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The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed its annual defense spending bill Wednesday, including a key culture-war caveat: a ban on transgender medical treatments for minor children of U.S. service members.

The provision in the 1,800-page bill states that “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18,” referring to the transgender children of military personnel. 

Republicans argued that taxpayer dollars should not fund potentially experimental and harmful procedures for minors.

House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the passage of the defense measure, though it now heads to the Senate for approval in the Democrat-run chamber.

HOUSE PASSES NEARLY $1 TRILLION DEFENSE SPENDING BILL, ADDING TO U.S. DEBT OF $36 TRILLION

The House passed a nearly $1 trillion defense spending budget with a provision that bans transgender treatment for dependent children of U.S. service members. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Our men and women in uniform should know their first obligation is protecting our nation, not woke ideology,” Johnson said in a statement after the measure passed.

While the provision was a win for Republicans that could further push President-Elect Donald Trump’s policy agenda, the measure did not incorporate several other Republican-backed provisions related to social issues. Notably absent were efforts to ban TRICARE, the military’s health program, from covering transgender treatments for adults and a proposal to overturn the Pentagon’s hotly-debated policy of reimbursing travel expenses for service members seeking abortions stationed in states where the procedure is restricted.

Democrats were largely outraged by the provision to strip TRICARE from service members’ transgender children, with the House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith, vowing to vote against the bill on Tuesday despite helping on other portions of the package. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not advise his party members to vote for or against it.

124 DEMS OPPOSE HISTORICALLY BIPARTISAN DEFENSE BILL OVER RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS

Soldiers in camouflage uniforms aiming their rifles during military night operations. (iStock)

The measure also drew the ire of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC), which called it an “attack” on military families.

“This cruel and hateful bill suddenly strips away access to medical care for families that members of our armed forces are counting on, and it could force service members to choose between staying in the military or providing health care for their children,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.

The Senate’s response to the transgender treatment provision will be pivotal in determining the final content of the defense policy for the upcoming fiscal year. If it passes, it would align with Trump’s criticisms of the military’s “woke” policies. 

The Supreme Court also heard oral arguments last week for a first-of-its-kind case involving Tennessee’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors, which could place further restrictions on the procedures.

RED STATE AG SLAMS BIDEN ADMIN’S ATTEMPT TO ‘REWRITE’ IMMIGRATION LAW: ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND STUFF’

President-elect Donald Trump, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson. (Getty Images)

The $884 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policies for the Defense Department, was passed in a 281-140 vote, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it. 

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Other provisions also place limits on diversity, equity and inclusion-based recruitment and the teaching of critical race theory in military-run schools. Other policies include a 14.5% pay boost for junior enlisted troops, expanded child care access and enhanced job assistance for military spouses, reflecting a year of bipartisan focus on addressing record recruitment struggles.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

With the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad over the weekend and a new White House on the horizon, Iranian resistance leaders and U.S. lawmakers alike have begun expressing hope that Iran will topple its own leadership in a similar fashion, with U.S. help. 

“There’s a real chance for regime change right now, that’s the only way you’re going to stop a nuclear weapon,” Sam Brownback, former U.S. ambassador for International Religious Freedom, told Fox News Digital at a Senate panel on Iran on Wednesday. 

“It’s not just now or never, it’s now or nuclear,” he said, as Iran enriches uranium to near-nuclear-capable levels. 

A bipartisan group of senators spoke in support of toppling the Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khameini – both through a return to former President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign through sanctions and supporting the Iranian resistance movement – a piece that was missing during the first Trump administration. 

Khameini has ruled Iran for 35 years. 

THE RISE AND FALL OF BASHAR AND ASMA ASSAD

A bipartisan group of senators spoke in support of toppling the Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khameini. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We have an obligation to stand together with allies in making sure this regime’s suppression will come to an end,” said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., at the event, which was hosted by the Organization for Iranian American Communities. 

“Iran is projecting only weakness,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “Now is the time to think about how we invest more in the core values that we all share: democracy, human rights, justice for everyone.”

“I have, for a long time, been willing to call quite unequivocally for regime change in Iran,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R–Texas. 

It was a stronger message than has often recently been heard in Washington, D.C. circles, where there has been little appetite for getting further involved in the Middle East.

“The ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, and we will see free and democratic elections in Iran. Change is coming and it’s coming very soon,” the Texas Republican predicted.  

“We will return to a maximum pressure policy,” he added, “cut the cruel regime from resources from every direction possible – we are going to shut down nuclear research facilities, we are going to cut off their oil.” 

ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR INSISTS NATION IS ‘NOT GETTING INVOLVED’ IN SYRIAN REGIME CHANGE

“There is a cottage industry in Washington to promote the goals and objectives of this regime,” said Marc Ginsberg, former U.S. ambassador to Morocco. “You saw here there were Democratic senators to say to you, ‘We don’t buy this. We can make this a bipartisan effort.'”

The Biden administration has issued Iran sanctions waivers in hopes of future nuclear negotiations, and has expressed no interest in helping to topple the ayatollah. On Wednesday, Biden renewed a sanctions waiver granting Iran access to $10 billion in payments for energy from Iraq. 

And asked if he would like to see Iran change its ruling system, Trump told Iranian American producer Patrick Bet David in October: “We can’t get totally involved in all that. We can’t run ourselves, let’s face it.”

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the main resistance group in Iran, claimed that Iranians are preparing an organized uprising. (NCRI)

“The ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, and we will see free and democratic elections in Iran,” Sen. Ted Cruz predicted.

“I would like to see Iran be very successful. The only thing is, they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he also said. 

But Brownback, a Trump appointee, insisted the U.S. must involve itself in regime change through supporting Iran’s opposition.

“I think we need to support politically the opposition inside of Iran,” he said. “Provide them equipment, provide them information… the regime is not just going to walk away. You’ve got to force them out.” 

And Iran watchers believe the fall of Assad, who was heavily backed by Iran and its proxy force Hezbollah, is the perfect moment to do that. 

“The tectonic shift in the Syrian government… should mean to the people of Iran that change is in fact possible in the Middle East,” said Gen. James Jones, former White House national security adviser and supreme allied commander of Europe. 

“The change in administration has already caused tectonic shifts in geographic alignments,” he went on. “Appeasement does not work. Iranian regime does not do nuance.”

Maryam Rajavi is president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the main resistance group in Iran.

“The people, who are deeply discontented and angry, along with the resistance units, who are part of the Army of Freedom and the main force of change in Iran, they are preparing an organized uprising,” she told the panel. 

Rajavi and her political group have a 10-point plan for regime change that calls for rebuilding an Iranian government based on separation of religion and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty and denuclearization. 

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“Our goal is not to seize power but to restore it to its rightful owners, the people of Iran and their vote.”  

Unlike the first Trump administration, Iran is now facing military attacks on other fronts through its proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It’s unclear whether this weakened position would prompt them to bow to U.S. pressure or lash out even further. But one thing is clear: U.S. support for regime change would be a massive escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran with unknown consequences. 

