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A new White House memo highlighting the top 10 Supreme Court rulings federal agencies must follow has legal experts optimistic about reining in the administrative state, while some litigators remain skeptical the directive will be enforced.

“Any administration that really cares about making sure that they were following the law should be reviewing regulations,” Carrie Severino, president of Judicial Crisis Network, told Fox News Digital. “We want a government that isn’t just taking every bit of power that it can get away with, but one that wants to make sure the constitutional limits are guarded as well, which is why this memorandum is refreshing and novel in a good way.”

The administration issued a memorandum on April 9 requiring agencies to rescind regulations not in line with 10 recent Supreme Court opinions on proper administrative agency functions. 

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The memo, titled, “President Donald J. Trump Directs Repeal of Regulations That Are Unlawful Under 10 Recent Supreme Court Decisions,” says it is in line with a February executive order seeking to rein in the administrative state. 

The memo lists various Supreme Court cases aligned with Trump’s deregulatory agenda as well as the administration’s efforts to get rid of DEI initiatives. Among the cases listed are Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, West Virginia vs. EPA, and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. 

The memo, titled, “President Donald J. Trump Directs Repeal of Regulations That Are Unlawful Under 10 Recent Supreme Court Decisions,” says it is in line with a February executive order seeking to rein in the administrative state. (Pool)

Both Loper Bright and West Virginia notably narrowed executive agencies’ authority in issuing rules and regulations affecting the American public. Likewise, Students for Fair Admissions rejected the use of affirmative action in university admissions. 

“The President is right: agencies must repeal regulations that the Supreme Court has deemed unlawful. The President continues to deliver on his promises to roll back regulations and government overreach crippling American enterprise,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Several of the cases listed are not retroactive, meaning regulations issued prior to these decisions being handed down will not be disturbed as a result of the opinions. However, experts say agencies can re-evaluate previous rules and regulations under the new standards imposed by the Supreme Court opinions.

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“I think that that is good fodder, a good basis for a lot of agencies to go back and look, ‘Where have we created massive regulatory compliance burdens and structures that massively impact the economy or society on the basis of a very thin thread and where can we undo it?'” Daniel Huff, senior legal fellow at the American Path Initiative, told Fox News Digital. “And we can point to these elephants and mouse holes and when it’s reviewed in the future, they will say ‘Yes, that is a good rationale’ and it will be upheld.”

Kara Rollins is a lawyer for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, the nonprofit organization that argued Relentless Inc. v. Dept. of Commerce in front of the high court – Loper’s companion case that sought to scale back the reach of the administrative state. Rollins told Fox News Digital the “retrospective look” these agencies will take toward previous regulations is not “misplaced.” 

“The President is right: agencies must repeal regulations that the Supreme Court has deemed unlawful. The President continues to deliver on his promises to roll back regulations and government overreach crippling American enterprise,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital in a statement. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

However, Rollins raised concerns about the administration’s enforcement of the directive, noting that several related cases were already underway before the Supreme Court issued its rulings.

“What happens to these cases that are currently active where DOJ or the agency is just taking the wrong position?” Rollins said. “Who’s looking at that? Who’s clearing out those cases and saying, in light of this memorandum, we’ve looked at our litigation position and we can no longer sustain it? And that’s the real sort of open question, particularly for litigators right now.”

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Rollins said that, as a litigator, her concern is agencies have yet to change positions when it comes to these Supreme Court opinions: “That sort of signals that there is a problem between what the president is saying he wants to have happen and what’s being effectuated on the ground.”

In the memo, Trump directs agencies to employ the Administrative Procedure Act’s “good cause” exception “where appropriate,” which allows agencies to do away with the usual notice-and-comment rulemaking process in the interest of the public. The usual process requires time for public input on the proposed rule. 

The memo lists various Supreme Court cases aligned with Trump’s deregulatory agenda as well as the administration’s efforts to get rid of DEI initiatives. Among the cases listed are Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, West Virginia vs. EPA, and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Huff said there is “less of a need” to impose the regular notice-and-comment rulemaking process given that agencies will likely be reviewing previous rules rather than passing new ones. 

“They’re not adding new burdens. This isn’t new to people,” Huff said. “People already sort of know what’s there and it was there before. And we’re just turning back the clock. We’re putting it back to the way it was. We’re restoring the original status quo.”

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Severino said there could be litigation over the use of the exception despite the fact that the language is “very broad.” 

“But I do think there are strong arguments for it because the laws must keep with the constitutional limits on government, and, of course, be in the public interest.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) vaccine advisory committee will meet on Tuesday for a two-day session to lay out new recommendations, including a proposal to scale back current COVID-19 vaccine guidelines.

Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos of the CDC is expected to present guidance on COVID-19 vaccine use for 2025–2026 and suggest the department adopt a “narrow” recommendation for it, “and only maintain this series for certain populations within these groups who we determine should be vaccinated.”

When polled on April 3, a majority of advisors – 76% – expressed support for a risk-based, rather than universal, COVID-19 vaccination recommendation for the 2025–2026 schedule, up 10% higher from February polling.

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A nurse fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The 70-page presentation outlines three possible policy options for COVID-19 vaccines, including a shift away from recommending annual shots for everyone over 6 months old.

Currently, annual COVID-19 shots are recommended for ages 6 months and older. One proposed policy option would continue the current universal policy, while another would recommend vaccines only for people at higher risk of severe illness, such as older adults, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women and healthcare workers. 

A third option would blend the two, keeping universal recommendations for people 65 and older but limiting shots for younger groups to those at higher risk.

“When initially presented with 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine policy options in November 2024, the Work Group appreciated pros and cons of both risk-based and universal vaccine recommendations,” Panagiotakopoulos wrote. “At that time, there was not yet a consensus on what the recommendation for the 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine should be. The Work Group requested additional information to help inform the decision-making process on risk-factors for severe COVID-19, transmission and immunity, vaccine implementation and access, and cost-effectiveness.”

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Getty Images)

The presentation will also propose how to define “increased risk,” looking at both health factors and increased exposure, like living in long-term care facilities or working in high-contact jobs.

The two-day meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will examine information for members to vote on as official recommendations, which will then be passed on to the CDC for consideration in June.

The end of the presentation will include discussion questions about the pros and cons of a universal vs. risk-based COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for 2025 to 2026. Key discussion points include whether any groups should be excluded from vaccination, what data is still needed to guide decisions, and whether a risk-based approach makes sense if most people are already considered “at risk.”

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In this photo illustration, a syringe and an illustrative vial with the COVID-19 vaccine are seen in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo. ( Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

According to the CDC, the vaccine committee’s agenda will also include a session about the measles outbreak and an update “on literature related to reduced number of doses for HPV vaccine.”

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Members of the committee will vote on Wednesday on recommendations for the Meningococcal Vaccines, Meningococcal Vaccines VFC, RSV Adult and the Chikungunya Vaccines.

The meeting comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is overseeing a major reorganization of the CDC. Plans include transferring non-infectious disease-related divisions to the Administration for a Healthy America to focus on chronic disease management. This move follows significant downsizing under President Donald Trump’s directive, which has already reduced the CDC workforce by roughly 4,000 people.

EXCLUSIVE: The chairman of the largest House GOP caucus is using Tax Day to send a warning about the financial strain American families could face next year if Republicans fail in their plans for a massive conservative policy overhaul.

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that millions of Americans could see their taxes increase by as much as one-fifth if Congress does not pass a budget reconciliation bill extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

“If Democrats get their way and let these tax cuts expire, Americans will be crushed by the largest tax hike in history – a 22% increase hitting 40 million families and 26 million small businesses,” Pfluger said. 

“It’s time to lock in these historic tax cuts permanently to boost job creation, fuel America’s economic engine, and protect family budgets from the Left’s tax-and-spend agenda.”

