NationalWatch

The Trump administration told a federal judge on Wednesday it is working to charter a plane to return to the U.S. an immigrant from Guatemala who was deported in March without due process and despite fears of persecution. 

The Justice Department said in a court filing Wednesday that they are working to return the individual, identified only as O.C.G., to the U.S. 

The update is significant and marks the first known instance that the Trump administration appears to be complying with a federal court’s order to return to the U.S. a migrant who was deported in what administration officials have since acknowledged to be the result of erroneous information.

The news comes after U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts ruled last week that the man was deported to Mexico without due process and ordered that the administration secure his return to the United States.

Lawyers for the Trump administration told the court late Wednesday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations Phoenix Field Office made contact over the weekend with O.C.G.’s attorneys and are “currently working with ICE Air to bring O.C.G. back to the United States on an Air Charter Operations (ACO) flight return leg.”

US JUDGE ACCUSES TRUMP ADMIN OF ‘MANUFACTURING CHAOS’ IN SOUTH SUDAN DEPORTATIONS, ESCALATING FEUD 

The update comes after Murphy rejected a request from the Department of Homeland Security to amend his earlier order requiring the Trump administration to “take all immediate steps” to return the individual to the U.S., citing a lack of due process.

Murphy said in the Friday ruling that O.C.G. had not been granted due process nor had he been given a chance to contest his removal to a country where he could face threats of torture, a right afforded under U.S. and international law.

These “reasonable fear interviews” allow migrants a chance to formally seek protection from removal to a country where they face reasonable fears of persecution or torture.

Murphy noted in his ruling that O.C.G. was previously held for ransom and raped in Mexico but was not afforded the chance to assert those fears prior to his removal, according to his attorneys. 

“In general, this case presents no special facts or legal circumstances, only the banal horror of a man being wrongfully loaded onto a bus and sent back to a country where he was allegedly just raped and kidnapped,” Murphy said Friday.

IDENTITY OF SECOND DEPORTED MAN WHO JUDGE WANTS RETURNED TO US REVEALED AS TRUMP ADMIN FIGHTS ORDER

“The return of O.C.G. poses a vanishingly small cost to make sure we can still claim to live up to that ideal,” Murphy added.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment as to how long it will take to return O.C.G. to the U.S. or if it plans to follow suit in other cases in which a federal judge ordered the administration to return an individual deemed to have been wrongfully deported.

In Maryland, a U.S. judge in Baltimore ordered the administration to return a young migrant deported in March to El Salvador, ruling that his removal violated an earlier settlement agreement struck with DHS. 

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Separately, Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has repeatedly sparred with the Trump administration in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian migrant and alleged MS-13 member who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March in what officials have acknowledged was an administrative error.

“America’s asylum system was never intended to be used as a de facto amnesty program or a catch-all, get-out-of-deportation-free card,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement over the weekend.

The Department of Homeland Security doubled down on Wednesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member deported to his native country of El Salvador, “will never be on American streets again.”

The agency’s remarks came amid criticism from U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who tried to visit Garcia on Memorial Day. Ivey initially posted a video on X about the attempted visit, saying that he represents Abrego Garcia, and that the Salvadoran government stonewalled his efforts.

MARYLAND DEMOCRAT IVEY FURIOUS NOT GIVEN ACCESS TO KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA IN EL SALVADOR

He urged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday to present evidence in court that Garcia is an illegal immigrant. Democrats have maintained that Garcia was denied due process when he was deported despite being in the United States for years. 

“Let us be crystal clear: Kilmar Abrego Garcia will never be on American streets again,” a Homeland Security post on X states. “Advocating for an illegal alien, MS-13 gang member, human trafficker and wife beater over ACTUAL Maryland constituents victimized by illegal alien crime is appalling.”

Since his deportation, several Democrats have attempted to visit Garcia in the El Salvadoran prison where he’s being held to conduct wellness checks.  

DEM IMMIGRATION TALKING POINTS FIZZLE AS DARK PICTURE OF ABREGO GARCIA EMERGES

The Trump administration has pointed to evidence that Abrego Garcia was involved with MS-13 and human trafficking. It has also cited court documents detailing Abrego Garcia’s alleged physical abuse of his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. 

Meanwhile, Democrats describe him as a “Maryland man” who was not given his due process in court before being deported. 

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“If there is nothing to hide, cut the crap. Let his lawyer and I check on him,” Ivey said in his video message. “I’m the congressman who represents Kilmar and I came all the way down from the United States after we contacted their ambassador, after we made formal requests through our ambassador to the El Salvadoran government, and we came here to visit him today.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Ivey’s office. 

The largest police union in the country has issued an endorsement of key provisions of the President Donald Trump-backed “big, beautiful” budget bill.

National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) President Patrick Yoes announced strong support for the bill on Wednesday evening, saying “the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ is more than legislation—it is a promise kept to the public safety officers across the country and a bold step toward an economy that respects, rewards, and uplifts the people who keep it safe.”

Yoes expressed strong support for two provisions in the bill, a tax deduction for overtime pay and an increase in the state and local tax (SALT) deductions, which the FOP said are important to the rank-and-file members of the 377,000-member organization. 

The FOP president praised the leadership of Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson for passing the bill in Congress.

DUFFY URGES SENATE TO PASS BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’S $12.5B AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM FIX

The bill passed the House after an all-night debate last week in which Republicans squeezed out a victory in a 215-214 vote. The bill now faces significant opposition from Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate.  

“President Trump first proposed the elimination of Federal income taxes on overtime while still a candidate, and we are very pleased that a similar provision is included in the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,’” Yoes said. 

Regarding the bill’s increase in SALT deductions, the FOP praised portions of the big, beautiful bill that would create a tax deduction for income taxes on overtime earnings for those who earn less than $160,000 per year as well as increase the SALT deduction to $40,000 for all taxpayers earning less than $500,000 per year.

SALT deduction caps primarily benefit people living in high-cost-of-living areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and their surrounding areas. Republicans representing those areas have framed raising the SALT deduction cap as an existential issue, arguing that a failure to address it could cost the GOP the House majority in the 2026 midterms. 

BLUE STATE REPUBLICANS THREATEN MUTINY OVER STATE AND LOCAL TAXES IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Meanwhile, Republicans representing lower-tax states are largely wary of raising the deduction cap, believing that it incentivizes blue states’ high-tax policies. 

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., told Fox News that he is hopeful the Senate would address the SALT deductions, positing that the provision would add $385 billion to U.S. deficit spending.

