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Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor snapped at each other during Tuesday’s arguments over parental rights in LGBTQ curriculum after the liberal justice attempted to jump back into the questioning as Alito was speaking. 

The short quarrel happened as the high court listened to arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which a coalition of parents sought to solidify the right to be informed about and opt their children out of reading LGBTQ-related material in elementary schools — which they argue conflicts with their faith.

“There is a growing heat to the exchanges between the justices. Sotomayor just tried to disagree with Alito’s portrayal and Alito pushed back and asked to allow him to finish,” Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley observed on X.  

Sotomayor initially asked Mahmoud attorney Eric Baxter about a particular book titled “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” that included a same-sex relationship storyline and whether exposure to same-sex relationships in children’s books could be considered coercion.

PARENTS TELL SCOTUS: LGBTQ STORYBOOKS IN CLASSROOMS CLASH WITH OUR FAITH

Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor snapped at each other during Tuesday’s arguments over parental rights in LGBTQ curriculum after the liberal justice attempted to jump back into the questioning as Alito was speaking.  (Getty)

“Our parents would object to that,” Baxter responded. 

Sotomayor continued with her line of questioning to further clarify Baxter’s objection to the books. Baxter stated, “Our objections would be even to reading books that violate our client’s religious beliefs.”

Alito then jumped in with additional questions related to the book.

“I’ve read that book as well as a lot of these other books,” Alito began. “Do you think it’s fair to say that all that is done in ‘Uncle Bobby’s Wedding’ is to expose children to the fact that there are men who marry other men?”

Baxter objected to Alito’s question. Alito then said that while the book “has a clear message and a lot of people think it’s a good message,” some with “traditional religious beliefs don’t agree with” it.

As Alito continued with his explanation, Sotomayor jumped in.

“What a minute. The reservation is—” Sotomayor began. 

‘LET US BE THE PARENTS’: SUPREME COURT SHOULD LET PARENTS OPT KIDS OUT OF LGBTQ SCHOOL LESSONS, LAWYER ARGUES

“Can I finish?” Alito said. 

“It has a clear moral message, and it may be a good message. It’s just a message that a lot of religious people disagree with,” Alito finished.

As arguments wrapped, the Supreme Court appeared inclined to agree with the parents.

The short quarrel happened as the high court listened to arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor, where a coalition of parents sought to solidify a right to be informed about and opt their children out of reading LGBTQ-related material in elementary schools that they argue conflicts with their faith. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

A coalition of Jewish, Christian and Muslim parents with elementary school children in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland brought suit against the school board after it introduced new LGBTQ books into the curriculum as part of the district’s “inclusivity” initiative. 

The curriculum change came after the state of Maryland enacted regulations seeking to promote “educational equity,” according to the petitioner’s brief filed with the high court.

THE SUPREME COURT APPEARS TO SIDE WITH PARENTS IN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DISPUTE OVER STORYBOOKS

The parents lost both at the district court and the appellate level. The Fourth Circuit held that the parents had not shown how the policy violated the First Amendment.

The case comes at a time when President Donald Trump and his administration have prioritized educational and DEI-related reform upon starting his second term. The Supreme Court has notably also heard oral arguments this past term in other religious liberty and gender-related suits. 

A coalition of Jewish, Christian and Muslim parents with elementary school children in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland brought suit against the school board after it introduced new LGBTQ books into the curriculum as part of the district’s “inclusivity” initiative.  (Becket/Getty Images)

The high court heard oral arguments earlier this month in a suit brought by a Wisconsin-based Catholic charity group’s bid for tax relief. The decision could alter the current eligibility requirements for religious tax exemptions. 

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Fox News’ Bill Mears, Shannon Bream, and David Spunt contributed to this report. 

With President Donald Trump back in the White House and the final rollout of federal REAL ID requirements set to take effect in May, many of the loudest privacy advocates in Washington have been largely silent.

While privacy-minded lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spent years blasting the Patriot Act, among other measures, few are raising alarms over the Trump administration’s looming implementation of the REAL ID Act — a law passed in 2005 that critics describe as a national identification system.

Some of the privacy-hawk lawmakers remaining silent on REAL ID were very vocal when another expansion of the national security surveillance apparatus came about – the Patriot Act of 2001 – but not so when the U.S. is only days away from REAL ID implementation.

Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., were all in Congress when the Patriot Act faced ultimately-successful renewal in 2010s and when the 2020 bill amending and reauthorizing the related Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court came up for a vote.

‘MASS SURVEILLANCE’: CONSERVATIVES SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP ADMIN’S REAL ID ROLLOUT

REAL ID is going into effect soon. (Getty)

“Congress has a duty to safeguard Americans’ privacy, but the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act fails to adequately limit the types of information that the government can collect about Americans, and it fails to adequately limit how long the government can keep the information it collects about us,” Markey said in a 2020 statement objecting to the FISA renewal.

“I am unwilling to grant any president surveillance tools that pose such a high risk to Americans’ civil liberties,” he said.

In 2011, Merkley was one of eight senators who voted to prevent the Patriot Act renewal from even coming to the floor for debate, according to Oregon Live.

His Beaver State colleague, Wyden, ultimately voted to allow debate, but said on the Senate floor during such discourse that it needs to be potentially reconsidered.

WHAT IS REAL ID? DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR NEW IDENTIFICATION CARDS REQUIRED TO FLY DOMESTICALLY

“The Patriot Act was passed a decade ago during a period of understandable fear,” Wyden said at the time.

“Now is the time to revisit this… and ensure that a better job is done of striking that balance between fighting terror and protecting individual liberty.”

Merkley expressed concern at the time about the Patriot Act’s ability to let law enforcement collect many types of personal data like emails and phone records.

In order to get a REAL ID, licensees must provide their Social Security number and other documentation.

While the REAL ID implementation was delayed 20 years by several factors including COVID-19, Merkley cast a “protest vote” at the time of the Patriot Act renewal that a four-year extension of the post-9/11 act was being put forth without sufficient time for debate.

In 2005, Wyden also gave a Senate floor speech opposing the first reauthorization of the Patriot Act.

Markey did not respond to multiple requests for comment, left at his Washington and Boston offices. Merkley also did not respond to a request for comment.

BLUE STATES RALLIED FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO OBTAIN DRIVER’S LICENSES AHEAD OF TRUMP’S REAL ID CRACKDOWN

A representative for Wyden acknowledged Fox News Digital’s comment request, but said the Oregonian was traveling and holding town halls with constituents back home and could not be immediately reached.

On his senatorial webpage, Wyden offered a rundown of all his comprehensive actions in favor of privacy, as well as “le[ading] the fight to address the Intelligence Community’s reliance on secret interpretations of surveillance law.”

“When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry,” he said in 2011.

Wyden was also outraged in 2013 when the NSA was found to be secretly interpreting the act to collect personal data of millions of Americans without a warrant.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on privacy concerns with REAL ID, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said REAL IDs rightly “make identification harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists.”

“Eighty-one percent of air travelers [already] hold REAL ID-compliant or acceptable IDs,” McLaughlin said.

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“DHS will continue to collaborate with state, local, and airport authorities to inform the public, facilitate compliance, curb wait times and prevent fraud.”

Fox News also reached out for comment to a bipartisan series of lawmakers who have been party to pro-privacy bills or taken pro-privacy stances in the past, including Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

A federal judge ordered the restoration of Voice of America (VoA) on Tuesday, the federally-funded state media network that the White House dismantled earlier this spring.

Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction, though the Trump administration is allowed to appeal the decision.

The plaintiffs asked the court to “cancel the orders putting approximately 1,300 VOA employees on administrative leave” and to “cancel the termination of contracts with approximately 500 personal service contractors (PSCs) with VOA, cease dismantling VOA, and restore VOA’s personnel and operating capacities.”

President Donald Trump dismantled the news agency through an executive order (EO) in March, claiming that VoA promoted biased reporting.

TRUMP ORDERS THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED, ‘PROPAGANDA’-PEDDLING MEDIA OUTLET

A federal judge ordered the restoration of Voice of America (VoA) on Tuesday after Trump dismantled the agency. (Getty Images)

“The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” the EO stated. 

The EO also dismantled VoA’s parent company, the United States Agency for Global Media, as well as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

“Voice of America has been out of step with America for years. It serves as the Voice for Radical America and has pushed divisive propaganda for years now,” a senior White House official told Fox News Digital at the time.

