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The White House said a lawsuit filed by a law firm with ties to the FBI’s Russia investigation during President Donald Trump’s first term – known among conservatives as the “Russia collusion hoax” – is “absurd,” after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from cutting off the firm’s access to federal resources Wednesday. 

Perkins Coie, the firm that hired the company responsible for composing the so-called “Steele dossier” released in 2017 about Trump’s alleged connections to Russia that was used to obtain a surveillance warrant against former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, filed a motion in a federal court in Washington Tuesday requesting a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from rescinding its access to federal resources. 

U.S. Judge Beryl Howell approved the request Wednesday afternoon. 

“The Trump Administration is working efficiently to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a Wednesday evening statement to Fox News Digital. “It is absurd that a billion-dollar law firm is suing to retain its access to government perks and handouts.”

Perkins Coie and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, appeared before U.S. Judge Beryl Howell Wednesday afternoon. 

Attorney Dane Butswinkas, who is representing Perkins Coie, said roughly a quarter of the firm’s revenue stems from clients with government contracts, and compared Trump’s order to “a tsunami waiting to hit the firm.” 

Additionally, Howell said Wednesday that the order “sends little chills down my spine.” 

Trump signed an executive order March 6 suspending security clearances for Perkins Coie employees until a further review evaluating its access to sensitive information is complete to determine if it aligns with national interests.

The order also pulled access to sensitive information facilities for Perkins Coie employees and limits the company’s access to government employees. The order also prevents the federal government from hiring Perkins Coie employees without specific authorization.

JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP’S LAWSUIT ALLEGING INFAMOUS DOSSIER AND ITS ‘SCANDALOUS CLAIMS’ DAMAGED HIS REPUTATION

President Donald Trump signs an executive order March 6 suspending security clearances for Perkins Coie employees until a further review. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

As a result, Perkins Coie’s lawsuit claims that the Trump administration’s executive order is an “affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice” and that the order means the firm’s ability to represent its clients is “under direct and imminent threat.” 

Likewise, the lawsuit asserts the order violated procedural due process because it failed to give Perkins Coie the opportunity to contest accusations included in the executive order. 

“The order violates core constitutional protections, including the rights to free speech and due process, and undermines all clients’ right to select counsel of their choice,” a Perkins Coie spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement. “We were compelled to take this step to protect our firm and safeguard the interests of our clients.”

Attorneys general from states including California, Arizona, Massachusetts and Rhode Island filed an amicus brief Wednesday voicing support for Perkins Coie “to underscore the bedrock rule of law principles and free speech imperatives at issue in this case.”

“Through official action, the President has attempted to exclude certain lawyers and certain viewpoints from reaching a court of law at all,” the coalition of attorneys general wrote in the brief. “It is a menacing message to attorneys nationwide: unless they advance positions or represent clients favorable to the current administration, their livelihood may be at risk and their patriotism will be called into question.”

Perkins Coie represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 election and former President Joe Biden after Trump challenged Biden’s 2020 election win. 

Marc Elias, the former chair of the firm’s political law practice, hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research into presidential candidate Trump in April 2016 on behalf of Trump’s opponent, Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee.

CARTER PAGE FISA WARRANT LACKED PROBABLE CAUSE, DOJ ADMITS IN DECLASSIFIED ASSESSMENT

Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, crafted the dossier after Fusion GPS hired him. (Getty Images)

Fusion GPS then hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who authored the so-called “Steele dossier.” The document, which BuzzFeed News published in 2017, included shocking and mostly unverified allegations, including details that Trump engaged in sex acts with Russian prostitutes. 

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Trump, who repeatedly denied the allegations included in the dossier, filed a lawsuit in September 2023 against Orbis Business Intelligence, a company Steele co-founded, claiming that the dossier led to personal and reputational damage. A judge tossed the case in February 2024. 

Meanwhile, Trump said Thursday it was an “honor” to sign the executive order. 

“What they’ve done, it’s just terrible,” Trump said. “It’s weaponization. You could say weaponization against a political opponent, and it should never be allowed to happen again.”

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

Rep. Thomas Massie told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning that he had hauled in $261,000 in campaign donations in recent days since President Donald Trump targeted him for ouster for opposing a government-funding measure.

“In less than three days, I’ve received $261,000 through 3,203 individual donations, without sending an email, a text, or a phone call. It’s a fundraising record for me and it’s boosted my current cash on hand north of $1.1 million,” Massie said in a statement.

After Trump took a swing at Massie in a Truth Social post on Monday night, the congressman responded in a tweet on Tuesday by soliciting campaign donations.

“I’ve drawn opponents in my last three primaries who knew they couldn’t run to the right of me, so they ran to the Trump of me,” Massie said in his statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“Overwhelmingly, in each instance, voters in Kentucky rejected them because I have a decade of consistently putting America and my constituents first. None of my opponents received more than 20% of the vote, but that’s because we ran excellent campaigns with the resources needed to win. For instance, my allies and I spent $2,000,000 in my 2020 primary when Trump attacked me for opposing the COVID bailouts. That’s why I’m taking this threat seriously and asking for grassroots donations on X,” Massie noted.

TRUMP PLEDGES TO ‘LEAD THE CHARGE’ AGAINST REP. MASSIE, LIKENS HIM TO LIZ CHENEY

Left: President Donald Trump speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2025; Right: Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., attends the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Left: WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images; Right: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The amount of money Massie reported raising had climbed since he tweeted on Wednesday that he had reached $205,000. 

“I’ve received an amazing outpouring of support since I was attacked for voting No on the Biden-$-level CR. In fact, we just hit $205,000 from 2500 grassroots donors! Can you help me send a ‘huge’ message by reaching $250,000 before the 48 hour mark?” Massie said in a Wednesday post on his @MassieforKY campaign account on X.

In a post earlier on Wednesday, Massie had announced, “Y’all sent $175,000 to my campaign in the last 36 hours! For the first time, my cash on hand is over $1,000,000. It’s a great start, but I’m going to need more if POTUS makes good on his threat to retaliate for my vote. Please help me set a 48hr record,” he said.

When someone on X asked Massie about whether he could use the funds for a Senate campaign, the lawmaker replied, “Yes I could.”

The congressman, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than a decade, ran a poll on his @RepThomasMassie X account last month asking people whether, if they were him, they would opt to remain in the House, run for U.S. Senate in 2026, or run for governor in 2027. 

With the prospect of a partial government shutdown looming, Trump recently pounced on Massie, who had declared his opposition to a government funding proposal.

“HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him,” Trump declared in a Truth Social post on Monday night. “He’s just another GRANDSTANDER, who’s too much trouble, and not worth the fight. He reminds me of Liz Chaney before her historic, record breaking fall (loss!). The people of Kentucky won’t stand for it, just watch. DO I HAVE ANY TAKERS???”

MASSIE SAYS HE’S A ‘NO’ ON TRUMP-ENDORSED GOVERNMENT FUNDING MEASURE: ‘UNLESS I GET A LOBOTOMY’

Massie sought campaign donations when reacting to Trump’s broadside.

“Why don’t more Representatives stand on principle? Because telling the truth can get you in hot water. I’m going to need your help. I will run again because we need at least one person in Congress who won’t cave. Can you show support by contributing now?” Massie said in a Tuesday morning tweet from his campaign account.

Trump targeted Massie again in a post on Tuesday afternoon.

“‘Congressman’ Thomas Massie voted to delay the Debt Ceiling Bill from the Biden Administration to the Trump Administration (from September before the Election, to June after the Election!), without getting anything for this horrendously stupid move — When Republicans could have gotten EVERYTHING they wanted,” Trump asserted. 

“He additionally voted to delay the current Budget Disaster from the Biden Administration to the Trump Administration. I was running for Office at the time, doing my thing, and when I heard about this, it was, quite simply, hard to believe — A catastrophic mistake!” the president added.

TRUMP-BACKED BILL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN PASSES HOUSE DESPITE MUTINY THREATS

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“Now, and virtually on every other vote, he’s a very simple, ‘NO.’ He can’t even approve a Continuing Resolution when he approved them many times during his career as a ‘Congressman.’ Thomas Massie is a GRANDSTANDER, and the Great People of Kentucky are going to be watching a very interesting Primary in the not too distant future!”

