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FIRST ON FOX: The State Department has added business formal dress code guidance to its internal policy manual for the first time, establishing department-wide standards for employee attire.

The changes, implemented in recent days in the Foreign Affairs Manual — the department’s central repository for policies — mark the first time the agency has formally codified expectations for how diplomats and staff should dress in official settings.

“Representing the United States of America is an honor — and this new policy ensures our diplomats project credibility, respect, and the dignity of the nation we serve,” Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson told Fox News Digital.

The updated policy applies broadly across the department for both civil service and foreign service employees.

DEPARTMENT TO ASK FOR BONDS OF UP TO $15,000 FOR VISA APPLICATIONS FROM A DOZEN MORE COUNTRIES

The move underscores a broader recalibration at the State Department, where Trump administration officials have sought to impose clearer standards around discipline, appearance and adherence to policy. 

A State Department official said the change was driven in part by concerns that some diplomats had been dressing “pretty informally” in recent years. 

“This should have happened a long time ago,” the official said. 

The formal dress code represents a shift away from Biden-era personnel policies that prioritized flexibility and cultural inclusivity, toward a more uniform and prescriptive standard for how U.S. diplomats present themselves.

“Appropriate attire and appearance will depend on the duties performed, the work environment, and the level of interaction with foreign interlocutors and other external stakeholders,” reads the manual, viewed by Fox News Digital. “For staff participating in meetings or other official engagements with foreign interlocutors, dress is Business Formal and personal appearance is polished and professional unless otherwise specified.”

The dress code update follows other recent changes to how the State Department evaluates and manages its workforce, including revisions to hiring and promotion criteria for Foreign Service officers. 

Earlier in 2026, the department replaced diversity, equity and inclusion-related benchmarks with a new core precept focused on “fidelity,” emphasizing adherence to U.S. government policy and chain-of-command authority.

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Under the updated guidance, mid- and senior-level diplomats are expected to demonstrate loyalty by “zealously executing U.S. government policy” and resolving ambiguity in favor of leadership direction, according to internal documents previously reported by Fox News Digital.

Those changes came alongside broader efforts to restructure the department’s workforce, including plans to reduce staffing and consolidate offices, signaling a shift toward more standardized expectations for diplomatic personnel. The addition of a formal dress code marks the latest step in that direction.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – FBI Director Kash Patel warned Wednesday that terror sleeper cell threats in the U.S. are “real,” and Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., linked the danger to past border policies and accused Democrats of undermining homeland security in a funding fight.

Considering flaring concerns over sleeper cell threats during the United States’ war on Iran, Fox News Digital asked the FBI director to revisit the Biden administration’s previous focus on White supremacy as the leading domestic threat. Patel pointed to recent attacks as evidence of growing danger from foreign-linked terrorism. 

“President Trump has prioritized defending the homeland and resources to do so. These two recent tragic examples (in Virginia and in Michigan) are an unfortunate, tragic reminder of what happens, specifically in Norfolk, when you let an actual convicted terrorist not finish his jail sentence,” Patel said. 

McCormick and Patel spoke to Fox News Digital at the federal courthouse in the heart of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city, Allentown, on Wednesday after a roundtable focused on cracking down on fentanyl. 

PHOTOS: ANTI-ICE AGITATORS DOX AGENTS BY SENDING WARNING POSTCARDS TO NEIGHBORS

The FBI director was referring to Mohamed Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone who entered a classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk last month and opened fire, killing one. Jalloh was convicted of supporting ISIS in 2017. 

Also in March, federal investigators said Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was radicalized by Iran-backed Hezbollah when he allegedly crashed his vehicle into a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, that was filled with more than 100 children.

McCormick noted that, during the Biden administration, hundreds of people on the U.S. terror watch list crossed into the nation. 

“Many of them are loose in our country,” he said. “[T]he effort of the administration to close the border, which it’s done successfully, is now [to] take those violent criminals and send them home.”

Under the Biden administration, White supremacy was considered a top priority terror threat. The Delaware Democrat told a Howard University audience that he strove to “single out the most dangerous threat to our homeland [that] is White supremacy.”

In a September 2024 House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing, Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, said 382 people whose names appear on the terror watchlist were “stopped trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally between ports of entry from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024. This is compared to the 11 individuals apprehended from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which is separate but related to the work of the FBI, remains hamstrung by a Democrat-enabled appropriations freeze that has left TSA and other agencies without proper resources, including paychecks.

DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS, TIKTOKERS, LIBERALS TAKE THEIR ANTI-ICE RHETORIC TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Patel called the department the FBI’s largest law enforcement partner globally and cited crucial interagency task forces.

“Every day and every time someone [in DHS] misses a paycheck, it’s yet another opportunity for the criminals to take advantage of a system that should be fixed easily,” Patel said.

“And thanks to Sen. Dave McCormick and the charge he’s leading, I believe DHS is going to be funded. And those that vote against funding DHS are literally voting against law enforcement, and, to me, it makes no sense.”

THE FAR-LEFT NETWORK THAT HELPED PUT ALEX PRETTI IN HARM’S WAY, THEN MADE HIM A MARTYR 

McCormick added that while the shutdown was already “irresponsible and disgraceful” in February, it’s now exacerbated by the Iran conflict.

“It’s absolute political theater on the part of Chuck Schumer,” he said, calling the idea that Democrats would use DHS funding as a “political pawn” during wartime “unforgivable.”

The shutdown is on its 49th day as of Friday, and more than 200,000 DHS workers are affected, according to reports.

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“What’s happening is Schumer keeps moving the finish line in terms of what he’s trying to achieve. I think it’s disgraceful,” McCormick said.

Attorneys in Colorado are claiming that the state’s court e-file system is requiring them to certify they won’t share personal information to assist ICE or federal immigration enforcement.

Multiple attorneys on X reported an electronic notification citing the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act, a state law passed in 2025 that prohibits collection or disclosure of information particularly pertaining to immigration status in health care, education and government.

Covenant Law founder Ian Speir posted screenshots of an alleged electronic form that he was required to accept in order to access Colorado’s court-filing system.

BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE

The page in question is not public-facing and appeared to be only accessible by attorneys registered in Colorado, upon Fox News Digital’s review of the website. 

“I certify under penalty of perjury that I will not use or disclose personal identifying information, as defined by [the act] obtained from this database for the purpose of investigating for, participating in, cooperating with, or assisting in federal immigration enforcement, including enforcement of civil immigration laws and 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1325 or 1326, unless required by federal or state law or to comply with a court-issued subpoena, warrant, or order,” the message says; asking attorneys to “accept” or “decline.”

MINNESOTA SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER SWEEPING IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN TWIN CITIES

“Colorado is now requiring lawyers in the state, as a condition of logging into its court e-filing system, to promise not to cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law,” Speir said in response on X.

Speir added he doesn’t practice immigration nor criminal law, and nothing in his cases would be relevant to the law – but he “cannot log into the state’s official e-filing system without saluting ‘The Resistance’.”

DHS TORCHES NEW JERSEY’S PROFANE ‘F—ICE ACT’ AS ASSAULTS ON AGENTS SKYROCKET 1,300%

“I now cannot represent my clients, file lawsuits, access cases, file documents in existing cases,” he said, adding he chose the “accept” option “under protest.”

