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White House aides are quietly floating a proposal within the House GOP that would raise the tax rate for people making more than $1 million to 40%, two sources familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital, to offset the cost of eliminating tips on overtime pay, tipped wages, and retirees’ Social Security.

The sources stressed the discussions were only preliminary, and the plan is one of many being talked about as congressional Republicans work on advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process.

Trump and his White House have not yet taken a position on the matter, but the idea is being looked at by his aides and staff on Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile House GOP leaders including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have publicly opposed the idea of any tax hikes.

TRUMP OPEN TO SENDING VIOLENT AMERICAN CRIMINALS TO EL SALVADOR PRISONS

Speaker Mike Johnson is working to pass President Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process (Getty Images)

“I’m not a big fan of doing that. I mean, we’re the Republican Party and we’re for tax reduction for everyone,” Johnson said on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

One GOP lawmaker asked about the proposal and granted anonymity to speak candidly said they would be open to supporting it but preferred a higher starting point than $1 million.

They said the reaction was “mixed” among other House Republicans. But not all House GOP lawmakers are privy to the discussions, and it’s not immediately clear how wide the proposal has been circulated.

Nevertheless, it signals that Republicans are deeply divided on how to go about enacting Trump’s tax agenda.

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

Extending Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and enacting his newer tax proposals is a cornerstone of Republicans’ plans for the budget reconciliation process.

By lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party in power to skirt opposition to pass a sweeping piece of legislation advancing its own priorities – provided the measures deal with tax, spending, or the national debt.

Extending Trump’s tax cuts is expected to cost trillions of dollars alone. But even if Republicans use a budgetary calculation to hide its cost, known as current policy baseline, they will still have to find a path forward for new policies eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay, and retirees’ Social Security checks.

Hiking taxes on the ultra-wealthy could also serve to put Democrats in a tricky political situation in forcing them to choose between supporting Trump’s policies and opposing an idea they’ve pushed for years.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is also opposed to raising taxes on the rich (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

The top income tax rate is currently about 37% on $609,351 in earnings for a single person or $731,201 for married couples. 

But raising the rate for millionaires could be one way to pay for Trump’s new tax policies.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., one of the deficit hawks leading the charge to ensure new spending is paired with deep cuts elsewhere, said “That’s one possibility.”

“What I’d like to do is I’d actually like to find spending reductions elsewhere in the budget, but if we can’t get enough spending reductions, we’re going to have to pay for our tax cuts,” Harris told “Mornings with Maria” last week.

“Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the highest tax bracket was 39.6%, it was less than $1 million. Ideally, what we could do, again, if we can’t find spending reductions, we say ‘Okay, let’s restore that higher bracket, let’s set it at maybe $2 million income and above,’ to help pay for the rest of the president’s agenda.”

But Johnson’s No. 2, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., again poured cold water on the idea Tuesday.

“I don’t support that initiative,” Scalise told “Mornings with Maria,” though he added, “everything’s on the table.”

House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris signaled openness to the idea (Getty Images)

“That’s why you hear all kind of ideas being bounced around. And if we take no action, then you’d have over 90% of Americans see a tax increase,” Scalise warned.

Bloomberg News was first to report House Republicans’ 40% tax hike proposal.

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When reached for comment, the White House pointed Fox News Digital to comments by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier on Tuesday when she said Trump had not made up his mind on another proposal to raise the corporate tax rate.

“I’ve seen this idea proposed. I’ve heard this idea discussed. But I don’t believe the president has made a determination on whether he supports it or not,” Leavitt said.

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

The Defense Department’s (DOD) deputy chief of staff was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday, following the steps of another Pentagon official earlier in the day.

Darin Selnick, the deputy chief of staff for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been removed, a senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.

Selnick is under investigation for the same leak probe that saw Hegseth aide Dan Caldwell escorted out of the Pentagon by security. Both Selnick and Caldwell are on administrative leave.

According to the Pentagon’s website, Selnick is a retired Air Force officer who has worked extensively in veterans’ affairs organizations.

“Mr. Selnick leverages his extensive government and non-government experience advocating for veterans to position Service members for productive post-separation lives from the first day they put on a uniform,” the biography states.

GENERAL WHO HELPED TRUMP DECIMATE ISIS TERRORISTS IN FIRST TERM CONFIRMED AS JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN

Pentagon deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick was removed from the Department of Defense headquarters on Tuesday. (Department of Defense | Getty Images)

Both Selnick and Caldwell worked for Concerned Veterans for America in the past, a group formerly led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Reuters reported that Caldwell was placed on leave for an “unauthorized disclosure,” as part of an investigation into leaked Pentagon documents.

The probe was announced last month, and concerned itself over “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information.” 

HEGSETH QUIPS ‘99.9%’ OF DEI INITIATIVES ARE GONE FROM THE MILITARY UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH

Pete Hegseth, US defense secretary, during a news conference in Warsaw, Poland. (Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,” DOD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper wrote in a memo at the time. “This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.”

An official told Politico that the leak concerned Panama Canal plans and Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon, among other matters.

Pentagon officials Dan Caldwell, left, and Darin Selnick are being investigated amid the probe. (Concerned Veterans for America | Department of Defense)

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More information about the leak is unknown, and there is currently no evidence to connect Caldwell or Selnick to that leak.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday that a $150 million federal grant had been finalized to construct a new port of entry facility and road for the San Diego-Baja California border.

As part of the agreement for the grant, Green New Deal requirements from the Biden administration, including a zero-emission vehicle charging provision, will be removed.

The DOT called the requirements a waste of taxpayer funds, taking away from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mission toward national security.

DOT SAVES TAXPAYERS OVER $60M BY TERMINATING TEXAS HIGH-SPEED RAIL CONTRACT

The Otay Mesa East Port of Entry project was awarded a grant from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects program in September 2022, though the project never moved forward.

The Otay Mesa, Calif., commercial port of entry is one of three ports of entry in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan region. (Google Maps)

“Thanks to the prior administration’s lack of focus, this critical project sat in limbo for two years. No more. We moved to finalize this deal so we can help protect our Southern border and crack down on drug trafficking while preventing tax dollars subsidizing pointless Green New Deal priorities,” Duffy said. “This department will continue to clear the previous administration’s unprecedented grants backlog and deliver results.” 

The $150 million investment will give the CBP new state-of-the-art inspection facilities, as well as a commercial vehicle enforcement facility.

DC TRANSIT POLICE OFFICER STABBED AT TRAIN STATION AS SEC SEAN DUFFY ARRIVES TO TALK SAFETY: ‘UNACCEPTABLE’

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks during a news conference. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The deployment of intelligent transportation technologies to help manage traffic demand through dynamic tolling will also be included, which the DOT said will increase inspection efficiency and bolster cross-border trade.

TRANSPORTATION SEC SEAN DUFFY SLAMS BLUE-STATE GOVERNOR, SAYS CRIMINALS ‘CONTINUE TO TERRORIZE’ CITY RESIDENTS

DOT added that the project will reduce congestion, bring economic benefits and spur job creation across Southern California.

The nearly 3,600 trucks that cross the border at Otay Mesa and Tecate Ports of Entry, which are currently operating at full capacity, will have an alternative crossing once the project is complete.

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The project comes after the Trump administration inherited over 3,200 grants which were promoted by the Biden administration but never followed through on, according to the DOT.

“This unprecedented backlog of unobligated grants delayed critical investments in communities across the country,” the DOT said in a news release. “Under Secretary Duffy’s leadership, the Department is working diligently to accelerate the distribution of these long-overdue funds and address core infrastructure projects.”

President Donald Trump’s high-tech moonshot may hit a Texas-sized speed bump — and it’s coming from his own party.

