NationalWatch

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is showcasing his fundraising prowess as he launches his bid for Alabama governor.

Tuberville’s gubernatorial campaign on Thursday announced that it raked in $2,064,723 in fundraising during the first 24 hours after the senator declared his candidacy, “far surpassing its initial goal and shattering the previous Alabama record.”

The senator, a strong supporter and ally of President Donald Trump, is considered the frontrunner in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Kay Ivey in the Republican-dominated state.

“There are two universal truths in the Yellowhammer state right now: Alabamians love President Trump and they want Coach Tuberville to be their next governor,” Jackie Curtiss Cox, fundraiser for Tuberville’s campaign, said. “I’ve never seen momentum like this in my more than 10 years in Alabama politics.”

TOMMY TUBERVILLE MAKES A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

And Cox spotlighted that “these were not from PAC donations — every dollar came from small business owners, entrepreneurs, workers, and retirees.”

This week’s announcement from Tuberville, a former longtime college football coach who spent 10 years as head coach at Auburn University in Alabama, ended months of speculation about his ambitions to run for governor in his home state.

WHY TOMMY TUBERVILLE IS TAKING AIM AT MAINE’S GOVERNOR 

Tuberville, launched a campaign website that touts his “conservative Alabama values.”

And in his first interview after launching his campaign, Tuberville said on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” that “I’m doing this to help this country and the great state of Alabama. I’m a football coach. I’m a leader. I’m a builder. I’m a recruiter, and we’re going to grow Alabama.”

TUBERVILLE SPOTLIGHTS TRUMP IN EFFORT TO SAVE COLLEGE SPORTS

A source familiar told Fox News a couple of weeks ago that an endorsement from Trump would be a “done deal” if Tuberville decided to run for governor.

And Tuberville, in his Fox News interview, said Trump was “fully supportive” of his gubernatorial run.

He is also backed by the politically influential and deep-pocketed Club for Growth, a fiscal conservative group that takes sides in GOP primaries.

Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who had been expected to run to succeed Ivey, last week announced that he would not seek the office.

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Tuberville was first elected to the Senate in 2020, running as an outsider who was closely aligned with Trump.

In the Republican primary, he topped former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime senator from Alabama, before resigning in 2017 to serve as Trump’s attorney general. Tuberville went on to defeat incumbent Sen. Doug Jones, who was the first Democrat elected to the Senate in Alabama in decades.

Tuberville’s move to run for governor sets up an open Senate seat in Alabama in next year’s midterm elections.

FBI Director Kash Patel said he has been forced to divert agents to investigate “copycats” of potential threats to President Donald Trump as a result of former FBI Director James Comey’s “86 47” social media post. 

Bureau officials told Fox News Digital it needs to be focused on “public safety, not cleaning up after political stunts.”

Patel sat down for an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier and revealed that the FBI has had to investigate “copycats” because of Comey’s “beachside venture.” 

FORMER FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY MEETS WITH SECRET SERVICE AFTER CONTROVERSIAL ’86 47′ POST

“Do you know how many agents I’ve had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists because everywhere across this country, people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the president of the United States is a joke and they can do it because he did it?” Patel said. 

“That’s what I’m having to deal with every single day, and that’s what I’m having to pull my agents and analysts off because he thought it was funny to go out there and make a political statement,” he continued. 

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that they cannot disclose the number of “copycat” incidents due to ongoing investigations but described the number to Fox News Digital as “significant.” 

Comey met with Secret Service officials in Washington this month for an interview about his “86 47” Instagram post, two sources briefed on the meeting told Fox News.

Comey is under investigation for the now-deleted Instagram post that showed seashells arranged on a beach to read “86 47.”

“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” he wrote along with the post. 

Some have interpreted the post to mean “86” – get rid of – “47,” or Donald Trump, the 47th president.

TRUMP ADDRESSES COMEY’S ‘8647’ MESSAGE: ‘HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT’

“What people need to understand is that every copycat threat forces the FBI to divert time, agents and resources; resources that should be spent saving lives and taking criminals and deadly drugs off our streets,” an FBI official told Fox News Digital. “This kind of chaos was normalized by someone who knows better, and the director reminds lawmakers, especially in places like California and New York that have defended Comey, that we should be focused on public safety, not cleaning up after political stunts.”

Comey offered an explanation for the post after he received backlash on social media. 

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” the subsequent post from Comey said. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.” 

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The president, in a separate May interview with Baier, didn’t accept Comey’s explanation. 

“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,” Trump told Baier. “If you’re the FBI director, and you don’t know what that meant, that meant ‘assassination,’ and it says it loud and clear.” 

A federal district judge on Wednesday said that the Trump administration’s effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil may be unconstitutional, but some conservative legal experts are not buying it.

Khalil is a pro-Palestine, anti-Israel activist who led protests at Columbia University. An immigration judge recently said he could be deported, but U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz for the District of New Jersey said that the order is likely to be dismissed as “unconstitutionally vague.” Still, Khalil will remain in custody.

“The district court held what we already knew: Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio’s weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional,” lawyers for Khalil said after the judge’s ruling.

FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS ATTEMPTED DEPORTATION OF ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL MAY BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

However, various conservative legal experts disagree with the judge.

“A judge just handed Hamas a win on American soil. Mahmoud Khalil lied his way into our country, concealed ties to a foreign regime, and then led a pro-Hamas takeover at Columbia University. Now, a judicial activist wants to block his deportation? That’s not justice — it’s national suicide. President Trump has both the constitutional authority and the moral obligation to remove threats like Khalil,” Republican attorney Mehek Cooke told Fox News Digital in a statement.

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“The Supreme Court has made this power crystal clear. In Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), the Court upheld the executive’s broad discretion in immigration matters. That authority was reaffirmed in Trump v. Hawaii (2018), where the Court ruled that the President has sweeping power to exclude noncitizens deemed detrimental to U.S. interests,” she continued.

ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL’S FREE SPEECH LAWSUIT AGAINST US GOVERNMENT MUST BE HEARD: JUDGE

“By declaring the Immigration and Nationality Act ‘unconstitutionally vague,’ Judge Farbiarz isn’t interpreting the law — he’s rewriting it. That violates the separation of powers and dangerously ties the hands of our Commander in Chief. Citizenship is a privilege — not a sanctuary for liars and Hamas sympathizers. I am confident this will be overturned on appeal,” Cooke added.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said it is a “ridiculous, meritless claim by a rogue federal judge,” and said that even though Kahlil is a legal resident of the U.S., he can still face consequences.

“Aliens have no constitutional right to be in the U.S. Moreover, under federal immigration law, 8 U.S.C. 1227, aliens like Khalil, including permanent resident aliens, can be removed if the alien ‘endorses or espouses terrorist activity’ or support ‘a terrorist organization.’ Khalil’s blatant support for Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, makes him immediately deportable. This is another biased, partisan judge refusing to abide by federal immigration law and interfering in the president’s constitutional and statutory authority,” he told Fox News Digital in a statement.

LAWYERS FOR COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST MAHMOUD KHALIL BLAST RUBIO EVIDENCE LETTER: ‘TWO PAGES, THAT’S IT’

The White House also condemned the ruling, continuing its frequent clashes with federal judges over immigration policy.

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“Mahmoud Khalil was given the privilege of coming to America to study, but he squandered that opportunity by siding with Hamas terrorists and organizing protests that disrupted college classes and harassed Jewish-American students. Secretary of State Rubio has the right to revoke green cards or visas for any individuals who are adversarial to United States foreign policy and national security interests,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

The Trump administration has intensified its scrutiny of Chinese nationals studying at U.S. universities after several instances in recent years of students from the communist country engaging in alleged surreptitious activity while in the United States.

