NationalWatch

A federal judge ruled in favor of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, dismissing felony charges against aircraft giant Boeing in relation to two commercial plane crashes that claimed the lives of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Judge Reed O’Connor accepted the DOJ’s motion to dismiss in the Northern District of Texas.

Boeing, which previously agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, made a deal with the Trump administration in May in return for the charges — tied to the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 — being dropped.

O’Connor, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, said that despite some victims’ families’ opposition, the government did not act with bad faith, provided conclusory reasons for its dismissal, and satisfied its obligations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, Politico reported.

The non-prosecution agreement requires Boeing to pay more than $1.1 billion in fines, more than $455 million to strengthen the company’s compliance, safety and quality programs, and an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

BOEING PAYING $1.1B AS DOJ DISMISSES CRIMINAL FRAUD CASE; FAMILIES OF VICTIMS IN CRASHES SET TO OBJECT TO DEAL

“On top of the financial investments, Boeing must continue to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program and retain an independent compliance consultant,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.

O’Connor noted it disregards the need for the company to be monitored by an unbiased consultant, as Boeing can choose who it hires, and said he understood families may be disappointed the agreement “fails to secure the necessary accountability to ensure the safety of the flying public,” according to the report.

Tracy Brammeier, partner of Clifford Law Offices who serves on the plaintiff’s team, said there would be a quick appeal of O’Connor’s Thursday ruling.

“The judge recognizes there is a miscarriage of justice on the part of the government’s decision not to prosecute the case, and that this was not in the best interest of the public, which the government serves,” Brammeier wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, he feels the power to right this wrong is limited by legal precedent. The families are disappointed by the outcome but will act quickly to protect the interests of the families and the public on appeal.”

NTSB ISSUES URGENT SAFETY BULLETIN ABOUT ENGINES FOUND IN SOME BOEING 737 MAX JETS

Three cases involving families of victims in the 2019 crash were settled Wednesday after jury selection, including a case on behalf of a 28-year-old mother from Kenya who left behind a daughter and her parents, Clifford Law Offices wrote in a news release.

The other two cases that settled were that of a 38-year-old father of seven from Yemen and Kenya, and a 30-year-old father of three from the UK and Kenya, who left behind a pregnant wife, according to Clifford Law Offices.

Flight ET-302 crashed in March 2019 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, heading to Kenya and killing all 157 on board.

According to the attorneys, nearly a dozen cases related to the two crashes remain unresolved.

A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital “victims are at the heart of the Department’s mission” and the Boeing case is no exception. 

“Rather than allow for protracted litigation, this agreement provides finality for the victims and requires Boeing to act now,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement. “As the Court recognized, the Department in good faith complied with its statutory obligations and met extensively with the crash victims’ families. While they are all experiencing grief, and nothing will diminish their losses, the victims have expressed a broad set of views regarding the resolution, ranging from support to disagreement. Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and Department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome.”

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A Boeing spokesperson told Fox News Digital the company is “committed to honoring the obligations of our agreement with the Department of Justice … [and] to continuing the significant efforts we have made as a company to strengthen our safety, quality, and compliance programs.”

President Donald Trump has urged Senate Republicans to abolish Obamacare and reroute federal health care spending directly to individual Americans.

In a Truth Social post Saturday morning, Trump wrote: “I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over.”

DEMOCRATS HOLD THE GOVERNMENT HOSTAGE OVER SUBSIDIES AMERICANS DON’T WANT

“In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare.”

The post marks Trump’s latest push to revive his long-running campaign against the Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, a centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s domestic legacy. 

PEOPLE TALK ABOUT LOWERING HEALTHCARE COSTS, BUT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS DOING IT

Trump and Republicans have renewed their criticism of the program amid the government shutdown, arguing it drives up costs and enriches insurance companies at taxpayers’ expense. Trump spent much of his first term trying to repeal the law.

Obama and Democrats argue it made health care more available and affordable for millions of Americans.

Congress remains deadlocked over government funding, with health-care programs and insurer subsidies among the major budget sticking points fueling the shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday told reporters Thursday that he would not commit to holding a vote on extending COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year without congressional action.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had been floating a vote on such an extension in exchange for Democrats voting to end the shutdown.

The issue of enhanced Obamacare subsidies has been a matter of debate within the GOP, with some Republicans in more moderate districts calling for at least a year-long extension to give lawmakers time to create a new healthcare deal in its place.

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Trump also once again called on Republicans to end the filibuster, the procedural rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation.

“Unrelated, we must still terminate the Filibuster!” Trump wrote. 

FIRST ON FOX: A Tennessee Democratic state representative running for Congress, who has been likened to Zohran Mamdani, claims she is running to make life better for the working class, but her voting record tells a different story. 

Tennessee state Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-District 51, who is running to replace outgoing Congressman from Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, Mark Green, voted no last year on a bill that would have resulted in a $400 million tax cut for certain Tennessee small businesses, including potential refunds of up to $1.5 billion. Behn also rallied against Republican’s H.R. 1, the so-called “one, big beautiful bill,” which extended Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts that, without, could’ve meant a nearly $4,000 increase for taxpayers in her district. 

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Behn voted against a statewide budget bill that would have added tens-of-millions to the state’s rainy day fund, which would have effectively padded the state’s coffers so that in times of low-revenue taxes won’t need to be increased so much. That same budget bill would have also allocated millions for volunteer fire departments, senior centers, emergency medical services, teacher bonuses and other public safety funding.

TRUMP LOOMS LARGE OVER SPECIAL ELECTION PRIMARY IN DEEP-RED CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

“A pissed-off social worker, Aftyn has seen firsthand how broken systems fail the very people they’re meant to protect,” Behn’s campaign website reads. “She’s now running for Congress after the so-called ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ passed — a giveaway to the wealthy that codified the largest transfer of wealth from working people to the rich in American history.”

However, according to estimates from the Tax Foundation, if Trump’s 2017 tax cuts had expired, residents in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, whom Behn wants to represent, would have seen an increase in their taxes of approximately $3,717 per taxpayer.

“To win, Democrats need to focus on what really matters: making life more affordable for working people,” Behn said after the bill’s passage. “Washington Republicans did the opposite by passing this #BigBullsh–Bill. Gutting healthcare and giving handouts to billionaires.”

TENNESSEE SUED OVER LIMITED ACCESS TO EXECUTIONS AS MEDIA DEMAND TRANSPARENCY 

Even the New York Times has admitted that independent analyses showed Trump’s 2017 tax cuts “have consistently found that a large majority of Americans would owe less because of the law.”

Last year, Behn also voted against a bill that the Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee estimated would provide over $1.5 billion in tax refunds for small business owners in the state. It also would have reduced a combined yearly tax burden for Tennessee business owners of about $400 million. 

Simultaneously, Behn voted against Tennessee’s 2025-2026 fiscal year budget that included a big increase to the state’s rainy day fund, which is used by state governments during periods of low revenue. The same budget bill also included community funding for services like volunteer fire departments, emergency medical services and rescue squads, senior centers, teacher bonuses, school security and more. 

