NationalWatch

China on Thursday condemned an American military buildup off the coast of Venezuela amid the Trump administration’s effort to combat drug cartels, accusing Washington of engaging in foreign interference. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was speaking with reporters when she was asked about the naval deployment. 

“China opposes any move that violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and a country’s sovereignty and security,” Ning said. “We oppose the use or threat of force in international relations and the interference of external forces in Venezuela’s internal affairs under any pretext.”

U.S. WARSHIPS TO PATROL INTERNATIONAL WATERS AROUND VENEZUELA AS TRUMP VOWS TO STOP CARTELS

“We hope that the United States will do more things conducive to peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region,” she added. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. 

At least three Aegis guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham among them — are part of the mission that includes thousands of Marines. 

“On day one of the Trump Administration, the President published an Executive Order designating drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, clearly identifying them as a direct threat to the national security of the United States,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Tuesday. 

VENEZUELA HUMAN RIGHTS HIT NEW LOW AS US PUTS $50M BOUNTY ON MADURO’S HEAD: STATE DEPARTMENT

“These cartels have engaged in historic violence and terror throughout our Hemisphere—and around the globe– that has destabilized economies and internal security of countries but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs,” he added.

In response to the move by Washington, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to “outlandish threats” by the U.S. 

The show of military force comes as the Trump administration continues to demand that Maduro be held accountable for drugs being smuggled into the U.S.

The administration has labeled Maduro’s regime as a “narco-terror cartel.” Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the South American leader. 

Meanwhile, the Justice Department said it has seized more than $700 million in assets tied to the embattled dictator, including two private jets and nine luxury vehicles.

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Maduro, indicted in New York in 2020 on narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy charges, has clung to power with military backing and allegedly with support from Russia, China and Cuba.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

The Washington State Department of Licensing is investigating how an illegal immigrant obtained a commercial driver’s license, as questions loom following a deadly crash in Florida that killed three people last Tuesday.

The case has reignited debate over state licensing loopholes and immigration enforcement, raising questions about how a noncitizen without legal status could have obtained a commercial driver’s license.

“The Department of Licensing is investigating the 2023 issuance of Mr. Singh’s prior commercial driver license. I don’t at this time have a timeline on when the investigation will be completed, nor what we can release,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email on Thursday.

The suspect, Harjinder Singh, entered the United States illegally in 2018 at the southern border, but he was denied authorization to work by the first Trump administration in 2020. Still, he was able to get a commercial driver’s license in California, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

EXPERT REVEALS HOW ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER MAY HAVE GOTTEN COMMERCIAL LICENSE BEFORE FATAL FLORIDA CRASH

In addition, he also got a commercial driver’s license in July 2023 in the state of Washington, which is against the law there, according to the Department of Transportation.  

The driver allegedly made a U-turn in an area on the Florida Turnpike where such a turn was prohibited, causing his truck to crash with a minivan, killing three people. In addition, he failed an English proficiency assessment and a road sign test done by federal investigators. 

“During [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s] interview with the driver, investigators administered an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment in accordance with FMCSA guidance,” DOT said in a statement. “The driver failed the assessment, providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.”

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has not responded to requests for comment on the issuance of the license. However, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office got into an exchange on X.com with DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin about the details of how he got a work permit. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER ACCUSED OF KILLING THREE PEOPLE FAILED ENGLISH, ROAD SIGN TESTS: DOT

“Hey, genius: the federal government (TRUMP ADMIN) already confirmed that this guy meets federal and state immigration requirements — YOU issued him a work permit (EAD). As usual, the Trump Administration is either lying or clueless,” Newsom’s press office posted earlier this week.

“False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020. It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021. The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses. There is no national CDL. Sincerely, Genius,” McLaughlin replied.

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Singh was extradited to Florida from California on Thursday. There’s been concerns in other states about illegal immigrants being issued standard driver’s licenses as well, including allegations from a whistleblower in Kentucky alleging that people would pay under the table to obtain the licenses illegally.

ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED OF CAUSING FATAL SEMI TRUCK CRASH THAT KILLED 3 PEOPLE: ‘SHOCKING AND CRIMINAL’

Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday about how Singh’s case could happen in the first place.

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“Just as states issue driver’s licenses, they also issue commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). States are not supposed to issue CDLs to a person unless they are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder). There seems to be a loophole for a state to issue a CDL to someone who is merely authorized to work in the U.S.,” Ries explained in a statement. 

“Note that the Trump (45) administration denied Harjinder Singh’s application for work authorization, but the Biden administration later granted his request. That could be enough to exploit this CDL loophole in a willing state,” the expert continued. 

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

A judge on Thursday found that Alina Habba was unlawfully serving in the role of acting U.S. attorney of New Jersey after President Donald Trump sidestepped typical processes to keep her in charge.

Judge Matthew Brann said Habba has not been the rightful temporary U.S. attorney for New Jersey since July 1, a ruling that follows a criminal defendant in New Jersey challenging her appointment in court, alleging it was unconstitutional.

“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” Brann wrote in a 77-page order.

JUDGE TO DECIDE ALINA HABBA’S FATE AS US ATTORNEY IN NEW JERSEY

Habba, Trump’s former personal defense lawyer, had been serving as interim U.S. attorney, but when her term expired last month, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi used loopholes in federal vacancy laws to install her as “acting” rather than “interim” U.S. attorney.

TRUMP STANDS BY ALINA HABBA AS DOJ CLASHES WITH JUDGES OVER HER REPLACEMENT

A defendant in the district, Julien Giraud, alleged that the moves violated his constitutional rights because of the string of unconventional actions it took to attempt to keep Habba in the role.

Brann, an Obama appointee serving in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, agreed. Brann is presiding over the matter after the chief judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New Jersey and Pennsylvania, decided the case presented too much of a conflict for New Jersey’s federal judges.

The New Jersey judges made the rare decision to decline to extend Habba’s term and instead appointed career attorney Desiree Grace to the job. Trump and Bondi fired Grace, withdrew Habba’s nomination as permanent U.S. attorney and then reinstated Habba as acting U.S. attorney, which they said kept Habba in charge for at least another 210 days under federal statute.

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Fox News Digital reached out to a spokeswoman for Habba for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

President Donald Trump took heat from a major swing-state governor and potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender who scoffed Wednesday at the idea of eliminating mail-in balloting by fiat.

“Donald Trump can sign whatever the hell executive orders he wants to sign and make a show out of whatever he wants, but he can’t change the Constitution with an executive order,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a press conference in Harrisburg.

