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President-elect Trump announced last week that he intends to nominate former White House aide and longtime ally Kash Patel to serve as FBI director, potentially making him the only U.S. president to have fired and installed two separate FBI directors in the middle of their 10-year terms. 

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump said in a social media post announcing his intent to nominate Patel for FBI director. 

“He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”

Patel is a close ally of the president-elect and served in the first Trump administration both as a deputy assistant and as the senior director for counterterrorism. He was endorsed on Friday by the National Police Association, which praised Patel’s record of “transparency” and “accountability” that it said makes him well-positioned to head up the nation’s sprawling law enforcement agency. 

KASH PATEL: MILLEY, BIDEN ADMIN ‘PEDDLING FALSE FACTS’ ON CHINA PHONE-CALL CONTROVERSY 

Still, news of Trump’s plans to nominate Patel was met with criticism — if not shock — from others in the law enforcement community. 

That’s because replacing a sitting FBI director is a controversial move that breaks with the express purpose of the role, which, under post-Watergate laws, mandated that directors are nominated for 10-year terms: an express length of time designed to allow the directors — at least in theory — to operate outside political pressure or interference from a sitting president.

Trump sent shock waves through the law enforcement community in 2017 when he fired then-FBI Director James Comey, who at the time was less than four years into his 10-year term. Trump also personally selected current FBI Director Christopher Wray — whom he praised at the time as a “fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity” — to replace him.

For Trump to install Patel as FBI director, two things must happen: Wray must exit the job, and Patel must earn Senate confirmation. 

How Wray will leave remains unclear. 

He could opt to voluntarily vacate the position on his own before Trump’s inauguration, though he has not yet said whether he plans to do so. If Wray does not voluntarily vacate his position, Trump could be the only president in U.S. history to have fired and installed two separate FBI directors.

TRUMP TRANSITION SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR FBI BACKGROUND CHECKS

Patel must also be confirmed by the Senate, though it is likely that the Republican-led chamber will move to approve him for the role.

Patel’s nomination has sparked early criticism from some Democrats ahead of his confirmation hearing, who have cited his previous vows to prosecute journalists and career officials at the Justice Department and FBI that he sees as being part of the “deep state.” He has since attempted to clarify some of those remarks.

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Only one other FBI director has been fired in U.S. history: William Sessions, a Reagan appointee who was widely disliked both for being an ineffective leader and for using his post to commandeer limousines and private government flights for personal business, among other things.

EXCLUSIVE: A growing number of prominent veterans are signing onto an open letter endorsing Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth as he battles back allegations that may stymie his confirmation.

The Heritage Foundation began collecting the signatures on Thursday and garnered more than 74 in that short time, a foundation official told Fox News Digital.

“As military veterans and patriotic Americans, we are pleased to see an outstanding veteran nominated to lead the Department of Defense,” the letter begins.

“Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran who served as an Infantry Officer in the Army National Guard, deploying overseas to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge.”

HEGSETH SAYS HE’LL BE ‘STANDING RIGHT HERE IN THIS FIGHT’

The veterans state that Hegseth has “worked tirelessly” to support U.S. troops and that his experience and drive will lead him in rebuilding the military back to a “fighting force . . . capable of defending the national security interests of the American people.”

They cite Hegseth’s long-held stance on “depoliticizing” the military and his rebuttals of “DEI”-type policies and other “toxic ideologies” they claim have been foisted upon troops in recent years.

“Ending wokeness is just the start. The Pentagon is also bloated with bureaucracy and waste. The defense industrial base is failing to deliver,” the veterans wrote.

“Cost overruns and delays have become the norm. The Department of Defense needs a Secretary of Defense willing to confront both the entrenched bureaucracy and the defense industry and force them to deliver the ships, planes, and munitions our troops need to confront America’s adversaries.”

TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS

Dan Caldwell is a veteran of the Marine Corps and Camp David security force who, along with his fellow adviser at the Center for Renewing America, three-time-deployed Marine Joseph Wade Miller, signed onto the letter.

They join at least 40 other prominent veterans in supporting Hegseth’s nomination, as the former “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host faces allegations surrounding alcohol abuse and mistreatment of women.

Eddie Gallagher, of the Pipe Hitters Foundation, also signed the letter. Gallagher launched the veteran defense-focused nonprofit after being found not guilty in a war crimes trial.

James Jay Carafano, Rob Greenway, Wilson Beaver, Steve Bucci and Jeremy Hayes, all decorated military veterans who are advisers to, or fellows at, the Heritage Foundation, signed onto the missive.

The letter also calls out the previous administration’s inability to secure the southern border and restore peace in Eurasia. 

“Pete Hegseth shares these priorities and is ready to execute the Commander in Chief’s agenda on day one. As proud American veterans, we stand with him and the President in this historic endeavor,” they write.

Kevin Roberts, the president of Heritage, called Hegseth the “right kind of fighter for America” and a person who is ready to “clean up” the Pentagon.

“At a time when bloat and woke initiatives detract from the core warfighting mission of our armed forces, we need a secretary like Pete who has both served in combat and advocated for veterans on Capitol Hill,” Roberts said separately from the letter.

Victoria Coates, a former adviser on national security to both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Hegseth would be “a literal breath of fresh air in the musty halls of the Pentagon.”

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On Thursday, Hegseth said he refused to back down from a fight as his nomination remains in limbo amid drinking and sexual misconduct allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing. 

“We’ve had great conversations, about who I am and what I believe,” Hegseth said of his meetings with senators. “And, frankly, the man I am today, because of my faith in my lord and savior Jesus Christ and my wife, Jenny, right here, I’m a different man than I was years ago.”

That exchange followed the leak of a critical letter that Hegseth’s mother, Penelope, wrote to him years ago about his relationships with women. However, Penelope Hegseth told Fox News on Wednesday that she had written the email in an impassioned moment and later apologized for it.

Multiple sources reported to Fox News that Trump is considering his former primary opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – a retired Navy lieutenant commander – for the top Pentagon spot in case Hegseth falters.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn will roll out a package of legislation backing up Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) objectives, as Republican lawmakers launch legislative efforts to rally behind the cost-cutting efforts. 

The Tennessee Republican announced her plans to unveil the “DOGE Acts” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. They would seek to move federal agencies out of Washington, D.C., freeze federal hiring and salaries for one year, and get federal workers back in the office.

The GOP senator will reportedly unveil a series of measures that will mirror more of the framework being pushed by the new agency to cut government spending, according to the senators’ spokesperson.

“I will be introducing legislation that coincides with @DOGE’s plan to make the federal government more efficient,” Blackburn said in a post on X. 

‘WE’RE GOING TO GUT THE FISH’: REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY

“My DOGE Act will freeze federal hiring, begin the process to relocate agencies out of the D.C. swamp, and establish a merit-based salary system for the federal workforce,” Blackburn said. 

A spokesperson for the senator later revealed that she plans to announce several of these bills.

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ FIRST DEMOCRAT TO JOIN CONGRESSIONAL DOGE CAUCUS

“Senator Blackburn is planning to introduce a package of bills – known as the DOGE Acts – aimed at holding the federal government more accountable for managing taxpayer dollars next week,” Blackburn’s spokesperson said in a statement, the Hill reported. “The DOGE Acts coincides with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s plan to make the federal government more efficient.”

