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FIRST ON FOX: Nearly two-dozen Republican attorneys general are imploring the Biden administration to act following “grim” reports that 85,000 migrant children are missing with “reason to believe” that some are being trafficked.  

In a letter sent Monday, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes wrote to Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and FBI Director Christopher Wray saying that “the United States needs to stop handing over children to ‘probable traffickers.’”

“Losing 85,000 kids is like losing the entire population of Sioux City, Iowa. This is unacceptable,” Bird told Fox News Digital in a statement. “As a mom, it makes me sick to know that many of these missing kids have been trapped into forced labor and exploited by heinous sex traffickers. It’s the federal government’s job to keep these children safe.”

“President Biden’s own Department of Health and Human Services is sounding the alarm that unaccompanied children are being released into compromising situations but seems unwilling or unable to devise a strategy to address these concerns,” Fitch told Fox News Digital. “This may end up one of the greatest tragedies to come from the chaos they have created at the border.”

BIDEN, TRUMP TO MAKE US-MEXICO BORDER STOPS THURSDAY AS MIGRANT CRISIS ROILS ELECTION

“President Biden’s border crisis has reached never-before-seen levels. Even worse, we now learn that the Department of Health and Human Services cannot find more than 85,000 migrant children who entered our country over the last two years,” the AGs wrote. 

“Reports show that many of those children have been forced into the labor market, where they work debilitating hours under dangerous conditions in violation of child-labor laws or are sex trafficked,” they said.  

The Republican AGs cited a report published earlier this month by the HHS Office of Inspector General which they described as “grim.” That report, they said, found “major problems with safety concerns for unaccompanied children,” and “explained that for more than one-in-five children required sponsor safety checks were not timely performed.”

“In more than one-third of the cases, IDs submitted by sponsors raised concerns. Some children were released without home studies—to homes investigators later found to be vacant or nonresidential.”

“[We] write because there is reason to believe that some of the 85,000 missing children are being trafficked. That cannot continue. But since this news surfaced, neither the Department of Health and Human Services nor the Department of Homeland Security has offered a plan for identifying and protecting those vulnerable children,” the AGs said. 

“Trafficking minors cannot continue. We demand a response to this crisis,” they added. 

MOST AMERICANS CALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ‘VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM,’ POLL FINDS

The Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services and the FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

“Parents send their children alone to the United States for a better life. Some come to escape war, others to escape gangs or violence,” the AGs wrote. 

“By law, the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for keeping these children safe when they arrive. That responsibility includes reuniting children with family or placing them with a sponsor who will protect them from trafficking and exploitation. But that Department is not living up to its responsibilities, and the cost of that failure is tens of thousands of missing children,” they charged.

The AGs said that the HHS “loosened vetting procedures” and as a result claim that “thousands of children have now fallen victim to forced labor and sex trafficking.”

ICE CONFIRMS GEORGIA STUDENT MURDER SUSPECT ENTERED US ILLEGALLY, WAS PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED IN NYC

“They spend their time in this country working dangerous and sometimes inhumane jobs. They are deprived of necessities like sleep and food and denied an education. Some even face life-altering injuries and death,” they said. 

One recent example they cited is a sixteen-year-old person who was crushed under an earthmover near Atlanta, Georgia. Another example is a fourteen-year-old person who was hit by a car while delivering food on a bike in Brooklyn, New York. And another — a fifteen-year-old — died on his first day of work for a roofing company when he fell 50 feet. 

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There are also numerous examples of young women brought across the border in Texas only to be placed immediately into sex trafficking rings, they note. 

“In a country that claims to value both children and the rule of law, this cannot happen,” they said. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre knocked former President Trump and Republicans in Congress over the Senate border bill ahead of President Biden’s dueling trip to Texas. 

While aboard Air Force One en route to New York City on Monday, Jean-Pierre said President Biden would spend his visit to Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday hearing directly from Border Patrol agents and about the resources they need to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump, the GOP front-runner and Biden’s likely opponent come November, had already been scheduled to speak at the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday, when the White House on Monday announced Biden’s trip approximately 325 miles away that same day. 

Jean-Pierre focused her comments to reporters about how the bipartisan border supplemental passed out of the Senate 70-29 and needs to be called to a vote in the House. 

Biden, “was able to move the ball forward in the Senate to get a bipartisan negotiation on the border security deal. That was rejected, obviously, by Republicans because of the last president and President Trump, to be exact,” Jean-Pierre said, stressing that the bipartisan border proposal also received support from the Border Patrol union. 

Brownsville is part of the Rio Grande Valley sector, which has been considered dead or slow in illegal crossings over the past several months. It currently averages only between about 200-400 encounters per day across the entire​ sector, which includes nine separate Border Patrol stations in a handful of different cities and areas, and it is the sector with the most resources. 

BIDEN, TRUMP TO MAKE US-MEXICO BORDER STOPS THURSDAY AS MIGRANT CRISIS ROILS ELECTION

Therefore, there will be zero risk of any Border Patrol facility overcrowding for Biden’s visit. 

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection source told Fox News that there were only 318 encounters in the Rio Grande Valley sector on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, sectors in blue states are very busy. The San Diego and Tucson sectors are both getting 1,000-2,000 illegal crossings daily.

Eagle Pass, where Trump will be visiting, has been the center of an ongoing stand-off and court battle between Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration. Texas National Guard troops were ordered to deny access by federal Border Patrol agents to Shelby Park, which has seen a surge in illegal crossings, and erected razor wire to deter migrants. 

Biden’s last visit to the border was in El Paso after a huge surge of illegal crossings where the streets had been cleared of migrant camps and the visit was highly sanitized. Biden did not see or talk to a single migrant, nor did he visit a Border Patrol station, opting for a CBP port of entry instead, where only lawful crossings occur.

Asked if Biden plans to meet with migrants this time given the criticism that he didn’t last time, Jean-Pierre said she had no information yet. 

“We’ll have more to share as we get closer to Thursday. Don’t have anything for you at this time. Obviously, he’s going to meet with frontline folks who work on the ground, including Border Patrol agents, hear directly from them. See also for himself what is it that they do every day to protect Americans, to secure the border,” she said. “They need more resources.”

TRUMP BLAMES ‘BIDEN’S BORDER INVASION’ FOR LAKEN RILEY MURDER, VOWS ‘LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION’ IF ELECTED

Pressed on whether Biden has any planned executive action to address the border crisis, Jean-Pierre again turned back to Congress. 

“We’ve been very clear there is no executive action that would have done what the bipartisan Senate negotiation proposal could have done. That would have been a step forward in dealing with the challenges at the border and dealing with policy changes, obviously, and in dealing with what is actually happening with the immigration system,” she said. 

