NationalWatch

Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., touted his vote against the Laken Riley Act and bashed President Donald Trump’s administration at an April event, saying deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, along with other illegal immigrants, is “testing and stretching the fabric of our democracy to a place we have never seen before.” 

In his speech, Vasquez claimed some said it would take “courage” to vote against the Laken Riley Act, to which the Democratic congressman exclaimed, “I did. I voted against [the bill],” leading the audience to cheer. “Because due process is a fundamental part of who we are as Americans,” he continued.

The Laken Riley Act, which was signed into law by Trump on Jan. 29, was introduced after an illegal immigrant brutally murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley while she was jogging in Athens, Georgia, in February 2024. The law established that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must detain illegal migrants if they are arrested or charged with a violent crime.

CHANCE OF LAKEN RILEY’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT KILLER DOING TIME IN EL SALVADOR PRISON ADDRESSED BY LAWMAKERS

Just a month after the Laken Riley Act was signed into law, Secretary Kristi Noem and DHS announced a “627% increase in monthly arrests compared to just 33,000 at-large arrests under Biden for ALL of last year.”

Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district contains the longest stretch of U.S. land neighboring Mexico, defended the bipartisan bill in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday. 

Gonzales explained that border security is “a real and lasting issue as a result of four years of inaction under President Biden. That’s why Americans voted for safer communities and to restore law and order and President Trump is delivering on that promise with legislation like the Laken Riley Act and much more that is coming down the pike.”

Vasquez went on to bash the Trump administration for deporting illegal migrants, including Abrego Garcia, claiming U.S. citizens aren’t safe from being removed from the country if the Trump administration gets “their way.” 

“Time and time again, out-of-touch Democrat Gabe Vasquez chooses to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the well-being of hardworking New Mexicans,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital. “He’s completely abandoned common sense, pandering to the radical left while betraying the very people who will vote him out of office next year.” 

DEMS RIDICULED FOR GOING ‘ALL IN’ ON SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA 

Abrego Garcia, who has been the focus of Democratic talking points criticizing Trump’s immigration policies, was one of many illegal immigrants who were deported to the El Salvadorian “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) in March. 

It was most recently revealed that the 29-year-old illegal migrant and suspected member of the violent MS-13 gang was pulled over while driving an SUV that belonged to another illegal immigrant who confessed to human smuggling in 2020. 

While the Trump administration has maintained their position on Abrego Garcia’s gang ties and history of violence, a federal judge and even the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate his return. Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland with his family prior to being sent to El Salvador, on the grounds that his removal to the country was unjustified. 

TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS FILE CHARGES AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AFTER FOX NEWS EXPOSES EARLY RELEASE PLANS

Some Republicans have pushed back at the decision to double down on Abrego Garcia’s stay in El Salvador, including Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, who said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a “screw up.” 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis gave the DOJ a week’s extension to provide explanation, documentation and testimony defending the decision to deport Abrego Garcia.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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

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

Hell hath frozen over: At the White House the other day, Donald Trump “was launching a charm offensive, directed mainly at Goldberg,” as in Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief. “There was none of the name-calling or hostility he regularly levels at our magazine.”

That’s according to Atlantic reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, who wrote the magazine’s cover story, which was posted yesterday.

For all the insights gleaned from the interview, nothing is more fascinating than how it came about.

They called the president on his cell phone. (Wha? Who do I have to court to get that? The reporters ain’t saying.)

Trump says he did the initial phone interview to see if the liberal magazine could be fair.

PRESIDENT TRUMP TELLS THE ATLANTIC HE RUNS THE COUNTRY ‘AND THE WORLD’

So I’m here to pronounce that the entire, seemingly endless piece is fair. The president hasn’t taken a shot at it on Truth Social, at least so far.

He has, however, ripped new polls from the “Failing New York Times” and “ABC/Washington Post” as “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS,” saying they should be “investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the Fox News Pollster while you’re at it.” His lowest approval rating, in the Post-ABC survey, was 39 percent.

Meanwhile, we may now look back on Trump’s 2024 victory as inevitable, but after Jan. 6 it was anything but. On the cell call, “The president seemed exhilarated by everything he had managed to do in the first two months of his second term.”

And then came the transaction: “As ever, Trump was on the hunt for a deal. If he liked the story we wrote, he said, he might even speak with us again.”

Goldberg describes the session: “What I found in this particular meeting was a Trump who was low-key, attentive, and eager to convince us that he is good at his job and good for the country. It isn’t easy to escape the tractor beam of his charisma, but somehow we managed, and we asked him what needed to be asked. 

“But squaring Trump the Charmer with the Orcish Trump we more frequently see is difficult…Trump posted on the social-media platform he owns that Ashley is a ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ (she is not) and that Michael ‘has never written a fair story about me, only negative, and virtually always LIES’ (also false). It is our task at the Atlantic not to be bullied by these sorts of attacks.”

STATE OF WAR: HOW TRUMP IS FIGHTING A 9-FRONT BATTLE

The most interesting Trump sound bite is his comparison of the two terms:

“The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys. And the second time, I run the country and the world.”

Parker and Scherer did many other interviews, such as with Steve Bannon. “Our reality is that we won,” and he cited the conspiracy theory that the FBI had incited the crowd on Jan. 6. The reporters said that was simply untrue. 

“Now, here’s the interesting thing,” Bannon said. “Who’s won that argument? I think we have…

“This time it’s ‘Hey, f**k you, Greenland’s ours…When you’ve come back from such long odds, you clearly feel, ‘I can do anything.’ ”

What about the four criminal investigations, including the conviction on the weakest one – Alvin Bragg’s hush money case? Trump says his numbers kept going up.

INTERVIEWING DONALD TRUMP: A LAST-MINUTE BLITZ AND NEW CLOSING MESSAGE

“Shockingly, yes,” Trump said. “Normally, it would knock you out. You wouldn’t even live for the next day. You know, you’d announce your resignation, and you’d go back and ‘fight for your name,’ like everybody says—you know, ‘fight for your name, go back to your family.’ …Yeah, it made me stronger, made me a lot stronger.”

He also said in the phone interview: “I got indicted five different times by five different scumbags, and they’re all looking for jobs now, so it’s one of those things. Who would have thought, right? It’s been pretty amazing.”

After the 2016 election, Trump told oil executives at Mar-a-Lago:

If I’m not president, you’re f***ed. Look at your profit-and-loss statements. You realize what would have happened to you if she was president? What’s wrong with you?”) She was Kamala Harris, of course.

One turning point: When he went to East Palestine, Ohio after the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals, while Joe Biden didn’t do squat.

On the Kennedy Center: “I didn’t really get to go the first time, because I was always getting impeached or some bulls**t, and I could never enjoy a show.” So he fired the Democrats and made himself chairman.

All right, enough quotes. Wait, one more that captures the tone of the piece:

“I got 38 percent of the male Black vote. Nobody knew that was possible. That’s a lot. I got 56 percent of Hispanics. How about that one? Every county along the Texas border is Hispanic. I won every one of them.” Though every single number he cited was wrong, the general thrust of his observation was correct.”

The reporters chronicled how things have gone south for the president, especially on tariffs and the economy, and how he pressured Hill Republicans into backing his nominees with primary threats. 

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

After the March phone interview, the reporters tried Trump’s cellphone again. Just got voice mail. But at 1:38 am, he tried them back. No message.

