Donald Trump Poll News

The full Senate voted Tuesday evening to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

The party-line vote followed approval from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which also voted along party lines to advance Bhattacharya, leading to today’s full Senate vote.  

A physician, Stanford professor of medicine and senior fellow at the university’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, Bhattacharya was a leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic against lockdown measures and vaccine mandates. 

He was one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document published in October 2020 by a group of scientists advocating against widespread COVID lockdowns and promoting the efficacy of natural immunity for low-risk individuals as opposed to vaccination.

TRUMP NIH APPOINTEE DEFENDS PRESIDENT’S RESEARCH FUNDING CUTS, LAYS OUT NEW VISION FOR FUTURE

A physician, Stanford professor of medicine and senior fellow at the university’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, Bhattacharya was a leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic against lockdown measures and vaccine mandates. (Getty Images)

Bhattacharya was probed by the Senate HELP Committee earlier this month over various issues related to his potential role as NIH director. However, for much of the hearing, he was forced to defend the president’s decision to cut certain research funds at NIH, including a 15% cap on indirect research costs, also known as facilities and administrative costs, dispersed by the NIH.

Bhattacharya would not explicitly say he disagreed with the cuts, or that, if confirmed, he would step in to stop them. Rather, he said he would “follow the law,” while also investigating the effect of the cuts and ensuring every NIH researcher doing work that advances the health outcomes of Americans has the resources necessary.

“I think transparency regarding indirect costs is absolutely worthwhile. It’s something that universities can fix by working together to make sure that where that money goes is made clear,” Bhattacharya said of the indirect costs going to universities, hospitals and research clinics from the NIH. 

TRUMP RESCINDS BIDEN-ERA POLICY DECLARING DEI AN ‘INTEGRAL’ PART OF SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

Jayanta Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the National Institutes of Health, speaks at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Capitol Hill March 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In addition to addressing questions about the Trump cuts, Bhattacharya also laid out what he called a new, decentralized vision for future research at NIH that he said will be aimed at embracing dissenting ideas and transparency, while focusing on research topics that have the best chance at directly benefiting health outcomes of Americans. Bhattacharya added that he wants to rid the agency’s research portfolio of other “frivolous” efforts that he says do little to directly benefit health outcomes.

“I think fundamentally what matters is do scientists have an idea that advances the scientific field they’re in?” Bhattacharya said last week during his confirmation testimony. “Do they have an idea that ends up addressing the health needs of Americans?”

Jayanta Bhattacharya testifies during a U.S; Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on his nomination to be Director of the National Institutes of Health on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 5, 2025.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Prior to his confirmation, Bhattacharya, alongside several other scientists, including Trump’s pick to head the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, launched a new research journal focused on spurring scientific discourse and combating “gatekeeping” in the medical research community. The journal, the Journal of the Academy of Public Health (JAPH), aims to spur scientific discourse by publishing peer reviews of prominent studies from other journals that do not make their peer reviews publicly available.

A federal court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from suspending a refugee resettlement program. 

The ruling came during a court hearing over a lawsuit brought by a group of nonprofits that receive federal funds under a congressional law. The nonprofits provide a range of social services for newly-arrived refugees in the U.S. 

On Monday, a judge in Seattle issued an injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate its contracts with refugee agencies. Tuesday’s ruling came from the three-judge panel Ninth Circuit court, which directs the administration to continue to process applications that started the process prior to Jan. 20.

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?

A federal court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from suspending a refugee resettlement program.  (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

“The motion is denied to the extent the district court’s preliminary injunction order applies to individuals who were conditionally approved for refugee status by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services before January 20, 2025,” the order states. “Executive Order No. 14163 does not purport to revoke the refugee status of individuals who received that status under the United States Refugee Admissions Program prior to January 20, 2025. In all other respects, the district court’s February 28, 2025, preliminary injunction order is stayed.”

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending refugee resettlement and ordering the Department of Homeland Security to report back in 90 days on whether resuming resettlement would be in the interests of the U.S.

‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO

People gather outside the U.S. District Court after a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to halt the nation’s refugee admissions system in Seattle.  (AP Photo/Eugene Johnson)

“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,” Trump said in his Jan. 20 order.

The case had been brought by refugee groups, including International Refugee Assistance Project, HIAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest and individual refugees. The groups argued their ability to provide services to refugees had been damaged by the Trump order.

The order was one of several attempting to limit both illegal and legal immigration, including the use of parole to allow in migrants by the Biden administration. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump limited refugee resettlement in his first term, but President Joe Biden made moves to take in more refugees, including by increasing the refugee cap.

President Donald Trump defended National Security Advisor Michael Waltz during an ambassador meeting on Monday, as his administration faces fierce backlash over the recent Signal text chain leak.

Waltz, whose staffers had unknowingly added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat where Secretary of State Pete Hegseth and others discussed sensitive war plans, has come under fire for the blunder. Speaking to a room full of reporters, Trump said he believes Waltz is “doing his best.”

“I don’t think he should apologize,” the president said. “I think he’s doing his best. It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect.”

“And, probably, he won’t be using it again, at least not in the very near future,” he added.

TRUMP NOMINATES SUSAN MONAREZ TO BECOME THE NEXT CDC DIRECTOR, SAYS AMERICANS ‘LOST CONFIDENCE’ IN AGENCY

U.S. President Donald Trump listens during an Ambassador Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Goldberg was added to the national security discussion, called “Houthi PC Small Group”, earlier in March. He was able to learn about attacks against Houthi fighters in Yemen long before the public.

“According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time,” Goldberg wrote in his piece about the experience. “So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.”

Though Goldberg’s inclusion in the chat did not foil the military’s plans, the national security breach has still stunned both supporters and critics of the Trump administration. During the Tuesday meeting, Trump also said that he was in contact with Waltz over whether hackers can break into Signal conversations.

IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES HIT JUDGE WHO ORDERED TRUMP TO STOP DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

National Security advisor Mike Waltz speaks as he sits with U.S. President Donald Trump during an Ambassador Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Are people able to break into conversations? And if that’s true, we’re gonna have to find some other form of device,” Trump said. “And I think that’s something that we may have to do. Some people like Signal very much, other people probably don’t, but we’ll look into it.”

“Michael, I’ve asked you to immediately study that and find out if people are able to break into a system,” he added.

In response, Waltz assured Trump that he has White House technical experts “looking at” the situation, along with legal teams.

U.S. President Donald Trump listens to a reporter’s question during an Ambassador Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“And of course, we’re going to keep everything as secure as possible,” the national security official said. “No one in your national security team would ever put anyone in danger. And as you said, we’ve repeatedly said the attack was phenomenal, and it’s ongoing.”

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem have forged a new inter-agency initiative aimed at ensuring federal housing funds do not go to illegal immigrants. 

The two secretaries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday cementing the partnership, which will serve to end what they call “wasteful misappropriation” of taxpayer-funded public housing resources going to illegal immigrants rather than U.S. citizens. The new initiative will facilitate data sharing between the two agencies via newly established lines of communication, according to a press release about the effort, which added that U.S. veterans stood to benefit from the move.