Trump’s AI initiative, dubbed “Stargate,” aims to build 20 ultra-powerful data centers across the country. Backed by heavyweights like OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and the UAE-funded MGX, the project represents a $500 billion bet on the future with Texas chosen as ground zero for the first 10 centers.

But a new Texas bill, Senate Bill 6, could delay or derail that momentum. 

The legislation adds a six-month regulatory review on top of an existing 6–18-month timeline, while also requiring new fees and mandatory backup generators, doubling approval time and inflating costs.

EXCLUSIVE: WHITE HOUSE ROLLS OUT IMPLEMENTATION OF AI FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE RECORDS

\President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House while SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle co-founder, CTO and Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman look on on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

And while the legislation is pitched as a safeguard against another Winter Storm Uri-style blackout, Trump allies warn it could torpedo a generational opportunity.

“This bill would be a serious roadblock to the president’s vision,” said Vance Ginn, president of Ginn Economic Consulting and former chief economist at the White House Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. 

“It’s a misguided effort that’s rooted in fear: fear of energy scarcity, fear of AI, fear of the future.”

According to Ginn, the bill’s hefty requirements, including a $100,000 grid connection fee and a so-called “kill switch” that would let the Electric Reliability Council of Texas cut power to data centers, could end up pushing these billion-dollar projects out of Texas entirely.

“These companies aren’t just using energy,” Ginn said. “Many of them actually put excess electricity back onto the grid. So instead of hurting Texas, they help stabilize it.”

Stargate has already broken ground in Abilene, but the next 10 data centers are still up in the air. If Texas becomes too costly or complicated, experts warn the back half of the project might never happen — even as rival states like Wyoming and Tennessee court businesses without Texas’s infrastructure.

WHITE HOUSE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CHIEF WARNS CHINA IS ‘CATCHING UP’ IN AI RACE

“The Texas legislature should be working in lockstep with President Trump to build out AI infrastructure, not throwing up barriers,” Ginn added. “The AI revolution is here. If Texas fumbles this, it will fall behind.”

The bill’s sponsor, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, insists the legislation won’t hurt Trump’s agenda. “Senate Bill 6 actually ensures President Trump’s Stargate Plan is a success,” Patrick said in a statement. “We are in lockstep with the president on his goal to make America number one, and dominate China on AI, data centers, and cryptocurrency.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (R), accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Even with a Trump endorsement for Patrick’s re-election, Trump-aligned economists say the state is playing a dangerous game.

“We’re already seeing signs of this,” Ginn warned. “Microsoft has pulled back on projects. Investors are nervous. And meanwhile, China’s forging ahead.”

A Chinese startup called DeepSeek has made headlines for rolling out cutting-edge AI models in record time, triggering fresh anxiety about America’s standing in the global AI arms race.

Trump announced an investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and took questions on a range of topics. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“This isn’t just about innovation,” Ginn said. “This is national security. If we’re six months behind China, we may never catch up.”

Trump has backed up his AI push with hard policy, including a 10% blanket tariff on all imports and a steep 125% tariff on Chinese goods, announced just last week. But those tariffs could also raise the price of key data center components, from steel to electrical transformers.

Despite the tradeoffs, the Trump administration sees Stargate as a cornerstone of 21st-century American leadership in everything from education to healthcare.

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“Texas should be leading,” Ginn said. “We can’t let fear of the unknown hold us back.”

Former President Joe Biden, while reflecting on his youth and witnessing segregation firsthand, referred to Black students as “colored kids” in his first major address since exiting the Oval Office. 

“We lived in an apartment complex, and she’d [Biden’s mom] drive us only about half a mile to Holy Rosary School in Claymont. But it was so dangerous, she wouldn’t let us walk up,” Biden said Tuesday evening while delivering a speech on the Social Security Administration before a disability advocacy conference in Chicago. 

“There were hardly any Black people in Scranton at the time … and I was only going into fourth grade. And I remember seeing kids going by, at the time called colored kids, on a bus going by,” Biden added in his anecdote to explain the importance of civil rights laws to him and why he got involved in politics. 

The 46th president was reflecting on how his family moved from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Wilmington, Delaware, when he was in fourth grade and how he witnessed segregated schools in the nation’s second-smallest state. 

BIDEN RETURNS TO PODIUM FOR FIRST TIME TO SLAM TRUMP’S SOCIAL SECURITY PLANS: ‘WRECK IT SO THEY COULD ROB IT’

President Joe Biden speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 25, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“They never turned right to go to Claymont High School,” Biden said of Black students not attending a White school. “I asked my mom why? Why? In Delaware, they’re not allowed to go to school in public school with White kids.

“And it sparked my sense of outrage as a kid, just like it does 1744768576.” 

The Supreme Court effectively ended segregation in public schools across the country in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. 

BIDEN AIDES ‘SCRIPTED’ EVERYTHING, ALLOWED HIS FACULTIES TO ‘ATROPHY,’ NEW BOOK CLAIMS 

The former president joined the Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) conference in Chicago Tuesday evening, where he received the “beacon of hope award” for his accomplishments as president and addressed the gathering about the Social Security Administration, including attacking the Trump administration for its policies. 

“Why are these guys taking aim at Social Security now?” Biden asked, referring to the Trump administration. “Well, they’re following that old line from tech startups. The quote is ‘move fast, break things.’ They’re certainly breaking things. They’re shooting first and aiming later.

“The result is a lot of needless pain and sleepless nights.” 

President-elect Donald J. Trump and President Joe Biden attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States inside the Capitol Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Pool via Getty Images)

Biden added that the Trump administration is looking to “wreck” Social Security to “rob it.” 

“My friend, Gov. O’Malley, knows what they’re really up to. He says, and I love his quote, ‘They want to wreck it so they could rob it.’ They want to wreck it so they could rob it. Why do they want to rob it? In order to deliver huge tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations and keep it going. They want to make permanent the 2017 tax cuts, which overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations. That’s going to cost $5 trillion. Where are they going to get $5 trillion to pay for (it) when they continue to run the deficit up?

BIDEN’S TEAM HID THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS HEALTH ALL ALONG: WH PRESS SEC

“What they always do … by running up the national debt, No. 1. Then by taking the money from someplace else. What are the two big pots of money out there in raw numbers? Social Security and Medicaid. …. Republicans, these guys are willing to hurt the middle class and the working class in order to deliver significant, greater wealth to their already very wealthy. Who in the hell do they think they are?” 

The Trump administration has cut about 7,000 Social Security Administration staffers since taking office as part of its mission to cut government fat and bureaucracy and realign agencies with “America First” policies. Democrats have slammed President Donald Trump over the cuts, claiming he will cut Social Security benefits to seniors. 

The White House has repeatedly rejected claims that the Trump administration will cut such benefits, vowing to “always protect” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

The Trump administration’s official Social Security X account responded after the speech that “Biden is lying to Americans,” before providing a detailed list of “facts,” including that Trump has repeatedly pledged to protect benefits and that no field office has been closed since Jan. 20. 

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The ACRD conference was billed as the 46th president’s first public speech since leaving the White House. Biden however, has delivered other public remarks since Jan. 20, Fox Digital found, such as speaking at the National High School Model United Nations in March, but those events received little media coverage. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James has been hit with shocking allegations by the Trump administration, accusing her of mortgage fraud.

In documents obtained by Fox News Channel’s The Ingraham Angle, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, accusing James of mortgage fraud.

FHFA Director William Pulte said in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that James appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms.

Pulte cited a property in Virginia that James allegedly claimed as her principal residence, and a property in New York that she claimed as a four-unit structure instead of five, which he said could mean she was able to get a different and more favorable loan.