Massie fired back in a post on X, labeling Trump’s Truth Social post “misleading.”

“This tweet from Trump’s account is very misleading. I never voted for a CR that became law. I did vote for a CR under McCarthy that included an 8% cut to all discretionary spending, but unfortunately that CR did not become law. Do research and you’ll find I’ve been consistent,” Massie tweeted.

Massie was ultimately the only Republican in the House who voted against passing the Trump-backed government funding measure on Tuesday.

Trump later issued another attack against the maverick Republican.

“So Massie can vote for Debt Ceiling AND Budget to be put into the Trump Administration, making them both the Republicans problem and responsibility, but can’t give us a simple Continuing Resolution vote allowing us the time necessary to come up with a “GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL??? Republicans only “NO Vote. GRANDSTANDER!” Trump declared in a Truth Social post early on Wednesday.

Trump previously attacked Massie ahead of the lawmaker’s GOP primary in 2020, but Massie went on to decisively win that contest in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, earning nearly 81% of the vote, according to the vote totals recorded in Kentucky’s official 2020 primary results.

Trump endorsed Massie shortly before the lawmaker’s 2022 primary.

Massie earned a bit over 75% of the vote in the 2022 Republican primary, with three other candidates splitting the rest of the votes, while the incumbent earned just shy of 76% in the 2024 primary, with two other candidates splitting the rest, the Bluegrass State’s official results indicate.

Pete Buttigieg is expected to rule out a run for an open Democrat-held Senate seat in his adopted home state of Michigan, according to two sources familiar with his plans.

And the likely move by the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, who served four years as Transportation secretary in the Biden administration, appears to clear the path for a potential 2028 White House bid by Buttigieg.

The news regarding Buttigieg was first reported earlier on Thursday by Politico.

BUTTIGIEG APPEARANCE ON THIS RADIO SHOW SPARKS MORE 2028 SPECULATION

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference in Long Beach, California, on July 18, 2024. (Tim Rue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Buttigieg had been eyeing a possible Senate run for months.

“I’ve been looking at it,”he said earlier this month as he pointed to the emerging race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters. The two-term Democrat announced in January that he won’t seek re-election in 2026.

“I’m going to continue to work on the things that I care about,” Buttigieg said as he appeared on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” “I have not decided what that means professionally, whether that means running for office soon or not. But I will make myself useful.”

THESE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028

In a sign of just how seriously he had been contemplating a Senate campaign in the pivotal Great Lakes battleground state, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News that Buttigieg recently met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the longtime leader of the chamber’s Democrats.

The 43-year-old Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who deployed to the war in Afghanistan and who served eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a long-shot candidate when he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. 

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks to supporters at a primary night election rally, Feb. 11, 2020, in Nashua, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

But his campaign caught fire, and he narrowly edged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to win the Iowa caucuses before coming in a close second to Sanders in the New Hampshire presidential primary. But Buttigieg, along with the rest of the Democratic field, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the then-former vice president won the South Carolina primary in a landslide, swept the Super Tuesday contests and eventually clinched the nomination before winning the White House.

But the millennial Democrat has maintained popularity within the Democratic Party as one of its younger stars.

DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR’S TRIP TO THIS KEY STATE SPARKING 2028 SPECULATION

Buttigieg in recent months has highlighted that he aims to stay involved. In a radio interview in December near the end of his tenure as transportation secretary, he said, “I will find ways to make myself useful, and maybe that’s running for office, and maybe that’s not. I’ll take the next few weeks and months to work through that.”

That interview, on a news-talk program in New Hampshire – the state that has held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary for over a century – sparked some 2028 Buttigieg buzz.

Pete Buttigieg speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

While Buttigieg enjoys strong name recognition and is a proven fundraiser, he could have faced carpetbagger attacks if he had run for Senate in Michigan.

TOP POLITICAL HANDICAPPER REVEALS DEMOCRATS CHANCES OF WINNING BACK THE SENATE MAJORITY

After his 2020 presidential campaign, Buttigieg and his spouse, Chasten, moved from red-state Indiana to neighboring Michigan, and have a home in Traverse City.

Buttigieg wasn’t the only Democrat taking a hard look to succeed Peters.

Sen. Gary Peters is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, the majority whip in Lansing, is likely to launch a Democratic campaign. McMorrow grabbed national attention in 2022 after delivering a floor speech in the Michigan Senate that was seen as a model for countering GOP attacks.

Among the other Democrats who’ve expressed interest in running are two-term Michigan Attorney General Dana Nesse and Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

Meanwhile, former Rep. Mike Rogers announced at the end of January that he was “strongly considering” a second straight Republican run for the Senate in Michigan.

ONLY ON FOX: SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S GUNNING FOR IN 2026

Fox News confirmed on Wednesday that Rogers is likely to announce his campaign in the coming weeks, and that he’s hiring veteran Republican strategist and 2024 Trump’s co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor.

Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats’ nominee, in last November’s election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.

Rogers is a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress.

Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers speaks at a campaign rally on Nov. 4, 2024, in Flint, Michigan. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

While Rogers was the first Republican to publicly make a move toward launching a 2026 Senate campaign in Michigan, GOP sources told Fox News last month that others who may consider running are Rep. John James – who’s in his second term in the House and was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in 2018 and 2020 – and longtime Rep. Bill Huizenga.

The Michigan Senate race is considered a “Toss Up” by top nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report. 

The Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47, after flipping four seats from blue to red in last November’s elections.

The party in power – clearly the Republicans right now – traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, an early read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.

Along with Michigan, Republicans will also be targeting battleground Georgia, where first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is considered vulnerable.

And in swing state New Hampshire, longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced on Thursday that she won’t seek re-election next year. 

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire announced on Wednesday that she won’t seek re-election next year. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The National Republican Senatorial Committee emphasized in a memo on Thursday that “the Granite State was already a great opportunity for Senate Republicans to expand the Majority, but yet another retirement vaults the seat into toss-up status, making it ripe for the taking in 2026.”

The GOP is also eyeing blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith last month announced she wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026.

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But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, as well as in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is also up in 2026. 

And Democrats are looking at red-leaning Ohio, where Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was appointed in January to succeed Vice President JD Vance in the Senate. Husted will run next year to finish out Vance’s term.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that his party would oppose the spending bill that Republicans drafted and passed through the House, as the Friday midnight deadline looms for Congress to take action to avoid a government shutdown. 

“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their Continuing Resolution without any input from Congressional Democrats,” Schumer wrote on X, echoing comments he made on the Senate floor. 

“Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to pass the House CR,” he wrote. “Our caucus is unified on a clean 30-day CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that.” 

Schumer called for a one-month spending bill to keep the government open until April 11 so that Democrats can better negotiate a deal. The continuing resolution, which passed through the House Tuesday on a nearly party-line vote of 217-213, would keep the government open for the next six months, for the rest of the fiscal year which ends Sept. 30.

TRUMP CRITICIZES SCHUMER, SAYS DEM LEADER ‘HAS BECOME A PALESTINIAN’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to the media following a Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2025.  (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The minority leader addressed the Senate floor after a lunch meeting with Democratic senators on Wednesday, as some were reportedly concerned that a shutdown would be more grim for their party despite them broadly being against the CR. 

“There are not the votes right now to pass it,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters after the meeting, according to NBC News. “Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. And so that’s what we are insisting on.”

“Quite frankly, both outcomes are bad,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., added, according to NBC. “Elections have consequences, but this is an extreme bill. If it passes, it will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground. If the government shuts down, that will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground, and so that is the dilemma in which we found ourselves.”

Warnock said the additional problem he has with the bill “is that I think it advances this project that we’re seeing come from the executive branch, this power grab that does not respect that the power of the purse is with the Congress.” 

