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The Department of Justice is offering signing bonuses of up to $25,000 to recruit lawyers across the country to bolster legal battles against what one department official described as “lawless jurisdictions.”

New job postings show the high-dollar bonuses are being offered through the DOJ Civil Division components that handle immigration lawsuits and investigations into transgender medical treatments, two of President Donald Trump’s most contentious priorities, and highlight New York City, Raleigh, San Francisco and Dallas.

The hiring push comes as the Civil Division, the DOJ’s most expansive division led by Brett Shumate, continues the resource-intensive task of defending White House policies in court as it faces hundreds of lawsuits, while also drawing scrutiny for employee departures and reported recruiting challenges. 

The new recruitment strategy puts a spotlight on the pressure DOJ is facing to sustain its aggressive legal defense strategy, particularly in blue cities and states that it has accused of undermining federal authority, while also combating narratives that the department is struggling to retain staff.

TRUMP ADMIN UNLEASHES CRUCIAL RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN WITH MASSIVE BONUSES TO BOLSTER ICE RANKS

A DOJ official told Fox News Digital the hiring effort is not reflective of any internal strain but rather a way for the department to “look broader by enticing attorneys around the country who may not have considered” working for a D.C.-based federal agency.

“The department is expanding resources across the country to combat lawless jurisdictions and nationwide injunctions, and there is a need to attract candidates from those new areas,” the official said, touting that Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act gave the DOJ “millions of dollars to hire more attorneys specifically for those efforts.”

The offers come as blue states, civil rights groups and Democrats flood courts across the country with lawsuits challenging Trump’s efforts to shrink and unify the executive branch, crack down on illegal immigration, implement tariffs and tighten policies surrounding election security and transgender people and more. Lower court judges have often stymied the administration’s work. 

The DOJ has chosen on rare occasions to raise the adverse rulings on an emergency basis with the conservative-leaning Supreme Court and won some two dozen cases — which represents a vast majority of the cases — when taking that route.

JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA

The Civil Division, which is in charge of defending the civil lawsuits against the administration, has also been offering incentives to current lawyers, according to Bloomberg Law. The outlet said the division was offering new biweekly bonuses up to $220 through Thanksgiving because lawyers “keep fleeing” and because the division was “growing more desperate to stave off further departures of valuable legal minds” who are uncomfortable with Trump’s priorities.

The DOJ official addressed concerns about an employee exodus in a statement to Fox News Digital, after The Financial Times also reported that more than a quarter of its nearly 13,000 lawyers have quit or been fired since the beginning of last year.

JUDGE RESTORES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S BUYOUT OFFER TO FEDERAL WORKERS

The official attributed the departures, in part, to employees taking a “fork in the road” resignation option, which the Trump administration rolled out last year with the stated goal of reducing the size of government.

“This has allowed DOJ to run more efficiently and hire new employees who wholeheartedly believe in the work they’re doing,” the official told Fox News Digital.

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Assistant Attorney General Shumate told Fox News Digital in a statement he was “always looking for talented and qualified attorneys to advance President Trump’s priorities and protect the American people.”

“The Civil Division will continue to hire hardworking patriots from across the country and offer appreciation bonuses to our loyal attorneys who remain committed to our mission and upholding the rule of law,” Shumate said.

Every Democrat asked during this week’s California gubernatorial debate said they supported providing healthcare coverage for illegal immigrants, a position they took moments after candidates spent several minutes warning that California’s healthcare system is already too expensive and straining families, businesses and the state budget.

“We had a broken immigration system, and now you want to victimize the people who are working here and making the state run,” Democratic candidate and billionaire businessman Tom Steyer said when asked if he supported giving coverage to illegal immigrants after the current California governor, Gavin Newsom, cut it to help reduce the state’s ballooning deficit.

Former California congresswoman and fellow Democratic candidate for California governor, Katie Porter, was asked point-blank about the cost concerns related to providing illegal immigrants with free healthcare coverage.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE COSTS IN BLUE STATE TRIGGERS INTENSE BUDGET DEBATE

“We can’t afford to have people who are sick, who are making the rest of us sick,” Porter responded to the cost question before her Republican opponent, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, interjected “they shouldn’t be here,” leading Porter to pause and give him a look of bewilderment.

“When anyone doesn’t have care, the rest of us are at risk when people don’t get vaccinations,” Porter continued. “When they don’t go to the doctor, they wind up in the emergency room. They cause longer lines for the rest of us. They make our health care system — they push it to the brink.”

“Immigrants, whether documented or not, work hard. They pay taxes and sometimes they get injured on the job or their children get sick,” former Biden administration Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said when asked if he supported the measure.

NEWSOM SIGNS $2.8B BAILOUT FOR HEALTHCARE PROGRAM OVERRUN BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“It would be foolish to tell a family that they don’t have access to the pediatrician or the family doc, or not be able to use the community health center where it wouldn’t cost us so much to give them help access to good health care,” Becerra continued. “Instead, what will happen is that child will get so ill that they will have to take that child to the hospital. And what door do they enter? The most expensive door in the health care system? The emergency room door. Why do that and spend so much money when you can do it up front?”

The remaining Democratic Party candidates on the stage, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, were not directly asked whether they supported providing healthcare to illegal immigrants in the state, nor did they indicate their stances during other portions of the debate that discussed health care.

“The actual way we deal with health care in this state is to at least stop spending $20 billion a year on free health care for illegal immigrants who shouldn’t even be in the country in the first place,” Republican candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton said amid debate about how to reform the state’s healthcare system.

LAWMAKERS REVEAL WHETHER AMERICANS SHOULD PICK UP THE MEDICAID TAB FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“When are we going to draw the line at any other crime? It’s illegal. They enter the country illegally, we’re not going to incentivize them to come here to take more of the resources that regular Californians aren’t getting,” Bianco added.

Before defending taxpayer-funded healthcare access for illegal immigrants, several of the Democratic candidates were already locked in a fight over who was more committed to government-run healthcare.

Steyer said he supports single payer “absolutely,” while Becerra said California should “try to get to a Medicare for all program.” Porter repeatedly pressed Becerra to be more explicit, asking whether he supported “California having its own state-run single-payer system.”

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But the push for expanded coverage came as candidates also acknowledged the cost problem. Steyer said healthcare is “eating up our budget” and “eating up every single family,” while Villaraigosa warned a state-run single-payer system would carry a roughly $500 billion price tag and require approval from the federal government.

“It’s pie in the sky,” Villaraigosa said.

The Seattle City Council president said she works with two budgets — her district’s and “the Black budget” — and urged Black residents to unite as “the most powerful political party” in Seattle.

Joy Hollingsworth, president of the Seattle City Council and representative of District 3, told attendees at the State of Africatown 2026 conference how she has advocated for the “Black budget” to be reflected in the city’s general budget. 

The public town hall, focused on advancing Seattle’s Black community, was held in late February, but Hollingsworth’s remarks mentioned by Seattle talk show host Jason Rantz.

KEY TRUMP AGENCY UNLEASHES PROBE ON BLUE STATE OVER POTENTIAL RACE-BASED MORTGAGE AID: ‘DEI IS DEAD’

“So, I got two budgets every time I go to council member Dan Strauss every year. I have a District 3 budget and then a black budget,” Hollingsworth told the audience.

Hollingsworth’s remarks came just days before Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson ordered city agencies to cut their budgets for next year by 5% to 10%. Seattle is facing a projected budget deficit of $140 million for the 2026 fiscal year.

During the address, Hollingsworth talked about how she assembled roughly 70 Black residents to testify last year on the city’s budget, dubbing it “Black Budget Day.”

“It is important that they see us, that they hear us, that we just don’t show up for certain things that we are down here advocating for us,” Hollingsworth said of Black Budget Day. 

“There are political parties in Seattle, and I believe that if Black people come together, we can be the most powerful political party in the city of Seattle. We have to coalesce our power.”

Rantz invited Hollingsworth on his radio show to explain what she meant by the term “Black budget,” suggesting that whether she meant it as a literal budget or a term used for political branding, it’s still a “problem.”

WHITE DEVELOPER SUES BALTIMORE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL CLAIMING HE WAS FIRED BECAUSE OF HIS RACE

“But we’d rightly call out a ‘white budget,'” Rantz wrote. “And it’s worth asking why Hollingsworth doesn’t appear eager to offer other constituencies their own budget. Perhaps she doesn’t care enough about Asians or Latinos?”