The Voice Of America (VOA) logo appears on a mobile phone with Voice Of America visible in the background in this photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on March 16, 2025.  (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CHOP DOWN MAGNOLIA TREE PURPORTEDLY PLANTED BY ANDREW JACKSON: ‘MUST COME TO AN END’

On Mar. 22, VoA employees filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and Kari Lake, who serves as the special advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media.

“In many parts of the world, a crucial source of objective news is gone, and only censored state-sponsored news media is left to fill the void,” the lawsuit reads.

Kari Lake, U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to lead Voice of America (VOA), speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 21, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

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“The second Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to the agency as a whole in an attempt to shutter it completely,” the suit stated.

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

The first RICO racketeering charges against members and associates of the migrant terrorist group Tren de Aragua were filed this week in New York.

A statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that the case is part of “Operation Take Back America,” which it said is a “nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”

According to the statement, the charges filed against 27 alleged current and former Tren de Aragua (TdA) members include human smuggling, sex trafficking and murder.

“Today, we have filed charges against 27 alleged members, former members, and associates of Tren de Aragua, for committing murders and shootings, forcing young women trafficked from Venezuela into commercial sex work, robbing and extorting small businesses, and selling ‘tusi,’ a pink powdery drug that has become their calling card,” announced Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP BLASTS COURTS FOR GETTING IN THE WAY OF DEPORTATION AGENDA

This image shows two Tren de Aragua gang members caught at the southern border. (U.S. Border Patrol)

Podolsky said that the indictments “make clear that this Office will work tirelessly to keep the law-abiding residents of New York City safe, and hold accountable those who bring violence to our streets.”

The charges were filed in two separate indictments, the first against six alleged current members of Tren de Aragua and the second against 21 alleged members and associates of a splinter gang known as “Anti-Tren,” which consists of former TdA members.

The Trump State Department has designated Tren de Aragua, as well as several other migrant gangs present throughout the U.S., as foreign terrorist organizations.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that 21 of the 27 alleged gang members and associates are currently in federal custody. The statement said that 16 were already in federal criminal, immigration, or state custody and five were arrested over the last couple of days.

OHIO SHERIFF DEFENDS NEW ICE PARTNERSHIP: ‘JUST DOING THE RIGHT THING’

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem toured the El Salvador prison holding hundreds of alleged members of Tren de Aragua who were deported from the U.S. (Credit: Pool)

Most of the alleged gang members are in their twenties, with the oldest being 44. Many are facing multiple life in prison sentences if they are found guilty.

Charges include racketeering, sex trafficking, alien importation, drug trafficking and carjacking conspiracy, robbery, illegal firearms possession and use and extortion.

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Among the most egregious of the charges included in the indictments are the smuggling of “multadas” – indentured sex workers – from Venezuela into Peru and the U.S. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement, both TdA and Anti-Tren operate keep the multadas trapped in a life of sex slavery by threatening to kill them and their families and by assaulting, shooting and killing them and tracking down those who attempted to flee.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the RICO charges, saying: “Today’s indictments and arrests span three states and will devastate TdA’s infrastructure as we work to completely dismantle and purge this organization from our country.” 

GORSUCH, ROBERTS SIDE WITH LEFT-LEANING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES IN IMMIGRATION RULING

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.  (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“Tren de Aragua is not just a street gang,” said Bondi. “It is a highly structured terrorist organization that has destroyed American families with brutal violence, engaged in human trafficking, and spread deadly drugs through our communities.”

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch also praised the operations, saying that “for the first time ever, TdA is being named and charged as the criminal enterprise that it is.”

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“This gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers,” said Tisch. “As alleged in the indictment, these defendants wreaked havoc in our communities, trafficking women for sexual exploitation, flooding our streets with drugs, and committing violent crimes with illegal guns. Thanks to the dedicated members of the NYPD and the important work of our federal partners, their time is up.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office statement also mentioned that this case received significant support from Joint Task Force Vulcan, a collection of U.S. attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies that was created in 2019 to eradicate the Salvadoran gang MS-13 and has now expanded to target Tren de Aragua. 

Speaking at the White House Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump blasted courts standing in the way of his administration’s immigration agenda of deporting “some very bad people,” who he said include “killers, murderers, drug dealers.”

The president touted his administration’s progress in shutting down the border and cracking down on illegal immigration, saying, “Honestly, it’s one of the great successes; we have virtually nobody coming in illegally.”

He noted, however, that certain rulings against his deportations pose a threat to his efforts to secure the country.

“I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because, you know, we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can’t have a trial for all of these people,” he said. “It wasn’t meant–the system wasn’t meant–and we don’t think there’s anything that says that.”

KASH PATEL, FBI TOUT $5M REWARD FOR CAPTURING MS-13 ‘TERRORIST LEADER’ UNLEASHING EVIL ON AMERICANS

U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2025.  (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January, his administration has faced hundreds of lawsuits targeting his executive orders and actions, some of which have resulted in nationwide injunctions.

The Supreme Court is set to hear a case on May 15 about three federal judges who issued separate nationwide injunctions blocking an executive order by Trump ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. 

On Mar. 15, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport criminal illegal alien gang members to El Salvador.  

Trump said that court rulings slowing down his deportation agenda could lead to a “very dangerous country.”

GORSUCH, ROBERTS SIDE WITH LEFT-LEANING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES IN IMMIGRATION RULING

“We were having hundreds of thousands of people a month come in under Biden, and they came in from prisons. They came in from mental institutions. They came in from gangs in Venezuela and other countries all over the world, not just South America. They were emptying their prisons into the United States, Venezuela emptied its prisons out, but many countries emptied their prisons into the Congo as an example, in Africa, emptied their prisons into the United States,” he said.

“I won an election based on the fact that we get them out,” he went on. “We’re getting them out and a judge can say, ‘No, you have to have a trial’ … the trials going to take two years, and now we’re going to have a very dangerous country if we’re not allowed to do what we’re entitled to do.”

Trump also addressed his administration’s ongoing trade war with China, saying it is up to China to make a deal work.

“Ultimately, they have to make a deal because otherwise they’re not going to be able to deal in the United States,” he said. “And we want them involved but they have to, and other countries have to make a deal. And if they don’t make a deal, we’ll set the deal because we’re the ones that set the deal.”

JD VANCE CHAMPIONS ‘ROADMAP’ TOWARD US-INDIA TRADE DEAL, SAYS PARTNERSHIP CRITICAL TO DETERRING ‘DARK TIME’

Chinese President Xi Jinping adjusts his jacket as he stands to sing the national anthem at the closing session of the National People’s Congress held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The president said he expects that in whichever deal is ultimately reached, the current 145 percent tariff against China will be much lower, but noted it “won’t be zero” either.

“It used to be zero. We were just destroyed. China was taking us for a ride and it’s just not going to happen,” he said. “We’re going to be very good to China, I have a great relationship with President XI. But they would make billions and billions and billions of dollars a year, and they would build their military out of the United States on what they made so that won’t happen.”

“But they’re going to do very well,” he continued. “And I think they’re going to be happy and I think we’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together. So, I think it’s going to work out very well.”

During the Q and A Trump also put to bed rumors that he would be firing Jerome Powell from his role as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve over a disagreement about lowering interest rates.

‘NO LOVE LOST’: TRUMP IS ‘ONE PERSON’ TO DRAG JEROME POWELL OUT OF OFFICE ‘KICKING AND SCREAMING’ EXPERT SAYS

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 21: Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell listens during an open session of a Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting at the Department of the Treasury on April 21, 2023, in Washington, DC. The FSOC proposed on Friday a new guidance to revise how non-bank financial institutions are designated.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In response to a question on whether he had any intention to fire Powell, Trump replied, “None whatsoever. Never did.”

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“The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing him,” said Trump.

“I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” he noted, adding, “This is a perfect time to lower interest rates. If he doesn’t, is it the end? No, it’s not, but it would be good timing. It would be it which could have taken place earlier. But, no, I have no intention to fire him.”

Those who default or refuse to pay their federal student loans could have their wages, federal pensions and tax refunds garnished, the White House said Tuesday. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in her weekly briefing that the Trump administration will go after those who don’t repay the loans instead of placing the burden on taxpayers. 

“The government can and will collect defaulted federal student loan debt by withholding money from borrowers, tax refunds, federal pensions and even their wages,” she said.

