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FIRST ON FOX: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is putting pressure on House Democrats hours before a critical vote on a bill to avert a partial government shutdown before the end of this week.

The clip, which runs just under two minutes, is a supercut of top Democratic lawmakers emphasizing that their party does not support government shutdowns nor the office closures and mass furloughs that come with them.

“House Democrats have long warned about the consequences of a government shutdown,” the text on the screen begins.

The message is immediately followed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., stating during a press conference, “We believe in governance. We want to keep government open. A shutdown is very serious.”

MASSIE SAYS HE’S A ‘NO’ ON TRUMP-ENDORSED GOVERNMENT FUNDING MEASURE

House Speaker Mike Johnson is using Democrats’ own past words on shutdowns against them in a new pressure campaign. (Getty Images)

“It is not normal to hold 800,000 workers’ paychecks hostage. It is not normal to shut down the government when we don’t get what we want,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says on the House floor in another clip.

The video ends with white text on a black screen that reads, “What’s changed? Now Democrats want to shut down the government to try to stop President Trump.”

“Democrats have railed against government shutdowns. But now they’re supporting one,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “They’re willing to do anything to stop President Trump from implementing his agenda.”

It’s a marked escalation in the war of words between Democrats and Republicans over a plan President Donald Trump and GOP leaders are pushing to avert a partial shutdown.

The 99-page bill released by House GOP leaders over the weekend would keep the government funded through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2025, on Sept. 30. 

The bill is backed by President Donald Trump. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

It would do so by extending FY 2024 government funding levels, which Republican leaders have celebrated as a victory in that it roughly keeps federal spending levels for another year, rather than the expected increases that come with the annual full-year congressional appropriations bills.

The bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), is expected to get a House-wide vote on Tuesday afternoon.

Democrats have strongly condemned the bill after not receiving assurances from Republicans that it would include constraints on Trump’s authority, particularly related to government spending.

“The partisan House Republican funding bill recklessly cuts healthcare, nutritional assistance, and $23 billion in veterans benefits,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement with other Democratic leaders. “Equally troublesome, the legislation does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, while exposing the American people to further pain throughout this fiscal year. We are voting No.”

TRUMP-BACKED PLAN TO AVERT SHUTDOWN HEADS FOR HOUSE VOTE

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House GOP leadership aides said over the weekend that the bill included an additional $6 billion for veterans healthcare, and Republicans have pushed back on accusations that the bill touches Medicare and Medicaid – mandatory government programs that cannot significantly be cut into in the congressional appropriations process.

But passing the bill with little to no Democratic support will be an uphill battle for Republican leaders. At least half a dozen Republicans are undecided about or opposed to the bill as of Tuesday morning.

But GOP leaders were confident it would pass throughout Monday. “We’re going to plan to move it tomorrow,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Monday night.

House Democrats have launched an effort to bar President Donald Trump from unilaterally moving to “invade or seize territory” from Greenland, Canada and Panama. 

The measure, known as the No Invading Allies Act and spearheaded by Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., bars funding from going toward the armed forces to engage in operations seeking to take over Greenland, Canada and Panama. 

Magaziner said Trump’s “reckless” rhetoric about obtaining territory from the three countries makes the president untrustworthy with the war powers granted to him. 

“Americans do not support sending troops unnecessary wars, especially with allies of the United States who pose no threat to our country,” Magaziner said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, President Trump has recklessly refused to rule out taking the territory of other nations by force. Under the Constitution it is Congress, not the President, who has the power to declare war. It is time for Congress to reclaim that constitutional power and ensure that the President adheres to the will of the American people.” 

TRUMP SAYS US WOULD WELCOME GREENLAND DURING JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

President Donald Trump has made comments recently about acquiring territory from Panama, as well as Greenland and Canada. (Jim WATSON / AFP, left, ARNULFO FRANCO / AFP, right.)

While the U.S. Constitution dictates that Congress has the authority to approve declaring an act of war, Congress last formally declared war in 1942, and modern presidents have entered conflicts without securing explicit or formal congressional approval, according to the National Constitution Center. 

Furthermore, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the executive branch to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action and bars troops from remaining engaged for more than 60 days without congressional approval. However, the legislation does not define “hostilities,” and previous administrations have asserted their actions engaging military forces did not qualify as hostilities and, therefore, congressional approval was not required, according to the Project on Government Oversight. 

Other Democratic lawmakers who have co-sponsored the measure include Reps. Eric Swallwell of California and Pramila Jayapal of Washington. The legislation has been referred to both the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees. 

Trump has discussed acquiring Greenland, Canada and Panama for months – and has regularly referred to Canada as the 51st state in the U.S. Additionally, Trump asserted in a joint address to Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. would reclaim the Panama Canal for security reasons and acquire Greenland. 

“And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland,” Trump said. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.” 

Trump has discussed the possibility of expanding American territory for months and said in a post in December 2024 on Truth Social that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” 

GREENLAND, PANAMA FIERCELY REJECT TRUMP’S AMBITIONS IN ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

President Donald Trump discussed the matter of taking territory from Panama and Greenland on March 4 during a joint address to Congress. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, leaders from Greenland, which is a territory of Denmark, and Panama pushed back on Trump’s comments to Congress. 

“We do not want to be Americans, nor Danes, we are Kalaallit (Greenlanders),” Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede said in a post on Facebook translated by Reuters. “The Americans and their leader must understand that.” 

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“I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation,” Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said in a post on X on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Republicans have cast doubt on whether Trump would actually launch a military conflict against countries like Greenland. For example, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said in an interview with NBC in January that the U.S. would not “invade another country.” 

“Quite frankly, the president’s been very clear,” Lankford said. “He is the president that kept American troops out of war. He is not looking to be able to go start a war, to go expand American troops, but he does want to be able to protect America’s national security, and part of that is our economic security and our future.”

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would purchase a Tesla car to support his senior advisor Elon Musk amid nationwide protests against the electric automaker.

Trump said “Radical Left Lunatics” are attempting to boycott Tesla, which he called Musk’s “baby.”

“To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after midnight on Tuesday. “But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.”

MUSK CLAIMS GEORGE SOROS, LINKEDIN CO-FOUNDER REID HOFFMAN ARE FUNDING ‘PROTESTS’ AGAINST TESLA

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would purchase a Tesla car to support Elon Musk amid protests against the automaker. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“They tried to do it to me at the 2024 Presidential Ballot Box, but how did that work out?” Trump continued.

The president explained that he was going to purchase a car from Tesla to show his support for Musk.

“In any event, I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump wrote. “Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???”

“Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump!” Musk responded on X.

