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Frustrations, friendship and questions of temperament dominated the confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as the Senate sprints to confirm him to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The hearing, led by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul, R-Ky., started with a tense exchange between him and Mullin and ended with questions about whether the committee would even hold a confirmation vote.

President Donald Trump tapped Mullin to replace outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The Senate has little time to move through the process, given that Trump set a deadline of March 31 to have Mullin installed as the next Homeland Security chief.

MULLIN FACES DEMOCRAT GRILLING IN FIRST HURDLE TO LEAD DHS AMID SHUTDOWN FIGHT

Paul plans to oppose him, meaning that unless Mullin can generate support from Democrats on the panel, his nomination will be substantially slowed.

It was fast, explosive and marred by the ongoing DHS shutdown, which entered its 33rd day on Wednesday. Below are top moments from the back-and-forth that will decide whether Mullin gets the job to lead the embattled agency.

‘Tell me to my face’

The hearing immediately opened with fireworks over Mullin’s comments that Paul’s 2017 assault, which left him with several broken ribs and the removal of part of his lung, was “justified.”

Paul accused Mullin of never having “the courage to look me in the eye and tell me that the assault was justified.”

“I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force,” Paul said.

Mullin shot back before launching into his opening remarks, saying Paul called him a “liar,” and argued, “everybody in this room knows that I’m very blunt and direct and to the point.”

“And if I have something to say, I’ll say it directly to your face. If you recall, back in my House days, we actually did have this conversation because of remarks that I made.”

“You were in a room. I simply addressed that,” he continued. “I said I could understand, because of the behavior you were having, that I could understand why your neighbor did what he did.”

‘Those words probably should have been retracted’

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the panel’s top Democrat, pressed Mullin on his accusation that Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, was a “deranged individual that came in to cause max damage.”

“Could we expect those kinds of quick responses if you are confirmed as secretary?” Peters asked. “Would you be — basically — were you responding as Secretary Noem, are we going to expect that same behavior all over again?”

Mullin didn’t push back against Peters’ question.

HOUSE GOP LEADER LAUNCHES SENATE BID AS TRUMP TAPS MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS

“Those words probably should have been retracted,” Mullin said. “I shouldn’t have said that. If secretary, I wouldn’t. The investigation is ongoing.”

“And there is — like I said — there’s sometimes going to make mistakes, and I own that one. I went out there too fast. I was responding immediately without the facts,” he continued. “That’s my fault. That won’t happen as secretary.”

Fetterman breaks with Dems

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is no stranger to bucking his own party, and he’ll likely do it again during Mullin’s confirmation vote.

The pair became friendly during a congressional delegation trip and have maintained that relationship ever since.

And he recognizes that he’ll likely be the key vote to confirm his colleague.

“I came here and committed to come here with an open mind, and I’m going to continue to do that. It’s not going to be about gotcha moments for me. My experience with you has been consistent and professionalism,” Fetterman said.

But Fetterman also took a moment to blast his party for continuing to block DHS funding and noted that he was “the only Democrat that refused to shut our DHS down.”

“It’s a strange devotion. I don’t understand why you would shut the entire agency down just because you want those kinds of reforms on ICE that have absolutely no impact on ICE and don’t force any of those things,” Fetterman said. “I refuse to do that.”

Mullin’s classified trip

The nature of a shadowy trip Mullin took while serving in the House nearly derailed his expected confirmation vote on Thursday.

Peters questioned the lawmaker about an undisclosed trip taken between 2015 and 2016 and charged that “quite frankly, as we’ve had these conversations, you have not been forthcoming with me or this committee.”

“The story always seems to evolve, to kind of change, and as you know, candor, honesty, transparency are absolutely critical, particularly at this time, to try to build trust as the secretary of Homeland Security,” Peters said.

TEAMSTERS BOSS PRAISES MULLIN DHS NOMINATION DESPITE PAST HEATED HEARINGS

Paul asked Mullin to explain the trip in a classified setting and threatened to cancel the hearing otherwise.

“I’m still willing to have the vote tomorrow, but I can cancel the vote tomorrow,” Paul said. “I’m still willing to have the vote, get this done and get it over with.”

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Mullin argued that, to his knowledge, only four people were aware of the details of the trip, and he did not have the authority to tell Paul or Peters.

“I would really enjoy sitting there and having a conversation with you, because I don’t want you to have questions or question my character on this,” Mullin said. “That’s very simple for me, but I can’t make that authorization. You guys know that.”

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said during an appearance on the “All-In Podcast” that the Democratic Party does not have a leader, but then opined that “TDS” controls the party.

“TDS” is an abbreviation for “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a term often used by Trump supporters to describe strong opposition to the former president.

“Who do you think leads the Democratic Party today?” David Friedberg asked the lawmaker during the podcast.

Fetterman said we don’t have one,” but added that he believes “TDS is the leader right now,” saying “our party is governed by TDS.”

FETTERMAN CONDEMNS DEMOCRATS FOR REFUSING TO PUT ‘COUNTRY OVER PARTY’ ON IRAN STRIKES

The senator highlighted his strong support for Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. attack against Iran.

Fetterman said that he is “literally the only Democrat in America, uh, in Congress, that I’ve come across that’s saying, I think it’s a great thing to break and destroy the Iranian regime. I think it’s entirely appropriate to hold them accountable.”

HANNITY TELLS SEN FETTERMAN ‘I HAD YOU ALL WRONG’ IN CANDID APOLOGY ON NEW PODCAST

Later during the podcast, Fetterman brought the issue up again, saying, “you asked me earlier, what’s the leader of the Democratic Party right now. I would say it’s TDS.” 

The senator suggested that Trump “could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays and now suddenly Democrats would hate it. We would wanna vote it down.”

Fetterman has consistently remained an ardent supporter of Israel.

FETTERMAN OPENS UP ABOUT NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE AND HOW IT CHANGED HIS APPROACH TO POLITICS

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“As a Democrat, I’m deeply proud to stand with Israel through the horror of 10/07,” he declared in a Tuesday post on X. “I’m deeply proud of our military and what they’ve accomplished in Epic Fury. Picking country over party is never wrong.”

Lone wolf attackers inspired by extremist ideologies pose the most likely terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland, according to the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

The 34-page document was released by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard Wednesday. She testified at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats alongside other key military and Trump administration officials.

The 2025 threat assessment similarly warned that terrorist threats to the U.S. increasingly come from individuals acting alone or in small groups.

The new report says ISIS and al Qaeda remain intent on targeting the United States, but their ability to plan and execute complex attacks has been significantly degraded over time.

CRITICAL SWING STATE CANDIDATES REVEAL WHERE THEY STAND ON DHS FUNDING AFTER SUSPECTED TERROR ATTACKS

Officials warn that individuals radicalized online are increasingly carrying out or attempting attacks with little direction, often using simple tactics and requiring minimal coordination.

“Jihadist narratives that address personal grievances may be attractive to individuals seeking validation of violent desires or moral clarity, even if they lack familiarity with Islam. Such content normalizes intolerance of other beliefs and persons and attracts followers to Islamism,” the threat report states. 

“Anti-Western and anti-Semitic narratives probably influence Muslim youths facing integration challenges or who are disaffected by the West’s role abroad, including with the Israel–HAMAS conflict.”

It notes that al Qaeda and ISIS have expanded in recent years primarily through local conflicts in Africa, where some of their largest and most violent affiliates are now based.