“The Constitution gives the authority to set our election rules to the states,” Shapiro said.

“Let me remind you that it was just about five years ago that a bipartisan majority in the House and in the Senate passed mail-in voting. And [since] that time, millions of people have voted by mail,” Shapiro said. He was referring to Act 77 of 2019, which several Republicans supported but later accused Democrats and left-leaning judges of substantially altering post-hoc.

TRUMP SLAMS MAIL-IN BALLOTS AS CORRUPT, BUT MAY NOT HAVE THE POWER TO DERAIL THEM

Shapiro said Pennsylvania has enjoyed “free and fair” elections – and added that Trump has both won and lost the commonwealth in contests throughout his political career.

“For him to try and put more misinformation out there, to stoke more division and fear amongst people who want to exercise their constitutional right to pick the leaders in their communities and in their commonwealth – that is just cynical and wrong.”

Shapiro said any Trump order will have “no bearing” on Keystone State elections, and that he will support county election officials in all 67 counties in permitting mail-in voting.

2028 HOPEFUL CHALLENGES TRUMP’S JUVENILE SURGERY BAN WHILE OPPOSING WOMEN’S SPORTS BILL RESTRICTIONS

Former Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, lambasted the bipartisan mail-in-vote law Shapiro referenced – accusing Democrats and the popularly-elected Pennsylvania Supreme Court of “diluting” it from its original purpose.

“Only one party [worked to] eliminate security safeguards, and delay the timelines for elections,” Cutler said in an LNP column, adding the Democrat-controlled high bench “unconstitutionally acted to change the law for receiving and counting ballots [and] allowed for drop boxes … and stripped the security provisions for mail-in ballots.”

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On Monday, Trump foreshadowed changes to the election system, pledging to “lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social he would sign an executive order in that regard to “help bring honesty to the 2026 midterm elections,” and said states are “merely agent[s]” for the federal government.

The Pentagon is encouraging its civilian employees to join a “volunteer force” assisting the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration efforts, Fox News has learned.

The Defense Department notified its roughly 950,000 civilian employees in a Wednesday email, saying they can apply to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on a temporary basis.

“DHS and the DOD officially signed a [memorandum of agreement] that allows DOD civilians to participate in the detail,” a U.S. defense official told Fox News. “DOD civilian employees are now able to apply for these details via USAJOBS. The Department pushed out an email to civilians employees encouraging them to apply yesterday.”

The USAJOBS posting says “extensive overtime” may be required and conditions at some locations could be “austere.” It adds that ICE and CPB may pay for all base pay, overtime, premium pay, and travel expenses.

TRUMP SUGGESTS BORDER CRACKDOWN IS ‘SAVING A LOT OF MONEY’ AFTER STARK DROP FROM BIDEN ERA CROSSINGS

The listing adds that deployment locations include facilities along the U.S. border, or ICE and CBP facilities throughout the interior of the United States.

ASSAULTS ON ICE OFFICERS SURGE 830% AS DEMOCRATS CAUGHT ‘DOXING AND PHYSICALLY ASSAULTING’ AGENTS: DHS

The Pentagon’s move comes as the Department of Homeland Security is already working to hire 10,000 additional full-time ICE officers. Last week, the DHS touted some 100,000 applications it had received for the posts.

“Your country is calling on you to serve at ICE and defend the Homeland,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement earlier this month. “In the wake of the Biden administration’s open border policies, the dedicated men and women of ICE now face unprecedented challenges in removing millions of criminal illegal aliens from our country.”

“Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, we now have funding to recruit and hire Americans who want to patriotically serve their country and protect American communities,” Lyons added.

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The recruitment drive comes amid what has been at least an 830% increase in assaults on agents amid riots and protests throughout the country, according to DHS data. Noem said earlier this month that number has since spiked to 1,000%.

California Democrats, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, are gearing up to nullify Texas’ new congressional map with their own.

Lawmakers in the Golden State are expected to pass a trio of bills that would allow voters to decide whether to overturn the preexisting congressional maps and the state’s independent redistricting commission, and usher in a new one with a more partisan bent.

Indeed, Newsom’s push for a special session and new map is a call and response to President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans, who crafted their own fresh map that passed the Texas House on Wednesday that gives the GOP five new, Republican-leaning districts.

ABBOTT SCORES BIG WIN IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE AS TEXAS DEMOCRATS’ BLOCKADE COLLAPSES

California’s proposal would turn five Republican districts into Democratic-leaning districts in an effort to cancel out the changes made in Texas. Both states are engaging in a broader battle to gain control of the House pushed by Trump, who wants to buck the pendulum swing trend during off-cycle elections and maintain control of the lower chamber.

“This is about taking back our country,” Newsom told reporters on a press call Wednesday. “This is about the Democratic Party now punching back forcefully and very intentionally.”

Thursday’s legislative session comes on the heels of the California GOP’s attempt to halt the process by charging that they did not have their constitutionally granted 30 days to review the legislation, which was shot down by the California Supreme Court on Wednesday. 

HERE ARE THE 5 GOP HOUSE SEATS THAT COULD BE WIPED OUT WITH NEWSOM’S CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING PLAN

During Thursday’s session, California lawmakers will consider three bills, one to pay for the special session, one containing the new map and another teeing up a constitutional amendment to be considered by voters in November.

The proposed map would likely affect five California Republicans’ districts, including Reps. Doug LaMalfa, David Valadao, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert and Kevin Kiley. Earlier this month, Kiley introduced legislation to halt the nationwide redistricting push until after the 2030 census.

Like the Texas map, it’s not guaranteed that Democrats will win the seats, but Newsom and his supermajority in the state legislature are angling to give them a better shot.

TRUMP, ABBOTT VS. NEWSOM: MAD DASH TO REDO CONGRESSIONAL MAPS IN CALIFORNIA, TEXAS

But Trump’s desire to maintain the GOP’s trifecta in Washington has spurred other states to consider a redistricting effort, too.

“Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!! Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself,” he said on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing.”  

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While Trump and his allies continue to prod for more changes to state maps, Newsom has found an ally in his own push: former President Barack Obama.

He argued that Newsom was taking a “responsible approach,” but noted that mid-decade redistricting, particularly of the hyperpartisan nature that Newsom and Republicans were engaged in, was not his preference.

“I’ve had to wrestle with my preference, which would be that we don’t have political gerrymandering,” Obama said on Tuesday at an event in Martha’s Vineyard. “But what I also know is that if we don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republican-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop.”

President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation crackdown spooked leaders in at least one Democratic-majority east coast city, as its mayor and city council suddenly removed a scheduled vote on approving a “Welcoming City” ordinance from this month’s agenda.