“American tax dollars should be used for the benefit of American citizens, especially when it comes to an issue as pressing as our nation’s housing crisis,” Turner said Monday. “This new agreement will leverage resources, including technology and personnel, to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing. We will continue to work closely with DHS to maximize our resources and put American citizens first.”

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

The Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security forged a new initiative Monday aimed at ending what they call “wasteful misappropriation” of public housing to illegal immigrants. (Getty Images/Fox News)

In total, per HUD, there are roughly 9 million people who live in subsidized housing across the country. Meanwhile, about 59% of noncitizen households – those including green card holders or illegal immigrants – use one or more public assistance programs, costing taxpayers as much as $42 billion annually, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for lower immigration levels.

Tens of millions of dollars – at least – went to housing for migrants, including for all-expense-paid stays at hotels for some, during the Biden administration. Some states, such as Pennsylvania and Arizona, passed measures during the Biden administration aimed at ensuring illegal immigrants do not take public housing resources from Americans who need them. 

President Donald Trump, shortly after his inauguration, signed an executive order calling for an end to illegal immigrants’ use of public resources.

ICE NEARING HISTORIC DEAL WITH IRS TO AID IN DEPORTATIONS: REPORT

Asylum seekers line up in front of the historic Roosevelt Hotel, converted into a city-run shelter during the Biden administration for newly arrived migrant families in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“The Biden Administration prioritized illegal aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens taxpayer-funding housing at the expense of Americans. Not anymore,” Noem said in a statement Monday. “The entire government will work together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally. If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over.”

As part of the new initiative, HUD will provide a full-time staff member to assist with operations at the federal government’s Incident Command Center, which facilitates information sharing between agencies during national crises. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Additionally, in conjunction with the establishment of the new initiative, Turner ordered numerous federal housing programs under his purview to comply with Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, which bars HUD-funded service providers from providing assistance to illegal immigrants.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe clashed with a Democratic senator Tuesday over the lawmaker’s description of the Trump administration’s leaked Signal chat – pushing back multiple times before snapping, “I didn’t say any of those things.”

The exchange between Ratcliffe and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., happened Tuesday morning during the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual “Threats to the Homeland” hearing. 

Much of this year’s hearing, however, centered on the extraordinary news that more than a dozen of Trump’s top national security officials, including Ratcliffe, had inadvertently included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Golberg in a Signal group chat that discussed plans for a forthcoming strike on the Houthis in Yemen. 

The news was first reported by Golberg Monday, in a first-person account that sent shockwaves throughout Washington, D.C. 

TRUMP NOT PLANNING TO FIRE WALTZ AFTER NATIONAL SECURITY TEXT CHAIN LEAK

FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, appear during a Senate Committee on Intelligence hearing on Mar. 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Ratcliffe, especially, was grilled by lawmakers over the Trump administration’s use of the encrypted messaging app to exchange purported classified security information. Senators demanded to know who added Goldberg, a well-known editor and journalist, to the so-called “Houthi PC Small Group,” where he remained unnoticed for several days.

Bennet asked Ratcliffe if it was his view that there was nothing wrong with the Signal thread in question, and whether he shared the view of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that the chat in question did not include any targeting information or battle sequence.

Bennet said this was in Ratcliffe’s testimony, before noting, “I’m a little staggered that that is your view, Director Ratcliffe.”

“Does the CIA have any rules about [the] handling of classified information?” he asked. “Yes or no?”

“Yes,” Ratcliffe responded. He added that he had not previously heard of Goldberg, though he acknowledged “clearly he was added” to the Signal thread by someone in the group.

“I don’t know how he was added,” Ratcliffe said, before Bennet interrupted, asking, “You don’t know that the president’s national security advisor invited him to join the signal thread,” referring to national security advisor Mike Waltz. 

TRUMP REVEALS WHO WAS BEHIND SIGNAL TEXT CHAIN LINK

President Donald Trump, accompanied by national security advisor Michael Waltz, takes a question from a reporter during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, left, in the Oval Office on March 13, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“Everybody in America knows,” Bennet said. 

Ratcliffe said he does not use the app to share classified information, or to share targeting information.

“And your testimony as the director of the CIA, is that it’s totally appropriate” to conduct conversations like this on Signal, Bennet asked. “Is it appropriate?”

Ratcliffe began to respond, saying “No, that is not what I—” before the Democratic senator cut him off. 

He then tried again, challenging Bennet: “Did I say it was? When did I use the word ‘appropriate’?’”

TRUMP OFFICIALS ACCIDENTALLY TEXT ATLANTIC JOURNALIST ABOUT MILITARY STRIKES IN APPARENT SECURITY BREACH

“Clearly, ‘nothing to see here,’ is what your testimony is,” Bennet said. “It was just a normal day at the CIA where we chat about this kind of stuff over Signal. In fact, it’s so normal that the last administration left it here for us.’ That’s your testimony today.”

“No, that is not my testimony,” Ratcliffe fired back. “I didn’t say any of those things that you just related, senator.”

Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe prepare to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, March 25, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

The back-and-forth wrapped with a blistering remand from Bennet, who told Ratcliffe of the Signal chat: “This sloppiness, this incompetence, this disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel who work for them is entirely unacceptable. It’s an embarrassment,” he said. “You need to do better. You need to do better.” 

During the hearing, other Democrats, including Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, called for Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign over the Signal chat in question.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously attempted to brush off the Signal chat, telling reporters Monday that the attacks on the Houthis discussed in the group chat “have been highly successful and effective.” 

“President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including national security advisor Mike Waltz,” she said.

Progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, mocked a disabled, wheelchair-bound Republican governor, calling him “Governor Hot Wheels” during a pro-LGBTQ benefit dinner this weekend.

Crockett is already in hot water over other controversial recent comments such as calling for Elon Musk to be “taken down” and for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to be “knocked over the head, like hard.”

Speaking at a benefit for the Human Rights Campaign in Los Angeles, Crockett mocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose legs were paralyzed in a running accident in 1984.

“We in these hot a– Texas streets, honey. Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there, come on now! And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot a– mess, honey!” she said, laughing.

PAM BONDI ON JASMINE CROCKETT’S COMMENTS: WORDS HAVE CONSEQUENCES | FOX NEWS VIDEO

Rep. Jasmine Crockett mocked wheelchair-bound Republican Greg Abbott, calling him “Governor Hot Wheels” during a pro-LGBTQ benefit dinner this weekend. (Getty Images)

In response, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) slammed Crockett, saying she is indicative of the state of the Democratic Party today.

“House Dems’ top spox Jasmine Crockett applauded after attacking Texas Governor Abbott for using a wheelchair,” the NRCC posted on X. “Recent polling shows Crazy Crockett as one of the leaders of the Democrat Party. This is who they are.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., responded, “FYI to the new spokeswoman for the Democrat party – Greg Abbott became paralyzed after a huge oak tree fell on him, crushing his spine. But sure, go with ‘hot wheels.’”

