NationalWatch

House Speaker Mike Johnson has reached a tentative deal with blue state Republican lawmakers to boost the cap on state and local tax deductions, or “SALT,” to $40,000 in President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill,” Republican sources confirmed to Fox News late Tuesday. 

The proposed cap – which is up from $30,000 – would be per household for taxpayers making less than $500,000 per year. 

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

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at a press conference with other members of House Republican leadership in Washington, DC, United States, on May 20, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

 It remains unclear whether GOP hardliners who oppose raising the SALT cap deductions will sign off on the measure. 

The tentative agreement, first reported by Politico and confirmed by Fox News, comes as House GOP factions have been engaged in high-stakes debates on taxes, Medicaid, and green energy subsidies while crafting the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”

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)

SALT deduction caps primarily benefit people living in high-cost-of-living areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and their surrounding areas. 

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

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, May 6, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)

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. 

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

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

EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement captured an Ecuadorian illegal immigrant who is facing vehicular homicide charges in Minnesota on Friday.

The August crash, in which German Adriano Llangari Inga allegedly had a blood alcohol content “twice the legal limit,” killed mother Victoria Eileen Harwell, and hurt her teenage daughter and sister, according to DHS and local media outlets.

“Despite a lack of cooperation from local Minnesota authorities, ICE arrested criminal illegal alien German Llangari Inga. This criminal illegal alien has been evading prosecution for vehicular homicide that resulted in the death of Minnesota mom, Victoria Eileen Harwell,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Tuesday.

WHITE HOUSE RIPS MINNESOTA DEMS AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN DUI DEATH OF MOTHER: ‘ON THE RUN’

The current iteration of the Minnesota state flag as seen in St. Paul, March 24, 2022. (Mohamed Ibrahim/Report for America via AP, File)

He was arrested by Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office on May 10 “on an outstanding warrant,” but then released on May 13 without notifying ICE despite the detainer request placed by the agency on that day, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

There was another detainer placed by ICE in August when the crash occurred, but Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital that because of the state Attorney General’s guidance, they “cannot lawfully hold individuals in custody based solely on an administrative detainer issued by the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”

“If a judicially-signed warrant is presented to HCSO, ICE will be notified when it becomes the holding agency. In the absence of such a warrant, individuals must be released once all criminal charges or holds have been resolved. HCSO is committed to working with federal and local partners and honoring the constitutional rights of all individuals,” HCSO’s statement at the time added.

ICE FILES DETAINERS AGAINST 2 ILLEGAL ALIENS, INCLUDING 1 FACING ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FOR SHOOTING SPREE

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents detain an immigrant on October 14, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)

In August, he was in county jail for two days.

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“Despite Hennepin County refusing to honor this criminal illegal alien’s detainer TWICE, ICE officers tracked him down and removed this criminal from Minnesota’s streets. Tim Walz should be thanking ICE not using despicable rhetoric. Remember sanctuary politicians are fighting for criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noem are fighting for the victims of illegal alien crime, like Eileen Harwell,” McLaughlin continued.

Earlier this month, the Trump White House took aim at Minnesota leaders because the man was still at large. According to ICE, he first came to the United States in June 2016 and “was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, issued an order of expedited removal and placed into removal proceedings.”

NEWSOM’S OFFICE REVEALS BLUE STATE WILL COMPLY WITH ICE AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S EARLY RELEASE PLANS EXPOSED

German Llangari Inga was arrested by ICE in May 2025 in a vehicular homicide case. (Department of Homeland Security)

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“An illegal immigrant drove drunk, killed an innocent mother, and is now on the run because Democrats didn’t do their most important job: protect their constituents,” Alex Pfeiffer, White House Principal Deputy Communications Director, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement at the time.

Fox News Digital reached out to Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey was ousted Tuesday in a stiff Democratic primary challenge from Corey O’Connor, the son of a former city leader who had the support of the party’s “old guard” and some Republicans.

Mayor Ed Gainey, seen as the progressive in the race, began the contest on roughly even footing in terms of campaign funding, but O’Connor, son of the late former Mayor Bob O’Connor, had outraised and outspent the incumbent by April – ultimately putting up a fight in a city that has not been competitive on a partisan level since the 1930s.

O’Connor received support from some Republican donors, as well as the “old guard” Democratic base, according to The New York Times.

“This is an election about Pittsburgh, about how we get our city back on the right track. It’s laughable to make arguments about progressive/not progressive. The outside groups that are meddling, I guarantee you – they haven’t looked at the records of either one of us,” O’Connor told the paper.

GOP WINS FIRST PHILADELPHIA STATE SENATE SEAT IN 28 YEARS, AS RED GAINS IN BLUE AREAS CONTINUE

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey was ousted Tuesday in a stiff Democratic primary challenge from Corey O’Connor (pictured), who also outraised and outspent the incumbent on the campaign trail. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

O’Connor’s campaign has also shown support for the resourcing of the police and his own plan to revitalize the downtown area. He has also received large outside contributions from groups like Common Sense Change Action and Democracy Wins, according to the Post-Gazette.

Gainey took office as the Steel City’s first Black mayor after defeating incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in 2021. He has cast himself on the national stage as a critic of President Donald Trump and his agenda, while also working to attract new business to Pittsburgh — including the 2026 NFL Draft, which is estimated to bring a $200 million economic boost to the area, according to a source familiar.

Gainey also previously pledged not to cooperate with federal ICE operations and has called Trump’s budget cuts a “direct attack on working families” and the economy of Western Pennsylvania.

“ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy. What it’s going to do is create more situations where people feel scared, where people don’t feel safe,” Gainey said in January – a sentiment which earned the rebuke of another Pittsburgh politician, Republican U.S. Sen. David McCormick.

“Gainey needs to follow the law and the lead of some other Democratic mayors working to keep our cities safe,” McCormick said, according to WTAE.

PA SEN MCCORMICK THANKS CASEY FAMILY FOR DECADES OF SERVICE AS DEMOCRAT DECLINES TO CONCEDE

Sen. John Fetterman, left, greets Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey at the Tree of Life memorial ceremony. (Getty)

Gainey’s campaign has highlighted the mayor’s efforts to increase community policing and mental health professionals to assist in police response, while O’Connor also claims the mantle of the pro-police candidate.

Under Gainey, the city ranks first in state population growth and has increased its affordable housing by 1,600 units.

Working with Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Gainey secured $600 million for downtown revitalization and improvements to the city’s iconic Point State Park.

“Thanks to our people-powered movement, our campaign has all of the momentum in this race. We’ve proven again and again since 2021 that when we come together — across race, across class, religion, age, across every line that’s ever been used to divide us — we are unstoppable,” Gainey said in a statement.

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On the Republican side, retired Police Det. Tony Moreno – who lost to Gainey last cycle – is running in the GOP primary against clothier Thomas West.