Rantz said Hollingsworth canceled the interview with his station, but in a statement to Fox News Digital, Hollingsworth said the Black budget refers to “targeted investments and resources directed toward historically impacted communities in Seattle.”

“This is about addressing long-standing challenges in public safety, infrastructure, small business support, clean and safe parks, roads and sidewalks and workforce development,” Hollingsworth said.

“In Seattle, we need to stay focused on delivering the city basics,” Hollingsworth continued. “That’s what communities across our city are asking for and what they want to see government deliver on every day. We are focused on the fundamentals of local government, safe streets, reliable infrastructure, responsive city services and clean public spaces.”

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Asked what percentage of Seattle’s $8.9 billion budget should be allocated for the “Black budget,” Hollingsworth said in an email, “8.9 billion dollars. The city’s budget.”

President Donald Trump warned nearly a year ago that the District of Columbia may have been reporting “fake crime numbers” when he deployed the National Guard to the nation’s capital.

Now, the Metropolitan Police Department is embroiled in scandal, as 13 officers have been placed on leave, with some already undergoing termination, according to MPD Interim Chief Jeffrey Carroll, as an ongoing probe into alleged manipulation of statistics unfolds.

“Our Internal Affairs Bureau has completed an investigation into crime reporting,” Carroll said. The MPD did not immediately respond to a Tuesday request for comment. “This investigation was reported — it was referred to us earlier this year from the United States Attorney’s Office.”

Senior officials, including an assistant chief and district commander, are among those being scrutinized, according to reports.

DC POLICE ACCUSED OF MANIPULATING CRIME STATS AS FEDERAL PROBE FINDS THOUSANDS OF MISCLASSIFIED CASES

Trump received heavy blowback from District officials and Democratic lawmakers for dispatching the Guard to the area after declaring on Truth Social that “DC gave fake crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety.”

Trump claimed that until the Guard arrived, Washington was the least safe city in the U.S. “and perhaps the world.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for further comment, while House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer took credit for the developments leading up to the suspensions.

“These terminations are a direct result of the Oversight Committee’s work exposing dangerous efforts by DC Police leaders to artificially lower crime rates,” Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement.

Meanwhile, several Democrats, including those in the District, have lambasted Trump for his actions.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., slammed the White House in August, saying the president’s use of federal law enforcement within her city is a “disproportionate overreaction” and “offensive.”

WHITE HOUSE FIRES BACK AS TRUMP’S USE OF DC POLICE FOR CRIME CRACKDOWN IS PLACED IN THE CROSSHAIRS BY DEMS

Council members on the District Council — where there are no Republicans — called Trump’s behavior off-base and extreme.

District of Columbia District Attorney Brian Schwalb also sued the feds for an “unlawful attempt to take over [MPD]” and the Justice Department’s Home-Rule order to the District in that respect.

Schwalb’s office said in a statement at the time that Trump had no right to supplant then-chief Pamela Smith, with the AG adding that his actions represented a “hostile takeover.”

“The Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said, further calling the move the greatest threat to the District’s “home rule” provisions of self-governance.

In a profane response a month later to the Guard’s presence, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., declared Congress would never provide consent to Trump’s actions in Washington.

“No f—ing way,” he said in response to a question on extending the National Guard’s tenure.

‘THEY’RE EMBARRASSING US’: NATIONAL GUARD PRESENCE IN DC SPARKS FIERY CAPITOL CLASH

Schumer called Trump’s move an attempted distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein files saga.

Fox News Digital reached out to Schwalb, Holmes-Norton, Schumer, the White House and the MPD for comment.

A representative for Schwalb acknowledged Fox News Digital’s inquiry and said the attorney general’s office would respond soon.

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Meanwhile, the MPD’s union boss welcomed the news, saying his members “warned that this toxic culture of coercion, fear, and corruption left thousands of cases uninvestigated, denied victims justice, gaslit residents, and endangered public safety.”

“Forensic teams were not dispatched, evidence went uncollected, detectives were never notified, and dangerous criminals walked free. All while the public was fed falsified Daily Crime Report (DCR) numbers,” Gregg Pemberton said.

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has taken a critical tone toward maverick Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., urging him to “get back to what he was elected to do” as a Democrat.

While speaking on CNN this week, Shapiro, another rumored 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, appeared exasperated about Fetterman amid reports that he is receiving pressure to jump ship on the party.

“Look, I don’t know what Sen. Fetterman is going to do,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I know that Pennsylvanians voted for a Democrat to represent them in the United States Senate.”

“So, I think he needs to honor that and continue with his service to Pennsylvania, and, hopefully, get back to what he was elected to do and reflect the will of the people,” he added.

KNIVES OUT FOR FETTERMAN: MAVERICK SENATOR JOINS LONG LINE OF DEMS PUNISHED FOR BREAKING FROM LEFT

Fetterman’s relationship with Shapiro has cooled since his election. The senator wrote in his book, “Unfettered,” released last November, that he and Shapiro “no longer speak” with one another. He wrote that the relationship deteriorated into an “ugliness” from which “we have never recovered.”

Fetterman has stirred up significant controversy by backing portions of Trump’s agenda. Notably, Fetterman is one of just six Democratic senators who represent states that President Donald Trump won in the 2024 election.

He was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of advancing Trump’s new pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, former Sen. Markwayne Mullin. During the prolonged government shutdown fight last year, Fetterman voted with Republicans to reopen the government, explaining his vote was choosing “country over party.”

In 2025, he voted with Republicans about 26 percent of the time, according to Congress Vote Tracker.

This has left many in the Democratic Party frustrated, including Shapiro. On a recent episode of the “Talk Easy” podcast with Sam Fragoso, Shapiro asserted, “I’ve got no beef with John” but said, “John’s got a lot of questions that I think he needs to answer for the people of Pennsylvania.”

“I think there’s a lot of people who want to know kind of what happened, why he does some of the things he does,” he continued.

In February, Shapiro declined to say whether he will support Fetterman if he seeks re-election in 2028, saying, “I don’t know if he’s running for re-election. I think he needs to decide if he’s running, and then we’ll make a decision from there.”

FETTERMAN BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS OVER SHUTDOWN, VOWS TO PUT ‘COUNTRY OVER PARTY’

Shapiro is not the only major Democratic leader who has criticized Fetterman in recent months. Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta slammed Fetterman in April, labeling the senator “a mess.”

“Almost every day now my US Senator comes on this site to attack his constituents and many people who worked hard to elect him. Suggesting that they have ‘derangement syndrome’ for opposing this administration. You’re a mess @JohnFetterman,” Kenyatta wrote in an X post.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also called out Fetterman over his response to the war in Iran and said on CNN in April that he “knows better.”

This comes as Politico reported Monday that some Republicans were trying to persuade Fetterman to change his party affiliation.

DNC VICE CHAIR ATTACKS DEMOCRATIC SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN: ‘YOU’RE A MESS’

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However, Fetterman told the outlet in an interview, “I’m a Democrat, and I’m staying one.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman and Shapiro for additional comment.

Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

Legal experts are pushing back on skepticism surrounding the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, arguing the Department of Justice would not have brought the case without meeting key legal thresholds.

“Lots of folks are saying the case is going nowhere, but, way too early to reach that conclusion,” former Democratic U.S. Attorney John Fishwick, who served in Virginia during the Obama administration, said, cautioning against prematurely dismissing the case.

The indictment, brought last month in the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleged Comey, a longtime Trump nemesis, threatened the president and delivered interstate communications containing threats when he posted a photo on Instagram of seashells reading “8647” last year. 

Free speech advocates and leftist critics pushed back against the indictment, accusing the DOJ of infringing on protected speech in the name of prosecuting one of Trump’s top political rivals. Comey, whom Trump fired as FBI director in 2017, has been outspoken against the president and profited off sales from his anti-Trump book, while Trump has said Comey is “guilty as hell” on social media and that he should face criminal charges.

