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Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that all federal employees are being instructed to report their productivity in a new Trump administration initiative.

In a post Saturday on X, Musk said the report will come in the form of an email that will give federal workers a chance to report how productive they were the previous week.

If the email is ignored, Musk said, the federal government will interpret that as a resignation.

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

WHITE HOUSE OUTLINES WHERE DOGE SAVINGS COULD GO AFTER TRUMP FLOATS RETURNING 20% TO AMERICANS

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

A spokesperson from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed Musk’s plans in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager,” the official said. “Agencies will determine any next steps.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung voiced support for the initiative later on Saturday, sharing a screenshot of the email in a post on X.

“This is such a good idea and even White House staffers can list all of the great things they’ve done this week, just like everyone in the Administration should do as well,” Cheung wrote.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) labor union condemned Musk’s plans in a post on X, writing that it plans to “challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country.”

“It is cruel and disrespectful for federal employees to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life,” the AFGE wrote.

$1,300 COFFEE CUPS, 8,000% OVERPAY FOR SOAP DISPENSERS SHOW WASTE AS DOGE LOCKS IN ON PENTAGON

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

The productivity reports came as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues slashing suspected waste across the federal government. In an X post Tuesday, DOGE said it discovered 4 million active credit cards on the U.S. government’s books.

“The US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for  ~$40B of spend[ing] in FY24,” DOGE said in a post on X Tuesday. 

President Donald Trump has been supportive of Musk’s work with DOGE. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that though Musk is “doing a great job,” he should be “more aggressive.”

“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!,” Trump wrote.

Musk responded with an enthusiastic “Will do, Mr. President!” hours after Trump posted. 

Elon Musk and President Donald Trump arrive to attend a SpaceX Starship rocket launch Nov. 19, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

Two governors, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, found common ground at a National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C., on one of President Donald Trump’s most critical goals.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association, and Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt told Fox News Digital they want states to have a say in immigration enforcement and issuing work permits.

“We want to make sure we’re at the table in that with regard to immigration,” Polis told Fox News Digital.

DEMS SAY THEY’RE AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE, BUT THEY HATE DOGE MORE

He said the idea that the states should have a seat at the table regarding immigration decisions “has a lot of support (among) both Democratic and Republican governors.”

Polis said states know what their labor needs are and could grant work permits after careful vetting.

“Let us be able to grant those based on free background checks … and that’ll help our economic growth,” Polis said.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks as Gov. Jared Polis listens at the NGA in Washington. (Fox News/Charlie Creitz)

Polis, whose state has been ground zero for criminal activity and violence by the migrant gang Tren de Aragua, said “varying degrees of cooperation” between state and federal authorities are necessary.

Colorado has several sanctuary-style laws limiting law enforcement cooperation with federal authorities, but Polis insisted its relationship with federal law enforcement agencies is strong.

COLORADO CITY HELPS DOZENS OF FAMILIES RELOCATE AFTER TREN DE ARAGUA APARTMENT INFESTATION

Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang who overtook an apartment building in Aurora, Colo, charging rent in exchange for “protection.” (Edward Romero, left, and Aurora Police Department)

Stitt said he would encourage Trump to consider giving states the ability to grant workforce visas.

“I’ve been an advocate for workforce visas at the state level,” Stitt said. “Matching employers with employees is something that governors should be able to do, whether it’s in the construction industry, the agricultural industry, engineering, aviation, whatever.”

OKLAHOMA SUPERINTENDENT WHO BRAWLED WITH CNN OVER ICE ENTERING SCHOOLS DOUBLES DOWN: ‘DEPORTED TOGETHER’

ICE officers take Jorge Carvajal Castrejon, 36, into custody in Houston Jan. 28. (ICE)

He joked that the U.S. is “like [a team in] the NFL with the No. 1 draft pick.”

“We should be able to choose the very best and brightest to our country. But we’re just being silly how we do it right now. Let’s close the border. Let’s make sure we have the very best and brightest that come into our country,” Stitt said.

Stitt also touted his state’s Operation Guardian, which he launched earlier this month to empower state and local law enforcement to better work with the Trump administration and ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens.

“I put my commissioner of public safety in charge to say, ‘How many people do we currently have in prison in the state of Oklahoma who are here illegally that have committed crimes? And then how can we work with the Trump administration to get them out of our state, out of our country and off of the taxpayer rolls in Oklahoma? So, I think that’s probably the first step,” Stitt said.

NOEM MAKES AGGRESSIVE NEW MOVE TO RAMP UP ARRESTS, DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

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

However, Stitt said there is a limit to what states should be doing to enforce immigration law. He proceeded to knock a recent effort by the Oklahoma State Department of Public Instruction to check the immigration status of children enrolled in public schools.

ALLEGED FENTANYL-SMUGGLING IMMIGRANTS LEAD POLICE ON DANGEROUS CORNFIELD CHASE

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters speaks during a special state Board of Education meeting April 12, 2023, in Oklahoma City.  (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

“In Oklahoma, I also said, ‘Listen, we’re not going to ask for immigration status for 6, 7, 8-year-old kids in school,” he said.

But Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, also a Republican, responded by saying Stitt’s stance on not checking school children’s immigration status undermines Trump’s agenda.

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“It is unfortunate that Gov. Stitt is thwarting President Trump’s America First agenda,” Walters told Fox News Digital. “We cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand like Democrats and ignore the cost of illegals to taxpayers. President Trump was clear, Oklahoma voters were clear and we will defend the will of the president and Oklahomans.” 

President Donald Trump celebrated his whirlwind first four weeks back in the Oval Office in a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday afternoon, mentioning what he called “flagrant scams” uncovered by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. 

“I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency — you probably haven’t heard of it — which is now waging war on government waste, fraud and abuse. And Elon is doing a great job,” Trump said at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center Saturday in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital. “He’s doing a great job.”

Musk is leading DOGE as investigators scrutinize various federal agencies in an effort to curb government overspending and stamp out fraud. DOGE’s work has become a lightening rod for criticism among Democratic lawmakers and government employees, who have filed a number of lawsuits attempting to end the investigations and audits. 

“Here are some of the flagrant scams that, as an example, they’ve spent money on, and we’ve been able to recapture a large dose of it at least. Five hundred and 20 million dollars for a consultant … [on] environmental, social governance and investments in Africa,” he said. 

CPAC STRAW POLL REVEALS WHO CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE WILL BE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference annual meeting in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 22, 2025.  (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

“Twenty-five million dollars to promote biodiversity conservation and socially responsible behavior in Colombia. This is Colombia, South America, not Columbia University. Of course, that might be worse. … Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants.

“Forty-two million for social and behavior change in Uganda. Ten million for Mozambique medical male circumcisions. Why are we going to Mozambique to do circumcisions?” Trump asked, before continuing to rattle off a handful of other pricey initiatives funded by taxpayers uncovered by DOGE. 

‘SAVED THE COUNTRY’: CPAC ATTENDEES SEE SILVER LINING AFTER ELON MUSK’S DOGE SPEECH

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Images/Alex Brandon)

CPAC is an annual conference of conservative lawmakers, leaders and voters, which kicked off on Wednesday and wraps up Saturday after Trump’s speech. 

KAROLINE LEAVITT OFFERS WORDS OF WISDOM TO YOUNG WOMEN AT CPAC: ‘JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF’

Earlier in the day, Trump sent a message on his Truth Social platform calling on Musk to “get more aggressive” with his DOGE work. 

“Will do, Mr. President!” Musk responded just a few hours ahead of Trump’s CPAC speech. 

Musk later added on X, “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

“We have a very corrupt group of people in this country, and we’re finding them out,” Trump said during his speech. “We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce.”

VP JD VANCE SPEAKS ON ‘FUNDAMENTAL GOAL’ OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AT CPAC ADDRESS

Trump said he and Musk will head to Fort Knox in Kentucky to ensure the United States Bullion Depository still houses a reported $425 billion in government gold. The Trump administration and Republican allies have called for more transparency about the vault.

President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference annual meeting in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 22, 2025.  (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the vault in 1943, which was followed by Treasury Secretary William Simon opening the vault to journalists and lawmakers in 1974 and again during the first Trump administration when Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, inspected the vault.

“We are also going to Fort Knox. I’m going to go with Elon. And would anybody like to join us? Because we want to see if the gold is still there. We want to see,” Trump said. 

Fort Knox in Kentucky  (Getty Images)

“Wouldn’t that be terrible? We open [it] up, and this Fort Knox has got nothing. It’s just solid granite that’s five feet thick. The front door, you need six musclemen to open it up. I don’t even think they have windows. Wouldn’t that be terrible if we opened it up and there was no gold there? So, we’re going to open those doors, we’re going to take a look. And if there’s 27 tons of gold, we’ll be very happy,” he added. 

“I don’t know how the hell we’ll measure it, but that’s OK.”

President Donald Trump attends the Conservative Political Action Conference annual meeting in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 22, 2025.  (Reuters/Nathan Howard)

Trump ended his first full month back in the White House this week, which has included a breakneck pace of executive orders and actions. 

He took a victory lap for his whirlwind first month, touting in his speech the administration’s work to end the “weaponization” of the government under the former Biden administration, his plan to soon impose reciprocal tariffs on foreign trading partners and celebrating the deportation of illegal immigrants from communities across the nation. 

