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Deportation flights to Venezuela resumed on Sunday after a weeks-long standoff between the Trump administration and the Venezuelan government, signaling a deal had been reached between the two countries. 

A flight carrying 199 illegal aliens – including members of the violent Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang – to Venezuela landed Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

The Trump administration has vowed to strike a deal with the Venezuelan government to accept flights carrying deportees from the United States, but has been limited in the regularity of the transfers after President Nicholás Maduro halted the flights earlier this month – with only four flights being received by the Venezuelan government since Trump was sworn into office. 

VENEZUELA TO RESUME ACCEPTING US DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

Maduro refused to receive the flights after Trump announced that the U.S. would terminate the Biden-era permit allowing Chevron to export Venezuelan oil, effectively closing off a major revenue source for the country.  

However, Venezuelan officials have confirmed that a deal was reached on Saturday. 

“Venezuela reports that, within the framework of the Return to the Homeland Plan and with the goal of returning our compatriots to their nation with the safeguarding of their human rights, we have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday, March 23,” Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s Assembly and chief negotiator with the U.S., said in a statement posted to X by the network Telesur. 

Flight-tracking data shows a plane operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) departed El Paso and was scheduled to land at Soto Cano air base in Honduras Sunday afternoon. A second plane operated by Venezuelan state airline Conviasa was set to land at the air base within an hour of ICE’s arrival, seemingly for a handoff between officials. 

WH MAY REVERSE DECISION TO KILL BIDEN-MADURO OIL DEAL, APPLY TARIFFS INSTEAD TO AVOID HURTING US FIRMS

The deal comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed that Venezuela would face “severe, and escalating sanctions” if the country continued to refuse to accept its citizens that had faced deportation. 

“Venezuela is obligated to accept its repatriated citizens from the U.S. This is not an issue for debate or negotiation,” Rubio posted to X. “Nor does it merit any reward. Unless the Maduro regime accepts a consistent flow of deportation flights, without further excuses or delays, the U.S. will impose new, severe, and escalating sanctions.”

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

In recent weeks, approximately 350 migrants have been deported to Venezuela, including roughly 180 individuals who had been detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Last week, the Trump administration flew over 200 Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador in coordination with President Nayib Bukele, despite a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the deportations.  

“Migrating is not a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who require it and until we rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador,” Rodríguez said. 

Madura also went on to denounce the flights, referring to the Venezuelans being detained in El Salvador as “kidnapped” on Saturday. 

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In an interview with Fox News Radio, Rubio thanked Bukele for his country’s acceptance of the migrants. 

“Venezuela should be taking them, but they refuse to take them,” Rubio said. “And so, we are fortunate to have a friend like President Bukele who, as part of my meeting with him, said we will take them for a fraction of what it costs you guys to house them in your own prison system.”

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump has issued an endorsement in Wisconsin’s upcoming state Supreme Court race, as the formally bipartisan contest draws mega-donor dollars over its potential national implications.

Trump threw his support behind conservative Brad Schimel, the former Wisconsin Attorney General who is currently a Waukesha County judge. Republicans have warned that Schimel’s opponent, Dane County’s Susan Crawford, a liberal considered the Democrats’ preferred candidate, could support efforts to “draw out” two U.S. House Republicans in future redistricting maps. 

“In the Great State of Wisconsin, a Radical Left Democrat, one who is insistent on bringing hardened CRIMINALS, that we removed to far away places, back into our Country, allowing men into women’s sports, Open Borders, and more, is running against a strong, Common Sense Republican, JUST CALL HIM BRAD, for the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social on Sunday.

MUSK PAC STEPS DEEPER INTO WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTION WITH $100 OFFER TO VOTERS

“It’s a really big and important race, and could have much to do with the future of our Country. Get out and VOTE, NOW, for the Republican Candidate — BRAD!!!” Trump said. 

It’s not the first time Trump has voiced support for Schimel. The Wisconsin Supreme Court election is scheduled for April 1, but Trump called supporters to turn out Saturday, as early voting had already begun. 

“Brad Schimel is running against Radical Left Liberal Susan Crawford, who has repeatedly given child molesters, rapists, women beaters, and domestic abusers ‘light’ sentences,” Trump wrote Saturday on his social media platform. “She is the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country — And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin. All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel.”

“By turning out and VOTING EARLY, you will be helping to Uphold the Rule of Law, Protect our Incredible Police, Secure our Beloved Constitution, Safeguard our Inalienable Rights, and PRESERVE LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL,” Trump said. 

Democrats and Republicans have traded barbs on billionaires’ influence in the election. George Soros, the far-left Hungarian American billionaire, poured $1 million into Wisconsin Democrats’ coffers last month to benefit Crawford’s campaign. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has funded two groups that have together spent more than $10 million to promote Schimel, according to the Associated Press. 

BIG-MONEY WI HIGH COURT RACE WILL HAVE NATIONAL EFFECTS, AS REDISTRICTING, UNIONS, TRANS ISSUES AT STAKE

Both sides have been boosted by additional mega-money. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker – whose family owns Hyatt Hotels – dumped $500,000 into WisDems coffers, and other six-figure pitches came from Lynde Uihlein – a Schlitz Beer heiress – LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and the mother of a Google co-founder. Meanwhile, Joe Ricketts – co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and father of Nebraska’s GOP governor – was listed as a top donor to Wisconsin Republicans ahead of the election – as well as Liz Uihlein, a cousin-by-marriage of Lynde Uihlein and president of Uline shipping supply company. 

Donald Trump Jr. notably held an event for Schimel last week. 

Republicans are branding Crawford as “dangerously liberal,” citing support from Soros, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as well as activist groups who support gender-transition surgeries for minors and allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports.

A source familiar with the race warned of Crawford’s candidacy as part of an ongoing “radical” shift in Wisconsin – both with liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz’ similarly contentious election in 2023 and Gov. Tony Evers’ move to replace “mother” in the state budget dozens of times with “inseminated person.”

Republicans also accuse Crawford of signaling a willingness to “legislate from the bench,” citing her past role in challenging the state’s voter ID law and her appearance at a January event hosted by a liberal donor group aiming to unseat Reps. Bryan Steil of Janesville and Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien.

In January, Wisconsin Republicans also claimed that Crawford would seek “selling two of Wisconsin seats” after a New York Times report cited donors hoping that Crawford’s win would lead to Steil’s and Van Orden’s ouster.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is planning to visit several spots in Central America next week – including El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, where hundreds of migrant criminals were famously deported last week.

On Sunday, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that Noem’s trip “underscores the importance of our partner countries to help remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the United States.”

“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for criminal aliens considering entering America illegally: don’t even think about it,” McLaughlin said. “If you come to our country and break our laws, we will hunt you down, and lock you up.”