Yoes, however, said “the current cap on SALT deductions uniquely and unfairly penalizes law enforcement officers, who often are required to live within a certain distance of the jurisdictions they serve—removing a valuable mechanism that allowed for a reduction in their cost of living.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON REACHES TENTATIVE DEAL WITH BLUE STATE REPUBLICANS TO BOOST CAP ON ‘SALT’ DEDUCTION

He said the SALT deduction is also “a valuable way of supporting local budgets as law enforcement agencies are facing an array of financial challenges associated with inflated costs of equipment, vehicles, and personnel, especially with respect to the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis.”

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“These are critical provisions to ensure those in the law enforcement profession have a better quality of life,” said Yoes. “We appreciate that President Trump is always fighting for our nation’s law enforcement officers.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the 12-year sentence of a major political donor who was serving time for a number of offenses, including obstructing an investigation into Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, the White House confirmed with Fox News Digital.

Imaad Zuberi, 54, was a major Democrat supporter before he backed Trump following his 2016 election victory, The New York Times reported. Before pivoting to Trump on election night, he served as a bundler for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, including stints on both of their campaign finance committees.

Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Trump and the Republican Party months after the 2016 election, the Times reported. 

TRUMP ‘PARDON CZAR’ EXPLAINS KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUMP AND BIDEN PARDONS

The donations secured him invitations to a pair of black-tie dinners celebrating Trump’s inauguration. 

In 2020, he pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Trump’s inaugural committee in late December 2016, the report states. 

Zuberi also pleaded guilty to falsifying records filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to conceal his lobbying work on behalf of Sri Lanka. 

Zuberi allegedly directed millions of dollars from the Sri Lankan contract to himself and his wife for personal purposes, shortchanging lobbyists, public relations and law firms, and certain subcontractors who were part of the lobbying effort.

MAN WHO HAD PRISON SENTENCE COMMUTED BY BIDEN NOW FACING DRUG, FIREARMS-RELATED CHARGES

His commutation was one of several on Wednesday, as well as a few pardons.

Larry Hoover, who is serving time in a federal supermax prison, also had his sentence commuted. Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, was originally imprisoned for a 1973 murder and later convicted in 1998 for operating a criminal enterprise.

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Trump also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who was convicted in two federal criminal cases, including one that contributed to his resignation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Elon Musk is beginning the process of stepping down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on X on Wednesday night that his time as a special government employee is coming to an end and thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity to cut down on wasteful spending.

“The ⁦‪@DOGE‬⁩ mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” Musk wrote in his post. The White House confirmed to FOX that Musk’s post is accurate and offboarding will begin Wednesday night.

Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office on Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud.

ELON MUSK SAYS HE ‘FULLY ENDORSES’ TRUMP AFTER GUNFIRE AT PENNSYLVANIA RALLY

He was officially hired as a “special government employee,” which is a role Congress created in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives.

Special government employees are permitted to work for the federal government for “no more than 130 days in a 365-day period,” according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk’s 130-day timeframe, beginning on Inauguration Day, was set to run dry on May 30.

DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved on July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order.

Musk and Trump have both previously previewed that Musk’s role was temporary and would end in the spring.

“You, technically, are a special government employee and you’re supposed to be 130 days,” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk during an exclusive interview with Musk and DOGE team members in April. “Are you going to continue past that or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?” 

MUSK NOT LEAVING YET, WRAPPING UP WORK ON SCHEDULE ONCE ‘INCREDIBLE WORK AT DOGE IS COMPLETE’: WHITE HOUSE

“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that timeframe,” Musk responded. 

Trump hinted at Musk’s departure in comments to reporters on March 31 when he was asked if he wants Musk to remain in a government role for longer than the predetermined 130 days.

“I think he’s amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run,” Trump said in March. “And so at some point he’s going to be going back.”

“I’d keep him as long as I can keep him,” Trump said. “He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job,” the president added. “DOGE is, we’ve found numbers that nobody can even believe.”

More recently, Musk said during a Tesla earnings call on April 22 that he will take a step back from his work as DOGE’s leader. 

DOGE CHAIN OF COMMAND REVEALED IN COURT FILING, SHOWING MUSK IS NOT THE BOSS

“I think starting probably in next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said during Tesla’s earnings conference call. “I’ll have to continue doing it for, I think, the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance. So I think I’ll continue to spend, you know, a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful.”

“But starting next month,” he added, “I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done.”

Amid Musk’s work with DOGE, Democrats and activists have staged protests against the tech billionaire and his companies, including working to tank Tesla stocks. 

Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, but is not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and does not report to the acting DOGE chief, according to a court filing in March that shed additional light on the internal workings of the office.

WHO IS DOGE’S NEWLY IDENTIFIED ADMINISTRATOR AMY GLEASON? ‘WORLD-CLASS TALENT’

“Elon Musk does not work at USDS. I do not report to him, and he does not report to me. To my knowledge, he is a Senior Advisor to the White House,” Amy Gleason, the acting administrator of DOGE, wrote in a declaration included in a court filing.

Gleason previously worked for the United States Digital Service, which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President. Trump signed an executive order in January that renamed the office to the United States DOGE Service, establishing DOGE. 

Though Musk has been the public face of DOGE, he “has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself” and is working as a senior advisor to the president, a White House official said in a separate court filing back in February.

SENATE REPUBLICAN DOGE LEADER JONI ERNST FACES FIRST DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER IN 2026 RACE

Musk emerged as an ardent supporter of Trump at the height of the election cycle over the summer, officially endorsing Trump after the first assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk posted to X shortly after the attempt, accompanied by footage of Trump raising a fist and shouting “Fight, fight, fight!” after he was left bloodied by the assassination attempt. 

Musk hosted Trump on X for an expansive interview while on the campaign trail 

Across Musk’s tenure as a special government employee, Trump has praised the tech billionaire for his efforts to streamline the government and cut it of overspending, including during his first address to a joint session of Congress since his second inauguration.

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“Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that,” Trump said in March during his address, quipping that Democrats were even grateful for Musk’s work at DOGE. 

Senior State Department officials tell Fox News all visa holders associated with Harvard University are being scrutinized, not just student visa holders.

Along with student visas, the State Department will be conducting a substantive investigation into B-1, or business visas; B-2, or tourist visas; as well as others, officials said.

The investigation is aimed at identifying potential security vulnerabilities or other abuses of the visa system.

The probe could impact hundreds of people associated with the elite school and could reveal if people entering with claimed connections truly have real connections or more tenuous connections.

TRUMP ADMIN ASKING FEDERAL AGENCIES TO CANCEL REMAINING HARVARD CONTRACTS

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

The move is a severe consequence in response to what the 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,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “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.”