After speaking with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., reaffirmed his support for the congresswoman’s nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“Always was a hard YES for @EliseStefanik but it was a pleasure to have a conversation. I support defunding UNRWA for its documented Hamas infiltration and fully look forward to her holding the @UN accountable for its endemic antisemitism and blatant anti-Israel views,” Fetterman said in a post on X.

The senator made the comments when retweeting Stefanik, who shared a photo of herelf and Fetterman doing a double thumbs up for the camera.

FETTERMAN SLAMS LEGAL CASES AGAINST TRUMP, HUNTER BIDEN IN FIRST TRUTH SOCIAL POST: ‘CASES WERE BOTH BULLS—’

Sen. John Fetterman and Rep. Elise Stefanik pictured together. (@EliseStefanik on X)

“Thank you to @SenFettermanPA for hosting a very productive meeting where we discussed our shared commitment to standing with Israel and combating antisemitism,” Stefanik said in her post. 

“Senator Fetterman shared his ideas for strong national security leadership and I highlighted my ideas on implementing President @realDonaldTrump’s America First peace through strength national security agenda,” Stefanik added

Last month, President-elect Donald Trump announced Stefanik as his choice for the role of U.S. ambassador to the UN.

FETTERMAN HAILS RUBIO AS ‘STRONG CHOICE’ FOR SECRETARY OF STATE, SAYS HE WILL VOTE TO CONFIRM HIM

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., listens as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Fetterman described Stefanik and Sen. Marco Rubio, who Trump tapped to serve as Secretary of State, as “serious, qualified individuals,” indicating last month that he planned to vote in favor of confirming both of them. 

The Democratic lawmaker, an unflinching supporter of Israel, accused the UN of “rank, pervasive antisemitism,” noting, “I look forward to voting for @RepStefanik to continue a strong and unapologetic pro-Israel position.”

After Trump tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz — who lost Pennsylvania’s 2022 U.S. Senate contest to Fetterman — to serve as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, Fetterman indicated that he was open to supporting confirmation.

FETTERMAN WOULD BE WILLING TO CONFIRM DR. OZ — ON ONE CONDITION

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., talks with West Point cadets in the senate subway on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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“If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” Fetterman noted.

The Democratic governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, says he agrees with one part of border czar appointee Tom Homan’s historic mass deportation campaign under the incoming Trump administration.

Pritzker was responding to comments made by Homan at the Northwest Side GOP gathering that happened Monday evening,  according to FOX 32 Chicago, where he threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The move would impact tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Chicago and Illinois.

“Violent criminals who are undocumented and convicted of violent crime should be deported,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference, the local station reported. “I do not want them in my state, I don’t think they should be in the United States.”

Homan has said no one is off the table when it comes to deportations, although public safety threats will be the priority. He directly mentioned Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson in his remarks.

CHICAGO RESIDENTS SLAM THE ‘STUPIDITY’ OF MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON’S LIBERAL POLICIES DURING CITY COUNCIL MEETING

A group of migrants receives food outside the migrant landing zone during a winter storm on January 12, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

“If your Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside,” Homan said. “But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors an illegal alien, I will prosecute him.”

Pritzker has said he would welcome a meeting with Homan or the incoming Trump administration, according to FOX 32, but no one has reached out to him.

NEW DATA REVEALS AMERICA HAS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NONCITIZENS FROM US ADVERSARY WITH DEPORTATION ORDERS

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Paul Steinhauser)

Illinois republicans not only urge Pritzker to work with Homan, but say the state should repeal sanctuary laws that generally limit law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE.

Currently, 1.4 million noncitizens have deportation orders but are not currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, according to new figures obtained by Fox News. 

Migrants, many from Haiti, are seen at an encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

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The top countries of nationals on the list include Mexico (252,044), Guatemala (253,413), Honduras (261,651) and El Salvador (203,822).

Other countries include China, which has 37,908 nationals on the docket with final orders of removal, Haiti (32,363), Iran (2,618), Pakistan (7,76), Uzbekistan, (975) and Venezuela (22,749).

Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report. 

Incoming border czar Tom Homan will meet with New York City Mayor Eric Adams in the Big Apple on Thursday where they will discuss the city’s ongoing migrant crisis and ways of deporting criminal illegal migrants who have been terrorizing the city’s streets.

The pair is scheduled to meet at City Hall at 1 p.m. and then hold a press conference at 3 p.m., according to the mayor’s office. 

The main focus of the meeting is to weed out migrant criminals in the sanctuary city and deport them, as opposed to those who are undocumented, a source familiar with the matter tells the New York Post. 

Incoming border czar Tom Homan, left, will meet with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, right, in the Big Apple on Thursday where they will discuss the city’s ongoing migrant crisis and ways of deporting criminal illegal migrants who have been terrorizing the city’s streets. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, left and Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images, right.)

VIOLENT VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA SPREADS TO ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST REMOTE STATES

Homan, a hardliner on immigration, has vowed to enforce Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration and carry out his mass deportation agenda. Homan has said he wants to primarily deport those migrants who pose a threat to national security and public safety. 

Adams has at times been critical of the federal government, including the Biden Administration, for its lack of financial support over the last four years as New York City has struggled to cater for the unprecedented influx of migrants — costing taxpayers billions of dollars. The blue city has seen more than 225,000 migrants arrive since 2022, a surge that coincided with a spike in migrant crime in the city with the bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua getting a foothold in the city. 

Migrant arrivals have dropped sharply in recent weeks, with Adams attributing the dip to executive orders by the Biden administration that have limited the ability to claim asylum in the U.S. and have been tied to a sharp drop in apprehensions at the border itself. He also linked it to strategies taken by the city itself to help relocate migrants, including case management and offering tickets to 47,000 migrants so they can reach their “preferred destinations.” 

Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding to sanctuary cities who do not cooperate with Trump’s deportation agenda. 

‘WE’VE TURNED THE CORNER’: BLUE CITY ANNOUNCES SHUTTERING OF MIGRANT SHELTERS AS NUMBERS DROP

Migrants line up in front of the East Village re-intake, converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived migrant families in New York City, United States on Dec. 4, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The city’s sanctuary city status stems from a 1979 class action suit brought against then-Gov. Hugh L. Carey and Mayor Ed Koch that resulted in the “Callahan Decree” – which instituted a right-to-shelter for homeless men. It has since been used as a tool to attempt to shelter homeless migrants who have descended on the city. Adams has previously criticized it being applied to migrants. 

Adams has been taking a more hawkish approach to illegal immigration in recent weeks, announcing that 25 shelters are in the city and state are being closed in the next few months. He has also suggested that immigrants charged with crimes do not necessarily deserve due process.

“We’re going to continue looking for more sites to consolidate and close, and more opportunities to save taxpayer money, as we continue to successfully manage this response,” Adams said on Tuesday.

Adams has taken a more muscular approach to illegal immigration than some of his Democratic counterparts in other blue cities across the country, some of whom have promised resistance to the plan by the incoming Trump administration.

He has indicated his willingness to work with Homan on the deportation of illegal immigrants with criminal convictions while stressing the importance of work authorization, case management and protection from deportation for those who have not committed violent crimes while here.