Mayor Sal Panto Jr., of Easton, Pa., a moderate Democrat, moved to strike the ordinance vote from the agenda, with all but its sponsor, Councilwoman Taiba Sultana, backing the move, according to Lehigh Valley News. One member was absent. 

The ordinance would have given the city – 80 miles west of New York City and 60 miles north of Philadelphia – a designation shared by Chicago, where leaders use the term “welcoming city” instead of the more politically charged “sanctuary city.”

BOSTON’S WU FIRES BACK AT BONDI, CITING REVOLUTION, AS OTHER CITIES SLAM FEDS OVER ‘SANCTUARY’ WARNINGS

Sultana told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that values should come first and lamented the decision.

“The Council’s decision stemmed from a place of pragmatism rather than principle … But the majority felt that formally adopting the ‘Welcoming City’ bill now would effectively paint a target on our city – a target for an administration that has demonstrated a willingness to weaponize federal funds against political adversaries,” she said. 

In recent weeks, Attorney General Pam Bondi has threatened civil action and withholding of federal funding from sanctuary cities or municipalities that do not align with federal immigration law – and Easton leaders didn’t want that kind of attention.

“This threat, while legally dubious, is very real. It jeopardizes the critical funding that our residents, including our undocumented neighbors who contribute immensely to our economy, depend on for essential services like education and public safety,” Sultana said.

POPULAR PA DEMOCRATIC MAYOR WARNS TRUMP IS OUT-MESSAGING HARRIS: ‘I GET MORE FROM COLBERT’

Easton isn’t alone in weighing its options. Other Lehigh Valley cities have faced similar debates. In February, neighboring Bethlehem also decided against passing a similar ordinance, as the Christmas City’s Democratic mayor convinced city council against it.

“We acknowledge that while many cities are seeking to respond to the recent threats of deportation by creating a ‘welcoming ordinance’… in fact many of these practices have been in place for years,” Mayor J. William Reynolds said at the time.

Allentown – Pennsylvania’s third-largest city – went the other direction, codifying a longstanding policy barring local resources from being used to enforce federal immigration law. One councilman said the vote did not create a “sanctuary” but presented a “guiding light [to] know where we stand and… what we can and cannot do.”

Councilman Frank Pintabone told Lehigh Valley News the “Welcoming City” ordinance sought to “fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” pointing to much heavier ICE activity in Allentown versus only two detentions so far in Easton.

Panto said Easton remains a “welcoming city” in a proverbial sense and doesn’t need such a moniker:

“We welcomed every immigrant. I think our record shows that.”

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A GOP official in Northampton County — whose parents immigrated legally to Easton from Cuba and Austria — criticized the idea of a “Welcoming City” or sanctuary ordinance, noting that his family already felt welcomed when they arrived.

The official told Fox News Digital his father came to Easton in 1959, returned briefly to Cuba to see Fidel Castro overthrow the government and decided, “I’m getting the h–l out of here.”

FOX DIGITAL REVIEW: New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s growing circle of influence is littered with activists who have espoused anti-Israel views and socialist principles as he attempts to dispel the narrative that he is too “radical” to run the nation’s largest city.

Mamdani, who has been a fierce critic of President Trump’s immigration policies, employs the help of several advisers as part of his “brain trust”, New York Times reported, which includes New York Immigration Coalition president Murad Awawdeh, an activist for a group with a long history of seeking to end “state support for detention, deportation, and mass incarceration.”

According to Awadeh, illegal immigrants having access to taxpayer-funded healthcare is a right they “deserve.”

“SEEKING ASYLUM AT THE BORDER IS A LEGAL RIGHT,” Awawdeh posted on X in 2022. “ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES FROM VIOLENCE, PERSECUTION, & IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. THE U.S. HAS A LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE REFUGE.”

VULNERABLE DEMOCRATS HAMMERED WITH SCATHING AD HANDCUFFING THEM TO MAMDANI, JEFFRIES

NYIC has close ties to and has taken money from the Vera Institute for Justice, a group that received a significant amount of support in the form of contracts from the Biden administration to assist illegal immigrants in avoiding deportations. Additionally, NYIC has taken in $175,000 from the sprawling George Soros nonprofit network. 

Soros is also tied to another key Mamdani advisor, Patrick Gaspard, who has served in several high-profile political positions, including advising former President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, serving as the Democratic National Committee’s executive director, and was tapped as the Center for American Progress (CAP) president in 2021.

Gaspard, who Fox News Digital previously reported made millions of dollars serving as president of Soros’s Open Society Foundations between 2017 and 2020, has been a staunch defender of Soros, saying earlier this year that he was “inspired by the selection of my friend George Soros, who is one of our leading defenders of inclusive and accountable democracy and vibrant civil society,” after then-President Joe Biden announced he would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“His accomplishments, in the face of distortions and threats from extremists, will be lauded well into the future,” he continued. In a long 2023 X thread, Gaspard also attempted to deflect blame away from Soros amid reports that Soros and his network were pouring millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of radical DAs and far-left groups that emphasized social justice programs and gave lenient sentences to violent criminals.

Mamdani has rejected the “communist” label bestowed on him by critics, including laughing off the accusation when confronted by Fox News Digital earlier this year, while at the same time being advised by an activist who doesn’t appear to shy away from communists.

Housing advocate Cea Weaver, part of Mamdani’s reported “brain trust,” is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and advises the mayoral hopeful on housing issues, including Mamdani’s plan to “freeze” the rent, which has gotten strong pushback from many New Yorkers in the industry. 

MAMDANI PREACHES FROM PULPIT OF RADICAL PASTOR PUSHING REPARATIONS, ABOLISHING POLICE: ‘BROTHER AND FRIEND’

Weaver is also the former coalitions director of Housing Justice for All, a group that counts dozens of radical far-left groups as coalition members, including the Communist Party of the United States of America and the New York Young Communist League.

“Elect more Communists,” Weaver posted on social media in 2017, New York Post reported. “Seize private property,” Weaver posted in 2018. 

Mamdani has faced heated criticism for his long history of anti-Israel statements and positions dating back to his days writing for his college newspaper and his circle of advisers includes several people who have exhibited the same criticisms.

Activist Faiza Ali, another member of Mamdani’s reported inner circle, formerly worked for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group whose executive director, Nihad Awad, stated after Hamas’ October 7 attacks that he was happy to see Gazans “breaking the siege” against the “occupying power” of Israel.

Awad later said those comments were taken out of context. 