Trump believes he can win over even his worst enemies. In 2015 or 2016, I watched him make a beeline in the New York green room for Karl Rove, who was very rough on him. At worst, he thinks, he can neutralize the person. Or soften him or her up for the next time. He enjoys the challenge.

The mainstream media almost uniformly can’t stand Donald Trump. He does invite some of his own negative headlines, while providing unprecedented access, but much of the press is back in Resistance mode. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Still, the Atlantic’s original pitch is undeniable, that he’s “The Most Consequential President of the 21st Century.”

FIRST ON FOX: As the Senate reconvenes this week after a spring break, the Honest Elections Project is urging GOP leaders to move quickly to close a loophole they say is allowing noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

According to Honest Elections Project, an election integrity watchdog group, judicial interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act, often called the Motor Voter Act, effectively ties states’ hands, making it difficult to put commonsense voter ID requirements in place and opening the window for noncitizens to influence and tip the balance in elections.

The group said current federal law makes it so that voter registration essentially operates on an honor system in which all a noncitizen needs to do to be added to the voter rolls is check a box indicating he or she is a citizen. Doing so is punishable as perjury but is not sufficient as a deterrent, critics say.

To stop this, Honest Elections sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Rules Committee Chair Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday, urging them to immediately bring the SAVE Act to the Senate floor for a vote. 

SENATOR JOINS GROUP OF FAR-LEFT LAWMAKERS WHO THINK TRUMP HAS – AGAIN – COMMITTED IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES

The SAVE Act, which passed the House this month, would require voters to show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate or REAL ID that notes citizenship status. According to Congress.gov, the Senate received the legislation for consideration from the House on April 10.

When the House was considering the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said, “This will be one of the most important votes that members of this chamber will ever take in their entire careers.” 

Johnson urged House members to vote in favor of the bill, posing the question: “Should Americans and Americans alone determine the outcome of American elections? Or should we allow foreigners and illegal aliens to decide who sits in the White House and in the people’s House and in the Senate?”

Critics of the bill, largely Democrats, argue that it would make voter registration more difficult by adding new documentation requirements and red tape to register. Opponents have argued that people in rural areas, as well as elderly people who have trouble accessing ID offices, would find it difficult to register to vote, effectively disenfranchising them.

AS REAL ID ROLLOUT APPROACHES, CONGRESSIONAL PRIVACY HAWKS LARGELY SILENT ON CONCERNS

Opponents have also said that recently married women who have had a name change would be disenfranchised because their identification would be outdated.

The House passed the measure in a 220-208 vote, with just four Democrats joining Republicans to vote in favor.

Honest Elections Executive Director Jason Snead argued in the letter that adding the proof of citizenship requirement to voter registration would make it “easy to vote, but hard to cheat.”

Snead slammed opponents of the SAVE Act, saying they “rely on a familiar litany of debunked and misleading arguments” that “have been made about voter ID laws for decades but were never borne out.”

HOUSE REPUBLICAN ENTERS RACE FOR MITCH MCCONNELL’S SENATE SEAT, SETTING UP HIGH-STAKES GOP PRIMARY

He explained that the SAVE Act has safeguards in place that would require states to establish a process to resolve identification discrepancies, such as a married woman’s new name, allowing them to show additional documentation, such as a marriage license.

Snead said that “by the same token, alternative evidence of citizenship could be offered by any American who may lack common records.”

On the other hand, Snead said “the evidence clearly shows that noncitizens are able to register and vote” under current law.

“In 2018, the Department of Justice charged 19 noncitizens with illegally registering and voting,” he said.

HOUSE DEM JUMPS INTO CROWDED MICHIGAN SENATE RACE

Snead also cited Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently announcing that 15 noncitizens voted in 2024 and officials in Ohio, Texas and Virginia recently identifying “significant numbers of noncitizens on their voter rolls and reported that many appear to have voted in recent years.”

“Many races are decided by razor-thin margins – sometimes by a single vote. Each illegal vote cancels out the voice of a lawful citizen voter,” said Snead.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, Snead said proof of citizenship for voter registration is widely popular among most Americans. He cited a recent Gallup survey that found that 83% of Americans support having to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

“As the Senate returns to session, I urge Leader Thune to take up the SAVE Act without delay,” Snead said. “We urge Leader Thune to take this opportunity to allow every Senator to go on the record supporting the fundamental principle that only citizens should vote in American elections.”

Fox News Digital has requested comment from the offices of both Thune and McConnell.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., issued a ruling Monday to restore a lower court’s order barring the Trump administration’s planned mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau (CFPB).

The court ruled 2-1 to restore an earlier ruling by federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, which temporarily halted the Trump administration’s reductions in force (RIF) at CFPB, which would have cut the agency’s staff by 90 percent.

Before Jackson’s ruling, the agency was slated to carry out a reduction in force of roughly 1,400 employees, which would have left just several hundred in place. 

Following a legal challenge against the reduction filed in the D.C. district court in early February, Jackson issued a preliminary injunction in late March, finding that the plaintiffs would likely succeed on the merits.

TRUMP TO SIGN ORDER CRACKING DOWN ON ‘SANCTUARY’ CITIES, THREATEN THEIR FEDERAL FUNDING

The order directed the government to “rehire all terminated employees, reinstate all terminated contracts, and refrain from engaging in reductions-in-force or attempting to stop work through any means.” 

Jackson then ordered another halt to plans earlier this month, shortly after an appeals court narrowed her earlier injunction. Jackson noted that within several days of an appeals order narrowing her initial injunction, CFPB employees were told the agency would do “exactly what it was told not to do,” which was to carry out a RIF. 

Jackson blocked the administration from moving forward with any layoffs or from cutting off employees’ access to computers at the bureau until she had time to hear from the officials in question.

TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS CHALLENGE CAMPUS DEI AS EXPERT WARNS CHANGE MUST BE ‘REFORMED INTERNALLY’

Jackson said she was “willing to resolve it quickly,” but noted that she is “deeply concerned, given the scope and scope of action.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Lawyers with the Justice Department sought to appeal Jackson’s order earlier this year, arguing in a filing that the injunction “improperly intrudes on the executive [branch’s] authority” and goes “far beyond what is lawful.”

Jackson is set to hear testimony from officials slated to carry out the RIF procedures on Tuesday. 

It sometimes takes a pot a while to boil.

Democrats lost the presidency. Lost the Senate. Failed to flip control of the House.

And now, more than six months after last year’s election, the Democrats’ pot is starting to gurgle.

It was natural that Democrats would take some time to figure out what went wrong. Clang around some pots and pans. And finally pour some water into a pot and turn on the stove.

DEMOCRATS’ IDENTITY CRISIS: YOUTH REVOLT ROCKS PARTY AFTER TRUMP COMEBACK

So Democrats are starting to get their pot to boil.

How hot it gets – and whether the stew is anything to wow political culinary taste buds – is unclear.

For starters, some Democrats are boiling at one another.

Democratic National Committee Chairman (DNC) Ken Martin handed down an ultimatum after DNC Vice Chairman David Hogg aimed to spend millions of dollars mounting primary challenges to Democratic incumbents.

“Let me be unequivocal. No DNC officers should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election, whether on behalf of an incumbent or a challenger,” said Martin.

Hogg defended his tactic to weed out Democrats who he believe lost a step, are older or just aren’t getting the job done.