The incidents, which have involved allegations of espionage, conspiracy and accusations of misleading federal officials, occurred as a result of Chinese nationals or others with Chinese ties participating in joint education programs between the United States and China.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security plan to “aggressively revoke” student visas of Chinese nationals, “including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party.”

A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson blasted the new policy in a statement Thursday on X, saying the move was “fully unjustified” and damaging to the United States’ reputation.

STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT WILL ‘AGGRESSIVELY REVOKE’ VISAS OF CHINESE STUDENTS

“Citing ideology and national security as a pretext, the move seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” spokesperson Lin Jian said.

Nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals have student visas in the United States. It is unclear if the State Department plans to target all of them or only some. Fox News Digital reached out to the department for clarity.

Below is a look at some recent incidents involving Chinese nationals at universities.

Five Chinese nationals involved in Camp Grayling incident

The DOJ brought charges against five University of Michigan students last year after a sergeant major encountered them at Camp Grayling in 2023.

The students had cameras with them and were discovered as the U.S. National Guard was conducting a massive training operation at the site with Taiwanese military members, according to a complaint.

They were all Chinese nationals attending the University of Michigan as part of the school’s joint program with a Shanghai-based university, an FBI official wrote in the complaint, noting some of them had taken photos of Camp Grayling’s military installations and operations.

The FBI asked the court to issue arrest warrants for the students for making false statements and destroying records.

Chinese nationals breach Key West military base

Two Chinese nationals who were graduate students at the University of Michigan pleaded guilty in 2020 after they were caught illegally entering and photographing defense infrastructure at a naval air station in Key West, Florida.

University of Minnesota student

Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national studying at the University of Minnesota, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia last year of unlawfully using a drone to take photos of naval bases in Norfolk, Virginia.

Shi was sentenced to six months in prison and a year of supervised release, and the Biden administration revoked his visa in response to the charges. ICE announced in May that it deported him to China.

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

Harvard chemistry department chair

While not a Chinese national, Charles Lieber, former chair of Harvard’s chemistry department, was convicted in 2021 of making false statements to authorities and failing to report income from his work with China’s Wuhan University of Technology and a contract he had with China’s Thousand Talents Program.

Espionage attempt

Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national and one-time student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was sentenced to eight years in prison after he was convicted by a jury in 2022 of attempting to commit espionage and theft of trade secrets.

Ji was found to have gathered information on defense contractors, engineers and others as part of a broader effort by high-level Chinese intelligence officials to obtain inside access to U.S. technology advancements.

Rubio’s announcement also comes after Harvard filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration improperly banned all foreign nationals from the Ivy League school by revoking its student visa certification. A judge temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out the ban as the case plays out in the courts.

STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD

ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told Harvard in a letter made public through court filings that the revocation was a result of the alleged prevalence of antisemitism on campus but also a result of the administration’s “serious concerns” that the university has “coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Lyons cited several examples, including Harvard accepting $151 million from foreign donors since 2020, working with “China-based academics” on projects funded by an “Iranian government agent,” partnering with Chinese universities and using public funds to do so and collaborating with people “linked to China’s defense-industrial base.”

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“This coordination is a valid and substantive reason for withdrawing Harvard University’s [Student Exchange Visitor Program] certification to enroll foreign students,” Lyons wrote.

Harvard attorneys argued during a court hearing Thursday that the Trump administration did not give the university a chance to rebut the claims about antisemitism and CCP ties before the foreign student ban was enacted. The administration agreed to give Harvard one month to respond to those claims while the ban remains on hold.

Elon Musk is finishing his official role in the Trump administration, but if President Trump’s latest Truth Social post is any indication, the billionaire isn’t going far.

“I am having a Press Conference tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. EST, with Elon Musk, at the Oval Office,” Trump posted Thursday. “This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!”

Musk’s government service will end May 30, the legal 130-day limit for his “special government employee” designation. He was appointed in January to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by executive order on Inauguration Day.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk posted on X Wednesday. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized Thursday “the DOGE leaders are each and every member of the President’s Cabinet and the president himself, who is wholeheartedly committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government.”

And the cuts are adding up.

According to a May 26 update on DOGE’s website, the initiative has saved $175 billion through asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment crackdowns and other spending cuts. That translates to about $1,087 in savings per taxpayer.

ELON MUSK DOES NOT REGRET WORK AT DOGE, SUPPORT FOR TRUMP: ‘ESSENTIAL’ FOR AMERICA TO ‘REACH GREATER HEIGHTS’

DOGE’s reach has extended across the federal government, but not without pushback.

Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized Musk’s role. During a February House Oversight hearing, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., called his influence “reckless and illegal,” accusing Trump of “outsourcing governing to a billionaire who answers to no one.” 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, warned Musk was acting as an “unelected official” inside the executive branch.

Despite the criticism, markets are welcoming Musk’s return to the private sector. Bloomberg reported Tesla shares rose 4.2% this week on news of his government exit.

In an investor call earlier this month, Musk reassured shareholders, “Starting in June, I’ll be allocating far more time to Tesla and SpaceX now that the groundwork at DOGE is in place.”

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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stacy and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump wrote a fiery, lengthy post on social media Thursday night in response to the intense legal battle surrounding his proposed tariffs.

On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit allowed Trump’s tariffs to temporarily remain in effect, just one day before the US. Court of International Trade on Wednesday ruled that Trump overstepped his authority over tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

On Truth Social, Trump wrote that the U.S. Court of International Trade “incredibly” ruled against the “desperately needed” tariffs, but the order was stayed by the federal court.

“Where do these initial three Judges come from? How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America?” the Republican’s post read. “Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’ What other reason could it be?”

TWELVE STATES SUE TRUMP OVER TARIFFS, CLAIMING THEY’RE ‘ILLEGAL’ AND HARMFUL TO US ECONOMY

Trump then took aim at Leonard Leo, a chairman on the Federalist Society’s board of directors. Trump said that he used the conservative legal organization to pick out judges when he was “new to Washington.”

“It was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges,” Trump wrote. 

“I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.”

Trump added that he was “so disappointed” in the Federalist Society “because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations.”

DISTRICT JUDGES’ ORDERS BLOCKING TRUMP AGENDA FACE HEARING IN TOP SENATE COMMITTEE

“This is something that cannot be forgotten!” the Republican said. “With all of that being said, I am very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others. They always must do what’s right for the Country!”

The president then rounded out his lengthy post by calling attention back to his pending tariffs, which he claimed would lead to a “rich, prosperous, and successful United States of America.”

“The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political!” Trump said. “Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY.”

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“The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

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

A federal judge upheld a court order blocking President Donald Trump from stripping Harvard University of its ability to sponsor international student visas. 

U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs on Thursday extended her earlier restraining order, which blocks the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP. That certification allows colleges to sponsor international students for U.S. visas during their enrollment.

Burroughs, an Obama appointee, said she would preserve the status quo while both sides confer and submit either a joint proposed preliminary injunction order or individual proposed orders.

But the update from the court is not a loss for the Trump administration — at least not yet. 

TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER DEFENSE ATTORNEY EMIL BOVE FOR FEDERAL APPEALS COURT VACANCY

At issue is whether the Trump administration has grounds to revoke Harvard’s SEVP certification. Trump officials have accused Harvard University of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” according to a statement from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Legal experts told Fox News Digital that foreign students have far fewer protections than U.S. citizens, which puts Harvard at the government’s mercy as long as the Trump administration satisfies certain procedural requirements. 