“I would like to speak with our border czar and find out what his plans are. Where our common grounds are, we can work together. And I strongly believe, my history is sitting down with those across the aisle with different ways of thinking and sit down and share my ideas,” Adams said last week. 

“I believe I have some ideas that could deal with this issue, and we can reach what the American people have been saying to us: secure our borders, address the people who are committing violent acts in our country and make sure that … our citizens are going to be safe.”

A brawl between New York City Police Department officers and migrants in Times Square, on Jan. 27, 2024.  (Manhattan District Attorney via AP)

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Adams apparent shift to the right even left some speculating that Adams may rejoin the Republican Party, a prospect he didn’t rule out last week. 

Meanwhile, voters in the state of New York support the deportation of illegal immigrants, according to a new poll. The Siena College New York State Poll found that 54% of respondents say the state should support any Trump administration efforts to deport migrants living illegally in the state, compared to 35% of respondents who oppose the plans.

Strong support for President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plan was found throughout the state, including New York City.

Fox News’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Multiple top Alaskan officials are expressing outrage at the way the Biden administration is orchestrating its final congressionally mandated leasing of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Section 1002 land for fossil fuel exploration.

Both of Alaska’s U.S. senators, the state’s governor and local officials in the remote communities nearest the North Slope refuge collectively expressed that the Department of Interior’s planned January sale was set up in bad faith.

“These leases should be executed in good faith along the established historical processes. And obviously, the Biden administration in the past four years has just been brutal on Alaska,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

“And, you know, they’re in the twilight of their term here. But nonetheless, they’re going to continue to double-down on denying Alaska opportunities, denying our people opportunities, denying America the opportunity to potentially get some more oil [exploration] going to the future.”

AK GOV: BIDEN IS SEARCHING FOR OIL EVERYWHERE BUT AT HOME

Anchorage, Alaska. (Zihao Chen via Getty Images)

Dunleavy added that, despite his top perch in Juneau, he remained unclear on exactly what the Biden administration sought to gain by treating Alaska as alleged while buying energy from America’s rivals and working to shepherd in alternative fuels.

“I think when we look back on this over time, there’s going to be a lot of head-scratching as to what was the purpose of all this?” he said.

“I keep telling people the idea that nobody’s going to want oil if you don’t allow drilling in Alaska: it makes no sense.”

For his part, Dunleavy has expressed an openness to pursuing alternative fuels, including the idea of harnessing tides in the Kenai Peninsula’s Cook Inlet — the second-strongest in the world — to produce energy. 

The governor said that just as the Biden administration cancelled leases in ANWR-1002, President-elect Trump could nix those moves.

ALASKA GOV SAYS INLET TIDES THE NEXT RENEWABLE RESOURCE

“They defied the spirit of the law itself,” he said. “So I look forward to January 20th.”

Meanwhile, leaders in the Inupiat village of Kaktovik — the only community within ANWR-1002 — slammed the structure of the lease sale.

Green interests have long claimed local residents and Native communities oppose development on their lands, but in a statement to Fox News Digital, Inupiat leaders disagreed.

“The release of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has left the community of Kaktovik, Alaska… frustrated and discontented,” a community representative said.

“The lands under question are the traditional lands of the Kaktovikmiut. However, it is apparent once again that outside, well-funded environmental groups have had the preferential voice during the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) process.”

Local leaders accused the administration of siding with outside interests, rather than hearing from locals who may not see it their way.

“Kaktovik does not support this outcome nor condone the process by which it was reached,” community leaders jointly said of the lease sale structure.

Edward Rexford, the Native village president, called it a “predetermined outcome,” and that as a small tribal entity, they were not afforded adequate opportunity to participate in the impact statement process.

WESTERN NATIONS HAVE BOUGHT $2B IN RUSSIAN OIL THIS YEAR THROUGH SANCTIONS WORKAROUNDS

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. (Getty Images)

“The City of Kaktovik is outraged by this result,” said Mayor Nathan Gordon, Jr.

Officials at the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA) concurred, adding their analysis found the Biden administration’s record-of-decision blocked “nearly all development of even a small part” of ANWR-1002.

“Sadly, the Biden administration continues to take illegal actions to stop all natural resource development in Alaska,” said AIDEA executive director Randy Ruaro.

“Jobs from developing ANWR would offer high wages to Alaskans at a level that can keep families in-state.”

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In a statement, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the sale is an “eleventh-hour” decision and “yet another charade aimed at subverting the will of Congress in the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.”

The Trump-era law was the policy that set the timeline and compelled the Biden administration to conduct the sale.

“It’s a fitting finale for an administration that has routinely allowed Iran, Venezuela and other adversaries to produce their resources, regardless of the consequences, while attempting to shut everything down in Alaska,” added Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of the Interior and the White House for response to the collective criticism, but did not receive a response by press time. 

As President-elect Trump and his transition team steer his cabinet nominees through the landmines of the Senate confirmation process, top MAGA allies are joining the fight by putting pressure on GOP lawmakers who aren’t fully on board.

“There will be no resource that we won’t use to go after those U.S. senators that vote against Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks or his other nominees,” longtime Trump outside adviser Corey Lewandowski told Fox News this week.

Fueled by grassroots support for Trump and his nominees, the president-elect’s political team and allies are cranking up the volume.

Exhibit A: Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

NEW POLLS REVEAL WHAT AMERICANS THINK OF THE TRUMP TRANSITION

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Ernst, the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate, is considered a pivotal vote in the confirmation battle over Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary.

Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who until last month was a longtime Fox News host, has been the focus of a slew of media reports spotlighting a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations, as well as a report alleging he mismanaged a veterans nonprofit organization that he once led.

FIRST ON FOX: HOUSE GOP MILITARY VETS ON NEW MISSION — BACKING HEGSETH

Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women, but did reach a financial settlement with an accuser from a 2017 incident to avoid a lawsuit. He has vowed that he won’t drink “a drop of alcohol” if confirmed as defense secretary.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, gives a thumbs-up as he walks with his wife, Jennifer, to meet with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ernst, a member of the Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth’s confirmation hearings, took plenty of incoming fire after last week publicly expressing hesitance over Hegseth’s nomination.

While Trump publicly praised Hegseth late last week, as the nomination appeared to be teetering, top allies of the president-elect took aim at Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2026 in red-state Iowa.

GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR?

Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s oldest son and MAGA powerhouse, took to social media to target Ernst and other potentially wavering Republican senators.

“If you’re a GOP Senator who voted for Lloyd Austin [President Biden’s defense secretary], but criticize @PeteHegseth, then maybe you’re in the wrong political party!” he posted.

Charlie Kirk speaks during Day 1 of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Top MAGA ally Charlie Kirk quickly took aim at Ernst with talk of supporting a primary challenger to her.

“This is the red line. This is not a joke.… The funding is already being put together. Donors are calling like crazy. Primaries are going to be launched,” said Kirk, an influential conservative activist and radio and TV host who co-founded and steers Turning Point USA.

Kirk, on his radio program, warned that “if you support the president’s agenda, you’re good. You’re marked safe from a primary. You go up against Pete Hegseth, the president, repeatedly, then don’t be surprised, Joni Ernst, if all of a sudden you have a primary challenge in Iowa.”

