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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in New York arrested a Mexican-born illegal immigrant who sexually abused a child after being removed from the country five times.

According to ICE, the criminal immigrant, 36-year-old Raymond Rojas Basilio, sexually abused an 11-year-old child in the U.S.

Rojas committed this crime after being removed from the country five times and then re-entering once again on an unknown date and at an unknown location, without admission by an immigration official.

The New York Police Department arrested Rojas on Aug. 28, 2023. He was then convicted of forcible touching of the intimate parts of an 11-year-old victim by the Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Sept. 20, 2024. The court sentenced him to 60 days of incarceration and six years’ probation and required him to register as a sex offender.

DRUNK IMMIGRANT KILLED 7 YEAR OLD MONTHS AFTER HE WAS RELEASED FROM ICE DETAINER

D.C. police arrest 14-year-old, 16-year-old in connection with robbery that left DJ dead. (iStock)

New York ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents then arrested Rojas outside his residence in Queens on Dec. 17.

U.S. Border Patrol first arrested Rojas, following three separate attempts to unlawfully enter the U.S. near Douglas, Arizona, in May 2002.

Border protection officials then arrested Rojas again on Jan. 6, 2012, at Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, when he attempted to enter the country using a fake Arizona Driver’s License and U.S. birth certificate. Just days later, on Jan. 11, border authorities again removed Rojas after he attempted to enter the country using fraudulent documents at another port of entry in Nogales.   

New York ICE Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo commented on the arrest, saying: “This criminal has repeatedly shown he has absolutely no regard for our nation’s laws, as evidenced by his repeated attempts to unlawfully or fraudulently enter the United States.”

ICE NABS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN ALASKA, WASHINGTON STATE, OREGON, TEXAS WITH CONVICTIONS FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION

Dec. 5, 2023: Migrants flee through a gap being repaired in the border wall in Lukeville, Arizona. (Fox News)

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“As this case illustrates, it only takes one successful unlawful entry to do irreparable harm to a member of our community,” he continued.

He said that local “non-cooperation policies” in place had prevented ICE from taking immediate custody of Rojas following his sentencing by the Brooklyn court. 

“However, due to the diligence of our officers, ERO New York City was able to rapidly apprehend this public safety threat before he could harm any other New Yorkers,” said Genalo.

According to the statement, Rojas is currently in ICE custody pending removal to Mexico. 

A bill to avert a partial government shutdown that was backed by President-elect Donald Trump failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night, pushing Congress closer to a government shutdown. 

The bill, which had won the approval of President-elect Donald Trump, still lost the approval of 38 Republicans. 

The deal roundly lost 235 to 174, scoring only 2 Democratic ‘yes’ votes and 197 Democratic nos. 

President-elect Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) are struggling to prevent a government shutdown. (Getty Images)

It comes after two days of chaos in Congress as lawmakers fought among themselves about a path forward on government spending – a fight joined by Trump and his allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Meanwhile, the national debt has climbed to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

The new deal also includes several key policies unrelated to keeping the government open, but the 116-page bill is much narrower than its 1,547-page predecessor.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks with former president Donald Trump during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa.  (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

‘HELL NO’: HOUSE DEMS ERUPT OVER GOP SPENDING DEAL

Like the initial bill, the new iteration extended the government funding deadline through March 14 while also suspending the debt limit – something Trump had pushed for. It also included $110 billion in disaster relief and a farm bill extension. 

“Why would we give Joe Biden more money this late in his administration?” said Rep. Bob Good, D-Va., after the vote. “The money intended for disaster victims should have been paid for, there should have been offsets. 

The Democrats who voted ‘yes’ on the legislation were Reps. Kathy Castor, Fla., and Marie Gleusenkamp Perez, Wash. 

Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Right: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Here’s a list of all the Republicans who voted ‘no’ on the legislation: 

Rep. Aaron Bean, Fla. 

Rep. Andy Biggs, Ariz.

Rep. Josh Brecheen, Okla.

Rep. Tim Burchett, Tenn.

Rep. Eric Burlison, Mo.

Rep. Kat Cammack, Fla. 

Rep. Michael Cloud, Texas

Rep. Andrew Clyde, Va.

Rep. Eli Crane, Ariz. 

Rep. John Curtis, Utah 

Rep. Jeff Duncan, S.C. 

Rep. Russ Fulcher, Idaho

Rep. Bob Good, Va. 

Rep. Paul Gosar, Ariz. 

Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colo.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, Ariz. 

Rep. Nancy Mace, S.C. 

Rep. Thomas Massie, Ky. 

Rep. Rich McCormick, Ga. 

Rep. Corey Mills, Fla. 

Rep. Alex Mooney, W. Va. 

Rep. Ralph Norman, S.C. 

Rep. Scott Perry, Pa. 

Rep. Chip Roy, Texas 

Rep. David Schweikert, Ariz. 

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Rep. Keith Self, Texas 

Rep. Victoria Spartz, Ind. 

Rep. Tom Tiffany, Wis. 

Rep. Beth Van Duyne, Texas 

The Senate’s top DOGE Republican will send 24 letters – one to each major federal agency head – demanding a halt to last-minute work-from-home negotiations before President Biden returns to Delaware.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate GOP Policy Committee, made the demand days after crafting legislation for 2025 that would “decentralize” and relocate one-third of the federal workforce outside Washington, D.C.

That bill’s lengthy acronym spells out “DRAIN THE SWAMP Act.”

Ernst said that not a single government agency’s office space is half-occupied two-plus years on from the COVID-19 pandemic, and she previously called for the Biden administration to sell off unused real estate for taxpayers’ benefit.

DOGE CAUCUS LEADER ERNST EYES RELOCATION OUT OF DC FOR ONE-THIRD OF FEDERAL WORKERS

In her letters, Ernst laid out that 90% of telework-eligible federal employees are still working from home and only 6% report they are working on a “full-time basis.” 

Additionally, she wrote that public-sector unions are purportedly “dictating personnel policy” without regard to federal directives from the Office of Management & Budget (OMB), which is running up a massive tab and leading to wastes of time, space and money.

“The union bosses are rushing to lock in last minute, lavish long-term deals with the lame-duck Biden administration—extending beyond President Trump’s next term in office—guaranteeing that bureaucrats can stay at home for another four years or longer,” Ernst wrote in one letter prepped for Office of Personnel Management director Robert Shriver III.