Noem’s visit will kick off with a stop at the Terrorist Confinement Center on Mar. 26, which she will tour with the Salvadoran Minister of Justice, Héctor Gustavo Villatoro. The Trump administration official will meet with President Nayib Bukele later that day.

EL SALVADOR PRESIDENT RIPS FBI TRUMP RAID, QUESTIONS WHAT US GOV’T WOULD SAY IF HIS POLICE TARGETED CANDIDATES

On Mar. 27, Noem plans to visit Colombia to meet with President Gustavo Petro and the Colombian National Police (CNP)’s specialized group aimed at countering organized crime. The former South Dakota governor will wrap up her trip in Mexico on Mar. 28, where she’ll convene with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The visit will come over a week after El Salvador released gritty footage of hundreds of illegal aliens being deported and rounded up into jail cells last weekend. The video showed the alleged gang members with their heads in their hands, as heavily-armed Salvadoran authorities surrounded them and transported them into facilities one by one.

A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on Mar. 15. The majority of them were deported via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for the expulsion of an enemy nation’s natives and citizens without a hearing.

101 of the migrants were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, while 21 others were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, the official added. Two were MS-13 ringleaders and “special cases” for El Salvador.

RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA

The rap sheets for those removed included aggravated assault, robbery, kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, prostitution, and aggravated assault of a police officer.

Bukele, a Trump ally, wrote that the deportation flights will help Salvadoran authorities “help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors.”

“As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime,” he added. “But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.”

In a Mar. 16 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote that the U.S. “will not forget” Bukele’s partnership, and thanked the leader for his “understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership.”

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“These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats,” Trump wrote. “How dare they!”

President Donald Trump’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine says he doesn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to invade Europe.

Envoy Steve Witkoff made the statement during a Sunday morning appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” commenting on Putin’s motives on a “larger scale.”

“Now I’ve been asked my opinion about what President Putin’s motives are on a larger scale. And I simply have said that I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe,” Witkoff said.

“This is a much different situation than it was in World War II. There was no NATO,” he added. “I take him at his word in this sense.”

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE RUSSIA, UKRAINE CEASEFIRE TALKS?

The comments come just before Witkoff is set to meet with Russian and Ukrainian delegations for indirect ceasefire talks in Saudia Arabia. Trump’s administration hopes to mediate a larger peace deal.

“I think you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that you’ll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire,” he said Sunday.

Moscow spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that there are many roadblocks that could prevent a peace deal, however.

“We are only at the beginning of this path,” he told reporters this weekend.

Russia launched a massive drone attack targeting Kyiv and other major cities in Ukraine overnight on Sunday, highlighting just how far there is to go before a peace agreement can be made.

MILITARY LEADERS TO MEET ON UK-FRANCE ‘COALITION OF THE WILLING’ PLAN FOR UKRAINE

Ukraine’s air force says the Russian attack involved 147 drones, 97 of which were shot down and 25 others failed to reach their targets.

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Ukrainians at the scene of the attacks in Kyiv surveyed the damage done to their homes and neighborhoods on Sunday morning. Many were disparaging of the upcoming ceasefire talks, pointing to the burned-out homes destroyed in the drone attack, saying these were more indicative of Russia’s true intentions.

The Trump administration is calling on Iran to give up its entire nuclear program or face the consequences, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Sunday.

Waltz said it was time for Iran to “walk away completely” from its pursuit of nuclear weapons, pushing for a “full dismantlement” during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“This isn’t some kind of, you know, kind of tit-for-tat that we had under the Obama administration or Biden,” Waltz said. “This is the full program. Give it up or there will be consequences.”

Waltz did not specify what kind of consequences Iran could face, though he said President Donald Trump is keeping “all options on the table,” including diplomacy.

IRAN’S LEADER WARNS US COULD RECEIVE ‘SEVERE SLAPS’ FOLLOWING TRUMP’S THREATS TO HOUTHIS

Waltz said the Trump administration wants Iran to give up its nuclear program “in a way that the entire world can see.”

“If [Iran] had nuclear weapons, the entire Middle East would explode in an arms race,” he said. “That is completely unacceptable to our national security. I won’t get into what the back-and-forth has been, but Iran is in the worst place it has been from its own national security since 1979.”

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been high since Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, launched attacks on Israel in the past few years. Iran directly traded fire with Israel twice last year.

Trump has threatened U.S. military action if Iran doesn’t negotiate a new agreement on its nuclear program.

TRUMP VINDICATED AS EXPLOSIVE REPORT CONFIRMS IRAN SUPERVISES HOUTHI ‘POLITICAL AND MILITARY AFFAIRS’

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said he isn’t interested in talks with a “bullying government,” though Iranian diplomats, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, previously suggested that talks could be possible. Araghchi later toughened his stance, following Khamenei’s lead.

The original 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama allowed Iran to enrich uranium up to only 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 661 pounds. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s last report on Iran’s program put its stockpile at 18,286 pounds as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

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U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Barack Obama said that his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, should be expanded in future years, arguing that the ACA should be seen as a “first step” to better healthcare.

“We’re not finished yet,” Obama said in a video promoting the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago next year. “I’ve always said that the ACA is like a starter house, it was a big step forward, but still just a first step. Now it’s up to all of us to keep building on and improving the ACA.”

The former president’s video was posted on X, where Obama captioned the post by arguing that people should “keep fighting for progress.”

FLASHBACK: THEN-PRESIDENT OBAMA URGED MAKING ‘TOUGH DECISIONS’ TO CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING

“I know it can feel like a different era sometimes. But 15 years ago, I signed the Affordable Care Act into law. Now nearly 50 million people have received healthcare through the ACA,” Obama said. “With everything going on right now, it’s easy to feel like regular folks can’t make a difference – but the Affordable Care Act is a reminder that change is possible when we keep fighting for progress.”

Despite the Obama plea, an expansion of the ACA, which was often dubbed “ObamaCare,” seems unlikely under the leadership of President Donald Trump. 

OBAMA CENTER SUBCONTRACTOR FILES $40M DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST ENGINEERING FIRM FOR OVERRUNS

Trump, who replaced Obama in the White House after winning the 2016 election, made a push to repeal the legislation in 2017, an effort that ultimately fell short in the Senate.

Trump once again targeted the ACA with his landmark “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” legislation of 2017, which was passed into law and contained a provision that eliminated the ACA’s controversial individual mandate.

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Nevertheless, Obama signaled optimism that Americans could work together to build off the legislation he ushered into existence in 2010.

“If it could happen 15 years ago, it can happen again,” Obama said. “The ACA taught us that some things are bigger than politics.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he approves of President Donald Trump’s handling of fentanyl and border security.

“I mean, I think cracking down on fentanyl, making sure our borders are stronger,” Sanders told ABC’s Jonathan Karl during a pre-taped segment that aired on Sunday’s “This Week.”