Trump said “Radical Left Lunatics” are attempting to boycott Elon Musk’s Tesla in an attempt “to attack and do harm to Elon.” (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Tesla car owners, dealerships and charging stations have been targeted nationwide by protesters and vandals over Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Protesters rallied outside Tesla dealerships on Saturday, holding signs denouncing Musk and DOGE, and cars and windows at an Oregon Tesla dealership were damaged by gunshots fired by protesters last week.

A man was also arrested after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon.

TESLA VEHICLES, CHARGING STATIONS TARGETED AS PROTESTERS DENOUNCE DOGE, ELON MUSK

Tesla car owners, dealerships and charging stations have been targeted nationwide by protesters and vandals over Musk’s involvement with DOGE. (Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)

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Additionally, several Tesla charging stations have been set on fire in Massachusetts, and the U.S. attorney’s office in Colorado charged a suspect after police say they found a number of explosives and concerning messages at a Tesla dealership.

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

House Republicans are accusing Democrats of waging their opposition campaign against the GOP’s government funding plan over their fury at Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts.

“They hate Elon Musk and Donald Trump more than they love their country,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. “They’re just losing their f—— minds.”

Mace was still optimistic that some Democratic lawmakers will vote for the legislation on Tuesday afternoon, “I mean, they voted for every CR under the sun when [former President Joe Biden] was president. That’s what this is — it’s just political games.”

First-term Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., told Fox News Digital, “It’s either [President Donald Trump] or Elon Musk or a combination thereof, right?”

DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY REBUKE PARTY MEMBERS WHO JEERED TRUMP DURING SPEECH TO CONGRESS: REPORT

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is leading opposition to Republicans’ anti-government shutdown plan. (Getty Images)

“They’ve had nothing but political losses from November forward. Last week was the worst political loss I think they’ve suffered in a long time,” Crank said, referring to Democrats’ intra-party divisions over some lawmakers’ disruptions during Trump’s speech to Congress. “I guess they’ve got to keep fighting, but what they should do is the right thing: Keep the government open.”

Musk and his DOGE work have been met with near-universal condemnation by Democrats, even those who have agreed with the need to cut the federal bureaucracy. 

Democrats have held Musk up as a political boogeyman, an unelected billionaire who was given too much access to the federal government that he also profits from as a military contractor.

But Republicans, with some exceptions, have defended his work as necessary.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News Digital that Musk is “doing damage to our government” but denied his work being a factor in his likely decision to oppose the funding bill.

“Musk doesn’t live rent-free in my head,” Crow said. “I’m not making legislative decisions based upon Elon Musk and what he does and doesn’t do in any given day… I’m focusing on my constituents.”

GOLDMAN SACHS HIGHLIGHTS TARIFF WARS WINNERS AND LOSERS

Rep. Nancy Mace said Democrats are losing their “minds” over Musk while using an expletive (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., when asked about Musk, did not mention the billionaire at all. Instead, he pivoted to criticize House Republicans for putting a stopgap government funding bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) up for a vote, rather than dealing with a fresh slate of fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills.

“Republicans have said for the longest time, right, that CRs are no longer the way to fund the government. Speaker Johnson promised to do individual spending bills. That was his pitch to his colleagues in order to remain speaker. OK. He’s the one who’s going back on his word to his own colleagues,” Moskowitz said.

But Democrats have nevertheless used Musk in their public broadsides against the bill.

“It takes away veterans’ healthcare. It takes away critical research funding. Those are the things that House Republicans are willing to do just to give Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s friends continued tax breaks. That’s unacceptable to House Democrats,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters on Monday.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., wrote on X, “Trump and Musk are illegally shutting down federal agencies, mass firing federal workers, and freezing congressionally mandated funding. It’s causing massive job losses and economic chaos for my constituents, and the Republican CR would continue this disaster. I will vote no.”

President Donald Trump has been calling Republicans against the CR ( SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The proposed CR roughly freezes government funding at FY 2024 levels through the beginning of FY 2026, on Oct 1. It includes extra funding for defense while cutting nondefense funding by roughly $13 billion.

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House GOP leadership aides said over the weekend that the bill includes some added funding for veterans’ healthcare — putting them at odds with Democrats’ messaging.

Democratic lawmakers normally vote in droves to avert a government shutdown, but this time it’s likely House Republicans will need to share the burden largely on their own.

As of Monday night, several Republicans are still undecided on how they will vote, despite Trump making calls to GOP lawmakers who are on the fence.

Lawmakers in the Texas legislature are considering a bill that would prohibit people in the state from changing the gender marker on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity.

The measure, Senate Bill 406, is now being debated in the Texas Senate.

Last year, the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped changing gender on driver’s licenses unless courts intervened, according to FOX 4.

The Senate bill would block changes to gender on birth certificates, regardless of whether there is a court order.

TEXAS LAWMAKER PROPOSES BILL TO BAN GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR EVERYONE, INCLUDING ADULTS

Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would prohibit people in the state from changing the gender on their birth certificate. (Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images)

“This bill is not about restricting anyone’s personal expression. It is about ensuring legal documents reflect accurate statistics,” GOP state Sen. Mayes Middleton, who sponsored the bill, said Monday in a State Affairs Committee hearing. “Right now, the only way to change sex is by court order, and this bill prevents that.”

Testifying before the committee, Megan Benton of the group Texas Values said this is “a matter of public safety and public record.”

“If a man can legally change his birth certificate to say he is a woman, then it’s possible to get a driver’s license, passport, and social security card that also says he is female,” she said.

Several transgender Texans also testified before the committee, saying they believe they are being unfairly targeted.

S.B. 406 is now being debated in the Texas Senate. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“I’m not a monster. This is not a fetish for me, and I did not decide to be a woman,” Amanda McLaughlin said.

Megan Fairbanks asked, “What harm have I caused society?”

“I don’t play sports. The only thing I want to do in the bathroom is use the bathroom and touch up my makeup and wash my hands,” Fairbanks said.

The Transgender Education Network of Texas’ policy coordinator, Landon Richie, argued that the bill would lead to isolation and incentivize others to discriminate or put targets on the backs of transgender people who he said are already vulnerable.

DYLAN MULVANEY REACTS TO GAVIN NEWSOM’S REMARKS ON TRANS ATHLETES PARTICIPATING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

Several transgender Texans said they believe they are being unfairly targeted. (Adobe Stock)

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The bill is expected to pass through the Senate and be sent to the House.

This comes after state lawmakers passed legislation banning biological men from competing in girls’ school sports.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing male and female as the only genders.

Teachers’ union boss Randi Weingarten said during a recent podcast appearance that she is fearful President Donald Trump’s plans to terminate the Department of Education will mean more funding for school choice vouchers, which she decried as a “tax credit” for wealthy families already sending their kids to private school. 

