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Fox News has learned that House and Senate offices are growing increasingly frustrated about who may be allowed to attend President-elect Trump’s inauguration inside the Capitol Rotunda Monday.

Fox is told that member offices were asked to “resubmit” paperwork about whether a lawmaker wants to attend and if the lawmaker’s spouse wants to attend. However, there are no “plus-ones.” And Fox was told the attendance of spouses could be “iffy.” 

One lawmaker said members were trying to get governors or other state officials into the Capitol Rotunda. But it was far from clear if officials could accommodate those requests.

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There is an effort to get a small group of people into the Capitol Rotunda who were slated to be seated down in front but were not House and Senate members. One official refused to identify to Fox who those with “special status” could be.

This likely means very few dignitaries or others are allowed inside for the inauguration. One Trump-supporting lawmaker was “happy” it was moving inside so the lawmaker didn’t have to sit outside in the cold “for an hour-and-a-half.” The lawmaker also noted that House members would likely have had the most uncomfortable experience had the inauguration been outside. That’s because of the way the wind blows across the platform and where House members were to be seated on the West Front.

Workers build a stage in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., Friday, for the 60th presidential inauguration, which was moved indoors because of cold temperatures expected Monday.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

One lawmaker told Fox about having 700 people traveling to Washington for the inauguration, and now none of them would be seated anywhere. But the lawmaker had “not heard one complaint” from people traveling to see the inauguration in person who now can’t.

President Reagan’s 1985 inauguration, moved inside because of extreme cold and a temperature of 7 degrees, accommodated a crowd of 1,000 in the Capitol Rotunda. Fox colleague Aishah Hasnie reports the grand total allowed inside the Capitol Rotunda for this inauguration will likely be 600. In addition, Fox is told that “600 is pushing it” due to fire concerns. One source says the figure may be closer to 500 before all is said and done.

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Fox is told that there were concrete plans for inaugurations in 2017 and 2021 to move ceremonies indoors. Officials even rehearsed those scenarios. In addition, Fox is told there was serious discussion about moving the 2017 inauguration inside because of rain and concern about umbrellas.

While the weather is the primary reason for moving the inauguration indoors, multiple sources close to the planning of the event have expressed concerns about security. 

“My Spidey senses are up,” said one lawmaker who asked not to be identified and is steeped in the planning of this event. But when Fox pressed various lawmakers and other sources, no one could identify a specific threat.

The U.S. Capitol Building is surrounded by fencing in Washington, D.C., Friday, as preparations are made for President-elect Trump’s inauguration Monday. (Fox News Digital)

That said, more than one lawmaker contacted by Fox noted there were multiple outdoor events with the President-elect prior to the July assassination attempt, and every other event since has been indoors.

Fox is told that security officials will erect what was described as a “geo-fence” around the Capitol to interfere and jam nefarious communications and/or drones. At one point, there was talk of shutting off all cell communications during the time period when President-elect Trump was on the platform.

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That said, a forecast of about four inches of snow in Washington Sunday night began to change thinking around this year’s inauguration. There is genuine concern about thousands of people on the National Mall standing in cold, fresh snow for hours. There was worry about emergency personnel being able to reach those who may have medical emergencies while on the National Mall because of the inclement weather. Another issue is how snow that melted today could refreeze, creating significantly slick surfaces around the Capitol.

First lady Nancy Reagan, center, looks on as President Reagan is sworn in during ceremonies in the Rotunda beneath the Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 1985. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

And then there is another factor: snowball fights.

One senior source tells Fox there was actual discussion about snowball fights interfering with the event if Washington got a fresh coating of snow. One source said planners worried it could “get out of hand” and could contribute to injuries.

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Inside or out, this could be the snowiest inauguration since the swearing-in day was moved to Jan. 20 in 1937. The previous record for snow on inauguration day came in 1961, for the swearing-in of President John F. Kennedy. Washington received seven-tenths of an inch of snow that day.

And considering the weather, perhaps it was only appropriate that the poet Robert Frost spoke at JFK’s inauguration.

President-elect Trump announced on Saturday he has picked Penny Schwinn, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

While in Tennessee, Schwinn oversaw the department’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, implemented Gov. Bill Lee‘s school voucher program and overhauled the state’s school funding formula, the Associated Press reported.

Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn testifies at the House Education Committee on Capitol Hill in 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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Schwinn previously worked at the Texas Education Agency as the deputy commissioner of standards and engagement, deputy commissioner of special populations and monitoring, and chief deputy commissioner of academics. 

She was also the assistant secretary of education in Delaware.

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Trump congratulated Schwinn on Saturday in a post on Truth Social. 

“A former teacher herself, Penny became the founding principal of a charter school, because she believes in the power of School Choice, and is committed to delivering the American Dream to the next Generation by returning Education BACK TO THE STATES,” Trump wrote. “Congratulations to Penny and her wonderful family!”

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Schwinn holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins, and a Ph.D. from Claremont.

Thousands of mainly female protesters descended on Washington, D.C. to protest President–elect Trump’s inauguration on Monday. However, the crowd is only a tenth of the half a million who turned out for the “Women’s March” in 2017.

Saturday’s march, rebranded as the “People’s March,” is taking place at three different locations with demonstrators advocating for a wide range of left-wing causes and showcasing a united front to the new administration. 

This morning, a kickoff event took place in Franklin Park for “gender justice” and bodily autonomy, and then demonstrators walked downtown before making their way towards the Lincoln Memorial for the day’s main event. 

Demonstrators participate in the “People’s March” on Washington January 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Activists were rallying in opposition to the incoming Trump administration’s policy objectives two days before the presidential inauguration.  (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

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“It’s really healing to be here with all of you today in solidarity and togetherness, in the face of what’s going to be some really horrible extremism,” Mini Timmaraju, the head of advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, told the crowd as events kicked off.

Other protesters gathered at two other parks also near the White House, with one group focused on democracy and immigration and another on local Washington issues, 

Vendors hawked buttons that said #MeToo and “Love trumps hate,” and sold People’s March flags for $10. Demonstrators carried posters that read “Feminists v. Fascists” and “People over politics.”

Lillian Fenske, 31, drove six hours from Greensboro, North Carolina, to participate. Her signs expressed concern over oligarchs and the disunity. “America is not for sale,” said one, while another said simply, “Divided We Fall.”

Protesters representing a variety of rights groups attend the “People’s March on Washington” on January 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Activists were rallying in opposition to the incoming Trump administration’s policy objectives two days before the presidential inauguration.  (Bryan Woolston/Getty Images)

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There is a heavy police presence, although law enforcement is not expecting a repeat of the violent scenes seen across the city ahead of Inauguration Day in 2017, where protesters shattered glass storefronts and torched cars, with police arresting more than 200 people in demonstrations that spanned several days.

The enthusiasm behind the so-called resistance movement to Trump has waned somewhat, with many progressive voters expressing feelings of exhaustion and disappointment following Trump’s landslide win in November. He dominated both the Electoral College and the popular vote to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris after a historic campaign cycle. 

Animated pro-choice and cliamte protesters holding signs at the march. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The 2017 Women’s March took place on the day after Trump’s inauguration. Celebrities like America Ferrera, Madonna, Ashley Judd, Cher, Katy Perry, Amy Schumer, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Michael Moore, Debra Messing, Patricia Arquette and others attended the march.

