which they requested Gabbard brief them on why she was present at the FBI search.

KASH PATEL CONFIRMS FBI HAD ‘PROBABLE CAUSE’ FOR FULTON COUNTY ELECTION HUB RAID

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

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

Additionally, Gabbard said in the letter that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) Office of General Counsel found that her actions had been “well within my statutory authority.”

Gabbard announced in April 2025 that the ODNI was investigating electronic voting systems.

On Jan. 28, the FBI searched Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City, near Atlanta, for records connected to the 2020 election. The county’s officials have since filed a motion seeking the return of the 2020 ballots and other documents seized during the search.

The motion, which remains under seal, asks a federal court to compel the return of approximately 656 boxes of original 2020 election materials. 

A warrant cover sheet provided to the county includes a list of items that the agents were seeking related to the 2020 general election: all ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners that tally the votes, electronic ballot images created when the ballots were counted and then recounted, and all voter rolls.

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Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, was not conducted fairly.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Thursday called for U.S. nuclear experts to begin work on what he described as a “new, improved, and modernized Treaty,” arguing that the United States should move away from extending the existing New START nuclear arms agreement.

Trump made the remarks in a post on Truth Social as the administration weighs the future of U.S. nuclear arms control policy and whether it will seek to extend or replace New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow.

“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump wrote.

“The president wants to have our nuclear experts work on a new, improved and modernized treaty that can last long into the future,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.  “And that’s what the United States will continue to discuss with the Russians.”

TRUMP VOWS TO ‘KNOCK THE HELL OUT OF’ IRAN IF NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS REBUILT AGAIN AFTER HIGH-STAKES MEETING

Trump also made broader claims in his post about his role in preventing nuclear conflict, writing that he stopped “Nuclear Wars from breaking out across the World between Pakistan and India, Iran and Israel, and Russia and Ukraine.”

A White House official told Fox News that the Trump administration is still weighing next steps on nuclear arms control and that no final decision has been announced.

“The President will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline,” the official said.

TRUMP STUNS WITH CALL TO RESUME NUCLEAR TESTS — WHY NOW, AND WHAT IT COULD MEAN

The official added that Trump “has spoken repeatedly of addressing the threat nuclear weapons pose to the world and indicated that he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in arms control talks.”

Axios reported Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials have been discussing whether both sides could continue to observe the terms of New START after its expiration, citing multiple sources familiar with the talks. The outlet reported that no formal extension has been approved and that any arrangement would not be legally binding.

In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote that the U.S. should pursue a new agreement rather than extend New START.

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According to the Associated Press, New START’s expiration leaves no caps on the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Trump has made clear that future arms control efforts must include China, telling reporters that “in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it’s impossible to do something that doesn’t include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile.”

The Trump administration is shifting its approach to cracking down on illegal immigration in Minneapolis after federal agents’ actions drew scrutiny and sparked protests, sources told Fox News.

Minneapolis has become a flash point for clashes between federal immigration enforcement agents and agitators, particularly after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Local leaders slammed the Trump administration’s actions in Minneapolis, with Mayor Jacob Frey calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “get the f— out” of his city after Good was fatally shot.

Amid the unrest, President Donald Trump moved to change his administration’s approach and sent border czar Tom Homan to manage the situation. 

A White House official appeared to dismiss rumors of tension between Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Homan, saying that the two were working together to carry out the president’s agenda.

HOMAN ANNOUNCES DRAWDOWN OF FEDERAL PRESENCE IN MINNESOTA, HAILS ‘UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION’ FROM LOCAL POLICE

“Thanks to Tom Homan’s tireless work, an unprecedented number of counties in Minnesota have agreed to coordinate with ICE to transfer custody of criminal aliens upon their release. This is one of the conditions President Trump set for a drawdown,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

“These commitments have been made by local officials and will continue to be monitored for compliance,” 

Not all of Homan’s changes have been kept behind closed doors. The border czar announced the immediate drawdown of 700 personnel from Minnesota, effective Wednesday, though 2,000 officers will remain. He cited improved cooperation with jails and said a complete drawdown was the goal, but it was “contingent upon the end of illegal and threatening activities against ICE.”