Weingarten’s comments came during a podcast interview with Molly Jong-Fast, who spoke with her about the implications of Trump’s spending reforms, particularly his plan to terminate the Department of Education. Weingarten stated that cutting the department’s roughly $100 billion in funding will primarily benefit tax cuts for the wealthy or – “equally pernicious” – be redirected to states as “block grants.”

“We know, for example, what Texas would do,” Weingarten told Jong-Fast. “They’ll use it for vouchers. So they won’t give [federal funding] to the kids who have it now, they’ll just give it for vouchers.” 

THREE MORE STATES JOIN TREND OF PASSING UNIVERSAL SCHOOL CHOICE

“And frankly, what we are seeing in all the programs now – in terms of vouchers – they don’t work for kids,” Weingarten continued. “They basically go right now – it becomes a tax credit for people who already are sending their kids to private schools. So it’s income redistribution.”

Randi Weingarten is the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union behind the National Education Association.  (Reuters/Getty)

Trump has not taken any formal action to dismantle the the department, but media reports have signaled he is close to signing an executive order directing his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to begin the process. Last month, the president mused during a press conference from the Oval Office that the Education Department was “a big con job” that needed to be shut down “immediately.”

Alongside his anticipated executive action to dismantle the department Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 29 to expand “educational freedom” for families through various school choice programs, including vouchers.

“We’re fighting to protect our kids and protect that funding and not let Donald Trump or Elon Musk glom it off for tax cuts for billionaires or for block grants for vouchers,” Weingarten responded after Jong-Fast asked what she and her union, the American Federation of Teachers, was doing to combat Trump. Weingarten added that regardless of whether you are a Republican or Democrat, ensuring American families have the economic and educational opportunities to achieve the American Dream, should be a priority.

TRUMP CUTS MORE THAN $400 MILLION IN GRANTS TO COLUMBIA OVER ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS, POTENTIALLY MORE TO COME

“We all have to do a lot more to help make sure that families in America have what they need for a quality of life, for entry into the middle class,” Weingarten said.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFTHQ YouTube channel)

However, while Weingarten may be of the belief that school choice funding, in particular for vouchers, does not benefit the economic and educational opportunities of Americans, others disagree with that notion. 

Rachel Langan, a senior education policy analyst at the Commonwealth Foundation, a public policy think-tank based in Pennsylvania, said “simply spending more money” is not an answer to the deficiencies within the U.S. education system. 

“Pennsylvania already dedicates more than $37 billion to public schools, more than $22,000 per student. Yet, the latest U.S. Department of Education data shows that 69% of Pennsylvania eighth-grade students aren’t proficient at math, and an equal 69% cannot read at grade level – despite a $4.1 billion increase in state education spending in the last four years,” Langan said in a statement following Trump’s executive order directing the federal government to prioritize school choice funding.

 TRUMP ADMIN TACKLING BIDEN ‘BACKLOG’ OF CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM COMPLAINTS: ‘IMMEDIATE PRIORITY’ 

“Parents need more educational options, as evidenced by the continued waiting lists for charter schools and for the state’s tax credit scholarship programs, which serve large numbers of low-income families zoned to attend low-achieving public schools.”

Students and classroom split image (iStock/Getty)

“The time is now for school choice in every state,” the American Federation for Children, a nonprofit that advocates for school choice, added following Trump’s order. “For a generation, our nation’s education system has been held hostage by bureaucrats and schooling unions who care only about preserving their own power, not the needs of American students.”

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Since Trump’s executive order boosting school choice funding, a handful of states have introduced legislation to make these programs more widely available. In total, 14 states have passed universal school choice bills. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the American Federation of Teachers and Weingarten for comment, but did not hear back prior to publication. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the failed 2024 vice presidential candidate, conducted a postmortem on his 2024 campaign with former Vice President Kamala Harris, determining the Democrats played it too safe during the cycle. 

“We shouldn’t have been playing this thing so safe,” Walz told Politico in an interview published Saturday. 

He added: “I think we probably should have just rolled the dice and done the town halls, where (voters) may say, ‘You’re full of s—, I don’t believe in you.’ I think there could have been more of that.”

Walz joined Harris on the Democratic ticket in August 2024, just days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July amid mounting concerns over the commander in chief’s mental acuity and as Harris moved to pick up the mantle at the top of the ticket. The Harris campaign had just more than 100 days between Biden dropping out and rallying support for the Harris-Walz ticket on Nov. 5. 

FAILED VP CANDIDATE TIM WALZ SKEWERED AFTER HINTING AT POTENTIAL 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RUN

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

The Trump-Vance ticket swept the battleground states on election night, catapulting them to victory with 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226. 

Walz has been on a media blitz in recent days, including speaking with the New Yorker, joining MSNBC ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, speaking at the South By Southwest film festival on Saturday and teeing up an interview on California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast. 

TIM WALZ SAYS LOSING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IS ‘PURE HELL,’ ADMITS DEMS ARE ‘FATIGUED’ IN MSNBC INTERVIEW

Walz argued that Democrats “are more cautious” in engaging with the media than Republicans, while adding that he felt as if the campaign was never ahead, comparing it to a “prevent defense” strategy during a football game. 

“In football parlance, we were in a prevent defense to not lose when we never had anything to lose because I don’t think we were ever ahead,” he said, which bolsters reporting following the election that internal Democratic polling showed Harris lagging behind Trump in the lead-up to Nov. 5. 

Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz campaign in Rochester, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Walz took ownership for the party’s loss in 2024, telling the outlet that “when you’re on the ticket and you don’t win, that’s your responsibility.” 

TIM WALZ ADMITS HE WAS SURPRISED BY ELECTION DEFEAT: ‘THOUGHT THE COUNTRY WAS READY’

A handful of former presidential campaign staffers who spoke to the outlet under the condition of anonymity relayed that Walz wasn’t presented to voters in an effective manner, and was instead kept in a “box,” which they said compounded the Harris–Walz loss to the Trump–Vance ticket. 

JD Vance and Tim Walz speak during the 2024 vice presidential debate. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

“He was underutilized and that was the symptom of the larger campaign of decision paralysis and decision logjam at the top,” one former senior Harris aide told the outlet. “Could he have changed a percent in Wisconsin? Maybe. We still lose even if we win Wisconsin.”

Walz was put “in a box,” and “we didn’t use him the way we could’ve,” the aide added. 

“The world seemed to want more Tim Walz, and there were times when I wish they could’ve gotten more Tim Walz,” Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said, adding that he “wished they would’ve put [Walz] out there more.”

TIM WALZ THOUGHT HIS LACK OF WEALTH WAS ‘REAL FLEX’ AGAINST TRUMP: ‘HOW… DID WE LOSE TO A BILLIONAIRE?’