Experts noted that the SEVP program falls squarely under the authority of DHS and ICE, giving the Trump administration broad discretion to certify, extend or revoke a university’s participation based on the conduct of its foreign student visa holders.

STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD

While U.S. citizens have First Amendment protected free speech rights, the same is not true for foreign students studying in the U.S., whose status is sponsored by their university. 

The intersection “of First Amendment [issues] with immigration law, at least to this extent, has really become a new thing under this administration,” Robert Shibley, the special counsel for campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Fox News Digital. 

“Part of the complication here is that the government does have so much more leeway on foreign policy issues,” Shibley said. “However, I think in this case, there’s a pretty clear process laid out in the regulations for stripping a school of its ability to get foreign students to attend on visas — and simply demanding a certain amount of information from the school and stripping them immediately, which is what they originally said, not the process.”

Shortly after court adjourned Thursday, the Trump administration gave Harvard 30 days to submit evidence and argue why its SEVP certification should not be revoked. It’s unclear whether that alone satisfies procedural requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The court must also consider what type of conduct foreign student visa holders are engaged in and whether these student visa holders are “systemically” engaged in serial violations of immigration law or are acting in support of foreign terrorist organizations, alleged foreign terrorist organizations or foreign totalitarian governments. 

“That gives DHS stake to investigate and reevaluate on an off-cycle basis, the SEVP certification and eligibility,” said Aram Gavoor, an associate dean at George Washington University Law School and a former Justice Department attorney. In this case, he said, DHS would have “significant authorities to authorize, regulate, certify and, if necessary, decertify, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.”

TRUMP ADMIN WORKING TO FLY BACK GUATEMALAN MIGRANT ERRONEOUSLY DEPORTED FROM US

“And, in a number of circumstances, the ability of a university to operate its own educational institution with what it teaches and how it teaches that can — in certain circumstances — come into tension with the authority of the U.S. government to regulate immigration in the context of student exchange visitors,” Gavoor added. 

Lawyers for Harvard told the court that, if enacted, the revocation of its SEVP program would affect roughly 7,000 international students at the school at the undergraduate and post-graduate level, causing irreparable harm. They also claimed the action was a breach of administrative procedure, which requires the administration to grant a certain period of notice before revoking their SEVP credentials. 

“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence,” Harvard University President Alan Garber said Friday in a letter to the Harvard community.

In the short term, the uncertainty could lead foreign students in the visa program to flee Harvard, seeking transfers to other universities that are not targeted by the Trump administration, experts told Fox News. 

Student visa holders are given roughly 180 days after their status is revoked to leave the country or risk violating the law, making the case of utmost importance for thousands of students.

Legal experts noted the court is wading into largely uncharted territory. Asked how it might play out, many scholars pointed to a lack of precedent and offered no clear answer.

“As with many things that Trump does, the answer is unclear, because it hasn’t been done before,” Josh Blackman, a law professor at South Texas College of Law, said. “No president has tried to do this before, so I don’t think there’s a clear precedent on the answer.

“What I’ll say is this: Trump has basically accused Harvard of being a front for terrorism and emboldening terrorism,” he added. “And I think what they’re trying to do is determine if this institution can basically exist.”

This was echoed by Gavoor, who said things need to play out between the Trump administration and Harvard before the court can properly decide if the government followed the law. 

“I think Harvard does need to comply with the off-cycle review of DHS’s SEVP certification,” Gavoor said. 

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At the same time, he said, even if the Trump administration loses on the merits of this case, “there’s a point to be argued that it may have won as a function of policy,” he said.

“That’s because it simply creates a chilling effect for students who would otherwise be attending or apply to Harvard University to be less inclined to do so or [causes them] to make alternative plans for their education In the U.S.”

The Department of Homeland Security is warning would-be disrupters to avoid interfering with federal immigration enforcement operations after it said a demonstrator attempted to disrupt a federal immigration arrest in New York City on Wednesday.

Nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were also detained in another part of the city later that day. 

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that ICE agents contacted Federal Protective Service (FPS) on Wednesday morning and “requested assistance as their officers were conducting arrests” in the lobby of a federal immigration court building.

McLaughlin said FPS officers responded and saw several protesters filming and taking pictures of law enforcement personnel in the lobby. She said that at approximately 11:45 a.m. a person attempted to forcibly interfere with ICE agents attempting to place someone in custody.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW GOAL OF 3,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS DAILY

McLaughlin said ICE reported the incident to FPS as “an assault on one of their officers.” The person was briefly taken into custody, issued a U.S. district court violation notice and released, according to McLaughlin.

In response to the incident, McLaughlin said, “Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties will of course face consequences which could include arrest.”

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Later that day, nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were detained by the New York Police Department outside a federal building in Manhattan on Wednesday night after a chaotic protest led to police struggling with demonstrators.

An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital that officers responded to a 911 call for a “disorderly group” in front of a DHS building at approximately 6:35 p.m.

NYPD HUNTS FOR MAN ACCUSED OF BEATING OFF-DUTY COP AND STEALING HIS GUN, ALLEGED ACCOMPLICE ARRESTED

The spokesperson said that “upon arrival, officers observed approximately 20-30 demonstrators sitting in the roadway, blocking vehicular traffic” and that “the demonstrators were instructed verbally numerous times to vacate the roadway and did not comply.”

As a result, the spokesperson said 23 individuals were taken into custody, 18 individuals were issued criminal court summons and five individuals were arrested and charged, according to the NYPD spokesperson.

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Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement this month that assaults against ICE officers rose by more than 400% from the same time last year. He placed part of the blame on politicians who “are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.”

Elon Musk may no longer be the top dog at DOGE, but his reforms at the State Department will remain permanently in place, a senior agency official told Fox News Digital Thursday. 

As Musk’s 130-day mandate as a “special government employee” comes to an end, the billionaire entrepreneur announced his departure from DOGE in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday night.

During Musk’s time as the head of DOGE, he helped usher in big reforms at the State Department, which included an effective dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), staff reductions, and the cancellation of various foreign aid programs due to lack of oversight, inefficiency, and other reasons.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’

The indication that Musk’s DOGE-related work at the State Department will continue was reinforced by a new reorganization effort at the Department of State announced by Secretary Marco Rubio on Thursday. The new reorganization plans are expected to cut or consolidate more than 300 of the State Department’s offices and bureaus as part of a massive overhaul aimed at streamlining the department, according to agency officials. 

The agency currently has about 700 offices, meaning the reorganization effort will slash, or join, more than 40% of its offices.

“We have too many godd— offices,” a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. “We’re trying to shrink offices rather than create them.”

WHITE HOUSE DISCLOSES WHO WILL LEAD DOGE EFFORTS AFTER MUSK’S DEPARTURE

The State Department submitted a notice to Congress Thursday disclosing plans for the reorganization overhaul, which senior State Department officials said will be the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War.  

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added Thursday that many DOGE employees will remain part of the Trump administration, despite Musk winding down his work. 

“Surely the mission of Doge will continue,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “Many Doge employees are now political employees.”

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One of Musk’s DOGE associates, Jeremy Lewin, has recently been tapped for a top role within the State Department. In April, he was placed at State for a different role. For his part, Lewin, however, disputes that he ever did any direct work for Musk’s DOGE.

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

A White House official confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that in addition to billionaire Elon Musk, multiple other staffers and special government employees from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are departing.

Musk has been heading DOGE since President Donald Trump took office in January. The department was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and federal workforce.

