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Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg signaled clear limits on the alliance’s role in the Iran conflict, saying it should not be pulled into supporting U.S. military operations even as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on European allies — exposing a growing divide over what NATO is meant to do.

“NATO is a defensive alliance,” Stoltenberg, now Norway’s finance minister, told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. “The strikes or the war against Iran were never an attempt to make that into a NATO operation.”

Stoltenberg framed the disagreement not over whether Iran poses a threat, but over how to confront it, with European governments favoring sanctions and diplomatic pressure over direct military involvement.

“We all agree the Iranian nuclear program is dangerous,” he said. “The question is how we achieve that goal.”

NO RETREAT AT HORMUZ — IRAN MUST NOT CONTROL THE WORLD’S ENERGY LIFELINE

The divide reflects a deeper mismatch between Washington and its allies: Trump has treated the conflict as a test of NATO support — urging countries that benefit from the Strait of Hormuz to help secure it militarily — while European governments have largely rejected that approach, arguing the war falls outside the alliance’s mandate.

Trump has sharply criticized NATO allies for refusing to back U.S. operations tied to the conflict, at times questioning the alliance’s value and warning it had failed a key test as tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz.

“NATO wasn’t there for us, and they won’t be there for us in the future,” Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social. 

The president has alternated between pressuring allies to step up and downplaying their importance, at one point calling NATO’s response a “very foolish mistake” while also insisting the United States “doesn’t need any help.”

Major European powers have resisted Trump’s push to provide military support. 

“The feeling is, this is not Europe’s war,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters in an interview published March 17. 

NATO CHIEF SIGNALS ALLIES MAY ACT ON HORMUZ, WARNS OF ‘UNHEALTHY CODEPENDENCE’ ON US

Spain blocked U.S. aircraft involved in the Iran conflict from using its airspace and denied access to key bases at Rota and Morón, forcing American forces to reroute missions. France has provided limited logistical support but restricted certain overflight requests tied to military operations, reviewing them on a case-by-case basis.

Stoltenberg pushed back on the idea that Europe has broadly abandoned the United States, arguing most allies have still provided logistical support behind the scenes.

“The majority of European allies have made sure that their bases and infrastructure were available for the United States,” he said. “There are some exceptions, but most have contributed.”

Countries like the United Kingdom and Romania have allowed U.S. forces to use bases for refueling, surveillance and defensive operations even as they declined direct combat roles.

The tension underscores a broader split inside the alliance: Trump has framed the Iran conflict as a test of NATO support, while NATO leadership has drawn a clear distinction between formal obligations and political expectations, maintaining the war falls outside the alliance’s core mission.

Asked whether he would pull the U.S. out of NATO, Trump said the move was “beyond reconsideration” in an interview with The Telegraph on April 1. 

The Iran conflict began in late February after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets triggered retaliation from Tehran, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping lane that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s energy supply. The U.S. has since launched airstrikes and imposed a naval blockade aimed at increasing pressure to reopen the strait.

The economic fallout from the conflict is also shaping how European countries view the war and their role in it.

European natural gas prices surged — jumping around 50% early in the conflict and, at times, nearly doubling as LNG supply disruptions intensified.

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For Norway, however, the impact is more mixed. As one of Europe’s largest oil and gas exporters, the country stands to benefit from higher prices even as broader economic instability creates risks at home.

“There are two effects,” Stoltenberg said. “When prices are going up, our oil and gas revenues will increase. But at the same time … when inflation increases and economic growth slows, it will affect our economy.”

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.

Buying a stolen identity can cost less than a fast-food meal, enabling criminals to use AI and internet tutorials to file fraudulent benefit claims from anywhere in the world, a former inspector general warned Congress on Wednesday.

Lawmakers are already ramping up scrutiny of fraud in major federal aid programs — including unemployment, Medicaid and food assistance — as criminals leverage AI, stolen identities and online tools to exploit systems and drain billions in taxpayer dollars.

Federal watchdogs previously estimated that more than $100 billion in pandemic-era unemployment benefits alone may have been lost to fraud, much of it tied to weak identity verification and oversight gaps.

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 447 HOSPICES IN LOS ANGELES OVER MORE THAN $600M IN SUSPECTED FRAUD

“The internet has reduced barriers to fraud,” said retired inspector general Bob Westbrooks during a House Oversight Committee hearing on fraud in federally funded state programs.

“Offenders can find free tutorials online, purchase stolen identities for the price of a Happy Meal, and file claims from anywhere in the world. With automation tools, they can even submit multiple claims across multiple states,” added Westbrooks, who spent nearly three decades in public service focused on anti-fraud efforts.

He warned that “the prevalence of fraud discussions online normalizes this behavior and reduces the fear of getting caught and punished.”

Massive fraud schemes in recent years have underscored the scope of the problem, including a $250 million “Feeding Our Future” case in Minnesota that resulted in dozens of convictions, and a roughly $100 million welfare scandal in Mississippi that led to criminal charges and high-profile prosecutions.

The issue has become so glaring that President Donald Trump appointed Vice President J.D. Vance as the new ‘fraud czar’ and tasked him with addressing taxpayer theft – especially in blue states where local officials refuse to cooperate with the administration.

MINNESOTA’S ANTI-FRAUD SPENDING HAS QUIETLY BALLOONED, LEAVING TAXPAYERS TO PAY FOR FAILURE TWICE

Other auditors and federal officials have pointed to systemic weaknesses in benefit programs, including payments to deceased individuals, duplicate claims filed across multiple states and limited real-time verification of eligibility.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution,” Westbrooks said, noting the complexity of policing massive federal programs.

“To be frank, it is simply impossible or impracticable to design a 100% fraud-proof program,” he added.

Still, Westbrooks emphasized that fraud should not be accepted as a cost of doing business.

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“The American public should reasonably expect that public money is not used to pay dead people, incarcerated individuals, or duplicate claims in the same state or across states, and that public funds are otherwise appropriately safeguarded,” Westbrooks said.

“Officials should aggressively but responsibly adopt new technology tools in the fight against fraud.”

He added that safeguarding taxpayer dollars will require “a coordinated and comprehensive, risk- and data-driven approach” to reduce losses and restore public trust.

More than 53 million tax filers used at least one of President Donald Trump’s signature tax breaks this filing season, as the average refund climbed above $3,400, according to Treasury Department data released on Tax Day.

The figures mark the first filing season since the Republican-backed “Working Families Tax Cuts” were passed in July 2025 and implemented by the IRS, with Trump administration officials touting broad uptake and increased tax relief.

Wednesday is the deadline to file taxes for the 2025 earning year, and the president promised the “largest tax refund season in U.S. history” thanks to his One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

TAX EXTENSION FILERS BEWARE: PAYMENTS ARE STILL DUE TO THE IRS BY APRIL 15

As of April 14, the average refund rose 11% compared to the previous filing season, Trump’s Treasury Department claims. Filers who used at least one of the new provisions saw an average tax cut of about $800, the new report found.

The data points to widespread use of several provisions in the new law.

About 25 million filers claimed a deduction for overtime pay, while roughly 6 million claimed a tax break on tips. An estimated 30 million seniors took advantage of an enhanced deduction, and approximately 34 million families claimed an expanded child tax credit.

TAX DAY IS TODAY: AVOID THESE 5 COMMON MISTAKES THAT CAN COST YOU MONEY

Another 105 million filers used the expanded standard deduction, while about 1 million deducted interest on car loans for new American-made vehicles.