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a top Trump supporter in last January’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, wrote a column on Breitbart urging Hegseth’s confirmation.

While she didn’t mention Ernst by name, Bird took aim at “D.C. politicians” who “think they can ignore the voices of their constituents and entertain smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years.”

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And longtime Iowa-based conservative commentator and media personality Steve Deace took to social media and used his radio program to highlight that he would consider launching a primary challenge against Ernst.

Ernst, who stayed neutral in the Iowa caucuses before endorsing Trump later in the GOP presidential primary calendar, may have gotten the message.

After meeting earlier this week for a second time with Hegseth, Ernst said in a statement that her meeting was “encouraging” and that she would “support Pete through this process.”

But Ernst’s office told Fox News that “the senator has consistently followed the process, which she has said since the beginning, and doing her job as a United States senator.”

It’s not just Ernst who has faced the fire from Trump allies and MAGA world.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 5, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of four remaining GOP senators who voted in the 2021 Trump impeachment trial to convict him, is also up for re-election in 2026 in a reliably red state. Cassidy is now facing a formal primary challenge from Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, a senior adviser in the first Trump administration.

Sen. Mike Rounds, another Republican up for re-election in two years in GOP-dominated South Dakota, has also been blasted by Kirk, as well as by top Trump ally and billionaire Elon Musk.

And staunch Trump supporter Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama had a warning for Republican Senate colleagues who may oppose the president-elect’s nominees.

“Republicans: If you’re not on the team, get out of the way,” he told FOX Business.

Whether these early threats from Trump allies turn into actual primary challenges in the next midterm elections remains to be seen. And ousting a senator is no easy feat. It’s been a dozen years since an incumbent senator was defeated during a primary challenge.

But Trump’s team and allies are playing hardball in the wake of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the president-elect’s first attorney general nominee, ending his confirmation bid amid controversy.

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There has been a full-court press by Trump’s political orbit to bolster Hegseth — in order to protect him and some of the president-elect’s other controversial Cabinet picks.

“If Trump world allowed a couple of establishment senators to veto a second nominee, it would have led to a feeding frenzy on Trump’s other nominees, and so the thinking in Trump world was we have to defend Pete not just for the sake of defending Pete, but also for the sake of defending our other nominees,” a longtime Trump world adviser, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News.

Fox News’ Emma Colton, Cameron Cawthorne, Julia Johnson, Tyler Olson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Roughly half of Americans approve of how President-elect Trump is handling his transition to a second term in the White House, according to two new national polls.

Fifty-five percent of Americans said they largely approve of how the president-elect is handling the transition from the Biden to Trump administrations, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday.

That’s a higher percentage compared to eight years ago, when Trump first won the White House, but it’s still well behind other recent presidents, according to CNN polling.

TIDE TURNS FOR HEGSETH AS TRUMP’S DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE GOES ON OFFENSE

Meanwhile, 47% of people questioned in a Marist Poll also released Tuesday gave the former and future president a thumbs up when it comes to how he’s handling the transition, with 39% disapproving and 14% unsure.

Not surprisingly, the Marist survey indicates a massive partisan divide on the question, with 86% of Republicans approving of how the GOP president-elect is handling the transition. But 72% of Democrats disapproved. Among independents, 43% disapproved and 38% approved.

President-elect Trump attends the America First Policy Institute Gala at Mar-a-Lago Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. ( Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Although more people support Trump’s transition than oppose it, more independents are taking a wait-and-see position than more partisan voters,” Marist Institute for Public Opinion Director Lee Miringoff said.

Miringoff added that “a note of caution for President-elect Trump is that fewer voters approve of the transition than gave a thumbs up to either Biden or Obama at this point.”

GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR?

Marist questioned 3,131 adults nationwide from Dec. 3-5 for its survey, which had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

The CNN poll was conducted Dec. 5-8, with an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

The release of the polls came as Trump’s cabinet picks continued to meet with senators on Capitol Hill ahead of confirmation hearings starting next month.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, gives a thumbs-up as he walks with wife Jennifer Hegseth, left, to meet with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump named his nominees for his cabinet and his choices for other top administration officials at a faster pace than he did eight years ago after his first White House victory.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FROM FOX NEWS ON THE TRUMP TRANSITION

But his transition has already faced some setbacks, including his first attorney general nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, ending his bid for confirmation amid controversy over allegations he paid for sex with underage girls.

President-elect Trump (left), French President Emmanuel Macron (center) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose before a meeting at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris Dec. 7, 2024. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Poo /AFP via Getty Images)

Trump last weekend made his first international trip since defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in last month’s election, and he was courted by world leaders during a stop in Paris.

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Trump will be inaugurated Jan. 20.

According to the CNN poll, 54% of Americans say they expect Trump to do a good job as president once he takes over the White House. 

President-elect Donald Trump described Richard “Ric” Grenell, his former acting director of National Intelligence, as a “fabulous person” and “A STAR” in response to a news report about him potentially serving as a special envoy for Iran.

Reuters reported that Trump is considering appointing Grenell to the position, citing “two people familiar with the transition plans.” 

“He’s definitely in the running,” a person familiar with deliberations told the outlet under conditions of anonymity. Grenell, however, said the report is “made up.”

Trump shared the Reuters report on Truth Social Wednesday night. While he did not confirm or deny the information in the article, he wrote, “Richard Grenell is a fabulous person, A STAR. He will be someplace, high up!”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES MORE NOMINATIONS, INCLUDING KARI LAKE AS DIRECTOR OF VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCAST

President-elect Donald Trump said his former acting intelligence director Ric Grenell will serve in a “high up” position during his second term after a Reuters report said Grenell is being considered for special envoy for Iran. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Grenell shared a link to the Reuters article on his X account on Wednesday evening and denied the information presented.

“Wrong. Again,” he wrote. “I hope there’s an actual editor somewhere at @Reuters who is doing journalism. This is made up.”

Ric Grenell called the Reuters report on him being considered for special envoy for Iran “made up” shortly after the exclusive piece was published Wednesday evening. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Grenell was previously rumored to be a candidate for various spots in Trump’s second term, including Secretary of State before Sen. Marco Rubio was appointed and special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict before retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg was selected.

GET TO KNOW TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS BEEN PICKED SO FAR?

Whoever is chosen for the Iran position would be responsible for “developing, coordinating, and implementing the State Department’s Iran policy,” per the job description.

The person would report directly to Rubio – assuming the Senate approves his nomination.

Ric Grenell, former acting director of National Intelligence, campaigning for Trump in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the 2024 election cycle. (Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Grenell has been a loyal ally to Trump since his first presidential term and often appeared on the 2024 campaign trail to show his support for the now president-elect.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Reuters for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: Nearly 40,000 Chinese nationals are among more than 1.4 million noncitizens who have deportation orders but who are not currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, according to new figures obtained by Fox News.

The numbers show that there are currently 1,445,549 foreign nationals who are on ICE’s non-detained docket and have final orders of removal as of Nov. 24, 2024.