Musk announced his departure from DOGE late Wednesday.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

LESS THAN HALF OF DOGE-TERMINATED CONTRACTS CAN BE PUBLICLY TRACKED, ONLY ABOUT A QUARTER OF GRANTS: WATCHDOG

Along with Musk, advisor Steve Davis, advisor and spokesperson Katie Miller, and attorney James Burnham are leaving their posts within DOGE, a White House spokesperson confirmed to Fox News.

With Musk’s departure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing Thursday that Trump and members of his Cabinet will now spearhead DOGE’s efforts.

WHITE HOUSE DISCLOSES WHO WILL LEAD DOGE EFFORTS AFTER MUSK’S DEPARTURE

“The DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s cabinet and the president himself, who is wholeheartedly committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government,” Leavitt said.

“The entire Cabinet understands the need to cut government waste, fraud and abuse,” she continued. “And each Cabinet secretary at their respective agencies is committed to that. That’s why they were working hand in hand with Elon Musk. And they’ll continue to work with their respective DOGE employees who have onboarded as political appointees at all of these agencies. 

“So surely the mission of DOGE will continue, and many DOGE employees are now political appointees and employees of our government.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’

While DOGE was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the budget, its efforts led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment cuts and other ways to eliminate costs, according to an update on DOGE’s website. 

The savings translate to about $1,087 in savings per taxpayer, the website notes.

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A senior White House official told Fox News Digital previously that DOGE is now part of the “DNA” of the federal government, and it will continue to operate as it had under Musk.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Murray and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. 

Here’s what’s happening…

–Elon Musk criticism of Trump tax bill frustrates some Republicans: ‘No place in Congress’

-Rubio spearheads massive State Department reorganization set to eliminate, merge more than 300 offices

-Federal judge says attempted deportation of anti-Israel ringleader Mahmoud Khalil may be unconstitutional

Musk Leaves DOGE

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bid farewell to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a Wednesday night X post, ending his tenure as the face of the agency as it shifts to a new phase in President Donald Trump‘s second term. 

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

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

White House

BLUE AMBITIONS: 21 Democrats who may try to succeed Trump in the 2028 presidential election

DEEP CUTS: Trump’s drastic NSC cuts spark debate: Does fighting the ‘Deep State’ put national security at risk?

JUDICIAL PUSHBACK: Federal judge orders Trump admin to resume migrant ‘parole’ applications

COURT WIN: Federal judge sides against copyright leader who claimed Trump was wrong to fire her

‘MOMENT MEANS A LOT’: Rapper thanks Trump for pardon on gun conviction

SAVED BY THE PEN: Trump commutes sentence of major political donor in latest round of clemency

World Stage

‘INFLECTION POINT’: Hamas faces ‘legitimacy crisis’ as desperate Gazans flock to US-backed aid centers

‘PATH’ FOR PEACE: Franklin Graham meets with Zelenskyy in Berlin, offers prayer amid escalating Russia-Ukraine war

Capitol Hill

FIGHTING BACK: Former Navy Seal Jared Hudson mounts Senate bid to ‘crush the woke agenda’ as Tuberville seeks governorship

UPPER BRACKET BOOST: Here are the changes to the SALT tax deduction in the ‘big, beautiful bill’

DOCTOR DEMOCRAT: Lindsey Graham draws Democratic Senate challenger who previously lost congressional race

FUNDING FEUD: GOP rails against ‘blatantly false’ Dem claims about Medicaid reform in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

‘POLITICAL SCANDAL’: GOP push for new House committee to probe Biden decline ‘cover-up’ gains steam

CLOCK’S TICKING: 85-year-old longtime House Democrat facing primary challenger who’s making age the issue

Across America 

RED TAPE CUT: Supreme Court limits judges’ authority to block infrastructure projects over environmental concerns

SPLASH SHOWDOWN: Riley Gaines challenges ex-ESPN host to race after he says she was a ‘worse swimmer’ than she is ‘MAGA stooge’

RACE HEATING UP: Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger releases first TV ad, slams ‘political nonsense’

‘CRUSH THE WOKE AGENDA’: Former Navy Seal Jared Hudson mounts Senate bid to ‘crush the woke agenda’ as Tuberville seeks governorship

FAITH-BASED LEARNING: Pro-life leader praises bill requiring Ten Commandments in Texas schools: ‘A step in the right direction’

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

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce indicated Thursday that the increased scrutiny the Trump administration is placing on foreign student visas will not be a “one-time” check, but rather a process that lasts the entire time foreign students remain studying in the country. 

Bruce was peppered with questions at a Thursday press briefing about the Trump administration’s plans for increased vetting for foreign students. The briefing came amid news that the Trump administration has paused new student visa appointments at embassies across the globe. The Trump administration also indicated this week it would begin “aggressively” revoking the visas of Chinese students that pose national security threats, and has plans to implement expanded social media vetting for foreign student visas. 

“Everyone who’s here on a visa has to recognize – certainly it is what they’ve seen over the last few months – that America takes their visa seriously, that vetting is not a one-time process – it’s continuing,” Bruce said in response to questions about what the new scrutiny and vetting will entail. “When things, if things happen, if you get arrested, if there’s some kind of an issue, it’s probably going to be seen at some point,” Bruce added.

STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD

“There’s an interest in making sure that those who are here from China on a visa understand that we are taking our national security seriously,” she continued. “And, if everything’s fine, terrific. But, that will be a vetting that certainly continues and is important.”

Citing national security concerns, Bruce did not reveal many details about what the new scrutiny on foreign students will look like. However, she did tell reporters that the student visa interviews will likely resume “sooner-than-later,” once a formalized process has been agreed upon. 

Bruce framed the new student visa scrutiny as part of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda aimed at reducing alleged political indoctrination on campuses and ensuring that American students can receive the highest quality education possible without interference.

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

“There’s a reason why people come here – it’s because of what the country represents. Yes, the excellence of our schools. And we want to keep it that way,” Bruce told reporters Thursday.

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“We want parents who send their children, whether they be from a different country or America – to an American university – that they can recognize their child when that child returns home … making sure that everyone who does want to send their child to a school in this country can do so knowing that they’re going to be safe, they’re going to be able to get into a building and not held hostage in a library because it’s been occupied, or that they’re going to be able to actually learn things that you’re paying that kind of money for.”

With Elon Musk’s departure from the agency, there’s debate roiling over how effective the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE), has been in its mission.

In a report released just two days prior to Musk stepping down, financial watchdog Open The Books published a report finding it is likely impossible for the average American taxpayer to track the savings associated with the contracts and grants that were terminated by the DOGE team.

According to Open The Books’ analysis, which mined all the data published on DOGE’s official website, the average American taxpayer would likely only be able to confirm 42% of contracts and 27% of grants through an independent review of public federal spending databases.

“This doesn’t mean these targets aren’t real, it simply means it’s very hard for taxpayers who want to see additional savings to find proof and evidence of savings,” Open The Books points out in its analysis, shared in a report the group released Tuesday.

‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY 

“Because taxpayers don’t have access to real-time transparency and a real-time look at the Treasury Payment System, it’s still too difficult for even a highly motivated Joe Taxpayer to confirm the savings claims DOGE is making,” the analysis, released ahead of Elon Musk stepping down from running the agency, continued. “It’s also far too easy for critics to sew [sic] doubt and confusion.”

DOGE says on its website that the group’s work up to this point has provided the American taxpayer with $175 billion in “estimated” savings from the elimination of contracts, grants and leases, as well as through renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion and other mechanisms. 