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President Donald Trump arrives to speak on his policy to end taxes on tips in Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The RSC acts as the House GOP’s de facto conservative think tank and has more than 175 members. Pfluger reiterated that the group is “fighting to make President Trump’s historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, so families can keep more of their hard-earned money instead of sending it to the IRS.”

Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, chair of the RSC budget task force, said extending the TCJA and enacting Trump’s other tax policy initiatives would help the U.S. become “the most advantageous country in which to invest, relocate, or expand a business” as well as helping families and businesses domestically.

“These vital, pro-growth tax reforms will work alongside our efforts to slash federal regulations and bureaucracy to empower economic expansion and financial security for the American people and our job creators,” she said.

Tax reform is a cornerstone of Republicans’ efforts on reconciliation, a mechanism that allows the party controlling the major levers of government to enact sweeping fiscal and budgetary changes. It does so by lowering the Senate’s threshold for advancing legislation from 60 votes to 51, provided the matters in the bill deal with taxes, spending and the national debt.

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Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger is pushing to extend Trump’s tax cuts. (Getty Images)

In addition to extending the TCJA tax cuts, Trump also wants Republicans to eliminate taxes on tipped and overtime wages, as well as on Social Security benefits for retirees.

House Republicans passed a framework last week to sync up with the Senate on its budget reconciliation bill, which now allows the relevant congressional committees to begin work filling out that framework with policy.

But congressional Republicans have a long road ahead to get a bill passed in both the House and Senate, where their majorities are currently three seats each. The House version calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, while the Senate’s baseline is $4 billion – though Republicans there vowed to strive for more.

Extending TCJA alone would decrease federal revenues by $4.5 trillion, according to the Tax Foundation, and House conservatives are leading the charge in demanding steep government funding cuts to offset that.

The RSC steering group, the group’s leadership arm, released an official position earlier this year calling for reconciliation legislation to be deficit-neutral. 

At the same time, however, failing to extend Trump’s tax cuts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections could have politically devastating consequences, while stoking fears of an economic downturn when compounded with the added cost of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

“If the tax cuts expire, the median family would lose about $1,000,” Kimberly Clausing, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Fox News Digital earlier this month, citing a model from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. 

And if the recently unveiled tariffs continued unabated at the time, “that would generate an average per household consumer loss of $3,800,” she added, pointing to the Yale Budget Lab’s estimate. Trump has since walked back much of his reciprocal tariff policy. 

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The House Ways and Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, released a memo late last year with a similar warning to Pfluger’s on a potential tax hike if TCJA is not extended.

“Congress needs to act swiftly to take this threat of a tax hike off the table and give the American people assurances that the relief they have been demanding has arrived,” the December memo said.

As it aims to defend its razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is off to a fast fundraising start.

The NRCC, which is the House GOP’s campaign arm, announced on Tuesday that it “shattered records” with a $21.5 million fundraising haul last month, which it says was the committee’s best month of an off-year and the best March in NRCC history.

Last month’s fundraising fueled an overall $36.7 million haul during the January-March first quarter of 2025. The NRCC showcased that its fundraising in the past three months was its strongest off-year first quarter, outpacing by nearly $11 million what it brought in during the same period in the 2024 election cycle.

The NRCC also highlighted that it had $23.9 million cash on hand heading into April and that it had paid down its debt to $4.5 million, which it said was ahead of its pace in the 2024 cycle.

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Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“The NRCC is on offense and fueled by unstoppable momentum and widespread support,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella emphasized.

Marinella claimed that “while out of touch House Democrats are fighting amongst themselves, we’re charging toward 2026 with unmatched energy, ready to grow our House majority and continue delivering results for the American people.”

The NRCC’s first-quarter haul does not include the eye-popping $35.2 million it says it brought in at a fundraiser earlier this month in the nation’s capital that was headlined by President Donald Trump. Those funds will be included in the committee’s second quarter figures.

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The rival Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had yet to announce its first quarter fundraising at the time this report was posted. The DCCC outraised the NRCC $11.1 million to $9.2 million in February fundraising.

Republicans currently control the House with a fragile 220-213 majority, with two blue-leaning vacant seats likely to be back in the hands of Democrats when special elections in those districts are held later this year.

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital on April 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Fundraising is a crucial component to the GOP’s game plan to keep control.

When asked what concerns him the most when it comes to defending the House majority, NRCC Chair Rep. Richard Hudson said in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this month that “Democrats have a structural advantage when it comes to fundraising. They always seem to have just mountains of money. So I think the amount of money the Democrats raise is probably the only thing that really concerns me.”

“We have to raise enough money to keep up with the Democrats and make sure that our candidates can get their message out,” Hudson emphasized.

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Hudson, a North Carolina Republican and 12-year veteran of the House, said that “the President understands that he’s got to keep the House majority in the midterm so that he has a four-year runway, instead of a two-year runway to get his agenda enacted.”

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Pointing to the House Democratic leader, Hudson added, “Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would fight President Trump on every front, and it would be really difficult for him to achieve his agenda. President Trump understands it’s important to hold the House and he’s, he’s been extremely helpful to us and we appreciate it.”

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The DCCC is taking aim at nearly three dozen Republican-held seats in the chamber as it aims to win back the majority. Earlier this month, the House Democrats’ campaign arm released its initial 2026 target list, which included 35 GOP-controlled seats, and launched an effort to fundraise for the party’s eventual nominees in each of the districts.

The DCCC emphasized that their moves signal that “Democrats are on offense and poised to win the majority in 2026.”

Former President Joe Biden is expected to deliver what is billed as his first public speech since leaving the Oval Office, delivering the keynote address on Tuesday before the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD). 

“We are deeply honored President Biden is making his first public appearance at ACRD’s sold-out conference,” the group’s executive director, Rachel Buck, said in a press release provided to Fox Digital. The conference will be held in Chicago. 

“As bipartisan leaders have long agreed, Americans who retire after paying into Social Security their whole lives deserve the vital support and caring services they receive. As a result, we are thrilled the President will be joining us to discuss how we can work together for a stable and successful future for Social Security.”

The event is billed as the 46th president’s first public speech since leaving the White House, with the former president expected to address the conference sometime after 5 p.m. ET, Fox Digital learned. Biden, however, has delivered other public remarks since Jan. 20, Fox Digital found, including speaking before the National High School Model United Nations in March, which received little media attention, as well as joining an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers event this month. 

ACRD is an advocacy organization that works to equip “disability professionals with the tools, technology, and training to lead the industry forward,” according to its website. “Our mission is to empower and educate disability representatives by providing comprehensive training, fostering leadership skills, promoting technological proficiency, and offering valuable networking opportunities.” 

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Former President Joe Biden (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden will headline the event, which will focus on strengthening Social Security, and will be joined by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and former Democrat Maryland Gov. and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley, according to the press release.

Blunt reported in comments provided in the press release that discussions on Tuesday will focus on bolstering the Social Security system so it can meet the needs of Americans by “reducing red tape, strengthening claims processing, and ensuring unnecessary spending is eliminated.”

“Social Security is a sacred promise between generations,” O’Malley, who serves as chair of ACRD’s Advisory Board, added in the press release. “It’s a promise that ensures dignity in retirement, security after tragedy, and support for those with disabilities. We are deeply grateful to the President for joining us at ACRD to discuss how we can keep that promise for all Americans.”

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Former President Joe Biden has kept a low profile since his predecessor and successor in office, President Donald Trump, re-entered the White House in January. (Kenny Holston/New York Times/Pool via Getty Images)

Biden has been out of the public’s view since leaving the Oval Office on Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th commander in chief. Biden attended the inauguration and was seen chatting with his successor after offering five family members pardons in the final minutes of his tenure, including to his two brothers and his sister. 