“Republicans should get out of the way, not politicize this. This is an issue that the American people, majority of American people, care about,” she added. 

The press secretary said Biden is “going to see for himself to see what they’ve been doing on the ground. Remember, these Border Patrol agents have been doing everything that they can to secure the border with the resources that they have. They need more. They need more.” 

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The White House billed the Senate bipartisan border bill as “the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades,” saying it provides funding needed for additional U.S. border agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more. 

Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

Concerned Washington, D.C. residents and small business owners have banded together to oust a Democratic councilmember during an ongoing crime surge, marking the second recall effort launch in the district in months.

The recall effort against Councilmember Brianne Nadeau launched Tuesday over her relaxed criminal justice reform policies as the district grapples with skyrocketing crime in recent years, leaving some business owners in turmoil and many residents feeling unsafe. The announcement echoed a push to remove fellow Councilmember Charles Allen, which has attracted support from Democratic political fundraisers and congressional staffers who have helped raise over $56,000 for the campaign.

“The historic rise in crime is not just mere numbers; they represent shattered lives, eroded trust, and a community living in fear,” the Nadeau recall effort’s chairwoman, Diana Alvarez, said last week.

Alvarez, who owns a small business in Nadeau’s district, said she was driven to launch the campaign after her smoke shop endured three violent robberies. 

DC AG INFURIATES RESIDENTS AFTER SAYING CITY ‘CANNOT PROSECUTE AND ARREST’ OUT OF CRIME CRISIS: ‘MADNESS’

“My employees were terrorized, and my security costs have become astronomical,” she said in the statement. “I know that I am one of many people and businesses in this dire situation.”

As crime has dropped in some major cities across the country, the nation’s capital ended 2023 with a 26-year high in homicides with 274 murders, according to Metropolitan Police Department data. Robberies and thefts spiked 67% and 23%, respectively, and motor vehicle thefts nearly doubled.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES NEW RESOURCES TO COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME IN DC

The surging violence has caused some district businesses to move or shut down completely, including a nearly 10-year-old wine bar that closed in December after the restaurant faced five burglaries in five months. In Nadeau’s district, a string of 10 robberies within a few weeks last year led to increased fear and hefty damages for some business owners and residents in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, ABC7 reported.

“I understand people’s concerns about crime,” Nadeau told WUSA9 in response to the recall campaign. The three-term councilmember said she’s spearheading three bills to address public safety concerns, including legislation aimed at improving the city’s 911 center and police cadet recruitment. 

“I will focus on doing the work that I was sent here to do by Ward 1 voters, and I will keep doing that regardless of any recall efforts,” Nadeau told the local outlet. 

DC SUPERMARKETS TURN TO HIGH-TECH SECURITY GATES AS CRIME CONTINUES TO SURGE

But Alvarez accused Nadeau of allowing an environment for criminals to thrive as violence escalated. 

“Brianne Nadeau has fundamentally failed to take any consequential action to reduce crime, and it is time she is held accountable,” Alvarez said. 

The recall campaign blamed Nadeau for encouraging criminals through her support of progressive legislation in recent years. The councilmember voted in favor of slashing $15 million from the police budget in 2020 and supported an overhaul to the city’s criminal code in 2022 that would have lowered the maximum penalties for certain offenses like burglaries and carjackings if Congress hadn’t blocked the legislation. 

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“The dream of a safe, vibrant, and prosperous Ward-1 seems more distant with each passing day,” Alvarez said. “I am proud to lead this effort because we deserve representation that is responsive to our needs, not in denial of them.”

The campaign intends to file an intent for recall with the Board of Elections in a few weeks and will then have 180 days to obtain signatures from 10% of the ward’s registered voters, The Washington Post reported. Nadeau’s seat would be vacant until a special election is held to replace her if the recall campaign prevails, but a recall effort hasn’t been successful in the district’s 50 years of home rule. 

Nadeau did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. 

Although the South Carolina primary has been the focal point of the GOP presidential nomination fight for much of the last month, it’s not the only contest on Saturday where Republicans will be voting for a presidential candidate or where all-important delegates will be at stake.

More than 1,800 miles away, state GOP officials in Wyoming will meet to begin awarding the first of the state’s 29 delegates to the Republican National Convention this summer, but the contest won’t much resemble the South Carolina primary or any other presidential contests held so far this year.

Like a handful of other states, Wyoming doesn’t hold presidential primary elections where voters head to the polls or cast ballots by mail.

WYOMING JUDGE DISMISSES EFFORT TO BAR TRUMP FROM BALLOT

Instead, both state parties use what’s known as a “caucus-convention” system, which is a multi-step process that begins with local meetings (usually at the precinct level), then moves to mid-level meetings usually at the county or district level (or sometimes both) and then culminates with the state party convention.

At each level, participants elect representatives to attend the event at the next level until finally, somewhere along the way, delegates to the national party convention are awarded to candidates and individuals are chosen to fill those positions. The entire process can last several months.

Iowa and Nevada are both well-known for their presidential caucuses, and, while the Wyoming Republican process bears some structural similarities to other caucus systems, there are some notable differences.

For starters, Wyoming Republicans do not conduct a statewide presidential preference vote, at least not this year. In Iowa or Nevada, there is a statewide “winner” to report based on how participants at the precinct caucuses voted. Not so for the Wyoming Republicans. The only presidential result there is to report from the Wyoming GOP’s caucus process is how many national convention delegates each presidential candidate has won.

There are no tables or graphics with raw vote totals or vote percentages, as there are for other presidential nominating contests. The state party has held non-binding presidential straw polls or caucus votes in the past – Mitt Romney won the vote in 2012, receiving 39% of just over 2,100 votes cast – but it had no impact on delegates.

Another key difference is that the Wyoming Republicans do not hold all their events on the same day. In Iowa, state Republicans convened precinct-level caucuses all on the same day – Jan. 15. This year, Wyoming’s 23 county-level Republican party committees have held their precinct caucuses mostly on different days, with the first one on Feb. 2 and the final county scheduled to go on Saturday.

The precinct caucuses were open to any registered Republican who will be 18 by the November election. Those caucus-goers discussed issues of concern to them and then selected individuals to represent their precinct at the county conventions, where participants will vote for a presidential candidate and award national convention delegates.

Each of the 23 counties has one national convention delegate at stake. The winner of the vote in a county convention wins that county’s lone delegate. While these events are generally open to the public, it’s only those individuals who were elected at the precinct caucuses who get to cast a vote for president at the county conventions.