“By the time they finally let him do anything at all, it’s like 20 days left, and he’s doing four states a day, and there’s only so much you could do,” another former staffer said of Walz. “It was too short.”

The aides argued that Walz faced a steep battle ahead of his debate against then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance, remarking that he was “super nervous” and “in his own head” while preparing to face the Trump running mate on the stage. 

Gov. Tim Walz was mocked on social media following his suggestion he might run for president in 2028. (Getty Images)

“It looked as if Vance was the conductor and Walz was following the script,” longtime Democrtic strategist David Axelrod told Politico of the VP debate. “I don’t think that was the reason they lost, but that was not helpful either.”

‘DOOMED’: EXPERTS SAY THIS CRUCIAL CAMPAIGN DECISION LED TO VP HARRIS’ ‘DISASTROUS’ DEFEAT

Walz reportedly carried campaign flubs heavily on his mind, while some aides argued that the Harris campaign “didn’t do enough to punch back” against criticisms and defend Walz, such as when he falsely claimed he carried guns while in war. Walz joined the Army National Guard in 1981 and retired in 2005, but never saw combat. 

“This was a guy who definitely was embarrassed by his flubs, didn’t handle them well, and seemed like there was a never-ending supply of them, so that was part of the issue of getting him out there everywhere,” a former Harris staffer told Politico. “I don’t look back on that campaign and think that the way we used Walz was a critical error.”

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally outside the Atlanta Civic Center, Nov. 2, 2024. (Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press)

Walz revealed in an interview with the New Yorker, published March 2, that he is open to a potential presidential run in 2028, which was met with mockery by conservatives on social media earlier in March. 

Walz reiterated in his Politico interview that he is “not saying no” to a potential 2028 presidential run if the opportunity should present itself. 

“I’m staying on the playing field to try and help because we have to win,” Walz said. “And I will always say this, I will do everything in my power [to help], and as I said, with the vice presidency, if that was me, then I’ll do the job.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for additional comment on his remarks and did not immediately receive a reply. 

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled that anti-Israel agitator Mahmoud Khalil is not to be deported “unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” on Monday. 

Khalil, who led anti-Israel protests and encampments on Columbia University’s campus, was taken into custody on the Upper West Side in New York City on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said he was a former Columbia graduate student who “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” 

The judge ordered a hearing for Wednesday. Khalil’s lawyer also filed a motion that he be returned to New York City while the case plays out. According to ICE, Khalil is currently being held at the Lasalle Detention facility in Louisiana. Khalil’s lawyer has insisted their client was detained illegally and should be released.

His attorney, Amy E. Greer, released a new statement Monday evening, saying he is “healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament.”

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

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., expressed concern for anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by ICE agents on March 8. (Getty Images | Pool)

The statement continued: “The remarks by government officials, including the President, on social media only confirm the purpose – and illegality – of Mahmoud’s detention. He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent in violation of the First Amendment. While tomorrow or thereafter the government may cite the law or process, that toothpaste is out of the tube and irreversibly so. The government’s objective is as transparent as it is unlawful, and our role as Mahmoud’s lawyers is to ensure it does not prevail.”

Khalil’s wife also spoke out in a statement, calling for her husband to be released.

“Mahmoud is my rock, he is my home, and he is my happy place…,” she wrote. “For everyone reading this, I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby. I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world. Please release Mahmoud Now.”

Politicians have also spoken out in defense of Khalil. “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., criticized his arrest, calling the incident an “egregious violation of constitutional rights.”

In a post published to Instagram on Sunday, Tlaib wrote that it was “dangerous to allow our government to target people based on political speech” and warned that “more targeting of students like this will happen.”

“Everyone should be concerned about this,” Tlaib said in the Instagram video.

The Michigan congresswoman also addressed the reports about Khalil having a student visa revoked after his lawyer said he was a legal permanent resident.

“They were revoking his student visa. Well, guess what? He doesn’t have a student visa,” Tlaib claimed. “He’s a green card holder, legal permanent resident.”

“Now, again, they proceed to engage the attorney … he or she asked for a warrant, they hung up on them,” she continued. “If you believe in constitutional rights, you understand that they’re targeting this person. And everyone knows he has been very vocal against the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and they’re targeting him and refusing him constitutional rights. Who’s next?”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement supporting Khalil. 

“Mahmoud Khalil is a legal permanent resident whose wife, an American citizen, is eight months pregnant,” Jefferies said. “To the extent his actions were inconsistent with Columbia University policy and created an unacceptable hostile academic environment for Jewish students and others, there is a serious university disciplinary process that can handle the matter.”

Jefferies went on to say that “DHS must produce facts and evidence of criminal activity.” He said the actions of the Trump administration are “wildly inconsistent with the United States Constitution.”

In an X post on Monday, New York State Attorney General Letitia James expressed concern.

COLUMBIA’S ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS SAY TRUMP PULLING $400M IN GRANTS FROM UNIVERSITY IS A ‘SCARE TACTIC’

Mahmoud Khalil (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey/File)

“I am extremely concerned about the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, an advocate and legal permanent resident of Palestinian descent,” James’ post reads. “My office is monitoring the situation, and we are in contact with his attorney.”

James’ comments came hours before hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York to express support for Khalil. Pictures show demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, carrying signs and wearing keffiyehs.

Protesters rally against the arrest of former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil in New York on March 10, 2025. (Stephanie Keith for Fox News Digital)

President Donald Trump said Khalil’s apprehension was “the first arrest of many to come” in a recent social media post.

“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. 

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)

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“Many are not students, they are paid agitators,” he added. “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaib’s office for additional comment.

Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Senate confirmed former Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to head the Department of Labor, marking the completion of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries.

Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed by the Senate with bipartisan support in a 67-32 vote on Monday evening. Three Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., voted against Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation.

“The American people demand and deserve change after four years of economic heartache under the ‘most pro-union administration in American history.’ Unfortunately, Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s record pushing policies that force hardworking Americans into union membership suggests more of the same,” McConnell said in a statement. 

Paul has consistently opposed Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination over her past support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, voting against the motion to proceed her nomination to a final Senate vote. 

FOLLOWING KEY WINS, TRUMP POISED FOR CABINET COMPLETION IN RECORD TIME

Former Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, U.S. Labor secretary nominee for President Donald Trump, looks on during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg)

However, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that Chavez-DeRemer is “committed to this mission and ready to work with the HELP Committee to secure a better future for all workers.”

“The Biden administration used its authority as a weapon against workers, threatening their ability to earn a living and provide for their families. With President Trump back in office, we have an opportunity to enact a pro-America agenda at the Department of Labor that puts workers first,” Cassidy said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.