Conservative women’s sports activist Riley Gaines also chimed in, saying, “Democrats, please keep giving Jasmine Crockett the microphone We’ll never lose an election again.”

JASMINE CROCKETT DESCRIBES DEMOCRATIC DONOR TALK ON SCHUMER ‘REMINISCENT’ OF BIDEN BEING TAKEN DOWN

Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks during the “We Choose To Fight: Nobody Elected Elon” rally at the Treasury Department on Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn)

Crockett’s rhetoric has garnered significant condemnation from other leaders as well as outrage online in the last several days.

On Sunday, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stark warning to Crockett, telling her to “tread carefully” or face possible legal repercussions.

Seemingly not heeding Bondi’s warning, an interview clip surfaced on Monday of Crockett advocating for figuratively “punching” another leading Texas Republican, Cruz.

In response to a question about how Democrats can win elections, specifically in the red state of Texas, Crockett said, “I think that you punch, I think you punch, I think you OK with punching.”

“It’s Ted Cruz,” she went on. “I mean, like this dude has to be knocked over the head, like hard, right? Like there is no niceties with him, like at all. Like you go clean off on him.”

FAR-LEFT DEMOCRAT SLAMMED FOR ‘UNHINGED’ THREAT AGAINST PROMINENT GOP SENATOR: ‘INCITING VIOLENCE’

An interview clip surfaced on Monday of Crockett advocating for figuratively “punching” another leading Texas Republican, Ted Cruz. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Her latest comments to surface – this time against Abbott – were firmly condemned by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who pointed out her take would have caused national outrage if a Republican had said such a thing.

“Crockett’s comments are disgraceful,” said Cornyn. “Can you imagine if a Republican said something like this? It would be on [the] front page of NYT [New York Times] and all over CNN.”

Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk also spoke out against Crockett’s comments, saying, “Jasmine Crockett continues to embarrass herself, the state of Texas, and the US Congress by referring to Governor Greg Abbott as ‘Governor Hot Wheels.’”

“Gov. Abbott was paralyzed at the age of 26 when an oak tree fell and crushed his spine while jogging. This woman is trash,” said Kirk.

DEMOCRAT MAYOR BLASTED FOR VOWING TO MAKE MAJOR CITY ‘SAFE HAVEN’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Abbott, who took office in 2015, is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and has made border security one of his top priorities as governor. (Twitter/Greg Abbott)

Abbott, who took office in 2015, is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and has made border security one of his top priorities as governor. He launched “Operation Lonestar” in 2021, in which he deployed state officials and the Texas National Guard to the border. His efforts to build fortifications along the border also led to several confrontations with the Biden administration, perhaps most notably including a standoff between federal and state officials at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2024.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Abbott has been wheelchair-bound since he was struck by a falling tree while on a jog at age 26.

Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., suggested that the FBI’s launch of a task force to crackdown on Tesla-related attacks represents “political weaponization” of the U.S. Justice Department.

The FBI’s task force was created in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and will coordinate investigative activity.

“The FBI has been investigating the increase in violent activity toward Tesla, and over the last few days, we have taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate our response,” FBI Director Kash Patel noted Monday in a post on X. “This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice.” 

KASH PATEL SHARPENS WARNING MESSAGE FOR TESLA ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM’ PERPETRATORS AHEAD OF ‘DAY OF ACTION’

Left: Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. Right: Burned Teslas are shown at a Tesla Collision Center after an individual allegedly used incendiary devices to set several vehicles on fire on March 18, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Right: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Tesla vehicles and facilities have been targeted with vandalism, arson, and even gunshots.

But amid the onslaught of crime against the popular electric vehicle manufacturer and its customers, the Rep. Goldman is suggesting that the formation of the task force represents a political maneuver.

TESLA TROUBLE IN ONTARIO: DOZENS OF VEHICLES DAMAGED IN ONE LOCATION

“This is the political weaponization of the DOJ. Trump uses his official authority to defend his benefactor Elon Musk. The FBI then creates a task force to use our law enforcement to ‘crack down’ on adversaries of Musk’s,” he tweeted when sharing a Fox News Digital article about the task force launch.

“Where are the Republicans so opposed to ‘lawfare’?” he asked.

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk, who strongly supported now-President Donald Trump last year ahead of the presidential election, is spearheading an effort to expose waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.

He is widely criticized and vilified by the political left.

SUSPECTED TESLA ARSONISTS HIT WITH FEDERAL CHARGES IN ACTS OF ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM’: AG

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong. Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks,” Musk tweeted this month when sharing a post that featured footage of vehicles ablaze in Las Vegas.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report

A federal judge from New Jersey temporarily blocked the Trump administration from separating two transgender service members from the Air Force. 

The ruling is the second instance when a federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration as it seeks to implement its ban against transgender people from serving in the military. 

U.S. District Judge Christine O’Hearn, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued a temporary, 14-day restraining order on Monday to prevent the Trump administration from executing its order and from ousting Master Sgt. Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade from the service. 

Specifically, O’Hearn said Ireland and Bade demonstrated that their separation from service would negatively impact their careers, as well as their reputations. 

O’Hearn also said that their “involuntary loss of decorated military status, military healthcare, and the ability to serve their country under a policy they have faithfully abided by for years cannot be repaired by monetary damages.” 

“The loss of military service under the stigma of a policy that targets gender identity is not merely a loss of employment; it is a profound disruption of personal dignity, medical continuity, and public service,” O’Hearn said in the ruling Monday. 

FEDERAL JUDGE RIPS DOJ LAWYERS, DEMANDS WRITTEN RETRACTION FROM HEGSETH OVER TRANSGENDER MILITARY POLICY POST 

The Trump administration is seeking to prevent transgender individuals from serving in the military. (Reuters)

The Pentagon referred Fox News Digital to the Justice Department for comment. The Justice Department told Fox News Digital that it has “vigorously defended” Trump’s executive orders, including the Defending Women Executive order that stipulates there are only two sexes: male and female. 

“This is the latest example of an activist judge attempting to seize power at the expense of the American people, who overwhelmingly voted to elect President Trump,” a Justice Department spokesperson said. 

In January, Trump signed an executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military, prompting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to follow up in February with orders directing each service branch to begin separating transgender troops within 30 days.

DOJ ISSUES COMPLAINT ABOUT FEDERAL JUDGE’S ‘MISCONDUCT’ WHILE PRESIDING OVER MILITARY TRANS BAN COURT CASE

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

O’Hearn’s ruling comes after U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes of Washington, D.C., blocked the Trump administration from implementing its ban on March 19. Reyes said in her opinion that the Trump administration’s order was “soaked in animus” and discriminated based on a person’s transgender status. 

