Trump may block California’s new gas car ban as state weighs legal challenge


President Donald Trump could soon sign into law a joint congressional resolution scrapping California’s Environmental Protection Agency waiver that requires an end to gasoline-powered car sales by 2035. It’s a move provoking pushback from Golden State leaders in Sacramento.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats have argued that it is an illegal use of the Congressional Review Act, whereas Republicans, including state legislators, say the move is a necessary step toward curbing regulation in the state.

“I’m thankful that the folks in Washington, D.C., had common sense with something the governor doesn’t have here in California,” State Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, told Fox News Digital in an interview on Thursday, adding that “people can’t afford” a transition to electric vehicles.

SENATE GOP VOWS VOTE TO END BIDEN EPA WAIVER GRANTED TO PUSH DRIVERS TO EV CARS

traffic at night on highway

Motorists drive cars and other vehicles during the late afternoon commute on December 16, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)

“We don’t have enough energy capacity. The worst thing that can happen in California right now is everybody plugs in an electric car. We have rolling blackouts. We’re talking about rolling blackouts just from the heat this summer, not alone adding millions and millions of cars that would add electric vehicles to it. And we don’t have the infrastructure either,” the Republican added, saying that he’s glad “the federal government weighed in.”

At a news conference on Thursday morning, Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they plan on suing the Trump administration, which they’ve done more than 20 times, over the likely move.

Part of the legal argument being made by the Golden State is that the House Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian said that a waiver does not technically count as a rule, which created a debate over what can be done under the Congressional Review Act, according to The Hill

35 DEMOCRATS VOTE WITH GOP TO BLOCK BIDEN RULE ALLOWING NEWSOM’S GAS CAR BAN

Sen. Thune with Sen. Barrasso, left; Newsom, right

Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, believes the Senate action to kill the EPA waiver is an illegal misuse of the Congressional Review Act. (Getty)

Newsom said that the electric vehicle manufacturing market has made significant gains in California and that the state is a leader in “innovation” in wanting to pivot to electric, specifically citing air quality.

In the short term, the state is also facing concerns about rising gas prices with the expected closures of two California refineries, an issue the governor said he’s been on top of to avoid issues.

When Fox News Digital asked Newsom whether he thinks rising prices would encourage consumers to switch to electric vehicles, he said that Californians are ultimately in the driver’s seat.

CONGRESS CAN STOP CALIFORNIA’S RADICAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANDATES THAT HURT THE ENTIRE NATION

EV car charging

Electric vehicle at a charging station (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

“I think that’s up to consumers, but the cost benefits of electric vehicles are well-established and continue to be well-reinforced as it relates to uncertainties around supply chains, wars of aggression by Russia, and by the vagaries of the kind of political machinations you see in the Middle East and self-dealing that we see. We are simply hostages to decisions that are made without you talking about any input from taxpayers or citizens. I’d rather have a little bit more agency in this country as it relates to our energy future,” Newsom added.

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In Washington, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., is touting his resolution’s success.

“This is a bipartisan national repudiation of the utter insanity Newsom has inflicted on our state,” he posted to X. 

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



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Harvard sues Trump administration over termination of student visa program


Harvard is taking the Trump administration to court over its decision to terminate the university’s student visa program. 

Harvard said the policy will affect more than 7,000 visa holders — nearly a quarter of the student body — and is a “blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act,” per its court filing.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) moved to terminate the program after Harvard allegedly failed to provide it with the extensive behavioral records of student visa holders the department requested. DHS offered Harvard 72 hours on Thursday to come into compliance with the request and re-enter into the visa program. 

As of now, Harvard may no longer enroll foreign students in the 2025–2026 school year, and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status to reside in the U.S. before the next academic year begins. 

University President Alan Garber said a motion for a temporary restraining order to put the policy on pause while their court case against it plays out would be filed next.

Harvard president Alan Garber

Harvard University President Alan Garber said a motion for a temporary restraining order to put the policy on pause while their court case against it plays out would be filed next. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM TERMINATING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ LEGAL STATUS

“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the “ideology” of its faculty and students,” Harvard wrote in its complaint. 

The records requested include any footage of protest activity involving students on visas and the disciplinary records of all students on visas in the past five years. 

Requested records also include footage or documentation of illegal, dangerous or violent activity by student visa holders, any records of threats or the deprivation of rights of other students or university personnel.

Harvard called the new policy “pernicious” and accused the Trump administration of departing from “decades of settled practice and come without rational explanation.” It claimed the policy was “carried out abruptly without any of the robust procedures the government has established to prevent just this type of upheaval to thousands of students’ lives.” 

Kristi Noem hearing

“Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of antisemitism in society and campuses,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. (Getty)

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in response to the suit, “This lawsuit seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II.”

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments,” she said. “The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system; no lawsuit, this or any other, is going to change that.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday that in April, she requested the records related to visa-holding students, and Harvard’s counsel did not provide adequate information to meet the demand. 

After the DHS general counsel asked again for the information, Harvard provided an “insufficient, incomplete and unacceptable response,” she said. 

Harvard protesters show Palestine occupation sign

Student visa holders will not be allowed to study at Harvard next year over campus protests under a new DHS policy. (Brett Phelps/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEGINS NEW WAVE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VISA REVOCATIONS: ‘NO ONE HAS A RIGHT TO A VISA’

“Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of antisemitism in society and campuses,” said Noem.

In April, Harvard took action to prepare for the potential of the drastic policy change, announcing it would allow foreign students to accept admission to both Harvard and a foreign university as backup amid the Trump administration’s threats to move to block Harvard’s authorization to host them. Typically, students must accept enrollment at Harvard by May 1 and cannot commit to another university. 

At least a dozen Harvard students have had their authorization to study in the U.S. revoked over campus protest activity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress Tuesday the administration has probably revoked “thousands” of student visas by this point and would “proudly” revoke more. 

It is the latest development in the brewing battle between the Trump administration and some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. 

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The administration has already frozen close to $3 billion in federal funding to the university, largely dedicated to research, and launched investigations across the departments of Justice, Education and Health and Human Services. They claim Harvard has not adequately responded to campus antisemitism in protests or moved to root out diversity, equity and inclusion practices. 



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Trump hosts lavish dinner for top meme coin investors at his golf club


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President Donald Trump hosted a swanky dinner last night for the top investors of his $TRUMP meme coin project, telling them “The Biden administration persecuted crypto innovators and we’re bringing them back into the USA where they belong,” reports said. 

The event at the Trump National Golf Club Washington DC in Potomac Falls, Va., was open to the 220 largest buyers of Trump’s meme coin, with the top 25 getting “an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception with the President.” 

The Wall Street Journal, citing blockchain analytics firm Inca Digital, reported that around $148 million worth of $TRUMP was purchased by investors to win seats at the dinner, where guests had to pass background checks. 

“The Biden administration persecuted crypto innovators, and we’re bringing them back into the U.S.A. where they belong,” it quoted Trump telling the audience Thursday night, who dined on filet mignon and halibut. 

TRUMP CRYPTO CHIEF SAYS WE ARE IN THE ‘GOLDEN AGE’ FOR DIGITAL ASSETS, ‘CLEARING THE DECK’ OF BIDEN BARRIERS 

Guests at Trump event in northern Virginia

An unidentified guest wears a mask as he arrives at Trump National Golf Club where a private dinner was hosted by the president on Thursday, May 22, in Sterling, Va.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Protesters gathered outside the club holding signs that said “stop crypto corruption” and “no corrupt fools.” 

“The past administration made your lives miserable,” Trump was also quoted by the New York Times as saying, in reference to President Biden’s regulations against cryptocurrency. 

“There is a lot of sense in crypto. A lot of common sense in crypto,” Trump reportedly added. “And we’re honored to be working on helping everybody here.” 

