NationalWatch

Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t currently have enough votes to advance out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The former Democrat representative’s nomination to be director of national intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump is in danger as she lacks enough Republican support on the committee, sources confirmed.

Before heading to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, Trump’s picks all have hearings and their nominations are voted on at the committee level. Gabbard’s confirmation hearing will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday.

SCOOP: KEY GOP SENATOR WHO HESITATED ON PETE HEGSETH PUSHES KASH PATEL FOR FBI

Gabbard’s nomination could be in danger if she doesn’t get enough votes to advance. (Getty Images)

So far, no Trump nominees have failed to advance out of their respective committees. 

A senior Intel Committee aide confirmed to Fox News Digital that Gabbard does not currently have a majority of its members’ votes, which are necessary to move to the full Senate. 

According to the source, half of the Republicans on the coveted committee are not sold on Trump’s DNI pick. 

A Senate source familiar told Fox News Digital, “Some members are undecided.”

“Not true that [they] are NOs,” they clarified. 

The source confirmed that the undecided senators in question are Republicans. 

‘SQUEEZED BY RISING COSTS’: DEMOCRAT JACKY ROSEN LEADS BIPARTISAN BILL TO ADDRESS CHILDCARE AFFORDABILITY

Trump picked Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Gabbard told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Anonymous sources are going to continue to lie and smear to try and take down the President’s nominees and subvert the will of the American people and the media is playing a role in publishing these lies. That doesn’t change the fact that Lt. Col. Gabbard is immensely qualified for this role and we look forward to her hearing.”

The senior committee aide shared that the reasons for GOP uncertainty include her previous Section 702 stance, her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her past defense of Edward Snowden.

“It’s about judgment,” they said. 

Gabbard will likely need every Republican vote to move past the committee, assuming Democrats will vote against her. 

DOGE CHAIR JONI ERNST TAKES ON FOOD STAMPS IN NEW BILL TO HOLD STATES ‘ACCOUNTABLE’

Cotton is chair of the committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., serves as chair of the committee alongside other Republican members Jim Risch of Idaho, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, Jerry Moran of Kansas, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana.

Lankford recently came out in support of Gabbard after she reversed her position on a controversial intelligence gathering tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Neither the White House nor Cotton’s office provided comments to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Fox News Digital reached out to multiple Republican Senate offices for comment. 

SENATE TO KICK OFF RFK JR, KELLY LOEFFLER CONFIRMATION HEARINGS FOR TOP TRUMP POSTS

Lankford said he supported Gabbard after her 702 stance changed. (Reuters)

As Gabbard’s confirmation fate hangs in the balance, there is reportedly a push by some Trump-aligned Republican senators to waive the committee’s rules in order to open the vote on Gabbard’s nomination, as Politico reported. This would mean each senator’s vote is accessible to the public. 

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The Intel Committee’s rules stipulate that the vote is conducted in a closed meeting and a tally is released afterward. The vote is expected to go forward in a closed manner, in accordance with the rules.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is expected to trade barbs with lawmakers in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. 

Patel, a former public defender, Department of Justice official and longtime Trump ally, will join the Senate committee at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when lawmakers are anticipated to grill the nominee on plans detailed in his 2023 book to overhaul the FBI, his crusade against the “deep state” and his resume, as Democrats argue the nominee lacks the qualifications for the role. 

The president and his allies, however, staunchly have defended Patel, with Senate Judiciary member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., arguing that Democrats are “fearful” of Patel’s nomination and confirmation due to “what he’s going to reveal” to the general public. 

“They are very fearful of Kash Patel, because Kash Patel knows what Adam Schiff and some of the others did with Russia collusion, and they know that he he knows – the dirt on them, if you will – and I think they’re fearful of what he’s going to do and what he’s going to reveal,” Blackburn said on Fox News on Sunday. 

WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD THE FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP ‘DEEP STATE’

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is expected to trade barbs with lawmakers in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Patel, a New York native, worked as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade after earning his law degree in 2005 from Pace University in New York City.  

Patel’s national name recognition grew under the first Trump administration, when he worked as the national security advisor and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under the leadership of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Patel became known as the man behind the “Nunes Memo” – a four-page document released in 2018 that revealed improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation into Trump. 

Patel was named senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council in 2019. In that role, he assisted the Trump White House in eliminating foreign terrorist leadership, such as ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and al Qaeda terrorist Qasim al-Raymi in 2020, according to his biography. His efforts ending terrorist threats under the Trump administration came after he won a DOJ award in 2017 for his prosecution and conviction of 12 terrorists responsible for the World Cup bombings in 2010 in Uganda under the Obama administration. 

Following the 2020 election, Patel remained a steadfast ally of Trump’s, joining the 45th president during his trial in Manhattan in the spring of 2024, and echoing that the United States’ security and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, need to be overhauled.

‘JUST LIKE TRUMP’: ISIS MURDER VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER’S PARENTS ENDORSE PATEL FOR FBI FOLLOWING MILITARY OP ROLE

Kash Patel worked as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade after earning his law degree in 2005 from Pace University in New York City.   (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Patel underscored in his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” that “deep state” government employees have politicized and weaponized the law enforcement agency – and explicitly called for the revamp of the FBI in a chapter dubbed “Overhauling the FBI.”

“Things are bad. There’s no denying it,” he wrote in the book. “The FBI has gravely abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law, but the very foundations of self-government at the root of our democracy. But this isn’t the end of the story. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed.” 

“The fact is we need a federal agency that investigates federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of having its powers abused,” he wrote, advocating the firing of “corrupt actors,” “aggressive” congressional oversight over the agency and the complete overhaul of special counsels. 

FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL

Patel adds in his book: “Most importantly, we need to get the FBI the hell out of Washington, D.C. There is no reason for the nation’s law enforcement agency to be centralized in the swamp.”

Trump heralded the book as a “roadmap” to exposing bad actors in the federal government and said it is a “blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government.”

Patel has spoken out against a number of high-profile investigations and issues he sees within the DOJ in the past few years. He slammed the department, for example, for allegedly burying evidence related to the identity of a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., a day ahead of Jan. 6, 2021.

‘BEACON OF SELFLESSNESS’: ISIS VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER HONORED AT CONGRESSMAN’S SWEARING-IN 10 YEARS AFTER DEATH

Patel has also said Trump could release both the Jeffrey Epstein client list and Sean “Diddy” Combs party attendee lists, which could expose those allegedly involved in sex and human trafficking crimes. 

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Amy Klobuchar and Mazie Hirono, who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Getty Images)

Senate Democrats received an anonymous whistleblower report that was publicly reported Monday alleging Patel violated protocol during a hostage rescue mission in October 2020, an allegation Trump’s orbit has brushed off. 