DOJ ISSUES COMPLAINT ABOUT FEDERAL JUDGE’S ‘MISCONDUCT’ WHILE PRESIDING OVER MILITARY TRANS BAN COURT CASE

“Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed — some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them,” Reyes wrote in the decision. 

Trump has signed more than 90 executive orders since returning to the White House in January, spurring more than 125 lawsuits against his administration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Senate Committee on Finance is set to vote later Tuesday afternoon on whether to advance President Donald Trump‘s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, to a full Senate confirmation vote. 

The vote follows two hearings by the committee that probed Oz over his plans for the federal healthcare programs, his views on abortion, potential conflicts of interest in the healthcare industry and more.   

If confirmed, Oz would be in charge of nearly $1.5 trillion in federal healthcare spending. Medicare, a federal healthcare program for seniors aged 65 and up, currently provides coverage for about 65 million Americans, according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Medicaid, which assists people with low incomes, covers roughly 72 million Americans, according to Medicaid.gov.

HAWLEY SKEPTICAL OF TRUMP PICK OZ: ‘I HOPE HE’S CHANGED HIS VIEWS’

Dr. Mehmet Oz testifyies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A former heart surgeon who saw his fame rise through his appearances on daytime TV and 13 seasons of “The Dr Oz Show,” Oz later transitioned into politics, launching an unsuccessful bid for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat in 2022. He ultimately lost to John Fetterman, then the state’s lieutenant governor. 

Oz graduated from Harvard and received medical and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

As the administrator of CMS, Oz would make decisions related to how the government covers procedures, hospital stays and medication within the federal healthcare programs, as well as the reimbursement rates at which healthcare providers get paid for their services.

DR. OZ BATS BACK DEMOCRATIC ATTEMPTS TO PAINT HIM AS A ‘SNAKE OIL’ SALESMAN IN SENATE HEARING

Dr. Mehmet Oz greets Sen. Marsha Blackburn before his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Earlier this month, Trump’s pick to lead the NIH and FDA, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Marty Makary, respectively, were also approved in committee and are awaiting full confirmation votes in the Senate. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Around the same time that Bhattacharya and Makary won committee approval, Trump withdrew his nomination of former Florida Rep. David Weldon to run the CDC, over fears he did not have the GOP support to clear full confirmation. 

On Monday, the Trump administration named Susan Monarez, acting director of the CDC, as its new nominee.

The Justice Department said this week that it has invoked the state secrets privilege in its ongoing court battle over the deportation of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador, a national security tool that allows the government to withhold certain information from the courts for national security purposes. 

In the 10-page court filing submitted to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior Trump administration officials said they chose to invoke the privilege because disclosure would pose what they described as a “reasonable danger” to national security and foreign affairs. 

“The Court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it,” the Justice Department officials said, adding: “Further intrusions on the Executive Branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the Court lacks competence to address.”

JUDGE CLAIMS ‘NAZIS GOT BETTER TREATMENT’ THAN VENEZUELANS DEPORTED BY TRUMP

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at a news conference regarding immigration enforcement at the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The news comes as Boasbeg has repeatedly pressed government lawyers for more information about its deportation flights last weekend, which sent around 261 migrants, including Venezuelan nationals and members of the gang Tren de Aragua, from the U.S. to El Salvador.

The flights left U.S. soil around the time Boasberg agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act, or the little-used wartime immigration law passed by Congress in 1798, to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals.

Hours later, however, planes carrying hundreds of migrants, including Venezuelan nationals removed on the basis of the law in question, arrived in El Salvador. 

President Donald Trump and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (Getty)

In the days that followed, Boasberg ordered both parties back to court to testify over the removals, and whether the Trump administration knowingly defied his court order.

The Justice Department had largely refused to comply with his requests for information – which included questions on how many individuals it deported “solely on the basis” of the Alien Enemies Act proclamation, where the planes landed, what time each plane took off from the U.S., and from where – citing national security protections.

Boasberg previously warned the Trump administration of consequences last week if it were to continue to violate his order, noting that their options were to either file information under seal or invoke the state secrets privilege.

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Lauro, depart federal court on Sept. 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Should the Trump administration invoke the state secrets privilege, Boasberg noted at the time, the court “is obligated to ‘determine whether the circumstances are appropriate for the claim of privilege.’”

This was disputed in the filing by Bondi and other senior Justice Department personnel, however, who said in the filing Monday night, “No more information is needed to resolve any legal issue in this case.”

The legal back and forth comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly stressed that a federal judge, in their view, does not have the ability to rule on national security matters or immigration issues – putting Boasberg, and his ruling, directly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Justice Department also appealed the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C., which heard the case yesterday. The three-judge panel declined to immediately rule on the matter, though a decision is expected sometime this week. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed Sunday to appeal the case to the Supreme Court if necessary. 

Progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is being slammed online as “unhinged” for using violent rhetoric implying that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “has to be knocked over the head, like hard.”

Cruz responded to the controversy simply by posting a meme to X. 

Crockett was recently warned by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to “tread very carefully” after calling for Elon Musk to be “taken down.”

Seemingly not heeding Bondi’s warning, another interview clip surfaced today of Crockett advocating for figuratively “punching” her fellow Texan, Cruz.

In response to a question about how Democrats can win elections specifically in the red state of Texas, Crockett said, “I think that you punch, I think you punch, I think you OK with punching.”

BLUE CITY MAYOR RIPPED BY LOCAL LEADERS FOR PRIORITIZING POLITICS OVER SAFETY: ‘UNDERMINING PUBLIC TRUST’

Progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett is being slammed online as “unhinged” for using violent rhetoric implying that Sen. Ted Cruz “has to be knocked over the head, like hard.” (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn/Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s Ted Cruz,” she went on. “I mean, like this dude has to be knocked over the head, like hard, right? Like there is no niceties with him, like at all. Like you go clean off on him.”

Responding to the clip, the White House’s “rapid response” X account, called Crockett “another unhinged Democrat inciting violence.”

Popular conservative account “Libs of TikTok” also chimed in, calling for Crockett to be investigated.

“Rep Jasmine Crockett: I am totally against violence! Rep Jasmine Crockett on the same day: Knock Ted Cruz over the head and punch your opponents,” the account said, adding, “The Democratic Party is the party of violence and hypocrisy.”

DEMOCRAT MAYOR BLASTED FOR VOWING TO MAKE MAJOR CITY ‘SAFE HAVEN’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks during a hearing with the Subcommittee on Delivering On Government Efficiency in the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 26, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Rep Jasmine Crocket [sic] is explicitly calling for violence,” it went on. “She needs to be investigated.”

Cruz responded to Libs of TikTok’s post about Crockett claiming to be against violence with a meme that read: “You keep using that word… I do not think it means what you think it means.”  

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, commented: “Pro tip: don’t say things like this, whether you’re in Congress or not.”

Conservative influencer Nick Sortor expressed concern that some mentally disturbed individuals could take this as a call to action.