The non-detained docket includes noncitizens who have final orders of removal or are going through removal proceedings but are not in ICE custody. There are currently more than 7 million people on that docket, which includes those who are incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement but not by ICE. Those in ICE custody are on the detained docket.

NUMBERS OF AFGHANS, CHINESE COMING THROUGH KEY MIGRANT CROSSING SURGED SINCE 2021: REPORT

(Immigration and Customs Enforcement/File)

The top countries of nationals on the list include Mexico (252,044), Guatemala (253,413), Honduras (261,651) and El Salvador (203,822.)

But other countries include China, which has 37,908 nationals on the docket with final orders of removal. Other countries include Haiti (32,363), Iran (2,618), Pakistan (7,76), Uzbekistan, (975) and Venezuela (22,749.)

China is a geopolitical foe of the U.S., and Republicans have expressed concern about the potential for espionage or cyberattacks from Chinese Communist Party members who infiltrate the U.S. Last week, the Justice Department alleged that an illegal immigrant from China shipped weapons to North Korea from California.

Lawmakers have asked for a breakdown of nationalities as well as categories of reasons that make it difficult to deport them.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FROM CHINA SHIPPED WEAPONS TO NORTH KOREA FROM CALIFORNIA: DOJ

Incoming border czar Tom Homan is tasked with leading the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation. (Dr. Phil Podcast YouTube channel)

The number of illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket has soared from 3.7 million in fiscal 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in fiscal 2022 to more than 7 million in fiscal 2023. While many of the non-detained dockets are recent arrivals, others may have been in the country for decades.

In an accompanying note, ICE said it is unable to provide case-specific reasons, but there are several reasons why ICE may not be able to remove those with final orders of removal. They include appeals and those who have been given another form of deportation protection. It also includes those on Alternatives to Detention programs.

“Noncitizens may pursue a form of relief or protection from removal, which may include asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture. If a noncitizen is granted any form of relief from removal, ICE is unable to effectuate the removal,” the note said.

According to the agency, around 55% of those final orders are executable due to the above factors. That is also a fluid number, because factors in a case can change.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

It also noted that a number of countries will not accept flights of nationals being returned. Currently, it labels 15 countries as “uncooperative”: Bhutan, Burma, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Laos, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Russia, Somalia and Venezuela.

Meanwhile, it considers an additional 11 countries to be at risk of non-compliance: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Jamaica, Nicaragua, South Sudan, St. Lucia and Vietnam.  

House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green on Wednesday accused the Biden administration of having “hamstrung” ICE’s ability to detain and remove illegal immigrants.

“These devastating numbers are yet more incontrovertible proof of this reality, and should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers. It is absolutely critical that Congress fully support the incoming Trump administration’s efforts to undo this damage and once again enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders,” he said in a statement to Fox.

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The numbers offer a glimpse into the variety of challenges that the incoming Trump administration faces as it seeks to establish a historic mass deportation operation after it takes office in January. Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that public safety threats will be the priority, but officials have also said that no illegal immigrant is off the table when it comes to deportation.

The administration also faces challenges in international diplomacy and dealing with countries refusing to take back their illegal immigrants. The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it has conducted another removal flight to China, marking the fourth flight in less than six months to the communist nation.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday as a leader who served the U.S. “honorably and with integrity” for two decades in the hours after Wray announced his plans to step down at the end of Biden’s presidency.

In a statement Wednesday, Garland lauded Wray’s multi-decade career as a civil servant and U.S. prosecutor, including as U.S. assistant attorney general and the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. 

“Chris Wray has served our country honorably and with integrity for decades, including for seven years as the Director of the FBI under presidents of both parties,” Garland wrote Wednesday. 

PATEL ‘READY TO SERVE’ AS FBI DIRECTOR, SEEKS ‘SMOOTH TRANSITION’ AFTER WRAY RESIGNATION NEWS

President-elect Trump plans to nominate Kash Patel, right, as FBI director, replacing Christopher Wray. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“In a heightened threat environment, Director Wray has worked tirelessly to protect the American people and to lead an agency of 38,000 dedicated public servants, many of whom put their lives on the line every day to serve their communities,” Garland wrote, praising his role in working to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission “to keep our country safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.”

“He has led the FBI’s efforts to aggressively confront the broad range of threats facing our country — from nation-state adversaries and foreign and domestic terrorism to violent crime, cybercrime, and financial crime,” Garland said. “There are few leadership positions more central to keeping the American people safe than the Director of the FBI.”

The statement came shortly after Wray announced his plans to resign at Wednesday’s FBI town hall in Washington, D.C., which was attended by thousands of FBI employees virtually and in person. President-elect Donald Trump announced shortly after his election victory last month his nomination of Kash Patel to succeed Wray, giving Wray the option to either exit on his own or be fired after Trump takes office.

Patel told Fox News on Wednesday that he’s seeking a “smooth transition” to replace Wray.

“After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Wray told employees during the town hall. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission, the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”

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

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (File)

In his statement, Garland emphasized the role the FBI director plays in protecting the agency’s independence from what he described as “inappropriate influence in its criminal investigations. … That independence is central to preserving the rule of law and to protecting the freedoms we as Americans hold dear.”

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“Director Wray has done that job with integrity and skill,” Garland wrote Wednesday. “He has my gratitude, the gratitude of the FBI agents and employees whose respect and admiration he has earned, and the gratitude of the American people.”

President-elect Donald Trump nominated a few more candidates on Wednesday night to serve in various positions during his second term.

He tapped Kari Lake as the next director of the Voice of America, a state-funded U.S. government broadcaster. Lake was a longtime Arizona broadcaster who ran unsuccessfully for public office in 2022 and 2024.

“I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America. She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote in a release.

Voice of America is an influential broadcast channel that provides news, information and cultural programming in over 40 languages on the Internet, mobile and social media, radio and television.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES MORE PICKS, NOMINATES KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE TO SERVE AS AMBASSADOR TO GREECE

President-elect Donald Trump nominated former Arizona broadcaster Kari Lake, who unsuccessfully ran for public office in 2022 and 2024, as director of the Voice of America broadcast. (Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump also named Dr. Peter Lamelas, a physician, philanthropist, and businessman, as the next U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. Lamelas immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba and founded MD Now Urgent Care in Florida, the state’s largest urgent care system.

“As a child, Peter and his family fled communist Cuba and LEGALLY immigrated to the USA, starting with nothing, and achieving the American Dream,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Lamelas was previously appointed to the Department of Justice’s Medal of Valor Review Board during Trump’s first term and has served as a town commissioner in Manalapan, Florida, and on the state’s Board of Medicine.

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Dr. Peter Lamelas to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina. (Dr. Peter Lamelas/LinkedIn)

NEW POLL REVEALS WHAT AMERICANS THINK OF TRUMP’S TRANSITION DECISIONS 

Also on Wednesday evening, Trump announced Daniel Newlin, a law enforcement veteran, as the next U.S. Ambassador to Colombia. In addition to a 28-year career with the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office where he worked as a fugitive detective, Newlin is also a business executive and entrepreneur.