According to participants’ posts on social media, Trump spoke for about half an hour before dancing to the song “YMCA.” 

Despite the White House insisting that Trump would be attending the event “in his personal time,” he stood behind a lectern with the presidential seal. 

HOUSE DEMOCRATS STORM OUT OF CRYPTOCURRENCY HEARING, ALLEGING TRUMP ‘CORRUPTION’ 

Protest outside of Trump dinner

An activist calls out an attendee of an exclusive dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 22. (Kevin Wolf/AP Content Services for Our Revolution)

Three days before Trump took office on Jan. 20, he announced the creation of the $TRUMP meme coin, describing as a way for his supporters to “have fun.” 

Trump’s meme coin saw an initial spike in value, followed by a steep drop. Its creators, which include an entity controlled by the Trump Organization, have made hundreds of millions of dollars by collecting fees on trades, according to the Associated Press. 

Critics have raised concerns that the president’s connection with cryptocurrency ventures could open the door to conflicts of interest and influence peddling. 

TRUMP LAUNCHES HIS OWN CRYPTOCURRENCY MEME COIN 

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., speaks outside the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 22. (Kevin Wolf/AP Content Services for Our Revolution)

When asked by a reporter Thursday if “anyone in the White House or in the White House counsel’s office advise the president against holding this sweepstakes, whereby people who spent the most money on his Trump coin would then have access to the president at this time”, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “is abiding by all conflict-of-interest laws that are applicable to the president.” 

“And I think everybody, the American public, believe it’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency,” she added. “This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly. And not only has he lost wealth, but he also almost lost his life. He has sacrificed a lot to be here, and to suggest otherwise is, frankly, completely absurd.” 

The biggest investor in Trump’s meme coin, Chinese billionaire Justin Sun – who spent more than $40 million — told the New York Times outside of the event Thursday that “I’m very excited to meet him and discuss about crypto’s future.” 

Among those protesting outside the golf club were Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon. 

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“This is the crypto corruption club,” Merkley was quoted by the Times as saying. “This is like the Mount Everest of corruption.” 

FOX Business’ Eric Revell and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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Trump administration expands deportation efforts with new ICE tactic


Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have launched a nationwide initiative to begin arresting illegal immigrants at their immigration and asylum hearings, Fox News has learned.

The effort targets illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. fewer than two years. The DHS strategy is to drop their immigration case, arrest the migrant, then place them into expedited deportation proceedings.

The initiative requires the DHS to drop the cases because migrants cannot be put forward for expedited removal if they have a pending case.

ICE sources who spoke with Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity say Americans should expect to see “a lot more” of these kinds of arrests.

HOUSE GOP TARGETS ANOTHER DEM OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF BLOCKING ICE AMID DELANEY HALL FALLOUT

ICE agents making an arrest

ICE officers will begin arresting migrants when they appear for their immigration and asylum hearings. (ICE)

The new policy is likely to lead to a spike in deportations of migrants who have not committed crimes aside from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The Trump administration has so far focused its efforts on deporting illegal immigrants who have been convicted of other serious crimes.

News of the policy comes as the Department of Homeland Security is in multiple court battles regarding its deportation efforts.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the DHS had violated a court order in sending a plane full of eight illegal immigrants to South Sudan this week.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled that the migrants — all of whom are convicted of crimes ranging from homicide to robbery — were not properly given “credible fear interviews.” The interviews allow migrants being deported to a third-party country to argue that being sent there would endanger them.

Murphy said he is investigating whether the deportees can conduct their interviews in South Sudan rather than returning to the U.S. immediately.

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Murphy previously found that any plans to deport people to Libya without notice would “clearly” violate his ruling regarding third-party deportations, which also applies to people who have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals.



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Nancy Pelosi silent on support for ban on congressional stock trading


Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., says she supports banning stock trading for sitting members of Congress “100%,” saying, “we shouldn’t be voting on things we can benefit from financially.”

Though supportive of efforts to curb the practice of trading by members of Congress, Mace, a staunch conservative, told Fox News Digital that she is not surprised the effort has been unsuccessful so far.

“It’s Washington. Washington is doing what it always does,” she said, adding, “The establishment rules and … when you see the kind of returns members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are getting that the average American isn’t, something doesn’t add up.”

According to Quiver Quantitative, Mace has no reported stock trading activity and has a net worth of $3.4 million.

WATCH: Leftist protesters flood Capitol Hill office building as ‘big, beautiful’ budget bill vote looms

Rep. Nancy Mace, left; right; Rep. Nancy Pelosi

While former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, declined to answer questions on a congressional stock-trading ban, Rep. Nancy Mace said she supports such a proposal. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I support it 100%. I don’t trade stocks,” said Mace. “I think I have learned since I’ve been up here that we can be market makers, and when we do bills, or we vote on things, or we do legislation, we shouldn’t be voting on things that we could benefit from financially.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meanwhile, declined to comment on her stance.

According to Quiver Quantitative, the former speaker of the House, who has a net worth of a little over $261 million and, as of April 28, was reported as holding $119.9 million in stocks, has been heavily criticized for engaging in lucrative trading.

When asked by Fox News Digital whether she would support banning lawmakers from trading stocks, Pelosi ignored the question and continued walking. 

HAWLEY REIGNITES ‘PELOSI ACT’ PUSH TO BAN LAWMAKERS FROM TRADING STOCKS

Rep. Nancy Pelosi closeup shot

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks with Katie Couric on Oct. 24, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

This comes after Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban congressional stock trading, serving as the House companion bill to Sen. Josh Hawley’s, R-Mo., “PELOSI Act” in the Senate.

Alford’s proposed bill would ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding, purchasing or selling individual stocks while in office, but it allows investments in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds or U.S. Treasury bonds. If passed, current lawmakers would have 180 days to comply with the legislation. Likewise, newly elected lawmakers must achieve compliance within 180 days of entering office.

Under the proposed legislation, lawmakers who continue to make wrongful transactions would be required to hand over any profits they made to the U.S. Treasury Department. The House or Senate ethics committees could also impose a fine on such lawmakers amounting to 10% of each wrongful transaction.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has also endorsed a stock trading ban, saying “a few bad actors” have ruined Americans’ trust in lawmakers on the issue. President Donald Trump himself endorsed the same ban for members of Congress in an interview with Time magazine last month.

“I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it,” he said of a trading ban.

CALLS TO BAN CONGRESSIONAL TRADING PERSIST AMID RECENT STOCK MARKET VOLATILITY 

Trump signing executive order; NYSE trading display

Photos of President Donald Trump signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House next to photos of the New York Stock Exchange as investors and markets reacted to the news of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. (Getty Images)

Democrats in the House of Representatives have also expressed support for a ban, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., throwing his weight behind the proposal last week.

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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., meanwhile, told Fox News Digital that he has an alternate solution that would allow legislators to trade stocks but would mandate that members of Congress wishing to do so to “put their money in escrow and announce the stock trade 24 hours before they make it.”

“Then they have to legally go through with the trade. So instead of not using the insider information, let’s give it to everybody and let them front run the elected officials here,” he said, smiling.

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



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White House promises those who killed Israeli embassy employees will face justice


Those responsible for the fatal attack against two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington, D.C., Wednesday will be prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law,” according to the White House. 

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were departing an event at the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday evening when a gunman opened fire and killed them. The two were slated to get engaged next week in Jerusalem, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a White House press briefing. 

A pro-Palestinian man authorities identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago was arrested, according to officials. 

“The evil of antisemitism must be eradicated from our society,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “I spoke to the attorney general this morning. The Department of Justice will be prosecuting the perpetrator responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law. Hatred has no place in the United States of America under President Donald Trump. Everyone here at the White House is praying for the victims, friends and families during this unimaginable time.”