TRUMP ACCUSES HARVARD OF BEING ‘VERY SLOW’ TO TURN OVER FOREIGN STUDENT INFO

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. 

“As a result of your brazen refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas rhetoric, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” Noem wrote in a letter to Maureen Martin, the university’s director of immigration services. 

Noem offered Harvard 72 hours to provide the information requested for an opportunity to regain its visa program for the next school year. 

HARVARD SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER TERMINATION OF STUDENT VISA PROGRAM

She called the move the “direct result of Harvard’s epic failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.” 

Harvard, meanwhile, asserted the termination was “unlawful.” 

Last month, Harvard announced 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 can’t 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. 

The Trump 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 that Harvard has failed to address campus antisemitism and eradicate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in its policies.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the U.S. will begin “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.

He also told Congress this week that the State Department had probably revoked “thousands” of student visas by this point and would “proudly” revoke more. 

“We’re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education facilities,” he said Tuesday. “A visa is a privilege, not a right.” 

The crackdown on university policies comes after a wave of pro-Gaza student protests and encampments swept schools across the nation since the beginning of Israel’s offensive campaign to eradicate Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks to pressure university administrations to divest from Israel. 

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is shutting down its diversity, equity and inclusion office following a comprehensive assessment that began nearly 18 months ago.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth announced the closing, or “sunsetting,” of the Institute Community and Equity Office (ICEO) last Thursday.

“As I’ve said many times, MIT is in the talent business,” Kornbluth’s announcement read. “Our success depends on attracting exceptionally talented people of every background, from across the country and around the world, and making sure everyone at MIT feels welcome and supported, so they can do their best work and thrive.”

Among the top priorities listed in the memo, titled “How we support our community,” was a section with the header “Core programs will continue, but we will wind down the central ICEO.”

ELITE UNIVERSITY ELIMINATES DEI HIRING REQUIREMENT: ‘THEY DON’T WORK’

“This process began nearly 18 months ago,” a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital, noting that the decision followed a “comprehensive assessment” of the Institute.

The ICEO, which billed itself online as a steward of “MIT’s values and their interconnections,” claimed it built “community through care, education, restorative practices, and programming that embraces, celebrates, and helps increase MIT’s diversity in all its forms.”

MIT will also eliminate the role of vice president for equity and inclusion, Kornbluth confirmed.

Earlier this month, the school became the first in its class to scrap diversity pledges in its hiring and admissions processes – a practice slammed by free speech advocate organization FIRE as functionally serving as “ideological litmus tests.”

TRUMP ADMIN ASKING FEDERAL AGENCIES TO CANCEL REMAINING HARVARD CONTRACTS

MIT’s decision comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s public feud with nearby Harvard University, including a recent ask to pull all federal funds – amounting to a staggering $100 million in contracts – being funneled toward the Ivy League institution.

This comes after Harvard has shown little sway in its standoff with the president over foreign student enrollment and alleged race-based admissions.

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MIT, however, has been downscaling its DEI infrastructure for some time – and the university spokesperson denied any correlation between ongoing political disputes involving Harvard and the ICEO’s demise.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is terminating awards totaling more than $750 million dollars that were provided to pharmaceutical manufacturer Moderna to help facilitate its production of mRNA-based bird flu vaccines. 

During President Joe Biden’s final week in office, his administration awarded $590 million to Moderna to help speed up its production of mRNA-based vaccines. The $590 million award followed a separate $176 million award Biden gave to Moderna earlier last year for mRNA vaccine technology.

Messenger RNA vaccines are a newer type of vaccine technology, which was utilized by companies like Moderna and Pfizer to develop their COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine technology was at the center of a lot of criticism amid the coronavirus pandemic for potentially being associated with adverse side effects in some people who took them, such as myocarditis.

MILITARY SPOUSE AND MOM OF 5 FIGHTS BACK AS VACCINE DISPUTE BLOCKS FAMILY’S PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION

Trump administration officials previously hinted at the potential that this funding could be terminated, citing a lack of oversight during the Biden administration pertaining to vaccine production. 

“After a rigorous review, we concluded that continued investment in Moderna’s H5N1 mRNA vaccine was not scientifically or ethically justifiable,” HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said. “This is not simply about efficacy — it’s about safety, integrity, and trust. The reality is that mRNA technology remains under-tested, and we are not going to spend taxpayer dollars repeating the mistakes of the last administration, which concealed legitimate safety concerns from the public.”

TRUMP FDA OVERHAULS COVID-19 VACCINE APPROVAL TO FOCUS ON OLDER POPULATIONS, HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS

The announcement reflects a larger shift in federal vaccine priorities, after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced earlier this week that COVID-19 vaccines would be removed from the federal government’s list of recommended vaccines for children and pregnant women. 

Meanwhile, a report from Senate Republicans released earlier this month suggested the Biden administration withheld critical safety data and downplayed known risks tied to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In particular, the Senate report focuses on HHS’ awareness of, and response to, cases of myocarditis — a type of heart inflammation — following COVID-19 vaccination.

“Rather than provide the public and health care providers with immediate and transparent information regarding the risk of myocarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration waited until late June 2021 to announce changes to the labels for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines based on the ‘suggested increased risks’ of myocarditis and pericarditis,” the Senate report states. “Even though CDC and FDA officials were well aware of the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration opted to withhold issuing a formal warning to the public for months about the safety concerns, jeopardizing the health of young Americans.”

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In response to the Trump administration’s funding termination, Moderna put out a press release acknowledging the move, but also touting the “safety profile” observed amid its work on a new mRNA bird flu vaccine.

“While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis of the Phase 1/2 study of our H5 avian flu vaccine and we will explore alternative paths forward for the program,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats.”

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday the U.S. will begin “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.

“Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio wrote in a statement. 

The State Department will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.

JOHN MOOLENAAR: WE DON’T WANT A COMPANY THAT IS AFFILIATED WITH THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

In March, House Republicans introduced the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act, also known as the Stop CCP VISAs Act.

In an interview with FOX Business on May 12, Florida Senator Ashley Moody criticized providing visas to Chinese nationals.

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“How can we keep offering 300,000 student visas to Chinese nationals every year when we KNOW they are legally required to gather intelligence for the CCP? The answer is simple: we can’t,” Moody wrote in a post on X. “@StanfordReview’s report on CCP espionage on campus should shock everyone and verify what I have been saying. We need to pass my STOP CCP Visas Act to protect our national security.”