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“We’re liberating communities like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio, that have been occupied by illegal alien criminals from all over the world,” Trump said. 

“We’re rescuing the Americans whose jobs have been stolen, whose wages have been robbed and whose way of life has been absolutely destroyed. And, under the Trump administration, our country will not be turned into a dumping ground.” 

Trump administration Border Czar Tom Homan warned criminal aliens Saturday that they would all be arrested and said he would make good on his promise to immigrant terror groups to “wipe you off the face of the earth.”

Homan, who previously served as the acting director of ICE and currently leads the Trump administration’s border efforts, told a rapt audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that the number of illegal immigrant “gotaways” is down by 95%.  

“We had about 1,800 a day in 2023. You know how many we had yesterday? Forty-eight,” he said. “You’re talking about 2,000 miles of border, and only 48 people escaped. But that’s 48 too many. I’m not going to be happy till that number’s zero.”

ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN

Former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Thomas Homan speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The border czar also announced that in Trump’s first month in the Oval Office, ICE arrested 21,000 illegal aliens.

“I’m happy with the numbers, but I’m not going to be satisfied until every criminal alien gang member, every criminal alien, every Tren de Aragua is eradicated from this country and [we’ve] sent their ass to Gitmo, where they belong,” he said.

Addressing criminal migrant groups like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and El Salvador’s MS-13 – which the Trump administration just designated “foreign terrorist organizations” – Homan said the Trump administration is making good on its promise to stamp them out.

“He’s going to wipe you off the face of the earth,” he said. “You have killed more Americans than every terrorist organization in the world combined. You are now a terrorist organization. So, word out to anybody that assists them, anybody that sells their drugs on a street, anybody assists these cartels in any way, you are helping a terrorist organization.”

TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS LIST OF CARTELS AND GANGS TO BE DESIGNATED TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

Tren de Aragua (TdA) members arrested in Texas (Tren de Aragua (TdA) members arrested in Texas)

“We’re going to save lives, because when 95% less people [are] coming across the border, how many women aren’t being raped? How many Americans aren’t dying from fentanyl overdoses? How many … terrorists aren’t getting in the country? How many women and children aren’t sex-trafficked in this country? When you have a border lockdown, we’re saving lives,” he said.

Addressing criticism from Democrats and the media that ICE has arrested illegal aliens without criminal charges, along with criminal aliens, Homan said, “Yeah, damn right we did. Because you’re in a country illegally, which happens to be a violation of our law.”

“Entering this country illegally is a crime, and we’re not going to forgive it,” he said.

And addressing self-proclaimed “sanctuary” cities and states, where local and state governments refuse to cooperate with ICE, Homan said his now-familiar line: “Game on.”

MAGA LAW GROUP FILES BRIEFS IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

Trump Border Czar Tom Homan; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox. (Reuters/Getty)

“Sanctuary cities are a sanctuary for criminals,” he said. “We’re enforcing the laws enacted by Congress, and we’re not going to apologize for it, not under this administration.”

Homan singled out Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, who recently doubled down on the city’s sanctuary policies and said his officers would not assist ICE with deportation operations.

“You said you doubled down on not helping the law enforcement officers of ICE. I’m coming to Boston, and I’m bringing hell with me,” he said. “I looked at the numbers this morning, I counted, I stopped counting at nine. Nine child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts, but rather than honoring an ICE detainer, you released them back into the street. You’re not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what’s it’s like to be a cop.”

‘RAMPANT’ ABUSE IN BLUE STATE MIGRANT SHELTER SYSTEM, SAYS FORMER DIRECTOR: ‘COLOSSAL MESS’

A U.S. Border Patrol agent stands on a cliff looking for migrants who crossed the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico near the city of Sasabe, Arizona, on Sunday, January 23, 2022.  (Photo by Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Homan also took a few moments to express his gratitude to the men and women of federal law enforcement agencies like ICE and Border Patrol.

“God bless the men and women of ICE. God bless all the DOJ components, we’ve got the U.S. marshals, DEA, FBI, ATF, all these five agencies helping us,” he said.

And to the men and women of Border Patrol, Homan said, “I love each and every one of you wearing that green uniform. You are the finest 1% of this country.”

CPAC is an annual gathering of conservatives from across the country. This year, the conference took place in National Harbor, Maryland, and saw the participation of Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and several other top Trump Cabinet officials and Republican leaders.

The Kennedy Center will usher in the “Golden Age of the Arts” in Washington, D.C., as its new leadership under President Donald Trump plans to roll out productions that will “sell tickets” and appeal to the public, interim Executive Director Richard Grenell told Fox News Digital. 

“This will be the Golden Age of the Arts,” Grenell told Fox News Digital in an exclusive comment on the matter. “The Kennedy Center has zero cash on hand and zero dollars in reserves – while taking tens of millions of dollars in public funds. We must have programs that sell tickets. We can’t afford to pay for content that doesn’t at least pay for itself right now. I wish we didn’t have to consider the costs of production, but we do.” 

“The good news is that there are plenty of shows that are very popular, and therefore the ticket sales will pay for themselves,” Grenell added. 

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts serves as the national cultural center of the U.S. and is now led by President Donald Trump as its chairman, Grenell and its board of trustees. 

TRUMP ENVOY RICHARD GRENELL SECURES FREEDOM FOR 6 AMERICANS FOLLOWING MEETING WITH MADURO IN VENEZUELA

Ric Grenell, special presidential envoy for special missions of the United States, arrives at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on Friday. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The center came under scrutiny this week as the media and liberal critics spotlighted that a performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus and National Symphony Orchestra slated for May as part of Washington, D.C.’s gay pride celebrations was canceled, with critics attempting to tie the cancelation to the Trump administration. The chorus and orchestra were scheduled to perform a show titled “A Peacock Among Pigeons,” which is based on an LGBT-themed children’s book. 

TRUMP FIRES KENNEDY CENTER BOARD MEMBERS CITING DRAG SHOWS, APPOINTS HIMSELF CHAIRMAN

The performance, however, was put on the chopping block weeks before the center’s leadership change and was canceled due to lack of ticket sales, Fox News Digital learned. The center’s new leadership has not canceled any shows since taking the reins of the cultural center, a source familiar with the Kennedy Center’s operations told Fox Digital. 

Reflected in the Potomac River, the exterior of the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts building is lit up in multiple colors in Washington, D.C.

“Artists who have pulled down their shows are only punishing themselves and the patrons. It shows the artists have an intolerance to engage with those of differing opinions. Republicans are patrons, too, they should remember that,” the source said of recent left-leaning performers and celebrities who have pulled out of shows. 

Grenell, who also serves as special presidential envoy for special missions under the second Trump administration, joined the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, where he pushed back that the production had been canceled over Trump. 

“Suddenly it was, the Gay Men’s Chorus was dropping out because of Trump. That wasn’t true,” Grenell added. “It was replaced with with some other things, that happens all the time.”

A production of “The Wizard of Oz” replaced the planned performance of “A Peacock Among Pigeons,” the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra said earlier this week, underscoring that the planned performance had been canceled before the leadership change and was due to financial issues. 

President Donald Trump serves as the Kennedy Center’s board chair.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Before the leadership transition at the Kennedy Center, we made the decision to postpone Peacock Among Pigeons due to financial and scheduling factors. We chose to replace it with ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ another suitable program for World PRIDE participation,” the orchestra’s Executive Director, Jean Davidson, said in a statement earlier this week. 

ACTRESS ISSA RAE CANCELS SOLD-OUT KENNEDY CENTER SHOW AFTER TRUMP NAMED CHAIRMAN OF VENUE

“Program changes are a common practice. We were unable to announce the replacement program until we had secured the rights to present it, but in the interest of transparency, we removed the original program from the website to prevent further ticket sales. The Gay Men’s Chorus was to be contracted as a guest artist for Peacock Among Pigeons,” Davidson added. 

Grenell previewed during his remarks at CPAC that the Kennedy Center will now focus on performances “the public want to see,” such as Christmas-focused productions in December. 

“We have to do the big productions that the masses and the public want to see, we want to have really good programming,” he said. “So the first thing that we’re doing … you’ve got to be at the Kennedy Center in December, because we are doing a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas. How crazy is it to think that we’re going to celebrate Christ at Christmas with a big traditional production to celebrate what we are all celebrating in the world during Christmastime, which is the birth of Christ.”

Pedestrians walk up a sidewalk to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

Trump fired a handful of the center’s previous board members earlier this month, arguing that they did “not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” He replaced the former members with 14 other members, including allies such as second lady Usha Vance and “God Bless the USA” singer lee Greenwood. 

“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Feb. 7. 

Trump indicated that the motivation behind firing the former board members was due to the Kennedy Center’s drag show performances under the Biden administration that targeted children.

“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP. The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump said on Truth Social earlier this month. 

TOP TRUMP OFFICIAL RALLIES BEHIND PRESIDENT AMID BACKLASH FOR ‘DICTATOR’ ATTACK ON ZELENSKYY

Ric Grenell, former acting Director of National Intelligence, during the closing campaign event with former President Donald Trump, at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” he added. 