COURT NAMES NEW JUDGE IN TRUMP CIVIL FRAUD CASE BEFORE REASSIGNING PREVIOUS JUDGE HOURS LATER

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York.   (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)

Fox News contributor and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Ingraham the irony of James getting accused of falsifying records is “perfectly crushing.”

“This is a person who prosecuted Trump for everything short of ripping a label off a mattress, and among the charges that were brought in New York, in just the civil but the criminal case, was making false or misleading statements to financial institutions,” Turley said. “As for James, if we apply the Letitia James standard that she created, there’d be little question here. This seems pretty straightforward.”

He explained that the Trump administration is saying this was not her principal residence because, as a New York elected official, she has to say her principal residence is in New York.

‘PLAYING WITH THE COURTS’: TRUMP ADMIN HIT WITH DOZENS OF SUITS AFTER YEARS OF PRESIDENT CONDEMNING ‘LAWFARE’

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 16: Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

James is also accused of stating that her father is her husband in order to file as a married couple, Turley added.

“The Supreme Court just stated earlier in March, in a case called Thompson, that they want to see knowing false statements under sections like 10-14, not just misleading statements,” Turley said. “These are misleading statements: either it’s your principal residence or it’s not. Either you’re married to your father or he’s your father.”

The DOJ and James did not respond to Fox News on the matter.

The issue has been prosecuted in the past, but as Turley said on the Ingraham Angle, the “documents themselves are quite damning.”

‘ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY’: LEGAL EXPERTS SHRED NY V. TRUMP AS ‘ONE OF THE WORST’ CASES IN HISTORY

The Trump administration dismissed more than a dozen judges on Friday. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

The New York Post reported that the documents show that the property James purchased with her father had both parties listed as “husband and wife” in 1983 and 2000.

“While this was a long time ago, it raises serious concerns about the validity of Ms. James representations on mortgage applications,” Pulte reportedly wrote.

James brought forth a civil fraud suit against President Donald Trump, the Trump Organization and its senior leadership in 2022, frequently sitting in the courtroom throughout the proceedings, and celebrated the prosecution of Trump in the Manhattan criminal trial over the 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump was ordered to pay a $454 million civil fraud judgment in James’ lawsuit against him, which is currently on appeal. 

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So far in 2025, James has spearheaded at least five legal actions against the Trump administration, including leading a coalition of state attorneys general to sue the federal government to halt DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s internal systems, as well as another lawsuit related to the Trump admin slashing grant funding to research institutions and universities. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Former President Joe Biden took shots at the Trump administration’s Social Security policies in his first major speech since leaving the White House on Tuesday evening. 

“Seriously, people are now genuinely concerned for the first time in history, for the first and only time in history, that Social Security benefits may be delayed or interrupted,” Biden said from the Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) conference in Chicago on Tuesday evening. 

“In the 90 years, since Franklin Roosevelt created the Social Security system, people have always gotten their Social Security checks. They’ve gotten them during wartime, during recessions, during the pandemic. No matter what, they got them. But now, for the first time ever, that might change. It would be calamity for millions of families, millions of people,” he added. 

The ACRD conference was billed as the 46th president’s first public speech since leaving the White House. Biden however, has delivered other public remarks since Jan. 20, Fox Digital found, including speaking before the National High School Model United Nations in March, which received little media attention, as well as joining an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers event this month. 

ACRD is an advocacy organization that works to equip “disability professionals with the tools, technology, and training to lead the industry forward,” according to its website. 

BIDEN AIDES ‘SCRIPTED’ EVERYTHING, ALLOWED HIS FACULTIES TO ‘ATROPHY,’ NEW BOOK CLAIMS 

President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden’s keynote address, which ran less than an hour, overwhelmingly focused on his accomplishments with Social Security when he served as president, taking aim at how the Trump administration is allegedly keeping the elderly up at night with worry over their Social Security benefits, as well as cracking a few jokes about his decades in politics.

MOST BIDEN RALLY APPEARANCES ARE SHORTER THAN A SITCOM, HELPING FUEL STAMINA CONCERNS 

President Biden’s had a disastrous debate performance against Trump in 2024.  ((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) | (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA

“Why are these guys taking aim at Social Security now?” Biden asked, referring to the Trump administration. “Well, they’re following that old line from tech startups. The quote is ‘move fast, break things.’ They’re certainly breaking things. They’re shooting first, and aiming later.”

“The result is a lot of needless pain and sleepless nights,” Biden said. 

‘EMBARRASSINGLY WRONG’: LIBERAL MEDIA FIGURES ADMIT BEING IN DENIAL ABOUT BIDEN’S MENTAL DECLINE

The Trump administration has cut about 7,000 Social Security Administration staffers since taking office as part of its mission to cut government fat and bureaucracy, and realign agencies with “America First” policies. Democrats have slammed President Donald Trump over the cuts, claiming he will cut Social Security benefits to seniors. 

The White House has repeatedly rejected claims that the Trump administration will cut such benefits, vowing to “always protect” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.  

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greet President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump as they arrive at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025, before departing for the US Capitol where Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US President. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden continued that the Trump administration is allegedly looking to “wreck” Social Security to “rob it.” 

“My friend Gov. O’Malley knows what they’re really up to. He says, and I love his quote, ‘They want to wreck it so they could rob it.’ They want to wreck it so they could rob it. Why do they want to rob it? In order to deliver huge tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations and keep it going. They want to make permanent the 2017 tax cuts, which overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations. That’s going to cost $5 trillion. Where are they going to get $5 trillion to pay for, when they continue to run the deficit up?”

“What they always do … by running up the national debt, number one. Then by taking the money from someplace else. What are the two big pots of money out there in raw numbers? Social Security and Medicaid. …. Republicans, these guys are willing to hurt the middle class and the working class, in order to deliver significant, greater wealth to their already very wealthy. Who in the hell do they think they are?” he said. 

President Joe Biden salutes while arriving during an event in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and former Democrat Maryland Gov. and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley also joined the event. O’Malley presented Biden with ACRD’s “beacon of hope award” for his accomplishments as president, including his leadership during the pandemic and fighting for the “dignity of every person.” 

EX-BIDEN AIDE SAYS FORMER PRESIDENT WAS ‘FATIGUED, BEFUDDLED, AND DISENGAGED’ PRIOR TO JUNE DEBATE: BOOK 

Biden added during that the nation is “divided” under Trump and can’t continue on the same path. 

“We can’t go on like this as a divided nation, as divided as we are. I said, I’ve been doing this a long time, it’s never been this divided. Granted, it’s roughly 30%, but it’s a 30% that has no heart,” he continued. 

The Trump administration’s official Social Security X account hit back after the speech that “Biden is lying to Americans,” before providing a detailed list of “facts,” including that Trump has repeatedly pledged to protect benefits and that no field office has been closed since Jan. 20. 

“SSA is taking commonsense steps to transform how we serve the public – last month, we spent $16.5 million to modernize telephone services nationwide. We’re developing cutting-edge, AI-powered tools to streamline simple tasks,” the thread continued. “SSA Inspector General report released while Joe Biden was President found $72 billion in improper payments from fiscal years 2015 through 2022.”

The event comes as political books investigating the 2024 campaign cycle hit the shelves, including “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History” and “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.” 

BIDEN’S TEAM HID THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS HEALTH ALL ALONG: WH PRESS SEC

Excerpts from Chris Whipple’s “Unchartered” reported that White House staffers allegedly kept Biden from socializing with others, including close allies and friends, out of fear the 46th president “might say the wrong thing or might feed the mental acuity narrative.” While he also appeared “absolutely exhausted” ahead of his ill-fated debate against Trump in June, according to the book, which opened the floodgates to public concern over Biden’s mental acuity as he tripped over his words and lost his train of thought during the debate. 