BLANCHE TURNS THE TABLES ON COMEY INDICTMENT CRITICS: ‘REST ASSURED’ CASE GOES BEYOND INSTAGRAM POST

“Comey is out for revenge against Trump and has publicly gone after Trump separately from the seashells,” Fishwick said, adding that Trump also publicly said he perceived the message as a threat.

Prosecutors must prove Comey’s intent and that the message constituted a “true threat,” a high legal bar that has fueled questions about whether the case can succeed, especially in the recent threat environment where Trump has now faced three alleged assassination attempts.

“You prove intent like you always prove intent,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on “Meet the Press” this weekend. “You prove intent with witnesses. You prove intent with documents, with materials. … This is not just about a single Instagram post. This is about a body of evidence that the grand jury collected over the series of about 11 months.”

Chad Mizelle, former DOJ chief of staff, told Fox News Digital the legal standard for convicting Comey for threatening the president was high but that the indictment suggested there was underlying evidence.

“I don’t think the department would have secured the indictment without concrete evidence that Comey did knowingly and willfully threaten the president of the United States,” Mizelle said.

Mizelle noted evidence could take many forms, such as nonpublic text messages or emails.

“What was Comey’s intent when he said it?” Mizelle asked. “I suspect DOJ has evidence of that, and I’ll wager it’s not favorable to Comey.”

IN TRYING TO SECURE COMEY INDICTMENT, US PROSECUTORS HAVE SHORT WINDOW — AND A DIFFICULT CASE TO MAKE

The term “86” has been used as slang to get rid of someone or something, often in restaurants for an unavailable item or refused customer. Prosecutors alleged that, paired with “47” — a reference to Donald Trump as the 47th president — Comey’s post amounted to a threat.

Before serving as head of the FBI, Comey was a federal prosecutor and deputy attorney general for the Department of Justice. 

Comey, “more than any American, knows not to make threats and what a threat looks like,” Fishwick said.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News: “This is a very smart guy. He knows what he’s doing. He’s nobody’s fool. … He knew exactly what he was doing, but hey, he’s going to have his day in court.”

The DOJ secured the indictment from a grand jury days after a third alleged assassination attempt on Trump at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, a point Blanche has drilled down on as evidence that prosecuting threats to the president, regardless of who made them, is a top priority. Fishwick said the political violence would be relevant if the case makes it to trial.

“As background to any trial, jurors in North Carolina will be aware of all the political threats in this country and know that something must be done about it,” Fishwick said.

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley raised First Amendment concerns, saying if the case rested solely on the image of seashells forming “8647,” it could face significant legal hurdles, arguing the image “is clearly protected speech” absent additional evidence.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said “86” could actually mean impeachment and that the charges defied Supreme Court precedent that established the standard for a “true threat.”

“The idea that Comey’s picture of seashells conveyed a serious intent to harm the president is ridiculous,” the group wrote on social media. “The administration should abandon this transparent and unconstitutional attempt to punish a critic.”

FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR DAN BONGINO: JAMES COMEY ‘BROUGHT SHAME TO THE FBI AGAIN’ WITH ’86 47′ POST

Comey had quickly deleted the post, saying at the time that he did not realize that he had shared something ominous. After the indictment, he said he was “still innocent.”

“I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” Comey said.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton accused “the left media [of] rushing to the defense of James Comey, pretending it’s about free speech.”

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“You don’t have the right to advocate for the killing of the president,” Fitton said.

Comey’s arraignment is set for May 11 in Greenville. Comey’s lawyer did not comment for this story.

A Minnesota Medicaid fraud defendant is expected to avoid serving jail time under a plea deal that requires him to cooperate with authorities pursuing his fugitive co-defendant, whom a judge granted bond despite warnings from law enforcement that he may flee the country.

Said Awil Ibrahim pleaded guilty May 1 under a deal with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office that calls for five years of supervised probation and a stayed 150-day jail sentence in a nearly $11 million case Ellison’s office has called the state’s largest Medicaid fraud prosecution. Per the terms of his plea agreement, he will also be required to help authorities track down his missing fugitive co-defendant, alleged mastermind Abdirashid Ismail Said.

Minnesota’s fraud scandals intensified in late 2025, as federal and state authorities expanded scrutiny into pandemic-era schemes involving suspects largely from the state’s Somali community. 

MINNESOTA FRAUD SUSPECT SKIPS COURT, FORFEITS BOND, THROWING $11M MEDICAID CASE INTO DOUBT

Said testified at a hearing in 2023 that cultural misunderstanding was a factor in the fraud cases, arguing at the time that investigators did not understand that people within the Minneapolis Somali community often transfer funds to each other in ways that don’t produce paper trails, local media reported at the time. 

Said failed to show up for a mandated court appearance in early April after Hennepin County District Court Judge Juan Hoyos granted him a bond set at $150,000. The terms of the bond allowed Said to retain possession of his passport, even as law enforcement officials told the judge that he was a flight risk.

“Given the nature and severity of the charges, and SAID’s familial ties outside the jurisdiction of Minnesota, I believe there is a potential SAID may flee, hide, or otherwise prevent the execution of the warrant,” a police detective wrote in the criminal complaint against Said. The complaint noted that Said has a wife and child in Kenya, where he is believed to have fled.

Ibrahim’s role in Said’s operation included defrauding Minnesota taxpayers of $2.2 million using false claims and paying himself over half a million dollars through the scheme. As part of his plea deal, Ibrahim has acknowledged that he stole from the state and agreed to return the $2.2 million through a payment plan that will be determined at his sentencing hearing. 

His jail sentence will be stayed if he complies with probation and a payment plan. 

WALZ REMOVES TOP MINNESOTA OFFICIAL ON EVE OF ‘GAUNTLET’ HEARING OVER FRAUD SCANDAL

Investigators had pointed to texts shared between Said and Ibrahim in 2022 as evidence of the fraud. 

“We gonna party bro. Insha Allah,” one text from Said to Ibrahim obtained by prosecutors reads. 

“Next pay period bro I’ll bill 50k … Im gonna over bill the hours … And do a hit and run,” Ibrahim responded.

KLOBUCHAR VOWS FRAUD CRACKDOWN, AUDIT OF MN GOV’T AS GOP BLASTS WALZ TIES

Prosecutors claim Ibrahim over-reported how much time staff at his care center spent caring for patients in order to receive more money from the state than he was entitled to. As part of Ibrahim’s plea deal, authorities dismissed a racketeering charge and two additional theft charges against him.

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Said had previously been convicted of fraud in Minnesota in 2021, receiving probation and community service instead of a jail sentence. 

The Minnesota attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that its Office for Civil Rights has launched a probe into the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) “for policies that appear to automatically reassign teachers accused of sexual misconduct with students… to another school.”

“OCR will determine whether the District’s handling of alleged sexual harassment, including sexual assault, by District teachers, administrators, and/or staff violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX),” the department noted in a Tuesday press release.

But the school district pushed back in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

LAUSD asserted that “commentary is circulating insinuating that the District assigns those being investigated for sexual misconduct to other school sites. This is not true. Confusion seems to center on the meaning of the term ‘reassignment.'”

TRUMP ADMIN INVESTIGATES ALL-WOMEN’S COLLEGE FOR ADMITTING MALE STUDENTS

“‘Reassignment’ typically means an employee is directed to remain at home and away from students and schools during an investigation,” a district spokesperson continued. “Decisions about reassignment are guided first and foremost by the safety of students, staff, and the workplace.  After an investigation concludes, appropriate measures or discipline may be taken, including termination of employment if warranted.”

“Los Angeles Unified takes all allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment with the utmost seriousness. Our primary responsibility is to ensure the safety, dignity, and well-being of every student and staff member in our care,” the district spokesperson said.

“The District follows established Title IX procedures and other applicable laws and regulations, which are designed to ensure a fair, thorough, and impartial process for all parties. When allegations are reported, they are promptly reviewed, and appropriate interim measures are implemented to protect those involved. If violations are substantiated, the District takes decisive action in accordance with the law and our policies,” the statement noted.

“We also continuously review and strengthen our policies, training, and reporting systems to better prevent misconduct and support those who come forward. We encourage anyone with information or concerns to report them so they can be addressed appropriately,” the district spokesperson said. “We understand the seriousness of allegations and the impact they have on our community. The District remains committed to transparency, accountability, and fostering a safe environment for all.”