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., has not voiced whether he would support the bill in the upper chamber. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I’m weighing the badness of each option,” Kelly said, acknowledging that supporting the six-month stopgap would set a bad precedent that Republicans can put together funding bills without Democrats involved in the negotiation process. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he would support the continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown, while Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said Democrats “are unified in not wanting to shut down the government” but should vote for a short-term bill. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS COIN ‘SCHUMER SHUTDOWN’ AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE ON TRUMP SPENDING BILL

President Donald Trump supports the six-month continuing resolution so Republicans can focus their time early in his second term on advancing his agenda on the border and taxes. 

The bill, which bolsters military spending while slashing non-defense domestic programs, needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has indicated he will reject the continuing resolution, so the GOP needs at least eight Democrats to cross the aisle in order to avoid a filibuster. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, speaks during a news conference following the Senate Republican policy luncheon at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Republicans argue it is too late to swap in a one-month bill, as the House is already on recess until March 24. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., signaled to reporters that he is open to having conversations with Democrats on adding potential amendments to the CR. 

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., torched Republicans for keeping Democrats from the negotiation table thus far.

“Republicans are in charge of the Senate, in charge of the House, and have the White House. The American people know who’s in charge,” he reportedly said. “It’s ridiculous for Republicans to try to blame the party that’s the minority everywhere.”

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Politico reported that multiple White House sources say that Schumer will allow enough centrist Democrats to join Republicans in supporting the continuing resolution, despite his vocal opposition of the measure on the Senate floor Wednesday. 

“They’re 100 percent gonna swallow it,” one White House official reportedly told the outlet. “They’re totally screwed.”

An Obama-appointed federal judge ordered Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reveal its plans to downsize the government and to identify all its employees, among other actions. 

The directives from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan come as 14 Democratic state attorneys general are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk is unconstitutionally wielding power, according to Politico. Chutkan gave Musk and DOGE three weeks to produce the information, which ultimately will help her decide whether to block DOGE’s operations altogether, it added. 

The ruling issued Wednesday requires Musk and DOGE to, among other directives: 

• Produce all DOGE and DOGE Temporary Organization planning, implementation, and operational documents concerning: (1) eliminating or reducing the size of federal agencies; (2) terminating employment of federal employees or placing such employees on leave, or (3) cancelling, freezing, or pausing federal contracts, grants, or other federal funding.

DOGE PROTESTERS RALLY OUTSIDE KEY DEPARTMENT AFTER EMPLOYEES ARE TOLD NOT TO REPORT TO WORK 

Elon Musk speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, on Tuesday, Feb. 11. (AP/Alex Brandon)

• Produce all DOGE and DOGE Temporary Organization planning, implementation, and operational documents regarding obtaining access, using, or making changes to federal databases or data management systems.
• Identify every individual serving as DOGE personnel.  For each person, identify (1) their title; (2) whether they are part of a DOGE Team at an agency, and if so, what agency; (3) all individuals to whom they directly report; and (4) who hired them.
• Produce all documents containing lists, charts, or summaries that DOGE personnel or Musk have created, compiled, or edited reflecting the planned or completed cancellation of federal contracts, grants, or other legal agreements.

READ THE X BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

DOGE AND AGENCIES CANCEL 200,000 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARDS 

The directives also call for admissions that “Elon Musk has directed actions of DOGE personnel” and that “Elon Musk is not supervised by any Officer of the United States other than the President of the United States.” 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, left, pays respect to the late retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as she lies in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 18, 2023 in Washington, D.C.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The White House did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. 

“The burden to Defendants is minimized by the narrow time period for responsive materials, the exclusion of electronic communications, explicitly exempting President Trump from the requests, extending Defendants’ time to respond, and denying Plaintiffs’ request to notice depositions,” Chutkan said in her decision. 

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk depart after looking at Tesla vehicles on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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“Plantiffs’ Discovery Requests shall be limited to information and materials regarding agencies, employees, contracts, grants, federal funding, legal agreements, databases, or data management systems that involve or engage with Plaintiff States; including entities and institutions operated or funded by Plaintiff States,” she added.

The recent cancelation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University by the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism was seen as a major wake-up call to the country’s universities.

In its press release, the task force announced that the “decisive action” is “a notice to every school and university that receives federal dollars.”

Leo Terrell, leader of the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, told Fox News Digital that Columbia was an initial target for funding cuts because the school has been “in my opinion, the worst of the worst when it comes to allowing this type of conduct to take place and to continue.”

Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive director of the Orthodox Union, told Fox News Digital that “the more dramatic action that the [Trump] administration seems ready to take … seems to be the necessary approach for something as urgent as what we have been facing.” Hauer added that his community has “a lot of hope.”

TRUMP ADMIN WON’T TOLERATE ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS, SAYS LEO TERRELL AS NYC SCHOOLS UNDER MICROSCOPE

Protesters demonstrate near Columbia University in New York City on Feb. 2, 2024. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Hauer added that recent protests at Columbia University and Barnard College “reminded us how alive the issue [of campus antisemitism] is.” 

Terrell said President Donald Trump’s executive order directing increased efforts to fight antisemitism “set the tone for every single agency” involved in the task force, which includes the Departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and State, in addition to the U.S. General Services Administration and the FBI. Terrell said newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon “is involved in this extensively, per the directive from [U.S. Attorney General] Pam Bondi.” 

He says experts within his task force will be assessing schools based on about nine criteria to determine whether they are adequately protecting Jewish students. In addition to looking for evidence of hate crimes and examining schools’ tax-exempt status, Terrell said the task force will search for violations of Title VI and Title VII in the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Title VI protects Americans who engage in programs that receive federal funds from discrimination based upon race, color and national origin. Former President Joe Biden’s administration used Title VI when the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights examined hostile antisemitic environments on K-12 and college campuses. Title VII prevents federal employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or color.

The task force’s move at Columbia follows weeks of protests at the university and affiliated Barnard College. In January, students stormed a Columbia classroom and “allegedly threw around [fliers] filled with hateful speech.” The following month, more than 50 protesters took over a building at Barnard College and were said to have assaulted an employee.

COLUMBIA STUDENT DESCRIBES ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS: ‘IT’S TERRIFYING’

Leo Terrell (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura)

During a March 5 protest on Barnard’s campus, protesters were pictured passing out pamphlets from the “Hamas media office,” in addition to pictures of former Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah and stickers featuring former chair of the Hamas terror organization Yahya Sinwar, according to the Times of Israel. In a press release, Columbia confirmed that four of its students were arrested during the Barnard “disruption.” The students were subsequently “suspended and restricted from campus.”

The situation at Columbia has grown more complex after former student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly advocating for Hamas. Terrell said Khalil’s arrest was not conducted at the behest of the task force but explained that “all of this is coming out of the Trump executive order.” 

TRUMP VOWS ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST MAHMOUD KHALIL WAS ‘FIRST ARREST OF MANY TO COME’

The NYPD cleared pro-Palestinian demonstrators from Barnard College after a group of student protesters occupied Milstein Library on March 5, 2025. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A Columbia representative did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital about the cancellation of its grants, its posture toward ICE on campus or whether it plans to continue employing anti-Israel professors who are accused of spreading antisemitic views. 

Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, released a statement on March 7 in which she said “Columbia is taking the government’s action very seriously.” Armstrong sought to “assure the entire Columbia community that we are committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns. To that end, Columbia can, and will, continue to take serious action toward combatting antisemitism on our campus. This is our number one priority.”

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When it comes to demonstrating their effective efforts to combat antisemitism, Terrell said schools must “earn trust.” Citing as an example “the little feeble action” Columbia has taken in response to funding cuts, Terrell asked, “Is it the money driving them or their concern for Jewish-American students?” 

Terrell also said there will be no special rewards for schools that have managed antisemitism without federal involvement.

“They have a fundamental right to protect Jewish Americans and Jewish students,” he said.

FIRST ON FOX: West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey hosted former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in Charleston on Wednesday to sign into law the Riley Gaines Act — codifying the definitions of “man” and “woman” into state law.

The bill, sponsored by Senate President Randy Smith, R-Blackwater Falls, and Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Huntington, passed overwhelmingly in the 31-3 GOP-majority upper chamber.

A sole Democrat, Sen. Joey Garcia of Fairmont, voted “nay,” and the House approved the Senate’s bill 90-8 along party lines.