And, just like the precinct caucuses, the county conventions are not all scheduled for the same day. The first two county conventions will award their delegates on Saturday in Campbell and Carbon counties. The rest will follow suit at some point over the next two weeks. One county, Platte, has not yet scheduled its convention, according to the state party’s public events calendar.

The county conventions will award 23 of the state’s 29 national convention delegates. The remaining six delegates will be awarded at the state party convention in April.

Here’s a recap of what to expect in Wyoming over the coming days:

WYOMING GOP COUNTY CONVENTIONS

Wyoming’s 23 counties will each hold a county GOP convention to award national convention delegates. The first county conventions will convene on Saturday, with the rest holding theirs over the next two weeks.

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DELEGATES AT STAKE

Each county convention has one delegate at stake, for a total of 23 delegates. The Associated Press will report how many delegates each presidential candidate has won. There is no statewide presidential vote.

The state’s remaining six delegates will be awarded at the state convention in April.

WHO GETS TO VOTE AT THE COUNTY CONVENTIONS

Individuals elected at precinct caucuses held throughout the state in February will meet at the county conventions to vote on which presidential candidate will win the delegate from their county.

There is growing frustration among the 11 House impeachment managers about when they will present their articles to the Senate in the case of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

House managers serve as “prosecutors” and argue the impeachment case before the Senate. 

One impeachment manager told Fox they had been given “no clear guidance” about the roles they might play or when the House may even transmit the articles to the Senate. 

Fox was told the earliest the Senate could begin a trial is Wednesday. However, the decision lies at the feet of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). 

RANCHER SOUNDS ALARM ON ‘ROUTE’ FOR TERROR AS MAYORKAS DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR MASS BORDER CROSSINGS

Some House Republicans – and some impeachment managers – are itching to get started, but that could backfire without preparation.

Fox was told two weeks ago that House impeachment managers believed they might meet late last week to prep and organize – even doing “mock trial” sessions. Democrats who were impeachment managers conducted such dry runs in late 2019 and early 2020 ahead of the first impeachment trial of former President Trump. However, such sessions never materialized, although there were conversations among chiefs of staff for the impeachment managers.

HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS

“We hoped to get clarity on the next steps two weeks ago, if not the end of last week,” said one frustrated manager. 

There has been some chatter that the House might not even send over the impeachment articles until the issue of two looming government shutdowns subsides.

Managers expressed concern about how they should prepare or if the managers would be assigned “subject lanes” to argue before the Senate.

One manager feared that House leaders might want to send over the articles promptly, initiating a trial without any preparation. The manager worried how that would look if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) decides to give impeachment managers some latitude and present their arguments. 

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“We might fall on our face,” said one manager.

Republican Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott said his state will weigh in on the in vitro fertilization (IVF) debate following the Alabama state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are unborn children. 

“I have no doubt that Texas will be among the states that will be addressing this issue when we can bring in all the different facts and scenarios about what can happen. But also knowing Texas, as soon as you know, Texas is a pro-life state, and we want to do everything possible that we can to maintain Texas being a pro-life state,” Abbott told CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday on “State of the Union.”

“But at the very same time, I think Texans agree with what President Trump said. And that is, we as a state, want to ensure that we promote life. We bring more life into the world, and we empower parents to be able to have more children,” he added. 

Abbott’s comments follow the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.” The decision was reached after two wrongful death cases were brought forth by three couples who say their frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at an Alabama fertility clinic. 

TRUMP BREAKS SILENCE ON ALABAMA SUPREME COURT IVF RULING: ‘FIND AN IMMEDIATE SOLUTION’

“Unborn children are ‘children’ under the Act, without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the majority ruling.

The ruling subsequently led to a halt of IVF services at some Alabama medical centers. 

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM PAUSES IN VITRO FERTILIZATION FOLLOWING STATE SUPREME COURT EMBRYO RULING

“There’s some uncertainty lingering from this, but candidly, let’s go to President Trump because President Trump put out a statement on this that I think a lot of people agree with and that is a goal that we all kind of want to achieve,” Abbott said. “And that is we want to make it easier for people to be able to have babies. Not make it harder.”

“And the IVF process is a way of giving life to even more babies. And so what I think the goal is, is to make sure that we can find a pathway to ensure that parents who otherwise may not have the opportunity to have a child will be able to have access to the IVF process and become parents and give life to babies,” the Texas governor added.

ALABAMA IVF RULING REIGNITES DEBATE ON ABORTION, A MOTIVATING ISSUE FOR DEMOCRATS AHEAD OF ELECTION

Trump posted on Truth Social last week that if re-elected, the Republican Party “will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families.”

ALABAMA PROVIDERS SUSPEND IVF TREATMENTS AFTER STATE COURT’S RULING AS FERTILITY EXPERTS WEIGH IN

“We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America,” Trump wrote. 

“Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” Trump continued. “Today, I am calling on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama. The Republican Party should always be on the side of the Miracle of Life – and the side of Mothers, Fathers, and their Beautiful Babies. IVF is an important part of that, and our Great Republican Party will always be with you, in your quest, for the ULTIMATE JOY IN LIFE!”

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

President Biden will visit the southern border on Thursday – the same day former President Trump is also scheduled to go.

Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas to meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement, and local leaders, according to a White House official. 

That same day, Trump is delivering remarks in Eagle Pass, Texas, Fox News has previously confirmed. 

Brownsville and Eagle Pass are about 325 miles, or about a 5-hour-20 minute drive, apart. 

7.2M ILLEGALS ENTERED THE US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATION OF 36 STATES

According to a Fox News analysis published last week, nearly 7.3 million migrants are known to have illegally crossed the southwest border since Biden took office. 

That number is greater than the population of 36 individual states. It comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has already reported 961,537 border encounters in the current fiscal year, which runs from October through September. If the current pace of illegal immigration does not slow down, fiscal year 2024 will break last year’s record of 2,475,669 southwest border encounters — a number that by itself exceeds the population of New Mexico, a border state. 

The total number of southwest land border encounters since Biden assumed office in 2021 is 7,298,486, CBP data shows. 

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Eagle Pass has been the center of an ongoing conflict and court battle between Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration. 

Fox News’ Kellianne Jones and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

Hunter Biden reportedly said in a new interview published Monday that he views his sobriety battle as key to ensuring former President Trump does not win a second term in November. 

“Most importantly, you have to believe that you’re worth the work, or you’ll never be able to get sober. But I often do think of the profound consequences of failure here,” Hunter Biden told Axios about his struggle with addiction. 

“Maybe it’s the ultimate test for a recovering addict – I don’t know,” the president’s son said. “I have always been in awe of people who have stayed clean and sober through tragedies and obstacles few people ever face. They are my heroes, my inspiration.”