President Donald Trump has pardoned Connecticut’s former Republican Gov. John Rowland, who was convicted in two federal criminal cases, including one that contributed to his resignation

Trump also commuted the prison sentence for notorious Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, a White House spokesman told Fox News Digital. 

Rowland was released early from federal custody in 2018 after his 2014 conviction for election fraud and obstruction of justice. That was his second stint in prison after his 2004 federal corruption conviction.

In July 2004, Rowland resigned less than halfway through his third term as governor instead of testifying before a special House Committee inquiry. He pleaded guilty that year to his role in a pay-to-play scheme that included $90,000 in luxury flights on Key Air, an Oxford, Connecticut-based airline, to Las Vegas and Florida.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PARDON FOR TODD AND JULIE CHRISLEY AFTER REALITY TV STARS’ FRAUD, TAX EVASION CONVICTIONS

He served 10 months in federal prison and several months of house arrest in that case.

Trump also commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover.

Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, has been serving a life sentence at a supermax prison in Colorado.

TRUMP PARDONS FORMER VIRGINIA SHERIFF CONVICTED OF TAKING $75K IN BRIBES

He was originally imprisoned for a 1973 murder and later convicted in 1998 for operating a criminal enterprise. At the time of his 1998 conviction, Hoover was serving a 200-year sentence for the killing of drug dealer William “Pooky” Young.

He later renounced his criminal activities and sought a reduced sentence. It was unclear when Hoover would be released from prison. During a 2018 meeting with Trump, Kanye “Ye” West campaigned for Hoover’s freedom.

“So, it’s very important for me to get Hoover out, because in an alternate universe, I am him,” West said, according to a White House transcript of the meeting. “And I have to go and get him free because he was doing positive inside of Chicago, just like how I’m moving back to Chicago, and it’s not just about, you know, getting on stage and being an entertainer and having a monolithic voice that’s forced to be a specific party.”

Trump also pardoned rapper Kentrell Gaulden, the Louisiana-based artist known as NBA YoungBoy who was convicted of possessing weapons as a felon and released from prison earlier this year. 

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Also pardoned were former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y.; Kevin Eric Baisden; Mark C. Bashaw; former reality television personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley; and Tanner Mansell and John Moore, who were both convicted of stealing fish gear in federal waters. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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…

–Jeanine Pirro sworn in as DC’s interim US Attorney, pledging ‘no more mercy for criminals’

-White House sending $9.4 billion DOGE cuts package to Congress next week

-Federal judge refuses to reconsider order to facilitate deportee’s return to US

ICE Scorched as ‘Rogue Agency’ in New AOC Fundraising Email

Republicans are ripping progressive New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for renewing her call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a recent fundraising email. 

“I believe that ICE, an agency that was just formed in 2003 during the Patriot Act era, is a rogue agency that should not exist,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a fundraising email obtained by Fox News Digital. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, criticized the potential 2028 presidential candidate in an X post for fundraising on wanting to abolish ICE, a progressive rallying cry that rejects President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration…READ MORE

White House

TRUMP CHECKS BIBI: Trump confirms he told Netanyahu to back off Iran strikes amid nuclear talks

LAWFARE CONTINUES: Obama-nominated judge allows lawsuit targeting Musk’s role with DOGE to proceed, drops claims against Trump

‘INTENSELY LOYAL’: ‘Intensely loyal’ Jill Biden aide despised by White House staffers, new book claims

‘NO EVIDENCE’: Watchdog finds ‘no evidence’ Biden knew of crucial climate EOs, demands answers on who signed autopen

World Stage

ELIMINATED: Netanyahu says Israel has killed Hamas’ Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar

EXECUTION IN IRAN: Iran hangs a man convicted of spying for Israel

‘DOES NOT UNDERSTAND’: Russia says ‘Trump is not being sufficiently informed’ after calling Putin ‘absolutely CRAZY’

FIRST ON FOX: Rubio urged to punish Iraq with ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions for its ‘complete subjugation’ by Iran

Capitol Hill

NEPOTISM IN ACTION: Longtime Democrat senator’s daughter takes aim at Trump, Musk, RFK Jr, in launch for key House swing seat

BURGERS AND BARBS: Senate Republican campaign committee ‘grills’ Chuck Schumer on National Hamburger Day

Across America 

DOCTOR’S ORDERS: A new law in this state bans automated insurance claim denials

TERROR AT THE BORDER: DHS video honors Marine killed by Mexican cartel, touts Trump’s crackdown on ‘terrorists’

US STRIKES BACK: Rubio announces visa restrictions for foreign authorities ‘complicit’ in censoring Americans’ free speech

ILLEGAL MIGRANT: Texas border sheriff says illegal crossings have seen ‘dramatic decline’ as CA migrant center shuts down

DESANTIS ON DOGE: DeSantis goads Congress to follow FL’s DOGE blueprint as Musk’s cuts still wait for vote

‘INACCURATE’ VOTER LISTS: DOJ sues North Carolina over voter rolls

BULLET POINTS REPEALED: Defense Department workers no longer required to submit DOGE’s weekly production reports

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

President Donald Trump said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy in the coming weeks “if necessary.” 

The president’s comments come just after he condemned Russia’s recent large-scale strike against Ukraine. 

Russian forces launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight Sunday. The attack, which has been called the largest aerial attack of the war so far, targeted the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH PUTIN AFTER MASSIVE UKRAINE STRIKE

Ukrainian officials said that at least 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured.

Though past strikes have proven more deadly, the attack is the largest-scale aerial assault of the war in terms of the number of weapons: 298 drones and 69 missiles were launched.

The president on Wednesday was asked if he believes Putin actually wants to end the war with Ukraine, to which Trump replied: “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll let you know in about two weeks.” 

“Within two weeks, we’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office during a swearing-in ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney. “And if he is, we will respond a little bit differently.” 

Trump said his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is “doing a phenomenal job” and “dealing with them very strongly right now.” 

“They seem to want to do something,” Trump said. 

But Trump again condemned Russia’s attack, saying he is “very disappointed at what happened a couple of nights now where people were killed — in what you would call a negotiation.” 

“I’m very disappointed by that,” Trump said. “Very, very disappointing.” 

TRUMP WARNS PUTIN IS ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ AFTER DECLARING THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT HAS ‘GONE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed a willingness to sit down again with Trump and with Putin in Geneva. 

When asked if he was planning to sit down with Putin and Zelenskyy, Trump said he would be willing. 

“Well, if it’s necessary… we have to, I think at this point. I wish you would have been that way a couple of months ago, but at this point, we’re working on President Putin, and we’ll see where we are,” Trump said. “I think we’re doing fine, but we’ll see.” 