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Biden was slated to face off against Trump for the second time during the 2024 presidential election cycle but dropped out of the running in July as concerns mounted over his mental acuity and age. Biden passed the torch to his then-vice president, Kamala Harris, who failed to rally enough support to defeat Trump after just over 100 days on the campaign trail. 

Biden’s scheduled speech to disability advocates in Chicago on Tuesday is his first public event since leaving the Oval Office in January. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Bidens have been spotted at various events since Trump’s Inauguration Day, including attending the opening night of “Othello” on Broadway last month in New York City and traveling to Santa Barbara County, California, immediately following the end of his administration. 

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Biden has been spending his days in both Delaware and the nation’s capital since his Oval Office exit, with the 46th president working on his next memoir while meeting with various Democratic Party leaders such as DNC Chair Ken Martin, NBC News reported in March. 

Fox Digital reached out to Biden’s office for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply.

A federal judge has ordered the North Carolina Board of Elections to begin implementing a state Supreme Court decision in the last unresolved 2024 election in the country. 

The North Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision on Friday that partially overturned a ruling from a week earlier by a panel of the intermediate-level Court of Appeals that had favored Republican Jefferson Griffin. Griffin is trailing Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs by a razor-thin margin of 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast last fall in the election for a seat on the state’s highest court. Griffin formally protested more than 65,000 ballots covering three categories.

The largest category of challenged voters — roughly 60,000 — included ballots cast last fall by people who have been registered to vote since 2004, but their records lack a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.

Friday’s prevailing opinion said the Court of Appeals got it wrong by declaring these ballots shouldn’t have been counted. The opinion said the blame rests with the State Board of Elections for failing for years to properly collect those numerical identifiers, not the voters. These voters ultimately proved their identity by complying with the state’s new photo ID law, and longtime legal precedent says such mistakes by election officials cannot result in cast votes being voided, the order reads.

FEDERAL JUDGE KICKS BATTLE OVER NC SUPREME COURT ELECTION BACK TO STATE COURT

Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the N.C. Supreme Court listens to testimony in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.  (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, File)

The state board of elections said in a statement on Monday that it will provide, “as soon as possible,” detailed instructions “to the affected counties and voters on how to comply with the decision.”

“The Supreme Court decision removed from the protest voters whose voter registration forms did not include a driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number (and didn’t check the box indicating they lacked these numbers). Those voters – the largest group of voters challenged by the protest – no longer must provide that information to their county boards of elections to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count in the 2024 general election,” the state board said. 

But a majority of justices — all registered Republicans — let stand the lower court’s determination that additional ballots from two other categories that Griffin contested were wrongly allowed in the tally. Some of these voters, potentially thousands who serve in the military or live overseas, would still get a chance to turn in a photo identification or an ID exception form for their choice in the race to remain in the count, the court’s prevailing order says. 

The state Supreme Court also agreed to throw out votes from people who had never lived in North Carolina or the United States altogether. 

“The Supreme Court decision, however, would require challenged military and overseas-citizen voters who submitted an absentee ballot to provide a copy of their photo identification, or a Photo ID Exception Form, to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count in the 2024 general election,” the state board of elections said Monday. “The decision would also require certain county boards of elections to identify and remove from the count – in the Supreme Court contest only – the votes from U.S. citizen voters who have never lived in the United States but have parental connections to North Carolina.” 

Riggs and the State Board of Elections, which had previously thrown out Griffin’s formal protests of the more than 65,000 ballots, had previously signaled plans to return to federal court if necessary, if the justices sided with Griffin to potentially plead violations of federal elections and voting rights laws. Riggs’ attorneys filed a motion late Friday in U.S. District Court in Raleigh asking a judge to issue an injunction preventing the state appeals court decisions from being carried out immediately.

Allison Riggs, chief counsel of voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, talks to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court after she attended oral arguments in Moore v. Harper on Dec. 7, 2022. The case stems from the redrawing of congressional maps following the 2020 Census.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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U.S. Chief District Judge Richard Myers – who was nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term – on Saturday ordered the state board of elections to comply with the plan set forth by the Supreme Court to resolve the election dispute. Meyers set an April 15 deadline for the state board of elections to “provide notice to the court of the scope of its remedial efforts, including the number of potentially affected voters and the counties in which those voters cast ballots.” 

The judge also gave both parties until April 20 to submit opening briefs and until April 28 to submit final briefs in the case. 

Myers ordered the state Supreme Court not to certify the election results “pending further order of this court.” It’s unknown whether the outstanding ballots that could ultimately get taken out of the count could flip the result to Griffin, himself a current Court of Appeals judge. Griffin did not sit on the three-judge panel whose majority ruled for him last week, and Riggs did not participate in the Supreme Court deliberations.

Riggs, meanwhile, hosted a “Protect Our Votes” rally in the state capital of Raleigh on Monday. 

Hundreds of demonstrators rally at the North Carolina State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Raleigh protesting Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of 65,000 ballots in November’s election.  (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“I will not give up on my fight to protect those fighting for us,” Riggs, whose father and brother served in the military, said, according to WRAL. “This presents a very real burden and threat to North Carolina voters in uniform, North Carolina voters who are missionaries serving on the mission field, foreign service officers, students studying abroad The threat is real, the burden is real, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that their vote counts.”

Republican strategist Paul Schumaker issued a statement on behalf of Griffin saying Friday’s ruling “is consistent with our request, and clearly, the matter warrants a thorough review, which the Courts have set forth. “

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“What is most disturbing is Justice Riggs’ desire to hold interviews and rallies to litigate this case outside of the Courts,” Schumaker said, according to WRAL. “Justice Riggs clearly is a judicial activist who believes judges should make new laws, not interpret the laws enacted by the state legislature.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The first Mexico-born member of Congress is launching her comeback bid on Tuesday, setting her sights on a Democrat who Republicans view as one of the most vulnerable House incumbents of 2026.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have that many voices in the Spanish-speaking community — in Telemundo, in television — talking to the Spanish-speaking community about the amazing work President Trump is doing, and his administration,” former Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview prior to her announcement.

“And that’s something that I feel I’m obligated to do, because there’s a lot of misinformation being spread from the left, and they’re trying to instill fear and hate in the Hispanic community.”

Flores served in Congress for roughly six months, from late June 2022 until early January 2023, having flipped Texas’ 34th Congressional District from blue to red after winning a special election to replace ex-Rep. Filemon Vela Jr., D-Texas.

WILL THIS BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN END THE GOP’S 20-YEAR LOSING STREAK IN HIS STATE?

Former Rep. Mayra Flores is setting her sights on Texas’ 28th Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar. (Getty Images)

She lost re-election to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, twice, though their rematch saw Flores come within less than 3% of Gonzalez’s victory.

Flores’ 2026 bid is aimed at challenging a different Democrat, however. The former GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that she intends to run in Texas’ Loredo-anchored 28th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.

Cuellar is a moderate known to break from his own party on issues like border security, crime and abortion. 

He’s served in Congress since 2005, with victories spanning from a few thousand votes to margins as high as 30%.

LONGTIME HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEIGHS SENATE BID IN KEY BATTLEGROUND

Cuellar most recently won last November by less than 6% – or roughly 13,000 votes – amid a federal indictment accusing him of an array of corruption charges.

“It’s not about what Mayra Flores wants. It’s what this country needs me to do. And this country needs me to run in Texas 28 and win this seat,” Flores said. “This is a seat that can be flipped in 2026. Right now we need a much bigger majority. It makes it very difficult for President Trump to get anything across with such a small majority.”

Flores said she was deeply familiar with the district and has familial ties to it.

Former Rep. Mayra Flores and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (ALLISON DINNER/AFP | Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

In addition to the seat being a viable opportunity for the GOP, she pointed to the criminal indictment as an argument for taking on Cuellar, and she noted he had been in office since she was a 1-year-old, having first served in the Texas State House in 1986.