President Joe Biden speaks during the annual Tribal Nations Summit at the Department of the Interior in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Biden has been spending his days in both Delaware and the nation’s capital since his Oval Office exit, with the 46th president working on his own book while also meeting with various Democratic Party leaders, NBC News reported in March.

President Donald Trump is seeking to combat soaring prescription drug prices in a new executive order he signed Tuesday. 

The order instructs Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs — including those used for cancer patients — no matter where a patient receives treatment. This could lower prices for patients by as much as 60%, according to a White House fact sheet.

Likewise, the order also calls to match the Medicare payment for certain prescription drugs to the price that hospitals pay for those drugs — up to 35% lower than what the government pays to acquire those medications, the White House said. 

The order also takes steps to lower insulin prices. Specifically, the order calls for lowering insulin prices for low-income patients or those that are uninsured to as little as three cents, and injectable epinephrine to treat allergic reactions to as low as $15, coupled with a “small administrative fee,” according to a White House fact sheet. 

‘SEED OIL-FREE’ RESTAURANTS AND FOODS GET HEALTHY STAMP OF APPROVAL

The order instructs Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs.  (iStock/Getty )

Additionally, the order attempts to drive down states’ drug prices by “facilitating importation programs that could save states millions in prescription drug prices,” as well as bolstering programs that assist states secure deals on sickle-cell medications in Medicaid, the fact sheet said. 

The order also requires DHS to seek comment on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, which the Biden administration authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act and allows Medicare to directly engage in hashing out prescription prices with drug companies. 

“The guidance shall improve the transparency of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, prioritize the selection of prescription drugs with high costs to the Medicare program, and minimize any negative impacts of the maximum fair price on pharmaceutical innovation within the United States,” the order said. 

Drug prices have significantly ramped up in recent years. Between January 2022 and January 2023, prescription drug prices rose more than 15% and reached an average of $590 per drug product, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 4,200 prescription drugs included on that list, 46% of the price increases exceeded the rate of inflation. 

Previous efforts under the first Trump administration to curb prescription drug prices included installing a cap on Medicaid prescription drug plans for insulin at $35. 

RFK JR DARES GOVERNOR OF AMERICA’S FATTEST STATE TO DO REGULAR PUBLIC WEIGH-INS

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is greeted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on stage during a campaign event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Aug. 23, 2024. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. could mean that healthcare costs are particularly susceptible to price increases. Market research group Black Book Research found that 84% of experts predict that prices for medical treatments and drugs will rise due to the tariffs, according to a survey released in February. 

Additionally, Trump signaled Monday that tariffs on the pharmaceutical were headed down the pipeline. 

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“We don’t make our own drugs anymore,” Trump told reporters Monday. “The drug companies are in Ireland, and they’re in lots of other places, China.”

Trump signed the executive order Tuesday, along with others that seek to prevent illegal immigrants from accessing Social Security benefits, and another one calling to investigate the impact of imported processed mineral on national security. 

Tuesday’s executive order comes days after the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told states Thursday that the federal government would cease assistance to states to fund nonmedical services geared toward things like nutrition for those enrolled in Medicaid. 

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

The White House blasted Ivy League institutions for “egregious illegal behavior” as the Trump administration goes head-to-head with Harvard University to install changes to the academic institution’s governance and admissions process. 

After Harvard refused to comply with a series of requests from the Trump administration to reform various practices on campus, the administration revealed Monday that it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the institution. 

When asked why federal funding is so available to institutions like Harvard, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it’s one President Donald Trump has often brought up himself. 

“It’s a question the president has obviously raised in his discussions, in negotiations with not just Harvard, but also Columbia and many other Ivy League institutions,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. 

TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, April 15, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

“We have the antisemitism task force, which the president promised and delivered on,” Leavitt said. “The antisemitism task forces across the government, representatives from various federal agencies who meet on a weekly basis to discuss the question that you just raised. And I think a lot of Americans are wondering why their tax dollars are going to these universities when they are not only indoctrinating our nation’s students, but also allowing such egregious illegal behavior to occur.”

However, Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said in a Monday statement that the Trump administration tacked on additional requests that go beyond addressing antisemitism on campus, and the institution would not comply because the demands were unconstitutional.

Specifically, Garber said the new requests “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” including auditing viewpoints of student, faculty and staff members on campus, and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices and initiatives at Harvard. 

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber wrote. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.”

The Trump administration’s Department of Justice unveiled the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism in February, which aims to eradicate bias on campuses that have experienced incidents targeting Jewish students since October 2023. 

HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING

The Trump administration announced it was freezing more than $2 billion in grants and contracts after Harvard University said it would not comply with federal demands regarding antisemitism. (AP Images)

The task force evaluates conduct on the following campuses: Columbia University; George Washington University; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; New York University; Northwestern University; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; and the University of Southern California.

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“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the task force said in a statement Monday. “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable.

“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the statement said.

A top advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday and placed on administrative leave, according to a Defense Department official. 

Reuters first reported Caldwell had been placed on leave for an “unauthorized disclosure” of information amid an investigation into Pentagon leaks. An official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Reuters’ reporting is accurate but declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. 

Caldwell, who formerly worked at restraint-minded think tank Defense Priorities and Concerned Veterans for America, a group formerly led by Hegseth. A foreign policy realist, he has argued that the U.S. should dramatically reduce its footprint in Europe and pull out forces in Iraq and Syria. 

GENERAL WHO HELPED TRUMP DECIMATE ISIS TERRORISTS IN FIRST TERM CONFIRMED AS JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a joint press conference with Panama’s Security Minister Frank Abrego (out of frame) after the signing of a bilateral agreement, in Panama City on Apr. 9, 2025.  (FRANCO BRANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Last month the Defense Department announced a probe into “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information” and said it planned to use polygraphs to determine the source of leaks. 

“The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,” DOD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper wrote in a memo. “This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.”

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He wrote that “information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure” would be referred for criminal prosecution.”

Caldwell did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

Former New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo was denied nearly $3 million in publicly matched campaign funds by New York City’s campaign finance regulators on Tuesday. 

The denial of $2.5 million in publicly matched campaign funds followed a frantic email the Cuomo campaign sent out Friday, calling on those who had donated to his campaign to fill out a form to ensure all requirements for the public money were necessarily met. But that effort failed. 

Public confirmation of the denial was made in a Tuesday press release from the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB), which indicated that at least 20% of Cuomo’s required disclosures contained documentation errors for contributions. The press release also said that the Cuomo campaign failed to meet its required two-part threshold of total contributions, which must be at least 1,000 different individuals, and contributors, which must amount to at least $250,000, needed to obtain the publicly matched funds. 

CUOMO LANDS KEY ENDORSEMENT AS COMEBACK BID FOR NYC MAYOR HEATS UP

A spokesperson for Cuomo said that the “technical software error” had been remedied and the adequate documentation was provided to the city’s campaign finance board. However, the campaign won’t be able to receive matching funds until the next allocation period beginning May 12. (GETTY IMAGES/FOX NEWS)

“Our campaign officially announced on March 1, and within 13 days, proudly raised an unprecedented $1.5 million, including $330,000 in matchable funds, from more than 2,800 donors.  This surpassed the campaign finance board’s threshold for qualifying for matching funds by the filing deadline of March 13. Since the last filing deadline on March 13, the campaign has amassed an additional $1 million, totaling over $2.5 million raised from over 4,100 individuals,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement.

“Last Friday, the campaign was informed by the campaign finance board that, due to a technical software error, contributions collected on one of our vendor platforms, NGP, were missing one of the fields required by the Campaign Finance Board, and so while we met the thresholds necessary to receive matching funds, the campaign had to remedy this technical matter.”