During Behn’s time in the state legislature, she also worked to repeal the grocery tax in Tennessee, claiming it would put money back into the pockets of hard-working Tennesseans year-around. However, according to Republicans, the move would create a business enterprise tax, raising taxes on small businesses by about $800 million.

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Fox News Digital reached out repeatedly to Behn’s campaign for comment but did not hear back. 

“Aftyn Behn’s policies would skyrocket the cost of living even more for hardworking Tennesseans,” Behn’s Republican opponent, Trump-backed Matt Van Epps, said. “Aftyn has repeatedly voted against tax cuts and proposed new taxes, taking more money from your pocket. I’ll always fight to lower taxes and bring down costs so that working families can get ahead.”  

In local media reports, Behn has been compared to New York City mayor-elect and self-proclaimed socialist Zohran Mamdani and the Dickson County Democratic Party described Behn as “our very own AOC of TN,” in a reference to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“His message is one of helping working families across New York, my message is one of helping working families across Tennessee,” Behn said about Mamdani during the appearance on CNN. “We need to go back to pocketbook issues, especially in states like Tennessee where people are living unaffordable lives and suffering as a result of Republican policies.” 

Rep. Thomas Massie — a Republican fiscal hawk facing a President Donald Trump-backed primary challenger in Kentucky — has previously described himself as “America First,” but now he says he thinks that he’s “America only.” 

“I am tired of sending money overseas,” he told Fox News Digital during an interview on Thursday. 

“I am tired of favoring foreign beef over U.S.A.-grown beef,” he continued. “I’m ready to be America only. And I think all congressmen should be that way.”

Massie gave Trump a mixed review, saying that the president is America First on “some” fronts.

REP THOMAS MASSIE REMARRIES AFTER WIFE’S DEATH LAST YEAR: ‘PLEASE PRAY FOR US’

“But when it comes to the beef, he is not America first. When it comes to sending money overseas to Ukraine and Israel,” Massie said, “I think he needs to get back to his campaign promises and put America first. Because we’re not gonna make America great again by sending our money overseas.”

Massie noted that his “biggest disagreement” with both the Trump administration and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is the increase in spending.

“I mean, I thought we were conservatives. Why are we spending more this year than Joe Biden spent in his last year? Actually, we’re spending about $200 billion dollars more,” he said, adding that the consequence “is inflation and higher interest rates.”

“And people are feeling that. You can’t gaslight them,” Massie added. “You can’t tell them that things are getting cheaper when they’re not getting cheaper.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Kush Desai accused Massie of “Fake Math.” 

TRUMP SAYS MASSIE IS ‘GONNA BE HISTORY’ AS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ JUMPS FINAL HURDLES TO PASSAGE

“Here are the facts: President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut Act cut mandatory spending by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, and the budget deficit from April to September of this year is down a staggering 40% compared to last year, when Joe Biden was president,” Desai declared in the statement.

“Instead of Fake Math, Thomas Massie should reflect on how he betrayed his voters and hardworking Americans when he voted with every Democrat against the biggest tax cut for working families in American history, including no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime pay, increased child tax credits, and permanence for the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts,” he added.

Massie said his other disagreements with what has been happening in D.C. are “secondary” to the spending issue.

“I would say, we need to follow through on some of our campaign promises. For instance, release the Epstein files,” he said.

MAVERICK HOUSE REPUBLICAN IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS TOUTS RECORD CAMPAIGN CASH HAUL

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have been spearheading a bid to force a House vote on a proposal that would compel the release of materials pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein. 

Their discharge petition has amassed 217 of the 218 signatures needed to force the vote, but Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who has said she will sign on, has still not yet been sworn in to office more than six weeks after winning a special election in Arizona.

Johnson “has tried every which way he can to avoid this vote,” Massie claimed, asserting that the speaker has not sworn in the Democrat because she “represents the 218th signature I need to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.”

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

RAND PAUL PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR MASSIE AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER: ‘I’M GOING TO HELP HIM’

Massie, who owns cattle himself, said the president has “sort of gut punched the cattle ranchers and… livestock farmers” in the U.S.

During remarks aboard Air Force One last month, Trump indicated the U.S. was considering buying beef from Argentina to drive down prices. 

Days later Reuters reported that a White House official indicated that the administration was quadrupling the nation’s low-tariff imports of beef from the South American nation. Increasing the tariff rate quota to 80,000 metric tons will allow Argentina to send greater quantities of the product to America at a lower rate of duty, according to the outlet.

The president has Massie in his political crosshairs — he has repeatedly reviled the congressman on Truth Social.

In a post on Monday, Trump referred to Massie as “a Weak and Pathetic RINO” — a pejorative acronymn that stands for “Republican in name only.” He also called the congressman “a totally ineffective LOSER,” while expressing his support for primary challenger Ed Gallrein, who Trump is backing in the race.

SCOOP: TRUMP-BACKED FORMER NAVY SEAL LAUNCHES GOP PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST MASSIE

Even as the president tries to convince voters in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to reject Massie, the lawmaker said that he does not regret endorsing Trump ahead of the 2024 election, noting that former Vice President Kamala Harris would have been a total “disaster.”

Massie initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primary, but DeSantis dropped out and backed Trump, and Massie later endorsed the Republican juggernaut as well.

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“And I’m glad that President Trump won,” he said. 

Trump has “done a lot of good things,” he said, adding that many of them have been carried out via executive order, and he thinks Congress should vote on more of the issues so that the president’s moves are not simply “temporary actions.”

Asked whether he’d have any interest in potentially running for president himself, Massie said that he is not interested.

A newly emboldened Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking his show on the road.

Four days after spearheading a ballot box landslide victory in his home state of California in the high-stakes battle over congressional redistricting, the two-term governor and potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender will headline a rally Saturday in Republican-leaning Texas.

Newsom was the driving force behind Tuesday’s passage of Proposition 50, a ballot initiative which will temporarily sidetrack Democratic-leaning California’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which would counter the passage earlier this year in the reliable red state of Texas of a new map that aims to create up to five right-leaning House seats.

NEWSOM SCORES MAJOR BALLOT BOX VICTORY ON ELECTION NIGHT 2025

“California stepped up. Now, we are taking this fight across the country — helping Democrats in other states push back against Trump’s election rigging,” Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital, as he pointed to the push by President Donald Trump and Republicans for rare mid-decade redistricting.

It’s part of a broad effort by Trump’s political team and the GOP to pad the party’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING, ANALYSIS, AND OPINION ON GAVIN NEWSOM

Trump is aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Failure to approve what’s known as Proposition 50 would have been a stinging setback for Democrats.

But Newsom was victorious and now has a message for fellow Democrats from coast to coast.

“We need to see other states, their remarkable leaders that have been doing remarkable things, meet this moment head-on as well,” he said on Tuesday night as he celebrated passage of the ballot initiative. “We can de facto end Donald Trump’s presidency as we know it, the minute Speaker Jeffries gets sworn in as speaker of the House of Representatives. It is all on the line.”

Newsom is expected to rally with Texas Democrats at an afternoon event in Houston.