Special Envoy Keith Kellogg is preparing for possible talks in Geneva, though it remains unclear when they will be held. Russia has yet to agree to the U.S.’s peace proposal, and its foreign ministry Tuesday claimed it was still working on its memorandum of terms. 

Russia has suggested a possible meeting in Istabul, Turkey. 

Meanwhile, the president again on Wednesday said: “I don’t like what’s happening. It’s one thing I’ll say — I don’t like when I see rockets being shot into cities. That’s no good. We’re not going to allow it.”

The president, over the weekend, blasted Putin, saying he is “killing a lot of people.” 

“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” he said over the weekend. “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.” 

In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy called for an international response to the attack.

“The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin,” he wrote on Telegram. “Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”

Trump expanded on his comments later Sunday, writing on Truth Social that Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” while also criticizing Zelenskyy.

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“I’ve always said that (Putin) wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” the social media post read. “Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

“This is a War that would never have started if I were President,” Trump concluded. “This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.” 

A federal judge in Maryland scolded Trump administration lawyers on Tuesday for waiting until the eleventh hour to seek an extension in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian migrant and alleged MS-13 member deported to El Salvador in what officials have acknowledged was an administrative error.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis denied the Justice Department’s 30-day extension request, noting that Trump administration lawyers waited until “the very day” their response was due to file. She also said they “expended no effort in demonstrating good cause” to comply with her earlier orders.

“They vaguely complain, in two sentences, to expending ‘significant resources’ engaging in expedited discovery,” Xinis said of the government’s efforts. “But these are burdens of their own making.”

JUDGE PRESSES TRUMP DOJ ON ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION; ANSWERS LEAVE COURTROOM IN STUNNED SILENCE

She also noted the number of times the administration has delayed submitting information in the case despite the fact the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration this year to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. 

“The court has conducted no fewer than five hearings in this case and at no point had defendants even intimated they needed more time to answer or otherwise respond,” Xinis said, adding that the defendants are “intimately familiar with the causes of action and of the pending deadline.”

“Thus, to say now that additional time is needed to do that which the law requires rings hollow,” Xinis said in denying the motion. 

Hours later, the Trump administration filed with the court a motion to dismiss the case, citing what it described as a “lack of jurisdiction.” Xinis has not yet responded to the motion to dismiss.

TRUMP’S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE

That filing comes amid a monthlong court fight over the status of Abrego Garcia, who remains in El Salvador. 

Xinis in April ordered the Trump administration to comply with an expedited discovery schedule to determine whether they were complying with the directive to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.

Since then, lawyers for the government and Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have sparred with Xinis in court over what exactly it means to “facilitate” his return. Xinis most recently described the process as beating a “frustrated and dead horse.”

She previously took aim at what she deemed to be the lack of information they submitted to the court as part of an expedited discovery process she ordered last month, describing the government submissions as “vague, evasive and incomplete” responses, and which she said demonstrated “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”

She also chastised their efforts to invoke the state secrets privilege, noting at a status hearing this month that the administration tried to invoke the privilege via a footnote that referenced a filing in a different case before a different federal judge.

100 DAYS OF INJUNCTIONS, TRIALS AND ‘TEFLON DON’: TRUMP 2ND TERM MEETS ITS BIGGEST TESTS IN COURT

She said that would not pass muster in her court.

The order comes as Trump officials have repeatedly alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, though any formal ties have not been proven. 

Xinis has indicated growing impatience with the Trump administration’s apparent failure to comply with her orders and submit the requested information.

This month, she sparred multiple times with DOJ lawyers over their assertions that Abrego Garcia was lawfully detained and deported.

“I can’t count the number of ‘I don’t knows’ my wonderful clerks and I have heard,” she said of depositions from Trump administration officials. 

The order is the latest development in the ongoing feud between Trump officials and the courts over the use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law used earlier this year to quickly deport migrants from the U.S. 

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To date, the Trump administration has not knowingly complied with any court orders to return migrants who were removed and sent to El Salvador in the early wave of deportation flights, despite earlier court orders from Xinis, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and others.

It is unclear whether Xinis plans to begin contempt proceedings against the administration, though the federal judge in D.C. said earlier this year that he had found probable cause to do so.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich lambasted his Democratic Party as an unethical organization that collectively bolstered a “coma” patient over other contenders in order to advance their own political ends, and that they feature a “Hall of Fame for Liars” headlined by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Asked by Fox News’ Jesse Watters about his response to characterizations that Democrats preferred to cover-up former President Joe Biden’s infirmities rather than move on from him or accept President Donald Trump, Blagojevich said, “I’d say that guy hates the American people and hates his constituents and hates even Democratic voters.”

“Shouldn’t we all wish good things for our country? Isn’t it right to hope that a president, even the one from the other party, can succeed to do good things for his country and good things for people?”

Blagojevich said that proves Democrats “don’t care about America,” and quoted Tennessee Williams’ line that “the only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite.”

ADAM SCHIFF TELLS EPA’S ZELDIN HE’LL CAUSE CANCER, AFTER SHELDON WHITEHOUSE SHOUTFEST

“If they have any sense of patriotism… they ought to try to … atone for their sins…”

Blagojevich said Democrats could have used the 25th Amendment to oust Biden and keep a Democrat in the White House; then-Vice President Kamala Harris; but instead believed, “maybe we’re better off with a brain-dead Biden as president than her.”

“They’d rather have a comatose Biden than Kamala Harris,” Watters quipped in return.

Blagojevich added that by contrast, Trump has been lied about in regard to Russian collusion and the Stormy Daniels affair, and that it should be Democrats considered the bigger mistruth-tellers.

“Nobody who has any common sense could believe anything they say,” he said.

KASH PATEL ENRAGES ADAM SCHIFF IN CLINTONIAN BATTLE OVER THE WORD ‘WE’, AND A JANUARY 6 SONG

“And the king of the Democratic liars is Adam Schiff. If there was a Hall of Fame for liars, like, let’s say, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Adam Schiff would be Elvis.”

Blagojevich, imprisoned following his 2008 ejection from office by the Illinois State Senate on claims he tried to “sell” then-Sen. Barack Obama’s seat, saw his federal sentence commuted by Trump after eight years served.

The former governor has long maintained his innocence – previously telling Fox News he never tried to sell what became then-Sen. Roland Burris’, D-Ill., seat, and instead was a victim of malicious prosecution grounded in politics over proof.

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He has compared his prosecution to Trump’s own legal issues, as both men alleged politicized proceedings from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, respectively.