SENATE PUTS TRUMP TEAM IN PLACE, SETS UP AGENDA FIGHT AFTER 100-DAY SPRINT

“We want people to know they’re being watched,” said Hogg. “It’s not to say it’s ‘out with the old in with the new.’ I would say it’s out with the ineffective and in with the effective.”

Democrats contend their neutrality pledge is about assuring party unity.

“The reforms that Chair Martin is rolling out, including the one that we’re talking about today of increasing funding for state parties, is not a reaction to David Hogg,” said Jane Kleeb of the Association of State Democratic Parties (ASDC). “The reform package that Ken Martin is bringing forward, that he will be discussing over the next several months, that he ran on as chair, is not a reaction to David.”

But Hogg is the elephant in the room to the party represented by the donkey.

“I have great respect for David Hogg,” said Martin. “I understand what he’s trying to do. I’ve said to him, ‘If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that.’ But just not as an officer of the DNC.”

And then there’s rage over age.

DNC’S DAVID HOGG TAKING ON DEMOCRATS IS ‘THE BIGGEST GIFT TO REPUBLICANS EVER,’ SAYS STRATEGIST

80-year-old Senate Minority Whip and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is the latest veteran Democrat to announce his retirement.

“I had to project forward. The campaign is going to last two years. And then you’re going to serve six years. So are you ready to make an eight year commitment?” asked Durbin.

Durbin would be 87 when another term concluded in early 2033 – presuming he won and served the entire time.

“A lot of this is the fallout from Biden,” said Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker. “It sort of contaminated older Democrats.”

Age is just a number. But it’s a number with consequences. Five House Republicans over the age of 65 have died within the past year. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., says Democrats could have sidetracked parts of President Trump’s agenda had the older members lived.

75-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., defeated 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in November to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. The vote: 131-84. Connolly suffered from esophageal cancer – but pushed through. Democrats gave him a vote of confidence. However, Connolly just announced his cancer returned after treatment. He will give up his committee ranking post and retire at the end of this term.

DICK DURBIN, NO. 2 SENATE DEMOCRAT, WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Durbin’s departure could intensify progressive pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to quit, too. Liberals are fuming over Schumer intervening to side with President Trump and avoid a government shutdown in March.

“Sen. Schumer made the disastrous decision,” said House Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar, D-Tex. “I think we have to get to a place where we’re willing to disagree with even our leaders, like Sen. Schumer, when they make a disastrous decision. Thats how we get better.”

Schumer contends he isn’t going anywhere.

“No conversation about when you might step aside?” asked MSNBC’s Chris Jansing.

“I’m focusing on the decision that the Republicans in Congress have to make to whether support Trump with these horrible economic policies or not,” replied Schumer.

The New York Democrat further rejected any chatter that he might step down when appearing on CNN.

“I am staying put and I’m fighting the fight every day, as is our caucus, in a united and successful way,” said Schumer.

Democrats set out to hold town hall meetings over the recent Congressional recess in districts where they accused Republicans of ducking their constituents. But caveat emptor. In some instances, it was Democrats who got an earful.

DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR GETS ULTIMATUM: STAY NEUTRAL IN PRIMARIES OR STEP DOWN FROM PARTY LEADERSHIP

For instance, Casar conducted a town hall in the district of Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo. Evans just flipped his district from blue to red by 2,500 votes.

“What are we going to do about the DNC?” asked one Colorado town hall attendee of Casar. “They need to listen to you young people.”

“Democrats didn’t really, as far as I can tell, really do anything,” observed another.

The pot really started to boil just before dawn early Sunday morning on the East Front of the Capitol.

Both clad in black, Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., began what they billed as a “sit-in” to protest President Trump’s policies and reject the “big, beautiful bill.”

House committees are prepping that legislation this week.

“People will die if this budget is successful. That’s how urgent the fight is,” said Jeffries.

But when it comes to conventional tactics, younger, upstart Democrats say BLANK THAT!

JEFFRIES, BOOKER PROTEST TRUMP AND HIS POLICIES DURING SIT-IN ON CAPITOL STEPS

They’re urging their party to ditch the pleasantries and use, well, kitchen language.

“I say it’s time to drop the excuses and grow a f***ing spine,” said 26-year-old Democratic Illinois Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh.

Abughazaleh is running in the district now held by 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. She’s expected to announce her retirement in the coming days.

Democrat Mike Sacks is running against Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. in a swing district just outside New York City.

“I’m running for Congress to tell you the truth, to fight for New York, and to unf**k our country,” said Sacks in a campaign ad.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

So the Democrats’ pot is churning. Democrats will soon have the water ready. But it’s unclear what dish they plan to prepare.

The only problem is that so far, Democrats are scalding themselves with that hot water. There’s infighting. Arguing. And everyone is trying to figure out what works.

For the Democrats, it’s enough to make their blood boil.

The Trump administration has launched investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review after allegations that the journal discriminated against readers who wanted to respond to an article about police reform because they were white men.

Both the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched investigations into possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The investigations were launched in response to information both federal agencies received about policies and practices for journal membership as well as article selection that may violate Title VI.

In a press release, HHS claimed the Harvard Law Review’s editor reportedly wrote that it was “concerning” that “four of the five people” who wanted to reply to an article on police reform were “white men.”

TRUMP FROZE FUNDING FOR HARVARD. MONEY TO THESE UNIVERSITIES MAY ALSO BE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

HHS also said another editor at the Review suggested “that a piece should be subjected to expedited review because the author was a minority.”

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in education programs and activities that receive federal funding. Any violations of Title VI could result in the loss of funds from the federal government.

“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission,” HHS Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said. “Title VI’s demands are clear: recipients of federal financial assistance may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. No institution—no matter its pedigree, prestige, or wealth—is above the law. The Trump Administration will not allow Harvard, or any other recipients of federal funds, to trample on anyone’s civil rights.”

TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the school stated, “Harvard Law School is committed to ensuring that the programs and activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws and to investigating any credibly alleged violations. The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization that is legally independent from the law school. A claim brought in 2018 was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.”

The investigations come as the Trump administration continues to feud with elite education institutions, announcing earlier this month it would be cutting off over $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard University while threatening cuts to another $1 billion of its federal grants and funding.

After Harvard refused to comply with a series of requests from the Trump administration to reform various practices on campus, the administration revealed April 18 that it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the institution.

HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING

Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said in a statement that President Donald Trump’s administration tacked on additional requests that go beyond addressing antisemitism on campus, and the institution would not comply because the demands were unconstitutional.

Garber said the new requests “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” including auditing viewpoints of student, faculty and staff members on campus and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices and initiatives at Harvard. 

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber wrote. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Trump administration launched the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism in February, which aims to eradicate bias on campuses that have experienced incidents targeting Jewish students since October 2023.

“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the task force said in a statement. 

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

A California human trafficking bill to combat child sex trafficking is being gutted with the reluctant agreement of the bill’s author to remove a provision that targets consumers in an effort to get the legislation passed. 

State Assemblywoman Maggy Krell, a Democrat, agreed to remove a clause from Assembly Bill 379 that states buyers of 16 and 17-year-olds for sex would face felony charges, leaving the solicitation of those minors by adults to be treated as a misdemeanor. 

“In order to get a hearing on the bill, we were forced to remove the piece of the bill that ensures the crime of purchasing a minor for sex applies in all cases where the victim is under the age of 18,” Krell told Fox News Digital.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN’S TEAM STRESSES SEX CRIME RETRIAL COULD LEAD TO DEATH, REQUESTS HOSPITAL STAY

“I wholeheartedly disagree with that amendment,” she added. “This has been my life’s work and I will continue to partner with sex trafficking survivors and law enforcement to ensure all minors are protected from the horrors of sex trafficking.”