The new board elected Trump as chairman on Feb. 12. Trump appointed Grenell – who became the U.S.’s first openly gay cabinet member under the first Trump administration when he served as acting director of national intelligence – as interim executive director amid the board shakeup. 

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“I think the frustration that President Trump had is that the Kennedy Center has no cash on hand, no reserves, and they have been paying for the salaries with the debt reserves, while taking around $40 million of public money,” Grenell said at CPAC on Friday. 

President Donald Trump unleashed an earthquake on the U.S. immigration system during his first full month in office, quickly overturning Biden-era policies and overhauling how authorities conduct enforcement in the interior and at the border.

An order late Wednesday, which was implemented a day ahead of the administration’s one-month mark, directed all federal agencies to identify all federally funded programs currently providing any financial benefits to illegal immigrants and “take corrective action.” The order is intended to ensure that any federal funds to states and localities “will not be used to support sanctuary policies or assist illegal immigration.”

But it was just the latest in what has been a battery of overhauls to the U.S. immigration system.

TRUMP FREEZES APPLICATIONS FOR BIDEN-ERA MIGRANT PROGRAMS AMID FRAUD, NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. (Pool via AP)

Day One

Trump, who ran his campaign centered on border security and cracking down on illegal immigration, got to work on day one of his administration — signing executive orders that declared a national emergency at the border and deployed the U.S. military. He also signed orders ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, suspending refugee admissions and also ending the use of the CBP One app at the southern border to admit migrants via humanitarian parole.

Other orders included moves to restart border wall construction, which had ended under the Biden administration.

It wouldn’t take long before the moves were followed up by additional decisions from Cabinet agencies. The Pentagon quickly deployed troops to the southern border and also opened up Guantánamo Bay to flights of migrants.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also issued orders that ended limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) imposed by the Biden administration on “sensitive” places, and also took limits on the use of expedited removal, allowing the rapid-fire removal process to be used more broadly after being limited by the prior administration. Another order allowed ICE to review the parole status of migrants brought in under parole, opening them up to deportation.

DHS has also gone after federal funding to migrant causes. Most recently, four Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees were fired and tens of millions of dollars taken back from New York City designated for hotels where migrants are being housed.

“Secretary [Kristi] Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

Raids

Meanwhile, the administration quickly moved to ramp up interior arrests and deportations. A number of high-profile raids were quickly launched across the U.S., particularly in “sanctuary” cities that do not cooperate with ICE agents. Daily arrests quickly moved above 1,000 a day, and officials pointed to a number of criminals and gang members that were picked up in the process.

According to DHS data, obtained by Fox News Digital, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That’s a 137% increase.

Arrests of aliens with criminal histories have soared by nearly 100% from 4,526 in the same period in 2024 to 8,993 under Trump this year. Arrests of fugitive aliens at-large, meanwhile, have gone up from 2,164 to 5,538, a 156% increase. Arrests of criminal aliens in local jails have risen 59%.

DHS SAYS IT ‘CAN, SHOULD AND WILL’ ADMINISTER POLYGRAPH EXAMS AMID ICE RAID LOCATION LEAKS

ICE and DEA conduct migrant raids in New York City. (Drug Enforcement Administration New York)

Biden-era efforts quashed

The new Trump era has seen the rapid unwinding of a number of Biden-era programs. Fox News Digital confirmed on Wednesday that DHS has now paused pending applications for three Biden-era programs: Uniting for Ukraine; parole processes for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV); and family reunification programs.

Trump had already ordered an end to the use of some Biden-era parole programs on day one, including CHNV. He had also ordered the end to the practice of paroling migrants at ports of entry who had made appointments on the CBP One app. 

At the time, the Biden administration touted the expansion of “lawful pathways,” claiming they were part of an effort to reduce illegal crossings, but Republicans accused the administration of abusing limited parole power and allowing in migrants who should not legally have entered. 

The Trump administration has also suspended refugee resettlement, which had expanded under the Biden administration. It has also frozen funding to foreign nations, which was a cornerstone of the “root causes” strategy championed by the prior administration.

International diplomacy

Migration strategies often require foreign cooperation, and the Trump administration used diplomacy and tariff threats to secure additional cooperation with neighbors and other countries in the region. 

Both Canada and Mexico agreed to ramp up their border security efforts after Trump floated new tariffs on incoming goods from their countries. Meanwhile, both Venezuela and Colombia agreed to take back their immigrants being deported, with Colombia’s president backing down after a public clash with President Trump. 

Guatemala, separately, agreed to accept deportees from other countries as part of a deal hashed out with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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Having an effect?

So far, there are indications that border numbers continue to trend lower with the new administration. 

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended just 29,116 illegal immigrants along the southern border during the month of January, down from 47,000 in December and hitting a low mark not seen since May 2020, when 32,349 arrests were made at ports of entry, according to a White House press release.

Meanwhile, border czar Tom Homan said this week that Border Patrol “has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border” in a single day and rallied around President Trump, saying, “He is delivering.”

“That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden,” he said. “I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984, and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low.”

Fox News’ Michael Lee and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, is facing backlash for introducing a budget recommendation that changes the word “mother” to “inseminated person,” and “paternity” to “parentage” in certain parts of state law.

The Evers administration’s budget recommendation for the 2025-2027 fiscal period advises several other gendered terms be changed, as well. References to “wife” or “husband” are changed to “spouse” in the proposal. In other places, the word “father” is changed to “parent,” and “mother” is swapped out for the phrase “parent who gave birth to the child.”

The budget was introduced by the state Senate’s Joint Committe on Finance on Tuesday.

JUDGE BLOCKS PARTS OF TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS TARGETING DEI, CITING FREE SPEECH 

Wisconsin radio host Dan O’Donnell noted the language change in a post on X, calling it “beyond parody.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, commented on the post, writing simply “red flag!”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers during a campaign event with then-President Joe Biden, not pictured, in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Mustafa Hussain/Bloomberg)

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) issued a statement in response to the language changes.

Evers’ “latest left-wing push” is “offensive to mothers,” RGA executive director Sara Craig said in a statement. “Being a mother is the greatest privilege I will have in my lifetime, and every mother I know feels the same. If Tony Evers can reduce motherhood to an ‘inseminated person’ then our society is lost.”

When introducing the budget proposal, Evers said his plan would eliminate income tax on tips, prevent homeowners from seeing property tax increases and improve the state’s infrastructure, among other things. However, he made no mention of the language in the bill.

Progress Pride Flags and Trans Pride Flags (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

WISCONSIN BANS TRANS ATHLETES FROM GIRLS’ SPORTS, FOLLOWING TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER 

The cultural battle over gendered language has raged for the last few years with debates over the use of terms like “chestfeeding” instead of “breastfeeding” or “birthing person” instead of “mother.”

On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump attacked the issue head-on with an executive order called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

In the order, President Trump makes it official government policy “to recognize two sexes, male and female,” saying they are “not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” The order also explicitly states that “’sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender ideology.’” 

President Donald Trump holds a document on the day he issues executive orders and pardons for Jan. 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House, Jan. 20, 2025. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

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Earlier this month, Trump issued another order on gender ideology called “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.” The order is designed to prevent transgender athletes from competing against women. 

On Friday, during an event at the White House, the president had a heated exchange with Gov. Janet Mills, D-Me., in which he threatened to pull federal funding if the state does not comply with his order. The exchange ended with both saying they would see the other in court over the issue.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Evers’ office for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss is ready to bring the “conservative revolution” home from the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, telling Fox News Digital her plan to “Make the West Great Again.”

World leaders took center stage at CPAC this week, telling the crowd of American conservatives they’re ready to see President Donald Trump’s agenda on the world stage. Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, said world leaders are envious of Trump’s second term and his Department of Government Efficiency. 

“There’s a lot of momentum, and people are very envious of what’s happening in the U.S. We’d love to be able to get the truth from government departments about what’s actually being spent,” Truss told Fox News Digital. 

Truss praised Elon Musk’s DOGE as a “playbook for what needs to happen” in the United Kingdom, but she said that a DOGE UK would be unrealistic under Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership. 

‘MR. BREXIT’ ADVOCATES FOR UK DOGE OVER ‘COMPLETE WASTE’ OF TAXPAYER MONEY

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Liz Truss speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Maryland.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“What Musk is doing, going straight to the payment system, is a fantastic idea that we need to adopt in Britain, but the reality is that is not going to happen under the current government, because the current government are part of the problem. They are defenders of the deep state. They’re not going to be investigating themselves. I think this is something that has to happen when there’s a change of government. We are watching very closely what Elon Musk is doing. It’s a fantastic playbook for what needs to happen in the U.K.”

DOGE’s revelations about America’s federal funding and the mass layoffs of government employees have shaken up Washington this past month. Truss said that Musk is even holding the British government accountable. 

CHAINSAW-WIELDING ELON MUSK MAKES ‘DARK MAGA’ APPEARANCE WITH JAVIER MILEI AT CPAC

Liz Truss said during a Fox News Digital interview that she often says that “Elon Musk is the leader of the opposition in Britain, because he’s the one actually on X, challenging Keir Starmer’s policies.” (Musk: Reuters / Money: iStock / Trump: Getty)

“Sometimes I say that Elon Musk is the leader of the opposition in Britain, because he’s the one actually on X, challenging Keir Starmer’s policies, talking about issues like the grooming gangs, the appalling gangs who have been raping girls as young as 12. It’s Elon Musk that’s been taking the fight to Keir Starmer,” she said. 