Karoline Leavitt in press briefing

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2025.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Yaron, born in Israel but who grew up in Germany, has a father who is Jewish. However, his mother is a Christian and the family is considered Christian. Milgrim was an American employee the Israeli embassy employed. 

Leavitt’s comments echo similar sentiments from President Donald Trump and other leaders in the administration, who have asserted that the attack amounts to an act of antisemitism

Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments echo similar sentiments from President Donald Trump and other leaders in the administration, who have asserted that the attack amounts to an act of antisemitism.  (Rick Scuteri/The Associated Press)

“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!”

Likewise, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that those responsible for the attack would encounter consequences. 

marco rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that those responsible for the attack would encounter consequences.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the murder of two staff members from the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC. Our prayers are with their loved ones. This was a brazen act of cowardly, antisemitic violence. Make no mistake: we will track down those responsible and bring them to justice,” Rubio wrote on X on Thursday.

Additionally, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin said he met Milgrim in May at his agency’s headquarters. 

“I just met Sarah two weeks ago in my office at EPA HQ. She struck me as a young woman filled with life and positivity,” Zeldin said in a post on X. “Heartbroken to learn she was one of two tragically murdered last night by a Jew-hating radical screaming ‘Free Palestine’. May Sarah and Yaron rest in peace.”



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White House slams Democrats as ‘radical’ after House passes ‘one big, beautiful bill’


White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday declared that the Democratic Party “has never been more radical and out of touch with the needs of the American people” after voting against President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” 

Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package was passed by the House of Representatives by a razor-thin 215-214 vote early this morning.  

“Every single Democrat in the House of Representatives voted against all of these common-sense and massively popular policies. The Democrat Party has never been more radical and out of touch with the needs of the American people,” she said. “The one big, beautiful bill is the final missing piece toward ushering the Golden Age of America. The Senate should pass this as quickly as possible and send it to President Trump’s desk for a final signature.” 

Leavitt hailed the legislation as “delivering the largest tax cut in American history for middle-class families, the working class and small businesses.” 

The Trump administration and Republicans hope to reduce the national debt with the bill by cutting approximately $1.5 trillion in government spending. The U.S. government is over $36 trillion in debt and has spent $1.05 trillion more than it has collected in the 2025 fiscal year, according to the Treasury Department.

Leavitt also said it will “permanently secure the border by delivering the largest border security investment in history, funding at least 1 million annual removals of illegal aliens to carry out the largest deportation campaign ever, finishing the Trump border wall and giving pay raises and bonuses for our incredible ICE and Border Patrol agents.” 

DEMOCRATS PREDICT TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WILL COST MANY REPUBLICANS THEIR SEATS 

Karoline Leavitt at press briefing

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

Two House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio. 

When asked by a reporter Thursday if Trump thinks both lawmakers should be primaried, Leavitt said, “I believe he does.” 

WINNERS, LOSERS AND GRAB-BAGS FROM HOUSE GOP’S NARROW PASSAGE OF ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ 

House Speaker Mike Johnson

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., announces the final vote total after the House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after an all-night session at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (Television via AP)

“And I don’t think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress. ‘What’s the alternative?’ I would ask those members of Congress. Did they want to see a tax hike? Did they want to see our country go bankrupt?” Leavitt continued. 

“That’s the alternative by them trying to vote no. And the president believes the Republican Party needs to be unified. And the vast majority of Republicans clearly are, and are listening to the president. They are trusting in President Trump, as they should, because there’s a reason he’s sitting in this Oval Office. It’s because he’s the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party, not just a president for Republicans, but all Americans,” she added. 

Rep. Thomas Massie talks to reporters

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., speaks to reporters following a series of votes at the U.S. Capitol on March 11. He was one of two House Republicans to vote against the bill on Thursday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“The president’s approval rating is at an all-time high right now. That’s because he knows how to deliver, and Republicans like Thomas Massie and others should take note,” Leavitt also said. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Elizabath Elkind contributed to this report. 



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Leavitt says Trump has not directed staff to declassify Biden health documents


President Donald Trump has not directed his administration to declassify documents related to former President Joe Biden’s health and an alleged “cover-up” of the 46th president’s slipping mental acuity while commander in chief, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. 

“The president can declassify anything that he wants. Has he looked to see if there are any records here that would contradict what we’ve been told about Joe Biden’s decline?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Leavitt during a press briefing Thursday.

“He has not directed anyone, to my knowledge, to look into that,” Leavitt responded. “But, surely, I can ask him if he intends to.” 

BIDEN’S WOES CONVERGE: LAST-MINUTE PARDONS UNDER FIRE, CALLS FOR PROSECUTION MOUNT FOLLOWING HUR TAPE RELEASE

Biden’s health is back in the national spotlight after audio recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur were released Friday. The recordings showed the former president tripping over his words, slurring sentences, taking long pauses between answers and struggling to remember key moments in his life, including the year his son Beau Biden died of cancer. 

Hur led an investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents after Biden’s departure as vice president during the Obama administration. Hur announced in February 2024 he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, saying Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Karoline Leavitt in press briefing

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden’s office revealed Sunday the former president was battling an “aggressive” prostate cancer that had metastasized. 

After the election cycle, a handful of books documenting the 2024 election cycle and Biden’s apparent health decline have hit store shelves claiming that Biden staffers were aware of and fretted about the president’s mental decline, but publicly promoted him as physically and mentally fit to serve as president. Fox News Digital has extensively covered concerns about Biden’s mental acuity and health dating back to the 2020 election cycle. 

“I think the president has spoken on this pretty extensively,” Leavitt added at the news conference. “And I have spoken about it extensively from this podium as well, how it was truly one of the worst political scandals this country has ever seen, that the previous administration covered up the decline in the former president’s mental and physical ability. And it’s now all coming out. But the American people knew the truth, and that’s one of the many reasons why President Trump won the election on Nov. 5.” 

President Biden in Washington, D.C.

President Joe Biden listens during a visit to the D.C. Emergency Operations Center July 2 in Washington.  (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA

Doocy asked Leavitt specifically about the Biden administration’s use of an autopen, which Trump has argued was used by Biden staffers to sign official White House documents without Biden’s approval. 

autopen

Damilic Corp. President Bob Olding anchors a sheet of paper as the Atlantic Plus, the Signascript tabletop model autopen, produces a signature at the company’s Rockville, Md., office, June 13, 2011. (Manuel Balce Ceneta, File/The Associated Press) )

“Specifically, (Trump) talks about the autopen. He thinks that staffers were using this autopen. Is there some kind of, like a badge, that you have to swipe to use an autopen? Is there a record of that?” Doocy asked. 

WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS

“I can tell you here at this White House, the president signs any document that has legal implications,” Leavitt responded. “The president signs every executive order. He signs every proclamation. He signs pretty much every document that is needed for the president’s signature, with the exception of maybe some letters to children. From what we have heard and seen, that was not the case in the previous administration. And the president is raising good questions that are worth looking into.” 

Trump on Air Force One steps

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, May 4, 2025.  (Manuel Balce Ceneta/The Associated Press)

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Autopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. 

The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier this year and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature.



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Trump crackdown on international students blocked by federal court ruling


A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of international students while a court case challenging previous terminations is pending amid a crackdown on illegal behavior on college campuses.

California U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White barred the government from arresting or incarcerating the plaintiffs and similar students and from transferring any of them outside the jurisdiction of their residence.

His order also prohibits the administration from imposing any adverse legal effect on students and from reversing the reinstatement of the legal status until the case is resolved. 

However, students can still be arrested for committing violent crimes.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEGINS NEW WAVE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VISA REVOCATIONS: ‘NO ONE HAS A RIGHT TO A VISA’

President Trump and Harvard University

The Trump administration has targeted universities and foreign students amid a crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses nationwide.    (AP Images)

The government’s actions “wreaked havoc not only on the lives of Plaintiffs here but on similarly situated F-1 nonimmigrants across the United States and continue to do so,” said White. 