According to text of the measure, it “reaffirms longstanding meaning[s]” of sex, male and female in state law, preserves women’s restrooms, sleeping quarters, locker rooms and other private facilities for the sole use of women – to prevent “abuse, harassment, sexual assault and violence committed by men.”

US-CHINA ENERGY RACE HINGES ON APPALACHIAN COAL, WV GOV SAYS, AS CHARLESTON SEEKS TO BOLSTER TRUMP PLANS

Gov. Patrick Morrisey, Riley Gaines, IWF’s Heather Higgins (r.), and Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Charles Town, (l.) are seen at a bill-signing event. (Screenshot/Gov. Patrick Morrisey)

Morrisey said Wednesday he was inspired by the story of 14-year-old shot-put athlete Emmy Salerno from Shinnston, outside Clarksburg. 

Salerno and her teammates refused to participate in the 2023 Harrison County middle school championship event as a protest against being primed to compete against a transgender student athlete.

Morrisey, then attorney general, threw his support behind a lawsuit over the situation.

“This is an incredible day for West Virginia,” Morrisey said Wednesday, noting that Gaines, along with Independent Women’s Forum president Heather Higgins, stood beside him.

He went on to credit House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay; state Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Charles Town; and Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Buffalo, as crucial in getting the law passed: “I worked on this issue for a very long time, and even right now we have multiple cases up at the U.S. Supreme Court,” Morrisey said, adding that in the end, the true heroes of the movement are the athletes themselves, like Gaines and Salerno.

Hess Crouse told Fox News Digital that she was happy to see the bill succeed.

“I have stood firmly in support of this bill alongside Riley Gaines,” she said. “There are undeniable biological differences between men and women, and allowing men and boys to compete in women’s sports or enter female-only spaces is not only unfair but also a serious safety concern.”

MOUNTAIN STATE CRACKDOWN: WV GOV’S ORDER LEADS TO 60 SUSPECTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINAL DETENTIONS

Riley Gaines speaks after Gov. Patrick Morrisey signs WV’s Riley Gaines Act. (Screenshot/Gov. Morrisey)

“Protecting the integrity of women’s sports and single-sex spaces is essential, and this law is a victory for women’s rights, fairness, and safety,” Hess Crouse added.

Rucker told the Wheeling Intelligencer the bill is “not a question of hating [transgender people] or calling them names or wanting them abused.”

“I know several [transgender people] and I respect them and I believe they should be safe to live their lives and choose what they want to do — but it does not override the right of women who do not want to share space with… a biological male.” 

Meanwhile, Garcia — the lone Senate Democrat in opposition — said transgenderism is not “a decision people make but who they are,” and questioned the bill’s necessity.

Additionally, West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin denounced Wednesday’s ceremony as a “photo op” for Republicans.

“I hope Riley Gaines enjoyed her quick stop in West Virginia to celebrate Gov. Morrisey’s bill to make bathrooms great again,” quipped Pushkin, who is also a delegate representing Charleston.

“While Republicans lined up for selfies and high-fives over legislation about who uses which restroom, West Virginians were still waiting on lawmakers to tackle real issues — like jobs, healthcare, and roads we can drive on without risking damage to our cars,” Pushkin said.

“Maybe next time Ms. Gaines visits, she’ll remind Republicans that working families need fewer political stunts and more actual solutions.”

At the ceremony, Morrisey noted that President Donald Trump also led on the issue with his executive order similar to West Virginia’s legislation and his recent White House spat with Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.

“This is an issue that has nearly universal support,” he said. “Yes, the woke left, they always dig in their heels, and they try to force the rest of the country to adhere to the radical gender ideology. Well, that’s not going to happen here. That’s not going to happen in West Virginia.”

Gaines remarked that when she took to Morrisey’s podium, it seemed a “little bit silly” that she got a standing ovation for “merely saying men and women are different.”

Gaines rose to the fore on the issue after competing against University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete, at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. She offered a “shout out” to Salerno for her courage to stand up against a similar situation, and said it is refreshing that Morrisey and others are leading on this issue.

On the flip side, she said, some governors have dug in their heels with “woke” changes to biological definitions and scholastic sports regulations.

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She pointed to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, who caused a firestorm when his statewide budget proposal changed the term “mother” to “inseminated person” and “husband” to “spouse.”

Evers drew heat from Republicans across the country, as well as Mississippi-born Wisconsin icon Brett Favre, who called Evers’ move “nonsense.”

Evers later defended the move as a way to give “people a chance that are using IVF, which I think Republicans are kind of OK with — [and] have legal certainty about a mom being able to have a year of care.”

At the Charleston event, Gaines added: “We’ve been called a lot: ‘cervix-havers’, ‘uterus owners’, ‘menstruaters’, ‘chest-feeders’, ‘birthing persons’ — but ‘inseminated persons’ really takes the cake for me.”

In response, Morrisey turned to the assembled lawmakers and quipped, “You’re not going to send me a bill with ‘inseminated person’ written in it, not in West Virginia.”

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order seeking to penalize Democrat-linked law firm Perkins Coie, siding with plaintiffs from the firm who argued that the order was unconstitutional and a violation of due process protections. 

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell comes just one day after attorneys representing the law firm Perkins Coie filed a request for an emergency restraining order blocking Trump’s executive order from taking force. 

Among other things, the order called for the firm’s employees to be stripped of their security clearances and banned from accessing government buildings. It also called for the termination of the firm’s existing contracts with government clients— actions Judge Howell appeared to agree with.

“That’s pretty extraordinary power for the president to exercise,” she noted during the hearing.

Attorneys for Perkins Coie argued that the executive order is a violation of due process protections, free speech, and free association protections under the U.S. constitution, and argued it would effectively force the firm’s business to a halt.

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

Fox News Digital first reported that President Trump would sign more than 200 executive actions on Inauguration Day. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

“It truly is life-threatening,” attorneys for Perkins Coie told the judge. “It will spell the end of the law firm.”

Judge Howell appeared to uphold their concerns, noting at one point in the hearing that it “sends little chills down my spine” that the Trump administration moved to label the firm as a threat and deny them access to government entities and businesses. 

Lawyers for Perkins Coie argued the executive order would be “like a tsunami waiting to hit the firm” in terms of damaging impact. Already, they said, there is evidence that some of the firm’s clients have withdrawn legal work from their firm or are considering doing so, moves they said would cause the firm to lose “signifcant revenue.”

The order, signed by President Donald Trump last week, sought to penalize Perkins Coie, which has long represented Democratic-linked causes and candidates, including Trump’s former opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 presidential election. 

The firm also played a role in hiring Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm that commissioned the so-called “Steele Dossier” and published it shortly before the 2016 election. 

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, appeared in federal court to represent the Trump administration in the lawsuit. The hearing, and rare court appearance from Mizelle, a senior member of the U.S. attorney general’s office, comes one week after Trump signed the executive order.

The order, titled “Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP,” accused Perkins Coie of “dishonest and dangerous activity” that they alleged undermines “democratic elections, the integrity of our courts, and honest law enforcement,” as well as “racially discriminating against its own attorneys and staff” through its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

AXED GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG SAYS TRUMP HAS RIGHT TO FIRE HIM

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 5: U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by Pam Bondi (C), speaks before Bondi is sworn in as U.S. Attorney General in the Oval Office at the White House on February 05, 2025, in Washington, DC. The Senate confirmed Bondi as Attorney General with a 54-46 vote on Tuesday.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump told reporters last week it was an “absolute honor” to sign the order, adding that “weaponization” against a political opponent “should never be allowed to happen again.”

However, Perkins Coie attorneys argue the Trump administration has done just that by targeting the firm. 

“Its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients,” they noted in the emergency lawsuit.

Attorneys representing Perkins Coie told Howell that roughly 25% of total firm revenue comes from its contracts with government clients, which they noted would be terminated by Trump’s executive order.

Notably, this is not the first time the Trump administration has sought to restrict the work of certain law firms he sees as potentially opposed to his interests.

Earlier this year, Trump also issued an executive order targeting the law firm Covington & Burling, which represents former special counsel Jack Smith, who was tapped by Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate Trump in his handling of classified documents and actions related to the 2020 election.