President-elect Trump is expected to leave Mar-a-Lago later today and head to Washington.

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Trump’s advisers have not detailed how he will spend the first part of the day, and the only public event on Trump’s schedule is an evening reception and fireworks show at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.

President-elect Trump delivers his inaugural address on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017,, in Washington, DC.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On Sunday, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and a “Make America Great Again” rally, at which Trump will deliver remarks, followed by a candlelit dinner. 

Monday is Inauguration Day when Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will participate in the swearing-in ceremony, which has been moved indoors due to the forecasted frigid temperatures. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

A Georgia state senator has had his ban from entering the state House chamber revoked following an ugly incident on Thursday which saw him flung to the floor, arrested and subsequently hospitalized.

State Sen. Colton Moore, a hardline supporter of President-elect Trump who previously tried to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis impeached for indicting the former president, was involved in a heated exchange at the entrance to the House chamber where officials refused him entry to attend Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State Address.

Moore, of Trenton in Dade County, ended up being pushed to the floor by Keith Williams, a lawyer for House Speaker Jon Burns’ office, who was trying to enforce a ban placed on Moore by the speaker. Moore was banned from entering the chamber after he blasted the state Senate’s decision last year to consider a resolution to name a building at the University of North Georgia after the now-deceased former house speaker David Ralston.

State Senator Colton Moore in hospital, left, Moore pushed to the floor, right.  (Sen. Colton Moore via Storyful/ Fox News)

STATE SENATOR PUSHED TO THE GROUND, ARRESTED WHILE TRYING TO ENTER GEORGIA HOUSE CHAMBER

Moore on Thursday made several attempts to brush past House staffers but was pushed back on several occasions. Then, at one point, William sent Moore flying, with the senator falling awkwardly to the floor. After another attempt to enter, Moore was arrested by state troopers and led away.

Later in the evening, Moore posted a video of himself sitting on a hospital bed with a blood pressure monitor strapped to one of his arms. His other arm was elevated on the bed’s guard rail. 

“I did take a bit of a beating; my hand, it’s a bit swollen and purple; we’re waiting to get some X-rays to check it out,” Moore said.

“Today they took my freedom and liberty away as I was fighting for your freedom and liberty. But I tell you what, we still have a constitutional duty to do work, and I’ll still be in that legislature tomorrow morning. Thank you all for the support.”

Burns initially said that the incident was “incredibly unfortunate and said that Moore had “created a dangerous situation when he chose to use force against our law enforcement officers, dedicated doorkeepers and House staff.” Burns said that the integrity and decorum of this House was “non-negotiable—period.”

On Friday, Burns, a Republican from Newington, lifted his ban after state Senate and Republican Party leaders lined up to support Moore.

Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, is detained by Georgia State Patrol as Moore attempted to enter the state House of Representatives for the state of the state address at the Georgia Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Atlanta.  (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

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He said that Moore’s desire to “cause a disturbance and gain notoriety in the press broke longstanding rules and precedents of decorum that each member of the General Assembly has a responsibility to uphold.” But he said he’d admit Moore for joint sessions without an apology because Ralston wouldn’t have wanted the legislature’s work to be hindered.

“For this reason, the Ralston family has expressed to their family here in the House that they desire for our chamber to resume business as normal — with all members of the General Assembly present — for any future joint sessions with or without the apology they and the House deserve,” Burns said.

Moore’s ban had stemmed from a speech he gave last year blasting former speaker Ralston, who was also a Republican. 

Moore accused Ralston of using his office to delay court cases for criminal defendants he had represented as an attorney. Ralston claimed in 2019 that his actions were entirely legal.

“This body is about to memorialize, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders that we are ever going to see in my lifetime,” Moore exclaimed at the time. 

It’s not the first time Colton, a self-described “RINO wrangler,” has clashed with his Republican colleagues.

Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, is pushed to the floor. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

In 2023, Georgia’s Republican Senate Caucus suspended Moore for attacking them for opposing his plan to impeach Willis for indicting Trump in an election interference case.

Moore was the most prominent backer of a special session to impeach and remove Willis or defund her office, winning Trump’s endorsement. Kemp denounced the call as “some grifter scam” to raise campaign contributions for Moore.

The Willis case eventually unraveled, in part because she was in a romantic relationship with a prosecutor she had hired.

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Moore was booked into Fulton County jail on a misdemeanor charge of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.

After Moore took a mug shot imitating one Donald Trump famously took at the same jail, a supporter posted Moore’s $1,000 bail.

Lt. Edward Starling, a troopers spokesperson, said he had no update on whether charges would be dropped.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: At the second Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus meeting, Chairwoman Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, led discussions on how they can most effectively and quickly begin cutting waste across the government. 

The new 18-member caucus convened on Thursday morning and strategized on how to avoid some of the pitfalls other similar efforts have run into. 

“The Senate DOGE Caucus is hitting the ground running on day one of the Trump administration to downsize government,” Ernst told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Biden’s bloat has created a target-rich environment for finding ways to eliminate waste and make the bureaucracy accountable to the people. Now is the time for results, and after today, I feel confident that we have plans in place to serve as the action arm in Congress to deliver for taxpayers.”

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Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is chairwoman of the DOGE caucus. (Reuters)

For years, Ernst has been taking inventory of government waste, which has given the caucus a list of places to begin eliminating excess bureaucracy and making the government run more efficiently. 

Some specific targets for the caucus are federal telework, IRS agents with unpaid taxes and U.S. funding going to foreign laboratories with little accountability. 

Caucus members mapped out how they can address these items in a way that ensures they can get “multiple bites at the apple,” per Ernst’s office. 

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Ernst audited the IRS herself. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

To do this, the Republican members plan on taking advantage of tools such as the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which can be used to overturn rules put in place by federal agencies, and budget reconciliation. 

The budget reconciliation process is already expected as a key vehicle for Republican tax and immigration policy objectives, and the party has further signaled it could pass two reconciliation bills this year. One senator even suggested they could do three such bills during the 119th Congress. 

The benefit of passing legislation through budget reconciliation is that it requires a simple majority and is not subject to the 60-vote threshold of the legislative filibuster. The CRA is similarly not beholden to the filibuster. 

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Republicans are planning to hit the ground running with their new majorities. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The caucus is also planning to work with President-elect Trump on executive orders aimed at government waste. 

The 18 members of the caucus serve on a number of different Senate committees, giving them a well-rounded idea of where the most waste exists. 

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President-elect Trump tapped Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy, right, to lead DOGE. (Getty Images)

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Last year, Ernst took the opportunity to lay out a plan that cuts $2 trillion of what she says is waste. In it, she recommends selling empty government buildings, auditing the IRS and firing agents that owe taxes, and slashing seemingly random or “silly” studies conducted by the government, among other things. 

DOGE was previously announced by Trump, who tapped billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the new advisory board looking to cut government waste. 

President-elect Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his first White House term, significantly reshaping the nation’s top court. But President Biden appointed more federal judges than Trump in the past four years.

According to fresh data from the Federal Judiciary Center, Biden is slated to end his tenure having installed 228 judges to U.S. district and appellate courts, including record numbers of female and minority judges to district courts across the country. 