Azzopardi noted that the “technical software error” had been remedied and the adequate documentation was provided to the city’s campaign finance board. However, the campaign won’t be able to receive matching funds until the next payment period beginning May 12.

BILL MAHER SUGGESTS ANDREW CUOMO’S NURSING HOME SCANDAL MAY COST HIS NYC MAYORAL CAMPAIGN

Nearly every other top mayoral candidate received payouts Tuesday, according to Politico. However, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams found himself denied $4.5 million in matching funds over the same reasons Cuomo did, in addition to other bookkeeping and compliance mistakes.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is considering making a return to politics as Mayor Eric Adams faces calls to step down after being indicted. (Getty Images)

Polling from Siena College found Cuomo as the front-runner among Democrats, but Adams was not included in the survey results as he will be running for reelection as an Independent.

Adams was facing a federal corruption investigation until the Trump administration stepped in and got the case dismissed. As a result of the investigation, one of the NYCCFB’s members, Richard Davis, has recused himself from voting on any matters related to Adams after writing an editorial earlier this year in which he slammed President Donald Trump’s Justice Department for intervening in the Adams case, referring to the move as “ludicrous.”

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Adams was also denied publicly matched funds during the NYCCFB’s last round of payments announced on March 17.   

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana filed a suit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, claiming that the lawful status of seven international students in Indiana were reportedly terminated without explanation.

The suit claims that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not offer the students any opportunity to challenge the decisions and therefore violated due process rights. The suit names DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Trump administration has targeted hundreds of international students in recent weeks for their engagement in anti-Israel protests, which the administration argued was support for U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas. The administration has also revoked visas for international students over past infractions such as traffic violations. 

“There is no rhyme or reason for DHS’s action,” ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said. “To terminate an international student’s status, the U.S. government must adhere to regulatory standards and provide basic due process, which it has failed to do.”

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SUE OVER TRUMP ADMIN REVOKING VISAS

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over an alleged violation of due process rights. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP)

Plaintiffs claimed international students are allowed to continue their studies and maintain their legal residency status even after their visas get revoked.

The lawsuit asked the U.S. District Court to allow the seven international students to continue their studies by reinstating their status. A temporary restraining order has also been requested to provide immediate protection to the students, according to the ACLU of Indiana.

Among the students named in the lawsuit, six are Chinese citizens attending Purdue University or Indiana University Indianapolis. Another student is a Nigerian citizen attending the University of Notre Dame. Two of the seven students named were expected to graduate next month.

“The impact on these students’ lives is profound, and now they live in fear of being deported at any moment,” Falk continued. “We’re calling on the court to take immediate steps to stop these unlawful actions.” 

TRUMP COLLEGE CRACKDOWN: LIST OF STUDENTS DETAINED AMID ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUSES

The ACLU of Indiana, which named Secretary of DHS Kristi Noem in the suit, claimed that the DHS had “no rhyme or reason” in revoking international student visas. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

Fox News Digital reached out to the DHS for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

The lawsuit is one of the increasing number of complaints the White House is facing over student visa revocation.

Numerous international students whose visas were terminated without explanation recently also filed another suit against the Trump administration over an alleged violation of due process.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said no one has the right to a student visa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Trump administration officials have defended the revocation of student visas, claiming that the government reserves the right to cancel them.

“There is no right to a student visa,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on March 28. “We can cancel a student visa under the law just the same way that we can deny a student visa under the law. And we will do so in cases we find appropriate,” 

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

A new White House memo highlighting the top 10 Supreme Court rulings federal agencies must follow has legal experts optimistic about reining in the administrative state, while some litigators remain skeptical the directive will be enforced.

“Any administration that really cares about making sure that they were following the law should be reviewing regulations,” Carrie Severino, president of Judicial Crisis Network, told Fox News Digital. “We want a government that isn’t just taking every bit of power that it can get away with, but one that wants to make sure the constitutional limits are guarded as well, which is why this memorandum is refreshing and novel in a good way.”

The administration issued a memorandum on April 9 requiring agencies to rescind regulations not in line with 10 recent Supreme Court opinions on proper administrative agency functions. 

SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS SWOOPS IN TO SAVE TRUMP FIRING DECISION

The memo, titled, “President Donald J. Trump Directs Repeal of Regulations That Are Unlawful Under 10 Recent Supreme Court Decisions,” says it is in line with a February executive order seeking to rein in the administrative state. 

The memo lists various Supreme Court cases aligned with Trump’s deregulatory agenda as well as the administration’s efforts to get rid of DEI initiatives. Among the cases listed are Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, West Virginia vs. EPA, and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. 

The memo, titled, “President Donald J. Trump Directs Repeal of Regulations That Are Unlawful Under 10 Recent Supreme Court Decisions,” says it is in line with a February executive order seeking to rein in the administrative state. (Pool)

Both Loper Bright and West Virginia notably narrowed executive agencies’ authority in issuing rules and regulations affecting the American public. Likewise, Students for Fair Admissions rejected the use of affirmative action in university admissions. 

“The President is right: agencies must repeal regulations that the Supreme Court has deemed unlawful. The President continues to deliver on his promises to roll back regulations and government overreach crippling American enterprise,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Several of the cases listed are not retroactive, meaning regulations issued prior to these decisions being handed down will not be disturbed as a result of the opinions. However, experts say agencies can re-evaluate previous rules and regulations under the new standards imposed by the Supreme Court opinions.

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

“I think that that is good fodder, a good basis for a lot of agencies to go back and look, ‘Where have we created massive regulatory compliance burdens and structures that massively impact the economy or society on the basis of a very thin thread and where can we undo it?'” Daniel Huff, senior legal fellow at the American Path Initiative, told Fox News Digital. “And we can point to these elephants and mouse holes and when it’s reviewed in the future, they will say ‘Yes, that is a good rationale’ and it will be upheld.”

Kara Rollins is a lawyer for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, the nonprofit organization that argued Relentless Inc. v. Dept. of Commerce in front of the high court – Loper’s companion case that sought to scale back the reach of the administrative state. Rollins told Fox News Digital the “retrospective look” these agencies will take toward previous regulations is not “misplaced.” 

“The President is right: agencies must repeal regulations that the Supreme Court has deemed unlawful. The President continues to deliver on his promises to roll back regulations and government overreach crippling American enterprise,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital in a statement. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

However, Rollins raised concerns about the administration’s enforcement of the directive, noting that several related cases were already underway before the Supreme Court issued its rulings.

“What happens to these cases that are currently active where DOJ or the agency is just taking the wrong position?” Rollins said. “Who’s looking at that? Who’s clearing out those cases and saying, in light of this memorandum, we’ve looked at our litigation position and we can no longer sustain it? And that’s the real sort of open question, particularly for litigators right now.”

COURTROOM COMBAT: INSIDE THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY SYSTEM WHERE TRUMP’S AGENDA IS UNDER ASSAULT

Rollins said that, as a litigator, her concern is agencies have yet to change positions when it comes to these Supreme Court opinions: “That sort of signals that there is a problem between what the president is saying he wants to have happen and what’s being effectuated on the ground.”

In the memo, Trump directs agencies to employ the Administrative Procedure Act’s “good cause” exception “where appropriate,” which allows agencies to do away with the usual notice-and-comment rulemaking process in the interest of the public. The usual process requires time for public input on the proposed rule. 

The memo lists various Supreme Court cases aligned with Trump’s deregulatory agenda as well as the administration’s efforts to get rid of DEI initiatives. Among the cases listed are Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, West Virginia vs. EPA, and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Huff said there is “less of a need” to impose the regular notice-and-comment rulemaking process given that agencies will likely be reviewing previous rules rather than passing new ones. 

