NationalWatch

Rahm Emanuel, in his most public comments to date about 2028, is confirming that he’s considering a run for the next Democratic presidential nomination.

The former Chicago mayor, White House chief of staff in former President Barack Obama’s administration, and former congressman from Illinois said this week in an interview with Crain’s Chicago Business that “I’m looking at the (Democratic) field, and most importantly, what I have to contribute.”

“I have been there,” Emanuel added in an interview Thursday on CNN. “I have something I think I can offer. But I haven’t made that decision.”

Emanuel, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan the past four years during former President Joe Biden’s administration, noted that “if I said I wasn’t, it wouldn’t be true. If I said I have decided, that also wouldn’t be true.”

2028 WATCH: HERE ARE 21 DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR PRESIDENT

Emanuel, who worked as a policy adviser in the 1990s in then-President Bill Clinton’s administration and who later steered the Democrats’ capture of the House majority in the 2006 election, has been seen for months as a possible contender for what is likely to be a wide-open and crowded 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race.

SIX REPUBLICANS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON IN THE 2028 WHITE HOUSE RACE

And since returning from Japan at the end of the Biden administration, Emanuel has been offering blistering assessments of the Democratic Party, in the wake of last November’s stunning setbacks when the party lost control of the White House, the Senate, and failed to win back the House majority from the GOP.

Emanuel called the Democratic Party’s brand “toxic” and “weak and woke” in a profile piece last month in the Wall Street Journal.

“If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody’s got to be articulating an agenda that’s fighting for America, not just fighting Trump,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

EMANUEL WARNS DEMOCRATS HAVE BECOME THE PARTY OF ‘PUNKS’

In his interview with Crain’s, Emanuel urged Democrats to return to “kitchen table issues…we have to go back to how we won. Focus on middle-class economics and values.”

But the moderate Emanuel has long earned the ire of the progressive wing of the party. He was heavily criticized by many on the left over a decade ago for his handling, as Chicago mayor, of the police murder of Laquan McDonald, which grabbed national attention.

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And progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, in 2021, tried to block confirmation of Emanuel’s ambassadorship over long-held allegations he tried to cover up the McDonald shooting.

President Donald Trump has reported to the West Wing’s Situation Room multiple times in recent days as the conflict in Iran comes to a rolling boil and the U.S. considers launching its own attacks on the Islamic Republic over mounting concerns it could produce a nuclear weapon in a short span of time. 

“Yes, I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters Wednesday on the U.S. potentially striking Iran as it continues trading deadly strikes with Israel. “And I said, why didn’t you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction? Why didn’t you go? I said to people, why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country. It’s very sad to watch this.”

Fox News Digital spoke to previous presidential administration officials — Fox News host and former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who served under the first Trump administration, and former National Security Advisor under the first Trump administration John Bolton, who also served as ambassador to the U.N. under President George W. Bush’s administration. They both conveyed the serious and historic tone the room and its meetings typically hold. 

The Situation Room is a high-tech 5,000-square-foot complex in the West Wing of the White House that includes multiple conference rooms. President John F. Kennedy commissioned the complex in 1961 following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba that same year, according to the National Archives. The complex was built in order to provide future presidents a dedicated area for crisis management, and was revamped in 2006 and renovated again in 2023. 

TRUMP WEIGHS STRIKING IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES: ‘I MAY DO IT, I MAY NOT DO IT’

“I often would sit there and think about the Osama bin Laden raid,” McEnany told Fox News Digital in a phone interview Thursday morning. “This is where we saw our heroic Special Forces take out Osama bin Laden during the Obama administration. And I think we’re at another point where similar decisions are being made, and even bigger decisions that may change the course of history are happening right now in that room.”

Trump again held a meeting in the Situation Room Thursday morning, when he received an intelligence briefing with national security advisers, which followed a Situation Room meeting on Wednesday afternoon, another meeting on Tuesday afternoon with national security advisers and a Monday evening meeting upon his abrupt return from the G7 summit in Canada this week. 

Top national security officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, are among officials who have joined Trump in the meetings as the administration weighs the spiraling conflict. 

TRUMP, RUBIO CUTTING G7 TRIP SHORT, RETURNING TO DC AS CHATTER INDICATES IRANIANS FLEEING TEHRAN

Bolton explained to Fox Digital in a Thursday morning phone interview that two types of top-level meetings are held in the Situation Room. 

The first is known as a “principals meeting,” he said, which includes Cabinet secretaries, such as the secretary of state and secretary of defense, and is chaired by the national security advisor — a role currently filled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“The principals committee usually meets to try and get everything sorted out so that they know what decisions the president is going to be confronted with,” Bolton said. “They try and make sure all the information is pulled together so we can make an informed decision, set out the options they see, what the pros and cons are, and then have (the president) briefed.” 

ISRAEL-IRAN WAR DIVIDES DEMOCRATS, BUT TRUMP’S DIPLOMACY ALSO SPLITTING REPUBLICANS

The second type of Situation Room meeting at the top level are official National Security Council meetings, which the president chairs. 

“He chairs a full NSC meeting, and people review the information, update the situation, and the president can go back and forth with the advisors about asking questions, probing about the analysis, asking for more detail on something, kind of picking and choosing among the options, or suggesting new options,” said Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security advisor between April 2018 and September 2019. 

“And out of that could well come decisions,” he added. 

NETANYAHU DECLARES ISRAEL ‘WILL EXACT THE FULL PRICE’ AFTER IRANIAN STRIKE HITS HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL

McEnany served as the first Trump administration’s top spokeswoman at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Coronavirus Task Force operated out of the Situation Room as COVID-19 swept across the nation. 

“A lot of critical decisions were made during the pandemic,” she said. “It’s a humbling encounter. Every time you go in, you leave your phone at the door. You go in, I think it’s like 5,000 square feet, you’re sitting there, there’s clocks up from every country around the world, the different time zones. And you’re just sitting there as critical decisions are made. And, in my case, it was regarding the pandemic, and there’s back and forth, there’s deliberation, and these decisions are made with the president there, obviously.” 

She continued that during the pandemic, the task force would spend hours in the Situation Room on a daily basis as the team fielded an onslaught of updates from across the country. Trump frequently received the top lines from the meetings and joined the Situation Room during key decisions amid the spread of the virus. 

“When he was in there, absolutely, there’s a deference,” she said, referring to how the tone of the room would change upon Trump’s arrival. “Yet, you had key officials who spoke up, who were not afraid to give their point of view to him. But I think there’s a recognition he’s the commander in chief.”

IRAN STRIKES MAJOR ISRAELI HOSPITAL AFTER CLAIMING ISRAEL HIT ITS ARAK HEAVY WATER REACTOR

Press secretaries typically do not attend high-profile National Security Council meetings in the Situation Room, but have security clearances and can call into the room if needed, and are given updates from senior officials. 

McEnany added that press secretaries wouldn’t typically want to be in the room for high-stakes talks because “you don’t want your head filled with these sensitive deliberations of classified information” when speaking with the media.

Bolton explained that for an issue such as Iran, the Situation Room meetings are likely restrictive and include top national security officials, such as the secretary of defense, director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

“Sometimes it includes many more people, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commerce Secretary, things like that,” he said. “But in with this kind of decision, it could be very restrictive, so maybe just – well, there is no national security advisor – but, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, CIA Director, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, maybe the attorney general.”