Musk and Trump’s ability to seize the social media narrative and America’s growing independent media space inspired Truss to establish a “new free speech media network” in the United Kingdom. 

“We have a massive problem with free speech in Britain,” Truss said. “People are being locked up for posts on Facebook and on X, which is extraordinary. We’re the country that invented freedom of the press back in 1695. It was almost 100 years before the First Amendment. And now we are, as a country, locking people up for saying things online.” 

“This needs to change. So, what I’m establishing is a new free speech media network, which will enable people in Britain to hear what is actually going on, and people across Europe to hear what’s going on.” she continued. “I think that’s really important. If you look at the Trump revolution, independent media was a major part of that.”

Trump leaned on new media during his 2024 presidential campaign, posting TikTok videos from the campaign trail, spending nearly three hours with the widely popular podcaster Joe Rogan and using Truth Social as a direct line to his core base. 

Truss said that Trump is leading a “conservative revolution” and attended CPAC this year to learn how she can model his American success back in the United Kingdom. 

“What we’re seeing happening in America is a revolution. It’s a conservative revolution. All of the problems we have in our societies in the West, the leftist ideology that’s taken over, whether it’s wokeism or extreme environmentalism or anti-capitalism, all of those are being taken on by President Trump. And I want to see a similar revolution in Britain, which is why I’m here to learn about how they’re doing it, to talk about how we build that kind of movement in Britain,” Truss said. 

Liz Truss, former UK prime minister, during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025.  (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The former prime minister said she agrees with Trump on “everything from deporting illegal migrants; to cutting taxes; to drill, baby, drill; to being clear that men can’t be in women’s bathrooms.” She said Britain needs to implement these policies and fire the “permanent bureaucrats who are part of the problem.”

“The big difference with Britain is our bureaucracy is more powerful than the American bureaucracy. Most people working in government are career bureaucrats, and that’s what I think we need to learn from America. We need to change,” Truss added. 

Truss said she has had productive conversations with European and world leaders this week, strategizing about how to broaden their conservative coalition and create policies to bring energy prices down and boost the economy. Truss even said she had plans for a British CPAC. 

Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss addresses the media in Downing Street in London, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Truss resigned as British prime minister after 49 days in office in 2022 after her large tax cut plan destabilized the economy. She was one of three prime ministers in the United Kingdom within a four-month period in 2022. 

“I recognize that, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said in her resignation.

The United Kingdom’s current prime minister and leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, ended 14 consecutive years of Conservative party rule when he was elected in 2024. 

There is a UK DOGE movement gaining traction on social media for revealing wasteful British spending. The Procurement Files is an X account that combs through more than 300,000 contracts on the United Kingdom’s public government database to reveal mismanagement of British taxpayer money, much like the official US DOGE account does.

FEBRUARY 6: Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives an interview during a visit to Springfields (Preston Lab), National Nuclear Laboratory facility on February 6, 2025, in Preston, England.  (Photo by Oli Scarff – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK party leader who initiated Britain’s departure from the European Union, has explicitly called for a UK DOGE. Despite the discontent from conservative leaders on British government efficiency, the prime minister’s office said that it has created initiatives to cut government waste.

“The Chancellor has asked all departments to deliver savings and efficiencies of 5% of their current budget as part of the first zero-based Spending Review in seventeen years,” an HM Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

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“Every pound of government spending is being interrogated, to root out waste and get the best value for taxpayers as we deliver on their priorities set out in the Plan for Change. We have also created an Office for Value for Money that is underpinning our work driving out waste and inefficiency, alongside cutting out hundreds of millions of pounds worth of consultancy spending in government over the next few years,” the spokesperson added. 

Sacked United States Agency for International Development (USAID) staffers left their Washington, D.C., offices for the last time on Friday, with some carrying boxes scrawled with messages that seemed to be directed at President Donald Trump, who is slashing the agency’s workforce.

Thousands of staffers were notified weeks ago of their pending dismissals, while a federal judge on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to follow through with the mass layoffs as it aims to eliminate waste throughout the federal bureaucracy.

“We are abandoning the world,” read one message on a box being hauled out by a grinning staffer as she walked out of USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs office.

‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’: DOGE’S TOP FIVE MOST SHOCKING REVELATIONS

Another smiling staffer’s box had a more upbeat tone, with her message reading: “You can take the humanitarians out of USAID but you can’t take the humanity out of the humanitarians.”

Recently fired U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff carry boxes with a message as they leave work and are applauded by former USAID staffers and supporters during a sendoff outside USAID offices in Washington, D.C., on February 21, 2025.  (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

The staffers were greeted outside the offices by a small group of well-wishing supporters and former USAID workers who carried signs reading, “We love USAID” and “Thank you for your service, USAID.”

Other workers were seen leaving the offices in tears.

The Trump administration plans to gut the agency and intends to leave fewer than 300 staffers on the job out of the current 8,000 direct hires and contractors. 

They, along with an unknown number of 5,000 locally hired international staffers abroad, would run the few life-saving programs that the administration says it intends to keep going for the time being.

Recently fired USAID staffers leave the USAID offices in Washington, D.C., on February 21, 2025.  (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

USAID has come in for particular criticism under the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for alleged wasteful spending. 

For instance, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman, recently published a list of projects and programs she says USAID has helped fund over the years, including $20 million to produce a Sesame Street show in Iraq. 

Several more examples of questionable spending have been uncovered at USAID, including more than $900,000 to a “Gaza-based terror charity” called Bayader Association for Environment and Development and a $1.5 million program slated to “advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO CONFIRMS BECOMING ACTING USAID CHIEF

Trump has moved to gut the agency after imposing a 90-day pause on foreign aid. He also has appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the acting director of USAID.

Government employee unions had sued to stop the mass layoffs, but U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Friday lifted a temporary restraining order he had issued at the outset of the case and declined to issue a longer-term order keeping the employees in their posts.

Tearful staffers leave USAID building in Washington, D.C. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

Nichols, who was appointed by President Trump during his first term, also wrote that because the affected employees had not gone through an administrative dispute process, he likely did not have jurisdiction to hear the unions’ case or consider their broader arguments that the administration is violating the U.S. Constitution by shutting down an agency created and funded by Congress.

The judge said the issue was jurisdictional, that federal district courts should not be involved at this stage, and that the matter should be handled administratively under federal employment laws.

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“In sum, because the Court likely lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims, they have not established a likelihood of success on the merits,” the judge‘s ruling stated, in part.

“The court concludes that plaintiffs have not demonstrated that they or their members will suffer irreparable injury absent an injunction; that their claims are likely to succeed on the merits; or that the balance of the hardships or the public interest strongly favors an injunction.”

Retired United States Agency for International Development worker Julie Hanson Swanson, left, joins supporters of USAID workers outside the USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian affairs office in Washington, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The unions can now go to the Washington, D.C., federal appeals court for emergency relief to have the TRO put back into place, or possibly a preliminary injunction.

Fox News’ Bill Mears, Andrew Mark Miller, Aubrie Spady, Deirdre Heavey, Morgan Phillips and Emma Colton as well as Reuters contributed to this report.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) spent another week slashing hundreds of millions in spending by the federal government, while dodging various legal attempts to block its cost-cutting efforts.

Here are some of DOGE’s big wins this week:

1. Judge shoots down request to stop federal worker firings 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, shot down a request from several federal labor unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), to pause the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration.

NTEU and four other labor unions representing federal employees filed a complaint Feb. 12 challenging the firing of probationary employees and the deferred resignation program, which gives workers the option to agree to work from an office or resign. 

EXPERT REVEALS MASSIVE LEVELS OF WASTE DOGE CAN SLASH FROM ENTITLEMENTS, PET PROJECTS: ‘A LOT OF FAT’

Elon Musk’s DOGE claimed victory in several battles this week. (Getty)

Cooper denied the request to stop the firings, saying the court lacked jurisdiction over the unions’ claims.

Instead, Cooper ruled the unions must pursue their challenges through the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, which provides for administrative review by the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

2. Judge says DOGE can keep digging

DOGE was handed another victory by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who denied a request to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Musk and DOGE from accessing data systems at the Department of Education, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce. 

The agencies were asking Chutkan to forbid both Musk and DOGE from terminating, furloughing or putting on leave any of their employees. 

Chutkin ruled that DOGE can continue to operate as it is now.

The judge also issued a court briefing schedule for plaintiffs and defendants to file motions for discovery, preliminary injunctions and dismissals, which stretches through April 22.

The White House on Wednesday outlined where the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency dividend checks could go after President Donald Trump floated the idea of giving 20% of savings back to Americans.   (Musk: Reuters / Money: iStock / Trump: Getty)

3. Judge allows DOGE access to data on 3 federal agencies

DOGE scored a win in court after a federal judge declined a request to temporarily block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing sensitive data from at least three federal agencies.

Unions and nonprofits attempted to stop Musk’s DOGE from accessing records at the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The efforts were blocked by District Judge John Bates, who wrote in an opinion that the government was likely correct in categorizing DOGE as an agency, thereby allowing it to detail its staff to other government departments. 