Krell noted that the bill still criminalizes “the creeps who are loitering to buy teenagers for sex and sets up a fund to help victims. Those will be powerful tools in the fight against sex trafficking — it’s a good start.”

California Assembly Republicans quickly criticized Democrats over the change. 

“Why are some @AssemblyDems planning to cut felony charges for adults who buy 16- and 17-year-olds for sex?,” California Assembly Republicans posted on X. “There are no excuses. Protect the kids. Not the predators.”

Earlier, media reports stated that lawmakers wanted to hold off on the bill and possibly hold information hearings on the issue in the fall. 

The bill came together after older teens were left out of a state law that went into effect this year that makes it a felony to purchase a child, ages 15 and younger for sex. Last year, California State Sen. Shannon Grove authored a bill that made it illegal to buy minors for sex, but it excluded 16 and 17 year-olds.

SON OF SUSPECTED WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN ARRESTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES

Currently, traffickers, not the buyers, face the harshest consequences when convicted of trafficking anyone under 18. 

AB 379 faced a key deadline this Friday and was dropped from the Public Safety Committee agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.

State Rep. David Tangipa, a Republican, said the move was a way to kill a bill that lawmakers don’t want to be heard. If Krell didn’t want to accept the amendment, then the committee chair, Rep. Nick Schultz, would have discretion over whether the legislation should be heard, Tangipa said. 

“Apparently, what they want to do is remove the 16 and 17-year-old portion of the bill and then just increase penalties and fines,” Tangipa, who has a relative who was previously trafficked, told Fox News Digital. “What that actually sounds like is just California participating in the prostitution and the trafficking themselves.”

Fox News has reached out to Schultz’s office and the state Democrats. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In a post on X, the California Republican Party criticized the state Democratic Party, saying that it was “sad and disgusting that this is even a debate over at the pro-criminal” Democrats. 

The Trump administration and Mexican officials reached a deal to ensure Texas farmers get much-needed water from the Rio Grande, less than a month after President Donald Trump accused the neighbor to the south of robbing the farmers of water promised under a decades-old treaty.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced on Monday that the deal had been reached with Mexico to meet the current water needs of Texas farmers and ranchers as agreed under the 1944 Water Treaty.

Under the latest agreement, Mexico committed to send water from international reservoirs and increase the U.S. flow from six of Mexico’s Rio Grande tributaries through the end of the current five-year water cycle, which ends in October.

“Mexico finally meeting the water needs of Texas farmers and ranchers under the 1944 Water Treaty is a major win for American agriculture,” Rollins said. “After weeks of negotiations with Mexican cabinet officials alongside the Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, we secured an agreement to give Texas producers the water they need to thrive.”

TEXAS FARMING CRISIS LOOMSAS US, MEXICO SPAR OVER LONG-STANDING WATER TREATY

Rollins called the measure a significant step forward, noting that the Trump administration welcomes Mexico’s continued operation in support of American agriculture.

Under the 1944 Water Treaty, Mexico agreed to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet over five years to the U.S. from the Rio Grande. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico from the Colorado River.

But at times, Mexico falls short with its delivery to the U.S., and it has led to severe water shortages in the Rio Grande Valley for farmers and ranchers, killing crops and jobs while threatening the local economy.

BOTH SIDES CLAIM VICTORY AFTER SUPREME COURT RULES TEXAS RANCHER CAN SUE STATE OVER FLOODED LANDS

The agreement comes weeks after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico, possibly even sanctions, if it continued to rob South Texas farmers of Rio Grande water as promised under the treaty.

“This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social on April 10. “Last year, the only Sugar Mill in Texas CLOSED, because Mexico has been stealing the water from Texas Farmers. Ted Cruz has been leading the fight to get South Texas the water it is owed, but Sleepy Joe refused to lift a finger to help the Farmers. THAT ENDS NOW!”

TEXAS TOWN DECLARES ‘WATER EMERGENCY,’ TELLS RESIDENTS THAT IT COULD RUN OUT OF WATER

Trump continued, saying he will make sure Mexico does not violate treaties with the U.S. and hurt farmers in Texas.

“Just last month, I halted water shipments to Tijuana until Mexico complies with the 1944 Water Treaty,” he wrote. “My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!”

Texas farm groups warned of a disastrous season ahead of them for citrus and sugar last year as Mexican and U.S. officials tried to resolve a dispute over the 1944 treaty that supplies U.S. farmers with critical irrigation.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The two countries have tussled over the treaty before, but the drought-driven water shortages were the most severe in nearly 30 years.

Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley warned President Donald Trump that his mass deportation efforts are “not going to end well” for him, during comments from the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner over the weekend.

Merkley’s warning came after being asked about his thoughts on Trump’s deportation policies and Democrats’ efforts to challenge them, specifically their decision to visit alleged Venezuelan gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, after the Trump administration deported him. 

Democrats insist Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported in the president’s sweeping decision to remove hundreds of mostly Venezuelan gang members from the United States, arguing Abrego Garcia is not a gang member despite the Trump administration’s insistence that he is. 

DEMOCRAT FAULTS HIS OWN PARTY FOR PICKING WRONG BATTLE WITH CASE OF DEPORTED MS-13 SUSPECT

“You know due process is a – it sounds very scholarly but it’s basically what prevents the government from sweeping you, or me, off the street,” Merkley said when asked his thoughts on Democrats’ defense of Abrego Garcia. “[Due process] is extraordinarily important for freedom.”

“I want President Trump to understand this is about freedom and that what he’s doing is undermining it,” Merkley continued. “It’s not going to end well for him because our nation is going to respond, and we are going to defend our Constitution and our freedom.”

The White House, meanwhile, slammed Merkley and other Democrats for choosing to die on a hill defending a documented criminal who was residing in the United States illegally.

DEMS RIDICULED FOR GOING ‘ALL IN’ ON SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA

“If the hill that Democrats want to die on is demanding the return of a violent illegal alien, wifebeater, and foreign terrorist, we are happy to dig that grave for them,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital in response to Merkley’s comments. 

In addition to Trump’s deportation of Abrego Garcia, Democrats have also been up in arms over the president’s decision to rescind student visas and deport non-citizen college students in the U.S. who have allegedly been involved in organizing anti-Israel, and some have argued anti-Semitic, protests on college campuses. 

The Trump administration has cited federal law that allows immigration enforcement against visa-holders deemed a national security threat.  

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On Monday, Trump also signed an executive order aimed at rescinding local sanctuary city policies that prevented local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. 

The new order seeks to hold federal funds hostage and allows the Justice Department to pursue “all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures” to bring non-compliant jurisdictions back into compliance with the new order. 

Former Georgia GOP Sen. David Perdue’s nomination to become President Donald Trump’s ambassador to China passed a Senate vote for cloture – to end debate – Monday evening.

The vote starts the “2-hour clock” of limited debate that will ultimately end in a vote on Perdue’s nomination. That clock is typically 30 hours for Cabinet-level officials.

Perdue has long been an ally of Trump and narrowly lost his 2021 runoff election with Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., by just over 1%, or about 55,000 votes.

He also has experience working in global supply chains as a former chief executive of Tennessee-based Dollar General, and other companies.