“Look, nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate,” Sanders said. “And I happen to think we need comprehensive immigration reform, but I don’t think that it’s appropriate for people to be coming across the border illegally. So we’ve got to work now on comprehensive immigration reform.”

Sanders’ stance seems to be a departure from his 2020 presidential campaign platform, where he supported “breaking up” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and pausing deportations pending an audit. He also supported stopping the border wall, ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy, decriminalizing illegal immigration by making it a civil infraction, and ending previous limits on federal funding for sanctuary cities.

BERNIE SANDERS GETS UP DURING INTERVIEW AFTER ‘NONSENSE’ QUESTION ABOUT AOC

Sanders told ABC that if Trump deports “20 million people who are in this country who are undocumented,” he would “destroy the entire country.”

“Because I got news for you: Trump’s billionaire friends are not going to pick the crops in California that feed us,” Sanders said. “They’re not going to work in meat-packing houses. That’s what undocumented people are doing. So we need a variety of programs, guest worker programs, but mostly comprehensive immigration reform.”

SEN. SANDERS TARGETS TRUMP, MUSK AND DEMOCRATS IN WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW AHEAD OF RALLY WITH AOC

Karl told Sanders that illegal immigration “exploded under Biden.”

To that, the senator responded, “Should have done much better, no argument.”

Sanders has been conducting a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joined him this past week for five events in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.

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“No matter who you voted for in the past, no matter if you know all the right words to say, no matter your race, religion, gender identity or status,” Ocasio-Cortez said to thousands at a rally at Arizona State University, “no matter even if you disagree with me on a few things, if you are willing to fight for someone you don’t know, you are welcome here.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump offered up some advice for former Vice President Kamala Harris if she decides to make a run for governor of California.

“One thing she’s gotta do, she’s gotta start doing interviews,” Trump said during an interview with OutKick’s Clay Travis aboard Air Force One. “You can’t get away with both of them, during COVID he did no interviews, and he got away with it because of COVID,” Trump added, referencing former President Joe Biden.

The comments come as Harris is “seriously considering” a run for governor of California, according to a report from CBS News, with a person close to the former vice president’s decision-making process telling the outlet that Harris would likely make the decision by the end of summer.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who many consider to be a presidential contender in 2028, is term limited from running again in 2026, opening the door to what is expected to be a large field of potential Democratic candidates to seek the highest office in the dependably progressive state.

TRUMP SAYS KEEPING MALES OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS IS ’90-10 ISSUE’

One former Harris advisor told CBS News that the former vice president would be a “great” fit for the job, noting her experience at both the national and state level.

“On a national level, what Newsom has been able to do with that job, there is a lot of upside with what she can do as the governor of the fifth-largest economy with her name ID, when our party is looking for national leadership and California looking for good governance – especially at a time when California is going through a lot,” the former advisor said.

But Harris also faces questions over how she handled her bid for president, which included accusations that she consistently shied away from doing interviews.

KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS TIMETABLE FOR MAKING MAJOR POLITICAL DECISION IN DEEP BLUE STATE

After Biden dropped out of the race and immediately endorsed Harris, the vice president went 39 days without sitting down for an interview before appearing in one with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Aug. 29.

As accusations continued to fly that Harris was dodging interviews, she picked up the pace of her appearances with both national and local outlets, but then faced accusations of dodging difficult questions.

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Perhaps most damning was a reported potential interview with influential podcaster Joe Rogan that fell through, with Rogan suggesting that the Harris team put conditions on questions the host could ask the candidate.

Trump famously did appear on Rogan’s podcast, an interview that eventually led to the podcaster endorsing Trump’s bid for the White House.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy to become governor of Ohio. 

Ramaswamy, a former 2024 presidential primary candidate who briefly co-chaired President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, formally launched his 2026 gubernatorial campaign on Feb. 24. 

Trump threw his support behind Ramaswamy’s bid nearly immediately, and now the biotech entrepreneur has received another key endorsement from Moreno, one of the Buckeye State’s two senators. 

SCHUMER REFUSES TO STEP DOWN AS SENATE DEM LEADER, DEFENDS SHUTDOWN VOTE

“Vivek is an America-First outsider and the best person to make Ohio the very best state to live, work, and raise a family,” Moreno said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. 

“I’m proud to join President Trump in endorsing a bold leader to be the next Governor of Ohio,” he added. 

Moreno announced that he was endorsing Ramaswamy at an event Saturday night. “The first & sole moral duty of U.S. elected officials is to U.S. citizens,” Ramaswamy wrote on X, sharing a clip of Moreno’s remarks. “Senator Bernie Moreno understands that & doesn’t apologize for it. He’s a star in the U.S. Senate & I’m proud to earn his endorsement tonight. Our party is united in Ohio & we’re not going to squander it.” 

The other U.S. senator from Ohio, Sen. John Husted, also a Republican, filled Vice President JD Vance’s vacated seat. It was Ramaswamy’s anticipated backing by Trump and strong financing that some political observers believe convinced Husted, formerly Ohio’s lieutenant governor, to accept the Senate appointment instead of launching a primary gubernatorial bid of his own. Husted was previously considered a likely frontrunner for governor. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, viewed as more of an establishment Republican, named Jim Tressell, a popular former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach, to replace Husted as lieutenant governor. Tressell’s future political ambitions remain unclear. 

SEE THE STAR-STUDDED LIST OF TRUMP ALLIES DESCENDING ON DC TO CHART FURTHER 100-DAY WINS

The timing of Trump’s announcement intrigued Ohio political observers, who have watched over the past several years as his decisions to weigh in on key statewide races have gone from days before the election, to months, to now more than a year.

Robert Clegg, a longtime Republican campaign advisor in the state, told the Associated Press last month it may be meant as a message for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, or perhaps even Tressell. “This is awfully early in the game, and I expected an endorsement maybe later this year – as in, like the fall, or even wait until January,” Clegg said. “I wonder if the president doesn’t want to have a knock-down, drag-out primary here in Ohio.”

Trump tantalized Republican candidates in Ohio’s bruising 2022 U.S. Senate primary until just 19 days before the election, when he backed Vance and pushed him over the finish line to secure the GOP nomination. Vance went on to win the general election for the Senate seat that fall. A year later, Trump issued his endorsement of Moreno for Senate three months before the primary. Moreno went on to win both the primary and the general election.

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Trump’s endorsement is expected to help Ramaswamy’s early campaign efforts in a state that’s resoundingly voted for Trump three times. In the run-up to his announcement, Ramaswamy had also lined up key political advisors who had helped Vance with his 2022 Senate bid, as well as the endorsements of two sitting statewide officials and well-known conservatives nationally, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has refused to step down from his leadership position, as Democratic infighting worsens while the party struggles to agree on messaging to challenge President Donald Trump. 

“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer said in a pre-recorded interview that aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I knew that when I cast my vote against the government shutdown that there would be a lot of controversy.” 