“At the end of the day, I don’t care what party he is, whether you’re a Republican or you’re a Democrat,” Flores said. “Being a member, it’s … a position where you can help so many people, and you are able to represent an entire district. And yet he threw it all away. And no amount of money is worth you doing that to your country.” 

Cuellar denied any wrongdoing on his or his wife’s part in a statement when the indictment was announced.

“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said in May 2024.

“Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm,” he said. “The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people. Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the Washington D.C. prosecutors to explain the facts, and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side.”

Former Rep. Mayra Flores served from June 2022 until early January 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Flores signaled she intended to focus heavily on the issues of agriculture and the economy when asked what she wanted to make another stint in Congress look like.

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“At the end of the day, you know, money’s important. Without money, you can’t have a shelter, you can’t have a car, you can’t provide for your children. So the economy is a top priority for me,” Flores said. “And of course, agriculture is a passion of mine. I was a farmworker. My parents were migrant workers. We traveled a lot. I believe our farmworkers need to be prioritized.”

She compared her push on agriculture to the Republican stance on U.S. energy independence.

“We talk about being independent, right, on oil and gas, which I agree, 100%. But we need to be food-independent as well,” Flores said.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, tweeted on Monday night, “I miss you already, President T.”

While seated next to Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump spoke highly of the foreign leader, saying that Salvadorans “have one hell of a president.”

Bukele took note last week when Trump referred to him as “President B” in a Truth Social post.

BUKELE SAYS TRUMP HAS 350 MILLION AMERICANS TO ‘LIBERATE’ BY ENDING CRIME, TERRORISM

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 14, 2025 (Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States,” Trump declared in that April 12 Truth Social post. “These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government. They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!”

Bukele shared a screenshot of the post on X, drawing particular attention to Trump’s “President B” nickname for him.

‘UP TO EL SALVADOR’: TRUMP ADMIN PUNTS ON RETURN OF WRONGFULLY DEPORTED MARYLAND RESIDENT

Trump noted on Monday that he would be interested in sending violent “homegrown criminals” to El Salvador, if that could be done legally.

“Honored to join @POTUS in welcoming my friend President @nayibbukele to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Monday post on X. 

TRUMP, OFFICIALS HAVE TENSE EXCHANGE WITH CNN REPORTER OVER DEPORTATION OF EL SALVADORAN NATIONAL

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“Since my visit to El Salvador, the United States has deported dangerous MS13 and Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador’s prison. Because of this, our nation is safer and more secure. Our hemisphere is lucky to have two leaders who are totally aligned in their commitment to law and order,” Rubio noted.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., said she regrets hiding her face during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week. 

Whitmer poked fun at the now-viral moment by once again holding folders up in front of her face when asked about her trip to Washington, D.C., during an event at the Detroit Economic Club on Monday. 

“… I don’t want my picture taken, that’s all it was. I kind of wished I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face, but whatever. You know I was there … I just wrote a book about learning to laugh at yourself, so I’m pretty good at it. We all have our moments,” Whitmer said. 

Whitmer was criticized for shielding her face as the photo became a meme on social media. Alex Meyer, deputy assistant to the president and White House director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs who was standing to Whitmer’s left in the photo, joked that it’s his new profile photo. 

WHITMER DITCHES DEM PLAYBOOK ON TRUMP’S TARIFFS AMID 2028 SPECULATION

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seen covering her face in the Oval Office on April 9, 2025. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

The Michigan governor’s trip to Washington last week brought her 2028 presidential ambitions into the national conversation as she struck a diplomatic tone with Trump. She carefully criticized Trump’s tariffs while saying she understood the “motivation behind the tariffs” and even agreeing with Trump that we “need to make more stuff in America.”

DEM GOVERNORS REVOLT AGAINST TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS

Whitmer’s viral Oval Office moment marked her second meeting with Trump in less than a month. As Trump signed executive orders and answered questions from the press, he said Whitmer had “done an excellent job” as governor and called her a “very good person,” a break from his typical lines of attack on her character. 

“One of her opponents will dig that clip up and put it in a television ad,” Brad Bannon, a Democrat strategist and the president of Bannon Communications Research, told Fox News Digital. 

Bannon warned that Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, getting too close to Trump could jeopardize her status as a “first-tier presidential candidate” alongside fellow governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gavin Newsom of California. 

GRETCHEN WHITMER RIBBED ONLINE FOR SEEMING TO HIDE FACE IN OVAL OFFICE

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is shown in the Oval Office on April 9, 2025. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

As Trump signed executive orders calling for the investigation of two first-term administration aides who were critical of his actions, Whitmer’s office said she was brought into the room “without any notice” and that her appearance was “not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made.”

But Trump called the issues “bipartisan” and jokingly added, “We’ll all stand there together and cut a ribbon. OK, Gretchen?”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is shown in the Oval Office on April 9, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Whitmer’s diplomatic moves last week seemed to put her out of step with her party as Democrat governors, many rumored to harbor 2028 presidential ambitions, spoke out against Trump’s tariffs as governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Newsom worked independently with trade partners to try to soften the damage to their state economies. 

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” Whitmer said after her speech in Washington last week, seeming to explain her diplomatic tone. 

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Whitmer’s office explained that she was meeting with Trump to discuss recovery aid for the northern Michigan ice storm, investing in Michigan’s defense assets and building the American economy for everyday Michiganders.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

It’s not about the math.

But it is about the sunlight.

“My goal is just to make sure people get more sunshine,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. 

“I am fond of saying you can’t shovel sunshine,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex.

“The American people love having an extra hour of sunlight,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

‘STOP THE CLOCK’: GOP, DEMS COME TOGETHER TO END DAYLIGHT SAVING OVER HEALTH, ECONOMIC RISKS

Tax day is upon us. So millions of Americans are hoping they score a refund from the federal government.

And millions of Americans are hoping Washington can help them pocket an extra hour of daylight too.

This is why Congress is trying to maximize the sun.

President Trump recently opined “the House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day,” emphatically dubbing Daylight Saving Time “A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!” (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Some lawmakers believe it’s time to “lock the clock.” Either choosing Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time. But the twice-a-year clock switching may be living on borrowed time.

That’s why the Senate Commerce Committee held the first Congressional hearing on the biannual time change for the first time in three years last week.

“We need to stop the clock. We need to find a solution and stick with it,” said Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del. “People across our country are tired of the constant cycle of falling back and springing forward. I mean, who hasn’t forgotten to change their clock on their microwave. I think mine is still on the wrong time.”

WE LIVE IN TIME: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS AND THE ‘TIME LORDS’ OF CONGRESS

President Trump has weighed in several times in opposition to the clock switching – both during this term in office and during his previous tenure.

In March, the President called it a “50-50 issue.” But Mr. Trump again wrinkled the time conversation with a post on Truth Social. Despite not taking a stand when the U.S. “sprang forward,” President Trump was emphatic about what should happen now.

“The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day. Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!,” wrote the President.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has long been a proponent of ending the biannual clock change. (iStock | Getty Images)

Rick Scott has grappled with the time issue before. Scott served two terms as governor of Florida before entering the Senate. Scott signed a bill into law that would let the Sunshine State (go figure) opt out of the time change. A similar piece of legislation has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.

Scott looked to the president’s lead.

“We have a great opportunity to finally get this done with President Trump on board to lock the clock,” said Scott.

But locking it an hour ahead? Or an hour behind? There’s little agreement.

TRUMP SAYS CONGRESS SHOULD PUSH ‘FOR MORE DAYLIGHT AT THE END OF A DAY’

The Senate voted to permanently park the U.S. on Daylight Saving Time in 2022. Secretary of State and then-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., surprisingly advanced a bill without objection from any senator.

“Without objection, so ordered!” exclaimed former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who presided over the Senate that day.

“Yes!” she declared, yanking her arms toward her like a coach who’s kicker just drilled a field goal late in the game.