President Biden takes a question from a reporter before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington Jan. 30. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

That total was aided in part by a flurry of eleventh-hour confirmations by Senate Democrats, who scrambled to approve Biden’s judicial nominees last month in the final days of the 118th Congress and while they still held a narrow majority in the chamber.

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President Biden and Chuck Schumer scored a number of judicial wins due to GOP Senate absences. (Reuters)

Trump appointed 226 federal and appellate court judges during his first White House term, just under Biden’s total.

Biden also placed one justice on the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court.

Sixty percent of the judges appointed by Biden are Black, Hispanic, Asian or part of another racial or ethnic minority group, according to data compiled by the Pew Research Center, the highest percentage for any U.S. president. 

Biden’s federal judge appointments, both in their diversity and scope, bear similarities to another single-term Democratic president, Jimmy Carter.

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The U.S. Supreme Court Nov. 15, 2023, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib )

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Unlike Biden, Carter did not appoint anyone to the Supreme Court. But he appointed more than 260 federal and appellate court judges during his four years in office, including record numbers of women and minority judges, helping the courts better reflect the populations they represented. The appointments helped reshape the federal bench and paved the way for women and minorities to serve on the Supreme Court.

Most notably, Carter is credited with installing Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a decision that set her up later for promotion when Democratic President Clinton tapped her for the nation’s highest court in 1993.

A New York Times reporter sparked controversy this week after suggesting in an article that President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, Russell T. Vough, helped promote a “unitary executive theory” ahead of Trump’s second term.

It drew sharp criticism on social media and among conservative analysts who argued the description of the theory was fundamentally untrue.

The report in question by Alan Rappeport focused on Vought’s nomination to head up OMB during Trump’s second presidency, a position he also held during Trump’s first term, and the work Vought did after Trump left office.

In the years after Trump’s first term, the Times report says, Vought founded a conservative think tank and served as an architect of Project 2025, described in the report as an effort by conservative groups to help advance executive branch power. 

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The New York Times publishing headquarters (Alexandra Schuler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The report says the legal underpinning of Project 2025 is “a maximalist version of the so-called unitary executive theory that rejects the idea that the government is composed of three separate branches” and “argues that presidential power over federal agencies is absolute.” 

Though the article has since been updated to describe the unitary executive theory as three “separate but equal branches,” the article was panned by conservatives and others who disagreed with the Times’ characterization of the legal theory.

The White House in Washington, D.C. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It was the second part of the statement in particular that sparked backlash from conservative commentators, including National Review editor Charles Cooke, who argued in an op-ed that the Constitution and its wording, in his view, is explicit about how the executive, legislative and judicial branches can exercise power and about the limitations of the executive branch. 

“The United States is a democratic republic in which elected officials are held accountable for their decisions,” Cooke wrote in an op-ed for the National Review. 

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Russ Vought, former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, speaks during a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28, 2021. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The only elected official who holds power within the executive branch is the president. For anyone else to exercise power without the permission or endorsement of the sole electee would be to create a fourth branch of government, unmoored from oversight, and thereby to undermine the whole apparatus.”

Others also took aim at the article on social media, arguing the Times reporter fundamentally misunderstood the unitary executive theory. 

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“This is bad, even for the New York Times,” Iowa law school professor Andy Grewal wrote in a widely-shared post on X.

The New York Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for a response. 

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against an Obama-era policy that provides amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as children.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled unanimously that a new version of the policy issued by President Biden in 2022 overstepped the executive branch’s authority. The decision by two Republican-appointed judges and one Democratic-appointed judge is the latest blow to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in a string of legal challenges that has kept 500,000 so-called Dreamers waiting for a resolution for more than a decade.

The decision Friday does not immediately change the status quo. Program beneficiaries can still renew temporary permits to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation. But the federal government remains prohibited from issuing new applications.

However, Friday’s decision does create an opportunity for DACA to be appealed to the Supreme Court for a third time. And it comes just three days before President-elect Trump assumes office with his promise to begin mass deportations of illegal immigrants.

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President Biden is pictured on the left with pro-DACA protesters on the right.  (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images and Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In his first term, Trump attempted to end DACA, but he also made statements expressing his desire for Dreamers to be permitted to stay in the U.S.

Obama introduced DACA in 2012, citing inaction by Congress on legislation aimed at giving those brought to the U.S. as children a path to legal status. Legal battles followed, including two trips to the Supreme Court.

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Immigration rights activists take part in a rally in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on November 12, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden’s 2022 update to the policy did not change much substantively, but it was subject to public comment as part of a formal rule-making process intended to improve its chances of surviving in court.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paton, who led the challenge on behalf of Republican-led states, called Friday’s ruling “a major victory.” 

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led the latest challenge to the DACA program.  (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump to ensure that the rule of law is restored, and the illegal immigration crisis is finally stopped,” Paxton said.

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

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In 2016, with one vacancy on the Supreme Court, the justices deadlocked 4-4 over an expanded DACA and a version of the program for parents of DACA recipients, keeping in place a lower court decision for the benefits to be blocked. In 2020, the high court ruled 5-4 that the Trump administration improperly ended DACA by failing to follow federal procedures, allowing it to stay in place.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Freshman GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno ripped the Biden administration’s immigration policy in his first hearing in the Senate as President-elect Trump’s DHS secretary nominee Kristi Noem sat in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

“Just to be clear, Laken Riley would be alive today if you had been the secretary of Homeland Security?” Moreno asked Noem during her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday. 

“Senator, my hope is that that would be true, yes,” Noem responded, as the Laken Riley Act is being debated in the Senate with the aim of preventing crimes like the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered last year by an illegal immigrant, who was sentenced to life without parole. 

During his line of questioning, Moreno implemented a theme of asking Noem about the Mayorkas immigration record and whether the illegal immigration statistics would continue under her watch. 

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Sen. Bernie Moreno ripped the Biden administration’s immigration policies in Kristi Noem’s DHS confirmation hearing (Getty Images)

“So, I think sometimes, in D.C., we tend to complicate things,” Moreno told Noem. “There is a current secretary of Homeland Security, so why don’t we take this opportunity to do a little job review and compare and contrast him to you? So just if you don’t mind, I’ll ask you some questions, and you can give me an answer. Secretary Mayorkas allowed about 400 people on a terror watch list to come into this country illegally. If you were confirmed as secretary of Homeland Security, how many people on the terror watch list would you allow into this country?”

Noem responded that she would “work every single day” to make sure the number is “zero.”

“When you look at the 382 that Joe Biden has let in, and the policies continue, is shocking and needs to be changed immediately,” Noem said. 

“Mayorokas let in about 12,000 murderers. How many would you target to let into this country?” Moreno asked.

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Moreno was sworn into the Senate on Jan. 3. (Reuters)

“My goal every day would be to have no murderers allowed into this country,” Noem said. 

“Mayorkas let in 16,000 rapists. How many would you target to let in?” Moreno continued. 

“I would work to make sure there was none let into this country,” Noem answered. 

Moreno continued by asking Noem about the 600,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions let in by Mayorkas, and she responded by saying that any migrants with criminal convictions would be “immediately removed.”