“I have something much bigger than even myself at stake. We are in the middle of a fight for the future of democracy,” he added.

HUNTER BIDEN’S PHONE CONTAINED MULTIPLE PHOTOS OF COCAINE, CRACK COCAINE AND DRUG PARAPHERNALIA: DOJ

Hunter Biden said he feels obligated to “make it through that fight clean and sober, and I feel a responsibility to everyone struggling through their own recovery to succeed.”

“I don’t care whether you’re 10 years sober, two years sober, two months sober or 200 years sober — your brain at some level is always telling you there’s still one answer,” he said.

The president’s son also gave advice to others struggling to stay sober. 

“Embrace the state in which you came into recovery — which is that feeling of hopelessness which forces you into a choice,” he said. “And then understand that what is required is that you basically have to change everything.”

Hunter Biden is expected to testify before closed doors on Wednesday before the Republican-led House Oversight and Judiciary committees, where lawmakers are expected to focus on President Biden’s son’s business dealings, as well as his addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine. 

In a filing last week, the Justice Department alleged that Hunter Biden’s iPhone had pictures and videos of “apparent” cocaine, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia documenting his drug use in November and December 2018. Hunter Biden is charged with lying about his drug use on a federal form to purchase a firearm.

HUNTER BIDEN LAWYER SAYS PHOTO ON HIS PHONE SHOWED SAWDUST, NOT COCAINE: ‘PROSECUTION IS FLAT OUT WRONG’

The filing also revealed that Hunter talked about his drug use with his then-girlfriend, Hallie Biden.

Hunter’s lawyers disputed one of the photos, saying it depicted sawdust, not drug residue. 

Hunter Biden’s notorious laptop’s content provided a window into his overseas business dealings, as well as more sordid material like homemade sex tapes and videos that appeared to show him using illegal drugs. The New York Post’s reporting about the laptop was censored on social media before the 2020 election amid pressure from the FBI. 

Last July, Hunter Biden swore in a federal court hearing that he had been sober since June 1, 2019. 

At a hearing in September, U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke said Hunter Biden had tested negative for drugs and alcohol since August, and the president’s son’s legal team told Axios he has continued to test negative since then.

A baggie of cocaine was found at the White House in a storage locker last July, but the Secret Service closed their investigation without identifying a suspect. 

In his memoir, Hunter Biden wrote about how he was still in the throes of his addiction weeks after a family intervention at their home in Delaware when his father, Joe Biden, announced his presidential candidacy in April 2019. Hunter fled to California, where he met and soon married Melissa Cohen, a documentary filmmaker.

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He considered their wedding his initial sobriety date – May 17, 2019, the day before Joe Biden officially launched his campaign in Philadelphia, according to Axios. 

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel will formally resign her position after the March 5 Super Tuesday primaries, weeks after former President Trump asked her to step down.

The move, reported by the New York Times and ABC News, comes weeks after Trump announced his recommendations for changes within the RNC earlier this month. He proposed that North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley take over as chairman, while his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita also receive leadership positions.

This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.

President Biden is preparing to deliver a State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress after again missing his deadline to present spending and national security plans to Congress. 

Some Republicans in Congress want to hold Biden and future presidents accountable to the deadline with a simple penalty. No plans on time, no grand speech under a proposal titled the SUBMIT IT Act, short for Send Us Budget Materials & International Tactics In Time.

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 – updated several times – requires a president to submit his budget request to Congress no later than the first Monday in February. The National Security Act of 1947 requires the president to submit a national security proposal for the same day. But there is no enforcement mechanism for either, which is where the SUBMIT IT Act could come in. 

“President Biden’s budget was due on Feb. 5, yet Congress has seen nothing,” Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., who sponsored the bill, told Fox News Digital. 

3 WAYS TO TREAT AMERICA’S DEBT PANDEMICS

“This is irresponsible. Until Congress receives the president’s national security strategy and budget, he has no business delivering a State of the Union address,” Carter added. 

The SUBMIT IT Act would prohibit House or Senate leadership from inviting the president to address a joint session of Congress until Congress gets both plans. 

If passed, the bill would affect the State of the Union going into 2025 and onward. This won’t have any impact on Biden’s State of the Union address this year, scheduled for March 7. 

Biden’s tardiness is not unique, as his four immediate predecessors from both parties were also late in getting their plans to Congress – including his likely 2024 Republican opponent, Donald Trump. So, rather than a partisan problem, it’s largely a long-running issue between two branches of government. 

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced a Senate version. 

“If the president is going to be allowed the opportunity to address Congress and the entire nation, he should actually have a plan in place,” Ernst said in a public statement when announcing the Senate version. “At a time when Americans are facing skyrocketing inflation and the world is on fire, we deserve more than just empty rhetoric.”

BIDEN BLASTS HOUSE FOR TWO-WEEK ‘VACATION’ DESPITE FACING CRITICISM FOR HIS FREQUENT BEACH TRIPS

Biden’s budget proposals in the past three years missed the deadline by 115, 49, and 31 days, respectively, noted Kurt Couchman, a senior fellow in fiscal policy at Americans for Prosperity. 

“Over the past several decades, presidents’ budget and defense proposals have been delayed more and more as missed deadlines have become an ever-more common symptom of the breakdown of the budget process,” Couchman said in a public statement supporting the legislation. “Congress and the American people deserve the opportunity to see and evaluate the president’s requests in a timely manner.” 

Trump, who was 38 days late in his first year, and his three immediate predecessors missed the budget deadline as well, according to Roll Call. President Barack Obama was late by 98 days in submitting his first budget proposal in 2009, according to a Congressional Research Service report. President George W. Bush was 63 days in his fiscal 2003 plan. In 1993, President Bill Clinton was 66 days late. 

The Congressional Research Service report noted the deadline was changed several times. Previously required in January, the most recent adjustment was in 1990, when the deadline was changed to say, “on or after the first Monday in January but not later than the first Monday in February of each year.”

The Constitution requires the president to submit a State of the Union update to Congress, but nothing requires that message to be a speech to a joint session. Every president from Thomas Jefferson through William Howard Taft submitted a written annual message to Congress. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson broke that tradition with a speech to a joint session of Congress. 

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The speech to a joint session requires an invitation from congressional leadership, which has typically been a formality. 

But in 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., threatened to withhold an invitation Trump to speak until the partial government shutdown ended. Trump suggested he would deliver the address at an alternative location. The shutdown ended, and Pelosi invited him to speak. 

FIRST ON FOX: Dr. John Boyd Jr., a fourth-generation farmer and civil rights activist, told Fox News Digital that Democrats have taken the Black vote “for granted” and that voters are concerned about President Biden’s age and fed up with the unraveling situation at the southern border.