The whistleblower claimed that Patel leaked to the Wall Street Journal that two Americans and the remains of a third were being transferred to U.S. custody from Yemen, where they had been held hostage by Houthi rebels, before the hostages were actually in U.S. custody. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the whistleblower report. 

A transition official pushed back on the report in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, saying Patel has a “track record of success.”

‘WHEN THEY FAIL, AMERICANS DIE’: TRUMP SOURCE BLASTS FBI, URGES SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF KASH PATEL AS DIRECTOR

“Mr. Patel was a public defender, decorated prosecutor, and accomplished national security official that kept Americans safe,” the official said. “He has a track record of success in every branch of government, from the courtroom to congressional hearing room to the situation room. There is no veracity to this anonymous source’s complaints about protocol.”  

Kash Patel has spoken out against a number of high-profile investigations and issues he sees within the DOJ in the past few years. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Alexander Gray, who served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council under Trump’s first administration, called the allegation “simply absurd.”

Patel’s nomination comes after six of Trump’s nominees were confirmed by the Senate, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – who also was viewed as a nominee who faced an uphill confirmation battle. 

NATIONAL SHERIFFS’ ASSOCIATION SLAMS STATE OF POLICING UNDER BIDEN, THROWS FULL SUPPORT BEHIND PATEL FOR FBI

The Senate schedule this week was packed with hearings besides Patel’s, with senators grilling Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday and also holding the hearing for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence. 

Kash Patel is a former public defender, Department of Justice official and longtime ally of President Donald Trump. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Patel heads into his hearing armed with a handful of high-profile endorsements, including the National Sheriffs’ Association and National Police Association. 

Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of ISIS murder victim Kayla Mueller, also notably endorsed Patel, Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Tuesday. Patel helped oversee a military mission in 2019 that killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi, who was believed to have repeatedly tortured and raped Kayla Mueller before her death in 2015. 

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Patel “loves his country. He loves the people of this country,” Marsha Mueller told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview via Zoom on Monday morning. “To us, you know, he is a person that we would go to for help. And he is so action oriented.” 

“Just like Trump,” Carl Mueller added to his wife’s comments on Patel’s action-motivated personality.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

The former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was reportedly escorted out of her office Monday after she “refused to comply” with her termination – though the USDA denies that she was forcibly removed.

Phyllis Fong, who has worked for the USDA for 22 years, was fired on Friday, but she reportedly told her colleagues that she planned to continue working. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Fong was removed by security officials and “refused to comply” with her termination.

Before her firing, the government employee said she believed that the newly inaugurated Trump administration was acting improperly by terminating officials so suddenly.

In an email obtained by Reuters, Fong said the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) had “taken the position that these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time.”

INSPECTOR GENERAL DISMISSED BY TRUMP CALLS MASS FIRINGS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY

Phyllis Fong, who has worked for the USDA for 22 years, was removed from the agency on Monday. (Getty Images | USDA)

The USDA, however, denied that security officials were involved in the incident in an email to Fox News Digital on Wednesday night.

“According to an internal security report, Phyllis Fong departed the USDA premises on Monday, January 27 of her own accord,” a spokesperson said. “She was accompanied by two friends who she paused to take selfies with on her way out. Security officials did not play any role in her departure.” 

Fong, who was appointed as inspector general by President George W. Bush, also worked for the CIGIE from 2008 to 2014, after being elected the council’s first chairperson. According to the USDA’s website, Fong’s job as inspector general involved “audits, investigations, and other oversight activities relating to USDA’s programs and operations.”

“The Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides leadership in promoting economy and effectiveness in USDA programs and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse,” the description reads. “Ms. Fong’s priorities as IG have been to focus OIG’s resources on the protection of public health and safety related to USDA’s mission and operations, and to improve the management and financial integrity of the Department’s programs.”

Since Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has fired several government employees across dozens of agencies. Inspectors general are one of many targeted employees, along with those in DEI roles.

On Saturday, a White House official told Fox News that 17 independent watchdogs at various federal agencies were sacked late Friday. The inspectors general worked for the Defense Department, State Department and Energy Department, in addition to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs and more.

TRUMP SAYS IRON DOME CONSTRUCTION WILL BE ‘IMMEDIATE,’ SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER

U.S. Department of Agriculture.

At the time, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, expressed concern that the sudden firings may have violated federal law that requires the president to give 30 days’ notice to Congress of intent to fire independent watchdogs, according to The Associated Press.

“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so,” Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “I’d like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress.”

Donald Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, on May 4, 2024. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

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

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson and Chris Pandolfo and Reuters contributed to this report.

The latest confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees were packed with fiery exchanges with lawmakers, interruptions from protesters, and tearjerking testimonies that came as the Senate works to fill out the president’s administration.

Several candidates under consideration to head key positions in the Trump administration were grilled by lawmakers during their Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday.

The hearings were off to a fiery start with the Senate Finance Committee’s questioning of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services. The Senate also held confirmation hearings for Howard Lutnick, Trump’s longtime friend, who he picked to head the Department of Commerce, and Kelly Loeffler, who is being considered to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA).

1. Democratic senator to RFK Jr.: ‘You frighten people’

During the heated confirmation hearing of Kennedy, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told the Trump nominee that he frightens people, specifically referring to his stance on vaccines. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s choice to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, appears before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite)

“Americans are going to need to hear a clear and trustworthy recantation of what you have said on vaccinations, including a promise from you never to say vaccines aren’t medically safe when they, in fact, are, and making indisputably clear that you support mandatory vaccinations against diseases that will keep people safe,” Whitehouse said during the hearing. “You’re in that hole pretty deep.”

Whitehouse then referenced a recent measles outbreak in Rhode Island as he pressed Kennedy on his vaccine stance.

“Frankly, you frighten people,” Whitehouse told the Trump nominee. 

However, Kennedy pushed back on the claims that he is anti-vaccine, noting that all his children are vaccinated. 

2. Protesters disrupt RFK Jr. hearing

Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearing was disrupted by several protesters who snuck into the Senate Finance Committee hearing room. 

After Kennedy told lawmakers that he is not against vaccines, one protester stood up and was heard shouting, “You lie.”

3. Lutnick gets emotional talking about brother’s tragic 9/11 death

Howard Lutnick, who was introduced by Vice President JD Vance, shared an emotional story about his brother being tragically killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

Lutnick’s brother, Gary, was tragically killed while working at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, along with 657 of the Lutnick brothers’ friends at their financial firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, the commerce nominee described during the hearing. 

Lutnick said that he took his son to kindergarten that day, sparing his life. 

Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump’s choice to be Secretary of Commerce, appears before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee for his confirmation hearing, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“The company was located on the top five floors of the World Trade Center. I still can’t say it without being emotional, sorry, but no one in the office survived,” he said on Wednesday, appearing to hold back tears.