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South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is sworn in during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on her nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on January 17, 2025.  (Getty)

Noem also told Moreno that the practice of flying hundreds of thousands of migrants into the United States on jets would halt under her tenure. 

“And how many illegals will you plan to house in luxury hotel rooms in Manhattan, at a cost of $6,000 per month?” Moreno asked.

“Clearly, senator, during this election, the American people said they did not support that and that that would not be a part of this new administration,” Noem said. 

“I’m going to end my time with a startling statistic and actually a challenge to the Democrat Party,” Moreno said after asking Noem to confirm other aspects of the Biden administration immigration policy that she would halt.

“When Mayorkas was confirmed, every single Democrat voted to confirm him, and six Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in that confirmation. If we get to the vote, hopefully, chairman, we could do that Monday, because we cannot wait one single day without you being in charge of that department. We should have 100 percent, 100 senators vote for your confirmation. This will be the litmus test in my mind as to whether we have a Democrat Party that’s actually serious about doing bipartisan things like securing this country and protecting our citizens.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration is just two days away, and excitement for the celebrations is building throughout Washington, D.C., and across the nation. 

Celebrities and top business leaders are rallying around the incoming 47th president of the United States – a stark contrast to the inaugural ceremonies in 2017. 

Trump, in November, won the 2024 presidential election in a landslide. He dominated both the Electoral College and the popular vote to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris after a historic campaign cycle. 

Since his massive victory, the president-elect has seen support from his traditional allies – including Republicans in Congress and GOP governors across the nation – as he builds out his incoming administration. 

TRUMP WINS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Former President Donald Trump stands on stage with former first lady Melania Trump, right, as Lara Trump watches at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

However, he has also been embraced by top executives in the business world and Silicon Valley – individuals who had not been particularly cozy with Trump or his allies during and after his first administration. 

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders paid visits to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, throughout the transition period. 

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Tech billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, left, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, right, have been supportive of President-elect Donald Trump since his Election Day victory. (Getty Images)

Leading up to the inauguration, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and executives from Google, Microsoft, Boeing, Ford Motor Co. and more, committed at least $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund – a total about-face from the first Trump inauguration. 

Trump will also have union leaders at his inauguration, representing the broad coalition of support he has seen since his victory, including International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and members of the Firefighter’s Union. 

TRUMP’S INAUGURAL FUND RECEIVES $1 MILLION DONATION FROM MARK ZUCKERBERG’S META

People take their places as a rehearsal begins on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Celebrities, too, are showing up for the president-elect. Country music star and “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful,” and will be joined by the Armed Forces Choir and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club.  

Underwood’s performance will come just before Trump takes the presidential oath of office for the second time. 

Joining Underwood during the swearing-in ceremony will be opera singer Christopher Macchio, who is expected to perform the national anthem. 

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Carrie Underwood will perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration. (Denise Truscello)

Reports suggest other top music acts will make their way to Washington, D.C., for performances, including Jason Aldean, Rascall Flatts, Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, Village People and more. 

Last time, Trump struggled to attract big-name support, and even high-profile entertainers for his inauguration in 2017. The entertainment program was tame compared to his predecessor, President Obama’s 2013 inauguration, which included performances by Beyoncé and Kelly Clarkson.

Additionally, the 2017 inauguration weekend was also marred by protests across Washington, D.C. 

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Former President Barack Obama, center right, and then-President Trump share a laugh as former first lady Michelle Obama and Melania Trump, left, look on following inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017. (REUTERS/Mike Segar )

Protesters created chaos across the city ahead of Inauguration Day in 2017, shattering glass storefronts and torching cars, with police arresting more than 200 people in demonstrations that spanned several days.

Trump’s actual swearing-in on Capitol Hill and the parade to the White House happened, however, without any incident.

FLASHBACK: HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS ARRESTED IN INAUGURATION DAY CLASHES

President Trump, left, takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, as his wife Melania holds the bible, and with his children Barron, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Jim Bourg/Pool Photo via AP)

Despite the chaos, Trump, in his inaugural address, called for a “new national pride” to heal divisions and asked for unity.

However, the day after Trump was sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States, several hundred thousand people from across the country descended on the nation’s capital to protest his presidency in the “Women’s March on Washington.”

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Many of the protesters were indeed women and were largely peaceful compared to the rioters who wreaked havoc in Washington, D.C., days earlier. The march moved from the National Mall to the streets while the newly inaugurated president attended a National Prayer Service after waking up in the White House for the first time.

Celebrities like America Ferrera, Madonna, Ashley Judd, Cher, Katy Perry, Amy Schumer, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Michael Moore, Debra Messing, Patricia Arquette and others attended the march.

Protesters walk during the Women’s March on Washington, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, on Jan. 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after President Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Madonna, during that protest, said she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”

However, Trump’s second inauguration is expected to be a celebration – the official Inauguration weekend will begin with a large fireworks display Saturday night. 

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On Sunday, there will be a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and a “Make America Great Again” rally, where Trump will deliver remarks, followed by a candlelit dinner. 

Monday is Inauguration Day, when Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will participate in the swearing-in ceremony; say “farewell” to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris; participate in the president’s Signing Room Ceremony on Capitol Hill; and lead the Presidential Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and to the White House. 

President Trump waves while walking near the White House during the 58th presidential inauguration parade in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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The president will then attend three official inaugural balls and is expected to deliver remarks at each. 

“President Trump is dedicated to uniting the country through the strength, security, and opportunity of his America First agenda,” Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc. Co-Chairs Steve Witkoff and Kelly Loeffler said. “The 2025 inaugural celebrations will reflect President-elect Trump’s historic return to the White House and the American people’s decisive vote to Make America Great Again.”

President Biden’s half-century political career comes to a close on Monday, as President-elect Trump is inaugurated and succeeds Biden in the White House.

While the longtime Democratic senator from Delaware, two-term vice president and one-term president can point to a plethora of legislative victories and other achievements during his four years in the White House, Biden leaves office as one of the most unpopular presidents in the nation’s history.

And Biden, who successfully defeated Trump in the 2020 election as he pledged to turn a page on his predecessor, is facing a legacy tarnished by his inability to prevent Trump from returning to the presidency.

Biden, in an open letter to the American people on Wednesday, appeared to acknowledge that he wasn’t able to follow through on the integral pledge from his 2020 campaign.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SAYS ABOUT PRESIDENT BIDEN

President Joe Biden speaks about foreign policy during a speech at the State Department in Washington, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake,” Biden wrote. 

But he lamented “that’s still the case.”

“President Biden ran on and was elected on a platform of a return to normalcy in 2020. And while voters appear to have wanted that in principle, history will remember Biden as having been unable to deliver on his promise,” veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New England College, told Fox News.

NEW SURVEYS SHOW BIDEN LEAVING OFFICE WITH APPROVAL RATINGS STILL DEEPLY UNDERWATER

Biden, in a farewell address to the nation this past week, aimed to cement his legacy as a president who pushed to stabilize politics at home while bolstering America’s leadership abroad, and as a leader who steered the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic, made historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy, pumped up the economy and made historic gains in job creation, and lowered prescription drug prices for millions of American.