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR TO VISIT DC TO PUSH FOR END OF ‘UNLAWFUL ICE OPERATIONS’ AFTER TRUMP’S BLUNT WARNING

Homan has reportedly changed how Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) operates and interacts with suspected illegal immigrants. The border czar has reportedly increased the threshold for making arrests and shifted entirely to targeted operations as opposed to rover patrols, which were done under Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, according to sources. 

Under Homan’s leadership, CBP agents have been instructed not to approach anyone they suspect to be in the country illegally unless they are a target, according to sources. CBP agents will instead be partnered with ICE officers to make targeted arrests, sources said. Additionally, sources told Fox News that Homan gave agents a warning that there would be consequences for stepping out of line.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that while officers on the ground in Minnesota will be making targeted arrests, they will also “enforce federal immigration law” if, during an operation, they “come across additional illegal aliens.”

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Fox News has been told there are thousands of targets in Minnesota and that targets are being identified through public records, which are run through a DHS database that provides criminal history, immigration history, invalid immigration documents and information on whether they have failed to appear for any immigration court hearings. 

Sources say that fingerprints have been used to identify targets because anyone who entered the country illegally under the Biden administration and encountered CBP was fingerprinted. If an illegal immigrant is arrested by a local police department, DHS gets an alert on where they were fingerprinted and what the arrest was for.

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

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is detailing cases in which anti-ICE agitators actively helped criminal illegal immigrants evade federal arrest, including suspects accused of child rape, domestic abuse and gang-related violence.

The cases point to a growing pattern of organized interference with federal immigration enforcement during recent ICE operations. 

“These are the monsters that agitators and sanctuary politicians are protecting,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “We remind the public that obstructing law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime.”

FROM PROTEST TO FELONY: THE LINES MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS MAY BE CROSSING 

According to DHS, members of the anti-ICE Colorado Rapid Response Network alerted Jose Reyes Leon-Deras, a convicted child rapist, of ICE’s presence on June 20, 2025. A Facebook post by the anti-ICE group accused by DHS of helping with Leon-Deras’ evasion on June 20, indicates members affiliated with the anti-ICE group used a bullhorn that day to alert potential targets of ICE. 

The post suggested that police left without serving any warrants, while noting that agents returned in the days that followed. 

According to DHS, federal agents finally arrested Leon-Deras June 27, and he was issued a final order of removal Oct. 30 during the Trump administration’s ongoing operations in Colorado.

In a separate situation in Minneapolis, an apartment manager allegedly prevented federal immigration agents from entering a building where a criminal foreign national from Somalia, convicted of violent sex crimes and previously arrested for a high-level assault, was located. 

DHS accused the apartment manager of actively protecting a sex offender, Mahad Abdulkadir Yusuf, who had a conviction for criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. He allegedly forcibly compelled his victim to perform sex acts on him on multiple occasions. 

According to DHS, Yusuf was also arrested in 2016 for first-degree assault and had an active warrant out for obstructing police.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: CONVICTED MURDERERS, CHILD SEX ABUSERS AMONG ILLEGAL ALIENS NABBED BY ICE ACROSS US 

Yusuf originally entered the United States in 1996 and was a lawful permanent resident, but his crimes made him eligible for removal, and ICE arrested him Dec. 31. 

Another child sex offender, Jozias Natanael Carmona-Pena, was allegedly assisted by not only agitators but sanctuary city leaders in Minneapolis, according to DHS. 

Carmona-Pena had pending charges for lewd and lascivious acts with a child, but he was released onto the streets of Minneapolis after local law enforcement allegedly denied ICE’s detainer request that Carmona-Pena be held until they could pick him up for immigration violations, according to the Trump administration. 

Carmona-Pena was issued a final order of removal in 2023 but remained in the country.

When federal officials sought to arrest Carmona-Pena Dec. 10, agitators allegedly swarmed immigration officials and obstructed their attempts to arrest the illegal alien accused of child sex crimes, including by ramming one of their cars into an ICE vehicle. 

Local police subsequently responded and provided assistance, but, according to DHS, the actions allowed Carmona-Pena to avoid arrest. He was eventually caught later that same month on Dec. 27 and is now in custody pending his removal.    

In another case from Milwaukee, a federal judge, Hannah Dugan, was convicted of felony obstruction for directing a criminal illegal alien, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, charged with domestic abuse, out a backdoor inside her courthouse to avoid ICE agents. 