“From a Black standpoint, many Blacks, including my son, have voted Democrat for a very long time, and it looks like, when we raise issues like this, our votes are being taken for granted,” Boyd told Fox News Digital while discussing his unsuccessful efforts to meet directly with President Biden in the White House to talk about farming issues and debt relief for Black Farmers. 

Recent polls have showed that Biden is losing support from Black voters and the Democrat advantage with that voting group in a recent Gallup poll is the “smallest Gallup has recorded in its polling dating back to 1999.”

“He’s losing support in the Black community because he’s not communicating with the Black community and high turnover and senior level staffers that should be communicating with the Black community. I haven’t had one meeting in the White House, not one meeting in the White House since he’s been president.”

4TH GEN FARMER BLASTS BIDEN ADMIN FOR SENDING BILLIONS TO UKRAINE AS US FARMERS SUFFER: ‘FACING EXTINCTION’

“Totally unheard of, and I’ve been around – and I’ve been meeting with presidents, Republican and Democrat, every president since Jimmy Carter, visited with to talk about issues that are relevant to our national body – and this president has not invited us to the White House as I speak and talk to you today. I haven’t received one, and it’s Black History Month.”

Boyd told Fox News Digital that Black voters, consistent with several national polls, are concerned about the president’s age heading into November.

“President Biden’s age is an issue for many Americans, and not just for Black folks, but a lot of people are looking and wondering, can he really govern the country over the next four years if he’s reelected, in the condition that he’s in,” Boyd said. 

BIDEN SUPPORT FROM BLACK VOTERS PLUMMETING AS DEMOCRATS BLAME ‘DISINFORMATION’

Boyd explained that voters of all backgrounds are looking for the Biden administration to do more to secure the southern border.

“The border remains wide open,” Boyd said. “It’s in complete chaos at the border. Here we are letting people who are not U.S. citizens coming into this country, and we’re giving them debit cards and money and putting them up into hotels.”

“And you know, I just described my rich history, both good and bad, my forefathers being slaves here on American soil, brought to the country by force, and here are these people coming into the U.S. who aren’t citizens, and we’re treating them better than U.S. citizens.”

“What does that say to the nation’s hardest occupation in history, which is farming?” Boyd asked.

Boyd told Fox News Digital that “if it was up to me” the “border would be closed.”

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“We wouldn’t open the borders until after we see what we can do about the chaos that we have on the border,” Boyd said. “If I was president, I would close the border, simple as that, I don’t need an act of Congress to do it.“

The White House previously told Fox News Digital that Boyd was invited to meet with top agricultural officials, including USDA head Tom Vilsack, at a recent event but was not able to attend.

“The president committed to the meeting while we were at the WH for the Fourth of July event 3 yrs ago,” Boyd told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The meeting was Biden’s suggestion. And so far there has NOT been one.”

“I am not interested in meeting with Vilsack. The issues I raised are relevant for a response from Biden. Any lesser political appointee will not suffice,” he continued.

The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

AFP Action, the conservative wing of the powerful and influential conservative Americans for Prosperity, funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, has pulled funding for the presidential campaign of Nikki Haley. 

In an email to staffers obtained by Fox News, AFP Action senior adviser Emily Seidel said the group did not believe that “any outside group can make a material difference to widen [Haley’s] path to victory.” 

“And so while we will continue to endorse her, we will focus our resources where we can make the difference. And that’s the U.S. Senate and House,” Seidel wrote. 

The news was first reported by Politico earlier Sunday. 

AFP Action endorsed Haley in November, giving her a major grassroots and organizational boost.

The deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network launched an ad blitz on behalf of Haley in January, including mailers, digital ads, and connected TV spots. 

AFP Action, which pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars to help push the Republican Party past former President Trump as it endorsed Haley in late November, said last month it was putting an initial $27 million behind this new wave in their ongoing campaign.

TOP HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOUTH CAROLINA’S GOP PRIMARY WHERE TRUMP WON BIG, HALEY VOWED TO PRESS ON

The news came after Haley’s GOP rival, former President Trump, clinched the party’s nomination in Haley’s own home state of South Carolina on Saturday.

Despite the loss, and defying calls to exit the race, Haley has said it’s not the “end of our story” as she traveled Sunday to Michigan ahead of the state’s primary on Tuesday. 

In the less than 24 hours following her Saturday night loss, Haley’s campaign said that she had raised $1 million “from grassroots supporters alone,” a bump they argued “demonstrates Haley’s staying power and her appeal to broad swaths of the American public.”

But with Sunday also came the end of support for Haley’s campaign from Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network.

With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South contest, Trump has now swept every primary or caucus on the GOP early-season calendar that awards delegates. His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador.

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Still, Haley insists she is sticking around even with the growing pressure to abandon her candidacy and let Trump focus entirely on Democratic President Joe Biden, in a 2020 rematch.

First lady Jill Biden felt she became a “full-fledged” member of the family after Joe Biden had two brain aneurysms in 1988, and she took a more elevated role in family decisions, a new book details. 

“She was exhausted. In the hospital, as she watched Joe’s mother, sister, and brothers debate the best path forward for Joe’s treatment, something in her broke,” an upcoming book titled “American Woman” says describing Jill Biden as the future president underwent medical treatments at Walter Reed in 1988 for brain aneurysms.

“‘Wait a minute!’ she yelled at the group. ‘He’s my husband. I should be making the decision here.’”

The moment, underscored by Joe’s mom urging the family to listen to Jill, marked when Jill Biden says she felt she had “become a full- fledged Biden,” the book details. 

BIDEN TELLS STAFFERS ‘KEY’ TO LASTING MARRIAGE IS ‘GOOD SEX’: BOOK

“The Bidens were stunned, until Joe’s mother eventually agreed: ‘She’s right,’ Jean Biden told the group, settling the matter. That was the moment, as Jill has recounted, that she felt she had become a full-fledged Biden.”

DR. MAKARY CLAIMS BIDEN IS EXPERIENCING ‘AGE-RELATED DEMENTIA’: ‘COGNITIVE DECLINE RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES’

“American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will be released Tuesday and documents how the role of first lady has evolved in the 21st century, focusing on Jill Biden’s tenure in the White House. 

Joe and Jill Biden married in 1977, following the death of the future president’s first wife and their young daughter in a car accident in 1972. Biden had two other children with his first wife, Beau and Hunter, who were later raised by Jill Biden alongside their younger half-sister Ashley Biden. 

BIDEN TORCHED FOR CLAIMING THAT HE RECENTLY MET WITH DEAD FORMER PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: ‘NOT A HEALTHY SIGN’

As a Delaware senator, Biden had two life-threatening brain aneurysms and doctors said he had a 50-50 shot of surviving.

