NationalWatch

The White House said Thursday that it was not feasible to save the East Wing due to severe structural problems, as officials defended its demolition while unveiling details of President Donald Trump’s planned $400 million ballroom.

Josh Fisher, the director of the White House Office of Administration, cited an unstable colonnade, water leakage and mold contamination, saying it was more economical to tear down the historic East Wing rather than renovate it.

“Because of this and other factors, the cost analysis proved that demolition and reconstruction provided the lowest total cost ownership and most effective long-term strategy,” Fisher said during a meeting with the National Capital Planning Commission, which is charged with approving the project.

The commission’s chairman, Will Scharf, who is also a White House official, told reporters he believes the project will ultimately be approved.

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO REPORTS TRUMP NAMED NEW BALLROOM AFTER HIMSELF

Scharf argued during the meeting that the White House needed a large, elegant space for major functions. He said that when the president hosts distinguished guests like King Charles III of Great Britain, “more likely than not, he will be hosted in a tent on the South Lawn with porta-potties.”

In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to halt construction of the ballroom, accusing the Trump administration of skipping mandatory reviews and failing to seek congressional approval before demolishing the East Wing.

Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the Trust, said that Thursday’s presentation by the White House was a “good and necessary first step,” while urging the administration to comply with all legally required review and approval processes before commencing construction.

BILL MAHER SAYS HE DOESN’T ‘GIVE A S—‘ ABOUT TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE REMODEL, SLAMS PRESS COVERAGE

A more formal review of the project, including public testimony and votes, is expected after the White House submits a more detailed proposal.

The project’s architect, Shalom Baranes, who was tapped by Trump in December to lead the next phase of the ballroom project, gave the commission a detailed presentation, including renderings of the ballroom and views of the White House complex with the addition.

Baranes suggested that the design could include adding a second story to the West Wing colonnade to help make the White House more uniform with the new ballroom on the east side, but he cautioned that it would dramatically impact the space outside the Oval Office.

MICHELLE OBAMA TAKES SWIPE AT TRUMP’S DEMOLITION OF WHITE HOUSE EAST WING

In addition to the planned ballroom, officials say the project will also streamline visitor access to the White House and involve improvements across the street at Lafayette Park.

Phil Mendelson, a Democrat on the commission and chairman of the D.C. Council, asked if the ballroom’s size and location were solidified, saying that the planned ceiling height of 38 to 40 feet would be “overwhelming” for the existing building.

Baranes replied that “anything’s possible,” but noted the plans had already been thoroughly reviewed.

Mendelson also asked why the idea wasn’t presented to the commission before the East Wing was demolished in October.

In response, Fisher said that some aspects of the project were of a “top secret nature” and had to be handled accordingly.

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The White House announced in July that a 90,000-square-foot space would be built at a then-estimated cost of $200 million. Trump has said the project is being privately funded.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, warned that nationwide protests will erupt unless an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer involved in a fatal shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is identified and prosecuted, calling the incident a “state-sanctioned execution” as she accused Republicans and the administration of ignoring deadly misconduct.

Tensions flared during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on bail reform Thursday as Democrats criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis the day before.

Crockett escalated her criticism during the hearing, warning lawmakers that protests would spread nationwide without criminal accountability.

“There are gonna be protests around this entire country because of the state-sanctioned execution that we all saw unfold unless there is some kind of justice that takes place, and we get the name of that officer and that officer is prosecuted,” Crockett said.

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

The remarks came amid sharp partisan exchanges as the committee debated public safety and bail reform.

Democrats used the hearing to press DHS officials over the shooting and the lack of publicly available information about the officer involved.

“Long story short, we are sitting in the judiciary and no one on that side of the aisle seems to care that this particular person, whose name we don’t know at this point, became the judge, jury, and executioner,” Crockett said, taking a dig at Republican lawmakers. “I don’t know how you square that.”

ENRAGED ANTI-ICE PROFESSORS SLAM AMERICA, DEMAND ‘NUREMBERG’ TRIALS FOR AGENTS: ‘MODERATE POSITION’

Crockett accused Republicans of minimizing the shooting and shielding federal law enforcement from scrutiny despite calls for transparency.

She argued that officers should be held to the same legal standards as civilians when deadly force is used.

“A child has lost her mom, and y’all want to pretend that it is okay,” Crockett said while becoming emotional. “Is there anyone that will stand for the very people that elected us and sent us to Congress?”

CBS ANCHOR GRILLS TRUMP BORDER CZAR OVER ICE CONDUCT AFTER FATAL SHOOTING, CALLING IT ‘NOT BELIEVABLE’

Her comments drew audible reactions in the hearing room as she described the impact of the shooting on the victim’s family.

Crockett framed the incident as a moral issue, urging lawmakers to prioritize accountability over politics.

“I remember when Charlie Kirk got killed. Do you remember what our response was?” Crockett asked. “Our response wasn’t to sit there and pretend like it was okay.”

VANCE DEMAND DEMOCRATS ANSWER WHETHER ICE OFFICER IN MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING WAS ‘WRONG IN DEFENDING HIS LIFE’

She went on to question whether law enforcement officers are treated differently when lethal force is involved.

“Is it okay because you have a badge?” she asked. “Because the last time I checked, allegedly no one is above the law. Can y’all not just have a little bit of courage and humanity?”

Crockett later referenced comments made by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who sharply criticized ICE following the shooting while investigations remain ongoing.

NOEM ALLEGES WOMAN KILLED IN ICE SHOOTING ‘STALKING AND IMPEDING’ AGENTS ALL DAY

Fox News Digital has reached out to Crockett for comment on her remarks.

During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Frey called DHS’s explanation that the officer fired his weapon in self-defense “bull—-” and told ICE to “get the f— out” of Minneapolis.

“The mayor of Minneapolis told y’all to get the f— out,” Crockett said. “Yet y’all are the ones — it is this administration — that is bringing crime to their streets.”

Crockett’s remarks prompted vocal objections from Republican lawmakers over the repeated use of profanity during the hearing.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., joined the exchange, asking one lawmaker, “Are your princess ears okay?”

“Are we offending your princess ears? Are they that soft?” Swalwell continued.

MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION DROPS OUT OF ICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING INVESTIGATION

The exchange capped a tense hearing marked by repeated clashes over immigration enforcement and public safety.

The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly released the name of the officer involved or announced whether any disciplinary action has been taken.

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Frey later appeared on CNN Wednesday night, where he doubled down on his remarks after being asked whether he was stoking discord in Minneapolis.

“I’m so sorry if I offended their Disney princess ears, but here’s the thing – if we’re talking about what’s inflammatory, on one hand you got someone who dropped an f-bomb, and you got someone who killed somebody else,” Frey said. “I think the most inflammatory action is killing somebody. And so, once again, let’s be real and just be honest and straight up about what’s happening here. This is not OK.”

The Supreme Court could rule as early as Friday on President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency law to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, a closely watched case with major implications for businesses and the president himself.

At issue is the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose two sweeping sets of tariffs, including the 10% global tariffs and the higher, so-called “reciprocal” tariffs in early April. 