Chavez-DeRemer has received support from Democratic senators throughout her confirmation process, including from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who said she believed the Trump nominee was “qualified to serve as the next secretary of Labor.”

“The Department of Labor plays an integral role in supporting workers and small businesses alike, and after hearing significant support from constituents, including members of labor unions in New Hampshire, I will support Representative Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination as Secretary of Labor,” Hassan shared in a statement to Fox News Digital after voting to advance the Trump nominee through the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

WWE LEGEND TO LEAD EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AFTER CLINCHING FINAL MATCH IN THE SENATE

President Donald Trump tapped Lori Chavez-DeRemer to head the Department of Labor. (Getty Images/Reuters)

Chavez-DeRemer previously served as mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon, from 2011 to 2018, before being elected to represent the state’s 5th Congressional District in Congress in the 2022 midterms.

The Teamsters Union endorsed the Trump nominee for the top role in Trump’s Cabinet.

Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., participates in the House Transportation Committee hearing. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

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“As the daughter of a Teamster, Lori Chavez-DeRemer knows the importance of carrying a union card and what it means to grow up in a middle-class household,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a February statement. 

“Working people need someone with her experience leading the agency that is tasked with protecting workers, creating good union jobs, and rebuilding our nation’s middle class.”

A plan to avert a partial government shutdown backed by President Donald Trump is heading for a House-wide vote on Tuesday.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before legislation hits the House of Representatives chamber, advanced the bill along party lines on Monday evening. 

Tuesday is expected to first see a vote to allow for lawmakers to debate the bill, known as a “rule vote,” followed by a chamber-wide vote on the legislation itself later in the afternoon.

It’s a major test for Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as they seek to corral a House GOP conference that’s been exceptionally fractured on the subject of government funding.

DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY REBUKE PARTY MEMBERS WHO JEERED TRUMP DURING SPEECH TO CONGRESS: REPORT

Speaker Mike Johnson is ushering a funding plan backed by President Donald Trump through the House. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

As of late Monday evening, the bill’s chances of passing are still uncertain, even despite Trump himself making calls to potential holdouts.

Two sources told Fox News Digital that Vice President JD Vance will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning for House Republicans’ regular conference meeting, in an apparent bid to help push dissenters along.

In addition to one staunch opponent, there are at least four other House Republicans who are undecided or leaning against the bill.

With all lawmakers present, Johnson will likely only be able to lose two Republicans to pass a bill along party lines.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told reporters he was “currently” against the bill during the House’s 6 p.m. ET vote series.

“I like the fact that it has less spending, but I hate the fact that they push it over to the war pimps at the Pentagon once again, and that’s kind of my hang-up,” Burchett said, adding that he hadn’t heard from Trump at the time. 

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., and Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., signaled they were undecided, with the latter signaling he was leaning against the bill.

“I refuse to paint myself in the corner. I don’t think that’s a smart thing to do. But as it stands right now, it doesn’t make sense to say anything is going to be different in September than it is right now,” McCormick said.

The bill is a continuing resolution (CR), which is a rough extension of fiscal 2024 funding levels to keep the government open through the start of fiscal 2026 on Oct. 1.

Republicans are largely expected to shoulder the bill alone in the House, despite a significant number of GOP lawmakers who would normally be opposed to extending Biden administration-era funding levels. House GOP leaders are confident, however, that it will pass.

Democrats have outnumbered Republicans in anti-government shutdown votes in recent years, but this time their opposition Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has many left-wing lawmakers signaling their opposition to the bill.

But what’s lending optimism to Johnson allies is the fact that two of the measure’s most vocal backers are the senior-most members of the hawkish House Freedom Caucus.

Rep. Chip Roy is one of the bill’s key advocates. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, the group’s policy chair, told Fox News Digital on Monday morning that a key part of conservatives’ pitch to fellow fiscal hawks is that Trump will likely still move to spend less money than the CR appropriates, including funding that he’s already blocked by executive order.

“Step 1 is the CR freezes spending, guys, that’s a win; No. 2, no earmarks; No. 3, no giant omnibus; No. 4, we believe the president can impound,” Roy said of his pitch.

Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., cited Republicans’ near-uniform vote on their Trump-backed federal budget bill last month.

“There were a lot of people in Washington who said we would never pass a debt ceiling increase with only Republican votes, and we did in the House,” Harris said. “I think, similarly, there’s some people who, including some of the Democrats, who think, ‘Well, they’re going to have to come to us, because they can never pass a continuing resolution with only Republican votes.’ And I think we’re going to see the same result [Tuesday].”

But with razor-thin margins, Johnson can afford precious little dissent to still pass the bill on party lines.

At least one Republican is already opposed: Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a staunch Johnson critic, wrote on X late Sunday, “Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week. It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day.”

The 99-page legislation was released over the weekend.

GOLDMAN SACHS HIGHLIGHTS TARIFF WARS WINNERS AND LOSERS

The bill allocates an additional $8 billion in defense spending to mitigate national security hawks’ concerns, while non-defense spending that Congress annually appropriates would decrease by about $13 billion.

There are also some added funds to help facilitate Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations.

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Cuts to non-defense discretionary spending would be found by eliminating some “side deals” made during Fiscal Responsibility Act negotiations, House GOP leadership aides said. Lawmakers would also not be given an opportunity to request funding for special pet projects in their districts known as earmarks, another area that Republicans are classifying as savings.

It allows Republican leaders to claim a win on no meaningful government spending increases over fiscal 2025.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem swore in Sean Curran on Monday to serve as the director of the U.S. Secret Service.

The swearing-in ceremony took place in the Oval Office, where President Donald Trump and Noem joined Curran.

“Sean’s brave actions when he risked his life to help save President Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania is a testament to his dedication to the mission of the US Secret Service,” Noem said in a statement. “With his decades of experience, he will return the Secret Service to focusing on its core mission: protecting American leaders and the U.S. financial system.”

“I look forward to working alongside Sean to ensure that the Secret Service is stronger than ever before,” she added.

WHO IS SEAN CURRAN? HEAD OF TRUMP’S PERSONAL DETAIL TO BE NOMINATED FOR SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR

Secret Service Director Sean Curran is sworn in by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in the Oval Office. (X post from Dan Scavino: Official White House Account)

Curran was among the group of agents who rushed to the stage to shield Trump with their bodies during a failed assassination attempt on July 13 in Butler that left two dead and the candidate with an injury to his ear.

Curran appeared next to Trump in a series of photos showing the former and future president returning to his feet, blood running down his face and raising a fist, prompting cheers from the audience.

Three bystanders were shot. They were firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, who died from his injuries, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, both of whom survived.