Musk responded to the senator’s tweet, writing “thank you” in a post.

The announcement came after Musk and Ramaswamy, the pair appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the efforts, spent the day meeting with lawmakers to discuss cost-cutting opportunities and objectives.

Lawmakers told Fox News Digital that they were “very impressed” with the DOGE framework following their meetings with the duo.

Along with Blackburn’s legislative plans, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate’s DOGE Caucus, unveiled a 60-page cost-cutting proposal during a meeting with GOP senators and Ramaswamy on Thursday.

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The DOGE efforts have already gained bipartisan support from Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., joining the House’s GOP-led congressional caucus. Ahead of the meeting with Congress, Musk was asked whether he wanted Democratic members to be part of DOGE conversations, to which he was heard answering, “Yes.”

Former transgenders, parents and activists braved frigid temperatures on Wednesday morning to rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court to demand an end to the “butchery” and “trauma” of child sex-change surgeries and treatments.

The rally took place as the court heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a high-stakes case over the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and transgender surgeries for minors. 

One of the rally speakers, Matt Walsh, who is a podcast host for the Daily Wire and creator of the “What Is a Woman” documentary, told Fox News Digital that the case is about “basic truth.”

“The trans agenda represents a unique, distinct threat to children. We have to stand up and protect them, that’s what this is all about,” he said. “If the Supreme Court gets this case right, then we could be looking at ultimately the death of the gender ideology industry. That’s what we want, and that’s what’s at stake.”

‘OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE’ OF NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES FROM GENDER ‘TREATMENTS’ FOCUS OF LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASE

The rally was organized by a diverse set of groups, including medical watchdog Do No Harm, the Heritage Foundation, Catholic Vote and the LGB Alliance.

One member of the LGB Alliance, Glenna Goldis, from Brooklyn, told Fox News Digital that many lesbian, gay and bisexual people see sex-change treatments as a form of conversion therapy.

“A lot of gay people feel strongly about this issue,” she said. “But we’re not able to get our voices out, because the LGBTQ lobby has so much money, and they drown us out, and they pretend that they’re speaking for gay people, but they do not.”

SOTOMAYOR COMPARES TRANS MEDICAL ‘TREATMENTS’ TO ASPIRIN IN QUESTION ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS DURING ORAL ARGUMENTS

There was also a significant presence of former transgender people – “detransitioners” – many of whom said they did not want more children to undergo the negative health effects they had endured due to sex-altering treatments. 

One detransitioner, a woman named Laura Becker, told Fox News Digital that she had stopped the treatments after realizing that they were causing her incredible harm and trauma.

“My advocacy is around healing the trauma instead of permanently medically mutilating the bodies of children and vulnerable young adults like I was,” she said. “I took testosterone when I was 19, and I had my breasts sliced off when I was 20 years old, despite being suicidal. I ended up being diagnosed with PTSD two years later, just from the transition.”

“I had trauma already, which made me have an identity crisis, [and] then I had even more trauma from the medicalization,” Becker added. “That’s a permanent effect I live with for the rest of my life.”  

TENNESSEE GOVERNOR WEIGHS IN AS SCOTUS DEBATES STATE’S BAN ON TRANS SURGERIES FOR MINORS

Another detransitioner, named Claire A., from Maryland, told Fox News Digital that the vast majority of people who undergo sex-change surgeries and treatments suffer from severe traumatic experiences that are only compounded by transitioning.

“I started going to therapy for trauma that I experienced in my childhood that contributed to my trans identity, and through healing from that, I healed from the pain that made me feel I needed to change my body,” she said.

Despite ending her treatments, Claire said she continues to suffer daily pain.

“I’m three years off of testosterone, and I still experience pelvic floor dysfunction,” she said. “My voice hurts, I can’t raise my voice very loud, it hurts to talk. It hurts. My joints hurt. It’s not a fun life to live. I would like to keep other children from being forced to live this life.”

There were also several parents of transgender children who have been denied custody and access to their children because they would not affirm their transgender identities.  

“I haven’t held my son in four years, my son is six years old now,” Adam Vena, a father from California, told Fox News Digital.

Vena said that with the prompting of his son’s mother, his child, Aidan, began transitioning into a girl at two years old. Two years later, Vena said, he lost custody of his son, “because I was not a gender-affirming parent.”

ACLU LAWYER DEFENDS TRANS PROCEDURES FOR MINORS DESPITE ACKNOWLEDGING ‘IT’S NOT THE KIDS WHO ARE CONSENTING’

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“A California court ordered my son to go to a gender clinic at a Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles when I requested to sit in on the gender assessment, they denied me access to ask my own questions as his father,” he explained. “They also denied me a phone call. So, me being a father has been completely cut out of my son’s life.” 

Harrison Tinsley, another California father who recently regained custody of his son, told Fox News Digital, “I think this is one of the greatest evils of our time, like our lobotomy or slavery, transgender mutilation of children.”

“The time to stop this is right now,” said Tinsley. “The Supreme Court’s going to rule the right way, and I’m hoping that Trump and Congress can ban this federally, stop the mutilation of children and stop this irreversible damage.” 

FIRST ON FOX: A top law enforcement official in Tennessee is warning that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is operating in the state and conducting human trafficking — the latest indicator of a growing footprint by the bloodthirsty gang.

“We’ve seen, in the past few months, a resurgence of intelligence information that tells us they are operating in our state. They are operating in the human trafficking space,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said.

Rausch made the comments on the “Unmuted with Marsha” podcast with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., video of which was shared with Fox News Digital. Blackburn noted the recent arrest of a Tren de Aragua fugitive from Venezuela with a history of violent crimes in Tennessee. 

EX-ICE OFFICIAL WARNS TREN DE ARAGUA HAS GROWN FASTER INSIDE US THAN MURDEROUS RIVAL GANG: ‘PUT THEM OUT NOW’

Tren de Aragua is believed to have started in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and has since expanded into Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. 

They are believed to have grown exponentially with the surge of Venezuelan migrants into the U.S. Numerous crimes in the last year have been linked to TdA, in states including Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado and New York.

Rausch said that in 2022, his agents first came across the gang in Tennessee and made arrests in 2023, and over time they encountered victims who provided additional intelligence about the gang’s operations in Tennessee and elsewhere throughout the U.S. He told Blackburn that they appeared to briefly leave the state, but have since returned.

“What they’re doing is, they bring in these females, Venezuelan females, and they’re bringing them into the country. They’re smuggling them in, bringing them into the country. Some of them, they’re bringing in, exploiting our system, where they’ll come in and claim that they are fleeing the dictatorship and the challenges that exist in Venezuela,” he said.

NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG’S FOOTPRINT WILL REMAIN IN US ‘FOR DECADES’ 

Rausch said that his agency has conducted two major operations where it had located TdA members in the Nashville area. However, he did caution about the extent of their presence and said that it wasn’t as intense as it is in other states like Colorado.

“Most recently, when we were expressing that we knew they were in Tennessee, and they’re operating in our major cities, that caused a lot of challenge, a lot of people got upset about that. They immediately went to thinking, ‘This is TDA that is taking over apartment complexes, as we’ve seen in other cities.’ We’re not there yet, but we don’t want to get there,” he said.