President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP) (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

But he also used his speech “to warn the country” that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy. Our basic rights, freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

Biden ends his single term in the White House with approval ratings that remain well underwater.

He stood at 42% approval and 57% disapproval in the latest Fox News national poll, which was conducted Jan. 10-13 and released on Thursday.

Just 36% of Americans approved of the job Biden has been doing in the White House, according to the latest CNN poll, which matched the president’s previous low mark in the cable news network’s polling during Biden’s White House tenure.

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And Biden’s approval rating stood at 43% – slightly higher but still in negative territory – in national polls by USA Today/Suffolk University and Marist College. All of the polls were conducted in early and mid-January.

Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. However, the president’s numbers started sagging in August 2021 in the wake of Biden’s much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and following a surge in COVID-19 cases that summer that was mainly among unvaccinated people.

The plunge in the president’s approval rating was also fueled by soaring inflation – which started spiking in the summer of 2021 and remains to date a major pocketbook concern with Americans – and the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the southern border.

Biden’s approval ratings slipped underwater in the autumn of 2021 and never reemerged into positive territory.

The latest polls also indicate that many Americans view Biden’s presidency as a failure.

US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 15, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) ((Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

Sixty-one percent of adults nationwide questioned in the CNN survey said they see Biden’s presidency overall as a failure, with 38% viewing it as a success. 

According to the USA Today/Suffolk University survey, 44% of registered voters said history will assess Biden as a failed president, with 27% saying he will be judged as a fair president. Twenty-one percent of those questioned said history will view Biden as a good president, with only 5% saying he will be seen as a great president.

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Just over a third of adults nationwide questioned in the Marist poll said Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history, with 19% saying he will be considered a below-average president.

Twenty-eight percent of participants offered that Biden’s legacy will be considered average, with 19% saying he would be regarded as above average or one of the best presidents in the nation’s history.

Biden, in one of his last interviews in office, told MSNBC in an acknowledgment of regret that “ironically, I almost spent too much time on the policy, not enough time on the politics.”

Also weighing on Biden’s legacy – his ill-fated re-election run.

In April 2023, the then-80-year old Biden announced his re-election bid. Fourteen months later, Biden was losing ground to Trump in 2024 election polling when he suffered a disastrous debate performance against the former president, which reignited deep concerns among voters over his physical and cognitive ability to handle another four years in the White House.

President Joe Biden (right) and Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, participate in their one and only presidential debate, at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Less than a month later, following an outcry from fellow Democrats, Biden announced he was ending his campaign and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to serve as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

Two and a half months after Trump’s convincing victory over Harris, Biden is still facing plenty of blame for the Democrats’ electoral setbacks in November.

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville told Fox News that “the Joe Biden story is one of the great tragedies of American politics. I really mean that. He should be having a glorious, well deserved, highly acclaimed retirement. And he’s not.”

And Carville, a political mastermind behind former President Bill Clinton’s historic 1992 White House victory, argued that “it’s hard to blame anybody but him.” 

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But Biden’s friends and supporters feel that the negative views of the soon-to-be former president will shift over time.

“Biden, because of some of the legislation that he was able to muscle through, is going to look pretty good,” John MacNeil, a longtime Democratic consultant, Biden supporter, told Fox News. “The fruits of some of what Biden accomplished are only going to become visible over the next few years.”

But MacNeil, a founding director of Unite the Country, the super PAC that boosted the then-former vice president through the 2020 Democratic primaries, also acknowledged that Biden may be “seen as just a hiccup between Trump one and Trump two. That is something that historians will talk about.”

Presidential inaugurations mark some of the most defining moments in U.S. history, allowing presidents to establish traditions and reinvigorate the American people.

Some inaugurations make history, while others are remembered for comical blunders and even brawls.

Before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office for a second time on Monday, here are some of the most momentous Inauguration Day moments in U.S. history.

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George Washington’s first inaugural address

No tradition’s story is complete without its origin. President George Washington delivered the first-ever inaugural address on April 30, 1789, just two weeks after Congress unanimously elected him to serve as the nation’s leader.

George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789, at the old City Hall in New York. (Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

His 10-minute speech noted the “divine blessing” of the nation’s founding, expressing gratitude to “the benign parent of the human race” for the deliberations that led to the founding and the unity of the American people.

Andrew Jackson’s White House mob

President Andrew Jackson had some 20,000 of his supporters attend a celebration around the White House following his first inauguration in 1829.

The mob quickly grew rowdy, however, with fights breaking out and furniture being destroyed. Jackson ultimately fled out a window to the safety of a nearby hotel, according to the National Archives.

The crush at the White House after President Andrew Jackson’s presidential inauguration in 1829. (Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images)

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Staff at the White House then resorted to filling bathtubs with whiskey and orange juice outside the White House in order to get the crowd to leave the building.

William Henry Harrison’s only inauguration

President William Henry Harrison delivered his inaugural address on a bitterly cold day in March 1841. He refused to wear a coat and traveled to and from the inauguration on open horseback. His address is also the longest in U.S. history, with Harrison speaking for more than two hours.

President William Henry Harrison’s presidential inauguration on March 4, 1841. (Library of Congress)

Several weeks after Inauguration Day, Harrison caught a cold, which then developed into pneumonia, and he died on April 4, barely a month after taking office.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inauguration

President Franklin D. Roosevelt first took the oath of office in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression.

It was during his first inaugural address that he delivered a line now known to virtually all Americans, telling the people, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, center, watches his inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1933. (AP Photo, File)

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Roosevelt’s steadfast leadership would see Americans through both the Great Depression and World War II.

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address

President John F. Kennedy assumed office on Jan. 20, 1961, and he too delivered a line that would enter the American pantheon.

“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,” he urged.

President John F. Kennedy making his inauguration speech from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images)

Kennedy’s words led the country to the moon and back, and to this day, polls rank him as the most beloved recent president.

Barack Obama’s first inaugural address

President Barack Obama’s first inauguration is notable not only because he was the first Black American to become president, but also for the historical quirk that he had to be sworn in twice.

Obama and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts briefly spoke to one another as Roberts was administering the oath of office. As a result, Roberts misspoke and stated, “That I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully.”

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Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administers the oath of office to President Barack Obama a second time, right, in the Map Room of the White House Jan. 21, 2009 in Washington, D.C. (Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images)

Obama then repeated that phrasing, which is incorrect. The oath’s correct wording in the Constitution is, “That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.”

While the ceremony moved forward regardless, Obama and Roberts met again the following day at the White House to administer the oath correctly.

As Senate confirmation hearings for several of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks get underway, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is particularly eager to see former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed as the nation’s top law enforcement official.

“Pam Bondi did a terrific job at her confirmation hearing,” Cruz told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday. “She’s going to be confirmed. She will be the next attorney general. And I believe, actually, every one of the Trump cabinet nominees is going to be confirmed.” 

Cruz said that Bondi, who also was a personal lawyer to Trump, “may be the single most important cabinet nominee President Trump has made.”

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Sen.  Ted Cruz says he is confident Bondi will follow through on her statement that she will investigate missing migrant children in the U.S.  (Fox News Digital/Getty)

“And the reason for that is under Joe Biden, tragically, we have seen the Department of Justice politicized and weaponized in a way that there is no precedent in our nation’s history for how they turned the Department of Justice and the FBI into an arsenal to go after the president’s political enemies,” Cruz said.