Then-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was able to advance a bill establishing permanent Daylight Savings in 2022 without objection from his colleagues. It subsequently died in the House. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But the plan died in the House.

“The spring clock change to Daylight Saving Time is bad. But permanent Daylight Saving Time is worse,” testified Karin Johnson a Professor of Neurology at UMass Chan School of Medicine. “The later sunrises and sunsets of Daylight Saving Time lead to higher risks of chronic diseases, including but not limited to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and these outweigh the short term risks of what happens with the time change.”

Johnson also told senators that “year-round Standard Time is a natural, healthy choice promoting physical health, mental health performance and safety.”

CONGRESS DEBATES FUTURE OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Johnson argued that the U.S. should not “pick something that’s been tried and failed twice before.”

Johnson’s right. The U.S. has “sprung” forward to Daylight Saving Time – or its equivalent – on two separate occasions. In 1918, Congress voted for the nation to embrace Daylight Saving Time to conserve energy during World War I. Farmers pushed a repeal of Daylight Saving Time. So Congress undid it. President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the bill. But Congress overrode him. It’s one of only 112 successful presidential veto overrides by Congress in the history of the republic.

Lawmakers greenlighted the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act – triggering year-round Daylight Saving Time – in the mid 1970s. This was in response to the OPEC oil shocks. The nation was supposed to remain on Daylight Saving Time for two years. But the new time proved so unpopular that lawmakers unwound the clocks to Standard Time after only a few months.

Daylight Saving Time, in its current form, first became law during the Johnson administration. (Keystone/Getty Images)

However, permanent Daylight Saving Time has its advocates.

Jay Karen of the National Golf Course Owners Association told senators that shifting the clocks an hour ahead would prompt an extra 27 million rounds of golf on the links each year. Karen estimated that golf course owners would pocket an additional $1 billion.

“Americans overwhelmingly prefer evening recreation over early morning,” testified Karen.

But do you know who absolutely hates Daylight Saving Time?

Convicts!

A University of Washington study found that the single toughest sentencing day of the year is the Monday after we spring forward each March.

Blame it on cranky judges who lost an hour of sleep.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME: THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW

“Some people receive harsher sentences than they otherwise would,” said Scott Yates of the Lock the Clock Movement.

Justice may be blind. But it can certainly tell time.

Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe Daylight Saving Time.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., is leery of a nationwide fix. Two time zones cleave the Hoosier State.

“We have 12 counties in the western part of the state that are in the Central Time Zone,” said Young. “Maybe a one-size-fits-all national policy on time changes doesn’t take into account the regional differences that significantly impact daily life.”

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., represents a state that straddles two time zones. He’s naturally skeptical of a one-size-fits-all approach to the Daylight Savings issue. (Alex Wong)

It all hinges on location. Some people in the north and east will benefit for some of the year. But the sun will come up too early in the summer and set too early in the winter. Residents on the western ends of time zones seem to get more sunlight later in the year as well. But other locales? Not so much.

“Hello darkness, my old friend,” mused Cruz, channeling Simon & Garfunkel.

During the hearing, Cruz commented to a witness that “your time has expired.”

And that may be the case with the time change. But not unless Congress can agree what to do.

Even the name of the March time switch is contrived. It’s classic Washington spin. “Daylight Saving.” Lawmakers are essentially trying to convince the public they’re getting more of something – for free. But they’re not.

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There are only so many hours and minutes of sunlight in the day. Period. It’s always going to get too dark too early somewhere. And the sun will always come up too early somewhere. And even though Congress has a lot of clout, it certainly can’t control that.

Political violence is spiraling out of control.

I don’t care which party you identify with. I don’t care if you like or dislike Donald Trump. This has been building for years, and perhaps we’ve become as inured to it as we have with most mass shootings.

The most prominent example, of course, is the two assassination attempts against the president. On the shooting in Butler, Pa. that grazed his ear, Trump would not have survived if he hadn’t been turning his head to point to a chart. The second attempt was foiled by the Secret Service.

More than 60 years after the death of JFK, a would-be assassin’s bullet nearly changed the course of the 2024 election by taking out the man who would go on to win a second term in the White House. The photo of Trump, with a bloodied face, raising his fist became iconic.

PENNSYLVANIA POLICE ARREST SUSPECT AFTER GOVERNOR’S MANSION SET ON FIRE WHILE GOV JOSH SHAPIRO, FAMILY SLEPT

It’s rather embarrassing that the press moved on so quickly after a few days.

Even more cringe-worthy was the way the media provided scant coverage of the man who was determined to kill Brett Kavanaugh in 2022. He had driven from California and was a block away from the Supreme Court justice’s Maryland home – with a Glock pistol, two magazines of ammunition, a knife, pepper spray and zip ties – when he called police and turned himself in. 

The would-be murderer just pleaded guilty last week. 

Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., is the latest target of political violence – in this case, an arson attack on his gubernatorial residence. (Getty/Commonwealth Media Services)

This has been going on since President Clinton tried to blame Rush Limbaugh for the Oklahoma City bombing. And since the New York Times blamed Sarah Palin for a crosshairs map never seen by the shooter who killed six people and wounded Gabby Giffords in Arizona. A retrial of her defamation suit is about to get under way.

When a liberal shooter who liked Rachel Maddow opened fire at a Republican baseball practice in Virginia, badly wounding GOP leader Steve Scalise, the finger-pointing began again. Inevitably, each side tries to score political points based on the perceived motive of the shooter.

And that brings me to the attempt to kill Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on the first day of Passover. The governor, who is Jewish. His family and friends are lucky to be alive. 

JOSH SHAPIRO TELLS MAHER HE’S ‘DAMN PROUD’ OF BEING JEWISH, DODGES WHETHER IT FACTORED INTO VP SNUB IN 2024

It is frightening. It is infuriating. It is the epitome of anti-Semitism. The Harrisburg mansion, where Shapiro, his wife Lori and children live, was set on fire, and the 38-year-old arsonist admitted to police that he set the fires.

Imagine being woken up by state police at 2 a.m., with the smell of smoke in the air, and told that you, your family and friends must immediately evacuate. Who wouldn’t feel vulnerable, no matter their title?

The only reason they survived is that they were sleeping in another part of the mansion, which the arsonist had no way of knowing. The building remains badly damaged.

An enraged Shapiro unilaterally condemned violence after the attempt on his life early Sunday. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

Shapiro was clearly and justifiably angry when he said: “This type of violence is not okay. I don’t give a damn if it’s from one particular side or another. It’s not okay.” 

The governor pointed out that it was the first night of Passover and members of the local Jewish community had been celebrating with him in the state dining room.  “No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly or proudly,” he declared.

Ironically, it was Shapiro who led the investigation of the attempted assassination of Trump at Butler, where a man in the crowd was killed.

The president has been posting up a storm at Truth Social, including messages on Easter Week and Passover, but hasn’t said a word about Shapiro.

I think Trump should call Shapiro as a way of demonstrating that he deplores political violence no matter which party is involved. FBI Director Kash Patel did call, but that’s not at the same level.

The Harrisburg man told police he was “harboring hatred” for Shapiro and had he found him, he would have beaten the governor with his hammer. 

His mother told the AP he was mentally ill. 

PENNSYLVANIA FIRE CHIEF CREDITS CLOSED DOORS FOR SAVING LIVES DURING GOVERNOR’S MANSION ATTACK

At the Free Press, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., a Republican who supports Trump, said:

“When Governor Josh Shapiro and I spoke on Saturday afternoon about a potential data center investment in Pennsylvania, he ended the call by noting that he needed to go prepare for an 80-person seder which he was leading. Less than 12 hours later, he and his family were evacuated from the governor’s residence, because an arsonist had set it on fire.

Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., thoroughly condemned the attack. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“The pictures of the damage to the residence are horrifying. Yet even more frightening is the trend that this attack is a part of. And if left unchecked, this trend — of using political violence to settle our differences — has the potential to destroy our republic.”