Rausch warned that the gang typically starts with human trafficking and moves to other crimes like organized retail crime and theft, before getting into the drug trade and becoming increasingly violent against other cartels. 

“We certainly don’t want to see it anywhere in the country, but my responsibility primarily is here in Tennessee, and so we don’t want that happening. And so I raised the alarm that we know they’re here operating human trafficking. We want to stop them at this point, where we can right now,” he said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Blackburn asked about solutions to the crisis, and mentioned her own legislation that would encourage local law enforcement co-operation with the federal government when they encounter a criminal illegal immigrant. 

“When someone is committing crimes in your country, and they’re in the country illegally, of course, you need to deport them,” Blackburn said.

Rausch noted also that returning migrants to their countries of origin can be difficult when they don’t accept them. 

“What do we do with these individuals? Do we hold them here in the U.S. prison until that situation in whatever country it is they came from that we can’t send them back to, that we figure that out? What is the answer to that?” he asked.

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The conversation comes ahead of what is expected to be a historic deportation operation by the incoming Trump administration. Trump this week announced additional picks for his border security team, including former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott as his choice to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

During the presidential election campaign, Trump said he intends to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil.” 

The Biden administration has made a precedent-setting arrest related to anti-climate change activities this fiscal year, highlighted in a new report that shows a ramped-up enforcement effort against environmental offenses.

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final report on enforcement efforts under President Biden, which detailed how climate-related penalties were enforced this fiscal year.

The EPA worked to implement the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which requires the agency to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, a synthetic compound commonly used for refrigeration or air conditioning, by 85% by 2036.

The AIM Act led to the arrest of Michael Hart, of San Diego, in March on charges related to “smuggling potent greenhouse gases,” highlighted in the EPA report. The charges marked the first-ever greenhouse gas-related arrest issued under the AIM Act, but according to an EPA press release from earlier this year, “it will not be the last.”

EPA’S NEW RUL TO CHARGE OIL AND GAS COMPANIES FOR EMISSIONS COULD FACE A TRUMP RECKONING

Additionally, the EPA reported issuing $1.7 billion in administrative and judicial penalties, the highest level since 2017.

The agency’s environmental enforcement efforts also saw 1,851 civil cases concluded, 121 criminal defendants charged, and it issued more than 225 million pounds of “pollution reductions” in “overburdened communities,” according to the report. As of the end of 2024, there are about 480 open criminal investigations on environmental programs.

BIDEN IMPOSES NEW METHANE EMISSIONS TAX AS HE PREPARES TO LEAVE THE WHITE HOUSE

The results reflect a 3.4% increase in civil cases and a 17.6% increase in criminal charges compared to 2023, The Associated Press reported.

In the FY 2024 report, the EPA also noted that collaborative efforts on the “implementation of EPA’s national priorities” led to a “12% increase in criminal leads opened because of referrals from EPA Headquarters and regional offices.”

“In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program produced its strongest results since 2017, focusing on efforts to combat climate change and tackling some of the nation’s most significant environmental threats to our shared air, water and land,” David M. Uhlmann, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a statement. “The progress made under the Biden-Harris Administration has sent a clear signal that polluters will be held accountable and that protecting communities from harm is a top priority.”

The agency zeroed in on six areas of priority for FY 2024 as part of their National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative: mitigating climate change, exposure to PFAS, working against communities from coal ash contamination, reducing air toxics in overburdened communities, increasing compliance with drinking water standards and chemical accident risk reduction.

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Biden has made issuing green energy projects a focus of his administration, most recently handing out billions of dollars to fund climate-related projects in the remaining months of his term before President-elect Donald Trump steps into office.

President-elect Donald Trump will be in France this weekend to celebrate the re-opening of the famed Notre Dame Cathedral alongside several world leaders, marking his first foreign trip following his election victory last month.

Trump announced his plan Monday to attend the celebratory re-opening on his social media app Truth Social, which comes five years after a fire devastated the cathedral in 2019. The 700-million-euro restoration project was funded by donations from 150 countries and involved the application of carpentry methods dating back to the 13th century. Sources familiar with the president-elect’s plans told Fox News that Trump’s attendance was at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Security will be tight for the invite-only festivities that are set to begin Saturday afternoon, Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said in an interview published by French media outlet Le Parisien. He said many of the measures will mimic those deployed during the Paris Olympics.

FIRST LOOK AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL’S RESTORED INTERIOR FIVE YEARS AFTER DEVASTATING FIRE

Nuñez also indicated that about 50 heads of state would be in attendance, but did not specify whom or from which countries. President Joe Biden, however, is not expected to attend, but first lady Jill Biden will be there.

Macron was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump after his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris, CNN reported. The pair’s relationship heading into Trump’s second non-consecutive term will build on what the two established during Trump’s first term.

While the two traded barbs during Trump’s first term in the White House, Macron has shown a level of deference – at times – towards Trump that other NATO leaders have not. Reporters have described the pair’s relationship as a “bromance,” and in 2017 the two participated in a Bastille Day military parade in Paris aimed at highlighting the longstanding alliance between France and the U.S. 

AFTER TRUMP WIN, FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON ASKS IF EU IS ‘READY TO DEFEND’ EUROPEAN INTERESTS

Trump’s push to get other NATO countries to contribute more money to defense efforts – and his overall skepticism of the alliance – has been a point of contention between Trump and other NATO leaders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, clashed with Trump over his claims Germany was not contributing enough to NATO’s defense efforts. 

During a NATO summit in 2019, a cohort of global leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then-Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and France’s Macron, were caught on a hot-mic seemingly making fun of Trump for engaging in long, rambling press conferences. The year prior, during a speech at the U.N., audible laughter could be heard after he said his administration had accomplished more in its first two years than any other administration in history.

But heading into Trump’s second term, world leaders seem to be aware of the importance of forging a good relationship with him. Just last week, Trudeau traveled to Trump’s Florida resort after the president-elect threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian products over concerns about illegal immigration. 

TRUMP TRUMPS BIDEN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT OVERSHADOWS WHITE HOUSE INCUMBENT ON WORLD STAGE

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Earlier this week, new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed Britain’s and the U.S.’ “special relationship,” before recalling when the president-elect “graciously hosted me for dinner in Trump Tower,” during an annual banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor of London. 

Trump’s arrival in the French capital coincides with Macron’s strategic efforts to stabilize a government in turmoil. Following the ousting of his prime minister through a no-confidence vote, Macron now confronts increasing demands for his own resignation. 

FIRST ON FOX: Federal law enforcement has been manipulating the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) system to gain access to Americans’ financial information without warrants or probable cause, the House Judiciary Committee said Friday. 

The panel and its Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released its interim report, first obtained by Fox News Digital, which details its findings. 

FEDS CONDUCTED ‘BROAD’ AND ‘UNJUSTIFIED’ SURVEILLANCE OF AMERICANS’ PRIVATE FINANCIAL DATA: HOUSE JUDICIARY

The committee said in the report that the FBI “has manipulated” the SAR’s filing process to treat financial institutions “as de facto arms of law enforcement, issuing ‘requests’ without legal process, that amount to demands for information related to certain persons or activities it considers ‘suspicious.'”