Musk praised the decision on X with the caption: “LFG,” an abbreviation for “Let’s [expletive] go.” 

DEFENSE SECRETARY HEGSETH WORKING WITH DOGE TO CUT THE ‘BS’

4. DOGE finds a nearly untraceable budget line item responsible for $4.7T in payments

Earlier this week, DOGE announced it had discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments, that was oftentimes left blank.

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office at the White House Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington.  (Alex Brandon)

“The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process),” DOGE wrote in a post on X. 

“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.”

The agency thanked the U.S. Treasury for its work in identifying the optional field.

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and are also referred to as the “account.”

5. Caesars Palace, MLB stadium, an ice cream truck: DOGE reveals how schools spent billions in COVID relief funds

Schools spent hundreds of billions of COVID relief funds on expenses that had “little” impact on students, such as Las Vegas hotel rooms and the purchase of an ice cream truck, according to the Trump administration’s cost-cutting department.

DOGE reveals how COVID relief funds have been spent by schools. (Getty Images)

DOGE revealed Thursday that schools have spent nearly $200 billion in COVID relief funds “with little oversight or impact on students.”

WHITE HOUSE OUTLINES WHERE DOGE SAVINGS COULD GO AFTER TRUMP FLOATS RETURNING 20% TO AMERICANS

Granite Public Schools in Utah spent COVID relief funds on $86,000 in hotel rooms at Caesars Palace, a ritzy Las Vegas Casino, while Santa Ana Unified spent $393,000 to rent a Major League Baseball stadium, according to a report by Parents Defending Education and shared by DOGE.

The cost-cutting department also revealed that schools spent $60,000 in COVID relief funds on swimming pool passes, while a California district used its funds to purchase an ice cream truck.

6. Hegseth working with DOGE to cut the ‘BS’

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is working with DOGE to make cuts within his department, saying he believes it will find waste “not core to our mission.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers a press statement after a meeting at the Ministry of Defense. (Omar Marques)

“They’re here, and we’re welcoming them,” Hegseth said in a recent video released Thursday. “They’re going to have broad access, obviously, with all the safeguards on classification.

“They care just like we do, to find the redundancies and identify the last vestiges of Biden priorities — the DEI, the woke, the climate change B.S., that’s not core to our mission, and we’re going to get rid of it all.”

Hegseth, who said many DOGE workers are veterans, met with Musk’s team and said they have already started their review of the Department of Defense.

7. DOGE uncovers over 4M government credit cards responsible for 90M transactions

DOGE revealed on Tuesday that the U.S. government has more than 4 million active credit cards on its books.

“The US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for ~$40B of spend[ing] in FY24,” DOGE said in a post on X.

President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to attend a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas (Brandon Bell)

The cost-cutting department broke down multiple federal agencies and their credit card use, with the DOD leading the way in both the number of transactions, about 27.2 million, and the number of individual accounts, roughly 2.4 million.

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Musk delivered a speech to conservatives Thursday in which he touted the accomplishments of DOGE and, at one point, stood on the stage holding a golden chainsaw given to him by Argentina’s President Javier Milei, symbolizing the cuts being made to government spending, to the delight of the crowd of conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. 

“We’re fighting Matrix big time here,” Musk said. “It has got to be done.”

Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg, Emma Woodhead, Michael Lee, Greg Wehner, and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Democrats proved on Thursday during a press conference about protecting Medicaid that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has become an inevitable policy discussion under President Donald Trump’s second term.  

Ahead of the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C., this week, Democratic and Republican governors huddled within their respective parties to strategize and discuss policy. Democratic governors held a press conference on Tuesday, sounding the alarm on Trump’s threat to Medicaid and signaling a Democratic messaging priority. 

“This is a life-and-death situation for so many of our citizens in all of our states. I’m more worried about DOGE,” Gov. Ned Lamont, D-Conn., said. “I find the Department of Government Efficiency is leaking its way into HHS and everyplace else.”

DOGE headlines dominated Trump’s first month back in the White House as Democrats protested weekly and called his executive orders a “constitutional crisis.” When asked by Fox News Digital whether there’s a consensus among Democratic governors that its a “constitutional crisis,” Lamont said, “It’s a budgetary crisis.”

WHITE HOUSE OUTLINES WHERE DOGE SAVINGS COULD GO AFTER TRUMP FLOATS RETURNING 20% TO AMERICANS

President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk pose for a photo during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024, in New York City. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Lamont said it’s impossible to plan for unpredictable and last-minute budget cuts, adding that cutting Medicaid would cost $2 billion. 

“It’s not DOGE. It ought to be called dodge, a way to just push the costs on to our people,” Lamont said. 

The Connecticut governor said he supports rooting out fraud in the federal government, but he said that if DOGE expects states to pick up the costs on things like Medicare or Medicaid, then it would put people at risk. 

DOGE UNCOVERS OVER 4M GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARDS RESPONSIBLE FOR 90M TRANSACTIONS

“DOGE is pretty cruel. Let’s be blunt about that,” Gov. Josh Green, D-Hawaii, added. “These are people in our states that have worked long careers, very dedicated servants, and they’re getting kicked out of their lives.”

Green said he launched an initiative in Hawaii yesterday to hire employees who have been fired by the federal government. 

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green speaks at the 2024 summer meeting of the National Governors Association, Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

“We’re hoping to bring good people into the fold and help them heal through this process, and we will hire them. But at the end of the day, if there are deep cuts in budgets, we will all suffer and struggle to do that. There’s a lot of great human capital out there, and this is just not the right way to go about things,” Green said. 

Fox News Digital asked the governors whether they had agreed on a messaging strategy to combat DOGE. 

“It’s just not American. Honestly, I don’t know how they came up with the plan to slash trillions of dollars in order to pay for tax breaks. Most Americans are going to be really upset when they lose fundamental services. My message is, we can be caring about our country and not just play to bombastic news moments,” Graham said. 

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) talks with actor Esai Morales as CEO of Grandave Capital Ruben Islas launches a social justice in film initiative at the New Mexico State Capitol on January 30, 2024, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Sam Wasson/Getty Images)

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said that governors work to make government more efficient every day.

“I think another unified message is we all want efficient, effective government,” Grisham said. “I predict it will spend more on itself than it actually saves or finds cost savings or fraud. You know who finds fraud in health care and any number of other things? Governors do! And then we work with the federal government to make sure that we stamp that out across the country. If they were really interested in that, they would be working with us.”

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The Democratic governors urged more Republicans to stand up against Trump’s agenda. In the meantime, Grisham said that Democratic governors will continue to hold them accountable. 

“They’re not telling us the truth. They’re using this effort to line the pockets of one or a few Americans and companies, and they have not found any significant waste or fraud. They have to keep correcting, or at least we’re going to hold them accountable, and correcting those numbers. You want help making government meaningful and effective and efficient? You’re looking at a team that delivers on that every single day,” Grisham said. 

New York City filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday seeking to wrestle back more than $80 million previously sent to the city via the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house migrants.  

The suit argues that the funds were previously approved and then paid out by FEMA, only to be removed from a city bank account on Feb. 11 without notice or administrative process.

The funding had been revoked after Elon Musk claimed that the Department of Government Efficiency found a $59 million FEMA payment to New York City that was being used on luxury hotels to house illegal migrants. Trump later repeated Musk’s claim and argued that “massive fraud” was happening.

New York City was awarded two separate grants during the Biden administration – one for $58.6 million and another for $21.9 million – as the city attempted to pay to house migrants, many of whom were sent by Texas officials who were frustrated with the Biden administration’s handling of the influx of migrants entering the U.S. through the southern border.

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS A DEMOCRAT

New York City filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday seeking to wrestle back more than $80 million previously sent to the city via FEMA to house migrants. Mayor Eric Adams left, President Donald Trump, right, and migrants outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, left | Stephen Maturen/Getty Images, right | Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images, inset)

The payments were made under the Shelter and Services Program (SPP) that Congress appropriated $650 million for last year to help local governments respond to the migrant crisis. There are currently fewer than 45,000 migrants staying at taxpayer-funded shelters in New York City, up from a high of 69,000 more than a year ago.

Friday’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the city’s law department, which handles the city’s legal affairs, against President Donald Trump, the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The lawsuit accuses the federal government of violating federal regulations and the terms of the SSP grant, as well as abusing the federal government’s authority and obligations to implement congressionally approved and funded programs. ­

Elon Musk, advisor to President Donald Trump, is leading the government efficiency push. (AP Images)

The suit argues that on Feb. 19, the federal government belatedly provided the city with a “noncompliance” letter that did not identify any noncompliance by the city. 

“Rather, it announced ‘concerns,’ which are unfounded and do not comport with how the city has managed the unprecedented crisis brought to its doorstep,” the law department said.

Citing the government’s actions as a “money grab,” the law department said the letter was a “mere cover” to mask the federal government’s real purpose, which is to permanently withhold the funds because it opposes their use on migrants.

The city is looking to recoup the funds and is seeking a motion for a preliminary and permanent injunction, and motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO).

New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended and supported the lawsuit in a series of posts on X late Friday, writing that the $80 million was approved, paid for and then rescinded – all while the city spent more than $7 billion of its own taxpayer money to tackle the crisis over the last three years.