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

Now, it must be said the security was awful. This guy scales the fence and the state troopers on duty can’t stop him from reaching the mansion? And then let him get away?

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As for journalists, we should resist the temptation to say, well, Shapiro wasn’t hurt, let’s move on. A Jewish governor was targeted and nearly assassinated. That’s not a one-day story by any stretch of the imagination.

The Department of Veterans Affairs canceled an “unreasonably priced” $15.3 million contract in an effort to overhaul how the agency cares for its warfighters, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said Monday. 

“Great work by the @DeptVetAffairs cancelling an unreasonably priced multi-year $15.3M services contract for ‘salary survey data and analysis,” a DOGE post on X states. 

SENATE CONFIRMS DOUG COLLINS TO LEAD THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

 A metal plaque on the facade of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington, D.C., features a quotation by Abraham Lincoln. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images) ( Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

The contract cost the agency $3.9 million annually. 

It was replaced by a “market price” of $5,000, DOGE said, saving $11.1 million over the life of the agreement. 

‘CHANGES THAT ACTUALLY HELP OUR VETERANS’: VA SECRETARY DEFENDS PROPOSED 15% WORKFORCE REDUCTION

Signage outside the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. The VA has axed a $15.3 million contract, according to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, DOGE said the VA was paying $380,000 per month for minor website modifications. The contract was renewed and the work was not being done by one internal VA software engineer spending 10 hours per week. 

In February, the VA announced that the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees would enable the agency to redirect more than $98 million annually in resources back to health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries.

Elon Musk, the de facto DOGE leader, has taken heat over the group’s actions to overhaul the size of the federal government.  (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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VA Secretary Doug Collins has defended DOGE cuts at the VA as part of the new administration’s efforts to reform the department and better serve veterans.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

The Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced it is freezing over $2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts to Harvard University in Massachusetts, after the school’s president released a statement saying the school would not comply with the administration’s demands regarding antisemitism.

“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the task force said. “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable.

“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the statement continued. “The Joint Task Force to combat anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60M in multi-year contract value to Harvard University.”

The decision comes after Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said the school would not comply with the Trump administration’s demands, despite the possibility of the Ivy League school losing federal funding.

HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING

The Trump admin froze over $2.2B in grants to Harvard. (AP)

In his letter, Garber said the federal government has threatened its partnerships with several universities, including Harvard, over accusations of antisemitism on their campuses.

He also noted that the Trump administration issued an updated and expanded list of demands, saying if the school plans to maintain a financial relationship with the federal government, it must comply.

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber wrote. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.”

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSES $1B FROM CORNELL, $790M FROM NORTHWESTERN AMID CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION: REPORT

Harvard said it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demands. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who graduated from Harvard in 2006, ripped the Ivy League school’s response, saying in part, “…Harvard University has rightfully earned its place as the epitome of the moral and academic rot in higher education.”

“Fueled by the radical groupthink Far Left faculty, inept University leadership, donations by foreign adversaries, and pro Hamas terrorists, Harvard has fully embraced and tolerated the raging antisemitism threatening the lives and physical safety of Jewish students on campus,” Stefanik said. “It is time to totally cut off U.S. taxpayer funding to this institution that has failed to live up to its founding motto Veritas. Defund Harvard.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey praised Harvard’s decision to not fold to the Trump administration.

DHS: DEPORTED BROWN UNIVERSITY DOCTOR ATTENDED HEZBOLLAH CHIEF’S FUNERAL, SUPPORTED TERROR LEADER 

Gov. Maura Healey, D-Mass., praised Harvard. (Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Specifically, she thanked Harvard and Garber for their leadership in standing up for education and freedom by standing against, what she called, the administration’s “brazen attempt to bully schools.”

“We all agree that antisemitism has no place in America and that it should be fought in the workplace, classrooms and everywhere,” Healey said. “Complying with the Trump Administration’s dangerous demands would have made us all less safe.”

President Donald Trump has suspended federal funding to every Ivy League, besides Penn and Dartmouth, over investigations into anti-Israel protests that have taken place on their campuses since October 2023. Funding for dozens of other universities has also been impacted by investigations for the same reason.

Earlier this month, a federal antisemitism task force announced a review of Harvard’s federal grants and contracts, worth nearly $9 billion, as the university faces an investigation into campus antisemitism. 

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The Trump administration has promised to be more aggressive in ending campus antisemitism after saying President Joe Biden did not hold universities accountable for their violent protests.

The administration has also made moves to detain and deport foreign students who participated in or orchestrated anti-Israel protests at American universities.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Another pro-Palestine Columbia student protester was detained by federal immigration authorities in Vermont on Monday, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on alleged Hamas sympathizers who pose potential threats to national security.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian-born green card holder living in Vermont, was detained while attending an immigration interview at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Colchester, Vermont, according to a court filing challenging his arrest.

The arrest has been condemned as “immoral” and “illegal” by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

The Trump administration has been cracking down on widespread antisemitism on college campuses, following years of pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian protests disrupting classes across the country.

‘SAFER WITHOUT HIM’: COLUMBIA STUDENT CLAIMS CLASSMATE ARRESTED BY ICE ‘HATES AMERICA’

Another pro-Palestine Columbia student protester was detained by federal immigration authorities in Vermont on Monday, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on alleged Hamas sympathizers who pose potential threats to national security. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images AP Images)

A video posted to social media on Monday appeared to show Mahdawi being escorted out of the building in handcuffs by law enforcement officials, including one wearing a jacket identifying him as a Homeland Security Investigations agent.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

According to the court filing, Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia in the fall of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack. He founded the group with Mahmoud Khalil, another pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by federal immigration officials under the Trump administration earlier this year.

The document says that Mahdawi was studying philosophy at Columbia and expected to graduate from the university in May. It also says that Mahdawi was an organizer of the protests at Columbia until he stepped back from leadership this March. The filing claims that he is a “lawful permanent resident” of the United States.

COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTER MAHMOUD KHALIL CAN BE DEPORTED, JUDGE RULES

Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil talks to the press during the press briefing organized by Pro-Palestinian protesters who set up a new encampment at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus on Friday evening, in New York City, United States on June 01, 2024.  (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge William Sessions ruled on Monday that Mahdawi cannot be removed from the U.S. or the state of Vermont pending further court review.

Mahdawi’s arrest was summarily condemned by Vermont’s two U.S. senators, Bernie Sanders, who identifies as an independent, and Peter Welch, a Democrat, as well as the state’s sole member of Congress Rep. Becca Balint, a Democrat.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The three issued a joint statement on Monday identifying Mahdawi as a resident of White River Junction, Vermont.

The statement said Mahdawi walked into an immigration office for “what was supposed to be the final step in his citizenship process” and was instead “arrested and removed in handcuffs by plainclothes, armed, individuals with their faces covered.”

HOMELAND SECURITY TO SCAN MIGRANTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS FOR ANTISEMITISM: ‘NO ROOM FOR TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS’

A student protester waves a large Palestinian flag at their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. Protesters of the war in Gaza who are encamped at Columbia University have defied a deadline to disband with chants, clapping and drumming.  (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

The statement claimed, “these individuals refused to provide any information as to where he was being taken or what would happen to him.”

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“This is immoral, inhumane, and illegal,” said the three. “Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention.”

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from revoking the legal status and work permits of the more than 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who flew into the United States during former President Joe Biden’s time in office. 

The migrants came to the U.S. under Biden’s controversial controversial CHNV mass humanitarian parole program.

In her order, Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote that each migrant needs to have an individualized, case-by-case review.