“With narrow exception, federal law does not permit law enforcement to inquire into financial institutions’ customer information without some form of legal process,” the report states. “The FBI circumvents this process by tipping off financial institutions to ‘suspicious’ individuals and encouraging these institutions to file a SAR — which does not require any legal process — and thereby provide federal law enforcement with access to confidential and highly sensitive information.” 

The committee said that, in doing so, the FBI “gets around the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act,” which specifies that it is a bank’s responsibility to file a SAR whenever it identifies a “suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation.” 

The committee acknowledged that “at least one financial institution requested legal process from the FBI for information it was seeking,” but noted that “all too often the FBI appeared to receive no pushback.” 

‘ALARMING’ SURVEILLANCE: FEDS ASKED BANKS TO SEARCH PRIVATE TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE ‘MAGA,’ ‘TRUMP’

“In sum, by providing financial institutions with lists of people that it views as generally ‘suspicious’ on the front end, the FBI has turned this framework on its head and contravened the Fourth Amendment’s requirements of particularity and probable cause,” the report states. 

The committee added that their oversight of “financial surveillance” had shed “new light on the decaying state of Americans’ financial privacy and the federal government’s widespread, warrantless surveillance programs.” 

The committee began their investigation into government-led financial surveillance earlier this year, after a whistleblower disclosed that following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Bank of America “voluntarily and without legal process” provided the FBI with a list of names of all individuals who used a Bank of America credit or debit card in the Washington, D.C., region around that time. 

Fox News Digital first reported in March that federal investigators had asked banks to search and filter customer transactions by using terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” as part of an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, warning that purchases of “religious texts” could indicate “extremism.” 

The committee also obtained documents that indicate officials suggested that banks query transactions with keywords like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops and more.

A source familiar with the documents told Fox News Digital at the time that while Jan. 6 was the “impetus” for the queries and searches, none of the documents the committee had obtained revealed any specific time frames or limitations for banks searching for customer transactions with the terms. The source said the federal government used the information for investigations beyond Jan. 6.

“In the days and weeks after January 6, 2021, the FBI coordinated with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to encourage financial institutions across the country to scour their data and file SARs on hundreds of Americans, if not more, without any clear criminal nexus,” the report says. 

Bank of America, at the time, told Fox News it “follows all applicable laws and regulatory requirements to receive, evaluate, process, safeguard, and narrowly respond to law enforcement requests.”

Documents obtained by the committee revealed that at least one financial institution reached out to the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) with the idea that it would “support the Bureau’s efforts to address the acute threat of domestic terrorism.” 

“The financial institution encouraged FinCEN to use SARs as the basis for issuing Patriot Act 314 (a) requests, which allows FinCEN to ‘canvas the nation’s financial institutions for potential lead information’ from ‘more than 37,000 points of contact at more than 16,000 financial institutions to locate accounts and transactions of persons that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering.” 

FEDS SUGGESTED BANKS SEARCH TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE ‘BIDEN,’ ‘ANTIFA’ AND MORE AFTER JAN 6: SOURCES

After those findings, the panel continued investigating the matter and obtained more than 48,000 pages of documents, noting that the information they received through their probe “is concerning.” 

“Documents show that federal law enforcement increasingly works hand-in-glove with financial institutions, obtaining virtually unchecked access to private financial data and testing out new methods and new technology to continue the financial surveillance of American citizens,” the report states. 

However, the committee is warning that “all Americans should be disturbed by how their financial data is collected, made accessible to, and searched by federal and state officials, including law enforcement and regulatory agencies.” 

“With the rise in e-commerce and the widespread adoption of cash alternatives like credit cards or peer-to-peer payment services, the future leaves very little financial activity beyond the purview of modern financial institutions or the government’s prying eyes,” the report states. “This is because, as a condition of participating in the modern economy, Americans are forced to disclose details of their private lives to a financial industry that has been too eager to pass this information along to federal law enforcement.” 

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The report says the committee’s investigation “makes clear that federal law enforcement has taken advantage of this dynamic by deploying financial institutions as arms of federal law enforcement, directing financial institutions to profile Americans using the typologies it distributes or urging financial institutions to identify any ‘suspicious activity’ an individual may have engaged in.” 

The committee is warning that “absent renewed safeguards, the federal government and financial institutions will continue to siphon off Americans’ sensitive financial data, place it into the hands of bureaucrats, and erode any remaining semblance of financial privacy in the United States.” 

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

Rep.-elect Ryan Mackenzie, R-Penn., says entering office is like a “whirlwind” as Republican leadership prepare the freshman class of lawmakers to hit the ground running in January.

Mackenzie, who ousted Democratic incumbent Rep. Susan Wild to gain his seat, told Fox News Digital in an interview that his experience from multiple terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has proven invaluable in these opening weeks.

Incoming House members of both parties – this cycle it’s 57 new members – visit Washington barely a week after winning their elections for a freshman orientation that Mackenzie says makes it seem “just like it’s any other job.”

“You go through ethics training, HR training, cybersecurity training to make sure that you’re gonna protect your information and the data that is so critical and sensitive for ourselves and our constituents and everybody else,” Mackenzie said.

HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO MEET WITH VOTE ON RELEASING GAETZ REPORT LOOMING

Mackenzie said new lawmakers also have to get up to speed on legislation passing through Congress or legislation that soon will be, all while setting up and staffing their Capitol Hill offices.

“Some people have called it that you’re building a small business when you’re running a congressional staff and office networked across your district and in Washington, D.C., but you’re building that in a very short period of time,” he said.

DEM REP. NADLER PICTURED WITH HEAD DOWN, EYES CLOSED DURING TESTIMONY FROM OTHERS OF MIGRANT CRIME VICTIMS

Mackenzie also offered a look at the Republican game plan for when they take over Congress in January, saying the party is set to be far more effective than the opening months of the first Trump administration.

Republican lawmakers heard from both their congressional leadership and President-elect Trump about what the party’s priorities will be come January.

“With the House, the Senate and the White House all lined up, we have a great opportunity, but it’s still incredibly difficult to get things done,” Mackenzie said, noting that lawmakers have to come to an agreement on the specific solutions to the campaign issues they ran on, namely lowering the cost of living and stemming the flow of illegal immigration.

END OF DEFUND POLICE ERA? CRIME, PROSECUTORIAL CRACKDOWN IN BLUE AND PURPLE STATES SIGNALS SHIFT, EXPERTS SAY

“I feel very confident that we’re going to hit the ground running in those first 30–100 days in Congress,” he said. “It’s not going to be like it was the first time when Donald Trump came into office and people were maybe shocked and didn’t really have their act together. It’s much different this time around.”

Mackenzie went on to argue that handling the issues of cost of living and illegal immigration “go hand-in-hand in a lot of ways.” He stated that mass illegal immigration drives up the cost of housing and health care. He nevertheless noted that lowering costs was consistently the top priority for voters in polls, followed closely by the border crisis.

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“We need to make sure we’re addressing these things in tandem,” he said. “It’s about how can we best get both of these things actually across the goal line and through a House, a Senate and signed into law by the president.”

Business magnate Elon Musk said in a post on X that it is “Hard not to like” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. 

“He puts country over party,” Musk added.

He made the comments in response to footage of Fetterman saying that he admires Musk, who is “involved in very important parts of American society” such as artificial intelligence and SpaceX.

Fetterman said that Musk is “on a different team, but that doesn’t make me an enemy.” 