“I know what they did to me, and I do know they did the same thing to Trump,” he told FOX-32 in February.

The White House is expected to send a federal spending cut proposal to Congress next week, two Republican sources told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

It’s the latest move by Republican officials to make good on promises to slash government spending, a project spearheaded by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The proposal is called a “rescissions package,” a vehicle for the president to block funds that were already allocated by Congress in its yearly appropriations process. Once transmitted to Capitol Hill, lawmakers have 45 days to take it up before it’s voided.

An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official told Fox News Digital the package is expected to total roughly $9.4 billion.

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

It will primarily target federal funding to NPR, PBS, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the official said, confirming details first reported by Axios.

A third GOP source told Fox News Digital that House GOP leaders had asked the White House to wait until their chamber finished consideration of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to send its spending-cut package.

The House passed the massive piece of tax-and-spending legislation last week after an all-night session of debate and procedural votes, sending it to the Senate for further consideration.

SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

That bill, which is being advanced under the budget reconciliation process, primarily deals with mandatory government funding that Congress must change by amending the law itself.

A rescissions package targets discretionary government funding, which Congress sets the levels of every year in its annual appropriations process.

The White House referred Fox News Digital to OMB when reached for comment.

The package is expected to get to Congress just as Musk is beginning to step away from his role leading DOGE – but is apparently still keeping a close eye on governmental affairs.

The billionaire tech founder criticized Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” on CBS Sunday Morning, saying in a preview clip that he was “disappointed” by it.

“I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both,” Musk said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed the House would do more to codify DOGE cuts in a statement after Musk’s message.

“The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand. We will do that in two ways,” Johnson wrote on X.

“1. When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts. 2. The House will use the appropriations process to swiftly implement President Trump’s 2026 budget. In the meantime, we have been working around the clock as we prepared for those processes. The House made sure to build on DOGE’s success within the One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Musk’s commentary, meanwhile, divided House Republicans on Wednesday.

“This is why Mr. Musk has no place in Congress. He wants to codify discretionary cuts. He didn’t find enough waste, fraud, and abuse to fund [the Small Business Administration], let alone reduce our debt,” one House GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital. “This was a gimmick, he got used, he’s now upset.”

Meanwhile, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., who voted “present” on the legislation last week, told Fox News Digital that he believed Musk was right.

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“I share Mr. Musk’s concerns about the short-term adverse effect on the federal deficit of the limited spending reductions in the BBB. Debt markets remain concerned about US total debt and annual deficits,” Harris said.

The House is expected to begin working on fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations next week, though the rescission package deals with FY 2025 funding.

And the 45-day deadline for that is not the only marker on the horizon – identical FY 2026 spending bills must pass the House and Senate by the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30 to avert a partial government shutdown.

A federal judge denied a request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reconsider his order calling for the Trump administration “to take all immediate steps” to return a Guatemalan deportee to the U.S. 

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts comes after he issued a ruling last week saying that the removal of the individual – identified only as O.C.G. – “lacked due process.”

“In general, this case presents no special facts or legal circumstances, only the banal horror of a man being wrongfully loaded onto a bus and sent back to a country where he was allegedly just raped and kidnapped,” Murphy wrote Friday.

“Defendants are hereby ORDERED to take all immediate steps, including coordinating with Plaintiffs’ counsel, to facilitate the return of O.C.G. to the United States,” he added. 

US JUDGE ACCUSES TRUMP ADMIN OF ‘MANUFACTURING CHAOS’ IN SOUTH SUDAN DEPORTATIONS, ESCALATING FEUD 

In the filing, Murphy described O.C.G. as a native and citizen of Guatemala who first entered the U.S. “without proper authorization” in March 2024.  

“O.C.G. alleges that he presented himself for asylum at the border and was denied an interview. In any event, he was deported shortly thereafter to Guatemala.  In April 2024, O.C.G. decided to try again and crossed Mexico on his way to the United States. There, he was raped and held hostage until a family member paid ransom,” the filing said.

READ THE JUDGE’S ORDER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

“In May 2024, O.C.G. again arrived at the United States and was arrested by Border Patrol. This time, however, he was referred to an asylum officer after expressing fear of return to Guatemala. That officer determined that O.C.G. had a credible fear of persecution or torture and initiated withholding-only proceedings, where an immigration judge agreed and determined that it was more likely than not that O.C.G. would be persecuted or tortured if sent back to Guatemala. Accordingly, O.C.G. was granted withholding of removal from Guatemala,” it continued. 

“Two days after being granted withholding of removal, and with no advanced warning, O.C.G. was put on a bus and sent to Mexico. According to O.C.G., he begged the officers to let him call his attorney but was refused,” according to the filing. 

NY AG, 19 OTHERS FILE 2 LAWSUITS AGAINST TRUMP ADMIN, ALLEGING FEDERAL MONEY TIED TO IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT 

“In Mexico, O.C.G. was given the option of being detained indefinitely while trying to obtain asylum there — a country where he has consistently maintained that he faces a significant risk of violence — or of being sent back to Guatemala — the very country from which an immigration judge awarded him withholding from removal due to the risk of persecution that he faced.  O.C.G. chose Guatemala. He remains there today,” Murphy said in the filing. 

“Just yesterday, O.C.G. submitted a declaration informing the Court of his current status. He reports living in constant fear of his attackers, being unable to leave the place where he is staying, not being able to rely on the police to protect him, and not being able to see his mother for fear of exposing her to violence, among other hardships,” Murphy also wrote. 

DHS said in response to the decision that “America’s asylum system was never intended to be used as a de facto amnesty program or a catch-all, get-out-of-deportation-free card.  

“The person in question was an illegally present alien who was granted withholding of removal to Guatemala. He was instead removed to Mexico, a safe third option for him, pending his asylum claim. Yet, this federal activist judge is ordering us to bring him back, so he can have an opportunity to prove why he should be granted asylum to a country that he has had no past connection to,” the department wrote on X in response to a news article about Murphy’s decision. 

“The Trump administration is committed to returning our asylum system to its original intent,” it declared. 

MARYLAND REP. IVEY BACK FROM EL SALVADOR AFTER FAILING TO MEET KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA 

The order from Murphy to return O.C.G. came in response to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of him and three other plaintiffs, identified as immigrants from Cuba, Ecuador and Honduras who are residents of Massachusetts and Texas. 

“Plaintiffs and proposed class members are noncitizens with final removal orders resulting from proceedings in which they have been notified that they could be deported to a designated country of removal (usually their country of origin) and, in some cases, an alternative country of removal (usually a country of which they are a citizen or in which they hold status) and had an opportunity to contest removal to the designated country based on a claim of fear,” read a complaint filed in March. 

