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We learned something on Capitol Hill this week.

House Republicans can pass a government funding bill without Democratic assistance.

Barely. 217-213.

Republicans could only lose one vote. And that’s all they lost: Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHERE WE STAND WITH A POTENTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

The GOP bill even picked up one Democratic yea: Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.

Passing government funding bills on their own wasn’t always the case for the House GOP. Republicans have held the House majority for more than two years now. The GOP majority consistently leaned on Democrats – serving in the minority – for many of the votes to keep the government open and lift the debt ceiling. But that changed late Tuesday afternoon as House Republicans approved their own bill to keep the lights on.

But before the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., berated Democrats for opposing the temporary spending package, known as a “Continuing Resolution” or “CR.”

“If Congressional Democrats refuse to support this clean CR, they will be responsible for every troop who misses a paycheck. For every flight delay from reduced staffing at TSA. For every negative consequence that comes from shutting down the government,” said Johnson.

It was unclear if Johnson could pass the bill with just Republicans. Especially as the Speaker upbraided Democrats for vowing to vote nay.

“You continually criticize the Democrats,” yours truly said to the Speaker. “Doesn’t that imply that you don’t have the votes on your side? Because you wouldn’t need Democratic assistance to keep the government?”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 7, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

“No. We will have the votes,” responded Johnson. “We’re going to pass the CR and we can do it on our own.”

A few hours later, the Speaker made good on his promise.

But he had an assist.

Vice President JD Vance came to the Capitol to assuage fears of skeptical House Republicans Tuesday morning. But Vance didn’t quite close the deal.

“I saw some looks in there that didn’t leave me feeling good as to securing the votes of those who may be having questions,” said Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., after the House Republican conclave with Vance.

Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and others said they needed more assurances about future spending cuts. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said he would “pray” about how to vote on the bill. But heading into the meeting, Burchett conceded he hadn’t yet experienced any political intercession.

“I’m uncomfortable with giving the Pentagon more money, even though overall, we’re cutting,” said Burchett.

By afternoon, Burchett told me he was “closer,” but still not there.

And when the House voted, it passed the bill.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: HERE WE GO AGAIN (AGAIN)

But what made the difference when it came to convincing skittish Republicans to vote yes?

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox he was “barely” for the CR.

“What’s the ‘barely’ part?” I asked.

“The ‘barely” is Donald Trump. He is the difference maker. I would never support this language. But I do trust Donald Trump,” said Burlison. “He’s not let me down. I think that he is a man of his word. And so I believe him when he’s when he says he’s going to get it done.”

But that was only half of the battle. The bill earned the support of all but one Senate Republican. But 60 votes are necessary to break a filibuster. Republicans only have 53 GOP members. So that would entail assistance from Democrats.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he opposed the bill because it didn’t cut spending. Paul said he didn’t get any blowback from the President or fellow Republicans on his position.

The US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024.  (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“People know kind of where I am. I’m pretty consistent on opposing debt and opposing spending,” said Paul.

Contrast the silence Paul has heard to how President Trump unloaded on his Bluegrass State colleague, Thomas Massie. Mr. Trump argued that Massie should face a primary for his defection.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., is the only Democrat on the record support the stopgap spending bill.

So, it’s about the math.

With only 52 Republicans primed to crack a filibuster, that means the Senate needs eight Democrats to vote yes. That includes Fetterman. Note that they don’t have to vote yes on the bill. Just to overcome the filibuster. Republicans can pass the bill on their own with a simple majority.

This leaves Democrats as badly torn as any party in recently on any issue.

On one hand, Democrats don’t want to shutter the government. They fear that will imperil already skittish federal workers. And it could lead to additional cuts from Elon Musk and DOGE if federal workers aren’t on the job.

On the other hand, they want to be seen as fighting for their base and rally against President Trump and Musk.

But it is often the darkest before the dawn.

TRUMP’S UNION-ENDORSED PICK CONFIRMED BY SENATE TO LEAD LABOR DEPARTMENT

Democrats must either go to the mat or try to salvage something before the 11:59:59 pm et government funding deadline Friday.