FETTERMAN SAYS TRUMP CASE IN NEW YORK WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, CALLS FOR PARDON ON ‘THE VIEW’

The Democratic senator said that Musk has “made our economy and our nation better.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., fired back at Musk on X. 

“Bulls—. It is hard to not like what @SenFettermanPA what he says, it is easy to hate how he really votes. Do not fall for this.”

FETTERMAN HITS PARTY’S LOSSES AMONG YOUNG MALE VOTERS: ‘IT’S UNDENIABLE THAT DEMOCRATS HAVE LOST A LOT’

President-elect Donald Trump has tasked Musk and former GOP presidential primary contender Vivek Ramaswamy, who self-identifies as a “small-government crusader,” with working on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The two entrepreneurs aim to place Washington D.C.’s profligate spending in the crosshairs.

“If we don’t tackle the exponential growth in national debt, there will be no money for anything, including essential services!” Musk warned in a tweet.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last month, they noted, “We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”

Ramaswamy and Musk met with lawmakers in D.C. on Thursday.

‘WE’RE GOING TO GUT THE FISH’: REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY

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“Great discussion today with @elonmusk on his goals for the @DOGE. Looking forward to working together to improve government efficiency and get America back on track,” Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune, R-S.D., said in a Thursday post on X.

“Excellent discussion about solving the national debt crisis,” Musk responded.

President Biden’s White House is reportedly considering preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. 

White House counsel Ed Siskel is arranging discussions about the potential pardons with several other senior Biden aides, including chief of staff Jeff Zients, Politico reported, citing senior Democrats familiar with the talks. 

The president, who granted a sweeping pardon to his son, Hunter, for the past 11 years of crimes or potential crimes earlier this week, reportedly has not been roped in on the deliberations, according to Politico. 

The conversations included whether Fauci, Schiff or Cheney would even accept a preemptive pardon, which could suggest wrongdoing and exacerbate criticisms brought by President-elect Trump’s team. 

“I would urge the president not to do that,” Schiff told Politico. “I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary.”

WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING?

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back. 

Trump’s appointment of Kash Patel to be the next FBI director reportedly drove the talks of preemptive pardons amid concern of possible forthcoming inquiries or indictments once the new administration takes over in January. 

Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who hosted Biden in battleground Pennsylvania before the election, called on the president to issue blanket pardons when Patel’s nomination was announced — though he did not specify the intended recipients. 

“By choosing Kash Patel as his FBI Director, Trump has made it clear that he is more focused on settling personal scores than on protecting the American people or upholding the rule of law. Patel has openly published an ‘enemies list’ in his book, naming individuals he and Trump plan to investigate and prosecute — targeting those who stood up to Trump’s lies, abuses of power, and baseless attempts to overturn the 2020 election. This is no hypothetical threat,” Boyle said in a statement. “The people they’re targeting include law enforcement officers, military personnel, and others who have spent their lives protecting this country. These patriots shouldn’t have to live in fear of political retribution for doing what’s right. That’s why I’m urging President Biden to issue a blanket pardon for anyone unjustly targeted by this vindictive scheme.”

NY TIMES WARNS HUNTER BIDEN PARDON COULD GIVE TRUMP AMMO FOR JAN. 6 PARDONS, WILL ‘TARNISH’ BIDEN’S RECORD

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also spoke in favor of preemptive pardons last week, noting how former President Gerald Ford granted one to Richard Nixon. 

“If it’s clear by January 19 that [revenge] is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that’s really what our country is going to need next year,” Markey told WGBH.

Schiff and Cheney both led the Jan. 6 select committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol riot. 

Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is under renewed scrutiny this week in light of the over 500-page final report dropped by the House subcommittee that has been investigating government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report — which found that COVID-19 most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China — supported how Fauci “played a critical role in disparaging the lab-leak theory” among top scientific circles early in 2020 and later to the public. His congressional testimony to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the report states, misled the public regarding National Institute of Health funding of gain-of-function research at coronavirus labs. 

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It goes on to cite how Fauci testified that the six-foot social distancing rule imposed on Americans “sort of just appeared” and did not support quality scientific standards, when he was grilled on what studies he and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reviewed before announcing the policy. He also gave similarly vague testimony when asked what science supported K-12 public school mask mandates. 

Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker spoke out after a county judge in Madison struck down major parts of a 2011 law geared toward public employee unions. 

Dane County Judge Jacob Frost ruled that the provisions of a law known as Act 10, which selectively exempt certain public workers from its restrictions on unionization and collective bargaining, are unconstitutional. The controversial law sought to close a budget deficit by limiting collective bargaining, thereby moderating public workers’ benefits that Walker said at the time helped solve a fiscal situation he was required to address.

The original passage in 2011 led to weekslong protests inside the state Capitol, and even saw legislative Democrats flee to neighboring Illinois to prevent Republicans from reaching a quorum to vote on it. Walker later survived a 2012 recall election over the law’s passage and rode his success into a decent showing in the 2016 presidential race, where he eventually bowed out of the primary that ultimately went to Donald Trump. 

On Tuesday, Walker, who currently leads the conservative-training nonprofit Young America’s Foundation (YAF), said his law simply took power “out of the hands of the big union bosses and put it firmly into the hands of the hardworking taxpayers…”

“And what this court decision did as brazen political action was to throw that out and put power back in the hands of those union bosses,” he said in an interview, calling collective bargaining not a right but an “expensive entitlement.”

POMPEO CLAIMS TEACHERS’ UNION BOSS IS AMONG THE ‘MOST DANGEROUS PEOPLE’ IN US

Asked about Frost’s assertion that disparate treatment of collective bargaining rights of certain “public safety” workers and other public workers was unconstitutional, Walker said it was a “bogus political argument.” 

Frost stripped more than 60 sections of the law from the books.

The law was upheld multiple times at the state and federal levels, Walker replied, adding a new issue is that of a potentially-growing “liberal activist majority” on the officially nonpartisan Wisconsin Supreme Court that may hear any appeal of the ruling.

Walker said that if appealed, the first place the case will land is in Waukesha court, which he predicted would overturn Frost. But a subsequent appeal by the left would bring it before the state’s high bench.

“It’s all the more reason why the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin this spring (2025) is more important than ever,” he said.

Walker went on to discuss the roots of Act 10, and how it was his way of abiding by Wisconsin’s balanced-budget requirement. He noted the original name was the “Budget Repair Act” and that a prior Democratic administration instead chose to cut funding for municipalities, which instead resulted in layoffs.

Instead of risking job loss or Medicare cuts, Walker opted to require public workers to contribute more to their entitlements in return for keeping their pensions solvent.

WALKER SAYS WISCONSIN REPUBLICANS ARE MOTIVATED

In addition, Wisconsin Senate President Chris Kapenga echoed Walker’s claim that partisan politics played a role in the ruling:

“[I]t’s proof there is very little justice left in our justice system. Wisconsin’s legislature should be discussing impeachment, as we are the only check on their power,” said Kapenga, R-Oconomowoc.

“Believing Dane County judges and the liberal majority in our state Supreme Court are independent jurists is almost as far-fetched as believing the border is secure, inflation’s not a problem, or [President Biden] won’t pardon his son.”

“The left keeps telling us, ‘Don’t believe what you see’ — Wisconsinites see right through it,” he said.