“With his Law Enforcement expertise enabling him to navigate complex international issues, and his business insights fostering economic partnerships, Newlin stands as a powerful advocate for U.S. interests, and a Champion for strengthening ties, and making a difference in the World,” Trump wrote.

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The picks announced Wednesday night are the latest in a long string of nominations the president-elect hopes the Senate will approve.

The House voted to pass its yearly defense bill Wednesday, adding about another $1 trillion to the $36 trillion national debt.

The 1,800-page bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent.

On Wednesday, the bill passed 281-140, with 16 Republicans voting no. Only 81 Democrats voted yes, while 124 voted no.

The legislation now heads to the Senate for passage before heading to President Biden’s desk for his signature.

124 DEMS OPPOSE HISTORICALLY BIPARTISAN DEFENSE BILL OVER RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS

The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington March 2, 2022.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The bill’s passage comes as the U.S. national debt continues to climb at a rapid pace and shows no signs of slowing down.

As of Dec. 11, the national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors, fell to $36,163,442,396,226.61, according to the latest numbers released by the U.S. Treasury Department. The debt represents a decrease of $8.8 billion from the figure released the previous day.

By comparison, 40 years ago, the national debt hovered at about $907 billion.

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTER-DRONE STRATEGY AS UNMANNED ATTACKS ON US INTERESTS SKYROCKET

The United States Capitol building in Washington D.C., Dec. 2, 2024.  (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office indicate the national debt will grow to an astonishing $54 trillion in the next decade, the result of an aging population and rising federal health care costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the pain of higher debt.

Should that debt materialize, it could risk America’s economic standing in the world.

The spike in the national debt follows a burst of spending by President Biden and Democratic lawmakers.

As of September 2022, Biden had already approved roughly $4.8 trillion in borrowing, including $1.85 trillion for a COVID relief measure dubbed the American Rescue Plan and $370 billion for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a group that advocates for reducing the deficit.

HERE IS WHO IS VYING FOR POWER IN SYRIA AFTER THE FALL OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD

President Biden visits with members of the 82nd Airborne Division at the G2A Arena March 25, 2022, in Jasionka, Poland. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

While that is about half of the $7.5 trillion that President-elect Trump added to the deficit while he was in office, it’s far more than the $2.5 trillion Trump approved at that same point during his first term. 

Biden has repeatedly defended the spending by his administration and boasted about cutting the deficit by $1.7 trillion. 

“I might note parenthetically: In my first two years, I reduced the debt by $1.7 trillion. No president has ever done that,” Biden said recently. 

That figure, though, refers to a reduction in the national deficit between fiscal years 2020 and 2022. The deficit certainly shrank during that period, though it was largely because emergency measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic had expired.

A transgender rights supporter takes part in a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Getty Images)

Despite adding to the national debt, the NDAA was strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers were against the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization.

The bill also included a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the military.

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The defense act also includes measures to strengthen deterrence against China and calls for an investment of $15.6 billion to bolster military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration had only requested about $10 billion.

Fox News’ Eric Revell and Morgan Phillips, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

President-elect Trump tapped Kari Lake as the next director of the Voice of America, a state-funded U.S. government broadcaster.

“I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America. She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote in a release on Wednesday night.

Lake was a longtime Arizona broadcaster who ran unsuccessfully for public office in 2022 and 2024. 

Kari Lake, former U.S. Republican Senate candidate for Arizona, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference Argentina in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week. (Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Voice of America is an influential broadcast channel that serves news, information, and cultural programming through the Internet, mobile and social media, radio, and television. 

The broadcaster serves in over 40 languages.

Reparations activists in California hope their snubbed bills that were shelved in September will be re-introduced by a legislator during the next special session that Gov. Gavin Newsom called in January.

“That is one of the primary demands or commands from the community and reparations leaders is for a legislator, it doesn’t even have to be a black legislator, but a legislator to reintroduce those two bills that failed,” California Reparations Task Force Chair Kamilah Moore told Fox News Digital in an interview this week.

The bills, SB 1403 and SB 1331, would have established the California American Freedman’s Affairs Agency to oversee reparations programs and create a dedicated fund for implementing reparations policies, respectively. Both were snubbed after backers said the bills would not move forward and be signed by Newsom.

PROTESTS ERUPT AT CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL AFTER PAIR OF REPARATIONS BILLS SHELVED

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, right, talks to members of Coalition for a Just and Equitable California about two reparations bills, Aug. 31, 2024, at the State House in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)

“I think the reason for Newsom was probably political, like, he didn’t think that these reparations would get so serious so fast,” Moore said. “And then this particular election year when Kamala [Harris] was running for president, and you can’t look too progressive in this political environment we’re in.”

The two bills, authored by members of the California Legislative Black Caucus, were pivotal for the reparations task force to carry out its atoning for what supporters said was a legacy of racist policies that drove disparities for Black people, from housing to education to health.

The Democrat-led California legislature passed a spate of other bills aimed at remedying past racial injustices, but none of them would provide direct payments to African Americans.

“I feel like the caucus and even Newsom were supportive of these bills, and there’s evidence of that. The Black Caucus wrote that letter in June wanting to give $6 million to their friends, the Black freedom Fund, which is problematic,” Moore said. “But the letter also said they wanted to give $6 million to the reparations agency, but then at the last minute, in August, they decided to kill the Reparations Agency Fund bill.”

NEWSOM RAILS AGAINST TRUMP’S 25% TARIFF PLAN DURING SOUTHERN BORDER VISIT: ‘IT’S A BETRAYAL’

Gavin Newsom (Anadolu/Contributor/File)

At the time, then-Sen. Steven Bradford, who is now termed out, said the bills didn’t move forward out of fear they wouldn’t make it past Newsom’s desk.

“We’re at the finish line, and we as the Black Caucus owe it to the descendants of chattel slavery, to Black Californians and Black Americans to move this legislation forward,” Bradford said, urging his colleagues to reconsider the bills.

When the bills got pulled, a group of protesters were outraged inside the Sacramento Capitol after being promised the bills would receive time.

State Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli accused Democrats in a post on X of going “into hiding” and refusing to bring the bills up for a vote when it came time to pass them despite “promising to pay direct cash reparations to Americans who have been harmed by slavery” for years.

Essayli talked to supporters in the Capitol that day and clarified that he did not support California taxpayers paying for the wrongs of slave states but “believed there should be a debate and a recorded vote on the issue.” He then urged the legislature to bring the bills for a floor debate.

“I don’t think you can constitutionally justify cash payments based on race,” Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. “[President-elect] Trump created opportunity zones, which resulted in direct investments into minority communities, so I think there’s other [ways] we can get resources and investments to those who have been harmed by racist policies and slavery long ago.”

CALIFORNIA’S UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS SYSTEM ‘BROKEN’ WITH $20B OWED TO FEDS IN LOAN DEBT: REPORT

Members of the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California protest and demand lawmakers take up a vote on two reparations bills, Aug. 31, 2024, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)

There are two new reparations bills on the California docket that were introduced during the Dec. 2 special session.

AB 7, introduced by Democrat Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan and Tina McKinnor, proposes allowing California’s higher education institutions, including the California State University, the University of California, independent colleges and private postsecondary institutions, to consider giving admissions preference to applicants who are descendants of American slavery.