There are rattlings that Democrats may ask for votes on a universe of amendments – none of which would pass. But at least Democrats could save face – telling their loyalists that they fought for their values and tried to stand up to the President and Musk. They could also make the case that a shutdown is worse than keeping the government open.

Fox is told senators would be interested in votes on the following subjects:

• Restoring funding for Washington, DC
• Restricting DOGE and/or efforts by the administration to “impound” money already appropriated by Congress
• A Democratic one-month, stopgap spending bill

Fetterman appeared to be the only Democrat willing to vote for the GOP interim spending bill, but Thursday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced he would vote for it. And it’s possible that a vote on a set of amendments could unlock a few Democratic votes to break a filibuster on the bill.

But tensions are now running high.

Reporters staking out a meeting of Senate Democrats talking about the shutdown heard who they believe was Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., screaming at her colleagues through he thick Capitol walls.

Multiple Senate Democrats were utterly silent as they left a lengthy Senate Democratic Caucus. None of the senators approached by Fox were willing to talk – even though some are quite loquacious under other circumstances. In fact Fox even asked several of the Democrats if they were told not to say anything. Several replied “no comment.”

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., talks with reporters in Russell building after a senate vote on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Quiet on Capitol Hill often means something is up and that lawmakers are trying to broker a very fragile deal. It also means that lawmakers are fuming.

There was genuine fear among Democrats that a government shutdown could permanently imperil the federal government and perhaps trigger additional layoffs of thousands of federal workers.

Here’s the other problem: If the government shut down, no one is quite sure HOW it could re-open. It’s about the math. And the calculus under those circumstances simply did not work to for the House and Senate to eventually pass the same bill and re-open the government. That calculus simply did not seem to work. 

That’s why Schumer made the decision to support the Band-Aid spending bill – as risky as it is. 

Schumer and Trump. (AP/Getty Images)

This is why multiple Senate Democrats refused to comment on what Schumer told them at the closed-door caucus meeting today. That’s why tempers flared and Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was heard yelling through the thick Senate walls.

But this is not without peril for Schumer.

He needs to convince six other Democrats (for a grand total of eight) to support overcoming a filibuster. 

There are 53 Senate Republicans. 60 votes are needed to avert a filibuster. 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is a no. So the deficit is eight. Schumer and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) are the first two Democrats to say they are willing to vote to overcome a filibuster. So Schumer needs six more. 

If he can’t find those votes, the government will close. And Schumer will have committed a tremendous tactical error. 

As the saying goes, a leader with no followers is just a man out for a walk.

Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, used to say that “nothing good” ever happens when Congress has been in session for more than three consecutive weeks.

Members grow angry. Antsy. Tempers are short.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that the Senate has met for ten consecutive weeks.

“Senators have been seeing a lot of each other lately. In fact, too much,” said Thune.

That includes three all-night sessions and weekend sessions. This period is the longest stretch of consecutive weeks for Senate activity in 15 years.

The Senate is scheduled to be out next week for the first time this year. A government shutdown trashes the recess. Senators have barely seen their family members. It’s been a frenetic pace.

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That’s why the most powerful people in Washington could have the ultimate say about funding the government: Senate spouses.

And if the Senate aligns with the House, they will have averted a government shutdown.

But barely.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says he will vote to keep the government open, warning that a shutdown has worse consequences for Americans and would only empower President Trump and Elon Musk further.

“I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country to minimize the harms to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down,” Schumer said while speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday. 

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Schumer and Trump. (AP/Getty Images)

Democrats have criticized Republicans for their hesitation to pass government funding legislation, while their own party is currently on the brink of allowing a federal shutdown.

On Wednesday, Schumer said that his party would oppose the spending bill that Republicans drafted and passed through the House, as the Friday midnight deadline looms for Congress to take action to avoid a government shutdown. 

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

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., his staff and family have been the target of harassment and death threats, according to a memo released by his office on Thursday afternoon. 

Voicemails shared by Tillis’ team, which were filled with profanity and fueled by discontent with President Donald Trump, reveal a frightening new reality. The senator’s senior advisor, Daniel Keylin, said “the volume of threats and harassment directed at members of Congress and their staff is the new normal.” 

“Yeah, Thom Tillis, afraid of death threats? Then get the f— out of office,” one caller said in a voicemail. 

Keylin said Tillis’ office in Greenville, North Carolina, received a handwritten and unsigned letter postmarked in Greensboro last month calling his staff members “sacrificial lambs” and insisting they “signed up to be his shield.” The anonymous writer, while reiterating “in no way is this a threat,” said people are going to start “coming in filled with rage.”

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

Sen. Thom Tillis (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The voicemails released by Tillis’ office express outrage over Trump’s policies and include violent threats to Tillis and his staff.

“You are not going to destroy my country,” one woman said. Another caller told Tillis he is “not one of the good guys anymore” and said to “get the f— out of government.”

SOUTH CAROLINA MAN FACES FEDERAL CHARGES FOR ALLEGEDLY THREATENING TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP

“…When things get really bad, people are going to stop calling and writing. They’re going to start coming in, and they’re going to be coming in filled with rage… And you signed up to be his shield. Resign, please resign, or find a Groupon for self defense class because America’s transition to oligarchy is going to be a wild ride for us peons,” reads the anonymous letter sent to Tillis.

The anonymous writer references “America’s transition to oligarchy,” a term that has been used by the left to describe the alleged rising power of the billionaire class.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has drawn thousands of supporters to his “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies across the country, with stops in Michigan and Wisconsin this past 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.”

Democrats were outraged by Trump inviting billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to sit behind him at his inauguration inside the U.S. Capitol. Former President Joe Biden also used the term “oligarchy” in his farewell address to the nation. 

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden told Americans on Jan. 13. 

Two weeks after Tillis’ office received the letter, Indivisible Guilford County, a local arm of a progressive political action group, organized a protest at Tillis’ Greensboro office. While the protest’s press release encouraged peaceful signs and “solidarity,” Keylin said the protesters attempted to break into Tillis’ office.

“They angrily yanked and attempted to open the office’s locked door, yelling at Tillis’ staff to open it: ‘Come back, we see you! Open the door!’ and reminding the staff they had no way to exit their office,” Keylin said in the memo. 

Sen. Thom Tillis (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Keylin said Tillis’ office received several media inquiries questioning if Tillis would attend the protests or town halls planned in Republican-held districts. Outlining years of targeted threats that have only escalated since Trump returned to office, Keylin said, “I imagine anyone with a modicum of sanity would understand what a silly question that is.”

The memo says that “out of an abundance of caution,” law enforcement has directed the senator’s office to work from home on the days protests are planned. 

“We will not make any apologies for prioritizing the safety and security of our staff,” Keylin said. 

The memo outlines two more instances in which the North Carolina senator was subject to death threats. 

“Senator Tillis, his staff, and even his family have long been subject to threats, harassment, attempted intimidation, and verbal abuse from unstable individuals who don’t agree with his political view,” Keylin said. 

A U.S. citizen living abroad was arrested for threatening to kill Tillis and cut off the hands of his staffers in 2023, and a Minnesota man was indicted in 2022 for threatening to kill Tillis, the memo confirmed. 

A protester holds up a sign at the “No Kings on President’s Day” protest in Washington on Feb. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital) (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

Protests have shut down town halls and disrupted local legislative offices in the past two months, and Republicans have opted for tele-town halls instead of in-person town halls as a result. Democrats have accused Republicans of ignoring their constituents’ concerns by avoiding in-person town halls. 

Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., will host town halls on Friday in Republican-held congressional districts in Iowa and Nebraska “to lend a megaphone to the people.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has reportedly started planning her own rallies in Republican-held congressional districts as well. 

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MoveOn.org, which has accepted millions of dollars from billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Policy Center, announced in a press release last month that it was mobilizing resources as part of a “Congress Works for Us, Not Musk” initiative “aimed at pressuring lawmakers to fight back against the Trump-Musk agenda.” The group planned protests at congressional-led town halls and congressional offices.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House compiled a highlight reel of Senate Democrats in recent years railing against potential government shutdowns as an attack on democracy, as the same Democrats this week flirt with rejecting a Trump-backed federal funding bill that would avert a looming shutdown. 

“This is a democracy, and in a democracy, hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can’t win their fights through elections, can’t win their fights in Congress, can’t win their fights for the presidency, and can’t win their fights in the courts,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a clip included in the White House video. 

“To hold these people hostage instead of just letting them do their jobs, which they want to do while we work out our differences. So wrong.” declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a 2019 video, referring to furloughed federal employees. 

A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital Thursday that Democrat “hypocrisy” and “hatred for Donald Trump” has “overpowered” the party’s common sense. 

DEM HEARD SCREAMING AT COLLEAGUES DESPITE SCHUMER’S UNITY CLAIM AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS

Senate Democrats previously railed against potential government shutdowns in a video compiled by the White House.

“Last week, Democrats refused to stand for a child battling brain cancer and Angel Moms,” a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital. “Now, their hypocrisy and hatred for Donald Trump have overpowered a commonsense, reasonable funding measure that their party has historically endorsed. This isn’t principled opposition; it’s a vitriolic response to their contempt for President Trump and the undeniable momentum on Republicans’ side.” 

President Donald Trump greets lawmakers as he leaves after addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee / POOL / AFP) 

The more than two-minute video included clips from Sens. Schumer, Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jack Reed, Corey Booker, Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff and Amy Klobuchar railing against previous shutdowns or threats of government shutdowns. 

The Trump administration official added in comment to Fox Digital that Democrats’ threats of a shutdown are “purely political theater” and attempts to grandstand. 

“Make no mistake: Democrats’ threats of a Schumer Shutdown are purely political theater,” the official said. “As President Trump works to fulfill his mandate to the American people, Senate Democrats are grandstanding against a measure to keep the government open — one that supports veterans’ benefits and military pay increases.”

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

The House passed a Trump-backed federal funding bill Tuesday, largely along partisan lines in a 217 to 213 vote. The bill would fund the federal government through the end of September. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a Senate Finance Committee hearing. (Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press)

The bill is now in the Senate’s hands, presenting Democrats in the upper chamber with the option of either passing the bill or triggering a government shutdown Friday at midnight. 

Senate Democrats are reportedly at odds on how to proceed, sources told Fox News Digital this week. 

“They’ve been debating what to do, and there’s been people who feel strongly on both sides,” a Democratic source familiar told Fox News Digital, in reference to several lengthy Senate Democratic caucus meetings in the past couple days. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. speaks during a news conference. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Though many Senate Democrats have remained mum on the contents of their recent meetings, multiple lawmakers, such as Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., posted videos to social media stating they planned to vote against the continuing resolution. 

SCOOP: TRUMP CRAFTS PLAN TO CUT SPENDING WITHOUT CONGRESS AFTER SHUTDOWN IS AVERTED

“This is a shutdown bill that’s bad for the economy — let Trump shutdown whatever he wants,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Sunday. “Hurting everyday folks to use money for tax breaks for the uber-rich. Hell no!” 

Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was heard by the media screaming inside a private lunch with Senate Democrats on Thursday, which lasted more than an hour.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks at a campaign event.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Gillibrand also was included in the White House highlight reel, where she slammed the 2019 government shutdown as risking children “going to bed hungry.” 

Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“If this shutdown continues indefinitely, 39 million Americans will risk not having enough food. They will lose their SNAP benefits in February, so that means American children will be going to bed hungry. It’s unacceptable,” she said in the video clip. 

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Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. 

New legislation aims to penalize college campuses that enable protest encampments, which were a widespread phenomenon last year as a means of protesting the war between Israel and Hamas.

The “No Tax Dollars for Colleges Encampments Act,” sponsored by Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., would stop federal taxpayer dollars from going to schools that do not properly share policies about how they handle cases of “civil disturbance” by changing the Higher Education Act of 1965.

“Many of our ‘elite’ academic institutions have become hotbeds for antisemitism and pro-terror ideologies,” Banks said in a statement.

SUPPORTERS OF DETAINED COLUMBIA STUDENT ARRESTED AFTER CLASH WITH NYPD AS TRUMP ADMIN SEEKS HIS DEPORTATION

Anti-Israel agitators staged encampments on Columbia University’s campus. (Getty Images)

“My bill holds these universities accountable and prevents American tax dollars from being wasted on institutions that act as safe havens for anti-American harassment and violence,” the senator added.

Banks’ bill is just one aspect of a broader crackdown on campuses, public or private, for how it handled protests that in many instances targeted Jewish students or made them feel unsafe on campuses.

The Trump White House scrapped $400 million in federal funding that went toward Columbia University, which gained nationwide attention for its encampment that proponents said was in support of Gaza. A key figure in those protests, Mahmoud Khalil, is currently being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as he was in the country under a student visa. President Donald Trump said in a post to Truth Social earlier this week it is “the first arrest of many to come.”

“Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University,” President Donald Trump stated in the post about the student, which has since led to protests. 

WHO IS MAHMOUD KHALIL, THE ANTI-ISRAEL COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ACTIVIST ICE ARRESTED?

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 28: U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) questions witnesses in a hearing of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, in the Cannon House Office Building on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. The committee is investigating economic, technological and security competition between the U.S. and China.  ( Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education is now investigating 60 universities around the country for possible Title VI as it relates to antisemitism.

EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON PRAISES DEPARTMENT FOR TAKING STEPS TO ELIMINATE ‘BUREAUCRATIC BLOAT’

The Senate held a full floor vote on whether to confirm McMahon to serve as Secretary of Education. (Getty Images)

“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

“U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws,” she continued. 

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., has sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) calling for an investigation into ActBlue, the main fundraising platform for the Democratic Party, over concerns the platform had “been used to skirt the integrity of federal campaign finance laws.”

“In 2024, President Biden’s Treasury Department found hundreds of suspicious transactions with ActBlue reported by banks,” Biggs said in his letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday. 

“The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on House Administration have been investigating these allegations of misconduct. But the previous Administration has stalled access to the necessary documents. This week, Oversight Chairman Comer and Administration Chairman Stiles have renewed their request with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.”

The letter cited Republican concerns that ActBlue’s verification policies could potentially allow foreign actors in countries like China, Venezuela and Russia to influence elections with straw donations. 

‘TIPPING THE SCALES’: HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA

Rep. Andy Biggs is calling on the FBI to investigate Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. (Getty)

Biggs also pointed out in his letter that nineteen state attorneys general across the country have made inquiries into ActBlue over a variety of allegations, including fraud, money laundering, fraudulent and counterfeit use of credit and debit cards, and patterns of contributions that are suspicious.

“It must be emphasized that these allegations, were they to prove true, would indicate a serious threat to the integrity of our elections, besides the victimization of American citizens,” Biggs wrote to Patel. “The gravity of the allegations and their implications demand a thorough and vigorous investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We strongly urge an inquiry into ActBlue.”

Fox News Digital reached out to ActBlue for comment but did not receive a response.

“The allegations against ActBlue are alarming and, if true, threaten the integrity of our Republic,” Biggs told Fox News Digital. “I’m thankful for the work Director Patel is doing to restore our justice system, and I look forward to working with him to uncover the truth about ActBlue.”

Republicans on the Committee on House Administration and other GOP officials have for months accused ActBlue of lax donor verification standards.

NEWSOM DEFENDS FIRE RESPONSE WITH FACT-CHECK SITE LINKING TO DEM PARTY FUNDRAISING PLATFORM

Republicans have increasingly voiced concerns about the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. (Fox News)

“Following widespread allegations of fraudulent donations being reported to the FEC by ActBlue, one of the largest fundraising platforms in the country, this emergency rulemaking is necessary to reassure the American people that ActBlue is taking the necessary steps to protect its donors,” Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said last year.

House Republicans subpoenaed ActBlue last October in what they said at the time was a bid to “safeguard our nation’s elections” and “close loopholes in our campaign finance system,” including contributions from donors whose identities were not as stringently vetted.

ActBlue told Newsweek in response to the Republican probes, “This investigation is nothing more than a partisan political attack and scare tactic to undermine the power of Democratic and progressive small-dollar donors. We welcome the opportunity to respond to these frivolous claims.”

In a press release earlier this week when a letter to the Treasury Department was sent, the House Oversight Committee said the Biden administration “intentionally stonewalled” its work looking into ActBlue.

“The Committees remain concerned with recent reports suggesting fraud and evasion of campaign finance law by individuals exploiting online contribution platforms, especially ActBlue,” Steil and fellow GOP Reps. James Comer of Kentucky and Nick Langworthy of New York wrote. 

“Until recently, ActBlue had not implemented standard procedures to guard against identity theft and fraud, such as by requiring a Card Verification Value (CVV) to process online transactions. The organization is also the subject of several state-level investigations stemming from allegedly fraudulent contributions made via the platform without the reported contributors’ awareness — serious allegations that, if proven true, would violate federal law.”

In a letter sent by GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California to the Treasury Department this week, first reported by the Free Press, Issa asked the Trump administration to investigate “credible allegations” that ActBlue has violated federal law by allowing terror-linked groups to use its platform.

“Despite the detailed reporting and the reasonable suspicion that our nation’s laws had been violated, the Biden-Harris Treasury Department refused to substantively address these explosive revelations,” Issa wrote.

“The undeniable and continued collaboration between ActBlue Charities and terror-tied entities amounts to the enabling of terrorism and may also constitute money-laundering crimes,” Issa added.

“In addition, the flagrant inability of progressive groups to address the appearance of skirting a full range of our laws – or call out the evils of Hamas and the BDS movement – raises critical questions if the activities and coalition building of ActBlue and ActBlue Charities are in reality part of a wider commitment to financing and facilitating attacks on Israel and Jewish people in America and around the globe.”

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ActBlue also drew the ire of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in a Sunday morning post on X, where he blamed ActBlue-funded groups for the recent protests at Tesla dealerships from activists opposed to his work with the Trump administration. 

“An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla ‘protests’: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America,” Musk wrote.

Musk then named five ActBlue funders he believed were responsible for funding the protests, including liberal mega-donor George Soros. 

The early moves in the next White House race – at least among the Democrats – are getting underway.

Pete Buttigieg on Thursday ruled out a run for an open Democratic-held Senate seat in his adopted home state of Michigan.

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

Buttigieg highlighted that “while my own plans don’t include running for office in 2026, I remain intensely focused on consolidating, communicating, and supporting a vision” that is an alternative to what he called the “cruel chaos” of President Donald Trump’s administration.

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

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

A source familiar with Buttigieg’s thinking told Fox News that the former transportation secretary is in a strong possible position to run for president in 2028 and that running for either senator or Michigan governor “in 2026 would have taken that off the table.”

NEWSOM MAKES MAJOR HEADLINES IN INAGURAL EDITION OF HIS NEW PODCAST

Across the country, term-limited California Gov. Gavin Newsom – who has long been suspected of harboring national ambitions – is grabbing tons of attention and millions of YouTube hits thanks to a new and very high-profile podcast series.

The first two guests were MAGA world superstars Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon.

Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk is the guest for the inaugural edition of the governor’s “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast. (Gavin Newsom on X)

Democrat J.B. Pritzker – the billionaire two-term governor of blue state Illinois and one of his party’s leaders in opposing Trump’s second-term agenda – will head to New Hampshire next month to headline the state party’s annual fundraising gala, sparking plenty of 2028 speculation.

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

Trips to New Hampshire – which for over a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House – are seen as an early indicator of a politician’s interest in running for the presidency in the next election.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (Paul Steinhauser)

But there’s more. 

There is plenty of focus on former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee last summer after he dropped out of the race amid mounting questions over his physical and mental stamina. 

KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS TIMETABLE FOR MAJOR POLITICAL DECISION

Harris, who lost last November’s White House election to Trump, is seriously considering a 2026 bid to succeed Newsom in her home state of California. But a run for governor in 2026 would likely derail her from making a 2028 White House bid.

A source in the former vice president’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital that Harris has told allies she will decide by the end of summer on whether to launch a gubernatorial campaign. 

And Harris recently made a stop in Nevada, an early-voting state in the Democrats’ primary calendar.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak during a campaign rally at the Wisconsin State Fair Expo in West Allis, Wisconsin, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Harris’ 2024 running mate – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – is not ruling out a White House run of his own in 2028. Walz on Friday kicks off a high-profile town hall tour in Iowa, the state that, through the 2020 cycle, kicked off the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar.

Meanwhile, three other prominent Democrats considered potential 2028 contenders – Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania – on Thursday are addressing the House Democrats’ annual policy retreat.

Even Rahm Emanuel, the former congressman from Illinois, White House chief of staff in President Obama’s administration, and Chicago mayor who most recently served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, is potentially mulling a 2028 run. Emanuel this week was the topic of a feature report by Politico.

While 2028 seems like a very long way away, the early moves in the next White House race begin – well, early – for the party out of power.

VANCE IN ‘CATBIRD SEAT,’ BUT HERE ARE THE OTHER REPUBLICANS WHO MAY ALSO RUN IN 2028 

Gov. Tim Walz at the DNC in Chicago in August 2024. (Getty Images)

That was the case for the Republicans in the 2024 cycle. 

The first stop in Iowa, which continues to kick off the GOP’s presidential nominating schedule, in the 2024 cycle by a potential White House contender came in March 2021 – just weeks after Biden assumed the presidency.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – who eventually ended up not running for president – grabbed plenty of attention as he spoke to the Westside Conservative Club in suburban Des Moines.

“There’s no sense in waiting,” New Hampshire-based political strategist Lucas Meyer told Fox News. “If anyone is serious about running for president, they would probably be well served in getting after it now.”

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Meyer, a former president of the New Hampshire Young Democrats who chairs the advocacy group 603 Forward, called it a “wide open field” for Democrats.

“The crowd of leadership at the top of the Democratic Party isn’t very deep at the moment,” he observed. “There’s oxygen there for someone.”

The California Department of Finance cleared a $3.44 billion loan to make up for a gap in Medi-Cal spending, which critics say is due to illegal immigrant healthcare costs, whereas the governor’s office argues it’s not out of the ordinary.

It was revealed a few weeks ago that the state had $6 billion in expected costs for Medi-Cal, but it is now roughly $9.5 billion. This comes after it became state law to allow people to qualify for the program regardless of their immigration status. Medi-Cal is the state’s Medicaid system for certain Golden State residents, which takes both federal and state taxpayer dollars, according to a state government website. 

Critics of allowing the program’s availability to those who are in the country illegally strongly believe it is cause for concern.

CALIFORNIA GOV NEWSOM SETS MENENDEZ BROTHERS PAROLE BOARD HEARING DATE IN BID FOR CLEMENCY

Newsom and Trump face off on Los Angeles tarmac. (Pool)

“Gov. Gavin Newsom lied and cooked the books to gift all illegal immigrants free healthcare and now has stuck California taxpayers with a multi-billion dollar bill,” Rep. Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“This is so egregious that he needs to resign,” he continued.

DeMaio was the lawmaker who, in a hearing last month, questioned a state budget official who ended up revealing the higher spending figure for MediCal. DeMaio was later removed from the California State Assembly budget committee.

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

Assemb. Carl DeMaio (CQ/Getty)

However, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said that California is not the only state facing spending issues with their state-based healthcare programs, such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Indiana.

“This isn’t new — as the administration already outlined in the Governor’s January budget proposal, additional funding is needed to support Medi-Cal,” Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

BORDER AREA BUSTLING UNDER BIDEN NOW QUIET UNDER TRUMP, SAYS VETERANS GROUP: ‘AMAZING DIFFERENCE’

This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)

“Rising Medicaid costs are a national challenge, affecting both red and blue states alike. This is not unique to California.”

The border state continues to face scrutiny for its policies pertaining to people in the country illegally, whether it is for healthcare eligibility or “sanctuary” policies. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump targeted Massie again in a post on Tuesday afternoon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump later issued another attack against the maverick Republican.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BUTTIGIEG APPEARANCE ON THIS RADIO SHOW SPARKS MORE 2028 SPECULATION

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

Buttigieg had been eyeing a possible Senate run for months.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

READ THE X BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

DOGE AND AGENCIES CANCEL 200,000 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARDS 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leo Terrell (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AXED GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG SAYS TRUMP HAS RIGHT TO FIRE HIM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIRST ON FOX: California is funneling billions of federal taxpayer dollars into paying for illegal immigrants’ healthcare, a new study claims.

“They are exploiting an existing loophole within law,” Paul Winfree, president and CEO of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), told Fox News Digital.

“States can do these provider taxes to funnel money back to the state, that they are then using to pay for, to put illegal immigrants on Medicaid. That’s quite literally what’s going on.”

The paper released by EPIC and the Paragon Health Institute draws a line between California’s Medicaid provider taxes and what, on paper, appears to be nearly $4 billion in state funding going toward illegal immigrants’ healthcare and other initiatives.

TRUMP GOES TOE-TO-TOE WITH SANCTUARY CITIES OVER DEPORTATION AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SET TO BEGIN

A study accuses California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration of funneling billions of federal dollars into healthcare programs for illegal immigrants. (Getty Images)

But that funding is actually coming from the federal government, according to EPIC, via reimbursements to California.

Winfree suggested it could be an area to claw back federal dollars as House Republicans work to find between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in savings to offset the cost of President Donald Trump’s budget priorities.

Under current law, states are required to pay Medicaid providers the same amount as taxes raised.

The federal government then matches those payments by 60% in an effort to help states recoup some Medicaid costs.

“Medicaid spending is supposed to be jointly financed by the federal government and states. However, states are increasingly designing Medicaid money laundering schemes that result in massive federal expenditures without any state financial obligation,” the paper said. 

“The state of California, colluding with insurance companies who cover Medicaid beneficiaries, has created one of the most outrageous ones yet, a money laundering scheme that results in California obtaining more than $19 billion in federal money without any state contribution over the period from April 2023 through December 2026.”

The paper continued that those funds were “used to implement major expansions in the Medicaid program to fund illegal immigrants and long-term care (LTC) for the wealthy.”

“This scheme enriches insurers, attracts illegal immigrants to the United States, and adds mountains to the federal debt, all at the expense of working Americans,” it said.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd during a campaign rally in Summerville, S.C., on Sept. 25, 2023. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Winfree said closing a loophole that allows states like California to significantly raise the provider tax could save up to $630 billion, adding it was something Republicans are looking at as they seek as much as $2 trillion in savings or more in the budget reconciliation process.

House and Senate Republicans are looking to use their majorities to pass a massive bill covering Trump’s border security, defense, energy and tax policies. 

They can do so because reconciliation allows the Senate to lower its threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, provided measures in the legislation are related to budgetary and fiscal policy.

As part of the framework resolution House Republicans passed last month, which has been sent to the relevant committees with instructions on how much to find cuts, or in some cases, spend extra dollars.

ICE ARRESTS MORE THAN 530 MIGRANTS IN ONE DAY AMID TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN

The Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, is charged with finding $880 billion in spending cuts.

Republicans have insisted they are only looking to root out waste, fraud and abuse, but Democratic opponents of the Trump budget bill are accusing the GOP of trying to significantly cut federal medical benefits for millions of Americans.

“One of the things that Congress is looking at right now is limiting the Medicaid provider tax loophole. It’s actually one of the most significant offsets that is within the Medicaid portfolio that the Energy and Commerce Committee and Finance Committee over in the Senate can look at while they’re putting together their reconciliation bill,” Winfree said.

He cited a projection that said eliminating the loophole could save as much as $630 billion but added that it was an unlikely scenario.

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“It’s much more likely that they will reduce what’s called the safe harbor. So, in other words, what they’ll do is they’ll just reduce the amount of gaming that goes on, including this kind of gaming. And if that happens, it is more likely to affect some of the big blue states than it is the red states, simply because it’s the blue states that have really tested the upper limits of this kind of this kind of gimmick,” Winfree said.

Even without total elimination, reforming the tax could still potentially save billions in federal spending.

Fox News Digital reached out to the California Department of Public Health for comment but did not hear back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mamdani said Homan smirked when confronted. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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