Schumer defended why he chose to vote in support of the Republican-proposed continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown despite the bill’s broad opposition by the Democratic Party. 

“The CR was certainly bad, you know the continuing resolution, but a shutdown would be 15 or 20 times worse. Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is ‘essential.’ And they can determine without any court supervision. The courts have ruled it’s solely up to the executive what to shut down,” Schumer said. 

DEM SENATOR ON SCHUMER FUTURE: ‘IMPORTANT’ TO KNOW ‘WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO’

Schumer alleged, without evidence, that Trump, Department of Government Efficiency chair Elon Musk and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought would slash funding for SNAP, or food stamps and mass transit, as well as cut Medicaid “by 20, 30, 50, 80%” He suggested the administration could decide during a government shutdown, “We’ll go after Social Security. We’ll go after the veterans.” 

“They would eviscerate the federal government,” Schumer said. “Their goal is just eviscerate the federal government so they can get more taxes in their tax cuts to their billionaire class over there. So it would be devastating.”

“There’s no off ramp,” he added. “Who determines how long the shutdown would last? Only those evil people at the top of the executive branch in the Trump administration.” 

Schumer told NBC that a Republican senator close to the DOGE team told a Democratic colleague of his that the administration would keep the shutdown in place for “six months, nine months, a year til everyone was furloughed and gone and quit.” 

“And there would be no way to stop it,” Schumer said. “So I thought that would be so devastating to the republic and anger so many people.” 

Schumer, who played a critical role in urging Joe Biden to exit the 2024 race, denied that he was acting similarly in resisting calls from his party to resign as leader. Democrats have increasingly criticized Schumer for breaking with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in supporting the continuing resolution, and Schumer has dismissed reports of a potential primary challenge by progressive “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for his Senate seat. 

AOC SHREDS SCHUMER FOR ‘TREMENDOUS MISTAKE’ OF CAVING TO GOP TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“It was a vote of principle. Sometimes, when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve, and I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was,” Schumer said, admitting that there’s “disagreement” in the Democratic caucus on the spending bill, but “We’ve all agree to respect each other because each side saw why the other side felt so strongly about it.” 

“And our caucus is united in fighting Donald Trump every step of the way,” Schumer claimed. “Our goal, our plan, which we’re united on, is to make Donald Trump the quickest lame duck in modern history by showing how bad his policies are.” 

“He represents the oligarchs, as I’ve said, he’s hurting average people in every way,” Schumer added, saying Democrats are using oversight hearings, the courts and organizing across districts to challenge Trump’s agenda. 

“I believe that by 2026, the Republicans in the House and Senate will feel like they’re rats on a sinking ship because we have so gone after Trump and all the horrible things he’s doing,” Schumer said. 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, the former House Speaker, has claimed Democrats did not gain anything in Schumer conceding to Republicans’ over the CR. 

“What we got, at the end of the day,” Schumer responded, “is avoiding the horror of a shutdown.” 

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He added that Democrats had “no leverage point,” because Republicans in control of both houses could force a vote on the CR. “When you’re on that political mountain, the higher up you climb, the more fiercely the winds blow,” Schumer said. “The only way you stop being blown off the mountain is your internal gyroscope… I had to do the right thing for our country and for our party.” 

There is broad agreement among Republicans that the government, particularly the federal bureaucracy, is too bloated for its own good. And despite coming into office with such power vested in the executive, President Donald Trump has overseen an aggressive effort to slash his own branch, to the relief of conservatives in Congress. 

“I think President Trump is doing exactly what he got elected to do. He got elected to secure the border, get rid of inflation, [and] stop this unbelievable growth of the federal government,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. 

“I think we have to go back and always follow the Constitution,” he explained, adding that the executive branch should not have the “regulatory power” that it has amassed over the years. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., added that he is “all for cutting out the rot and the waste,” and previewed some of the Trump administration’s changes being codified through a rescissions package in Congress, for which only 51 votes are needed in the Senate.

PENTAGON TO CUT UP TO 60K CIVILIAN JOBS, BUT FEWER THAN 21K HAVE RESIGNED VOLUNTARILY 

A White House official pointed to the significant public sector job growth under President Joe Biden, noting the federal government’s massive expansion in just the last four years. 

“For all the talk of ‘Donald Trump is going to be a dictator on day one, he is ignoring the judicial branch,’ This is a president who, on day one, made it his mission to reduce the size of the executive branch in an effort to make it more efficient and to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse,” the official told Fox News Digital. “That doesn’t sound like a dictator to me.” 

Former Trump attorney Jim Trusty explained that Congress “certainly” deserves the blame for both “excessive and wasteful spending.” However, “they maintain the power of the purse and there is no line item veto,” he said, noting that they largely still control “expenditure power.”

“I think Congress has been derelict in a lot of ways and the judicial branch is exercising too much authority, so I do not believe we are at much risk of an ‘imperial presidency,’” Trusty said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, posted on X this week that the executive branch has grown “too powerful.” Maloy appeared to be trying to clarify an earlier statement made during a town hall at which she expressed concern about the executive branch needing to be “under control.”

“Do I think America is drifting towards authoritarianism? No. I have only hope and optimism about the direction our country is headed. Do I think the executive branch is too powerful? Absolutely,” Maloy wrote. “It’s been growing for decades. We need smaller federal agencies and we have a unique opportunity to do something about it. The president is doing the tough work of trimming back the executive branch.”

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Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said the trend of Congress giving up some of its power saw its most critical moves in the 19th century.

“If we had to characterize it at a 30,000-foot level, we would probably say this – first, generally, the 19th century was Congress in power, right? The federal government didn’t do very much – like, long before the New Deal in the 1930s, long before the Great Society in the 1960s, Congress really was in the driver’s seat in all sorts of ways,” Binder told Fox News Digital. 

“They were setting tariff laws, they were building railroads, they were building roads, they were building ports and so forth. That’s quite a bit different than the 20th century and certainly moving into the 21st century.”

Binder said the change over time was likely due to a combination of factors, including expediency – and politics.

“Some of that is just a function of crisis. And Congress is…reactive. It’s not really well suited for responding swiftly in a crisis,” she said. “The other part is kind of electoral, right? Lawmakers realize some of these issues and matters are kind of politically contentious, like tariffs. And you begin to see in the early 1930s, Congress giving those powers to the president.”

“I mean, you get a sense of it right now with even some Republican lawmakers not happy about the tariff war that Trump has instigated, but at the same time, they seem quite happy that they’re not in charge of setting those tariffs.“

Former assistant US attorney and Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy argued that the administrative state “is not quite the same thing as the executive branch,” specifying that “so-called independent agencies as the SEC, FTC, and Federal Reserve” are “not directly under presidential control,” despite being technically under the executive umbrella. 