According to DHS, Flores-Ruiz had other violent criminal charges on his record, from strangulation, suffocation and battery to domestic abuse, when he was eventually arrested following the April evasion incident with Dugan. 

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Federal immigration officials in Illinois who were chasing down an alleged Venezuelan gang member in Illinois were obstructed by agitators as well, according to DHS.

DHS said when the suspect tried to barricade himself inside an apartment — after ramming his car into police — bystanders gathered around the officers and began throwing rocks and bottles at them.

According to DHS, local police would not assist. After several hours of negotiation, ICE officials took Acosta into custody. 

“As our law enforcement are putting their lives on the line to arrest heinous criminals, including child rapists, sex offenders, gang members and other violent offenders, our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them,” McLaughlin said Thursday. 

“President Trump and Secretary Noem have been very clear. We will  not let agitators slow us down from removing criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods. If you obstruct or assault law enforcement, you will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Thursday it will relax federal regulations regulating when companies may label products as free of artificial coloring.

The FDA said businesses can now label products as having “no artificial colors” if the coloring is natural or plant-based.

“Companies will now have flexibility to claim products contain ‘no artificial colors’ when the products do not contain petroleum-based colors,” the FDA said. “In the past, companies were generally only able to make such claims when their products had no added color whatsoever — whether derived from natural sources or otherwise.” 

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the policy shift, saying it will ease the transition for companies while advancing efforts to make food safer.

FDA BANS RED FOOD DYE DUE TO POTENTIAL CANCER RISK

“This is real progress,” RFK Jr. said in a statement. “We are making it easier for companies to move away from petroleum-based synthetic colors and adopt safer, naturally derived alternatives. This momentum advances our broader effort to help Americans eat real food and Make America Healthy Again.”

The agency also expanded its list of approved naturally-sourced food colorings, adding beetroot red and broadening the approved use of spirulina extract.

The new additions bring the total number of food color options approved under the current administration to six, the FDA said. 

FDA BANS ARTIFICIAL RED DYE: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONSUMERS

Health officials said the changes were made in recognition that coloring derived from natural sources should not be classified as artificial.

“We acknowledge that calling colors derived from natural sources ‘artificial’ might be confusing for consumers and a hindrance for companies to explore alternative food coloring options,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement. 

“We’re taking away that hindrance and making it easier for companies to use these colors in the foods our families eat every day.”

As part of the Trump administration’s initiative to Make America Healthy Again, the HHS and the FDA in April 2025 began a series of actions to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic colors from the nation’s food supply.

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In January 2025, health officials banned red food dye known as Red 3, or erythrosine, citing potential cancer risks.

Food manufacturers were given until January 2027 to remove it from their products, while drug manufacturers will have until January 2028 to do the same.  

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu accused federal immigration agents of conducting “unconstitutional” operations in the city and ordered the public release of surveillance and body camera footage tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions. She said the move is aimed at holding federal agents accountable for alleged acts of violence.

Wu and other Massachusetts officials held a joint news conference Thursday in the blue city, slamming the Trump administration’s federal immigration enforcement and pointing specifically to ICE activity in various communities.

“They are trying to do with federal agents what they have failed to do with canceled grants, sham investigations and the National Guard,” Wu said. “If we experience the kind of unlawful and unconstitutional invasion we’ve all seen in other parts of the country, then Boston will see the [Trump] administration in court again.” 

The Democrat mayor said she signed an executive order Thursday morning aimed at holding federal officials accountable, directing city departments to protect residents and respond to any violence, property damage or criminal conduct related to immigration enforcement.

BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE

Wu said the order makes clear that city first responders will prioritize de-escalation and public safety during federal immigration operations.

“While the federal government hides behind masks, we will be transparent,” she said. “This order directs city departments to release surveillance and body-worn camera footage of violence or property damage by federal agents, in accordance with state law. 

“This order also doubles down on our dedication to use city resources to keep our residents safe.”

Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey introduced legislation aimed at limiting ICE activity in sensitive locations, including courthouses, schools, child care programs, hospitals and churches.

PORTLAND MAYOR DEMANDS ICE LEAVE CITY AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS USE TEAR GAS ON PROTESTERS ‘SICKENING DECISIONS’

The proposal would also bar other states from deploying National Guard troops in Massachusetts without the governor’s approval and allow parents to arrange guardianship in advance for their children if they are detained or deported.