Trump’s first national security advisor under the second administration, Mike Waltz, was removed from the role and nominated as the next U.S. ambassador to the UN in May, with Rubio taking on the additional role. The White House has also slashed NSC staffing since Trump took office, including after Rubio took the helm. 

ISRAEL’S ‘RESOUNDING’ MILITARY CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN COULD BE HISTORIC TURNING POINT, EXPERTS SAY

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held a press conference on Thursday — the first since Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran June 12 — and said the next two weeks will be a critical time period as U.S. officials map out next steps. 

“I have a message directly from the president, and I quote: ‘Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future. I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.’ That’s a quote directly from the president,” she said Thursday. 

Israel launched pre-emptive strikes on Iran June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

He added that if Israel had not acted, “Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.” 

Dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” the strikes targeted Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure and killed a handful of senior Iranian military leaders.

IRAN WARNS US JOINING CONFLICT WOULD MEAN ‘ALL‑OUT WAR’

Trump repeatedly has urged Iran to make a deal on its nuclear program, but the country pulled out of ongoing talks with the U.S. scheduled for Sunday in Oman. 

ISRAEL SAYS IT HAS AERIAL SUPERIORITY OVER TEHRAN, IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE LEADER KILLED”

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump posted to Truth Social Monday evening, when he abruptly left an ongoing G7 summit in Canada to better focus on the Israel–Iran conflict. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” 

Leavitt added during Thursday’s briefing that Trump is the “peacemaker-in-chief,” while noting that he is also not one to shy from flexing America’s strength. 

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“The president is always interested in a diplomatic solution to the problems in the global conflicts in this world. Again, he is a peacemaker in chief. He is the peace-through-strength president. And so, if there’s a chance for diplomacy, the president’s always going to grab it. But he’s not afraid to use strength as well,” she said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment on the high-level talks but did not immediately receive a reply. 

While lawmakers argue over their position in the command chain as President Donald Trump mulls a possible strike on Iran, one expert believes that the president is within his constitutional authority to move ahead with a bunker-busting bomb.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are embroiled in debate over where they are in the pecking order. Some argue they should have the sole authority to authorize a strike, let alone declare war, while others believe that is within Trump’s purview if he wanted to join Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran.

‘INSTINCTS FOR RESTRAINT’: SENATE DIVIDED OVER WHO GETS TO DECLARE WAR

The predominant argument on the Hill is that the entire point of supporting Israel is to prevent the Islamic Republic from creating or acquiring a nuclear weapon.

However, a legal scholar who helped to craft the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which authorized the usage of the U.S. armed forces to engage with the entities that then-President George W. Bush believed were behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack in New York City, argued that there was a difference between Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war and the president’s authority to use force abroad.

“The position we took then, I think, is the same one that Trump should take now,” John Yoo told Fox News Digital. “As a legal matter, the president doesn’t need the permission of Congress to engage in hostilities abroad. But as a political matter, it’s very important for the president to go to Congress and present the united front to our enemies.”

THUNE WARNS IRAN SHOULD RETURN TO NEGOTIATING TABLE ‘IF THEY’RE SMART’

The Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the White House, giving lawmakers the sole power to declare war, while the president acts as the commander in chief directing the military. Nearly two centuries later, at the height of the Vietnam War, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was born, which sought to further define those roles.

Yoo agreed that the Constitution was clear that Congress has the sole authority to declare war, which effectively changes the legal status of the country. However, he countered that “the framers did not think that language meant that the President and Congress are like the two weapons officers on a nuclear sub and have to turn the keys at the same time to use force.”

“The founders were very practical men, and they knew that Congress is slow to act, that Congress is a large body that deliberates, but it’s the president who acts swiftly and decisively in defense of the nation,” he said.

Adding fuel to the debate in Washington are a pair of resolutions in the Senate from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the House, from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., that would require debate and a vote before any force is used against Iran. The measures are designed to put a check on Trump’s power and reaffirm Congress’ constitutional authority.

‘ANOTHER ENDLESS CONFLICT’: DEMOCRAT ECHOES TRUMP’S ANTI-WAR STANCE AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS ESCALATE

Yoo said that the resolutions appeared to be forms of “political opportunism” and noted that when former President Joe Biden wanted to send aid to Ukraine, when former President Barack Obama engaged abroad or when Trump authorized a drone strike to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, there was no resolution demanding Congress have a say.

“People on the Hill are conflating what’s constitutionally necessary with what’s politically expedient,” Yoo said. “Two very different things.”

Congress’ real power over war, he said, was the power of the purse, meaning lawmakers’ ability to decide whether to fund the Pentagon and military in their appropriations process. Republicans are currently working to ram Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” through Congress and onto his desk by Independence Day.

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Included in the colossal bill is roughly $150 billion in funding for the Defense Department.

“If Congress really doesn’t want us to, doesn’t want Trump to, get deeper involved in the Israel-Iran war,” Yoo said. “All they got to do is not fund the military.”

“The ironic thing is, you have people who are voting to give extra tens of billions of dollars to the Defense Department, who are then turning around and complaining that they don’t have the ability to vote on war,” he said. “Every time they vote for funding, they’re voting to make war possible.”

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency essentially dismantled by DOGE amid complaints from Democrats that cutting waste would harm impoverished countries, is at the center of a massive bribery scandal.

A federal contracting officer and three businessmen have pleaded guilty in a scheme involving bribes like cash, NBA tickets, and a country club wedding in a scandal the Department of Justice (DOJ) said was part of a $550 million scam, Fox News Chief Washington Correspondent Mike Emanuel reported Friday. 

Roderick Watson, 57, worked as a USAID contracting officer, according to a DOJ press release, and pleaded guilty to “bribery of a public official.”

According to the DOJ, Watson sold his influence starting in 2013, with contractors Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, funneling payoffs through subcontractor Paul Young to hide their tracks. 

RISCH URGES ‘TOP TO BOTTOM’ USAID SPENDING REVIEW AFTER WASTE, FRAUD EXPOSED

“During the scheme, Britt and Barnes paid bribes to Watson that were often concealed by passing them through Young, who was the president of another subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant,” the press release explained. 

“Britt and Barnes also regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices. Watson is alleged to have received bribes valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme.”

THOUSANDS OF USAID TERMINATIONS TO TAKE EFFECT BY SEPTEMBER IN AGENCY’S FINAL LEG OF ‘DRAWDOWN’

Vistant was awarded in November 2023, as part of a joint venture, a contract worth up to $800 million with one of the focuses of that contract being to address “a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States,” an issue that President Joe Biden tasked then-Vice President Kamala Harris with during his presidency.

Several days later, that contract was canceled after USAID published a notice that said Vistant was excluded from government contracting due to “evidence of conduct of a lack of business honesty or integrity.”

The joint venture then successfully sued the government over being put on that exclusion list and was re-awarded the contract and given a $10,000 payment in August 2024. 

“Corruption in government programs will not be tolerated. Watson abused his position of trust for personal gain while federal contractors engaged in a pay-to-play scheme,” Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Sean Bottary of the USAID Office of Inspector General (USAID-OIG) said in the press release.