DHS’ KRISTI NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMIN WILL RESUME CONSTRUCTION OF 7 MILES OF SOUTHERN BORDER

Venezuelan migrants walk following their arrival on a flight after being deported from the United States, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 24, 2025.  (REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)

“The Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, 90 Fed. Reg. 13611 (Mar. 25, 2025), is hereby STAYED pending further court order insofar as it revokes, without case-by-case review, the previously granted parole and work authorization issued to noncitizens paroled into the UnitedStates pursuant to parole programs for noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (the “CHNV parole programs”) prior to the noncitizen’s originally stated parole end date,” she wrote. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. 

Biden created the CHNV program in 2023 via his executive parole authority. The program was launched in 2022 and initially first applied to Venezuelans before it was expanded to additional countries.

The Biden administration argued that CHNV would help reduce illegal crossings at the southern border and allow better vetting of people entering the country amid an influx of migrants. 

JUDGE GIVES MAHMOUD KHALIL LEGAL TEAM MORE TIME TO REVIEW IMMIGRATION CASE

The Department of Homeland Security logo is seen during a news conference in Washington, Feb. 25, 2015.  (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The program was temporarily paused after widespread fraud was found. Several recipients were also arrested for high-profile crimes, including multiple child rapes. 

CHNV allowed the migrants and their immediate family members to fly into the U.S. if they had American sponsors. They could then remain in the country for two years under a temporary immigration status known as parole.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration said Talwani essentially ruled that Trump can’t use his own executive authority, the same authority Biden used, to revoke the parole that Biden granted. 

“It is pure lawless tyranny,” a Trump administration official told Fox News. 

A group of Venezuelan migrants cross the U.S. southern border and encounter Border Patrol. (Fox News)

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In March, the roughly 532,000 migrants under the CHNV program were told to leave the U.S. before their humanitarian parole and accompanying work permits are canceled on April 24, giving them a month from when the notice is formally published on March 25.

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., blasted President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for undermining democracy, while comparing billionaire “oligarchs” in both parties to “heroin addicts” whose drug of choice is “greed,” at a rally Monday night.

The comments came during a “Fight The Oligarchy” rally in Idaho, which included an address by progressive “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Both politicians took most of their time speaking on stage to blast Trump and Musk repeatedly by name, and blamed them for destroying democracy in an effort to provide benefits for their billionaire friends. 

“I used to talk about oligarchy. And people say, What is he talking about? Everybody knows what I’m talking about tonight. When Trump got inaugurated, sitting right behind them were the three wealthiest people in this country: Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg,” Sanders told a raucous crowd in Nampa, Idaho Monday night.

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

“Well, these guys, these oligarchs, have a major, major addiction problem. And you know what it is? It is greed,” Sanders added during his Monday address. “They’re like heroin addicts. They can’t control themselves. They need more and more, and they do not care who they step over in order to get another billion dollars. So we are going to take care of their addiction problems.”

Michael Thompson, of Nampa, right, stands by a pair of President Donald Trump flags as attendees line up to enter the “Fighting Oligarchy” event with Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, Monday, April 14, 2025.  ((AP Photo/Kyle Green))

Sanders noted that billionaire “oligarchs” can come from both political parties – Republicans and Democrats – but the night’s sentiment was directed towards those billionaires in Trump world. 

“Understand that all of this right now is what it feels like to be governed by billionaires. This is what oligarchy feels like,” AOC told rally goers. “This concentration of power, greed and corruption is oligarchy. It’s oligarchy in America, and we must acknowledge the terrifying moment that we are in right now.”

TYRUS BURNS BERNIE SANDERS’ SOCIALIST MESSAGE AT COACHELLA FESTIVAL

Both Sanders and AOC referenced the president’s inauguration as a key example of the “oligarchy,” pointing to Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk being in attendance and sitting very close to the president. Sanders also noted the “13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated” to be in his cabinet, who were also in attendance that day.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., acknowledge the cheering crowd during a “Fighting Oligarchy” event in Los Angeles, Saturday, April 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sanders and AOC also took their moment on stage Monday night to call for action. 

“It will never be just institutions and politicians and officials alone that uphold our democracy. It will always be the people, the masses, who refuse to comply with authoritarian regimes, who are the last and strongest defense of our country and our freedoms. It is you. It is you Idaho,” AOC told the crowd. 

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“We are here today because we choose democracy, we choose freedom, we choose justice. And that means we must choose to out-organize the oligarchy. We must do away with the power of big money.”

A new report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that there were fewer apprehensions at the southern border in the entire month of March than there were in the first two days of the month in 2024 under the Biden administration.

The agency said in an X post that the latest report reveals continued “record low numbers” of illegal crossings at the southern border.

The report said that, aided by support from the Department of Defense, CBP has “dramatically increased active patrols of our international borders.”

This comes after CBP recorded the lowest southwest border crossings in history in March, which the agency said marked a “pivotal achievement in our nation’s border security efforts” and evidence that “operational control [of the border] is becoming a reality.”

TOM HOMAN: MIGRANTS DEPORTED TO EL SALVADOR WERE ‘SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS’

A new report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that there were fewer apprehensions at the southern border in the entire month of March than there were in the first two days of the month in 2024 under the Biden administration. (John Moore/Getty Images)

“Aliens are receiving the [Trump] administration’s message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported,” CBP said in its latest report.

According to the report, this is the second consecutive month in which U.S. Border Patrol averaged its lowest daily nationwide apprehensions in history.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Border Patrol apprehended a total of 7,181 illegal aliens attempting to cross the southern border between ports of entry in March. This constitutes a 14% decrease from February when Border Patrol apprehended 8,346 aliens, and more dramatically, a 95% decrease from the 137,473 aliens apprehended under the Biden administration in the same period in 2024.

Meanwhile, CBP’s Office of Field Operations, which manages immigration enforcement at the country’s 328 ports of entry, reported that nationwide encounters averaged approximately 673 per day in March. This is 3% lower than the office’s 693 daily average encounters in February and 81% lower than the 3,464 per day average from March 2024.

DEM SENATOR BACKS TRUMP’S FENTANYL CRACKDOWN PLAN: WE HAVE TO DESTROY THE CARTELS

CBP said in its report that it seized 760 pounds of fentanyl in March, an increase of 24 percent from February. Nationwide in March, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana combined increased 47 percent from February. (Customs and Border Patrol )

As illegal border crossings continue to plummet, CBP said that illicit drug seizures are rising.

CBP said in its report that it seized 760 pounds of fentanyl in March, an increase of 24% from February. Nationwide in March, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana combined increased 47% from February.

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Acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores said the record-low numbers are due to the agency’s dedicated agents.

“U.S. Border Patrol’s apprehensions along the southwest border for the entire month of March 2025 were lower than the first two days of March 2024,” he said. “This is a testament to the tireless dedication and vigilant service of the men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who work every day to keep our country safe. Their commitment on the front lines plays a vital role in securing our borders and protecting American communities.”

Democratic New York Congressman Tom Suozzi said claims that illegal aliens are voting in his state’s elections are a “myth” and “completely inaccurate,” pointing specifically to an argument from Elon Musk several weeks ago claiming Democrats in states like New York and California have engaged in a strategy of “turning” illegal aliens into registered voters.    

“I don’t want [noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections]. That’s actually a myth that Elon Musk [said] on a show where he was talking about noncitizens voting in New York — it’s just not true,” Suozzi told a reporter on Capitol Hill, who asked him why he “wants noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections.” 

The question came shortly before Suozzi voted against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which ultimately passed with enough congressional support and restricts federal voting to only fully legal U.S. residents. Suozzi, during the last legislative session, voted in favor of a congressional measure that banned noncitizen voting in local D.C. elections.

SCOOP: ARIZONA TO BEGIN REMOVING AS MANY AS 50K NONCITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLLS FOLLOWING LAWSUIT

“It’s an actual lie,” Suozzi said about Musk’s claim of noncitizen voting in New York, before walking into the Capitol building.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., clapped back at claims from Elon Musk that illegal immigrant voting is an issue in the state of New York.  (GETTY IMAGES/FOX NEWS)

Liberal localities, including New York City, have become flash points in the debate over noncitizen voting. 