In addition to her ties to CAIR, a group that GOP Sen. Tom Cotton recently said should lose its nonprofit status due to alleged terror ties, Ali is an acquaintance of and has been photographed with Linda Sarsour, who the two are associated with through the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. 

Sarsour, a prominent anti-Israel activist who has long been labeled antisemitic, has faced criticism for lauding Farrakhan, objecting to the Jewish right to return to Israel, and even calling for “jihad” against President Trump in 2017. She later claimed she was calling only for nonviolent dissent.

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Maya Handa, a campaign manager reportedly part of the “growing circle” around Mamdani, was formerly a top adviser to former Dem. Rep. Jamaal Bowman who has a long history of anti-Israel controversy including last year when he defended the phrase “from the river to to the sea”, a saying widely interpreted as a call for the elimination of Israel. 

Mamdani senior adviser Morris Katz, described by the New York Times as being one of two people in Mamdani’s “inner circle” and an “emissary” to the Jewish community to counteract skeptical pro-Israel voters, has been critical of Israel on social media.

Katz has previously said the existential threat to Israel’s existence is “not the Palestinians who’re being oppressed and denied basic human rights” but rather Benjamin Netanyahu.

Katz also amplified a quote from Mamdani saying that Democrats supporting a ceasefire and an arms embargo are “rightfully outraged over Israel’s killing of over 40,000 Palestinians.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment. 

FIRST ON FOX: An office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated a federal grant funding California’s sex education program aimed at preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases after the West Coast state reportedly refused to remove “radical gender ideology” from its curriculum, Fox News Digital exclusively learned Thursday. 

“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” acting assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families Andrew Gradison said in comment provided to Fox News Digital Thursday. “The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.”

The Administration for Children and Families — which is an office under HHS’ umbrella that funds state, local and tribal organizations to provide support for families such as child care — announced Thursday morning that it was terminating the funding to California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant. 

The PREP program aims to educate California’s youth, ages 10–19, on preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, which the state says has led to students in the program “delaying sexual activity, increasing condom or contraceptive use for sexually active youth, or reducing number of sexual partners.” 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BANS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM TAXPAYER-FUNDED SERVICES, INCLUDING HEAD START

“Program services are engaging, nonjudgmental, medically accurate and tailored to the unique needs of youth participants and their communities,” the PREP website states. “Services are offered in a range of settings, including schools, juvenile justice facilities, homeless shelters and foster care group homes. CA PREP activities also include community engagement and promotion of clinical linkages to youth-friendly reproductive health services.”

PREP specifically aims to assist those who “reside, attend school or receive reproductive health services in a high-need geographic area; are homeless and/or runaway; attend an alternative or continuation school; are in or emancipated from foster care; are in the juvenile justice or probation system; identify as LGBTQ; are receiving treatment for mental health or substance abuse issues; have special needs; live in migrant farmworker families or are expectant/parenting female youth up to age 21.”

GOP LAWMAKERS RIP NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS FOR ALLOWING TRANS ATHLETES TO COMPETE IN GIRLS’ SPORTS

The PREP grant has been under scrutiny by the Trump administration since at least March, when the Administration for Children and Families requested program leaders send copies of its curriculum and other relevant course materials to them for review. The probe was initially launched to ensure the state’s sexual education programming is medically accurate and age-appropriate.   

Previous grant funding shows California’s PREP program received just under $6 million from the federal government in fiscal year 2022. All in, California could lose $12.3 million in funding that it has not yet received, covering multiple years, according to HHS. 

The Administration for Children and Families reviewed the program’s curriculum and other teaching materials, and found a lengthy list of subjects and language deemed to fall outside the program’s “authorizing statute,” in particular references to “gender ideology.” In June, Fox News Digital reported Administration for Children and Families gave the sex education program a 60-day deadline to remove all references to gender identity or face potential termination of its funding.

The 60-day deadline just ran dry, with the Administration for Children and Families subsequently terminating the funding and sending a letter to Sydney Armendariz, the division chief of Maternal Child, and Adolescent Health Division at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and Matthew Green, the deputy director of the Center for Family Health at CDPH, declaring it was “terminating all California State Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) awards and suspending the funding effective August 21, 2025.”

The letter sent Thursday reported that following the Administration for Children and Families’ June request to remove what it said was radical gender ideology from PREP teachings, California refused in a letter of its own. 

4-H FEDERALLY FUNDED CAMPS UNDER FIRE FOR CABINING KIDS, ADULT COUNSELORS BY ‘IDENTITY’

“CDPH will not make any such modifications at this time for several reasons,” the California Department of Public Health said in a letter to ACF earlier this week, according to HHS. “The listed reasons were: 1) PREP materials had already been reviewed and approved by ACF; 2) the materials are medically accurate; 3) the gender ideology content is relevant to purposes identified in the authorizing statute, specifically the adult preparation subjects listed at 42 U.S.C. § 713(b)(2)(C); and 4) ACF does not have authority to take an enforcement action.”

Among the materials Administration for Children and Families found amid its review of the curriculum was a lesson for middle school-aged students that sought to introduce them to the concepts of transgenderism, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

“We’ve been talking during class about messages people get on how they should act as boys and girls—but as many of you know, there are also people who don’t identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer,” the lesson states to students. “This means that even if they were called a boy or a girl at birth and may have body parts that are typically associated with being a boy or a girl, on the inside, they feel differently.”

Other flagged lessons in the materials included curriculum for high school-aged students included instructions on what it means to be “nonbinary” and language that informed students “gender-identity” is “essentially a social status.” 

“In a disturbing and egregious abuse of federal funds, California has been using taxpayer money to teach curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, ‘altering their body … through hormone therapy,’ ‘adding or removing breast tissue,’ and ‘changing their name.’ It instructed teachers to ‘remind students that some men are born with female anatomy,’” HHS said in a Thursday press release of the teachings.

HHS GIVES CALIFORNIA DEADLINE TO OVERHAUL FEDERALLY-FUNDED SEX ED PROGRAM ‘INDOCTRINATING’ KIDS

The Administration for Children and Families also had raised concerns over materials for teachers within the program, including lessons on avoiding misgendering individuals. 

“All people have a gender identity,” the teacher training materials stated, Fox Digital previously reported. It also instructed educators to refer to people who identify with their sex “assigned at birth” as “cisgender,” and added that those who are not “cisgender” may identify as “non-binary, agender, bigender, genderfluid, (or) genderqueer.”

Gradison’s letter to the California health leaders Thursday underscored that Administration for Children and Families’ decision to terminate the grant is final unless California health leaders file an appeal.