Lower courts had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in using IEEPA as a means of quickly enacting those import fees, prompting the Supreme Court to take up the case on an expedited basis last year. A decision is expected by June at the latest.

US COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE SIDES WITH TRUMP IN TARIFF CASE

But justices on the high court, including Trump’s own appointees, appeared skeptical of the administration’s claim during oral arguments that the IEEPA gives a sitting president the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, leaving open the question of what might happen if the high court rules against the president. 

Trump, for his part, has described the matter as “life and death,” and senior administration officials have warned for months of dire economic consequences if the high court were to undo the tariffs enacted by Trump, which have remained in place as the courts considered the case on its merits. 

But the short answer, experts told Fox News Digital, is that not much would change immediately, and it would almost certainly involve more litigation. 

In the months since the high court reviewed the consolidated case, Learning Resources, Inc, and V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, hundreds of businesses have filed new cases against the Trump administration over IEEPA, aimed at clawing back the higher import duties they’ve shouldered since his tariffs took force. 

The U.S. collected more than $133 billion in IEEPA tariff duties as of mid-December, according to data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency last month.

And, assuming the Supreme Court does not specifically outline a remedy portion of its ruling for the executive branch to follow, the cases will be punted back to the lower courts to chart a path forward, lawyers for the new plaintiffs said. 

“There’s a group of us working with the Department of Justice on getting a case management plan implemented,” Erik Smithweiss, a trade lawyer representing some of the companies that have filed the new tariff lawsuits, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH TRUMP TARIFF POWERS IN BLOCKBUSTER CASE

“In the event the tariffs are found to be unlawful, the Court of International Trade (CIT) is going to manage these thousands of lawsuits and many more that may be coming.” 

Trump, for his part, has railed against that outcome, which he described in a Truth Social post as a “National Security catastrophe.”

Lawyers for the Trump administration argued in court that the IEEPA law in question allows a president to act in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats” and in cases where a national emergency has been declared. Trump has claimed that deep and “sustained” trade deficits amount to a national emergency, allowing him, in the lawyers’ view, to invoke IEEPA.

Plaintiffs counter that, in the 50 years since its passage, the law has never been used by a president to impose tariffs. They argue that permitting Trump to use the law to enact tariffs would drastically expand his powers at the expense of other branches of government. 

Others were more cautious about the possible impact.

TRUMP WARNS SUPREME COURT TARIFF SHOWDOWN IS ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ FOR AMERICA

“It’s a fascinating situation because it’s super important. But, in the short run, economically, this doesn’t matter a huge deal,” Philip Luck, the director of the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“It matters in the sense that, yes, if this comes down, some goods will become cheaper,” Luck said when asked what would happen if the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose his tariffs. “Some exporters will be able to export to the United States more cheaply.”

On its own, though, the ruling is unlikely to stop the Trump administration from imposing the tariffs via other mechanisms at its disposal, including Section 232, by which the administration can enact industry-wide tariffs for a set period of time, or under Section 301, which allows the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to enact tariffs at a president’s direction in response to countries that are determined to have “discriminatory” trade practices towards U.S. businesses.  

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“More broadly, so long as this administration is intent on raising barriers to a broad set of important goods, they will be able to do that again,” Luck said. 

“A few sectoral tariffs onto very broad sectors and a few country-level tariffs — if you levy tariffs on our large trading partners — cover some 90% of our trade.”

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Washington next week.

During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Trump was asked if he intends to meet with Machado after the U.S. struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro.

“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said.

This will be Trump’s first meeting with Machado, who the U.S. president stated “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead.

According to reports, Trump’s refusal to support Machado was linked to her accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump believed he deserved.

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But Trump later told NBC News that while he believed Machado should not have won the award, her acceptance of the prize had “nothing to do with my decision” about the prospect of her leading Venezuela.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-National security experts sound alarm over CCP-linked land ownership near US military bases: ‘Unthinkable’

-Mamdani adviser, Warren in the hot seat as collapse of Roomba maker shifts data to China

-Trump backs ICE agent, reviews video with NYT reporters after Minneapolis shooting

Jeffries calls Noem ‘stone-cold liar’ over Minneapolis shooting response, demands investigations

Democratic leaders in Congress condemned the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Thursday, calling for immediate investigations and dismissing the narrative of the shooting provided by President Donald Trump’s administration.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made the statement joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a Thursday morning press conference. Jeffries condemned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as a “stone-cold liar,” while Schumer said he doesn’t trust the current administration to adequately investigate the shooting.

“Let me first say that the killing of Renee Nicole Good was an abomination, a disgrace. And blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who have been pushing an extreme policy that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement connected to removing violent felons from this country,” Jeffries said…READ MORE.
 

White House

HOLIDAY ROUNDUP: DHS nabs sexual abusers, drug dealers in worst-of-the-worst Christmastime operation

POLITICAL PILE-ON: Vance rips Walz after Civil War remarks following ICE shooting, claims governor ‘enabled fraud’

NATIONAL CRACKDOWN: JD Vance announces multi-state fraud task force in wake of Minnesota scandal

‘SIMPLE QUESTION’: Vance demand Democrats answer whether ICE officer in Minneapolis shooting was ‘wrong in defending his life’

RED LINE: AG Pam Bondi warns Minnesota protesters after ICE shooting: ‘Do not test our resolve’

LEVY LIMITS: Trump’s tariff boom hits record highs as Supreme Court showdown looms

World Stage

BIG BUILDUP: Trump calls for $1.5T defense budget to build ‘dream military’

Capitol Hill

GOP MUTINY: Dozens of House Republicans defy Trump, join Democrats in failed veto override effort

SHUTDOWN CLOCK: House passes nearly $180B funding package after conservative rebellion over Minnesota fraud fears

RULE OF LAW: House Dem introduces bill after Venezuela operation to block presidents from bypassing Congress

GOP MUTINY: Trump blasts GOP war powers defectors, says they ‘should never be elected to office again’

$9 BILLION GONE: Senate Republicans eye reconciliation to address Minnesota fraud scandal

DEM EXODUS: Hoyer won’t seek re-election, says House has strayed from founders’ vision

Across America 

‘NO RETREAT’: Top Republican with ‘army’ of supporters makes major announcement as Shapiro launches re-elect campaign

‘UNCLEAN’ WALZ: Blagojevich tells Walz if he didn’t do it, ‘go down fighting’ in fraud case: ‘He’s quitting/Makes me think his hands are unclean’

BILLION DOLLAR BIAS: Legal experts warn of ‘biggest scandal in litigation’ if SCOTUS doesn’t end ‘hometowning’ of lawsuits against US oil

NOT ‘LAWFUL’: Federal judge disqualifies US attorney, tosses subpoenas targeting NY AG Letitia James

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday revealed that 54% of North Carolina’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued to foreign nationals reviewed by federal officials were issued illegally.

The discovery came amid the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) ongoing nationwide audit of the state’s truck licensing systems. 

If North Carolina does not revoke all illegally issued licenses, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will withhold nearly $50 million in federal funding.