“USAID-OIG is firmly committed to rooting out fraud and corruption within U.S. foreign assistance programs. Today’s announcement underscores our unwavering focus on exposing criminal activity, including bribery schemes by those entrusted to faithfully award government contracts. We appreciate our longstanding partnership with the Department of Justice in holding accountable those who defraud American taxpayers.”    

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USAID was one of the public faces and most drastic examples of DOGE’s efforts to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in government, and the effort resulted in the agency’s programs being cut by 83%, while the programs deemed vital were moved to the State Department. 

USAID’s website went dark, and employees were barred from entering its headquarters on Feb. 3, while others had their work put on hold. The Trump administration then announced that all USAID direct-hire personnel would be put on administrative leave.

The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities” and a $70,000 program for a “DEI musical” in Ireland.

During DOGE’s sweep, it was revealed that U.S. dollars were ending up in the hands of terror-linked groups, such as funds reportedly providing “full funding” for al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki to attend college in Colorado, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

As DOGE was dismantling USAID, many Democrats and media outlets blasted the cuts, claiming they would harm impoverished recipients of aid across the globe and some, including U2 frontman Bono, who said the cuts would lead to over 300,000 deaths. 

Several House and Senate Democrats protested outside of USAID’s headquarters in early February, expressing outrage over the layoffs and cuts, The Hill reported.

“Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID,” Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in the DOJ’s press release. 

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

President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is “wrong” in her assessment that Iran is not close to building a nuclear weapon.

Trump’s comments came after he departed Air Force One en route to his Bedminister, New Jersey, golf club, when he stepped aside to take a few questions from reporters. 

“She’s wrong,” Trump said after he was asked about Gabbard’s assessment that Iran is not close to building a nuclear weapon. “My intelligence community is wrong.”

VANCE DEFENDS GABBARD AS ‘CRITICAL PART’ OF TRUMP TEAM AFTER PRESIDENT DISMISSED IRAN NUKE THREAT COMMENTS

Following Trump’s comments, Gabbard took to social media and blasted the media for “intentionally” taking her March testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee “out of context.”

“The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,” Gabbard said in a post on X, accompanied by a video clip of her March testimony to Congress. 

“America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”

Trump’s remarks were preceded by a question from a reporter asking the president, who publicly opposed the Iraq war roughly 20 years ago, what made this situation with Iran different – considering no weapons of mass destruction were ever found after the George W. Bush administration invaded Iraq. 

“There were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. That was somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was –  there was a nuclear age, but nothing like it is today,” Trump said. “And it looked like I’m right about the material that they’ve gathered already [in Iran]. It’s a tremendous amount of material. And I think within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months, [Iran was] going to be able to have a nuclear weapon. We can’t let that happen.”

In March, DNI Gabbard said during an opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”

TRUMP BLOWS OFF GABBARD DOWNPLAYING IRAN NUKE THREAT, BUT WH STILL SAYS PRESIDENT AND INTEL CHIEF ARE IN SYNC

This week, according to The Guardian, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Gabbard’s assessment has been “reconfirmed” by current intelligence.

Meanwhile, last week Gabbard posted a cryptic three and a half minute video on X, warning of the risks of a potential nuclear war, and blasting “warmongers” for bringing the world “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before.”

President Donald Trump said aboard Air Force One earlier this week that he doesn’t care what Gabbard says, “I think they were very close to having one,” when pressed on the pair’s divergent opinions. 

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Shasti Conrad, Washington State Democratic Party Chair, was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday, ending the months-long David Hogg controversy in which the 25-year-old progressive bowed out from party leadership. 

The second voting period for the DNC’s “any gender” vice chair election ended Friday night as Conrad picked up the majority of votes cast by DNC members. Earlier in the week, candidates failed to secure a majority and Jeanna Repass was eliminated during the first round of voting.

Hogg announced his exit from DNC leadership after members voted last week to uphold the Credentials Committee’s resolution proposed by longtime Democratic Party activist, Kalyn Free, to host a re-election for two vice-chair positions, which Hogg and DNC vice chair Malcolm Kenyatta won during the Feb. 1 party elections. 

“I’m honored to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee and am deeply grateful to the members who placed their trust in me,” Conrad said in a statement. “This was the longest election in DNC history, and every vote cast reflected our shared belief in building a stronger, more inclusive Democratic Party.”

‘DISTRACTION’: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS READY TO LEAVE THEIR DAVID HOGG DRAMA IN THE DUST

DNC Chair Ken Martin celebrated her win, describing Conrad as a “trailblazer who understands the importance of championing our communities and doing the hard work on the ground to help Democrats win up and down the ballot.”

DNC CHAIR RIPPED DAVID HOGG OVER PARTY INFIGHTING IN LEAKED MEETING AUDIO: ‘REALLY FRUSTRATING’

Kenyatta told Fox News Digital after Hogg’s exit that the re-election drama has prevented the DNC from being “singularly focused.”

“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about procedural nonsense within the DNC. I promise you nobody cares about that, and nobody wants to talk about it as little as I do. I want us to get refocused,” Kenyatta said. 

Hogg agreed, writing in a lengthy X statement that he was stepping down from the DNC, “so the party can focus on what really matters.”

But Hogg ignited internal Democratic Party divisions this year through his $20 million plan to primary challenge vulnerable incumbent Democrats he said were “asleep at the wheel.” The plan, through his outside political action group, Leaders We Deserve, exposed an apparent rift with Martin, who gave Hogg the ultimatum to either forego his political influence through his PAC or give up his DNC leadership position. 

And the young progressive’s departure did little to stall headlines about the Democratic Party’s disarray, as this week DNC officials criticized Martin’s leadership and The New York Times reported officials had considered borrowing money to pay the bills this year. 

Earlier this week, The New York Times also first reported that two top union leaders had departed the DNC. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, declined offers to stay on as at-large members of the DNC. 

“I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities,” Weingarten, the education leader and longtime voice in Democratic politics, said in a letter Martin that is now circulating on social media. 

Hogg’s decision to leave the DNC followed a damning Politico report, which included leaked audio from a Zoom meeting of Martin lamenting over Hogg’s fallout at the DNC, claiming it had made it harder for Democrats to do their jobs and for Martin to demonstrate his ability to lead.

“I don’t think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So, it’s really frustrating,” Martin said. 

The DNC on Friday touted raising nearly $40 million in its first four months under Martin, which the committee credited to “grassroots donors who are fired up to elect Democrats and defeat Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ billionaire-first agenda.”

“Powered by our grassroots community, the DNC has just set a new record for most money raised in the first four months under a new Chair — ever. What matters is winning elections, making Democrats competitive everywhere, expanding our tent, and putting our party on the right path,” Martin said, in part. 

Free submitted her complaint following the DNC’s Feb. 1 officer elections, in which Hogg and Kenyatta were elected vice chairs. She claimed the DNC’s tabulation method violated the charter’s provision and parliamentary procedure and “discriminated against three women of color candidates.”

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“This was never about Malcolm Kenyatta or David Hogg,” Free told Fox News Digital after the Credentials Committee elevated her complaint before the full DNC. “For me, this was about ensuring that the Democratic Party lives up to our ideals as the only political party to believe in and stand up for election integrity and a free and fair democracy.”