However, DOGE’s estimated savings have been contested by watchdog groups and budget experts. Such critics have posited that the inclusion of already canceled contracts, double-counting or misrepresentation of contract values, and the unaccounted cost burden that could be imposed on the government when it has to re-hire folks down the line, or revamp its productivity, due to DOGE cuts, have led to inflated savings estimates. 

Nate Malkus, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, has accused DOGE of “overestimating contracts by a factor of two,” according to CBS News.

ELON MUSK ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL, SAYS IT UNDERMINES WHAT DOGE IS DOING 

But White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital that DOGE has produced “historic savings” for the American people.

“DOGE is working at record speed to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, producing historic savings for the American people,” Fields said. “The DOGE Wall of Receipts provides the latest and most accurate information following a thorough assessment, which takes time. Updates to the DOGE savings page will continue to be made promptly, and departments and agencies will keep highlighting the massive savings DOGE is achieving.”

“DOGE and Elon Musk have done the country an incredible service by identifying savings targets,” added Open The Books CEO John Hart. “Having worked on the last major deficit commission with the late Senator Tom Coburn, we would have been elated to have had Musk in our corner. Now it’s up to Congress to not only turn DOGE’s recommendations into durable savings but to go beyond DOGE’s scope and truly tackle our long-term debt and deficit crisis.”

Open The Books highlighted two “common sense” standards to help establish an “intellectually honest” approach to understanding the true impact of government cuts, such as those being recommended by DOGE.

The first is the “durable standard,” which asks whether a proposed cut can be easily reversed.

OBAMA-NOMINATED JUDGE ALLOWS LAWSUIT TARGETING MUSK’S ROLE WITH DOGE TO PROCEED, DROPS CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP

“Describing something as ‘durable’ does not mean it is permanent or irreversible; it simply means it is hard to reverse,” the Open The Books’ analysis stated. “The most durable budget cut in our constitutional system would be passed by Congress, signed into law by the president and be clearly constitutional, or unassailable in a court challenge. Budget cuts become less durable when they lack any of these three elements.”

The second is called a “duty standard,” which illuminates the power behind certain cuts based on who is trying to impose them.

“In our constitutional system, the founders gave the job of budget savings to three branches but primarily to Congress,” Open The Books points out. “DOGE’s job is to identify, not enact, savings targets. It’s up to Congress to do the heavy lifting. And We the People have a responsibility to be informed and hold our elected officials accountable.”

WHITE HOUSE SENDING $9.4B DOGE CUTS PACKAGE TO CONGRESS NEXT WEEK

Open The Books ultimately concluded that due to various limitations associated with publicly available data on government spending and revenue, in particular a lack of real-time access to the government’s Treasury Payment System, it is still too difficult for even the most motivated average American citizen to either confirm, or deny, the savings claimed by DOGE.

Elon Musk officially stepped down from his role as DOGE chief Thursday evening, as his position of “special government employee” in the Trump administration was limited by law to a few months. Amid the transition, Musk criticized Republicans’ spending bill that was passed ahead of Memorial Day in the House, indicating he was “disappointed” it would increase the federal deficit. 

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“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS News in an interview that will air in full on June 1.

The Louisiana rapper who was pardoned by President Donald Trump once said “F— Donald Trump” in a 2017 song. 

NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, has been thanking Trump for the reprieve, writing in a recent Instagram post that the president is “giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist.” 

However, in his song “Red Rum,” the 25-year-old Gaulden once rapped “And f— Donald Trump b—-, that NBA s—.” 

Pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson was asked about the remark during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” earlier this morning. 

RAPPER THANKS TRUMP FOR PARDON ON GUN CONVICTION 

“So a couple of rappers have come out or let’s say one in particular — YoungBoy. One of his lyrics in 2017 that he put out is “F Donald Trump” and some more disparaging things to say. He had a violent past of assault and battery. Multiple cases of that, and firearm, drug and fraud charges. What sold you on him getting a second chance?” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked her. 

“I looked at the age and how this young man grew up. He grew up in a very impoverished neighborhood. And the things that he had to face, NBA YoungBoy growing up. Most of those were gun charges without the guns being discharged,” she said. 

“But I also looked at what happened to him on a set where he was filming a video and he had a prop in the set. That’s really where this came from. He didn’t come out of prison. He was given a pardon so he could have a new beginning. And the officers who in this particular case they came at him as though he was a terrorist and he was on a set, filming for a video. They gave him a gun charge for that… the officers who did this were all investigated and fired. So I look at the elements of what happened to this young man,” Johnson added. 

Last year, Gaulden was sentenced by a federal judge in Utah after he acknowledged possessing weapons despite being a convicted felon. However, he reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him — one carried a 23-month sentence and the other ordered five years of probation and a $200,000 fine.  

TRUMP PARDONS EX-CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR ROWLAND AND COMMUTES CHICAGO GANG LEADER HOOVER’S SENTENCE   

“I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and for giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,” Gaulden, whose stage moniker stands for “Never Broke Again,” wrote on his Instagram. “This moment means a lot.”  

“It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this,” Gaulden added.  

Gaulden was released from federal prison in March and sent to home confinement after receiving credit for time served, his attorney Drew Findling told the Associated Press. With home confinement finished last month, the pardon means he won’t have to follow the terms of his probation, including drug testing, he said. 

The rapper has acknowledged that he possessed a Glock 21 .45-caliber pistol and a Masterpiece Arms MPA30T 9mm handgun while filming a rap video in Baton Rouge. He has also said he had a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol at his home in Huntsville, Utah. He had agreed to give up the guns.  

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Gaulden had previously been convicted in Louisiana of aggravated assault with a firearm. He had also pleaded guilty in November to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring that operated out of his home in Utah. He had to pay a $25,000 fine and was given no prison time. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The estimated revenue impact of the GOP tax plan would be nearly $4 trillion in the negative over a decade, the Joint Committee on Taxation — a nonpartisan committee of the U.S. Congress — has indicated.

A document issued by the committee puts the net total estimated revenue effects at -$3.939368 trillion for fiscal years 2025-2034. 

“The problem with all of these studies is they willfully ignore current tax policy. You can’t do that and be taken seriously,” an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson indicated.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Joint Committee on Taxation for comment, but no comment had been provided by the time of publication.

GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘BLATANTLY FALSE’ DEM CLAIMS ABOUT MEDICAID REFORM IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last week, even with the U.S. national debt at more than $36 trillion.

The measure cleared the chamber with zero Democrat votes, and two House Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio —  voting against it.

House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., voted present, explaining in a statement, “I voted to move the bill along in the process for the President. There is still a lot of work to be done in deficit reduction and ending waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON CLASHES WITH RAND PAUL OVER ‘WIMPY’ SPENDING CUTS IN TRUMP’S BILL

Some Senate Republicans have indicated that they would not be willing to support the measure as it stands coming out of the House.

Elon Musk is not happy with it either. The business tycoon said during an interview for “CBS Sunday Morning” that he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill,” and that the measure undermines the Department of Government Efficiency team’s work.

“I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” President Donald Trump said of the measure when asked about Musk’s comments. 

Last week, Trump hailed the House’s passage of the proposal, calling for the Senate to pass it as well.

“Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!” the president declared in part of a Truth Social post last week.

MUSK OFFICIALLY STEPS DOWN FROM DOGE AFTER WRAPPING WORK STREAMLINING GOVERNMENT

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White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller asserted in a post on X, “I see some self-described libertarians siding with lefty bureaucrats at CBO who claim the Big Beautiful Bill will ‘explode the debt.’ This is based entirely on CBO claiming that extending the current tax rates (not raising them) will ‘cost’ the government $4 trillion in revenue. 