The order against Covington & Burling was slightly less restrictive, however, and revoked the security clearances of just two lawyers at the firm. Like Perkins Coie, it orderd the review of all the firm’s government contracts and clients, though it is unclear if the review has forced any terminations of the contracts.

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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

A California board voted unanimously to allocate millions of dollars for services aimed at protecting illegal immigrants and refugees in the community.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors in Oakland decided at Tuesday’s regular meeting to set aside around $2.2 million for communities in their area in response to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, at the request of the board’s ad hoc Alameda County Together for All Committee.

“I’m committed, and I believe Supervisor [Elisa] Marquez is also committed, to making sure the board, the public, has more information and that this work is truly effective in reaching every single person in this community that is potentially at risk,” Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, chairwoman of the committee, said at the meeting.

CALIFORNIA EXPLOITING MEDICAID ‘LOOPHOLE’ TO PAY BILLIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTHCARE, STUDY SAYS 

Supervisor Elisa Marquez (left), Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas (right). (Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas / Facebook)

Minutes from the meeting show that the board approved the use of $50,000 to the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach to “provide legal services and advocacy to marginalized immigrant communities.” The money is being pulled from the District 5 Prior Year Savings fund and the Discretionary Services and Supplies funds.

The board also approved up to $700,000 to be used by Centro Legal de La Raza to establish a Rapid Response Hotline, Know Your Rights training sessions, pre-emptive legal services and community volunteer network response coordination.

The organization describes itself as a “legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant, Black, and Latinx communities through bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy.”

The approval on Tuesday comes after the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved $1.3 million in February for illegal immigrants facing deportation. (FBI)

Trabajadores Unidos Workers United was also approved for up to $500,000 to be used on “resources and preparation to immigrant and refugee communities, including training, mutual aid, and neighborhood resources.”

“TUWU believes in upholding the power of working-class immigrants through forging class consciousness and growing the leadership of low-wage immigrant workers,” the organization says on its website. “TUWU seeks to abolish workplace exploitation through organizing, political education, and direct action that shifts power to the hands of the working class.”

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING USE OF TAXPAYER MONEY TO ‘INCENTIVIZE OR SUPPORT’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION 

The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice was also given up to $1 million for legal services.

According to its website, the CCIJ’s mission is to “utilize coordination, advocacy, and legal services to fight for the liberation of immigrants in detention in California.”

“For the community work, the proposal is that the county would fund half of one year’s budget and there’s private fundraising happening to fund the other half,” Fortunato Bas said, in part.

Supervisor David Haubert said the funding is “a community effort” and is being made possible through a “public/private partnership,” emphasizing the financial burden is not solely on the county.

Fortunato Bas said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that one-third of Alameda County residents are immigrants and “half of our children grow up in a household with at least one immigrant parent.”

“We are a diverse county, and our community needs protection. The policies of the federal administration are causing fear among our residents,” she wrote, in part. “The unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors demonstrates our county’s commitment to our immigrant and refugee communities, who will have more access to critical information, services, and legal support.”

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The money approved on Tuesday comes after the board authorized $1.3 million in February for the Alameda County Public Defender Office’s Immigration Unit, which provides deportation defense and legal services to illegal immigrants facing deportation, according to NBC Bay Area.

A New York state elected official was seen Wednesday appearing to attempt to get past police while shouting at border czar Tom Homan, who was in the state capital to call out Democrats over their illegal immigration policies.

Assembly member and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was seen in Albany shouting at Homan over the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and the recent detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and anti-Israel activist.

Video footage posted online shows Mamdani trying to get past New York State police troopers while shouting at Homan.

ICE AGENTS ARREST ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST WHO LED PROTESTS ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FOR MONTHS 

New York state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani is seen shouting toward border czar Tom Homan in Albany on Wednesday. (Assemblymember Zohran K. Mamdani/X)

“How many more New Yorkers will you detain? How many more New Yorkers without charge?” he shouted. “Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan?”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. 

In a post on X, Mamdani said he confronted Homan, who visited Albany to “do Trump’s bidding — push for mass deportations, carry out the assault on working class New Yorkers, and justify the unjustifiable detention of legal permanent resident and father-to-be, Mahmoud Khalil.”

“Under Trump’s watch, we are seeing the erosion of the fundamental rights that make us American, including the right to peacefully protest injustice and speak freely about our beliefs,” Mamdani said in a statement provided by his campaign to Fox News Digital. “Meanwhile, [New York City Mayor] Eric Adams is standing idly by, because he knows as long as he kisses Trump’s ring, he can avoid legal accountability. New Yorkers deserve a leader who will stand up for our Constitutional rights against advancing authoritarianism.”

Khalil, a Palestinian raised in Syria and a permanent U.S. resident, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his university-owned apartment on Saturday and told they were revoking his green card and student visa, according to Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer.

Columbia University student and anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil played a major role in the protests against Israel at Columbia and met with university officials on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group of student groups urging the university to divest from Israel. (Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo | Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Khalil played a major role in the protests against Israel at Columbia University and met with university officials on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group of student groups urging the university to divest from Israel, according to CNN. 

President Donald Trump announced Khalil’s arrest on Monday, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration would revoke the green cards of any Hamas supporters in the U.S. and deport them.

FEDERAL AGENCIES TO REVIEW COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S CONTRACTS, GRANTS AFTER ‘FAILURE’ TO PROTECT JEWISH STUDENTS

Mamdani said border czar Tom Homan smirked when confronted. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

“Following my previously signed executive orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a radical foreign pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University,” Trump posted Monday on Truth Social. “This is the first arrest of many to come.”

Homan planned to stand with state Republican lawmakers fighting to repeal the state’s Green Light law, which is being legally challenged by the Trump administration. The law, also known as the Driver’s License Act, allows illegal immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.

Mamdani said Homan smirked when confronted. 

“Because there is no answer from taking a man from his pregnant wife who is due to deliver their newborn in a month,” he said, noting that Khalil told Columbia University officials that he feared for his life. 

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“The cowardice that is on display across our city and our state is unacceptable,” he added. “New Yorkers are looking to us. They are looking to their leaders for courage and for conviction, and what they are finding instead is collaboration.”

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner shut down a hurricane relief draft plan put forth by the city of Asheville, North Carolina, that included a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative that would have prioritized some residents over others, his office said.

“Once again, let me be clear, DEI is dead at HUD,” Turner said of axing the plan. “We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”

“HUD looks forward to helping thousands of North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene by directing funding assistance to impacted businesses, nonprofit organizations and neighborhoods,” Turner added. “However, Asheville’s draft action plan incorporated DEI criteria to prioritize some impacted residents over others, which was unacceptable. After HUD informed Asheville that its plan was unsatisfactory and it would not be approved, the city assured us that it was updating its draft action plan to be compliant.” 

The city of Asheville, which is a Democratic stronghold in a state that has elected Republican presidential candidates since 2012, posted a draft plan to its website on March 4 on how it could distribute millions of dollars for Hurricane Helene disaster relief, including a section that focused on DEI.

HUD OFFICES BECAME AS VACANT AS A ‘SPIRIT HALLOWEEN’ STORE UNDER BIDEN: ADMIN SOURCES

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner shut down a hurricane relief draft plan put forth by the city of Asheville, North Carolina, that included a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative that would have prioritized some residents over others. (Kent Nishimura/Reuters)

HUD allocated $225 million in a Community Development Block Grant in January under the Biden administration, after Hurricane Helene ripped through the state in September 2024, devastating thousands of residents, most notably in the western Appalachian region, with flooding, high winds, power outages and complete destruction of communities. At least 106 people died in the Tar Heel State during the storm, according to the state.

The city of Asheville detailed under a section in its draft plan titled “How Programs Will Support Vulnerable Populations” that minority- and women-owned businesses would be prioritized for assistance. 