On the other side of the commonwealth, George Soros-backed Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner won his primary, and in the state’s third-largest city, Allentown, progressive incumbent Matt Tuerk is facing off against another “old guard” Democrat in Councilman Ed Zucal.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced new legislation Tuesday aimed at dismantling the multimillion-dollar birth tourism industry that allows foreign nationals to use America’s immigration system to secure automatic citizenship for their children.

The Ban Birth Tourism Act, introduced in the U.S. Senate, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to declare inadmissible any foreign national seeking a tourist visa for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States.

Those births automatically trigger U.S. citizenship for the child, a long-criticized loophole that opens the door to future family-sponsored migration.

SENATE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE BILL TO REFORM BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, FOLLOWING TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL ORDER

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced new legislation Tuesday aimed at dismantling the multimillion-dollar birth tourism industry that allows foreign nationals to use America’s immigration system to secure automatic citizenship for their children. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Blackburn’s bill, which was read twice and referred to committee, includes a provision to protect legitimate medical travelers. If the primary reason for entry is medical treatment rather than citizenship acquisition, those cases would not be blocked.

“For too long, foreign nationals have been exploiting our nation’s immigration laws, taking advantage of the system to come to the United States solely to give birth and obtain citizenship for their children,” Blackburn said in a press release. 

“The Ban Birth Tourism Act would prevent foreign nationals, including those from adversaries like Communist China and Russia, from buying American citizenship for their children. As President Trump works to end birthright citizenship, we need to get this bill to his desk.”

The push comes as the Trump administration intensifies its focus on restoring immigration integrity in the president’s second term. During his first term, President Trump repeatedly vowed to end automatic citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants and tourists.

CALIFORNIA MAN SENTENCED FOR ‘BIRTH TOURISM’ SCHEME FOR AFFLUENT CHINESE WOMEN

The push comes as the Trump administration intensifies its focus on restoring immigration integrity in the president’s second term. During his first term, President Trump repeatedly vowed to end automatic citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants and tourists. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2020, the State Department under his administration began denying visas to suspected birth tourists, a move hailed by immigration enforcement advocates.

Birth tourism is far from a fringe phenomenon. According to conservative immigration policy analysts, the industry accounts for at least 33,000 births annually to women on temporary visas. These children, upon turning 21, can legally sponsor their parents for green cards, offering a backdoor into the U.S. immigration system. 

A 2015 report by the Center for Immigration Studies estimated the practice generates millions of dollars for companies that specialize in bringing pregnant foreigners, primarily from Russia and China, to the U.S. These firms often charge tens of thousands of dollars for packages that include visa coaching, hospital stays, and luxury accommodations.

President Trump has moved to end birthright citizenship during his second administration. (Katie Muir Stankiewicz/Exchange Club of Mooresville and Lake Norman)

In one of the largest federal crackdowns to date, the former Trump administration’s Department of Justice in 2019 charged nearly 20 individuals in Southern California for operating extensive birth tourism networks targeting Chinese nationals.

Prosecutors accused the businesses of coaching clients to lie to immigration officials about the purpose of their travel, a tactic common among such operations.

Blackburn’s bill would codify into law the inadmissibility of any traveler seeking to exploit this loophole, ensuring that birthright citizenship cannot be used as a ticket to game the system. 

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The Office of Senator Marsha Blackburn referred Fox News Digital to a Tuesday press release.

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., refused to answer Fox News’ questions over whether her motivations for storming a federal immigration detention center earlier this month was to increase her public image, after it was uncovered McIver had been fundraising off the incident that has led to federal charges for the New Jersey Democrat.

The Department of Justice publicly outlined federal charges against McIver on Tuesday, accusing her of allegedly “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement” earlier this month at a Newark-area immigrant detention facility known as Delaney Hall. McIver was there with two other members of Congress to conduct what they claimed were their congressionally mandated oversight duties, as well as the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, who was subsequently arrested following the incident but later had his charges dropped.

“Congresswoman, would you be able to tell us what made you decide to fundraise off the incident, the charges?” McIver was asked.

DEM LAWMAKER FUNDRAISES OFF FEDERAL ASSAULT CHARGES AFTER ICE FACILITY CONFRONTATION: ‘DOING MY JOB’

“No comment,” McIver said as she laughed off the reporter asking the question. “Have a wonderful day.”

“How do you respond to people who might think that’s why you went to the ICE facility? That you wanted to fundraise off of it?”

But the follow-up question went unanswered as the congresswoman repeatedly ignored the reporter’s questions and instead focused her attention on a discussion with her staff that were accompanying McIver at the time.  

“Any comment, congresswoman, on the fundraising? Anything you could have done different to avoid the charges?”

DOJ CITES BODYCAM FOOTAGE IN CHARGING DOCUMENT FOR HOUSE DEM MCIVER

New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver was charged on Monday for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers outside of an ICE detention facility earlier this month. (Getty Images/Department of Homeland Security)

On Tuesday, Fox News Digital uncovered McIver was fundraising off her charges shortly after they came down from the Justice Department. Investigators accused McIver of assaulting two federal agents at Delaney Hall, according to the charging documents.

Law enforcement says McIver assaulted the agents when she “slammed her forearm into the body of a uniformed” immigration official while trying to “restrain the agent by forcibly grabbing him.” McIver also allegedly tried to block agents from arresting Baraka and, after he was put in handcuffs, allegedly “pushed an ICE officer and used her forearms to forcibly strike the agent.”

Security personnel stand in front of Delaney Hall, a recently re-opened immigration detention center, in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

“As you know, Trump is using his Department of Justice to target political opponents. Less than two weeks ago, I was doing my job and conducting oversight at an ICE facility in my city,” a fundraising text obtained by Fox News Digital stated.

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“Now, the Trump admin has filed charges against me. This is a first-and it’s a flashing red light for our democracy,” it continues. “I’m sounding the alarm and asking you to donate now so we can fight these charges and keep speaking truth to power.”

Fox News’ Cameron Arcand and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden‘s last known prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was in 2014, as questions arise about how much his cancer has spread and why it wasn’t caught earlier. 

“President Biden’s last known PSA was in 2014. Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” a Biden spokesperson told Fox News. 

The PSA test is a blood test used primarily to screen for prostate cancer. The test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

DAVE PORTNOY GOES OFF ON BIDEN’S LATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS AS ‘ONE OF THE GREATEST SCANDALS’ IN US POLITICS

PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, a small gland that sits below the bladder in males. It’s mostly found in semen, which is also produced in the prostate, the Mayo Clinic said. 

Small amounts of PSA ordinarily circulate in the blood.

“The PSA test can detect high levels of PSA that may indicate the presence of prostate cancer,” the clinic states on its website. “However, many other conditions, such as an enlarged or inflamed prostate, also can increase PSA levels. Therefore, determining what a high PSA score means can be complicated.”

NEW PROSTATE CANCER TEST PINPOINTS DISEASE BETTER THAN PSA OPTION, STUDY FINDS

The former president’s prostate cancer has been characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (grade group 5) with “metastasis to the bone.” The ranking of Biden’s cancer on the Gleason scale, a grading system for prostate cancer severity, has sparked concerns, as it correlates with high-grade cancer.