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According to McCarthy, Trump’s problem is that statutes were used to create the agencies, and they “can only be repealed by statute.”

“He has difficulty paring them back because statutes and court decisions limit his ability to fire the officials who run the agencies,” McCarthy explained. 

“That is why DOJ is trying to get the current Supreme Court to overrule the Court’s 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision — it supported the creation of independent agencies…that wield multiple kinds of power…and that place restrictions on the president’s authority to fire agency heads.”

In Humphrey’s Executor vs. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the president could not unilaterally remove officials from quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial bodies, such as the Federal Trade Commission. 

Overruling that decision would vastly expand the president’s power to control who works for federal offices outside of Congress or the courts.

“Schedule F” is another classification for government workers that gives the president greater control over their respective offices. “Schedule F” broadly classifies a large swath of federal workers as at-will, making it much easier to fire or lay off workers en masse.

Critics of Trump’s move earlier this year to expand “Schedule F” have said it gives the president too much power to fire workers who are supposed to be in apolitical roles. Supporters, however, contend the move would make government more efficient and cut bureaucratic waste.

NEWFIELDS, N.H. — Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he is holding a dialogue with national Republican leaders about potentially running next year in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Sununu, who enjoys a large national profile, thanks to his regular appearances the past few years on the cable news networks and Sunday talk shows, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that he aims to make a decision regarding a 2026 campaign in the “next few weeks.”

The former governor, who for a couple of years was a vocal Republican critic of President Donald Trump, said, “I have no doubt I’d have the president’s support,” if he were to decide to make a bid for the Senate.

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Sununu, who was elected and re-elected to four straight two-year terms as governor of the key New England swing state, touted, “I have no doubt I can win.”

The 78-year-old Shaheen, the first woman in the nation’s history to win election as governor and as a U.S. senator, announced this week that she would retire at the end of next year rather than seek a fourth six-year term in the Senate.

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Even before Shaheen’s announcement, her seat in swing state New Hampshire was considered one of the GOP’s top pickup opportunities in the 2026 midterms — along with Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is also retiring, and Georgia, where Republicans consider first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff vulnerable — as Republicans hope to expand their current 53-47 majority.

Sununu’s comments in recent interviews are a switch from last year, when he repeatedly said he wouldn’t seek to run for the Senate in 2026.

In a November interview with Fox News Digital, the then-governor reiterated what he had first said in a July interview.

SUNUNU OPENS UP ABOUT WHAT’S NEXT AFTER HE FINISHES HIS TERM AS GOVERNOR

“Definitely ruling out running for the Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card,” Sununu said in an interview along the sidelines of the Republican Governors Association winter meeting in Florida.

The 50-year-old Sununu, who when he was first elected in 2016 was the nation’s youngest governor, was asked again about a 2026 Senate run in a Fox News Digital interview in early January, in his last full day in office.

“I’m not planning on running for anything right now. I’m really not, at least for the next two, four, six years,” he said. “Who knows what happens down the road? But it would be way down the road and nothing, nothing I’m planning on, nothing my family would tolerate either short term.”

But Sununu, in his interview with Fox Digital on Tuesday, shared that “some folks in New Hampshire, some folks in Washington, have asked me to really take a few weeks and think about it at this point.”

“The door’s open,” he said, before adding, “It’s not open a lot, to be honest.”

Among those he’s talking with is Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who’s the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.

“Tim is a great friend. We’ve talked a lot, not just about me running, but other opportunities.”

And he described his talks as “an ongoing discussion.”

Sources tell Fox News that Sununu’s headed to the nation’s capital in the coming days for a dinner with Scott and other Senate Republicans.

Sununu four years ago expressed interest in running for the Senate against his predecessor as governor, Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, who was up for re-election in 2022. And the popular governor was heavily courted by national Republicans to take on Hassan.

But on Nov. 9, 2021, Sununu announced that he would instead run for a fourth term as governor, upsetting many Republicans in the nation’s capital.

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And he heavily criticized the Senate.

“When you look at what their (senators’) job is and what a governor’s job is … it’s not even close. I can’t tell you how many senators told me, ‘You’re just going to have to wait around a couple of years to get anything done.’ Can you imagine me sitting around a couple of years?” Sununu said at the time. “They debate and talk, and nothing gets done. . . . That’s not the world I live in.”

Asked whether he had changed his mind, Sununu on Tuesday responded, “Not really, no . . . I think Washington has been really stagnated. Hasn’t done a whole lot, doesn’t deliver.”

But with Trump back in the White House, Sununu pointed to a “fundamental change in the past two months,” and that now Congress is “talking about things that I care very passionately about.”

Those things include a balanced budget and government efficiency.

“Whether you like them or not, you got to give credit to Trump, to DOGE, to folks driving this conversation, this narrative. We have $36 trillion in debt. It’s a very real number. You owe it. I owe it. Your viewers owe that money, not the government. We’re going to have a car crash in the next couple of years with Social Security going bankrupt, Medicare going bankrupt, more debt on the books. So, there has to be a plan and a strategy out of this, and the administration is really leading that effort,” Sununu argued.

He said, “That gives me hope that . . . maybe there is an opportunity to have a leadership role in something that is very critical and vital to the country, something I believe very passionately in, and something we’ve been very successful with here in New Hampshire.”

Following Trump’s first term in the White House and in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of former President Biden’s 2020 election victory, Sununu became a leading vocal GOP critic of the then-former president.

Sununu was a top surrogate and supporter of former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trump’s final challenger in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries. 

But he did back the Republican nominee in the general election.

Asked about where he stands with Trump, Sununu said he has “a very good relationship at this point.”

Sununu isn’t the only Republican mulling a Senate bid in New Hampshire.

Former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who later narrowly lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire in the 2014 election, is seriously considering a 2026 run.

FORMER TRUMP AMBASSADOR EYES SENATE RETURN

Brown, who served for four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during President Donald Trump’s first administration, has been holding meetings with Republicans across New Hampshire for a couple of months and has met multiple times with GOP officials in the nation’s capital.

Brown recently met with top Trump administration political officials at the White House, sources tell Fox News Digital.

Brown, who told Fox News Digital late last year that he was seriously considering a Senate run, took aim at Granite State Democrats, arguing that “they’re just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, I think we can do better.”

Sununu sees an opportunity — with Shaheen not seeking re-election — for the Republicans to flip the seat.

“It’s an open seat. It’s up for play. Republicans have been successful in some statewide races here recently,” he said.

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And Sununu added that “there is an opportunity” for himself, Scott Brown or another Republican candidate to “win the seat.”

Sununu said that whether it’s for himself, Brown or another candidate, he has been “trying to talk to the folks in Washington, help them understand what New Hampshire is about, how to win here, how to be successful, how to find and kind of cultivate the right candidates.”

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is partnering with country singer Lee Greenwood to donate Trump-endorsed “God Bless the USA” Bibles to classrooms across the state. 