DEADLY BLASTS AT MARKET AND HOSPITAL RAISE FEARS OF RENEWED BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA

The intelligence community is continuing to monitor developments in the Middle East, particularly how the terrorism landscape may evolve after Operation Epic Fury, according to the assessment.

DNI Gabbard told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that stricter border enforcement has helped limit terrorist access to the U.S. and lowered the risk of potential attacks.

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY ROTC CADETS DISARM ISIS SUPPORTER SHOUTING ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ DURING SHOOTING: OFFICIALS

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“Since January, U.S. officials have only had a handful of encounters at our borders with individuals associated with terrorist groups. This is a positive trend,” she said. “However, our Interagency coordinated efforts to continue to identify, locate and remove known or suspected terrorists who may already be in the United States continues with vigilance.

“In 2025, there were at least three Islamist terrorist attacks in the United States. Law enforcement disrupted at least 15 U.S.-based Islamist terrorist plotters. Roughly half of last year’s disrupted plotters had some online contact with Islamist terrorists.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., grew emotional during his Senate Homeland Security nomination hearing as he described how President Donald Trump supported his family after Mullin’s son Jim suffered a severe brain injury in January 2020.

“I’m going to try getting through without crying. It’s not about President Trump. It’s about my son,” Mullin told Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., during what was otherwise a tense hearing, explaining why he is friends with the president who nominated him.

Fighting back tears, Mullin said his son, once a “world-class athlete,” was left unable to walk normally, control his muscles or handle basic tasks after a traumatic brain injury from wrestling. 

HOUSE GOP LEADER LAUNCHES SENATE BID AS TRUMP TAPS MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS

He recalled that Trump called immediately after learning what had happened and stayed in close contact as the family sought treatment, even offering his private plane to travel for healthcare treatment.

“I mean, here’s the president of the United States, and he did it just because he cared,” Mullin told Johnson.

“And, so, when you want to say why he’s a friend. Yeah, we were acquaintances before that. We’ve been friends ever since.”

According to Mullin, Trump offered the use of his personal plane to help the family reach a California neurological rehabilitation center, then called almost daily for two weeks to check on Jim’s condition. Mullin said Trump later visited Jim in Bakersfield during the middle of the 2020 election campaign, spending time with him despite pressure from aides to leave.

“His team came to him twice and said, ‘Sir, we got to go; we got to go,'” Mullin said. “On the third time, they came over to him, he looked at them. He says, ‘Hey, I guarantee you that plane won’t leave without me for the next 15 minutes.'”

40-PLUS HOUSE REPUBLICANS RALLY BEHIND MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS, CALL IT A ‘CRITICAL MOMENT’ FOR BORDER SECURITY

“He did nothing but love on my son,” Mullin testified.

Trump spending time with Mullin’s son was credited with helping heal, including jump-starting his memory.

“That one incident jogged his memory, and, from then on, he started retaining things,” Mullin continued, sharing a story he had shared before.

“And Jim’s attitude went from this, ‘You know, we’re going to get through it to this.’ I’m going to get through it.”

FETTERMAN BACKS TRUMP’S DHS PICK MULLIN AS ‘NICE UPGRADE’ IN BREAK WITH DEMOCRATS

Mullin went from fearing the worst to getting on the road to recovery, thanks to his son meeting Trump and recognizing the sitting president of the U.S. over his own mother and father.

“We almost lost him, for 26 hours,” Mullin said. “He had an extremely low pulse. There was a time that they thought that they lost his pulse altogether. And when he woke up, he was just different.

“I mean, here you had a world-class athlete that wrestled all over the world since he was 12 years old, and he couldn’t touch his nose. He couldn’t walk without shuffling his feet. He had short-term memory loss. He couldn’t control his muscles. Couldn’t add five plus three. He was in high school at that time. Had to learn how to read, walk, everything.”

MULLIN WINS BACKING FROM CHINA, CUBA HAWKS — AND SOME DEMOCRATS — AS CRITICS QUESTION FITNESS TO LEAD DHS

Trump continued calling regularly to ask how Jim was doing and offered support without seeking publicity.

“And every week, if not most days, the president would call and ask how he could help,” Mullin said. “Ask what? How’s his buddy doing? How’s Jim doing? He didn’t do it for publicity. He didn’t do it for any show. He was running in one of the toughest elections he had been in, and the guy was still that concerned about my son.”

Mullin, a former wrestler himself, nearly broke down in tears during what was otherwise a fiery nomination hearing.

“I hate getting emotional,” Mullin said. “See, if I talk about my kids, I get emotional. Other than that, you can’t make me cry, but my kids …”

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“That’s actually a good thing,” Johnson interjected, adding that “the American people need to hear that.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday renewed his calls to release Tina Peters, a pro-Trump election worker who was convicted for her role in a scheme aimed at finding evidence of election fraud in the president’s 2020 election loss.

Peters, a former election clerk in Mesa County, Colorado, is serving a nine-year prison sentence following her August 2024 conviction on seven charges, including four felonies, related to a 2021 security breach of the county’s voting systems as she sought evidence to support Trump’s claims that his loss to former President Joe Biden was due to voter fraud.

Trump has been pressuring Democrat Gov. Jared Polis to release Peters, 70, since he returned to the White House last year.

“Free Tina Peters, a 73-year-old woman with cancer, given a nine-year death sentence in a Colorado prison by a Democrat governor, Jared Polis, and a corrupt political machine, for exposing fraud by the Democrats during the 2020 presidential election,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. “Again, free Tina!”

COLORADO GOVERNOR LAYS OUT CONDITION FOR GRANTING CLEMENCY TO PRO-TRUMP CLERK UNDER PRESSURE FROM PRESIDENT

Polis has acknowledged that Peters’ sentence was “harsh,” given that she had no prior criminal record.

The governor recently noted on social media that Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison, while a former state lawmaker convicted of the same crime was sentenced only to probation and community service.

“Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law. This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities,” Polis wrote on X.

But Polis said his decision about granting clemency would be influenced by whether Peters has expressed remorse for her actions — something officials say she has not done.

“What she would have to show in any successful clemency application would be appropriate contrition, apology. That’s the kind of thing I would be looking for,” he previously told KUSA-TV.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PARDON FOR COLORADO CLERK: ‘SIMPLY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR ELECTIONS WERE FAIR’

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose office helped prosecute Peters, has emphasized that she has not demonstrated any remorse for her actions.

“Clemency should be based on remorse, rehabilitation, and extenuating circumstances — not on political influence, favor, or retribution,” said Weiser, a Democrat running to succeed the term-limited Polis.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who is also hoping to replace Polis as governor, similarly said Peters should not receive a pardon or have her sentence commuted.

“Donald Trump may be seeking revenge on Colorado, but surrendering to his political pressure will not make our state stronger or safer,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly defended Peters on social media and announced last year he was granting her a “full pardon,” though such a move would not apply to a state conviction, as that authority rests with the governor.

Earlier this week, a federal judge found that the Trump administration had threatened to withhold funding from Colorado, describing it as potential retribution for the state’s reluctance to pardon Peters. The finding came shortly after Trump’s symbolic pardon announcement.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson wrote that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s threat in December to withhold millions of dollars in federal funding to Colorado’s SNAP program violated the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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“This larger context gives the game away; the pilot project seems to be about punishment and nothing more,” the judge wrote.