“They bring this class action to challenge the policy or practice of the Department of Homeland Security of deporting, or seeking to deport, them to a third country — a country never designated for removal — without first providing them with notice or opportunity to contest removal on the basis that they have a fear of persecution, torture, and even death if deported to that third country,” the complaint added. 

“DHS’ policy or practice of failing to afford these basic, minimal protections violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the treaty obligations of the United States,” it also said.

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Attorneys representing the four plaintiffs did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: A pair of House Republicans are urging Secretary Marco Rubio to punish Iraq with sanctions for its “complete subjugation” by Iran as part of the U.S.’s “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran. 

“More than 4,400 American service members sacrificed their lives since the start of the Iraq War, yet today, Iraq stands as nothing more than a puppet of Tehran,” Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Greg Steube, R-Fla., wrote in a letter to the secretary of state and interim national security advisor. 

The letter laid blame on the Obama administration, arguing former President Barack Obama and his Iraq envoy Brett McGurk “propped up” Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose leadership was marred by brutal political crackdowns and led to the rise of ISIS. 

“The Obama administration doubled down on its mistakes, relying on Iranian-backed militias to fight ISIS,” the letter read. “The consequences of those failed decisions are now undeniable: Iran-backed forces wield unchecked power over Iraq’s government and security services.”

TRUMP ADMIN ENDS WAIVER ALLOWING IRAQ TO BUY IRANIAN ELECTRICITY AS PART OF ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ CAMPAIGN

Since 2015, the U.S. has offered Iraq’s forces $1.25 billion in foreign military financing, in addition to billions more for the interior ministry and defense ministry. 

Iran’s influence over Iraq was on full display when, in 2021, Iraq issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, even as the U.S. still has 2,500 forces on the ground in Iraq to partner with local forces and fight ISIS. 

READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

Steube and Wilson called on the U.S. to cut all foreign aid to Iraq until it comes out from under Iran’s influence. 

The letter calls for the U.S. to sanction Iraq’s importation of Iranian gas. Currently, only payment for the gas is under sanction, meaning Iran gives fuel to Iraq without charge but expects repayment in other ways. The Trump administration ended a waiver that allowed Iraq to buy Iranian electricity in March. 

GOP REP. JOE WILSON TRUMPETS ‘MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!’ MESSAGE

The lawmakers called for designating the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-backed paramilitary group operating in Iraq, and its financial backers as foreign terrorist groups and sanctioning Iraq’s state banks that financially support Iran. It also called for sanctions on Iraq’s political figures that allow Iranian influence to flourish. 

“We urge you to take immediate action to implement these necessary policies and ensure that American resources are no longer used to prop up Iran’s control over Iraq.”

The U.S. initially invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime and drawing down its troop presence from wartime levels in 2007 and leaving altogether in 2011, before returning in 2014 at the head of the coalition to fight the Islamic State.

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Other nations, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, also contribute hundreds of troops to the coalition.

In September, reports emerged that the Biden administration was working on a plan to draw down the U.S. troop presence in Iraq within the year, but no set-in-stone decision was made. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and the Iraqi Embassy for comment. 

A Texas sheriff, whose county shares 54 miles of the U.S. southern border with Mexico, told Fox News Digital he has seen a “dramatic decline” in illegal migrant crossings since President Donald Trump took office, specifically, a sharp decrease in the last two weeks. 

“Since President Trump took over, we have seen a continued decline in apprehensions,” Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland told Fox. “This past two-week period, we should have been busier because it coincides with the full moon cycle, that’s usually when we see more activity in our area.”

ALLEGED HUMAN SMUGGLERS ARRESTED IN TEXAS AFTER HIDING MIGRANTS INSIDE HOLLOWED HAY BALES

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed earlier this month that April year-over-year apprehensions at the border were down 93%. CBP reported 129,000 apprehensions in April 2024 under the Biden administration, compared to 8,383 this past month under Trump. 

“You know, during the Biden administration, we saw, just like the rest of the U.S.-Mexico border, record levels of crossings and gotaways in our county,” Cleveland explained. “We also saw record levels of deaths from people trying to enter the United States. So that was definitely a challenge for us when you talk about the 10th largest county in the state of Texas, just over 2300 square miles, 54 miles of river.”

Trump border czar Tom Homan weighed in on the dramatic decrease in illegal crossings, telling Fox News Digital last week that the U.S. border “is the most secure in the nation’s history.”

TRUMP SANCTIONS ARE ‘FULL-FRONTAL ASSAULT’ ON ORGANIZED CRIME AT THE BORDER, EXPERT SAYS

“The way we did it, that we got a president in the White House, a strong president, who simply ruled a lot of [Executive Orders], the same [Executive Orders] that were proved effective in Trump 45, remain in Mexico, third state country agreements, ending catch and release, and continue building border barriers,” Homan told Fox.

Cleveland’s comments come days after a San Diego immigrant center shut down due to an “unprecedented decrease in illegal crossings this year.”

“In 3/2025, San Diego Sector arrested 1,199 illegal aliens with an average of 38 per day. This was a 186% drop compared to 3/2024,” the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector posted to X on Sunday. 

ICE BEGINS NEW, NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO ARREST ILLEGAL ALIENS AT IMMIGRATION HEARINGS

Cleveland noted there might be additional facility closures if illegal crossing numbers continue to plummet. 

“As the border activity becomes slower and we see less and less crossings, we’re starting to see Border Patrol close more of these south side of facilities,” the Texas sheriff added. “We don’t have any out here in our area of West Texas. The closest one we had was down in Eagle Pass.”

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“There’s no reason to spend that money to keep those open, and they can definitely use that money in other parts of the border.”

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

FIRST ON FOX: A pro-energy group is renewing its call for an investigation into over half a dozen Biden administration executive actions related to climate that it believes should be deemed null and void due to them being signed by an autopen without any public comment from former President Joe Biden confirming his knowledge of them. 

Power the Future, a nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs, reviewed eight Biden executive orders that it says were significant shifts in domestic energy policy and said it found no evidence of the president speaking about any of them publicly, raising concerns that the orders were signed by autopen and that he was not aware of them. 

“These are not obscure bureaucratic memos; these were foundational shifts in American energy policy, yet not once did Joe Biden speak about them publicly,” Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power The Future, told Fox News Digital. 

The executive orders reviewed by Power the Future include an Arctic drilling ban in 2023, a 2021 executive order committing the federal government to net-zero emissions by 2050, an executive order mandating “clean energy” AI centers and an offshore drilling ban executive order shortly before leaving office in 2025. 