TRUMP STILL NEEDS CONGRESS’ HELP WITH PLAN TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Those in default on their federal student loan debt could have their wages. tax refunds and federal pensions garnished, the Trump administration said on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

The Department of Education on Monday said it would resume collections on defaulted federal student loans in May for the first time since 2020. The student loan portfolio is nearly $1.6 trillion, Leavitt said, with fewer than four out of ten borrowers up to speed with their loans. 

Altogether, the official said that there are 4 million borrowers who are in the late-stage delinquency stage on payments, meaning that they are between 91 days and 180 days late on payments. 

“This is unsustainable, unfair and a huge liability for American taxpayers. Debt cannot be wiped away. It just ends up getting transferred to others,” she said. “So why should Americans who didn’t go to college, or went to college and responsibly paid back their loans, pay for the student loans of other Americans? The Trump administration will never force taxpayers to pay student loan debts that don’t belong to them.”

STAFFING REDUCTIONS AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAVEN’T HIT FAFSA OFFICE AMID TRUMP CUTS, AGENCY SAYS

Student loan borrowers demanded that then-President Joe Biden immediately cancel student debt at a rally outside the Supreme Court on June 30, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

In a few months, there could be almost 10 million people in default, the Education Department said. 

The Biden administration attempted to bail out millions of student loan borrowers, but was blocked in some instances. 

“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “The Biden Administration misled borrowers: the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear. Hundreds of billions have already been transferred to taxpayers.”

The Trump administration has long said that taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for trillions of dollars in student debt. 

On Tuesday, the Trump administration said it will go after wages, pensions and tax refunds to claw back federal student loan debt. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

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“We must get our fiscal house in order and restore common sense to our country,” Leavitt said. “If you take out a loan, you have to pay it back. It’s very simple. President Trump will not kick the can down the road anymore.”

President Donald Trump officially informed Congress that he has directed the Department of Defense to move additional forces equipped for combat into the Middle East as U.S. forces carry out military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen in an effort to stop attacks on American forces and commercial ships in the Red Sea.

In a letter dated March 28 and released Tuesday, Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley that he had directed the Department of Defense to increase U.S. military presence in the region and launch major strikes on Houthi-controlled areas.

“I will no longer allow this band of pirates to threaten and attack United States forces and commercial vessels in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world,” Trump wrote. “We will act to keep Americans safe.”

He said the U.S. will continue striking until the group no longer poses a threat to navigation or U.S. personnel.

The strikes include Navy ships, Air Force bombers and drones targeting Houthi weapons, leadership and command centers. 

TRUMP ADMIN IMPOSES SANCTIONS AGAINST BANK OF YEMEN FOR SUPPORTING HOUTHIS

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea attends a rally held by protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, in Sanaa, Yemen. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

Trump said the actions are consistent with his authority as commander in chief and in line with the War Powers Resolution, which requires Congress to be kept informed.

The letter comes as the Trump administration continues daily military operations in Yemen, now entering their fourth week. The airstrikes began after renewed Houthi threats against Israeli ships and attacks on U.S. forces, including three Reaper drones brought down since March 3.

AFTER DEBILITATING STRIKES, TRUMP TELLS HOUTHIS: STOP SHOOTING AT US AND ‘WE WILL STOP SHOOTING AT YOU’

Houthi supporters march to mark the anniversary of Yemeni unity in Sanaa, Yemen, May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Last week, the administration sanctioned the International Bank of Yemen (IBY), accusing it of helping the Houthis move money internationally and avoid restrictions. The U.S. Treasury blocked assets tied to the bank and its leadership, including Chair Kamal Hussain Al Jebry and two top managers.

“Financial institutions like IBY are critical to the Houthis’ ability to fund attacks,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender.

The Treasury and State departments say the Houthis use the bank’s access to the SWIFT global system to support terror operations, including oil purchases and weapons procurement.

Houthi fighters march during a rally outside Sanaa, Yemen, on Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo)

In March, Trump posted on Truth Social that “many” Houthi leaders had been killed in the recent strikes, saying the group has been “decimated” and warning Iran, their chief backer, that it could be next if the attacks continue.

“The choice for the Houthis is clear,” Trump wrote. “Stop shooting at U.S. ships, and we will stop shooting at you.”

The Houthis began ramping up attacks in the Red Sea after the October 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel. They’ve claimed responsibility for targeting U.S. warships and have so far avoided hitting Chinese and Saudi ships, raising questions among defense officials about their strategic aims.

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Congress is expected to review Trump’s report in the coming days as U.S. strikes continue.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Brie Stimson and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

The number of illegal immigrants caught along one northern border sector that was once “overrun by illegal migrants” has dramatically declined under the Trump administration after it saw thousands of unlawful crossings last year, the White House said Tuesday. 

Only 54 illegal immigrants were apprehended last month in the Swanton Sector, which stretches more than 300 miles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“This is a drastic 95% drop from the more than a thousand border crossings that were caught in March 2024,” she said. “This is a main hotspot area that recorded more than 80% of all apprehensions along the northern border during the 2024 fiscal year.”

NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL

The apprehension of illegal immigrants along the Swanton Sector at the U.S.-Canada border dropped by 95% under the Trump administration this March compared to last March, the White House said. (Google Maps)

In fiscal year 2024, 19,222 illegal immigrants were apprehended along the sector. The migrants hailed from 97 countries, sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said at the time. 

The apprehensions amounted to more than the past 17 years combined, authorities said. In FY 2020, the agents assigned to the sector apprehended 574 illegal immigrants, followed by 365 the next year.

KILMAR GARCIA NOW GETS 5 TOTAL DEM PROPONENTS IN EL SALVADOR

More than 19,000 illegal immigrants were caught in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector along the U.S.-Canadian border over the 2024 fiscal year, officials said Wednesday. Only 54 were apprehended in March 2025, the White House said Tuesday.  (U.S. Border Patrol)

The Swanton Sector encompasses 24,000 square miles and includes Vermont; Clinton, Essex, Franklin, St. Lawrence and Herkimer counties of New York; and Coos, Grafton and Carroll counties of New Hampshire. It also borders the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

On Monday, Garcia called the difference between the 1,109 apprehensions in March 2024 and last month a “stark contrast.”

“Our mission of border security never stops; people are still smuggling humans & contraband entering the country illegally,” he wrote on X.

This split shows President Trump and migrants at the southern border. (Evan Vucci and Christian Torres/Anadolu )

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Under Trump, the catch and release of illegal migrants dropped by 99.99%, compared to the Biden administration, in which 189,604 migrants were released into the United States in December 2023, at the height of the border crisis, Leavitt said.

In February, Border Patrol agents caught and released only 20 illegal immigrants, she added.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority offered strong support for parents seeking the religious liberty right to be informed about and opt their children out of reading material in elementary schools that they say conflicts with their faith.

The Montgomery County, Maryland school board withdrew its original opt-out policy for books related to gender and sexuality, prompting a federal lawsuit.

In a marathon two-and-a-half oral argument, the justices debated whether parents have been unfairly burdened in exercising their constitutional rights.

It is one of three high-profile religious-themed cases the high court will decide this term—including disputes over tax exemptions for religious groups, and taxpayer funding for private religious charter schools—which will be argued next week.

GORSUCH, ROBERTS SIDE WITH LEFT-LEANING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES IN IMMIGRATION RULING

Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her liberal colleagues appeared to back the county’s position on the storybooks. She noted a lower appeals court had refused a preliminary injunction to temporarily reinstate the opt-out policy.

“They never reached the issue of whether or not there was disruption, or what the motive was for taking away the opt out,” said Sotomayor. “What they decided was that there wasn’t coercion here, that there was mere exposure. I understood from the record that all that was required is that the books be put on the bookshelf. If that’s all that’s required, is that coercion?”

But Justice Samuel Alito echoed the views of several of his conservative colleagues, about returning to the previous policy that he said most schools around the country permit.

“What is the big deal about allowing them to opt out of this?” he asked.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

Alito also questioned the content of several of the books raised in the appeal dealing with same-sex marriage.

“I don’t think anybody can read that and say: well, this is just telling children that there are occasions when men marry other men,” said Alito. “It has a clear moral message, and it may be a good message. It’s just a message that a lot of religious people disagree with.”   