A lawsuit also claimed this week that the Trump administration targeted a climate and weather research lab as retribution against Colorado officials for imprisoning Peters.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: A senior House GOP leader is accusing Democrats of reviving their controversial push to “defund the police” with their latest bid to circumvent funding for law enforcement under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called the progressive slogan “one of the dumbest ideas in the history of politics” in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“The American people lambasted them, and they moved on for a little while, but they came back to it, and they’re trying it again,” Scalise said. “We’re not going to let them do it. And by the way, we’re at a heightened level of threat — this is when everybody should be coming together and making sure that the Department of Homeland Security has all the tools they need to keep Americans safe.”

Democratic leaders announced on Wednesday that they would move to force a vote on legislation to fund all of DHS except for agencies that aid in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. It comes as the ongoing partial government shutdown, only affecting DHS, has gone on for over a month with no end in sight.

DEM SENATORS IN THE HOT SEAT AS REPUBLICANS RIP THEIR DHS VOTE AMID TERROR THREATS: ‘UNDER ATTACK’

“If you look, they fund everything except the law enforcement side, which is defunding the police. So here they go again. Democrats, for some reason, just hate law enforcement,” Scalise said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced Democrats are filing a discharge petition on a bill to fund all of DHS except immigration enforcement on Wednesday. A discharge petition is a mechanism to force a vote on legislation over the objections of House leadership, provided the measure in question has support from a majority of House lawmakers.

“We can fund [the Transportation Security Administration], fund the Coast Guard, fund our cybersecurity professionals or continue to allow ICE to brutalize and in some cases kill American citizens or to violently target law-abiding immigrant families,” Jeffries told reporters.

It would need some GOP support to reach that threshold under current numbers. Scalise would not say whether he anticipated it getting that support, but he was skeptical that it would unite all House Democrats.

“Frankly, there should be Democrats that don’t want to be a part of that, that don’t wanna be associated with defunding the police again. They touched the stove and got burned a few years ago. Are they really gonna be stupid enough to make that same mistake again?” he said.

The infamous three-word slogan made headlines in 2020 amid nationwide racial justice protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.

Progressives across the country demanded that their governments withhold funding from police departments if they did not radically change their standards, while some on the far-left called to abolish law enforcement altogether.

But it quickly became unpopular with the majority of Americans, who were concerned it would lead to nationwide policies that led to more crime across towns and cities.

Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., famously said the movement was “dead” in 2022 and said “defund the police” is “not the position of the Democratic Party.”

CORNYN BLASTS ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ DEMOCRAT FOR HOLDING TSA AGENTS ‘HOSTAGE’ DURING AIRPORT CLASH

Democrats faced significant losses in the midterms that year, with Republicans winning back control of the House of Representatives.

But Republicans are arguing that Democratic leaders are mounting that push once more in their efforts to partially fund DHS.

Their proposal would mean that both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are both left unfunded, agencies that Republicans argue are responsible for law enforcement that’s critical to national security.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out during a Tuesday press conference that CBP is the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country.

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“Customs and Border Protection plays an irreplaceable role in our national security framework. This is not a game. Our CBP agents stand on the front lines. They protect our nation against transnational crime, drug and child trafficking, and terrorist threats before they reach our communities,” Johnson said.

“The law enforcement agencies that are part of the Department of Homeland Security are what they’re targeting. Democrats refuse to reopen TSA and FEMA and the Coast Guard and these other critical functions of government unless they can reopen our borders to illegal aliens.”

Both ICE and CBP’s responsibilities extend beyond border security as well.

ICE is responsible for investigating transnational crimes, including terrorism, narcotics smuggling, and international gang activity. CBP also has its own counterterrorism responsibilities, along with its duties to facilitate lawful travel into the U.S. and combat transnational crime.

The White House says “no one” will change the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda in response to an appeal by Angel Mom Angie Morfin.

Morfin, whose 13-year-old son, Ruben, was executed by an illegal alien gang member, issued a heartfelt appeal to the administration to “make sure no other mother has to get the call I did.” This comes as incoming Homeland Security head Sen. Markwayne Mullin undergoes the Senate confirmation process and is expected to take the reins at the agency at the end of the month.

Morfin emphasized she is hopeful that Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, “will continue to listen to Angel Families and stand with us.”

In response, Lauren Bis, DHS acting assistant secretary, told Fox News Digital that “our hearts break for the families and victims of illegal alien crime who’ve been completely abandoned and ignored by sanctuary politicians.”

ORGANIZED AND TECHNOLOGICAL: ICE RESISTANCE GROUPS POSING GROWING DANGER, WARNS FORMER TOP NSA, DHS OFFICIAL

Bis wrote in an emailed statement that “THIS is why we do what we do.” She noted that DHS is currently “targeting dangerous criminal illegal aliens to stop another preventable tragedy.”

According to Bis, nearly 70% of arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.

“Under the leadership of President Trump,” Bis continued, “DHS is prioritizing the lives of innocent Americans victimized by illegal aliens.”

Meanwhile, Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that “nobody is changing the Administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.” 

Jackson said that President Donald Trump’s “highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities.”

She emphasized that “thanks to President Trump’s strong immigration enforcement policies, approximately 3 million illegals have left the United States, either through forced deportation or self-deportation, with zero illegals coming through the most secure border in U.S. History for nine straight months.” 

In a recent interview with The American Border Story, shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, Morfin said her family remains devastated decades after losing her son, Ruben.

“I cry for him today, like if it was just yesterday,” she shared.

In the winter of 1990, Ruben, a young Hispanic teenager with no gang affiliation, was chased down and shot in the back of the head by Mexican national Ezequiel Mariscal in Salinas, California. Morfin said she had sent Ruben to stay with his grandparents during the holidays over concerns about gangs in their area.

Then one night, just after midnight, Morfin said she got a call.

MIGRANT ACCUSED OF GROPING MULTIPLE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FACES CHARGES AS DHS WARNS SPANBERGER AGAINST RELEASE

“I grabbed the phone, and I could hear my mom screaming, ‘They shot Nino, they shot Nino.’ I knew it was my baby because that’s what we called him, because he was so small,” she said.

Since losing her son, Morfin said she has fought for the last 34 years “to keep his memory alive, so he didn’t die in vain.” She emphasized she is hopeful that Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, “will continue to listen to Angel Families and stand with us as we fight to make sure no other mother has to get the call I did.”

Mullin is currently undergoing an intense Senate confirmation process, during which several Democrats, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have expressed extreme skepticism about his leadership. Meanwhile, Mullin said in his opening statement that “as Secretary of Homeland, I’ll be protecting everybody … as much as I will my own backyard in Oklahoma.”

“The truth is I have a job to do,” Mullin added. “It’s bigger than the partisan bickering that we have, it’s bigger than the political differences we have.”

In response to Morfin’s appeal ahead of the Senate confirmation vote, Mullin’s Senate office referred Fox News Digital to the White House. 

GOP LAWMAKERS WOULD STRIP CITIZENSHIP FROM TERRORISTS AFTER ATTACKS TIED TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS

Nicole Kiprilov, executive director of The American Border Story, an advocacy group for the victims of migrant crime, told Fox News Digital that like DHS, “Our hearts are with Angie Morfin and every Angel Family living with a loss that never should have happened.” 

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Kiprilov said “we appreciate DHS’s leadership and their commitment to standing with these families and preventing future tragedies,” noting that “just last week, we worked alongside ICE, DHS, and members of Congress to bring Angel Families to the table, ensuring their voices are heard and their stories drive real policy change.” 