While two other Democratic blue state governors with likely national ambitions in 2028, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Wes Moore of Maryland, are mulling new maps in their states to create one or two more blue-leaning congressional districts, Newsom has been the most visible leader so far in the redistricting wars and the first Democrat to succeed.

And the campaign for Prop 50 passage only burnished Newsom’s already solid credentials as an anti-Trump warrior, which could pay dividends for him down the road in what’s expected to be a crowded and competitive 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race.

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“He put a lot of effort into this, and it was not a sure thing when it first started,” veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News Digital. “He galvanized and mobilized California voters.”

And Cardona, a committee member on the Democratic National Committee, said, “I certainly think it burnished Gavin Newsom’s brand not just as the anti-Trump, but right now I think it puts him as one of the leaders in contention for 2028.”

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case centered on President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency law to enact his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs, and even Trump-appointed justices appeared skeptical of the administration’s arguments.

Several questions from conservative justices, particularly Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, suggested uncertainty about allowing Trump to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to enact his steep 10% tariffs on most imports. A ruling against the administration would deliver a major blow to Trump’s signature economic policy.

The IEEPA law gives the president broad economic powers in the event of a national emergency tied to foreign threats, and Trump declared the trade deficit such an emergency to impose tariffs via executive order earlier this year. But the law does not mention the word “tariffs” or “taxes” — a major sticking point in both this week’s oral arguments and the lower court’s earlier review of the case.

Most of the justices’ questions focused on a single phrase in the law — the power to “regulate importation” during a national emergency — and whether that phrase grants Trump the authority he claims. Several justices seemed wary of a reading that could hand Congress’ Article I power over revenue and taxation to the executive branch. 

SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH TRUMP TARIFF POWERS IN BLOCKBUSTER CASE

This included Trump’s appointees, who appeared to struggle with separation-of-powers issues that could vastly expand presidential authority — not only for Trump but for his successors as well.

Barrett, in particular, pressed U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer on this, asking: “Can you point to any other place in the code or any other time in history where that phrase — together with ‘regulate importation’ — has been used to confer tariff-imposing authority?”

Gorsuch later asked Sauer about his “theory of the Constitution” and “major questions doctrine,” indicating concern about separation-of-powers issues and granting too much power to the executive.

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT FOR URGENT RULING ON TARIFF POWERS AS ‘STAKES COULD NOT BE HIGHER’

“What would prohibit Congress from abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce or declare war to the president?” Gorsuch asked Sauer.

Sauer repeatedly argued that a “regulatory tariff” is not a tax and that the power to raise revenue was “only incidental,” even as the White House has celebrated that Trump’s tariff revenues exceeded $100 billion this year. 

Challengers, including private entities and Democratic-led states, argue that Congress must clearly state when it wants presidents to have the authority to implement tariffs. In court filings, they pointed to laws such as Section 232 (national security trade measures) and Section 301 (retaliation for unfair trade) as times when Congress expressly gave tariff powers to the president. By contrast, IEEPA has been used for embargoes, asset freezes and licensing but never across-the-board tariffs. The last time the Court permitted a delegation of tariff powers to the president, in Algonquin SNG v. FEA (1976), it relied on Section 232 because Congress put that authority plainly in the statute. Challengers say there is no comparable language in IEEPA.

The liberal justices on the Court signaled that without clear words from Congress, IEEPA cannot provide Trump with tariff authority. After a previous Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), courts no longer give federal agencies the benefit of the doubt when interpreting vague laws. And under the “major questions” doctrine referred to by Gorsuch and other justices, large, economy-wide actions like Trump’s tariffs need a plain, specific grant from Congress.

JONATHAN TURLEY: SUPREME COURT RULING ON TRUMP TARIFFS COMES DOWN TO A NUMBERS GAME

Court watchers and legal experts said after arguments that a Trump administration win could be more difficult than expected, though each cautioned it is hard to draw conclusions from roughly two hours of oral arguments — a fraction of the total time justices spend reviewing a case.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor and Fox News contributor, said in a blog post that the justices “were skeptical and uncomfortable with the claim of authority, and the odds still favored the challengers.”

“However, there is a real chance of a fractured decision that could still produce an effective win for the administration,” Turley added.

SUPREME COURT PREPARES TO CONFRONT MONUMENTAL CASE OVER TRUMP EXECUTIVE POWER AND TARIFF AUTHORITY

Jack Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, did not go quite as far.

“I think that it is fair to say that the justices the government needs to win the case — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — asked the government very hard questions that did express skepticism about important elements of its case,” Goldsmith said in a New York Times interview.

“But they also asked the other side very hard questions. I do not think any of these three tipped off their hands definitively. I did not find anything terribly surprising in the questions.”

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Brent Skorup, a legal fellow at the CATO Institute, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that members of the Court seemed uncomfortable with expanding presidential power over tariffs.

“Most justices appeared attentive to the risks of deferring to a president’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute and the executive branch ‘discovering’ new powers in old statutes,” Skorup said.

“The justices were skeptical and uncomfortable with the claim of authority, and the odds still favored the challengers. However, there is a real chance of a fractured decision that could still produce an effective win for the administration.”

The case is Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (consolidated with Trump v. V.O.S. Selections). A ruling is expected by late June.

New York Democrats embraced socialism when they elected Zohran Mamdani to lead the nation’s largest city, but the verdict is still out on whether New York City’s shift to the left is an outlier or the beginning of a broader political realignment.

From California’s redistricting success to gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, Democrats dominated the most closely watched contests of 2025 – results that could be considered a referendum on President Donald Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda.

As Mamdani rises to political fame, a slate of fellow progressives are vying to ensure that his victory signals the beginning of a new era in progressive politics.

SQUAD 2.0: MEET AMERICA’S NEXT WAVE OF RADICAL DEMOCRATS SHAPING THE PARTY’S FUTURE

Aftyn Behn

Aftyn Behn, a former healthcare community organizer and current Democrat state representative, recently secured the Democratic nomination to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.

The Dickson County Democratic Party described Behn as “our very own AOC of TN,” referring to “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., according to The Tennessee Star.

On her campaign website, Behn describes herself as a “pissed-off social worker” who was inspired to run for the House of Representatives after Congress passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year.

Behn is running in Tennessee’s special election on Dec. 2 to replace Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who retired from Congress earlier this year.

Kat Abughazaleh

Kat Abughazaleh, 26, is the progressive Gen Z candidate running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District next year.

She was indicted on federal charges in October after protesters allegedly attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle outside a Chicago suburb facility in September.

Viral videos of Abughazaleh obstructing the ICE vehicle and being shoved the ground by an agent outside the Broadview ICE facility on Sept. 19 became flash points in the divisive debate over Trump’s deportation rollout.

Abughazaleh is a former journalist and activist who frequents protests outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois.

She has accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of perpetrating “crimes against humanity.”

Abughazaleh garnered national attention earlier this year for questioning why it’s controversial that illegal immigrants should have access to taxpayer-funded healthcare.

“I don’t have health insurance, and I’m running for Congress,” the young progressive’s campaign website reads.