SECRET SERVICE STRUGGLE TO PROTECT PRESIDENTS WON’T SEE ‘IMMEDIATE’ END EVEN WITH MORE MANPOWER: RETIRED AGENT

Secret Service Director Sean Curran is sworn in by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in the Oval Office. (X post from Dan Scavino: Official White House Account)

In the aftermath, Trump praised the members of his personal detail and defended them from criticism.

“Trump wanted someone he could trust, and they clearly have formed a bond after Pennsylvania,” former Secret Service agent Bill Gage said in January.

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CHEATLE RESIGNS AFTER MOUNTING PRESSURE IN WAKE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Secret Service Director Sean Curran is sworn in by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in the Oval Office. (X post from Dan Scavino: Official White House Account)

“Even with all of the mistakes in Butler, the mistakes were from the advance team. The agents assigned to Trump and Curran performed exactly as trained.”

Curran maintains a low profile but is often pictured at Trump’s side. 

He even has fans on TikTok.

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The attempt on Trump’s life led to intense scrutiny of the U.S. Secret Service and the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

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…

–Newsom’s ties to CCP under microscope in new book exposing alleged corruption: ‘Fleeced American citizens’

-Trump’s eighth week in office set to continue breakneck level of actions, rallying GOP to avoid shutdown

-How ‘judge shopping’ is shaping the legal fights against President Trump’s agenda in federal court

It’s a ‘no’ from Massie 

As the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown approaches and President Donald Trump urges Republicans to support passage of a funding measure, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has declared that he will oppose the proposal.

“Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week. It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day,” Massie declared in a Sunday post on X.

President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to pass the measure…Read more

Rep. Thomas Massie, who is leading the push to end the Education Department in the House, said he was “pleasantly surprised” to hear Donald Trump support such an effort (Getty Images)

White House

‘NO CREDIBLE ACTION’: Trump admin makes ‘backlog of complaints’ of antisemitism from Biden administration an ‘immediate priority’

‘LEAVE NOW’: Trump admin rolls out new app to replace CBP One, encourage self-deportations

‘FINANCIAL BURDEN’: New study reveals ‘staggering’ scope of how much DEI was infused into government under Biden

A new study reveals just how entrenched DEI became in the Biden Adminisration  (Getty)

DISASTER SHIFT: Trump to sign disaster relief order putting states, localities in the driver’s seat of catastrophe response

‘FIRED’ UP: WH lambasts ‘head-in-the-sand’ liberal prosecutors after 20 AGs sue to halt DOGE cuts

World Stage

MAXIMUM PRESSURE: Trump admin ends waiver allowing Iraq to buy Iranian electricity as part of ‘maximum pressure’ campaign

Capitol Hill

‘PURE EVIL’: Social media explodes at Sanders for hosting trans musician who sang ‘pure evil’ song at anti-Trump rally

TRUMP CARD: Dems weaponize Medicaid anxiety in bid to take down Trump-backed federal funding plan

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LOOMS: Days from partial government shutdown deadline, here’s where things stand

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., walks through the Capitol, Monday, March 3, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

EMOTIONAL RETURN: Sole Cuban-born congressman talks emotional return to island as part of congressional GITMO CODEL

DISSING DOGE: ‘Hurting people to help themselves’: Dem senator disses DOGE’s CFPB cuts

‘GOING ON THE OFFENSE’: AOC ‘going on the offense’ to rally red-district voters against Trump: report

PECULIAR PAIRING: Freedom Caucus member Anna Paulina Luna joins AOC to push 10% credit card interest rate cap proposal

Across America 

MAIL FAIL: DOGE lawmakers look to defund Biden’s anemic-paced $3B EV postal truck ‘boondoggle’

‘KICK IN THE PANTS’: Pentagon losing cutting edge on weapons innovation, needs ‘massive kick in the pants,’ say defense leaders

‘HISTORIC REFORM’: Sec Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete with 83% gone, remainder now falling under State Dept

LIFE AND TAXES: New Missouri bill would let residents donate to pregnancy centers instead of paying any taxes

‘CAUSE A CONFRONTATION’: CA sheriff blasts media ‘fearmongering’ and warns activists they will get people ‘hurt’ by defying ICE

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco spoke to Fox News Digital about activists opposing Trump’s deportations (Getty)

2028 SPECULATION: Democrat governor to headline top party fundraiser in key presidential primary state stoking 2028 speculation

SCHOOL SAFETY: Arkansas public school students will soon be required to take gun safety courses

SPACE FOR SAVINGS: NASA shutters DEI office as Trump admin downsizes federal agencies

KASH ON DELIVERY: FBI Director Patel working ‘aggressively’ to comply with congressional record requests ahead of deadlines

STAMP OF APPROVAL: Conservative intellectual, National Review founder Bill Buckley honored on new U.S. Postal Service stamps

(Getty/U.S. Postal Service)

POLITICAL BAGGAGE: Scandal-scarred former Gov Andrew Cuomo is the frontrunner in NYC mayoral race

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

A former Iraqi refugee pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group, according to the Justice Department. 

Abdulrahman Mohammed Hafedh Alqaysi, 28, pleaded guilty to creating and developing logos for ISIS’ media wing, known as the Kalachnikov team, and sending hacking videos and instructions to ISIS members between 2015 and 2020, the Justice Department announced Friday. 

He also pleaded guilty to providing stolen credit card information and creating fraudulent identity documents for the designated terrorist group. 

Alqaysi, currently a legal permanent resident in Richmond, Texas, will remain in custody until his June 5 sentencing. He faces up to 20 years behind bars and up to $250,000 in fines. 

JD VANCE CLASHES WITH CBS ANCHOR OVER UNVETTED REFUGEES: ‘I DON’T WANT THAT PERSON IN MY COUNTRY’

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January instructing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to admit refugees to the U.S. on a “case by case basis.” (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The guilty plea comes after the Trump administration has moved to crack down on the vetting of refugees. For example, President Donald Trump signed executive orders in January suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and ramping up vetting of refugees “to the maximum degree possible,” particularly those “from regions or nations with identified security risks.”

One of the orders, known as the Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program, instructs Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to admit refugees to the U.S. on a “case by case basis” if the alien does not pose a national security threat to the U.S.

Additionally, Vice President JD Vance voiced concerns about the vetting process for refugees in January, and said in an interview with CBS anchor Margaret Brennan that the U.S. shouldn’t “unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country.” 

Specifically, Vance pointed to an Afghan national arrested in October 2024 on charges of conspiring to conduct a terrorist attack on Election Day on behalf of ISIS, according to the Justice Department. 