“Apparently, protecting telework perks for public employees is a higher priority than showing up to serve American taxpayers,” she wrote, calling Biden’s submission to union demands “shocking and unacceptable.”

She noted it was a similarly liberal president who vociferously opposed unionization of public employees in the first place, as Democrat Franklin Roosevelt wrote in a letter to a union steward declining a 1937 invitation to a national federal employee union convention.

“All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service,” Roosevelt said.

TOP DOGE SENATOR DEMANDS ANSWERS ON PLAN TO EXHAUST CHIPS ACT FUNDS BEFORE TRUMP ARRIVES

Fox News Digital previewed the DOGE Caucus’s new logo along with an email hotline for Americans to send suggestions on government efficiency. (Fox News Digital)

“It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with government employee organizations.”

“The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress.”

Ernst suggested federal workers and their union representatives have forgotten Roosevelt’s warning, citing the last-minute push to ratify collective bargaining agreements and telework privilege pacts before President-elect Donald Trump can begin his oversight endeavors through DOGE.

Ernst pointed out situations she said show union bosses and career agency management have the “government wrapped around their finger.”

In the letters, she embedded a photo of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley while he was serving as Biden’s Social Security Administration chief and who was wearing a Captain America T-shirt alongside a purported union official at a party.

Ernst cited news reports of O’Malley going to Florida to party with union members before endorsing a contract preventing easy reduction of work-from-home ability.

She said O’Malley spent the trip “crooning” Irish ballads on his guitar and drinking alcohol.

“This buddy-buddy relationship between the Social Security Commissioner and the union bosses representing his workforce during what is supposed to be a negotiation resulted in a contract unbelievably slanted towards the union and against the interests of taxpayers and the mission of the agency,” she said.

In another case, she pointed to Housing & Urban Development employees who may not have deserved the TFUT or “taxpayer-funded union time” they filed for.

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Former Baltimore mayor and ex-Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (Reuters)

One such worker successfully claimed compensation while in jail.

Ernst demanded the agencies report data on TFUT claims and payouts, unused or underused real estate holdings designated for use through collective bargaining, and any cases of each agency permitting unions or their employees to use department property at a discount or for free.

“Giving bureaucrats another four-year vacation from the office is unacceptable. Bureaucrats have had enough gap years—it’s time to get them back to work,” she said.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

Some House Republicans are privately fuming after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy got involved in congressional talks on government funding, leading the charge to tank a bipartisan deal.

Several GOP lawmakers granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive situation were either frustrated about the pair getting involved or believe they exacerbated long-standing weaknesses within the House Republican Conference.

“Musk and Vivek should not have jumped in at the 11th hour and should have handled it directly with the speaker. Folks on the same side shouldn’t act like these two,” one House Republican said. “They’re more about the clicks and bright lights than getting the job done. I’ll have nothing to do with them after watching them publicly trash the speaker.”

A second GOP lawmaker said, “If Elon and Vivek are freelancing and shooting off the hip without coordination with [President-elect Trump], they are getting dangerously close to undermining the actual 47th President of the United States.”

CAPITOL HILL BRACES FOR HIGH-STAKES SHOWDOWN OVER $36T US DEBT CRISIS

Speaker Mike Johnson is in a political quagmire after Elon Musk helped tank his spending deal. (Getty Images)

A third lawmaker accused Ramaswamy of distorting facts.

“He didn’t read the entire [continuing resolution] and the vast majority of what he was talking about is misinformation,” they said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was gearing up to hold a vote on a bipartisan, 1,547-page deal to extend current government funding levels through March 14 – known as a continuing resolution (CR).

The goal was to give congressional negotiators more time to cobble together an agreement on how to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025, while also kicking the fight into a term where Republicans control the House, Senate and White House.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INTERIM SPENDING BILL

But GOP hardliners were furious about what they saw as unrelated measures and policy riders being added to the bill at the last minute.

In addition to averting a partial government shutdown through March 14, the bill also includes provisions on health care and ethanol fuel, plus more than $100 billion in disaster aid funding, measures to fund the rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009.

One Republican accused Vivek Ramaswamy of spreading misinformation. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Musk and Ramaswamy soon joined the opposition, with Musk even threatening to back primary challengers to Republicans who supported the CR.

Less than 24 hours after the legislation was released, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters the bill was dead.

House GOP leaders have been working toward a plan B, but it’s unclear they’ll get much, if any, Democratic support. 

A fourth House Republican who spoke with Fox News Digital said of Musk’s involvement, “I think he influenced weak members who didn’t have direction until he tweeted.”

“He’s just highlighting bad governance and indirectly a weak legislative branch,” they said.

JOHNSON HIT WITH POSSIBLE SPEAKERSHIP RIVALS AS CONSERVATIVES REBEL OVER GOVERNMENT FUNDING PLAN

President-elect Trump at the Elysee Palace for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris. (Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)

Trump, meanwhile, threatened to primary Republicans who supported a “clean” CR without an increase of the debt limit – which expires January 2025.

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The issue threw a wrench into negotiations on Wednesday night, given the months-long and politically brutal talks that normally accompany a debt limit increase or suspension.

One Republican bristled at his threat: “Trump threatening to ‘primary’ us also reduces his standing with many of us. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a New York-based abortionist for violating Texas law by shipping abortion drugs into the state.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, however, is pushing back, saying a recently passed “shield law” protects abortion providers from prosecution by other states, setting the stage for what some call an abortion “civil war” scenario.

Paxton released a statement saying the out-of-state doctor “caused serious harm” to the Texas woman and explained he was launching the suit because “in Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.”

The lawsuit, filed in the federal District Court for Collin County, posits that New York abortionist Dr. Margaret Carpenter violated Texas law and endangered a 20-year-old Texas woman by illegally shipping drugs into the state without first conducting an in-person examination of the woman to determine the gestational age of her baby.

PRO-LIFE GROUPS SOUND OFF AFTER TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOT RESTRICT ABORTION PILLS: ‘SERIOUS AND GROWING THREAT’

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas on June 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Chemical abortions, which now account for more than 60% of all U.S. abortions, are known to present a risk of severe complications and infection in some cases. Despite this, the Biden administration further rolled back restrictions on chemical abortion, permanently allowing the drugs to be prescribed via telemedicine, shipped through mail and obtained at retail pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens.