Inspired by Greenwood’s hit “God Bless the USA” song, this unique bible includes a King James interpretation of the bible as well as the texts of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and several other founding documents.

While campaigning in 2024, President Donald Trump endorsed the God Bless the USA Bible, saying, “You have to have it, for your heart, for your soul.”

In a video promoting the Bible released last year, Trump said, “We must make America pray again.”

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“All Americans need a Bible in their home,” said Trump. “This Bible is a reminder that the biggest thing we have to bring back America and to make America great again is our religion.”

“Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country,” he went on. “I truly believe that we have to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast. I think that’s one of the biggest problems we have, that’s why our country is going haywire, we’ve lost religion in our country.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Walters, a Republican, said that in line with these efforts, he partnered with Greenwood to gather donations for God Bless the USA Bibles to be purchased “at no cost to the state” and sent to classrooms.

“We’ve got to understand the Judeo-Christian values that were so crucial in American history … and I think a big part of that is getting the bible back in the classroom,” he said.

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So far Walters said that over 500 of the Trump-endorsed Bibles have been donated to classrooms across the state.

To him, the effort is about combating “state-sponsored atheism” advanced by teachers who would scrub any reference to the bible from American history.

“If you go into a classroom and go, ‘Well, we’re going to teach you guys about American history, except for we’re going to scrub any reference to the Bible. We’re going to scrub any reference of anyone who talks about their faith throughout our history. So, we’re going to eliminate that aspect of history.’ You just turned this into atheism. You are pushing a religion on kids,” he explained. “[So], we’re very excited to see patriotic Americans across the country stepping up to make sure that we don’t allow state-sponsored atheism.”  

“Just teach history,” he went on. “When George Washington talks about the Bible, talk about the bible, when the pilgrims talked about the bible, talk about the Bible … You have to teach kids history so that they can then make their own conclusions. They can learn from that, they can then forge their own worldview and viewpoints. But you can’t start by scrubbing history of any references to the bible because you’re offended by it.”

“It’s our history,” he said. “So, we’re going to teach it here in Oklahoma.”

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Commenting on the campaign, Greenwood told Fox News Digital, that he felt drawn to offer to partner with Oklahoma because of Walter’s advocacy for bringing the bible back to American classrooms.

“As a firm believer and faithful Christian, this was very appealing to me,” he explained.

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Greenwood said that the campaign has garnered “some great attention,” and that his team is in conversations with corporate partners about buying the Bibles in bulk.

“Everywhere I go – on tour and at special events – I have people coming up to me thanking me for what we are doing,” he said. “Nobody is being shy about their support for this endeavor.” 

Forty years after President Ronald Reagan first conceived the idea, defense industry leaders say the technology is finally advanced enough to build an invisible protective dome of space-based radars, missile interceptors and laser weapons over the United States.

President Donald Trump, infatuated by the Iron Dome missile defense system over Israel, first ordered the Defense Department to begin drawing up plans for a U.S. version, the “Golden Dome,” in January. 

But Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey, so a dome of protection could prove far more daunting for the much larger land mass of the U.S. And the threats to Israel usually come from its neighbors, who use short-range weapons. America’s foes — North Korea, Iran, Russia and China — are half a world away and armed with intercontinental ballistics missiles (ICBMs) and hypersonics, all factors that make the project more challenging for a nation on the size and scale of the U.S.

So questions remain. Will the Golden Dome encompass the entire country, including Hawaii, Alaska and U.S. military bases in locations like Guam? Would it be able to protect against short-range missiles, long-range missiles, unmanned and manned aircraft? 

TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN DOME’ WILL NEED MANHATTAN PROJECT-SCALE WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT EFFORT, SPACE FORCE GENERAL WARNS

Answers may come at least in part at the end of the month, when the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget present a funding plan for the project to the White House. But defense industry leaders say the technology exists to make a Golden Dome a reality. 

“​In our view, it has to kind of be a layered system. Because, you know, shooting a UAV, for example, is very different than shooting a hypersonic vehicle or hypersonic weapon,” Raytheon CEO Phil Jasper told Fox News Digital. His aerospace company, a major U.S. defense contractor, manufactures the Patriot missile system, Javelin anti-tank missiles and a variety of radar and air defense systems.

The U.S. already employs a layered missile defense system known as the Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) System that uses radar to detect incoming missiles and fire off interceptors. 

It has technology like the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) battery to intercept ballistic missiles and the Patriot to intercept cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft. But the country only has seven active THAAD batteries deployed globally, with an eighth expected to become operational this year. 

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Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein said weeks ago that building a Golden Dome will require a Manhattan Project-level whole-of-government approach from the missile defense agency, Air Force, Army, Navy, Space Force, Coast Guard and more. 

Defense contractors, some of whom have believed a Golden Dome-like project was on the horizon for years, say the protection zone may start around major cities like New York and Washington, D.C., or sensitive military sites before expanding to protect the entire homeland. 

“What I’m understanding [the goal] really is to protect the entire U.S. It is to put a dome around the homeland,” said Edward Zoiss, president of space and airborne systems for L3Harris Technologies.

Jasper predicted some of these defensive measures could be installed rapidly, as soon as 2026. 

“What the administration has laid out is that building block approach that you can start to protect certain areas, at times, certain regions, and build that out as you continue to produce these systems. And they can continue to come off of production lines,” he said.  

BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker said the dome would be “less of a technology problem” and more of an organizational structure challenge. 

“The full potential of all of those capabilities working in conjunction with each other, at that scale, there’s definitely some new elements there,” Moneymaker said.

John Clark, Lockheed’s vice president of technology and strategic innovation, said the plan will require the Pentagon to “think about what it has on the shelf.” 

“There are systems that sit today in the Air National Guard or in our current local defense infrastructure domestically. Those could actually be deployed inside of the U.S,” he said. 

Clark noted that deploying defense infrastructure at home would “draw down our current inventory for conflict in the greater world.” But he suggested that anything pulled out of an Army base today could be backfilled at a later date for global use.

Zoiss, whose company, L3Harris Technologies, has already built satellites for the missile defense agency that could be used for space-based radar systems for a Golden Dome, said the biggest challenge is missiles that no longer follow predictable paths. 

“If you go back to your high school physics class, if you understand the angle and trajectory of a bullet, you understand exactly where it’s going to land because it follows a parabola,” he said. 

“ICBMs followed parabola trajectories for decades. But a new class of highly maneuverable cruise weapons and hypersonic weapons now don’t,” he explained. “Their endpoint is uncertain. And our defensive systems in the U.S. now have to change to be more robust in order to track that weapon throughout its entire trajectory.” 

Space-based radar will be the critical element of threats to the homeland in the future, according to Zoiss. 