NEW SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO PAUSES REFUGEE OPERATIONS, RAMPS UP VISA VETTING

Vice President JD Vance clashed with CBS’ Margaret Brennan on several topics, including the vetting of refugees. (CBS screenshot)

“I don’t agree that all these immigrants, or all these refugees have been properly vetted,” Vance told Brennan. “In fact, we know that there are cases of people who allegedly were properly vetted and then were literally planning terrorist attacks in our country. That happened during the campaign, if you may remember. So, clearly, not all of these foreign nationals have been properly vetted.”

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A spokesperson for Vance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital about Alqaysi’s guilty plea. 

Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report. 

The White House remained steadfast in its DOGE agenda after 20 Democratic state attorneys general collaborated to file a lawsuit Friday challenging the legality of the administration’s planned cuts to the federal workforce.

“The Democrats have no plan on how to recover from their embarrassing loss, and it shows,” White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said Monday.

“Instead of working to become a party that focuses on the will of the people, they are hell-bent on keeping their heads in the sand and gaslighting on the widely supported mission of DOGE.”

Maryland’s top lawman led 19 other states in asking a federal court to halt what Attorney General Anthony Brown called illegal mass layoffs of federal probationary employees. His office also called for those already let go to have their jobs reinstated.

LAWMAKERS FROM STATE WITH MOST FEDERAL WORKERS PER-CAPITAL WARN AGAINST TRUMP BUYOUT BID

Maryland AG Anthony Brown, a former congressman from Prince Georges. (BaltoSun/Getty)

The lawsuit listed each of Trump’s top 21 acting or confirmed cabinet officials as defendants in their official capacity, and alleged the administration made “no secret of their contempt for the roughly 2 million committed professionals who form the federal civil service.”

“Nor have they disguised their plans to terminate vast numbers of civil servants, starting with tens of thousands of probationary employees,” the suit read.

Fields, a spokesman for President Donald Trump, said that slashing waste, fraud and abuse and “becoming better stewards of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars” might “be a crime to Democrats.”

“But, it’s not a crime in a court of law,” Fields said.

Brown said in a statement that Trump’s “mass firings” have thrown thousands of Marylanders and others who work for the government into “financial insecurity.”

Lawmakers in the Old Line State, which is home to the most federal workers per capita, previously warned constituents against Trump’s offer to buy-out their jobs in February.

Rep. Sarah Elfreth — a Democrat who represents a line of bedroom communities including Columbia, Elkridge and Glen Burnie — said her constituents had been coming to her expressing worry about the situation.

“Pushing out career federal employees will only cripple agencies and undermine essential government services — it does nothing to make government more efficient,” she said.

In a statement, Gov. Wes Moore added that he supports the lawsuit and that Marylanders in public service are “dedicated patriots” whose work should be “praised, not villainized.”

TOP BLUE-STATE REPUBLICAN LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE DOGE EFFORT, WITH A TWIST

Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleged potential “chaos” nationwide due to these job cuts, and that under the law, cabinet agencies must follow protocols when conducting “Reductions in Force” (RIFs) which include 60 days advanced notice of termination.

It also alleged that the layoffs are being carried out in a manner that forces state governments to abruptly step in, providing safety nets for affected employees — placing additional strain on state services and budgets.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin echoed Brown, calling the firings “callous and reckless.”

Platkin claimed several military veterans in the Garden State have already been affected by the layoffs and that the endeavor has greatly damaged partnerships between Trenton and Washington.

“[These layoffs] are not only short-sighted but are illegal, and today we are taking the Trump administration to court in order to reverse them,” he said.

In California, Attorney General Robert Bonta claimed DOGE’s actions will do the opposite of its stated purpose to curb waste and inefficiency.

“The reality is that abrupt and indiscriminate terminations will lead to increased operation disruptions, higher rehiring costs, and long-term financial burdens on taxpayers,” Bonta said, adding that DOGE’s work has the potential to harm national parks within the Golden State.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha added in a statement that states need “appropriate notice” in order to prepare to help affected bureaucrats who live in the Ocean State.

“If [Trump] wants to reduce the size of the federal government, he must do so through legal means: This is another attempt to subvert the rule of law as an illegal means to an end and coalesce executive power in the process,” Neronha said.

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Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. (AP)

“These protections are on the books for a reason, and we won’t stand for this attack on American workers and their families.”

In defense of Trump and his administration, several Republican governors have countered that investigating and enacting ways to cut bureaucracy is not new, but that the president and Elon Musk have turbo-charged such an endeavor at the federal level.

“Idaho was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” Gem State Gov. Brad Little said in his recent State of the State address.

“Florida has set the standard for fiscally conservative governance,” Sunshine State Gov. Ron DeSantis added last month.

Meanwhile, officials like New Jersey state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano and Texas Senate President Brandon Creighton have crafted DOGE commissions or policy proposals in their respective states.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order Monday that will put states and local jurisdictions in the driver’s seat of preparing and responding to disasters, Fox News Digital learned. 

“This Order restores state, local, and individual empowerment in disaster preparedness and response, and injects common sense into infrastructure prioritization and strategic investments through risk-informed decisions that make our infrastructure, communities, and economy more resilient to global and dynamic threats and hazards,” details on the order obtained by Fox News Digital show. 

The order emphasizes the role of states, localities and individual leadership over federal leadership while preparing for and coping with disasters — such as flooding or fires — and will “streamline” federal functions so local communities can more easily work with federal leaders in Washington, Fox News Digital learned. 

It also will establish the National Resilience Strategy, which will outline the “priorities, means, and ways to advance the resilience of the nation” while pinpointing risks to key national infrastructure and related systems, Fox Digital learned. 

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER AIMED AT ‘DRASTICALLY’ IMPROVING FEMA EFFICACY, PRIORITIES, COMPETENCE

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Officials will be called to review “all infrastructure, continuity, and preparedness and response policies” to ensure they fall in line with the National Resilience Strategy. 

The order will shift the federal government’s “all-hazards” approach to handling disasters to a “risk-informed approach” that will prioritize “resilience and action over mere information sharing,” Fox Digital learned. 

‘FEMA IS NOT GOOD:’ TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGENCY OVERHAUL DURING VISIT TO NORTH CAROLINA

Trump has railed against the nation’s response to natural disasters under the Biden administration. He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity just days after his inauguration that “FEMA has not done their job for the last four years” and he would like to see “states take care of their own problems” as they have historically relied on the federal government and its resources and funds to handle disasters. 

President Joe Biden participates in a briefing on a hurricane in 2021.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FEMA came under the nation’s microscope in 2024 when Hurricane Helene ripped through North Carolina, devastating residents as it wiped out homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. FEMA and the Biden administration faced fierce backlash for its handling of the emergency, while Trump accused the agency of obstructing relief efforts in Republican areas. 