“The bottom line here is that Colorado seems to be unlawfully coopting private attorneys across the state to further its anti-federal sanctuary policies,” Speir told Fox News Digital later Friday.

Attorney and former law professor Matt Barber added on X that the oath the state expects lawyers to take is “indefensible.”

The announcement Barber received read that the Colorado Judicial Department deployed an “updated certification process” as of March 30 to comply with the new law.

TRUMP ADMIN SUES ILLINOIS GOV. PRITZKER OVER LAWS SHIELDING MIGRANTS FROM COURTHOUSE ARRESTS

The original implementation was paused in September amid “additional review,” the agency said in its notice.

“The majority of CCE information remains public; this requirement only impacts access to nonpublic personal identifying information as defined by statute,” the agency said in its new terms, adding that attorneys who choose to decline the agreement must complete a “brief certification” in order to proceed.

“Democrats going back to their Confederacy roots,” another critic quipped, citing a screenshot of the 1956 law outlining “seditious conspiracy” as opposing federal authority by force or “hinder[ing]… execution of any law of the United States.”

Fox News contributor Guy Benson added, “Big lawsuits: Now.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Colorado Judicial Department, Gov. Jared Polis, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment.

The 2025 law, authored by Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, also prevents civil arrests of people present at courthouses, “military force[s]” from other states from entering Colorado without executive permission unless acting upon federal orders, and repeals requirements that applicants for college admission or driver’s licenses must sign an form pledging they’ve applied for lawful presence in the U.S.

President Donald Trump gave a rare shout out to longtime critic, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, on Thursday after he voted to approve plans for the new White House ballroom.

“I would like to thank the hardworking Commissioners and Staff of the National Capital Planning Commission, who just voted overwhelmingly, 8-1, to approve the magnificent White House Ballroom now rising on this Hallowed Ground,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“I am pleased to announce that even Board Member Senator Rand Paul, known as an extraordinarily difficult vote, voted a strong YES.”

TRUMP PAUSES OIL EXEC SUMMIT TO PEEK AT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM’S PROGRESS 

Paul and Trump share a contentious relationship, including Paul being highly critical of Trump’s tariff policies and Trump’s military attacks on Iran. In late March, he was the only Republican to vote in favor of a war powers resolution aiming to limit the president’s ability to continue foreign military intervention.

Trump and Paul have been sparring since the 2015 GOP primary, when they clashed during the first Republican debate in August 2015. The tension has flared since, including Trump calling Paul “sick Wacko” just in November. 

The ballroom still faces legal hurdles. On Tuesday, a federal judge halted the project, ruling that construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom must receive Congressional approval.

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” Leon wrote in a 35-page ruling. “No statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO TRUMP WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM PROJECT; DOJ APPEALS DECISION

The National Capital Planning Commission proceeded with the vote despite the ruling. The commission chair, Will Scharf, said at the start of Thursday’s meeting that the judge’s ruling only prevented construction of the project.

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“We’ll move past that and continue our consideration of the East Wing modernization project,” he said.

The ballroom, which is being funded by private donors, is slated to be completed by 2028. However, the project’s end date remains unknown as the Trump administration plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

Amid several monumental Cabinet shakeups, President Donald Trump is signaling his continued confidence in Vice President JD Vance by having him address an “unprecedented” problem in Democratic-run states and declaring him the nation’s “fraud czar.” 

Vance announced Thursday his fraud task force busted an alleged $50 million hospice and healthcare fraud scheme in Los Angeles. Following this news, Trump took to Truth Social Friday morning to officially proclaim he was naming Vance fraud czar. 

Trump said Vance’s focus would be “EVERYWHERE” but with a special emphasis on Democratic-controlled states.

“Vice President JD Vance is now in charge of ‘FRAUD’ in the United States,” Trump wrote. “We will call him the ‘FRAUD CZAR,’ and his focus will be ‘EVERYWHERE,’ but primarily in those Blue States where CROOKED DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS, like those in California, Illinois, Minnesota (Somalia beware!), Maine, New York, and many others, have had a ‘free for all’ in the unprecedented theft of Taxpayer Money.”

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR

The president called the fraud problems in the U.S. “massive and pervasive” and suggested the implications for the country are enormous.

As fraud czar, “the job (Vance) will be doing, in conjunction with many great people within the Trump Administration, will be a major factor in how great the future of our Country will be,” Trump wrote.

“The numbers are so large that, if successful, we would literally be able to balance our American Budget.”

He emphasized the work Vance already has done in California, writing, “Raids have already started in L.A.” and concluding, “Good Luck JD!”

The president already had placed Vance in charge of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which is a government-wide crackdown on fraud in federal benefit programs. 

However, Trump’s designation of Vance as fraud czar, an informal title, emphasizes the significance he is placing on the task force and his confidence in Vance to get the job done.

PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES

Trump first announced he would be putting Vance in charge of the “war on fraud,” and the position was solidified by Trump’s executive order establishing the fraud task force and placing Vance at the helm.

The announcement followed reporting revealing allegations of widespread fraud and abuse in Minnesota largely involving the state’s Somali immigrant community. 

Trump’s announcement comes the day after news broke that the president was removing Attorney General Pam Bondi from her role at the Department of Justice, a move that political analyst Jonathan Turley said hit Washington, D.C., like a “thunderclap.”

JD VANCE RELEASING BOOK ABOUT FAITH JOURNEY, CONVERSION TO CATHOLICISM

Just weeks before that, the president also removed former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 

There are widespread rumors of Trump being displeased with several other high-ranking members of his Cabinet, though he has not publicly said so himself.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Vance’s office for comment. 

A California judge on Wednesday cleared the final legal hurdle in the long-running prosecution of a pro-life activist who alleged in undercover videos that abortion providers were illegally profiting from fetal tissue.

“As promised, the final charge has been DISMISSED and the case completely expunged— —after a couple months’ administrative delay, and a truly bizarre last-minute ‘April Fool’s’ attempt by @PPFA and @NatAbortionFed to overturn the State’s agreement,” Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden tweeted on Wednesday, including a previous statement made on the reached settlement.

Daleiden, who alongside undercover journalist Sandra Merritt, faced 15 charges filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in 2017. The charges stemmed from an investigation prompted by former California Attorney General Harris’ office, who left her position as state attorney general in January 2017 after being elected to the U.S. Senate.

APPEALS COURT HEARS MEDICAID FRAUD CASE THAT COULD COST PLANNED PARENTHOOD $1.8 BILLION

In January 2025, Daleiden and Merritt each pleaded no contest to one felony count under a settlement with California, which dismissed the remaining charges. Under the agreement, they faced no jail time, fines, or admissions of wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, San Francisco County Judge Brian Ferrall dropped the last charge against Daleiden and expunged the case. 

In a statement made last year, Daleiden said that the end of “the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris [is] a huge victory for my investigative reporting for the public’s right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts.”

NEWSOM BAILS OUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD WITH $140M TO KEEP 100 CLINICS OPEN AFTER TRUMP CUTS

In January 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta cast the plea deal as a victory for reproductive healthcare access, saying in a press release that his office had secured felony convictions. Under the agreement, Daleiden and Merritt were required to have no contact with, stay away from, and not name the victims in the recordings, and to obey all laws, including by not making additional unlawful recordings.