During Bondi’s hearing on Wednesday Cruz qasked her whether she would investigate the thousands of unaccounted-for migrant children who have entered the United States. 

Bondi responded, “Yes, Senator.”

When asked whether he was confident that she would follow through on that if confirmed, Cruz said, “I am.”

“These were unaccompanied minors, little girls, little boys that came into this country that were in the custody of the federal government, and the federal government handed them over to adults,” Cruz said. “Many of the adults were not relatives, and they have now lost them. They don’t know where they are.” 

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Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Ben Curtis/The Associated Press)

Republican lawmakers have been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the illegal migrant crisis over the past four years. 

Shortly after Trump’s electoral victory in November, House Republicans grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra over the administration’s process used to vet sponsors.

Speaking before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement, Becerra testified about his department’s Refugee Resettlement Office, which is charged with caring for, and placement of, unaccompanied migrant children.

Republican subcommittee members accused the Biden administration of rushing migrant children out of HHS custody and into the hands of unvetted sponsors, who sometimes exploited and abused them.  

Cruz said that he also asked Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, RFK Jr., to conduct an investigation of lost migrant children, “because we have an obligation,” he said.

“Those were children in the custody of the government,” Cruz said. “We have an obligation to go and protect those kids.” 

TRUMP AG PICK PAM BONDI WOULD ‘MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN’ WITH ‘BACK TO BASICS’ DOJ APPROACH: FORMER COLLEAGUE 

Migrants line up outside a migrant re-ticketing center at St. Brigid School on E. 7th St. Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New York City. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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Bondi has secured the support of current and former state attorneys general across the country, as well as more than 100 former top Department of Justice officials. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on her nomination in the coming days. 

If the committee approves the nomination, the full Senate will then schedule a vote to confirm her appointment. Although an exact date for the final confirmation vote has not been announced, it is anticipated to be within the next two weeks.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

OpenAI has partnered with a new AI initiative led by a group co-founded with outgoing Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry that has pushed left-wing causes and has several board members aligned with Democrats. 

OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, is backing an initiative known as AI 2030, which is aimed at shaping “public dialogue about U.S. competition against China on AI,” Politico reported in October.

The initiative is led by the “non-partisan” think tank American Security Project (ASP), where Kerry was a founding member and served two stints on the board of directors. 

ASP has promoted the idea that climate change is a national security threat, and argued on its website that pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal was a bad idea that “harms national security.” The group previously received a $500,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation “for use by its World War Zero initiative, an effort to achieve action and mobilization through awareness and public education to halt the increase of global carbon emissions.”  The Rockefeller Foundation has dished out tens of millions of dollars to left-wing causes.

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President-elect Trump, left, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (Getty Images)

Kerry’s former chief of staff David Wade, who gave Hunter Biden rapid response help as the Burisma scandal swirled, currently sits on the board of directors and recently authored an op-ed in The Hill explaining how AI in the U.S. has reached its “Sputnik moment,” outlining the need to compete with China on AI.

Former Obama Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who called then-President Trump an “embarrassment” in 2018, also sits on the board of ASP.

ELON MUSK, AI AND TECH TITANS, VENTURE CAPITALISTS INVITED TO PRE-INAUGURATION DINNER AT DAWN OF TRUMP ERA

Former Secretary of State John Kerry attends the Viva Technology show at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles in Paris on May 23, 2024. (Chesnot/Getty Images)

Rep, Don Beyer, D-Va., who is also on the board at ASP, has publicly opposed Trump’s tariff policies, calling them “idiotic” and “illegal” in a 2023 press release.

In 2018, ASP promoted an op-ed by Board Member Matthew Wallin in which he criticized Trump’s diplomatic tactics against Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

In 2017, Wallin amplified the debunked media narrative in a post on X, then Twitter, that Trump called White supremacists at the deadly Charlottesville rally “good people.”

Chris Lehane, who serves as OpenAI’s Head of Global Policy, is the author of the infamous and controversial “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” memo promoted by then-first lady Hillary Clinton dismissing the Monica Lewinsky scandal as part of a right-wing media conspiracy. 

Along with being a longtime Democratic Party consultant, Lehane has recently contributed money to help former Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. 

Altman recently followed other tech titans and made a substantial $1 million gift to Trump’s inauguration in his personal capacity, but has faced scrutiny for previous high-dollar donations to left-wing efforts, including a $250,000 donation to a Democratic super PAC and opposition research firm American Bridge during the 2020 election. 

OPENAI CEO SAM ALTMAN RINGS IN 2025 WITH CRYPTIC, CONCERNING TWEET ABOUT AI’S FUTURE

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, speaks during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Altman has donated to hundreds of Democrats in recent years compared to just one Republican, Newsweek reported this past summer. He was also recently tapped to be a co-chair for the incoming Democratic mayor of San Francisco’s transition team. 

In addition to hosting a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang at his San Francisco home in late 2019, Altman has donated over $1 million to Democrats and Democratic groups, including $600,000 to the Sen. Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC, $100,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and over $150,000 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He also gave thousands to state Democratic parties and top Democrats in the House and Senate.

In 2014, Altman co-hosted a fundraiser for the DNC at Y Combinator’s offices in Mountain View, California, which was headlined by then-President Obama.

Following Trump’s victory in November, Altman posted on X, “congrats to President Trump. i wish for his huge success in the job.”

“It is critically important that the US maintains its lead in developing AI with democratic values,” he added. 

During Altman’s tenure from 2014 to 2019 as the CEO of Y Combinator, an incubator startup that launched Airbnb, DoorDash and DropBox, he talked about China in multiple blog posts and interviews. In 2017, Altman said that he “felt more comfortable discussing controversial ideas in Beijing than in San Francisco” and that he felt like an expansion into China was “important” because “some of the most talented entrepreneurs” that he has met have been operating there. 

Altman’s résumé and AI efforts have drawn the ire of Trump ally Elon Musk in recent years. Musk said last year, “I don’t trust OpenAI. I don’t trust Sam Altman. And I don’t think we ought to have the most powerful AI in the world controlled by someone who is not trustworthy.”

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 26, 2024. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Musk, who has been involved with a highly publicized legal tussle with Altman, has also said that OpenAI’s ChatGPT function is infected with the “woke virus.”

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot whose core function is to mimic a human in conversation. Users across the world have used ChatGPT to write emails, debug computer programs, answer homework questions, play games, write stories and song lyrics, and much more. 

“It is going to eliminate a lot of current jobs, that’s true. We can make much better ones. The reason to develop AI at all, in terms of impact on our lives and improving our lives and upside, this will be the greatest technology humanity has yet developed,” Altman said in a 2023 interview with ABC News. “The promise of this technology, one of the ones that I’m most excited about, is the ability to provide individual learning — great individual learning for each student.”

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In recent months, OpenAI has reportedly been quietly pitching its products to the U.S. military and pursuing defense contracts, Forbes reported.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for OpenAI said, “America has to win the AI race, and that is why Americans from both sides of the aisle are united in supporting policies that help the US maintain its competitive edge against China.” 