Former President Joe Biden’s last known prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was in 2014, his spokesperson told Fox News.  (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images; iStock)

The fact that Biden’s cancer has been classified as “hormone-sensitive” means it could be more responsive to hormone therapies, and thus more treatable.

Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis has ignited several questions about why it wasn’t caught sooner, despite undergoing several physical examinations. 

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“There are things going on that the public wasn’t informed of,” President Donald Trump said Monday. “I think somebody’s going to have to speak to his doctor.”

“This is no longer politically correct. This is dangerous for our country,” he added. “Somebody is not telling the facts.”

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. will soon begin construction of a “Golden Dome” missile defense system they say will be a next-generation “game changer” protecting the American homeland from outside adversaries.

A similar system, the Iron Dome, has already been developed in Israel with U.S. assistance and has proven effective in repelling missile attacks. Now. Trump says a bigger, more technologically advanced, multi-layered dome system will soon be installed in America.  

The president announced the “one big beautiful” budget bill being discussed in Congress will include $25 billion in initial funding for the project, which he expects will cost $175 billion overall. He said he expects a major phase of the dome will be complete in under three years and that it will be “fully operational before the end of my term.”

He noted there is significant support for the project in Congress, quipping, “It’s amazing how easy this one is to fund.”

HEGSETH REVEALS PLANS TO COUNTER CHINA, STAY AHEAD IN ARMS RACE AS PENTAGON PIVOTS TO INDO-PACIFIC

President Donald Trump announced his proposal for a “Golden Dome” missile defense system in the United States May 20, 2025. (Reuters/Leah Millis/File Photo; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“In the campaign, I promised the American people that I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield to protect our homeland from the threat of foreign missile attack. And that’s what we’re doing today,” he said, adding that the Golden Dome “will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from the other side of the world and even if they are launched from space.”

Trump also announced he is placing Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein in charge of the project, saying, “No one is more qualified for this job.”

Hegseth called the Golden Dome a “bold initiative” and another addition to Trump’s “long and growing list of promises made and promises kept.”

He said investing in the new system is essential to respond to growing threats from countries like Russia and China.

“Ultimately, this right here, the Golden Dome for America, is a game changer,” said Hegseth. “It’s a generational investment in the security of America and Americans.”

TRUMP’S TOUGH POLICIES PUSH UK, EU TO SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND TRADE AND DEFENSE

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a missile interceptor  (Reuters )

Addressing Trump, Hegseth said, “Mr. President, you said we’re going to secure our southern border and get 100% operational control after the previous administration allowed an invasion of people into our country. President Reagan 40 years ago cast the vision for it. The technology wasn’t there. Now it is, and you’re following through to say we will protect the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear.”

Guetlein indicated the Golden Dome is necessary to preserve the safety, security and the quality of life Americans are used to.

“We owe it to our children and our children’s children to protect them and afford them a quality of life that we have all grown up enjoying. Golden dome will afford that,” said Guetlein.

MARCO RUBIO: WE SHOULD BE HAPPY WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO SEEKS PEACE

Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, United States Space Force  (Space Force)

The general said “our adversaries have become very capable and very intent on holding the homeland at risk.”

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“While we have been focused on keeping the peace overseas, our adversaries have been quickly modernizing their nuclear forces, building up ballistic missiles capable of hosting multiple warheads, building out hypersonic missiles capable of attacking the United States within an hour and traveling at 6,000 miles an hour, building cruise missiles that can navigate around our radar and our defenses, building submarines that can sneak up on our shores and, worse yet, building space weapons,” Guetlein said. 

“It is time that we change that equation and start doubling down on the protection of the homeland.”

The U.S. is awaiting a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin that may lead to a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Secretary Marco Rubio announced Tuesday. 

“He says he’s going, they’re going to submit a proposal that would lead to a ceasefire, that would then lead to a broader negotiation,” Rubio told lawmakers during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing. “I think we will know from the context of that proposal where their mindset is and where they stand.”

Asked if he believed Russia was ready to cut a deal, the secretary and interim national security advisor said, “I think Putin will always cut a deal he thinks is in the best interest for the country, for Russia and for his view of the world.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP CONFIDENT PUTIN WANTS PEACE WITH UKRAINE, THINKS HE’S ‘HAD ENOUGH’ OF WAR

The U.S. is awaiting a proposal from Vladimir Putin that may lead to a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Secretary Marco Rubio announced Tuesday. (Sergei Bobylyov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump and Putin spoke by phone for two hours Monday, though the discussion did not yield an immediate breakthrough. Trump told reporters he believes Putin wants peace and said he trusts him. 

“I think he’s had enough. I think he’s had enough. It’s been a long time. This has been going on for more than three years. When you think, it’s been going on for a long time,” Trump said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in the Turkish capital to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey, May 15, 2025. (Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Asked whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was doing enough to move the peace process along, Trump said, “I’d rather tell you in about two weeks from now, because I can’t say yes or no.” 

“Look, he’s a strong person, Zelenskyy, a strong guy, and he’s not the easiest person to deal with,” said Trump. “But I think that he wants to stop, and it’s a very bad thing that’s happening over there. I think he wants to stop. But I could answer that question better in two weeks or four weeks from now. I hope the answer is that he wants to get it solved.”

TRUMP SAYS PUTIN IS ‘TIRED’ OF RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Rubio said Putin’s peace proposal will determine “where he stands” on peace negotiations.  (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

The European Union on Tuesday passed a set of new sanctions against Russia, and Republicans on Capitol Hill have said they are waiting for the go-ahead from the White House to pass a new sanctions package. 

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Trump said Monday he was not yet ready to impose new sanctions but could in the future. 

“I think there’s a chance of getting something done,” Trump said. “And if you do that, you can also make it much worse. But there could be a time when that’s going to happen.”

He also said Moscow and Kyiv would continue direct peace negotiations, adding the Vatican was ready to host peace talks. 

The Trump administration on Tuesday took steps to begin enforcing a law that requires truck drivers to speak English.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was in Austin, Texas, where he signed an order to direct the Department of Transportation to enforce the law.

Duffy framed the move as a safety issue for America’s roadways. 

TRUMP TO MAKE ENGLISH OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF US IN NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER

From left, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watch as President Donald Trump arrives at a bill-signing event for the “Take it Down Act” in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“For too long, misguided policies have prioritized political correctness over safety of the American people,” Duffy said. 

Under federal law, a driver must “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.”

The move came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 28 directing the Department of Transportation to include English literacy tests for our truckers.

GOOGLE MAPS, FAA OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGES GULF OF AMERICA AFTER TRUMP DECLARATION: ‘ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL?’