HUD TERMINATES OBAMA-ERA HOUSING RULE THAT TRUMP WARNED WOULD ‘DESTROY’ HOME VALUES

“Within the Small Business Support Program, the City will prioritize assistance for Minority and Women Owned Businesses (MWBE) within the scoring criteria outlined within the policies and procedures,” reads the draft plan, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

HUD allocated $225 million in a Community Development Block Grant in January under the Biden administration, after Hurricane Helene ripped through North Carolina in September 2024, devastating thousands of residents, most notably in the western Appalachian region, with flooding, high winds, power outages and complete destruction of communities. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

HUD was alerted to the language in the draft plan and took appropriate action against it after investigating the matter, Fox News Digital learned. 

HUD cited that on President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order focused on “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs” and one focused on restoring merit-based opportunity and “ending illegal discrimination,” which ended DEI practices at the federal level in favor of merit-based systems.

“At HUD, we are taking a detailed and deliberate approach in every aspect of our work to ensure we are serving all communities regardless of race, color, or creed,” Turner said in a comment Wednesday to Fox News Digital. “Let this send a clear message that no detail will go unnoticed, adherence to President Trump’s Executive Orders is mandatory. We appreciate that Asheville has reversed course and is now working with us to get this right.” 

Democratic Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said in comments provided to Fox News Digital that the city was “working closely with HUD as we continue to navigate the changing compliance requirements of the new administration.”

“We are grateful for the administration’s support in our recovery efforts,” Manheimer continued. “The City will ensure it meets current federal standards in order to facilitate approval of critically needed funding to help the city recover from the devastation of Tropical Storm Helene.” 

The city released an updated draft on Monday that did not include a section on prioritizing minority- and women-owned businesses, Fox New Digital found. 

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP HUD SECRETARY CANCELS $4M IN DEI CONTRACTS AFTER LAUNCHING DOGE TASK FORCE

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner announced on Fox News in February that the agency was in the midst of canceling $4 million in DEI contracts after the freshly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force uncovered $260 million earlier in the month. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

TRUMP ADMIN DIRECTS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO END DEI CONSIDERATIONS IN GOVT CONTRACTS AS DOGE’S IMPACT SPREADS

Turner announced on Fox News in February that HUD was in the midst of canceling $4 million in DEI contracts after the federal agency’s freshly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force uncovered $260 million earlier in the month. 

The DEI contracts focused on “culture transformation,” according to HUD, including “outward mindset training” — which is a DEI initiative aimed at teaching people to focus their attention on inclusivity and the needs and objectives of others — as well as diversity and inclusion research subscription services.

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner shut down a hurricane relief draft plan put forth by the city of Asheville, North Carolina, that included a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative that would have prioritized some residents over others, his office said.  (Getty Images)

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“It is inexcusable the American taxpayer was footing the bill for the promotion of DEI propaganda,” Turner said at the time. “Not only was this costing millions of taxpayer dollars, but it was also wasting valuable time that should have been used to better serve individuals and families in rural, tribal and urban communities. DEI is dead at HUD.” 

FIRST ON FOX: The impact of a migrant surge at one sanctuary city airport is being revealed in new information provided to a Senate committee investigating the handling of the Biden-era migrant crisis.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, recently subpoenaed the Massachusetts Port Authority for documents that Republicans on the committee had requested last year about the use of facilities to allow migrants to shelter at Boston Logan International Airport.

Migrants had been seen camping out at airports at the height of the Biden-era crisis as migrants descended on sanctuary cities like Boston.

TED CRUZ SLAPS BLUE STATE AUTHORITY WITH SUBPOENA OVER SHELTERING MIGRANTS AT AIRPORT: ‘RECKLESS’

Sen. Ted Cruz (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Donald Trump put a stop to Biden’s open border policy, but a full investigation of this scandal is vital to both prevent its future reemergence and hold accountable those complicit in Biden’s lawless immigration orders,” Cruz told Fox News Digital last month.

In the responses to the committee by Massport, obtained by Fox News Digital, the port authority estimated that more than 5,000 migrants arrived at Logan between July 2023 and July 2024.

“… Massport estimates that 5,500 migrants flew into Logan Airport during the period resulting in actions taken to respond to the unprecedented arrival of migrants to the airport,” the agency said in response to questions.

SENATE COMMERCE REPUBLICANS EXPAND PROBE INTO AIRPORTS IN ‘SANCTUARY’ JURISDICTIONS SHELTERING MIGRANTS

At the peak, there were 352 migrants staying at Logan Airport in a 4,100-foot area of Terminal E. The authority said migrants were taken to state centers every morning, although some returned and stayed there.

As for how much the stays cost, authorities estimated the cost per day was $2,520 and the total cost was around $779,000 for additional staffing, services and transportation. Between July and November 2023, the average number of migrants staying overnight was less than 100, but in the following months the highest daily averages were in April (181), May (265) and June (262).

Officials said it did not reduce the capacity of the airport and that “all actions were taken in accordance with Federal and state law, to afford the traveling public with a safe, secure, efficient and orderly airport operation.”

Migrants sleep on the floor at Logan Airport. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The officials also said that no cost was passed on to the taxpayers. Instead, the majority of costs were absorbed by Massport, while $332,000 of additional costs were passed on to air carriers, and at “no point were airport facilities turned into housing for migrants.”

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They further noted there were “time-to-time minor conflicts” from migrants, but none requiring arrests or criminal charges.

Ultimately, migrants were barred from using the airport as a shelter and instead were offered taxpayer-funded accommodation in July 2024.

“As of July 9, 2024, there was a policy change announced by the state that migrant families could no longer stay overnight at Logan, and no families have stayed at the airport since then,” a Massport spokesperson said. “We are working closely with the Committee to voluntarily cooperate fully with their request.”

Lawmakers had initially requested information from Massport last year, arguing that the use of facilities to house migrants violated the conditions of federal funding.

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The new push comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on arrivals at the southern border. Numbers of migrants at the border plunged last summer and have continued to drop under the new administration.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering a review of military fitness and grooming standards as the Trump administration continues to reverse policies critics say have made America’s fighting force appear weaker on the global stage. 

In a memo Wednesday to senior Pentagon leadership, Hegseth ordered Darin Selnick, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, to gather existing standards in all U.S. military branches related to physical fitness, body composition and grooming, including regulations on beards. 

“We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Hegseth said in a statement. “Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging.”

SECRETARY HEGSETH SAYS THE DOD DOES NOT DO ‘CLIMATE CHANGE CRAP’

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, Feb. 11, 2025.  (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The review will “illuminate how the department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards,” he added. 

DOGE INITIAL FINDINGS ON DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DEI SPENDING COULD SAVE $80M, AGENCY SAYS

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, participates in physical training with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), a U.S. Army Special Forces battalion based in Stuttgart, Germany.  (DefSec Hegseth on X)

Leaders will look at how those standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015, and provide insight into how they have evolved and the effect of those changes.  

Hegseth has vowed to bring back tougher standards while reversing “woke” policies that don’t align with restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence.   

U.S. Army Capt. Kristen Griest participates in training at the U.S. Army Ranger School April 20, 2015, at Fort Benning, Ga. (Scott Brooks/U.S. Army via Getty Images)

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“Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,” he said in a Jan. 25 memo to service members. “The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”

SpaceX and NASA scrubbed the planned rocket launch of Crew-10 to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday due to a hydraulic issue with one of the ground systems, according to officials giving a live broadcast of the event.

NASA and SpaceX will get their next opportunity to send the rocket into space when the launch window opens on Thursday at 7:25 p.m.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared a message of support for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 ahead of their launch on Wednesday, highlighting the U.S. military’s prominent role in the mission.

“I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X. “We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon.” 

TRUMP SENDS SPECIAL MESSAGE TO STRANDED ASTRONAUTS, JOKES HE MAY GO ALONG FOR RESCUE: ‘WE LOVE YOU’

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stranded in space since June 2024. (NASA)

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 was slated to launch from the Kennedy Space Center at 7:48 p.m. on Wednesday.

NASA officials said Wednesday night’s launch was scrubbed due to a hydraulics issue with a clamp arm on the launch tower.

Officials have not mentioned when the next launch attempt will take place, though there are alternative times on Thursday and Friday, including the next opening on Thursday at 7:25 p.m.

In the meantime, the crew will remain in the capsule while they wait for the “egress” team to remove them.