“ASP is a nearly twenty-year-old bipartisan organization that works with legislators, retired flag officers, subject matter experts, and groups from across the political spectrum to produce high quality research and forge bipartisan consensus on emerging threats to our national security,” an ASP spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2023. (Getty Images)

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“While OpenAI is one of many donors for AI Imperative 2030, we ensure an equal balance of opinions informed by independent experts and Consensus for American Security members, including Julia Nesheiwat, Ph.D., former Trump Homeland Security Advisor, and Neil Chatterjee, former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under Trump. We also recently hosted a roundtable featuring Nazak Nikakhtar, another former Trump official.”

The statement continued, “The primary objective of AI Imperative 2030 is to ensure that the U.S., not China, wins the race for AI supremacy. China aims to surpass the U.S. and lead the world in AI by 2030. We can’t let that happen. President Trump has been a leader in creating bipartisan consensus that the U.S. needs to compete more vigorously with China, and we look forward to working with his administration and the Republican Congress to design effective and cost-efficient policies towards this goal.”

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum, Cameron Cawthorne and Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.

President Biden’s final list of commutations was released Friday afternoon, laying out the names and registration numbers of nearly 2,500 inmates whose sentences were reduced by the president’s action.

This latest round of commutations cements Biden’s spot as the president with the largest number of pardons and commutations granted to individuals. The people on the list, according to a statement from President Biden, were determined to have received disproportionately harsh sentences for drug crimes, compared to sentences they would have received today.

“Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “As Congress recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act, it is time that we equalize these sentencing disparities.”

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The new list of commutations comes after Biden already set a record for the largest single-day act of presidential clemency last month, when he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and were largely accused of committing non-violent drug offenses, according to the White House. 

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Following last month’s commutations, several Democrats urged Biden to issue even more pardons and commutations for people serving long sentences. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who was among those pressing Biden to take action, applauded the president Friday for his action. 

Rep. Ayanna Pressley called the death penalty “racist” in a statement praising President Biden’s clemency decision (Getty Images)

“Today, President Biden is taking another historic, transformative, and compassionate step toward healing and reuniting families by commuting the sentences of thousands of individuals serving unjustified lengthy sentences—a direct result of the failed policies of the War on Drugs,” Rep. Pressley said. 

“With this action, President Biden … is demonstrating the power of clemency to address the injustices of our criminal legal system. I thank President Biden for acting boldly and continuing to use clemency to change and save lives. This is what we’ve been calling for and this is the type of leadership the moment demands. This will be a defining part of President Biden’s legacy.”

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A former fighter pilot will serve as the next United States Undersecretary of the Air Force, President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday night.

Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, a former U.S. Space Force commander, appeared on Fox News to discuss military readiness in July, after claiming he was fired for criticizing the “Marxist” DEI complex.

Lohmeier, a 2006 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, was in the military for more than a decade before joining the Space Force in 2020, where he specialized in missile warning systems.

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Lohmeier (United States Congress)

SPACE FORCE COMMANDER WHO SAYS HE LOST PENSION FOR CRITICIZING DEI IN MILITARY OPENS UP ON BEING ‘BETRAYED’

He was fired less than a year later, losing his pension, after appearing on The Steve Gruber Show to discuss his bestselling book, “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military.”

Lohmeier was relieved of his command and subjected to an Inspector General investigation launched by the Pentagon, according to a biography posted on Congress.gov.

After separating from active duty in September 2021, he became a public speaker and consultant on “matters of Marxist ideology and tactics, CRT, military culture, and the preservation of liberty,” according to the biography.

Matthew Lohmeier (Buckley Space Force Base)

Trump commended Lohmeier in the nomination announcement, writing Lohmeier “devoted his life to serving our Great Nation.”

“Matthew will work with the GREAT Secretary of Defense Nominee, Pete Hegseth, to end the devastating “woke” policies that have destroyed our Military, and make our Country STRONG AGAIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Congratulations Matthew!”

Lohmeier responded on X, thanking Trump for the nomination.

“I’m grateful for your trust, and am very much looking forward to continuing my service to our great men and women in uniform,” he wrote. “To all men and women with a desire to serve your country in uniform, come join us now! We want the best, brightest, and strongest of you at this critical juncture in American history.”

Lohmeier has master’s degrees in military operational art and science, and military strategy, according to his biography. He lives with his wife and children in Idaho.

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The U.S. Space Force and Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Grossman and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this story.

Pete Hegseth has picked up another key vote for confirmation as President-elect Trump‘s secretary of defense.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on Friday said he will vote to confirm Hegseth, an Army combat veteran whose nomination was under question because of his remarks questioning women’s roles in the military, sexual misconduct allegations, as well as allegations that he drank alcohol while working previous jobs.

Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee this week relatively unscathed amid questions from lawmakers. 

DEM SENATOR’S ‘LIES AND STUPIDITY’ AT HEGSETH HEARING ROASTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ‘CLOWN SHOW’

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14 in Washington, D.C.  ( (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

“The President’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Mr. Hegseth, has impressive academic qualifications, conducted himself very well in the Senate Armed Services hearing, and has a commendable record of service in uniform. He assured me he will surround himself with a strong support team,” Cassidy said in a statement. “I will vote for his confirmation.”

Hegseth has seen a wave of support from Republicans, including Sen. Joni Ernst, of Iowa, who previously expressed concerns about his nomination.

PETE HEGSETH SAYS HE HASN’T HEARD FROM WEST POINT SINCE EMPLOYEE ‘ERROR’ DENYING HIS ACCEPTANCE

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 5, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said Hegseth passed his confirmation hearing with “flying colors.”

“They tried to rattle him. They brought out all these anonymous allegations. He had an answer for every one of them,” Tuberville said at the time. 

During his proceedings, protesters were hauled out in zip ties after interrupting the hearing. 

Democratic lawmakers also grilled Hegseth about his stance on women in combat roles, prompting him to push back that his argument related to women serving in the military focuses on military standards not eroding. 

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) (L) introduces U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14, i Washington, D.C.  (Getty Images)

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“I would point out I’ve never disparaged women serving in the military,” he told Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. “I respect every single female service member that has put on the uniform, past and present. My critiques, senator, recently and in the past, and from personal experience, have been instances where I’ve seen standards lowered.”

The incoming Trump administration is eyeing immigration arrests of illegal immigrants across the country as soon as day one, as top officials say they are ready to “take the handcuffs off” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is planning a large-scale raid in Chicago on Tuesday, targeting those with criminal backgrounds in particular.

Incoming border czar Tom Homan was asked by Fox News’ Jesse Watters about the media reports of a “big raid” on Tuesday in Chicago, but Homan said ICE will be working across the country.

DEM SENATOR QUIZZES NOEM ON HOW SHE WILL WORK WITH HOMAN: ‘WHO IS IN CHARGE?’

“There’s going to be a big raid across the country. Chicago is just one of many places. We’ve got 24 field offices across the country. On Tuesday, ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens, that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.

“What we’re telling ICE, you’re going to enforce the immigration law without apology. You’re going to concentrate on the worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they got a problem,” he said.

The administration has promised a mass deportation operation, as well as increased border security. Officials have said they intend to target those with criminal histories and convictions, but have also stressed that they will potentially arrest anyone in the U.S. illegally. There are currently more than 7 million individuals on ICE’s non-detained docket.