“Crockett says you should ‘punch’ your opponents, then says Senator Ted Cruz ‘has to be knocked over the head, like, hard.’ They know what they’re doing. Mentally ill leftists take this as a call to action,” he said. “Jasmine Crockett is ONCE AGAIN inciting violence against Republicans.”

This comes amid a spate of violent attacks, vandalism and doxxing against Tesla owners and workers.

DEMS FORECAST ‘TRUMP RECESSION,’ AS REPUBLICANS SAY IT’S TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN

Five Tesla vehicles were set on fire and shot at in what police are investigating as a “targeted attack” at a repair center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Hal Sparks via Storyful)

In some cases, individuals have set fire to Tesla vehicles. After several vehicles at a Tesla service center in Las Vegas were set ablaze in the early hours of Tuesday morning, FBI Las Vegas Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans told reporters that the incident “certainly has some of the hallmarks” of a terrorist attack, but that it was still too early to say for sure. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is currently investigating the incident.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Crockett came under fire last week as well for saying during a “Tesla Takedown” online call that, “all I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down.”

“I have learned, as I serve on the DOGE Oversight committee, that there is only one language that the people that are in charge understand right now, and that language is money,” she said.

Crockett has said that her calls to action are “nonviolent” and are about figuratively “fighting” for democracy.

Crockett and Cruz did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Cortney O’Brien and Taylor Penley contributed to this report. 

NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens credited President Donald Trump for securing the return of two astronauts stranded for more than nine months on the International Space Station.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Stevens said the mission to rescue astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams was a “huge win for the Trump administration.” 

The success is just the beginning, she said, as Trump’s nominee to become NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, looks to “Mars and beyond.” 

TRUMP SUGGESTS HE’LL PAY OVERTIME FOR FORMERLY STRANDED ASTRONAUTS ‘OUT OF MY OWN POCKET’

SpaceX and Polaris Mission Commander Jared Isaacman steps out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission’s “Dragon” capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024.  (Polaris Program/AFP via Getty Images)

“This is a huge win for the Trump administration. And it would not have happened without President Trump’s intervention. Up next on the docket, to continue implementing President Trump’s ambitious space agenda that he touted in his inaugural address is to confirm his nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman,” Stevens said. 

She highlighted that Isaacman “was the very first civilian to do a human spacewalk” and is a humanitarian who has worked extensively with St. Jude. Like Trump, Isaacman is an “outsider,” she said. 

“President Trump was also once considered an outsider, and the American people have put him back into office, just showing how much they appreciate the business side that he brings to the table. And Mr. Isaacman also has a background as an entrepreneur of an extremely successful business,” Stevens said. “I believe that he is well-suited, as do 30 astronauts who wrote in support of him and multiple GOP governors, that he is well suited to take the helm here at NASA and to implement the president’s agenda.”

Last Tuesday, Wilmore, 62, and Williams, 59, splashed down in the Gulf of America off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, after Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the ISS just days before.

Stevens made clear that NASA is ready to “get the ball rolling” after their safe return to Earth, but noted their mission is set to launch in the heart of Washington, D.C.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN after she and fellow NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov landed on the water on March 18, 2025, off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. (Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images)

NASA ASTRONAUTS STRANDED IN SPACE DUE TO BIDEN’S ‘LACK OF COURAGE,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS

Isaacman faces an upcoming Senate confirmation hearing as Trump looks to secure yet another nominee appointed to his administration. 

Earlier this month, eight Republican governors – Ron DeSantis, of Florida; Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas; Gregg Abbott of Texas; Bill Lee of Tennessee; Brian Kemp of Georgia; Mike Kehoe of Missouri; and Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma – wrote to Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas. They advocated for a “swift” confirmation, noting the Trump nominee’s “unparalleled ability to drive bold initiatives” and Isaacman’s understanding of “the complex landscape of modern space exploration.”

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN after he and fellow NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov landed on the water on March 18, 2025, off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.  (Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images)

“I think that these governors are cognizant that the result of the November election was a mandate from the American people to implement change and to bring about change,” Stevens told Fox News Digital. “And President Trump has been bringing about that change since day one. The next step here is to confirm Jared Isaacman expeditiously, so that we can get to work on the president’s ambitious space agenda, as he touted in his inaugural address.” 

“We were going to go to the moon and to Mars and beyond, and we have less than four years at this point to get through that considerably ambitious agenda,” she said. “And we need to implement his leadership here at NASA in order to get the ball rolling there. So I think that’s the next step towards being America First in Space.”

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Fox News Digital also obtained an exclusive letter from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, another Republican who joined her fellow state leaders in endorsing a speedy confirmation of the NASA administrator.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared if Republicans seek to push a measure through the Senate to shutter the Department of Education, it would be “dead on arrival.”

President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order calling for the secretary of education “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Trump said during remarks last week that “the department’s useful functions … will be preserved, fully preserved.”

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SIGNIFICANTLY DISMANTLED IN NEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vows that if Republicans seek to push a bill shuttering the Department of Education, “It will be dead on arrival.” (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Regarding the notion of closing the department, Schumer asserted during a floor speech on Monday, “of course Donald Trump cannot proceed without an act of Congress. That’s the law.”

“Let me be very clear: If Republicans ever, ever, try to move a bill through the Senate that shuts down the Department of Education, Senate Democrats will halt it in its tracks. It will go nowhere. It will be dead on arrival,” he said.

CHUCK SCHUMER FACING ‘UPHILL FIGHT’ AMID LEADERSHIP DOUBTS: ‘MATTER OF WHEN, NOT IF’

Congress created the department less than 50 years ago.

“In October 1979, Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act (Public Law 96-88). Created by combining offices from several federal agencies, the Department began operations in May 1980,” according to the department’s website.

LINDA MCMAHON: MY VISION FOR ELIMINATING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Schumer has served in the nation’s legislature for nearly as long as the department has been operating — he started serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981, then moved to the Senate in 1999.

The U.S. declared that three alleged members of the violent transnational gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) are “alien enemies” and plans to extradite them to Chile, where they are wanted for numerous violent crimes, officials said Monday.

The Justice Department said the three gang members were Adrian Rafael Gamez Finol, 38, Miguel Oyola Jimenez and Edgar Javier Benitez Rubio, both aged 37. All three men entered the U.S. illegally after committing “brutal” crimes, including murder, kidnapping, extortion, human and drug trafficking and other offenses, in Chile.

“The Justice Department will work expeditiously to return these Alien Enemies to Chile to face justice,” the department said.

Gamez Finol is a dual Venezuelan and Colombian citizen who was deported from the U.S. to Venezuela in August 2023 and later allegedly re-entered the U.S. illegally. He is currently in Texas county prison serving a sentence for human smuggling.

EXCLUSIVE: GOP MOVES TO AUTHORIZE TRUMP TO WAGE WAR ON CARTELS THROUGH MILITARY FORCE

The seal of the Justice Department as seen in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2022. The Justice Department on Monday announced plans to extradite three members of the violent transnational gang Tren de Aragua to Chile. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Oyola Jimenez, a dual Venezuelan and Ecuadorian citizen, is in custody in Washington after Chilean authorities requested his arrest and return to Chile to stand trial on kidnapping charges.