Saikat Chakrabarti

Saikat Chakrabarti arrived on the political scene during the rise of the “Squad,” running Ocasio-Cortez’s successful 2018 congressional campaign and then serving as her chief of staff.

The progressive met Ocasio-Cortez when he launched “Justice Democrats,” a political action committee committed to recruiting a new generation of leaders.

Now, Chakrabarti has become the generational candidate himself. Earlier this year, he announced his campaign to challenge House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for her congressional district in San Francisco.

On Thursday, Pelosi announced her intention to retire from Congress at the end of next year, teeing up an already competitive Democratic primary expected with state Sen. Scott Wiener also in the race to replace Pelosi. 

Chakrabarti said it was time for “totally new leadership” in Washington, D.C.

His policy platform includes a long list of progressive promises, including Medicare for All, a wealth tax on the ultra-rich, millions of units of housing, a ban on congressional stock trading and an end to military funding to Israel.

During a phone interview, Chakrabarti told Fox News Digital that his main focus is fixing the “underlying economic anxieties that most Americans are facing” — the same “plan for bold, sweeping economic change” that landed Trump back in the White House last year and was successful for Mamdani this year. 

Chakrabarti’s said a new generation of candidates, like himself, have been inspired to run since witnessing “the complete failure of the Democratic political establishment.”

“I think the people are feeling that the Democratic Party, the establishment, is just sort of weak and slow moving and unable to face the moment,” he added.

Chakrabarti’s first campaign commitment, according to his website, is to stop Trump’s “authoritarian coup.”

The congressional candidate described Trump’s ICE-led deportation rollout as “a flagrant violation of our constitutional rights and the freedom of speech and everything we hold dear in this country.”

When asked if the party is moving to the left in response to Trump’s second term, he said, “It’s not really a left versus right thing.”

“I think people are looking for real solutions to the problems. People are looking for a change to the system, and I don’t think Donald Trump is doing it, but that’s what Donald Trump articulated in his campaign.”

Overall, Chakrabarti said voters are “very sick and tired of corruption” and the “old guard” that he described as only looking out for themselves, rather than their constituents.

Chakrabarti congratulated Mamdani’s win in a social media post on Tuesday, telling his followers that Mamdani won because he stood for “real, bold change.”

“That’s what we’re doing here in San Francisco,” Chakrabarti said, comparing his own campaign to Mamdani’s.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is one of several progressive candidates vying for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat next year.

“Abdul literally wrote the book on Medicare for All,” according to his campaign website. He wrote “Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide,” explaining how the U.S. healthcare system can provide affordable care to all Americans.

El-Sayed led Detroit’s Health Department after its bankruptcy and restructured Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services. In 2020, he helped President Joe Biden craft policies to help lower prescription drug prices.

He believes in abolishing medical debt and that students deserve debt-free and tuition-free two-year apprenticeship programs or a four-year college education.

Abdul El-Sayed celebrated Mamdani’s success on social media this week, when he wrote, “Yesterday, voters reminded us how big America can be.”

Graham Platner

Graham Platner is challenging Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in 2026. He is a Marine and a U.S. Army veteran and an oyster farmer.

On Nov. 4, he said he would not be mourning the death of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

“As a veteran of the Iraq war, I am going to say: No, not this time.”

Between 2020 and 2021, Platner posted and has since deleted Reddit posts calling himself a “communist,” which he recently said he was “joking” about.

Platner has faced calls for him to drop out of the Senate race, and a top campaign staffer resigned after he faced backlash for photos revealing that he had a tattoo resembling the Totenkopf used by Hitler’s SS paramilitary forces.

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According to his website, among his campaign promises, Platner supports Medicare for All and “a clear-eyed condemnation of the Gaza genocide.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Behn, Abughazaleh and Platner for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million to restore federal research funding and end investigations into the Ivy League school.

Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced the agreement Friday. The New York-based university will pay $30 million directly to the U.S. government and another $30 million toward agriculture and farming research programs.

The agreement upholds the university’s academic freedom while restoring more than $250 million in research funding that the government withheld amid investigations into alleged civil rights violations, Kotlikoff said.

IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS RECEIVED $6.4 BILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING IN 2024 

“The decades-long research partnership between Cornell and the federal government is critical to advancing the university’s core mission and to our continuing contributions to the nation’s health, welfare and economic and military strength,” he said.

“This agreement revives that partnership while affirming the university’s commitment to the principles of academic freedom, independence and institutional autonomy that, from our founding, have been integral to our excellence.”

Kotlikoff said the agreement recognizes Cornell’s right to independently establish its own policies and procedures, choose whom to hire and admit and determine what is taught without government monitoring or approval.

FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: FULL LIST OF STUDENTS DETAINED OVER CAMPUS HATE

The six-page agreement requires the university to comply with federal civil rights laws, including those involving antisemitism and racial discrimination. In addition, the university agreed to provide the Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination” as a training resource to faculty and staff and will continue to conduct annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for Cornell students.

“Recipients of federal funding must fully adhere to federal civil rights laws and ensure that harmful DEI policies do not discriminate against students,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s deal is a positive outcome that illustrates the value of universities working with this administration — we are grateful to Cornell for working towards this agreement.”

In April, the Trump administration froze more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell over potential civil rights violations.

President Donald Trump suspended federal funding to every Ivy League school except the University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College amid investigations into anti-Israel protests that have taken place on their campuses since October 2023.

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The administration said it was taking a more aggressive role in addressing campus antisemitism, accusing President Joe Biden of failing to hold universities accountable for violent protests.

“The months of stop-work orders, grant terminations and funding freezes have stalled cutting-edge research, upended lives and careers, and threatened the future of academic programs at Cornell,” Kotlikoff said. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban quipped during a bilateral meeting at the White House that he wants to hire press secretary Karoline Leavitt after she delivered an impromptu takedown of the media for spreading “fake news” over American affordability concerns. 

“Karoline, the prime minister would like you to work for him in Hungary,” Trump said Friday after Orban was seen leaning toward Trump and asking him, “Can I get her for us?”

The scene unfolded after Trump called Leavitt into Cabinet room at the White House, where Trump and Orban were holding a bilateral meeting to discuss Hungarian energy and trade. Toward the end of the meeting, reporters peppered the president with questions on the shutdown and affordability concerns, with one reporter saying, “You said last night you didn’t want to talk about affordability.”

TRUMP FREEZES OUT PUTIN FOR LACK OF ‘ENOUGH ACTION’ TOWARD PEACE — FUTURE TALKS UNCERTAIN

Trump shot back: “I talked about it. When did I not want to talk about it? I talk about it all the time. We are much better than Biden and all of them now.”

Trump called out to Leavitt amid his response, with her arriving at the meeting shortly after. 

“They said, ‘Oh, I don’t want to talk about affordability.’ The reason I don’t want to talk about affordability is because everybody knows that it’s far less expensive under Trump than it was under Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump said. “And the prices are way down.” 

Leavitt arrived to the meeting and promptly launched a takedown on the media for their coverage of the economy.