TRUMP SAYS NEWSOM IS TO ‘BLAME’ FOR ‘APOCALYPTIC’ WILDFIRES

Trump signed a separate executive order in January establishing FEMA Review Council to “drastically” improve the federal agency tasked with handling disaster assistance across the nation. 

Firefighters battle the Lilac Fire along Interstate 15 near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21. (AP/Noah Berger)

“Despite obligating nearly $30 billion in disaster aid each of the past three years, FEMA has managed to leave vulnerable Americans without the resources or support they need when they need it most,” that executive order read. “There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA. Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President.”

TRUMP WARNS FEMA FACES A RECKONING AFTER BIDEN ADMIN: ‘NOT DONE THEIR JOB’

Trump additionally has railed against left-wing policies that he says have compounded natural disaster response, most notably in California over its water infrastructure policies that he said contributed to the raging wildfires that destroyed swaths of areas around Los Angeles in January. 

A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Etienne Laurent/The Associated Press )

“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump posted to Truth Social in January as the wildfires spread. 

Trump signed a separate executive order on Jan. 24 that provides additional water resources to California to improve the state’s response to disaster. 

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The order Trump is expected to sign on Monday will serve as a continuation of his pledge “to shift power from Washington to the American people,” similar to the California executive order and establishing the FEMA Review Council in January, Fox Digital learned. 

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

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., met with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) employees on Friday who were fired as a result of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) federal workforce reductions. 

CFPB has provided over $21 billion in consumer relief, according to the agency’s latest data from Dec. 3. 2024. Kaine accused Musk of targeting the CFPB with DOGE cuts for his own gain. 

“The fact that the Trump administration would target these guys at the front end of a chainsaw massacre… Why are you going after these consumer protection advocates? It smells really bad. I mean, it makes it seem like it happened because Musk has some particular interest in gutting these regulators who are protecting everyday folks.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital following his meeting with former CFPB employees, Kaine said the CFPB saved “tens of thousands of Virginians” from unfair or abusive financial practices. 

FEDERAL WORKERS’ UNION FILES LAWSUITS TO STOP VOUGHT, DOGE ACTIVITY AT CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU

Sen. Tim Kaine met with CFPB employees on Friday who were fired as a result of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency federal workforce reductions. Kaine accused Musk of targeting the CFPB for his own gain. (Getty/Reuters)

“These folks are doing great work,” Kaine said. “This is an agency that returned $21 billion to consumers who got ripped off. I know the Virginia statistics. It’s tens of thousands of Virginians who got relief because of the work that these folks did.”

Virginia has the second-highest number of federal civilian employees in the United States, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Kaine has been a vocal opponent of DOGE’s federal workforce cuts, holding town hall meetings to address concerns from his constituents. 

‘SAVE FACE’: OFFICIALS AT LIZ WARREN’S PET PROJECT AGENCY DISMISSED DESPITE TELLING MEDIA THEY RESIGNED

Kaine said Musk and DOGE are “hurting people to help themselves” by promoting a government that yields a “huge giveaway to Elon Musk and people just like him.”

“There’s just too much bubbling up about Musk trying to get a contract here with the Department of State, trying to displace a contract at the DoD, and maybe steer it toward either his own companies or companies that he’s close to. When you allow an unelected guy to just come with the chainsaw and have access to people’s… and look, they’ve released data that they shouldn’t release: sensitive data, classified data, names of people who did not authorize them to put their data out to the world. They’re engaging in behavior that’s hurting people… why? I think they’re hurting people to help themselves,” Kaine said. 

Elon Musk, wields a chainsaw during an appearance at CPAC, on Feb. 20, 2025, in National Harbor, Maryland. (GETTY)

Regarding the ongoing federal workforce firings, Kaine said: “They ain’t using a hatchet. They’re using a chainsaw.” Kaine said Trump is relying on executive actions to dismantle government agencies because even congressional Republicans wouldn’t “go along with this stuff that he’s doing.”

“He is not confident he could get even Republican majorities to go along with this stuff. He’s going to do what he can, because even these Republican majorities that seem completely cowed and submissive, with no backbone and no willingness to exercise a vocal cord that they have, he doesn’t think they will go along with this stuff that he’s doing,” Kaine said. 

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by the deadline of this article. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Joe Valenti, a former CFPB term worker who met with Kaine on Friday, told Fox News Digital he was locked out of the CFPB office last month, received a stop-work order and then a termination letter with no severance. 

Valenti said consumer finance laws are “not necessarily being enforced” by halting CFPB operations. 

“The federal government is abdicating from its role in protecting working people from financial harms and that affects low-income constituents, like the people who I served at CFPB. It affects service members, affects veterans, seniors. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is one of the laws that CFPB would oversee and enforce. That goes back to World War I. If you don’t have a cop at the beat at all, what’s going on in the markets and what does it mean for people who are affected by market abuses?” Valenti said. 

CPFB is one of several agencies that has been impacted by DOGE’s federal workforce reductions. Elon Musk posted on X on Feb. 7, “CFPB RIP,” followed by a gravestone emoji. 

President Donald Trump has touted CFPB cuts, telling the Future Investment Initiative Institute Priority Summit on Feb. 19 that his administration “virtually shut down” CFPB. 

“We virtually shut down the out-of-control CFPB, escorting radical-left bureaucrats out of the building and locking the doors behind them. What they were doing was so terrible. Where they were spending the money was so terrible,” Trump said. 

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 10, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office on Feb. 10 his plan to have the agency “totally eliminated.” Trump said the CFPB was a “waste” used “to destroy some very good people” and it was a “very important thing to get rid of.” 

A complaint filed last month by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) accuses Russell Vought, CFPB acting director and director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), of “preparing to conduct another mass firing, this time of over 95% of the Bureau’s employees.”

Russell Vought is sworn in during the Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing on Jan. 22, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Vought ordered CFPB employees to halt agency operations unless otherwise approved on Feb. 10. Seventy-three newly hired “probationary employees” and 70 to 100 “term employees” were subsequently fired while around 200 contracts were canceled, according to the lawsuit and media reports. 

Three CFPB leaders were placed on administrative leave in early February, Fox News Digital confirmed. An agency spokesperson said CFPB’s chief legal officer, Mark Paoletta, placed Lorelei Salas, the CFPB’s supervision director, and Eric Halperin, the agency’s enforcement chief, and Zixta Martinez, the agency’s deputy director, on administrative leave.

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There have been protests outside the CFPB headquarters in Washington since the firings, featuring Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, who initially proposed the agency. 

CFPB is an independent government agency intended to protect consumers from unfair financial practices in the private sector. It was created by President Barack Obama’s administration in 2010 following the Great Recession of 2008. 

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