The U.S. Department of Education told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, “We are actively investigating this, and OCR will determine whether the policy is in violation of Title IX.”

The department also referred Fox News Digital to its press release and to posts on X by Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

The department’s press release pointed to a 2024 document involving LAUSD and the United Teachers of Los Angeles union.

FEDS OPEN PROBE INTO ANTI-ISRAEL NYC TEACHERS

“Upon reassignment of any UTLA member, they will be notified within 5 days of the general nature of the allegations against them. We will advise them that they are being reassigned for any of the following categories. Moreover, reassignment will only occur if the nature of the allegations fits one of these descriptions,” the document declared, before going on to list categories such as “Sexual harassment of a student, employee, school-related adult, or other community member,” “Engaging in a sexual or romantic relationship with a student regardless of their age, or with any other minors outside of LAUSD,” and others.

Fox News Digital reached out to United Teachers Los Angeles on Wednesday.

In a Tuesday post on X, McMahon wrote, “Any of the abhorrent actions listed here should result in termination or worse, but the LA teachers union appears to protect the employment of sexual predators over the safety of students, allowing alleged criminals to be reassigned to a different school. The Trump Administration will always fight to uphold the law, protect the safety of students, and restore common sense to our schools.”

McMahon added in another post Wednesday, “Teachers unions are advocating to keep children out of schools for protests, using dues to prop up political agendas, and negotiating protections for child abusers. The unions are not fighting for students or teachers – they are fighting to protect their own power.”

SENATORS UNVEIL BILL TO COMBAT FINANCIAL AID FRAUD BY ‘GHOST STUDENTS’

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“Under Title IX, schools must respond appropriately and address claims of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and assault, in a timely manner, but the District seems to be putting the continued employment of sexual predators above the safety of students,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s press release. “It is unconscionable that the District would simply ignore Title IX’s procedural requirements to protect teachers who cause life-changing harm to their kids. The Trump Administration will always fight to uphold the law, protect the safety of all students, and restore common sense to our schools.”

A fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is holding despite continued attacks, as President Donald Trump announced a pause in naval escort operations to allow negotiations to continue — while warning that failure to reach a deal would result in a significantly escalated bombing campaign.

Trump said the pause in Project Freedom — the U.S. mission to guide commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz — is intended to give negotiators time to finalize what he described as a potential “complete and final agreement” with Iran, while maintaining that the U.S. naval blockade would remain in place.

Trump suggested in a social media post Wednesday morning the conflict could soon come to an end if Iran agrees to the terms under discussion, but warned that if it does not, U.S. forces would resume bombing at a significantly higher level and intensity.

LEAVITT EXPLAINS WHY IRAN’S SEIZURE OF TWO SHIPS DOESN’T VIOLATE TRUMP’S CEASEFIRE

“Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran,” Trump wrote Wednesday morning. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”

“We prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but are locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft, and this mission without hesitation,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday. 

Even as negotiations advance, Iran has continued attacks on commercial vessels and U.S. forces, which officials say remain “below the threshold” of restarting major combat operations.

Since the start of the ceasefire April 7, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and attacked U.S. forces more than ten times, “all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations,” according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. 

“No, the ceasefire is not over. Ultimately, this is a separate and distinct project,” Hegseth told reporters Tuesday. “We’re not looking for a fight.”

But administration officials have not defined what level of escalation would constitute a violation of the ceasefire, even as attacks continue across the region.

Asked what level of firing would violate the ceasefire, Trump told reporters Tuesday: “You’ll find out.” 

“They know what to do, and they know what not to do,” Trump went on. “They fired from little boats with peashooters … You know why? Because they don’t have any boats anymore. Their Navy is comprised of, they call them little boats, right? Boats and they’re fast. Yeah. They’re so fast that, that they had eight of them and they’re all gone, and they’re fast, but they’re not fast like a missile. A missile is slightly faster.”

U.S. forces already have engaged Iranian assets directly. In recent days, American helicopters sank at least six Iranian fast-attack boats targeting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command.

The latest exchanges are a far cry from the early days of the war, when U.S. forces were striking targets across Iran — from bridges and infrastructure near Tehran to a massive bombardment of Kharg Island.

The ceasefire initially was expected to include a gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping lane, but that has not materialized. Iran has continued to restrict access to the waterway, effectively maintaining a blockade even after the agreement took hold.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘PROJECT FREEDOM,’ IRAN THREATENS ATTACKS, PAKISTAN ANNOUNCES US RELEASE OF SEIZED CARGO SHIP

In response, the U.S.-launched Project Freedom, a short-lived effort to direct stranded vessels through the strait, and has imposed its own restrictions on Iranian shipping, intercepting vessels and warning that ships entering or leaving Iranian ports could be turned back.

Iran, however, has accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire, warning that any American interference in the strait is considered a breach of the agreement.

The violence has also extended beyond shipping lanes. 

The United Arab Emirates said its air defenses intercepted 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and four drones launched from Iran on Monday alone, resulting in injuries. Emirati officials say hundreds of missiles and drones have been intercepted since the start of the conflict, with civilian casualties reported.

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, and shipping companies remain hesitant to resume normal transit as attacks continue and insurance risks rise. Even with U.S. escorts, industry analysts say the current security environment is unlikely to restore regular traffic in the near term. 

So far, two U.S.-escorted commercial ships have successfully transited so far under Project Freedom.

The ceasefire began as a two-week deal to allow both sides more time to agree to a permanent end to the war. But negotiations dragged on to almost the one-month mark and Trump said Sunday he finds Iran’s latest proposal unsatisfactory.

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 “They want to make a deal, I’m not satisfied with it,” he said. “They have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to humanity, and the world, over the last 47 years,” he wrote on Truth Social Sunday. 

He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump was the big winner in Indiana’s primary.

The president scored decisive victories in a slate of state primaries in the solidly red Midwestern state, another sign that his immense grip on the Republican Party remains rock solid.

The political world was closely watching Indiana’s primary because it was the first of a series of major tests this month of Trump’s endorsement power in GOP nomination showdowns, and the president cleared his first hurdle with ease.

Five months ago, Republicans in the GOP-dominated Indiana state Senate withstood immense pressure from Trump and his allies and voted down congressional redistricting, which would have given Indiana two more right-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Fast-forward to Tuesday and eight of those state senators faced GOP primary challenges. Seeking retribution, the president endorsed challengers to seven of the eight Republican lawmakers who voted against the redistricting bill.

Five of the Trump-endorsed candidates won, with one incumbent surviving, and one race yet to be decided as of early Wednesday morning.

“Everyone in Indiana politics should have learned an important lesson today: President Trump is the single most popular Republican among Hoosier voters,” Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana, a top Trump ally in the Senate, said in a statement as the results poured in.

Banks, who was a key part of the team of Trump allies and advisors in the effort to defeat the incumbent GOP state senators, emphasized that “Indiana is a conservative state, and we deserve conservatives in our State Senate who have a pulse on Republican voters.”

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Trump and his team started flexing their political muscles soon after the president’s push for redistricting in Indiana came crashing down last December.

A Republican source familiar with the effort to defeat the incumbent GOP state senators told Fox News Digital over $8 million was spent on TV and digital ads between the American Leadership PAC and Hoosier Leadership for America, two outside groups aligned with Banks and steered by team Trump strategist Andrew Surabian.

The source added that Team Trump operatives began organizing this plan in February and were responsible for the vast majority of the money raised that was spent by the two groups.

Republican Gov. Mike Braun of Indiana also donated several hundred thousand dollars to the effort.

Two well known national groups: Turning Point USA’s political wing and the Club for Growth, also had the president’s back in Indiana.

The intraparty battle was seen not just as a test of fealty to Trump but rather a fight between MAGA forces and more traditional conservatives for the future of the GOP.

Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital “this is a big win for Trump.”

And McIntosh, a former congressman from Indiana, said the primary victories are “a signal to the entire party that our base wants us to fight for what we believe in.”

Trump appeared to be closely watching the results. As each race was called, the president took to social media to tout the victory of another Trump-endorsed state Senate challenger.

The besieged incumbents significantly outraised their challengers, and were also boosted by the Indiana Senate GOP caucus.

But the outside spending and get-out-the-vote efforts by the pro-Trump forces proved decisive.