DEMOCRATS ESCALATE ANTI-TRUMP LAWFARE BY TARGETING CONGRESS IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD FUNDING FIGHT

“While the Trump Administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare,” Bonta said in a statement at the time. “We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means.”

Daleiden released the videos in 2015 of Merritt having conversations with Planned Parenthood leadership and abortionist doctors, who described procedures ensuring fetal organs remain intact and can be harvested. 

In response to the videos, Harris’ office opened an investigation into Daleiden and Merritt for violating the state’s recording law. In April 2016, California’s Department of Justice issued a search warrant and raided Daleiden’s Huntington Beach apartment, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Daleiden accused the raid of being politically motivated at the time. 

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The release of the videos pushed the Senate Judiciary Committee to call the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood Federation of America. No charges were ever brought against the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Daleiden was sued by Planned Parenthood for damages and was ordered in 2019 to pay $2.4 million in damages and more than $13 million in attorney’s fees.

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood, Harris, Daleiden, and the National Abortion Federation for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is calling on Trump administration officials and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership to testify before a commission he created targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations conducted in the state. 

Pritzker sent a letter to White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, border czar Tom Homan, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, acting ICE director Todd Lyons, former DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, and Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott among others. 

“I established the Illinois Accountability Commission to preserve the truth and document how Donald Trump and his accomplices violated the rights of Illinoisans and terrorized our communities during Operation Midway Blitz,” Pritzker told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“These officials should answer directly to the people of Illinois for the chaos and violence they unleashed,” Pritzker added. “Regardless of whether these officials are still in their roles or not, the people of Illinois demand accountability from them all.”

IGNORED ICE DETAINERS ‘PUT LIVES AT RISK,’ DHS SAYS, TARGETING NEWSOM, PRITZKER, HEALEY

The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital and signed by former Clinton-appointed Judge Rubén Castillo for U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and chairman of the Illinois Accountability Commission, calls on recipients to testify at public hearings on April 27 or April 28.  

The White House blasted Pritzker, telling Fox News Digital that the commission is nothing more than a “political stunt” for the Illinois governor to try to boost his name for a potential presidential run. 

“JB Pritzker is a total slob who would rather dream up political stunts for his doomed-to-fail Presidential campaign than actually help Illinois residents,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.

ICE CHIEF FIRES BACK AT ‘100% FALSE’ SANCTUARY CITY ‘HARASSMENT’ CLAIMS

“If this slob spent half as much time addressing crime and public safety concerns in Chicago as he did pandering to radical leftists, Chicagoans would be much safer,” Jackson added. “The Trump Administration, and our heroic ICE officers, will unapologetically remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American streets whether Pritzker likes it or not.”

The letter specifies events which the commission deems inappropriate show of force from federal agents, and says one of the goals of the commission is to “ensure meaningful accountability.”

“Reports from residents, legal advocates, journalists, and elected officials describe communities across Illinois as being subject to aggressive federal enforcement tactics during Operation Midway Blitz,” the letter reads. “These reports include the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas-González in Franklin Park, the shooting of Marimar Martinez, the repeated deployment of tear gas in residential neighborhoods, the detention of U.S. citizens, and large-scale military-style raids in peaceful civilian communities.”

ANGEL PARENTS SLAM ILLINOIS SANCTUARY LAWS AFTER ‘PREVENTABLE’ TRAGEDY IN STUDENT’S DEATH

DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis responded to Fox News Digital’s inquiry slamming Pritzker for “[refusing] to do his job” and noted the recent killing of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old college student who was murdered by an illegal migrant in Chicago last month. 

“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement,” Bis said. “Where is his investigation into his own policies that allowed Sheridan Gorman’s killer to be released from jail to go on and commit her heinous murder?”

McLaughlin was also quick to punch back at what she described as the “wannabe Ministry of Truth.”

“I’ll appear before JB Pritzker’s wannabe Ministry of Truth the day he ends Illinois’ sanctuary policies — the very policies that protected Sheridan Gorman’s killer and those criminal illegal aliens responsible for the deaths of Katie Abraham, Chloe Polzin and too many other American victims,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.

In response to the lack of interest by current and former Trump administration officials to attend the hearings, a Pritzker spokesperson said former officials specifically “are too scared” to attend. 

“It’s unfortunate that former Trump officials with more free time on their hands are too scared to face the American people and answer questions,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “If they spent so much time touting the operation’s ‘achievements,’ then they should have no problem defending it.”

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Noem was removed as DHS secretary in March and tasked to lead Trump’s new special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas.” Her departure was reportedly the result of a controversial $220 million ad campaign and the death of two American citizens who were killed by DHS agents during ICE operations.

Former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin was confirmed by the Senate following Noem’s departure and was sworn in as DHS secretary on March 24.

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan pair of top-ranking senators want to know why sanctioned Russian officials were in Washington, D.C., and given access to the Capitol and meetings with administration officials as wars in Iran and Ukraine rage on.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised counterintelligence concerns over the recent visit of a delegation of Russian Duma members, all of whom are sanctioned for “conduct deemed to be harmful to U.S. national security.”

“The delegation came onto U.S. soil for one purpose: to advance the Kremlin’s strategic aims — including gathering additional useful intelligence,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

TRUMP EYES NEXT ATTORNEY GENERAL AS KEY GOP SENATOR SIGNALS POTENTIAL ROADBLOCK

“They did not come to engage in dialogue or pursue democratic aims,” they continued.

The lawmakers argued that Duma members “include Kremlin subordinates who have committed numerous cyber and ransomware attacks on Americans and have facilitated war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.”

“Remarkably, they are now helping Iran target U.S. military and diplomatic personnel across the Middle East,” Wicker and Shaheen wrote.

SENATE TO QUESTION TRUMP INTEL LEADERS ON IRAN WAR AFTER TOP OFFICIAL QUITS IN PROTEST

Several members of the Russian Duma visited Washington, D.C., late last month on a trip organized by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. She was joined by Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, for a meeting with the delegation.

Luna later gave them a tour of the Capitol after posing for photos outside the United States Institute of Peace.

“As representatives of the world’s two greatest nuclear superpowers, we owe our citizens open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, and open lines of communication,” Luna said on X following the meeting. “We will continue to foster this dialogue and push for peace in support of this [administration’s] efforts, as well as economic opportunity.”

GRAHAM SAYS RUSSIA SANCTIONS BILL ‘NEVER GOING BACK ON THE SHELF’ AFTER TRUMP BACKS PUSH

Wicker and Shaheen noted that the Duma members were “far from innocent participants in a cultural exchange.”

“It included Vyacheslav Nikonov, who in 2023 referred to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the ‘Fourth Reich’ on Russian television. Mikhail Delyagin has advocated for destroying Ukraine’s energy sector. Boris Chernyshov once claimed that Russian retaliatory strikes were ‘an expression of our hatred [of Ukraine],’” they wrote.

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Wicker and Shaheen demanded that Rubio and Bessent explain why sanctions were waived for the Russian officials’ visit, what meetings the delegation had with Trump administration officials, what counterintelligence assessments were conducted on the visiting Russians, and provide a complete manifest of who traveled from the Russian Federation.

The lawmakers wrote that the delegation’s visit came “at a time when Russia’s intentions are unambiguously clear.”