Semi-trucks, used for shipping are parked near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on May 3, 2025, in San Diego, California.  (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

“You might not know, but there’s a lot of communication problems between truckers on the road with federal officials and local officials, as well, which obviously is a public safety risk,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the time. “So we’re going to ensure that our truckers, who are the backbone of our economy, are all able to speak English. That’s a very commonsense policy.” 

Before 2015, more than 99,000 drivers had English proficiency violations and a thousand were taken out of service, Duffy said. 

Many of those drivers were given a “slap on the wrist,” he said. 

“English is the language of opportunity in America,” the secretary said. “Allowing drivers who can not read stop signs, or understand police officers’ instructions to operate an 80,000-pound big rig threatens the safety of every American on our roadways.”

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Jan. 30, 2025. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Moving forward, truckers would be taken out of service if they are pulled over and found unable to speak English.

The Food and Drug Administration is shifting its annual COVID-19 vaccine approval policies to focus on Americans older than age 65 and other “high-risk” individuals, while increasing the standard of evidence to approve COVID vaccines for low-risk individuals. 

“The FDA will approve vaccines for high-risk persons and, at the same time, demand robust, gold-standard data on persons at low risk,” FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research chief, Vinay Prasad, and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday. “These clinical trials will inform future directions for the FDA, but more important, they will provide information that is desperately craved by health care providers and the American people.” 

Americans over the age of 65 and those considered at high-risk of contracting the virus will be able to receive an annual COVID-19 vaccine this fall, the essay outlined, while vaccines for low-risk Americans will likely face stricter scientific analysis before they are made available to the public. The FDA estimated that about “100 million to 200 million Americans” older than age 65 or considered at high-risk will still have access to vaccines. 

Prasad and Makary said in their essay that the U.S. will move away from a “one-size-fits-all” paradigm that promoted COVID-19 vaccines for the vast majority of Americans, stretching from children to the elderly. The shift, they said, will bring America’s policies more in line with guidelines in European nations. 

RFK JR’S HHS TO END ROUTINE COVID VACCINE GUIDANCE FOR CHILDREN, PREGNANT WOMEN: REPORT

Dr. Vinay Prasad and Dr. Marty Makary said in their essay that the U.S. will move away from a “one-size-fits-all” paradigm that promoted COVID-19 vaccines for the vast majority of Americans.  (Getty Images)

“While all other high-income nations confine vaccine recommendations to older adults (typically those older than 65 years of age), or those at high risk for severe Covid-19, the United States has adopted a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework and has granted broad marketing authorization to all Americans over the age of 6 months,” the health leaders wrote in the New England Journal. 

“The U.S. policy has sometimes been justified by arguing that the American people are not sophisticated enough to understand age- and risk-based recommendations,” they wrote. “We reject this view.” 

FIERY RFK JR. FLOGS WHO FOR CAVING TO CHINA ON COVID, CELEBRATING PANDEMIC ‘FAILURES’ IN STUNNING VIDEO TO ORG

President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The FDA’s policy shift will include requiring vaccine manufacturers to gather clinical trial data to justify rolling out new COVID-19 vaccines for Americans at low risk of contracting the virus. 

BEN & JERRY’S CO-FOUNDER ARRESTED PROTESTING SENATE HEARING: ‘RFK KILLS PEOPLE WITH HATE’

Prasad and Makary held a roundtable discussion on the framework outlined in their medical essay Tuesday afternoon to walk Americans through the policy shift. Prasad explained that health officials under the Trump administration are taking into account that Americans have balked at the FDA’s guidance under the Biden administration to receive multiple booster shots, while other Americans demand access to the vaccines. 

“We have to admit to ourselves that America is deeply divided on the policy issue of repeat COVID 19 vaccine doses or boosters,” he said. “There are some Americans out there who are worried that the FDA has not fully documented and interrogated the safety harms of these products, and they are categorically opposed to these products. There are also some Americans we also have to recognize, who are desperate for additional protection, and they demand these products. But the truth is that most doctors and most of the public are entirely uncertain, and that is reflected in low vaccine uptake of these products.” 

Americans’ trust in the scientific community has cratered since the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Vinay Prasad and Dr. Marty Makary noted.  (AP Photo, File)

The pair added during the roundtable that Americans’ trust in the scientific community has cratered since the pandemic. 

“Survey after survey shows trust in institutions like the FDA and scientists in general, it’s rock bottom,” Prasad said during the roundtable. “I mean, we have lower trust than Congress, and that’s saying something, you know. And we need to rebuild that trust. And part of rebuilding that trust is having conversations like this, writing articles like we’ve done in the New England Journal, and having a common-sense evidence-based framework for rebuilding that trust.” 

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The pair cited in their article in the New England Journal that “public trust in vaccination in general has declined,” including for “vital immunization programs such as that for measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccination, which has been clearly established as safe and highly effective.”

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons is demanding that former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz apologize after he called agents “[President] Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.”

Lyons said that “if the governor doesn’t like the laws, he’s free to advocate that Congress change them, but he should refrain from putting ICE officers in danger by likening them to one of the most appalling groups in history.”

During a commencement speech at the University of Minnesota law school over the weekend, Walz, a Democrat and the governor of Minnesota, described Trump as a “tyrant” and told students they “are graduating into a genuine emergency.”

“Some would say, ‘Boy, this is getting way too political for a commencement address,'” Walz told students during his commencement address on Saturday. “But I would argue, I wouldn’t be honoring my oath if I didn’t address this head on.”

LA COUNTY DA NATHAN HOCHMAN PROMISES CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘THE FUN IS OVER’

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons is demanding that former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz apologize after he called agents “[President] Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.” (Getty Images)

He then proceeded to compare the Trump administration’s ongoing deportations of criminal illegal immigrants to the Nazi secret police force of the 1930s and 1940s.

“I’m gonna start with the flashing red light — Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets. They’re in unmarked vans, wearing masks, being shipped off to foreign torture dungeons. No chance to mount a defense. Not even a chance to kiss a loved one goodbye. Just grabbed up by masked agents, shoved into those vans and disappeared.”

Walz’s comments drew strong condemnation from Lyons, who released a statement on Tuesday in which he pointed out that the commencement fell during National Police Week.

“On the final day of National Police Week — when those brave enough to put on a badge and a uniform mourn their fallen brothers and sisters — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz referred to my professional, hard-working ICE agents and officers as ‘modern-day Gestapo,’” said Lyons.

TEXAS GANG MEMBERS SENTENCED FOR HUMAN SMUGGLING AFTER HIGH-SPEED BORDER CHASES

DHS Secretary Noem with ICE and other agents on operations in Phoenix, Arizona on April 8, 2025. (Secretary Noem/X)

The acting ICE director said that Walz’s “abhorrent, dehumanizing and ignorant comment should not be tolerated.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Lyons said that assaults against ICE officers have risen by over 400% from the same time last year.

He placed part of the blame for the rise in assaults against ICE agents on “politicians like Gov. Walz are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.”