The Democratic Party maintained that the vice-chair re-election had nothing to do with the primary controversy Hogg stirred up earlier this year, but Hogg slammed the vote as a “fast-track” effort to remove him from party leadership. 

Fox News’ Paige Dukeman contributed to this report. 

A federal judge on Friday ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as the acting archivist, to collect any Signal messages belonging to top Trump officials that could be at risk of deletion and to refer those messages to the Department of Justice for further review.

Judge James Boasberg said his hands were tied beyond that and that he could not do anything about Signal messages that had already been deleted.

Boasberg’s order came in response to a watchdog group suing five of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members, including Rubio, after the Atlantic published a story revealing their Signal chat discussing imminent plans to conduct airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

Boasberg, who has become one of Trump’s top judicial nemeses because of his rulings in an unrelated immigration case, said the court record shows that the five Trump officials “have thus far neglected to fulfill their duties” under the Federal Records Act.

JUDGE IN CROSSHAIRS OF TRUMP DEPORTATION CASE ORDERS PRESERVATION OF SIGNAL MESSAGES

The judge said American Oversight, the left-leaning watchdog that brought the lawsuit, made a strong case that the Cabinet officials have used Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to communicate for work purposes and that they have allowed the messages to auto-delete, likely rendering them permanently lost.

But in the context of the Federal Records Act, Boasberg said he had limited options to address American Oversight’s allegations aside from demanding that Rubio ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure compliance with the law for existing Signal messages that were at risk of deletion.

Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, indicated in a statement that the group’s lawsuit was over for now but that it was “fully prepared” to sue again if it found the Trump administration failed to comply with Boabsberg’s order.

JUDGE TELLS GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS FIRED BY TRUMP THERE’S NOT MUCH SHE CAN DO FOR THEM

“It should never have required court intervention to compel the acting Archivist and other agency heads to perform their basic legal duties, let alone to refer the matter to the Attorney General for enforcement,” Chukwu said.

The explosive Signal incident involved Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others communicating about their attack plans in a chat group after then-National Security Adviser Mike Walz apparently accidentally added an Atlantic journalist to the chat.

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The Trump administration denied wrongdoing and insisted the communication was not “classified.” Bondi dodged a question during a press conference about investigating the incident and instead doubled down on the White House’s claims that the chat was merely “sensitive” and not “classified.”

The Pentagon inspector general launched an investigation into the incident in April in response to a bipartisan request from the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Speaking in Los Angeles Friday, Vice President JD Vance criticized California state and local politicians, especially Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, for “endangering” federal law enforcement and effectively declaring “open season on federal law enforcement.”  

Vance said he was “shocked” to hear that “far-left agitators” have been posting the names, addresses and even family members of federal law enforcement officials in Los Angeles to harass, antagonize and threaten their lives.

“Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have got to stop this craziness,” Vance said. “Every single law enforcement officer I talked to today, every single one of them, said they feel like the local leadership — the mayor and the governor — are encouraging these far-left agitators. What is the justification for this?”

VANCE TO MEET WITH FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, MARINES IN LA AMID ANTI-ICE RIOTS

Vance said he has been told by law enforcement officials in the area that “when they go out, let’s say you have a Border Patrol official who needs to go out and arrest somebody, maybe a violent criminal who’s also an illegal alien. When that Border Patrol agent goes out to do their job, they said within 15 minutes of them trying to do their job, they have protesters, sometimes violent protesters, who are in their face obstructing them, preventing them from doing their job and endangering their lives.

“Why do they have that?” he added. “Because those people have been egged on by local officials. Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, by treating the city as a sanctuary city, have basically said that it is open season on federal law enforcement.”

Newsom has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard and Marines to help local police quell the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, calling it both illegal and immoral. 

The governor launched a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the use of the military in response to the riots. Though a district court ruled in Newsom’s favor, the 9th Circuit Court ruled Thursday to allow the Trump administration to continue using the military to assist local officials.

FEDERAL AGENTS THWART MAN’S EXPLOSIVE ALLEGED PLOT AGAINST OFFICERS DURING LA RIOTS

“They have treated Border Patrol and border enforcement as somehow an illegitimate force instead of what they are, which is the American people’s law enforcement trying to enforce the American people’s laws,” Vance said.

“So, when Gavin Newsom encourages violence and rioting, he encourages people to get in the face of our great Border Patrol officers, he is absolutely endangering the lives of federal enforcement.”

Commenting on the 9th Circuit’s ruling, Vance said, “It’s interesting that, for the past couple of weeks, Gavin Newsom has said that there’s an illegitimate effort to send federal resources to secure a city that he refuses to secure, and what the 9th Circuit said yesterday is that that was a completely legitimate and proper use of federal law enforcement.

TRUMP ADMIN FIGHTS TO DEPORT CONVICTED MURDERER SHIELDED BY BIDEN-ERA TORTURE PROTECTION

“The president has a very simple proposal to everybody, in every city, every community, every town, whether big or small. If you enforce your own laws and if you protect federal law enforcement, we’re not going to send in the National Guard because it’s unnecessary,” he said. 

“But if you let violent rioters burn great American cities to the ground, then, of course, we’re going to send federal law enforcement in to protect the people the president was elected to protect.

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“What I see here today is the great tragedy when a mayor and a governor encourage their citizens to harass and endanger the lives of our police officers and our law enforcement officers,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to see, and thank God we’ve got great people who are willing to persevere despite it.”

Next week is crucial to passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill in the Senate. If things go well, the bill could be done by the end of next week. If things go poorly, the Senate may be crashing to finish the bill before July 4. That could involve weekend sessions and the cancellation of the July 4 recess.

AFTER MINNESOTA KILLINGS, CAPITOL HILL REPRESENTATIVES FACE STARK REALITY ABOUT FAMILY SAFETY

On Sunday, Senate Republicans huddle with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to whittle away provisions which don’t comport with Senate budgetary rules. The Senate is using a special process known as “budget reconciliation” to avoid a filibuster.

As a result, the bill must be fiscal in nature and not add to the deficit. It cannot include “policy.” This is known as the “Byrd Rule.” It’s named after late Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-W.V.). The process of meeting with the Parliamentarian is the “Byrd Bath.” MacDonough serves as a referee to decide what fits with Senate budget rules. The various provisions which MacDonough fillets from the bill are called “Byrd droppings.”

HOW JOHNSON PULLED OFF ANOTHER IMPOSSIBLE WIN WITH JUST 1-VOTE MARGIN ON $9.4B SPENDING CUT BILL

Anyway, despite the cornpone Senate humor, the process offstage on Sunday is crucial to the process. What’s ruled in or out could bolster chances of passing the bill – or kill it.

We will start to get information about what is ruled in or out over the weekend and stretching into Monday. Those policy details will be critical. So watch for leaks and other information to dribble out beginning on Sunday.

SENATE GOPS CAREFULLY WEIGHING CONTROVERSIAL TAX PROVISIONS BEFORE BRINGING BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL TO THE FLOOR

This process will roll into early next week with an initial vote to begin the process mid-week. It will culminate with a round-the-clock voting session (known as a “vote-a-rama”) late next week.