As for Walker’s current role as president of YAF, he said his organization is preparing for conservative leadership to return to Washington as he brought it to Madison in 2010.

Walker said he is thrilled by the prospect of seeing many YAF alumni in the new Trump administration, including Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump and formerly ex-Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

Sergio Gor, a longtime aide to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was named Trump’s head of presidential personnel last month. Walker praised Gor’s prior work leading YAF’s George Washington University chapter.

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“Four years ago, younger voters sided with Biden by 25 points,” Walker said. “This election, that shrunk right down to 5 or 6 points. And most interestingly, young men four years ago went with Biden by 15 points. In this election, they shifted to Trump by 14. What we need to do is lock that in.”

As they gather for their annual winter meeting, the nation’s Democratic governors say they’re the “best path forward” for a party now out of power in the nation’s capital, and the “last line of defense” as President-elect Trump returns to the White House.

The Democrats lost the White House and the Senate majority, and failed to flip the House, in last month’s elections.

But Democrats held the line in this year’s gubernatorial elections, and continue to hold 23 of the 50 governors’ offices.

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) highlights their governors “represent more than half of the U.S. population, including in five of the seven biggest presidential battlegrounds (AZ, MI, NC, PA and WI) as well as deep red states like Kansas and Kentucky.”

DNC CHAIR FRONT-RUNNER OFFERS ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ ADVICE TO HIS PARTY

“At a time when the Democratic Party is looking for the path back to victory, Democratic governors continue to win by earning the trust of voters by meeting them where they are on their biggest everyday challenges,” DGA executive director Meghan Meehan-Draper highlighted.

And she emphasized that “who your governor is has never mattered more – and with Republicans in control of the federal government, there will be even higher stakes and more resources necessary for the 38 gubernatorial elections in 2025 and 2026, including the hard work already underway to flip Virginia and hold New Jersey in 2025.”

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Democratic governors and state attorneys general played a high-profile role in pushing back via political and legal battles during Trump’s first term in the White House – and several are ready to reprise that role.

Two of the most high-profile Democratic governors, California’s Gavin Newsom and Illinois’ JB Pritzker, have already begun to “Trump-proof” their solidly blue states.

And Pritzker, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, last month launched a group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy, in order to resist the incoming Trump administration.

Longtime Democratic strategist Maria Cardona pointed to her party’s governors as a “focus of progress and protection” with Trump returning to the White House.

But Cardona, a Democratic National Committee member, said the governors will also “be the ones that are going to show Americans the path forward.” 

And they will also be some of the early high-profile potential contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

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Newsom, Pritzker, Polis, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, are among the names often mentioned as possible White House hopefuls in the next presidential election.

President-elect Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be the next FBI director, a person with an extensive background in national security and intelligence. 

Patel’s experience ranges from personally carrying out dangerous missions in the Middle East in an effort to bring home U.S. hostages to implementing counterterrorism strategies against America’s most-wanted terrorists. Current and former U.S. national security officials and lawmakers say that when looking at his résumé “objectively,” he is “one of the most experienced people ever to be nominated” to lead the bureau. 

During the first Trump administration, Patel served as a deputy assistant to Trump and as senior director for counterterrorism. In that role, Patel was involved in presidential missions aimed at decimating Al-Qaeda senior leadership and ISIS command and control. Patel was involved in the planning of the mission to take out Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, among others. 

WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD THE FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP ‘DEEP STATE’

Patel also was involved in efforts to bring some of the most-wanted terrorists to the U.S. for prosecution, and worked on Trump administration efforts to return dozens of U.S. hostages back home.

“When I was national security adviser, Kash was my senior director for counterterrorism. He was responsible for all interagency actions against ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations,” former White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien told Fox News Digital. “He was also responsible for hostage rescues, and he did a great job on both fronts.” 

O’Brien recalled Patel’s “tremendous personal bravery” with regard to Austin Tice, a hostage who has been held presumably by the Syrian government for more than 12 years. 

In 2020, O’Brien said Syrians “finally agreed to let an American come in for negotiations and I asked Kash Patel and Amb. Roger Carstens if they would go.” 

“I wanted someone from the White House, so it wasn’t just representatives of the State Department. Kash was the White House’s man,” O’Brien said. “They traveled overland from Beirut to Damascus through territory where the Al Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah were all present. It was a very complex situation. They drove all the way to Damascus to meet with the head of Assad’s intelligence service.” 

O’Brien said the “Syrians themselves could easily have taken Kash and Roger hostage.” 

“I have never heard Kash talk or tell war stories about that mission to try to save a fellow American,” O’Brien said. 

He added: “I would say to anyone who ignorantly criticizes Kash Patel’s character, tell me the last time you did something dangerous to try to save a stranger.”

FBI HAS LONG BEEN ACCUSED OF POLITICIZATION AHEAD OF DEM CONCERN OVER KASH PATEL NOMINATION

Not everyone shared O’Brien’s rosy representation of Patel. Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and others have blasted Trump’s pick of Patel, claiming he is unqualified. 

But O’Brien and others say those attacks “are entirely politically motivated because he supports the president’s America First agenda.” 

“There was a time when Democrats would have applauded a president for appointing someone with criminal defense experience and who is against the FBI surveilling American citizens — but that was a very different Democrat party,” O’Brien said. 

Beyond his counterterrorism work, Patel was heavily involved in U.S. strategy to counter Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean efforts against U.S. interests. He also worked on the implementation of multimillion-dollar sanctions against foreign adversaries. 

Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump and vice president for national security at the Heritage Foundation, said that Patel was a “strong colleague” at the National Security Council (NSC) and “understands that critical piece of our national security architecture.” 

“After four years of Biden-Harris mismanagement, he will be the strong hand the FBI needs to keep the American people safe,” Coates said. “Instead of a director who spends all his time testifying to Congress about all the red lights he sees flashing across the dashboard, we will have one who will do something to actually put them out.” 

Prior to working as a deputy to Trump and in the NSC, Patel worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as the principal deputy to the acting DNI Ric Grenell and helped former Director John Ratcliffe transition into the role. Trump nominated Ratcliffe last month to serve as the director of the CIA.  

At ODNI, Patel also worked to focus intelligence collection against counter narcotic and transnational threats. 

“Kash brings a lot of passion to government service because he has seen what corruption is like from the inside,” Grenell said. “He is a first-generation American who knows how elites manipulate the system so they retain power and control over Americans.” 

“Reforming Washington and its insular ways requires courage,” Grenell continued. “Those of us outside of Washington who want reform have to stop expecting those who live and work in Washington to deliver reform. They are never going to reform themselves.” 

Prior to joining the Trump administration, Patel served as the national security adviser and senior counsel for counterterrorism to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. 

DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI ‘FAILED TO UPHOLD’ MISSION OF ‘STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW’ IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE

Patel was the chief investigator for the committee’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Throughout his investigation, he led the effort to uncover FISA abuse and exposed the FBI and the DOJ’s unlawful actions before federal court to illegally surveil Americans, including members of the 2016 Trump campaign. 

“The best thing about Kash is, because of his previous government experience and his key role in uncovering Russiagate, he won’t be bamboozled by the bureaucracy,” said former Trump White House deputy national security adviser KT McFarland.