‘PROJECT HOMECOMING’ LAUNCHES WITH FIRST FLIGHT OF 64 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ACCEPTING $1,000 TO SELF-DEPORT

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller has also responded to Walz’s statement, saying in a Sunday X post that “this vile anti-American language can only be construed as inciting insurrection and violence.” (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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“It seems that Mr. Walz prefers violent criminal aliens are released into Minnesota’s communities,” said Lyons, adding: “He should issue an immediate apology to the men and women protecting his communities.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller has also responded to Walz’s statement, saying in a Sunday X post that “this vile anti-American language can only be construed as inciting insurrection and violence.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio fired back at Sen. Chris Van Hollen after the Maryland Democrat said he regretted voting for Rubio as President Donald Trump’s chief foreign affairs adviser, leading to a fiery exchange during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the State Department’s budget proposal when Van Hollen used his time to tear into the State Department for revoking visas of those found disrupting college campuses or committing acts of violence.

“Your campaign of fear and repression is eating away at the foundational values of our democracy,” Van Hollen said, likening Rubio to the era of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. He added, “And I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State.”

“First of all, your regret for voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job,” Rubio replied.

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

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing to examine the President’s proposed budget request for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of State on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“That’s just a flippant statement, Mr. Secretary,” Van Hollen shot back.

Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, interjected, asking Van Hollen to let Rubio respond to his claims without interruption. When Van Hollen asked if he can, in turn, respond to Rubio, Risch said, “Your time is up, Mr. Senator, and woefully used I might add.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., reacts while speaking to Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Rubio continued, saying that in the case of El Salvador, “we deported gang members … including the one you had a margarita with,” referencing Van Hollen’s visit to see deported “Maryland man” Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. “And that guy is a human trafficker, and that guy is a gangbanger, and the evidence is going to be clear in the days to come.”

Van Hollen then jumped in, shouting to the chairman that Rubio “can’t make unsubstantiated comments like that.”

“Secretary Rubio should take that testimony to the federal court of the United States because he hasn’t done it under oath,” Van Hollen said before Risch banged the gavel to allow Rubio to continue.

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

Rubio continued: “About the student visas, let me say this. I don’t deport anybody and I don’t snatch anybody. The State Department does not have officers in the streets snatching everybody. What I do is revoke visas. And it’s very simple. A visa is not a right. It is a privilege.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen had a fiery exchange with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

“People apply for student visas to come into the United States and study. And if you tell me you’re coming to the United States to lead campus crusades, to take over libraries, and try to burn down buildings and acts of violence, we’re not going to give you a visa,” he continued.

Van Hollen shot back that Rubio “was just blowing smoke here now.”

Rubio responded: “The bottom line is, if you’re coming here to stir up trouble on our campuses, we will deny you a visa. And if you have a visa, and we find you, we will revoke it.”

Rubio said the Trump administration will continue to revoke the visas of those who are here as guests and are disrupting college campuses.

A senior State Department official reacted to the exchange in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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“Once again, Senator Van Hollen proves that he cares more about illegal immigrants than his own constituents,” the senior State Department official said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed Washington Sen. Patty Murray during a Tuesday Senate hearing for allegedly “presiding over the destruction” of Americans’ health across her more than 30 years in the upper chamber. 

“You’ve presided here, I think, for 32 years. You presided over the destruction of the health of the American people. Our people are now the sickest people in the world,” Kennedy said to Murray during a tense back and forth Tuesday morning. 

Murray began her tenure in the Senate in 1993. 

“Seriously?” Murray interjected. 

WATCH: RFK JR. REBUKES DEM SENATOR FOR PLAYING POLITICS WITH CANCER-STRICKEN CONSTITUENT: ‘YOU DON’T CARE’

Sen. Patty Murray and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the hearing.  (Getty Images)

“What have you done about it? Kennedy shot back. What have you done about the epidemic of chronic disease?”

As the two continued talking over one another, the subcommittee chair, Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, asked Kennedy to “hold back and let the senator ask the questions.”

“Mr. Secretary, I’m asking you a question about child care,” Murray continued. “I’m asking you who made the decision to withhold child care and development block grant funding?”  

“That was made by my department,” Kennedy responded. 

BEN & JERRY’S CO-FOUNDER ARRESTED PROTESTING SENATE HEARING: ‘RFK KILLS PEOPLE WITH HATE’

Kennedy appeared before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday morning to answer questions related to HHS’ budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. The hearing comes just after Kennedy joined lawmakers in both a Senate hearing and a House hearing, both of which included fiery exchanges between Kennedy and Democrat lawmakers. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed Washington Sen. Patty Murray, pictured here, during the May 20, 2025, Senate hearing for allegedly “presiding over the destruction” of Americans’ health across her more than 30 years in the upper chamber.  (Greg Nash/Pool via Reuters)

Murray continued in her questioning that the HHS was making vast cuts to scientists at the agency, which Kennedy dismissed, citing that he does not “trust” Murray’s information. 

“And you said last week, quote, ‘we were not cutting thousands of scientists,” Murray continued. “We are not cutting clinical trials.’ But I want you to know, in the last four months, you fired or pushed out nearly 5,000 NIH staff and terminated more than 1,600 NIH grants. That includes more than 240 clinical trials across the country. So whose decision was it to fire scientists and terminate these NIH grants and the clinical trial?” 

DEM LAWMAKER SEETHES RFK JR’S ‘LEGITIMACY’ AS HHS SECRETARY HAS ‘EXPIRED’ IN HEATED EXCHANGE

“Senator, I don’t trust your information with all due respect,” Kennedy responded, continuing that Murray’s previous remarks in a recent hearing were not correct. “You told me what, three days ago or four days ago, that we had cut a clinical trial in your state and … what you said turned out to be completely untrue. And you knew it was untrue because you corresponded with (Director of the National Institutes of Health) Jay Bhattacharya before that.” 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy appeared before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee May 20, 2025, to answer questions related to Health and Human Services budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./The Associated Press)

“You came here to argue with me,” Murray added. “I came here to ask you questions about your budget request. Your budget request is asking us to cut dramatically. But I am also making the point that Senator Baldwin made, that what you are doing right now is enacting your budget, that Congress has not passed, by cutting critical funding across the board.” 

The Washington Democrat previously exchanged barbs with Kennedy Wednesday, when Murray accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of delaying critical cancer care for one of her constituents. 

“Mr. Secretary, one of my constituents … she’s a mom of two from Bainbridge Island in Washington state,” Murray said in her opening line of questioning Wednesday. “She has been fighting aggressive stage four colorectal cancer for nearly five years now. Her best hope now is a clinical trial she’s participating in at the [National Institutes of Health’s] Clinical Center.” 

FDA’S LATEST MAHA MOVE WOULD WIPE OUT KIDS’ FLUORIDE PRESCRIPTIONS AS HEALTH RISK EVIDENCE MOUNTS

Washington Democrat Sen. Patty Murray previously exchanged barbs with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when Murray accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of delaying critical cancer care for one of her constituents.  (Saul Loeb/AFP)

“But because of the thoughtless mass firing of thousands of critical employees across NIH and HHS that you carried out, Natalie’s doctors at that clinical center have told her they have no choice but to delay her treatment by an additional four weeks.”