“Numerous public reports have cited Russian support for Iran’s military targeting of American service members in the Middle East,” they wrote. “European intelligence agencies have reported that Russia intends to attack NATO member states in the coming years. And [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has made it clear that peace in Ukraine is a mirage. His singular ambition for Ukraine is to erase its existence.”

One of the pilots who flew an F-15 fighter jet in Iran has been rescued, a well-placed source told Fox News. 

A search is still ongoing for the second crew member, the source said. 

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident, which marks the first known loss of U.S. aircraft in Iran since the conflict known as Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and state media claimed to have shot down a U.S. fighter jet over central Iran, specifically in the mountainous Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.

Initial Iranian reports claimed the aircraft was an F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. However, subsequent photos of wreckage released by Iranian media suggest the aircraft may be an F-15E Strike Eagle, likely from the 494th Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath.

The Trump administration has notified congressional leaders about the incident, two sources confirmed to Fox.

It’s not immediately clear why the jet went down. Central Command, the theater responsible for operations in the Middle East, is expected to issue a statement soon.

Local footage appears to show HC-130s and HH-60 Black Hawks flying low over Iranian territory, suggesting a search for those on board. 

Iranian state media released images purporting to show the damaged jet, including an ejector seat. Fox News has not verified their authenticity.

U.S. officials for weeks have insisted the U.S. and Israel have “complete control over Iranian skies,” and recently sent the slower, non-stealthy B-52 bombers into Iran, underscoring how confident they were that Iranian airpower had been nearly eliminated. 

“We are in this military operation … for 32 days,” Trump said in an address Wednesday. “And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat.”

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“They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump said. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable.” 

Aviation experts say the aircraft seen in the circulating footage appears consistent with an F-15 based on several distinctive features, including its twin vertical tails, wide fuselage, and dual-engine configuration. The F-15s widely spaced engine intakes and rectangular air inlets are also key identifiers that distinguish it from other U.S. fighter jets.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 
 

President Donald Trump has been briefed Friday on an F-15 fighter jet that went down over Iran, Fox News has learned.

It’s the first known loss of U.S. aircraft since the conflict known as Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and state media claimed to have shot down a U.S. fighter jet over central Iran, specifically in the mountainous Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.

Initial Iranian reports claimed the aircraft was an F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. However, subsequent photos of wreckage released by Iranian media suggest the aircraft may be an F-15E Strike Eagle, likely from the 494th Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath.

It’s not immediately clear why the jet went down. Central Command, the theater responsible for operations in the Middle East, is expected to issue a statement on the matter soon. 

The F-15 is a two-seat aircraft, and the whereabouts of the pilot and weapons systems officer on board are not yet known.  

Local footage appears to show HC-130s and HH-60 Black Hawks flying low over Iranian territory, suggesting a search for those on board. 

U.S. officials for weeks have insisted the U.S. and Israel have “complete control over Iranian skies,” and recently sent the slower, non-stealthy B-52 bombers into Iran, underscoring how confident they were that Iranian airpower had been nearly eliminated. 

“We are in this military operation … for 32 days,” Trump said in an address Wednesday. “And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat.”

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“They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump said. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable.” 

Aviation experts say the aircraft seen in the circulating footage appears consistent with an F-15 based on several distinctive features, including its twin vertical tails, wide fuselage, and dual-engine configuration. The F-15s widely spaced engine intakes and rectangular air inlets are also key identifiers that distinguish it from other U.S. fighter jets.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 
 

FIRST ON FOX: Montana’s attorney general is demanding a county reverse a policy the state’s top cop denies Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to criminal justice data, warning the position is unlawful and undermines coordination with federal law enforcement, as a top local official pushed back.

Montana banned sanctuary cities under Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s pen in 2021, and that policy also allows Attorney General Austin Knudsen to enforce compliance and investigate alleged aberrations under threat of civil action against any such state agency or local or county government.

Knudsen notified Gallatin County — anchored by the city of Bozeman — that its policy stance is “legally incorrect” and that Big Sky Country is not Big Sur.

“Let me be clear: Montana is not California. This state does not embrace policies that isolate law enforcement partners or undermine the enforcement of duly enacted federal law,” Knudsen will write to Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell. 

SHERIFFS PLOT ICE COOPERATION ‘WORKAROUNDS’ AFTER NEW MARYLAND LAW BANS COOPERATION WITH IMMIGRATION OFFICERS

When asked about claims her county does not recognize ICE as a criminal justice agency qualified to receive confidential criminal justice information (CCJI), Cromwell said such a claim is not accurate.

When presented with the text of an email sent from her aide to county law enforcement stating the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office does “not legally recognize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a law enforcement agency entitled to receive Confidential Criminal Justice Information (CCJI),” Cromwell’s office responded several hours later with a lengthy release stating in part that “there is no blanket policy in Gallatin County prohibiting cooperation with ICE or any federal agency, nor is there a policy restricting the sharing of information.”

“The County Commission, not the County Attorney’s Office, is the only governing body with the authority to establish county policy,” Cromwell’s office said.

“In the specific instance raised by the Records Department in September, ICE requested nonpublic CCJI regarding an individual for a civil matter. After legal review, the civil division of the County Attorney’s Office determined that ICE, in this context, was not acting as a ‘criminal justice agency’ under Montana’s CCJI statutes because the request was civil in nature and did not fall within the statutory definition tied to the administration of criminal justice,” the statement also read, adding that the email in question should not be considered “policy.”

FORMER MAINE COUNCILOR GIVES IMPASSIONED SPEECH OPPOSING CITY BLOCKING COOPERATION WITH ICE

In his own warning to Cromwell, Knudsen wrote that “Montana supports cooperation among all levels of law enforcement, including ICE, to ensure community safety and uphold the rule of law.”

“I write in response to your office’s determination that [ICE] is not a ‘criminal justice agency’ entitled to receive CCJI absent a court order. Your policy is legally incorrect and inconsistent with both Montana law and governing federal statutes. Montana law defines the term ‘criminal justice agency’ as a matter of statute—not local discretion,” he wrote, adding that it is not up to an individual prosecutor to make that call.

An October email from a Cromwell aide to two county law enforcement officials, obtained by Fox News Digital, described the policy that drew Knudsen’s ire.

“Good afternoon [officials], I am writing to inform you that the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office does not legally recognize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a law enforcement agency entitled to receive Confidential Criminal Justice Information (CCJI).

FORMER MAINE COUNCILOR GIVES IMPASSIONED SPEECH OPPOSING CITY BLOCKING COOPERATION WITH ICE

“Accordingly, ICE is not authorized under Montana law to access CCJI without a court order.”

“Therefore, ICE is only entitled to public documents. All other documents being requested should be processed like a standard CCJI request,” the email read.

When asked about the reported policy, Cromwell told Fox News Digital “that report is inaccurate.”

DEM GOVERNOR’S ‘DANGEROUS’ ANTI-ICE LAW IGNITES BACKLASH AFTER ALLEGED BOX CUTTER ATTACK BY ILLEGAL ALIEN

Knudsen said in his letter to Cromwell on Thursday that Montana’s legal definition of a criminal justice agency is intentionally broad to incorporate federal agencies when applicable and that ICE “plainly meets that definition.”