Some states, however, including Texas, continue to restrict chemical abortion from being distributed through the mail or without a doctor’s consultation.

The 20-year-old Texas woman who obtained the abortion pills from Carpenter ended up being admitted to a local hospital because of a hemorrhage or severe bleeding as a result of the drugs, according to the Paxton lawsuit.

“Carpenter provided abortion-inducing drugs to the pregnant Collin County woman, which caused an adverse event or abortion complication and resulted in a medical abortion,” the suit claims. “Carpenter’s knowing and continuing violations of Texas law places women and unborn children in Texas at risk.”

HOSPITAL THAT DELAYED EMERGENCY ABORTION BEARS BLAME FOR GEORGIA WOMAN’S DEATH, FAMILY’S LAWYER CLAIMS

Bottles of abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol are seen at a clinic in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The suit requests civil penalties and a permanent block on Carpenter from sending more abortion drugs to Texas women.

However, New York state has a so-called “shield” law that explicitly protects abortion providers from prosecution for prescribing abortion pills to patients in states where it is illegal. This is the first legal challenge to be launched by a state pitting one set of abortion laws against that of another.

Hochul responded to the Texas lawsuit by saying, “I will do everything in my power to enforce the laws of New York State.”

“No doctor should be punished for providing necessary care to their patients,” she said, adding, “As Texas attempts to limit women’s rights, I’m committed to maintaining New York’s status as a safe harbor for all who seek abortion care, and protecting the reproductive freedom of all New Yorkers.”

JUDGE BLOCKS NY AG LETITIA JAMES FROM TRYING TO SILENCE PREGNANCY CENTERS THAT PROMOTE ABORTION PILL REVERSAL

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a press announcement at the Governor’s office in New York on Nov. 14. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Experts believe the Texas challenge could eventually be bound for the Supreme Court.

Kristi Hamrick, vice president of media and policy for the pro-life group Students for Life Action, told Fox News Digital that she is hopeful the Texas lawsuit makes its way to the Supreme Court so that it could re-examine the question of national safeguards on abortion pills.

Hamrick said that though the Supreme Court ruled against re-implementing abortion pill restrictions in a case called AHM v. FDA earlier this year, the court made it clear it was not shutting the door on restoring the safeguards through another case.

“The Supreme Court did not say that everything with the pills was great, they could be sold as they were [and] there were no problems with the pills,” she explained. “What the Supreme Court said is you need to go back and start again, you’ve come to us with the wrong victims, they didn’t have what the court called ‘standing.’” 

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PRESSURING AFRICAN COUNTRY TO ADOPT LAX ABORTION LAWS IN EXCHANGE FOR FOREIGN AID: REPORT

Anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights activists are separated by a barrier as they protest outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., ahead of arguments in the Mississippi abortion rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on Dec. 1, 2021. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

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“So, the three states have already joined in saying we have standing, we are a victim because we are paying higher emergency room bills because of these pills,” she went on. “The state has a right to defend its laws. So, the state, on the face of it, has a right to defend itself and its laws and the laws of its citizens and its duly elected representatives. So, yeah, they have standing.”

Students for Life Action recently launched its own challenge against abortion pills in the form of what is called a “citizen petition.” The petition demands the FDA delay its plans to broaden the use of abortion drugs once again, this time to treat miscarriages, until the agency re-examines how the pills are contaminating the nation’s water supply.

“The Biden-Harris administration during COVID essentially created a de facto right to pollute and that pathological medical waste [from abortion pills] is going into the water supply across America, no one is checking on that,” she said. “Abortion and miscarriage are not the same. But if you’re going to conflate that and then hand out even more of these drugs without any environmental assessment, without any sense of the health and safety risks, that is reckless and dangerous and that is federal.”

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next month, what sort of foreign policy can Americans expect during his second stint in the Oval Office?

Trump will pursue an “America first foreign policy,” J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy, suggested during an interview with Fox News Digital, describing Biden’s approach as “America last.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is advocating for the soon-to-be commander in chief to significantly increase military spending in a bid to build up the nation’s “hard power.”

The long-serving lawmaker is also warning against an isolationist approach to foreign policy, asserting in a piece on Foreign Affairs that “the response to four years of weakness must not be four years of isolation.”

MCCONNELL WARNS RFK JR. TO STEER CLEAR OF THE POLIO VACCINE

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., takes a question from a reporter during a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 19, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“Trump would be wise to build his foreign policy on the enduring cornerstone of U.S. leadership: hard power. To reverse the neglect of military strength, his administration must commit to a significant and sustained increase in defense spending, generational investments in the defense industrial base, and urgent reforms to speed the United States’ development of new capabilities and to expand allies’ and partners’ access to them,” McConnell contended.

“To pretend that the United States can focus on just one threat at a time, that its credibility is divisible, or that it can afford to shrug off faraway chaos as irrelevant is to ignore its global interests and its adversaries’ global designs,” he argued.

Waller, who authored the book “Big Intel,” explained that America-first foreign policy does not mean isolationism. 

“It means for the United States to define its national interests very strictly,” without suggesting that every crisis around the globe is “of vital, existential interest to our country,” he noted.

Waller opined that in Foreign Affairs McConnell was seeking to “maintain the uniparty consensus for the United States’ present global commitments that are stretching us beyond our means … without even stepping back to reassess what is really in our national interests and how can we best marshal our resources to ensure them.”

Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to request comment from McConnell, but did not receive a response.

US ‘CLOSER THAN EVER’ TO REACHING HOSTAGE DEAL BECAUSE OF TRUMP, GOP REP SAYS

Trump has tapped Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state, a choice Waller graded as a “really good pick.” 

Regarding the ongoing Ukraine–Russia conflict, Rubio has said that the U.S. is funding a “stalemate war.”

Trump has called for a ceasefire.

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse,” he declared in a post on Truth Social.

FETTERMAN MEETS WITH TRUMP NOMINEES, PLEDGES ‘OPEN-MIND AND AN INFORMED OPINION’ FOR CONFIRMATION VOTES

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Trump has also called for the release of hostages in the Middle East, warning in a post on Truth Social that if they are not released by when he assumes office, “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America,” he declared.

Deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) caught up to levels seen during the Trump administration in Fiscal Year 2024, just as the number of illegal immigrants not in ICE detention soared to new highs.