Treasury also said more than 5 million “Trump Accounts” have been opened, including about 1.2 million eligible for a $1,000 pilot program contribution.

The accounts, created under President Donald Trump’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, are government-backed investment funds for children designed to grow over time.

They function similarly to traditional long-term investment vehicles, but with rules tailored to protect young savers.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the results show the administration’s tax policy is delivering meaningful relief to workers and families.

“Under President Trump, we uphold the foundational principle that hardworking Americans should be rewarded, not punished with tax hikes,” Bessent said in a statement included in the data release.

He touted that taxpayers are “keeping more of what they earn and seeing their paychecks go further.”

FIRST ON FOX: On the deadline for Americans to file their taxes, Senate Republicans are targeting Democrats for voting against tax cuts the GOP passed and President Donald Trump signed into law last summer.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, on Wednesday launched ads in seven key Senate battleground races highlighting how “Democrat candidates opposed the Working Families Tax Cuts that led to an 11% increase in Americans’ tax refunds this year.”

The spots, released on Tax Day 2026, were shared first with Fox News Digital.

The digital ads come as the GOP works to protect its slim 53-47 Senate majority in the midterms when the party in power typically faces political headwinds and loses congressional seats. The GOP also faces a rough political climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran, and Trump’s underwater approval ratings.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE REPUBLICANS TARGET ‘VULNERABLE’ DEMOCRATS FOR VOTING AGAINST TAX CUTS

But Republicans have for weeks spotlighted the tax cuts, which they insist will give them a political boost with voters in the midterms.

“Working families across the country have enough on their plates, but Democrats like Jon Ossoff go to Washington and fight to take more money out of their pockets,” NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez argued, as she pointed to Ossoff, the first term senator from Georgia whom Republicans view as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election this year.

Rodriguez also emphasized that “President Trump and Senate Republicans are working tirelessly to deliver for working families including higher take-home pay and lower taxes.”

DEMOCRATS BUILD MOMENTUM, BUT SENATE REPUBLICANS STILL IN DRIVER’S SEAT IN BATTLE FOR MAJORITY

The spots, backed by a modest buy, will also run in Alaska, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio.

The narrator in the ads emphasized that “President Trump and Senate Republicans delivered real savings for hard working families” and accused Democrats of “opposing tax cuts for first responders, rejecting tax savings for service workers, and denying more money for senior citizens.”

The tax cuts were a key component of Republicans’ massive domestic policy measure, which passed nearly entirely along party lines in the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

The law is stuffed full of Trump’s 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities, including extending the president’s signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday morning, said, “I suspect Tax Day doesn’t rank high on Americans’ favorite days of the year, but I’d wager that a lot more Americans were pleasantly surprised this year when they went to file their taxes because thanks to Republicans Working Families Tax Cuts bill, a lot more Americans kept a lot more of their hard-earned money this year.”

Democrats have criticized the tax cuts, arguing they disproportionately benefit the wealthy and corporations.

Earlier this year, DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital that due to the “very harmful climate that President Trump is creating, we have all the makings of a blue wave.”

The NRSC’s ads targeting Democrats follow positive spots it released last month spotlighting “the success of the Working Families Tax Cuts.”

And the NRSC points to internal polling that it says shows that an overwhelming majority of voters are more likely to support candidates that fight for Republican economic initiatives.

But other surveys indicate that Americans are far from pleased with the amount they pay in taxes.

A record 70% of voters questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted late last month said the taxes they pay are “too high,” marking an 11-point increase from a year earlier, and the highest level of dissatisfaction since the question was first asked in 2004.

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The new ads from the NRSC are part of a major push by the GOP this week to spotlight the tax cuts.

On Tuesday, as Fox News Digital first reported, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP’s campaign arm, launched ads targeting 28 potentially vulnerable Democrats in the midterms for voting against the tax cuts.

Speaker Mike Johnson held a tax cut event on the Capitol steps on Wednesday morning. And hours earlier, in an interview on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Trump touted to host Maria Bartiromo that “the refunds are really significant, and it makes it less complicated to do your tax return. Much less complicated.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is facing a brewing conservative revolt ahead of a high-profile vote on reauthorizing the government’s warrantless surveillance powers. 

House GOP leadership is up against an April 20 deadline to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., support a clean 18-month extension of the government’s spying powers, but key conservative lawmakers want guardrails added to the program.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said Tuesday that she would oppose a test vote scheduled to occur Wednesday afternoon that would advance the renewal measure to a vote on final passage. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., also predicted Tuesday in an interview with Punchbowl News that the test vote would fail if leadership did not tack on additional reforms demanded by GOP privacy hawks.

Section 702 permits the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals abroad, even when those individuals are communicating with American citizens.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP PUSHES ELECTION SECURITY BILL DESPITE SLIM ODDS, AS TRUMP PRESSURE LOOMS

Conservative lawmakers — and many in the Democratic caucus — are pushing for an amendment to prohibit the warrantless surveillance of Americans. But when Democrats on the House Rules Committee tried to add an amendment from Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., incorporating warrant requirements, Republicans on the panel voted it down.

House Democrats are also not expected to supply the necessary votes during the anticipated procedural vote, which tends to be party-line. In that scenario, Johnson would be able to lose just a handful of GOP defections.

Other Republicans, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have pledged to vote “no” unless the Trump-backed election measure, known as the SAVE America Act, is added to the bill.

GOP RIPS FISA COURT FOR TAPPING EX-BIDEN ‘DISINFORMATION’ LAWYER TO ADVISE ON SURVEILLANCE

Despite potential GOP holdouts, Trump has urged Republicans to “UNIFY” during the critical votes.

The Trump administration has warned about potentially catastrophic effects for national security if lawmakers fail to renew the program, especially as the conflict with Iran continues.

In a letter to Congress on Monday, Gen. Dan Caine said that “the loss or reduction of FISA Section 702 authorities would increase risk to the Joint Force, degrade our worldwide combat lethality, and significantly impair the U.S. security.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe attended a House GOP conference meeting on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to back a clean extension.

“There’s a lot at stake,” Ratcliffe told Fox News.

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Prior FISA skeptics have also touted the more than five dozen reforms that Congress made to the program in 2024 to justify their support for a clean extension.

“In light of the progress that has been made and the threats we face, we think a temporary short-term extension of the program makes sense,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Tuesday. “But again, 2026 is not 2024 and a short-term clean extension of the 702 part of FISA law is an acceptable outcome for the situation that we find ourselves in.”

Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

A federal judge ordered Delaware officials to turn over confidential employer and employee data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), delivering a legal defeat to former President Joe Biden’s home state in a dispute over immigration enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly ruled that the Delaware Department of Labor (DDOL) must comply with a federal subpoena seeking wage reports and employee records from 15 businesses as part of an investigation into the suspected hiring of undocumented workers.

Delaware officials argued they could refuse the request and warned that compliance would harm worker reporting and state programs, but Connolly rejected that position.

“This is a political argument; not a legal one,” Connolly wrote. “This Court is not the proper ‘forum in which to air [DDOL’s] generalized grievances about the conduct of government.’ It would be wholly inappropriate for me to consider this line of argument, and I decline to do so.”

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The records include employees’ names, Social Security numbers and wages reported to the state as part of its unemployment insurance system.

Federal investigators said the records will help identify potentially fraudulent Social Security numbers, compare reported employees to workers observed onsite and detect off-the-books labor.