“They’re not adding new burdens. This isn’t new to people,” Huff said. “People already sort of know what’s there and it was there before. And we’re just turning back the clock. We’re putting it back to the way it was. We’re restoring the original status quo.”

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Severino said there could be litigation over the use of the exception despite the fact that the language is “very broad.” 

“But I do think there are strong arguments for it because the laws must keep with the constitutional limits on government, and, of course, be in the public interest.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) vaccine advisory committee will meet on Tuesday for a two-day session to lay out new recommendations, including a proposal to scale back current COVID-19 vaccine guidelines.

Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos of the CDC is expected to present guidance on COVID-19 vaccine use for 2025–2026 and suggest the department adopt a “narrow” recommendation for it, “and only maintain this series for certain populations within these groups who we determine should be vaccinated.”

When polled on April 3, a majority of advisors – 76% – expressed support for a risk-based, rather than universal, COVID-19 vaccination recommendation for the 2025–2026 schedule, up 10% higher from February polling.

UTAH BANS FLUORIDE FROM PUBLIC DRINKING WATER, ALIGNING WITH MAHA MOVEMENT

A nurse fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The 70-page presentation outlines three possible policy options for COVID-19 vaccines, including a shift away from recommending annual shots for everyone over 6 months old.

Currently, annual COVID-19 shots are recommended for ages 6 months and older. One proposed policy option would continue the current universal policy, while another would recommend vaccines only for people at higher risk of severe illness, such as older adults, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women and healthcare workers. 

A third option would blend the two, keeping universal recommendations for people 65 and older but limiting shots for younger groups to those at higher risk.

“When initially presented with 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine policy options in November 2024, the Work Group appreciated pros and cons of both risk-based and universal vaccine recommendations,” Panagiotakopoulos wrote. “At that time, there was not yet a consensus on what the recommendation for the 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine should be. The Work Group requested additional information to help inform the decision-making process on risk-factors for severe COVID-19, transmission and immunity, vaccine implementation and access, and cost-effectiveness.”

HOSPITALS WARNED THEY MUST PROTECT CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION: HHS AGENCY MEMO

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Getty Images)

The presentation will also propose how to define “increased risk,” looking at both health factors and increased exposure, like living in long-term care facilities or working in high-contact jobs.

The two-day meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will examine information for members to vote on as official recommendations, which will then be passed on to the CDC for consideration in June.

The end of the presentation will include discussion questions about the pros and cons of a universal vs. risk-based COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for 2025 to 2026. Key discussion points include whether any groups should be excluded from vaccination, what data is still needed to guide decisions, and whether a risk-based approach makes sense if most people are already considered “at risk.”

HHS DOWNSIZING BEGINS AMID RFK JR. ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ PUSH: ‘WIN-WIN FOR TAXPAYERS’

In this photo illustration, a syringe and an illustrative vial with the COVID-19 vaccine are seen in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo. ( Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

According to the CDC, the vaccine committee’s agenda will also include a session about the measles outbreak and an update “on literature related to reduced number of doses for HPV vaccine.”

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Members of the committee will vote on Wednesday on recommendations for the Meningococcal Vaccines, Meningococcal Vaccines VFC, RSV Adult and the Chikungunya Vaccines.

The meeting comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is overseeing a major reorganization of the CDC. Plans include transferring non-infectious disease-related divisions to the Administration for a Healthy America to focus on chronic disease management. This move follows significant downsizing under President Donald Trump’s directive, which has already reduced the CDC workforce by roughly 4,000 people.

EXCLUSIVE: The chairman of the largest House GOP caucus is using Tax Day to send a warning about the financial strain American families could face next year if Republicans fail in their plans for a massive conservative policy overhaul.

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that millions of Americans could see their taxes increase by as much as one-fifth if Congress does not pass a budget reconciliation bill extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

“If Democrats get their way and let these tax cuts expire, Americans will be crushed by the largest tax hike in history – a 22% increase hitting 40 million families and 26 million small businesses,” Pfluger said. 

“It’s time to lock in these historic tax cuts permanently to boost job creation, fuel America’s economic engine, and protect family budgets from the Left’s tax-and-spend agenda.”

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

President Donald Trump arrives to speak on his policy to end taxes on tips in Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The RSC acts as the House GOP’s de facto conservative think tank and has more than 175 members. Pfluger reiterated that the group is “fighting to make President Trump’s historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, so families can keep more of their hard-earned money instead of sending it to the IRS.”

Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, chair of the RSC budget task force, said extending the TCJA and enacting Trump’s other tax policy initiatives would help the U.S. become “the most advantageous country in which to invest, relocate, or expand a business” as well as helping families and businesses domestically.

“These vital, pro-growth tax reforms will work alongside our efforts to slash federal regulations and bureaucracy to empower economic expansion and financial security for the American people and our job creators,” she said.

Tax reform is a cornerstone of Republicans’ efforts on reconciliation, a mechanism that allows the party controlling the major levers of government to enact sweeping fiscal and budgetary changes. It does so by lowering the Senate’s threshold for advancing legislation from 60 votes to 51, provided the matters in the bill deal with taxes, spending and the national debt.

SENATE GOP PUSHES TRUMP BUDGET FRAMEWORK THROUGH AFTER MARATHON VOTE SERIES

Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger is pushing to extend Trump’s tax cuts. (Getty Images)

In addition to extending the TCJA tax cuts, Trump also wants Republicans to eliminate taxes on tipped and overtime wages, as well as on Social Security benefits for retirees.

House Republicans passed a framework last week to sync up with the Senate on its budget reconciliation bill, which now allows the relevant congressional committees to begin work filling out that framework with policy.

But congressional Republicans have a long road ahead to get a bill passed in both the House and Senate, where their majorities are currently three seats each. The House version calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, while the Senate’s baseline is $4 billion – though Republicans there vowed to strive for more.

Extending TCJA alone would decrease federal revenues by $4.5 trillion, according to the Tax Foundation, and House conservatives are leading the charge in demanding steep government funding cuts to offset that.

The RSC steering group, the group’s leadership arm, released an official position earlier this year calling for reconciliation legislation to be deficit-neutral. 

At the same time, however, failing to extend Trump’s tax cuts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections could have politically devastating consequences, while stoking fears of an economic downturn when compounded with the added cost of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

“If the tax cuts expire, the median family would lose about $1,000,” Kimberly Clausing, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Fox News Digital earlier this month, citing a model from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. 

And if the recently unveiled tariffs continued unabated at the time, “that would generate an average per household consumer loss of $3,800,” she added, pointing to the Yale Budget Lab’s estimate. Trump has since walked back much of his reciprocal tariff policy. 

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The House Ways and Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, released a memo late last year with a similar warning to Pfluger’s on a potential tax hike if TCJA is not extended.

“Congress needs to act swiftly to take this threat of a tax hike off the table and give the American people assurances that the relief they have been demanding has arrived,” the December memo said.

As it aims to defend its razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is off to a fast fundraising start.

The NRCC, which is the House GOP’s campaign arm, announced on Tuesday that it “shattered records” with a $21.5 million fundraising haul last month, which it says was the committee’s best month of an off-year and the best March in NRCC history.

Last month’s fundraising fueled an overall $36.7 million haul during the January-March first quarter of 2025. The NRCC showcased that its fundraising in the past three months was its strongest off-year first quarter, outpacing by nearly $11 million what it brought in during the same period in the 2024 election cycle.

The NRCC also highlighted that it had $23.9 million cash on hand heading into April and that it had paid down its debt to $4.5 million, which it said was ahead of its pace in the 2024 cycle.

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TARGETING THESE HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“The NRCC is on offense and fueled by unstoppable momentum and widespread support,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella emphasized.

Marinella claimed that “while out of touch House Democrats are fighting amongst themselves, we’re charging toward 2026 with unmatched energy, ready to grow our House majority and continue delivering results for the American people.”