Benitez Rubio, a Venezuelan citizen, is in immigration custody in Indiana.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a written statement that the men would have already been removed if not for an injunction against the Alien Enemies Act.

“In fact, we would have already removed these violent gang members to Chile to face justice were it not for the nationwide injunction imposed by a single judge in Washington, D.C., which we are challenging today in the D.C. Circuit,” Blanche said.  “We hope common sense and justice will prevail.”

HIGH-RANKING TREN DE ARAGUA GANGSTER MURDERED TWO AMERICAN WOMEN, CAPTURED ACROSS COUNTRY: FEDS

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, has been invoked three times, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.

Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. Circuit granted a temporary restraining order preventing the deportations under the act.

The Trump administration has appealed the order. 

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is scheduled to hear arguments on the matter on Monday afternoon.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

TdA is a narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela. It was designated a foreign terrorist organization on Feb. 20 by the Department of State.

Republicans in the Senate aren’t necessarily being swayed by a new push from House GOP leaders to take up their preferred budget bill for President Donald Trump. 

House Republicans have reportedly been concerned by the Senate’s lack of action on their budget bill passed weeks ago, addressing key Trump priorities such as the border and tax cuts. 

In response to suggestions that the Senate isn’t moving fast enough to get Trump’s budget bill done, a Senate GOP aide pointed Fox News Digital to the fact that the upper chamber just ended what was the longest work period in over 15 years. 

The Senate aide noted that members and their staff have been “actively engaged in substantive discussions” regarding the key budget reconciliation process for months. Even over the week-long recess, staff engagement has been “virtually non-stop,” they said. 

BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘VAST CENSORSHIP ENTERPRISE’ WITH HELP OF NGOS SLATED FOR KEY HEARING, LAWMAKER SAYS

Republicans aren’t necessarily on the same page just yet about budget reconciliation. (Reuters)

The budget reconciliation process lowers the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, allowing the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda, so long as the included provisions relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold.

The process is crucial for Republicans, who have a trifecta in Washington, to get certain Trump agenda items accomplished. 

CONGRESS EXPANDED THE EXECUTIVE—ONLY FOR TRUMP TO QUASH MUCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

The Senate GOP aide noted that the Senate managed to pass its preferred reconciliation bill as part of a two-track plan – before the House passed an alternate version. 

Early Monday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., released a joint statement alongside 12 chairs of committees with jurisdiction in the budget reconciliation process. 

“We took the first step to accomplish that by passing a budget resolution weeks ago, and we look forward to the Senate joining us in this commitment to ensure we enact President Trump’s full agenda as quickly as possible,” they said. “The American people gave us a mandate, and we must act on it. We encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington.”

House Republicans urged their Senate counterparts to take up their bill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate aide reiterated that Senate Republicans have zeroed in on certain “consequential issues” in the budget reconciliation process, of which the details have to be exact before moving forward. 

The tax portion, which has been the area of contention between House and Senate Republicans, is expected to get consideration during the new work period, the aide said. 

GOP SENATOR SAYS HE’S WORKING WITH TRUMP ON BILL TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Sen. Johnson isn’t sold on the House’s bill. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has been generally opposed to the House’s one-bill reconciliation approach, also pushed back on their statement. “Until we seriously address out-of-control spending and create an effective process to return to a reasonable pre-pandemic level, I will not support another budget resolution,” he told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Unfortunately, the House Budget Resolution does not do that.”

Just before the brief legislative recess, Senate Finance Committee Republicans met with Trump at the White House to discuss the at-issue tax portion of his agenda and its reconciliation hopes. 

Trump has in recent weeks backed off from taking explicit sides in the reconciliation fight between the GOP chambers, despite initially supporting the House’s plan.

‘EDUCATORS WILL BE FIRED’: REPUBLICANS CHEER TRUMP ORDER DISMANTLING EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AS DEMS SEETHE

Trump met with Senate GOP before recess. (Getty Images)

At the center of the tax-cut controversy are Senate Republicans’ claims that the House’s bill would not make Trump’s tax policies from 2017 permanent, and House GOP complaints that multiple reconciliation bills would be difficult to pass, given tight party margins. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Senate Republicans did not include an extension of the tax cuts in their passed bill, preferring to do a separate reconciliation bill in the fall. Their bill instead focused on Trump’s border priorities. The House’s measure tackled both in one bill. 

The House-passed bill has yet to be brought up in the Senate. 

Democrats in Maine are pushing a bill that would require all public schools to provide tampons in boys’ bathrooms starting in middle school, a move that comes as state leaders continue to face backlash over their stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. 

LD 155, introduced by state Rep. Kristen Cloutier, D-Lewiston, seeks to “require” all public schools in the state that serve grades 6–12 to make tampons and sanitary pads available in all student bathrooms, including those designated specifically for males.

The bill is being pushed during an ongoing debate over whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete on female sports teams, particularly in high school. 

MAINE GOP URGES DEMS TO REPEAL TRANSGENDER ATHLETE POLICY FOLLOWING FEDERAL TITLE IX VIOLATION FINDING 

Maine’s LD 155 would “require” all schools that serve students in grades 6–12 to make tampons and sanitary pads available in all bathrooms, including those catering exclusively to boys. (Fox News Digital)

“This is really quite clearly a pattern that reveals where the legislative Democrats’ priorities are,” said state Rep. Rachel Henderson, R-Rumford. Henderson likened the move to an ongoing budget battle in the legislature, which saw Democrats usurp Republican authority in order to get their priorities across by passing a bill without a two-thirds majority. The move has delayed critical funds needed for the states’ Medicaid program, according to Henderson. 

“It just kind of shows how out of touch the legislative Democrats here in Maine are when their priorities are paying for tampons in boys’ bathrooms rather than ensuring that we have any type of balanced budget,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, R–Palermo, said Democrats in the state legislature think “they can push through anything they want,” even at the expense of taxpayers, because they have control over both chambers and the governor’s office. 

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT INFORMS PARENTS PERIOD PRODUCTS ARE IN BATHROOMS FOR ‘ANY STUDENT WHO MENSTRUATES’

“Maine is ground zero for these types of policies,” Smith told Fox News Digital. “They think that, because they have the majority in every body, that they can push through anything they want and anything they want usually costs taxpayers money as well, which this would.”

Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, left, and Rep. Rachel Henderson (Maine House of Representatives)

Earlier this year, Democrats in the state legislature voted to censure GOP state Rep. Laurel Libby, who has been an outspoken advocate against state leaders choosing to defy President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women’s athletics. The censure vote followed Libby’s opposition to state leaders’ decision that Maine’s Human Rights Law – which mandates athletic eligibility be based on gender identity – takes precedence over the president’s executive order banning that practice.

Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has supported the move to defy Trump’s executive order on trans sports participation as well, telling the president at the White House last month, “We’ll see you in court,” in reference to the matter.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital reached out to Cloutier for comment on her bill that would require schools to provide tampons in boys’ bathrooms, but did not receive a response in time for publication. 

Patrick Henry delivered the revolutionary rally cry heard around the world: “Give me liberty or give me death!” Protesters sang their own rallying cry on Sunday, at the very site where the Founding Father urged Virginia colonists to join the American Revolution 250 years ago. 

After delivering remarks at the annual enactment of Henry’s iconic speech, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., was met by loud boos, “shame” chants and protest cries while exiting St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Protesters held up signs like “deport Musk” and “Youngkin is a Trumpkin” as the governor was escorted through the raucous crowd by law enforcement. 

The “250 Years of No Kings in America” protest in Patrick Henry Park was organized by Indivisible Richmond, a group focused on “local opposition to the MAGA agenda.” While Youngkin didn’t stop to debate the protesters shouting at him, he addressed them during his speech inside. 

“There are Virginians and there are Americans who are standing up for freedom and liberty, and I just want to once again thank all of you who care so deeply about our commonwealth and our country’s future. Now, you might have noticed that there are some enthusiastic friends outside. Don’t worry about them because I am happy to do whatever it takes to get someone to church on Sunday,” Youngkin said. 

GINGRICH WARNS OF ‘VERY DANGEROUS’ CONSEQUENCES AS DEMOCRATS RAMP UP RESISTANCE TO TRUMP, MUSK

Youngkin – a Trump ally who rose to political fame for defending parental rights – invoked Henry’s fight for freedom and liberty during his speech, as protesters danced to the tune of their own definition of democracy outside. 

Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, with a megaphone from the bed of a truck, shouted about President Abraham Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War as protesters flooded the sidewalks around the church. She spoke in front of an upside-down American flag, which under U.S. Flag Code, should only be used “as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

MEET THE FAR-LEFT GROUPS FUNDING ANTI-DOGE PROTESTS AT GOP OFFICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

“We resisted King George. We will resist Trump,” the flier for Sunday’s protest said, comparing the resistance of President Donald Trump to the American Revolution. 

The Reddit user who organized the protest said: “Trump continuously violated the Constitution, declared himself the sole legal authority in the land, and called himself ‘KING.’ Trump must be removed from office!”

While anti-Trump protesters used the anniversary of Henry’s speech to resist Trump, Trump celebrated the 250th anniversary of Henry’s address to the Second Virginia Convention with a proclamation. 

“I signed a proclamation a few minutes ago honoring the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous speech to the Second Virginia Convention in which he declared the very well-known, very famous words, ‘Give me liberty or give me death.’ Has anyone heard the phrase? I think most of you have,” Trump said. 

“Give me liberty or give me death!” has been a rallying cry for protesters during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, by Malcom X during the Civil Rights movement and by those who opposed COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in 2020. The phrase was first used by Henry in the run-up to the American Revolution to persuade Virginia colonists to prepare for war against Great Britain. 

Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at Manhattan Criminal Court, May 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Trump evoked Henry’s notorious line during his criminal trial last year. “Give me liberty or give me death,” he wrote in all caps on Truth Social, after Judge Juan Merchan said he would consider jail time for Trump if he continued to violate his gag order. 

Protests resisting Trump’s executive authority and Elon Musk‘s leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been staged in the two months since he returned to office. Progressive groups also hosted “Not My Presidents Day” or “No Kings Day” demonstrations on Presidents Day across the country. Democrats have increasingly accused the Trump administration of “oligarchy” and “authoritarianism.”

‘NOT MY PRESIDENTS DAY’ PROTESTS ERUPT ACROSS THE COUNTRY

People gather for the “No Kings on Presidents Day” protest in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

Last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., during “A Better Way Forward” conversation at the Center for American Progress, urged Democrats to fight and defend America’s constitutional republic from the “incompetence” and “treachery” of President Donald Trump. 

The Democratic governor, who compared the current political climate to Nazi Germany during his State of the State address in February, warned of Trump’s “authoritarian rule” last Tuesday. 

Gov. Glenn Youngkin was met by protesters as he exited St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, after delivering remarks at the annual enactment of Patrick Henry’s “liberty or death” speech. (Getty)

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has drawn thousands of supporters to his “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies across the country, with record-setting West Coast stops alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., over the weekend. 

The events are billed as an opportunity to “discuss how we take on the greed of the billionaire class and create a government that works for all and not just the few.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Indivisible Richmond, Youngkin and the White House did reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to have Momodou Taal, an anti-Israel student protester attending Cornell University who is in the U.S. on a visa, surrender to immigration authorities, according to court documents. Taal holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Gambia.

Eric Lee, an attorney for Taal, stated in court filings that he was notified via email by a Department of Justice attorney, marking the first time he learned the government planned to issue him a notice to appear to begin deportation proceedings alongside an invitation to turn himself in to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday.

Lee, who called Trump’s orders an “urgent threat of dictatorship,” wrote in court documents that “undersigned counsel contacted counsel for Taal to share that ICE invites Taal and his counsel to appear in-person at the HSI Office in Syracuse at a mutually agreeable time for personal service of the NTA and for Taal to surrender to ICE custody.”

ICE NEARING HISTORIC DEAL WITH IRS TO AID IN DEPORTATIONS: REPORT

Anti-Israel agitators demonstrate in New York City on Oct. 5, 2024, ahead of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)

Taal, who has been an anti-Israel student activist since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, has praised the “resistance” against Israel several times on his X account. Despite being accepted on a student visa in 2022, Taal has also posted about his “hatred” for the U.S. and called for “the end of the US empire.”

Hundreds of Cornell University students, alumni and faculty held a rally in support of Taal – who was not present for the demonstration – last week. 

“I’m safe. I’m well. And I await my time to be heard in court,” Taal wrote in a X post on Sunday.

A document titled “Jewish Cornellians Stand with Momodou Taal” is also being circulated among students and staff at the university and has under 50 signatures. 

When reached for comment, a Trump administration official said, the DOJ “has already been fighting in court to vigorously defend President Trump’s agenda and will continue to do so, especially when it comes to protecting Jewish Americans.”

COURT ORDER HALTING DEPORTATION FLIGHTS ‘UNCONSTITUTIONALLY IMPEDES’ EXECUTIVE BRANCH, TRUMP ALLIES ARGUE

Momodou Taal, a dual citizen of Gambia and the U.K., is a student at Cornell University. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The motion comes after Taal, alongside two other students, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this month for the president’s executive orders vowing to “combat antisemitism,” which they say violates their First Amendment rights to protest against Israel. 

“Immediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” the order states.

Another order listed in Taal’s lawsuit includes the “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” which seeks to strengthen the vetting and screening processes for individuals seeking entry into the U.S.