Hundreds on both sides of the issue rallied outside the court, some carrying signs like “Let Parents Parent” and “Include All Families.”

The suburban Washington county introduced new books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes into the elementary school curriculum in 2022, as part of the district’s “inclusivity” initiative.

PROSECUTION CALLS THEIR SECOND WITNESS AT KAREN READ’S RETRIAL FOR MURDER

One of the challenged storybooks raised in the appeals is “Prince & Knight,” described as a “modern fairy tale” for ages 4-8, of the two males falling in love after working together to battle a dragon threatening their kingdom, and later marrying.

Another book mentioned repeatedly in the court’s public session was “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” about a little girl’s reaction to her favorite relative’s plans to marry a man.

The school district refused to allow parents to opt out of their

Grace Morrison is one of the parents petitioning the Supreme Court to rule that a Maryland school district’s ban on parental opt-outs is unconstitutional. (Becket/Getty Images)

The school district refused to allow parents to opt out of their elementary school from the reading program – the same way older students can forego sex ed instruction.

While the school board initially allowed parents to keep their children out of this curriculum, the plaintiffs say officials quickly reversed course, announcing in March 2023 that exceptions would not be granted and that parents would not be notified before the books were introduced into their children’s classrooms. Officials cited increased absenteeism as one of the reasons for the change.

“We felt as parents that we would present these things to our children like we always have, when they’re ready to receive them. And especially a child with special needs, it’s even more difficult for her to understand,” said Grace Morrison, one of the plaintiffs. She and her husband, both Catholics, now homeschool their daughter, after the school refused an accommodation.  

“Starting to present issues of gender ideology to a child like this could be extremely confusing and damaging, let alone to the faith that we’re raising her in,” she told Fox News Digital.

 A federal appeals court ruled for the school district, concluding educators did not apply any pressure on children to abandon their religious beliefs, and “simply hearing about other views does not necessarily exert pressure to believe or act differently than one’s religious faith requires.”

State officials told the court that parents who choose to send their children to public school are not “coerced” simply by their classroom exposure there to religiously objectionable ideas.

The practical feasibility of an opt-out policy at was the key focus of the high court’s public session.

“Once we articulate a rule like that,” said Justice Elena Kagan, “it would be like, opt outs for everyone.”

SCOTUS HEARS ARGUMENTS OVER PARENTS’ FIGHT TO OPT CHILDREN OUT OF LGBTQ CURRICULUM

But Kagan also raised concerns about young children being exposed to some of the books offered in Montgomery County.

“I too, was struck by these young kids picture books and, on matters concerning sexuality. I suspect there are a lot of non-religious parents who weren’t all that thrilled about this.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who noted he grew up in the affluent county and still lives there with his wife and two school-age daughters, said he was “mystified” at the why the county canceled its original opt-out policy.

Some on the bench raised concerns about a sweeping “a la carte” discretion parents would have to object to what goes in schools.

“What about a trans student in the classroom?” said Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. “There’s a student who’s in the class. Must the teacher notify the parents of the student’s existence and give them an opt out to not be in the same classroom with this child?”

Dozens of briefs were filed by advocacy groups on both sides of the issue, including competing coalitions of states and lawmakers.

Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands as she and members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group portrait following her addition, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File )

Many educators say they should be given deference to develop lesson plans that reflect the community at large, and that navigating a flood of individual religious rights claims would make classroom instruction and collaboration extremely problematic.

Parents rights and religious groups counter impressionable children should not be forced to participate in reading activities that undermine their families’ teachings and spirituality. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, representing the parents who sued, called the school policy “compelled instruction.”

The Trump administration is backing the parents, saying in a written brief the board’s no opt-out policy “compromises parents’ ability to act consistent with those [religious] beliefs regardless of whether their children feel pressured or coerced by the instruction.” 

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The case is Mahmoud v. Taylor (24-297). A ruling is expected before the court’s summer recess in late June.

Kristine Parks and Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report.

Counsel representing a coalition of parents fighting for the choice to opt their children out of LGBTQ-related curriculum says the case is about letting parents “be the parents.”

“We’re just saying if the school board is going to make that decision, let us have the chance to leave the classroom,” Colten Stanberry, counsel at Becket and attorney for the parents bringing the suit, told Fox News Digital. “And so I think for my parent clients, they’re saying let us be the parents. Keep us involved in the school decision-making process. Don’t try to cut us out.”

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in parents’ fight to opt their children out of LGBTQ-related curriculum. 

The issue at hand in the case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, is whether parents have a right to be informed about and to then opt their children out of reading books in elementary schools that conflict with their faith.

MARYLAND MOM TAKING FIGHT TO OPT CHILD OUT OF LGBTQ STORY BOOKS BEFORE SUPREME COURT

The issue at hand in the case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, is whether parents have a right to be informed about and to then opt their children out of reading books in elementary schools that conflict with their faith. (Becket/Getty Images)

“Our case is not a book ban case,” Stanberry emphasized.

“We’re not saying that these books can’t be on the shelves. We’re saying we want to be out of the class,” Stanberry continued. “And we’re also not saying that teachers can’t teach this material.”

A coalition of Jewish, Christian and Muslim parents with elementary school children in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland brought suit against the school board after it introduced new LGBTQ books into the curriculum as part of the district’s “inclusivity” initiative. The curriculum change came after the state of Maryland enacted regulations seeking to promote “educational equity,” according to the petitioner’s brief filed with the high court.

The school board introduced books that featured transgender and non-binary characters and storylines, according to the brief. 

The parents’ coalition stated in its brief that the Board “initially honored parental opt-outs in accordance with its own Guidelines and Maryland law” after parents raised concerns over the new curriculum. After the board issued a public statement in line with this stance, the petitioners stated that the board “reversed course” without prior notice. 

“Without explanation, it announced that beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, ‘[s]tudents and families may not choose to opt out’ and will not be informed when ‘books are read,’” the brief reads. 

SCOTUS RULINGS THIS TERM COULD STRENGTHEN RELIGIOUS RIGHTS PROTECTIONS, EXPERT SAYS

The school board introduced books that featured transgender and non-binary characters and storylines, according to the brief.  (Becket)

The parents sued the school board, arguing that the denial of notice and opt-outs “violated the Free Exercise Clause by overriding their freedom to direct the religious upbringing of their children and by burdening their religious exercise via policies that are not neutral or generally applicable,” petitioners wrote. 

The parents cited Wisconsin v. Yoder, a 1972 Supreme Court case, to support their argument. In Yoder, the Court held that a state law requiring children to attend school past eighth grade violated the parents’ constitutional rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to direct their children’s religious upbringings.

Stanberry says that while this case is much narrower than Yoder, the issue at hand is “a right parents have had from the Supreme Court for over 50 years.” 

The school board argued in its brief, “The record contains no evidence that teachers have been or will be ‘directed’ or ‘instructed’ to inject any views about gender or sexuality into classroom discussions about the storybooks.” 

The school board writes that the storybooks were “offered as an option for literature circles, book clubs, or reading groups; or used for read-alouds.” 

“Teachers are not required to use any of the storybooks in any given lesson, and were not provided any associated mandatory discussion points, classroom activities, or assignments,” the brief continued. 

The lower court denied the parents’ motion, finding that they could not show “‘that the no-opt-out policy burdens their religious exercise.'”

On appeal to the Fourth Circuit, the appeals court affirmed the district court’s decision, with the majority holding that the parents had not shown how the policy violated the First Amendment.

SUPREME COURT APPEARS LIKELY TO SIDE WITH CATHOLIC CHURCH AND TRUMP IN KEY RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION CASE

The case comes at a time when President Donald Trump and his administration have prioritized educational and DEI-related reform upon starting his second term. (Getty Images)

Despite the lower court proceedings, Stanberry shared they are “hopeful and excited” as the high court considers the case. 

“We think this court will really consider the case,” Stanberry said ahead of Tuesday’s arguments. “Obviously, I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t predict how it’s going to come out, but we’re feeling good going into it.” 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the school board said its policy “is grounded in our commitment to provide an appropriate classroom environment for all of our students,” saying the board believes “a curriculum that fosters respect for people of different backgrounds does not burden the free exercise of religion.” 

“Based on established law, as discussed in our brief and by our counsel at today’s argument, we believe the Supreme Court can and should affirm the lower courts’ rulings,” Liliana López, Public Information Officer for the public schools, said. “Regardless of the outcome, we are grateful for the opportunity to have our case heard by the highest court in the land. We await the Court’s decision.”