“I can’t tell you that now, Sen. Murray,” Kennedy responded. “What I can tell you is that if you contact my office tomorrow, I’ll look specifically into that.” 

However, that answer from Kennedy was “not acceptable” to the senator.

“That is not acceptable,” Murray shot back, eventually demanding Kennedy provide her an update on Natalie’s case within 24 hours. “I want an answer.” 

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Kennedy added during Tuesday’s hearing that Murray’s constituent had qualified for the clinical trial “this week,” adding that “we shouldn’t be talking about patients’ private information,” with Murray agreeing. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this article. 

The Department of Justice has accused Rep. LaMonica McIver of assaulting two federal agents at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in New Jersey last month, according to a new charging document.

The document cites bodycam footage from law enforcement officers who recorded events as McIver and two other New Jersey lawmakers stormed the ICE facility. Prosecutors say the first officer McIver allegedly assaulted was a Homeland Security Investigations agent and the second was an ICE agent.

The DOJ accuses McIver of having “slammed her forearm into the body of a uniformed HSI agent and reached out and tried to restrain the agent by forcibly grabbing him.”

The charging document also states that McIver “pushed an ICE officer & used her forearms to forcibly strike the agent.”

BLUE STATE ICE FACILITY RAMPS UP SECURITY WITH NEW BARRICADES AMID CLASHES WITH PROTESTERS

Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman are being targeted in a new House GOP resolution. (Getty Images)

McIver rejected the charges in a public statement, arguing they are “purely political.”

“Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district,” she wrote. “We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka.”

“The charges against me are purely political – they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she continued. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid our clearly in court.”

DEM LAWMAKERS DEFEND ‘STORMING’ OF ICE FACILITY, SAY TRUMP ADMIN IS ‘LYING AT ALL LEVELS’

Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver is facing charges for allegedly assaulting two federal agents. (Department of Homeland Security)

Prosecutors say McIver helped create a “human shield” and blocked agents from handcuffing Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after he ignored numerous warnings to leave the property and was told he would be arrested.

When the HSI agent told the mayor he was going to arrest him, McIver interjected and yelled “Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!” according to the charging document.

The HSI agent then ordered Baraka to put his hands behind his back and displayed his handcuffs. McIver and other members of Congress “surrounded the Mayor and prevented HSI from handcuffing him and taking him into custody,” prosecutors say.

Members of Congress bust into ICE detention facility in New Jersey (X / @RepBonnie)

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem weighed in on the charges against McIver on Monday, saying, “no one is above the law.”

“If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the secretary wrote. “We thank our brave ICE law enforcement officers for their service to this great nation.”

Read the DOJ’s full charging document below (App users click here)

The nation’s only sitting Black governor vetoed reparations legislation, dealing a blow to fellow Democrats and emphasizing his preference to “focus on the work itself” rather than form commissions.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore vetoed SB 587, legislation sponsored by state Sen. C. Anthony Muse, D-Forest Heights, that would have established the Maryland Reparations Commission.

The commission would have been tasked with providing recommendations by 2027 “relating to appropriate benefits to be offered to African Americans impacted by slavery and historic inequality.”

Moore, however, did not issue his veto in any sort of opposition to the overall idea.

DEM GOV SAYS MD, WITH $3B DEFICIT, HAS BEEN DOING DOGE ‘BEFORE ANYONE KNEW WHAT IT WAS’

“I applaud the legislature’s work on this bill, and I thank the Black Caucus for their leadership,” Moore said in his veto message.

“We have moved in partnership with leaders across the state to uplift Black families and address racial disparities in our communities. That is the context in which I’ve made this difficult decision.”

Moore took issue with the potential for more bureaucracy that the resolution would bear.

“[N]ow is not the time for another study,” he said, citing other recent commissions established, including the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“Now is the time for continued action that delivers results for the people we serve.”

MD GOV DEFENDS $190K TRUMP-CENTRIC IRISH CONSULTANT CONTRACT AS POTUS MOVES IN NEXT DOOR

Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland supports racial reparations as a policy but criticized the bill as creating a bureaucracy rather than “continued action.” (Getty)

Seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful, Moore said he will always defend the history of African Americans in Maryland and focus on narrowing the “racial wealth gap,” increasing minority homeownership and “closing foundational disparities.”

Maryland itself has a mixed history when it comes to slavery, the Civil War and the treatment of African Americans.

The state hosts the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, connecting important towns and sites on the Eastern Shore and into Delaware, where Tubman, her aligned families and groups aided runaway slaves on their way to the relative safety of the North.

Its position as an often South-friendly state just north of Washington, D.C., also complicated its position during the Civil War. John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, hailed from Bel Air, and his escape from Washington after the assassination led him through Confederate-friendly southern Maryland before crossing the Potomac into Virginia.

Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who abetted Booth and his colleagues after Lincoln’s murder, housed them at his property near Leonardtown.

Booth felt uncomfortable enough, however, in postwar Maryland that he fled to Virginia — where he was eventually surrounded and killed by U.S. Marshals at a barn whose foundation now sits unmarked in the middle of the U.S. 301 parkway through Fort A.P. Hill’s grounds.

Maryland’s legislative Black Caucus also released a statement Friday expressing their disappointment with Moore’s veto.

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“At a time when the White House and Congress are actively targeting Black communities, dismantling diversity initiatives, and using harmful coded language, Governor Moore had a chance to show the country and the world that here in Maryland we boldly and courageously recognize our painful history and the urgent need to address it.”

“Instead, the state’s first Black governor chose to block this historic legislation that would have moved the state toward directly repairing the harm of enslavement.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Partisan sparks are expected to fly on Tuesday as lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee face off over President Donald Trump‘s strict crackdown on illegal immigration.

The panel’s subcommittee on oversight is holding a hearing Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. on threats to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

It comes as tensions still run high over the incident at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey, last month, when three House Democrats and the city’s progressive mayor were accused of “storming” the facility in a protest against Trump’s handling of illegal immigrants.

TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ PASSES KEY HOUSE HURDLE AFTER GOP REBEL MUTINY

Rep. Jasmine Crockett is the top Democrat on Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s oversight subcommittee on the House Judiciary panel. (Getty)

One of those Democratic lawmakers, Rep. LaMonica McIver, is being charged with assault, while a charge of trespassing against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is being dropped. McIver called the charge “purely political.”

The Tuesday hearing will be led by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who represents the southernmost portion of the Garden State.

“While the Trump administration has taken decisive action to address this crisis, Democrat leaders have worked tirelessly to block those efforts. What happened in my home state of New Jersey is just the latest example, and it is simply unacceptable,” Van Drew told Fox News Digital.

“We witnessed protests, led by elected officials, turn violent against ICE officers who were just doing their jobs. These officials are more focused on protecting violent criminals than ensuring the safety of their own communities.”