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“This is the final decision of the Administration for Children and Families,” the letter reads. “It shall be the final decision of the Department unless, within 30 days after receiving this decision, you submit a notice of appeal to the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB).” 

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

Texas Democrat James Talarico has campaigned on getting megadonor cash out of elections, but records show he has been cashing checks from an unlikely source: a Republican, Trump-backing billionaire.

Talarico’s single largest donation last year came from a PAC backed by casino mogul Miriam Adelson, the widow of longtime Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson. Records show Talarico received $59,000 from Adelson’s Texas Sands PAC in 2024, making the group his largest donor for that year.

A representative for Talarico’s office defended his accepting the funds, telling Politico that while he opposes big-donor cash influencing elections, “he will not unilaterally disarm and let Texas Republicans play by different rules.

“Rep. Talarico believes our campaign finance system is deeply broken,” spokesman Antonio Esparza told the outlet. “That’s why he filed legislation to cap campaign contribution limits in the state of Texas.”

ABBOTT SCORES BIG WIN IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE AS TEXAS DEMOCRATS’ BLOCKADE COLLAPSES

Talarico proposed legislation last year that would have capped donations to state-level lawmakers at $10,000. There is no cap on such donations under current law.

Reports on the donations come after Talarico appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in July, during which he blasted Republicans for accepting billionaire dollars.

“Basically every single Republican state senator in Texas has taken their money. Every single one. A majority of the Republicans in the State House have taken their money,” he told Rogan, referring to oil-based billionaires in the state. “They increasingly run this whole government here in Texas.”

NEWSOM-STYLE REDISTRICTING EFFORTS CRITIQUED BY CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS AS RECENTLY AS JULY, STATEMENTS SHOW

Meanwhile, Adelson’s PAC has routinely supported both Democrats and Republicans on the state level in Texas, pushing for the state to legalize casino gambling. In 2023, Talarico voted in favor of a measure that would have given voters the chance to approve casino legalization through a constitutional amendment.

Talarico was among the roughly 50 Texas Democrats who fled the state earlier this month in an attempt to block Republicans from adopting a new congressional map.

‘TIRED OF DEMOCRACY DYING’: NEWSOM REDISTRICTING PUSH FACES GOP BACKLASH OVER VOTER RIGHTS

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Talarico and his fellow Democrats returned to Austin this week, saying they achieved their goal of galvanizing Democratic opposition across the country. Several Democratic states are now threatening to carry out their own redistricting plans, as parties battle for control over the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.

FIRST ON FOX — A Trump-aligned legal group founded by White House aide Stephen Miller filed Freedom of Information Act requests Thursday targeting a Biden organ transplant program that critics warn could be open to abuse.

The requests from America First Legal went to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. At issue is the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model, a six-year mandatory program finalized in December 2024 and set to take effect in July 2025, which aims to expand access to kidney transplants but has drawn criticism from Trump officials who warn it may be vulnerable to outside influence.

The model builds on earlier payment experiments, testing whether financial rewards and penalties can improve care and expand access for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Trump officials and allies, including America First Legal, argue the system risks distortion by outside interests — a charge that prompted AFL’s FOIA requests as part of a broader investigation.

TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON VOTING BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGES AMID FLURRY OF LEGAL SETBACKS

They cited in part recent findings from an HRSA-led probe published earlier this year. That investigation suggested third-party groups or for-profit organizations “may have unduly influenced the IOTA Model”— though their exact role or the extent they may have done so is unclear.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also cited concerns from the study, which the department said in a statement “revealed clear negligence and disturbing practices” by a large organ procurement organization in the U.S., prompting him to launch a new reform initiative.

In previewing the FOIA requests to Fox News Digital, AFL cited related concerns about patient safety, ethical misconduct, and discrimination in organ allocation, among other things.

The requests ask HHS, CMS and HRSA for a long list of information regarding the program and related correspondence — including emails, letters and memos between agency personnel and third-party representatives about the development or implementation of the IOTA Model. They also seek meeting records, agendas and summaries of discussions involving agency staff and outside officials.

The payment model will affect more than 100 U.S. transplant hospitals over six years, imposing mandatory financial incentives and penalties tied to a final performance score.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BAN FOR ALL INFANTS, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS

IOTA was touted as a way to help increase access to organ donors and transplants in the U.S. and help address the long waiting list of patients awaiting a transplant, which as of last fall stood at roughly 90,000 people.

Participating hospitals are evaluated for their performance in three key areas, according to CMS’s final rule, which took force in July, including the volume of kidney transplants, their matching efficiency, and post-transplant outcomes of their patients. But the role outside groups have played, including during the process of drafting the final rule, has prompted criticism and calls for additional scrutiny from Trump allies, including AFL. 

“Self-interested third parties should play no role in shaping America’s organ transplant policy,” AFL counsel Laura Stell told Fox News Digital in a statement previewing the FOIA requests and broader investigation.

“Where monetary incentives and penalties come into play, there must be utmost certainty that CMS developed the program without influence from entities with improper motives.”

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America First Legal, though not officially part of the Trump administration, was founded by longtime Trump advisor Stephen Miller after Trump’s first presidential term. 

Miller stepped down from AFL before rejoining the White House in 2025 as Trump’s deputy chief of staff. 

An eleventh former Biden administration aide is appearing before House Oversight Committee investigators on Thursday morning as Republicans continue to investigate allegations of a “cover-up” in the previous White House.

Ian Sams is a longtime Democrat communications operative who most recently served as a senior spokesman for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign.

Before that, he served as a senior advisor and spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office under former President Joe Biden, where his primary role entailed responding to congressional probes mainly launched by Republicans.

RON KLAIN DODGES REPORTERS AFTER MARATHON GRILLING IN BIDEN COVER-UP PROBE

“You were a first line of defense to spin negative stories about the president and his mishaps,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to Sams in late June.

He pointed out that Sams’ tenure in that role, which lasted from May 2022 to late August 2024, stretched across much of the latter half of Biden’s term.

“The scope of your responsibilities—both official and otherwise—and personal interactions within the Oval Office cannot go without investigation, given the mounting evidence that President Biden was incapacitated for much, if not all, of his single term,” Comer wrote. “If White House staff carried out a strategy lasting months or even years to hide the chief executive’s condition—or to perform his duties—Congress may need to consider a legislative response.”

LONGTIME BIDEN AIDE SAYS HE STOOD TO EARN UP TO $8M HAD PRESIDENT WON RE-ELECTION

Comer’s committee is investigating whether Biden’s top White House aides covered up signs of mental decline in the former president from both the media and fellow Democrats.