“I made the decision that I’ve made enough money in my life,” Lutnick said. “I can take care of myself. I can take care of my family. It is now my chance to serve the American people.”

4. RFK Jr. refutes claim he compared CDC to ‘Nazi death camps’

Kennedy and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., went back and forth after the Democratic senator claimed the Trump nominee previously likened the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to “Nazi death camps.”

Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock speaks onstage during the ‘Vote GA Blue’ concert on Dec. 28, 2020, in Stonecrest, Georgia.  (Paras Griffin)

“You compared the CDC work to Nazi death camps. You’ve compared it to sexual abusers in the Catholic Church. You’ve also said that many of them, as in the direct quote, belong in jail,” Warnock said during the hearing on Wednesday. 

Asked if he stands by the statements, Kennedy refuted the claim. 

“I don’t believe that I ever compared the CDC to Nazi death camps. I support the CDC. My job is not to dismantle or harm the CDC. My job is to empower the scientists,” Kennedy said. “I never said it.”

Warnock read a transcript of Kennedy’s remarks at a conference making the reference, but the HHS nominee further defended the intent of his statement.

“I was comparing the injury rate of children towards other atrocities,” Kennedy said. “I wouldn’t compare the CDC to Nazi death camps.”

5. SBA defends Trump after senator claims he ‘acted illegally twice’ this week

SBA pick Kelly Loeffler got into a heated exchange with a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee while defending Trump against Democratic claims that he “acted illegally” twice in the past week.

“The president has already acted illegally twice in the last 5 days. He fired the inspectors general. That was illegal, under the law. He froze all funding on Monday night. That was also against the law,” Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts claimed during his questioning of Loeffler.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., waits for Vice President Mike Pence to arrive for her swear-in reenactment for the cameras in the Capitol on Monday, Jan. 6, 2020.  (Getty Images)

“So it’s not as though he won’t ask you to do something that is illegal and unconstitutional, he’s been doing it all week. And this is the first week,” he added.

However, Loeffler immediately came to the defense of Trump and doubled down on her support of the president’s recent actions.

“If I could just, for the record, note that these were not illegal actions,” Loeffler told the committee. “I support the president’s actions. It’s in his right to select members of the executive branch, that’s what he’s doing. And he’s certainly in the right to stop wastefully spending as most presidents do when they come in to pause wasteful spending.”

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Markey began speaking over Loeffler as she defended the president before changing the subject.

Fox News’ Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is going all in for President Donald Trump’s controversial FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, despite being considered a wildcard vote ahead of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination. 

In a significant show of support, Tillis will introduce Patel in the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing Thursday morning. His speech will be short and sweet, Tillis explained. 

“I will be sharing about 700 words on his background, his upbringing, his work as a prosecutor, his work in the administration,” the Republican shared in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. 

‘SQUEEZED BY RISING COSTS’: DEMOCRAT JACKY ROSEN LEADS BIPARTISAN BILL TO ADDRESS CHILDCARE AFFORDABILITY

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., left, is going all in on Kash Patel, right, after waiting until the last minute to support Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Getty Images)

The senator will also distribute several versions of a Patel-themed bingo game to his colleagues on the committee. 

The “K$H Bingo” game includes subjects Tillis expects to be brought up by Democrats during the hearing. The sheet includes subjects such as “Deep State,” “Enemies List” and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), among others. 

Tillis created a bingo sheet for a Senate Judiciary hearing. (Fox News Digital)

“I’m also going to be providing a bingo card because I know what everybody else is going to bring up,” he said. “We know what the words are. And they already started it, because when they ran out of things to attack [attorney general nominee] Pam Bondi on, they started attacking Kash.”

DOGE CHAIR JONI ERNST TAKES ON FOOD STAMPS IN NEW BILL TO HOLD STATES ‘ACCOUNTABLE’

Patel has been meeting with senators on Capitol Hill. (Getty Images)

“We know what they’re going to do. And I want to make it clear to them there’s no Perry Mason moment,” the North Carolina senator said. “I’m not going to let innuendo and rumors rule the day. I’m going to hold them accountable.”

Tillis’ hard push for Patel to be advanced and confirmed by the Senate comes just days after Hegseth’s confirmation came down to his vote, which wasn’t at all assured to be in Hegseth’s favor. 

PETE BUTTIGIEG GIVING ‘SERIOUS LOOK’ TO 2026 SENATE RUN IN TRUMP-WON MICHIGAN

It wasn’t until several minutes after the Hegseth vote had already begun that Tillis released a statement revealing he would support him. He previously told reporters he was still doing due diligence after new allegations surfaced against the nominee. 

Hegseth’s former sister-in-law had claimed in an affidavit that Hegseth abused alcohol and made his ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety. Tillis told reporters only hours before the confirmation vote he was looking for any corroborating evidence regarding the allegations. 

Hegseth was confirmed after Vice President JD Vance, left, broke the tie. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

Hegseth answered additional last-minute questions from Tillis, which proved to be to the senator’s satisfaction, since he ultimately voted yes and secured Hegseth’s confirmation. 

“Look, I have an obligation to one person in advise and consent, and that is the President of the United States. I take it seriously,” the senator explained. 

GARY PETERS, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR FROM TRUMP STATE, WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Tillis waited until the last minute to share his stance on Hegseth. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“I take it very seriously,” he reiterated. “I did with Pete. I ultimately voted for him and had to dispose of the allegations or assess the allegations that came at the eleventh hour.”

The North Carolina Republican also shared that he thinks his support will be beneficial for Patel. 

“I believe I’ve established — even though I can be a pain to some people — as tedious as I can get with completing my due diligence. I think that it brings with it a certain amount of credibility, and that’s why it’s so important to me. I have to be consistent,” Tillis said. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday announced that her agency had canceled a Biden-era extension of deportation protections for Venezuelan migrants — accusing her predecessor of tying the hands of the Trump administration.

In a notice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it has vacated a Jan. 10 decision by then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to extend a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation to Venezuelan nationals by 18 months.

“Before he left town, Mayorkas signed an order that said for 18 months they were going to extend this protection to people that are in Temporary Protected Status, which meant they were going to be able to stay here and violate our laws for another 18 months,” Noem said, announcing the move on “FOX and Friends.” “And we stopped that today.”

MAYORKAS EXTENDS DEPORTATION SHIELD FOR EYE-POPPING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS AHEAD OF TRUMP ADMIN

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on her nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17.  (Saul Loeb / AFP)

TPS grants protection from deportation and allows work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. Mayorkas announced extensions for TPS for Venezuela, as well as El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine for an additional 18 months.