Then the measure must go back to the House. That’s because the Senate will inevitably change the bill. The House and Senate must be aligned before the bill can go to the president’s desk.

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And this is why the deadline to finish the bill by July 4 may slip.

Several provisions in the Senate GOP’s version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” have run afoul of Senate rules and must be stripped if Republicans want to pass the package without the help of Democrats.

The bill is undergoing what’s called a “Byrd Bath,” when the parliamentarian meticulously combs through each section of the mammoth bill to determine whether policies comport with the Senate’s Byrd Rule.

The point of the budget reconciliation process is to skirt the Senate filibuster and pass a massive, partisan legislative package. But if provisions are left in that fail the test, Senate Republicans will have to meet the typical 60-vote threshold. Provisions that don’t pass muster can still be appealed, however.

‘I DON’T SEE ANY OTHER WAY’: REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR GUN TAX CUT IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Senate Democrats vowed to use the Byrd Bath as a cudgel against the Senate GOP to inflict as much pain as possible and slow momentum as Republicans rush to put the colossal bill on Trump’s desk by July 4. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., could also overrule the parliamentarian but has remained adamant he would not attempt such a move. 

TOP TRUMP ALLY PREDICTS SENATE WILL BLOW PAST ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DEADLINE

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough scrutinized three chunks of the megabill from the Senate Banking, Environment and Public Works and Armed Services committees and found numerous policies that failed to meet the Byrd Rule’s requirements.

Among those was a provision that would have eliminated funding for a target of the GOP’s since its inception in 2008, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which would have effectively eliminated the agency. Doing so also would have slashed $6.4 billion in spending.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said in a statement he would “remain committed to cutting wasteful spending at the CFPB and will continue working with the Senate parliamentarian on the Committee’s provisions.”

‘IT JUST BAFFLES ME’: SENATE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER MEDICAID CHANGES, SPENDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL

Attempts to put guardrails on the $150 billion in Defense Department funding baked into the package also failed to pass muster. The language would have required that Pentagon officials outline how the money would be spent by a certain deadline or see the funding reduced.

Other provisions on the chopping block include language that cut $300 million from the Financial Research Fund and cut jobs and move the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board under the umbrella of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would have saved roughly $773 million.

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An attempt to change the pay schedule for Federal Reserve employees was also nixed, which would have saved about $1.4 billion.

Environmental standards and regulations set by the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act were also determined to have run afoul of the Byrd Rule, including a repeal of tailpipe emissions standards for vehicles with a model year of 2027 and later. 

While Democratic senators are blaming President Donald Trump for the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict, Republicans are urging the president to continue standing in support of Israel as it attempts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapon capabilities.

This comes as Israel and Iran, two major powers in the Middle East, are locked in a heavy missile war. Israel, a U.S. ally, has been targeting Iranian nuclear facilities with the intent of keeping Iran from utilizing nuclear weapons, something Trump has long advocated.

Following intense speculation that Trump would join the conflict by launching a U.S. strike on Iran, the White House issued a statement from the president in which he said there is a “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations to end the conflict. In the statement, Trump said he would decide which path to take in the next two weeks.

The White House has said that any deal with Iran would have to include a full commitment to not developing nuclear weapons, including no uranium enrichment, a necessary step to developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it will not accept an agreement with a zero enrichment provision. 

SENATE RETURNS AMID CONCERNS ABOUT DEEPER US INVOLVEMENT IN THE IRAN, ISRAEL CONFLICT

Speaking with Fox News Digital in the halls of the Capitol, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., slammed Trump for pulling the U.S. out of a nuclear agreement of which Iran was a part during his first term. 

“The way to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon is through negotiation,” she said. “We actually had that deal, and Donald Trump threw it out the window.“

“That means we lost our inspectors, we lost the plans that had been made,” she continued.

“Right now, we need more deconfliction in the area. We need to bring down the temperature between Israel and Iran. That’s what’s best for Israel and Iran, it’s what’s best for the region and for the whole world,” said Warren.

IRAN REFUSES ZERO ENRICHMENT AS NUCLEAR TENSIONS ESCALATE 

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., also blamed Trump, saying, “He’s the one who put us out the deal in the first place,” which she said “very much so” contributed to the ongoing conflict.

While he said the U.S. should not be involved in bombing missions or any other military action against Iran, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said, “What we should do is continue to provide Israel with all the tools they need to defend themselves.”

“I hope the president will continue to promote a diplomatic solution that we had until he tore it up,” said Kaine.

Meanwhile, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, told Fox News Digital that the “question is can it be resolved without our involvement.” He said he hopes Iran “will see the light and decide they don’t need to keep developing nuclear fuel.”

BEN HALL CONSIDERS HOW TRUMP’S DECISION ABOUT IRAN COULD ‘CHANGE THE WHOLE MIDDLE EAST’ 

On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that he believes Trump “standing unshakably with the nation of Israel” is the right move to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

“Israel is being incredibly effective with their military strike against Iran. They’ve taken out the senior military leadership, the leaders who would wage a war have been one after the other after the other surgically taken out by Israel. They are also taking out missile launch sites, and they’re taking out nuclear research sites, the sites where Iran is working to develop a nuclear weapon,” Cruz explained.

“Deterrence is always the key,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Ohio. “This president has been very clear he’s all about peace, and he doesn’t want to use the might of the United States unless we absolutely have to. I believe deterrence is the best foreign policy, because it shows peace through strength.”

That being said, Mullin said Trump has he’s been “very clear for over a decade: In no way are we going to allow the Iranian regime, who is the number one sponsor of terror around the world, to have a nuclear weapon.”

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER REFUSES TO SURRENDER, MORE BALLISTIC MISSILES FIRED AT ISRAEL 

“So, we need to be prepared to back up Israel if they’re not able to do the job, then we need to be able to finish it,” he said.

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“Look, he has said this for 10 years. He has said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, full stop,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. “So, it is not just about [uranium] enrichment, which absolutely should have never happened and cannot happen, but it is also complete and total dismantlement of the nuclear program.”

Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the GOP frontrunner for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat in 2026, told Fox News Digital the Justice Department’s lawsuit over discounted tuition for illegal immigrants is exactly the kind of fight Kentuckians voted for.

Cameron lambasted Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, the top-named defendant in the suit, after Beshear’s office told Fox News Digital the potential 2028 hopeful had no connection to the issuance of the educational regulation.

“Andy Beshear is always attempting to pass the buck. The fact of the matter is, he’s the governor of the commonwealth and he controls the executive branch. He gets to appoint people on the various boards and commissions that exist,” Cameron said.

“He’s even got a lawsuit right now against statewide elected officeholders in the legislature, basically saying that he controls the Ethics Commission. And, so, you know, he can’t have his cake and eat it, too.”

DISCOUNTED COLLEGE TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS POLICY LEADS DOJ TO SUE KENTUCKY

Cameron praised Attorney General Pam Bondi for bringing the case, saying he’s glad the DOJ is reviewing a “preposterous” policy.

“I think it’s well time that we take care of our American citizens as opposed to illegals,” Cameron said.