He went on to tell Cromwell that state law allows for an expansion of the definition of “law enforcement agency” rather than a restriction and that Gallatin’s position endangers public safety because ICE must be able to share information to keep the community safe.

Knudsen also accused the county in the letter of crafting the policy as a “deliberate effort to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities while avoiding explicit acknowledgment.”

DHS TORCHES NEW JERSEY’S PROFANE ‘F—ICE ACT’ AS ASSAULTS ON AGENTS SKYROCKET 1,300%

“Such an approach resembles a ‘sanctuary’ policy in practice, if not in name,” he said, noting Gov. Greg Gianforte’s ban on sanctuary cities.

Knudsen then gave Gallatin until Monday to take corrective action and communicate that to him via Solicitor General Christian Corrigan — the state’s principal litigator — and to retain all documents and correspondence about the policy.

Knudsen has been involved in several nationally relevant issues, including collaborating with West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey to object to the inclusion of a controversially constructed climate change chapter in a scientific evidence manual for federal judges.

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Montana’s capital, Helena, also reportedly backed down from its stance of noncooperation with ICE following legal threats from Knudsen’s office.

That move came after the city’s commissioners heard analysis from outside legal counsel that Helena could face thousands of dollars in penalties every five days if it were found to be violating the state’s ban on sanctuary policies, according to Montana Public Radio.

ICE has continued to face political and, at times, physical attacks amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, with a four-figure increase in assaults and threats against ICE and CBP agents, according to information shared with Fox News Digital by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

A Democratic lawmaker created an online firestorm after appearing to inadvertently make the case for stricter voter ID requirements while criticizing a Trump-backed election bill.

Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., repeatedly said Monday that Democrats were not against voter identification at the ballot box as he discussed his opposition to the SAVE America Act at a town hall with constituents. The Alabama Democrat, however, appeared to imply that the town hall attendees might have a problem with it.

“I’m of a different era, I’m of a different generation. I probably feel a little bit differently about it,” Figures, 40, told a seemingly older crowd. “But watch this: how many people in here do not have an ID?”

No one’s hand went up. 

REPUBLICANS SHRED ‘NONSENSE’ DEM CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL

After a noticeable pause, Figures appeared to nod in agreement. 

“Everybody has an ID, right?” Figures said, adding that he believed “20, 30, 40 years ago, it was a lot different.”

A shortened clip of the exchange posted to social media sparked backlash among conservatives, who said the video proved that a majority of Americans would have no issue complying with photo ID requirements.

“Democrat Rep. Figures’ rhetoric on Voter ID absolutely backfires when every single person he’s talking to has an ID,” David McIntosh, president of the conservative Club for Growth, wrote on social media. 

“OOPS. Rep. Shomari Figures (D) just accidentally OBLITERATED his Party’s own narrative that people don’t have IDs to vote,” the viral Libs of TikTok account added.

Figures disputed that he expected someone in the audience not to have an ID, in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“If you listen to the entire exchange, which they intentionally cut short, you will clearly see that I was making the point that these days everyone has an ID,” Figures said, referring to viral clips of a shortened exchange that circulated on social media.

“I asked the audience a rhetorical question: ‘How many people here do not have an ID?” he continued. “I fully expected no one to raise their hand.”

The exchange comes as top Democrats in Washington have long opposed photo ID rules for voting, often likening such restrictions to Jim Crow laws meant to keep minority Americans disenfranchised. 

A GOP push to add a photo ID requirement as an amendment to the SAVE America Act was defeated by Democrats in March, despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying Democrats support showing identification at the polling booth.

But Democratic lawmakers’ opposition to voter ID rules appears to be increasingly out of step with voters. More than seven in 10 Democratic voters and 76% of Black voters support showing government-issued photo ID to vote, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center poll.

Photo ID requirements are already widespread, with 36 states, including Alabama, mandating identification when voting. Supporters note there has been no observed effect on turnout.

SCHUMER, DEMOCRATS SAY THEY SUPPORT VOTER ID, THEN BLOCK GOP AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE IT

Figures said his opposition to the SAVE America Act revolves around its proof of citizenship requirement to vote in federal elections. Eligible documents include a U.S. passport or birth certificate, which Figures argues is too stringent. 

Later in the town hall, the Alabama Democrat asked the crowd if everyone had easy access to their birth certificate or a passport. When not everyone raised their hand, he said, “There’s the problem.”

“My point is that if a driver’s license is the most common form of ID that the overwhelming majority of people have, then it should be enough to allow people to vote,” Figures told Fox News Digital. “The bottom line is that the SAVE Act is a bill that makes it harder for people to vote by requiring them to obtain additional forms of identification.”

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES SUE TRUMP, ACCUSE HIM OF TRYING TO ‘RIG’ MAIL-IN VOTING

Proponents of the SAVE America Act note that a majority of Americans have recently had to show a birth certificate or passport to the government to receive a REAL ID. They also point out that some states issue driver’s licenses to noncitizens, though those individuals are explicitly barred from voting in federal elections.

Figures was among nearly all Democrats who voted against the SAVE America Act when it passed the House, and the measure has since stalled in the Senate. 

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The upper chamber, however, is expected to continue debating the legislation in April amid a pressure campaign from Trump to advance the measure to his desk.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has started the deportation process for an alleged MS-13 gang member from El Salvador who had been released into the United States a decade ago and was considered a “non-criminal” alien despite being wanted for a pastor’s murder in his home country.

Danny Granados-Garcia was arrested by the FBI last month, and Fox News Digital has learned that he is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody facing imminent removal.

“Thanks to ICE, this MS-13 gang member wanted for murdering a pastor in his home country is off Connecticut streets,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. “This is an example of an arrest the media counts as a ‘non-criminal’ because he lacks a rap sheet in the United States.”

FEDERAL OFFICIALS HIGHLIGHT ARRESTS OF MIGRANTS CONVICTED OF ARSON, OTHER CRIMES AS ENFORCEMENT CONTINUES

“This is an insane categorization and just one example of the countless ‘non-criminals’ who are public safety threats that ICE is removing from our communities every single day,” Bis added. “70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S.”

DHS says Granados-Garcia was released by the Obama administration in 2016 near the Rio Grande Valley, Texas Border Patrol Sector. The Salvadorian national attempted to enter the U.S. claiming he was an unaccompanied minor, despite being over the age of qualification for such status. 

ICE officers apprehended Granados-Garcia as part of a focused enforcement operation with multiple agencies conducted in Waterbury, Connecticut, on March 10.

“Danny Antonio Granados-Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was in the U.S. with an active El Salvadorian arrest warrant for aggravated homicide — wanted for the alleged murder of a pastor,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X following the arrest.

DHS told Fox News Digital that the Salvadorian will remain in ICE custody until he is deported.

AGENCY THAT NABBED EL CHAPO, DIDDY THREATENED AS DEMOCRATS’ DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON

Despite setbacks from the partial government shutdown and shakeups at DHS which led to the appointment of Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the department has continued its commitment to President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport criminal illegal migrants.

Earlier this week, Bis told Fox News Digital that DHS “will continue arresting public safety threats from our communities and will not allow the Democrats to slow us down from making America safe again.”

The partial government shutdown continues, but a bipartisan deal appears close as both the House and Senate look to end what has been a near-50 day battle and the longest partial shutdown in U.S. history.