The NRCC’s first-quarter haul does not include the eye-popping $35.2 million it says it brought in at a fundraiser earlier this month in the nation’s capital that was headlined by President Donald Trump. Those funds will be included in the committee’s second quarter figures.

WERE THIS MONTH’S ELECTIONS IN WISCONSIN AND FLORIDA A CRYSTAL BALL FOR THINGS TO COME IN NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERMS?

The rival Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had yet to announce its first quarter fundraising at the time this report was posted. The DCCC outraised the NRCC $11.1 million to $9.2 million in February fundraising.

Republicans currently control the House with a fragile 220-213 majority, with two blue-leaning vacant seats likely to be back in the hands of Democrats when special elections in those districts are held later this year.

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital on April 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Fundraising is a crucial component to the GOP’s game plan to keep control.

When asked what concerns him the most when it comes to defending the House majority, NRCC Chair Rep. Richard Hudson said in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this month that “Democrats have a structural advantage when it comes to fundraising. They always seem to have just mountains of money. So I think the amount of money the Democrats raise is probably the only thing that really concerns me.”

“We have to raise enough money to keep up with the Democrats and make sure that our candidates can get their message out,” Hudson emphasized.

POLL POSITION: WHERE TRUMP STANDS WITH AMERICANS 11 WEEKS INTO HIS SECOND TOUR OF DUTY IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Hudson, a North Carolina Republican and 12-year veteran of the House, said that “the President understands that he’s got to keep the House majority in the midterm so that he has a four-year runway, instead of a two-year runway to get his agenda enacted.”

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Pointing to the House Democratic leader, Hudson added, “Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would fight President Trump on every front, and it would be really difficult for him to achieve his agenda. President Trump understands it’s important to hold the House and he’s, he’s been extremely helpful to us and we appreciate it.”

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The DCCC is taking aim at nearly three dozen Republican-held seats in the chamber as it aims to win back the majority. Earlier this month, the House Democrats’ campaign arm released its initial 2026 target list, which included 35 GOP-controlled seats, and launched an effort to fundraise for the party’s eventual nominees in each of the districts.

The DCCC emphasized that their moves signal that “Democrats are on offense and poised to win the majority in 2026.”

Former President Joe Biden is expected to deliver what is billed as his first public speech since leaving the Oval Office, delivering the keynote address on Tuesday before the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD). 

“We are deeply honored President Biden is making his first public appearance at ACRD’s sold-out conference,” the group’s executive director, Rachel Buck, said in a press release provided to Fox Digital. The conference will be held in Chicago. 

“As bipartisan leaders have long agreed, Americans who retire after paying into Social Security their whole lives deserve the vital support and caring services they receive. As a result, we are thrilled the President will be joining us to discuss how we can work together for a stable and successful future for Social Security.”

The event is billed as the 46th president’s first public speech since leaving the White House, with the former president expected to address the conference sometime after 5 p.m. ET, Fox Digital learned. Biden, however, has delivered other public remarks since Jan. 20, Fox Digital found, including speaking before the National High School Model United Nations in March, which received little media attention, as well as joining an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers event this month. 

ACRD is an advocacy organization that works to equip “disability professionals with the tools, technology, and training to lead the industry forward,” according to its website. “Our mission is to empower and educate disability representatives by providing comprehensive training, fostering leadership skills, promoting technological proficiency, and offering valuable networking opportunities.” 

BIDEN’S TEAM HID TRUTH ABOUT HIS HEALTH ALL ALONG: WH PRESS SEC

Former President Joe Biden (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden will headline the event, which will focus on strengthening Social Security, and will be joined by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and former Democrat Maryland Gov. and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley, according to the press release.

Blunt reported in comments provided in the press release that discussions on Tuesday will focus on bolstering the Social Security system so it can meet the needs of Americans by “reducing red tape, strengthening claims processing, and ensuring unnecessary spending is eliminated.”

“Social Security is a sacred promise between generations,” O’Malley, who serves as chair of ACRD’s Advisory Board, added in the press release. “It’s a promise that ensures dignity in retirement, security after tragedy, and support for those with disabilities. We are deeply grateful to the President for joining us at ACRD to discuss how we can keep that promise for all Americans.”

BIDEN AIDES ‘SCRIPTED’ EVERYTHING, ALLOWED HIS FACULTIES TO ‘ATROPHY,’ NEW BOOK CLAIMS

Former President Joe Biden has kept a low profile since his predecessor and successor in office, President Donald Trump, re-entered the White House in January. (Kenny Holston/New York Times/Pool via Getty Images)

Biden has been out of the public’s view since leaving the Oval Office on Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th commander in chief. Biden attended the inauguration and was seen chatting with his successor after offering five family members pardons in the final minutes of his tenure, including to his two brothers and his sister. 

BIDEN ENDS BID FOR SECOND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP

Biden was slated to face off against Trump for the second time during the 2024 presidential election cycle but dropped out of the running in July as concerns mounted over his mental acuity and age. Biden passed the torch to his then-vice president, Kamala Harris, who failed to rally enough support to defeat Trump after just over 100 days on the campaign trail. 

Biden’s scheduled speech to disability advocates in Chicago on Tuesday is his first public event since leaving the Oval Office in January. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Bidens have been spotted at various events since Trump’s Inauguration Day, including attending the opening night of “Othello” on Broadway last month in New York City and traveling to Santa Barbara County, California, immediately following the end of his administration. 

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Biden has been spending his days in both Delaware and the nation’s capital since his Oval Office exit, with the 46th president working on his next memoir while meeting with various Democratic Party leaders such as DNC Chair Ken Martin, NBC News reported in March. 

Fox Digital reached out to Biden’s office for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply.

A federal judge has ordered the North Carolina Board of Elections to begin implementing a state Supreme Court decision in the last unresolved 2024 election in the country. 

The North Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision on Friday that partially overturned a ruling from a week earlier by a panel of the intermediate-level Court of Appeals that had favored Republican Jefferson Griffin. Griffin is trailing Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs by a razor-thin margin of 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast last fall in the election for a seat on the state’s highest court. Griffin formally protested more than 65,000 ballots covering three categories.

The largest category of challenged voters — roughly 60,000 — included ballots cast last fall by people who have been registered to vote since 2004, but their records lack a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.

Friday’s prevailing opinion said the Court of Appeals got it wrong by declaring these ballots shouldn’t have been counted. The opinion said the blame rests with the State Board of Elections for failing for years to properly collect those numerical identifiers, not the voters. These voters ultimately proved their identity by complying with the state’s new photo ID law, and longtime legal precedent says such mistakes by election officials cannot result in cast votes being voided, the order reads.

FEDERAL JUDGE KICKS BATTLE OVER NC SUPREME COURT ELECTION BACK TO STATE COURT

Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the N.C. Supreme Court listens to testimony in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.  (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, File)

The state board of elections said in a statement on Monday that it will provide, “as soon as possible,” detailed instructions “to the affected counties and voters on how to comply with the decision.”

“The Supreme Court decision removed from the protest voters whose voter registration forms did not include a driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number (and didn’t check the box indicating they lacked these numbers). Those voters – the largest group of voters challenged by the protest – no longer must provide that information to their county boards of elections to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count in the 2024 general election,” the state board said. 

But a majority of justices — all registered Republicans — let stand the lower court’s determination that additional ballots from two other categories that Griffin contested were wrongly allowed in the tally. Some of these voters, potentially thousands who serve in the military or live overseas, would still get a chance to turn in a photo identification or an ID exception form for their choice in the race to remain in the count, the court’s prevailing order says. 

The state Supreme Court also agreed to throw out votes from people who had never lived in North Carolina or the United States altogether. 