Venezuela’s extension applied to approximately 600,000 nationals already covered by TPS, but would not allow new applications. The extension would have further complicated the Trump administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants from Venezuela, which has been a focus given the rise of Tren de Aragua (TDA), a bloodthirsty street gang from Venezuela.

TRUMP-ERA SOUTHERN BORDER SEES MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS PLUMMET BY OVER 60% AS NEW POLICIES KICK IN

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks to Politico Magazine senior writer Ankush Khardori during Politico’s annual AI and Tech Summit in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We signed an executive order within the Department of Homeland Security in a direction that we were not going to follow through on what [Mayorkas] did to tie our hands, that we are going to follow the process, evaluate all of these individuals that are in our country, including the Venezuelans that are here and members of TDA,” she said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The announcement came a day after Noem oversaw an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in New York City, where officers have been targeting criminal illegal immigrants. That operation is part of a broader nationwide effort to deport illegal immigrants throughout the U.S. DHS has made a flurry of moves to empower ICE officers, including taking Biden-era limits off expedited removal powers and canceling the use of parole. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, signed a slew of executive orders concerning border security and illegal immigration.

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“Listen, I was in New York City yesterday, and the people of this country want these dirtbags out. They want their communities to be safe. It was so amazing to me to see people walk by us on the street early in the morning and just say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for being here,’” Noem said. “So this is part of our plan to make sure that we’re protecting America, keeping it safe again, just like President Trump promised.”

Lawmakers across the U.S. expressed sympathy and grief after a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport in the Washington, D.C. area on Wednesday night.

A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operating as an American Airlines flight collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter approaching Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, around 9 p.m. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The flight left Wichita, Kansas, earlier that day.

The passenger flight was carrying 60 people, but officials have not confirmed the exact number of injuries and fatalities. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who started work on Monday, said that he was aware of the incident in a post on X.

“DoD actively monitoring,” Hegseth’s tweet read. “Poised to assist if needed. Prayers for all involved.”

REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH: MILITARY BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER COLLIDES MIDAIR WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES JET

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that he was at the FAA building and investigating the incident. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also shared a message from President Donald Trump on Wednesday night.

“I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport,” the statement read. “May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., expressed sorrow after hearing of the crash.

“Our prayers are with all families impacted by the tragic plane crash that just took place here in DC,” Luna’s post read. “Incredibly heartbreaking.”

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said that she was keeping all those impacted in her prayers.

FEDERAL JUDGE PAUSES TRUMP ADMIN’S TEMPORARY FEDERAL GRANTS, LOANS FREEZE

A collision took place near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday. (Fox News Digital)

“My office is following the breaking and tragic news of a collision at @Reagan_Airport,” the lieutenant governor wrote. “We pray for the victims, first rescuers, and all those impacted.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that she was “deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts in this horrific incident at DCA.”

“We are actively monitoring the situation & stand ready to support local responders,” the former South Dakota governor wrote. “Praying for the victims and first responders.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the FAA and American Airlines for more information.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines jet at Reagan Washington National airport.  (EarthCam)

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Authorities are actively investigating the crash.

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

Conservatives on social media rallied around Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday as the Trump nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) faced questions from senators in his confirmation hearing.

“RFK crushed it,” conservative commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X. “Very proud of him. Confirm him, now!”

“RFK killed it today,” RNC national committeewoman Amy Kremer posted on X.” So proud of him! LFG.”

“RFK Jr is crushing this hearing,” former GOP Rep. Scott Taylor posted on X. “Dems look unhinged and very petty. America is sicker, more obese, and more unhealthy than ever. Something has to change!”

‘WHAT A JACKA–‘: CONSERVATIVES HAMMER DEM SENATOR’S ‘DRONING MONOLOGUE’ DURING RFK JR HEARING

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

“The room ERUPTED in applause IMMEDIATELY after RFK Jr’s confirmation hearing concluded,” conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted on X. “Confirm him.”

Former NCAA swimmer and conservative commentator Riley Gaines posted on X that “the Dems embarrassed themselves today.”

RFK JR RIPS DEM SENATOR FOR PUSHING ‘DISHONEST’ NARRATIVE ON PAST VACCINE COMMENTS: ‘CORRECTED IT MANY TIMES’

Robert Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services, sits in a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

“Confirm RFK!!!!” Gaines wrote.

“Absolute masterclass,” Trump 2024 Deputy Rapid Response Director Greg Price posted on X during the hearing.

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Former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Verbal fireworks exploded minutes into the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, the first of two straight days of congressional confirmation hearings for the controversial vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump.

Kennedy repeatedly insisted that he was not “anti-vaccine” and slammed multiple Democratic senators for pushing a “dishonest” narrative against him that he has “corrected” on national television many times. Democrats on the committee pointed to a slew of past comments from the nominee in which he questioned or disparaged COVID shots and other vaccines.

Kennedy returns to Capitol Hill on Thursday for a hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It is considered a courtesy hearing as only the Senate Finance Committee will vote on Kennedy’s confirmation.

With Republicans controlling the Senate by a 53-47 majority, Kennedy can only afford to lose the support of three GOP senators if Democrats unite against his confirmation. During Wednesday’s hearing, no Republicans appeared to oppose the nomination.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: DORAL, Fla. — Leaders within the House GOP’s largest caucus are drawing a red line in congressional Republicans’ budget talks.

The Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) steering group is calling for any budget reconciliation plan to ultimately lead to reductions in the U.S. deficit, which occurs when the federal government’s spending outpaces its revenues in a given fiscal year.

“Reconciliation legislation must reduce the federal budget deficit. Our national security depends on our ability to bring about meaningful fiscal reform,” the official position, first obtained by Fox News Digital, said. 

RSC leaders met behind closed doors at House Republicans’ annual retreat to hash out their stance. GOP lawmakers were at Trump National Doral golf course in Florida for three days of discussions on reconciliation and other fiscal deadlines looming on the horizon.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS

The Republican Study Committee, led by Rep. August Pfluger, is taking an official policy stance on reconciliation talks

They have been negotiating for weeks on how to use their razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate to pass massive conservative policy changes through the budget reconciliation process.

By reducing the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to a 51-seat simple majority, reconciliation allows a party in control of both congressional chambers to enact sweeping changes, provided they are relevant to budgetary and fiscal policy.

At 178 members, RSC is House Republicans’ largest inter-conference group. It often acts as the House GOP’s de facto “think tank” on policy matters.

The group is being led this year by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas. Its previous chairman is Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who was recently elected House Republican Policy Committee chair – an example of RSC’s close ties to GOP leadership.

Republican lawmakers have their work cut out for them this year as they work to unify for congressional leaders’ preferred timeline for the reconciliation process.