“I think our legislature, the Republican legislature, is rightly trying to take back some control,” Cameron added, as a bill moves through Frankfort that would preclude illegals from being considered in-state residents for educational purposes.

EX-MCCONNELL ADVISOR-TURNED-MAGA STAR DOESN’T RULE OUT POTENTIAL SENATE BID AS RUMORS SWIRL

“This governor tries to work by fiat, and our legislature is trying to restore the balance, if you will,” he said.

“This is about protecting the position of American citizens. I mean, the idea that we would give reduced or subsidized tuition, in-state tuition for illegals is just an absurd notion, especially when you’re telling out-of-state Americans that they’ve got to pay full freight. That doesn’t pass the smell test,” he said.

When reached for comment, Beshear political strategist Eric Hyers rejected those characterizations.

“We get Daniel Cameron is struggling with his attempted political comeback, but that doesn’t mean he can make things up,” Hyers said.

He added that the regulation allowing in-state tuition for illegals was crafted two decades ago and that “if he had a problem with its legality, he should have done something about it while he was attorney general.”

“The reality is that this is set by an independent board, and the governor doesn’t have any review of it; the GOP-controlled legislature does. If this was such a concern, the GOP supermajority could have passed the bill to address it that was introduced last session by one of their own members,” Hyers said.

In his interview, Cameron also warned the border security issue itself has greatly affected his state in other ways, citing the Appalachian fentanyl epidemic.

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“Kentuckians care deeply about making sure that we are protecting our borders and making sure people are here legally. … And we know that fentanyl is coming across a porous southern border and making its way into the commonwealth.

“Since President Trump has been in office, as he stated in his joint address to Congress, we didn’t need a new policy, we needed a new president. So, that has changed, but Kentuckians still recognize the concern around illegals who come into this country, bring poison into this country that hurt our communities or commit some sort of violent crime.

“President Trump is committed to helping the hardworking folks of this country. And this is just another facet of that.”

Cameron also noted he is leading the other major Republican, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, in the race to replace McConnell.

However, Kentucky has been trending bluer in recent elections and has a similar electoral makeup to swing-state Pennsylvania, which has a Democratic governor and, until recently, a Republican majority legislature.

Beshear defeated Cameron in 2023 by about five points, while the incumbent, son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, squeezed out an upset against Republican Gov. Matt Bevin by a fraction of a point in 2019.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., defeated State Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville, by more than 20 points in 2022, while McConnell won a narrower race against retired Lt. Col. Amy McGrath in 2020.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, garnered some backlash from conservatives on social for a rendition of “Hey Joe,” which was made popular by Jimi Hendrix and other artists in the ’60s, which he retooled as a criticism of President Donald Trump. 

“I hate to hurt your ears and everything, but I’m just learning to play guitar,” he said in a video posted to X on Wednesday, adding that he was inspired by Black Music Month to provide political commentary through song. 

He noted that he was “just learning to play guitar,” then proceeded to sing an anti-Trump parody of the famous song.

“Hey Trump, where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?” Johnson sang. “I’m goin’ down the street to shoot democracy. You know I wanna be a king someday.”

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN RELEASES DIGITAL DOWNLOADS OF HIS LIVE ANTI-TRUMP SPEECHES

As of Friday afternoon, the video had received over 800 comments on the platform, most of which were criticisms from conservatives.

“Talk about Tone-Deaf messaging!” Media Research Center posted on X. “Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson releases hilariously bad anti-Trump song, and you just have to hear this.”

“This would make Jimi Hendrix advocate for a ground war with Iran,” Josh Holmes, co-host of the Ruthless Podcast, posted on X. 

“Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson sings an Anti-Trump song on his guitar about Trump shooting down Democracy with a gun to be a king,” conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok posted on X. “Yes, this is real….”

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE GUITARIST RIPS TRUMP OVER PRESIDENT’S FEUD WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN FIERY RANT

Another user simply quipped, “I love the internet.”

“Heyyy Hank, Please tune that dang guitar if you can,” another one wrote, directly pulling from the lyrics of the song. Hendrix most notably played “Hey Joe” at the notorious Woodstock Festival in 1969. 

“Democrats are doing another one of their cringe sing-a-longs,” Ben Petersen, National War Room Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, posted on X. 

“This horribly sounding performance is yet another waste of our tax dollars and proof of the uselessness of the Democrat Party,” conservative influencer Paul A. Szypula posted on X. 

KID ROCK TURNS HEADS IN TRUMP OVAL OFFICE MEETING WITH BEDAZZLED, PATRIOTIC OUTFIT

“Ok. A few things. If you’re going to do a song like this, it’s best to tune your guitar beforehand,” Jeff Charles, news editor at Townhall, posted on X. “Also, covering Jimi Hendrix when you don’t know how to tune a guitar is cringe AF. The lyrics are something I could have come up with when I was five years old. I’m almost embarassed for him.”

“Hank Johnson – Thinks Guam can capsize… Also Hank Johnson – Thinks he can play guitar,” comedian Tim Young posted on X. “He’s dumber than AOC.

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

The video comes as Democrats continue to experiment with different social media strategies during Trump’s second term and have consistently faced criticism from conservatives for doing so, including earlier this year when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other House Democrats were lambasted online over “choose your fighter” TikTok video.

City commissioners in Miami, Florida, voted 3-2 on Tuesday to allow police officers to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The city entered a 287(g) partnership with ICE, which various cities use to assist with federal enforcement using different methods. It’s a sharp contrast to some governments throughout the United States, especially in major cities, which do not allow local or state authorities to help enforce immigration laws.  

“We value our partnerships with state and local law enforcement, and the success of the 287(g) program allows for a force multiplier in enforcing immigration laws,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. “This whole-of-government approach enables law enforcement partners to protect cities across the nation from public safety and national security threats, and we encourage others across the country to join.”

ICE PARTNERSHIP WILL BUILD ‘PUBLIC TRUST,’ VICE MAYOR OF TOWN WITH LARGE VENEZUELAN COMMUNITY SAYS

In February, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an Executive Order for state-level law enforcement to establish agreements with ICE to assist in the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.

“Florida is setting the example for states in combating illegal immigration and working with the Trump Administration to restore the rule of law,” DeSantis said at the time. “By allowing our state agents and law enforcement officers to be trained and approved by ICE, Florida will now have more enforcement personnel deputized to assist federal partners. That means deportations can be carried out more efficiently, making our communities safer as illegal aliens are removed.”

However, there was opposition to entering the agreement from some residents and groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

FLORIDA OFFICIALS DIVIDED OVER ICE DEPORTATION DEAL AIMED AT CRIMINAL ALIENS: ‘EMBARRASSED FOR OUR CITY’

“This is a shameful day for Miami,” Dariel Gomez, Statewide Organizer with the ACLU of Florida said in a press release. “With their vote, commissioners chose fear over facts, and division over unity. This agreement will not make us safer – it will only spread fear and isolate the very people who make our city strong.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

“287(g) doesn’t belong in any city, but especially not in Miami – a place shaped by immigrants, built by immigrants, and powered by immigrants,” Tessa Petit, Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said in a statement. “More than half of our residents are foreign-born. The commissioners who voted to implement this ruthless program have turned their back on the very community they were put into office to protect. They are turning our diversity into a target.”