“If he did survive, there was a chance that the part of his brain that governed his speech would be damaged,” the book continued. 

KJP DODGES QUESTION ON BIDEN’S MENTAL HEALTH AFTER HE CLAIMED TO RECENTLY MEET WITH LONG-DEAD FRENCH LEADER

“For Jill, the diagnosis was the latest setback after a stressful year. She had spent months campaigning on his behalf, despite her discomfort with public speaking. She was raising their three children, Beau, Hunter, and Ashley, who were all in different stages of adjusting to school and life in Delaware.”

Biden’s surgeries were successful, with no reports of an aneurysm since. 

BIDEN CAMPAIGN CALL SIDETRACKED BY FITNESS QUESTIONS, SURROGATES INSIST HE IS ‘IN FULL CONTROL’ 

After Jill Biden experienced the turning point of becoming a “full-fledged” member of the family, she went on to become the “powerful guardian of the Biden inner circle,” the book describes. 

“As the president and his last surviving son, Hunter, have become targets for conservatives in a rapidly toxifying political landscape, Jill has emerged as the powerful guardian of the Biden inner circle, defining herself as a ‘Philly girl’ who is not to be crossed,” the book states. 

The book goes on to note that Jill Biden has been a leading force behind Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, which is partially motivated by a “dislike for Trump.” 

“She is powerful within the Biden White House and was an enthusiastic supporter of her husband’s decision to announce a run for reelection at age eighty,” “American Woman” claims. 

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“Her dislike for Trump was a driving reason behind her support for Joe’s campaign for the presidency, and it remains so for his reelection effort, even if that means he will not leave office until age eighty-six at the end of a second term,” the book later claims.

EXCLUSIVE: Senate Minority Whip John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican leader, is endorsing former President Donald Trump for re-election.

It’s a key win for Trump from the establishment wing of the Republican Party. The South Dakota Republican is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s top deputy in the Senate GOP.

“The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election. The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” Thune told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

“I support former President Trump’s campaign to win the presidency, and I intend to do everything I can to see that he has a Republican majority in the Senate working with him to restore American strength at home and abroad,” he continued.

“Together we must put an end to the disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda. Our country cannot endure another four years of Bidenomics, continued lawlessness at our southern border, and American weakness on the global stage.”

Thune and Trump spoke by phone on Saturday night after Trump’s commanding victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, a source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital.

It wasn’t clear before now whether Thune, who’s seen as one of McConnell’s potential successors to lead the Senate Republican Conference, would endorse either of the two major candidates for the 2024 GOP nomination. 

ONLY ON FOX: WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT HALEY AFTER TOPPING HER IN HER HOME STATE

Like McConnell, he suggested he would support whoever Republican voters chose as their presidential nominee, but Thune has for the most part avoided mentioning the former president.

He previously endorsed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign and was present at Scott’s launch event. Scott dropped out in November and endorsed Trump last month.  

The Sunday announcement puts added pressure on McConnell, who has brushed off scrutiny on whether his frosty relationship with Trump would stop him from endorsing the ex-president in the Republican primary.

McConnell said at a press conference earlier this month when asked about the race, “I’ve stayed essentially out of it and when I change my mind about that, I’ll let you know.”

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Both Thune and McConnell were targeted by Trump for criticizing his handling of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the 2020 election.

Thune won a landslide re-election victory for a fourth Senate term in 2022 despite Trump calling for a primary challenger against him.

His endorsement of the former president comes after Trump beat former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state primary on Saturday night. The ex-president won roughly 60% of the vote compared to 40% for Haley.

A new book detailing the evolving role of the first lady in the 21st century argues that former first lady Melania Trump engaged in a “power struggle” with her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump when Donald Trump was president. 

“For her four years in the White House, Melania would wage an internal power struggle with her stepdaughter. Melania called her ‘the princess’ so frequently that a coterie of East Wing aides had adopted the nickname,” the book “American Woman” writes. 

“American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will officially hit store shelves Tuesday and examines how the role of first lady has evolved this century, focusing much of the book on first lady Jill Biden.  

Fox News Digital reviewed the book before its release, and found it details an alleged struggle for power between former President Trump’s wife and daughter. The book argues that Melania Trump was “going to do her own thing” upon Trump being sworn in as president, including staying in New York City so their son Barron Trump could finish the school year. Trump lauded the first lady shortly after becoming president, while noting she would be bolstered by his daughter, Ivanka Trump. 

MELANIA ‘GOING TO BE OUT A LOT’ ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL, TRUMP SAYS

“I think she’s going to be a fantastic first lady. She’s going to be a tremendous representative of women and of the people,” the new president said. “And helping her and working with her will be Ivanka, who is a fabulous person and a fabulous, fabulous woman,” he said in 2017. 

At the start of the Trump administration, “American Woman” argues, Melania Trump monitored social media and news outlets for personal mentions, while allegedly souring at the plan to elevate Ivanka Trump’s role in the White House. 

BIDEN TAUNTS TRUMP BY INVOKING FORMER FIRST LADY’S ‘BE BEST’ ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN

“She was aware that her husband had suggested that his eldest daughter would be helping to share the responsibilities of being First Lady, and this was not a development that pleased her. At the time, Ivanka was staking out office space in the West Wing but was eyeing the potential of a revamped East Wing that could be geared to serving the entire First Family, not just the First Lady, according to people familiar with her plans,” the text of the book reads. 

Ivanka Trump was hired as an unpaid adviser to her father in March 2017, joining her husband Jared Kushner as official government employees. 

MELANIA FULLY BEHIND TRUMP’S 2024 CAMPAIGN, SAYS IT WOULD BE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ TO SERVE AS FIRST LADY AGAIN

“The suggestion irritated Melania, who put a stop to the talk of a family-led wing. A month later, Ivanka announced that she would become an official government employee, working as an unpaid adviser for her father,” according to the book. 

As Melania navigated her new role, she allegedly also renegotiated a prenuptial agreement, including stipulations that her son Barron Trump was guaranteed “equal footing with Donald’s other children,” according to the book, citing Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan. Jordan’s book on Melania Trump was previously panned by the first lady’s office as belonging in “the fiction genre.”

MELANIA TRUMP ROLLS OUT ‘AMERICAN CHRISTMAS’ ORNAMENTS, NFTS TO HELP FUND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FOSTER CHILDREN

In June 2018, Melania Trump came under fire in the media after wearing a jacket with the words “I really don’t care, do U?” ahead of visiting a youth migrant detention center with her husband. The jacket’s message reportedly had no underlying message, the White House said when photos first circulated of the first lady. 