“This is exactly the kind of leadership needed to make sure no family is ever ignored again,” said Kiprilov. 

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday he will remain at the central bank while the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation continues.

“I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is fully resolved with transparency and finality,” Powell said, referring to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, commonly known as the Fed Board.

With the probe complicating efforts to confirm his successor, Powell said that if no replacement is in place by the end of his term as chair, he would continue serving as chair pro tempore until one is confirmed.

“That is what the law calls for,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done on several occasions, including in my own case, and it’s what we’re going to do in this situation.”

DOJ’S CRIMINAL PROBE OF FED CHAIR POWELL SPARKS RARE GOP REVOLT ON CAPITOL HILL

The federal investigation centers on Powell’s June 2025 testimony to lawmakers about the Federal Reserve’s renovation of its two historic main buildings on the National Mall, a project that has drawn scrutiny from Republicans and the Trump administration.

On Jan. 11, Powell disclosed that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into that testimony, an unusual development for a sitting Fed chair.

In a rare video statement, Powell called the probe “unprecedented” and described it as another salvo in what he said was President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on the central bank to cut rates. The unusually public response followed days of private consultations with advisors and stood out for a Fed chair known for his measured approach.

TRUMP VS THE FEDERAL RESERVE: HOW THE CLASH REACHED UNCHARTED TERRITORY

The video statement echoed Powell’s earlier testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, where he forcefully disputed claims about lavish features in the renovation project.

Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell said, “There’s no new marble. There are no special elevators. They’re old elevators that have been there. There are no new water features. There are no beehives, and there’s no roof garden terraces.”

Powell added that no one “wants to do a major renovation of a historic building during their term in office” and said cost overruns were driven in part by unexpected construction challenges and inflation.

ONE LITTLE-KNOWN MEETING HELPS DECIDE WHAT AMERICANS CAN AFFORD — AND WHAT THEY CAN’T

The renovation is estimated to cost $2.5 billion and is being funded by the central bank itself, not by taxpayers.

The Fed is self-financing and does not rely on congressional appropriations to cover its operating expenses, which include employee salaries, building maintenance and the current renovation. 

Its primary income comes from interest earned on government securities and fees charged to financial institutions.

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Powell, a Trump nominee first tapped to lead the Fed in 2017, is expected to finish his term at the end of May.

Trump has picked former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to replace Powell, but the nomination is effectively stuck after Sen. Thom Tillis vowed to block any Fed nominees while the DOJ probe remains open.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday expanded its list of countries whose citizens will be required to post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for U.S. business or tourist visas.

The department added 12 nations to the growing list — Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia.

Starting April 2, passport holders from these countries must pay a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, which is refunded if the visa application is denied or, if granted, the traveler complies with the terms of the B1 or B2 visa.

TRUMP ADMIN EXPANDS VISA BOND REQUIREMENT TO 38 COUNTRIES, WITH FEES UP TO $15K

The cost of the bond depends on the applicant’s circumstances and is determined at the discretion of a consular officer during the visa interview.

The requirement was first rolled out by the Trump administration last year, as part of an effort to crack down on visa overstays and illegal immigration, according to officials.

TRUMP ADMIN HIT WITH FEDERAL LAWSUIT OVER IMMIGRANT VISA BAN AFFECTING 75 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE

With the latest additions, citizens from 50 countries will be subject to the bond requirement beginning April 2, although the policy has already been in effect for most of them.

The majority of the countries are in Africa, which officials say have higher visa overstay rates, though the list also includes nations in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

“The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States,” the department said in a statement.

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Nearly 97% of the roughly 1,000 individuals who posted bonds complied with visa terms and did not overstay, according to the department.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans blocked yet another bid by Senate Democrats to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war authority in Iran in what could be an avalanche of similar moves to break through the GOP’s floor takeover.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., triggered one of several war powers resolutions Senate Democrats have tucked away in their bid to compel Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to testify publicly about Trump’s war in Iran.

Booker told Fox News Digital before the vote he was not thinking “about this in politics” or breaking through the GOP’s floor tactics, but instead to refocus on issues that Trump promised to deal with on the campaign trail.

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

“We need to focus on what the issues of the people are and put before them a president who promised to bring your prices down and keep us out of wars, who is now bringing us into more wars and driving up our prices as a result,” Booker said. “The question is, what should Congress do as a result?”

But, as with Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s attempt earlier this month, Republicans rallied behind the president to block the bill.

Still, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and nearly every Senate Democrat tried to curtail Trump’s use of the military in the Middle East. Only Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke from Democrats to kill the resolution.

TOM COTTON PUTS BIDEN ON NOTICE WHILE DEMANDING ANSWERS ON DRAINING OF NATION’S OIL STOCKPILE

It likely won’t be the last war powers resolution to hit the floor this week, given that a cohort of Senate Democrats have four others teed up. Their resolutions would direct an immediate end to fighting with Iran and removal of forces in the region.

Republicans have pushed back against Democrats’ demands that Rubio and Hegseth appear on the Hill for hearings and argued that they have consistently briefed lawmakers in classified settings and spoken with the media about the war.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has lauded the administration’s continued strikes in Iran, told Fox News Digital he believed Democrats’ continued use of war powers resolutions was “an abuse of the process, and I’m tired of it.”

DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT TO FORCE PUBLIC IRAN HEARINGS

“I think they’re impeding the war effort. We’ve spoken on this,” Graham said. “I find it to be cheap politics.”

Still, Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a flashpoint in the conflict with concerns over oil prices and possible ground troop involvement rising.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the nation’s war planners were doing a “masterful job” and kneecapping Iran’s offensive capabilities, adding that Trump was well within his authority as president to carry out Operation Epic Fury.

“The Strait of Hormuz, obviously, is an issue that we’re all paying a lot of attention to,” Thune said. “But I feel confident that the administration and those who are leading our military efforts there ultimately will be successful in getting things open up there.”

A Republican running in a Virginia special election significantly outperformed expectations Tuesday night, sparking chatter on social media that Republicans could have momentum in the blue-trending state where Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has faced backlash for her progressive agenda since taking office. 

In the race to replace Republican Virginia House District 98 Delegate Barry Knight, who died of cancer last month, Andrew Rice defeated Democrat Cheryl Smith by 25 points in a climate where voters in the commonwealth have been turning to Democrats in recent elections.

Conservatives on social media were quick to point out that Rice, who, despite holding onto a Republican seat, outperformed the candidate for Republican governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, in November and outperformed President Donald Trump’s 2024 total by 10 points, sparking belief in possible GOP momentum and backlash toward Spanberger.

“Republican Andrew Rice is currently ahead +29 in a district that was Sears +7 in November,” conservative commentator Greg Price posted on X. “A 22 point swing to the GOP.”

MIGRANT ACCUSED OF GROPING MULTIPLE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FACES CHARGES AS DHS WARNS SPANBERGER AGAINST RELEASE

“Radical Dems are overreaching in Virginia & voters have noticed,” Republican Virginia House of Delegates member Tim Griffin posted on X. “Big REPUBLICAN WIN in Virginia tonight, congrats Delegate-Elect Rice!”

“The momentum is REAL, and Virginians are paying attention and are fed up with the progressive liberal agenda trying to take over our Commonwealth,” Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans posted on X.

“Whoa!” Kerry Dougherty, co-host of a Virginia Beach radio show and longtime journalist, posted on X. “This is a red district but looks like backlash against our insane governor and the left-wing nuts in the General Assembly. Congratulations to Andrew Rice. A determined prosecutor (which will make the lefties crazy).”