Connolly, a Trump-appointed judge, wrote that the subpoena was lawful, relevant to a legitimate investigation and not overly burdensome for the state to fulfill.

The subpoena seeks 30 records covering two quarters for the 15 businesses, which the judge said would not be burdensome for the state to produce.

He also dismissed Delaware’s argument that sharing the data would harm its unemployment insurance system, calling the claim unsupported.

“I am neither willing nor able to adopt DDOL’s cynical view of the State’s employers,” Connolly wrote.

FEDERAL JUDGE WHO ORDERED NO WARRANTLESS ICE ARRESTS IN COLORADO ASSERTS DOJ NOT COMPLYING

The ruling marks a setback for Delaware in its battle over ICE’s access to state labor data, as the federal government moves to expand immigration enforcement.

The court said Delaware officials ignored the subpoena and failed to respond even after a follow-up warning from federal prosecutors.

Delaware’s newly appointed U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wallace said the ruling reinforces that federal law applies broadly.

“We are gratified that the court recognized the simple truth at the core of this case: federal law applies to everyone, whether they are a state or private entity, and whether they agree or disagree with the federal government’s policy priorities,” Wallace told the Delaware News Journal.

The dispute escalated after Delaware ignored multiple ICE subpoenas in early 2025, prompting the federal government to sue for enforcement. State officials have not said whether they plan to appeal.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Delaware Department of Labor, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and DHS and ICE for comment.

Read the ruling below.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tore into Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday, accusing him of targeting DOJ attorneys, after an appellate court rebuked the Obama-appointed judge for a second time in an ongoing immigration case.

“Today’s decision by the DC Circuit should finally end Judge Boasberg’s year-long campaign against the hardworking Department attorneys doing their jobs fighting illegal immigration,” Blanche said in a statement.

The criticism from Blanche, newly appointed as acting AG by President Donald Trump, intensified scrutiny of a judge frequently in the president’s crosshairs after a D.C. federal appeals court panel issued a 2-1 decision blocking, yet again, Boasberg’s contempt investigation into Trump officials.

BOASBERG’S ROLE IN ‘ARCTIC FROST’ PROBE SPARKS FURY FROM GOP SENATORS, DESPITE LOCAL RULES 

Other Republicans and conservative legal experts echoed Blanche’s remarks, underscoring how Boasberg, chief judge of the D.C. federal court, has been a repeated thorn to Trump’s agenda.

“Another day, another reversal of Judge Boasberg,” wrote George Mason University law professor Rob Luther.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., resurfaced Republicans’ calls for Boasberg’s impeachment, an effort that is currently stalled in the House.

“The D.C. Circuit ruled Boasberg’s contempt crusade against Trump officials is an ‘improper investigation’ and ‘clear abuse of discretion,'” Schmitt said. “He tried to imprison Trump officials for deporting Venezuelan gang members. I’m calling on the House: Impeach Rogue Judge Boasberg.”

In addition to raising the possibility of criminal contempt against Trump officials, an offense punishable by fines, jail or other sanctions, Boasberg recently blocked the DOJ’s ability to subpoena Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, alleging the investigation’s “sole purpose” was to pressure the Fed to lower interest rates.

TRUMP FOE BOASBERG HIT WITH ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT

The two judges who ruled against Boasberg on contempt were Trump appointees Neomi Rao and Justin Walker, while Judge Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, dissented. Rao, in her opinion, accused Boasberg of abusing his authority, bolstering the right’s broader concerns about judicial overreach.

“The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy,” Rao wrote. “These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion, as the district court’s order said nothing about transferring custody of the plaintiffs and therefore lacks the clarity to support criminal contempt based on the transfer of custody.”

The comment from Blanche, who Trump chose to replace Pam Bondi earlier this month, referenced the prolonged nature of the case, which has largely proceeded in Boasberg’s courtroom and has led to numerous adverse rulings by the judge and heated courtroom moments where he has grilled DOJ attorneys over their knowledge, or lack thereof, of immigration officials’ actions.

Boasberg had launched contempt proceedings last year after accusing the Trump administration of defying a temporary restraining order instructing the government to return Venezuelan migrants to the United States after they were flown under the Alien Enemies Act to the notorious, high-security CECOT prison in El Salvador over allegations they were members of the gang Tren de Aragua.

JUDGE BOASBERG TO WEIGH TRUMP CONTEMPT IN DEPORTATION CASE THIS WEEK

Trump had made the controversial decision to invoke the act to bypass typical immigration proceedings and quickly deport the migrants. The Supreme Court tossed out Boasberg’s restraining order, saying that while the migrants’ due process rights may have been violated, the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of the migrants, should have brought habeas corpus claims in the courts where the migrants were last detained.

The D.C. Circuit Court shut down Boasberg’s initial contempt effort, but upon discovering that former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had allegedly ordered government officials to ignore Boasberg’s order, Boasberg opened a new, more narrowly tailored contempt probe, which the D.C. panel terminated on Tuesday.

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The ACLU could appeal the decision to a full bench of judges on the appellate court while the broader case proceeds.

Fox News Digital reached out to an ACLU attorney and Boasberg’s chambers for comment.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat running for governor in Georgia, has faced ethics-related scrutiny during her time in government, but that hasn’t stopped Bottoms’ ambition for higher office.   

Before launching her gubernatorial bid, Bottoms drew criticism in Atlanta over her use of public resources while serving in city government — from taxpayer-funded mailers packed with photos of herself to city-paid travel expenses that initially covered her husband’s Super Bowl airfare. 

Bottoms also drew criticism over her ties to a contractor that later landed lucrative city contracts after she signed an initial consulting contract with the firm while leading the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority (AFCRA) and just days before leaving the city council as she was preparing to become mayor, with the company’s CEO later donating to and fundraising for her campaign.

Even with Atlanta’s history of corruption scandals, former Atlanta City Council leader Jennifer Ide, who served as the head of a city council ethics committee while Bottoms was mayor, said the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful’s past scandals, in particular her alleged pay-to-play scheme with a contractor, should be “concerning” for voters.

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“I mean, I think it’s concerning,” Ide told Fox News Digital. “I don’t think that the voters want to feel like special interests impact the outcome of an election.”

As executive director of AFCRA, a position she held that earned her a six-figure salary even while also serving on the city council and running for mayor, Bottoms signed the first of three contracts for a company called Con-Real to do work for the city. The first contract, awarded in April 2017, was less than $100,000, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Just days later, she exited office as her mayoral run was heating up.

Meanwhile, in June 2017, roughly two months later, Con-Real won a second $2.4 million contract, despite the company’s bid being about twice what its competitor bid, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The outlet added that both contracts appeared to have been executed without the recreation authority’s board voting to approve it.    

Ide said the absence of board approval was among the issues that made the Con-Real contracts appear troubling to people in the Atlanta government, though she said she was not familiar enough with AFCRA’s rules to say definitively whether any formal procurement rule had been broken. However, according to Kyle Gomez-Leineweber, policy director at watchdog Common Cause Georgia, AFCRA did amend its contracting process following the controversy with Bottoms.

“There were serious concerns that were raised around ethics,” he added.

GOP BILLIONAIRE TRYING TO WOO TRUMP’S SUPPORT IN KEY GEORGIA RACE BANKROLLED HIS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS

Con-Real founder and CEO, Gerald Alley, reportedly held a fundraiser for Bottoms’ mayoral campaign in August 2017, and campaign finance records showed he also donated close to $4,000 to Bottoms’ mayoral campaign just days after winning the lucrative arena contract.