KAROLINE LEAVITT UNLOADS ON ‘BITTER’ JEAN-PIERRE AFTER ‘DEPLORABLE’ JAB, ACCUSES HER OF LYING TO AMERICANS

“It’s very unfortunate that the reporters in this room refused to address, sir, what you just said, which is that you inherited the worst inflation crisis in modern American history, and you are fixing it in 10 short months,” Leavitt said. “And your entire administration has been tasked with this effort, from Treasury Department to Agriculture Department to the National Economic Council right here at the White House, they are slashing regulation. He signed the largest middle class tax cut in six months. In six months, in record time. Putting more money back into the American people’s pockets.”

“Affordability is what the American people elected this president to do,” she added. “And he is doing it. And you guys refuse to cover it. And you refused to cover that the previous administration created the worst unaffordability crisis in American history. And I’ve been watching the TV all day saying that he doesn’t want to talk about affordability. That’s what he’s working on every day. And that’s what this administration is doing now.” 

Trump said the media has “refused” to cover the economic wins because the reporters are “fake news,” before Orban interjected that he would like to hire Leavitt. 

“You know what, that’s a very good decision you just made,” Trump jokingly told Orban after he said he wanted to hire Leavitt. “Please don’t leave us, Karoline.”

KAROLINE LEAVITT GOES SCORCHED EARTH ON HUFFPOST REPORTER, SAYS STOP TEXTING ‘BULLS—‘ QUESTIONS

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Orban’s meeting at the White House comes as he calls on the U.S. to grant Hungary an exemption on U.S. sanctions placed on Russia in October as negotiations with Moscow to end the war in Ukraine slowed.

Speaking with Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers deflected questions on why the stock market has had success under President Donald Trump in spite of their dark predictions on the administration’s tariffs.

Some downplayed the market’s success, indicating that it has no bearing on the country’s true economic pulse.

Asked by Fox News Digital why the stock market is still doing well if Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., shot back, “The stock market is not the economy.”

She insisted that because of the tariffs, Americans “are feeling price crunch when they go to the grocery store, prices are high.”

“The tariffs are a cause of that. The tariffs or taxes on Americans,” she said. “And that’s why those prices are higher. And that is why I fought against it.”

WHITE HOUSE RIPS ‘IMBECILIC BUFFOON’ TIM WALZ AFTER TRUMP TARIFF CRITICISM

Progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told Fox News Digital that she believes the stock market is only doing well “because the billionaires are continuing to do well.”

“Corporations got massive tax breaks, $7 billion in tax breaks in the big, bad betrayal bill,” said Jayapal. “That’s why the stock market’s doing well, because the stock is really, you know, a lot of those large companies feel like they’re doing just fine, they’re continuing to get huge tax breaks.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., said that “no matter what the stock market is saying, [Americans] are seeing the cost of groceries have not gone down. They are seeing that health care costs have become really exorbitant. They can’t afford it. They can’t afford the cost of goods.”

“That is what they expect us to respond to, is how it is affecting them and their everyday lives. And that’s what I am here and focused on doing,” she went on.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that “everybody in America knows that the price of goods subject to the tariffs are higher.”

“The stock market matters to a lot of folks, but prices matter the most to people. And right now, people are hurting because of Trump’s economic policies, including the tariffs,” he said. “This is not what Democrats are saying. It’s just a fact that tariffs are costing consumers thousands of dollars.”

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has blamed the Biden administration for the persistent high prices at grocery stores rather than the tariffs.

’60 MINUTES’ SEGMENT COMPARES TRUMP ECONOMY TO 1929 STOCK CRASH, CLAIMS CEOS TOO ‘NERVOUS’ TO SPEAK OUT

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X, urging Americans to “TRUST IN TRUMP,” saying that the president’s “pro-growth policies are a proven formula to Make America Affordable Again. They worked in his first term, and they are slowly but surely working now.”

“President Trump and his entire Administration, from the NEC to Treasury to USDA, are working hard every day to address the affordability issues created by Joe Biden, who unleashed the worst inflation crisis in modern American history — something the liberal media barely blamed the Democrats for over the past 4 years.”

Leavitt wrote that “the price of eggs, butter, ice cream, fresh fruit, cereal, fish, seafood, rice, pasta, and ham are all falling,” adding that “the best is yet to come.”

Back on Capitol Hill, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., echoed this sentiment, saying, “The point that [Democrats] are missing is that [Trump] is trying to get us better terms from all the countries that we export to, trying to get a level playing field, trying to grow our exports.”

“You have to separate the short term from what’s going to happen over time,” he explained. “They’re trying to make the argument in the short term because of some of the challenges of getting other countries to play fair.”

“You have to work through this process,” Hoeven went on. “The president did it in his first term, and we ended up with huge sales to China and other places, and that helped our ag markets and our other exports. And so, it’s the same thing again; he is working to make sure we get better trade terms for all of our manufacturers, processors, farmers, and everyone else. But it doesn’t happen in one day, it doesn’t happen overnight.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS DEFECT, REJECT TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON CANADIAN GOODS

Trump’s tariffs are not all universally reviled by Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Fox News Digital, “I agree with some of the tariffs, especially with like China.”

“But I didn’t agree with going after Canada and our allies,” he went on. “In some circumstances, like it’s steel, it is appropriate. I don’t necessarily agree on some of the other ones.”

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Fetterman added that “now it seems like the Supreme Court might be voting against that now. So ultimately, their opinion counts a lot more than mine.”

Faced with the question of why the market continues to perform well despite the tariffs, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., answered, “One thing I’ve learned is not to try to predict or analyze the stock market.”

Democratic strategist James Carville stirred controversy Thursday with provocative remarks reacting to Tuesday’s election results.

On his “Politics War Room” podcast, Carville stated: “I’m personally going to find a convicted pedophile and run him in a race just to see if he could beat a Republican.”

He followed up with: “I’m not sure. I’m not going to say a convicted pedophile could win.”

Carville added: “And by the way, the guy who was running against him ran a pretty good campaign.”

CARVILLE DOUBLES DOWN AFTER GETTING CALLED OUT FOR PREDICTING TRUMP ADMIN COLLAPSE, SAYS IT’S HAPPENING ‘NOW’

The veteran strategists’ remarks came in the wake of Democrats flipping a number of key offices and improving their performance on Tuesday.

One winning result was Jay Jones, the Democratic challenger for Virginia attorney general who defeated incumbent Republican Jason Miyares.

The win came after previously leaked texts of violent language from Jones’ 2022 messages became public.

JOE SCARBOROUGH TELLS DEM CANDIDATE JAY JONES TO LEAVE RACE OVER VIOLENT COMMENTS AGAINST GOP LAWMAKER

Although the texts drew sharp criticism, Jones wrote that the then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert “gets two bullets to the head,” raising questions from conservatives about whether Democrats are serious about combating and condemning political violence. 

In the messages, Jones fantasized about Gilbert being shot in the head while also suggesting that harm should come to the Republican’s young “fascist” children. 