Republicans are working on enacting President Donald Trump’s agenda (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that he intends to have a House-wide vote on an initial budget resolution in late February.

But once Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., departs for the Trump administration as expected, House Republicans will not be able to afford any defections to pass legislation along party lines. In the Senate, the GOP can lose two lawmakers to still meet the 51-vote threshold.

And President Donald Trump outlined several specific policies he wants Republicans to include in their reconciliation legislation – including no taxes on tips or overtime pay and more funding for the U.S.-Mexico border – which could add to the federal deficit if not paired with significant spending cuts.

Republicans have floated various ways to achieve those cuts, including adding work requirements to federal benefits and rolling back progressive regulations enacted during the Biden administration.

Johnson said he wanted Republicans’ final product to be deficit-neutral or better.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING

\Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has said he is aiming for a reconciliation bill that will be deficit-neutral (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

“Anything we do, is going to be deficit-neutral at least, and hopefully deficit-reducing, because we think we’ve got to change that trajectory,” he said on Wednesday. “So that is part of the healthy discussion we’ve been having. And everyone has lots of opinions about that, of course. And, the opinions are welcomed.”

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The U.S. is running a cumulative deficit of $710 billion in fiscal year 2025 so far, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. It’s $200 billion more than the same period in FY 2024.

Meanwhile federal revenues were $1.1 trillion through December, a decrease of 2% from the same period prior, the group said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested Wednesday he will veto a state Republican-sponsored immigration bill he said would weaken illegal immigration enforcement. 

The threat of a veto comes as DeSantis continues to feud with state Republican lawmakers, saying they passed a watered-down immigration bill.

“We must have the strongest law in the nation on immigration enforcement. We cannot be weak,” DeSantis wrote on X. “The bill that narrowly passed the Florida legislature last night fails to honor our promises to voters, fails to meet the moment, and would actually weaken state immigration enforcement.”

‘THANK YOU RON’ – TRUMP PRAISES DESANTIS IMMIGRATION PUSH IN FLORIDA 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested he will veto a GOP-led immigration bill in Florida’s Legislature.  (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images)

This week, the GOP-dominated Florida legislature gaveled out a special session called by the two-term governor to take up a series of proposals to help with President Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown.

Instead, state lawmakers held their own special session, where they passed other immigration bills and overrode a DeSantis budget veto, the first time in 15 years the legislature has overturned a Florida governor’s veto.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVES QUICKLY ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

President Donald Trump  (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

Hours after lawmakers passed the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act, or TRUMP Act, DeSantis said, “The veto pen is ready.”

He called the bill a weak effort to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, specifically those with criminal records. 

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested Saturday morning, according to ICE. (ICE)

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“The removal of illegal aliens residing in our state requires strong legislation that will guarantee state and local deportation assistance, end catch and release, eliminate magnets such as remittances, and adopt supporting policies that will protect Floridians from the scourge of illegal immigration,” he wrote. 

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website is no longer accepting forms needed to sponsor migrants as part of the Biden administration’s defunct parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV).

The 2023 program, which allowed certain migrants to apply for U.S. entry and stay for up to two years, was shut down on President Donald Trump‘s first day in office.

As of August 2024, nearly 530,000 people were granted parole through the program, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

A group of over 100 migrants attempting to enter the US illegally rush a border wall Thursday, March 21, 2024. In the process the migrants knock down Texas National Guardsmen before they are halted  by the border wall. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW

Requirements included having a U.S.-based supporter, passing security vetting, and meeting other criteria. 

The “Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support” form, an avenue to meet one of the main requirements, was bumped from the website, as of Wednesday night.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently removed expedited removal restrictions and allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to review migrants’ parole status – which may include changing it.

After President Donald Trump ended of one of the Biden administration’s migrant programs, the website disabled a key form.

TRUMP’S ICE NABS CHILD SEX OFFENDERS AMONG 530+ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUGHT IN SINGLE DAY

A memo obtained by Fox News Digital noted parole is a “positive exercise of enforcement discretion to which no alien is entitled” and that it should “not be regarded as an admission of the alien,” according to previous reporting.

While the Biden administration claimed the program would expand legal pathways to citizenship and decrease illegal border crossings, Republicans contended it was an abuse of limited parole power.

An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters is seen July 6, 2018, in Washington, DC. U.S.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Prior to Trump’s reelection, the program was temporarily paused amid fraud claims. 

An internal review was ordered, leading to the DHS adding enhanced vetting measures for U.S.-based supporters in August 2024.

ICE and CBP officials have been tasked with compiling a list of instructions, policies and procedures related to parole, reviewing them, and creating a plan to phase out any that are not in accord with the statute.

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Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this story.

A first-term House Democrat is attacking White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on X after she sought to clarify a White House memo rescinding an earlier policy statement on President Donald Trump’s federal funding order.

“Karoline Leavitt is a Fake Christian, like so many in this Golden Calf administration,” Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif., wrote on Wednesday.

It comes after the White House rescinded an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo that ordered the freeze of most federal grants and assistance, which was blocked by a federal judge on Tuesday.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS

Freshman House Democrat Rep. Dave Min criticized Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

Leavitt posted on X that it was just the memo that had been rescinded, and that Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and other progressive spending priorities remained intact.

“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction,” she wrote.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING

President Donald Trump’s OMB issued a memo pausing most federal funding. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign/File)

“The President’s EOs on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

Min’s comments were directed at Leavitt’s aforementioned post.

Earlier, the California Democrat criticized Leavitt’s comments at a White House press briefing in which she said, “DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza. That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer dollars.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing on Tuesday. (AP)

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Min mocked the senior Trump aide, claiming she was making those remarks “while wearing a giant cross to let everyone know how pious and moral she is, even as she is so comfortable stating a bald-faced lie to hundreds of millions of people.”

He told Fox News Digital in request for further comment, “As a person of faith, I find it appealing that this administration uses religion to advance an agenda while lying through their teeth about what they are doing, allowing children to go to bed hungry, depriving veterans of their earned healthcare, and slashing funding for the police and first responders.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Leavitt for comment.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Wednesday the department has stopped all grant funding to nonprofits that operate outside of government control, saying they have been “perverted into a shadow government” that feeds illegal immigration.

Noem said some non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which receive millions in federal grants, have been facilitating illegal immigration by helping aliens cross the U.S. border.

“Many of these NGOs actually have infrastructure and operations set up in Mexico, on that side of the border, and are telling those illegal immigrants to come to them, and they will get them across the border,” Noem said on Fox News Channel’s Will Cain Show. “So they’re not just operating in the United States, they’re operating outside the United States to help make it easier for those who want to break our laws.”