The case comes at a time when President Donald Trump and his administration have prioritized educational and DEI-related reform upon starting his second term. The Supreme Court has notably also heard oral arguments this past term in other religious liberty and gender-related suits. 

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“I think that this case could be seen as people of faith coming forward and saying, ‘Hey, we want to be accommodated in this pluralistic society. So, I think it’s coming at an opportune moment,” Stanberry said. 

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in mid-January during its 2024-2025 term.

Fox News’ Bill Mears, Shannon Bream, and Kristine Parks contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump has repeatedly teased a 2028 run for a third term in the White House, which is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

Now a new poll indicates Americans are far from thrilled with the prospect.

“It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve, not once but twice or three times or four times,” Trump said at rally in Nevada in late January, less than a week after his inauguration to his second term as president.

TRUMP TEASES A THIRD TERM: ‘NOT JOKING’

President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

After joking that his comment would make headlines, Trump clarified that “no, it will be to serve twice.”

But Trump’s comments were far from a one-off, as he’s continued to flirt with a 2028 re-election run.

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The president said in an interview late last month that he is “not joking” about making another run for the Oval Office. 

A new poll suggests most Americans don’t want President Donald Trump to try to seek a third term in the White House. (Pool via AP)

“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”

POLL POSITION: HOW TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATINGS COMPARE TO HIS PRESIDENTIAL PREDECESSORS

Standing in Trump’s way is the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which was ratified in 1951. The amendment prevents individuals from serving more than two terms as president. It was ratified after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as president for four terms. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, was elected four straight times as president, inspiring the constitutional amendment that restricts presidents to two terms. (Getty Images)

Public opinion is also clear.

Three-quarters of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos national survey conducted April 16-21 and released on Monday said Trump should not run for a third term.

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And while the Republican president’s grip over the GOP is stronger than ever, even a majority of Republicans questioned in the poll, 53%, said Trump shouldn’t seek a third term.

The poll, which questioned 4,306 U.S. adults, had an overall sampling error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report

The tract of political land where Democrats reside is unique.

It’s not the same political street address where they took up shop in 1995 after losing the House and Senate to the “Republican Revolution” of 1994 – which flipped control of the House to the GOP for the first time in 40 years. They still held the presidency then with President Bill Clinton.

It’s not the same zip code after the legendary House blowout in 2010 where they dropped an historic 63 seats. President Barack Obama remained in the White House.

It’s even a different electoral co-op for Democrats compared to 2016, when President Donald Trump unexpectedly prevailed over Hillary Clinton, winning in the Electoral College. Democrats controlled neither the House nor Senate in 2017. But a lack of support for Trump in Congress and his inexperience at governance undercut sizable portions of his legislative agenda.

DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR IGNITES CIVIL WAR, TARGETING ‘ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL’ INCUMBENTS IN PRIMARIES

President Donald Trump and DNC vice chair David Hogg (AP/IMAGN)

Fast-forward to 2025.

President Trump is back in the White House – this time after winning the popular vote and Electoral College, scoring a decisive knockout over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans clung to power in the House and flipped the Senate. And the political real estate Democrats now occupy is a very foreign locale. They’re out of power in Washington. But President Trump returned to power resoundingly and emboldened. And this time, congressional Republicans – MAGA Republicans – stand foursquare behind Mr. Trump.

So it’s natural there’s Democratic infighting about what went wrong, who deserves blame and, more importantly, what direction the party should take next.

Here’s the schism:

Younger, more progressive Democrats are trying to weed out senior lawmakers and power brokers who have been in office for years.

Let’s start with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. She’s the best known of younger, energetic, left-leaning Democrats. She’s also the most-experienced figure in the Democrats’ youth movement. Ocasio-Cortez arrived on the scene, upsetting former Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in a 2018 primary.

“We got them on their back foot. We’ve got them scared,” said Ocasio-Cortez recently about MAGA-aligned Republicans.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Los Angeles on April 12, 2025. (Sam Ghazi/Middle East Images/Middle East Images via AFP)

They’re brash.

“Let’s go kick some a–! Let’s go win our young people back,” thundered 25-year-old Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chairman David Hogg.

And they’re blunt about Democratic errors and missteps.

“What if we didn’t suck?” asked 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, the Democratic Illinois congressional candidate and TikTok influencer.

SEN. VAN HOLLEN POURS COLD WATER ON ‘MARGARITA-GATE’ PHOTO-OP AFTER EL SALVADOR TRIP: ‘NOBODY DRANK ANY’

Younger Democrats are trying to banish party veterans.

“We’ have to have a whole rebrand of the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. “New leaders. Not the old guard.”

Rep. Ro Khanna during a roundtable on Supreme Court ethics in Washington on June 11, 2024. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Hogg is now spending $20 million to coax younger Democrats to primary longtime congressional incumbents.

“What we’re trying to do here is not just focus on primaries where there’s potentially an older incumbent. But more than anything, an ineffective person in that position. And replace with a generational leader,” said Hogg on MSNBC.

Abughazaleh is primarying 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who is progressive. But she first came to Congress in 1998. She’s been a member of the House of Representatives longer than Abughazaleh has been alive.

“You have to look to the exceptions for real leadership, as the majority work from an outdated playbook. We need a makeover,” said Abughazaleh.

But devouring your own is risky.

“Beating the other side is more important to many voters [rather] than who exactly is representing your own team,” said University of Mary Washington political scientist Stephen Farnsworth.

David Hogg speaks during the state Democratic Party Convention in El Paso, Texas, on June 7, 2024. (Gaby Velasquez/El Paso Times/USA Today Network)

But Farnsworth concedes that unrest brews on the Democratic side of the aisle.

“What we’re talking about here is a pretty powerful, generational clash within the Democratic Party over how to aggressively challenge President Trump,” said Farnsworth. “The Democratic Party has to figure out where the sweet spot is. You have to be energized enough to motivate those voters who might stay at home.”

Some top political handicappers like Nate Silver now believe that Ocasio-Cortez could be the odds-on favorite to emerge as the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nominee.

Now 35 years old, the New York Democrat is old enough to become president. Ocasio-Cortez has kept busy during the congressional recess by barnstorming the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the 83-year-old former Democratic presidential candidate.

“We’re here together because of an extreme concentration of power, greed and corruption which is taking over this country like never before,” Ocasio-Cortez declared during a whistlestop in Missoula, Montana.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S FAVORABLE RATINGS DROP TO HISTORIC LOWS

So Democrats are searching for a toe-hold against the president. Younger voters favored Democrats for years. But a Fox News voter analysis found a staggering 11-point spike in voters under age 30 favoring Trump in 2024 compared with 2020.

“In the 2024 election, Democrats lost a lot of voters who had voted for Biden four years ago. Some of them went to Trump,” said Farnsworth. “It seems to me that a more aggressive messaging strategy is certainly one way of connecting with voters who didn’t feel as warmly toward the Democrats in 2024 as they did in 2020.”

Republicans found themselves at a loss in late 2012. They were perhaps overconfident that they were going to blow out President Obama. Republicans retreated to backrooms in Washington to conduct an “autopsy” about reaching out to minorities and retrenching the party. The party didn’t rely on the findings of that postmortem much. Republicans held the House and finally flipped the Senate after they tried to get control dating back to 2006.

Former President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024. (Reuters/Alyssa Pointer)

FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOWCASES MASSIVE HAUL

Republicans also won the House in 2010 after Obama’s big 2008 victory. In 2009, many Republicans felt it was best if the GOP took a couple of cycles to retrench their bench and agenda during the echoes of the presidency of George W. Bush. But Republicans found themselves in control of the House following the 2010 midterms. The party was more than happy to be back in power in the House. They viewed their victory as a repudiation of Obama and the policies of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. But, nonetheless, this was a strange piece of political landholdings to acquire for the GOP in 2010. In politics, you sometimes “inherit” property.

We don’t know what the political real estate market will look like in 2026. But Democrats now occupy a remote, unfamiliar province. Democrats are trying to map and navigate this alien territory.

But the key with any piece of real estate is how you use it. Do you build on it? Do you rent it out? Do you grow crops?

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Democrats are trying to determine if drifting further to the left helps them use this particular land tract. Does cultivating youth boost them at the polls? Democrats are surveying their turf. Taking measurements. Understanding the topography and geology.