TRUMP APPOINTS SEN. DAVID PERDUE AS AMBASSADOR TO CHINA

During his confirmation hearing, Perdue said, “Marxist nationalism” is reshaping China and that their global ambitions threaten the world order.

“Since 2000, China has doubled its nuclear arsenal and grown its military at a pace unseen since WWII. They have militarized the South China Sea and violated their agreement in Hong Kong. Their Social Credit Score system and extensive policing capability are designed to enforce domestic state control. Their Belt and Road Initiative and their Made in China 2025 statements demonstrate their global ambitions,” Perdue said.

“They speak of a global ‘community of common destiny for all mankind.’ Put simply, they want a world more in line with their authoritarian principles.”

Perdue went on to argue that Trump’s “America First” strategy that greatly affects the U.S.’s relationship with China is not isolationist, but “just the reverse.”

TRUMP SAYS CHINA’S XI CALLED HIM AMID ONGOING CONFUSION OVER TRADE TALKS

“America will be a stronger ally and partner by rebuilding our strategic supply chains at home and with our friends.”

He said Chinese leader Xi Jinping, like Trump, only respects strength and that, if confirmed, he will work on reciprocity and security agreements with Beijing.

“Our approach to China should be nuanced, nonpartisan, and strategic,” Perdue said.

On Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province, Perdue said he will support the longstanding One China Policy while remaining committed to a “peaceful resolution” of tensions that is acceptable to both Beijing and Taipei.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I will also ensure focus on our priority to eliminate fentanyl precursors and hold China accountable on human rights.”

The Senate recently confirmed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

The upper chamber has also filed cloture motions – which will spur votes after they “ripen” for one legislative day – on three other potential diplomats: former Reagan staffer and New York real estate investor Tom Barrack for ambassador to Turkey, Landry’s Restaurants and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as ambassador to Italy and San Marino, and Arkansas investment banker billionaire Warren Stephens as ambassador to the United Kingdom.

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…

-House Speaker Mike Johnson praises Trump’s first 100 days: More than most leaders ‘accomplish in their entire lifetimes’

-Where President Donald Trump stands with Americans 100 days into his second presidency

-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vows crackdown on military obesity after shocking Reserve, Guard report

Reversing Biden’s Purposely ‘Unsecured Border’

The White House kicked off its celebration of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office by highlighting its efforts to combat illegal immigration on Monday.

Border czar Tom Homan joined White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at an early morning briefing on Monday. The pair touted massive decreases in border crossings as well as new executive orders aimed at deportations and further border enforcement.

“We are in the process of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in American history,” Leavitt said. “After four years of being vilified by the Biden-Harris administration, our heroic ICE officers can finally do their jobs.”…Read more

White House

‘VERY DISAPPOINTED’: Trump disappointed Russia launched rockets at Ukraine, blames Obama, Biden for Crimea giveaway

‘TREMENDOUS TAX CUT’: Trump says income tax cuts, and perhaps elimination, coming due to tariffs

‘TROUBLEMAKERS’: Trump says ‘disruptors’ at GOP town hall events should be ‘immediately ejected’

MADE TO ‘ORDER’: Trump’s Executive Order surge: The unprecedented use of presidential authority: experts weigh in

‘YOU CANNOT HIDE’: Trump’s border czar has word of warning for illegal immigrants

PEACE PRESSURE: White House reveals possible penalties on Putin amid peace push: ‘Whatever it takes’

World Stage

SEEING RED: China’s billion-dollar footprint near Florida coast poses US national security risk, expert warns

CANADA VOTES: Trump threats boosted Canada’s Carney, hurt Conservatives as country votes for new leader

CANNOT BE BOUGHT: Greenland prime minister says island cannot be bought, US has ‘not been respectful’

THE WORLD AWAITS: Conclave to pick next pope to begin May 7, Vatican says

THANKING TROOPS: Putin thanks North Korea for sending troops to fight Ukraine: ‘Will never forget the heroism’

END ‘CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE’: Treasury targets Houthi-linked vessels to ‘disrupt’ efforts to fund ‘dangerous and destabilizing attacks’

VICTORY DAY TRUCE: Russia declares 3-day ceasefire in Ukraine for WWII Victory Day

Capitol Hill

CLEARING THE FIELD?: Illinois candidate for Durbin Senate seat consolidates support with Duckworth endorsement

RESTORING TRUST: Hawley reignites ‘PELOSI Act’ push to ban lawmakers from trading stocks

BIDEN EFFECT: Democrat challenging 12-term rep slams ‘retirement community’ Congress amid youth revolt

BACK IN SESSION: Senate puts Trump team in place, sets up agenda fight after 100-day sprint

BACK IN SESSION: Dems stage 12-hour ‘moral moment’ at US Capitol, rejecting Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

‘NO RANCOR, FULL HEART’: Virginia Democratic congressman to retire after cancer returns

Across America 

‘AMERICA’S FINEST’: Inside the elite police unit that’s quietly thwarting terror attacks

SCOOP: Energy Dept saves taxpayers over $600M in Trump’s first 100 days, $3B if counting unfinalized contracts

‘NOT READY’: REAL ID rollout could trigger national headache, state lawmaker warns

‘PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY’: Ethics complaint against Letitia James calls for NY state courts to investigate Trump admin fraud claims

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

President Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive order Monday instructing the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to create a list of all sanctuary cities failing to adhere to federal immigration laws, providing them a chance to abandon their sanctuary status. 

The order comes as Trump seeks to speed up deportations, following through on a key promise he made on the campaign trail during his third bid for president.

But so-called “sanctuary cities,” or jurisdictions that limit the ability of local agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, have restricted his ability to do so. 

“It’s quite simple: obey the law, respect the law, and don’t obstruct federal immigration officials and law enforcement officials when they are simply trying to remove public safety threats from our nation’s communities,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. “The American public don’t want illegal alien criminals in their communities. They made that quite clear on November 5, and this administration is determined to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”

Specifically, the executive order will notify sanctuary cities of their status and allow them to drop the sanctuary title — or risk losing federal funding. Additionally, it instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “pursue all legal remedies” to push sanctuary cities into compliance with federal law, according to a Monday White House fact sheet shared with Fox News Digital. 

Bondi and Noem are also instructed to establish proper channels ensuring that those in sanctuary cities do not receive federal public benefits. 

YOUNGKIN TO DRAFT SANCTUARY CITY BAN, MAKING STATE FUNDING CONTINGENT ON ICE COOPERATION

Some of the country’s largest cities have some sort of sanctuary law on the books aimed at protecting their illegal immigrant residents, including Chicago, New York City, Boston and Los Angeles, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Some states have even gone on to pass their own sanctuary laws, including California, Oregon, Washington and Illinois.

The jurisdictions have faced controversy as Trump has accelerated his deportation efforts, especially in the wake of multiple high-profile crimes that have been allegedly committed by illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT PROTESTER SUES TRUMP ADMIN TO PREVENT DEPORTATION

Even so, the executive order comes days after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from restricting federal funds for sanctuary cities violates the Constitution’s separation of powers principles and the Spending Clause, in addition to the Fifth and 10th Amendments.

The tension between the federal government and the jurisdictions has increased in recent weeks, including at a House Committee on Oversight and Government hearing in March, where members of Congress grilled the mayors of four prominent sanctuary cities. 

“These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies,” House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said ahead of the hearing. “They also endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump, a longtime critic of sanctuary jurisdictions, hinted earlier in an April 10 social media post that such an executive action might be in the works.