More than 4,700 international students had their permission to study in the U.S. canceled this spring as the Trump administration cracked down on foreign nationals protesting on American university campuses

Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through an FBI-run database that contains the names of suspects and people who have been arrested, even if the charges were dropped or they were never charged with a crime.

Some students have left the U.S. rather than risk arrest or deportation. 

RUBIO FIRES BACK AFTER DEM SENATOR SAYS HE REGRETS VOTING FOR HIM OVER VISA REVOCATIONS

The government contends it was exercising its ability to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act. DHS officials said the students don’t need the court’s protection because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reinstated legal status and was mailing status reactivation letters to affected students.

However, White said the erroneous revocations remained on the students’ record, impacting their ability to obtain a new visa or change their nonimmigrant status

Trump has targeted college students and universities amid a crackdown on antisemitism and other illegal behavior.  

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said it was eliminating the student visa program at Harvard University due to “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests. The Ivy League school has failed to comply with its requests for the behavioral records of student visa holders, DHS said. 

Kristi Noem

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem looks on at the Coast Guard Academy Commencement in New London, Connecticut, U.S. May 21, 2025.  REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin

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“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.”

“Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused,” she added. “They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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Domestic terrorism incidents in 2023 include DC shooting, clinic bombing


Two young Israeli Embassy staffers were shot and killed in an antisemitic attack in Washington D.C. Wednesday night. 

It was the latest incident being investigated by federal authorities as domestic terrorism.

The U.S. has seen an increase in antisemitic attacks and violent pro-Palestine protests amid the war between Israel and Hamas. 

But the incidents of domestic terrorism aren’t limited to antisemitism. Extremists who hold anti-American sentiment have attempted attacks on vehicles, military bases and more. 

Here is a breakdown of the domestic terrorism incidents in the U.S. this year: 

Shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. 

On Wednesday, May 21, a pro-Palestinian man opened fire outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. 

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two staffers of the Embassy of Israel to the U.S.—a couple set to be engaged—were shot and killed as they left the museum’s event focused on finding humanitarian solutions for Gaza. 

Lischinsky was born in Israel and grew up in Germany. His father is Jewish, and his mother is Christian.

Milgrim was an American employee of the embassy.

TWO ISRAELI DIPLOMATS SHOT, KILLED DURING EVENT AT CAPITAL JEWISH MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON, DC

Authorities took Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old man from Chicago, into custody. Upon being taken into custody, Rodriguez began shouting, “Free, free Palestine!” 

This image shows Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were the latest victims in a long history of attacks on Israeli embassy staff members. 

This image shows Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were the latest victims in a long history of attacks on Israeli embassy staff members.  (Image of police vehicle: Photo by Tom Brenner for the Washington Post via Getty Images. Image of Sarah and Yaron: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The FBI is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime and investigating any ties to terrorism. 

Steven Jensen, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said in a news conference that the federal law enforcement entity is working alongside the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to “look into ties to potential terrorism or motivation based on a bias-based crime or a hate crime.”

Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing

On May 17, a bombing took place at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, Calif. The bombing killed the suspect and injured four others.

Authorities identified the perpetrator of the incident as a 26-year-old suspect motivated by a fringe ideology known as “pro-mortalism.” 

“Pro-mortalism,” a radical offshoot of anti-natalism, views human reproduction as inherently immoral and embraces death as a moral corrective.

According to federal and local law enforcement, the suspect targeted the American Reproductive Centers facility specifically to destroy human embryos stored on-site.

FBI IDENTIFIES IVF CLINIC BOMBER AS ‘PRO-MORTALIST’ WHO OPPOSED BIRTH WITHOUT CONSENT

Surveillance footage and online postings suggest he parked in the rear of the building to remain unnoticed, ingested drugs and then detonated an explosive device – killing himself in the process. 

The FBI has classified the bombing as an act of domestic terrorism, citing the ideological motivation behind the violence. 

Officials have said that it is the first high-profile case linked to the pro-mortalist ideology and are now monitoring it as a potential emerging threat. Authorities have urged families and communities to remain vigilant for signs of ideological extremism, especially among those who may feel disenfranchised. 

Attempted mass shooting at Michigan military base 

Earlier this month, a former Michigan Army National Guard member, Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, was arrested for allegedly planning a mass shooting near the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) center at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan. 

Said planned to carry out the attack on behalf of ISIS. 

Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said

Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, of Melvinville, Mich., was arrested on Tuesday, May 13, for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack at the Tank-Army Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, shown right. (U.S. Department of Justice/AP)

Said “launched his drone in support of the attack plan” and told an undercover FBI agent in the lead-up to the foiled plot he recommended that “everyone have about seven magazines because you don’t want to be in there and run out of ammo,” according to officials. 

KASH PATEL DELIVERS FIERY WARNING AFTER FBI DISRUPTS MASS SHOOTING TERROR PLOT TARGETING MILITARY

Said is now facing charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years per count if convicted. 

The FBI disrupted the attempted attack, with FBI Director Kash Patel telling Fox News Digital that any individual targeting the U.S. military or conspiring with foreign terrorist organizations will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” 

“Let this be a warning: Anyone who targets our military or conspires with foreign terrorist organizations will be found, stopped and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Patel told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “I commend the men and women of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and our law enforcement partners for their continued dedication to protecting the American people.”

Tesla attacks 

Since January, there have been a number of instances of vandalism, arson and targeted shootings against Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations across the nation. 

Tesla vehicles and dealerships have been targeted nationwide amid Elon Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been focused on slashing wasteful spending and fraud within the federal government. Musk is the co-founder and CEO of Tesla. 

Tesla

Tesla New Mexico (U.S. Department of Justice)

The FBI launched a task force to crack down on violent Tesla attacks. 

FBI LAUNCHES TASK FORCE TO CRACK DOWN ON VIOLENT TESLA ATTACKS, MITIGATE THREATS

The FBI’s task force was created in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and will coordinate investigative activity.

A threat tag has been created at the FBI to streamline reports and a command post at FBI headquarters has been created. It consists of a joint FBI/ATF task force to mitigate that threat stream. 

Elon Musk, Tesla fire and Tesla boycott poster

Elon Musk, Tesla fire and Tesla boycott poster (Musk, Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images, Getty. )

TESLA ARSONS PROBED AS ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM’ CHEERED BY ‘ANTI-CAPITALIST’ GROUP LINKED TO 2020 RIOTS

The FBI is treating the attacks as “domestic terrorism.” Attorney General Pam Bondi called the attacks on Tesla “domestic terrorism,” and the Department of Justice announced charges against suspects in Tesla arson cases. 

Musk spoke out against the “deranged” attacks, suggesting that “there’s some kind of mental illness thing going on here, because this doesn’t make any sense.” The billionaire even alluded to “larger forces” potentially behind the attacks that have sprung up across the nation.



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White House challenges reporter over white, South African farmer deaths


The White House pushed back against questions from a reporter challenging statements by the Trump administration regarding the treatment of White South African farmers — after President Donald Trump showed a video allegedly depicting burial sites of them at the White House on Wednesday. 

While hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump aired a video in the Oval Office that showed white crosses that Trump said were approximately 1,000 burial sites of White Afrikaner South African farmers. Trump has claimed these farmers are being killed and forced off of their land. 

But Yamiche Alcindor with NBC News questioned White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on the credibility of the video, amid reports that the crosses were from a memorial demonstration following the murder of a White farming couple, not actual burial sites. 

TRUMP CONFRONTS SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT WITH VIDEO ON TREATMENT OF WHITE FARMERS

Yamiche Alcindor

Yamiche Alcindor of NBC News questioned White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on a video President Donald Trump aired Wednesday at the White House regarding the treatment of White South African farmers.  (William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images)

“We know that that was not true and that the video wasn’t true,” Alcindor said during the White House press briefing on Thursday. 