We’ll know in November 2026 if Democrats successfully converted their property into something useful. Or if it’s a total wreck and undesirable.

The House GOP’s elections arm is offering to foot the bill for any future Democratic lawmakers’ trips to El Salvador after multiple progressive lawmakers traveled there in protest of the Trump administration’s deportation policies.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) made the public offering on Monday – but any takers have to provide real-time video evidence of the visit.

“If out-of-touch House Democrats are so desperate to cozy up to violent gang members, the least they can do is let Americans watch the show,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said. 

“We’ll pay for the plane tickets, they just can’t forget to smile for the camera while they sell out their constituents.”

KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA SUSPECTED OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN REPORT OBTAINED BY FOX NEWS

Reps. Maxine Dexter, Robert Garcia and Maxwell A. Frost have traveled to El Salvador. (Getty)

Progressive Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was in El Salvador last week, where he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant married to an American citizen. The administration says Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member with a violent history.

Democrats, in contrast, have painted him as a Maryland father and husband wrongfully deported under the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration plans. 

Four House Democrats – Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., and Maxine Dexter, D-Ore. – are currently in El Salvador with Abrego Garcia’s family lawyer in an effort to secure his release. 

Frost told Fox News host Will Cain on Monday that they had not been able to meet with him.

In their press release announcing the trip, the group said it was not funded by taxpayer dollars, though it did not say how it was funded.

OREGON LAWMAKER LATEST DEMOCRAT TO VISIT EL SALVADOR FOR DEPORTED ILLEGAL MIGRANT ABREGO GARCIA

Rep. Richard Hudson is chair of the NRCC. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

It comes amid President Donald Trump’s standoff with the courts over his administration’s deportation of suspected Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gang members to El Salvador.

Democrats and human rights groups argue that the White House is denying due process rights to deported individuals, while supporters say the illegal immigrants’ hearings and deportation orders are sufficient evidence of due process.

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision earlier this month that ordered the Trump administration to arrange Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. The court ordered the U.S. “to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to tie Democrats to suspected criminals being deported to an El Salvador prison – particularly after border security and immigration proved potent issues for the GOP in the 2024 elections.

SEN VAN HOLLEN POURS COLD WATER ON ‘MARGARITA-GATE’ PHOTO-OP AFTER EL SALVADOR TRIP

Illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia has become a flashpoint in the political standoff. (Fox news)

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The NRCC’s Senate counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), released a video on X with a message to Democrats: “¡Bienvenidos a El Salvador Senate Dems! Democrats should feel free to make their trip to hang out with MS-13 gangbangers one-way.”

The 40-second video is a vacation-style clip advertising El Salvador as “the destination for Democrats seeking the thrill of bringing violent criminal illegal aliens back to America.”

“Come witness Trump Derangement Syndrome in its purest form,” the voiceover says. “So, what are you waiting for, Senate Democrats?”

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its plan to rework the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, an online database used by law enforcement to identify the noncitizen status of individuals in the U.S.

DHS shared exclusive details with Fox News Digital Tuesday, which include eliminating fees for database searches, streamlining mass immigration status checks, integrating criminal records, and creating a “user-friendly interface” to “prevent non-citizens from exploiting taxpayer benefits of voting illegally.”

The SAVE program, established in 1987, allows local law enforcement officials and various government agencies to input biographic info as well as noncitizen documentation such as I-94 number, SEVIS ID, or Alien number, to pull up immigration information on related individuals.

LEAVITT GOES OFF ON DEMOCRAT FOR TAXPAYER-FUNDED TRIP TO SUPPORT DEPORTED SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits the Mariposa Port of Entry, March 15, 2025, in Nogales, Arizona. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“Illegal aliens have exploited outdated systems to defraud Americans and taint our elections,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “This revamped SAVE system ensures government officials can swiftly verify statuses, halting entitlement and voter fraud.”

DHS will work alongside the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to maximize the effectiveness and update the program.

FLORIDA HALTS MIGRANT ARRESTS AFTER JUDGE REBUKES STATE OVER IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agents detain an immigrant on Oct. 14, 2015, in Los Angeles. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The move to overhaul the SAVE program comes after the Trump administration sparred with federal judges on mass deportations. Most recently, the Supreme Court halted the administration’s removal of Venezuelan migrants under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.

The highest court, however, did not issue a full stop. Rather, the ruling stated that Venezuelan migrants held in a Texas detention center are not to be removed “until further order of this court.”

MORE THAN 500K IMMIGRANTS MISSED THEIR COURT HEARINGS ON BIDEN’S WATCH: ANALYSIS

Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations agents seized 794 pounds of cocaine on June 1, 2022. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Twitter)

Justice Samual Alito, who offered the dissenting opinion on the decision, stated that the “Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule, without hearing from the opposing party, within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order.”

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The number of migrant encounters at the borders has fallen dramatically under President Donald Trump.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s poll numbers in his home state of New York are taking a hit.

The top Senate Democrat and longtime lawmaker faced intense backlash from within his own party in March for supporting a Republican-crafted federal government funding bill that averted a government shutdown and was backed by President Donald Trump but opposed by most congressional Democrats.

That anger by Democrats appears to be reflected in a new poll of New Yorkers conducted by Siena College.

Schumer’s favorable rating stands at 39% favorable and 49% unfavorable among New York state voters questioned in the poll, which was conducted April 14-16 and released on Tuesday.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s favorable ratings are underwater in a new poll of New York state voters conducted by Siena College. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

It’s the worst showing by Schumer in the 20 years Siena College has been conducting polls in New York state.

“A first in a Siena College poll: Schumer is 10 points underwater, with a plurality of voters viewing him unfavorably,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.

Fueling the deterioration of Schumer’s numbers is a plunge in favorability among Democrats.

PROGRESSIVE LEADER SAYS SCHUMER FACES ‘UPHILL CLIMB’ TO WIN BACK DEMOCRATS’ TRUST

“While he continues to be viewed unfavorably by more than two-thirds of Republicans and a majority of independents, Schumer saw his standing with Democrats, particularly liberals, fall dramatically,” Greenberg said. “Democrats view Schumer favorably 52-38%, down from 68-23%, and he’s still viewed favorably by a plurality of liberals, 47-41%, but that’s down from 68-21%.”

While the poll shows that Schumer’s favorable ratings are taking a hit, it also indicates that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s numbers are soaring.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has seen her favorable ratings rise among Empire State voters, according to a new poll by Siena College. (Fox News )

Ocasio-Cortez, the four-term Democrat from New York City and a progressive champion, stands at 47% favorable and 33% unfavorable among New York state voters. That’s a jump from 38%-39% the last time Siena asked about Ocasio-Cortez among a statewide sample of respondents, four years ago.

According to the poll, 64% of Democrats view Ocasio-Cortez in a favorable light, more than Schumer or Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Six in 10 Republicans questioned in the poll view Ocasio-Cortez in a negative way, with independents evenly divided.

BERNIE SANDERS, AOC, AND OTHER ANTI-TRUMP PROGRESSIVES HAUL IN BIG BUCKS

Schumer has repeatedly argued that voting to advance the GOP federal funding bill was the best of two bad options and a government shutdown would have given more power to Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, the president’s special White House advisor who’s aggressively chopping the federal workforce as he steers DOGE.

While facing calls by fellow Democrats to be more vocal in his opposition to Trump, Schumer to date has kept his control of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

While the Senate minority leader isn’t up for re-election until 2028, there are already suggestions that Ocasio-Cortez could wage a primary challenge against Schumer, with some early polling suggesting that she would top him.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is running for re-election in 2026, has seen both her approval and favorability ratings rise, according to a new poll of Empire State voters run by Siena College. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Hochul, who is running next year for a second four-year term as New York governor, is enjoying a rise in her approval and favorable ratings, according to the poll.

The governor’s approval rating stands at 48%-45%, up from 46%-48% in Siena College’s March poll. 

And Hochul’s favorable ratings now stand at 44%-43%, up from 40%-50% last month.

While only 39% of voters are prepared to re-elect Hochul in 2026 – with 48% saying they would like to see “someone else” – her standing is an improvement from March, when only 34% wanted to see her re-elected and 56% preferred someone else.

Greenberg noted that when it comes to the governor’s approval and favorable ratings, “Hochul improved most among upstate and women voters.”

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Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler, and Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman, are all considering launching GOP campaigns for governor against Hochul.