Of particular interest to House investigators is the myriad clemency orders that Trump signed in the latter half of his four-year term, and whether those decisions and others signed via autopen were made with Biden’s full awareness.

Biden maintained he “made every decision” in a recent interview with The New York Times.

Sams was also notably thrust into the spotlight during his time as a Harris 2024 spokesman after being called out by name by President Donald Trump.

“Sams is just a below-average guy, with memorized FAKE NEWS soundbites, almost all of which are WRONG,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after one of Sams’ appearances on Fox News Channel last year.

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While Sams is the eleventh former Biden White House aide appearing, he is just the eighth to come in for a voluntary interview.

Three other former Biden officials – ex-White House physician Kevin O’Connor and former senior advisors Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini – were compelled to appeal via subpoena.

Like the sit-downs before his, Sams’ interview will be taking place behind closed doors and is expected to be led by lawyers for both Republicans and Democrats on the committee.

A military vehicle belonging to the D.C. National Guard crashed into a civilian car in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood Wednesday morning, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The crash comes amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington. The president announced plans Aug. 11 to deploy troops from the D.C. National Guard and to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department to address crime in the nation’s capital. 

Washington’s fire department confirmed that a military vehicle collided with a civilian car and that one person was treated for minor injuries as a result of the crash. 

400 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS DESCEND UPON DC; EXPANDED CRIME CRACKDOWN EXPECTED WEDNESDAY NIGHT

“One of the two vehicles involved was a military vehicle,” DC Fire spokesperson Vito Maggiolo said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “One person had to be extricated as a result of the crash and was transported to a hospital with minor injuries. The crash took place at 8th Street and North Carolina Ave SE.”

The D.C. National Guard confirmed that one of its mine-resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicle’s (MATV) was involved in the crash at approximately 6:14 a.m. local time and that the matter is under investigation. 

“The five-vehicle convoy and a D.C. Metropolitan Police cruiser stopped and rendered aid to the civilian, who was transported via” emergency medical services, the D.C. National Guard said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is currently undergoing an investigation. The D.C. National Guard and (Joint Task Force-DC) remains committed to the safety of our service members and the public.”

DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH VOWS TO BE ‘FORCE MULTIPLIERS’ OF DC POLICE

Trump has mobilized 800 D.C. National Guard troops as part of his effort to reduce crime in Washington. 

Likewise, other states have pledged to send their own National Guard troops to assist with the Trump administration’s effort to curb crime. National Guard troops from Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee have been tapped to join the Trump administration’s crackdown in Washington, and approximately 1,300 already have arrived in the nation’s capital.

The White House said that National Guard troops will protect federal assets, provide a “safe environment” for law enforcement officials and “provide a visible presence to deter crime.” 

TRUMP ACTIVATES NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO ADDRESS ‘TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL’ CRIME IN WASHINGTON

“President Trump appreciates and welcomes additional assistance from local and state officials that want to join the operation to protect our cherished capital from dangerous criminals,” a White House official said in a statement to Fox News Digital Tuesday. “As part of President Trump’s ongoing effort to make DC safe and beautiful, additional National Guard troops may be called in to Washington, D.C. — the National Guard’s role has not changed.”

Russia gave in quickly to concessions during President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, Friday, according to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. 

The remarks come as the U.S. and European allies are sorting out various security guarantees to accompany a peace deal and after Witkoff said Sunday that Putin was on board with permitting the U.S. and its European allies to provide additional protection for Ukraine, akin to protections included in NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.

“I don’t want to delve into the specifics of what was discussed because we’re in a negotiation, mediating, and I think we’re going to be very successful because of the leadership of President Trump,” Witkoff told Fox News Tuesday night. 

JD VANCE STEPS INTO THE SPOTLIGHT DEFENDING TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY IN OVAL OFFICE DUSTUP WITH ZELENSKYY

“But there were concessions almost immediately made on the part of the Russians in the first meeting in Alaska,” Witkoff said. “And, you know, part of getting those concessions was learning whether we were going to be able to see the Russians prepared to be more accommodating.”

Historically, Russia has made demands that a peace deal include provisions to bar Ukraine from ever joining NATO, along with concessions on some of the borders that previously were Ukraine’s.

TRUMP: EUROPE WILL ‘TAKE A LOT OF THE BURDEN’ IN PROVIDING SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE

Although Trump said Sunday that Ukraine could end the war by agreeing to certain land concessions to Russia and eliminating the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine under a potential peace deal, the next step Trump and other European allies are working toward is hashing out security provisions for Ukraine under such a deal. 

That was a huge focus Monday, when Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House to discuss various security measures to prevent Russian aggression against Ukraine in the future. After the meetings, Trump said Tuesday that sending U.S. troops to Ukraine to beef up security in the region was off the table. 

“The president has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. 

“The president understands security guarantees are crucially important to ensure a lasting peace, and he has directed his national security team to coordinate with our friends in Europe and also to continue to cooperate and discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia as well.”

TRUMP CALLS WHITE HOUSE TALKS ‘VERY GOOD, EARLY STEP’ TOWARD RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE: HERE’S WHAT’S NEXT

Zelenskyy said U.S. backing on security guarantees is critical to delivering stability to Ukraine. 

“Security in Ukraine depends on the United States and on you and on those leaders who are with us in our hearts,” Zelenskyy said Monday.

“We spoke about it, and we will speak more about security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said. “This is very important that the United States gives such strong signal and is ready for security guarantees.”

President Donald Trump is calling Texas lawmakers’ approval of a sweeping redistricting plan to add up to five new GOP-leaning congressional seats a “Big WIN” for Republicans.

Trump fired off a post via Truth Social hailing the state for “never letting us down,” saying the victory was more than a state win but a national turning point. He went on to urge other Republican-led states to follow the Lone Star State’s lead.

“Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!! Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself. Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing. More seats equals less Crime, a great Economy, and a STRONG SECOND AMENDMENT. It means Happiness and Peace,” he said.

TEXAS GOP LAWMAKERS POISED TO FINALIZE TRUMP-BACKED MAP AFTER DEM REDISTRICTING WALKOUT ENDS

Trump also suggested that a move in that direction could secure as many as 100 additional seats for the GOP nationwide if they followed suit.

“But Republicans, there is one thing even better – STOP MAIL-IN VOTING, a total fraud that has no bounds. Also, go to PAPER BALLOTS before it is too late – At one tenth the cost, faster, and more reliable. If we do these TWO things, we will pick up 100 more seats, and the CROOKED game of politics is over. God Bless America!!!,” the post went on.