“Our challenge is really long-range weapons. You know, it’s weapons progressing large distances that are maneuvering around our current land-based and sea-based radar systems. So, if the weapons maneuver around those systems, that means our current architecture can’t provide fire control ordnance. And, therefore, it has to be moved to space.” 

The Golden Dome could draw on missile defense missions already in the works, like the National Capital Region Integrated Air Defense System, which is designed to protect Washington, D.C., from incoming threats and employs systems like the Norwegian National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS).

And it could look to other systems already in the works on a smaller scale. The Army is working on a new Iron Dome-like air defense system in Guam known as the Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2 system. And it is developing high-powered microwave systems that could knock entire drone swarms out of the sky. 

The Marine Corps is planning to field three mobile air defense systems this year, including a modified Iron Dome launcher. 

Other needs could be over-the-horizon radar, including filling blindspots in the Arctic region for low-flying missiles that hug the earth’s curvature to avoid detection. 

Guetlein said the nation would have to “break down the barriers” between Title 10 and Title 50 of the United States Code, the federal laws that govern the nation’s defense and clandestine operations.

“Without a doubt, our biggest challenge is going to be organizational behavior and culture to bring all the pieces together,” Guetlein said.

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Much of the funding is expected to be laid out in Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget request to Congress, which the White House is working on. Even with initial funding, the project could take years to complete, and it won’t be cheap. 

Steven Morani, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said Wednesday he was working with the private sector to address the “formidable” challenges of the project. 

“Consistent with protecting the homeland and per President Trump’s executive order, we’re working with the industrial base and supply chain challenges associated with standing up the Golden Dome,” he said. 

The Pentagon said it would investigate what it claims are leaks of national security information, saying that the probes could include polygraph tests for employees in the Defense Department.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, sent a memo Friday saying that the Pentagon’s intelligence and law enforcement arms are probing “recent unauthorized disclosures” of national security information, without offering details about alleged leaks.

“Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) demand immediate and thorough investigation,” Kasper wrote.

HEGSETH SUGGESTS JUDGE REPORT TO MILITARY BASES AFTER RULING THAT PENTAGON MUST ALLOW TRANSGENDER TROOPS

“If this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure,” then the information “will be referred to the appropriate criminal entity for criminal prosecution,” he added.

Kasper’s memo said the polygraphs would be used “in accordance with applicable law and policy.”

President Donald Trump rejected a report from The New York Times that his senior adviser, Elon Musk, would be briefed on how the U.S. would handle a potential war with China. Musk responded by suggesting that people leaking “maliciously false information” to the media will be identified and prosecuted.

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“The New York Times is pure propaganda,” Musk said Friday on X. “Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found.”

Investigations into the alleged leaks at the Pentagon come after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed a move to step up lie-detector tests on employees in an attempt to identify people who may be leaking information to the media about immigration enforcement operations.

The Justice Department also announced an investigation on Friday into what it purported to be “the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information” from intelligence agencies about a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua, alleged members of which are being targeted by the Trump administration for removal from the U.S.

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Leaks from within the federal government happen in every administration across various agencies.

While polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings because of concerns about their unreliability, they are often used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances.

The Supreme Court also ruled in 1998 that polygraph tests were inadmissible in military justice proceedings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said the judge who ruled that the Pentagon must allow transgender troops should report to military bases since she is “now a top military planner.”

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction last week blocking the Pentagon from enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military.

Trump’s Jan. 27 order said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service” and instructed the Department of Defense to update its medical standards for military service and pronoun policies.

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS FEDERAL JUDGE TO DISSOLVE INJUNCTION BARRING TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN

The president’s order said that “beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”

In her ruling, the judge said Trump’s order contains language that is “unabashedly demeaning,” adding that the policy “stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit.”

Hegseth responded to the ruling on the social media platform X.

PENTAGON TO APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION BLOCKING TRANSGENDER BAN, HEGSETH SAYS

“Since ‘Judge’ Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare,” he wrote.

The judge delayed her order until Friday morning to allow time for the Trump administration to appeal, which it said it would do.

Reyes said in her decision that the executive order likely poses constitutional rights violations.

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“The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” Reyes wrote. “We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.”

“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,” the judge added, noting that the defendants, on the other hand, “have not shown they will be burdened by continuing the status quo pending this litigation, and avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest.”

First he was a “knucklehead” now he’s a “smarta–.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said Saturday that he was making a joke when he made a comment last week mocking Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for the company’s recent downward trend in the stock market.

Walz attempted to clarify his comments during a town hall in Rochester, Minnesota.

“This guy bugs me in a way that’s probably unhealthy,” Walz said, referring to Musk. “I have to be careful about being a smarta–. I was making a joke. These people have no sense of humor. They are the most literal people.”

“But my point was, they’re all mad, and I said something I probably shouldn’t have about a company,” he continued.

TIM WALZ CHEERS TESLA SOCK TUMBLE, BUT MINNESOTA STATE EMPLOYEES’ PENSION OWNS OVER 1M SHARES

Earlier in the week, the governor was holding an event in Wisconsin when he mocked Tesla’s falling stock.

“Some of you know this. On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping,” Walz said. “And if you own one, we’re not blaming you. You can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off.”

As of March, Tesla’s stock is down 41.4% year-to-date.

There have been a series of recent vandalism incidents targeting Tesla vehicles in a protest against Musk for his role in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Walz further criticized Musk on Saturday for his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in which the billionaire tech executive seeks to cut the federal workforce as a cost-cutting initiative for the federal government.

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

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“They’re all butthurt about the Tesla thing, but they don’t care about the disrespect they have shown to employees at the Minneapolis VA who care for our veterans, and they fire them. They don’t care,” the governor said.

“Maybe it’s just me. If I’m the richest man in the world, I’m like out on the streets handing out money,” he added. “It’d be fun as hell just to help people out. Go help people out. Not this guy.”

President Donald Trump signed more executive orders this week — including one to upend the Department of Education — battled the judicial branch, and spoke to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

On Thursday, Trump announced plans to work with Congress to upend the Department of Education. Closing down an agency requires the approval of Congress, according to the U.S. Constitution. 

“We’re not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven’t for a long time,” Trump said Thursday before signing the executive order. 

A White House fact sheet on the executive order said the directive aims to “turn over education to families instead of bureaucracies” and instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Trump said Thursday programs for Pell Grants, student loans for undergraduate students, and others that provide resources for children with special needs would continue to exist, just under different agencies.

“They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them,” Trump said.

Those in favor of shuttering the agency have pointed to the “Nation’s Report Card,” the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released every two years, released on Jan. 27. The exam tests fourth and eighth grade students and found almost stagnant math scores for eighth graders compared to 2022. Reading scores dropped two points at both grade levels.

As a result, Trump said without evidence that new efforts to upend the Department of Education would allow states like Texas to provide education comparable to countries like Norway, Denmark and Sweden.

“And then you’ll have some laggards, and we’ll work with them,” Trump said. “And we can all tell you who the laggards will be, right now, probably, but let’s not get into that.”

Here’s also what Trump did this week: 

Calls to impeach federal judge 

Trump called for the impeachment of Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in a social media post Tuesday, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement condemning Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s pushback stems from Boasberg issuing an order on Saturday halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants allegedly part of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing.

The flights carrying the migrants continued to El Salvador, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Sunday the order had “no lawful basis” since Boasberg issued it after the flights departed from U.S. airspace.

JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP’S ORDERS ARE ACTING ‘ERRONEOUSLY,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS

In response to Boasberg’s order, Trump said the judge should be impeached. However, Roberts said that “it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.” 

Boasberg’s order is one of multiple injunctions issued against the Trump administration, blocking various executive orders he’s signed since taking office in January. The White House has accused judges of behaving as partisan activists to stop Trump’s agenda. 

“I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously,” Leavitt said in a Wednesday news briefing. “We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench.”

Plans for new, next-gen F-47 fighter jet

Trump also announced that Boeing had won out among defense companies for a contract to build the Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet, known as the F-47. 

“I’m thrilled to announce that at my direction the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office at the White House. “Nothing in the world comes even close to it, and it’ll be called the ‘F-47,’ the generals picked that title.” 

BOEING TO BUILD NEXT-GEN ‘F-47’ US FIGHTER JET, TRUMP ANNOUNCES

The Next Generation Air Defense initiative that the Biden administration put on the back burner will oversee the effort. The Trump administration revived the program, a move that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Friday “sends a very direct, clear message to our allies that we’re not going anywhere, and to our enemies that we will be able to project power around the globe.” 

An experimental version of the jet has been covertly flying for “years,” according to Trump. 

“The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built,” Trump said. 

Calls with Putin, Zelenskyy 

Trump also spoke with both Putin and Zelenskyy this week over the phone, amid ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine. 

Following the calls, both Russia and Ukraine agreed to a limited ceasefire against energy. The next step is for respective teams to conduct meetings to navigate how to reach a full ceasefire, according to the White House. 

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“Technical teams will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea on the way to a full ceasefire,” the White House said in a statement Thursday. “They agreed this could be the first step toward the full end of the war and ensuring security. President Zelenskyy was grateful for the President’s leadership in this effort and reiterated his willingness to adopt a full ceasefire.”

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump revoked the security clearances of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Liz Cheney and several other opponents who either severely criticized or acted against him.

The White House released a memo on Friday that read: “I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information:  Antony Blinken, Jacob Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family.”

TRUMP STRIPS SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM LAW FIRM TIED TO JACK SMITH CASES

Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that she had revoked the security clearances of several people listed in Trump’s memo and blocked them from having access to classified information. She said “the 51 signers of the Hunter Biden ‘disinformation’ letter” also had their clearances rescinded.

“The President’s Daily Brief is no longer being provided to former President Biden.”

In addition to having their security clearances revoked, the individuals listed in Trump’s memorandum have had their “unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities” rescinded.

TRUMP REVOKES SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION FOR ADULT BIDEN CHILDREN HUNTER AND ASHLEY

Several people listed in Trump’s memo mostly dismissed it in social media posts reacting to the news. Both Zaid and Eisen said it was “like the third time” their security clearances were revoked. Kinzinger posted a video saying that he “retired a year ago from the military” and doesn’t have a clearance before calling the president a “dumba–.”

The security clearance memo comes just days after Trump announced that he was stripping Hunter and Ashley Biden of their Secret Service protection.

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“Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for an extended period of time, all paid for by the United States Taxpayer. There are as many as 18 people on this Detail, which is ridiculous!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list.”

While under federal law, former presidents and their spouses receive life-long Secret Service protection, but that protection ends for members of their immediate family when they leave office. According to the Associated Press, both Trump and Biden extended protection for their children before leaving office.

President Donald Trump suggested that convicted Tesla arsonists serve out their expected decades-long sentences in El Salvador prisons. 

“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote Friday on TRUTH Social. 

“Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!” the president added. 

TRUMP WARNS OF JAIL TIME FOR TESLA VANDALS, ANYONE FUNDING THE ATTACKS: ‘WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!’

The message comes as the FBI is investigating an uptick in attacks against Tesla vehicles and facilities nationwide of domestic terrorism, as top Trump adviser Elon Musk’s company has become a target of protesters and arsonists. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also facing pushback in federal court over deportation flights to El Salvador. Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele announced last week that the first 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, a U.S. designated terror group, had arrived, releasing video of Salvadorian troops transferring men from planes to his Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT. He said they’d stay for one year, though that was “renewable.” 

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi on Thursday announced charges against three individuals accused of using Molotov cocktails to set fire to Tesla cars and charging stations.

“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said in a statement. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”

The Justice Department said one defendant, also armed with a suppressed AR-15 rifle, was arrested after allegedly throwing approximately eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership located in Salem, Oregon. Another was arrested in Loveland, Colorado after allegedly attempting to light Teslas on fire with Molotov cocktails. Authorities said that defendant was later found in possession of materials used to produce additional incendiary weapons.

In Charleston, South Carolina, a third defendant wrote “profane messages” against Trump around Tesla charging stations before lighting the charging stations on fire with Molotov cocktails, the Justice Department said. 

TESLA VEHICLES, DEALERSHIPS TARGETED WITH ARSON, GUNFIRE AND VANDALISM IN AT LEAST 9 STATES: FBI

The DOJ said each defendant faces serious charges carrying a minimum penalty of five years and up to 20 years in prison.

“People that get caught sabotaging Teslas will stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years, and that includes the finders,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social Thursday, adding: “WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!”

Tesla vehicles and dealerships have been subjected to arson, vandalism and gunfire in at least nine states, and some of the most prominent cases were reported in left-leaning cities in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. 

An Oregon man faces charges after allegedly throwing several Molotov cocktails at a Tesla store in Salem, then returning another day and shooting out windows. In the Portland suburb of Tigard, more than a dozen bullets were fired at a Tesla showroom last week, damaging vehicles and windows, the second time in a week that the store was targeted.

Four Cybertrucks were set on fire in a Tesla lot in Seattle earlier this month. On Friday, witnesses reported a man poured gasoline on an unoccupied Tesla Model S and started a fire on a Seattle street.

In Las Vegas, several Tesla vehicles were set ablaze early Tuesday outside a Tesla service center where the word “resist” was also painted in red across the building’s front doors. Authorities said at least one person threw Molotov cocktails — crude bombs filled with gasoline or another flammable liquid — and fired several rounds from a weapon into the vehicles.

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“Was this terrorism? Was it something else? It certainly has some of the hallmarks that we might think – the writing on the wall, potential political agenda, an act of violence,” Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, said at a press conference. “None of those factors are lost on us.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.