However, the White House told Fox News Digital the city’s decision was ultimately the right move.

BLUE STATE SHERIFFS COMBINE FORCES TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST SANCTUARY LAWS

“President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is a key plank of his agenda to Make America Safe Again. The Administration is always grateful to work with state and local officials to get dangerous criminals off the streets and keep the American people safe.” Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman, stated.

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In April, a massive ICE operation in collaboration with Florida authorities led to the arrest of 1,120 illegal immigrants, and the agency said 63% of them had “existing criminal arrests or convictions,” and many had alleged gang affiliations.

A federal judge on Friday ordered anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil to be released on bail while his immigration and civil cases proceed through the courts, citing the “extraordinary circumstances” of his case.

Judge Michael Farbiarz, a Biden appointee, assessed during a hearing in New Jersey that Khalil was not a flight risk or a danger to the community and that his detention was therefore “highly unusual.”

Khalil’s attorneys had said in a letter to the court that his imprisonment in an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, was an “exceedingly rare” decision on the part of the government and amounted to unconstitutional retaliation.

Khalil, a lawful permanent resident, was arrested in March outside his apartment at Columbia University and immediately filed a habeas corpus lawsuit challenging his detention. He has asked the court to be released on bail or transferred to an immigration facility in New Jersey, where he would be closer to his family and legal team.

DOJ SEEKS TO KEEP ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST KHALIL DETAINED IN LOUISIANA IMMIGRATION JAIL

An immigration judge found Khalil was removable based on a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that said Khalil’s activism on campus was at odds with U.S. foreign policy interests.

Rubio cited an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act to justify his finding, and Farbiarz later enjoined the secretary from using that determination.

But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later added a second reason for keeping Khalil detained and attempting to deport him. The DHS said Khalil allegedly omitted key information from his green card application about groups with which he was affiliated, including the Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

Khalil’s case has become a lightning rod for anti-Israel protesters and immigration rights advocates. They have argued the Trump administration is retaliating against him for opposing the Israeli government and chilling free speech of those who oppose Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip and conflict with Iran. The government has countered that Khalil violated immigration law by allegedly signaling support for the terrorist group Hamas through his activism.

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Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys argued to the judge that the federal court did not have authority to free Khalil from detention because the second claim, about his green card papers, is pending before an immigration judge.

“Khalil remains detained because he is currently charged as removable for fraudulently or willfully misrepresenting material facts on his adjustment of status application,” the attorneys wrote in court papers this week.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

Fox News’s Kirill Clark contributed to this report.

Former President Joe Biden slammed critics of Juneteenth as he spoke Thursday at an AME church service in Galveston Island, Texas – the city where, on June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon Granger issued the final federal orders enforcing emancipation at a time before telephones.

Biden criticized the idea that Juneteenth is not worthy of federal holiday status. He also recalled visiting the Black community in Northeast Wilmington often while growing up in Claymont – suggesting he visited the underserved neighborhood after attending early-morning Catholic Mass in Greenville, Del.

He also appeared to stop himself before slamming President Donald Trump by name – mentioning “this guy” – then pausing to make the Sign of the Cross to applause from the congregants.

“I used to chair the African Affairs subcommittee,” Biden claimed. “I’ve been to the origins of where slavery started [in Africa]. And to listen to them talk about it now, how things are changing. We have to remember, our country is founded on the promise of freedom; freedom for everybody,” he said.

ALASKA SENATOR LITERALLY TEARS UP BIDEN’S ENERGY ORDERS, BOOSTS WH EFFORTS TO LEVERAGE ARCTIC LNG IN ASIA TRADE

“So, the events of Juneteenth are of monumental importance to the American story,” he said, calling slavery “America’s original sin.”

Of the holiday’s critics, he said, “They don’t want to remember – but we all remember the moral stain. . . . “

“Well, I took the view as president, we need to be honest about our history, especially if there’s been any time going ever to erase our history. Not just here, but, this guy–” he added, trailing off and signing himself.

“Too many people are trying to erase our history, especially in the face of ongoing efforts to erase history from our textbooks and our classrooms.”

He went on to implicitly criticize Trump for returning southern military bases to their former names. However, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently noted in congressional testimony that the rescission of the base renamings does not return them to the namesakes of the Confederate generals but to other U.S. military heroes with the same surname.

“[D]arkness can hide much but can erase nothing,” Biden said. “The Scripture tells us faith without work is dead.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON QUESTIONS WHETHER BIDN KNEW WHAT HE WAS SIGNING WITH TRANS VISIBILITY DAY PROCLAMATION

Biden then suggested Black Americans and other minorities are still facing roadblocks to the ballot box six decades after the Civil Rights Act.

“Stop those who try to make it more difficult to vote, and help people register to vote. Let’s reach out to our families, our friends, our neighbors, remind them how critical it is,” Biden said.

For his part, Trump said Thursday the additional federal holiday enacted by Biden is costing the U.S. “billions of dollars to keep all of these businesses closed.”

“Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every working day of the year.”

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Some other leaders, like West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, issued Juneteenth proclamations but kept state offices open on the nation’s newest federal holiday.

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

Former vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., is facing criticism after claiming China could be the voice of “moral authority” in the Israel-Iran conflict. 

During a “What’s Next: Conversations on the Path Forward” event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP) last week, Walz responded to a question from former Biden White House advisor, Neera Tanden, about the “escalatory” nature of the strikes between the two countries.

“Now, who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this? Who holds the moral authority? Who holds the ability to do that? Because we are not seen as a neutral actor, and we maybe never were,” Walz said of the United States’ role in deescalating tensions in the Middle East. 

As the United States weighs striking Iran and war in the Middle East rages on, Danielle Pletka, a distinguished senior fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Fox News Digital that Walz’s comments are “ignorance on display.”

TIM WALZ FLOATS CHINA AS ‘NEUTRAL ACTOR’ WITH ‘MORAL AUTHORITY’ TO NEGOTIATE MIDDLE EAST PEACE

According to Walz, the United States once attempted “to be somewhat of the arbitrator” in the Middle East, but Americans must face the reality that the “neutral actor” with the “moral authority” to lead negotiations in the Middle East “might be the Chinese.”

TIM WALZ LETS LOOSE IN RANT-FILLED TALK WITH LIBERAL THINK TANK

Walz didn’t elaborate on why China would be that world leader. 

“It’s so staggering to me that Tim Walz was within a heartbeat of the presidency,” Pletka said, before adding, “We don’t need a neutral player here,” and urging him to “stick to local politics.”

Andy Keiser, senior fellow at the conservative National Security Institute and former senior advisor on the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Digital that someone should “remind Governor Walz that China is far from a moral authority on much of anything,” and said China is committing “cultural genocide.” 

“The Chinese government has reportedly arbitrarily detained more than a million Muslims in reeducation camps since 2017,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). “Most of the people who have been detained are Uyghur, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang.”

In addition to the detentions, “Uyghurs in the region have been subjected to intense surveillance, forced labor, and involuntary sterilizations, among other rights abuses,” according to the CFR. 

According to Human Rights Watch, President Xi Jinping has “detained human rights defenders, tightened control over civil society, media, and the internet, and deployed invasive mass surveillance technology” in Xinjiang and Tibet, which the human rights watchdog likened to “crimes against humanity.”