“Since when have libertarians argued that NOT raising taxes ‘costs’ the government money? Private money yet to be earned does not “belong” to the government. This is a Democrat-collectivist argument and I’m shocked to see libertarians deploying it. Under this ludicrous theory, one could raise taxes to 90% on everyone and declare the deficit solved. BBB cuts taxes, cuts spending, reforms welfare and *ends mass migration*,” he declared.

Longtime Democratic Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer has yet to announce whether he will seek re-election next year for a 24th two-year term in Congress.

If he does, he will face a primary challenger who is making Hoyer’s age – the congressman turns 86 next month and would be 89 at the end of his next term – a centerpiece of his campaign.

Harry Jarin, 35, a volunteer firefighter and emergency services’ consultant, said Thursday in a new video announcing his candidacy, “If you live here in southern Maryland, I want to ask you a tough question. Do you really think that Steny Hoyer, at 89-years-old, is the best person to represent us?” 

Jarin argued that “we’re in a moment of real crisis. Radical Republicans are burning down our country around us. Our friends and family who work in the government are losing their jobs. We keep sending politicians like Steny Hoyer back to Congress again and again. Tired politicians like Steny can’t put up a fight that we need.”

PARTY VICE CHAIR IGNITES FIRESTORM WITH PUSH TO PRIMARY CHALLENGE OLDER HOUSE DEMOCRATS

“Here’s the bottom line: you don’t put out a fire by sending in the same people who let it spread. Send in a firefighter,” Jarin said. “Maryland deserves a new generation of leadership, and I’m ready to take up the fight.”

Fox News reached out to Hoyer’s office for a response, but a spokesperson declined to respond.

Hoyer, who first won his seat in Congress in a 1981 special election, from 2003 to 2023, was the second ranking House Democrat behind Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He served as House Majority Leader from 2007-2011 and from 2019-2023, when the Democrats controlled the chamber.

Along with Pelosi, Hoyer stepped down from his longtime leadership position at the end of 2022 but remained in Congress.  

DEMOCRATS PREDICT HOUSE REPUBLICANS WILL PAY PRICE FOR PASSING TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“I think all of us have been around for some time and pretty much have a feel for the timing of decisions. And I think all three of us felt that this was the time,” Hoyer told CNN at the time, as he referred to the moves by the top three House Democrats – Pelosi, Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn – to step down from their leadership roles.

Hoyer has long been a major backer of the Democrats’ top issues, and during his second tenure as House Majority Leader, he played a crucial role in the passage of then-President Joe Biden’s so-called American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

He represents Maryland’s Democrat-dominated 5th Congressional District, which covers a region known as Southern Maryland, and includes the suburbs south and east of Washington D.C., a sliver of suburban Baltimore and Annapolis, as well as rural areas farther south. 

Hoyer, who suffered a minor stroke last year, is the latest high-ranking House Democrat to face a primary challenge from a younger opponent.

Pelosi and Reps. Brad Sherman of California and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have drawn primary challenges, with Schakowsky later announcing that she will no longer run for re-election.

The primary challenges come as Democrats are still trying to regroup following last November’s election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and their Senate majority, and came up short in their bid to win back the House.

The party’s base is angry and energized to push back against the sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump in the four months since he returned to the White House.

Additionally, while much of that anger and energy is directed at fighting the White House and congressional Republicans, some of it is targeted at Democrats whom many in the party’s base feel aren’t vocal enough in their efforts to stymie Trump.

Concurrently, other longtime and older House Democrats in safe blue districts are facing the possibility of primary challenges.

This, after newly elected Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg last month pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to back primary challenges against what he called “asleep at the wheel” House Democrats – lawmakers he argued have failed to effectively push back against Trump.

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The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party.

Elon Musk’s criticism of House Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” has left some GOP lawmakers frustrated at the tech billionaire.

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

“This was a gimmick. He got used. He’s now upset. He played the game, he got what he wanted, then he ended up like everyone else who gets too close.”

House Republicans passed a broad-ranging bill last week advancing President Donald Trump‘s agenda on tax, immigration, defense, and energy. Congressional Republicans are hoping to pass it via the budget reconciliation process, a mechanism for passing fiscal legislation while waiving the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and sidelining the minority party.

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

Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning” the legislation “undermines the work” done by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

He called it a “massive spending bill” that “increases the budget deficit.”

However, Republican supporters of the bill have contended that the kind of spending cuts Musk is looking for, and the kind DOGE outlined, cannot be done via the reconciliation process. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., himself pledged in a public statement after Musk’s comments that House Republicans would tackle DOGE cuts – albeit in a different vehicle than the “big, beautiful bill.”

Reconciliation primarily deals with mandatory government funding that Congress must change by amending the law itself, like federal safety net programs.

The White House is also planning to send a package of proposed spending cuts to Congress next week, including cuts outlined by DOGE, that target discretionary government spending. Discretionary spending refers to the cash flows that Congress controls annually via the budget appropriations process.

Other supporters of the bill, like Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said its focus was on people outside of Musk’s wealth class.

“The bill strikes the proper balance between rooting out fraud to achieve savings and not impacting citizens who rely on government programs. The biggest winners for a change are not billionaires like Musk but middle-class families who will see the bulk of savings returned to them in the form of real tax relief,” Malliotakis told Fox News Digital.

“That’s who President Trump and House Republicans set out to help.”

A second House Republican who requested anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital that Musk did “put a lot of work in” with DOGE but argued he was wrong on the facts.

“I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time that he didn’t really have a handle on the process,” the House Republican said. “So, you know, we really have to bake the DOGE cuts into the budget rather than through reconciliation.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Musk for comment via Tesla but did not immediately hear back.

The White House pointed Fox News Digital to Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s public statement about fiscal hawks’ concerns about the bill. 

Miller said, “DOGE cuts are to discretionary spending. (Eg the federal bureaucracy). Under Senate budget rules, you cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill. So DOGE cuts would have to be done through what is known as a rescissions package or an appropriations bill. The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill and does not fund the departments of government. It does not finance our agencies or federal programs. Instead, it includes the single largest welfare reform in American history.”

On the other side of the House GOP Conference, fiscal hawks who also had issues with the legislation rallied around Musk’s comments.

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

The Maryland Republican voted “present” on the reconciliation bill last week.

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

“Hopefully the Senate will take those concerns into consideration as the legislative process moves forward,” Harris said.

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Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, the lone House Republican to vote against the bill, posted on X, “Hopefully, the Senate will succeed where the House missed the moment. Don’t hope someone else will cut spending someday, know it has been done this Congress.”

“Despite pleas to step back and look at the sum of the parts passed by 11 different committees, this bill was rushed to the floor when it should have been fixed,” Davidson said.

Musk announced late on Wednesday that he was stepping away from his federal government role because his “scheduled time as a Special Government Employee” was coming “to an end.”

It has been just over four months since President Donald Trump returned to power in the White House, and the very early moves in the 2028 presidential race are already underway by some Democrats with likely national ambitions.

This upcoming weekend, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential nominee, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who says he is not laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential run, will make separate appearances in South Carolina, the state the Democratic National Committee anointed to hold the lead-off primary in their 2024 nominating calendar.

Two weeks later, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who ran for the White House in 2020, will headline a major Democratic state party dinner in New Hampshire, which for a century has held the first presidential primary.

Two weeks ago, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who later served as Transportation secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration, headlined a town hall with veterans and military families in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

SUCCEEDING TRUMP IN 2028: SIX REPUBLICANS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON

Iowa’s caucuses for half a century kicked off both major political parties’ presidential nominating calendars until the DNC demoted the Hawkeye State on their 2024 schedule.