VIRGINIA DEMS SEND SWEEPING GUN BAN TO SPANBERGER AS WEST VIRGINIA WEIGHS EXPANDING MACHINE-GUN ACCESS

Also at play is what Virginia elections analyst Sam Shirazi called the “elephant in the room” on his “Federal Fallout” podcast.

“I think one explanation of what happened is the Republicans are fired up, and they’re upset about the redistricting referendum,” Shirzi said about Rice’s victory and a possible connection to an April referendum that would trigger a mid-cycle redrawing of the state’s congressional map to heavily favor Democrats.

“Potentially, they could also be generally upset at what’s been going on in Richmond since the Democrats took over in January. So, perhaps they’re upset with some of the bills that have been passed.”

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Reacting to Rice’s victory, Republican Virginia Delegate Karen Hamilton posted on X, “If we could get some funds, we can win this redistricting fight in Virginia and secure the midterms for @POTUS.”

“Republicans in Virginia are overperforming so strongly that the gerrymander attempt is suddenly looking much riskier for Dems,” conservative commentator and writer Ben Braddock posted on X. 

Spanberger has faced some intense criticism from conservatives since taking office in January, particularly over the allegation she campaigned as a “moderate” candidate but quickly began implementing a radical agenda as soon as she took office.

Since taking office, Spanberger has ended state cooperation with ICE, reduced mandatory minimum sentencing, raised taxes and prioritized DEI in government contracts, Fox News Digital reported in January.

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

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declined to say whether intelligence showed that Iran posed an “imminent threat” to the U.S. prior to the launch of recent offensive operations, as President Donald Trump repeatedly has asserted.

“Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an ‘imminent nuclear threat’ posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?” Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., asked Gabbard during the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats hearing Wednesday.

“The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president,” Gabbard said.

TRUMP RESURFACES OLD TWEET FROM INTEL OFFICIAL WHO RESIGNED

The White House has repeatedly argued Iran’s nuclear stockpiles and ballistic missile capacity pose an imminent threat to the U.S.

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Trump said March 1.

Ossoff pressed Gabbard further Wednesday: “Was it the intelligence community’s assessment … there was an ‘imminent nuclear threat’? Yes or no?”

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” Gabbard said.

Gabbard highlighted the impact of U.S. operations in Iran.

“The IC assesses that Operation Epic Fury is advancing fundamental change in the region,” she said. Iran’s “conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options. Iran’s strategic position has been significantly degraded.”

Her refusal to directly answer comes one day after Trump’s director at the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, resigned after publicly stating he did not believe Iran posed an imminent threat.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe struck a more assertive tone at the hearing. 

“Is there anything to indicate that Iran had ceased in its nuclear ambitions or in its desire to continue to build ballistic missiles capable of threatening American troops and allies in the Middle East?” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked him. 

“No. In fact, the intelligence reflects the contrary,” Ratcliffe said.

“So you disagree with Mr. Kent?” Cornyn asked.

“I do,” Ratcliffe said.

TRUMP BIDS GOODBYE TO INTEL OFFICIAL WHO RESIGNED OVER IRAN: ‘GOOD THING THAT HE’S OUT’

“I think Iran has been a constant threat to the United States for an extended period of time and posed an immediate threat at this time,” he later added.

Top administration officials have argued that Iran was building up its missile stockpiles to a point where foreign powers could no longer effectively intervene.

Iran is not believed to currently possess missiles capable of reaching the U.S. homeland, but Trump has said the Islamic Republic is working toward that capability.

“They attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland,” Trump said.

The Defense Intelligence Agency said in May 2025 that Iran could develop a long-range missile capable of reaching the U.S. by 2035. Russia, China and North Korea, some of Iran’s closest allies, already possess intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Iran possessed roughly 441 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% as of mid-2025, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Enough, if further enriched to weapons-grade levels, to fuel multiple nuclear weapons. 

Experts estimate that final enrichment to 90% could take weeks under ideal conditions. However, producing a functional nuclear weapon would require additional steps, including weaponization and delivery system development, which could take months or longer.

Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, rose to national prominence in part for her opposition to U.S. military interventions overseas.

She has said little publicly about the Iran conflict, but in a statement posted to X following Kent’s resignation, Gabbard emphasized that the determination of an imminent threat rests with the president.

“Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat,” she wrote on X. 

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“After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.”

Her comments underscored a central tension in Wednesday’s hearing: While the administration has framed the conflict as a response to an imminent threat, intelligence officials stopped short of publicly affirming that assessment.

FIRST ON FOX: Republican governors and attorneys general are backing President Donald Trump’s push to require proof of citizenship for voting, warning in an exclusive letter that current registration systems rely on an “honor system” and fail to adequately verify who is casting ballots in federal elections.

The coalition argued the gaps give states with large populations of people in the country illegally “undue influence” over federal elections and how billions in taxpayer dollars are distributed.

The letters, from members of the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) Governors and Attorneys General Councils and obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, show coordinated support from Republican state leaders for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation Trump has previously said he has to sign before he’ll sign anything else.

Trump has recently ramped up pressure on Congress to pass the SAVE Act, aka the SAVE America Act, calling mail-in voting “corrupt as h—“ as the legislation moved to the Senate floor this week.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE ‘TALKING FILIBUSTER’ AND THE SAVE ACT

“The biggest thing coming up is the SAVE America Act in the Senate,” Trump said Tuesday, adding, “Who would not have voter ID, who would not have proof of citizenship? … The only people who would want not to have that are people that want to cheat.”

Senate Republicans have already taken initial steps to advance the bill, voting 51-48 to begin debate, though its path forward remains uncertain as Democrats remain unified in opposition.

In a letter to Senate leadership, members of AFPI’s Governors Council described the SAVE America Act as a “commonsense measure” to ensure elections are decided “by, and only by, American citizens.”

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

The letter was signed by a group of Republican governors, including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, as well as attorneys general from states including Iowa, Alabama and South Carolina.

They argued that while federal law limits voting in federal elections to U.S. citizens, states are “not required to verify citizenship at the time of registration.”

“States with large illegal populations and little to no safeguards… unfairly hold undue influence in our Nation’s law-making process and how billions of dollars in tax revenue are distributed,” the governors wrote.

REPS. FINE, SELF, HARRIS, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: WE’LL BLOCK THE SENATE UNTIL THE SAVE ACT PASSES

The governors also pointed to gaps in current systems, noting that while many states require identification at the polls, others lack mechanisms to verify eligibility at the registration stage. They said they are prepared to work with state election officials to implement the law in a way that protects access for eligible voters while strengthening safeguards.

In a separate letter, Republican attorneys general echoed those concerns, focusing on enforcement and the structure of current voter registration systems.

“Existing voter registration procedures largely rely on the honor system, with voters simply checking a box to claim U.S. citizenship without requiring any documentary verification,” the group wrote. The attorneys general said the SAVE Act would close that gap by requiring applicants to provide “documentary proof of United States citizenship” when registering to vote in federal elections.

They emphasized that the bill would preserve state control over election administration.

“[The SAVE Act] does not nationalize elections,” the group wrote, adding that it also would not “disenfranchise American citizens.”

The attorneys general also pushed back on criticism of the proposal, writing: “It is an insult to suggest that minorities, women, or members of the working class are not smart enough to obtain and provide simple proofs of citizenship.”