“I would strongly beg to differ that China has a moral authority on much in the world,” Keiser said, and added, “I would not see them as a neutral arbiter here.”

“Obviously, we are not going to be a neutral broker between a terrorist and a democratic state,” Pletka said. “That’s just not how it works. You threatened to kill the President of the United States, but we’re then meant to think of you in a balanced way with the state of Israel, our most important ally in the Middle East?” 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday that President Donald Trump remains a target of the Iranians. “They want to kill him. He’s enemy No. 1.”

“I don’t know how anybody could have said what [Walz] said about the role that China plays. The idea that there is some neutral interlocutor in this world, that anybody is an ‘honest burger’ is nothing other than grad school silliness,” Pletka said. 

Pletka added that “Of course, China can’t play that role. China is an authoritarian communist [state] that is supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine, that is threatening Taiwan, that has broken its word over Hong Kong.”

And she said, “This is not a playground in which you need somebody who can talk to both Bobby and Billy about why it is you don’t smack your friends.”

“The idea that it should be reduced to something where you have an arbiter who sees the arguments on both sides, no. This is a situation where there’s a right and a wrong, and there’s a winner and a loser. That’s how it should be, by the way, because Iran has fashioned itself as an enemy, not just to the state of Israel, but to the United States.”

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Nikki Haley – former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, who sounded off on China’s threat to the United States on the campaign trail – was quick to criticize Walz’s viral comments last week. 

“This is absolute insanity. Democrats think that we need the Chinese to be the negotiators between Iran’s nuclear production and Israel…God bless Tim Walz. Totally tone deaf,” Haley posted on X. 

The Trump administration is giving California’s federally funded sex education program 60 days to remove all references to gender identity or face potential termination of its funding. 

California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant has been under scrutiny by the Trump administration since at least March, when the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requested the federally funded state-operated program send copies of its curriculum and other relevant course materials to them for review. 

According to ACF, the probe was initiated to ensure the state’s sexual education programming is medically accurate and age-appropriate.  

The agency said in a Friday notice sent to California’s PREP program, reviewed by Fox News Digital, that following its examination of the program’s curriculum and other teaching materials, it found a litany of subjects and language within the course materials deemed to fall outside the program’s “authorizing statute,” in particular references to “gender ideology.” As a result, ACF said it halted their review for “medical accuracy,” since the content it found is not statutorily allowed in the first place.  

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“The Trump administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children,” said ACF’s acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison. “The disturbing gender ideology content in California’s PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program’s core purpose. ACF remains committed to radical transparency and providing accountability so that parents know what their children are being taught in schools.”

Among the materials ACF found, which it now wants to be removed, was a lesson for middle school-aged students that seeks to introduce them to the concepts of transgenderism.

“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.”

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ACF flagged parts of the curriculum for high school-aged students as well, which gets into topics like differentiating between “social transitioning” and “medical transitioning.” The high school-aged materials also include instruction on what it means to be “non-binary” and language that tells students “gender-identity” is “essentially a social status.” 

Teacher training materials part of the California PREP program were among other aspects of the California sex-ed curriculum that were flagged by ACF. 

“All people have a gender identity,” the teacher training materials state. They also instruct educators to refer to people who follow the biological marker they are “assigned at birth” as “cisgender” and adds that those who are not “cisgender” may identify as “non-binary, agender, bigender, genderfluid, [or] genderqueer.”

In ACF’s notice, the agency pointed out that under the authorizing statute that established California’s PREP program, it is defined as a program designed to educate young people mainly on abstinence, contraception and avoiding sexually transmitted infections, like HIV/AIDS. 

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“The statute neither requires, supports nor authorizes teaching students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex or that boys can identify as girls and vice versa,” ACF’s notice to California PREP states. 

“We are aware that this curricula and other program materials were previously approved by ACF,” the notice continues. “However, the prior administration erred in allowing PREP grants to be used to teach students gender ideology because that approval exceeded the agency’s authority to administer the program consistent with the authorizing legislation as enacted by Congress.”

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California now has 60 days to remove all gender ideology references from its PREP curricula and other program materials, and then it must resend its materials for approval by ACF.  

If California fails to make the necessary changes requested by the Trump administration, the agency says it has the authority to withhold, disallow, suspend or terminate the federal grant currently funding California’s PREP program.

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance will travel to Los Angeles Friday morning to visit the city amid anti-ICE riots, Fox News Digital has learned.

Upon arrival, the vice president is expected to tour a multiagency Federal Joint Operations Center and a Federal Mobile Command Center.

There, the vice president is expected to meet with leadership and U.S. Marines.

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An official familiar with the plans told Fox News Digital that the vice president is expected to deliver brief remarks.

Vance’s trip comes in the midst of anti-ICE riots in the city.

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The vice president is expected to discuss how Los Angeles was destroyed in the midst of the violent protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

Vance also is expected to discuss how California politicians had a choice, and chose to disregard federal laws and turn their backs on law enforcement.

President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to Los Angeles earlier in June to aid law enforcement amid the violent protests. 

The Trump administration also sent hundreds of Marines to support law enforcement.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration for taking command of the National Guard, but a unanimous ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday said Trump is allowed to keep control of National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles.

The ruling stays the lower court order that ordered command of the troops back to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A president hasn’t made a decision about the deployment of a National Guard without the permission of the state’s governor since 1965.

Trump, in a Thursday night post to Truth Social, praised the Court of Appeals for its decision and said the decision was a win.

“BIG WIN in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the President’s core power to call in the National Guard! The Judges obviously realized that Gavin Newscum is incompetent and ill prepared, but this is much bigger than Gavin, because all over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done. This is a Great Decision for our Country, and we will continue to protect and defend Law abiding Americans. Congratulations to the Ninth Circuit, America is proud of you tonight!,” he posted.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., issued a press release on Thursday in which he declared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “wrong” in the past and is again now.

In the statement, Sanders pointed to comments Netanyahu made while speaking about Saddam Hussein at a U.S. congressional hearing in 2002. 

Netanyahu said at the time that “if you take out … Saddam’s regime,” the move “will have enormous positive reverberations on the region.” He said that there was “no question whatsoever” that the Iraqi leader was pursuing the “development of nuclear weapons.”

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“Netanyahu was wrong. Very wrong. The war in Iraq resulted in 4,492 U.S. military deaths, over 32,000 wounded, and a cost of roughly three trillion dollars. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also died as a result of that tragic war. Netanyahu was wrong regarding the war in Iraq. He is wrong now. We must not get involved in Netanyahu’s war against Iran,” Sanders asserted in his statement.

President Donald Trump has not ruled out the prospect of U.S. military intervention as Israel targets Iran in a bid to stop the rogue regime from achieving its nuclear weapons ambitions.

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“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” President Trump said, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who read out the president’s comment during a press briefing on Thursday.

Trump has been clear that he opposes the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

TRUMP TO MAKE IRAN DECISION ‘WITHIN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS’ GIVEN ‘CHANCE’ OF NEGOTIATIONS, LEAVITT SAYS

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“AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he declared in a Truth Social post on Monday.