AB 57, introduced by McKinnor, seeks to allot a portion of California’s Home Purchase Assistance Program funds for descendants of slaves.

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Newsom has remained silent on most reparations bills introduced this year but approved a nearly $300 billion budget in June, which included up to $12 million for reparations. The budget did not detail which proposals the funds would support, and his administration has expressed opposition to some of the measures.

However, he signed some reparations-related bills, including a “formal apology for California’s historical role in the perpetuation of slavery and its enduring legacy.”

“The State of California accepts responsibility for the role we played in promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery, as well as its enduring legacy of persistent racial disparities,” Newsom said in a statement in September. “Building on decades of work, California is now taking another important step forward in recognizing the grave injustices of the past – and making amends for the harms caused.” 

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republicans and conservatives on social media are taking a victory lap after Senate Democrats failed in a last-minute attempt to keep control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Wednesday after narrowly losing a vote to end debate on re-appointing the board’s chair, Lauren McFerran.

Outgoing Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had hoped to confirm McFerran, a President Biden pick, to a new five-year term that would have given Democrats control of the influential agency until at least 2026, but the vote failed, 50-49, with independent Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona voting against it. 

The vote, which conservatives had railed against for days by arguing that President-elect Trump should decide the pick after his November election victory, was celebrated by conservatives.

“Working Americans just delivered a massive victory for President Trump and his pro-worker polices, so why on earth would we let Biden choose more NLRB nominees?” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I’m glad we didn’t, and I look forward to working with President Trump to support policies and nominees that are good for working families and all Americans.”

PROGRESSIVE DEMS RAGE AT BIDEN FOR GIVING TRUMP THE SPOTLIGHT DURING FINAL WEEKS IN OFFICE

Sen. Josh Hawley, left, and Sen. Chuck Schumer (File)

“Lauren McFerran’s abysmal record running the Biden-Harris NLRB includes undermining freelancers, crushing businesses of all sizes, and greenlighting vulgar union harassment of American workers,” Tom Hebert, director of competition and regulatory policy for Americans for Tax Reform, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“Chuck Schumer tried to put the Trump-Vance NLRB under Democrat control by sneaking McFerran’s renomination through the Senate, anticipating Republican absences. Fortunately for American workers and businesses, Republicans showed up and blocked Schumer’s scheme, ensuring the Trump-Vance NLRB is controlled by pro-worker Republicans instead of anti-worker Democrats.”

BIDEN, DEMOCRATS BACK AWAY FROM BILL THAT WOULD GIVE TRUMP MORE FEDERAL JUDGES TO APPOINT

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)

“I am glad the Senate rejected Democrats’ partisan attempt to deny President Trump the opportunity to choose his own NLRB nominees and enact a pro-America, pro-worker agenda with the mandate he has from the American people,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., posted on X.

“Outstanding work @SenateGOP and free thinkers @SenatorSinema and @Sen_JoeManchin!” Independent Women’s Voice senior policy analyst Carrie Sheffield posted on X. “Another antagonist of @elonmusk and free speech collapses. Paving the way for @realDonaldTrump to fix harmful policies. Great work.”

A point of frustration for Republicans was the fact that Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bernie Sanders denied a request from Cassidy to hold a public hearing on McFerran before advancing her. McFerran’s nomination has been waiting for consideration since August.

In 2021, McFerran’s NLRB ordered Tesla to direct Musk to delete a tweet they said was damaging to a unionization effort at Tesla in a move that was eventually overturned by the U.S. Appeals Court. 

“The current administration is doing everything possible to prevent government efficiency, but @DOGE is inevitable,” Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk posted on X before the vote in response to a post lamenting the Democrat push to advance McFerran. 

Unlike most similar agencies, members of the NLRB cannot be removed by the president at will simply based on policy goals or changing administrations. 

“Any member of the Board may be removed by the President, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause,” the NLRB website states.

In response to the McFerran vote, Democrats pulled the cloture vote for Republican NLRB nominee Joshua Ditelberg, giving Trump the opportunity to fill two seats if nothing changes before inauguration day. 

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Sen. Joe Manchin (Samuel Corum/Getty Images/File)

Schumer filed cloture on McFerran’s nomination on Monday, setting up a vote on Wednesday. In floor remarks, the New York Democrat did not acknowledge the lame-duck nature of the vote, telling his colleagues, “If you truly care about working families, if you care about fixing income inequality in America, then you should be in favor of advancing today’s NLRB nominees. You can’t say you are for working families, then go and vote ‘no’ today, because the NLRB protects workers from mistreatment on the job and from overreaching employers.”

In a statement after the vote, Schumer said, “It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly troubling that this highly qualified nominee – with a proven track record of protecting worker rights – did not have the votes.”

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

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

Here’s what’s happening…

-Trump border czar fires back after House Dem promises ‘resistance’ to deportations

-New mission for House Republican military veterans: Support Trump defense secretary nominee Hegseth

-Red state AG slams Biden admin’s attempt to ‘rewrite’ immigration law: ‘Alice in Wonderland stuff’

Head of FBI announces departure as Trump choice awaits confirmation

FBI Director Christopher Wray announced plans to step down from his post at the end of the Biden administration.

Fox News learned just moments before the announcement that Wray would make the announcement during an FBI town hall in Washington, D.C., during which thousands of FBI employees are expected to join virtually across the country.

“After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down,” Wray said during the town hall. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission – the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”…Read more

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. Wray is expected to lobby for the renewal of a key part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires December 31. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

White House

PARTING GIFTS: Biden admin extends $10B Iran sanctions waiver 2 days after Trump election win…Read more

WIDESPREAD DISAPPROVAL: Biden flip-flop on pardoning son Hunter is wildly unpopular with Americans, poll finds…Read more

BIG REPORT DROPS: House small business panel releases year-end report on ‘partisan’ Biden agency electioneering allegations…Read more

‘SORRY’: Outgoing Treasury Sec. Yellen ‘sorry that we haven’t made more progress,’ believes deficit must be decreased…Read more

 U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks alongside Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a Cabinet Meeting at the White House on June 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. Biden spoke on the U.S. economy and the bipartisan deal to raise the debt limit.  ( Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

BENCHED: Biden, Democrats back away from bill that would give Trump more federal judges to appoint…Read more

FINAL GOODBYES: Biden could pardon these Trump antagonists amid Dem fears that ‘revengeful first year’ is looming…Read more

‘TENS OF BILLIONS’: Mast blasts Blinken over ‘tens of billions’ of US taxpayer dollars sent to Taliban post-Afghanistan withdrawal…Read more

Trump Transition

MONEY MOVES: Trump Treasury pick reveals whether Fed Chair Powell will finish term…Read more

POST-PRESIDECNY SENTENCING?: Bragg pitches post-presidency Trump sentencing in renewed push urging Judge Merchan to keep conviction alive…Read more

‘FUELING OBESITY’: GOP governor calls on incoming Trump officials to ban junk food in food stamps: ‘Make America Healthy Again’…Read more

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders is calling for an end of junk food as part of the SNAP program (Getty Images)