“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims,” Trump said on April 10 in a Truth Social post.

“They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist,” Trump said. 

The Trump administration has signed more than 140 executive orders during Trump’s first 100 days in office — an increase from the 33 he signed during the first 100 days of his first term. 

Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order requiring truck drivers to pass English literacy tests which will bolster road safety, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. 

Trump will sign an “order directing the Department of Transportation to include English literacy tests for our truckers. This is a big problem in the trucking community,” Leavitt said on Monday afternoon during a press conference with new members of the media. The press conference was separate from a White House press briefing earlier Monday morning. 

Trump is expected to sign the executive order late Monday afternoon, Leavitt said. 

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

BULK OF TRUCKERS BACK TRUMP AND ARE WARY OF A HARRIS PRESIDENCY, SAYS BIG-RIG BIG SHOT

Fox News’ Wil Cain reported earlier in April on “The Will Cain Show” that trucking experts reported that there has been an influx of foreign-born truckers in recent years. 

Cain, citing experts, reported that former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2016 stopped an English requirement for drivers from being enforced, while the Biden-Harris administration in 2024 promoted an initiative that increased truck driving training opportunities for refugees, which has increased the number of foreign-born truck drivers operating in the U.S.

Trump’s anticipated executive order comes after he lauded truckers during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, under his first administration, for their work delivering goods to stores as the nation locked down. 

DRIVER OF TRUMP GARBAGE TRUCK SHARES HOW VIRAL MOMENT CAME ABOUT: ‘DIDN’T REALLY BELIEVE IT AT FIRST’

“American truckers are the foot soldiers who are really carrying us to victory,” Trump said in April 2020 from the White House. “They’ve done an incredible job. We’ve had no problems. It’s been just — it’s been just great.”

“Thank God for truckers,” he added. 

This is at least the second executive order focused on the English language that Trump has signed since his Oval Office return in January. Trump signed a separate executive order in March declaring English as the official language of the U.S.

TRUCKERS ARE ‘HOPEFUL’ ABOUT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S WALKBACK OF BIDEN-ERA CLIMATE REGULATIONS, SAYS TRUCKING EXECUTIVE

“A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exhange ideas in one shared language,” Trump wrote in that order.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

The order revoked an executive order issued by former President Bill Clinton in 2000, titled “Improving Access Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,” which required federal agencies and recipients of federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers. 

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., responded to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) major bust at an illegal nightclub in his district on Sunday that resulted in over 100 illegal immigrants being arrested.

The state has become a hub of illegal immigration-related activities, including the presence of Tren de Aragua in cities like Aurora. In this case, not only were people detained, but pink cocaine and firearms were also confiscated by the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division. The DEA said many arrested will soon be bound for deportation. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X that the venue is “frequented by Tda and MS-13 terrorists.”

“Yesterday’s raid in Colorado Springs was the Trump administration following through on their promise to the American people that illegal aliens have no place in our country. Federal law enforcement, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado Springs Police Department were able to work together to apprehend these dangerous criminals to help ensure that our communities are safe,” Crank told Fox News Digital in a statement.

AURORA AUTHORITIES ‘DECLINED’ TO HELP SEARCH FOR 2 ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO ESCAPED COLORADO DETENTION FACILITY: ICE

“Law enforcement in Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District takes immigration enforcement seriously. Gov. Polis and the Colorado state legislature should follow suit,” he continued. Crank introduced a House Resolution earlier this month expressing support for President Donald Trump’s legally challenged use of the Ailen Enemies Act to transport alleged MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gang members out of the country, as the groups have been classified as foreign terrorist organizations.

Meanwhile, Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., also praised the law enforcement crackdown done on Sunday, as he’s introduced legislation hoping to increase local coordination between federal and local authorities – as he argues that current state sanctuary policies make comprehensive immigration enforcement difficult.

“This admin is fighting to make Colorado safe again. Thanks to this raid, we are one step closer,” Evans said, also saying that Colorado’s sanctuary policies are causing the state to generate “headlines as ground zero for the country’s most dangerous criminals.”

Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement that he is “focused on making Colorado safer for everyone, and that includes cracking down on illegal drugs and firearms. We await the details from the DEA and federal government on this action,” according to KRDO.

BLUE SANCTUARY STATE OPERATING AS ‘CONTROL’ CENTER FOR VICIOUS MIGRANT GANG: ACTING DEA CHIEF

In videos posted of the operation, U.S. Postal Service and IRS agents are seen arresting illegal aliens at the nightclub, showing the Trump administration using a whole-of-government approach to carrying out deportations.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Specifically, a U.S. Postal Service inspector and an agent with IRS Criminal Investigations were seen with alleged criminals in their custody.

DEA Acting Administrator Derek Maltz previously said Colorado has become “ground zero for some of the most violent criminals in America,” including Tren de Aragua’s leadership, Denver 7 reported.

WHITE HOUSE DISPLAYS LAWN SIGNS HIGHLIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In January, there was a similar nightclub takedown in Adams County, Colorado, which resulted in 50 illegal immigrant arrests, including alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Bonny Chu, Greg Wehner, Bill Melugin contributed to this reported.

House Republicans are rushing to get started on a multitrillion-dollar bill to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda, with their own leader’s self-imposed deadline less than a month away.

Lawmakers on five different committees are huddling within their panels this week to debate and advance specific aspects of what will become one massive piece of legislation

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants to get a bill on Trump’s desk by Memorial Day – a goal he’s still optimistic about, despite a host of challenges that Republicans will need to get through before the finish line.

Meanwhile, the Senate and House appear to still be far apart on their expected timelines and how much money they’re aiming to spend.

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

“This is not just a preference we have, this is a necessity,” Johnson told Fox News Digital about the Memorial Day deadline in an interview on Friday. 

“We have the debt limit X-date approaching, and as everybody knows, border security resources dwindling, we’ve got markets in flux, we’ve got, of course, the living threat of the largest tax increase on working families in history.”

Republicans are seeking to fit Trump’s priorities on energy, defense, border security and taxes into the bill, as well as raise the debt ceiling – another item the president specifically asked GOP lawmakers to deal with.

Johnson pointed out that the U.S. is fast approaching its deadline to act on the debt ceiling or risk a national credit default – which would send financial markets into a tailspin. The federal government is expected to hit that deadline sometime this spring or summer, according to differing projections.

“I’ve got to work on the assumption that it’ll be sooner, it may be as early as June,” Johnson said. “I can’t control what happens in the Senate, but I think they have the same sense of urgency, so I think that we’re on target to get it by Memorial Day or shortly thereafter.”

A Senate GOP leadership aide appeared less optimistic, however.

They told Fox News Digital that Republicans in the upper chamber shared the goal of moving as quickly as possible but acknowledged “the reality” of differing procedures in the House and Senate.

The House’s framework for the legislation passed first and called for at least $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts to offset a portion of the $4.5 trillion allocated toward Trump’s tax agenda.

The Senate later passed an amended version that called for a minimum of $4 billion in spending cuts.

House Republicans narrowly swallowed that framework to align with the Senate – a key step before the relevant committees noted in the framework can begin crafting policies within their jurisdictions, to later be filled into the final bill.

A revolt against that bill by an unlikely faction of well-known GOP rebels and leaders on the House Budget Committee prompted Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to publicly pledge to have the Senate aim for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. 