Leavitt and Alcindor sparred and talked over one another, with Alcindor asking, “What protocols are in place when there’s unsubstantiated information being put out for the world and world leaders?”

Leavitt then stepped in and ended the exchange, claiming the video was not unsubstantiated. 

“What’s unsubstantiated about the video?” Leavitt said. “The video shows crosses that represent the dead bodies of people who were racially persecuted by their government. In fact, The Associated Press, of all places, has a picture of that very monument in the caption from The Associated Press is ‘Each cross marks a white farmer who has been killed in a farm murder.’” 

TRUMP TO MEET LEADER OF ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ SOUTH AFRICA AT WHITE HOUSE

Karoline Leavitt in press briefing

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (Getty Images)

“So it is substantiated. But it’s not just by that video and the physical evidence that everybody saw on display in the Oval Office, but also by another outlet in this from The Associated Press,” Leavitt said. “So you should take it up with them if you believe the claim is unsubstantiated. And that’s a ridiculous line of questioning.” 

The crosses depicted were part of a demonstration that occurred after a white, farming couple was killed in 2020, according to The Associated Press, citing local news reports from South Africa.

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Donald Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa

President Donald Trump, right, and Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, speak during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump told Ramaphosa at the White House that the burial sites by the side of the road are visited by those who want to “pay respects to their family member who was killed.” 

“Have they told you where that is, Mr. President?” Ramaphosa said. “I’d like to know where that is. Because this I’ve never seen.” 

“I mean, it’s in South Africa, that’s where,” Trump said. 

“We need to find out,” Ramaphosa said.

Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report. 



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New Hampshire becomes first New England state to ban sanctuary cities


CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire on Thursday became the first state in New England to ban so-called sanctuary cities.

“There will be no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire, period, end of story,” Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte said at a bill signing ceremony at the state Capitol.

Speaking with Fox News Digital minutes later, Ayotte noted that the measures she signed “ban sanctuary cities in New Hampshire but also allow cooperation between all of our law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.”

New Hampshire joins a growing number of states in banning sanctuary cities, which is a term used to describe jurisdictions that put some limits on cooperating with efforts by federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants. 

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER CRACKING DOWN ON SANCTUARY CITIES 

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire signs into law two bills that ban sanctuary cities at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H., on Thursday.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire signs into law two bills that ban sanctuary cities at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H., on Thursday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Ayotte, a former state attorney general who later served six years representing New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate, made banning sanctuary cities a key element in her successful 2024 run for governor. Ayotte’s campaign slogan was “Don’t Mass up New Hampshire,” as she took aim at neighboring Massachusetts’ more lenient migrant policies. 

“I campaigned on making sure we would not have sanctuary cities here in New Hampshire, and we don’t want to go the way of Massachusetts that has had a billion-dollar illegal immigration crisis,” the governor said in her national digital exclusive interview with Fox News.

Ayotte noted that she supports “legal immigration, but when people aren’t following our laws, we need to enforce our laws and this is about public safety.”

“New Hampshire is ranked the safest state in the nation, and I was glad I was able to sign the bill banning sanctuary cities to make sure we remain that way,” the governor added.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND COVERAGE OF THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE

The two bills were passed in the GOP-dominated state legislature mostly along party lines.

State Sen. Bill Gannon, the top sponsor in the state Senate, said that the measures would “make us an even safer place to work, live, and raise a family.”

And state Rep. Joe Sweeney, the lead House sponsor, said that “we are taking the handfcuffs off our law enforcement officers, and hopefully they’ll be able to work with our federal government, ICE, to put the handcuffs on the criminal illegal aliens that are violating and disobeying our laws.”

President Donald Trump repeatedly took aim at sanctuary cities as he made the issue of illegal immigration a key component to his successful 2024 campaign to win back the White House.

And Trump last month signed an executive order putting some muscle behind his threat to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities.

Some Democrats in New Hampshire, who opposed the measure, pointed to Trump’s efforts in the nation’s capital.

WHAT AYOTTE TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT SECURITY THE NATION’S NORTHERN BORDER

“What this bill does, under the guise of enabling New Hampshire law enforcement to support federal immigration efforts, is to make our state a willing accomplice in a politically manufactured campaign of state terrorism against a group of people, the vast majority of whom came here not to victimize America, but because they love America and they believe America is good,” state Rep. David Meuse told reporters. 

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire highlights her state's status as the safest in the nation as she signs into law two bills that ban sanctuary cities, at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H., on Thursday.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire highlights her state’s status as the safest in the nation as she signs into law two bills that ban sanctuary cities, at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H., on Thursday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

But Ayotte, asked about the lack of support from across the political aisle for the two bills, said, “I don’t understand where the Democrats are on these policies.”

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According to the New Hampshire Municipal Association, there are no sanctuary cities in the state, while a handful of cities and towns in the state have described themselves as “welcoming cities” that encourage a welcoming environment for all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity or origin.

But state Republican lawmakers pointed to between nine and 12 cities and towns in New Hampshire that they have identified over the years as welcome or sanctuary cities.



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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announces first Army paratrooper pay increase in 25 years


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In a speech Thursday in North Carolina to soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pledged to restore what he called the U.S. military’s “warrior ethos” and announced pay raises for paratroopers.

Speaking during All American Week at Fort Bragg, Hegseth laid out President Donald Trump’s vision focused on combat readiness, merit-based standards, and investment in the American warfighter.

“We’re going to bring it back to the basics,” Hegseth said. “We’re going to restore the warrior ethos… and we are across our formations, a standard that’s set here every single day.”

According to the Department of Defense, Hegseth used the occasion to announce an increase in hazardous duty incentive pay, known as jump pay. It will rise from $150 to $200 per month for paratroopers, and for the first time, jumpmasters will receive an additional $150 on top of their existing pay.

SECRETARY OF THE ARMY DAN DRISCOLL: ARMY UNVEILS MODERNIZATION PLAN BECAUSE, ‘NO LOBBYIST EVER WON A WAR’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks over Golden Dome display

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“For the first time in 25 years… we are increasing jump pay,” Hegseth said. “Not only are we increasing jump pay, but… jumpmasters… are going to receive an additional $150 a month in incentive pay.”

He added: “Here’s to our paratroopers, our jumpmasters, who do the difficult things in difficult places that most Americans can never imagine.”

Hegseth told the crowd that troops remain the focus of every major Pentagon decision

“Inside the corridors of the Pentagon, you are on our minds, with the decisions we make in budgets, in planning, in deployments, in orders, in reorganizations. We have you and your families in mind.”

HEGSETH ORDERS REVIEW OF MILITARY FITNESS AND GROOMING STANDARDS: ‘OUR ADVERSARIES ARE NOT GROWING WEAKER’

Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Kevin Cramer, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Oval Office

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, right, speaks as Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In his remarks, Hegseth shared a core defense strategy promoted by Trump: prioritize readiness, reject identity politics, and reassert American deterrence.

“We will focus on readiness, on training, on warfighting, on accountability, on standards. Black, white, male, female, doesn’t matter. We’re going to be colorblind and merit-based warfighters just like you are here in the 82nd.”

This return to fundamentals, Hegseth argued is necessary to rebuild the force and deter growing global threats. 

“President Trump is committed to historic investments inside our formations. Our promise to you is that when the 82nd Airborne is deployed… you will be equipped better than any other fighting force in the world.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks over Golden Dome display

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Drawing a contrast with prior administrations, Hegseth referenced global instability, including the war in Ukraine, the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, for a number of years, the world watched and wondered where American leadership and American strength was,” he said. “By putting America first, we will reestablish peace through strength.”