PRO-ENERGY GROUP URGES AG BONDI TO PROBE BIDEN’S AUTOPEN ON CRUCIAL DECISIONS THAT DEVASTATED INDUSTRY

Finding no evidence of Biden publicly speaking about the executive orders on climate, Power the Future sent letters this week to the DOJ, EPA, DOI, DOE, along with the House and Senate Oversight Committees, calling for an investigation to determine who made the decisions, drafted the executive orders and ultimately signed them. 

“In light of the growing evidence that actions purportedly taken by the former president may not have been approved or signed by him, but instead promulgated by a small coterie of advisers in his name without his knowledge or over his signature using an ‘autopen,’ the need for congressional access to information has grown in importance with these revelations,” the letter to GOP House Oversight Chair James Comer states. 

“Congress deserves to know how or whether these executive actions were authorized, and whether the former President was aware of such orders before they were implemented by the federal bureaucracy. Were these actions taken on behalf of the president and purporting to execute his authority undertaken with the president’s knowledge and approach? It appears incumbent upon Congress to inquire, about all parties involved in these actions, who instructed them to do what, when.”

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

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment but did not hear back by press time.

The presidential autopen has been a topic of conversation with Republicans in recent weeks and months as questions continue about Biden’s mental acuity during his presidency, particularly the last few years, which have faced increased scrutiny after the release of Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book “Original Sin.”

“Power The Future remains concerned that key policies of major economic and national security significance directed by the White House during the Biden administration may have been undertaken without presidential awareness and approval, but perhaps instead by a small coterie of staff,” the letter states.

“Although this likelihood has become more apparent by claims made in a recent book titled Original Sin, those claims merely support information that had already emerged.”

An autopen is a device that physically holds a pen and is programmed to replicate a person’s signature. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel determined in 2005 that the president is permitted to use an autopen to sign bills into law, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in February that said the absence of “a writing does not equate to proof that a commutation did not occur.”

In March, President Donald Trump claimed that Biden’s pardons of lawmakers who served on the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, and others, are “VOID,” alleging that they had been signed via an autopen and that Biden did not even know about them.

DAVID MARCUS: OLD MAN BIDEN’S AUTOPEN PARDONS SHOULD BE NULL AND VOID

Despite Trump’s concerns over the validity of Biden’s pardons due to the alleged use of an autopen, constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital that the odds of successfully legally challenging them in court are “vanishingly low.” 

“Presidents are allowed to use the autopen, and courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy,” Turley said. 

Power the Future’s letter references House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who in January shared that Biden, during a meeting, appeared to forget that he signed an order to pause LNG exports.

A report published by an arm of the Heritage Foundation claimed that the majority of official documents signed by Biden were allegedly an autopen signature.

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“During the Biden administration, hundreds of billions of dollars were funneled towards pet green projects, while the American fossil fuels industry was punished, and there is no evidence that Biden ordered it, directed it, or was even aware it was happening in his name,” Turner told Fox News Digital, adding that the American people “deserve to know” who was signing the executive orders “behind closed doors.”

“This autopen scandal is evidence that these green EOs are invalid, and the instigators should be thoroughly investigated by the DOJ for violating the trust of the American people and perpetuating a great fraud on the nation.”

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Gov. Ron DeSantis urged House Republicans to take note of Florida’s successful implementation of “DOGE”-type governance and get moving on slashing waste, fraud and abuse identified by the executive branch organization.

“Elon Musk took massive incoming – including attacks on his companies as well as personal smears, to lead the effort on DOGE,” DeSantis posted on X.

“He became public enemy #1 of legacy media around the world. To see Republicans in Congress cast aside any meaningful spending reductions (and, in fact, fully fund things like USAID) is demoralizing and represents a betrayal of the voters who elected them,” the Republican said on Tuesday.

DeSantis had reposted a comment from former government scientist Matt van Swol, who claimed congressional Republicans have not done enough to go to bat for DOGE.

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“DOGE is literally one of the most popular government initiatives in history. 73% of Americans say they support cutting government waste. Trump brought in the smartest man on earth to do it… …the Left destroyed Elon for it …the GOP won’t vote on it I can’t believe this,” van Swol said in the shared message.

In remarks Tuesday, DeSantis expounded upon his concerns, saying that Florida’s executive branch has successfully implemented DOGE-type policies in the state, increasing affordability, lowering taxes and ridding Tallahassee of waste and fraud.

He said Florida has been a state for 180 years, and it was his own administration who reportedly paid down 41% of its accumulated debt to-date. 

DeSantis said the average Floridian’s share of the state debt is $400, while federally, their onus is about $105,000.

The governor noted how Musk stuck his neck out for DOGE and saw his car dealerships “firebombed” and how the media “smearing him relentlessly because he basically said, look, we can’t keep doing this…”

“And yet, we have a Republican Congress, and to this day, we’re in the end of May, past Memorial Day, and not one cent in DOGE cuts have been implemented by the Congress,” the one-time congressman said.

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“That’s one of the reasons why we need a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It’s another reason why we need term limits for members of Congress. But I think what you’ve seen with how, and I kind of said this early on, that DOGE and Elon were on a collision course with the swamp.”

Libertarian-minded Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., had lodged a similar complaint – claiming that rescission votes to act on DOGE’s proposed cuts were “cancelled” earlier in May – but a top aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., disputed the claim. 

“No votes on rescissions were cancelled this week. The Speaker has repeatedly expressed his commitment to save taxpayer funds via the rescissions process,” wrote press secretary Athina Lawson.

“Under law, this process requires a special message to Congress detailing proposed rescissions before Congress can act.”

House Republicans could not include any DOGE cuts in the “big beautiful bill” because, in order to pass the Senate, the bill could only deal with statutorily “mandatory” spending concerns.

The rules of Senate Reconciliation preclude that move as well.

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The two options House Republicans have are to wait for a formal rescission request for a cut or cuts from Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought – a Trump appointee – and take that up within 45 days, or try to pass separate legislation themselves through the appropriations process.

The issue with the latter is that legislation independent of a request originating from the executive branch would require 60 votes – while a rescission request only requires a simple majority.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate. Two independents – Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King, Jr. of Maine – caucus with Democrats.

However, Republicans have had luck putting Democrats in a bind via the appropriations process, as the last passage of the typically massive bills led to members of that party turning on its leader – Sen. Charles Schumer of New York – for ultimately voting to fund the government earlier this year.

Fox News Digital reached out to DeSantis and Johnson for comment.