“I’m gonna give you all the most interesting piece of news of this cycle, even more interesting than Bucks County, the Republican legislator who released the text, lost, exactly,” Carville said on his podcast.

Carville also suggested that “baggage” on Republicans may be weighing heavier than candidate missteps. “You’ve got some baggage out there with Trump people,” he said.

VIRGINIA SLAMMED FOR ‘TRULY DEMONIC’ ELECTION THAT EXCUSED POLITICAL VIOLENCE TO SPITE TRUMP, CRITICS SAY

On the podcast he went further, saying he would bet money that a Democrat would win the presidency in 2028 and court-pack the Supreme Court.

“I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen. A Democrat is going to be elected in 2028. You know that. I know that. The Democratic president is going to announce a special transition advisory committee on the reform of the Supreme Court,” he said.

“They’re going to recommend that the number of Supreme Court justices go from nine to 13. That’s going to happen, people. That’s going to happen to you. They’re going to win,” he added. “They’re going to do some blue ribbon panel of distinguished jurists, and they’re going to recommend 13, and a Democratic Senate and House is going to pass it, and the Democratic president is going to sign it, because they have to do an intervention so we can have a Supreme Court that the American people trust again.”

Carville has conceded before now that in January he was wrong about the 2024 election after repeatedly predicting Kamala Harris would win and that the results boiled down to the economy.

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He also previously wrote an essay for the New York Times headlined “Three Reasons I’m Certain Kamala Harris Will Win.”

He also said in a pre-election MSNBC interview that Harris would beat Donald Trump because Trump was “stone a— nuts.”

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…

-Obama once urged Black men to back Harris — then he, Democrats reversed race rhetoric legacy in 2025

-Duffy says air travel may take ‘days if not a week’ to return to normal, even after shutdown ends

-Justice Barrett urges students to ‘take the high road like Erika Kirk’ amid campus hostility

Trump, Mamdani front-and-center in Empire State battle between Hochul, Stefanik

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani are not on the ballot next year, but they are smack in the political spotlight in New York State’s 2026 race for governor.

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, in her first interview after declaring her candidacy for governor on Friday, linked Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to Mamdani, the 34-year-old socialist state lawmaker who won election on Tuesday as New York City mayor.

“Kathy Hochul endorsed him and bent the knee,” Stefanik charged in an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” as she pointed to Mamdani, who she claimed is “a raging anti-Semite, pro-Hamas communist who wants to raise taxes.”…READ MORE.
 

White House

BENEFITS BATTLE: DOJ accuses federal judge of making ‘mockery of separation of powers’ in SNAP appeal

RESEARCH DOLLARS: Cornell University to pay $60M in deal with Trump administration to restore federal funding

DEAL OR NO DEAL: Trump considers granting Hungary potential exemption on Russian oil just weeks after imposing sanctions

COMMANDING RESPECT: Trump says Hungary’s border stance keeps crime down, says Europe ‘flooding’ with migrants

World Stage

DRAGON SETS SAIL: China launches third aircraft carrier as Xi pushes military modernization against US influence

Capitol Hill

STALEMATE SHIFT: Schumer, Dems unveil alternative shutdown plan, ask for one-year extension to Obamacare subsidies

‘WHEELS CAME OFF’: Thune says ‘wheels came off’ as Republicans mull next shutdown move

NO DEAL IN SIGHT: Sen Kennedy says shutdown could last 2 more weeks amid ongoing Obamacare dispute

‘TWISTED IRONY’: ‘Twisted irony’: Democrats risk betraying their own pet issues with government shutdown gamble

GROUNDED NATION: House Democrat sides with Trump officials on air traffic cuts amid shutdown chaos

‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: Nancy Mace’s ex claims she fabricated sexual assault allegations in plot with friend’s estranged wife: report

STOP THE GAMES: Charlamagne Tha God calls on Dems to ‘stop playing politics with people’s lives’ and reopen the government

Across America 

SCANDALOUS CHOICE: Jay Jones’ transition team to be co-led by ex-governor from blackface scandal, abortion outrage

UNDER WATCH: ADL launches ‘Mamdani Monitor’ to track NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani over antisemitism concerns

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

Democratic senators on Capitol Hill offered differing responses as to why they believe Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made the call to reduce flights and air traffic ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel surge.

After news broke that Duffy was ordering a 10% reduction in flight capacity at 40 airports across the country, Republicans remained largely unified in their messaging that any chaos caused by the forced reductions fell at the feet of Democrats.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said short of “planes falling out of the sky,” Democrats will not vote to reopen the government. “Democrats are flirting with disaster,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, wrote on X in response to Wednesday’s announcement, adding that there was no choice but to reduce air traffic to keep it safe. 

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., appeared to agree in comments he made to reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday about the move, telling them “we’ve got to make sure that flights are safe.” 

REDUCING AIR TRAVEL CAPACITY AT 40 AIRPORTS IS ‘DATA-DRIVEN’ DECISION, DUFFY SAYS

“I don’t question Secretary Duffy,” Kaine added. “He wants to make sure that flights are safe.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., had a much more sinister view about Duffy’s motivations for compelling a reduction in air traffic ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday. According to Coons, the new directive is an attempt by the Trump administration to “pressure” Democrats to reopen the government without their demands on Obamacare being met. 

Coons argued that air traffic controllers and other airport personnel have been facing strains since before the shutdown due to cuts from the president’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk.

“I think it’s appropriate for us to focus on improving air safety. It is more urgent for us to focus on the health care cliff that is impacting millions of Americans,” Coons told reporters Thursday following Duffy’s announcement. “My impression is this is another attempt at putting pressure on Congress to reopen the government,” Coons added.

FLIGHT CHAOS GRIPS US AIRPORTS AS SOME AIRLINES ADVISE BOOKING ‘BACKUP TICKET’: SEE THE LIST

Coons was not the only congressional Democrat to chastise the Trump administration for the decision. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., called the move to order a reduction in flights “unprecedented” and insisted the move demanded “more transparency.”   

“The FAA must immediately share any safety risk assessment and related data that this decision is predicated on with Congress,” Larsen said after news of the reduction. “If we want to resolve issues in the National Airspace System, let us fix health care, open government and pay air traffic controllers.”

In response to the directive to reduce air traffic ahead of the holiday, U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman reaffirmed his group’s call for lawmakers to reopen the government or face potential “chaos” during the Thanksgiving surge. 

“Today’s announcement from Secretary Duffy and Administrator Bedford reinforces that safety is the number one priority in our nation’s air travel system. The decision to reduce scheduled flight capacity, while necessary to keep our skies safe, will inevitably affect the travel experience, leading to fewer flights, longer delays and more disruptions for travelers,” Freeman said. All government shutdowns are irresponsible and this decision underscores the urgent need to reopen the government. The shutdown is putting unnecessary strain on the system, forcing difficult operational decisions that disrupt travel and damage confidence in the U.S. air travel experience. The fault for this situation rests squarely at the feet of Congress.”

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Earlier this week, the travel industry trade group sent a letter to leaders in Congress warning of long-term economic impacts that could hurt American workers, businesses and the economy amid the Thanksgiving holiday if the current government shutdown does not come to an end soon. 