Texas Republicans pushed the new congressional map through the state House Wednesday in an 88–52 party-line vote, brushing aside Democratic objections in a bid to strengthen the GOP’s hold on Congress heading into 2026.

WITH TEXAS DEMS BACK, TRUMP URGES LEGISLATURE: ‘PASS THIS MAP, ASAP’

While Trump celebrated the redistricting as a major Republican win, Democrats framed it as only the beginning of a much larger legal battle.

“This part of the fight is over, but it is merely the first chapter… Our best shot is in the courts. This is not over. We will continue fighting,” said Rep. Gene Wu of Houston.

Texas House Democrats also accused the GOP of trying to dilute minority voting power, saying the map was illegal and racially discriminatory.

“Members, it breaks my heart to see how this illegal and rigged, mid-decade redistricting scheme is dividing our state and our country,” Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat, said. “This is Texas, it’s not Washington D.C. The impulses of outside politicians and their billionaire backers shouldn’t dictate what we do in this chamber, in this House.”

“This process was a total sham from the very beginning… This is a racist power grab that especially goes after our African American and Latino representatives,” said Rep. Jon Rosenthal

Republicans defended the map as necessary to reflect population growth and safeguard voter representation.

“Different from everyone else, I’m telling you, I’m not beating around the bush,” Rep. Todd Hunter, said about the map’s goal. “We have five new districts, and these five new districts are based on political performance.”

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Democrats unveiled their new map last week in an effort to nullify the map Texas Republicans were creating. If that bill is passed, it would create five new Democratic-leaning congressional districts that would counteract Texas.

The dueling maps highlight the high-stakes fight for control of the House, with both parties using redistricting to try to lock in their advantage before 2026.

Four additional International Criminal Court (ICC) officials are facing U.S. sanctions over actions targeting Americans and Israelis. The State Department cited President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court,” as its reasoning for issuing the sanctions.

Those named are ICC Judge Kimberly Prost (Canada), ICC Judge Nicolas Yann Guillou (France), and ICC Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan (Fiji) and Mame Mandiaye Niang (Senegal).

“These individuals are foreign persons who directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

US SANCTIONS PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY OFFICIALS AFTER REJECTING GLOBAL PUSH TO GIVE IT CONTROL OF GAZA

While neither the U.S. nor Israel are members of the ICC, the individuals at the center of the sanctions have taken actions against both nations in their official capacities. According to the State Department, Prost ruled to authorize an investigation of U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, while Guillou ruled to authorize the ICC arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.

Meanwhile, Khan and Niang are subject to the sanctions “continuing to support illegitimate ICC actions against Israel,” including the arrest warrants, since assuming leadership of the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor in May.

“The [ICC] continues to disregard national sovereignty and facilitate lawfare through efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, and prosecute American and Israeli nationals,” Rubio wrote on X announcing the sanctions. “In response, I am sanctioning four additional ICC officials. We will continue to hold accountable those responsible for the ICC’s morally bankrupt and legally baseless actions against Americans and Israelis.”

TRUMP ADMIN SANCTIONS BRAZILIAN JUDGE OVERSEEING BOLSONARO COUP-PLOT PROBE

In response to a request for comment, the ICC pointed Fox News Digital to a public statement.

The ICC said it “deplores the announcement of new designations for sanctions by the U.S. administration.”

“These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 States Parties from all regions. They constitute also an affront against the Court’s States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world,” the ICC’s statement read.

WATCHDOG BACKS RUBIO’S SANCTIONS ON UN OFFICIAL OVER ‘SHAMEFUL EFFORTS’ TARGETING US, ISRAEL

The State Department said that the sanctions are meant to “impose tangible and significant consequences” against Prost, Guillou, Khan and Niang. Their U.S. assets have been frozen, and U.S. persons and businesses are prohibited from dealing with them. This also applies to companies in which they hold at least 50 percent ownership. Additionally, the sanctions cover workarounds, such as indirect transactions.

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In February, Trump signed an executive order in which he claimed that the ICC had “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.” The order also stated that the U.S. rejects any ICC actions against it or its allies who have “not consented to ICC jurisdiction.” The order lists the types of sanctions that can be imposed, many of which are now being applied to Prost, Guillou, Khan and Niang.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has posthumously awarded five Floridians, including singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and former Republican and Democratic politicians, with the Governor’s Medal of Freedom.

“I’m proud to recognize the legacies of these great Floridians,” DeSantis said in a statement.

“Our state is better for their contributions, and we’re proud they called Florida home,” he continued. “They have each earned the honor of being awarded the Governor’s Medal of Freedom.”

The governor awarded one of the state’s highest honors to Buffett, former GOP U.S. Rep. and state congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, former Democratic governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, former Democratic governor and U.S. Rep. Buddy MacKay, and former Republican Florida House Speaker John Thrasher.

MIKE CASTLE, DELAWARE’S LAST REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR AND CONGRESSMAN, DEAD AT 86

Buffett, who died in 2023 at the age of 76, was a legendary music icon who rose to fame in the 1970s and was best known for hits like “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”

On top of his musical pursuits, Buffett was involved in business as well, launching restaurants, resorts and merchandise under the “Margaritaville” brand, including opening his first Margaritaville store in Key West in 1985 and opening a Margaritaville Café nearby just two years later.

“His legacy continues to influence music and culture in Florida’s coastal communities,” a release from the governor’s office said.

SEN. RICK SCOTT ENDORSES TRUMP-BACKED FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE

Diaz-Balart, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 70, was a Cuban-American who was exiled from his home country following the communist revolution. He was a strong advocate against communism and oppression, and pushed hard for a free Cuba during his time in office, which included working in Florida’s House and Senate before serving in the U.S. House.

Graham, who died last year at the age of 87, served in both chambers of the Florida legislature before serving as governor and U.S. senator.

“A Democrat, Graham was widely respected for his work on education, environmental conservation, and national security,” the release from the governor’s office said.

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MacKay, who was the state’s last Democratic governor, died last year at the age of 91. His public service also included serving in both chambers of the state legislature and the U.S. House, as well as being the Sunshine State’s lieutenant governor and later the U.S. Special Envoy for the Americas under the Clinton administration.

Thrasher died earlier this year at the age of 81 after serving as Florida State University’s president, chair of the Republican Party of Florida and in both chambers of the state legislature. He also served in the Army during the Vietnam War.

Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office for additional comment.

The Department of Homeland Security tweeted on Wednesday that the term “undocumented immigrant” is the political equivalent of “they/them” pronouns.

“DHS has no interest in the left’s open borders pronouns,” the department said in its statement.