But on paper, they’re still far apart, and there’s a significant contingent in the House and Senate who are wary of cutting funding for critical programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

SENATE GOP PUSHES TRUMP BUDGET FRAMEWORK THROUGH AFTER MARATHON VOTE SERIES

“The fight is between the House, that wants to add $2.8 trillion on the debt, and the Senate, that wants to add $5.8 trillion on the debt,” said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB). “So I’m not optimistic that we’re going to reduce the debt. I am somewhat optimistic that we’re going to get closer to what the House wants, which would be much better.”

But a significant amount – about $880 billion – of spending cuts outlined in the House GOP framework come from the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid.

Estimates have shown that the committee will not be able to complete those cuts without cutting into those programs, but Republican leaders have insisted they’re only looking to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”

Republicans are looking to pass their legislation via the budget reconciliation process. The mechanism allows the party in power to pass massive policy overhauls while entirely sidelining the opposing party by dropping the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The House already operates on a simple majority threshold.

The House committees set to meet this week to mark up their reconciliation bills are the Homeland Security, Oversight, Education & Workforce, and Financial Services.

Issues that are expected to be more divisive – like portions from the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, which writes tax policy – will be visited next week.

The Trump administration sanctioned three vessels and their owners for providing support to the Houthis – the Iranian regime’s network of terrorist proxies and partners, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions Monday, following the Houthis’ efforts to deploy missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and naval mines to attack commercial shipping interests in the Red Sea – activities that “threaten global freedom of navigation and the integrity of international commerce.” 

TRUMP TELLS DOD TO MOVE MORE FORCES EQUIPPED FOR COMBAT INTO MIDDLE EAST AS US UPS PRESSURE ON HOUTHIS

“Today’s action underscores our commitment to disrupt the Houthis’ efforts to fund their dangerous and destabilizing attacks in the region,” Treasury Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said Monday, adding that the department will “continue to leverage” its tools and authorities “to target those who seek to enable the Houthis’ ability to exploit the people of Yemen and continue their campaign of violence.” 

The State Department designated the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist in February 2024 and redesignated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in March. 

“Providing material support to the Houthis not only carries acute sanctions risk, but also exposes vessels and crew members to serious safety risk from potential Houthi attacks,” a Treasury Department official told Fox News Digital. 

TRUMP ADMIN IMPOSES SANCTIONS AGAINST BANK OF YEMEN FOR SUPPORTING HOUTHIS

A Treasury official told Fox News Digital that the Houthis control the strategic Yemen Red Sea ports of Hudaydah, Ras Isa and Al-Salif, and are funneling millions of dollars derived from port revenues and the seizure of refined petroleum products to fund a “reckless attack campaign against U.S. interests and those of our allies in the region.” 

The official said the group sells refined petroleum products at “exorbitant prices” on Yemen’s black market, which enables the Houthi operatives to “purchase military materials, create an artificial shortage of essential goods for average Yemenis, and fuels rampant corruption among Houthi leaders.” 

Marshall Islands-registered Zaas Shipping & Trading Co. used one of the vessels targeted, the Tulip BZ, to facilitate the delivery of liquid petroleum gas to the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa, the Treasury said. It also has been used to transport petroleum products on behalf of Iran. 

Mauritius-registered Bagsak Shipping Inc. is also targeted, and facilitated the delivery of gas oil to Ras Isa using the Panama-flagged vessel, the Maisan. The Maisan also has been involved in the export of Russian crude oil and petroleum products from Russian ports since February 2023, according to a Treasury official. 

AFTER DEBILITATING STRIKES, TRUMP TELLS HOUTHIS: STOP SHOOTING AT US AND ‘WE WILL STOP SHOOTING AT YOU’

And Marshall Islands-registered Great Success Shipping Co. facilitated the delivery of gas oil to Ras Isa using the Panama-flagged vessel, the White Whale. 

The move comes after President Donald Trump officially informed Congress in March that he had directed the Department of Defense to move additional combat forces into the Middle East, as U.S. forces carry out military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen. Those strikes have been conducted in an effort to stop attacks on American forces and commercial ships in the Red Sea.

“I will no longer allow this band of pirates to threaten and attack United States forces and commercial vessels in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world,” Trump wrote March 28. “We will act to keep Americans safe.”

He said the U.S. will continue striking until the group no longer poses a threat to navigation or U.S. personnel.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The strikes have been from Navy ships, Air Force bombers and drones targeting Houthi weapons, leadership and command centers. 

The airstrikes began after renewed Houthi threats against Israeli ships and attacks on U.S. forces, including seven Reaper drones brought down since March 3.

The Houthis began ramping up attacks in the Red Sea after the October 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel. They’ve claimed responsibility for targeting U.S. warships and have so far avoided hitting Chinese and Saudi ships, raising questions among defense officials about their strategic aims. 

Earlier in April, the Trump administration sanctioned the International Bank of Yemen Y.S.C. (IBY) for its financial support of Houthi terrorists.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Jasmine Baehr, Brie Stimson, Caitlin McFall and Liz Friedan contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump made history during his first 100 days in office, surpassing former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s record for the number of executive orders issued during that same window. 

To date, Trump has signed more than 135 executive orders during his first 100 days in office during his second term — up from the 33 he signed during the first 100 days of his first term, and up from the 99 Roosevelt signed during that period too. 

The slew of executive orders indicates a shift in power away from the legislative branches, and also indicates that Trump has a clear set of priorities he wants to accomplish during this term, according to experts. 

Trump’s approach signals that power has diverted away from Congress and that the executive branch is assuming increased lawmaking authority — a trend that will likely continue into future administrations, James Broughel, a senior fellow at the regulatory reform focused Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

THESE ARE THE JUDGES GOING TOE TO TOE AGAINST TRUMP’S AGENDA 

“So much of the power in the federal government is now housed in the executive branch, and so this is really a sign that the president can implement a very vast and sweeping agenda through executive actions,” Broughel said. “And so I would expect future presidents to probably follow Trump’s lead on this.” 

These first 100 days are critical to set the president’s agenda and drive media coverage of these initiatives — and that becomes more and more challenging as the term progresses, Broughel said. 

“These initial directions coming early are very important, because you’ll run out of time in your presidency if they’re not, if it’s not set out early,” Broughel said. 

Additionally, the Trump administration has advanced this plethora of executive orders because it had four years out of office to prepare and plan administrative priorities, according to Thomas Berry, the director of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies. 

Berry said it’s evident that the Trump administration has thought about what issues it wanted to target in the executive orders for a long time, and that many of them are focused on dismantling hurdles he faced during his first term. That includes executive orders that ease restrictions on firing federal employees, Berry said. 

JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS ARE ACTING ‘ERRONEOUSLY,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS 

“It seems clear that a lot of these executive orders are really aimed at trying to push past what they viewed as the obstacles to his agenda in his first administration,” Berry said. 

“The weakness of executive orders is they can simply be reversed by the subsequent president. It’s not set in stone in statute,” Berry said. “The one possible exception for that is if you weaken an agency so much that it’s hard for it to be built back up under the next administration.”

For example, Berry said that massive staff reductions at agencies like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could take several administrations to replenish. The Trump administration unveiled plans in March to cut thousands of staffers at the agency — which historically has functioned as an independent agency that works to deliver aid to impoverished countries and development assistance — and move its remaining functions to the State Department. 

Likewise, Trump signed an executive order in March to dismantle the Education Department, and said that functions of the agency that oversee student loans and financial aid would move to separate agencies. 