The letter, undersigned by hundreds of tourism and travel industry groups, also warned those planning to fly this Thanksgiving holiday that they could face higher costs and increased wait times, delays and cancellations that could derail family travel plans across the country, if the government shutdown doesn’t end before Thanksgiving arrives.

“Last year, during Thanksgiving week, over 20 million passengers took flights in the United States. Thanksgiving is not only a time of national tradition and family connection, but also one of the most economically important travel weeks of the year,” the letter states. “The cost of continued inaction will be felt by families, workers, businesses, and communities in every part of the country.” 

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary block on Friday on a lower court’s order requiring the Trump administration to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program amid the government shutdown. 

The decision came shortly after a federal appeals court on Friday denied a Trump administration request to temporarily block the lower court ruling.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell rejected the administration’s effort to only partially fund the benefits program for some 42 million low-income Americans for November as the shutdown drags on, giving the government 24 hours to comply. 

“People have gone without for too long,”  McConnell said in court.

DOJ ACCUSES FEDERAL JUDGE OF ‘MAKING MOCKERY OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS’ IN SNAP APPEAL

After the appeals court ruling, the Trump administration filed the emergency appeal to SCOTUS late Friday. 

“Given the imminent, irreparable harms posed by these orders, which require the government to transfer an estimated $4 billion by tonight, the Solicitor General respectfully requests an immediate administrative stay of the orders pending the resolution of this application by no later than 9:30pm this evening,” an administration spokesperson told Fox News. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James responded to the Supreme Court decision Friday, calling it a “tragedy.” 

“This decision is a tragedy for the millions of Americans who rely on SNAP to feed their families. It is disgraceful that the Trump administration chose to fight this in court instead of fulfilling its responsibility to the American people,” she said in a statement. 

The Supreme Court ruling came after the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday said it is working to comply with a judge’s order to fully fund the program for November. 

In a letter sent to all regional directors of the SNAP program on Friday, Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, said, “FNS is working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances in compliance with the November 6, 2025, order from the District Court of Rhode Island.”

He added, “Later today, FNS will complete the processes necessary to make funds available to support your subsequent transmittal of full issuance files to your EBT processor.”

TRUMP SAYS SNAP BENEFITS WILL ONLY RESUME WHEN ‘RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS’ OPEN GOVERNMENT

Penn said the department would keep regional directors “as up to date as possible on any future developments and appreciate your continued partnership to serve program beneficiaries across the country. State agencies with questions should contact their FNS Regional Office representative.”

He scolded the Trump administration for failing to comply with the order he issued last week, which required the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the SNAP benefits programs before its funds were slated to lapse on Nov. 1, marking the first time in the program’s 60-year history that its payments were halted. 

The judge also said Trump officials failed to address a known funding distribution problem that could cause SNAP payments to be delayed for weeks or months in some states. He ordered the USDA to tap other contingency funds as needed.

DOJ ACCUSES FEDERAL JUDGE OF MAKING ‘MOCKERY OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS’ IN SNAP APPEAL

“It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here,” McConnell said Thursday. 

Trump administration officials said in a court filing earlier this week that they would pay just 65% of the roughly $9 billion owed to fund the SNAP program for November, prompting the judge to update his order and give the administration just 24 hours to comply.

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“The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur,” McConnell said. “That’s what irreparable harm here means.”

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, was unconstitutional.

On Sunday, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, temporarily extended an order blocking the administration from deploying troops to The Rose City, saying the government failed to justify the move.

In the Sunday evening order, Immergut temporarily blocked “Defendant Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth from implementing” memorandums that authorized the federalization and deployment of National Guard members from Oregon, Texas and California into Portland.

The injunction remained in effect until Friday.

WHITE HOUSE REBUKES ‘EGREGIOUS’ COURT ORDER BLOCKING TROOP DEPLOYMENTS AMID PORTLAND UNREST

Friday’s 106-page ruling makes the order permanent.

It followed a three-day trial over whether protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland warranted use of the military domestically under federal law.

The administration said the troops were needed to protect federal personnel and property.

PORTLAND POLICE ACCUSE FEDERAL TROOPS OF INFLAMING ANTI-ICE PROTESTS, WHICH CITY CLAIMS HAVE NOT BEEN VIOLENT

Immergut said in the ruling the “evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were objected to by Oregon’s governor and not requested by the federal officials in charge of protection of the ICE building, exceeded the President’s authority” because he wasn’t able to demonstrate there was a rebellion or threat of rebellion that couldn’t be enforced without the military.

The judge added that “even giving great deference to the President’s determination, the President did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard.”

Immergut called the order unconstitutional, saying that it violated the 10th Amendment, “which ‘reserves to the States’ any powers not expressly delegated to the federal government in the Constitution.”

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The city of Portland and state of Oregon had sued the administration over the deployment in September after Hegseth sent 200 troops to the city.

The administration can appeal the decision. 

The administration also faces a temporary injunction in Chicago, where a judge has barred the administration from deploying troops.

Fox has learned that Senate Republicans are hopeful that just enough Senate Democrats may be willing to join with them to help break a filibuster on a test vote to fund the government through sometime in January. This proposal would also fund the Department of Agriculture and Department of Veterans Affairs, plus, Congress until Sept. 30, 2026.

‘TWISTED IRONY’: DEMOCRATS RISK BETRAYING THEIR OWN PET ISSUES WITH GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GAMBLE

If Republicans are able to coax enough Democrats to vote yes, the Senate could vote as early as tomorrow to break a filibuster on this combination bill. That would require 60 yeas.

However, what is unclear is the status of Obamacare subsidies. Democrats have balked at the lack of a concrete remedy to spiking health care premiums.

“They’re looking for an off-ramp,” said one Senate source familiar with the Democrats’ thinking.

THUNE SAYS ‘WHEELS CAME OFF’ AS REPUBLICANS MULL NEXT SHUTDOWN MOVE

Fox is told that air traffic control and flight delays are a major consideration in the thinking of the Democrats.

It is believed that the Senate GOP leadership is reluctant to force a vote related to the combination spending bill on the floor without a guarantee it could break a filibuster.

One Senate source told Fox it would be “bad form at this stage” to endure a failed procedural vote on a plan which Republicans believe is the only way out of the government shutdown cul-de-sac.

OPTIMISM FADES AS SENATE DEMOCRATS DIG IN, HOLD OUT OVER OBAMACARE DEMANDS

Moreover, a break by these Democrats without an agreement on health care would be a blow to progressives and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). It would also mark the first true progress toward re-opening the government.

If enough Democrats are yeas, Fox is told the Senate could take a test vote on Saturday night. By the book, if the Senate breaks the filibuster, the Senate may not be able to take a final vote on the package until sometime Monday or Tuesday.  But Fox is told there is a distinct possibility that Democrats could yield back time to expedite the process.

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If the Senate were to approve the deal, it’s on to the House. But the House’s disposition is unclear on this legislation. And the House would not even consider this plan until the middle of next week at the earliest.