The governors said they are committed to implementing the law in a way that ensures “no eligible American citizen is unduly burdened” while preventing ineligible registrations.

“Our constituents deserve to know that their votes are protected and that elections in this country are free, fair, and secure,” they wrote.

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“President Trump’s SAVE America Act is commonsense legislation supported by the vast majority of Americans who want to ensure our elections are secure and that only American citizens vote in American elections,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said to Fox News Digital in a statement. “Our elections should be treated with the utmost security and the SAVE America Act will ensure that they are.”

The governors’ letter and attorneys’ general letter can be read at the links provided here.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this reporting.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, lambasted his Democratic colleagues for blaming Republicans for the partial government shutdown during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, calling their behavior “disgusting” and “disgraceful.”

Moreno used his allotted time during Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing for the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to focus on the close to 260,000 DHS employees, which includes Transportation Security Administration employees, who have gone without a paycheck for more than a month.

“260,000 American citizen families who have not received a paycheck in over a month. None of those people are in charge of policy,” Moreno said. “It’s not one of those families that makes policy decisions. For the most part, that’s on the people here. There isn’t a single human being on this dais that has missed a paycheck. Every single one of us has gotten a paycheck the last 30 days and before that.”

‘YOU CAN CRY ABOUT IT’: TEMPERS FLARE IN SENATE AS DHS SHUTDOWN DEBATE ERUPTS, STALEMATE DIGS DEEPER

Moreno argued that the real victims of the government shutdown are DHS employees.

“They’re having to tell their kids they can’t send them to dance recital because they did everything right in life except got a job with the Department of Homeland Security so that a politician can make a 30-second video online to fundraiser for the next election,” he said.

“That’s disgusting.”  

Weeks ago, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., posted a video on social media vowing to vote against funding DHS until reforms are made to the agency. 

CORNYN CLASHES WITH PROGRESSIVE REP GREG CASAR IN HEATED AIRPORT FACE-OFF OVER DHS SHUTDOWN

Moreno then turned his attention toward Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs ranking member Gary Peters, D-Mich., accusing him of failing to keep his promise of keeping key agencies funded. But Peters wasn’t paying attention. Moreno called it “incredibly disrespectful” before laying in on Peters. 

“You said you’re going to fund all these agencies,” Moreno said to Peters. “Here’s one that you haven’t funded.”

Moreno showcased a large poster board, which shared how the mission of DHS was being compromised by the government shutdown. At the top of the board was listed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“USCIS is near and dear to my heart,” Moreno said. “That’s how I became a US citizen. We’ve defunded the agency that allows legal immigrants into this country. That is insane. Never hear the Democrats talk about that. 3,300 employees, trying to process legal immigrants. They don’t get a paycheck.”

He also railed against the defunding of Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration Customs and Enforcement.

“Are you suggesting that we not fund an organization that tracks transnational organizations?” Moreno rhetorically asked Democrats of ICE funding. “Be specific. When you say you don’t want to fund ICE, I want you to say the words ‘we do not want to fund 7,000 special agents that are in charge of stopping transnational criminal organizations, drug smugglers, and human traffickers.”

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Moreno’s comments during Mullin’s Senate confirmation hearing come a day after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., accused Democratic leadership of holding DHS agencies “hostage” amid negotiations for appropriations.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sen. Peters for comment. 

House Republicans are hauling in two top Fairfax County law enforcement officials, including a Soros-backed prosecutor, after violent crimes involving illegal immigrants released from custody intensified federal scrutiny of the county’s sanctuary-style policies.

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid and Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steven Descano are invited to voluntarily testify at an upcoming Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Subcommittee hearing entitled “Fairfax County Virginia – The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary City Policies.”

Both are elected Democrats, and Descano’s campaigns have received more than $700,000 in funds from organizations backed by far-left Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, according to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, a pro-police group.

Descano and Kincaid received near-identical letters signed by Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock, R-Calif., which were also obtained by Fox News Digital.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER BIDEN CHARGED WITH GROPING FEMALE STUDENTS AT VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL

“The hearing will examine how state and local policies that prohibit cooperation with federal immigration authorities hurt public safety,” Jordan and McClintock wrote.

“Your testimony will assist the Committee and Subcommittee in developing legislative reforms to address sanctuary jurisdictions.”

The Fairfax officials have until Monday to confirm their presence at the April 15 hearing to be held at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Descano has a record of dropping charges against illegal immigrants who often have prior criminal records, including Salvadoran national Marvin Morales-Ortez, who was accused of the murder of a Virginia man ambushed on a walking trail.

Jordan and McClintock previously wrote to Descano about their concerns in that case, saying his policies “prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety.”

DHS BLASTS SPANBERGER ON POTENTIAL RELEASE OF ILLEGAL MIGRANT WITH 30+ ARRESTS CURRENTLY CHARGED WITH MURDER

They said Kincaid released Morales-Ortez on December 16 despite his potential MS-13 ties after Descano’s office declined to further pursue prosecution in a malicious wounding case from September 12.

“Despite an ICE detainer on Morales-Ortez, your office refused to briefly detain him until ICE could arrest him and failed to even notify ICE about his imminent release,” the lawmakers wrote to Kincaid at the time.

“One day later, Morales-Ortez allegedly murdered a man in Reston, Virginia, and has now been charged with second-degree murder. Even now, however, you continue to defend your failed sanctuary policies and refuse to take accountability for their consequences,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, first reported by Washington’s ABC affiliate.

The outlet further reported that Fairfax County’s board, led by Chairman Jeffrey McKay, D-Franconia, also prohibits the Fairfax County Police Department from cooperating with ICE.

Nick Minock, a reporter for the outlet, later obtained a transcript of Morales-Ortez’s preliminary hearing in which Descano’s office posited that Morales-Ortez was present when Jose Guillen Mejia was murdered and had ambushed the man on the trail.

A short time after he was released, Morales-Ortez allegedly went to a home on Fan Shell Court in Reston, Va. — near John F. Dulles International Airport — and allegedly shot a man inside.

POLICE WARNED PROSECUTORS 3 TIMES ABOUT VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT BEFORE HE ALLEGEDLY KILLED VIRGINIA MOTHER

That chain of events enraged the Trump administration, with then-Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin saying that “Fairfax County politicians [who] pushed policies that released this illegal alien from jail” have “blood on their hands.”

More recently, the family of Stephanie Minter, a 41-year-old mother stabbed to death at a Fairfax bus stop by an illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet, called for Descano’s ouster.

Abdul Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national, was charged with second-degree murder, and Descano released him despite being warned of his 30 prior arrests. Jalloh had been served an order of removal during the Biden administration but was never deported.

A police official in Mount Vernon emailed concerns to Descano’s office about Jalloh being released again, according to Fox & Friends.

Given the heavy Democratic bent of Fairfax, Virginia’s largest county by population and one state officials are trying to include in at least five newly drawn congressional districts, Descano and Kincaid have been strongly supported by voters in each election.

Republicans did not mount opponents against either candidate in 2023, while Descano’s only challenge came from fellow Democrat Ed Nuttall, whose primary bid was reportedly boosted by victims’ rights advocates.

ICE NABS IRANIAN NATIONAL WITH RAPE, SODOMY CONVICTIONS AFTER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO CURB COOPERATION

Nuttall also mounted a write-in challenge in the general election that year but lost. Kincaid was first elected in 2013.