Berry said the onslaught of executive orders is placing strain on the judicial branch, as there have been more than 150 lawsuits filed challenging Trump’s executive orders. Among these cases are high-profile ones, including ending birthright citizenship and banning transgender individuals from serving in the military, which are temporarily blocked. 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SIGNIFICANTLY DISMANTLED IN NEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER 

“It’s making it hard for the judicial branch to keep up,” Berry said. “It’s taxing courts to the limit, and it’s forcing courts to act fast, and the judicial branch doesn’t act as functionally when it’s forced to act really fast.”

“To some extent, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy when Trump complains about judges ruling without much law or deliberation,” Berry said. “It’s because the administration is kind of forcing them to by taking all these actions with immediate effect and not doing the normal time for deliberation.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Berry anticipates that the pace of the executive orders will slow in the near future though since the majority of the ones that emerged during the first 100 days appeared to be pre-planned. 

“They will, they will run out, I expect, certainly by the end of his first year, if not in the next few months, and then any remaining ones would be reactive,” Berry said. 

FIRST ON FOX: In President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, the Department of Energy says it has saved taxpayers more than $700 million by cutting programs the administration labeled as “wasteful.”

The immediate savings are resulting from the cancellation of ongoing contracts at the DOE relating to topics such as diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) and progressive climate change goals linked to the Democrats’ Green New Deal proposals. They are part of a broader $3 billion in savings that the Trump administration has projected will occur as a result of the cancellation of additional contracts that were not yet finalized. 

“In the first 100 days of the Trump Administration, the Department of Energy has saved the American taxpayer more than $3 billion in projected savings – and this is just the beginning,” DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

TRUMP PRAISES ELON MUSK AS ‘PATRIOT, A BRILLIANT GUY, AND A FRIEND OF MINE’ AMID DOGE EXIT

Dietderich said to date, the DOE has suspended contracts supporting DEI initiatives and Green New Deal priorities, as well as other “wasteful” programs, “generating more than $700 million in immediate savings for the American taxpayers.” 

“President Trump and Secretary Wright are fully committed to making government more accountable, efficient, and effective stewards of the American taxpayers’ dollars,” he said.

During Trump’s first 100 days in office, according to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the administration’s efforts have saved the government at least $160 billion. That amounts to $993.79 per taxpayer, according to DOGE. 

An “Agency Efficiency Leaderboard,” tracking which departments have received the most savings, shows the Department of Health and Human Services ranked number one. 

DOGE SLASHES ‘WASTEFUL’ ‘PROBLEM-SOLVING’ CONTRACT WORTH $50K IN LATEST ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS 

HHS is followed by the General Services Administration at number two, the Department of Education at number three, the Labor Department at number four, and the Office of Personnel Management rounds out the top five.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Department of Justice is ranked last, just before the Department of Veterans Affairs. The DOE, according to DOGE, is ranked as the agency with the third least savings.

The savings reportedly stemmed from a combination of asset sales, contract and lease cancellations or re-negotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings and workforce reductions.  

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan issued a word of caution to illegal immigrants remaining in the U.S.: The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement is on the hunt for you. 

“If you’re an illegal alien in the United States, this message is for you: You cannot hide from ICE,” Homan told reporters Monday. “We’re actively looking for you.” 

Homan addressed reporters at the White House to share details on the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, just ahead of Trump’s 100th day in office Tuesday. In honor of the event, the White House placed 100 posters of the “worst illegal immigrants arrested” during the first 100 days of the term on the White House lawn. 

“Make no mistake, if you’re in the country illegally and you fail to do what the law requires, we will prosecute you,” Homan said. “You will go to jail, then we deport you.”

Specifically, Homan said that there are roughly 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. who’ve been instructed to leave, but remain in the U.S. Homan issued caution to them and said that they could expect to face prosecution for failing to follow orders. 

“We will aggressively prosecute, consistent with long-standing law, those aliens for failing or refusing to depart, or who take other related actions aimed at hindering the removal,” Homan said. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

FIRST ON FOX: A nonprofit patient’s rights advocacy group has placed a billboard in New York City’s Times Square praising President Donald Trump for “delivering” on a major healthcare promise within his first 100 days in office. 

The billboard, placed by PatientsRightsAdvocate.org, (PRA) will run from April 28 to May 4 and touts Trump’s executive order signed in February directing the departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to make healthcare prices transparent.

“President Trump delivers healthcare price transparency,” the billboard, along with a picture of Trump resembling Superman says. “First 100 Days!”

Trump’s order directed the departments to “rapidly implement and enforce” the Trump healthcare price transparency regulations, which he claims were slowed by the Biden administration.

TRUMP AND A HEALTHIER AMERICA WELCOMED BY DOCTORS: ‘NEW GOLDEN AGE’

The departments will ensure hospitals and insurers disclose actual prices, not estimates, and take action to make prices comparable across hospitals and insurers, including prescription drug prices.

PRA says that more than 1 in 3 Americans postponed or avoided care due to “fear of unknown costs” and that 100 million Americans are in medical debt, which represents the country’s largest cause of personal bankruptcy. 

 “The magnitude of President Trump’s delivering ‘radical’ price transparency in healthcare is historic,” Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, said in a statement. 

SOARING MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES TARGETED IN TRUMP’S NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER

“Patients soon will have access to actual prices, not estimates, before they receive care. Prices create a functional market where the consumer benefits from competition and choice to lower costs,” Fisher continued. “Soon, patients will be able to shop for the best quality of care at the best price. Prices protect patients with remedy and recourse from overcharges, errors, and fraud. We are closer than ever to shifting the power to the consumer to live healthier and longer lives at a far lower cost.”  

Andrew Bremberg, former assistant to President Donald Trump and director of the Domestic Policy Council at the first Trump White House, also touted Trump’s executive order, saying that the president “built on his first term healthcare legacy and signed an even stronger price transparency executive order. 

“His efforts to deliver real prices, not estimates, underscore his unwavering commitment to the American people. President Trump has a bold vision to transform the American healthcare system with price transparency as the catalyst.” 

The executive order notes a number of concerns with current healthcare pricing, including that prices vary between hospitals in the same region.

“One patient in Wisconsin saved $1,095 by shopping for two tests between two hospitals located within 30 minutes of one another,” according to the statement.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The White House claims one economic analysis found Trump’s original price transparency rules, if fully implemented, could deliver savings of $80 billion for consumers, employers and insurers by 2025.

“The hospital wanted me to pay $3,700 up front for a simple fibroid removal surgery,” Arizona patient Theresa Schmotzer said in a statement at the time of the billboard’s placement. “Because that seemed high, I went looking for what it should cost. I found the actual price online and saw that my share was only $700 not $3,700. Because I had access to real prices, not estimates, I saved $3,000. President Trump’s executive order on healthcare price transparency will allow more people to find real prices and save.”  

States across the country have been pushing similar measures in the form of legislation to ensure that patients are given more transparency about the healthcare costs they are assuming, including in Ohio, where legislation was recently signed into law requiring hospitals to post exact prices in dollars and cents for all available services. 

“They’ll be able to check them, compare them, go to different locations, so they can shop for the highest-quality care at the lowest cost,” Trump wrote in a statement when he signed the executive order. “And this is about high-quality care. You’re also looking at that. You’re looking at comparisons between talents, which is very important. And, then, you’re also looking at cost. And, in some cases, you get the best doctor for the lowest cost. That’s a good thing.”

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.