TRUMP DHS PICK NOEM PLEDGES TO END CONTROVERSIAL APP USED BY MIGRANTS ON ‘DAY ONE’

“The administration has been clear that we’re going to start arresting people on day one, and Chicago’s probably not going to be the only place that arrests are going to be made,” a source familiar told Fox News Digital.

The administration is expected to see significant pushback from “sanctuary” cities that refuse to allow state and local law enforcement to honor ICE detainers – requests that ICE be notified when illegal immigrants in custody are being released.

Some Democratic officials in Chicago, as well as Massachusetts and Arizona have said they will not co-operate with the administration.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

But New York City Mayor Eric Adams has met with Homan about how they can work together on removing illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes.

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DHS nominee Kristi Noem testified to Congress on Friday, and threw her support behind the mass deportation operation and increasing border security. She also said the administration will immediately end the use of the CBP One app, which currently allows migrants to be paroled into the U.S.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President-elect Trump met in Palm Beach, Florida, Friday, three days before Trump’s return to the White House.

“President Trump and I had a productive conversation about New York’s needs and what’s best for our city and how the federal government can play a more helpful role in improving the lives of New Yorkers,” Adams said in a statement shared by his spokesperson, Fabien Levy.

“While we briefly touched on a number of issues, we specifically focused on the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and how it will have a positive impact on public safety in our country; how we can bring manufacturing jobs back to New York, particularly in the Bronx; and how we can continue to make federal investments in New York City, especially when it comes to infrastructure.” 

The Democratic mayor, who is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges in April, said the pair didn’t discuss his legal issues in the meeting. 

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS BELIEVES FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST HIM ARE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED: ‘DID NOT BREAK THE LAW’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President-elect Trump met in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, three days before Trump’s return to the White House. (Getty Images)

As president, Trump would have the power to pardon Adams. 

Adams faces charges he accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals in exchange for corrupt acts.

Trump, who was convicted in a New York court last year for falsifying business records, has defended Adams in the past, claiming the charges against the mayor may have been brought because he criticized President Biden over the border. 

Trump said he would consider a pardon for Adams. 

“To be clear, we did not discuss my legal case, and those who suggest the mayor of the largest city in the nation shouldn’t meet with the incoming president to discuss our cities’ priorities because of inaccurate speculation or because we’re from different parties clearly care more about politics than people,” Adams said.

“Like I’ve always done, I will take every opportunity possible to advocate for New Yorkers and our city. And, after our discussion, I strongly believe there is much our city and the federal government can partner on to make New York City safer, stronger and more affordable. I thank President Trump for his time and attention and look forward to working with him to benefit all New Yorkers.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump for comment.

The Democratic mayor, who is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges in April, said the pair didn’t discuss his legal issues in the meeting.  (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

FBI RAIDS HOMES OF TOP AIDES FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS

Adams had been criticized by other New York politicians for the meeting. 

“The Trump agenda is not going to help move our city or the country forward. This pilgrimage is clearly about something else,” state Sen. Zellnor Myrie wrote on X this week. 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander wrote on X that “Eric Adams should state immediately that he will not seek or accept a pardon from Donald Trump. New Yorkers deserve to know that their Mayor is putting their interests ahead of his own — and whether our tax dollars, or Turkish Airlines, will be financing his trip to Florida.”

President-elect Trump’s inauguration is Monday.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Who is this meeting for, New Yorkers or Eric Adams? Our city has too many problems right now for us to worry about if he’s fighting for New Yorkers or a hypothetical pardon for himself,” Scott Stringer, the former city comptroller, posted on X. 

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Lander and Stringer are running for mayor against Adams.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

– Trump swearing-in to move indoors due to cold weather

– Trump DHS pick Noem pledges to end controversial app used by migrants on ‘day one’

– FBI agent who said New Orleans attack was ‘not a terrorist event’ has been reassigned

The Bell Tolls for TikTok

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that would ban the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok just two days before the bipartisan divestiture law is slated to take effect.

“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the court wrote in the unsigned ruling. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. 

“For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights. The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.”…Read more 

TikTok and Supreme Court (Emma Woodhouse/Fox News Digital)

White House

READ IT AND WEEP: Biden’s official X account draws mockery with reference to constitutional amendment that doesn’t exist…Read more

MORE TO COME?: Harris says she won’t go ‘quietly into the night’: ‘Our work is not done’…Read more

BIDEN HIS TIME: Biden maintains he will not enforce TikTok ban, plans to punt to Trump administration…Read more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Obama wishes wife Michelle happy birthday as she stays away from key public events…Read more

Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama embraces her husband, former U.S. President Barack Obama, on stage during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Blake)

Trump Transition

FRIGID TEMPS: Trump inaugural moves indoors; last time that happened was Reagan’s second in 1985….Read more

TRUMP’S CHAIR: RNC chair Whatley vows to be ‘tip of the spear’ to protect Trump after coasting to reelection victory…Read more

‘STAY TUNED!’: Trump needs ‘time to review’ SCOTUS decision, teases action in ‘not too distant future’…Read more

HOMEGROWN BACKING: 400-plus farmers and growers groups urge Senate to confirm Trump USDA pick…Read more

TECH ALLIES: Elon Musk to speak at Trump pre-inauguration rally: report…Read more

BEIJING CALLING: Trump, China’s Xi speak on phone ahead of inauguration…Read more

‘WHO IS IN CHARGE?’: Dem senator quizzes Noem on how she will work with Homan…Read more

This split shows South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Tom Homan. (Getty/AP)

FINISH THE JOB: Comer requests Trump DOJ prosecute James Biden for making ‘false statements’ during impeachment inquiry…Read more

CLEANING HOUSE: Trump won’t wait for Senate confirmations to shake up State Department…Read more

SIZE MATTERS: Trump likely to avoid inaugural crowd-size controversy with swearing-in moved indoors…Read more

Capitol Hill

COUNTERING BELT AND ROAD: New set of bills would challenge CCP initiative: ‘We can mute China’s siren song’…Read more

REPORTER DRAGGED OUT: Security drags journo out of Blinken’s final presser: ‘Why aren’t you in The Hague!’…Read more

SLASH SPENDING: DOGE eyeing suggestions to slash federal DEI programs: report…Read more

LAKEN RILEY: Bill in her honor overcomes filibuster in Senate as Dems give GOP helping hand…Read more

The GOP’s Laken Riley Act beat the filibuster with the help of some Democrats. (Reuters)

VANCE VACANCY: Ohio Gov. DeWine chooses his Lt. Governor to fill JD Vance’s vacant seat…Read more

EMOTIONALLY TAXING: House Dems threaten to block Trump’s big tariff plans: ‘Unacceptable’…Read more

‘TAKE THE GLOVES OFF’: Top border lawmaker pushes to declare bloodthirsty gang a terrorist organization…Read more

Across America

DEI DIES: Midwest state’s DEI department nixed in new governor’s first major act…Read more

BAD COMMUTE: City bus comes within inches of disaster on elevated overpass during rush hour…Read more

‘DISAPPOINTED’: Top NJ watchdog official abruptly resigns, is removed from state voter rolls following residency flap…Read more

Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com