Mayor Eric Adams said the city has housed more than 231,000 migrants during the crisis. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images, left, Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images, right.)

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MOVES TO DROP CASE AGAINST NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS

“We are going to work to ensure our city’s residents get every dollar they are owed,” Adams wrote in on post. 

“Without a doubt, our immigration system is broken, but the cost of managing an international humanitarian crisis should not overwhelmingly fall onto one city alone. We have skillfully shouldered the cost of this humanitarian crisis almost entirely on our own, with more than 231,000 people entering our city seeking shelter.”

Meanwhile, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander claimed the suit came about after he forced Adams’ hand on the matter. Adams has come under fire from New York Democrats over his decision to be more cooperative with federal immigration agencies in apprehending criminal illegal migrants amid the Justice Department efforts to dismiss corruption charges against him.

“After my office discovered that Elon Musk and his DOGE goon squad stole $80 million out of the City’s coffers, we successfully pressured Mayor Adams to allow the City’s lawyers to sue the federal government to get our money back,” Lander said in a statement. 

“The lawyers who are standing up to President Trump and Eric Adams’ collusion deserve praise and we look forward to Donald Trump returning the money he stole from New York.”

Lander is running against Adams in the mayoral election later this year.

READ THE LAWSUIT BELOW: APP USERS CLICK HERE.

Fox News’ Landon Mion, Maria Paronich and Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report. 

New exclusive video obtained by Fox News reveals intense moments from a high-speed vehicle chase as law enforcement pursued two illegal immigrants suspected of carrying fentanyl through a cornfield in Grundy County, Illinois, late last year. 

A Grundy County official told Fox News that Illinois sanctuary state policies allowed the two Honduran illegal immigrants to travel through the county unchecked. 

Grundy is a primarily rural county northwest of Chicago. 

The footage, taken Oct. 24, shows the two immigrants, Roybin Barahona, 18, and Cristhian Anahel Erazo Velasquez, 23, swerving in a vehicle through the cornfield, and authorities rammed a vehicle into their car to get them to stop. After their car was rammed, the two men fled their sedan, and officers continued their pursuit. 

ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN

Two immigrants, Roybin Barahona, 18, and Cristhian Anahel Erazo Velasquez, 23, traveled through an Illinois cornfield, and authorities rammed their vehicle to get them to stop. (Adobe Stock/ Fox News)

Footage taken later shows law enforcement discovering a deadly payload of seven pounds of fentanyl in the immigrants’ burned-out vehicle. Both were charged with controlled substance trafficking, possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and resisting arrest, according to local outlet WSPY News. 

Due to the Illinois SAFE-T Act, which abolished Illinois’ cash bail system in 2023, Barahona was released without bail, after which he allegedly fled to California. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Velasquez, meanwhile, remains in custody, and the Department of Homeland Security has filed a detainer against him. Despite the detainer, Illinois sanctuary laws continue to prevent local law enforcement from sharing information with federal immigration officials about Velasquez. 

Speaking with Fox News, Grundy County Board Chairman Drew Muffler voiced his frustration with the Illinois sanctuary law. He said that “because we are a sanctuary state, it allowed for illegal bad actors to be traveling with seven pounds of fentanyl through our county.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: FOUNDING FATHERS ‘SPINNING IN THEIR GRAVES’ BECAUSE OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ABUSE

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, right, is criticizing the ICE operations that began Sunday in his city. (Getty Images)

“I don’t agree with putting handcuffs on law enforcement and preventing them from working effectively with federal authorities,” he said. “By restricting law enforcement’s ability to enforce the law, we are undermining public safety.” 

Grundy County was the first of several dozen counties in Illinois that defied the state by enacting a non-sanctuary ordinance. This comes after an influx of over 51,000 immigrants were bussed to Chicago since the summer of 2022.

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During the migrant crisis, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has doubled down on the city’s sanctuary policies, saying in a recent ABC 7 Chicago interview, “We will always remain a welcoming and sanctuary space.”

Johnson vowed to resist the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and called the decision to allow ICE to carry out enforcement and removal operations on church and school properties “unconscionable and reprehensible.” 

Call it Sen. Tim Scott’s 55-seat strategy.

Scott, the conservative senator from South Carolina, told Fox News Digital soon after taking over late last year as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) he aimed to expand the GOP’s current 53-47 majority in the Senate.

And Scott, in a Fox News Digital interview this week on Capitol Hill, is standing by his goal.

“One hundred percent. It’s my stretch goal,” the senator reiterated. “The bottom line is, I believe that we can defend our current seats while adding at least two more seats to our numbers.”

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

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., waves as he sits with former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, during a Fox News town hall at the Greenville Convention Center Feb. 20, 2024, in Greenville, S.C. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Scott, who last month became the longest-serving Black senator in the nation’s history, launched a campaign two years ago for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out and endorsing Donald Trump.

The senator, who was a top Trump surrogate on the campaign trail last year, emphasized that “the good news is, with President Donald Trump leading this country, the field is wide open, which means that we have more places to play, and the game is on.”

Scott added the NRSC needs “to focus on the mechanics of making sure that the Donald J. Trump brand is reflected in our candidates.”

Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back control of the chamber.

But 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.

FIRST ON FOX: SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHTS ‘TEAM EFFORT’

Republicans will be targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters recently announced he won’t seek re-election next year, as well as Georgia, another key battleground state, where first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is considered vulnerable.

And in swing state New Hampshire, longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has yet to say whether she’ll seek another term in the Senate when she’s up for re-election next year.

Days before Scott was interviewed by Fox News Digital, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith in blue-leaning Minnesota announced she wouldn’t run again in 2026.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota recently announced she won’t seek re-election in the 2026 midterms. (Getty Images)

“Minnesota is an open seat. That’s a four-point state,” Scott said as he pointed to Trump’s better-than-expected performance in the state in November’s presidential election.

“We can actually make gains there and bring home another red seat in Minnesota for the first time in a long time,” Scott predicted.

Asked about GOP recruitment efforts in Minnesota, Scott responded, “I’m pleasantly surprised. We’ve already talked to two very highly qualified candidates and more to come.”

Pointing to the current political landscape across the country, Scott touted that “we have a map that is wide open. All we need is time. Time is on our side right now. So, we’re excited about what’s going to happen over the next several weeks.”

But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where 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. 

Scott acknowledges that the GOP will have to spend big bucks to defend those two seats, as well as in Ohio, where Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was appointed last month to succeed Vice President JD Vance in the Senate. Husted will run next year to finish out Vance’s term.

SENATE REPUBLICANS JUMP OUT TO FAST START IN THIS KEY CAMPAIGN METRIC

Pointing to a likely price tag of well over $1 billion in those three races, Scott acknowledged that “we need to continue to have strong fundraising numbers and support our candidates as we defend our seats.”

The NRSC recently announced a record $8.5 million in fundraising in January, which the committee says is its best ever off-year January haul.

Asked if the NRSC could keep up the pace, Scott said, “Absolutely we can. The good news is we’re already on pace for February to have another record-breaking month.”

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee July 15, 2024.  (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

And pointing to the president, Scott argued that “Trump brings a lot of enthusiasm. He made promises on the campaign trail, and now, as president, he’s keeping those promises. What does that convert to? Cash is king. People love a man who says what he’s going to do, he gets a job, he goes to work doing those things. It makes our job infinitely easier at the NRSC.”

In the 2022 election cycle, when the Republicans blew a chance to win back the majority, NRSC Chair Rick Scott of Florida was criticized for a hands-off approach in the GOP Senate primaries. 

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Last cycle, NRSC Chair Sen. Steve Daines of Montana got involved in Senate Republican nomination battles.

Asked what he’ll do when it comes to contested GOP Senate primaries this cycle, Scott answered, “Whatever is in the best interest of the voters in each state, I will make a state-by-state decision on how we play and where we play.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Democrats who spoke with Fox News Digital said they do support cutting some wasteful spending from the federal government, but not by Elon Musk.

“Of course there’s some wasteful spending, but you don’t use a meat ax and cut everything,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday after Fox News Digital asked whether there was some waste worth cutting. 

“We need to look at each program. We need to go through Congress and see what’s wasteful and move to eliminate it,” he said.

Democrats have been critical of Elon Musk’s efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash “wasteful” federal spending, as the newly formed cost-cutting department rescinds hundreds of millions of dollars dished out by the previous administration.

Democratic lawmakers told Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill they are generally in favor of cuts to federal spending but aren’t in support of how DOGE is conducting its sweep. 

VOCAL OPPOSITION TO ELON MUSK’S CUTS IS A ‘TERRIBLE’ STRATEGY, WARNS EX-DEMOCRAT ADVISOR

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (J. Scott Applewhite)

“DOGE is turning the country over to the billionaires. They’re looking to make money for themselves,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “They’re not interested in government efficiency.”

Murphy told Fox “there’s plenty of money to be cut,” such as on prescription drugs, but “that’s not what DOGE is doing.”

“We spent way too much money on prescription drugs. We pad the pockets of the drug industry every single year. We should be negotiating all of our prescription drug costs. We waste a ton of money on overspending,” Murphy said.

JUDGE DENIES DEMOCRAT-LED EFFORT TO BLOCK DOGE ACCESS, CITING LACK OF PROVEN HARM

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., laughed, saying, “There’s always things that can be improved.”