DHS said “alien” is the technical and legal term for what are also called illegal immigrants in the press. “Illegal” is the only way to correctly describe lawbreakers, the agency added.

“Next thing you know you will be calling burglars ‘undocumented houseguests,’” said the statement.

TRUMP ADMIN SLAMS ACLU FOR COMPARING ICE CENTER TO JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMP: ‘DERANGED AND LAZY’

Federal law includes multiple references to the term “illegal alien” or “alien” in describing persons who incur into the U.S. illegally or without proper documentation.

In 8 U.S.C (U.S. Code) 1182 and 1227 – provisions dealing with admission and removal of foreign nationals – the terms “inadmissible aliens” and “deportable aliens” are used.

In federal statute delineating employment and public benefits, 8 U.S.C. 1324(a) and 8 U.S.C. 1611 describe the “unlawful employment of aliens” and “aliens ineligible for federal public benefits.”

ILLEGAL TRUCKER ‘DEPORTED HIMSELF’ TO CALIFORNIA, LAWMAKER SAYS, REVEALING SYSTEMIC CRISIS IN TRANSPORTATION

In criminal law, 8 U.S.C. 1324 describes the transgression of “bringing in and harboring certain aliens.” The statute was often referred to by right-wing commentators during the Biden administration to highlight the textual precedent for using the term “illegal aliens.”

Another reference occurs in 8 U.S.C. 1325: regarding “improper entry by [an] alien.”

UNION BOSS COMPARES ICE TO AL PACINO MOBSTER AS MORE DEMS PILE ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

“‘Alien’ is the technical legal term, and that is what DHS will use,” the department said in its statement.

DHS cited three recent media stories using the term undocumented immigrant, including in Indiana, Texas and New Jersey press outlets.

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In June, a high school student in Davidson County, North Carolina won a $20,000 payday and apology after he was suspended from class over use of the term “alien” to refer to wrongfully present foreign nationals.

The 16-year-old had asked his English teacher if the term “alien” meant “space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards.”

Administrators ruled the comment racially insensitive and suspended the boy, whose family then sued, claiming mischaracterization of racial bias and First Amendment violations.

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

A federal appeals court in San Francisco granted the Trump administration an emergency stay, halting a lower-court order that preserved Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal.

The National TPS Alliance, which represents people with TPS in the U.S., as well as those from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal who challenged the decision to terminate TPS, argue the action was unlawful and at least partially motivated by racial bias.

Judge Trina Thompson, a federal judge in California, delayed the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to terminate protections for immigrants from the three countries on July 31, adding to legal hurdles for the Trump administration as it pushes out its deportation agenda.

In her decision, Thompson said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s terminations of TPS were likely “preordained decisions” that violated the Administrative Procedure Act. She also agreed with the National TPS Alliance, noting Noem’s motives were driven by racial animus.

VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS, PROGRESSIVE GROUP SUE TRUMP ADMIN AFTER NOEM NIXES BIDEN-ERA ‘PROTECTED STATUS’

“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek,” Thompson, a Biden-appointee, wrote in an order. “Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood. The Court disagrees.”

The appeals court panel was made up of three judges appointed by former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as President Donald Trump.

In its decision the panel paused Thompson’s decision while the appeal proceeded. It also suspended the existing briefing schedule and requested all parties to propose new schedules after a related case – National TPS Alliance v. Noem – is decided.

FEDERAL JUDGE FINDS ‘RACIAL AND DISCRIMINATORY ANIMUS’ IN TRUMP MOVE TO CANCEL TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS

But the panel also refused to put a freeze on any activity in the district court related to this case, stressing the docket management is up to the trial judge.

The lawsuit was brought by a group representing TPS holders, including some who have lived in the country for more than two decades.

Attorneys wrote in court papers on behalf of the immigrants that they were “laborers, health care workers, artists, and caretakers” who have “relied on TPS to provide the most basic forms of human security — a stable place to live and a chance to work for a living during a time of severe crisis in their home countries.”

FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS TRUMP TPS POLICY, ACCUSES DHS OF MAKING MIGRANTS ‘ATONE FOR THEIR RACE’

They argued that Noem declining to extend their TPS status was, by law, supposed to be reached based on an individualized analysis of each country. The judge found that Noem likely failed to condition TPS termination on factors specific to the immigrants’ countries of origin.

They also said Noem had given the immigrants a historically short notice period of 60 days before they would lose their TPS status. And she and other Trump administration officials have normalized using “racist invective” to explain their TPS decisions, the attorneys said.

The TPS program gives the DHS authority to permit immigrants who might otherwise have no legal status to temporarily reside in the United States because of extraordinary circumstances in their home countries, such as wars or natural disasters.

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The plaintiffs argued that roughly 61,000 people would lose their TPS as a result of Noem’s decision, which would end the immigrants’ legal status and work authorizations and make them eligible for deportation.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he respects California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push for a redistricting plan to add more Democratic seats in the blue state. 

“I believe that Gov. Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach. He said this is going to be responsible. We’re not going to try to completely maximize it,” Obama said at a fundraiser Tuesday on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, according to excerpts obtained by The Associated Press. 

“We’re only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn’t go into effect,” he added. 

OBAMA PRAISES DEMOCRATS WHO FLED TEXAS REDISTRICTING VOTE AS ‘INSPIRING’

In a post Wednesday on X, Obama said gerrymandering shouldn’t be a part of politics. Instead, it should be a “fair fight” between Republicans and Democrats based on the competition of ideas. 

Changes in Texas and California’s House seats could shift control of Congress in 2026. Some analysts say Democrats could pick up as many as five additional seats in California if Newsom’s plan succeeds, potentially canceling out Republican gains in Texas.

The plan by Newsom is intended to counter a move by Texas over congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

In Austin, the GOP-dominated state House of Representatives last week resumed meeting at a second straight special session called by conservative Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

But Republicans in the Texas House were prevented from holding votes on a new map for two weeks when dozens of Democratic state representatives fled the state to deny the GOP a quorum in the Texas House. 

NEWSOM UNVEILING CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING EFFORT TO COUNTER TRUMP-BACKED PUSH IN TEXAS

“Since Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House and gerrymandering in the middle of a decade to try and maintain the House despite their unpopular policies, I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this,” Obama wrote on X. 

The former commander in chief said Newsom put forward a “smart, measured approach” designed to address “a very particular problem at a very particular moment in time.”

Newsom is moving to hold a special election this year to get voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the nonpartisan redistricting commission, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

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California Republican lawmakers have vowed to fight it. 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Jasmine Baehr and The Associated Press contributed to this report.