He said the subcommittee’s probe would “expose how sanctuary policies and anti-enforcement rhetoric are putting public safety at risk.”

Rep. Jeff Van Drew is leading the hearing. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The top Democrat on the subcommittee is Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, a rising star on the left who has been known to make headlines for verbal outbursts – particularly targeting Republicans. Her office did not respond to a request for comment on the hearing. However, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., signaled he was ready to defend the Democratic officials in the middle of the Delaney Hall incident.

“I assume if they want to do anything to those three members, then I assume they’ll get a Trump pardon, right?” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital. 

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said he wanted to take time to review witnesses’ submitted testimony before talking about what he would say.

Meanwhile, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who is also on the panel, said: “What we’re trying to understand is, why in the world are Democrats hell-bent on stopping the president from deporting murderers and rapists and terrorists?”

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

Rep. Brandon Gill will also be part of the hearing. (Getty Images)

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“I mean, they’re holding up ICE facilities, breaking into them. They’ve fought us every single step of the way,” Gill said.

“I think we’re going to put them on the spot and get to the bottom of it.”

The Democratic officials at the center of the Delaney Hall incident and their allies have contended that they had every right to be inside the facility as federal officials. Both sides have accused the other of assault and improper handling.

EXCLUSIVE: As the Trump administration and Republicans across the country push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies across the board, the executive director of a top consumer advocacy group spoke to Fox News Digital about what companies and institutions are doing to skirt those efforts.

“Over the last few months, we’ve sort of seen a phase shift in the ways that they’re trying to keep this DEI grift going,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild told Fox News Digital about companies, organizations, hospitals and other entities that are attempting to rebrand DEI and environmental, social and governance in the Trump era. 

“At first, they just pushed back on, tried to defend DEI itself, but when that became so obvious that what DEI really was was anti-White, anti-Asian, sometimes anti-Jewish discrimination in hiring and promotion, they abandoned that,” Hild said. “Now what they’re trying to do is simply change the terminology that has become so toxic to their brand. So we’re seeing a lot of companies move from having departments of DEI, for example, to ‘departments of belonging’ or ‘departments of inclusivity.’”

Several major companies have publicly distanced themselves from DEI in recent months as the new administration signs executive orders eliminating the practice while making the argument that meritocracy should be the focus. 

RED STATE TREASURER REVEALS WHY STATE FINANCIAL OFFICERS HAVE ‘OBLIGATION’ TO COMBAT ESG, DEI

Fox News Digital spoke to Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild about the state of DEI in the U.S. (Getty)

However, FOX Business exclusively reported in April on Consumers’ Research warning that some businesses appear to be rebranding the same efforts rather than eliminating them. 

“It is the exact same toxic nonsense under a new wrapper, and they’re just hoping to extend the grift because a lot of these people, I would say most of the people working in DEI are useless,” Hild told Fox News Digital. 

KEY BIDEN AGENCY DROPPED $60K ON OVERSEAS CONFERENCE WITH DEI WORKSHOP: ‘SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN’

DEI = Diversity, equity & inclusion. (Dzmitry Dzemidovich)

“They are mediocrities who have managed to get very high-level positions that they’re not qualified for by running this DEI grift, and they’re desperate,” he continued. “They can’t just move into running logistics for Amazon because that takes actual competence and intelligence and if you’re in a DEI department, you probably don’t have either of those things. So they are desperate to keep this grift going so they can justify their own existence. So they’re changing it into a new wrapper.”

Hild, who spoke to Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida, also explained some of the other issues Consumers’ Research is focused on going forward, including fighting “woke” hospitals in three different areas.

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Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, in Bethesda, Maryland, on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Getty Images)

“One is net zero pledges and activities that raise costs for consumers, patients having to pay more because these hospitals are investing millions, sometimes tens of millions of dollars, into green boondoggle projects that have nothing to do with the treatment of patients and the improvement of their health, but they do raise prices,” Hild said.

Secondly, Hild said that his group is concerned about DEI quotas at hospitals.

Hild explained that the third and “worst” issue is transgender surgeries and procedures being forced onto children.

“Pushing of radical left transgender ideology onto kids, and not just pushing it ideologically and rhetorically, but pushing it physically, and what I mean by that is the injection of damaging, lifelong damaging hormones into children to, quote, unquote, change their sex, which is impossible, and even worse, the actual surgical application, removal and mutilation of their genitals, which is a grotesque violation of the Hippocratic Oath,” Hild said.

Consumers’ Research has been actively involved in launching advertising campaigns against hospitals across the United States, including a recent campaign against Henry Ford Health in Michigan, calling out what it says are situations where hospitals are putting “politics over patients.”

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Institute of Peace, writing in a ruling that the removal of its board members and the takeover of its headquarters by members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are actions that are “null and void.” 

The response this week from U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell comes after the Institute filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in March calling for “the immediate intervention of this Court to stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress.” 

“The Administration removed the Institute’s leadership, including plaintiff Board members and its president in contravention of statutory limitations, and had personnel from a newly created federal office, called the Department of Government Efficiency, forcibly take over the Institute’s headquarters on March 17,” Howell wrote in her ruling. “With a newly installed USIP president, the Administration then handed off USIP’s property for no consideration and abruptly terminated nearly all of its staff and activities around the world.”

“Congress’s restrictions on the President’s removal power of USIP Board members are squarely constitutional, and the President and his Administration’s acts to the contrary are unlawful and ultra vires. The actions that have occurred since then – at the direction of the President to reduce USIP to its ‘statutory minimums’ – including the removal of USIP’s president, his replacement by officials affiliated with DOGE, the termination of nearly all of USIP’s staff, and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration, were thus effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void,” she added. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION GUTS INSTITUTE OF PEACE OF ‘ROGUE BUREAUCRATS’ AFTER DOGE STANDOFF IN GOVERNMENT OFFICE 

U.S. Institute of Peace employees hold an impromptu celebration on the steps of the U.S. Institute of Peace, on Monday, May 19, in Washington after federal district Judge Beryl Howell blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with dismantling the organization.  (AP/Gary Fields)

The Institute of Peace is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage.  

“Congress has endorsed USIP’s important work by continuing to fund the Institute through appropriations bills signed by seven different Presidents from both major political parties, including the current President during his first term in office,” Howell said in the ruling.  

“In a drastic and abrupt change of course, within the first month of his second term, President Trump unilaterally decided that USIP is ‘unnecessary,’ issuing Executive Order 14217 to this effect, and then his Administration rushed through actions, including removal of Board members, to reach the professed goal of reducing all of USIP’s operations and personnel to the bare minimum to perform only mandated statutory tasks, while ignoring the broader statutory goals set out for this organization to fulfill,” she also said. 

Ultimately, Howell concluded, the Trump administration’s actions “represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better.”