Sen. Chris Murphy said, “DOGE is turning the country over to the billionaires.” (Anna Moneymaker)

Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey said, “There’s certainly waste and efficiencies that we can get better at,” but “the way in which it’s happening right now is not the right way to do it.

“I mean, you’re having federal employees getting kicked out, and then we realize that we need them for bird flu or nuclear regulation and other things like that,” Kim told Fox News Digital. “It’s causing way too much chaos. But I would have been prepared to work in a bipartisan way. I still am.”

Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., told Fox they think there should be cuts to wasteful spending but did not elaborate on where that should be.

DOGE has spent the past month entering federal agencies and uncovering billions in spending from the federal government that the Trump administration considers wasteful.

Democratic lawmakers tell Fox News they do not support how Elon Musk is going about making cuts to federal spending. (Fox News Digital/Getty Images)

The method sparked opposition from critics such as Schumer, who claimed DOGE “went after community health centers in Medicaid” and “many things that American families need, want and approve of.”

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Trump on Wednesday floated the idea of delivering 20% of the DOGE savings to taxpayers directly through personal checks to taxpaying households, while another 20% would be used to pay down the national debt. 

President Donald Trump and his administration continued to advance negotiations with Ukraine and Russia his fifth week in office in an attempt to reach a peace deal to end the conflict between the two countries. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz met with Russian officials in Riyadh Tuesday to discuss ways to end the war, while U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg met with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv about a peace deal Wednesday. 

The meetings increased tension between the U.S. and Ukraine when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Turkey that “nobody decides anything behind our back,” claiming Ukraine wasn’t invited to the meeting between the U.S. and Russia. Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine won’t agree to a deal unless Ukraine is part of the talks. 

TRUMP’S FRUSTRATIONS WITH ZELENKSYY ESCALATE AS US TURNS UP PRESSURE ON UKRAINE TO REACH PEACE DEAL 

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sparred amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.  (Getty Images )

In response, both Trump and Zelenskyy exchanged barbs. Although Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Trump insinuated that Ukraine started the war and called Zelenskyy a “dictator.” Meanwhile, Zelenskyy claimed Trump was dispersing Russian “disinformation.” 

Even so, the Trump administration has defended its decision to meet with Russia, claiming it’s necessary to advance the negotiations. 

“How are you going to end the war unless you’re talking to Russia?” Vice President JD Vance said at the Conservative Political Action Conference near the nation’s capital Thursday. “You’ve got to talk to everybody involved in the fighting. If you actually want to bring the conflict to a close.”

Here’s what also happened this week at the White House:

Weeding out unconstitutional regulations

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday requiring federal agencies to assess regulations that could violate the Constitution as the administration seeks to cut red tape. 

Senior administration officials told Fox News Digital the order is first of its kind and an attempt to ensure the government isn’t weaponized against the American people. It will require agencies to submit a list to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the next 60 days of all regulations that could be unconstitutional.

OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will oversee the effort and examine federal agencies’ regulations. 

TRUMP TO SIGN EXECUTIVE ORDER INSTRUCTING AGENCIES TO HUNT DOWN REGULATIONS THAT VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION

President Donald Trump speaks as Elon Musk, joined by his son X Æ A-Xii, listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington.  (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

DOGE officials at federal agencies will compose an inventory of regulations that could violate the Constitution and deliver the list to OMB. After the 60 days, the OIRA will go through the list of regulations and make individual decisions on which are unconstitutional and will launch the process of repealing the regulations on a case-by-case basis. 

OIRA oversees executive branch regulations, while the newly created DOGE aims to eliminate government waste, fraud and spending.

Expanding IVF coverage 

Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requesting the Domestic Policy Council to examine ways to make in vitro fertilization, known as IVF, more affordable and accessible for Americans. 

“Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000,” the executive order said. “Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence.”

‘PROMISES KEPT’: TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ‘AGGRESSIVELY’ MAKE IVF MORE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order making IVF more affordable and accessible. (Getty Images)

The assistant to the president for domestic policy will provide policy recommendations with the goal of “protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment” within 90 days. 

Ending taxpayer funding for illegal immigrants 

Trump also signed an executive order that ensures taxpayer benefits do not go toward illegal immigrants, in an attempt to better protect the interests of American citizens. 

The directive requires federal agencies to determine if any federally funded programs are providing financial benefits to illegal immigrants and immediately take “corrective action” so that these federal funds don’t bolster illegal immigration. Likewise, the order instructs agencies to implement stricter eligibility verification to ensure that these benefits don’t go to those in the U.S. illegally. 

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The order did not identify specific benefits, and notes that illegal immigrants are largely barred from qualifying for welfare programs. However, the order states without providing evidence that past administrations have “repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.”

“My Administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” the order states.

“President Trump is committed to safeguarding Federal public benefits for American citizens who are truly in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” a White House fact sheet on the executive order said.

A high school female track and field athlete is praising President Donald Trump for doing what she said state lawmakers won’t: protect women from biological males competing against them in sports.

Zoe, who competed in shot put at Maine’s Class B state indoor championship meet on Monday, said she is “grateful” for the president’s announcement that he will be cutting federal funding to Maine over its defiance of Trump’s order to keep men out of women’s sports, adding that leaders in the state “have failed our female athletes.” 

“State leaders have failed our female athletes and there needs to be repercussions for their neglect,” Zoe said. “We feel seen and heard because of this announcement and hope that steps will continue to be made to protect women’s sports in Maine.”

ESPN STAR STEPHEN A SMITH MAKES STANCE ON TRANS INCLUSION IN WOMEN’S SPORTS CLEAR

During the state championship meet, Katie Spencer, who competed as a male named John Rydzewski in pole-vaulting as recently as June 2024, out-jumped every other female by half a foot. Spencer’s winning pole vault was pivotal in helping Spencer’s track and field team at Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, win the Class B state championship meet by just a single point.

Following news of what happened, Trump announced that Maine would lose public funding until “they clean that up.”

Republican Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby began sounding the alarm after Spencer won the women’s pole-vaulting state championship on Monday.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, she reiterated Zoe’s concern that without some sort of federal intervention nothing was going to change. 

Several years ago, the state amended its state Human Rights Act to include protections for gender-identity, and since Democrats control both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office, Libby said there is “a 0% chance” they will repeal it.

CA LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BILL PROTECTING GIRLS FROM TRANS ATHLETES AFTER STATE REFUSES TO FOLLOW TRUMP’S ORDER

Following Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order threatening to end public funding to schools that do not keep men out of women’s sports, the Maine Principals’ Association, the primary governing body for high school athletics in the state, said that the president’s order conflicts with state law aimed at protecting human rights. As a result, the association said it will defer to the latter when it comes to determining athletic eligibility.

Sarah Perry, a civil rights attorney who has extensive experience litigating Title IX issues, said that in addition to Trump’s executive order, the association is also flouting directives from the Department of Education and previously established precedent from a slew of cases that challenged former President Joe Biden’s Title IX regulations allowing athletic eligibility to be determined by one’s preferred gender identity. Perry noted that besides the obvious risk of losing funding, these states also open themselves up to federal Title IX investigations, something she said could potentially force them to comply with Trump’s demands.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Maine Principals’ Association for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

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“It is absolutely reprehensible that people in a position of power would allow this against children who are trying to compete,” Libby said. “There will not be enforcement from the state level, that is absolutely clear. So the only mechanism of enforcement that we have is for the administration to intervene.”

Libby noted that after posting about Spencer’s state championship title on social media, a young female competitor at the meet commented that she and her teammates did not even know they would be competing against a biological male until they arrived at the state championship meet on Monday. “It was so disheartening to find out, because, you immediately know the result,” Libby told Fox News Digital. 

Libby also pointed out that it was illustrative of a larger problem in Maine when it comes to protecting women’s rights in athletics.

TRANS ATHLETE AND ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ OPPONENT SPEAK OUT AFTER ALLEGED INCIDENT PROMPTS CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT

“This is not a first-time scenario here,” she said. “There is another boy who has been running girls’ cross-country for several fall seasons now. He was a mediocre athlete as a boy, but as a girl he is doing extremely well. This is increasing in Maine. And unless something is done at the federal level, I think we’re just going to see more and more of it.” 

Due to the win, Spencer has now automatically qualified for the multistate regional championships, taking the spot that would have been awarded to the female athlete who garnered second place had Spencer competed in the boys’ division.

A demonstrator waves a trans pride flag during the Rise Up for Trans Youth rally against President Donald Trump’s executive actions targeting transgender people at Union Square in New York on Feb. 7. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump on Thursday said that Maine will not receive federal funding until it complies with his executive order requiring schools and athletic associations to ensure biological males do not compete on women’s sports teams. 

“I heard men are still playing in Maine,” the president said Friday during a speech at the annual National Governors Association conference in Washington, D.C. “I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give any federal money. They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,’ and I cannot believe they are doing that… so we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up.” 

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Trump met with governors at the White House on Friday, including Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, amid the conference taking place in the nation’s capital. For a brief moment, Trump and Mills got into a verbal skirmish over his move to slash the state’s federal funding due to its defiance against Trump’s executive order barring men from competing in women’s sports.

“You better do it because you’re not going to get federal funding,” Trump said to Mills, to which she responded: “We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court.”

“Enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be an elected official afterward,” Trump shot back. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Partisan elected officials and judicial activists who seek to legally obstruct President Trump’s agenda are defying the will of 77 million Americans who overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump,” and added that “their efforts will fail.”

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“All of President Trump’s executive actions are lawful, constitutional and intended to deliver on the promises he made to the American people,” Leavitt said. “The Trump Administration is prepared to fight these battles in court and will prevail.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered words of wisdom to young women across the nation from the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday evening, urging them to “stay strong, speak the truth,” and believe in themselves. 

Leavitt sat down for a fireside chat hosted by former White House communications director Mercedes Schlapp, who served during the first Trump administration. 

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Schlapp said young women across the country admire Leavitt, who is the youngest White House press secretary in United States history and are inspired by her. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Schlapp asked Leavitt what her message to young women is. 

“Stay strong, speak the truth and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t achieve your dream, or you can’t get to that next step. Just believe in yourself,” Leavitt said. 

‘WHO IS KAROLINE LEAVITT?’ NEW FOX NATION SPECIAL CHRONICLES THE RISE OF THE GEN Z PRESS SECRETARY

“Because there will be a lot of people who don’t believe in you—who cast doubt on you, who talk bad about you,” Leavitt said. 

“Screw ‘em,” she said, drawing laughter and applause from the CPAC audience. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.” 

Leavitt, 27, served in the first Trump administration as a White House press aide. She then worked for Rep. Elise Stefanik, and later launched her own campaign for New Hampshire’s 1st congressional district in 2022. Leavitt served as national press secretary for the 2024 Trump campaign. 

But Leavitt also praised the “amazing” women working in the second Trump administration. 

FILE – President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Miami to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 27, 2025, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt listens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

VP JD VANCE SPEAKS ON ‘FUNDAMENTAL GOAL’ OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AT CPAC ADDRESS

“Look at the White House and look at the exceptional Cabinet President Trump has put together,” Leavitt said. “While we don’t care about identity politics…the president has appointed Susie Wiles, our first female chief of staff in United States history; Brooke Rollins heading up as our secretary of agriculture—look across the entire Cabinet. There are incredible women—Linda McMahon, leading the Department of Education—the list goes on and on.” 

“The White House is full of working women,” she continued. “In fact, I was going up the staircase in the West Wing today and saw two of my female colleagues, both of whom are pregnant having babies this year and they are working and they are saving America because President Trump believes in the best people for the job—the brightest people for the job.” 

Leavitt is also a new mother to a seven-month-old baby boy. 

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“It is the best thing ever,” Leavitt said of being a mother.

When asked why she is doing what she is doing, Leavitt replied: “For him and for all of the other children in this country.” 

“We have a country to save,” Leavitt said. “I want my son to grow up in a free and patriotic America that we can be proud of.” 

President Donald Trump on Friday night nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

“General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social announcing the nomination.

Trump said during his first term, the three-star lieutenant general was “instrumental” in the “complete annihilation” of the ISIS caliphate.

Trump has nominated Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (U.S. Air Force)

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“It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military ‘geniuses’ said it would take years to defeat ISIS,” the president wrote. “General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.”

Trump said despite Caine “being highly qualified and respected,” he was “passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden.”

“But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military,” Trump wrote. “Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon.”

President Donald Trump poses for his official White House portrait. (Trump-Vance Transition Team)

“General Caine embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment. I look forward to working with him,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a statement to Fox News Friday night. 

While it is typical for Joint Chiefs chairmen to remain in their positions during shifts of power, Trump made the decision to find a replacement. 

Both Trump and Hegseth gave a nod to the departing chairman, four-star fighter pilot General Charles “CQ” Brown.

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“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Trump wrote. “He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”

Hegseth added Brown served with “distinction in a career spanning four decades of honorable service.”

“I have come to know him as a thoughtful adviser and salute him for his distinguished service to our country,” he wrote. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a NATO Defence Ministers meeting at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium Feb. 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Yves Herman)

The Secretary of Defense has been outspoken about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies adversely affecting military operations, and previously suggested firing Brown and other top leaders.

Prior to becoming defense secretary, Hegseth wrote about Brown several times in his book, “The War on Warriors,” once questioning if Brown deserved his promotion to America’s highest general.

“The military standards, once the hallmark for competency, professionalism, and ‘mission first’ outcomes, have officially been subsumed by woke priorities,” he wrote. “You think C.Q. Brown will think intuitively about external threats and internal readiness? No chance. He built his generalship dutifully pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown speaks during a press briefing, April 26, 2024, at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

He also said Brown “made the race card one of his biggest calling cards.”

Prior to his appointment, Brown served as the 22nd chief of staff of the Air Force from 2020 to 2023. He logged more than 3,000 flight hours as a fighter pilot, including 130 hours in combat.

Caine has logged more than 2,800 hours in the F-16, including more than 100 combat hours.

OFFICIALS PUSH BACK ON CLAIMS OF ‘LIST’ OF GENERALS HEGSETH PLANS TO FIRE AT PENTAGON

Hegseth said he is also requesting nominations for the positions of Chief of Naval Operations and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff.

“The incumbents in these important roles, Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General James Slife, respectively, have had distinguished careers,” Hegseth wrote. “We thank them for their service and dedication to our country.”

Admiral Lisa Franchetti (U.S. Navy)

Hegseth also previously mentioned Franchetti in his book, criticizing her lack of combat experience and mocking her master’s degree from the University of Phoenix online college.

“If naval operations suffers, at least we can hold our heads high. Because at least we have another first! The first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — hooray. For social justice ideologues, PR matters more than reality,” he wrote.

PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS 

Caine was commissioned in 1990 through the ROTC program at the Virginia Military Institute and has a Master of Arts in Air Warfare from the American Military University.

Brown was visiting Fort Bliss to discuss border operations on Friday, Fox News has learned. Franchetti was in Europe when she got the news. She is now returning home.

Hegseth said the department is also seeking nominations for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

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“Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars,” he wrote.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent a written complaint about U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes to the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sri Srinivasan, following a tense case between the Trump administration and two LGBTQ groups.

The letter, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Chief of Staff, Chad Mizelle, concerns what the DOJ characterized as Reyes’ “misconduct” during the proceedings in Nicolas Talbott et al. v. Donald J. Trump et al., a case brought by two LGBTQ groups challenging the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders barring transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. 

According to the complaint, the transcript “reveals multiple instances where Judge Reyes’ misconduct compromised the dignity of the proceedings and demonstrated potential bias, raising serious concerns about her ability to preside impartially in this matter.” 

JUDGE GRANTS 19 AGS PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST DOGE ACCESS TO TREASURY PAYMENT SYSTEM

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes is pictured with a group of protesters (Getty Images / YouTube / SenatorDurbin)

During the proceedings, Judge Reyes listed off executive orders signed by President Trump since taking office, including recognizing only two sexes, blocking school funding from promoting the idea that gender can be fluid, directing the State Department to stop issuing documents allowing a third gender marker, and revoking the ability of trans federal employees to receive a sex change. She also called out the Trump administration for revoking an earlier regulation concerning trans people having equal access to homeless shelters. 

OFFICIALS PUSH BACK ON CLAIMS ON ‘LIST’ OF GENERALS HEGSETH PLANS TO FIRE AT PENTAGON

The letter says Judge Reyes asked DOJ attorney Jason Lynch, “What do you think Jesus would say to telling a group of people that they are so worthless … that we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters? Do you think Jesus would be, ‘Sounds right to me?’ Or do you think Jesus would say, ‘WTF? Of course, let them in?'”

DOJ attorneys asserted that the line of questioning was “deeply problematic for several reasons” – including placing DOJ counsel in an untenable position of either appearing unresponsive or speculating about how an incoherent hypothetical aligns with Reyes’ personal religious beliefs.

President Donald Trump sits down with Fox News anchor Bret Baier for an interview. (Fox News / Special Report)

The letter highlighted another incident in which Judge Reyes engaged in a rhetorical exercise to draw parallels to trans people being barred from military service. The judge instructed DOJ counsel, “My new standing order says that no one who graduated from UVA Law School can appear before me. So, I need you to sit down, please. I need you to sit down.” 

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When counsel complied with this directive, the judge continued her hypothetical about UVA law graduates being banned from her courtroom because “they’re all liars and lack integrity.” The letter alleged that only after Judge Reyes used counsel as a physical prop did she allow him to continue the proceedings. She then asked counsel if he saw how unfair the reasoning was. 

The Department of Justice seals is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington, May 16, 2023.  (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Still, the DOJ asserted in its complaint that such treatment “undermines the dignity of counsel and the decorum of the courtroom.” 

There were times when Judge Reyes commended DOJ lawyer Jason Lynch, telling him and the gallery that he was doing a credible job arguing for the government in a difficult situation.

The letter closes by requesting that “appropriate action be taken to address these violations,” saying that, at a “minimum, this matter warrants further investigation to determine whether these incidents represent a pattern of misconduct that requires more significant remedial measures.”

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U.S. District Court judges sit on the bench as a lifetime appointment. However, it is possible that Chief Judge Srinivasan could reprimand Judge Reyes, or possibly suggest she recuse herself from the case.