However, if the House aligns with the Senate, the government would re-open — at least for a couple of months.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., defended her interruption of Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s press conference that went viral this week, arguing her rage was justifiable because Johnson has been unwilling to negotiate with Democratic Party leaders to reopen the government.

GOP lawmakers have argued the two warring parties could agree to a budget resolution and negotiate public healthcare subsidies Democrats are holding out for down the road. But Houlahan said she disagreed despite Democratic Party Senate leader Chuck Schumer unveiling a plan Friday afternoon to extend the Obamacare subsidies in question for just a year and develop a committee to negotiate further how to handle the subsidies once the government is open. 

“Because I believe that he’s our speaker, the speaker of the House, and it’s important that he do his job,” Houlahan responded when asked why she decided to interrupt Johnson’s press conference. “And as near as I can tell, in the more than 40 days [of the government shutdown], he hasn’t picked up a phone call and tried to speak to more than half of the country.”

“Democrats could end this in the Senate if they would just pass the CR and then handle healthcare separate. Why do you see these as connected?” the congresswoman was asked.

SCHUMER, DEMS UNVEIL ALTERNATIVE SHUTDOWN PLAN, ASK FOR ONE-YEAR EXTENSION TO OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES

“I believe them to be inextricably connected,” Houlahan responded. “This is literally the healthcare — the livelihood and ability of people to thrive in our country — and I think this is the time to have this conversation.”

Houlahan added that the Trump administration “has been slowly strangling the American people” and said that by shutting down the government it is “trying to complete the job.”

“Over the last nine months, this administration has been slowly strangling the American people,” she said. “Shutting back down the government by itself and now it’s trying to complete the job.”

When pressed further, Houlahan’s staff stepped in and said she needed to go and could not answer any more questions.

THUNE SAYS ‘WHEELS CAME OFF’ AS REPUBLICANS MULL NEXT SHUTDOWN MOVE 

The Democrat went viral earlier this week when House Speaker Johnson’s press conference outside the Capitol building briefly descended into chaos when she got into a heated exchange with the speaker demanding he meet with her caucus to end the shutdown. Houlahan was jeered at, and, at a certain point, Johnson told her to respect his free speech rights.

“You should respect free speech,” Houlahan clapped back. “I’m asking you a question if you’re ready to have a conversation with the other side. You represent all of us. You are the speaker for all of us, sir.”

Johnson attempted to take a question from a reporter, but he said, “I can’t hear you because we have someone who doesn’t respect the rights of their colleagues.”

Meanwhile, Houlahan kept shouting over the speaker even as he tried to call order.

“You have an obligation not just to speak lies to the American people. You have an obligation to call the leadership of both parties and bring us together and solve this problem together,” she yelled.

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The following day, Houlahan participated in a Democratic Party press conference of her own on the steps of the Capitol, during which no interruptions appeared to take place, according to recordings posted online. Houlahan referred to the viral moment between her and the speaker as a “dialogue” during her comments. 

“I like to think of it as a dialogue more than a confrontation,” she said. “He reminded me and the American people that he has literally not sat down and talked to Democratic leaders since before the shutdown. They refuse to sit down with us, and they refuse to tell the American public the truth.”

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

SNAP

A federal appeals court on Friday denied a Trump administration request to temporarily block a lower court ruling requiring the government to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program amid the government shutdown. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit ruling comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday said it is working to comply with a judge’s order to fully fund the program for November. 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell rejected the administration’s effort to only partially fund the benefits program for some 42 million low-income Americans for November as the shutdown drags on, giving the government 24 hours to comply. 

DOJ ACCUSES FEDERAL JUDGE OF ‘MAKING MOCKERY OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS’ IN SNAP APPEAL

In a letter sent to all regional directors of the SNAP program, Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, said, “FNS is working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances in compliance with the November 6, 2025, order from the District Court of Rhode Island.”

After the appeals court ruling, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping it will step in by 9:30 p.m. ET Friday evening. 

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“Given the imminent, irreparable harms posed by these orders, which require the government to transfer an estimated $4 billion by tonight, the Solicitor General respectfully requests an immediate administrative stay of the orders pending the resolution of this application by no later than 9:30pm this evening,” an administration spokesperson told Fox News. 

Senate Democrats again blocked a plan by Republicans to ensure that federal workers and the military would receive a paycheck as the shutdown back and forth revs into high gear.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., again tried to advance a modified version of his “Shutdown Fairness Act” bill that would see federal workers and the military paid now and during subsequent government shutdowns. However, the bill failed 53-43 with 3 Democrats defecting to support the bill. Georgia Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico voted for the bill.

Last month, it was blocked over concerns from Senate Democrats that it did not include furloughed workers.

SCHUMER, DEMS UNVEIL ALTERNATIVE SHUTDOWN PLAN, ASK FOR ONE-YEAR EXTENSION TO OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES

Johnson noted on the Senate floor that after discussions with Senate Democrats he changed the bill to include furloughed workers, and that his legislation had the backing of several federal employee unions.

“They are sick and tired, being used as pawns in this political dysfunction here. They’re tired of it,” Johnson said.

Still, after fireworks on the Senate floor where Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who initially blocked the bill over concerns that it allowed President Donald Trump to pick and choose who got paid, the bill was blocked largely along party lines.

THUNE SAYS ‘WHEELS CAME OFF’ AS REPUBLICANS MULL NEXT SHUTDOWN MOVE

“It’s about leverage, isn’t it? Isn’t that what y’all have been saying? It’s about leverage,” Thune said. “This isn’t leverage. This is the lives of the American people.”

Johnson’s bill appearing on the floor wasn’t the initial plan Senate Republicans had going into Friday. Thune wanted to put the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) up for a vote again, but newfound Democratic unity after a sweeping victory on Election Night earlier this week had derailed bipartisan attempts to build an off-ramp.

The GOP’s attempt to pay federal workers amid the ongoing, 38-day shutdown came as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus announced their counter-offer to Senate Republicans’ plan to reopen the government.

‘TWISTED IRONY’: DEMOCRATS RISK BETRAYING THEIR OWN PET ISSUES WITH GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GAMBLE

Schumer’s offer included attaching a one-year extension onto expiring Obamacare subsidies — the main sticking point of the shutdown — in exchange for the Democratic votes to reopen the government.

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But the offer, which a source told Fox News Digital had been made in private to Senate Republicans last week and was summarily rejected, was again not going over well with Republicans.

The Senate is expected to return on Saturday to vote on the House-passed plan for a 15th time. Whether Schumer and his caucus block it once more remains to be seen.

EXCLUSIVE: A federal grand jury has subpoenaed former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, among others as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, Fox News Digital has learned.

Sources told Fox News Digital Brennan; Strzok, the FBI’s former deputy assistant director of counterintelligence; and Page, a former FBI lawyer, were served with federal subpoenas on Friday.

Law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital that up to 30 subpoenas will be issued in the coming days relating to the investigation.

The grand jury is out of the Southern District of Florida. U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones is supervising the probe.

Fox News Digital first reported in July that Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey were under investigation.

Comey has been charged with making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is expected to begin in January.

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