Another potential contender, two-term Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, late last month, gave the keynote address at a major state party fundraising gala in New Hampshire.

Also making noise is two-term Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who said recently he would consider running for president if he felt he could successfully unite the country.

WHAT BERNIE SANDERS SAID IN A FOX NEWS DIGITAL INTERVIEW 

Additionally, progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York grabbed plenty of attention the past couple of months, co-headlining a slew of large rallies across the country with longtime progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, which sparked plenty of 2028 speculation.

The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since last November’s election setbacks, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. Republicans additionally made gains among Black and Hispanic voters as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

Since Trump’s return to power, an increasingly angry and energized base of Democrats has been pushing for party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the opening months of his second administration.

EFFORT BY DEMOCRATS TO STOP THE SLIDE RIDICULED 

Democrats are not only looking ahead to next year’s midterms, when they hope to make ballot box gains, but also to the next presidential race.

“There was a sense of hopelessness earlier this year among Democrats, as Trump came in with his wrecking ball, and it seemed like there was nothing but futile opposition to him,” longtime Democratic strategist Chris Moyer told Fox News. “So thinking about a presidential race with potential candidates is a way to get some hope back and look towards a future that doesn’t include Trump.”

Moyer, a veteran of a handful of Democratic presidential campaigns, said the race is “wide open, and it won’t be long before we see clear maneuvering from a litany of candidates.”

The results of the 2026 midterm elections will have a major impact on the shape of the next White House race. 

For now, however, here are 20 Democrats considered potential presidential contenders to watch on the road to 2028.

Kamala Harris

After lying low when the Biden administration came to a close, former Vice President Kamala Harris has picked up the political pace of late, including headlining a recent major DNC fundraiser in New York City, with another in San Francisco next week.

Among her campaign options that she is weighing is a 2026 run for the open governor’s seat in her home state of California and another bid in 2028 for the White House.

A source in the former vice president’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital two months ago that Harris had told allies she would decide by the end of summer on whether to launch a 2026 gubernatorial campaign.

Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and represented the Golden State in the U.S. Senate before joining Biden’s 2020 ticket and winning that election as vice president.

Additionally, Harris would be considered the clear frontrunner for governor in heavily blue California in the race to succeed term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.

However, early polling in the 2028 Democratic nomination race indicates that Harris would be the frontrunner, thanks in part to her name recognition within her party.

While there are plenty of voices within the party who would like to move on from the Biden/Harris era following Trump’s sweeping victory, and there is little history of Democrats yearning for past defeated presidential nominees, Trump has re-written the rules when it comes to defeated White House contenders making another run. 

Potential buyers’ remorse of a second Trump administration could boost the 60-year-old Harris in the years to come.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York

The progressive “rock star” and best-known lawmaker among the so-called “Squad” of diverse House Democrats in October turned 35, the minimum age to run for president.

Some Democrats argue that a riveting messenger with star power is needed as the party’s next nominee, and Ocasio-Cortez is guaranteed to grab plenty of attention if she ultimately decides to run.

There is also speculation the four-term federal lawmaker from New York City may primary challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York when he is up for re-election in 2028.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a top surrogate for Biden during the president’s re-election bid. With the blessing of the White House, the two-term California governor debated then-Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year on Fox News. 

Newsom’s travels on behalf of Biden brought him to New Hampshire and South Carolina, two crucial early voting states on the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

After Harris, his friend and fellow Californian, replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, the governor, after a pause, continued his efforts to keep Trump from returning to the White House.

While Newsom and California’s Democrat-dominated legislature took action to “Trump-proof” the Golden State, the governor has also worked with Trump on key matters, including January’s wildfires that devastated parts of metropolitan Los Angeles.

Newsom also appears to have moderated on some issues and invited well-known Trump allies Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon on his weekly podcast.

The 57-year-old Newsom, who is term-limited, completes his duties in Sacramento at the end of next year, right around the time the 2028 presidential election will start to heat up.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has become a leading voice in the Democrats’ opposition to Trump and has taken steps to Trump-proof his solidly blue state.

“You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker told reporters of his efforts to protect Illinois.

Pritzker was also a high-profile surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris during the 2024 cycle. Those efforts brought Pritzker to Nevada, a general election battleground state and an early-voting Democratic presidential primary state, and New Hampshire.

Additionally, the governor’s recent trip to New Hampshire sparked more 2028 buzz.

However, before he makes any decision about 2028, the 60-year-old governor must decide whether he will run in 2026 for a third term steering Illinois.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan

Two-term Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer grabbed plenty of attention and became a Democratic Party rising star in 2020 when she feuded with Trump over COVID-19 federal assistance and survived a foiled kidnapping attempt.

Trump, at the time, called her “that woman from Michigan.”

Along with Newsom and Pritzker, Whitmer’s name was floated as a possible replacement for Biden following his disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June, before the president endorsed Harris, and the party instantly coalesced around the vice president.

Whitmer was a leading surrogate for Biden and then for Harris and made a big impression on Democratic activists during a stop this summer in New Hampshire on behalf of Harris.

However, Whitmer was criticized by some in her party for appearing to cozy up to Trump during a White House visit earlier this spring.

The 53-year-old governor is term-limited and will leave office after the end of next year.

Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania

Gov. Josh Shapiro, the 51-year-old first-term governor of Pennsylvania, was on Harris’ short-list for vice presidential nominee.

Even though the vice president named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Shapiro remained a top surrogate on behalf of his party’s 2024 national ticket. 

However, his two-day swing in New Hampshire during the final full week ahead of Election Day did raise some eyebrows and 2028 speculation.

After Harris lost battleground Pennsylvania to Trump, there was plenty of talk within the party that Harris had made the wrong choice for her running mate.

Shapiro, who has a track record of taking on the first Trump administration as Pennsylvania attorney general, is expected to play a similar role with Trump back in the White House.

The governor will be up for re-election in 2026.

Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is considered by many to be another Democratic Party rising star.

The 46-year-old Army veteran, who is also a Rhodes Scholar and CEO of the charitable organization the Robin Hood Foundation during the coronavirus pandemic, was elected two years ago.

Even though Moore said in a recent interview on “The View” that he is “not running” in 2028, speculation persists, fueled in part because of his upcoming stop in South Carolina.

Moore will be up for re-election in 2026. 

Pete Buttigieg

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who surpassed expectations during his 2020 Democratic presidential nomination run, was a very active surrogate on behalf of Biden and later Harris, during the 2024 cycle.

He helped raise a lot of money for the Democratic Party ticket, including heading a top-dollar fundraiser in New Hampshire.

The 43-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and former naval officer who served in the war in Afghanistan, is considered one of the party’s biggest and brightest stars. He was known as a top communicator for the administration, including making frequent appearances on Fox News.

Fueling buzz about a potential 2028 presidential run, Buttigieg passed on a 2026 Senate bid in his adopted home state of Michigan and made a high-profile stop in Iowa earlier this month.

Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, 47, who was elected governor in 2019 and then re-elected in 2023 in red-state Kentucky, was on Harris’ longer list for potential running mates.

Beshear made plenty of new friends and contacts as he ventured to New Hampshire last year to headline the state Democratic Party’s annual fall fundraising gala.

He served as Kentucky’s attorney general before running for governor.

Beshear said in a recent interview with local station WDRB that “if you’d asked me a couple years ago if this is something I’d consider, I probably wouldn’t have. But I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. And so, if I’m somebody that can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I’ll consider.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, 55, is a major player in Washington as the Democratic minority in the Senate fights back against the second Trump administration.