Fairfax Democrats removed Nuttall from their party amid that write-in bid after he attended a Brain Foundation fundraiser with Fairfax’s lone Republican board member, Pat Herrity of Springfield, and a Republican board candidate from Sully named Keith Elliott, according to FairfaxNow.

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Herrity is the son of the late Chairman Jack Herrity, a Republican known as “Mr. Fairfax” in the 1980s when the county was much more conservative.

Fox News Digital reached out to Descano’s and Kincaid’s offices for comment.

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog warned Wednesday that a projectile strike near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant risked crossing the “reddest line” of nuclear safety, as fighting between the U.S., Israel and Iran intensifies.

A direct hit on an operating nuclear reactor like Bushehr could trigger a severe radiological incident, even as a recent strike caused no apparent damage to the plant’s core systems, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said. 

“An accident on an operating nuclear power plant would be something very, very serious,” Grossi told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “This is the reddest line of all that you have in nuclear safety.”

“The possibility of dispersion in the atmosphere of radioactivity is very high if you get to the core of the reactor,” he added.

TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY REVEALS WHAT LED TO BREAKDOWN IN IRAN TALKS BEFORE OPERATION EPIC FURY

A projectile struck part of the Bushehr nuclear power plant complex in recent days, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, marking the closest known impact on an operating reactor since the conflict began. It remains unclear what caused the strike or who was responsible.

Grossi said the impact appears to have hit a smaller structure within the facility’s broader premises — possibly a laboratory or auxiliary building — and did not affect the reactor itself or cause any reported casualties.

He noted that nuclear power plants are large compounds that include administrative buildings and support infrastructure beyond the reactor itself, increasing the likelihood that a strike could hit the site without directly damaging the core.

AMERICA STRIKES IRAN AGAIN — HAS WASHINGTON PLANNED FOR WHAT COMES NEXT?

Grossi said the agency has not conducted an on-site inspection, noting that “independent” verification would require being physically present, but said available imagery suggests the damage is not significant.

But he stressed the risks would be far more severe if the reactor were struck.

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Unlike other nuclear facilities, an operating reactor contains a live core undergoing nuclear fission, meaning a direct strike could release large amounts of radioactive material into the environment.

Grossi said there is broad international understanding that nuclear power plants should not be targeted during conflict, even as recent strikes have come dangerously close to sensitive nuclear infrastructure.

Iran blamed the United States and Israel for the strike, though the claim has not been independently verified. 

U.S. officials have not confirmed involvement, and Israel’s military said it was not aware of any such strike.

A Democrat-backed Virginia law restricting how colleges review applicants’ criminal histories is facing renewed scrutiny after the Old Dominion University attack, with former Attorney General Jason Miyares calling it “Exhibit A” of policies he argues put public safety at risk.

Miyares, now a partner at Torridon Law, slammed so-called “ban-the-box” laws passed under then-Gov. Ralph Northam intended to remove workplace stigmas associated with having a criminal record. The law says Virginia colleges can’t ask about an applicant’s criminal history on applications or reject someone just because they have a record.

“Governor Ralph Northam’s legacy,” Miyares tweeted. “[Shooter Mohamed] Jalloh was convicted of a terrorism felony, sentenced to 11 years in prison. Despite this felony, he applied and enrolled at ODU with the school having no idea his criminal history because of the 2019 ‘social justice’ law signed by Northam.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, Miyares expanded on his concerns and said he views the Spanberger administration as continuing Northam’s progressive pattern.

MIKE DAVIS: VIRGINIA RETURNS TO THE CONFEDERACY WITH A SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY AGAINST ICE

“I think this is Exhibit A of Democrats’ criminal-first, victim-last policies. This is exactly the type of policies [we’ve] warned if we implement this, this is going to create harm for innocent victims and, candidly, they don’t care.”

Miyares, who previously served in the state house, said that when the original “ban-the-box” package came to the floor, it was sponsored by now-Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, and passed despite warnings that it would make colleges and universities “ticking time bombs.”

“And that’s exactly what we saw [at ODU], with the idea that a university cannot be informed [or] even ask about someone’s prior terrorism charges while allowing them on campus,” Miyares said. 

“Obviously, the police have to do the investigation, but if you’re an enrolled student, you have a student ID, and there’s really no place that you don’t have access to go. … And, in this case, use it to attack the innocent too.”

Miyares said Northam and Democrats “don’t care about the innocent [but] care about championing the rights of felons over the safety of everyday Virginians. And I think we saw tragic results.”

“Ralph Northam signed the law, a bill that made every college campus in Virginia less safe,” Miyares said, connecting Northam to incumbent Gov. Abigail Spanberger and condemning her for appointing him to the historic Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

The Lexington school has a storied history dating back to America’s early days and has employed or educated such military figures as CSA Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and President Donald Trump’s current Army chief, Gen. Dan “Raising” Caine.

TOM HOMAN VOWS TO WORK AROUND NEW DEM VA GOV SPANBERGER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING ICE COOPERATION

“Who did she appoint? She fired some of the Youngkin appointees … and [put] Ralph Northam on the board of one of Virginia’s great public universities. The man who has made our universities less safe, he is now helping to govern them.

“Only in this world, in the left-wing world, do you do policy issues and legislation that actually makes the problem worse, and you get a promotion.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Northam, who declined formal comment and said he had returned to private life as a doctor. The Onancock native had been a pediatrician in that region prior to his governorship.

Miyares pivoted to Spanberger’s record, saying she advertised herself as a moderate but is governing to the far left when asked if she may seek correction of the policy.

“I think Abigail Spanberger is like a really bad used car salesman in that when she ran for office, she was saying, ‘Look under the hood. We’re going to be focusing on affordability.’ What they’ve done instead is add a carbon tax to your utility bill, raise multiple taxes from DoorDash to Netflix, even trying to tax your mattresses. I guess you’re going to tax your pillow next.”

Miyares, who is also working to combat the implementation of the all-but-one Democrat congressional district map blessed by Spanberger and crafted by Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said Richmond has sadly lurched far from the government he helped lead only months ago.

“I’m still waiting for the moderate Abigail Spanberger to make an appearance in Capitol Square. I am not hopeful. This is one of the great bait-and-switch in American politics,” Miyares said.

“The way she campaigned and the way she has governed is as different as night and day, and so I have no hope. And I think you’re going to have more tragedies like this in the days to come.”

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS SPANBERGER, VIRGINIA OFFICIALS NOT RELEASE ILLEGAL CHARGED WITH GROPING HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

He also was asked about Attorney General Jay Jones ending his Operation Ceasefire anti-crime initiative and said his scandal-plagued successor was very wrong on that account.

“It’s just another case of a bait-and-switch,” Miyares said. “They always try to claim they’re for police, they’re for victims, and they’re for law enforcement, and for public safety. And then they implement the very policies to do the opposite.”

He said murder had been at a 20-year high when he entered office after defeating Mark Herring in 2021 and that the “violence-reduction” Operation Ceasefire, which focused on repeat offenders and traffickers, itself reduced the crime rate.

“This is not a reorganization of resources. This is the deliberate dismantling of a proven, life-saving public safety initiative by the Democrats’ monopoly in Richmond,” Miyares said in a separate statement in February after Jones ended the program.

Jones, who remains under fire for controversial community service time after a reckless driving arrest on Interstate 64 in New Kent and wishing pain upon the family of former House Speaker Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah County, did not respond to a request for comment. Spanberger also declined comment on Miyares’ other criticisms.

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Miyares was also asked about the firestorm in Fairfax surrounding Democratic Commonwealth’s Attorney Steven Descano.