The book, however, claims the jacket wasn’t a message directed at the media, but instead to Ivanka Trump. 

“The two were locked in a quiet competition for press coverage and, to that end, Melania did not think that it was appropriate for Trump’s children to be enmeshed in White House operations,” an excerpt reads. 

MELANIA TRUMP TO SPEAK TO NEW AMERICAN CITIZENS ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY OF ‘GUARDING OUR FREEDOM’

Overall, the book argues, Melania Trump was “frustrated and angry” with how she was portrayed by the media, and that nothing she did “would be enough to escape scrutiny,” including decorating the White House for Christmas. 

“By 2020, when the pandemic was setting in, Melania had taken to wearing elegant robes at all hours. In the evenings, she would occasionally visit her husband in his bedroom, perching on his bed and listening as he placed calls to and received calls from advisers. She busied herself with assembling photo albums of her aesthetic contributions to the White House,” the book states. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Donald J. Trump regarding the book and its claims, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Trump, who notched another primary win this weekend when he swept the South Carolina GOP primary, recently said the former first lady would ramp up her campaign trail appearances ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

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“It’s funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results,” he said last Tuesday to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “She wants to see this country really succeed. She loves the country.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on President Biden to debate former President Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner, arguing that the president could “beat” Trump like he did in 2020.

“Biden beat Trump in the prior debates. I look forward to it,” the California Democrat said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

The comment comes as Biden has so far refused to commit to debate Trump, who has a commanding lead in the Republican presidential primary race. Trump, on the other hand, has called on the president to debate him “immediately,” arguing such an event would be “for the good of the country.”

‘THE VIEW’ HOSTS CLASH OVER WHETHER BIDEN SHOULD DEBATE TRUMP, WORRY PRESIDENT ‘CAN LOSE’

Trump’s desire to debate Biden comes despite his refusal to appear for debates against GOP primary foes, something Newsom argued Sunday was “weakness masquerading as strength.”

“This is… pure projection on a guy who refused to debate in his own primary,” Newsom said.

But not everyone believes Biden has much to gain by debating Trump ahead of this year’s election, with the topic recently becoming the subject of a heated debate between the co-hosts of “The View” earlier this week.

BIDEN IS LYING LOW AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL AS COMMENTATORS WORRY THAT HE IS SEEN AS ‘NOT IN CONTROL’ OF THE NATION

Co-host Sara Haines had particularly strong feelings on the topic, warning that only Trump would benefit from the two candidates squaring off.

“Biden can lose, he can lose in a debate,” Haines said. “Trump will not. The people supporting Trump will support him whether he’s there or not. Biden makes one mistake, and the people who are undecided are out.” 

Newsom’s comments also come as speculation about his desire to jump into the race have continued to swirl, something the California governor said Sunday was off the table.

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“I am here celebrating the extraordinary accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration,” Newsom said, calling the continued speculation about his potential run “idle chat” and a “sideshow.”

“It’s not even an interesting conversation,” Newsom continued. “I think it’s a damning conversation, frankly, the other side wants us to have… they love ginning this stuff up.”

From the campaign trail in South Carolina to the Conservative Political Action Conference, some of the leading potential contenders to serve as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate are turning up the volume in their praise of the former president.

“Let South Carolina send a message to all America. The Republican primary is over and Donald Trump is our nominee,” Sen. Tim Scott stressed as he stood next to Trump at a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on the eve of his home state’s GOP presidential primary.

Scott, the uplifting conservative champion who ended his own White House run in November and endorsed Trump last month, joined the former president on the campaign trail in South Carolina repeatedly this month, including on Saturday night at Trump’s primary night celebration.

“Is South Carolina Trump country?” Scott asked the crowd to loud cheers, at the event in Columbia.

TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, is one of over a half dozen potential contenders with aspirations of joining Trump on the national ticket who’s been talking up the former president.

Among them is another former rival from the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race – Vivek Ramaswamy.

ONLY ON FOX: WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT HALEY AFTER TOPPING HER IN HER HOME STATE

The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, author, and political commentator, speaking Saturday at CPAC, urged any aligned group “that supported me during that campaign, I’m publicly calling on them to use their resources to support Donald J. Trump in his reelection effort. And I want every other Republican candidate who ran for president to do the same thing.”

Ramaswamy also made a handful of stops in South Carolina, to campaign both with and on behalf of Trump, in recent weeks.

Rep. Byron Donald of Florida, a longtime Trump supporter, joined the former president on Friday at the Black Conservative Foundation Gala in Columbia, S.C.

“We have a true opportunity which doesn’t come along very often in politics to elect real leadership back to the White House. And that leadership is in the form of the 45th president, soon to be the 47th president. Donald J. Trump,” Donalds told the crowd.

A day earlier, Donalds espoused a similar message at CPAC, the granddaddy of conservative confabs that has turned into a Trump-fest since the former president first won the White House in 2016. 

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, another longtime Trump supporter and surrogate, in an apparent dig at former 2024 contenders Scott and Ramaswamy, emphasized to cheers at CPAC on Friday that “I’ve always supported the fact that our next president needs to be President Trump.”

“I was one of the first people to endorse Donald Trump to be president,” Noem added. “Last year, when everyone was asking me if I was going to consider running, I said no. Why would you run for president when you know you can’t win?”

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the fourth ranking House Republican and another top Trump loyalist, told the crowd at CPAC that “I’m proud to be the first member of Congress to endorse President Trump for reelection.”

And former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later turned independent and who has become a favorite among conservatives, also praised Trump at CPAC.

“I’ve met a lot of strong, tough people in my life, I can’t think of a single one who could not only withstand all that is coming at Donald Trump without crumbling, but someone who would actually choose to keep fighting against the entire Washington establishment,” she highlighted.

Noem and Ramaswamy topped the CPAC Trump running mate straw poll this weekend – tied at 15%.

Trump on Saturday took another big step towards locking up the GOP nomination by defeating his last remaining major rival – former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – by 20 points in her home state presidential primary.

At a Fox News town hall in South Carolina last week, he indicated that at least a half a dozen contenders — including three former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — are on his short list for running mate.

During the program, which ran on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Trump was asked about Scott, Ramaswamy, Noem, Donalds, Gabbard, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Are they all on your short list?” host Laura Ingraham asked the former president.

“They are,” Trump answered. “Honestly, all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid.”

Scott received a warm welcome from the large crowd of mostly Trump supporters when he arrived at the Greenville, South Carolina, convention center where the town hall was held.

“A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there,” Trump said as he pointed to Scott, who was sitting in the front row of the audience.