Capitol Hill

CHIPS DEPLOYED: Top DOGE senator demands answers on plan to exhaust CHIPs Act funds before Trump arrives…Read more

COMING BACK?: Former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, convicted of illicit contact with minor, files to run for NYC Council…Read more

TIME IS MONEY: House GOP fiscal hawks warn Trump tax cuts in danger of expiring under new Senate-backed plan…Read more

The dome of the U.S. Capitol building is seen from a perch in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital)

HANDICAPPING TRUMP: Manchin, Sinema tank Schumer lame-duck effort to secure Dem majority on top labor board…Read more

‘GOING CRAZY’: Outgoing Rep. Jamaal Bowman issues ‘Dear White People’ thread following Daniel Penny acquittal…Read more

ROOTING OUT WOKE: Democrats in a bind over defense bill that bans transgender surgeries for minors but boosts enlisted pay…Read more

‘COMMON GROUND’: Hakeem Jeffries says he’s ‘prepared to find common ground’ with Trump next year…Read more

Across America

WORKING REMOTE: Nation’s largest labor union for federal employees rebukes GOP’s efforts to end telework…Read more

‘REWARD’: ‘DeSanta Claus’ strikes again: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announces extra days off for state workers…Read more

D.A. DOUBLES DOWN: Fani Willis declines to share Jack Smith, Jan. 6 records, citing legal exemptions…Read more

Fulton County DA Fani Willis testified in a hearing last month regarding allegations that she engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a prosecutor she had hired to work on her case against former President Trump. (Getty Images)

FIGHTING BACK: Federal judge who refuses mental evaluation at age 97 fights suspension…Read more

E STREET SHUFFLE: Dem NJ gubernatorial candidate cops to faking playlist to feature Bruce Springsteen…Read more

‘WASTING TAXPAYERS’ MONEY’: New Yorkers protest removal of 400 migrants from Albany hotels…Read more

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FIRST ON FOX: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, signaled he is not finished with his oversight of FBI Director Christopher Wray’s handling of the bureau, even after the intelligence official announced he was stepping down.

Jordan said Wray’s resignation was “great” news and lambasted his handling of the FBI in comments to Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“I mean, Chris Wray was, you know, investigating moms and dads who show up for school board meetings. He was putting out a memorandum on saying, ‘If you’re a pro-life Catholic, you’re an extremist.’ The FBI retaliated against whistleblowers who came and gave us that kind of information. We learned yesterday that they were spying on congressional staffers and their metadata. And of course, he raided President Trump’s home,” Jordan said.

GRASSLEY RIPS WRAY’S ‘FAILED’ LEADERSHIP AT FBI WITH 11 PAGES OF EXAMPLES IN BLISTERING ‘NO CONFIDENCE’ LETTER

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan signaled he is not done with his oversight of FBI Director Christopher Wray (Getty Images)

Wray previously denied targeting pro-life activists. He also defended the FBI’s handling of a Department of Justice (DOJ) memo raising alarms about conduct at school board meetings, though he said last year that there was “no compelling nationwide law enforcement justification” for the directive to be issued.

Jordan has made no secret of his thoughts on Wray’s leadership, overseeing multiple inquiries by the House Judiciary Committee into his leadership.

When asked by Fox News Digital if that oversight will continue, Jordan said, “Oh, yeah.”

“And there’s, we think, reports coming that are going to, you know, shed even more light on what’s been going on down line from the from the inspector general,” Jordan said.

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

Trump tapped Kash Patel to succeed Wray (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

He also praised President-elect Trump’s new nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel.

Fox News first reported Wray’s intent to resign seven years into his 10-year term earlier on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to replace him had already been meeting with senators for days ahead of an anticipated confirmation hearing.

DONALD TRUMP ON FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY: ‘HE INVADED MY HOME’

Jordan said Wray’s resignation was “great” news (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down. My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Wray told FBI colleagues. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”   

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Jordan told Fox News Digital he was not surprised at Wray’s decision.

“I mean when the president nominates someone to replace you, you’ve got to go, man,” Jordan said.

The San Diego County sheriff says her office will not change its practices with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the county’s board of supervisors moved to further restrict that cooperation ahead of the Trump administration taking office next year.

“The sheriff’s office will not change its practices based on the board resolution and policy that was passed at today’s meeting,” Sheriff Kelly Martinez’s office said in a statement. “The board of supervisors does not set policy for the sheriff’s office. The sheriff, as an independently elected official, sets the policy for the sheriff’s office.”

The statement came after a 3-1 vote by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on a resolution to restrict ICE cooperation with local law enforcement.

CALIFORNIA COUNTY VOTES TO RAMP UP SANCTUARY POLICIES AHEAD OF TRUMP DEPORTATION PUSH: ‘RADICAL POLICY’ 

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

The resolution says the county will not provide assistance or cooperation to ICE, “including by giving ICE agents access to individuals or allowing them to use County facilities for investigative interviews or other purposes, expending County time or resources responding to ICE inquiries or communicating with ICE regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates, or otherwise participating in any civil immigration enforcement activities.”

When ICE is aware of suspected illegal immigrants in local or state custody, it will file a detainer with law enforcement, typically requesting that the agency is notified ahead of the suspected illegal immigrants’ release and, in some cases, that they be held until ICE can take custody of them.

ICE says this helps detain illegal immigrants without having to go into communities and gets illegal immigrant offenders off the streets. Sanctuary proponents say that such policies chill cooperation between law enforcement and otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants.

BLUE STATE COUNTY TEES UP VOTE ON ‘KNEE-JERK’ RESOLUTION TO PROTECT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATION

“When federal immigration authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol coerce local law enforcement to carry out deportations, family members are separated and community trust in law enforcement and local government is destroyed,” an overview of the resolution claims. 

“Witnesses and victims who are undocumented or who have loved ones who are undocumented are afraid to come to the County for help, which includes calling local law enforcement. This puts the public safety of all San Diegans at risk.”

Proponents of the resolution say California’s sanctuary law has too many loopholes and still allows agencies to notify ICE of release dates and transfer some individuals into their custody.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

It was a claim with which Martinez disagreed.

Thomas Homan, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaks during a Department of Homeland Security press conference to announce end-of-year numbers regarding immigration enforcement, border security and national security Dec. 5, 2017, in Washington, D.C.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“As the sheriff of San Diego County, my No. 1 priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all residents of our diverse region. While protecting the rights of undocumented immigrants is crucial, it is equally important to ensure that victims of crimes are not overlooked or neglected in the process,” she said.

The San Diego County Sheriff is a nonpartisan office, but Martinez has identified as a Democrat personally.

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“Victims include undocumented individuals. These vulnerable individuals express to me that their legal status is used as a weapon against them when offenders from their community victimize them,” she said. “We must protect the well-being of individuals, including those who are undocumented, which requires a careful approach that upholds the principles of justice, fairness and compassion for all individuals involved.”

It comes ahead of what is expected to be a historic mass deportation campaign by the incoming Trump administration. Incoming border czar Tom Homan has said no one is off the table when it comes to deportations, although public safety threats will be the priority.