Like a recent executive order issued by Healey, Wu’s proposal would bar federal immigration agents from using city buildings, parking lots and parks for enforcement operations and makes clear that schools, libraries, community centers and senior centers are intended for learning, gathering and public services.

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

Wu also said the order directs the city to investigate any crimes committed in Boston, including those involving federal agents, and to make referrals to prosecutors when appropriate.

She said it also instructs city officials to pursue every available legal option to challenge what she described as coercive federal actions.

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“In Boston, as it should across America, the rule of law applies to everyone,” she said.

The order adds Boston to a growing list of blue cities openly challenging the Trump administration’s immigration policies, escalating a national fight over enforcement tactics, transparency and the reach of federal power.

President Donald Trump joked about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s religious devotion during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, recounting how Johnson asks to pray before meals, even during lunch, as Trump described it.

The 74th annual bipartisan event was held in Washington and attended by lawmakers, faith leaders and dignitaries.

“Did you know that, Mr. Speaker, you know, Mike Johnson’s a very religious person, that he does not hide it?” Trump said. “He’ll say to me sometimes at lunch, ‘Sir, may we pray?’ I say, ‘Excuse me, we’re having lunch in the Oval.’ It’s okay with me. But, he’s a very religious person and he is popular, and he’s doing an unbelievable job.”

Trump followed the joke with praise for Johnson, saying, “I think God is watching over you. God is watching over him.”

EL SALVADOR’S BUKELE SAYS VIOLENT GANG BANGERS ARE LITERAL SATAN WORSHIPPERS IN SHARP IMMIGRATION WARNING

“I don’t know about me,” Trump added, before continuing: “So I hang around with him because I feel I’m protected a little bit.”

The comments came as Trump used the annual gathering, according to his remarks, to emphasize what he described as a renewed embrace of religion in public life.

“In 2025, more copies of the Holy Bible were sold in the United States than at any time in the last 100 years,” Trump said. He also claimed that, in the last year, “young Americans attended church at nearly twice the rate as they did four years ago.”

TRUMP GETS IT: PRAYER ISN’T THE PROBLEM. SILENCING IT IS

Trump also announced plans for a national prayer gathering on the National Mall later this year.

“I’m pleased to announce that on May 17th, 2026, that we’re inviting Americans from all across the country to come together on our National Mall, to pray, to give thanks, and to return,” Trump said. “We’re going to rededicate America as one nation under God.”

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and evangelical Christian, has frequently spoken publicly about the role of faith in his personal life and leadership since becoming speaker.

“Today, President Trump will unite our country through the power of prayer at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital leading up to the event.

“President Trump has made unprecedented strides to protect our God-given rights and has delivered on his promise to reverse Joe Biden’s divisive policies that weaponized the federal government against men and women of faith. President Trump has secured major victories for religious freedom – from defending innocent life to restoring biological truth and protecting parents’ fundamental rights.”

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The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is urging U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to launch an investigation into Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson over her attendance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday amid anti-ICE rhetoric from celebrities and artists at the event. 

Jackson was in attendance at this year’s politically-charged event because of her nomination for narrating the audiobook version of her memoir, “Lovely One.” 

However, critics said Jackson clapped as various speakers criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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

“While it is by no means unheard of or unusual for a Supreme Court justice to attend a public function, very rarely—if ever—have justices of our nation’s highest Court been present at an event at which attendees have amplified such far-left rhetoric,” Blackburn wrote in a letter to Roberts. 

Blackburn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into whether Jackson’s actions violate the high court’s Code of Conduct and would require her to recuse herself from certain cases. 

“To that end, in the interest of a fair-minded, impartial, and independent federal judiciary, I urge you to initiate an investigation into Justice Jackson’s attendance at this event and if her participation in any way would require recusal from matters that will come before the Court,” her letter states. 

BARRETT SAYS JUSTICES ‘WEAR BLACK, NOT RED OR BLUE’ IN RESPONSE TO PARTISAN CRITICS IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

Attendees at the awards were seen wearing “ICE Out” lapel pins, and some winners spewed anti-ICE rhetoric such as “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “F— ICE.”

Jackson’s appearance at the event raises questions considering the court is slated to take on cases revolving around the Trump administration, including birthright citizenship and immigration. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Blackburn’s office and the Supreme Court. 

In her letter, Blackburn noted that Democrats and the news media have smeared Republican-appointed justices to the court as “corrupt” and “partisan.”

She recalled how Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI., wrote a letter to Roberts urging him to ensure that conservative Justice Samuel Alito would recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot because his wife put up a Revolutionary War-era flag at their home.

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“Unlike these meritless claims against Justice Alito and Justice Thomas, there are serious questions regarding Justice Jackson’s participation in such a brazenly political, anti-law enforcement event and her ability to remain an impartial member of the Supreme Court,” Blackburn wrote. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said murders in major U.S. cities plunged to their lowest level since at least 1900 as federal arrests, gang takedowns and deportations surged under President Donald Trump’s promise to “restore law and order.”

Speaking to reporters at Thursday’s briefing, Leavitt said newly released data shows Trump is “delivering overwhelmingly on his promise.”

“A study from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) shows that the murder rate across America’s largest cities plummeted in 2025 to its lowest level since at least 1900,” she said. “Let me repeat to put this in perspective, this marks the largest single-year drop in murders in recorded history.”

“This dramatic decline is what happens when a president secures the border, fully mobilizes federal law enforcement to arrest violent criminals and aggressively deport the worst of the worst illegal aliens from our country,” she added.

LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

According to the CCJ’s report, nationwide homicide data released later this year could show killings in 2025 falling to roughly 4.0 per 100,000 residents – the lowest rate ever recorded in law enforcement or public health data dating back to 1900 and the largest single-year percentage drop on record.

The report found homicides fell 21% from 2024 to 2025 in the 35 cities that reported data, amounting to 922 fewer killings. Thirty-one of those cities saw declines, with Denver, Washington, D.C., and Omaha, Nebraska, each posting drops of around 40%.

Other major crimes also fell sharply in the cities studied. 

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Robbery declined 23%, carjackings dropped 43% in cities that reported that data, aggravated assaults fell 9%, and motor vehicle theft decreased 27%.

CCJ cautioned that its findings are based on a limited group of cities and preliminary police data that could change, and said the report documents crime trends rather than proving that any single policy caused the declines.

“The numbers don’t lie,” Leavitt said. “Under President Trump in 2025, the FBI increased violent crime arrests by 100% compared to the prior year. The FBI also conducted more than 67,000 arrests from Inauguration Day 2025 to Jan. 20, 2026, which is 197% more arrests than the same period previously.”

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She also highlighted a drop in crime in Washington, D.C., saying as of last week, homicides were down 62% and motor vehicle theft down 53%.

Leavitt argued that the drop in crime is the direct result of Trump’s leadership and willingness to empower law enforcement, rejecting media skepticism and saying rising violence under Democratic leadership was the product of deliberate policy choices.

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“It’s a choice to put violent criminals ahead of innocent Americans, a choice to force us all to live in fear because of soft on crime, liberal politicians, prosecutors and judges who lack the basic willingness to do their jobs and put dangerous people behind bars,” Leavitt said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt hit back at media outlets questioning the FBI’s seizure of ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, after years of the media claiming that Russia influenced the 2016 election.  

The FBI executed a search warrant in the Georgia county home to Atlanta in January, which included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard deploying on the ground to carry out an election security assessment. Gabbard’s presence has sparked outrage and questions from Democrats and the media over what they characterize as an unusual, politicized show of force.

“As the director of national intelligence, it is a part of Miss Gabbard’s role to make sure that American elections are free of foreign interference and that American elections are safe and secure,” Leavitt said of Gabbard’s presence in Fulton County. “And so the ODNI director is working with the FBI on this effort, and the president wholeheartedly supports both Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard in ensuring that American elections are safe, secure, and free of foreign intervention.”

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The reporter pushed back, “Is there any indication that there’s foreign influence?”

Leavitt began taking another question before circling back to remind the reporter of the media’s focus on claims Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election, when President Donald Trump ran against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

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“Excuse me one second. It’s the media who has said that there’s Russian interference in American elections. You guys have been saying that for many, many years,” Leavitt shot back. 

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“The people in this room, considering that you all, you all said for many years that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump, you should all be very happy that we finally have an administration that is looking into that, and we’ll be happy to keep you posted,” she continued. 

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into claims Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to secure the election wrapped up in March 2019, determining there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.