Hegseth closed by honoring the legacy and future of the 82nd. 

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“Like those who came before you, you keep showing the world the stuff you’re made of. Because we know you are ready for the important work that lies ahead.”

The Army office of Public Affairs did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.



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Ag Secretary says states lining up to ban soda, junk food from food stamp programs


Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) event Thursday that the Trump administration is making history with its approval of numerous waivers that will eliminate junk food from food stamp programs. 

Rollins was in Nebraska on Monday to sign the first alongside Republican Gov. Jim Pillen. She has also signed a waiver for Indiana and Iowa, “with half-a-dozen more coming down the line,” she said.   

“We are on track to sign multiples of snap waivers to get junk food and sugary drinks out of our food stamp system,” Rollins said at the Thursday afternoon event, centering around the release of a 69-page report from the Trump administration’s MAHA Commission on how to effect change around childhood chronic disease. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL NEW FOOD STAMP WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

States are seeking waivers from the USDA to ban junk foordfrom food stamp programs.

The Trump administration’s Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, signaled Thursday she will be signing multiple waivers to let states ban junk food from food stamp programs, after signing a few this week, describing the effort as historic for any presidential administration. (Getty Images/iStock)

“That has never happened before under Republican or Democrat administrations,” Rollins added. “We have never made that happen before. So I am so proud and so grateful.”

On average, 42 million low-income Americans receive food stamp assistance each month, according to the MAHA report released at Thursday’s event. It added that 1 in 5 American children under 17 receive SNAP benefits.

With Nebraska’s waiver, it became the first state in the nation to bar recipients of federal food stamp programs from using the money to buy junk food, soda and other high-sugar items. The exemption will begin as a two-year pilot program, local media reported.

REPUBLICAN BILLS PUT TAXPAYER-FUNDED JUNK FOOD ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

junk food obesity thumb

Several GOP-led states are lining up to ban junk food from food stamp programs via a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  (iStock)

Other GOP-led states, including Texas and West Virginia, have applied for this waiver.

“SNAP was created to increase access to nutritious food; however, many SNAP purchases are for food with little to no nutritious value,” Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott wrote in a letter to Rollins requesting a waiver last week. 

“Under the Trump administration, for the first time since the program was authorized, states can take steps to eliminate the opportunity to buy junk food with SNAP benefits and assure that taxpayer dollars are used only to purchase healthy, nutritious food.”

Morrisey, Pillen and Abbott

West Virginia, Nebraska and Texas have all requested waivers to rid junk food from food stamp programs. [FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: West Virginia Gov. Patric Morrisey (R); Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R); Texas Gov. Greg Abott]  (GETTY IMAGES/FOX NEWS)

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West Virginia’s Governor Patrick Morrisey, one of the leaders requesting a waiver, has also been spearheading other MAHA efforts in his state. In March, Morrisey signed House Bill 2354 into law, which made it the first state in the nation to begin prohibiting certain synthetic dyes and additives used in food items sold in the state.



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Supreme Court rules on fate of fired federal board members


The Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s removal of two Democratic appointees from federal boards, handing the administration a legal victory and settling a high-stakes dispute over the president’s power to fire agency officials.

The Thursday ruling comes after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to temporarily halt the reinstatement of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris, two Democrat appointees who were abruptly terminated by the Trump administration this year. 

Both had challenged their terminations as “unlawful” in separate lawsuits filed in D.C. federal court.

However, the high court suggested that it could block attempts to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who, according to Trump, has complained has not cut interest rates fast enough. 

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM FIRING FEDERAL BOARD MEMBERS, TEES UP SUPREME COURT FIGHT

Supreme Court justices sit together in the audience during a formal event at the U.S. Capitol. Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor are visible in the front row, wearing black robes and facing forward.

Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor attend the 60th inaugural ceremony on Jan. 20, 2025, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.  (Ricky Carioti /The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The issue confronting the justices was whether the board members, both appointed by President Joe Biden, can stay in their jobs while the larger fight continues over what to do with a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey’s Executor, in which the court unanimously ruled that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause.

The court’s three liberal justices dissented. 

“Not since the 1950s (or even before) has a President, without a legitimate reason, tried to remove an officer from a classic independent agency,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Kagan wrote that her colleagues were telegraphing what would happen. 

Gwynne Wilcox, Cathy Harris and Donald Trump

Split image shows fired NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, President Donald Trump and fired MSPB member Cathy Harris. (NLRB/Getty/C-SPAN)

“The impatience to get on with things—to now hand the President the most unitary, meaning also the most subservient, administration since Herbert Hoover (and maybe ever)—must reveal how that eventual decision will go,” she wrote.

Lawyers for the Trump administration urged the Supreme Court to either keep Wilcox and Harris off the job while the case moves through the lower courts, or to resolve the issue directly. They asked the justices to grant certiorari before judgment – a fast-track procedure the court uses occasionally to bypass the appeals process in cases of significant national importance.

They urged that Wilcox and Harris not be reinstated to their positions, arguing in their reply brief that the “costs of such reinstatements are immense.”

They argued that keeping both Wilcox and Harris in place would “entrust” the president’s powers “for the months or years that it could take the courts to resolve this litigation,” something they said “would manifestly cause irreparable harm to the President and to the separation of powers.”

Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court is shown at dusk on June 28, 2023 in Washington, DC (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“The President would lose control of critical parts of the Executive Branch for a significant portion of his term, and he would likely have to spend further months voiding actions taken by improperly reinstated agency leaders.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit voted 7–4 to restore Wilcox and Harris to their respective boards, citing Supreme Court precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States and Wiener v. United States – landmark rulings that upheld limits on the president’s power to remove members of independent federal agencies.

The majority noted that the Supreme Court has never overturned the decades-old precedent upholding removal protections for members of independent, multimember adjudicatory boards – such as the NLRB and MSPB – and said that precedent supported reinstating Wilcox and Harris.

It also rejected the Trump administration’s request for an administrative stay, which would have allowed their removals to remain in place while the challenge proceeds in court. 

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly told the courts of appeals to follow extant Supreme Court precedent unless and until that Court itself changes it or overturns it,” judges noted in their opinion. 

The ruling would have temporarily returned Harris and Wilcox to their posts – but the victory was short-lived. The Trump administration quickly appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted an emergency administrative stay blocking their reinstatement.

In their own Supreme Court filings, lawyers for Wilcox and Harris argued that the court should reinstate them to their roles on their respective boards until a federal appeals court can consider the matter.

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

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 31, 2025. (Pool via AP)

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 31, 2025. (Pool via AP) (Pool via AP)

Both Wilcox and Harris opposed the administration’s effort to fast-track the case, warning against skipping the normal appeals process and rushing arguments. “Rushing such important matters risks making mistakes and destabilizing other areas of the law,” Harris’s lawyers told the Supreme Court this week.

Wilcox, the NLRB member, echoed this argument in her own brief to the high court. 

Counsel for Wilcox cited the potential harm in removing her from the three-member NLRB panel – which they argued in their filing could bring “an immediate and indefinite halt to the NLRB’s critical work of adjudicating labor-relations disputes.”

“The President’s choice to instead remove Ms. Wilcox does not bring the Board closer in line with his preferred policies; it prevents the agency from carrying out its congressionally mandated duties at all,” they said.

Harris and Wilcox’s cases are among several legal challenges attempting to clearly define the executive’s power. 

Hampton Dellinger, a Biden appointee previously tapped to head the Office of Special Counsel, sued the Trump administration over his termination. Dellinger filed suit in D.C. district court after his Feb. 7 firing.

Trump/SCOTUS split

President Donald Trump and an image of the U.S. Supreme Court building.  (Getty Images)

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He had maintained the argument that, by law, he could only be dismissed from his position for job performance problems, which were not cited in an email dismissing him from his post.