TRUMP VS. HISTORY: HOW PRESIDENT’S POLL NUMBERS COMPARE TO BIDEN, OBAMA, BUSH AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

“The resources that he [Trump] can bring to a state Senate race are overwhelming,” veteran Republican strategist Marc Short, who served as a key official in the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.

Short, a longtime top Pence advisor, said the showdowns in Indiana were “about allegiance to Trump,” and that the president “still has enormous sway in the party.”

Trump’s clout will be on the line once again in a week and a half, in the Louisiana primary.

Sen. Bill Cassidy is facing primary challenges from two Republicans: Rep. Julia Letlow and former Rep. John Fleming, who is currently the state treasurer. Trump earlier this year weighed in on the race by endorsing Letlow.

Cassidy was one of only seven Senate Republicans who voted in early 2021 to convict Trump after he was impeached by the House for his role in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters who aimed to upend congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

But since the start of Trump’s second term 15 months ago, Cassidy has been supportive of the president’s agenda and his nominees.

If no candidate cracks 50% of the primary vote, the top two finishers will face off for the nomination in a June 27 runoff election.

Another major test comes three days later, on May 19, in the primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, where Rep. Thomas Massie is facing a challenge from Trump-backed Ed Gallrein.

Massie has long been one of Trump’s most vocal GOP critics in Congress, repeatedly taking aim at the president over the Epstein files and foreign policy.

Trump allies have spent big bucks to boost Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, and to take aim at Massie.

The president’s endorsement is also being tested in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial nomination, which is being held on the same day, in the 2026 race to succeed popular term-limited conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

Trump has endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is trading fire in a high-profile, competitive and combustible battle with healthcare executive and mega GOP donor Rick Jackson, who has infused millions of his own money in his bid. Among the others battling for the nomination in a crowded Republican field are state Attorney General Chris Carr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

While MAGA enjoyed a big night in Indiana, there were more midterm warning signs for the GOP in neighboring Michigan, a key Midwestern battleground state.

Republicans were hoping to flip a Democrat-controlled vacant state Senate seat in a special election, where the Democratic majority in the chamber was on the line.

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But Republican candidate Jason Tunney was trounced by Democrat Chedrick Greene in the showdown in Michigan’s 35th Senate District, for a competitive seat in Midland and Saginaw in the central part of Michigan’s lower peninsula.

Greene’s victory was the latest overperformance by Democrats in special elections and off-year contests in the more than 15 months since Trump returned to the White House, energizing them as they work to flip the GOP majorities in the U.S. House and Senate in this autumn’s midterm elections.

President Donald Trump fired back at reporting of rising costs of building his $400 million White House ballroom, saying that figure remains the top of the price range.

“The White House Ballroom is going up rapidly on the East side of the White House,” Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social. “The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations.

“The original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars. It will be magnificent, safe, and secure!

“This was a necessary change, it was done long ago, but the Fake News failed to report it, trying to make it look like there was a cost overrun. Actually, it is coming in ahead of schedule, and under budget!”

REPUBLICANS SLIP $1 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY FOR TRUMP BALLROOM SECURITY IN ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE

The latest reporting on alleged rising costs comes from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tagging a $1 billion appropriation for the “East Wing Modernization Project” at the bottom of Republicans’ budget reconciliation package Trump hopes to sign by June 1.

That item includes more than just the ballroom and even specifies: “None of the funds made available under this section may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project.”

The bill’s outlay on the final page of the Senate Judiciary Committee reconciliation bill appropriates “$1,000,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2029, for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.”

Trump contends that is a military, national security and White House expenditure, while the $400 million ballroom remains merely a piece planted on top of the upgraded enhancements to the grounds.

TRUMP TEARS DOWN EAST WING FOR $300M BALLROOM AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES CHINA MEETING

That distinction is now at the center of the dispute. Trump’s post framed the ballroom itself as under budget, saying the higher price reflects a deliberate expansion approved “long ago.” An NBC News report focused on whether the overall project could still impose a major taxpayer cost through security work, even if private donors cover the ballroom’s construction.

The National Capital Planning Commission approved preliminary and final site and building plans for the East Wing Modernization Project on April 2. NCPC staff described the project as a permanent, secure event space intended to increase capacity for official state functions and reduce reliance on temporary tents and support facilities.

The approved plan includes an approximately 22,000-square-foot ballroom designed for roughly 1,000 seated dinner guests, within about 89,000 square feet of above-ground East Wing space.

The White House has increasingly emphasized security as a justification for the project, particularly after Trump faced an unprecedented third assassination attempt last month at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton.

A White House spokesperson praised the proposed funding as necessary to help the Secret Service “fully and completely harden the White House complex,” according to NBC. Democrats quoted by NBC called the proposal a reversal of Trump’s earlier pledge that the ballroom would not cost taxpayers anything.

REPUBLICANS RUSH TO GREEN LIGHT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM FOLLOWING THIRD TRUMP ASSASSINATION SCARE

The project remains politically and legally contentious. Senate Democrats plan to try to strip the $1 billion provision from the reconciliation bill when it reaches the Senate floor, but Republicans are fully expecting no Democrat votes for it regardless.

Construction has resumed while the legal fight plays out. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued a preliminary injunction in March blocking further work on the White House ballroom, ruling that the administration could not proceed without congressional authorization, but the D.C. Circuit later kept the injunction on hold while it considers the case.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is challenging the project, says the appeals court has scheduled a June 5 hearing and extended the stay until then, meaning construction can continue for now.

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The broader question now is whether lawmakers and courts will treat the ballroom and its associated security infrastructure as separable — as Republicans’ bill language argues — or as parts of a single White House expansion whose public cost could exceed Trump’s repeated private-funding assurances.

Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan finished third in her Ohio Republican congressional primary Tuesday night, handing ICE critics a talking point but leaving Republican officials convinced they have the right candidate to flip a battleground seat.

Sheahan’s loss to former state Rep. Derek Merrin brings relief to Republicans concerned about her electability against Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.

Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in congressional history and a top National Republican Congressional Committee target in the midterms as a potential seat to flip in the battle for the narrow House majority. The House is currently 218-212, with five vacancies and one independent who caucuses with the GOP.

“40-year career politician Marcy Kaptur has failed Ohioans for decades and Northwest Ohioans are ready for change,” NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News on Wednesday morning.

ICE DEPUTY DIRECTOR RESIGNS FROM AGENCY TO RUN FOR CONGRESS

“While Kaptur has pushed a radical far-left agenda of higher taxes, open borders, and sex change surgeries for kids, Derek Merrin is set to flip the seat red in order to deliver commonsense leadership and real results.”

Merrin won 44.1% of the vote, according to the latest Associated Press election results, with state Rep. Josh Williams second (24.3%) and Sheahan third (20.2%).

The northwest Ohio 9th Congressional District has been identified as one of the Republicans’ best pickup opportunities in the midterms.

Merrin’s win sets up a rematch with Kaptur, who has represented the Toledo-area seat since 1983 and eked out a 2024 victory by just 0.64%, with Merrin losing by just 2,382 votes. Trump carried the district by seven points in 2024 and Kaptur’s narrow re-election margin last cycle makes the seat especially vulnerable.

AIR FORCE VETERAN JUMPS INTO KEY HOUSE RACE TO UNSEAT 22-TERM VULNERABLE DEM: ‘TIME TO PASS THE TORCH’

Sheahan, 29, entered the race after leaving her post as deputy director of ICE in January, leaning heavily into her work carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The former aide to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem hailed her record at ICE in her campaign launch video, saying she was best suited to flip Kaptur’s seat due to immigration enforcement experience.

“In Washington, hypocrisy, excuses and failure can earn you a lifetime job,” she said. “But on my family farm, that would have put us out of business.”

But her pitch did not break through in a primary where local analysts said voters appeared more focused on economic issues, including manufacturing jobs and tariffs. Merrin also began the race with stronger name recognition locally. Sheahan, a native of tiny Curtice, Ohio, near the shores of Lake Erie, labeled herself “a Trump conservative,” but had just recently moved back to the area after leaving ICE and spending time in Louisiana and South Dakota.

DEM LAWMAKER SENDS WARNING TO KRISTI NOEM THAT ‘GOD WILL JUDGE YOU’ IN FIERY CONFRONTATION OVER ICE OPERATIONS

The result avoids what some Republicans privately viewed as a potentially riskier general-election matchup. While immigration remains a motivating issue for GOP voters, Sheahan’s association with ICE came as the agency faced heightened scrutiny over aggressive enforcement tactics, including fatal shootings by immigration officers earlier this year.

“There hasn’t been an enormous amount of chatter about her,” Democrat operative Aaron Pickrell told The Washington Post. “Even within Ohio Republican politics, immigration does not seem like the driving factor.”

Her loss also suggests that Trump’s immigration platform, while still central to the Republican brand, may not be enough by itself to carry a candidate through a competitive primary in a battleground House district.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN THE SPOTLIGHT AHEAD OF MIDTERMS AS FATAL MN SHOOTINGS IGNITE BACKLASH

“In less than one year at ICE, I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington,” Sheahan said in her January campaign launch video alongside Noem in ICE garb.

“So when the call came to help President Trump clean up the dangerous immigration mess, as deputy director of ICE, I answered the call.”

While Democrats will attempt to point to the ICE ties as being an unpopular electoral issue this cycle, immigration enforcement “is still a winning issue for Republicans” in the district, state and nationally, a GOP operative told the Post.

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Immigration “does fire up the base in districts like that, especially in a low-turnout election when you need low-propensity Trump voters,” the operative added. “This issue galvanizes them.”

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn has repeatedly praised the American arm of Islamic Relief Worldwide — a charity the State Department cut ties with in 2021 amid concerns including praise of terrorists and antisemitism.

After the State Department aired its concerns regarding Islamic Relief Worldwide, Cornyn had kind words for its American branch. A Fox News Digital review uncovered two video messages and two letters where Cornyn commended Islamic Relief USA or endorsed the organization’s operations.

“Thanks to my friends at Islamic Relief USA for all their humanitarian work,” Cornyn said in a May 2021 video address to the organization. A year later, the senator wrote a letter to Islamic Relief USA to “recognize and thank” the organization for its “humanitarian efforts across Texas and our nation.” In a 2023 letter, Cornyn again referred to IRUSA as “friends” and commended the group for its “dedication to serving our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Cornyn is locked in a heated Senate primary runoff election against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton has repeatedly questioned Cornyn’s conservative bona fides, while Cornyn has responded by highlighting the attorney general’s corruption scandals. Both candidates have made opposition to what they perceive as radical Islam focal points of their campaigns.

CORNYN WARNS PAXTON WOULD BE ‘KISS OF DEATH’ FOR GOP AS BLOODY PRIMARY RACE RAMPS UP

In late 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever ties with Islamic Relief Worldwide, arguing that the conduct of its parent organization has significantly damaged Islamic Relief USA’s reputation. 

Leaders at both Islamic Relief USA and Islamic Relief Worldwide historically have maintained ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a multinational Islamist political movement, and expressed hostility toward Jewish people, according to social media posts and photographs unearthed by the Middle East Forum. Some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.

“As we witness a rise in anti-Semitism in every corner of the globe, it is incumbent on all people of good conscience to stand strong and exhibit zero tolerance for the blatant and horrifying anti-Semitism and glorification of violence exhibited at the most senior levels of IRW,” the State Department wrote in December 2020 of IRW. “We encourage all government bodies currently examining IRW activities and their relationship with IRW.”

Multiple governments and banking entities have cut ties with IRW over terror financing concerns.

Khaled Lamada, the one-time chairman of Islamic Relief USA whose tax documents show he served on the organization’s board until October 2022, circulated text praising the “Mujahidin of Egypt” for “causing the Jews many defeats” through “jihad” in 2014, according to a Facebook post found by the Middle East Forum. The same year, he reportedly reposted messages on social media praising Hamas for inflicting a “huge defeat” against the “Zionist entity.”

Egyptian media and the George Washington University Program on Extremism have identified Lamada as an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIR’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS TARGETED AS CORNYN MOVES TO STRIP GROUP AFTER TERROR DESIGNATIONS

Several other Republican lawmakers interacted with Islamic Relief USA after the State Department denounced the organization.

Sens. Ted Cruz and Chuck Grassley, for instance, sent holiday greetings to the group in 2022. Staff working for then-Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott met with members of the group to discuss pending public health legislation in March of that same year, according to a social media post. Representatives for Islamic Relief USA were even reportedly invited to a 2025 meeting with Trump administration officials to discuss the future of foreign aid, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

“More than four years ago, members of our healthcare team took a Zoom meeting with constituents who said they had questions about domestic healthcare policy,” a spokesman for Scott told Fox News Digital. “Neither those staffers nor Senator Scott knew that representatives from IRUSA would be joining the conference call. The Senator’s record on combating antisemitism and Islamist threats to American society more than speaks for itself.”

Fox News Digital reached representatives for Cruz, Grassley and Rubio for comment on Friday.

TRUMP INTRODUCES CORNYN, PAXTON BUT STAYS MUM ON ENDORSEMENT IN HEATED GOP PRIMARY

Islamic Relief Worldwide has consistently denied having any links to terror organizations.

“Islamic Relief [Worldwide] operates to the highest standards of governance, compliance and oversight across all our work,” a spokesperson for the organization told Fox News Digital. “We are a purely humanitarian organization, and we stand firmly against all forms of extremism, including antisemitism. Our staff deliver aid in some of the world’s most dangerous places and some of our own colleagues have lost their lives to acts of terror. We have been victims of terrorism, not supporters of it. The leading financial institutions that work with us demand our work to be rigorously audited by governments, institutions and leading accounting firms, which have all confirmed that our funds are used for entirely humanitarian purposes.”

Islamic Relief Worldwide claimed in a 2017 report that, in its various legal battles, “to date there has been no tangible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations made.”

HSBC Bank ended its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide in 2016 amid terror financing concerns. Swiss banking giant UBS had done the same four years earlier. Israel, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Germany have all taken actions against Islamic Relief Worldwide for its alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

With Lamada as a leader, Islamic Relief USA was Islamic Relief Worldwide’s largest source of funding, providing its parent organization with tens of millions of dollars per year in cash in 2021 and 2022, according to an Islamic Relief Worldwide financial disclosure.

The entire Islamic Relief Worldwide board resigned in August 2020 following reporting of widespread antisemitism among its senior leadership by The Times of London. One director, for instance, reportedly described Jews as the “grandchildren of monkeys and pigs” in a social media post, while others heaped praise on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

A few months earlier, in June 2020, Cornyn filmed a video wishing Islamic Relief USA a happy Ramadan, the name for the Islamic holy month marked by fasting and prayer.

TOP GOP SENATOR SAYS CROCKETT ANNOUNCEMENT EXPOSES HOW ‘RADICAL’ DEMS ARE NATIONWIDE

In October 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide, stating “certain allegations regarding the conduct of IRW” would “affect negatively IRUSA’s well-deserved good reputation,” according to a legal complaint filed in March.

“IRW has not only refused to cooperate in taking steps to avoid such existential risks but took further steps to increase those risks to IRUSA, which in turn threatened its ability to provide relief to its beneficiaries worldwide,” reads the complaint, filed by Islamic Relief USA.

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Tax records show that Islamic Relief USA has provided funding to the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas, the mosque behind EPIC City, a planned Islamic community that has become a flash point in Texas politics. Both Cornyn and Paxton have taken actions to obstruct construction of the community.

Cornyn’s office and Islamic Relief USA did not respond to requests for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

The House Oversight Committee’s probe into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is turning focus to another high-profile Trump administration figure this week.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is voluntarily appearing before the congressional panel on Wednesday for a transcribed interview regarding his prior relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

Lutnick’s agreement to speak to the committee came after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., pledged to force a vote to subpoena his testimony.

It is unclear how many lawmakers will attend, as the House of Representatives is in a district work period, also known as recess, this week. Still, Lutnick could face a grilling from House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and other Democrats who have accused him of hiding the full scope of his past ties to Epstein.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE DEMANDS DEPOSITIONS FROM BONDI AND LUTNICK IN EPSTEIN PROBE

“The Secretary looks forward to addressing any questions on the record when he testifies voluntarily before the Oversight Committee,” a Department of Commerce spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “He looks forward to putting to rest the inaccurate and baseless claims in the media designed to distract from his historic work underway at the Commerce Department.”

Lutnick, a billionaire businessman and former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, said during an interview with the New York Post last year that he broke off ties with Epstein in 2005. The two were formerly next-door neighbors in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood — their townhomes shared a wall.

However, the Commerce secretary conceded in a Senate hearing in February that he and his family had a brief lunch with Epstein in 2012 at his private Caribbean island after files dropped showing their contact continued beyond 2005.

“We left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife. All together. We were on a family vacation,” Lutnick told lawmakers. “I don’t recall why we did it, but we did.”

That visit to the island came four years after Epstein was found guilty in Florida state court of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The disgraced financier served just 13 months in prison while being given immunity from federal prosecution, which critics have called a sweetheart deal.

Congressional Democrats seized on the discrepancies in Lutnick’s accounts during his testimony before the House Budget Committee in April.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES REFUSES THREE TIMES TO ANSWER QUESTION ABOUT APPROPRIATENESS OF PLASKETT’S EPSTEIN MESSAGES

“Why did you lie about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?” Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., asked Lutnick during the tense hearing.

Lutnick did not answer the question directly, instead arguing that Dean’s inquiry was not relevant to the hearing topic: the Commerce Department’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.

The commerce secretary has maintained that his connection to Epstein was limited, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., praised Lutnick’s decision to appear for a transcribed interview.

“I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee,” Comer said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. “I look forward to his testimony.” 

Lutnick is not the only Trump administration official to face questions this month as part of the committee’s Epstein probe.

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Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is scheduled to sit for a transcribed interview on May 29 after being subpoenaed by Comer’s committee. Democrats and a handful of Republicans had vowed to pursue contempt charges against Bondi over her handling of Epstein files if she did not agree to testify before the committee.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House but did not hear back before publication.

The European Union is moving to tighten migration controls after years of struggling to deport most migrants ordered to leave, with a top official saying the bloc is now working to “get control back” ahead of sweeping new asylum rules set to take effect in June. 

European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said deportations have increased and new border screening systems are identifying potential security threats, part of a broader effort to address gaps in enforcement that have drawn criticism from the United States and fueled political pressure across Europe.

“Ten years ago, we didn’t have a system. We didn’t have control over what is happening and who would come into the European Union and who would have to leave again,” Brunner told reporters Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “And that’s why the member states agreed on the pact for asylum and migration. And now that’s what we want to get back. We want to get control back.”

The shift comes after years of criticism from Washington, where President Donald Trump has warned migration is “destroying” Europe and called the situation a “horrible invasion.” 

EUROPEAN NATIONS DEMAND POWER TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO COMMIT CRIMES

Brunner said return rates have improved in recent years — from roughly one in five to nearly 30% — but acknowledged the system has struggled to keep pace. Data from Eurostat shows that only about one-quarter to one-third of migrants ordered to leave the EU are actually returned, meaning most remain in Europe.

The EU’s long-debated migration and asylum pact, set to take effect in June, is designed to close that gap by accelerating asylum decisions, shifting more processing to the bloc’s external borders, and expanding return mechanisms.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has criticized mass migration and so-called “open borders” policies, while Vice President JD Vance has warned Europe risks “civilizational suicide” if it fails to regain control of its borders.

Vance has pointed to high-profile crimes involving migrants as evidence that European leaders have failed to respond to public concerns, as the issue has taken on renewed urgency following a string of recent attacks across Europe. Those include a terrorist stabbing of two Jewish men in London carried out by a Somalia-born British man, as authorities warn of rising radicalization and possible foreign-backed threats.

TRUMP ADMIN EASES ASYLUM FREEZE FOR VETTED MIGRANTS, KEEPS BANS ON ‘HIGH-RISK’ NATIONS

Under the new system, migrants who arrive irregularly will be screened at the EU’s external borders, undergo biometric and security checks, and have their asylum claims decided within weeks, with rejected applicants fast-tracked for deportation.

The measures also expand the use of so-called “safe third countries,” allowing some migrants to be returned to countries outside the EU as part of broader efforts to speed up removals.

Brunner said new entry-exit tracking systems and real-time data sharing between member states are helping authorities better identify risks at the border.

“Out of these 30,000, we had 750 people who actually posed a security threat to the European Union,” he said, adding that improved data sharing now allows member states to flag such individuals in real time.

Brunner also acknowledged that European officials have struggled to communicate their migration policies, saying the EU “didn’t do it enough” in recent years and is now working to better explain its approach to U.S. counterparts.

European officials are increasingly tying migration enforcement to national security concerns, including what Brunner described as efforts by Russia and Belarus to weaponize migration flows.

“The Russians and the Belarusians are using people, using migrants, as a weapon against the European Union,” he said, pointing to pressure along the Polish-Belarusian border as part of “hybrid warfare.”

Brunner added that global conflicts, including tensions involving Iran, are contributing to concerns about radicalization, though he said there are no clear signs yet of a migration surge linked to those developments.

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The tougher approach, he said, is aimed in part at maintaining public support for legal migration and asylum protections.

“If you want to get the support of the people in Europe, then they must have the feeling that we have control of what we’re doing,” Brunner said. “People in Europe will only accept continuing and granting asylum … if they are sure that the system is not abused.”

Former longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio on Tuesday won his party’s 2026 Senate nomination, the Associated Press reports.

Brown, who served three decades in Congress before being defeated for re-election in 2024 by now-GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, will face off in this year’s general election with Republican Sen. John Husted, Ohio’s former lieutenant governor who was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance.

The general election winner will fill the final two years of Vance’s Senate term. Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, stepped down from the chamber after he and President Donald Trump won the 2024 election for president and vice president.

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Vance traveled to his home state Tuesday morning, stopping at a polling station in Cincinnati to cast a ballot in the primary.

The Senate race in Ohio is one of a handful that will decide if Republicans successfully defend their slim majority in the chamber, or if the Democrats win back control for the first time in four years.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47.

Brown defeated long-shot rival Ron Kincaid, an IT professional and Special Olympics coach, to capture the Democratic Senate nomination. Husted ran unopposed for the Republican Party’s Senate nomination.

“Ohioans are fed up with the corruption and greed in Washington. They deserve a senator who fights for working families, not CEOs and billionaires,” Brown said on social media after winning his primary. “That’s why we’re going to win this November.”

Earlier in the evening, Husted took to social media after Trump praised the senator in a Truth Social post.

“Thanks President Trump! Your support for Ohio jobs means a lot to the hardworking people of our state. The Working Family Tax Cut is helping Ohio families keep more of what they earn so they can spend, save, and invest in their own priorities,” Husted wrote. “America First! Ohio First!”

TRUMP’S GRIP OVER GOP FACES BIG TESTS IN THIS STATE’S PRIMARY

Once a top general election battleground state, Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, with Trump carrying the state by 11 points in the 2024 election.

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But this year’s races for the Senate and governor are expected to be very competitive.

President Donald Trump marked Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday with a new Truth Social post featuring a stylized “NICE” graphic — a play on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

The post adds to a string of Cinco de Mayo messages from Trump that have repeatedly drawn attention online, including his widely shared 2016 taco bowl post that resurfaces nearly every year around the holiday.

Trump has frequently used the holiday to share posts blending humor, politics and immigration messaging; and had already publicly embraced the “NICE” branding concept ahead of Tuesday’s post.

The image shared Tuesday featured an eagle-and-shield design above the word “NICE,” styled similarly to federal law enforcement branding and appearing to reference ICE.

TRUMP VOWS NOT TO HELP BLUE CITIES WITH RIOTS, INSTRUCTS ICE AND BORDER PATROL TO PROTECT FEDERAL PROPERTY

Trump endorsed the idea of rebranding ICE as “NICE” in a late April Truth Social post, writing: “GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT.”

The phrase originated from a social media suggestion that Trump later amplified online.

The latest post also brought renewed attention to Trump’s most recognizable Cinco de Mayo moment.

HERE ARE 5 OF GUY FIERI’S FAVORITE TACO SPOTS ACROSS AMERICA AHEAD OF CINCO DE MAYO

In 2016, then-candidate Trump posted a photo of himself eating a taco bowl at Trump Tower alongside the caption: “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”

The post quickly went viral and has continued resurfacing online in the years since.