“Intelligence community bureaucrats cover up their mistakes and malfeasance by hiding behind the ‘sources and methods’ excuse. They slow-walk de-classification efforts and internal investigations. Most appointed officials new to intel bureaucracy fall for it — Kash won’t.”

McFarland said that critics of Patel claim that he will “seek revenge,” but she declared that those critics “are wrong.” 

“Remember, government bureaucrats always leave a paper trail of their actions,” she said. “Kash can expose them by declassifying these documents and then letting the American people decide whether these nameless, faceless FBI and DOJ bureaucrats have abused their power with a two-tier system of justice — by prosecuting their political opponents and protecting their allies.” 

Patel, a lawyer, served as a public defender and national security prosecutor at the Justice Department and tried scores of complex criminal cases. All told, Patel has served in the U.S. government for 16 years. 

His final role in the Trump administration was serving as the chief of staff at the Department of Defense. 

“Kash Patel is the right guy for the job,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.

Jordan said he worked closely with Patel when he served among then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ top staffers. 

“He did an outstanding job,” Jordan said. 

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And soon to be on the other side of Capitol Hill, Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital that Patel “will shake up the FBI.” 

“He has my support and vote for confirmation,” said Banks.

The Nevada Democratic Party is imploring its national party leaders to focus more on “diverse, working-class states” when it considers how to “rebuild” after this year’s election. 

A Thursday press release from the state-level party in Nevada called on national party leaders and potential candidates under consideration to be the next Democratic National Committee Chair to “elevate” working-class states to the front of the presidential primary calendar for 2028. The press release cited a process that has typically started with states that are “overwhelmingly college-educated, white, or less competitive.” 

DNC CHAIR FIRES BACK AFTER BERNIE SANDERS CLAIMS DEMS LOST WORKING CLASS IN ELECTION: ‘STRAIGHT UP BS’

“If Democrats want to win back working class voters and rebuild our broad coalition of voters of color, we should elevate the most working class and most diverse battleground state in the nation to be the first presidential preference primary for the 2028 cycle,” Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno said.

Selecting the Democratic Party’s calendar for presidential primaries is a main responsibility of the Democratic National Committee. Nevada has historically been a caucus state, but in 2024, the state’s Democratic Party led the transition to a state-run primary, which the group said in its press release beat the state’s 2008 caucus record for voter turnout.

NEVADA GOV SPEAKS OUT AGAINST TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS AHEAD OF CONTROVERSIAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

Nevada has historically been among the first few states to hold either a presidential primary or caucus during the last several elections, according to Federal Elections Commission data, but it has been preceded by states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Last month, after it became apparent that Democrats would not come out of the election with the upper hand, Democratic lawmakers, labor leaders, students and political pundits all came out with their own forensic analysis of what happened, with many suggesting the party needed to refocus on winning back working-class voters.

CENTRIST DEMS TURN ON FAR LEFT AFTER THE ELECTION: ‘IDENTITY POLITICS’ IS ‘ABSOLUTELY KILLING US’

“There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said following the election. “The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling.”

Meanwhile, Brent Booker, the general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said that the party has not “fully embraced, and hasn’t for decades, really, working-class people.” 

“We have to deconstruct and reconstruct the Democratic Party if they’re going to be the party of working people,” Booker added.

In response to similar claims from progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., arguing that Democrats have lost the working class, former Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison called the idea “straight-up BS.” 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Democratic National Committee for comment on this story but did not hear back in time for publication.

President-elect Donald Trump has been aggressively rolling out his picks to serve in his Cabinet and other top roles. Thursday was no different as he focused on picks that would work hard to secure the border and carry out a mass deportation operation. 

Trump added nominees for homeland security and immigration, naming Rodney Scott as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Caleb Vitello as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Tony Salisbury to be Deputy Homeland Security Advisor (White House Homeland Security Council).

RODNEY SCOTT

Scott is a former Border Patrol chief who served as chief from 2020 until he was ousted by the Biden administration in mid-2021. Since then, he has been a fierce critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies and its handling of the crisis at the southern border.

Before being chief, he had led the San Diego Sector, one of the most challenging sectors in the country. He has been highly critical of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and recently accused him of having “intentionally” opened the southern border.

TRUMP CABINET NOMINEES, APPOINTEES TARGETED WITH ‘VIOLENT, UNAMERICAN THREATS’

“Rodney served nearly three decades in the Border Patrol, building vast experience and knowledge in Law Enforcement and Border Security. Rodney served as the 24th Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, where he implemented Remain-in-Mexico, Title 42, Safe Third Agreements, and achieved record low levels of illegal immigration,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. “He began his career with the Border Patrol in 1992 at the Imperial Beach Station, San Diego Sector. Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, he served as an Anti-Terrorism Advisor to the CBP Commissioner, and later, as Deputy Executive Director of the CBP, Office of Anti-Terrorism.” 

CALEB VITELLO

Vitello has served at the White House National Security Council as the Director for Interior Enforcement as well as serving as Unit Chief and Deputy Assistant Director of the National Fugitive Operations Program within ERO’s Enforcement Division. 

“A member of the Senior Executive Service, with over 23 years of service to ICE, Caleb currently serves as Assistant Director of the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs, where he oversees Agency-wide training, equipment, and policy to ensure Officer and Public Safety,” Trump said in a statement said in a post on Truth Social late Thursday.  

DEMOCRATS’ FUROR OVER ‘UNQUALIFIED’ TRUMP NOMINEES PUTS BIDEN’S STAFFING DECISIONS BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT

“Caleb led the Fugitive Operations Academy, served as Deputy Assistant Director, and directed the National Fugitive Operations Program, providing policy guidance, strategic planning, and operational oversight for efforts to locate, arrest, and remove at-large, dangerous criminals and illegal aliens from the U.S. As Chief of Staff for Enforcement and Removal Operations, he managed daily operations for an organization with a $4.7 Billion Dollar budget and 8,000 employees. At the White House National Security Council, Caleb led initiatives focused on child safety and national security threats.” 

TONY SALISBURY

Salisbury currently serves as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami.

He has served as the Acting Deputy Executive Associate Director (EAD) for the entire ICE/HSI workforce and previously held key leadership, field and headquarters assignments for ICE/HIS. 

Trump noted he was particularly successful at “all of HSI’s complex Federal Law Enforcement investigative programs related to National Security and smuggling violations, including counter-proliferation, financial crimes, commercial fraud, human trafficking, human smuggling, narcotics smuggling, transnational gangs, cyber-crimes, child exploitation, worksite enforcement and document and benefit fraud.”

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“Tony will bring his vast Law Enforcement, counter-narcotics, and counter-cartel experience to the White House where he will serve under Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor,” Trump said in a statement. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

In oral aruments, Supreme Court justices discussed the high-profile, first-of-its-kind case involving transgender medical treatment for children. 

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, the lawmaker at the center of the suit against the Biden administration, told Fox News Digital that over the next few months, the justices will be “thinking a lot about the case.” 

When asked whether he ever foresaw himself in such a high-profile legal matter, he said, “not remotely.”

“I do think the fact that there’s so much disagreement weighs in favor of our side,” Skrmetti said in a phone interview. “This is an area where the court really shouldn’t come in and pick a winner. The data is still very underdeveloped.”