Once cleared, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry a crew of four to the ISS for a six-month residency. The mission is set to usher in the much-anticipated homecoming of Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams.

NASA ASTRONAUTS NOT ‘FRETTING’ OVER EXTENDED MISSION, ‘GRATEFUL’ FOR MORE TIME IN SPACE AFTER STARLINER WOES

The official portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members with Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov, left, of Roscosmos, Pilot Nichole Ayers and Commander Anne McClain, both NASA astronauts, and Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).  (NASA/Bill Stafford/Helen Arase Vargas)

“President Trump said to Elon Musk, ‘get the astronauts home and do it now’ – and they’re responding,” Hegseth continued. “And they’re bringing NASA astronauts, [who] also happen to be retired U.S. Navy Capt. Butch Wilmore and retired U.S. Navy Capt. Suni Williams, home.”

The American astronauts have been stranded on the ISS for nine months after arriving there in June of last year. They were only supposed to stay for about a week. 

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft had transported the pair of astronauts from Earth to the ISS. However, it returned to Earth unmanned in September. This came after Starliner suffered “helium leaks” and “issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters” while docking with the ISS. 

“Now, the Department of Defense is also proud to have multiple branches and two active-duty U.S. military officers represented in the mission that’s kicking off tonight between NASA and SpaceX. Yet, U.S. Army Colonel Anne McClain and U.S. Air Force Major Nichole Ayers,” Hegseth said. “So this is Army, Air Force and Navy tonight.”

In addition to McClain and Ayers, Crew-10 also includes an astronaut from Japan and one from Russia. 

BOEING’S STARLINER SPACECRAFT LANDS BACK ON EARTH WITHOUT A CREW

The planned launch comes after President Donald Trump asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to rescue the stranded astronauts sooner than NASA had planned.

Trump has repeatedly said former President Joe Biden “abandoned” them in space.

Musk definitively told FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow earlier in the week: “We’re gonna get ’em back.”

BOEING STARLINER UNDOCKS FROM SPACE STATION, HEADS TO EARTH UNMANNED AS CREW STAYS BEHIND

NASA said there will be a “handover period” with the SpaceX Crew-10 before Wilmore and Williams head back to their home planet. They could return to Earth as early as Sunday.

NASA ASTRONAUT SAYS STARLINER CREW LIKELY TO CHANGE EXERCISE ROUTINE DURING EXTENDED ISS STAY 

Last week, Trump shared a special message for Wilmore and Williams.

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“Elon [Musk] is right now preparing a ship to go up and get them,” the president told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy. “We love you, and we’re coming up to get you, and you shouldn’t have been up there so long.”

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.

An Illinois lawmaker has introduced a bill that critics say will make it legal for anyone experiencing a mental health episode to attack police officers.

Democratic state Rep. Lisa Davis, an attorney in the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender’s office, introduced House Bill 3458 in February. 

Under the terms of the legislation, the bill would “[provide] that it is a defense to aggravated battery when the individual battered is a peace officer and the officer responded to an incident in which the officer interacted with a person whom a reasonable officer could believe was having a mental health episode and the person with whom the officer interacted has a documented mental illness and acted abruptly.”

‘PRO-CRIMINAL’: BLUE STATE SHERIFF UNLOADS ON ‘DISGUSTING’ BILL TARGETING THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE

Illinois state Rep. Lisa Davis has introduced a bill that would legalize attacks on police officers by those appearing to have a mental health episode.  (Getty Images | Illinois General Assembly)

The bill has picked up two co-sponsors, Reps. Marcus Evans and Kelly Cassidy. 

Currently, a person in Illinois can be charged with aggravated battery if they attack “an individual whom the person knows to be a peace officer, community policing volunteer, fireman, private security officer, correctional institution employee, or Department of Human Services employee supervising or controlling sexually dangerous persons or sexually violent persons.”

Second Cop City, a blog that reports on Chicago policing matters, first reported on the bill.

Second Cop City, a blog that reports on Chicago policing matters, first reported on the bill. (Chicago Police Department)

TRUMP SUPPORTING CALIFORNIA SHERIFF LAUNCHES REPUBLICAN RUN FOR GOVERNOR IN RACE TO SUCCEED NEWSOM

“If this passes, mental illness will be an excuse to attack and beat police officers,” the blog states. “In fact, who wants to bet there will be thousands of people who suddenly have doctor notes that permit them to attack cops?”

Davis’ proposal would legalize attacks on peace officers. Other first responders would be spared, such as firefighters, like her husband, CWB Chicago reported. 

The bill has been referred to the Illinois General Assembly Rules Committee, where unpopular legislation goes to die, the news report states. 

The bill has been referred to the Illinois General Assembly Rules Committee, where unpopular legislation goes to die. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Davis and the Chicago chapter of the Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. 

A member of a state panel advising the director of Oregon’s Health Authority (OHA) on best practices and policies in mental health identifies as a “turtle.”

JD Holt, who also goes by “JD Terrapin” on Facebook, is one of roughly two dozen “consumers” on the OHA’s Consumer Advisory Council (OCAC). The council, established by administrative statute, is appointed by OHA Director Dr. Sejal Hathi, who was appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat.

The purpose of the OCAC is to advise Hathi on the state’s provision of mental health services, including through investigations and reviews of current practices. 

“Hello everybody, it’s JD. I use they, them and turtle for my pronouns. I’m in the Springfield-Eugene area and I get to be part of the council,” Holt said during a Dec. 20 virtual OCAC meeting. Gender Wiki, a website that documents the list of non-binary genders, describes “turtlegender,” sometimes called “tortoisegender,” as “a xenogender identity in which one feels a gendered connection to turtles.”

TRUMP ADMIN CUTS FUNDING TO MAINE UNIVERSITIES AS STATE DEFIES ORDER TO BAN TRANS ATHLETES FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS

“One may feel their gender is replaced by a ‘turtle,’ or their gender is best described with the use of turtles,” the site reads. 

During a Dec. 17 meeting, an OHA member introduced themselves as, “Luke A Shooting Star.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, OHA said that every member of the Consumer Advisory Council and the perspectives they bring “are highly valued.”

“In following Oregon statute, every member of the Oregon Consumer Advisory Council is someone with lived experience, bring [sic] the voice and experiences of people across the state that have experienced behavioral health challenges,” said OHA spokesperson Amber Shoebridge.

PARENTAL RIGHTS GROUP FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST OREGON SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR ALLEGED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION 

In response to questions about how Hathi goes about appointing members of the committee, Shoebridge said it is a joint effort between existing members on the council, a seven-member committee appointed by the council and the director, who ultimately makes the final decision. Shoebridge added that those selected “represent independent, consumer-run organizations, consumer-run advocacy organizations and consumer-operated advisory councils that are active or headquartered in this state.”

JD “Terrapin” Holt, who uses the pronouns “they/them” and “turtle,” sits on the Oregon Health Authority’s Consumer Advisory Council.  (Oregon Health Authority)

Duties of the advisory council, among other things, include the ability to “investigate,” “evaluate” and “recommend” the state’s behavioral health resources. Specifically, the OCAC develops a working plan with recommendations and goals every year, and is also given the authority to establish “committees to investigate specific areas of interest related to Behavioral Health services.”

The council’s governing rules were updated as recently as last year, and state legislators have previously taken steps to strengthen its role in shaping decisions on mental health service policies. The OHA did not respond to questions about how much money gets allocated to the OCAC in time for publication; however, the OHA budget for the 2023-2025 biennium was $35.8 billion, according to the agency’s website. 

PENTAGON SAYS TRANSGENDER TROOPS ARE DISQUALIFIED FROM SERVICE WITHOUT AN EXEMPTION

Each council member serves for a term of two years and can be reelected once, according to the administrative statute establishing the panel. 

Duties of the advisory council, among other things, include the ability to “investigate,” “evaluate” and “recommend” the state’s behavioral health resources.  (Adobe Stock)

According to a Fox News review of Holt’s public Facebook posts, Holt has promoted “anarchist” causes and encouraged people to obstruct immigration enforcement actions.