Asked about Trump’s praise, Scott told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the former president “certainly was very generous and kind with his words. But more important than who his running mate is is making sure that he’s our next president.”

Asked about potentially serving as Trump’s running mate, Ramaswamy also demurred.

“Donald Trump has got to win this election. That’s my sole focus and making sure he wins by a decisive victory,” he told reporters last week during a stop in South Carolina. “And I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure that his presidency is as successful as it possibly can be.”

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While the potential running mate contenders are playing coy, seasoned Republican strategist David Kochel told Fox News the appearances on the campaign trail “of course, are screen tests. I think CPAC is going to play that role as well this weekend – obviously big with the MAGA folks.”

“Trump likes to talk about people that he hires coming out of central casting, so to use the word audition is apropos,” added Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns.

Alex Castellanos, another longtime Republican consultant who worked on multiple White House campaigns, agreed that “of course these guys are auditioning.”

“In a way they have to. They already failed the taste test for occupying a position in the White House,” Castellanos said as he pointed to Scott and Ramaswamy’s failed presidential campaigns.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Former President Donald Trump was victorious in South Carolina’s GOP primary on Saturday in a night that provided several highlights and hints about where the 2024 presidential race is heading.

The South Carolina primary battle was called by Fox News for Trump moments after polls closed at 7 P.M. ET on Saturday night. Trump’s rapidly-called victory over former U.N. ambassador and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state moves the former president another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

After the results were announced, Trump quickly took the stage to address his supporters.

“It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening,” Trump told a crowd gathered at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina.

NFL TEAM OWNER APPEARS ON STAGE WITH TRUMP DURING SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY SPEECH

“Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work,” he added, referencing next week’s Michigan primary, and Super Tuesday on March 5 the following week.

In his speech, Trump did not mention Haley by name but did address President Joe Biden.

“We have a great family and we have incredible friends and we’re going to be up here on November 5th and we’re going to look at Joe Biden and we’re gonna look him right in the eye, he’s destroying our country, and we’re going to say, Joe you’re fired, get out, get out Joe, you’re fired,” Trump told the crowd. 

Haley, who earned roughly 40% of the vote on Saturday compared to Trump’s 60%, gave a speech to her supporters after the race was called where she vowed to continue on. 

TRUMP ‘REALLY NOT THINKING ABOUT’ HALEY AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY, SAYS HE’S FOCUSED ON BEATING BIDEN

“I’m a woman of my word,” Haley said. “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

“We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week.”

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The Haley campaign, who won the 7% independent voters by around 19 points on Saturday night, announced they were going up with a multi-million dollar national cable ad blitz ahead of Super Tuesday.

Nearly 800 delegates are up for grabs on Super Tuesday, with over 150 at stake over the following two weeks. Among the states holding contests on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas, and other big states like Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold winner-take-all primaries on March 19. Polling in many of those states indicates Trump holding large leads over Haley.

The Trump campaign predicted in a memo this  week that the former president would secure the nomination on March 19, even under a “most-generous model” for Haley.

“Let’s see if it happens,” Haley quickly responded when asked by Fox News what she would do if Trump clinches the nomination next month.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Several Democrats took to social media Saturday night to poke fun at former President Donald Trump following his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary election, with some even encouraging his last major GOP rival to stay in the race.

The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night. Trump celebrated saying he looked forward to telling President Biden in November: “Joe, you’re fired.”

In a statement following the news of Trump’s victory over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Biden insisted that “Every day, Americans are reminded of the threat Donald Trump poses to our future as Americans grapple with the damage he left behind.”

Biden specifically took aim at Trump over the issue of abortion, saying the former president is “ripping away a fundamental constitutional right women had in this country for 50 years.”

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION

“We are still rebuilding the economy after Trump lost millions of good-paying jobs and sold out working families to give himself and his wealthy friends handouts,” Biden added. “And Trump is promising to once again use the presidency for his own revenge and retribution after January 6 stained our collective consciousness.”

Reacting to the news of Trump’s win, Victor Shi, the youngest elected delegate for Joe Biden in 2020, wrote on X, “Would love if mainstream media also stated pointing out the fact that President Biden won South Carolina by more than 97% of the vote and that almost 60% of Nikki Haley voters said in exit polls that they’d vote against Trump today.”

“Trump is weak and he will lose,” Shi added.

In a follow-up post, Shi insisted that Trump “hasn’t even surpassed 60% of the vote today” and that “he’s in a weak position.”

“The Republican Party is in disarray. Democrats are united behind President Biden,” Shi said.

Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko also weighed in following Trump’s victory, writing in a post to X, “Things are not going well at the Trump event in South Carolina.”

Parkhomenko’s post included a clip of Trump welcoming South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham to the stage as he gave his victory remarks. In the clip, Graham could be seen walking to the mic as the crowd of Trump supporters booed the senator.

Josh Marshall — the founder and editor-in-chief of Talking Points Memo, a liberal political news and opinion website — penned an article titled “Face It: This is a Weak Showing for Trump in South Carolina.”

In the article, Marshall wrote, “I’m not going to speculate what it means for the general election. But this is a lot of persistent opposition for a candidate who has always been running as a de facto incumbent.”

TRUMP ‘REALLY NOT THINKING ABOUT’ HALEY AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY, SAYS HE’S FOCUSED ON BEATING BIDEN

“Even if you set that de facto incumbency aside, it’s quite a lot for a candidate who is, whatever technicalities you want to get caught up in, the presumptive nominee. 40% of Republican primary voters are still showing up to say they don’t want Trump even when they know they’re definitely going to get him,” he added.

Others are looking to Haley to stay in the race to compete with Trump.

During an appearance on CNN, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said he believes Haley should stay in the race against Trump.

“I believe Nikki Haley should stay in the race,” Clyburn told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Clyburn’s comments came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom told MSNBC Saturday during an interview that will air Sunday that he believes Haley is one of the Democratic Party’s “better surrogates” for making the case against Trump.

“I don’t know why Democrats would want her out of the race,” Newsom told the outlet. “She’s one of our better surrogates. I mean, she’s defining the opposition to Trump credibly, effectively.”

“She’s making points I’m applauding every single day,” he added.

Despite many Republican calls for Haley to drop out of the race, the former UN ambassador said Saturday night that she isn’t going anywhere. Haley had pledged to stay in the race even if she lost the Palmetto State, and she said she’s sticking with that.

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“I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she told supporters gathered at a watch party in Charleston.

Fox News projected Saturday shortly after polls closed that Trump will win the state’s GOP primary. Trump has three times as many delegates as Haley; he will win up to 50 more tonight.

But Haley intends to keep the race going through Super Tuesday. “We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week,” she said.