SOTOMAYOR COMPARES TRANS MEDICAL ‘TREATMENTS’ TO ASPIRIN IN QUESTION ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS DURING ORAL ARGUMENTS

“All the research that both sides point to is unresolved,” Skrmetti said. “This is an unsettled area of science, and in situations like that, the best way to resolve it is through the democratic process. Our legislators appropriate people to deal with that uncertainty and make the call for each individual state.”

The justices appeared divided on Wednesday after oral arguments, and the three appointed by former President Trump could be the key to deciding the socially divisive question. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett asked tough questions of both sides, and Justice Neil Gorsuch did not speak during the marathon public session.

For its part, the Supreme Court is considering whether the Equal Protection Clause, which ensures equal treatment under the law for similarly situated individuals, bars states from prohibiting medical providers from administering puberty blockers and hormones to help minors transition to a different gender. The case is U.S. v. Skrmetti and is challenging Tennessee’s state law which bans medical procedures for minors.

Outside the court, hundreds of demonstrators rallied both for and against gender transition treatments for children. One of those rally-goers, detransitioner and activist Chloe Cole, told Fox News Digital in an interview that if the justices oppose the ban on trans medical treatments, “it’s going to make things a lot more difficult on legislative fronts in terms of protecting our children and our youth.”

‘THE PENDULUM IS SWINGING’: EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON HISTORIC SCOTUS TRANSGENDER CASE AMID ORAL ARGUMENTS

“If we want to create a precedent for other states, for first this law, to be upheld in courts and for other states to be upheld as well, we have to do this now,” Cole said.

Cole, who detransitioned at the age of 16, told Fox News Digital that doctors had done an “incredible disservice” to her at a young age by helping her transition in the first place.

“I’m never going to even have a chance at nursing my children with what God gave me,” Cole said. “An incredible disservice has been done to me by these irresponsible doctors who knew better. They knew better than to do this to a child. They still chose to do it. But they messed with the wrong kid, and I am going to make sure there is never another child in America who is abused in the same way I was ever again.”

The court’s decision could have sweeping implications, potentially shaping future legal battles over transgender issues, such as access to bathrooms and school sports participation. A decision is expected by July 2025.

“So if the court puts a thumb on the scale and says that the courts could be second-guessing state governments on these issues, I think you’re going to see an inhibited debate, and we’ve seen this happen before in other contexts where democracy is subverted by judges who step a little too far into the policy arena, and that ultimately hurts the country,” Skrmetti said. 

“It de-legitimates the government,” he added. “It makes people feel alienated from the political process. The alternative is it stays open to our democratic system of resolving disagreements, and you’ll see a lot of debate, and different states will go in different directions, and over time, we’ll have better research, and people will have a chance to debate this extensively, and that’s just the better way to come to a resolution on such a hot button issue where the Constitution is silent.”

The Justices’ decision may also influence broader debates about whether sexual orientation and gender identity qualify as protected classes under civil rights laws, akin to protections for race and national origin.

SUPREME COURT WEIGHS TRANSGENDER YOUTH TREATMENTS IN LANDMARK CASE

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When asked whether Skrmetti believes the incoming Trump administration could persuade the justices one way in the case, he said, “It’s ultimately up to the court how they want to handle that.” Trump promised during his campaign he would outlaw transgender medical procedures for minors and open the doorway to allowing individuals to sue medical providers for conducting them.

“But there is a path there for them to continue this, and I think it’s important that we get clarity soon, because there are so many cases involving these issues, and the lower courts have not been consistent and are looking for guidance, and it would do everyone good to have a more clear answer to the state of the law,” he said.

Fox News Digital’s Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, spent another day courting support from Republican senators on Capitol Hill and taking a few questions from reporters while he was at it. 

The military vet turned “Fox & Friends” co-host met with senators Rick Scott, R-Fla.; Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., Thursday. 

The meetings followed others Hegseth held earlier in the week with GOP senators, including Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who will be the next chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. 

Hegseth has been facing a mountain of criticism with accusations against him ranging from fiscal mismanagement to alcoholism to sexual misconduct. Nevertheless, Hegseth said Thursday while walking between meetings on Capitol Hill that Trump supports him “fully.”

TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS

“I’ll tell you why I support him,” Scott told reporters after his meeting Thursday with Hegseth. “I admire people who are willing to put on the uniform and lead troops into battle. … When he goes in the Department of Defense, he will walk in with the mentality that he’s going to take care of our warfighters.”

Scott added that he will do “everything” he can to ensure Hegseth is confirmed.

“Pete Hegseth won’t back down from the media or the Pentagon bureaucracy,” Banks added after his own one-on-one meeting with the defense nominee. “And he won’t back down from China, Russia or Iran. He will help President Trump make America strong again.”

Between meetings on Capitol Hill Thursday, Hegseth was pressed about his meeting a day earlier with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Ernst said earlier Thursday morning she was not yet willing to throw her support behind him.

ARE PETE HEGSETH’S TATTOOS SYMBOLS OF ‘CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM’?

“Productive meeting. Excellent,” Hegseth said of his meeting with Ernst as he was peppered with questions during his meeting with Rounds. 

“Constructive, candid. It was great,” Hegseth told a different reporter. 

When asked if the allegations about him were a topic of his conversation with Ernst, Hegseth declined to comment further, citing the private nature of their conversation.

“It’s been a wonderful process,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday. “There’s an incredible amount of knowledge in the U.S. Senate — in the Senate Armed Services Committee — men and women who have studied these issues, have invested their lives in it. And as someone who is hoping to earn their support as the nominee for secretary of defense, I welcome that knowledge, I welcome that advice. And that’s why we’re here in all these meetings.”

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Hegseth’s meetings Thursday coincided with visits to Capitol Hill by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. The pair convened on Capitol Hill to discuss their new role running President-elect Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency with Thune.

President-elect Trump named former PayPal Chief Operating Officer David Sacks to be his White House artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency czar.

“In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” Trump said in his announcement Thursday evening.

“David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas,” he said.

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Trump said that Sacks would also prioritize “safeguarding” free speech and away from “Big Tech bias and censorship.”

TRUMP NOMINATES PAUL ATKINS TO LEAD SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

“He will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship,” he said. “He will work on a legal framework, so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S. David will also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology.”

Sacks, a former PayPal executive, has angel investments in several major firms, including Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Airbnb and Palantir through his Craft Ventures fund. 

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His enterprise software company, Yammer, was acquired by Microsoft for over $1 billion in 2012.

President-elect Trump has tapped former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China. 

In his announcement, Trump said Perdue “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China,” citing his decades-long career in business. 

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“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain Peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump said on Truth Social. 

The appointment comes amid threats by Trump to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods unless Beijing does more to stop the trafficking of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl. 

BIDEN USCIS NOMINEE CALLED FOR PAUSING BORDER PATROL FUNDING

Trump also appointed Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, as ambassador to Chile. 

“Brandon helped me develop and implement the most effective Border Security policies in our Nation’s History,” Trump said. “I have also watched as Brandon tirelessly and honorably represented the Border Patrol Agents who elected him as their voice in all matters, especially in their efforts to secure our Great Country’s Borders, and keep all Americans safe.”

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“I am confident Brandon will represent the United States in the same manner as he represented all rank-and-file Border Patrol Agents as the President of the National Border Patrol Council. Brandon will do our Country proud!” Trump added.