Homeland Security Kristi Noem joins an ICE raid in New York City on Tuesday. Noem said communities will be safer because of targeted raids that go after criminal illegal immigrants.  (Department of Homeland Security)

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS 969 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS IN ONE DAY: ‘HERE ARE SOME OF THE WORST’

The first step to curbing the issue is to freeze the funds, reevaluate them, and make sure taxpayer dollars are going toward safe causes, she said.

“I think people are curious [to see how] grants that are given out by federal agencies [are] utilized,” Noem said. 

Until an evaluation is completed, Noem said the department is “not spending another dime to help the destruction of this country.”

This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)

She added not all NGOs are what they appear to be, and some could be a risk to national security.

“When somebody said NGO to me, I thought that [was] a nonprofit telling somebody about Jesus or spreading faith and salvation…,” Noem said. “Then I realized over the years, it’s been perverted into this shadow government.”

Noem explained that NGOs create an entity to use taxpayer dollars, funding an operation the federal government cannot legally implement itself.

TRUMP-ERA SOUTHERN BORDER SEES MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS PLUMMET BY OVER 60% AS NEW POLICIES KICK IN

Recently, she said they have been used to undermine the country’s national security. 

Approximately 1.5 million NGOs operate in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of State.

A sign is posted at the U.S. Border Patrol station where lawyers reported that detained migrant children had been held unbathed and hungry on June 26, 2019, in Clint, Texas. Nearly 100 children were sent back to the troubled facility yesterday after it had been cleared of 249 children just days earlier. Acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) John Sanders submitted his resignation in the wake of the scandal. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NGOs can range from political advocacy groups, to religious volunteer organizations or labor unions.

There are no laws prohibiting foreign funding of NGOs, whether that be from other governments or non-government sources, according to the State Department.

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In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $380 million on sheltering and service programs for illegal immigrants.

California Republican Rep. Bill Essayli is seeking answers from liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration about whether bills introduced in the legislature’s special session to “Trump-proof” the state would thwart the president’s mass deportation program.

During a hearing on Tuesday to discuss two bills that Newsom has proposed, which allocates a $50 million initiative to bolster the state’s legal defenses against anticipated federal policies from President Donald Trump’s administration, Essayli questioned officials from Newsom’s office about whether the funds would be used “to defend illegal immigrants from deportation.”

“It’s not very clear to me, but basically, these groups provide free legal services to illegal immigrants,” Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview. “And what I wanted to know is, if they’re going to be defending illegal immigrants from deportation who have criminal records, and they could not answer the question. I think the answer is, absolutely they are.”

IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME … TO FIGHT DONALD TRUMP?’: CA HOUSE SPEAKER DODGES FIERY QUESTIONING FROM REPORTER

California Assemblyman Bill Essayli questions state officials on whether money in a bill before the assembly could be used to defend criminal illegal immigrants from deportation. (California State Assembly)

During the hearing, Essayli asked one of Newsom’s officials if the money would be used to defend criminal illegal immigrants from deportation.

“Assembly member, as a budget staffer, I can only tell you what the grant is for, I don’t know that I can get you that level of guarantee,” she responded.

She later added she’s “not certain about that” when asked further if any funds given to nonprofit organizations would go to defending criminal illegal immigrants.

Newsom’s proposal includes earmarking $25 million to the California Department of Justice to enhance its capacity to sue the Trump administration over policies that could “harm Californians,” including environmental regulations and abortion access. An additional $25 million is designated for nonprofit organizations to defend “immigrant families.”

‘DEVASTATING’: CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT

Newsom and Trump face off during the president’s trip to California to survey wildfire damage. (Fox News)

“All of this is for show, just to say, ‘Oh, we had a public hearing on these bills,’ and then we’re supposed to vote,” Essayli said. “We didn’t get any questions answered.”

Spokesperson for Newsom’s office, Brandon Richards, told Fox News Digital in a statement that “none of this funding will be used to support immigration-related services for criminals. Period.”

Fox News Digital followed up with Newsom’s office inquiring whether funds would be used to defend any illegal immigrants in California from deportation. In response, Richards repeated his previous statement. 

The Trump administration has been moving full steam ahead with first deporting illegal immigrants who have already been convicted of committing crimes. In the last week, the Department of Homeland Security said that “law enforcement officials have removed and returned 7,300 illegal aliens.”

NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO ‘TRUMP-PROOF’ CALIFORNIA

President Donald Trump after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Newsom called a special legislative session quickly after Trump’s electoral victory to secure additional funding for the state’s legal defense against the administration. Reacting to the development on his TruthSocial account at the time, Trump said, “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election.”

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The state has a history of legal battles with the Trump administration, having filed 123 lawsuits during his first term, primarily concerning environmental, illegal immigration and healthcare issues. California was also among the first states to establish itself as a “sanctuary state” for transgender transition treatments for minors, a practice that Trump barred from receiving federal support through an executive order on Wednesday.

The California Senate has already approved Newsom’s proposal, and the Assembly will vote Thursday. If the Assembly passes the measures without amendments, they will be sent to Newsom’s desk by Friday.

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

FIRST ON FOX: A nationwide group of former Federal Bureau of Investigation agents has sent a letter to Senate leadership in support of Trump FBI Director nominee Kash Patel making the case that the bureau is “broken” and in desperate need of a new direction. 

“As a group of retired FBI Special Agents and former Intelligence Analysts from across the country dedicated to restoring public trust in the FBI and returning the FBI to its original mission, we support President Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as the FBI’s next Director,” the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, signed by over 50 former and retired FBI agents from Reform The Bureau said.

The letter was sent to Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Dick Durbin, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“Many Americans have lost faith in the FBI, and for good reason,” the letter explains. “The FBI is broken. And with this loss of trust has come a rise in threats at home and abroad. Drug cartels and Mexican gangs have taken control of the border and have infiltrated cities across the country bringing violent crime and drugs with them. At the same time, China has grown more brazen, engaging in espionage that robs U.S. businesses of their intellectual property and undermines our national security.”

FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL

Kash Patel’s FBI Director confirmation hearing will be held on Thursday (Getty Images)

“Terrorist groups are on the rise again in the Middle East, with unknown numbers having flooded into our country over the past four years through a wide-open border. Just as these many, varied threats have increased, the FBI has been used as a tool in the weaponization of the Department of Justice to go after its political enemies. Lives have been shattered and the targets of these weaponized investigations have been forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own personal funds to defend themselves and their reputations. This needs to stop.”

The former agents wrote that the bureau is in “desperate need of a highly capable, non-partisan, and legally compliant FBI it can trust” right now “more than ever” and made the case that Patel is the person to make that a reality.

The letter explained that as both a public defender and prosecutor, Patel has “operated on both sides of the justice system,” which gives him a “unique perspective” to understand the need to both enforce the law and respect the rights of the accused.

‘JUST LIKE TRUMP’: ISIS MURDER VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER’S PARENTS ENDORSE PATEL FOR FBI FOLLOWING MILITARY OP ROLE

President Donald Trump has nominated longtime ally Kashyap “Kash” Patel, who has been a frequent and harsh critic of the FBI, to serve as the bureau’s next director. (Reuters)

“As a former congressional aide, he understands the importance of congressional oversight and the need for the FBI to be responsive and transparent to members of Congress as they perform this important function,” the letter states. “And as a former Executive Branch national security official who has served at the National Security Council, at the Directorate of Intelligence, and at the Pentagon, he understands the scope of national security threats our country faces. Mr. Patel also understands how organizations such as the FBI function and collaborate with other agencies to keep America safe, and the need for highly capable but legally compliant agencies to take on these threats and protect the American people.”

“Never has the FBI faced such an urgent and compelling need for comprehensive reform as it does today. Mr. Patel has proven he possesses the breadth of experience required to address these challenges. His leadership, expertise, and vision make him uniquely qualified to guide the FBI through this pivotal moment. For these reasons, we stand in full support of Kash Patel’s nomination.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patel spokesperson Erica Knight said, “The endorsement from these former FBI agents and intelligence analysts underscores what so many Americans already know—Kash Patel is the principled leader we need to restore trust in the FBI and refocus it on its core mission of protecting the American people.”

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Patel is set to join the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as the final leg of his nomination process kicks off in earnest. Patel has been on Capitol Hill meeting with Senate lawmakers to rally support for his nomination, earning praise from conservative lawmakers such as Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, as well as endorsements from key law enforcement groups, such as the National Sheriffs’ Association. 

Patel is expected to face an uphill battle overall to secure the nomination, as Democrats balk that he lacks the qualifications to lead the law enforcement agency and would politicize the agency.  

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report

President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law Wednesday, marking the first piece of legislation to become law in his second administration. 

The measure, which advanced through the House and Senate in January, directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer. 

The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.

CONGRESS SENDS LAKEN RILEY ACT TO TRUMP’S DESK AS FIRST BILL OF GOP’S WASHINGTON TAKEOVER

Jose Ibarra, left, was found guilty on 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, right. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

The law’s name honors a nursing student who was killed during a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus by an illegal immigrant. Jose Ibarra, who previously had been arrested but never detained by ICE, received a prison life sentence for killing 22-year-old Laken Riley. 

The measure received support from all House Republicans and 48 Democrats, and all Senate Republicans and 12 Senate Democrats. 

Meanwhile, critics of the measure claim that the law will pave the way for mass detention, including for those who’ve committed minor offenses like shoplifting. 

Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement after the Senate voted to advance the measure ahead of a final vote, “This is an extreme and reactive bill that will authorize the largest expansion of mandatory detention we have seen in decades.” 

LAKEN RILEY ACT PASSES HOUSE WITH 48 DEMS, ALL REPUBLICANS 

President Donald Trump signs a second executive order during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of his second presidential term, Jan. 20, 2025.  (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

“While we are disappointed this bill will pass the Senate, it is notable that so many senators opposed it and recognized the need for actual immigration reform — not the chaos and cruelty this legislation will unleash,” Mehta said. 

Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration during his campaign, and declared a national emergency at the southern border following his inauguration. He also immediately ordered the expulsion of migrants without the possibility of asylum. 

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned foreign nationals considering entering the U.S. that they will be detained and kicked out of the country. 

TIDAL WAVE OF BORDER SECURITY BILLS HIT HOUSE AS REPUBLICANS MOVE FAST ON DC TAKEOVER

On Jan. 28, 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned foreign nationals considering entering the U.S. that they will be detained and kicked out of the country.  (Samuel Corum/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“So to foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States, think again,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday at the White House press briefing. “Under this president, you will be detained and you will be deported. Every day, Americans are safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump’s administration is removing from our communities.”

Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

The Senate will vote Wednesday on whether to confirm former Rep. Lee Zeldin to head the government’s leading agency on environmental rules and regulations.

President Donald Trump tapped Zeldin, who previously served as a congressman from New York’s 1st Congressional District from 2015 to 2023, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under his administration. During his tenure in Congress, Zeldin, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, launched a campaign for governor in New York, when he trailed only five percentage points in the largely Democratic state.

Zeldin underwent a confirmation hearing earlier this month, when he was questioned on climate change by members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The Senate held a cloture vote for Zeldin on Wednesday afternoon, which ended the debate over his nomination. The chamber will now proceed to a final floor vote. 

ZELDIN GRILLED BY DEMOCRATS ON CLIMATE CHANGE, TRUMP’S STANCE ON CARBON EMISSIONS DURING EPA HEARING

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

If confirmed on Wednesday, Zeldin will head the agency that surveys environmental issues, provides assistance to wide-ranging environmental projects, and establishes rules that align with the administration’s views on environmental protection and climate change. 

During his confirmation hearing, Zeldin pledged that if confirmed, he would “foster a collaborative culture within the agency, supporting career staff who have dedicated themselves to this mission. I strongly believe we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of our environment for generations to come.”

Lee Zeldin, former New York representative, with athlete Riley Gaines, outside the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (J. Conrad Williams, Jr./Newsday RM)

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The latest round of voting comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., continues to advance the confirmation process to push through Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., was blasted by conservatives on social media on Wednesday over his contentious line of questioning toward President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“Frankly, you frighten people,” Whitehouse told Kennedy while seemingly linking Kennedy’s skepticism of some vaccines to the first case of measles in Rhode Island since 2013. 

“Americans are going to need to hear a clear and trustworthy recantation of what you have said on vaccinations, including a promise from you never to say vaccines aren’t medically safe when they, in fact, are, and making indisputably clear that you support mandatory vaccinations against diseases where that will keep people safe,” Whitehouse said. “You’re in that hole pretty deep.”

Whitehouse, who attended law school with Kennedy where the two were friends, used the majority of his time to list concerns about Kennedy, allowing the HHS hopeful a small window at the end to address the line of questioning.

‘MASTERCLASS’: BONDI FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM SENATOR AFTER SUGGESTING SHE WILL WEAPONIZE DOJ 

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, left, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Getty)

Whitehouse’s comments quickly drew criticism from conservatives on social media. 

“Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI) beginning his confirmation ‘questioning’ of RFK Jr. by saying ‘I’m very experienced, so you’re just going to have to listen,’  then talking for 7 minutes nonstop is such a perfect picture of why Democrats are failing around the nation right now,” Daily Signal columnist Tony Kinnett posted on X. 

“You know what would be good?” columnist John Podhortez posted on X. “Sheldon Whitehouse going away forever to an island. And not Rhode Island, which isn’t an island. More like St. Helena.”

NOBEL LAUREATE LETTER OPPOSING RFK JR CONFIRMATION LOADED WITH DEM DONORS, OFFICIALS: ‘THINLY VEILED ATTEMPT’

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., leaves the Senate Democrats’ lunch in the Capitol on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Whitehouse delivers a droning monologue then tells RFK he’s out of time, can respond in writing,” National Review senior writer Dan McLaughlin posted on X. 

“What a jacka–,” Twitchy.com editor Samantha Janney posted on X. “RFK Jr. should ask Sheldon about his membership at multiple whites-only clubs.”

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Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be Health and Human Services Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, 2025. (Getty)

Fox News Digital reached out to Whitehouse’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Opposition to Kennedy’s nomination has been fierce, with advocacy groups running ad campaigns urging senators to vote against his confirmation mainly due to his past skepticism of some vaccines. 

“I want to make sure the Committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety,” Kennedy said in his opening statement in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday that his objective to making “America Healthy Again” will not include taking food such as cheeseburgers or Twinkies off of the shelves – quipping his boss has a soft spot for fast food. 

“Most importantly, we need to use, deploy, NIH and FDA to doing the research to understand the relationship between these different food additives and chronic diseases so that Americans understand it,” Kennedy explained before the committee on Wednesday. 

“But I don’t want to take food away from anybody. If you like a cheeseburger, a McDonald’s cheeseburger, or a Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them,” he said, which sparked laughter from the audience. 

“If you want a Hostess Twinkies, you should be able to do that. But you should know what the impacts are on your family and on your health,” he explained. 

TRUMP INNER CIRCLE SHARES MCDONALD’S MEAL AS DONALD JR. JOKES ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN STARTS TOMORROW’

US Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes his seat as he arrives during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be Health and Human Services Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 29, 2025.  (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has long been a well-known fan of Diet Coke and McDonald’s fast-food, including re-installing a Diet Coke button on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office to swiftly deliver him the soft drink, and campaigned at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s ahead of the Nov. 5 election. 

WOMAN SERVED BY TRUMP AT MCDONALD’S DRIVE-THRU REVEALS DETAILS BEHIND VIRAL EXCHANGE WITH FORMER PRESIDENT

Kennedy’s hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee is just the first, with the nominee scheduled to again join lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday to appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Kennedy has been at the forefront of “MAHA,” or Make America Health Again, movement within Trump’s orbit. 

Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, left, uses a frier as an employee looks on during a visit to McDonald’s in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Kennedy’s hearing was expected to be fiery, as the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy has come under fire for his critical stance on vaccines and food additives. Kennedy defended in his hearing that he is not “anti-vaccine.”

TRUMP MAKES FRIES AT PENNSYLVANIA MCDONALD’S: ‘I’VE NOW WORKED FOR 15 MINUTES MORE THAN KAMALA’

Donald Trump sharing a McDonald’s meal on his campaign plane with Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Donald Trump Jr. / X)

“I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish. And nobody called me anti-fish. And I believe that … that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated. I’ve read many books on vaccines. My first book in 2014, a first line of it is ‘I am not anti-vaccine’ and last line is ‘I am not anti-vaccine.’ Nor I’m the enemy of food producers, American farms and the bedrock of our culture, of our politics, of our national security,” he said on Wednesday.

‘VINDICTIVE’: DEMOCRAT IN TIGHT SENATE RACE BLASTED BY GOP RIVAL FOR SWIPE AT MCDONALD’S AFTER TRUMP VISIT

Left: RFK Jr in a photo from congressional testimony. Right: Then-presidential nominee Donald Trump poses with employees during a campaign event at McDonald’s restaurant on October 20, 2024 in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania.  (Getty Images)

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“In my advocacy, I’ve often disturbed this status quo. I am asking uncomfortable questions. Well, I’m not going to apologize for that. We have massive health problems in this country that we must face,” he added. 

FIRST ON FOX: This week the U.S. tech sector was routed by the Chinese launch of DeepSeek, and Sen. Josh Hawley is putting forth legislation to prevent that from happening again. 

Hawley’s bill, the Decoupling America’s Artifical Intelligence Capabilities from China Act, would cut off U.S.-China cooperation on AI. It would ban exports or imports of AI technology from China, ban American companies from conducting research there, and prohibit any U.S. investment in AI tech companies in China. 

“Every dollar and gig of data that flows into Chinese AI are dollars and data that will ultimately be used against the United States,” said Hawley, R-Mo., in a statement. “America cannot afford to empower our greatest adversary.”

His is one of the first bills introduced directly in response to the DeepSeek market shakeup of the past few days.

THERE IS A ‘WAKE-UP CALL’ FOR US TO BE THE LEADER IN AI, SAYS WHITE HOUSE AI AND CRYPTO ‘CZAR’ 

Sen. Josh Hawley has introduced a bill to cut off U.S.-China cooperation on artificial intelligence. (C-Span)

DeepSeek’s release of a new high-profile AI model that costs less to run than existing models like those of Meta and OpenAI sent a chill through U.S. markets, with chipmaker Nvidia stocks tanking on Monday before slowly gaining ground again on Tuesday. 

The surprise release displayed how China’s economic competitiveness has far outpaced the ability of U.S. business leaders and lawmakers to agree on what to do about it. 

Unlike other legislation to thwart China’s profiting off U.S. innovation, Hawley’s bill would cover any AI-related technology instead of specific entities, which has prompted the Chinese to seek out loopholes through other companies. 

TRUMP’S AI ‘DECLARATION’ REMINISCENT OF JFK PLEDGE TO PUT A MAN ON THE MOON: FORMER WHITE HOUSE IT OFFICIAL 

Microsoft and OpenAI are now reportedly investigating whether DeepSeek could have accessed and used their data to train its own Chinese model, Bloomberg News reported. 

White House artificial intelligence czar David Sacks told Fox News there is “substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models.” 

The U.S. and China are engaged in an AI race, and until recently the U.S. was thought to be slightly ahead. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

President Donald Trump on Monday said DeepSeek’s arrival on the scene “should be a wakeup call” for America’s tech companies after the new low-cost AI assistant soared to number one on the Apple app store over the weekend. 

“The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser focused on competing,” Trump said. 

But the president said it was ultimately a good thing if the world had access to cheaper, faster AI models. “​​Instead of spending billions and billions, you’ll spend less, and you’ll come up with, hopefully, the same solution,” Trump said.

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In his final week in office, President Joe Biden issued a rule slapping export controls on AI chips, with his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, arguing that the U.S. was only six to 18 months ahead of China in the AI sector. 

U.S. officials are now looking at the national security implications of DeepSeek, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who added that the Trump administration was working to “ensure American AI dominance.”