The image showed Trump seated at a desk with a taco bowl in front of him, giving a thumbs up as he posed for the camera.

DNC TACO TRUCK STUNT TROLLING TRUMP BACKFIRES ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITH VANCE, GOP: ‘CAN’T FIX STUPID’

Last year, Trump reshared the taco bowl post and wrote: “This was so wonderful, 9 years ago today!”

The post continues to go viral online as users revisit the original taco bowl image each year on the holiday.

One user posted an image of the president’s original 2016 taco bowl post, writing, “Cinco de Trumpo.”

Another commenter wrote, “such a classic,” and another quipped, “maybe the greatest tweet of all time.”

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Trump’s original taco bowl post remains one of the most recognizable Cinco de Mayo moments of the social media era.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Vivek Ramaswamy has won the 2026 Republican gubernatorial nomination in his home state of Ohio, the Associated Press reports.

Ramaswamy, who grabbed national attention when he ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out and becoming a top surrogate for President Donald Trump, on Tuesday defeated long shot rival Casey Putsch, an automotive entrepreneur.

His victory sets the stage for a high-profile general election battle for governor in the key midterm Midwestern battleground state.

TRUMP’S GRIP OVER GOP TESTED AT BALLOT BOX AS INDIANA, OHIO, HOLD PRIMARIES

Now, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and business leader who is backed by Trump will face off in November’s general election against Democrat Amy Acton, a doctor and researcher who served as director of the state Department of Health from 2019 to 2020.

Acton was unopposed as she captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Ohio.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

The winner in November will succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.

“I’m proud to officially say that today it is our pleasure to become the Republican nominee for the governor of Ohio,” Ramaswamy told supporters at his primary victory celebration.

Ramaswamy pledged to “make Ohio greater than we have ever been. That’s what we’re about to do together. So, thank you tonight for kicking off the next chapter of this journey.”

And pointing to Acton, his Democratic rival, Ramaswamy said, “”I do believe this marks without exception the single most consequential election for governor that our state has ever seen in our history. There has never been a greater contrast between two candidates.”

The Democratic Governors Assocation (DGA) quickly took aim at Ramswamy.

“Vivek Ramaswamy is an out-of-touch presidential also-ran whose harmful agenda would drive costs even higher and make life harder for Ohio families already struggling to make ends meet,” DGA Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper argued in a statement.

Once a top general election battleground state, Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, with Trump carrying the state by 11 points in the 2024 election. But polls indicate this year’s race for governor between Ramaswamy and Acton will be very competitive.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Vice President JD Vance traveled to his home state this morning, stopping at a polling station in Cincinnati to cast a ballot in Ohio’s primary.

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Vance, who served as senator from Ohio before stepping down after winning election in 2024 as vice president, confirmed to reporters that he cast a ballot for Ramaswamy.

Early results are starting to come in, in Indiana’s primary, where President Donald Trump‘s immense sway over the GOP is on the line, as his endorsements in key Republican state Senate nomination races will be tested.

Five months ago, Republicans in the GOP-dominated Indiana state Senate withstood immense pressure from Trump and his allies and voted down congressional redistricting, which would have given solidly red Indiana two more right-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms.

Fast-forward to present day, and eight of those state senators are facing GOP primary challenges. Seeking retribution, the president endorsed challengers to seven of the eight Republican lawmakers who voted against the redistricting bill.

The Associated Press reports that Trump-endorsed Blake Fletcher has defeated incumbent state Sen. Travis Holdman in Indiana’s 19th District, in the northeastern part of the state. 

They also report that state Sen. Greg Goode has defeated two challengers, Trump-backed Brenda Wilson and Alexandra Wilson, in District 38, in western Indiana.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

The president’s allies shelled out more than $6 million to try to oust the state senators, according to the national ad tracking firm AdImpact. Leading the charge were Hoosier Leadership for America and American Leadership PAC, which are aligned with GOP Sen. Jim Banks, a top Senate ally of the president. Groups allied with Republican Gov. Mike Braun were also part of the full court press. And two well known national groups: Turning Point USA’s political wing and the Club for Growth, also had the president’s back in Indiana.

The intraparty battle was seen not just as a test of fealty to Trump but rather a fight between MAGA forces and more traditional conservatives for the future of the GOP.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

We’ve got to change those old-style Republicans, put in people who will fight, fight against the Democrat gerrymandering,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital.

McIntosh, a former congressman from Indiana, said, “I want to see my state do the right thing.”

But the besieged incumbents significantly outraised their challengers, and were also boosted by the Indiana Senate GOP caucus.

TRUMP VS. HISTORY: HOW PRESIDENT’S POLL NUMBERS COMPARE TO BIDEN, OBAMA, BUSH AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

On an interesting side note, one of the races pitted Trump versus his former Vice President Mike Pence.

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Trump backed challenger Tracey Powell, who was trying to take out state Sen. Jim Buck, who was supported by Pence, a former Indiana governor and congressman.

A pro-Trump source involved in the Indiana showdowns told Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary that a victory would be considered winning half the seats, and anything beyond that would be a major win.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., refused to respond to a request from a Minnesota committee seeking more information on her ties to the massive fraud scandal in the state, prompting a failed subpoena vote on Tuesday, but the committee’s chair says more options exist. 

The subpoena, which required a two-thirds committee vote in favor to pass, only got five out of the six votes needed despite the committee’s Republican majority.

“We have reached out to Representative Ilhan Omar on multiple occasions, inviting her to testify and inviting and requesting documents,” State Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, said ahead of the vote. “We have endeavored in multiple ways to get access to [information] because, as everyone knows, Representative Omar had had some role, whether inadvertent or not. She passed the MEALS Act in March of 2020, and that took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program, which created the conditions for [fraud].”

WATCH: ILHAN OMAR ROASTED FOR BRUTAL RESURFACED VIDEO ABOUT ‘WORLD WAR ELEVEN’

“I do think the subpoena is important. This is one of dozens, if not hundreds of things we are investigating. We have had hundreds of whistleblower reports. They continue to come in weekly,” Robbins added, noting she will continue to try to reach out to Omar’s office to get cooperation. “Even though the committee will no longer have official hearings we will continue to investigate these whistleblower reports and webs of fraud.”

Fox News Digital touched base with Robbins on Tuesday about possible next steps.

“They’re fading,” Robbins said about the committee’s options after a failed subpoena vote. “But I’ll certainly talk to our friends in Congress to see if they would be willing to issue a subpoena. I don’t know if they are, but they would have the same authority and it’s still relevant to them because it’s a federal program that’s been swindled. So I don’t know if they would be willing to do it, but it’s worth asking.”

Robbins added that the federal government has a “whole menu of legal options” given that Omar is a member of Congress. 

“They have so many investigations going on, I don’t know where this falls on the priority list,” Robbins said.

OMAR ACCUSED BY GOP OPPONENT OF OPENING UP THE DOOR TO MASSIVE MINNEAPOLIS FRAUD: ‘DEEP, DEEP TIES’

Last month, Robbins says the congresswoman “ghosted” the committee by failing to appear to testify at a hearing focused on the MEALS Act, a federal COVID-19 relief measure passed in 2020 and sponsored by Omar. 

“Minnesotans and the Members of the House Fraud Prevention & State Oversight Committee were disappointed that you failed to appear before our committee to answer questions,” Robbins wrote before asking Omar to turn over communications showing how she promoted expanded access to federal child nutrition programs, including emails, texts and meeting records with the Minnesota Department of Education and constituents. 

The request also zeroed in on Omar’s public promotion of a Minneapolis restaurant that later became linked to the program. Robbins cited a Somali-language TV appearance in which Omar highlighted Safari Restaurant as a meal distribution site and asked for all communications related to the video and the restaurant’s participation.

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Robbins is seeking records of any contact between Omar and a long list of individuals charged or implicated in the Feeding Our Future case, including nonprofit founder Aimee Bock and dozens of alleged co-conspirators.

The deadline for Omar to respond to the committee’s questions was Tuesday, May 5.

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

“It’s the same story every time,” Robbins posted on X after the vote. “Fraud is committed, information is suppressed, and the dysfunction continues.”