DHS ARRESTS 5 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF VIOLENT CRIMES INCLUDING MANSLAUGHTER, CHILD ASSAULT

The lack of funding for the department has impacted agencies that operate under DHS, including FEMA, TSA and the Coast Guard.

This week, FEMA told Fox News Digital that disaster relief funds are “running dangerously low,” and until Trump’s executive order to pay TSA agents, airport security lines faced hourslong wait times with unpaid officers calling out of work.

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ICE and immigration agent operations, for the most part, were funded under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law by Trump last July.

Debate over funding DHS is mainly centered around ICE operations, with congressional Democrats hesitant to agree to a spending bill without reforms for the agency, like federal agents having to show ID, obtain warrants and remove face coverings.

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers are pushing to block federal funding for transgender experiments on animals in the fiscal year 2027 spending bill. 

A letter spearheaded by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and backed by GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and more than a dozen other lawmakers asks appropriators to include language in the fiscal year 2027 spending bill banning federal funding for research on animals studying the effects of “drugs, surgery, or other interventions” intended to alter the human body.

“Tax dollars shouldn’t be funding the Biden Administration’s sickening transgender animal tests,” Gosar said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “That’s why I’ve been working with White Coat Waste to stop the NIH and other federal agencies from wasting money on this woke pseudoscience ever again.”

HHS UNLEASHES SWEEPING CRACKDOWN ON CHILD ‘SEX-REJECTING PROCEDURES,’ THREATENS HOSPITAL, MEDICAID FUNDING

Just days ago, Just the News reported that the NIH awarded another $584,117 to the University of California, San Diego for fiscal year 2026 to continue a mouse study examining the effects of cross-sex hormone treatments.

The lawmakers noted in their letter that language explicitly banning transgender experiments on animals was also included in the 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.

The letter comes in response to investigations led by medical watchdog White Coat Waste and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which discovered that under the Biden administration, the National Institutes of Health, by the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, issued millions of dollars in grants for experiments to create transgender mice, rats and monkeys. The purpose of these experiments was to “mimic transgender human children and adults.”

TRUMP-SIGNED SHUTDOWN BILL SENDS $4M TO CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS UNDER FEDERAL PROBE FOR TRANSGENDER CARE

President Donald Trump heavily criticized NIH’s spending on these experiments during his 2025 State of the Union address and announced $8 million in NIH grants for transgender experimentation on animals would be cut.

In June 2025, a federal judge ordered that funding for hundreds of NIH studies, including trans mice research, be restored. However, that ruling applied only to that fiscal year’s budget.

Read the letter below. App users: Click here

“Even though it didn’t have to, the NIH just doled out another half-million in taxpayer cash for a Biden-era experiment that crudely creates ‘female mice to model transgender men’ by cutting out their ovaries and pumping them with testosterone,” White Coat Waste Project Senior Vice President Justin Goodman told Fox News Digital. “Records obtained by White Coat Waste show this project will subject nearly 10,000 mice to horrific taxpayer-funded abuse — invasive surgeries and hormone injections meant to mimic transgender treatments, drilling into their skulls, injecting toxins into their brains, and ultimately decapitating them.”

“White Coat Waste’s exposé of the NIH’s renewed funding to create ‘female mice to model transgender men’ proves that Rep. Gosar’s effort is vital to ensure taxpayers aren’t forced to bankroll these barbaric animal tests,” Goodman said in a statement. “The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness!” 

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A spokesperson for NIH shared in a statement that the government agency continues to invest in new approach methodologies which serve as an alternative to traditional animal testing.

“NIH recently announced a $150 million investment to expand human-based methods that better reflect human biology,” the spokesperson said. “This funding supports organoids, computational models, and other tools to improve how diseases and treatments are studied. The investment is part of a broader shift toward more predictive, human-relevant science.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance will visit Hungary next week, where he will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán days ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections.

The vice president and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Budapest from April 7 to 8, according to a release from his office circulating on social media.

The release states that Vance “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR

“Vice President @JDVance will visit Hungary next Tuesday. Looking forward to welcoming you to Budapest!” Orbán declared in a post on X.

U.S. President Donald Trump has enthusiastically endorsed the foreign leader.

TRUMP ALLY ORBAN ISSUES SCATHING LETTER DEMANDING ZELENSKYY CHANGE UKRAINE’S ‘ANTI-HUNGARIAN POLICY’

“I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again. Election Day is April 12, 2026. Hungary: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR VIKTOR ORBÁN. He is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary — VIKTOR ORBÁN WILL NEVER LET THE GREAT PEOPLE OF HUNGARY DOWN. I AM WITH HIM ALL THE WAY!” Trump declared in part of a Truth Social post last month.

RUBIO SEALS CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH HUNGARY

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Trump had previously backed Orbán in February Truth Social posts as well.

Fox News Digital reached out to Vance’s office on Friday.

Activist and celebrity chef José Andrés joined protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, when President Donald Trump became the first sitting president on record to attend oral arguments on a case at the High Court. 

Andrés, when speaking to Fox News Digital, slammed Trump for “changing the game’s rules,” rules the chef said “have been already done,” the same year as America’s 250th anniversary since the Declaration of Independence was signed. He suggested that what Trump is doing – attempting to ensure that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily do not become American citizens – is not what America “should be working towards.” 

The chef’s comments mirrored remarks by other protesters alongside him outside the Supreme Court, complaining that Trump’s efforts to tighten the screws around birthright citizenship violates the Constitution. Actor Robert De Niro, who did not join protesters but joined Trump and some of his closest advisors inside the courtroom, was also present at the High Court on Wednesday.

JUSTICE JACKSON SPARKS ONLINE UPROAR AFTER LINKING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP TO STEALING A WALLET IN JAPAN

“The argument is that this country, this year, is celebrating 250 years! It’s not the time to be changing the game’s rules. Those rules have been already done,” Andrés said. “Let’s keep working to make sure that the 15 million immigrants become part of America. This is what America should be working towards.”

Andrés’ suggestion that “the game’s rules” have already been written and Trump’s efforts are trying to upend those pre-settled rules, effectively saying it goes against the Constitution and other policies the country was founded on, was echoed by other protesters Fox News digital caught up with outside the Supreme Court Wednesday as well. 

“Well, I don’t know that there should be no limits, but there certainly shouldn’t be the limits that are proposed. And Justice Robert said it way better than I could. It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution,” someone at the protest outside the Supreme Court, holding a small dog wearing a sign that read “NO KINGS. ONLY BI—ES,” told Fox News Digital. 

EXPERT FLAGS ‘DISAPPOINTING’ QUESTIONS FROM JUSTICES IN TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE

“We are setting ourselves up for a two-tiered, or hierarchy of citizenship, you know. Why is it that some people who are born here get to be citizens and other people are not, based on who their parents’ ancestry is? To me that just violates the core concept of equality that our country is supposed to be founded on,” said another.

“It will help regulations when it comes to certain laws. And it was kind of – the hearing itself – it was educational, a lot of things to take, and things to learn from the 14th Amendment,” added another.

“We have a 14th Amendment for a reason,” another activist said. “We can’t rewrite the Constitution.”