“North Carolina’s failure to follow the rules isn’t just shameful — it’s dangerous. I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system,” Duffy wrote in a statement. “President [Donald] Trump and I are committed to keeping you and your family safe on our roads.”

ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER FROM UZBEKISTAN OVER ALLEGED TERROR TIES

In a letter to North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and state Department of Public Safety Commissioner Paul Tine, the FMCSA said the state illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs to drivers who were ineligible, those whose licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired and those whose lawful status in the U.S. was not verified by North Carolina.

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said the level of noncompliance in North Carolina is “egregious.”

To retain its federal funding, North Carolina will be required to immediately pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations and revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the federal requirements.

DUFFY THREATENS TO YANK NEW YORK FEDERAL FUNDS OVER ILLEGALLY ISSUED COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSES

The state must also conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify all procedural and programming errors, training and quality assurance problems, insufficient policies and practices and other issues that have resulted in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that did not meet federal rules. 

Duffy set his focus on CDL issues in early 2025 after an Indian national who held a California-issued CDL allegedly killed a car full of people on Florida’s turnpike.

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California has since revoked 17,000 problematic non-domiciled CDL licenses as DOT conducts a nationwide audit initiated by President Donald Trump’s executive order on truck driver roadway safety.

Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

It was 1991. The Chicago Cubs were in Chavez Ravine for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully was at the mic.

Cubs outfielder and former National League MVP Andre Dawson was out of the lineup.

“Andre Dawson has a bruised knee,” the golden-throated Scully declared to his radio congregation, tuning in from Pasadena to the San Fernando Valley. “He is listed as day-to-day.”

Then Scully paused for a moment. It was as though Scully was in deep reflection. Perhaps seized by the spirit of the national pastime in one of baseball’s most hallowed cathedrals, Dodger Stadium.

HOUSE GOP REP DOUG LAMALFA DEAD AT 65

“Then again, aren’t we all?” added Scully.

Aren’t we all.

You.

Me.

Andre Dawson and his knee.

The late Vin Scully.

Even late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.

REP LAMALFA’S DEATH FURTHER SHRINKS REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY

He died this week at age 65 during emergency surgery after an aortic aneurysm.

“It really shook us,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., of LaMalfa’s sudden death.

The speaker said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., whose northern California district borders LaMalfa’s, called the late congressman “the kindest man I ever knew.” Johnson noted that McClintock didn’t say “one of the kindest.” But the kindest.

Seven House members have died since April 2024. The previous six were Democrats. LaMalfa is the first Republican to die since then. In fact, there’s a runoff between two Democrats — Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards — in a special election to succeed late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas. Turner died in March after only two months in office.

House Republicans have had a tenuous hold on their majority for a while now. LaMalfa’s death — coupled with Monday’s resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — squeezes the GOP even further.

It’s about the math.

Counting LaMalfa and Greene, the GOP margin shrivels to 218-213 with 431 members and four vacancies. The Republican majority thins again when either Menefee or Edwards wins the Texas special election later this month. It’s then 218-214 with 432 members and three vacancies.

The margin is four. But, on the floor, Republicans can only lose one vote and still pass something on their own without Democratic assistance. Losing two votes produces a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.

Word of LaMalfa’s death came as we learned that 80-year-old Rep. Jim Baird R-Ind., was in the hospital after a car accident. Baird is fine but not on Capitol Hill to vote this week.

Just how fragile is the GOP’s grip on power in the House?

“We are one flu season away from losing the majority,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.

By the way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the U.S. is experiencing its worst flu season since 1997-98. The CDC just announced a new flu variant this week.

GEORGIA CALLS SPECIAL ELECTION IN MARCH TO FILL MTG VACANCY AFTER TRUMP RUPTURE AND RESIGNATION

A couple of points. The Constitution prohibits governors from appointing someone to the House. That only works in the Senate. Voters must elect House members. And control of the House of Representatives has never flipped in the middle of the Congress. The Senate has. But not the House.

It’s about the math.

“We’ve been working with a razor-thin majority since I became speaker. And, as you know, at many points in the last year, we had a one- or two-vote majority at any given moment,” said Johnson. “But this is the group that has demonstrated over and over and over and over that we defy expectations and make history.”

Conjecture still abounds around the Capitol that a few disgruntled House Republicans could resign. I asked Johnson about Burchett’s remark.

The speaker was philosophical.

“None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. None of us. We don’t know what’s going to happen. The Bible says you don’t worry about tomorrow. You focus on today,” replied Johnson. “I’m not worried about the numbers. I don’t get up in apprehension or anxiety in any day. I get up every day with hope.”

We’re all day-to-day.

So too is the House Republican majority. Things are day-to-day.

As stated earlier, the House has never flipped in the middle of a Congress. Frankly, it’s a lot harder than the Senate. It has more people. For the House to switch control, the GOP must lose two more seats. But those seats must also be filled immediately. That doesn’t happen. Special elections take months, depending on the state.

But even at a prospective nadir of 218-214, it takes a lot to change control of the House in the middle of a Congress. Even if Republicans lost three more members, they’d still hold a 215-214 majority. Things could become very interesting if the split went to 214-214. And don’t forget, these numbers will evolve in the coming months.

There’s a special election to succeed Greene March 10. There will likely be a special election to succeed LaMalfa in the spring or summer. There’s also a special election in the spring to fulfill the term of Democratic New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who resigned from the House last year.

So, don’t count on the House switching any time soon.

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

But there is a historical anomaly.

Lawmakers are sworn in to begin the new Congress Jan. 3 of odd years of the election in November of the prior even year. However, the ratification of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution moved the swearing-in of the President to Jan. 20. Previously it was March 4. In those days, new Congresses began  Dec. 7. Not a month after the election. But an astonishing 13 MONTHS AFTER the election.

In other words, you would have an election in November of an even year. But the institution wouldn’t seat the new Congress until December of the FOLLOWING ODD year.

And they complain about a two-month lame duck Congress now.

The 1930 midterms hit during the Great Depression and the broken administration of President Herbert Hoover. Republicans held the House majority but lost 52 seats, clinging to a narrow majority. The breakdown was 218-216 with one “Farmer-Labor” member.

However, during the 13-month interregnum before the start of the 72nd Congress in December 1931, 14 “Representatives-elect” died. Democrats won enough special elections to seize the majority, 219-213, with one third-party member. One of the casualties was even late House Speaker Nicholas Longworth, R-Ohio.

So, this wasn’t a mid-session switch. But the House would have changed hands in the middle of the Congress under the contemporary operating calendar.

Lawmakers are mourning their late colleague, Doug LaMalfa. He was beloved on both sides of the aisle. LaMalfa was the House classmate of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., both elected in 2012. Jeffries called LaMalfa a “great member of Congress” and led a moment of silence at a forum Democrats conducted about the Jan. 6 riot.

So, it’s doubtful the House could switch in mid-stream. But who knows?

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Andre Dawson was “day to day” with his knee injury.

And as Vin Scully would say, “Aren’t we all?”

Former first lady, Jill Biden, went to Minnesota in 2022 to highlight the billions of dollars in investments for childcare that were part of Democrats’ American Rescue Plan Act, where she stood next to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and praised him for his leadership helping families. 

“We helped states like Minnesota safely keep open child care centers and family child care providers and boost pay for their workers,” Biden said during a February 2022 visit to the 
University of Minnesota’s Child Development Laboratory School, alongside Walz and then-Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “We supported high quality providers that enrich children’s lives and we helped make them more affordable.”

The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion COVID-era relief package, allocated nearly $40 billion for childcare after it was passed without any Republican support. Meanwhile, roughly 4 years after the first lady went to Minnesota to tout the Democrat-led investments in childcare, Walz and his state are facing immense blowback for allegedly failing to adequately monitor fraud within the state’s Medicaid program and its childcare sector. According to a local Fox affiliate, daycares in Minnesota received roughly $500 million in federal funds in 2021. 

BESSENT SAYS MINNESOTA FRAUD RECOVERY COULD HELP FUND TRUMP’S $1.5T DEFENSE PLAN

“Tim, you understand that childcare is not only critical to families, it’s critical to businesses and our economy,” the first lady said as she turned to Walz standing behind her as she addressed people at the school who were there to attend a listening session with a number of relevant lawmakers. “And Joe and I are so grateful for your leadership and for the friendship that you and Gewn– that we’ve had for so many years. And I’m excited to hear more today about what you’ve done here in Minnesota to help families recover from the uncertainties and the losses from the pandemic.”

Earlier this week, a major state audit in Minnesota conducted by the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor found widespread failures and internal control problems in the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) grant program, reaffirming concerns about massive fraud issues in the state.

VANCE CALLS WALZ ‘A JOKE,’ CLAIMS MINNESOTA GOVERNOR ENABLED MASSIVE FRAUD

The report, released on Monday, found that between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, DHS dished out more than $425 million in grants to 830 organizations, the majority being nongovernmental, and did not show proper oversight in watching over those taxpayer funds, which in many cases were meant to help those with addiction and mental health issues. The audit found missing progress reports and discovered BHA could not show it had completed all required monitoring visits and had no documentation at all for some of them. 

The audit also found that when employees were surveyed, 73% of them said they did not receive the necessary training to properly administer manage grants, with one employee saying, “Executive leadership has repetitively shown staff that they won’t take the staff’s concerns or questions seriously until something serious happens or it makes the news.”

The scathing report comes as Minnesota’s government agencies and leaders face immense scrutiny amid a fraud scandal that prosecutors say could total as much as $9 billion and has already forced Gov. Tim Walz to drop his re-election bid. 

Some reports have indicated a handful of Minnesota’s Democrat leaders allegedly took donations from some of those accused of committing fraud in Minnesota, while others have suggested Walz retaliated against whistleblowers who tried to sound the alarm about the fraud.

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Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Jill and Joe Biden, but did not receive a response in time for publication. 

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

With the national spotlight firmly on a fatal shooting in Minnesota involving an ICE agent, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California used a high-profile speech to target President Donald Trump over “citizens shot” and what the likely Democratic presidential contender claimed was “using American cities as training grounds for the United States military.”

Newsom’s comments on Thursday, in his final State of the State address as governor of the nation’s most populous state, came in the wake of the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, after she confronted ICE agents from inside her car in Minneapolis.

Video of the incident has gone viral, and while Democrats have heavily criticized the shooting, the Trump administration is vocally defending the actions of the ICE agent.

“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense,” Trump said in a social media post.’

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE ICE SHOOTING IN MINNESOTA

And the president argued that “the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis.”

Vice President JD Vance, at a Thursday White House briefing, claimed Good was “brainwashed” and suggested that she was tied to a “broader, left-wing network.”

Hours after the incident, Newsom charged it was “state-sponsored terrorism.”

PHOTOS RELEASED OF RENEE NICOLE GOOD, THE US CITIZEN KILLED BY ICE IN MINNESOTA

And a day later, in his address to the California legislature, the governor took aim at the president and his unprecedented moves during his first year back in the White House.

“The president believes that might makes right, that the courts are simply speed bumps, not stops. That democracy is a nuisance to be circumvented. Secret police, businesses being raided, windows smashed, citizens detained, citizens shot, masked men snatching, people in broad daylight, people disappearing,” Newsom charged.

And the governor, who has been arguably the most vocal and visible Democrat leading the resistance to Trump, accused the president of governing through fear by instigating “purposeful chaos emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

And he criticized what he called “a carnival of chaos” as he pointed to the Trump administration’s National Guard deployments to Democrat-governed cities, including Los Angeles, as well as cuts in key federal funding.

“None of this is normal,” Newsom emphasized.

Newsom said that California must stand up to Trump’s “assault on our values,” while warning that democracy is at stake.

Newsom and the president have repeatedly clashed in the first year of Trump’s second administration, from the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles to the federal government’s push to block California’s fuel standards and efforts to eventually ban new gas-powered cars.

And the two politicians have also taken aim at each other over the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires that killed over 30 people and destroyed neighborhoods. Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of those wildfires.

Officially, Newsom’s State of the State address was designed to showcase his accomplishments as governor and lay out his agenda for his final year in office. “You’ve seen double-digit decreases in crime overall in the state of California,” the governor touted.

California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin, responding in a statement, charged that “Governor Newsom told Californians that homelessness is down, crime is at record lows, schools are improving, and Los Angeles is recovering after the Palisades fires. Governor Newsom painted a picture of a California that exists in his imagination.”

Unofficially, the speech was an opportunity for Newsom to portray himself as a national leader of the Democratic Party ahead of what many expect will be a 2028 White House run.

And the governor didn’t waste the opportunity.

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Newsom, who led the fight against Trump’s redistricting push ahead of November’s midterm elections, said, “We’re not retreating.”

And he described California as “a beacon” that is :providing a different narrative and operational model of policy for others to follow.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom used his final State of the State address Thursday to spotlight the state’s court fights with the federal government, saying the state has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration.

The Democrat framed the legal battles as a dispute over presidential authority, telling lawmakers and attendees that “no one, particularly the president of the United States, stands above the law.”

“We’ve gone to court and, of course, protect our people, pushing back against this executive overreach,” Newsom said.

The governor pointed to litigation filed during a special session and tied the legal efforts to what he described as federal actions that harmed Californians.

NEWSOM INVOKES SCRIPTURE IN ATTACK ON GOP OVER SHUTDOWN AFFECTING FOOD ASSISTANCE: ‘CRUELTY IS THE POLICY’

“Fifty-two lawsuits have been filed, funded by you, by the way, in this special session that all of you led,” Newsom said, adding that the cases involved “about $168 billion in illegally frozen federal resources that belong to our schools, that belong to our hospitals, that belong to our seniors.”

Newsom said the court strategy has already produced results.

“We have won the request for emergency relief,” he said, adding that California has “affirmed the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land.”

NEWSOM SAYS TRUMP IS ONE OF THE ‘MOST DESTRUCTIVE’ PRESIDENT OF HIS LIFETIME: ‘THIS GUY IS RECKLESS’

Addressing President Donald Trump, Newsom said, “You can’t cut off critical food assistance for millions of people,” adding, “You can’t send the military into American cities without justification, and you cannot cruelly and illegally cut off funding for medical research, homeland security, or disaster response.”