In January 2022, an ordinance passed by New York City’s city council sought to allow green card holders, DACA recipients and other non-U.S. citizens residing in New York to vote in municipal elections. However, the controversial measure only lasted for roughly six months before the courts shot it down, and then, last month, the state’s appeals court affirmed the move, which would have added roughly 800,000 noncitizens to the city’s voter rolls, according to the New York Times.

DEMS FIGHT BILL TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT VOTING DESPITE POLLS SHOWING VOTER SUPPORT

“Why is the Democrat propaganda machine so fired up to destroy me? The main reason is that entitlements fraud… for illegal aliens is what is serving as a gigantic magnetic force to pull people in from all around the world and keep them here,” Musk said during a Feb. 28 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “If you end the illegal alien fraud, if you turn off that magnet, then they leave… and if that happens a massive — they will lose a massive number of Democratic voters.”

Musk’s argument on Rogan’s podcast sought to underscore a view from many Republicans more broadly about an effort by Democrats to increase the number of Democrat-friendly voters on the nation’s voter roles by letting non-citizens enter the country and vote.  (GETTY IMAGES/FOX NEWS)

Musk’s argument on Rogan’s podcast sought to underscore a view from many Republicans more broadly about an effort by Democrats to increase the number of Democrat-friendly voters on the nation’s voter roles by enticing illegal aliens, who historically vote largely for Democrats, into the country with generous public assistance programs, and then permitting them to engage in elections. 

“They’re already turning them — so in New York State illegal aliens can already vote in state and city elections. A lot of people don’t know that,” Musk added. “They’re trying to stop that, but currently, I think it’s 600,000 are registered to vote — illegal aliens — in New York.”

Musk also cited California, where in San Francisco and Oakland noncitizens can vote in local school board elections. According to Ballotpedia, in addition to California, only Maryland and Vermont also have jurisdictions where noncitizens can vote.

 STATE CONSERVATIVES DEMAND ACTION ON NONCITIZEN VOTING: ‘TIME FOR CONGRESS TO LISTEN’

“I won’t accuse him of lying — I’ll just say he’s just completely inaccurate, as he is on many things,” Suozzi told Fox News Digital. “He’s spreading it like a gospel and pissing all these people off behind a complete fabrication.”

Suozzi pointed out how Musk is a high-profile figure that many Americans look to for guidance, noting that this makes it important for people to understand the facts of the matter when it comes to noncitizen voting. 

Elon Musk speaks with Joe Rogan on the set of “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Feb. 28.  (Screenshot/The Joe Rogan Experience )

The need to remain vigilant and educated on the topic was echoed by Musk during his appearance with Rogan as well. 

“I invite people to do their research,” Musk told Rogan when he remarked how fascinating it was that people were not aware of the scenario which Musk was discussing. “The more they do their research, the more they will see that what I’m saying is absolutely true.”

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When reached for comment on Suozzi’s remarks about Musk’s claim on noncitizen voting in New York and other areas, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston remarked that noncitizen voting “is a very real problem,” and added that “anyone who says otherwise is delusional and lying.” 

“He’s choosing to ignore the facts and pander to his far-left base at the expense of the truth,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella added.

EXCLUSIVE: Liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom is making it clear in a new campaign that Canadian tourists are welcome in the Golden State, as he looks to boost international travel following a sharp decline in U.S. tourism sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

“We get it. The White House isn’t exactly laying out the welcome mat, but Canadians should know that California will continue to welcome them and that we remain grateful for their partnership,” a Newsom administration official told Fox News Digital on Monday.

The campaign, in partnership with the nonprofit tourist organization Visit California, will roll out the campaign internationally, similar to Newsom’s call asking nations not to place retaliatory tariffs on California products this month. 

NEWSOM SIGNS $2.8B BAILOUT FOR HEALTHCARE PROGRAM OVERRUN BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

US President Donald Trump (C) approaches reporters to speak, flanked by First Lady Melania Trump (R) and California Governor Gavin Newsom, upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025, to visit the region devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires.  (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Newsom’s office said that since Trump took office, tourism has dropped significantly to levels not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism from Canada, which brought in 1.8 million tourists last year and $3.72 billion in revenue, dropped 12% in February compared to last year, with that percentage expected to rise as tariffs remain in place.

The $5.2 million campaign is part of Visit California’s annual marketing investment in Canada, according to Newsom’s office.

Newsom, who has been rumored to be eyeing a 2028 presidential bid, also met with British Columbia Premier David Eby Monday to discuss opportunities for expanding California’s partnership with Canada. The two politicians discussed ways to partner in the lumber industry, national transportation corridors and housing, a Newsom official said.

NEWSOM’S ‘UNFAIR’ REMARK ON GIRLS’ SPORTS BELIES RECORD AS GOVERNOR: ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘

Newsom’s virtual meeting with British Columbia Premier David Eby on Monday. (Gavin Newsom’s Press Office)

While Trump has quipped that Canada could become the “51st state,” the U.S. remains Canada’s largest trading partner, supplying nearly two-thirds of its imports and buying over 70% of its exports. Under Trump’s new tariff rates, 25% has been levied on Canadian goods. 

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Vancouver-based Travel Group reported a 90% drop in future bookings, according to a report from Politico this week. Ottawa’s Travac Tours canceled all U.S. trips through July, while Maple Leaf Tours, based in Kingston, Ontario, has seen its business dip 70% to 80%.

In mid-March, Canada issued reciprocal tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Police arrested a 25-year-old man for allegedly sending threatening messages to director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. 

United for Peace

Governors across the country who are rumored as fellow potential 2028 presidential candidates united behind Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., after an arsonist set fire to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg early Sunday morning.

Cody Balmer, 38, was arrested after allegedly setting fire to the residence while Shapiro and his family slept inside. Shapiro, who is Jewish, said he and his family were forced to evacuate their home after celebrating the first night of Passover.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., who is rumored to be mulling a 2028 presidential run along with Shapiro, thanked first responders and said it must have been disturbing for the governor to wake up to such a scene on the first night of Passover. 

Another potential presidential candidate, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., added that no one “should ever be targeted for doing their job or standing up for what they believe in.” …Read More

Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania State Police provide an update on the act of arson that took place at the Governor’s Residence. (Commonwealth Media Services)

White House

‘MEN ABUSING WOMEN’ Trump, Bukele find common cause on trans sports ban and border crackdown

IMMIGRATION BATTLE ‘Up to El Salvador’: Trump admin punts on return of wrongfully deported Maryland resident

‘EAGER TO HELP’ Bukele says Trump has 350 million Americans to ‘liberate’ by ending crime, terrorism

US President Donald Trump, right, and Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, April 14, 2025. Bukele said a Maryland man deported to his country by Trump’s administration would not be returned to the US, even as the Supreme Court has called for Trump’s administration to facilitate his release. Photographer: Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Capitol Hill

SQUAD GOALS Ilhan Omar quashes Senate bid rumors with re-election announcement

DOGE ‘DODGERS’ ‘Rules for thee’: Senate DOGE leader seeks crackdown on tax-dodging government workers

JUMPING IN First on Fox: Republican launches second straight bid to flip Democrat-held Senate seat in key battleground

Rep. Ilhan Omar calls out President Trump and Elon Musk for handling of USAID while also accusing the president of running a dictatorship. (Pool)

Across America 

‘POLITICS OVER PATIENTS’ Top US hospital hit with scathing ad campaign over ‘extreme woke’ agenda

‘URGENCY AND SPEED’ Freshman GOP senator rips predecessor while reflecting on ‘whirlwind’ first 100 days

NEW TWIST Florida’s largest Venezuelan stronghold poised to join forces with ICE: report