Warnock, who won Senate elections in 2020 and 2022 in battleground Georgia, served as senior pastor at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

He is up for re-election to the Senate in 2028.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, is considered one of the party’s most talented orators.

Thanks to his 2020 run, Booker made plenty of friends and allies in such early states as New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Booker made headlines earlier this year by delivering a record-breaking 25-hour and 5-minute marathon speech from the floor of the Senate. The speech protested the sweeping and controversial moves so far by Trump during his second administration, as well as the operations of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. 

The 56-year-old senator is up for re-election in 2026.

Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut

Since the November election, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been very vocal about the steps Democrats need to take to win back working-class voters.

First elected to the House in 2006 and later to the Senate in 2012, the 51-year-old Murphy cruised to re-election this year by nearly 20 points, which means he would not have to decide between a re-election bid and a White House run in 2028.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota 

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 65, who once served as county attorney in Minnesota’s most populous county, is now in her fourth term in the Senate.

Klobuchar ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and came in a strong third in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

The senator has not ruled out making another run for the White House in 2028.

Rep. Ro Khanna of California

Rep. Ro Khanna, 48, was a tireless surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris. 

He has been a regular visitor to New Hampshire in the past couple of years, including a high-profile debate last year against then-GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Khanna has grabbed plenty of attention so far this year as he has held town halls in Republican-controlled congressional districts and targeted Vice President JD Vance with events in the vice president’s home state of Ohio and at Yale Law School, where both politicians earned their legal degrees.

Stephen A. Smith

The 57-year-old sports TV personality, sports radio host, sports journalist, and actor has generated a ton of buzz this year as he has mulled a White House run and has even grabbed Trump’s attention.

Mark Cuban

Another potential contender with plenty of star power is Mark Cuban.

The 66-year-old billionaire business mogul and part-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks was a high-profile surrogate for Harris during her presidential election campaign.

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, 67, who in January finished up his eighth and final year as governor, took his name out of the Harris running mate speculation early in the process last summer.

Cooper served 16 years as North Carolina’s attorney general before winning election as governor.

The former governor is being heavily recruited by Democrats to try and flip a GOP-held Senate seat in North Carolina in next year’s midterms.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, 65, is halfway through her second term steering New Mexico.

The governor, a former member of Congress, was a high-profile and busy surrogate on behalf of Harris during the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

The 61-year-old Minnesota governor, who served as Harris’ running mate, has two years remaining in his second term in office.

While the vice presidential nominee’s energy and enthusiasm on the campaign trail this year impressed plenty of Democratic strategists, the final results of the election will make any potential future national run for Tim Walz difficult.

Walz has said he is not thinking of 2028, but he has been very busy so far this year heading events across the country, and an upcoming stop in South Carolina is fueling more White House buzz.

Rahm Emanuel 

The 65-year-old Rahm Emanuel, who served the past four years as ambassador to Japan during the Biden administration, has a jam-packed resume.

Emanuel, a veteran of former President Bill Clinton’s administration in the 1990s, went on to serve in Congress and steered the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during its very successful 2006 cycle. He later served as Obama’s chief of staff before winning the 2011 election and 2015 re-election as Chicago mayor.

Emanuel, who late last year mulled making a bid for Democratic National Committee chair, has seen his name floated in recent months as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender.

Gina Raimondo

The 54-year-old Gina Raimondo, a former two-term Rhode Island governor, made history as the first woman to steer the nation’s smallest state.

Raimondo, who served as Commerce secretary in Biden’s cabinet, said “yes” when recently asked by veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod if she was considering a 2028 White House run.

Honorable Mentions: Two other names that also keep coming up in the Democrats 2028 conversation are Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Sen. Ruben Gallego of battleground Arizona.

FIRST ON FOX: Riley Gaines clapped back at former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann with an official challenge for charity on Wednesday after he said Gaines “was, somehow, a worse swimmer than she is a MAGA stooge.”

Olbermann, the ex-host of both MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann and ESPN’s SportsCenter, quoted an X post of Education Secretary Linda McMahon telling Fox News’ America Reports that Gaines “would have clearly won” her race if Gaines didn’t have to compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

CALIFORNIA TRACK STAR’S FAMILY REACTS TO TRUMP SHAKING UP GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP MEET AMID TRANS ATHLETE DRAMA

“[Riley Gaines] finished 85th in the Olympic Trials,” Olbermann posted to X. “She finished tied for 5th in the only race including a transgendered athlete. If there had been none she MIGHT have finished tied for 4th, or had 5th place to herself.”

The 12-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American responded on X, noting she “placed 85th at Olympic trials when I was 15/16.” 

“I was one of the youngest there,” Gaines explained. “And I placed 5th *in the nation* in a sport measured in .01s of a second without going a best. Would you say the 5th best college football player is objectively bad at their sport?”

LIA THOMAS’ FORMER TEAMMATES SPEAK OUT AGAINST UPENN AMID TITLE IX VIOLATION

The “Gaines for Girls” podcast host told Fox News Digital she is now officially challenging Keith Olbermann to a race for charity. The event would be a 200-yard freestyle at a location of Olbermann’s choice sometime before August 31 of this year. 

The winner of the race will pick which charitable organization the proceeds would go to and the total wager to be donated would be set if Olbermann agrees. The 25-year-old University of Kentucky alumnus told Fox that Olbermann “could do a 150” yard freestyle, while she still swims 200 yards, if it incentivized him to compete in the charitable challenge.

A spokesperson for Olbermann did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

While Gaines and Olbermann sparred on X, President Donald Trump blasted California governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week as the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) cleared the way for a transgender athlete to compete in a women’s state championship track meet this upcoming weekend.

“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow “MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.;” Trump posted to Truth Social. “This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won “everything,” and is now qualified to compete in the “State Finals” next weekend.”

President Trump signed an Executive Order on Feb 5th in an attempt to outright ban men from competing in women’s sports. Trump went on to explain that if the Golden State did not comply with this executive order, federal funding could be revoked. 

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“THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS,” the president continued in his post. “Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to.”

Newsom’s office released a statement supporting the transgender athlete’s participation in the upcoming state championship.

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

A federal judge in New Jersey ruled that President Donald Trump’s effort to deport anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil is most likely unconstitutional on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz handed down the ruling, though he did not go so far as to order Khalil’s release. Farbiarz argued that the Trump administration’s deportation order was likely to be dismissed as “unconstitutionally vague.”

“The district court held what we already knew: Secretary Rubio’s weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional,” lawyers for Khalil said after the ruling.

Khalil, who was approved for deportation by a U.S. immigration judge, has argued that his free speech rights were being “eroded” by the Trump administration.

MAHMOUD KHALIL RIPS ‘REPRESSIVE’ TRUMP ADMIN FOR ERODING HIS RIGHTS IN WASHINGTON POST OP-ED

Khalil is accused of being a ringleader for anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorneys have argued that Khalil’s free speech claims were a “red herring,” saying that the 30-year-old green card holder lied on his visa applications.

Khalil, they said, willfully failed to disclose his employment with the Syrian office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he applied for permanent U.S. residency.

COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTER MAHMOUD KHALIL CAN BE DEPORTED, JUDGE RULES

Khalil has Algerian citizenship through his mother, but was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria.

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Khalil is married to Noor Abdalla, a U.S. citizen. They met in 2016 while volunteering in Lebanon. They married in 2023, and she was eight months pregnant at the time of his arrest.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.