Dellinger dropped his suit against the administration after the D.C. appellate court issued an unsigned order siding with the Trump administration.

The Justice Department, for its part, said in February a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that it was seeking to overturn Humphrey’s Executor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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Noem Nixes Harvard Visas: Fox News Politics Newsletter May 22, 2025


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…

  • House GOP leadership takes victory lap after passing Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’
  • ‘Security incident’ reported outside CIA headquarters
  • New book reveals Biden’s inner circle worried about his age years before botched debate performance

Noem Nixes Harvard Visas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is eliminating the student visa program at Harvard University due to “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests, Fox News Digital has learned. 

It’s a severe consequence for what DHS claims is Harvard’s refusal to comply with its requests for behavioral records of student visa holders. 

“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”…READ MORE

Sec. Kristi Noem and Harvard protests

Sec. Kristi Noem and Harvard protests (Reuters)

White House

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Melania Trump audiobook

(Courtesy of Melania Trump.)

World Stage

FOREIGN TAKEOVER: New law would stop foreign adversaries from ‘buying up our country’ while Americans can’t afford homes

HERE TO HELP: Red Cross fighting to reach hostages, alleviate ‘catastrophic’ situation in Gaza

‘CHEATED’ AMERICA: Republicans look to stop China’s ‘backdoor’ tariff-dodging scheme

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, with US, china flags behind them

Will the tariff truce with China give President Donald Trump a political bounce? (Fox News)

Capitol Hill

‘A PRICE TO PAY’: Democrats predict passing Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ will cost many Republicans their seats

BIG BILL, BIGGER DRAMA: Winners, losers, and grab-bags from House GOP’s narrow passage of ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

‘I’M GOING TO GO’: Ilhan Omar refuses to answer reporter questions on fatal shooting of Israeli Embassy workers

Rep. Ilhan Omar closeup shot

Deputy Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a news conference on possible government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on September 20, 2023 in Washington, DC (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

NANCY VS NANCY: Mace sounds off on stock trading in Congress, Pelosi remains silent: ‘Something doesn’t add up’

BORDER BOLSTER: Bipartisan Senate bill targets border human, drug trafficking with innovative technology

Across America 

‘EVIL OF ANTISEMITISM’: White House decries ‘evil of antisemitism,’ vows justice after fatal shooting of Israeli embassy staffers

NEW TACTIC: ICE begins new, nationwide effort to arrest illegal aliens at immigration hearings

SICKEST GENERATION: RFK Jr.’s highly-anticipated MAHA report paints dismal state of child health, national security concerns

SPLIT DECISION: Supreme Court upholds Oklahoma decision, in blow to religious charter schools

justices of Supreme Court in portrait; protester

This split image shows the US Supreme Court justices and a school choice protester (SCOTUS/Getty )

‘DID THIS FOR GAZA’: Who is the suspect in the killing of 2 Israeli embassy staffers?

HISTORY OF TERROR: Gunman kills Israeli embassy couple in Washington, following decades of embassy-targeted attacks

TERROR AT HOME: Antisemitic shooting of Israeli diplomats adds to alarming rise in domestic terrorism

ENFORCEMENT FIRST: This state just became the latest in the country to ban sanctuary cities

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



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DHS calls out ‘activist’ judge for halting deportation of illegal alien sex offender


EXCLUSIVE: The Trump Department of Homeland Security is calling out a Biden-appointed “activist” judge in Massachusetts who paused the deportation of an illegal alien who DHS says sexually assaulted a disabled woman with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.

The DHS shared a filing from the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry that says Burmese illegal Nyo Myint was convicted of attempted first-degree sexual assault of an individual incapable of consent.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that Myint, who was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman “with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.”

“This ‘Lincoln man’ is an illegal alien and one of the monsters that the activist Massachusetts district judge is trying to bring back to the United States after he was deported yesterday,” McLaughlin said.

IMMIGRATION EXPERT WARNS CHINESE ILLEGAL ALIENS USING CANADIAN CITY AS GATEWAY TO US

suspect, left; ICE officer right

The Trump Department of Homeland Security bashed a Biden-appointed “activist” judge in Massachusetts who paused the deportation of an illegal alien who DHS says sexually assaulted a disabled woman with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. (Nebraska Sex Offender Registry courtesy of DHS and ICE)

DHS has said Myint had a final order of removal issued against him Aug. 17, 2023.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts issued the ruling Tuesday night, ordering President Donald Trump’s administration to maintain custody of eight illegal immigrants deported to South Sudan in case he rules the removals unlawful and they must be transferred back to the U.S.

Murphy’s ruling said the government must “maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful.”

After the ruling, McLaughlin called the decision “deranged,” saying “these depraved individuals have all had their day in court and been given final deportation orders.”

MOM OF GIRL ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGALS SAYS WILDLIFE REFUGE RENAMING ‘MEANS THE WORLD’ TO FAMILY

ICE officers walking down street

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk down a street during a multi-agency enforcement operation in Chicago Jan. 26, 2025. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“A reminder of who was on this plane: murderers, child rapists, an individual who raped a mentally and physically disabled person,” McLaughlin added. “The message this activist judge is sending to victims and their families is we don’t care. President Trump and Secretary Noem are working every day to get vicious criminals out of our country while activist judges are fighting to bring them back onto American soil.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

According to DHS, the other illegals on the plane were Enrique Arias-Hierro, a Cuban national convicted of homicide and other crimes; Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, another Cuban convicted of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon; Thongxay Nilakout, a citizen of Laos, convicted of first-degree murder and robbery; Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a Mexican national convicted of second-degree murder; Dian Peter Domach, a citizen of South Sudan convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm; Kyaw Mya, a citizen of Burma convicted of lascivious acts with a child victim less than 12 years of age; and Tuan Thanh Phan, a Vietnamese national convicted of first-degree murder.

The White House also issued a statement in response, saying the ruling is “another attempt by a far-left activist judge to dictate the foreign policy of the United States — and protect the violent criminal illegal immigrants President Donald J. Trump and his administration have removed from our streets.”

ICE CAPTURES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WANTED FOR ALLEGEDLY KILLING MOTHER IN DUI CRASH

President Trump closeup shot

President Donald Trump delivers remarks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump chimed in on Truth Social, saying the ruling has forced the deportation flight to pause in Djibouti.

Trump slammed Murphy as “a Federal Judge in Boston, who knew absolutely nothing about the situation, or anything else,” and “ordered that EIGHT of the most violent criminals on Earth curtail their journey to South Sudan.”

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The president urged the Supreme Court to end the trend of judges inhibiting his administration’s deportation agenda.

“The Judges are absolutely out of control, they’re hurting our Country, and they know nothing about particular situations, or what they are doing — And this must change, IMMEDIATELY!” he said. “Hopefully, the Supreme Court of the United States will put an END to the quagmire that has been caused by the Radical Left.”

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



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Massie, Davidson take to social media to defend ‘big, beautiful’ no votes on budget


House Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” on Thursday morning, working through overnight committee meetings, last-minute huddles in the speaker’s office and even a last-minute assist from the president. 

But while House GOP leadership preached party unity as they passed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act by just one vote, two House Republican holdouts were unwavering in their concerns about the $36 trillion national debt crisis and ultimately voted “no.” 

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, took their concerns to social media on Thursday, telling their constituents exactly why they bucked the Republican Party on Trump’s key legislative agenda. 

“While I love many things in the bill, promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending. Deficits do matter and this bill grows them now. The only Congress we can control is the one we’re in. Consequently, I cannot support this big deficit plan. NO,” Davidson said early this morning before the vote was final. 

MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE

Left: President Donald Trump; Right: Rep. Thomas Massie

Left: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2025; Right: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) attends the inauguration of President Donald Trump.  (Left: WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images; Right: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Massie responded soon after, telling Davidson he agreed and “if we were serious, we’d be cutting spending now, instead of promising to cut spending years from now.”

HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER PASSING TRUMP’S ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“I’d love to stand here and tell the American people, ‘We can cut your taxes and increase spending and everything is going to be just fine.’ But I can’t do that because I’m here to deliver a dose of reality. This bill dramatically increases deficits in the near-term, but promises our government will be fiscally responsible five years from now. Where have we heard that before?” Massie said on the House floor

Trump with Mike Johnson

President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talk with reporters after a House Republican Conference meeting on the budget reconciliation bill in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The Kentucky congressman, who regularly sports a national debt clock pin, presented a bleak reality for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on Thursday as most Republican holdouts rallied behind the final manager’s amendment. “This bill is a debt bomb ticking,” Massie said. 

When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Massie and Davidson voting against the bill, she said the president believes they should be primaried. 

“I don’t think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress. What’s the alternative? I would ask those members of Congress. Did they want to see a tax hike? Did they want to see our country go bankrupt? That’s the alternative by them trying to vote ‘no.’ The president believes the Republican Party needs to be unified,” Leavitt said. 

GOP HOLDOUTS UNMOVED BY TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ TRIP TO CAPITOL HILL

Massie, who has been campaigning on Trump calling him a grandstander, even fundraised on Leavitt’s comments, writing on X, “The big beautiful bill has issues. I chose to vote against it because it’s going to blow up our debt. For voting on principle, I now have the President AND his press Secretary campaigning against me from the White House podium. Can you help me by donating?”

Former Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who served as Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has spoken out against the country’s debt crisis amid House negotiations, piled on the national debt criticism on Thursday, writing, “The Big Ugly Truth is that the Big Ugly Bill will push the Big Ugly Debt over $60 trillion.”

Speaker Johnson at lectern reading One Beautiful Bill Act

House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans celebrated passing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on Thursday.  (Getty Images)

Good found himself out of the job when he lost the Republican primary to now-Rep. John McGuire of Virginia last year. 

He was one of just a handful of House Republicans who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries, and then Trump threw his political might behind McGuire.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a multi-trillion-dollar piece of legislation that advances Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. 

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While the bill seeks to make a dent in the national debt crisis by cutting roughly $1.5 trillion in government spending, the United States still has over $36 trillion in debt and has spent $1.05 trillion more than it has collected in fiscal year 2025, according to the Treasury Department.

“I think the most essential truth in American politics is that nobody actually really cares about the national debt or deficit. It’s too abstract to saturate public sentiment,” Fox News Digital columnist David Marcus said after the bill passed

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



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Federal cemeteries would open on major holidays under GOP senator’s bill


FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican is hoping to ensure that families of fallen loved ones can mourn at their gravesides on federal holidays, days they are usually closed to visitation.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., is introducing legislation Thursday that would require the more than 170 cemeteries overseen by the federal government to stay open during legally recognized holidays, including Memorial Day, Christmas, Independence Day and others. 

Cemeteries operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and National Parks Service are typically closed during major holidays, save for Arlington National Cemetery, which is open on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, but closed for all other holidays. 

DEMOCRATS PREDICT PASSING TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WILL COST MANY REPUBLICANS THEIR SEATS

Sen. Steve Daines shaking hands with Trump

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) at the National Republican Senatorial Committee building on June 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Daines said in a statement to Fox News Digital that holidays like Memorial Day give Americans “the opportunity to remember all those brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.” 

“Our national cemeteries should be open on these special days, so that family and friends can pay their respects to their loved ones,” he said. “I’m proud to introduce this bill to ensure that our fallen service members can receive the tributes and honor that they deserve.”

TRUMP SUPRISES 104-YEAR-OLD WWII VETERAN WITH BIRTHDAY MESSAGE AFTER VIRAL TIKTOK INVITE 

Sen. Steve Daines in committee hearing

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) questions U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during his Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. ( Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The federal government began operating national cemeteries during the Civil War in the early 1860s to offer final resting places for fallen Union soldiers, according to the National Park Service

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The practice has since grown into over 170 different national cemeteries operated by three government agencies, the Department of Defense, the VA and the National Park Service. Not every state, however, has a national cemetery. 

Montana, which Daines represents in the Senate, is home to two national cemeteries: the Fort Missoula Post Cemetery and Yellowstone National Cemetery.



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Elite Virginia public high school under discrimination probe by Trump admin


One of the nation’s most highly ranked high schools is once again in the spotlight over its admissions policies after the U.S. Department of Education announced it would be launching an investigation into the matter. 

The announcement comes after the state’s Republican Attorney General, Jason Miyares, said his office has found reasonable cause after a multi-year investigation determining that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), which is overseen by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) system, operates an admissions process that discriminates against applicants of Asian heritage.

“The Fairfax County School Board made clear its intended outcome was to reduce opportunities for Asian American students—and that’s exactly what occurred,” Miyares said. “These students are not statistics. They are sons and daughters, neighbors, classmates and Virginians who deserve equal protection and opportunity under the law.”

The controversy began in 2020 when TJHSST made changes to its admissions policies to sensibly promote diversity. This was done through the elimination of standardized testing and application fees for interested students, implementing a holistic review process that considers factors like socioeconomic status and geographical location, and seething aside a certain number of spots for students from each middle school in the county.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN MOVES TO DISMANTLE DEPT OF EDUCATION

thomas jefferson high school building, fairfax county, va

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is located in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in Northern Virginia. It has consistently ranked among the best schools in the nation.   (Google Maps)

In response, parents filed a lawsuit against the district, alleging that the new admissions policy discriminated against asian students. A federal district court subsequently ruled in favor of the parents, but that ruling was later overturned by a federal appeals court.

The U.S. Supreme Court eventually declined to hear the case, effectively cementing the appeals court’s ruling. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented and warned of the possible implications the appeals court’s ruling could have for other admissions policies at other schools across the country.

BIDEN EDUCATION DEPT PUT PRIORITY ON PRONOUNS, LEFT BACKLOG OF NEARLY 200 ANTISEMITISM COMPLAINTS: OFFICIAL

Miyares has been investigating TJHSST’s admissions policies since 2023, concluding this week that there was reasonable cause to determine FCPS was “discriminating against Asian American students.”

According to Miyares, when TJHSST first implemented its new admissions policy, Asian American students made up over 65% of the school’s admitted classes. But over a period of just one year, Asian American admissions dropped 19 points, he noted. 

Jason Miyares closeup shot

Attorney General of Virginia Jason Miyares sits in his office in Richmond, Virginia.  (Photo by Julia Rendleman for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Internal communications confirm that this outcome was intentional. The Board reviewed proposal after proposal until it could guarantee the racial ‘diversity’ the Board was after,” Miyares office said. “And in the zero-sum game of school admissions, achieving the Board’s preferred racial balance meant that fewer Asian American students would be accepted.”

SPARKS FLY BETWEEN EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON AND DEM REP. WATSON COLEMAN: ‘YOU SHOULD FEEL SHAMEFUL’

The Department of Justice said Wednesday it would work with the Department of Education to probe the potential Title VI violation, after Miyares’ office referred the matter to them for investigation. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold funding from schools over potentially discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

students raising hands; protester with sign

In a statement to Fox News Digital, FCPS said the matter has already been settled by courts that have said there is no merit behind allegations its admissions policies are discriminatory. (Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, FCPS said the matter has already been adjudicated by the courts, which it said have determined there is no merit behind the allegations that its admissions policies are discriminatory. 

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Nonetheless, the statement said the district was reviewing materials from the Attorney General and will issue a more detailed response in the near future.

“This matter has already been fully litigated. A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students,” the statement read. “Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) division leadership and counsel are currently reviewing the documents released today by the Attorney General and will issue a more detailed response in the coming days. FCPS remains committed to providing a world-class education for all of our students.”



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