The annual ICE report released Thursday shows that ICE deported 271,484 illegal immigrants to 192 different countries in fiscal year 2024. Of those, 32.7% had criminal histories and 237 were known or suspected terrorists.

It’s a significant increase from more than 142,000 deported in FY 23, and around 72,000 in FY 2022. In FY 2020, the last year of the Trump administration and which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, there were around 185,000 deportations and in FY 2019 there were 267,000 deportations. 

TRUMP’S TRANSITION TEAM EYES EXPANSION OF ANKLE MONITORS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NOT IN CUSTODY

However, those numbers also include removals of those encountered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the border, which typically make up the vast majority of ICE deportations. Of removals of those arrested in the interior by ICE itself, just 47,000 illegal immigrants were deported, compared to 44,255 last fiscal year and 28,204 in FY 2022. 

President-Elect Donald Trump at the Elysee Palace for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris, France. (Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)

That compared to 62,739 in FY 2020 in the last full year of the Trump administration and 85,958 conducted in FY 2019, nearly double that of FY 2024.

ICE says that its resources were strained by having to shift staff and attention to the southern border to help with the migrant crisis, as well as an increase in those released into the interior.

“In addition, ERO detailed significant numbers of its personnel to support DHS efforts for managing irregular migration at the Southwest Border over the past several fiscal years, further straining ERO’s finite resources,” the report says.

Consequently, it says the number of arrests by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) dropped in FY 2024.

“In FY 2024, ERO arrested 113,431 noncitizens — a 33.5% decrease from FY 2023, when ERO conducted a total of 170,590 arrests,” the report said. “Although shifts in arrest numbers are driven by multiple complex factors, many of ERO’s resources throughout FY 2024 were concentrated on processing and removing noncitizens at the Southwest Border, limiting interior law enforcement actions. This focus on border cases impacted routine interior enforcement operations.”

Both ICE arrests and the number of deportations of those arrested by ICE are expected to increase under the next administration, which has indicated it intends to drop the restrictions put on ICE during the Biden administration and launch a “historic” mass deportation campaign.

‘STANDING BY TO HELP:’ RED STATE REVEALS PLAN TO PURCHASE BORDER WALL MATERIALS TO STORE FOR TRUMP

In this undated photo, ICE agents arrest an illegal immigrant. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE))

That promise was a centerpiece of Trump’s 2024 campaign and his team are already making concrete steps towards that goal. It has already drawn resistance from some Democrats, but also some support from others in cities that have been overwhelmed by the massive migrant influx that the country has seen since 2021.

The scope of that challenge is emphasized by the ICE report, which shows that the number of illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket has exploded during the Biden administration to nearly 7.7 million, more than doubling what it was when Trump left office. It was at 3.2 million at the end of FY 2020.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

The non-detained docket is made up of illegal immigrants in deportation proceedings, who are not in ICE custody, but who may be in federal, state or local custody or in forms of monitoring. 

This includes illegal immigrants who were caught and released at the border and are waiting for their court dates, as well as illegal aliens who have already been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge after already having their cases heard. 

Fox has previously reported that there are over 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US with final orders of removal, meaning they have been ordered deported but are still in the U.S. The report revealed that ther were more than 701,000 Venezuelan illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket, but only 1,470 were in ICE detention.

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Meanwhile, despite a surge into the U.S. of more than 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children into the U.S. during the Biden administration, just 411 were removed in FY 2024, an increase from the 212 in FY 2023. For comparison, more than 4,000 were removed in FY 20202.

EXCLUSIVE: Baltimore ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officials on Thursday arrested eight migrants, including four convicted of child molestation and one murderer, in suburban Maryland. 

The arrests happened during an exclusive Fox News ride-along with the government agency. 

One of the migrants apprehended was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and exposing himself in public several times. Another migrant, from the Philippines, was previously convicted of molesting a 10-year-old girl.

According to ICE, the one migrant convicted of murder was living in the U.S. on a permanent visa status.

MIGRANT CRIME PROBLEM ‘COURTESY’ OF BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, DEMOCRATIC PARTY: REP. PETE SESSIONS 

ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior on June 2, 2022. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

“The people we are out for are the worst of the worst,” Baltimore field office Director Matthew Elliston told Fox News’ David Spunt. “It’s not the average person who is in the country illegally. If we are targeting you, there is a reason.”

The goal is simple for the Baltimore ICE Field Office: arrest and then deport as many illegal migrants with criminal records as possible. ICE agents’ goal at the start of the day was to capture eight targets, and all eight targets are now in custody.

Now all eight of those migrants are behind bars and await hearings in front of immigration judges and potential deportation.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY IN 2025

Raul Calderon-Interiano, who is in the U.S. illegally and convicted of sex crimes in Baltimore, is apprehended by ICE officials. (ICE)

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According to ICE data obtained by the House Homeland Security Committee in September, there are at least 650,000 criminal illegal immigrants on the agency’s “non-detained docket,” meaning they are free in the U.S. interior. Of those, 14,944 are murderers and over 20,000 have been convicted of sexual assault.

Although not officially a sanctuary state, Maryland, which is led by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and a majority Democratic state assembly, is considered immigrant friendly. The city of Baltimore, meanwhile, has an official policy that does not allow law enforcement to ask residents about their immigration status.

ICE data indicates that Baltimore ERO arrested 570 migrants with either a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge in fiscal year 2024.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

–What to expect as Republicans try to salvage spending package, avoid government shutdown

–Georgia appeals court disqualifies DA Fani Willis and her team from Trump election interference case

–Paris Hilton-backed bill aimed at stopping abuse at child treatment facilities heads to Biden’s desk

Dr. Paul’s Prescription for Treating ‘Uniparty’

The chaotic collapse of the continuing resolution spending bill is putting House Speaker Mike Johnson’s, R-La., leadership under the spotlight and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has floated the idea of replacing him with Elon Musk, President-elect Trump’s pick to co-chair his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Paul took to Musk’s X on Thursday morning to pitch the idea of the tech billionaire taking the House speaker’s gavel, noting that the speaker does not need to be a sitting member of Congress.