“The Supreme Court decision, however, would require challenged military and overseas-citizen voters who submitted an absentee ballot to provide a copy of their photo identification, or a Photo ID Exception Form, to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count in the 2024 general election,” the state board of elections said Monday. “The decision would also require certain county boards of elections to identify and remove from the count – in the Supreme Court contest only – the votes from U.S. citizen voters who have never lived in the United States but have parental connections to North Carolina.” 

Riggs and the State Board of Elections, which had previously thrown out Griffin’s formal protests of the more than 65,000 ballots, had previously signaled plans to return to federal court if necessary, if the justices sided with Griffin to potentially plead violations of federal elections and voting rights laws. Riggs’ attorneys filed a motion late Friday in U.S. District Court in Raleigh asking a judge to issue an injunction preventing the state appeals court decisions from being carried out immediately.

Allison Riggs, chief counsel of voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, talks to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court after she attended oral arguments in Moore v. Harper on Dec. 7, 2022. The case stems from the redrawing of congressional maps following the 2020 Census.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

DEM TAKES AIM AT TRUMP IN 2026 SENATE LAUNCH VIDEO FOR ‘TANKING OUR ECONOMY’

U.S. Chief District Judge Richard Myers – who was nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term – on Saturday ordered the state board of elections to comply with the plan set forth by the Supreme Court to resolve the election dispute. Meyers set an April 15 deadline for the state board of elections to “provide notice to the court of the scope of its remedial efforts, including the number of potentially affected voters and the counties in which those voters cast ballots.” 

The judge also gave both parties until April 20 to submit opening briefs and until April 28 to submit final briefs in the case. 

Myers ordered the state Supreme Court not to certify the election results “pending further order of this court.” It’s unknown whether the outstanding ballots that could ultimately get taken out of the count could flip the result to Griffin, himself a current Court of Appeals judge. Griffin did not sit on the three-judge panel whose majority ruled for him last week, and Riggs did not participate in the Supreme Court deliberations.

Riggs, meanwhile, hosted a “Protect Our Votes” rally in the state capital of Raleigh on Monday. 

Hundreds of demonstrators rally at the North Carolina State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Raleigh protesting Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of 65,000 ballots in November’s election.  (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“I will not give up on my fight to protect those fighting for us,” Riggs, whose father and brother served in the military, said, according to WRAL. “This presents a very real burden and threat to North Carolina voters in uniform, North Carolina voters who are missionaries serving on the mission field, foreign service officers, students studying abroad The threat is real, the burden is real, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that their vote counts.”

Republican strategist Paul Schumaker issued a statement on behalf of Griffin saying Friday’s ruling “is consistent with our request, and clearly, the matter warrants a thorough review, which the Courts have set forth. “

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“What is most disturbing is Justice Riggs’ desire to hold interviews and rallies to litigate this case outside of the Courts,” Schumaker said, according to WRAL. “Justice Riggs clearly is a judicial activist who believes judges should make new laws, not interpret the laws enacted by the state legislature.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The first Mexico-born member of Congress is launching her comeback bid on Tuesday, setting her sights on a Democrat who Republicans view as one of the most vulnerable House incumbents of 2026.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have that many voices in the Spanish-speaking community — in Telemundo, in television — talking to the Spanish-speaking community about the amazing work President Trump is doing, and his administration,” former Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview prior to her announcement.

“And that’s something that I feel I’m obligated to do, because there’s a lot of misinformation being spread from the left, and they’re trying to instill fear and hate in the Hispanic community.”

Flores served in Congress for roughly six months, from late June 2022 until early January 2023, having flipped Texas’ 34th Congressional District from blue to red after winning a special election to replace ex-Rep. Filemon Vela Jr., D-Texas.

WILL THIS BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN END THE GOP’S 20-YEAR LOSING STREAK IN HIS STATE?

Former Rep. Mayra Flores is setting her sights on Texas’ 28th Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar. (Getty Images)

She lost re-election to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, twice, though their rematch saw Flores come within less than 3% of Gonzalez’s victory.

Flores’ 2026 bid is aimed at challenging a different Democrat, however. The former GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that she intends to run in Texas’ Loredo-anchored 28th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.

Cuellar is a moderate known to break from his own party on issues like border security, crime and abortion. 

He’s served in Congress since 2005, with victories spanning from a few thousand votes to margins as high as 30%.

LONGTIME HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEIGHS SENATE BID IN KEY BATTLEGROUND

Cuellar most recently won last November by less than 6% – or roughly 13,000 votes – amid a federal indictment accusing him of an array of corruption charges.

“It’s not about what Mayra Flores wants. It’s what this country needs me to do. And this country needs me to run in Texas 28 and win this seat,” Flores said. “This is a seat that can be flipped in 2026. Right now we need a much bigger majority. It makes it very difficult for President Trump to get anything across with such a small majority.”

Flores said she was deeply familiar with the district and has familial ties to it.

Former Rep. Mayra Flores and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (ALLISON DINNER/AFP | Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

In addition to the seat being a viable opportunity for the GOP, she pointed to the criminal indictment as an argument for taking on Cuellar, and she noted he had been in office since she was a 1-year-old, having first served in the Texas State House in 1986.

“At the end of the day, I don’t care what party he is, whether you’re a Republican or you’re a Democrat,” Flores said. “Being a member, it’s … a position where you can help so many people, and you are able to represent an entire district. And yet he threw it all away. And no amount of money is worth you doing that to your country.” 

Cuellar denied any wrongdoing on his or his wife’s part in a statement when the indictment was announced.

“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said in May 2024.

“Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm,” he said. “The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people. Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the Washington D.C. prosecutors to explain the facts, and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side.”

Former Rep. Mayra Flores served from June 2022 until early January 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Flores signaled she intended to focus heavily on the issues of agriculture and the economy when asked what she wanted to make another stint in Congress look like.

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“At the end of the day, you know, money’s important. Without money, you can’t have a shelter, you can’t have a car, you can’t provide for your children. So the economy is a top priority for me,” Flores said. “And of course, agriculture is a passion of mine. I was a farmworker. My parents were migrant workers. We traveled a lot. I believe our farmworkers need to be prioritized.”

She compared her push on agriculture to the Republican stance on U.S. energy independence.

“We talk about being independent, right, on oil and gas, which I agree, 100%. But we need to be food-independent as well,” Flores said.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, tweeted on Monday night, “I miss you already, President T.”

While seated next to Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump spoke highly of the foreign leader, saying that Salvadorans “have one hell of a president.”

Bukele took note last week when Trump referred to him as “President B” in a Truth Social post.

BUKELE SAYS TRUMP HAS 350 MILLION AMERICANS TO ‘LIBERATE’ BY ENDING CRIME, TERRORISM

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 14, 2025 (Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States,” Trump declared in that April 12 Truth Social post. “These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government. They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!”

Bukele shared a screenshot of the post on X, drawing particular attention to Trump’s “President B” nickname for him.

‘UP TO EL SALVADOR’: TRUMP ADMIN PUNTS ON RETURN OF WRONGFULLY DEPORTED MARYLAND RESIDENT

Trump noted on Monday that he would be interested in sending violent “homegrown criminals” to El Salvador, if that could be done legally.

“Honored to join @POTUS in welcoming my friend President @nayibbukele to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Monday post on X. 

TRUMP, OFFICIALS HAVE TENSE EXCHANGE WITH CNN REPORTER OVER DEPORTATION OF EL SALVADORAN NATIONAL

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“Since my visit to El Salvador, the United States has deported dangerous MS13 and Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador’s prison. Because of this, our nation is safer and more secure. Our hemisphere is lucky to have two leaders who are totally aligned in their commitment to law and order,” Rubio noted.