Ivy league schools and universities were the center of anti-Israel protests last year, with several instances of harassment of Jewish students, violent altercations and vandalism reported on campuses.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS FEDERAL JUDGE IT MIGHT INVOKE STATE SECRETS ACT ON HIGH-PROFILE DEPORTATION CASE

Anti-Israel demonstrators defaced a monument outside Union Station in Washington, D.C., on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, July 24, 2024. (Katie Pavlich)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Taal’s case comes after the Trump administration targeted Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and outspoken anti-Israel activist, for deportation this month. Khalil, who arrived in the U.S. on a student visa, is accused by the DOJ of failing to disclose key details on his green card application, including his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and a position at the British Embassy in Lebanon.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Cornell University for comment.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is facing calls for his replacement after his controversial decision to help advance President Donald Trump’s recent stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, but not all Democrats are prepared to push him out just yet, giving him some time to prove himself. 

For some in the party, Schumer is ruling on borrowed time.

“Something’s [got to] give,” former Democrat pollster Adam Carlson told Fox News Digital. “And while I would expect him to want to hold onto his leadership, I suspect the outright calls and whispers from his colleagues for him to be replaced as minority leader are real.” 

“It’s a matter of when, not if,” he claimed. 

BATTLE OF THE CHAMBERS: HOUSE AND SENATE TENSIONS BOIL OVER AS TRUMP BUDGET HANGS IN LIMBO

Chuck Schumer’s future as Democrat leader in the Senate is anything but certain after a crucial vote that led to backlash. (Reuters)

The influence he has lost among his own caucus is evident “by dozens of Senate Dems, including those in Trump-won states, coming out against the CR (continuing resolution) even after Schumer came out in favor of it,” Carlson said. 

After Schumer’s vote this month, and the verbal shellacking and protests that followed, he told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, “Look, I’m not stepping down.”

Following his vote, protests emerged outside his home and offices in Washington and New York, and he began to face calls for his ousting as leader and threats of primary challenges down the road. 

“You know, sometimes when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve,” Schumer further told “Meet the Press.”

The Democrat also pushed back on suggestions that his situation has parallels with that of former President Joe Biden, who was pressured to end his presidential campaign with just months until the election last year. 

BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘VAST CENSORSHIP ENTERPRISE’ WITH HELP OF NGOS SLATED FOR KEY HEARING, LAWMAKER SAYS

But for the Democrat strategists looking at his circumstances, the similarities are clear.

Co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) Adam Green told Fox News Digital, “I don’t think his recent caving was a June debate moment for Chuck Schumer, but it was a fall-off-the-bike moment,” making explicit comparisons to Biden’s biking accident and his disastrous presidential debate performance that preceded his campaign suspension.

“And if he continues to stumble … instead of meeting this moment, there will be continued questions about his future leadership,” he said.

President Joe Biden falls to the ground during a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on June 18, 2022. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)

“I think it’s an uphill fight for him,” Green explained.

The PCCC leader compared Schumer to Biden once more, noting that the former president also had a prime and “eventually that prime was over.”

Carlson said “Schumer was an effective majority leader” for many years, “but being an opposition leader is an entirely different skill set” and could be one that the Democrat leader doesn’t have. 

Some Democrat strategists speculated about potential replacements for the Senate minority leader if it comes to that, proposing Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., specifically.

“Chris Murphy has been turning a lot of heads,” Green said.

CONGRESS EXPANDED THE EXECUTIVE – ONLY FOR TRUMP TO QUASH MUCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

Sen. Chris Murphy has emerged as one to watch. (Getty Images)

Representatives for Murphy, Schatz and Klobuchar did not provide comment in time for publication. 

Other Democrat strategists don’t think Schumer should be replaced and are confident he won’t be. 

Schumer “will survive this,” Democrat strategist Max Burns told Fox News Digital. He credited Trump’s “habit of flooding the zone” with Schumer’s ability to hang on. 

Jim Kessler, former senior aide to Schumer and executive vice president for policy at Third Way, told Fox News Digital he expects him “to remain as the Democratic leader in the Senate.”

“Yes, there is a vocal group of House Democrats and activists calling for him to step aside as leader,” he said. But, “There is almost no one in the Senate doing so and most Democrats in Washington are simply keeping their heads down.”

“I talked to one House Democrat who said he was livid for 24 hours and then thankful after he thought about it for a few days,” Kessler said.

GOP SENATOR SAYS HE’S WORKING WITH TRUMP ON BILL TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Schumer said he won’t step down. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesperson for former Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus, agreed that Schumer does not need to step down. 

“There is plenty of blame to go around” that isn’t confined to Schumer, Manley said.

Another Democrat strategist, who opted to remain anonymous, said “we’re in this position where no one has stepped up to be sort of the primary protagonist to Trump as the antagonist,” pointing to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as someone who skillfully played this role in his first administration.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The strategist further hammered Democrats for being too quick to dispose of leaders and party members who make mistakes or disagree, labeling the calls for Schumer to step down “premature.”

Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stern warning to those engaged in government fraud at the most recent Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Speaking with President Donald Trump present at the meeting, Bondi thanked Tesla CEO Elon Musk for uncovering “fraud, waste and abuse” through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.

“A lot of waste and abuse, but there is a tremendous amount of fraud,” Bondi began. “And, Elon, thank you for your partnership. Thank you for your team. You have uncovered so much fraud in our government.”

Bondi then revealed that an internal task force is involved with bringing those accused of fraud to justice.

DOJ INSISTS EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHTS DID NOT VIOLATE COURT ORDER

Pam Bondi, US attorney general, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We will prosecute you,” the attorney general warned. “We have an internal task force now working with every agency sitting here at this table. And if you’ve committed fraud, we’re coming after you. Thank you, Elon.”

Bondi also mentioned that, under Trump’s directive, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will begin seeking the death penalty for those convicted of violent crimes.

“All of these horrible violent criminals that you’re hearing about around the country, they will face the death penalty federally within our country,” Bondi said. “And the drug dealers need to get out of here, because we are coming after you. We’re going to have 94 great U.S. attorneys around this country, and everyone will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The topic of government fraud was mentioned throughout the meeting, with Musk claiming that he found $330 million worth of waste within the Small Business Administration (SBA).

IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES HIT JUDGE WHO ORDERED TRUMP TO STOP DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

Brooke Rollins, US agriculture secretary, from left, Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, US President Donald Trump, and Pam Bondi, US attorney general, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“[We found] a case of fraud and waste with the Small Business Administration, where they were handing out $330 million worth of loans to people under the age of 11,” Musk said. “I think the youngest was a nine month year [sic] old who got a $100,000 loan.”

“That’s a very precocious baby we’re talking about here,” he joked.

Trump expressed appreciation to both Musk and the rest of the Cabinet for uncovering waste and fraud.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon attend a cabinet meeting at the White House on Monday. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

“We’ve had many fraudulent contracts that were caught by the work that Elon and his people are doing,” the president said. “And working with our people, it’s been brought to light. The fraud, not just waste and abuse, the fraud has been incredible.”