JUDGE DENIES EMBATTLED GOVERNMENT-FUNDED AGENCY’S RESTRAINING ORDER REQUEST AGAINST DOGE 

George Moose, formerly the acting president and CEO of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), speaks to members of the media on Monday, March 17. (Getty Images)

The White House did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

In March, it said the Trump administration gutted the Institute of Peace of “rogue bureaucrats” who held a tense standoff with a DOGE team that required police intervention. 

“Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said at the time. “The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.” 

The administration now has 30 days to file an appeal to the ruling.

The US Institute of Peace headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

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“The United States Institute of Peace has existed for 40 years on a $50 million annual budget, but failed to deliver peace,” Kelly told the Associated Press. “President Trump is right to reduce failed, useless entities like USIP to their statutory minimum, and this rogue judge’s attempt to impede on the separation of powers will not be the last say on the matter.” 

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

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants to put the kibosh on President Donald Trump’s plan for the U.S. military to accept a Boeing airplane from Qatar to be used as Air Force One.

The Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would prohibit utilizing Defense Department funding to procure, modify, restore, or maintain an aircraft for presidential flight if that aircraft was previously owned by a foreign government, foreign government-controlled entity, or foreign government representative.

“None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2025 or fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense may be made available for the procurement, modification, restoration, or maintenance of an aircraft previously owned by a foreign government, an entity controlled by a foreign government, or a representative of a foreign government for the purposes of providing presidential airlift options,” the text of the measure reads.

ESPIONAGE, CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS ABOUND FROM TRUMP DETRACTORS, ALLIES OVER QATARI JET OFFER

Left: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room at the U.S. Capitol on May 05, 2025 in Washington, DC; Right: U.S. President Donald Trump departs the White House on May 12, 2025, in Washington, DC.  (Left: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images; Right: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to request comment on Tuesday morning but did not immediately receive a response.

“Donald Trump has shown time and again – he will sell out the American people and the Presidency if it means filling his own pockets,” Schumer said, according to a press release. 

“Not only would it take billions of taxpayer dollars to even attempt to retrofit and secure this plane, but there’s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure. It is now on the Senate to prioritize our national security, protect Americans, and ensure that a foreign-owned plane never gets the call sign ‘Air Force One.’”

QATAR DUMPED BILLIONS INTO US SCHOOLS OVER LAST FOUR DECADES: REPORT

The proposal stands little chance of passage: Even if it were to clear both chambers of Congress where Republicans hold the majorities, the president could veto the measure, in which case passage would require enough votes to surmount a presidential veto.

“The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years. It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive,” President Trump declared in a Truth Social post last week.

QATAR OFFERS TRUMP JUMBO JET TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE

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“Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done. This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump added.

Trump indicated last week that he does not plan to fly in the plane after leaving office, but that the aircraft would be placed in his presidential library.

As she ran for the White House in the 2024 election cycle, Nikki Haley made her calls for “new generational leadership” a key component of her Republican presidential campaign.

And front and center from day 1 of her campaign as the former South Carolina governor and former United Nations ambassador declared her candidacy in February 2023 was her call for “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”

As Haley challenged then-76-year-old former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination in hopes of eventually facing off in the general election against then-80-year-old President Joe Biden, the proposal became one of the most visible and at times controversial parts of her campaign stump speech.

DEMOCRATS RUN THE GAUNTLET AS THEY FACE QUESTIONS OVER BIDEN’S COGNITIVE ACUITY

As she announced her run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 15, 2023, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for mental competency tests for politicians over age 75. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Haley faced charges of ageism from a host of politicians opposed to the idea, including a now-83-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who at the time called her idea “absurd.”

While Haley’s campaign took off, and she ended up being the last Republican candidate standing against Trump during last year’s primaries, she eventually bowed out of the race in March 2024 as Trump marched toward clinching the presidential nomination.

BIDEN STRUGGLES WITH WORDS, KEY MEMORIES IN LEAKED AUDIO FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR INTERVIEW

Fast-forward to today, and long-standing questions about Biden’s physical and mental fitness – and whether Democrats should have more forcefully urged him to bow out of the 2024 race – haven’t gone away; they’re front and center.

This as Biden’s condition is once again making headlines, courtesy of excerpts from a new book being released this week, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” which offers claims of a White House cover-up of the then-president’s apparent cognitive decline.

Then-President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid less than a month after a disastrous debate performance against then-former President Donald Trump in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Additionally, last week’s leaked audio of Biden’s 2023 interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, in which the then-president appears to suffer memory lapses, is also fueling the conversation.

Hur, who investigated whether Biden years earlier had improperly stored classified documents, made major headlines early last year when he decided not to charge Biden but described the then-president as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”

Last week’s developments were followed by Sunday’s blockbuster announcement that Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

The news, while eliciting sympathy from both sides of the political aisle, is unlikely to sidetrack the current firestorm over the former president’s mental acuity.

BIDEN’S DIAGNOSIS: CANCER DESCRIBED AS AGGRESSIVE

“While the media may have been shocked by Nikki’s call for mental competency tests, Americans never were,” a source in Haley’s political orbit told Fox News. “It was common sense. Nikki always believed our leaders should be completely transparent and remember who they serve: the American people. After a yearslong cover-up, those who hid President Biden’s mental decline must finally acknowledge what Nikki and the American people always knew to be true.”

Haley, who was 51 when she announced her candidacy in 2023, reupped her calls for a mental competency test throughout her campaign.

In January last year, during the heat of the primary battle, Haley pointed to some verbal stumbles by Trump on the campaign trail.

“He’s not what he was in 2016. He has declined. That’s a fact,” Haley said at the time.

Trump repeatedly fired back as he touted acing a cognitive test he took five years earlier and said, “I think I’m a lot sharper than her.”

Nikki Haley, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks at a town hall in Rye, N.H., on Jan. 2, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

A month later, after the release of Hur’s written report regarding Biden’s mental acuity, Haley said, “Joe Biden can’t remember major events in his life, like when he was vice president or when his son died.”

“That is sad, but it will be even sadder if we have a person in the White House who is not mentally up to the most important job in the world,” she added as she reiterated her calls for Biden to take a mental competency test “immediately.”

Haley, in a Fox News op-ed in May 2023, spelled out the specific test she recommended for politicians over age 75.

“The Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test is a widely used tool for detecting cognitive decline,” Haley wrote at the time.

And she elaborated, “This is not a qualification for office. Failing a mental competency test would not result in removal. It is about transparency. Voters deserve to know whether those who are making major decisions about war and peace, taxation and budgets, schools and safety can pass a very basic mental exam.”

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Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, noting the current media spotlight on Biden, said it has “renewed concerns many Americans have about the age and ability of our elected officials. Public service demands clarity of thought, sound judgment, and the ability to manage complex issues.”

And Lesperance, president of New England College, said “Americans must conclude that a fair and nonpartisan cognitive assessment, perhaps irrespective of age, is important to ensure all who seek to lead are equipped to serve with the sharpness and clarity the role requires.”