“If you’re an illegal immigrant with the Virginia Department of Corrections, you are a convicted felon serving time in a Virginia prison. And even then, Governor Spanberger does not think that warrants notifying ICE. It is an absolute preventable tragedy,” he added.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky asserted in a post on X that Joe Kent’s resignation letter was tainted by “virulent anti-Semitism.”

Kent posted the resignation letter on Tuesday, announcing that he was stepping down from the role of National Counterterrorism Center director.

“Joe Kent testified before the Senate one year ago that Iran and its terror proxies threatened U.S. servicemembers in the Middle East. He said it would be an honor to return to the fight against terrorism, and he pledged to lead with integrity and accountability,” McConnell declared in the post on X.

“The virulent anti-Semitism of his resignation letter makes it clear that Mr. Kent is incapable of upholding these pledges, and those who mistake its baseless and incendiary conspiracies for brave truth-telling are only fooling themselves. Isolationists and anti-Semites have no place in either party, and certainly do not deserve places of trust in our government,” the senator added.

TRUMP RESURFACES OLD TWEET FROM INTEL OFFICIAL WHO RESIGNED

Kent explained in the resignation letter that he was leaving the job due to his opposition to the Iran war.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote in the message directed toward President Donald Trump.

WHITE HOUSE, AFTER TOP COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL QUITS, SAYS TRUMP HAD ‘STRONG’ EVIDENCE IRAN WOULD ATTACK US

“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again,” he warned.

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives,” Kent declared in his resignation letter.

DNI TULSI GABBARD SAYS TRUMP ACTED BECAUSE HE CONCLUDED THE IRANIAN REGIME ‘POSED AN IMMINENT THREAT’

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McConnell, who has served in the U.S. Senate since early 1985, is not seeking another term this year.

President Donald Trump, who has picked Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to lead the Department of Homeland Security, highlighted the National Border Patrol Council’s endorsement of the senator for the job.

On Truth Social, Trump shared a screenshot of NBPC national president Paul Perez’s letter to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and ranking member Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., backing Mullin for the role. 

“The men and women of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) are excited to provide our support for President Donald J. Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Senator Markwayne Mullin,” the letter declares.

WHY KRISTI NOEM’S FIRING TOOK SO LONG AS SHE WRECKED DHS AND DAMAGED DONALD TRUMP

“The NBPC is proud to endorse Senator Mullin to be the next DHS Secretary, and we urge the Committee to swiftly pass and move his nomination to the full Senate,” the letter, dated March 17, urges.

The committee is holding a hearing on Trump’s nomination of Mullin today.

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Trump also posted a screenshot on Truth Social of a post on X in which the union expressed its support for Mullin.

“The National Border Patrol Council fully supports and endorses Senator @MarkwayneMullin to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security! We look forward to working with him to continue protecting our great nation under the tremendously successful leadership of @POTUS Donald J. Trump and his Administration,” the Wednesday post on X declared.

Earlier this month, Trump announced Mullin as his pick for DHS secretary and said that current DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will instead serve as special envoy for an initiative called “The Shield of the Americas.”

FIRED DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM FACES CRIMINAL REFERRAL FROM CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS

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In a message to DHS employees, Noem said that her last day as Homeland Security secretary will be March 31.

“I look forward to continuing to work with you all in my new role as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas – Western Hemisphere. Now, I will be working alongside Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our country killing our children and grandchildren. In my new role, I will be able to build on the new partnerships and national security expertise I forged over my time as Secretary of Homeland Security,” Noem noted in the message.

Steve Hilton, a legal immigrant and political newcomer running as a Republican for governor of California, said the “absolute failure on every front” by current Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats means the GOP has a real shot at pulling off an upset in the Golden State.

Though California has long since been written off by many as a progressive stronghold, the most recent polling indicates Hilton may be right.

On Wednesday, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies released a poll showing Hilton leading California voter preferences at 17 percent. Another Republican, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, follows at 16 percent. Both Republicans are ahead of the two top Democratic names, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and former Rep. Katie Porter, who are each at 13 percent.

“I know people look at California and assume that it’s going to be Democrat forever. It’s a deep blue state, but people here are sick of it. There’s a revolution brewing in California,” Hilton told Fox News Digital, adding, “This is our year.”

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Hilton, an entrepreneur who immigrated to California from the United Kingdom in 2014, credits Newsom and years of one-party Democratic rule with voters waking up to the “complete disaster” unfolding in California.

“It’s not just the visible signs of failure that you see when you look at California. You know the homelessness crisis, by far the worst in the country. The crime that’s out of control, the smash-and-grab rates, the videos of that — those things are visible. But if you actually look under the hood, as it were, of daily life in California, it is an absolute failure on every front,” he said, emphasizing, “It’s not just that we’re doing badly in California under Gavin Newsom, we are the worst-performing state.”

He said that California’s sanctuary policies are a perfect illustration of this.

“People are infuriated when they see illegal immigrants in our state getting rewarded and getting away with crime and getting away with things that just regular Californians wouldn’t be able to get away with,” he said.

“It’s an insult to regular, hardworking California taxpayers when they see people who are here illegally getting things for free that they have to pay for.”

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

The same Berkeley poll indicated that 42 percent of California voters consider a candidate’s ability to “aggressively fight Trump administration policies” important in selecting their preferred candidate. Additionally, 28 percent believe a candidate holding progressive views is important.

California saw some of the most dramatic expressions of anti-Trump sentiment in his first year, with anti-ICE riots breaking out throughout the summer.

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However, even with this, there is concern among Democratic strategists that the liberal and progressive vote will be split among the high number of Democratic candidates running for governor. Due to California’s unique top-two primary system, a fractured Democratic vote could mean Hilton and Bianco are the only two candidates to advance to the November general election.

Hilton is confident that Republicans can capitalize on dissatisfaction with Newsom’s tenure as governor to propel them to victory. He referred to the anti-ICE agitators as a “very loud, well-organized, often well-funded minority of activists.”

“It’s activists, political activists on the far left who are pushing this,” he said. “Most regular people believe that our laws should be properly enforced. That’s the majority position, I would say even in California.”

Regarding his stance on the issue, Hilton said that as governor, he would “not accept California sanctuary state law,” and would “very clearly and strongly work with the federal administration to enforce the law.”

“I have absolutely no doubt that standing up for the enforcement of the law and saying very clearly that, of course, this is America, and we want to welcome immigrants to our country, but it has to be done the right way, and if you break our laws to come here, then you shouldn’t be here. And it’s as simple as that,” he explained.

NEWSOM KNOCKED FOR ‘INSANE’ CALIFORNIA GAS PRICES AFTER BLAMING TRUMP FOR RISING COSTS

Being from a family of immigrants himself — his parents fled to the U.K. from communist Hungary — Hilton said he is solidly “pro-immigration,” while noting, “But it’s got to be controlled.”

“I hear all the time that we should be offering a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. There is a pathway of citizenship. It’s called legal immigration. I just took it. It is available,” he said.

Hilton concluded that while some conservatives may have written off California, he believes the gubernatorial race has an impact on the entire country.

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“So many of the terrible policies that are infecting the rest of the country, they all started here. The gender extremism, the climate extremism. All this nonsense, it started here in California,” he said. “So, if we beat them here, then we are doing something very important for the whole country.”

“That’s why I think it’s a race that actually really matters a lot.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Swalwell and Porter campaigns for comment.