SAUER CITES ‘STRIKING’ FIGURES ON SECRETIVE BIRTH TOURISM IN HIGH-STAKES SCOTUS CASE

When asked for his thoughts on Wednesday’s oral arguments after leaving the courthouse Wednesday, De Niro focused his criticism on Trump, telling Fox News Digital he didn’t know what to think immediately after leaving the hearing.

“I’m waiting to get a, getting a – I’m not sure because I could hear, but not hear. It’s complicated. So, I can’t say,” De Niro responded when asked about the oral arguments he had just witnessed.

De Niro described the Trump administration’s stance on the matter — that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens — as a way for Republicans to “get rid of people they don’t want.”

When asked about claims he has “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” sometimes referred to by the acronym “TDS,” De Niro called it “nonsense.”

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“People don’t like him for a reason,” De Niro shot back. “All the terrible things he’s done. If he did nice things, then he could have, he had the chance — he became president — to do nice things, not hateful, retribution, not just, outright mean things. If he did nice things, people would love him. But he’s got a problem. He’s damaged.” Asked what specifically bothered him about Trump, De Niro said “everything.”

“Everything that we all know now,” De Niro, who reportedly sat in seats reserved for the justices’ guests, added as he was leaving the courthouse. 

Reporting from Wednesday indicated the Supreme Court appeared ready to reject Trump’s argument on birthright citizenship. The arguments reportedly lasted over two hours, and, in addition to Trump, recently fired U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was present, as was Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among other Trump allies.

The U.S. is now flying B-52 bombers over Iran — an operational shift that signals American forces have achieved air superiority inside parts of the country after weeks of strikes degraded Tehran’s defenses.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said in a briefing Tuesday the missions began “given the increase in air superiority,” as U.S. forces expand operations inside Iranian territory.

President Donald Trump said during an address to the public Thursday night Iran’s air defenses had been “annihilated,” calling U.S. forces “unstoppable.” 

“We are in this military operation … for 32 days,” he said. “And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat.”

TRUMP SAYS IRAN ‘NO LONGER A THREAT’ AFTER 32 DAYS — OUTLINES NEXT PHASE OF US WAR

The bomber, first used during the Cold War and flown for about 70 years, allows the U.S. to expand the pace and flexibility of its strikes. Unlike earlier stand-off attacks focused on fixed targets, B-52s can remain over the battlefield and hit multiple targets in a single mission, including mobile systems and hardened sites, Mark Gunzinger, a retired Air Force colonel and former B-52 command pilot, told Fox News Digital. 

The development signals the U.S. has moved beyond the initial phase of degrading Iran’s air defenses and is now able to operate more freely inside the country’s airspace, allowing for sustained, higher-volume strikes as the campaign enters a potentially more intense phase.

The aircraft can carry up to 70,000 pounds of ordnance — more than any other bomber in the U.S. arsenal — and deliver a mix of precision-guided bombs and long-range cruise missiles in a single mission. 

But the bomber is slower than modern aircraft and lacks stealth, making it more vulnerable to radar and air defenses — conditions that would typically keep it out of contested airspace.

“The fact that these B-52s are now flying over Iran is clear evidence that we have air superiority — and even air dominance over parts of Iran,” Gunzinger said.

Gunzinger said that level of control allows U.S. forces to operate more freely over Iran, including remaining over the battlefield and striking targets as they emerge rather than relying solely on pre-planned, long-range attacks.

While U.S. officials have emphasized growing control of the skies, air superiority does not eliminate all threats. Iran still retains missile and drone capabilities, and has relied on asymmetric tactics throughout the conflict to continue attacks despite losses to its air defenses.

Early in the campaign, B-52s fired long-range cruise missiles from outside Iranian airspace. More recently, bombers operating from U.S.-operated UK base Royal Air Force Fairford have been seen carrying precision-guided bombs — a shift that reflects growing U.S. control of the skies and the move toward closer-range strikes.

“B-52s flying in Iran’s airspace shows America’s complete air dominance — and guaranteed, there are also F-22s and F-35s at high altitude on overwatch,” Rebecca Grant, a military analyst, told Fox News Digital. “They bring the big bomb payload for direct attacks on Iran’s drone and missile factories, plus underground targets.”

The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment. 

During the June 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, stealth B-2 bombers led the assault, dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on hardened sites like Fordow and Natanz.

B-52s, meanwhile, were deployed to the region as part of the broader U.S. buildup — positioned to support sustained operations if needed. 

MORE THAN 90% OF IRANIAN MISSILES INTERCEPTED, BUT A DANGEROUS IMBALANCE IS EMERGING

The latest development signals the U.S. has moved beyond the initial phase of degrading Iran’s air defenses and is now able to operate more freely inside the country’s airspace, allowing for sustained, higher-volume strikes as the campaign enters a potentially more intense phase.

The expanded freedom of action could become more important as the campaign enters what Trump has described as its final phase, with U.S. officials signaling that strikes could intensify in the coming weeks.

“If you really want to devastate Iran’s ability to continue to launch missiles and drones, you would want to use bombers to do that,” Gunzinger said.

Gunzinger added that the U.S. is using a significant portion of its combat-ready bomber fleet to sustain operations, underscoring the scale of the campaign as it enters what could be its most intense phase.

“Our bomber force now totals 140 aircraft,” he said, referring to B-2s, B-52s and B-1Bs. “If you scale that down to how many are ready to go to combat today, you’re probably at less than 50.”

“That is a dramatic change since the end of the Cold War era, where we had over 400 bombers, so we’re using a good percentage — I’d say a majority — of our combat capable bombers for this fight, to sustain this fight.”

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Built in the early 1960s for nuclear war against the Soviet Union, the B-52 Stratofortress was never designed to operate inside modern, heavily defended airspace — making its current use over Iran a reflection of how much those defenses have been degraded.

While U.S. officials have emphasized growing control of the skies, air superiority does not eliminate all threats. Iran still retains missile and drone capabilities, and has relied on asymmetric tactics throughout the conflict to continue attacks despite losses to its air defenses.

Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson faced viral backlash from conservatives over a comment during oral arguments about birthright citizenship where she floated an analogy comparing the issue to stealing a wallet in Japan. 

“I was thinking, you know, I’m a U.S. citizen and visiting Japan and what it means is that, you know, if I steal someone’s wallet in Japan, the Japanese authorities can arrest me and prosecute me,” Jackson said during Wednesday’s oral arguments centered on President Trump’s 2025 executive order advancing a narrower interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause.

“It’s allegiance, meaning, they can control you as a matter of law. I can also rely on them if my wallet is stolen to, you know, under Japanese law, go and prosecute the person who has stolen it. So there’s this relationship based on, even though I’m a temporary traveler, I’m just on vacation in Japan, I’m still locally owing allegiance in that sense. Is that the right way to think about it? And if so, doesn’t that explain why both temporary residents and undocumented people would have that kind of, quote-unquote, allegiance, just by virtue of being in the United States?”

KAGAN TURNS ON LIBERAL ALLY JACKSON WITH FOOTNOTE JAB OVER FREE SPEECH

Conservatives and Republican politicians quickly seized on Jackson’s comment equating territorial jurisdiction with political allegiance, arguing that her analogy fundamentally misreads the 14th Amendment’s birthright-citizenship clause.

“I don’t think KBJ knows what words mean,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.