“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress… Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk… think about it… nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds),” wrote Paul, a staunchly libertarian conservative on fiscal matters…Read more

Speaker Mike Johnson, left, may face a leadership battle over his handling of the spending bill, with Sen. Rand Paul suggesting he be replaced by Elon Musk. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images, left, and Antonio Masiello/Getty Images, right. )

White House

COMPETING PRIORITIES: Biden sets economy-wide climate target: reducing emissions 61-66 percent in 2035 from 2005 levels…Read more

HEADING FOR THE EXIT: Where’s Biden? Lame-duck president slammed for ‘quiet quitting’ amid major government funding battle…Read more

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. Wednesday marks the 52nd anniversary of the car crash that killed Joe Biden’s first wife Neilia Hunter Biden and 13-month-old daughter Naomi. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

‘BAD DAYS’: Biden admin officials noticed stamina issues in president’s first few months in office: report…Read more

Trump Transition

‘ENTIRELY DEAD’: Trump cheers disqualification of ‘corrupt’ Fani Willis, says case is ‘entirely dead’…Read more

KENNEDY CAUCUS: ‘Make America Healthy Again’ caucus launched by Sen Marshall after RFK Jr meeting…Read more

THREAT TO SAFETY: DOJ seeks to block Jan. 6 defendants from attending Trump inauguration…Read more

TURF WAR: House GOP campaign chair says Trump victory means ‘we’re going to be on offense’ in ’26 midterms…Read more

CLOCK IS TICKING: Trump issues new spending bill demands with government shutdown looming…Read more

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House Republicans failed to secure the majority votes needed Thursday on a spending bill to avert a government shutdown by week’s end, handing a decisive loss to President-elect Trump in an early test of his ability to unite Republicans in the chamber. 

The bill failed by a vote of 235-174, including 38 Republicans who voted down the legislation. 

The bill not only failed the method that allowed lawmakers to fast-track it with a two-thirds majority. It also failed to pass by normal standards, which require a threshold of 218 “yea” votes. 

TRUMP-BACKED SPENDING BILL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FAILS HOUSE VOTE

Among the 38 Republicans who voted against the bill was Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who torched the funding legislation in a speech on the House floor. 

Roy, who spent much of the day Thursday sparring with Trump over Roy’s opposition to the deal, noted that the measure would allow $5 trillion to be added to the national debt, cutting against the GOP’s tenet of fiscal responsibility. 

Roy said Republicans who voted to approve the measure lack “self-respect.” 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, talks to reporters as he walks near the House Chamber. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible,” said Roy, who had also opposed the first spending bill. “It is absolutely ridiculous.”

Still, the number of Republicans who failed to fall in line Thursday evening could signal bigger challenges ahead for Trump, who had sought to bend House Speaker Mike Johnson and others in the chamber’s GOP majority to his political will and pass through a new bill with a higher debt ceiling.

That bill sparked opposition from Democrats, who were more broadly opposed to the idea, and from fiscal conservatives within the Republican Party.

President-elect Trump, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York Nov. 16. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

With $36 trillion in debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2024, some conservatives are against a continuing resolution, which punts the funding deadline to March and keeps spending at 2024 levels. The deal Trump had pushed for would have included a two-year suspension of the debt limit, sparking further opposition among some Republicans.

‘HELL NO’: HOUSE DEMS ERUPT OVER GOP SPENDING DEAL

That divide put pressure on Democrats, who had widely signaled their intent Thursday to oppose the legislation. Minority leaders spent most of the day railing against Trump and Elon Musk for interfering in the process and tanking the first spending deal, which had been slated to pass Wednesday night with bipartisan support. 

Ahead of the vote on the new bill Thursday, Democrats led chants of “hell no,” sending a clear signal of their displeasure over the way the new spending bill was teed up. 

President-elect Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are struggling to prevent a government shutdown. (Getty Images)

Following the bill’s failure, Johnson immediately began huddling with a group of House Republicans who had voted against the bill in a likely attempt to shore up support for another vote Friday.

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“Very disappointing to us that all but two Democrats voted against aid to farmers and ranchers, against disaster relief, against all these bipartisan measures that had already been negotiated and decided upon,” Johnson said after the failed vote. “Again, the only difference in this legislation was that we would push the debt ceiling to January 2027. 

“I want you all to remember that it was just last spring that the same Democrats berated Republicans and said that it was irresponsible to hold the debt limit, the debt ceiling hostage.”

House Democrats are balking at the latest iteration of a spending plan that was released on Thursday by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. 

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., indicated Democratic leadership would whip their members to vote “no” on the deal.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lamented that the last deal had been blown up by opposition from conservatives, with input from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. 

“Everybody agreed,” he said, “and then it was blown up by Elon Musk, who apparently has become the fourth branch of government. And that’s just an intolerable way of proceeding.”

“Democrats are going to try to figure out how we can salvage the public good as the wreckage that’s just been pushed,” said Raskin.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS DURING A PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. (Getty Images)

Chants of “hell no” could be heard inside the room where Democrats were meeting after the bill’s text was released. 

The newest continuing resolution, or CR, would extend current government funding levels for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years, something President-elect Trump has demanded.

It comes after the original 1,500-page CR drew opposition from the right, due to policy and funding riders.

House lawmakers could vote on the new bill as early as Thursday evening.

It’s not immediately clear if the new deal would pass — Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also led opposition to the initial bill, also blasted the new deal.

“More debt. More government. Increasing the Credit Card $4 trillion with ZERO spending restraint and cuts. HARD NO,” Roy wrote on X.

HOUSE GOP LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR PLAN B AFTER TRUMP, MUSK LEAD CONSERVATIVE FURY AGAINST SPENDING BILL

With $36 trillion in debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2024, some conservatives are against a CR, which punts the funding deadline to March and keeps spending at 2024 levels, entirely.

Without conservative Republicans’ votes, Johnson will need to rely on Democrats to help get spending legislation across the House floor. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lamented that the last deal had been blown up by opposition from conservatives, with input from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump praised the deal minutes after Fox News Digital reported its contents.

The deal also includes aid for farmers and roughly $110 billion in disaster relief funding for Americans impacted by storms Helene and Milton.

It would also include certain health care provisions minus reforms to the Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) system that some Republicans and Democrats were pushing for — but others vehemently opposed.

Trump said of the deal, “Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes.”

“All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!” he wrote.

Shortly after Fox News Digital’s report, House leaders released the legislative text of the bill. It came in at about 116 pages, a far cry from their original 1,547-page legislation.

House Democrats are balking at the latest iteration of a spending plan that was released on Thursday by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

It comes after conservatives led by Musk and Ramaswamy torpedoed Johnson’s initial government funding plan on Wednesday, prompting fears of a partial government shutdown right before the holidays.

GOP hardliners were furious about what they saw as unrelated measures and policy riders being added to the bill at the last minute.

House Republicans began negotiations for a “clean” bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), but those were also upended when Trump urged GOP lawmakers to pair a CR with action on the debt limit — which was expected to be a contentious battle in the first half of next year.

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Musk and Ramaswamy also lent their voices to the fight, with Musk calling on any Republican who supported the deal to lose their House seat.

In addition to averting a partial government shutdown through March 14, the bill also included a provision to allow for the revitalization of RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.; permits to sell ethanol fuel year-round; and the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009 — both measures that did not get into the latest deal.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded off Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence over the spending drama on Capitol Hill. 

“If you’re just catching up: the Republican Party, taking orders from the world’s richest man, is on course to shut down the government over the holidays, stopping paychecks for our troops and nutrition benefits for low-income families just in time for Christmas,” the 2016 presidential candidate wrote on X.

Clinton, a former first lady and senator, was in Congress from 2001 to 2009. 

Her comments came just as House Speaker Mike Johnson released a new version of a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open beyond a Friday night deadline. 

‘HELL NO’: HOUSE DEMS ERUPT OVER GOP SPENDING DEAL

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded off Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence over the spending drama on Capitol Hill. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Musk came out in strong opposition to the original spending deal Johnson negotiated with Democrats, threatening to back a primary challenge to any Republican who voted for it. 

Without a passable deal to kick the government funding deadline to March and continue spending at 2024 levels, the government will go into partial shutdown at midnight Saturday.

But House Democrats are balking at the latest iteration of a spending plan. And with $36 trillion in debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2024, some conservatives are against a CR, which punts the funding deadline to March and keeps spending at 2024 levels entirely.

“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts his weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center May 23, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., indicated Democratic leadership would whip their members to vote “no” on the deal.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lamented that the last deal had been blown up by opposition from conservatives, with input from DOGE leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. 

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS DURING A PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“Everybody agreed,” he said, “and then it was blown up by Elon Musk, who apparently has become the fourth branch of government. And that’s just an intolerable way of proceeding.

“Democrats are going to try to figure out how we can salvage the public good as the wreckage that’s just been pushed.”

Chants of “hell no” could be heard inside the room where Democrats were meeting after the bill’s text was released. 

Elon Musk threatened to support primary challenges to anyone who voted for the CR. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The latest continuing resolution would extend current government funding levels for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years, something President-elect Trump has demanded.

It comes after the original 1,500-page CR drew opposition from the right due to policy and funding riders.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

House lawmakers could vote on the new bill as early as Thursday evening.

It’s not immediately clear if the new deal would pass. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who led opposition to the initial bill, also blasted the new deal.

“More debt. More government. Increasing the Credit Card $4 trillion with ZERO spending restraint and cuts. HARD NO,” Roy wrote on X.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new billboard campaign on Thursday to warn potential illegal immigrants about the “horrific” reality of human trafficking, violence and danger facing them if they attempt to illegally enter the U.S.

Abbott said the state is placing dozens of billboards with warnings in several languages throughout Mexico and Central America.

“We’re here to expose the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here, the truth about the traffickers who assault so many of the women and children along the way,” the governor said. “The message is: Do not risk a dangerous trip just to be arrested and deported.”

Abbott, who recently made another trip to the border with the incoming border czar, Tom Homan, also emphasized that the new Trump administration will “prioritize for deportation illegal immigrants who have been arrested.”

INCOMING BORDER CZAR HOMAN ISSUES WARNING IN TEXAS TO DEMS OPPOSING TRUMP DEPORTATIONS: ‘DON’T TEST US’

A billboard placed by the state of Texas warns illegal migrants they will be arrested. (Fox News Digital)

Billboards will be written in Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic, and will be placed along migrant travel routes.

The governor made his announcement at a ranch on the southern border. He was standing by a burned “rape tree,” where property owners have said migrant women were routinely raped. Abbott said the billboards “tell the horror stories of human trafficking” and “inform potential illegal immigrants about the reality of what will happen to them if they try to enter Texas illegally.”

One billboard written in Spanish depicts a little girl and simply asks: “How much did you pay to have your daughter raped?”

‘SHUT IT DOWN’: RED STATE MAKES MASSIVE LAND BUY TO RAMP UP BORDER WALL EFFORTS AMID MIGRANT SURGE

Another depicts a pregnant woman and says: “Your wife and daughter will pay for their trip with their bodies.”

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Abbott criticized governments and private groups who “make it sound like it may be harmless going into the state of Texas,” and said the state is trying to “provide reality facts for immigrants thinking about coming here to save their lives, to save them from sexual assault, save them from being arrested and let them know there are consequences if they take any further steps to come to the state of Texas.”

“This is tough medicine, but we want no more rape trees in Texas,” said Abbott. “Do not make the dangerous trek to Texas.”

The governor went on to lament the historic surge in illegal immigration under the Biden administration, saying: “It’s a deadly situation, a horrific situation, a horror that we fully expect to end beginning in about a month when President Trump takes office and shuts down the border and restores safety and normalcy to the immigration process.”

House Republicans have struck a deal on a backup plan for averting a government shutdown by the Friday deadline.

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that the deal would extend current government funding levels for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years – something President-elect Trump has demanded.

The bill also includes aid for farmers and roughly $110 billion in disaster relief funding for Americans impacted by storms Helene and Milton.

It would also include certain health care provisions minus reforms to the Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) system that some Republicans and Democrats were pushing for – but others vehemently opposed.

It comes after conservatives led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s initial government funding plan on Wednesday, prompting fears of a partial government shutdown right before the holidays.

GOP hardliners were furious about what they saw as unrelated measures and policy riders being added to the bill at the last minute.

House Republicans began negotiations for a “clean” bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), but those were also upended when Trump urged GOP lawmakers to pair a CR with action on the debt limit – which was expected to be a contentious battle in the first half of next year.

This story is breaking and will be updated…

Attorneys at the Department of Justice are urging federal judges to reject petitions from at least two Jan. 6 defendants who are asking that they be allowed to return to the nation’s capital for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Cindy Young, convicted of four misdemeanors for her involvement in the riot at the Capitol, and Russell Taylor, who pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge, both petitioned the courts to allow them to return to Washington, D.C., despite provisions of their sentences requiring them to stay away. 

“Contrary to Young’s self designation that she ‘poses no threat of danger to the community,’ Young presents a danger to the D.C. community, including the very law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” U.S. attorneys said in response to Young’s petition. The federal attorneys cited calls from Young “for retribution against those involved in January 6 prosecutions” and argued that she has failed “to recognize the seriousness of her actions.”

FBI SHOULD PROBE ‘POTENTIAL’ LIZ CHENEY ‘WITNESS TAMPERING’ IN JAN 6 MATTER, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY

Scene from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

A request from Taylor, who was invited to attend the inauguration by members of Utah’s congressional delegation, is also being challenged by attorneys at the Department of Justice who argue that the serious nature of his crimes should preclude him from being able to “return to the scene of the crime.”

“He is asking for the Court to bless his desire to return to the scene of the crime, and the Court should not look past his criminal conduct the last time he was on Capitol grounds,” the U.S. attorneys wrote in a filing to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The attorneys added in their court filing that, while they had granted previous travel requests to other defendants involved in the Capitol siege, those approvals were to support people’s continued employment, and the requests did not involve travel to the nation’s capital. 

TRUMP INAUGURATION: DC POLICE CHIEF EXPECTING ‘4,000 POLICE OFFICERS TO ASSIST US’

However, another Jan. 6 defendant, Eric Peterson, who was convicted of a misdemeanor in November for his involvement in the Capitol riot but has yet to be sentenced, was given approval by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to travel to the District for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, according to Peterson’s criminal case docket. Notably, the docket did not include any responses from the Department of Justice urging Chutkan to deny Peterson’s request. 

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6.  ((AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File))

There remains uncertainty around whether Trump will pardon any, some, or all of those defendants who were convicted of crimes as a result of their involvement in the U.S. Capitol siege that occurred in 2021. 

Trump has said at times that pardons will be reserved for those who remained peaceful on that fateful day; however, at other points he has suggested a blanket pardon for all those who were convicted. One thing that Trump has been steadfast on is that the pardons will come quickly following his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.

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The Department of Justice declined to comment for this story.

When the federal government shuts its doors, Americans get a glimpse at a long-debated question in Washington: How much government is too much? Here’s what happens during a partial government shutdown, which typically happens when Congress has failed to pass new bills authorizing spending.

Federal agencies and services deemed “nonessential” can expect to halt their operations, while “essential” services continue to function. Examples of “essential” agencies include national security, Border Patrol, law enforcement, disaster response and more. 

What’s more, funding for certain programs, like Social Security, and some agencies such as the Postal Service, operate separately from the yearly appropriations process.

HOUSE GOP LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR PLAN B AFTER TRUMP, MUSK LEAD CONSERVATIVE FURY AGAINST SPENDING BILL

A government shutdown looms as Republicans struggle to put together a comprehensive spending package. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Accountable Tech)

A shutdown lasting less than two weeks would likely have minimal impact, as federal employees would still receive their paychecks on schedule. Longer shutdowns, meanwhile, are usually accompanied by retroactive pay for government workers and congressional staff. As a result, the actual effects of a shutdown tend to be far less severe than how it’s typically described.

Partial government shutdowns can also be seen as an opportunity by some lawmakers to address unsustainable federal spending. The U.S. national debt exceeds $35 trillion, and many argue that allowing the government to function indefinitely without addressing wasteful spending is irresponsible. Shutdowns can thus force Congress to make decisions about funding priorities and eliminate bloated programs.

MATT GAETZ REPORT BY HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO BE RELEASED

Congress has through Friday, Dec. 20, to pass a continuing resolution. Otherwise, a partial government shutdown begins on Saturday, Dec. 21. (Getty Images)

The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, requiring Congress to pass a set of appropriations bills by the end of September to fund operations. If Congress fails to act, legal safeguards prevent executive agencies from spending money without legislative approval, effectively limiting government functions.

The annual congressional budget process begins in early February, when the president submits a budget proposal to Congress, offering recommendations for federal spending across all areas of government. 

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U.S. Postal Service operations would continue as usual even in a partial government shutdown. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

By mid-April, Congress is expected to adopt a budget resolution that establishes overall spending limits and guidelines. Throughout late spring and summer, House and Senate Appropriations Committees work on drafting 12 bills to allocate funding for specific federal agencies and programs. These bills must be passed by Congress by Sept. 30 to prevent a partial government shutdown.

The deadline to pass a continuing resolution (CR), which is a temporary funding patch, is 11:59:59 pm ET on Friday. Without one, the federal government enters a partial shutdown on Saturday, Dec. 21.

President Biden was blasted for “quiet quitting” and failing to lead his fellow Democrats amid the ongoing fiscal battle in Congress that could lead to a government shutdown just days before Christmas.

Text of the 1,500-page funding bill needed to keep the government operating as usual was released Tuesday evening, just three days before the current funding cycle ends. However, President-elect Trump threw a wrench in lawmakers’ plans after he demanded Republicans renegotiate the bill to include an increase in the debt ceiling and a reduction in certain Democratic spending initiatives, which Trump described as “Democrat giveaways.”

Biden was home in Wilmington, Delaware, attending a memorial service for his late ex-wife and baby daughter, when news of Trump’s demands came down. He will return to the nation’s capital later this afternoon. 

FORMER OBAMA AIDES MOCK BIDEN ‘DISAPPEARING’ IN FINAL MONTHS OF PRESIDENCY: ‘TRUMP ISN’T PRESIDENT YET’

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden depart St. Joseph on the Brandywine after a church service in Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 18, 2024. Biden attended a memorial service Wednesday commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the death of his first wife and daughter in a traffic accident. (Getty Images)

Thus far, the lame-duck president has not commented on the ongoing spending battle in Congress, but on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement deriding Trump for “playing politics.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to inquire whether Biden expects to speak about the legislative battle, but did not receive a response.

“Presidents are elected to four-year terms, but Joe Biden long ago ceded the mantle of leadership and the responsibilities of governing. While the rest of the country is busy at work in the last week before Christmas, the president is on vacation in Delaware and the country he ostensibly still oversees is careening toward a fiscal cliff,” GOP strategist Colin Reed said.

Reed added that it was “not surprising” to him that Biden’s administration “is seemingly content to slink away before their term even ends.” Reed said it wasn’t surprising either that Americans “voted for a new direction last month.”

Meanwhile, in addition to Republicans, former aides for former President Barack Obama, a cohort known as the “Obama bros” who run a popular liberal-leaning podcast, also slammed Biden for his absence, telling listeners of their podcast this week that it is becoming “easier and easier to forget” that Trump isn’t in the White House yet. A recent report from The New York Times also noted that Biden has been “a little older and a little slower” in the final days of his presidency.   

The National Christmas Tree Lighting was held outside the White House on Dec. 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

“I can’t quite figure it out. He seems to be doing some sort of ‘quiet quitting,’” GOP campaign expert David Kochel said.

BIDEN ‘A LITTLE OLDER AND A LITTLE SLOWER’ IN THE FINAL DAYS OF HIS PRESIDENCY: NEW YORK TIMES REPORT

Kochel pointed out that in addition to being absent amid the government spending fight, Biden was also absent at the reopening ceremony for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which dozens of heads of state attended.

First lady Jill Biden, Brigitte Macron, President-elect Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron attend the ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre Dame on Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris.

“For the country’s second Catholic president to skip the reopening of Notre Dame, while Trump and Jill Biden attended, one has to wonder if he’s just basically given up,” Kochel questioned. “That said, does he even possess the leadership skills and acuity at this point to have any real impact on the government funding issue? I doubt it.”

Biden’s Cabinet officials seemingly feel different, however. Several of them reiterated their faith in Biden’s ability to fulfill his duties for the remainder of his lame-duck presidency this week, despite concerns over his old age and apparent diminished cognitive functioning.  

“Maybe it’s for the best he just fades into the woodwork. It is truly bizarre, though, how much he has disappeared. I think even Democrats are scratching their heads,” Kochel said.

Michael Chamberlain, director of ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust, said a lack of leadership from Biden “has essentially been the Biden-Harris administration’s MO from nearly the beginning.”

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“This vacuum has been evident on ethics and transparency, as well as scientific integrity, and other areas. The administration that was supposed to be a ‘return to normalcy,’ promising to be the most ethical and transparent in history, has proven to be anything but,” Chamberlain said. “Sadly, the abdication of leadership in these spaces seems to have expanded to encompass every aspect of the presidency.”

Earlier this month, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients sent a memo to staff outlining the final priorities for the Biden administration during its last days before Trump takes over. “Let’s finish strong,” he said. 

Members of President Biden’s staff noticed his fading stamina and increasing confusion within the first few months of him entering office, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal based its report on interviews with nearly 50 people, including current and former White House staffers who interacted directly with the president, as well as lawmakers.

One former aide recalled a national security official explaining why a meeting in the spring of 2021 was canceled altogether.

“He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” he recalled the official saying.

Democratic lawmakers in Congress reported that Biden was less available than past presidents. He had few meetings with members of Congress, and those meetings were often brief, they said.

BIDEN IS SAYING ‘SCREW YOU’ TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, BEN FERGUSON ARGUES

After praising him for dropping out of his re-election campaign, mainstream media turned on President Biden following Vice President Kamala Harris’ election loss, stating he didn’t leave soon enough. (AP )

“The Biden White House was more insulated than most,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told the Journal. “I spoke with Barack Obama on a number of occasions when he was president and I wasn’t even chairman of the committee.”

“I really had no personal contact with this president. I had more personal contact with Obama, which is sort of strange because I was a lot more junior,” Rep Jim Himes, D-Conn., echoed.

BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY WILL BE REMEMBERED AS THE ‘MAN THAT WAS TOO OLD,’ SAYS BYRON YORK

Even members of Biden’s own Cabinet soon stopped requesting calls with the president, perceiving from interactions with staff that calls were unwelcome, WSJ reported.

A source familiar with the Journal’s reporting said the outlet had on-record interviews with a number of Cabinet members who rejected claims that Biden lacks mental acuity. Those Cabinet members included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and EPA Administrator Michael Regan and others, the source said. The Journal did not include their comments in its report.

President Joe Biden’s age became the central issue in the 2024 campaign before he dropped out. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Biden held fewer than half as many full Cabinet meetings as his most recent predecessors. President-elect Trump held 25 such meetings and former President Obama held 19 in their first terms, but Biden had just eight.

The White House pushed back on the substance of the Journal’s report in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, saying Biden’s policy accomplishments provide “indisputable proof” of his qualifications and leadership.

“President Biden speaks with members of his Cabinet daily, and with most members multiple times a week, staying in close touch with them about implementation of key laws and strengthening our national security. During every presidency, there are inevitably some in Washington who do not receive as much time with whomever the president is as they would prefer; but that never means that the president isn’t engaging thoroughly with others, as this president does,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.

“Cabinet meetings are an important tradition, but the contemporary work environment means they can be fewer and far between. As academics who study the presidency have emphasized, every member of the Cabinet – to say nothing of the President – are busy principals and more can be accomplished on behalf of the American people speaking with the President one-on-one or in smaller settings with officials who have related portfolios,” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cabinet officials and their departments, asking them if they believed Biden was fit to serve this week, and if they stood by past statements of confidence in his ability to continue.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a statement in September, said that he has “full confidence in President Biden’s ability to carry out his job. 

BIDEN’S AGE MUCH MORE OF A LIABILITY THAN TRUMP’S, POLL FINDS AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

“As I’ve said before, I come fully prepared for my meetings with President Biden, knowing his questions will be detail-oriented, probing, and exacting. In our exchanges, the President always draws upon our prior conversations and past events in analyzing the issues and reaching his conclusions,” he said.

On Monday, DHS said that the secretary stands by those comments.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas says he stands by claims that Biden was mentally sound throughout his administration. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has called Biden “one of the most accomplished presidents in American history and continues to effectively lead our country with a steady hand.”

“As someone who is actually in the room when the President meets with the Cabinet and foreign leaders, I can tell you he is an incisive and extraordinary leader,” Raimondo said.

A spokesperson said this week that Raimondo stands by those comments.

Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, told Fox in September: “As Secretary Austin has said before, he has watched President Biden make tough national security decisions and seen his commitment to keeping our troops safe – he has nothing but total confidence in our Commander-in-Chief.”

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This week, Singh said those comments still stand.