Pointing to the latest poll results from Siena, Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Kevin Donohoe argued, “New Yorkers strongly support Governor Hochul’s leadership because she is fighting to get results on the priorities that matter to them – from public safety to lowering costs.”

House Democrats who traveled to El Salvador to seek the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding “daily proof of life” after being denied a meeting with the Salvadoran national who was deported from Maryland. 

Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine Dexter of Oregon flew to El Salvador Monday following a visit to the country by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., last week.  

“We had a meeting this morning with the embassy here in El Salvador and from what we have heard there is no reason for me to believe that our administration, the Trump administration, is doing anything to facilitate his safe return home,” Ansari said. 

“Since we were not able to get the answers we need today from the embassy, we have written a letter, just as of 30 minutes ago, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding daily proof of life for Mr. Abrego Garcia, demanding he sees – he has access to counsel, and of course, finally, demanding his safe return home,” she added. “And we will not stop until this is complete.” 

REPUBLICAN SENATOR SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEPORTING KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA WAS A ‘SCREW-UP’ 

Rep. Robert Garcia speaks to the media about Kilmar Abrego Garcia at a hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Monday, April 21. (AP/Salvador Melendez)

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old immigrant who crossed the border illegally, settled in Maryland and obtained protected legal status, was deported to El Salvador last month. Officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

Frost said Monday that the traveling Democrats “formally requested” to meet with Abrego Garcia but “we were told at our meeting that the government here has denied our request to see him because this is not an official trip.”

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“We are also worried about our own constituents; we represent people across the entire nation,” Frost told reporters in El Salvador. “We are getting hundreds and hundreds of calls – people saying ‘Go to El Salvador, do something, do something about the fact that president of the United States in the Oval Office is talking about sending U.S. citizens here to El Salvador to the prison here.'”

ABREGO GARCIA TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON 

This undated photo provided by Murray Osorio PLLC shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Murray Osorio PLLC via AP)

“We don’t want to wait until things get worse. We are here to build off of the work of Sen. Van Hollen, who heroically came down here and showed his family and the world for the first time since he was taken down here, that he is alive, that he was alive and he was well at that time,” he added. “What we want to know is where is he at now? What is his condition now? His family deserves to know, the people deserve to know.” 

Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez, a U.S. citizen, released a statement Monday saying “we’re deeply grateful to the members of Congress and advocates for justice now on the ground in El Salvador, building on the leadership of Senator Van Hollen.” 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Sen. Van Hollen in El Salvador last week. (X/@ChrisVanHollen)

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“Their presence sends a powerful message: the fight to bring Kilmar home isn’t over,” she said. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Tyler Olson contributed to this report. 

The Vatican and White House have for decades kept a close relationship, with various popes and presidents meeting in the nation’s capital and in Vatican City across the years. 

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, following years of health issues, including chronic lung disease. Francis was the head of the Roman Catholic Church from 2013 until his death, and had met with three U.S. presidents across his tenure. 

Francis’ last high-profile meeting with a U.S. leader was held just hours before his death, when Vice President JD Vance traveled to Italy for the Easter holiday and met with the pope on the most holy day for Christians. 

“I know you’ve not been feeling great, but it’s good see you in better health,” Vance told the pontiff Sunday. 

FAITH LEADERS REFLECT ON POPE FRANCIS’ DEATH, PAPACY AND LASTING LEGACY: ‘MADE HIS MARK’

A person holds a portrait of late Pope Francis at the Basílica de San José de Flores, where he worshipped as a youth, following the Vatican’s announcement of his death, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Gustavo Garello/AP)

“I pray for you every day,” Vance said. “God bless you.”

Following Francis’ death, Fox News Digital took a look back on high-profile meetings and friendships the Vatican and White House have forged across the years. 

Reagan and Pope John Paul II look to thwart communism 

Amid the Cold War in 1982 – just years before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 – President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met at the Vatican.

PHOTO GALLERY: POPE FRANCIS THROUGH THE YEARS

Pope John Paul II greets President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, on their visit to the Vatican. (Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

The meeting marked the first time a president and pope met alone behind closed doors, a 1982 article detailing the visit reported, and came roughly a year after both had survived assassination attempts just weeks apart in 1981. The meeting marked the beginning of the pair’s close friendship as they worked to defeat the growing threat of communism on the world stage. 

Two years later, the pair met again in Fairbanks, Alaska, where they delivered messages of peace in a world on the edge as tensions between the communist Eastern Bloc and the capitalist Western Bloc flared. 

“In a violent world, Your Holiness, you have been a minister of peace and love. Your words, your prayers, your example have made you – for those who suffer oppression or the violence of war – a source of solace, inspiration, and hope,” Reagan said. “For this historic ministry the American people are grateful to you, and we wish you every encouragement in your journeys for peace and understanding in the world.”

The two world leaders’ friendship was rooted in their disgust of communism, socialism and atheism that had gripped the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The pope and the Reagan administration worked closely to promote the Solidarity labor movement in Poland, John Paul II’s home country, which encouraged citizens to reject communism in the satellite state of the USSR, the Associated Press previously reported. 

President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II meet, along with U.S. and Vatican officials, at Fairbanks International Airport on May 2, 1984, in Alaska. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

The Vatican has denied a formal alliance with the U.S. during the promotion of the Solidarity labor movement, but has said in more recent years that Pope John Paul II and Reagan shared a common goal of fighting totalitarianism, the Associated Press reported in 2004. 

REAGAN, JOHN PAUL II UNITED IN PURPOSE

In 1989, Poland became the first country in the Eastern bloc to hold semi-free elections, which resulted in a resounding win for the Solidarity movement and led to the dissolution of the communist government in Poland. The win had a domino effect on other nations as 1989 became known as the year communism fell, including the destruction of the Berlin Wall later that year and the eventual end to the Soviet Union in 1991. 

President Ronald Reagan sits with Pope John Paul II in Vizcaya Mansion. (Diana Walker/Getty Images)

“Pope John Paul II and President Reagan worked together to bring an end to atheistic Soviet communism,” former Republican Gov. Scott Walker wrote in a 2020 Washington Times op-ed of Reagan and Pope John Paul II. “The two had a divine plan to stop the Soviet empire that was engaged in a war on religion and individual liberties. The work of a pope and a president helped bring about the collapse of communism and yielded more freedom and opportunity for people all over the world.”

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president, and Pope Benedict XV met in 1919. (Getty Images)

Wilson becomes first president to meet with pope

Democrat Woodrow Wilson in 1919 became the first U.S. president to meet with a pontiff, opening the doors to normalizing an open line of communication between Washington and Vatican City. 

Wilson was traveling in Europe following the end of World War I and “called upon his Holiness Pope Benedict XV,” according to an article published in America, a Catholic magazine, that year. 

VANCE WAS ONE OF POPE FRANCIS’ LAST VISITORS

“The President’s arrival was announced by the Master of the Chamber to the Pope, who awaited Mr. Wilson in the Throne Room,” the magazine reported at the time. “The President was admitted immediately to the presence of the Holy Father, who welcomed him most cordially. They spent about a half hour together. It is not, of course, officially known what were the subjects which they discussed.” 

The meeting, which came at a time of ongoing anti-Catholic sentiment stemming from the influx of Catholic immigrants at the turn of the century, set the standard for presidents forging relationships with the Vatican – though such meetings did not become normalized until decades later. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower at an audience with Pope John XXIII, together with an official and his daughter-in-law Barbara Eisenhower Thompson, Vatican City, December 1959. (Mondadori via Getty Images)

Eisenhower meets with Pope John XXIII

Presidents meeting with the pope did not become common until 1959, when President Dwight Eisenhower visited Pope John XXIII while on a tour of various countries, including Italy, Office of the Historian documents show. 

The second meeting between a pope and president set a new tradition. 

Every president since Eisenhower has met with the current pope, totaling 32 meetings both in the U.S. and in Vatican City since 1959, Fox Digital found. 

Pope John Paul II is welcomed to the White House by President Jimmy Carter. (Michael Norcia/Sygma via Getty Images)

First papal visit to the White House 

It wasn’t until 1979, during President Jimmy Carter’s administration, that the pontiff traveled to Washington and joined the president for a meeting at the White House. 