The subsequent year, in 2018, while Bottoms was mayor, Con-Real won a third contract for $1.4 million. Again, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, they were the highest bidder. 

“It sure looked fishy that Con-Real l was not the lowest bidder,” Ide pointed out. “I don’t know exactly what the procurement rules are for the recreation authority, but for the city, the lowest responsive bidder is who would have needed to have been selected.”  

In June 2025, less than a month after Bottoms announced her bid for governor, Alley donated the maximum allowable amount for a primary election of $8,400, campaign finance records show.

“I really believe that as people start to dig under the surface, they’re going to see that she’s not fit for office,” Humberto Garcia, a Democrat who lives in Atlanta and founded the anti-Buckhead City movement Neighbors for a United Atlanta, said.

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Beyond the Con-Real matter, Bottoms’ record already includes a string of ethics-related incidents, including a $37,000 state ethics fine over campaign-finance violations, questions over taxpayer-funded campaign-season mailers packed with photos of herself, and backlash over using public funds for certain expenses, including airfare for her husband’s Super Bowl trip and thousands of dollars in limousine spending.

Both Ide and Garcia lamented that Bottoms, as mayor, was “absent-minded,” and they questioned whether she would do what is in the best interest for Georgians if elected governor. 

“If you’re going to run for the highest office in the state, there needs to be no questions about whether you’re being influenced by your campaign donations in that kind of way,” Ide told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Bottoms campaign and Con-Real but did not receive a response.

The Democratic primary for Georgia’s gubernatorial race will take place on May 19. Currently, Bottoms is leading in most major polls, with former Georgia General Assemblyman and Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County Michael Thurmond coming in second in many of the same polls, per The New York Times. 

RANDOLPH, N.J. — As he works to flip a vacant U.S. House seat in a blue-leaning district in northern New Jersey, Republican Joe Hathaway is not shy about pointing out where he disagrees with President Donald Trump, even as he charges that his Democratic rival is too far to the left.

“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Hathaway said in a Fox News Digital interview this week, when asked about Trump.

Hathaway is facing off against Democrat Analilia Mejia, who is backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York, in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. The winner will succeed Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

Thursday’s special election comes as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority, and would relish the opportunity to flip a suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.

FIRST ON FOX: HOUSE REPUBLICANS TARGET DOZENS OF ‘VULNERABLE’ DEMOCRATS ON EVE OF TAX DAY

A confident Hathaway said, “I think we are going to have a broad coalition come together to choose common sense over socialism in this race.”

Mejia, a progressive organizer who served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign, pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary as she narrowly edged out more moderate rival former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field appeared to divide the more moderate and center-left vote.

Her victory was another boost for the left against the establishment after democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

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Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was uncontested for the GOP congressional nomination, emphasized that the choice for voters is “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad backed ideology.”

Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and this past weekend teamed up with Sherrill on the campaign trail, as she aims to unite Democrats, who enjoy a sizable registration advantage in the district.

Hathaway claimed that Mejia is now trying “to hide from that a little bit in some of her rhetoric, because she knows that those policies are completely out of touch, but it’s not fooling voters. It’s certainly not fooling us.”

Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election showdown, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting that she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on October 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”

Hathaway said, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia….and her platform.”

PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS

Mejia has pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents,” and has said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said that “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”

Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”

Hathaway, as he aims to win over independent and Democrats, is pointing out where he agrees, and disagrees, with Trump, who lost the district by eight points in his 2024 presidential election victory.

“I’m always going to do what’s right for this district first. And I’ve been clear: If the president’s going to do things that are good for the district, increasing the SALT cap deduction, putting money back in people’s pockets, especially New Jersey, affordability is so tough here. If we’re doing things like border security, reducing fentanyl deaths like we’ve seen.. in our community. Those are good things. I support those policies,” Hathaway said.

“But on the other hand, if the president’s going to do things that aren’t in the best interest of our district, it’s my job to push back, and that’s exactly what I’ve done,” he spotlighted.

Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to terminate billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, and the president’s plans to cut roughly 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding for an Army base located in New Jersey.

“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Hathaway said.

REPUBLICANS WIN BUT DEMOCRATS ALSO CLAIM VICTORY WITH BALLOT BOX SURGE IN TRUMP TERRITORY

Hathaway said his message to independents and Democrats is, “even if you’ve never voted for a Republican before, you got the chance to test drive one for the next six months. Send me to Washington. Let me prove to you I’m going to do what I say  I’m going to do, and that’s how we’re going to build the coalition to win.”

And he touted, “I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.”

But Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and pollster, calls Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats “a pipe dream.”

“Democrats as a whole do not seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,” he said as he predicted that most voters in the special election will be strong partisans. “Democratic turnout is through the roof and Republican turnout is depressed at this point.”

Cassino noted that “right now national politics drives everything. We say all politics is local. Today, unfortunately, all politics is national.”

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Mejia, meanwhile, has tied Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.

“MAGA Republicans are driving up everyday costs with extreme policies my opponent supports. Healthcare and critical programs are being gutted just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-rich. We can’t afford another vote for Trump in Congress,” she wrote in a social media post.

President Donald Trump is set to meet with U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue Tuesday, as the administration prepares for a high-stakes summit between the U.S. president and Chinese President Xi Jinping in May. 

The talks are expected to focus on both escalating tensions in the Middle East and the broader U.S.–China relationship, as Washington weighs its approach to Beijing ahead of the summit.

“President Trump looks forward to discussing the latest on U.S.-China relations with Ambassador Perdue, including preparations for the President’s upcoming trip to Beijing,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. 

The meeting comes just after the U.S. launched a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, where China remains the largest buyer of Iranian crude amid the conflict between the U.S., Iran and Israel.

The blockade risks pulling China more directly into the conflict. Any effort to enforce it against shipments bound for China could trigger a confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.

US, CHINA AGREE TO OPEN DIRECT MILITARY HOTLINE AFTER XI-TRUMP SUMMIT

“This will only aggravate confrontation, escalate tension, undermine the already fragile ceasefire and further jeopardize safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said of the blockade Tuesday in a daily press conference. “It is a dangerous and irresponsible move.” 

The meeting also comes amid reports that China supplied Iran with weapons, which Chinese officials dismissed as “completely made up.” Trump has threatened China with 50% tariffs if the reports are accurate.

Meanwhile, Washington and Beijing remain locked in a fragile tariff standoff. 

After the 2025 escalation pushed tariffs above 100% on both sides, the two countries agreed to a temporary rollback that lowered U.S. duties on Chinese goods to around 30% and China’s tariffs on American exports to roughly 10%. That truce has held into 2026, but core disputes over technology, market access and national security remain unresolved, with both sides continuing negotiations ahead of the planned summit.

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The U.S. has escalated economic pressure beyond tariffs: the Trump administration has moved to eliminate a key loophole that allowed Chinese goods valued under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free, a step targeting companies like Temu and Shein and affecting millions of shipments.

Despite rising economic tensions, the U.S. military posture toward China remains more restrained. 

The Trump administration’s national security and defense strategies prioritize defending the homeland from overseas conflicts, even as they identify China as the top long-term threat. 

Recent intelligence assessments also have downplayed the likelihood of an imminent Chinese invasion of Taiwan, finding no fixed timeline for military action, suggesting Washington is focused more on deterrence than preparing for direct conflict.

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment on the purpose of the meeting. 

House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a long-shot bill in a possible attempt to remove President Trump from office using the 25th Amendment.

The 10-page legislation, introduced by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., would create a 17-member commission to assess whether the amendment could be used to boot Trump from the White House.

The panel would be composed of several physicians and former high-ranking executive officials appointed by congressional leaders from both parties.

“[T]he Commission shall carry out a medical examination of the President to determine whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office,” the bill states.

TRUMP’S THREAT TO END IRANIAN ‘CIVILIZATION’ SPARKS UPROAR ON CAPITOL HILL

Democratic and Republican leaders of each chamber of Congress would select four physicians and four psychiatrists to serve on the commission. The 16 appointed members would then vote to select an additional member to chair the body.

Many House and Senate Democrats have called for Trump to be removed from office or impeached after he wrote that a “whole civilization will die tonight” in a social media post regarding the war in Iran. Raskin cited Trump’s “increasingly volatile, incoherent, and alarming public statements” during the ongoing conflict.

“We have a solemn duty to play our defined role under the 25th Amendment by setting up this body to act alongside the Vice President and the Cabinet,” Raskin said in a statement. “Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows as he threatens to destroy entire civilizations, unleashes chaos in the Middle East while violating Congressional war powers, aggressively insults the Pope of the Catholic Church, and sends out artistic renderings online likening himself to Jesus Christ.”

SENATE DEM ACCUSES TRUMP OF BEING ‘UNFIT FOR OFFICE,’ JOINS GROWING CALL TO IMPEACH, OUST PRESIDENT

The legislation has 50 Democratic co-sponsors.

The White House pushed back on Raskin’s claims, asserting that Trump’s cognitive ability has not deteriorated, while also criticizing Democrats over former President Joe Biden’s mental lapses during his time in office.

“Lightweight Jamie Raskin is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital. “President Trump’s sharpness, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility stand in stark contrast to what we saw during the last administration, when Democrats like Raskin intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people.”

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Trump defended his statements, saying he did not follow through with his threats because Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. He noted that his remarks “brought [Iran] to the table, with the exception of the one thing which I believe that they’re going to give up on.”

“Remember, what do they say to us? For years, I’ve had to listen to them say, ‘Death to America,’ right?” Trump said on “Sunday Morning Futures,” referencing Tehran’s rallying cry. “They say, ‘Death to America, death to Israel, America is a Satan, we will destroy America, death to America.’ Now, does anybody ever complain to you when they say that? I think that’s a big step worse—‘Death to America.’”

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Connecticut and its city of New Haven, arguing that their sanctuary policies interfere with federal enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.

The lawsuit names Connecticut, its Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong, as well as New Haven and its Mayor Justin Elicker as defendants.

The complaint takes issue with the state’s “so-called Trust Act” and other state and local sanctuary policies that the DOJ argues are illegal under federal law.

The DOJ claims these policies have allowed “dangerous criminals” to be released into communities in the Nutmeg State. It also alleges that Connecticut and New Haven have made “intentional efforts” that the lawsuit argues obstruct federal law enforcement, put people at risk and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

DOJ SUES NEW JERSEY OVER EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITING ICE COOPERATION, EXPANDING SANCTUARY STATUS

“For years, Connecticut communities have paid the price of these misguided sanctuary policies,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to end such open defiance of federal law.”

But Elicker contends that the lawsuit misrepresents the city’s immigration policies. He said the city will fight the lawsuit and that he is confident they did nothing wrong.

“The complaint that’s been submitted by the federal government has untruths in it and is misleading. There’s actually quotes from the executive order that have ‘dot dot dot’ where they don’t finish the sentence and the last part of the sentence of the executive order actually clarifies the beginning part,” Elicker told Fox 61.

After Elicker was elected mayor in 2020, he signed an executive order barring law enforcement from asking for the immigration status of anyone they are working with.

READ THE FULL COMPLAINT FILED BY THE DOJ BELOW

The mayor said his city and its employees have not taken any action to obstruct the federal government’s efforts to enforce immigration laws.

“Our employees are abiding by both city, state, and federal law with the executive order that we have, and we will continue to do that,” Elicker said.

HOCHUL ENDORSES LEGISLATION TO ALLOW NEW YORKERS TO SUE ICE AGENTS: ‘POWER DOES NOT JUSTIFY ABUSE’

Lamont said in a statement that state laws “do not prevent federal authorities from enforcing immigration law,” adding that they instead “reflect a longstanding principle: the federal government cannot require states to use their personnel or resources to carry out federal enforcement responsibilities.”

“We will defend Connecticut’s laws vigorously against the complaints outlined in the federal government’s lawsuit. Our Trust Act and related policies are consistent with the Constitution and reflect our responsibility to govern responsibly, protect public safety, and uphold the rights of all residents,” the governor said.

“Connecticut respects the rule of law and the constitutional roles of both federal and state governments,” he added. “Connecticut law enforcement prioritizes serious criminal activity and works every day to keep our communities safe, while also respecting constitutional protections afforded to residents and maintaining trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”

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Tong, in a statement of his own, said the “sovereign people of Connecticut have exercised our right to pass state laws like the Trust Act that prioritize public safety and ensure that all people can trust and rely on law enforcement to keep us safe.” 

“It is a shame that the President and the Department of Justice are not focused on public safety but are wasting federal resources on attacking Connecticut with a baseless lawsuit that has no foundation in law or fact. Connecticut is not a ‘sanctuary’ state, whatever that means. This term is meaningless and has no basis in Connecticut law. We will defend Connecticut and Connecticut families and fight this lawless attack with every fiber of our being,” he said.

This is the latest effort by the DOJ to target sanctuary policies in cities and states across the country.

Last month, a federal judge threw out a DOJ lawsuit accusing Colorado and Denver of interfering with the federal enforcement of immigration laws.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is aiming to block the sale of bombs and bulldozers to Israel.

“This week, I will be forcing a vote on legislation to block the sale of nearly half a billion dollars worth of bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli military,” he said in a Monday post on X.

The left-wing lawmaker accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of perpetrating “genocide.”

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER SEVERELY DISFIGURED BY US STRIKES: REPORT

“The extremist Netanyahu government that has committed genocide in Gaza does not need more military support from American taxpayers,” Sanders said in the post.

In a Tuesday post on another X account, Sanders asserted, “This week, I will be forcing a vote to block nearly $500 million in bombs and bulldozers to Israel.  Enough is enough.”

IDF UNCOVERS HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS STASH INSIDE HOSPITAL IN LEBANON

“U.S. taxpayers must not keep funding the Netanyahu government’s mass killing and displacement of civilians in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon,” he added.

Sanders introduced joint resolutions last month to prohibit the sales of bulldozers and bombs to Israel.

IRAN’S ‘GODFATHER OF PROPAGANDA’ TACTICS RESURFACE IN WAR WITH US AND ISRAEL

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The U.S. and Israel recently worked together to bombard the Islamic Republic of Iran for over a month.

It may have been possible to bequeath this as “expulsion week.”

Instead, this might be “resignation week.”

The House has only expelled six Members in the history of the republic. But it was possible as recently as Monday that the House was primed to wrestle with a mind-boggling four expulsions.

It takes a two-thirds vote to expel a Member. The House last expelled one of its own in late 2023: former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). Before that, you have to go back to 2002 when the House kicked out late Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio).

5TH ACCUSER COMES FORWARD AGAINST REP ERIC SWALWELL AHEAD OF EXPECTED RESIGNATION

Here was the chopping block:

Calls to expel former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) piled up after reports surfaced that he sexually assaulted a former aide and several other women. Swalwell initially said he would fight the allegations. Then he dropped his bid to become governor of California after a host of once close allies abandoned their support. Swalwell has now resigned, avoiding the ignominious scene of an expulsion.

Then there was former Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas). At first, Gonzales denied an affair with an aide who committed suicide by setting herself on fire. Gonzales was locked in a tough primary runoff against Republican Congressional candidate Brandon Herrera. But after pressure, Gonzales finally dropped out of the runoff and isn’t standing for re-election. However, Gonzales intended to stay on until his term expired on January 3 next year. But now Gonzales is out the door, too.

TWO DEMOCRATIC REPS CALL FOR SWALWELL TO EXIT CONGRESS AS CONTROVERSY SWIRLS AROUND HIS BID FOR CA GOVERNOR

So two down, two to go.

This is where things grow complicated.

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) could face expulsion soon. In late March, the House Ethics Committee held a rare “trial,” declaring she improperly obtained an astonishing $5 million in COVID relief funds. The Ethics panel will likely recommend a punishment for Cherfilus-McCormick next week. The full House doesn’t have to consider or adhere to the prescribed discipline. The congresswoman proclaims her innocence. She faces a criminal trial in Florida in February 2027.

WHY ERIC SWALWELL WAS FORCED TO QUIT CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE AFTER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

“The facts are indisputable at this point and so I believe it will be the consensus of this body that she should be expelled,” forecast House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

Rep. Greg Stuebe (R-Fla.) filed a resolution to bounce Cherfilus-McCormick from the body a few months ago. 

And for the Republicans, there’s Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.). Mills is accused of “stolen valor” and exaggeration of his military record. But what triggered the current expulsion push is an allegation that the congressman struck his girlfriend in early 2025. A judge imposed a restraining order against Mills. However, police never charged the congressman. The Ethics Committee is also investigating whether he violated federal campaign rules. But the formal ethics probe of the Florida Republican isn’t as far along as the Cherfilus-McCormick inquiry.

SWALWELL RESIGNATION COLLIDES WITH CHINA-LINKED SCANDAL AS CRITICS DEMAND FILE RELEASE

Johnson is mindful of that fact.

“With regard to Mills, I’m not sure the status of the Ethics Committee investigation and that’s one of the things I’ll be looking into today,” said Johnson.

Four troubled Members. Two Democrats and two Republicans. It was that parity which may have primed the House to take the unprecedented step of expelling those four Members before Swalwell and Gonzales announced their resignations. But a push to expel Cherfiulus-McCormick and not Mills creates a host of problems in the House.

GONZALES HIT WITH EXPULSION VOTE THREAT AHEAD OF EXPECTED RESIGNATION

It’s about the math.

The House swore-in Rep. Clay Fuller (R-Ga.) on Monday night. Fuller won a special election last week to succeed former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) who resigned. That GOP gain is likely offset by an anticipated victory by Democratic Congressional candidate Analilia Mejia in a Thursday special election in New Jersey. This is a Democratic seat which has been vacant since New Jersey Gov. and former Congresswoman Mikie Sherill (D) resigned from the House last fall.

With Swalwell and Gonzales out and Fuller in, the current breakdown is 431 Members: 217 Republicans and 213 Democrats. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) dropped his affiliation with the GOP. The addition of Fuller and presumed win by Meija would make the breakdown 217 to 214 and one independent – with one vacancy, covering 432 Members. After the Swalwell and Gonzales resignations, the remaining open seat is a solidly Republican district in northern California, long held by late Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.). He died in January.

ERIC SWALWELL WAS CABLE NEWS STAR FOR YEARS BEFORE RAPID FALL FROM GRACE

But what happens if the House moves against Cherfilus-McCormick and not Mills? That creates an imbalance between the parties – something which was lost when the potential expulsion of four Members was on the table.

“What about this issue of parity,” yours truly asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

“The issue of parity hasn’t been something that we’ve had a conversation about. We’ve been working through what’s in front of us today and that’s what we’re going to continue to do,” replied Jeffries.

LAWMAKERS PUT EXPULSION THREATS ATOP HOUSE AGENDA AS RETURN SETS UP HIGH-STAKES WEEK

I followed up.

“But isn’t that a concern, though, if they take action against Cherfilus-McCormick? Her ethics process is further along than Mr. Mills,” I asked.

“The ethics process is still incomplete and we’ll see what the Ethics Committee has to recommend next week,” replied Jeffries.

‘SMART DECISION’: SWALWELL’S RESIGNATION SPURS PRAISE FROM BOTH PARTIES AFTER BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS EMERGE

That’s in reference to the upcoming ethics panel meeting, recommending punishment for the Florida Democrat.

It was one thing if the House may have bounced four Members, two Republicans and two Democrats, all at once. But it’s dicier now that Gonzales and Swalwell stepped aside. It’s further complicated considering the uneven status of the ethics inquiries regarding Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills.

It seems that Congress is now in a period of establishing new precedents on a regular basis. A record-breaking government shutdown – only superseded by another record-breaking government shutdown. In addition, the House is experiencing a dramatic increase in the raw number of “censures” which it doles out to Members. Censure is the second-highest mode of punishment in the House, just below expulsion.

JONATHAN TURLEY: ERIC SWALWELL’S ENABLERS KNEW THE TRUTH — AND PROTECTED HIM ANYWAY

The House censured late Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) in late 2010. Prior to that, the House last reprimanded late Reps. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.) and Daniel Crane (R-Ill.) in 1983. But since 2021, the House has censured five Members: Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) – when he served in the House – Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas).

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) recently characterized the censure explosion as the “political” weaponization of the ethics process.

It’s possible the House might not take any immediate action regarding Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills. Lawmakers from both sides may be more willing to expel one of their own – and maybe take one for the team on their side – if a similar outcome is guaranteed across the aisle.

SWALWELL’S FALL FROM GRACE SPARKS DEMOCRAT RUSH TO RETURN CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AMID SCRUTINY

With such a tight majority, Republicans may not want to cede power to Democrats if the House expels a GOP Member as they try to cling to the majority. By the same token, it’s doubtful Democrats are willing to absorb a hit when they are within sneezing distance of the majority – if they don’t see a political equilibrium and document consequences for the Republican majority.

Moreover, tracking where the votes lie for disciplinary action is nearly impossible. What further complicates this is whether any expulsion motion actually comes to a true, up/down vote. There are often motions “to table” or kill any resolution to impose discipline against a Member. The same with motions “to refer” or dispatch allegations against a Member to the Ethics Committee for additional scrutiny. For instance, the Ethics panel is all but done probing Cherfilus-McCormick and is investigating Mills. So it’s unclear what would happen with any possible motion “to refer.”

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And let’s be frank: some lawmakers either really want to be on the record voting to discipline one of their colleagues or want no part of it at all. Resolutions to sit in judgment of a colleague is one of the hardest votes lawmakers take. Right up with a vote to go to war. That’s why some prefer the political fig leaf of a “motion to refer” or “motion to table” to an actual up/down vote to punish one of their own.

So this could have been “expulsion week” on Capitol Hill. It’s certainly “resignation week.” And if there’s no other disciplinary action, some lawmakers will be resigned to that outcome.

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to end his contempt inquiry into senior Trump administration officials after they deported more than 130 Venezuelan migrants — capping a protracted and bitterly disputed legal fight.

Judges for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that Boasberg’s inquiry overstepped the court’s authority and represented an “unwarranted impairment” of the executive branch. Judges Neomi Rao and Justin Walker, two Trump appointees, authored the majority, which ordered Boasberg, the chief district judge for the District of Columbia, to terminate the contempt inquiry roughly 12 months after it began. 

At issue was the Trump administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last March — migrants that the administration alleged were in the U.S. illegally and in some cases had ties to the violent gang Tren de Aragua — and whether senior Trump officials had willfully defied an emergency court order issued by the district court judge in allowing the deportation flights to continue.  

FEDERAL JUDGE JAMES BOASBERG FINDS PROBABLE CAUSE TO HOLD TRUMP IN CONTEMPT OVER DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

Rao and Walker said Tuesday that the March 15 emergency order that Boasberg issued last year, which sought to halt the administration from immediately deporting the Venezuelan migrants, was too ambiguous to justify what they ruled was an “intrusive” investigation into high-level executive matters.

“The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy,” Rao and Walker said Tuesday. “These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion.”

J. Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, authored a sharp, 80-page dissent.

“Contempt of court is a public offense, and the fate of our democratic republic will depend on whether we treat it as such,” she said, adding: “Without the contempt power, the rule of law is an illusion, a theory that stands upon shifting sands.”

TOP US COURT HANDS TRUMP A WIN ON DEPORTATIONS AS SCOTUS CHALLENGE LOOMS

The ruling is a significant victory for the Justice Department, which had asked the appeals court several times to halt the contempt inquiry into the Alien Enemies Act removals. Short of that, they asked the higher court to intervene and block the scheduled testimony of key government witnesses.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche praised the 2-1 ruling Tuesday afternoon on social media, signaling the outsize importance that the administration has placed on the inquiry, and on efforts to end the contempt probe.

“Today’s decision by the DC Circuit should finally end Judge Boasberg’s year-long campaign against the hardworking Department attorneys doing their jobs fighting illegal immigration,” he said on X.

Lawyers for the Trump administration argued last year that the contempt inquiry is an “idiosyncratic and misguided inquiry,” which they said falls outside the jurisdiction of the district court. The 2-1 majority ruling from the appeals court appears to support that contention. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHT CASE
 

Boasberg, for his part, has staunchly defended his efforts. “This inquiry is not some academic exercise,” he said in a ruling of his own last year. 

“The opinion is a blow to the rule of law,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt, the lead counsel for plaintiffs, said Tuesday in response to the circuit court’s ruling. 

“Our system is built on the executive branch, including the president, respecting court orders,” he said. “In this case there is no longer any question that the Trump administration willfully violated the court’s order.”

The ACLU did not immediately indicate whether it planned to appeal the ruling to the full bench or the to the Supreme Court.

The newly blocked contempt inquiry had been expected to bring to the fore long-simmering tension between the Trump administration and the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., whose oversight of the Alien Enemies Act case has put him squarely in Trump’s crosshairs. 

Trump’s remarks about Boasberg, including calls for his impeachment, prompted Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts to issue a rare, public warning last year. 

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It is unclear if lawyers representing the class of Alien Enemies Act plaintiffs will challenge the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, though they do have options to do so. Lawyers can either seek review “en banc,” or from the full bench of appeals court judges, or kick the case back to the Supreme Court for review.

Residents in Fairfax County, Virginia expressed frustrations with a slew of violent crimes committed by illegal aliens in recent months while at the same time voicing skepticism over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“I’m not team ICE, but I do agree that if you’re out here committing crimes, then you don’t want to be here,” one respondent said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency at the heart of Trump’s detention and deportation efforts.

“So, I think they should leave the people that are just chilling alone, but if you’re out here committing crimes, yeah, you might have to go.”

In particular, residents raised alarm about cases like the murder of Stephanie Minter — a woman stabbed to death at a bus stop in February allegedly at the hands of an illegal alien from Sierra Leone — a repeat offender with a lengthy criminal history.

DHS SLAMS ‘INSANE’ 5-YEAR PLEA DEAL FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO ADMITTED FATAL STABBING IN VIRGINIA

Abdul Jalloh, 32, had been arrested more than 30 times, according to the Department of Homeland Security, but was still released by Virginia authorities.

To some, Minter’s death is a clear indicator of a need for reform.

“I’ll tell you this. Someone that’s been arrested 30 times and has been let back out and can commit a crime like this? Something has to change. Something is not working,” one Fairfax resident told Fox News Digital.

ICE PRESSURES SPANBERGER AS FAIRFAX MURDER SUSPECTS TRIGGER NEW DETAINERS IN ‘SANCTUARY’ CLASH

“If it’s the 30th time, I don’t know what justification they have for why they’re not sent back or given some sort of harsher punishment,” another said.

Fairfax County has made headlines for a string of murders similar to Minter’s case.

Earlier this month, authorities charged 28-year-old Guatemala native Misael Lopez Gomez with the murder of his 3-month-old daughter. His arrest comes on the heels of a separate attack by Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, another Guatemalan man charged with fatally stabbing a man in his home.

ANGEL MOM RIPS SANCTUARY STATE AFTER DAUGHTER’S ALLEGED KILLER WALKED FREE

According to the Department of Homeland Security, three out of every four suspects charged with murder in Fairfax County are illegal aliens.

Other Fairfax residents approached by Fox News Digital said they believed the state needed to coordinate its law enforcement efforts more tightly.

“The new governor — she needs to do better to work with the Fairfax police department. It’s up to her too. She’s a new one,” a commentator said, referring to Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who assumed office in November.

DEM SENATOR WARNS DEPORTATION COULD LET VIRGINIA WOMAN’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT KILLER ‘ESCAPE ACCOUNTABILITY’

While Spanberger has repeatedly said Virginia is not a sanctuary state, a state that prevents local law enforcement from partnering with federal immigration enforcement efforts, Spanberger rescinded local-federal coordination requirements as one of her first actions as governor.

She argued that Virginia’s resources would be better spent enforcing its own laws.

“Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger said in a press release.

MEET THE FAIRFAX KILLERS: TOP VIOLENT ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIMINALS WREAKING HAVOC ON MAJOR AMERICAN SUBURB

“Federal authorities should enforce federal civil immigration laws — law enforcement in the Commonwealth should prioritize the safety and security of all residents in Virginia, the enforcement of local and state laws and coordination with federal entities on criminal matters,” she added.

Spanberger signed her executive order on Jan. 17 — the same day she took office.

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Although some residents said they had reservations about federal immigration policies, they suggested illegal aliens with criminal histories probably shouldn’t raise controversy.

“I do think that’s a good place to start. People that are committing crimes actively now, who are not supposed to be here? I mean, yeah. That’s reasonable,” another resident said.

A memo released by the Trump administration on Tuesday detailed a goal of having a nuclear reactor on the moon’s surface by 2030, a move that furthers the United States’ quest for supremacy in space over China and Russia.

In the six-page document, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wrote that incorporating nuclear energy in space will be essential to advancing U.S. efforts in “space exploration, commerce, and defense applications.”

“Nuclear power in space will give us the sustained electricity, heating, and propulsion essential to a permanent presence on the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wrote on X.

SEN CYNTHIA LUMMIS: DON’T HAND CHINA THE NUCLEAR FUTURE — BUILD IT HERE AT HOME

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman celebrated the memo, which outlined how nuclear reactors will be crucial for eventual deep-space exploration to Mars.

“The time has come for America to get underway on nuclear power in space,” Isaacman wrote on X.

The memo cited President Donald Trump’s December 2025 executive order titled “Ensuring American Space Superiority.”

TRUMP WANTS A MOON LANDING BY 2028, SO WHY IS NASA ALREADY HEDGING?

It was signed just months after then-acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said on “Sean Hannity” that he wanted the U.S. to build a nuclear reactor on the moon before China does.

Last May, China and Russia agreed to work together to build a nuclear reactor on the moon’s surface by 2036.

The Department of War, Department of Energy, NASA and the Office of Science and Technology Policy have all been tasked with meeting the White House’s goals of deploying nuclear reactors on the moon’s surface and in the moon’s orbit.

TRUMP UNLEASHES NUCLEAR BOOM, POWERING AMERICA BACK TO ENERGY DOMINANCE

The memo outlines the Trump administration’s plan to deploy mid-power nuclear reactors in the moon’s orbit by 2028. Each nuclear power reactor will be designed to provide 20 kilowatts of energy, roughly the same amount used by an average American household.

The reactors will be designed to generate power for at least three years in orbit, and lunar surface-based nuclear reactors will provide energy for at least five years.

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The memo’s publication comes just two weeks after NASA launched Artemis II, the first lunar flyby in more than 50 years. The mission was designed to test the Orion spacecraft’s deep-space navigation, manual piloting capabilities and life-support systems.

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

One of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s, D-Calif., closest friends in Congress said their tight-knit relationship “clouded his judgment” regarding rumors that swirled about the ex-lawmaker for years in Washington, D.C.

“Eric Swalwell lied to all of us,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said at an impromptu press conference in his office. “He lied to the most powerful people in this country and they trusted him. They trusted him with some of the most sensitive spots in our government, whether it was on Judiciary Committee, Intel Committee, impeaching Donald Trump.”

“And that clouded my judgment, my friendship with him,” he continued. “Our family’s friendship together with him clouded my judgment. And I was wrong. I deeply, deeply regret that.”

SWALWELL OUT AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS AFTER 13 YEARS IN CONGRESS

It’s a sharp pivot for Gallego, given that the two had a familial-like relationship. Just last week, Gallego defended Swalwell online against allegations of misconduct, which he later said he regretted.

Their kids went to baseball camp together, they babysat one another’s children, and Gallego even jumped on board as national chair for Swalwell’s failed 2020 presidential bid.

But after a bombshell report from the San Francisco Chronicle alleged that Swalwell sexually assaulted a former staffer, his former friend is no longer sticking up for him.

SWALWELL’S ‘BEST FRIEND’ IN CONGRESS TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS TORPEDO HIS POLITICAL CAREER

In the days since that report surfaced, five people in total have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct or rape.

Gallego, while heaping blame on Swalwell and apologizing to his alleged victims, maintained that he had no knowledge of the alleged behavior. He noted, however, that rumors had circulated about Swalwell — and other past lawmakers — in the nation’s capital for years.

When pressed on the nature of those rumors, Gallego said Swalwell was “flirty,” but nothing along the lines of the allegations that sank his gubernatorial bid and congressional career — nor activity that “I would say would rise to the occasion that I would be able to, you know, not talk to his wife the next day and be able to look her in the eye.”

When allegations began to surface online at the onset of Swalwell’s gubernatorial run, Gallego said Swalwell “manipulated” him into believing it was a smear campaign similar to the one used against him during his 2024 Senate race against Kari Lake.

PELOSI, CALIFORNIA DEMS SLAM SWALWELL OVER BOMBSHELL SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS: ‘INDEFENSIBLE’

“He knew I came off a horrible race where I had to answer to my family. I have to answer accusations to best friends, to my kids. And he fed into that,” Gallego said. “He fed into it and I fell for it like everyone else. I fell for the lies. I regret it, but that’s what happened.”

The two spent significant time together — on official and private trips, on each other’s campaigns, and within the halls of Congress.

When asked how it was possible that neither he nor other lawmakers who had known Swalwell for years — including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — were aware, Gallego said “he became very good at being a predator.”

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“And he clearly preyed on these women in different positions. And he became extremely proficient at lying to us, lying to his family, lying to his community,” Gallego said. “You know, the nature of his job allowed him to travel. And we just did not fully understand … There’s just no way we could have seen any of this.”

Facing expulsion and a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of his conduct, Swalwell officially resigned from Congress on Tuesday.

While he apologized to his family and constituents, he doubled down against the accusations leveled against him.

“I will fight the serious false allegations made against me,” Swalwell wrote in his resignation letter. “However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

The Trump administration has fired multiple prosecutors who handled cases that resulted in prison sentences for pro-life activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, as the Justice Department moves to overhaul enforcement of the law.

The Justice Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that four prosecutors tied to those cases were dismissed, following a CBS News report on the firings.

The department’s rapid response account on X said the Justice Department “has terminated the employment of personnel responsible for weaponizing the FACE Act who still remained at the department.”

The personnel moves come after the Justice Department released a report Tuesday alleging the Biden administration “weaponized” federal law by selectively prosecuting pro-life activists under the FACE Act, which was designed to protect access to abortion clinics and pregnancy resource centers.

BIDEN PUSH TO REVIVE TED KENNEDY-ERA LAW NOW HAUNTS DEMOCRATS AS CHARGES LOOM IN MINNESOTA CHURCH RIOT

According to the report, based on a review of more than 700,000 internal records, prosecutors coordinated with abortion-rights groups to identify activists, sought harsher sentences for pro-life defendants and, in some cases, withheld evidence from defense attorneys.

“This department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs. The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.”

The report also alleged prosecutors attempted to screen out jurors based on religious beliefs and, in some cases, pursued aggressive arrest tactics rather than allowing defendants to voluntarily surrender.

FINAL CHARGE DROPPED IN YEARSLONG HARRIS-ERA CASE AGAINST PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST

For instance, the report cited a case involving pro-life activist Mark Houck in which prosecutors declined a request for him to self-surrender and instead authorized an FBI arrest at his home.

Justice Department officials said sentencing recommendations for pro-life defendants averaged 26.8 months in prison, compared to 12.3 months for individuals accused of attacks on pro-life organizations.

The report argued FACE Act enforcement under the Biden administration was uneven, with authorities prioritizing cases involving abortion clinics while failing to adequately pursue attacks on pregnancy resource centers and churches.

MINNESOTA AG KEITH ELLISON DENIES DON LEMON, ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS VIOLATED FACE ACT AS DOJ MULLS CHARGES

Assistant Attorney General Daniel Burrows said the findings raised serious concerns about department attorneys.

“The behavior unearthed in this report is shameful,” Burrows said, adding that some prosecutors “withheld evidence” and worked to exclude religious jurors.

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The Trump administration has already taken steps to reverse course, including issuing pardons for pro-life activists convicted under the prior administration, dismissing several civil cases and limiting future FACE Act prosecutions to “extraordinary circumstances.”

The FACE Act, passed in 1994, prohibits the use of force, threats or physical obstruction to interfere with access to reproductive health services.

Erika Kirk canceled her planned appearance at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia on Tuesday after receiving what organizers described as “very serious threats.”

JUDGE DISMISSES DEFENSE PUSH TO REMOVE PROSECUTORS FROM CHARLIE KIRK MURDER CASE

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said Erika Kirk, wife of late conservative icon Charlie Kirk, received “some very serious threats in her direction,” prompting her absence from the event in Athens, Georgia.

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Vice President JD Vance said he had been concerned the event might be canceled and spoke with the Secret Service, adding he told Kirk to “do what she needs to do for her and her family.”