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“WHAT TO DO AT AN ICE CHECKPOINT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE WHITE and/or FEEL THE NEED TO JAM UP THE WORKS,” Holt wrote in a Jan. 29 Facebook post. Holt’s post encouraged people to yell and scream at federal immigration authorities and make their jobs as “difficult and uncomfortable” as possible.

Fox News Digital reached out to Holt, Hathi and Kotek, but did not hear back by press time.

FIRST ON FOX: A longtime ally of California Gov. Gavin Newsom repeatedly helped a now-former CCP official while she was serving as the Chinese consul in San Francisco, according to a LinkedIn post unearthed by Fox News Digital.

Ying He, who served as the Chinese consul general in San Francisco between 2012 and 2016, lavished praise on Darlene Chiu-Bryant in a 2017 LinkedIn recommendation, calling the former Newsom aide and longtime ally of the governor a “Super lady.”

“Darlene is the right person when you need to develop business (sic) in either California or Beijing,” said He, who was serving as the division director for the Ministry of Commerce, a CCP government arm, at the time of the 2017 LinkedIn post. “She is an excellent PR professional and able to fulfill the most challenging tasks. She helped me a lot when I was consul in SF, promoting US-Sino investment and trade. In all, she is a friend in need and a Super Lady indeed.”

He’s LinkedIn reveals that she has served in multiple roles at the Ministry of Commerce for over a decade and her profile boasts that she has “extensive connections with Chinese and U.S. governments” and “15+ years with a Chinese central government agency and 4 years as a diplomat in San Francisco.”

CONGRESS EXPOSES CHINA’S POTENTIAL LOOPHOLE FOR TRUMP TARIFFS: ‘DRAWING A LINE IN THE SAND’

Darlene Chiu-Bryant called Gov. Newsom a “visionary leader” in a social media post. (Getty/ GlobalSF Facebook Screenshot)

At the time of the LinkedIn post, Bryant was serving as the executive director of ChinaSF, which is facing renewed scrutiny for its ties to the CCP and recruiting over 100 Chinese companies into San Francisco, according to a new book Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Monday. In the book, there is a chapter dedicated to how Newsom helped launch a nonprofit organization almost a decade earlier, in 2008. 

One of the several companies discussed in the book was Suntech, a Chinese solar company developed by the CCP that was personally recruited by Newsom into the United States, and he publicly praised the company’s CEO, Dr. Zhengrong Shi, multiple times, and made him an advisory board member for ChinaSF. 

In addition to green energy companies that streamed through ChinaSF, real estate companies were also involved, and the book alleges that Newsom received over $23,000 in anonymous contributions from Chinese real estate company Z&L, whose billionaire owner was criminally sentenced for bribing a San Francisco government official. In 2017, ChinaSF posted a photo of Bryant, Newsom and others in front of a wall that said Z&L Properties.

“ChinaSF was started by our Lt Governor Gavin Newsom when he was Mayor of San Francisco in 2008,” the photo caption said. “Proud to work with our partners and companies recruited to the SF Bay Area.”

According to China Daily, a Chinese state media outlet, Newsom launched the group while visiting Shanghai.

“The two most important things for us are energy independence and establishing a stronger relationship with China,” Newsom said ahead of the trip.

THE PLAN TO CONFRONT CHINA AND KICK OUT COMPANIES CONTROLLED BY THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY FROM THE U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves at an event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Bryant, who traveled with Newsom to China in 2005 when she was serving as his deputy communications director and would later be tapped to run ChinaSF, was repeatedly mentioned in a chapter in the new book, “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All.”

In the book, authors Susan Crabtree and Jedd McFatter make the case that ChinaSF served as a gateway for CCP officials and Chinese criminals to exploit California. In addition to the book exposing how Bryant was referred to locally as “the Fixer” for any Chinese businesses “wanting to make hay in San Francisco,” her personal Facebook profile and other Facebook pages are littered with photos showing her involvement with ChinaSF. There are also several photos of her and Newsom, in addition to other California politicians.

In 2019, GlobalSF posted a photo of Newsom and Bryant at an event. The photo caption, which appears to be written by Bryant, called Newsom a “visionary leader.”

“So good to see my ex boss now Governor of our Golden State of [California], [Gavin Newsom],” the post said. “As a visionary leader, he started [ChinaSF] in 2008 to be the China Desk for the city and county of [San Francisco] to facilitate inbound investment.”

Another photo on Facebook shows Bryant attending Newsom’s inauguration in early 2019.

California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom appearing on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” (Late Night with Seth Meyers/Screenshot)

Fox News Digital has previously reported on another prominent Chinese consul general, Huang Ping, who oversaw the office in New York City for several years and often promoted CCP propaganda while publicly denying the alleged Uyghur genocide in China. 

In addition to his controversial public statements, Ping would often travel to U.S. universities and other events, meeting with business leaders and elected officials, sparking concerns from some about potential influence peddling for the CCP.

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“The Chinese Communist Party is playing for keeps at the nuclear level and every layer below that,” Michael Sobolik, author of “Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance,” told Fox News Digital last year. “And it’s not just the universities. The Chinese Communist Party is looking to infiltrate every aspect of American society.”

“If we try to edit undo our way out of this whole list of infiltrations and threats that the CCP sends our direction that’s good policy work. We need to insulate ourselves. But good housekeeping is the bare minimum of waging a cold war and winning a cold war,” Sobolik added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment and received a response pointing to an article about conspiracy theories with the headline, “Conspiracy theorists really do see the world differently, new study shows.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Bryant, but did not receive a response by press time.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests since President Donald Trump took office are already outpacing arrests made in all of 2024, the agency said Wednesday — while saying the Biden administration had been “cooking the books” on its numbers.

“We have uncovered that the previous administration… was cooking the books on ICE data,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told reporters. “They were purposely misleading the American people by categorizing individuals processed and released into the interior of the United States as ICE arrests.”

“A comprehensive review was done internally here with ICE. We found tens of thousands of cases that were recorded as arrests when, in fact, these instances were illegal aliens that were simply processed and released into the American communities,” he said.

‘LEAVE NOW’: TRUMP ADMIN REPURPOSES CONTROVERSIAL CBP ONE APP TO ENCOURAGE SELF-DEPORTATIONS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests since President Donald Trump took office are already outpacing arrests made in all of 2024 (ICE)

Senior officials said that the majority of the overall 113,431 arrests made in FY 2024 were “pass-through” arrests, meaning that ICE didn’t take an enforcement action against those foreign nationals, and they instead just passed through ICE before being released into the interior and were told to report to an ICE office.

They stressed that none of the arrests made by ICE under the Trump administration have been pass-through arrests.

“What we are doing now is actual immigration enforcement, not enforcement theater,” an official said.

As for interior arrests, in FY 2024, ICE enforcement removal operations made 33,242 at-large arrests, only 29% of all ICE arrests. For comparison, officials say that ICE made 32,809 arrests from Jan. 20 to March 10, meaning they will surpass the FY 2024 number this week.

NEARLY 17 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE US, 16% INCREASE SINCE 2021: ANALYSIS 

None of the arrests made by ICE under the Trump administration have been pass-through arrests. (ICE Seattle)

Of those arrests,14,111 were convicted criminals and 9,980 have pending criminal charges. Over 1,150 were suspected gang members, two and a half times the 483 arrested in the same period last year.

“The difference between these recent arrests and those from last year is now we are actually taking enforcement actions on each and every illegal alien arrested,” officials said.

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The Trump administration took office with a promise to launch a “historic” deportation campaign and reverse the Biden-era crisis at the southern border. It quickly reversed Biden-era parole programs, surged military to the border, limited the use of asylum and secured agreements from certain countries to take back their nationals. It also launched a number of raids in “sanctuary” cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE enforcement.

The administration says the efforts are already having an effect, with not only a sharp increase in arrests but also a significant drop in encounters at the southern border. Just this week, DHS announced that it had replaced the controversial CBP One app with a new CBP Home app that helps facilitate self-deportations.

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“We are empowering [ICE agents] to do their jobs,” Lyons said. “After four years of not being allowed to effectively do their jobs, our agents and officers are excited to get to work and fulfill the agency’s mission.”

Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.