Pope John Paul II was invited to the White House amid his first papal pilgrimage to the United States in 1979, when he was well-received by U.S. Catholics and nicknamed “John Paul, Superstar” by Time magazine due to the lage crowds he drew amid his visits to Boston, New York and Denver. 

POPE FRANCIS’ VIEWS ON BUSINESS, THE ECONOMY THROUGH THE YEARS

“Sharing the belief that respect for human rights and the dignity of the individual must be the cornerstone of the domestic and international policies of nations, the Pope and the President underlined their support for international covenants on human rights and for international organizations and entities which serve the cause of human rights,” the Carter administration said in a statement at the time of the visit. “They agreed that the international community must mobilize its concern and resources to deal with the problems of refugees, to protect human rights, and to prevent hunger and famine.”

A pope visiting the White House has been rarer than a president visiting the Vatican. Pope Benedict visited the White House in 2008 when he celebrated his 81st birthday with President George W. Bush, and Francis traveled to the White House in 2015 and met with President Barack Obama. Other popes have not met a president at the White House. 

Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017, in Vatican City. (Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

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President Donald Trump, who had clashed with Pope Francis on environmental and political policies, is slated to travel to Vatican City later this week to attend the pope’s funeral Mass. 

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” the president posted Monday to Truth Social. 

President Donald Trump endorsed Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., calling the lawmaker “a Great Man, and TREMENDOUS Senator” in a post on Truth Social.

“I love Montana, won every one of my Races there by a landslide, and would only recommend the best to represent you in the Senate!” the president declared. 

“Senator Steve Daines, of the Great State of Montana, has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”

TRUMP CAN USE TARIFFS AS ‘IMPORTANT LEVERAGE,’ SAYS SEN. STEVE DAINES

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., at the National Republican Senatorial Committee building on June 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Daines served as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair prior to current chair, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

“As Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Steve worked tirelessly with me in the last Election to help elect smart, tough, and sincere America First Patriots. In the Senate, Steve is fighting hard to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes, Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Support our Military/Vets, Unleash American Energy Dominance, Restore PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump declared in his post.

NRSC CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY GOP SENATE SEATS HE’S GUNNING FOR DURING 2026 MIDTERMS

Daines, who has served in the Senate since 2015, thanked Trump for the endorsement.

“I’m honored to have your support as we fight to protect Montana values, secure our border, cut taxes, and Make America Great Again! Together, we’ll deliver results for our state and nation,” Daines noted in a tweet. 

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., also backed Daines for re-election.

US SENATOR BLASTS PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, SAYS TOXIC SEWAGE DUMP THREATENS ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., at the National Republican Senatorial Committee building on June 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“Steve Daines is a champion for the America First agenda and hardworking Montanans. Working with President Trump, he helped deliver our Republican Senate majority and is fighting to cut taxes, secure the border, unleash American energy, and lower costs for families in The Treasure State,” Sheehy said in a post on X.

“I’m proud to join @realDonaldTrump in endorsing my friend @SteveDaines so he can keep fighting for Montana,” the senator noted.

More than half a million immigrants failed to show up for their immigration court hearings under former President Joe Biden.

Between Fiscal Year 2022, the first full year of the Biden administration, and the end of December 2024, immigration judges issued more than 507,000 in absentia removal orders, or removal orders for those who failed to show up for their immigration hearings, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).

The number represented a 45% increase in such cases compared to the previous seven years under former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump’s first term, the analysis found, despite that period being more than double the timeframe.

ALITO BLASTS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ SCOTUS MOVE TO HALT TRUMP’S VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS: ‘LEGALLY QUESTIONABLE’

Over 500,000 immigrants skipped out on immigration hearings during former President Joe Biden’s term in office. (Photo by Katie McTiernan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images  |   Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images )

“Those 500,000-plus no-shows are a symptom of the Biden administration’s effort to deliberately break our immigration system, and it will now take years to get that system back on track,” said CIS’s Andrew R. Arthur in the report.

At issue, according to Arthur, was the Biden administration’s “refusal” to detain illegal immigrants when they were initially encountered at the border by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), releasing the “vast majority” of them with a Notice To Appear in immigration court.

But such migrants are the most likely to skip out on court proceedings, Arthur argued.

“It is axiomatic under immigration law that aliens who aren’t likely to merit relief are less likely to appear in court if they are released — which is why Congress required DHS to detain the ones encountered by CBP at the border and the ports,” Arthur said.

ACLU APPEALS TO SUPREME COURT TO STOP VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS; BOASBERG HOLDS EMERGENCY HEARING FRIDAY NIGHT

 US President Joe Biden speaks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as he visits the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on January 8, 2023.  (Jim Watson/AFP)

Under current immigration law, immigrants encountered by CBP officers and Border Patrol agents that do not have proper admission documents are subject to expedited removal, which does entitle those immigrants to a hearing in front of an immigration judge, unless they show a credible fear of harm if they were to be returned to their country of origin, the CIS report notes.

Those subject to expedited removal are required to be detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the report adds, something that was not happening under the Biden administration.

Such disregard for that rule led to “inevitable” results, Arthur argued, including the massive number of missed immigration court hearings.

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

“The half-million-plus aliens who failed to appear in immigration court over the past four years are just one more inevitable result of the Biden administration’s refusal to comply with our immigration laws,” Arthur said. “They are a symptom of a deliberately broken system, one that will linger on the courts’ dockets for years to come.”

A recently departed top Pentagon aide goaded President Donald Trump to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from his Cabinet, describing “total chaos” and “dysfunction” within the top brass of the military. 

“The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership,” John Ullyot, a former senior communications official for the Pentagon, wrote in an op-ed for Politico published on Sunday. 

“Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”

Ullyot departed the Pentagon’s public affairs office last week because he did not want to be second-in-command to chief spokesperson Sean Parnell. 

AXED PENTAGON AIDES CLAIM THEIR CHARACTER WAS ‘SLANDERED,’ LITTLE DETAILS WERE SHARED ABOUT LEAK INVESTIGATION

Top Pentagon aide John Ullyot goaded President Donald Trump to remove Sec. Pete Hegseth from his Cabinet, describing “total chaos” and “dysfunction” within the top brass of the military (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

On Friday, the Pentagon fired three Hegseth aides – Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick – three of the secretary’s “most loyal” advisers, according to Ullyot. He called the purge “strange” and “baffling.”

Following them out the door is chief of staff Joe Kasper, who the three men frequently found themselves at odds with, three defense officials confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

“In short, the building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.”

He called himself a “strong backer” of Hegseth, but admitted: “The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon – and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration.”

The shake-ups came just as reports broke about a second Signal chat where Hegseth discussed plans to strike Houthis in Yemen, this one allegedly including his wife, brother and personal lawyer.

That chat reportedly discussed flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen – similar information to that shared in the chat of Trump Cabinet members where national security advisor Mike Waltz unintentionally added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. 

“Another day, another old story,” Parnell said in a statement after the latest Signal chat reporting. “There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story.”

PENTAGON’S WEEK OF POWER STRUGGLES: LEAK FALLOUT AND SHOUTING MATCHES HIT HEGSETH’S INNER CIRCLE

Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, pictured left to right. (Concerned Vets/USMC/DOD)

“Unfortunately, after a terrible month, the Pentagon focus is no longer on warfighting, but on endless drama,” Ullyot wrote. 

“The president deserves better than the current mishegoss at the Pentagon. Given his record of holding prior Cabinet leaders accountable, many in the secretary’s own inner circle will applaud quietly if Trump chooses to do the same in short order at the top of the Defense Department.”

Trump allies eviscerated Ullyot on social media after the op-ed was published. 

“This guy is not America First,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X. “I’ve been hearing for years that he works his ass off to subvert my father’s agenda. That ends today. He’s officially exiled from our movement.”

“If you’re echoing Democrat talking points, you no longer support President Trump or his administration. There’s no gray area here,” added Trump advisor Jason Miller. 

The White House, meanwhile, “stands strongly” behind Hegseth, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday. 

“The President stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon,” she said. This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change that you are trying to implement.”

Hegseth brushed off the reporting on the Signal chat Monday, blaming it on “disgruntled employees” and “anonymous smears.” (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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Hegseth also brushed off the reporting on the Signal chat Monday, blaming it on “disgruntled employees” and “anonymous smears.”

“This is why we’re fighting the fake news media,” he said when pressed on the chat by reporters at the White House Easter Egg roll. “This group right here is full of hoaxsters.”