Newsom’s emphasis on legal challenges comes as the Trump administration has launched a federal probe into alleged fraud tied to California programs, including homelessness spending, with a top federal prosecutor publicly criticizing the state’s oversight. 

Newsom’s office has rejected those accusations, saying the governor has blocked fraud and protected taxpayers. Later in the address, Newsom turned to homelessness and urged counties to take a more aggressive approach.

TRUMP ADMIN SUES OVER CALIFORNIA LAW BANNING ICE FROM WEARING FACE MASKS TO SHIELD IDENTITIES

“So I say this with love and respect to the counties — no more excuses. It’s time to bring people off the streets and out of encampments,” he said.

Newsom defended California’s high-speed rail project as well, calling it “the nation’s first high speed rail system.”

“Full environmental clearance is done,” Newsom said, while claiming “more than 60 miles of guideway have been completed ready for immediate track lane in the Central Valley.”

On housing, Newsom criticized large investors, warning about “institutional investors that are snatching up homes by the hundreds and thousands at a time.”

“These investors are crushing the dream of homeownership,” he said, adding, “I think it’s shameful that we allow private equity firms… become some of the biggest landlords here in our cities.”

Republican leaders responded critically to Newsom’s remarks.

California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones called the address an “airbrushed spin job,” accusing the governor of “working hard to pull the wool over the eyes of the nation.”

Assemblyman James Gallagher likewise dismissed the speech as “more of the same,” arguing it was time for what he described as a “third wave politics” of both parties working together to solve California’s problems.

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The statewide election to replace term-limited Gov. Newsom is scheduled for November 2026.

Newsom’s office did not provide additional comment beyond clarifying the lawsuit figure to Fox News Digital regarding Thursday’s State of the State address. 

Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo contributed to this story.

The Trump administration is considering paying each Greenland resident thousands of dollars as part of a bid to encourage the territory to secede from Denmark and join the United States, according to Reuters. 

U.S. officials, including White House aides, have discussed payment figures ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the outlet reported, citing sources. 

For an island with a population of roughly 57,000, the total cost could range from more than half a billion dollars to nearly $6 billion.

While discussions of a lump-sum payment are not new, Reuters reported that officials have become more serious in recent days and are considering higher amounts.

NOEM ANNOUNCES ARCTIC DEFENSE PACT WITH CANADA, FINLAND TO COUNTER RIVAL POWERS

The White House referred Fox News Digital on Thursday to remarks by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said during a Wednesday briefing that buying Greenland would benefit U.S. national security.

“The acquisition of Greenland by the United States is not a new idea,” Leavitt said. 

“The president has been very open and clear with all of you and the world that he views it as in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region,” she said. “That’s why his team is currently talking about what a potential purchase would look like.”

TRUMP TAPS REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR TO SERVE AS SPECIAL ENVOY TO GREENLAND

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he plans to meet with his Danish counterpart next week to discuss Greenland.

Trump has long contended that the U.S. should acquire Greenland, arguing that its mineral resources are vital in advancing U.S. military technologies and that the Western Hemisphere should broadly fall under Washington’s geopolitical influence.

On Sunday, Trump told reporters Greenland is surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships and that Denmark, which governs Greenland, lacks the capability to provide the level of defense and oversight that meets U.S. national security standards.

FROM CARACAS TO NUUK: MADURO RAID SPARKS FRESH TRUMP PUSH ON GREENLAND

“It’s so strategic,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Authorities in Greenland and Denmark insist that Greenland is not for sale, and European leaders have criticized the proposal, arguing that it undermines trust between the U.S. and Denmark as NATO allies. Under the NATO defense agreement, allies are obliged to support one another militarily if attacked, making the idea of a sale particularly sensitive.

“This is enough,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday, responding to Trump’s Sunday remarks about acquiring the island. “No more pressure. No more hints. No more fantasies about annexation.”

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On Tuesday, Nielsen added that Greenland will remain part of Denmark despite U.S. efforts.

“Our country isn’t something you can deny or take over because you want to,” he added. “Once again, I urge the United States to seek respectful dialogue through the correct diplomatic and political channels and utilizing pre-existing forums that are based on agreements already in place with the United States. The dialogue must take place with respect to the fact that Greenland’s status is rooted in international law and the principle of territorial integrity.” 

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday demanded that two private airline companies stop providing flights for ICE to quickly remove illegal immigrants who have been detained, citing the recent ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis.

In a letter to top executives of GlobalX Airlines and Eastern Air Express, Healey criticized the companies for “sever[ing illegal immigrants] from their family, friends, community, and legal counsel without due process of law.”

“They are hard-working, productive, and beloved members of our community who have been indiscriminately targeted for deportation proceedings,” Healey wrote. “… Some have been United States citizens. Some have been children. And as we have seen in our communities and, most recently, in Minnesota, ICE’s tactics are increasingly chaotic, brutal, and even deadly. This doesn’t make our communities safer — it, in fact, makes us all less safe.”

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE MOCKED AFTER CLAIM ABOUT DISMANTLING ICE GOES VIRAL: ‘UNMASK THESE THUGS’

Twin Cities resident Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed Wednesday by an ICE agent after she allegedly accelerated her car toward him during an immigration operation.

Healey also alleged the Trump administration’s use of private jets for ICE activity is costing taxpayers, while private airlines profit.

“On behalf of American taxpayers, I also find it incomprehensible that the Trump administration is choosing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on private jets to obstruct people’s due process at a time when they are denying hunger benefits, cutting health care access, and raising costs on everyone through costly tariffs,” she wrote. “This is not the justice we believe in or stand for in Massachusetts or as Americans. I hope your company agrees.”

WALZ PREPARES NATIONAL GUARD AFTER WOMAN KILLED IN ICE OPERATION: ‘NEVER BEEN AT WAR’ WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The letter comes after Healey demanded that ICE halt ICE flights out of Hanscom Field airport, which is located roughly 20 miles outside Boston in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Avelo Airlines, a company that was previously chartering flights for ICE in Massachusetts, recently announced they had cut ties with the administration.

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“One of your peer companies recently cut ties with ICE. It’s time for you to do the same,” Healey wrote in the letter.

Healey’s office did not provide additional comment to Fox News Digital.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and former Biden Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan are taking heat for helping to kill a deal for Amazon to acquire Roomba creator iRobot, ultimately leading to the company going bankrupt and likely falling under Chinese control.

Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of State Armor, a U.S. national security watchdog group, ripped into Warren and Khan over their opposition to the deal. Lucci told Fox News Digital that Warren and Khan’s opposition directly contributed to China’s “growing espionage foothold inside American homes” and that “now it’ll be even harder for American families to avoid CCP spy devices.”

In January 2024, iRobot announced that its deal to be acquired by Amazon had collapsed. At the time, iRobot cited regulatory difficulties, especially in Europe, for the deal falling through. In a joint Amazon-iRobot statement, the companies said the merger had “no path to regulatory approval in the European Union.”

This followed intense opposition from progressive lawmakers, including Warren, over “concerns about Amazon’s anticompetitive practices that put consumers and their privacy at risk.”

FCC, STATE AGS TO JOIN FORCES IN CRACKDOWN ON CHINA-LINKED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

The Massachusetts senator said, “I have serious concerns about the Amazon-iRobot deal – dominant companies like Amazon shouldn’t be allowed to just buy their way out of competing.”

“The FTC should oppose this proposed merger to protect competition, lower consumer prices, and rein in Amazon’s well-documented anticompetitive activities,” said Warren.

The FTC under Khan, who served as a top advisor to New York City socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s transition team, also opposed the deal.

At the time, the FTC released a statement after the Amazon-iRobot merger fell through in which it said, “We are pleased that Amazon and iRobot have abandoned their proposed transaction.”

EXAMINING THE NEXT THREAT FROM COMMUNIST CHINA: OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

The commission said that its “investigation revealed significant concerns about the transaction’s potential competitive effects,” adding, “The FTC will not hesitate to take action in enforcing the antitrust laws to ensure that competition remains robust.”

Two years later, after filing for bankruptcy in December, iRobot is set to be acquired by Chinese company Shenzhen Picea Robotics and affiliated Santrum Hong Kong. This has given rise to new concerns about iRobot’s sensitive home mapping data falling into the Chinese Communist Party’s hands.

As Shenzhen Picea Robotics and Santrum Hong Kong are Chinese-controlled companies, they are subject to CCP laws. This means that any U.S. consumer data the companies gain control of may be subject to China’s national intelligence laws, which can compel firms to provide information to the government without judicial oversight or public disclosure.

“While Lina Khan and Elizabeth Warren congratulate themselves for blocking Amazon’s iRobot acquisition, the real winner is Communist China,” Lucci told Fox News Digital.

EX-TRUMP DHS OFFICIAL SOUNDS ALARM OVER NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT WITHIN CRITICAL US INDUSTRY

“iRobot collapsed into bankruptcy and now Beijing-linked buyers are snapping up its assets, including sensitive home-mapping data. That’s the end result of their so-called ‘consumer protection,’” he went on.

“In the end, American and European regulators played the role of useful idiots, handing China more access and leverage, and adding to a growing espionage foothold inside American homes,” he said. “Now it’ll be even harder for American families to avoid CCP spy devices.”

In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, Amazon Chief Global Affairs and Legal Officer David Zapolsky commented that “this is an unfortunate textbook example of regulators — in this case the European Commission and the FTC — losing the forest for the trees, resulting in the loss of an innovative American company, American jobs, and American IP.”

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“When mergers are deterred, it can have long-lasting negative effects on companies and workers,” said Zapolsky, adding, “These are the very things regulators say they are trying to protect, but when the processes become overburdensome and disproportionate, companies, workers, and consumers lose out.”

In another statement, iRobot co-founder Colin Angle, who stepped down from company leadership in 2024, lamented its filing for bankruptcy, saying, “Innovation doesn’t fail only when ideas are wrong—it can fail when the path to scale is removed.”

“When companies that create categories are denied viable ways to grow, everyone pays the price: consumers, employees, and the broader innovation economy,” said Angle. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Warren, Khan and iRobot for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

President Donald Trump called for defense spending to be raised to $1.5 trillion, a 50% increase over the current budget. 

“After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday evening. 

“This will allow us to build the “Dream Military” that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe.” 

The president said he came up with the number after tariff revenues created a surplus of cash. He claimed the levies were bringing in enough money to pay for both a major boost to the defense budget “easily,” pay down the national debt, which is more than $38 trillion, and offer “a substantial dividend to moderate income patriots.”

SENATE SENDS $901B DEFENSE BILL TO TRUMP AFTER CLASHES OVER BOAT STRIKE, DC AIRSPACE

The boost likely reflects efforts to fund Trump’s ambitious military plans, from the Golden Dome homeland missile defense shield to a new ‘Trump class’ of battleships.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that the increased budget would cost about $5 trillion from 2027 to 2035, or $5.7 trillion with interest. Tariff revenues, the group found, would cover about half the cost – $2.5 trillion or $3 trillion with interest. 

The Supreme Court is expected to rule in a major case Friday that will determine the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariff strategy.

CONGRESS UNVEILS $900B DEFENSE BILL TARGETING CHINA WITH TECH BANS, INVESTMENT CRACKDOWN, US TROOP PAY RAISE

This year the defense budget is expected to breach $1 trillion for the first time thanks to a $150 billion reconciliation bill Congress passed to boost the expected $900 billion defense spending legislation for fiscal year 2026. Congress has yet to pass a full-year defense budget for 2026.

Some Republicans have long called for a major increase to defense spending to bring the topline total to 5% of GDP, as the $1.5 trillion budget would do, up from the current 3.5%.

Trump has ramped up pressure on Europe to increase its national security spending to 5% of GDP – 3.5% on core military requirements and 1.5% on defense-related areas like cybersecurity and critical infrastructure.

Trump’s budget announcement came hours after defense stocks took a dip when he condemned the performance rates of major defense contractors. In a separate Truth Social post he announced he would not allow defense firms to buy back their own stocks, offer large salaries to executives or issue dividends to shareholders. 

“Executive Pay Packages in the Defense Industry are exorbitant and unjustifiable given how slowly these Companies are delivering vital Equipment to our Military, and our Allies,” he said. 

“​Defense Companies are not producing our Great Military Equipment rapidly enough and, once produced, not maintaining it properly or quickly.”

He said that executives would not be allowed to make above $5 million until they build new production plants.

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Stock buybacks, dividends and executive compensation are generally governed by securities law, state corporate law and private contracts, and cannot be broadly restricted without congressional action.

An executive order the White House released Wednesday frames the restrictions as conditions on future defense contracts, rather than a blanket prohibition. The order directs the secretary of war to ensure that new contracts include provisions barring stock buybacks and corporate distributions during periods of underperformance, non-compliance or inadequate production, as determined by the Pentagon.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling Friday in a case that could reshape President Donald Trump’s trade agenda.

At issue is the scope of presidential authority to impose tariffs under longstanding trade laws.

The cases stem from lawsuits filed by an educational toy manufacturer and a family-owned wine and spirits importer, with the court weighing whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorized the tariffs or whether the move exceeded constitutional limits.

SUPREME COURT EXPECTED TO RULE FRIDAY ON TRUMP’S POWER TO IMPOSE TARIFFS

The Trump administration has invoked the IEEPA to impose five separate tariff measures — including reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl-related tariffs, tariffs tied to Russian oil imports currently levied on Indian goods, Brazil-related tariffs, and trade agreements negotiated with foreign countries under the law — a sweeping use of emergency powers now under scrutiny by the court.

TRUMP SAYS US WOULD BE ‘DESTROYED’ WITHOUT TARIFF REVENUE

One of the most consequential of those measures came in April, when Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs, a broad set of import taxes he said were designed to correct long-standing trade imbalances and reduce the U.S. reliance on foreign goods.

The effect was immediate: duty collections jumped from $9.6 billion in March to $23.9 billion in May. Total duty revenue reached $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department’s “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” report.

That momentum has carried into the new fiscal year, with more than $98 billion pouring into federal coffers since Oct. 1, Treasury data shows.

The tariff windfall has emerged as a central pillar of Trump’s economic agenda, with the president arguing that tariffs can serve as a major source of government revenue to support domestic priorities.

On Nov. 9, Trump proposed using revenue from trade duties to provide a $2,000 dividend to low- and middle-income Americans by mid-2026. 

TRUMP SAYS TARIFF-FUNDED DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS WILL BEGIN NEXT YEAR

Tariffs are taxes levied on imported goods. Although they are paid by companies at the border, the costs are often passed along through higher prices, leaving consumers to bear much of the burden.

He also said that any leftover funds could be used to pay down the nation’s debt, which stands just north of $38 billion.

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During oral arguments in November, both conservative and liberal justices expressed doubts about the legality of the Trump administration’s tariffs.

A ruling expected this week will decide whether the tariffs and the revenue they generate can remain in place.

The Trump administration has said it could turn to alternative legal authorities to preserve the tariffs if the court rules against it.

President Donald Trump suffered a rare defeat from his own party on Thursday when a handful of Senate Republicans rebelled to curb his usage of military force in Venezuela. 

The attempt to reassert Congress’ war powers authority, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., survived despite broad support among most Senate Republicans, who argued that Trump’s use of the military in Venezuela was justified. 

Among the defectors were Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who co-sponsored the resolution, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Todd Young, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo. 

But Thursday’s successful vote, which also handed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., a rare defeat on the floor, is just the first step before the resolution officially passes. The Senate will have to take another vote, this time with the 60-vote filibuster threshold, before it becomes official. 

TRUMP EMBRACES US INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA, OPENS DOOR TO BROADER LATIN AMERICA PUSH

Kaine’s resolution would effectively end any further military operations involving Venezuela without explicit congressional approval. It was one of many bids since Trump took office last year by the bipartisan group to claw back Congress’ authority in weighing in on military action.

The outcome of the vote remained an open question, even just moments before the final gavel. 

The defectors were on the fence on whether to rein Trump in following a classified briefing with administration officials on Operation Absolute Resolve, the codename of the mission to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Their issues weren’t necessarily with the actual operation itself, but with what comes next. And more specifically, if there would be further military activity in the country.

“We were told that there are currently no boots on the ground. Is it an option? What I heard was that everything is an option,” Hawley said.

KENNEDY SAYS MILITARY ACTION ON GREENLAND WOULD BE ‘WEAPONS-GRADE STUPID’ AS GOP RESISTS FORCE

But top administration officials, and several congressional Republicans briefed on the matter throughout the week, argued that the strikes in Venezuela were justified and that the military was used to assist in a law enforcement operation to capture Maduro.

Still, Senate Republican leadership was confident they would have the votes needed to kill the bipartisan resolution.

“Republicans support what the president has done,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. “It was an incredible act and the military was absolutely superb.”

Before the vote, Kaine and Paul were already looking ahead at other opportunities to curb the administration’s use of military force without congressional approval.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘RANGE OF OPTIONS,’ INCLUDING US MILITARY, ON TABLE AS TRUMP RENEWS PUSH TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND

Greenland reemerged as a hot topic on the Hill this week, following comments from Trump officials that indicated that military action wasn’t off the table to capture the colossal, resource-rich Arctic territory, where the U.S. already has a military base.

Several Republicans like the idea of purchasing the territory from Denmark but have not yet committed to claiming it by force. There are other countries that have entered or long been in Trump’s crosshairs for conquest, too, that the duo want to ensure Congress has a say on.

“We’re going to be working with others to file resolutions about Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Greenland,” Kaine said. “And Nigeria — people didn’t pay attention but there was a U.S. military strike in Nigeria.”

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Paul said he would likely support future war powers resolutions, given his strong feelings about Congress’ constitutional authority.

“I’ve supported most of them, all of them,” Paul said. “I probably will continue to support them, because I — there’s some symbolism to this too, and symbolism is over, who should initiate and declare war, which I feel strongly about.”

The House will try Thursday to override President Donald Trump on two bills he vetoed recently. 

One is the “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act,” which provides water to southeastern Colorado. The other is the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act. It hands over a portion of the Florida Everglades to the tribe.

Both bills passed the House and Senate unanimously.

The president criticized Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis as a “bad” governor when explaining his reasons for vetoing that bill. The president caught criticism from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., whose district would benefit from the water project.

Trump and Boebert have been at loggerheads since she was one of the most outspoken voices pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The House will debate and vote on overriding the Colorado water project Thursday. We only expect debate on the Florida issue on Thursday.

CAPITOL HILL REVOLT THREATENS TRUMP’S VENEZUELA PLAYBOOK AMID CARIBBEAN STRIKE OVERSIGHT

It takes a two-thirds vote of those casting ballots to override a veto. The House currently has 431 members. So if every member votes, it takes 288 yeas to override. So you don’t know the magic number until the vote is closed, because it’s contingent on the total number of members casting ballots.

There is a good chance that the House could override the president’s veto – considering the fact that the House approved the bill unanimously.

TRUMP RALLIES HOUSE GOP AT KENNEDY CENTER DAYS AFTER MADURO CAPTURE

These two vetoes are the first ones of Trump’s second term.

The president vetoed 10 bills during his first term. Eight veto overrides failed. Lawmakers never attempted the override on one of them. But Congress overrode the veto of the annual defense policy bill in late 2020 and early 2021.

HOUSE GOP SPENDING BILLS PACK BILLIONS IN EARMARKS, SPARKING BACKLASH FROM FISCAL HAWKS

Successful veto overrides are rare. There have only been 112 veto overrides in the history of the republic. That’s out of 1,531 “regular” presidential vetoes. So that’s about 4%.

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Here’s another footnote:

The Senate also votes Thursday to rebuke the president over war powers and U.S. action in Venezuela. A similar measure came close to passing in the fall, before the recent operation in Venezuela. It’s unclear whether the war powers resolution will pass.

However, if the House overrides the president’s veto on the Colorado water bill, and the Senate votes in favor of the war powers resolution, that would mark two rare rebukes by the Republican president in one day.

The Trump–Kennedy Center is pushing back on a recent media narrative that its annual Honors awards show suffered a ratings flop under President Donald Trump compared to years prior, arguing that the broadcast performed strongly despite industry-wide headwinds and a dramatically different scheduling landscape.

“Comparing this year’s broadcast ratings to prior years is a classic apples-to-oranges comparison and evidence of far-left bias,” Roma Daravi, Trump–Kennedy Center vice president of public relations, told Fox News Digital of the ratings. “The program performed extremely well across key demographics and platforms, despite industry and timing disadvantages, including a Tuesday air date two days before Christmas.”

The 48th Kennedy Center Honors awards show was held in Washington, D.C., Dec. 7 and honored artists such as country singer George Strait, the members of rock band KISS, Tony-award winner Michael Crawford, Grammy-winner Gloria Gaynor, and Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone. The awards show is held each year to celebrate “individuals whose unique artistic contributions have shaped our world,” according to its website. 

Trump hosted the event, with its broadcast held weeks late Dec. 23, 2025, on CBS and Paramount+. 

JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS

The event averaged 3.01 million viewers, which is a 25% drop from 2024’s ratings when an average 4.1 million viewers tuned in, according to a report from Nielsen Live + Same Day Panel + Big Data reported by Variety in December. The ratings yielded headlines reporting that viewership “plummeted,” and late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert mocked Trump for hosting “the lowest-rated Kennedy Center Honors telecast of all time,” as Kimmel said in his Monday monologue.

Daravi countered that viewership for the awards show “tied for the #1 spot among adults aged 25–54, alongside a live NBA doubleheader” while citing that overall TV usage is “down roughly 20 percent year over year.” 

The NBA’s Tuesday night doubleheader Dec. 23, 2025, featured the Denver Nuggets visiting the Dallas Mavericks, followed by the Houston Rockets taking on the Los Angeles Clippers.

 “And on social media, Honors garnered 1.5 Billion impressions in just one night—up from only 50 Million similar impressions last year,” Daravi continued. “This was a successful night celebrating the outstanding achievements of our Honorees at the Trump Kennedy Center.” 

Trump predicted ahead of the event that ratings would be sky-high and that he would garner more viewers than late-night host Kimmel, who is a longtime critic and political foe of Trump’s. The president also predicted critics would “say, ‘He was horrible. He was terrible. It was a horrible situation.’ No, we’ll do fine. I’ve watched some of the people that host.” 

CHEAP TRICK DEFENDS TRUMP-HOSTED KENNEDY CENTER PERFORMANCE AS A TRIBUTE TO KISS

Trump celebrated during the event that “we’re bringing this building back to life like nobody ever thought was even possible.” The Honors awards show raised a record $23 million, nearly doubling 2024’s $12.7 million raised under the Biden administration’s final days. 

The 2024 broadcast was also held on a Sunday and had an NFL viewership in the lead up to the program, including a New England Patriots versus Buffalo Bills game that afternoon. 

BOARD VOTES KENNEDY CENTER TO BE RENAMED ‘TRUMP-KENNEDY CENTER,’ LEAVITT SAYS

The broadcast was held just days after the Trump administration announced that the center’s board of trustees unanimously voted to rename it “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” 

Presidents appoint the majority of the board’s trustees, with Trump dismissing the previously appointed Board of Trustees “who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture” in the early weeks of his second administration. Trump is also the first and only president to serve as the center’s chairman of the board. 

The name change set off swift rebuke among Democrats, with nonvoting board members including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and others claiming the move was illegal as it did not earn congressional approval ahead of time. 

The center said that the board agreed Trump saved the institution from financial ruin during his second term. 

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“The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,”  Daravi told Fox News Digital of the name change. “The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction.” 

President Donald Trump is in favor of a Senate bill to impose new sanctions on Russia, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday.

Graham made the statement after meeting with Trump, saying the Senate could vote on the legislation “hopefully as early as next week.” A bipartisan group of senators has been drafting the suite of sanctions and negotiating to secure White House support for months.

“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said Wednesday.

“Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” he added.

WHY THE US COULD SNATCH A VENEZUELAN TANKER — AND NOT UNDER ‘WARTIME’ AUTHORITY USED IN CARTEL STRIKES

The bill seeks to dry up funding for Russia’s war machine, both by targeting Russian industries as well as other countries that purchase Russian oil, such as China and India.

Agreement on the bill came just as U.S. forces on Wednesday seized two sanctioned tankers in the Atlantic Ocean. The first was the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea, while the second was the M/T Sophia, in the Caribbean.

The North Atlantic Sea seizure comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Russia had sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort the tanker.

‘IRREGULAR’ ARMED GUARDS ABOARD RUSSIAN SHADOW TANKERS ALARM NORDIC-BALTIC GOVERNMENTS

The vessel had spent more than two weeks attempting to slip past U.S. enforcement efforts targeting sanctioned oil shipments near Venezuela, the outlet reported.

“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the tanker was seized.

Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going in and out of Venezuela in mid-December.

‘GHOST SHIPS’ FERRYING ILLICIT OIL HAVE SAILED INTO TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS

Meanwhile, U.S. forces say the M/T Sophia was conducting “illicit activities” in the Caribbean and is being escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard to the United States for “final disposition.”

“Through Operation Southern Spear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere. We will defend our Homeland and restore security and strength across the Americas,” said SOUTHCOM.

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U.S. Navy SEALs flown by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (“Night Stalkers”) seized the sanctioned Marinera tanker, previously named Bella 1, between Iceland and Britain, officials told Fox News.

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Kristi Noem alleged at a press conference on Wednesday that the woman who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer was “stalking and impeding” agents all day.

Noem told reporters that ICE agents repeatedly instructed the victim, Renee Nicole Good, 37, to get out of her car and stop “obstructing” law enforcement but she did not comply.

The agency is labeling the incident as an act of “domestic terrorism.”

Video of the scene showed Good’s car in the middle of the street in a residential neighborhood as ICE agents in a dark gray Nissan Titan truck got out and approached her vehicle.

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE MOCKED AFTER CLAIM ABOUT DISMANTLING ICE GOES VIRAL: ‘UNMASK THESE THUGS’

Good is heard telling agents to “go around,” and as they walk toward her Honda Pilot, one agent tells her to “get out of the car.”

She then abruptly puts it in reverse and attempts to drive off before she is shot. 

Noem claimed the woman was trying to “weaponize her vehicle” and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.”

WALZ PREPARES NATIONAL GUARD AFTER WOMAN KILLED IN ICE OPERATION: ‘NEVER BEEN AT WAR’ WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Good was shot in the head and strongly disputed the agency’s self-defense claims as “bulls—.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he too had seen the video of the incident and told people not to believe the DHS’ “propaganda machine” about the shooting.

“The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice,” Walz noted.

WATCH VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT (GRAPHIC WARNING):

FAMILIAR PROTEST GROUPS MOBILIZE IMMEDIATELY AFTER ICE SHOOTING OF MINNESOTA PROTESTER

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are jointly leading an investigation.

The shooting of Good, a U.S. citizen, has intensified divisions on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers clash over the Trump administration’s immigration policy and ICE enforcement operations.

DHS said on Monday that it deployed 2,000 law enforcement officers to the Twin Cities to arrest “fraudsters, murderers, rapists, and gang members.”

WHO IS JACOB FREY? MEET THE DEM MAYOR WHO TOLD ICE TO ‘GET THE F— OUT’ OF HIS CITY

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters that ICE is “accountable to no one” and called for the agency to be “reined in.”

“We just saw them murder an American citizen in cold blood,” she said.

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Vice President JD Vance said on X that ICE officers have the full backing of the Trump administration.

“To the radicals assaulting them, doxxing them, and threatening them: congratulations, we’re going to work even harder to enforce the law,” he wrote.