“Leave it to Justice Jackson to defend the suicide pact of birthright citizenship for illegals by not understanding the difference between territorial jurisdiction (obeying local laws), and political allegiance,” Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet posted on X. “If territorial jurisdiction means allegiance, every tourist is a US citizen, which is insane. The whole thing is so low IQ and embarrassing for the Court.”

“Oh, good grief, come on now!” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X.

“That’s not what allegiance means,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X.

“We only have thirty more years of this, guys,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X.

“Because nothing says ‘allegiance’ quite like going to a new country and immediately breaking its laws,” conservative commentator Greg Price posted on X.

“This is exactly how bad arguments get dressed up to sound intellectual,” conservative commentator A Gene Robinson posted on X.

“‘Subject to the laws’ does NOT equal allegiance. That’s where this entire thing collapses. If you step into a country… you are bound by its laws. That’s jurisdiction. It’s not loyalty. It’s not consent. It’s not allegiance. A criminal is ‘subject to the law’ the moment he commits a crime…That doesn’t make him part of the nation. It makes him accountable to it. That wallet analogy proves the opposite of what it’s trying to argue.”

TRUMP MAKES HISTORIC SCOTUS APPEARANCE FOR BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE

“Not sure if she’s aware but of all the countries to mention Japan is probably the least helpful to her cause,” journalist Miranda Devine posted on X. “Babies born in Japan can only become citizens if they have Japanese blood and are born to registered Japanese citizens whose names appear in a special book.”

“No words,” GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden posted on X.

“Peak moron,” conservative radio host Dana Loesch posted on X.

“I cannot believe this woman is on the court, and I cannot believe anyone on the left thinks letting her air these thoughts out loud does them any favors,” Real Clear Investigations senior writer Mark Hemingway posted on X.

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Wednesday’s oral arguments centered on Trump’s 2025 executive order advancing a narrower interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause so that children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily would not automatically receive U.S. citizenship. 

At issue in the case before the Supreme Court is the language in the amendment that says anyone born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is automatically a citizen. President Donald Trump and conservative legal analysts have argued the provision was a relic of the Civil War and intended for freed slaves rather than a justification of birth tourism and illegal immigration.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.

Top congressional Democrats, party campaign arms and allied groups are suing President Donald Trump and his administration over a sweeping order he signed this week that would increase federal involvement in elections.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., along with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic National Committee, filed the lawsuit Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks to block Trump’s executive order signed Tuesday targeting mail-in voting and voter eligibility, as Senate Republicans continue debating the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER OVERHAULING MAIL-IN VOTING IN MAJOR ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

“The American people are fed up with Republicans’ price-spiking, health care-gutting agenda and are ready to vote them out,” Schumer, Jeffries and the committee chairs said in a joint statement. “That’s why Donald Trump is desperately trying to rig our elections by making it harder to vote for seniors, Americans with disabilities, members of the military, rural communities and other working families who rely on vote-by-mail. This move is blatantly unconstitutional, and we will fight against it.”

“We are taking action to challenge Trump’s executive order to protect the right to vote and ensure every eligible American can make their voice heard at the ballot box,” they added.

Trump has warned Republicans that if they cannot pass the SAVE America Act — which is unlikely given unified Democratic opposition in the Senate — the GOP could face major losses in the upcoming midterm elections.

GOP TRIGGERS MARATHON SENATE FIGHT TO EXPOSE DEMS’ OPPOSITION TO TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson fired back, “Only Democrat politicians and operatives would be upset about lawful efforts to secure American elections and ensure only eligible American citizens are casting ballots.”

“President Trump campaigned on securing our elections and the American people sent him back to the White House to get the job done,” she said.

The executive order, signed earlier this week, reflects Trump taking matters into his own hands amid the political reality in Congress.

The order would create federal “citizenship lists” of U.S. citizens using government databases, require those lists to be shared with states before elections, and give the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) authority over mail-in voting logistics. It would also require voters to be enrolled with USPS to receive mail ballots.

The order would allow USPS to refuse delivery of ballots from people not on its approved list and impose new federal design and processing rules for mail-in ballot envelopes.

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Democrats argue the order is unconstitutional on several grounds, including that it overrides states’ authority over elections, violates the separation of powers, breaches privacy laws and risks disenfranchising millions of voters.

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They argue Trump has “no such authority” to impose sweeping changes on elections nationwide.

“If permitted, the President’s actions would fundamentally alter the constitutional balance between the states and the federal government by allowing the executive branch to wield federal power to pressure states into adopting federal preferences for the conduct of elections,” they wrote in the lawsuit.

FIRST ON FOX: The anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance revealed a staggering increase in California hospice and healthcare providers that were suspended as a result of the task force’s crackdown on fraud. 

Fox News Digital is told a total of 221 providers in Los Angeles have been suspended so far due to suspected fraud, including a number of providers who were raided by federal authorities early Thursday morning.

The latest number of suspensions marks a more than 215% increase from the 70 providers initially suspended in Los Angeles last week as a result of the task force.

“The Administration’s War on Fraud once again yields results as more suspensions take place and fraudsters face justice for ripping off hard-working Americans and stealing their tax dollars and social services,” a Vance spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The Vice President and his task force are proud of these latest figures and expect to see this number continue to grow dramatically.”

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Sources within the administration tell Fox News Digital that the number of hospice and home health providers that will be suspended is expected to dramatically increase.

“We expect this number to grow much, much higher in the coming weeks,” a senior Trump administration official said.

The California Post reported that the FBI and SWAT teams arrested a number of individuals in California Thursday morning as part of a blitz on fraudulent businesses in the Los Angeles area.

That included the arrests of two individuals behind an alleged $7 million in fraud. 

“In 10 weeks we’re getting close to what Governor Newsom did in four years,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz told the California Post.

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“Our task force isn’t wasting any time cracking down on fraud. This morning in the LA area, federal law enforcement is taking down fraudsters who stole $50M+ from Americans by defrauding our healthcare and hospice systems,” Vance posted to X on Thursday. 

“In coordination with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, federal law enforcement executed several arrests and search warrants in the Los Angeles area this morning targeting hospice and health care fraud,” first assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted to X. “Operation Never Say Die involves 11 defendants who engaged in fraud totaling more than $50 million. Those arrested today will appear in federal court this afternoon.”

The targeting of California providers fraudulently receiving federal funding has been alluded to by Vance and the Trump administration for several weeks. 

In early January, President Donald Trump posted that California “is more corrupt than Minnesota” when detailing his intentions to root out fraud.

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom has consistently denied claims that fraud is not appropriately handled and addressed in his state. In March, a Newsom spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the governor had blocked $125 billion in fraud, and made a number of arrests. 

“Gavin Newsom runs a state,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Donald Trump runs his mouth. Again and again, we’ve shown that the programs they are attempting to call out are programs the federal government is administering, not the state. We suggest they get their house in order.”

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Vance responded to a question about the anti-fraud task force posed by Fox News Digital at an event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, earlier this month, saying that at least “$19 billion” has been uncovered in Minnesota and that the task force’s sights would also be set on California. 

In February, Vance and Oz revealed that $259.5 million in Medicaid funding would be withheld from Minnesota due to fraud concerns that had recently affected the state. The announcement came shortly before Gov. Tim Walz — former running mate of Kamala Harris — said he would not pursue a third term.

Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston