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The planned release of the MLK and RFK assassination files has garnered renewed interest amid fallout from the widely panned release of Epstein files by the Department of Justice on Thursday evening. 

In accordance with President Donald Trump‘s executive order in January to declassify files on the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the attorney general were expected to release their proposed plan for the declassification of the JFK files on Feb. 7. 

Likewise, in line with the order, the plan to release the RFK and MLK files is expected on March 9. 

EPSTEIN FILES: AG PAM BONDI SENDS LETTER TO KASH PATEL ACCUSING FBI OF WITHHOLDING DOCS

The deadline to establish a plan for the release of the MLK and RFK assassination files is on the horizon after the Epstein files release fallout Thursday evening.  (Getty)

The RFK and MLK files’ release plan deadline comes just weeks after the Department of Justice revealed a batch of Jeffrey Epstein files Thursday, with many of the documents already having been released during the federal criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former lover and convicted accomplice. The lack of new material provoked criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files – and questions about what the RFK and MLK documents could hold. 

Gerald Posner, author of “Case Closed,” told Fox News Digital he expects “there will be news in there, but it’s not going to be something that turns upside down our understanding of what really happened with those cases.”

After committing earlier this week to release Epstein-related documents sometime Thursday afternoon, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent FBI Director Kash Patel a fiery letter accusing federal investigators in New York of withholding thousands of pages of Epstein documents. 

“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi wrote. “Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.”

JEFFREY EPSTEIN CONTACT LIST: AG PAM BONDI RELEASES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DOJ DOCUMENTS

Bondi said she had previously requested the full Epstein file prior to Patel’s confirmation to head the FBI last week, and had received approximately 200 pages of files – fewer than the number of pages released last year as part of a civil lawsuit connected to Maxwell. 

“People’s expectations sort of got too high, based upon the executive order that the president signed,” Posner said on the Epstein file release. 

Bondi said the FBI had never disclosed that those files existed and gave the agency a Friday-morning deadline for the documents to be turned over. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent FBI Director Kash Patel a fiery letter accusing federal investigators in New York of withholding thousands of pages of Epstein documents.  (Reuters)

“By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained,” Bondi wrote. “There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access.”

Patel posted on X on Thursday evening, saying, “The FBI is entering a new era – one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice.”

DEADLINE LOOMS FOR RELEASE OF JFK ASSASSINATION FILES

Patel stated, “There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned – and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them.”

The FBI director also stated that the agency would be bringing “everything we find” to the DOJ to share the information with the American public, “as it should be.” 

Trump’s declassification executive order came after he promised to declassify the documents upon entering his second term while on the campaign trail. (Pool)

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Trump’s declassification executive order came after he promised to declassify the documents upon entering his second term while on the campaign trail, saying at the time, “When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth.”

Trump had initially promised to release the last batch of documents during his first term, but such efforts ultimately dissipated. Trump then blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination, following several CIA and FBI appeals.

Fox News’ David Spunt and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report. 

The Trump administration touted the extraditions of more than two dozen defendants from Mexico after the Department of Justice announced that the U.S. had taken 29 into custody.

“Today, the United States secured custody of 29 defendants from Mexico who are facing charges in districts around the country relating to racketeering, drug-trafficking, murder, illegal use of firearms, money laundering, and other crimes,” the DOJ noted in a Thursday press release.

The announcement came as the president seeks to crack down on drug cartels and secure the nation’s southern border.

MEXICO EXTRADITES DOZENS OF CARTEL LEADERS AND MEMBERS TO US, INCLUDING DRUG LORD RAFAEL CARO QUINTERO

This image released by the FBI shows the wanted posted for Rafael Caro Quintero.  (FBI via AP, File)

“President Trump directed the Department of Justice and the Department of State to make this happen, and Attorney General Bondi and Secretary of State Rubio did a tremendous job in getting this done,” the White House press secretary said in a statement on Friday.

The statement noted that the group “includes one of the most evil cartel bosses in the world, Rafael Caro Quintero, who tortured and murdered DEA Agent Kiki Camerena in 1985.” 

“The previous Administration allowed these criminals to run free and commit crimes all over the world. The Trump Administration is declaring these thugs as terrorists, because that is what they are, and demanding justice for the American people,” the statement adds.

After President Donald Trump issued an executive order on the topic in January, the State Department announced the designation of eight groups as foreign terrorist organizations last week.

Notorious entities including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua were among those designated.

TRUMP STATE DEPARTMENT DECLARES TREN DE ARAGUA, MS-13, MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

“The defendants taken into U.S. custody today include leaders and managers of drug cartels recently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel),” the Department of Justice noted in its Thursday press release.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who was just sworn in last week, declared that the federal law enforcement agency and its “partners will scour the ends of the earth to bring terrorists and cartel members to justice,” the release noted.

MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL LEADER EXTRADITED TO THE US TO FACE FEDERAL DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGES

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“The era of harming Americans and walking free is over,” he said.

Fox News’ Kaitlin Sprague contributed to this report

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sparred during their meeting at the White House to end the Russia-Ukraine War, including Trump telling the Ukraine leader that he’s “talked too much.” 

Amid Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House, Vance said that a path to securing peace between Russia and Ukraine was through the U.S. engaging in diplomacy, including speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to White House pool notes of the meeting. 

“We signed a deal with Putin. He did not keep it, what kind of diplomacy are you talking about?” Zelenskyy told Vance. 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 27: (L-R) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, shake hands during a meeting on September 27, 2024 in New York City. The meeting coincides with President Zelensky’s visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)

“Very disrespectful,” Vance said of Zelenskyy’s comment, while Trump remarked that Ukraine is “not in a good position” and gambling with World War III. 

“Have you said thank you once?” Vance asked Zelenskyy, according to the notes. 

“You’ve talked too much,” Trump said to Zelenskyy. 

Zelenskyy traveled to the U.S. Friday to meet with Trump at the White House after Trump said Thursday that a peace negotiation to end the war between Ukraine and Russia is in its final stages. The Trump administration is also working to ink an agreement with Ukraine that would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for support the U.S. has offered the nation since war broke out in 2022, as part of the peace deal. 

Trump also remarked during his remarks to the media that a trilateral meeting between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the U.S., would be no “love match” and likely difficult. 

“They don’t like each other, I can tell you that, it’s not a love match,” Trump told the media when asked how he envisions a trilateral meeting between the U.S.-Russia-Ukraine.

Virginia became the latest in a handful of mostly GOP states that are compelling their law enforcement officers to work with federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants.

Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 47 on Tuesday afternoon, mandating that state law enforcement and correctional agencies enter into formal agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), pledging “full cooperation” when it comes to helping them identify and deport undocumented illegal immigrants. The governor cited federal law under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which allows state and local law enforcement officials to enter into agreements that “federally deputize” them to perform certain actions in support of federal immigration enforcement. 

“Dangerous criminal illegal immigrants should not be let back into our communities to assault, rape and murder,” Youngkin said in an announcement about the new mandate. “They should be sent back where they came from.”

TRUMP’S ‘GOLD CARD’ VISA PLAN A BOON FOR AMERICAN ECONOMY, EXPERT SAYS: ‘MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL’

Gov. Youngkin’s executive order requires cooperation by Virginia state law enforcement and corrections officials with federal immigration authorities. (Fox News/Getty Images)

While Virginia is just the latest among a handful of mostly GOP states to compel its law enforcement to work with ICE, the scope of these new cooperation requirements varies slightly from state to state. 

Some states, like Tennessee, have implemented compelled cooperation to focus specifically on pursuing criminal undocumented immigrants. Others, like Virginia, are instructing their police to assist with apprehending and deporting any undocumented immigrants living illegally in their state.  

Under Youngkin’s new order, Virginia State Police will enter into a “287(g) Task Force Model Memorandum of Understanding” with ICE, creating a “State Police Task Force” to help with identifying and apprehending “criminal illegal immigrants” who pose a risk to the public. 

The agreement gives these federally deputized officers special authority to perform immigration enforcement functions under ICE’s supervision that they typically would not otherwise engage in.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) knocks on the door of an alleged suspect during an ICE raid in Chicago, Illinois. (Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In addition to mandating compliance from state law enforcement officials, Youngkin’s Executive Order  tasks the state’s secretary of public safety and homeland security, Terrance Cole, to request “certification” from local and regional jail authorities that they will provide full cooperation with ICE and the newly deputized state task force. This agreement will allow Virginia Department of Corrections facilities to be used for immigration matters, such as processing and detention.

SIX-TIME DEPORTED GANG MEMBER WANTED FOR MURDER BUSTED IN TEXAS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION STING   

Cole is also required under the new order to contact every director, sheriff or other official in charge of a local or regional jail in Virginia to certify that they will fully cooperate with ICE and the newly deputized Virginia State Police task force supporting them. 

The Marion Correctional Treatment Center, located in Marion, Va., is part of the Virginia Department of Corrections. Under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new executive order, facilities such as this one will be required to help process and house undocumented migrants in the state.  (AP Photo/Earl Neikirk)

“I am a legal immigrant and now a naturalized citizen. Working together, the Governor, Attorney General, and I have made Virginia safer. We supported more funding for law enforcement and tackled violent crimes in our cities. Now, working with President Trump, we can take on the scourge of dangerous and violent illegal immigrants,” said Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running for governor to succeed Youngkin, who is term-limited.

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“We’ve seen too many tragic stories after dangerous criminals in this country illegally were put back on the streets, and this executive order will make sure we send them back to where they came from,” Earle-Sears concluded.

Vice President JD Vance promised the Trump administration would advocate for Christians and serve as the “biggest defenders of religious liberties” during Friday’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

“While you’re certainly not always going to agree with everything that we do in President Trump’s administration, I feel very confident in saying that between protecting the rights of pro-life protesters, between ensuring that we have an opportunity to protect the rights of the unborn in the first place, and importantly, protecting the religious liberty of all people, but in particular Catholics,” Vance said. 

“I think that we can say that President Trump, though not a Catholic himself, has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America,” said Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019. 

US CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS SUES TRUMP IMMIGRATION, REFUGEE FUNDING FREEZE 

Vice President JD Vance appeared at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday. (J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Feb. 6 to stand up the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which seeks to end the “anti-Christian weaponization of government and unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” according to the White House. 

Members of Trump’s Cabinet and other key agencies are part of the task force, which will conduct a review of any “anti-Christian” policies, practices or conduct within the federal government. 

A White House fact sheet on the executive order claimed the Biden administration engaged in “an egregious pattern” of targeting peaceful Christians, while turning a blind eye to “violent, anti-Christian offenses.” Former President Joe Biden was the second Catholic president in the U.S., after President John F. Kennedy. 

Specifically, the fact sheet pointed to pro-life Christians who were “praying and peacefully demonstrating” outside abortion clinics. 

In January, Trump pardoned more than 20 people convicted of illegally blocking the entrance of abortion clinics and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The law prohibits anyone from attempting to obstruct or interfere with others receiving reproductive health services. 

As a result, Vance said that the Trump administration was headed in the “exact opposite direction” of the Biden administration. 

PRIEST ATTACKED DURING SERVICE IN WASHINGTON CATHOLIC CHURCH, SAYS HOLY SPIRIT HELPED HIM RESPOND

From left to right, Vice President JD Vance, his son Vivek and President Donald Trump attend an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

Vance also said that, historically, one of the “biggest impediments” to religious liberty around the world has been the result of mistakes from U.S. foreign policy that have resulted in the “eradication” of Christian communities globally. 

As a result, Vance said that peacekeeping efforts from the Trump administration are a policy geared toward “saving lives and carrying out one of Christ’s most important commandments.”

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“Perhaps the most important way in which Donald Trump has been a defender of Christian rights all over the world is he has a foreign policy that is oriented toward peace,” said Vance, who received standing ovations before and after his speech. “We have done it already so much in the past 30 days, and I’m proud that we will work for peace all over the world in the remaining four years of President Trump’s term, and I think that’s an important thing.”

Vance’s comments coincide with the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion in February 2022. On Friday, Trump is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate terms of a peace deal. 

EXCLUSIVE: New York City workers slammed the city’s congestion traffic pricing in a new ad from the Department of Transportation.

“I think with raised toll prices, raised train fares, now you want to add like tolls on the streets, I think it’s definitely borderline stealing,” one man said in the clip. 

“It’s ridiculous, it’s gonna.. it’s destroying the city,” another New York worker said. 

“It makes it more expensive for me to come to work,” one man stated. 

BLUE STATE’S BAIL LAWS PANNED BY POLICE CHIEF AS VIOLENT SUSPECTS REPEATEDLY CUT LOOSE

Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation Sean Duffy addresses the media, after American Eagle flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed into Potomac River, U.S. January 30, 2025. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters)

The video is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on the fee that proponents argue is an important method to curbing Manhattan traffic.

“Hard-working New Yorkers aren’t pissed off at the White House. They’re pissed off about being charged $9 to use their own streets. Don’t take it from me, listen to what the people have to say about New York’s congestion pricing cash grab. End the disconnect. End congestion pricing. Now,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement on Friday. 

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS MAY GET PAY HIKE AS TRUMP ADMIN LOOKS TO BOOST RECRUITMENT

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Federal Highway Administration Executive Director Gloria Shepherd wrote a letter asking the tolls to end on March 21. 

The tolls, although technically a pilot program, have proven to be a money boon, as they netted $37.5 million in January. In addition to the letter from Shepherd, Duffy also scrapped the Biden-era agreement between the department and New York for the program. 

Despite the request, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed for “orderly resistance” in response to the FHWA’s request for ending the program in an “orderly manner,” according to ABC News. 

HOCHUL CANCELS CUNY PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST ERUPTS

Drivers in New York City are paying to access some parts of Manhattan. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

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“Our position is clear: this is not a lawful order. We have already filed a lawsuit and now it’s up to the courts to decide,” John J. McCarthy, MTA chief of policy and external relations, stated earlier this week about the request. 

The tolls are in effect in Manhattan on and south of 60th Street daily. 

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy isn’t backing down from seeking NATO membership for Ukraine despite the fact that President Donald Trump has said the Ukrainian leader “could forget about” joining the military alliance. 

Still, Zelenskyy is all in on securing NATO membership for his country, and he said Sunday he would step down as president if it meant NATO adopted Ukraine. Zelenskyy reiterated his position Wednesday and told the BBC, “I want to find a NATO path or something similar.” 

“If we don’t get security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing,” Zelenskyy said. 

Zelenskyy is slated to visit the White House on Friday, and Trump told reporters on Thursday that a peace negotiation to end the war between Ukraine and Russia is in the final stages. Even so, no deal is secured, and Trump hesitated to discuss plans regarding a peacekeeping force in the region until one was signed.

TRUMP SAYS UKRAINE RARE EARTH MINERALS DEAL WILL LEAD TO ‘SUSTAINABLE’ FUTURE BETWEEN US, UKRAINE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is slated to visit the White House on Feb. 28, 2025. (Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Although Trump said on Thursday he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin will uphold his end of a peace deal, several experts claim Zelenskyy remains adamant about pushing for Ukraine to become a NATO member because it reduces the likelihood that Putin could resume hostilities, and it means that other security guarantees are more likely. 

Article 5 of the NATO treaty stipulates that if a member country is attacked, it will be considered an attack against all NATO members and requires other NATO countries to take action, including the use of armed forces. 

Peter Rough, a senior fellow and director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute think tank, said that with backing from the West, Ukraine becomes bigger than Russia. 

“Putin would have to think twice about restarting a war if he thinks the major Western powers are obligated to defend Ukraine,” Rough said in a Thursday email to Fox News Digital. “Of course, bringing Ukraine into NATO would put American (and European) skin and credibility in the game. That explains Trump’s hesitation, even resistance to such a concept.” 

Rough said Zelenskyy’s “fallback position” if NATO membership isn’t possible is to secure support from Western troops to promote a ceasefire. For example, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Feb. 16 that the U.K. was ready to send troops to Ukraine if necessary to ensure peace between Ukraine and Russia.

TRUMP SAYS MINERALS DEAL HAS BEEN ‘PRETTY MUCH’ NEGOTIATED WITH ZELENSKYY, MEETING SLATED FOR FRIDAY

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and President Donald Trump meet in Washington on Feb. 27, 2025. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP)

“If all else fails, then, Zelenskyy may have to settle for continued financing and military assistance,” Rough said. “But he isn’t going to negotiate with himself, which is why he remains adamant about security guarantees in public.”

John Hardie, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Russia program, said another conflict between Russia and Ukraine is likely and that the “hard truth” is the negotiations from the Trump administration won’t “resolve the fundamental question at stake in this war.”

“Putin’s goal isn’t just to grab some more territory in eastern Ukraine,” Hardie said in an email to Fox News Digital. “He remains determined to make Ukraine itself into a vassal state and to rewrite the broader security order in Europe.”

As a result, Hardie said NATO membership for Ukraine provides the best option for preserving Ukraine’s safety against Russian aggression. Although that’s a no from Trump, Hardie said the U.S. does need to articulate just how much support it can offer for European troops who will provide a post-war security presence in the region. 

For example, Starmer told reporters on Feb. 17 that any reassurance force would require a “U.S. backstop because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.” 

“The Trump administration needs to provide Europe with clarity on what U.S. contribution it can expect,” Hardie said. “Ukraine will also need a continued supply of military aid from the West, including the United States, though there are ways to reduce the burden on American taxpayers, such as the use of frozen Russian assets.” 

TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY WAR OF WORDS HEATS UP EVEN AS US LOOKS TO WIND DOWN WAR IN UKRAINE 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will discuss the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine when he meets with President Donald Trump. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

Zelenskyy told reporters Wednesday he is prepared to broach “very important questions” with Trump during their Friday visit, including whether the U.S. will continue to provide aid to Ukraine. Congress has appropriated $175 billion since 2022 for aid to Ukraine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

To recoup some of these costs, Trump said Zelenskyy is expected to sign a rare-earth minerals deal that will allow the U.S. and Ukraine to partner on developing resources like oil and gas.

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The agreement will permit the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals and will also help Ukraine rebuild from the war, Trump said. 

“We’re going to be signing really a very important agreement for both sides, because it’s really going to get us into that country,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “We’ll have a lot of people working there and so, in that sense, it’s very good.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, shared a message on X in which he declared, “Make Iraq Great Again!”

His post included a graphic featuring the Iraqi flag along with the letters “MIGA,” and the phrase “MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN.” 

An X user wrote in response to Wilson’s post, “American first huh?”

“Forget Iraq and worry about Americans,” another account wrote when replying to the congressman.

Wilson has been speaking out on social media about various foreign countries, including Iraq and Iran.

REPUBLICAN REP. JOE WILSON ANNOUNCES PLAN TO PROPOSE $250 BILL FEATURING TRUMP

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is seen in the Fiserv Forum on the first day of Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., on Monday, July 15, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Wilson asserts that Iran controls Iraq.

He has been using the phrase “Free Iraq from Iran.”

“Iran runs Iraq’s government,” as well as its “military,”  “judiciary,” “police,” and “banks,” the U.S. lawmaker declared in a post. 

OVER 150 LAWMAKERS LEND SUPPORT TO RESISTANCE MOVEMENT INSIDE IRAN AS REGIME’S PROXIES FALL

“The great people of Iraq of all religions and ethnicities are the inheritors of an amazing civilization,” he said in another post. “They deserve more than to be ruled by the terrorist regime in Iran. Biden abandoned the nonsectarian protest movement in Iraq. We must empower the Iraqi people to Make Iraq Great Again and Free Iraq from Iran.”

“Defund Iraq,” he declared in another post.

In another post Wilson advocated several policies, one of which is to “Cut all aid to Iraq as long as Iran runs Iraq.”

IRAN CAN MANUFACTURE 6 NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH NEWLY ENRICHED URANIUM, UN ATOMIC AGENCY REPORT SAYS

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Wilson and some other GOP lawmakers are pushing a proposal for the creation of a $250 bill featuring President Donald Trump.

Five former defense secretaries issued a scathing letter on Thursday assailing President Donald Trump for firing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officers. 

In an open letter published Thursday, former Defense Secretaries James Mattis, Leon Panetta, Lloyd Austin, Chuck Hagel, and William Perry urged Congress to hold immediate hearings on Trump’s recent firings of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown and several other senior military leaders. 

They said senators should “refuse to confirm” any new DOD nominations in response to the firings.

TRUMP ACCEPTS SECOND STATE VISIT TO UK, REVEALS LETTER FROM KING CHARLES

Five former defense secretaries have criticized President Donald Trump in a letter for firing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior military officers. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In the letter, they alleged that Trump’s actions undermined “our all-volunteer force and weaken our national security” and they accused the president of trying to turn the apolitical U.S. military into an instrument of partisan politics and using firings, which extend to the top Army, Navy and Air Force lawyers, to do so.

All defense secretaries but one, James Mattis, served under Democratic administrations. 

TRUMP SAYS ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE I SAID THAT’ WHEN ASKED IF HE STILL THINKS ZELENSKYY IS A DICTATOR

Trump announced the firings late on Friday, but his administration has yet to clarify in any detail what caused the unprecedented shakeup, which also included the dismissal of the head of the Navy, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first female officer to lead a military service.

All but one of the former defense secretaries who penned the letter to President Trump worked under Democratic administrations. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Air Force General C.Q. Brown was only the second Black officer to become Joint Chiefs chairman and he was less than halfway through his four-year term when he was let go.

“Mr. Trump’s dismissals raise troubling questions about the administration’s desire to politicize the military,” they wrote. “We, like many Americans – including many troops – are therefore left to conclude that these leaders are being fired for purely partisan reasons.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment on the letter. 

The former defense secretaries called on Congress to hold hearings to “assess the national security implications” of Trump’s dismissals. Republicans hold a majority in both chambers.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown was let go not even have way into his four-year term under the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

The letter cautioned that the actions at the Pentagon could deter Americans from choosing a life in the military, should their careers be judged through the lens of partisan politics. It could also have a chilling effect on speaking “truth to power,” they cautioned.

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“We write to urge the U.S. Congress to hold Mr. Trump to account for these reckless actions and to exercise fully its Constitutional oversight responsibilities,” they wrote.

Fox News’ Liz Friden and Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump filled two more roles within his administration late Thursday by announcing who will be serving as deputy secretary of commerce and under secretary of the Navy.

Trump selected former Virginia congressional candidate, Hung Cao, to serve as the next under secretary of the Navy and former under secretary of energy for science, Paul Dabbar, to serve as deputy secretary of commerce.

The president congratulated both men, who are Navy veterans and graduates of the United States Naval Academy, in separate Truth Social posts Thursday night.

TRUMP REVEALS SLEW OF PICKS FOR BIG JOBS, INCLUDING FRIEND OF MIKE PENCE, BILLIONAIRE’S WIFE

President Donald Trump appointed Hung Cao to under secretary of the Navy and Paul Dabbar to deputy secretary of commerce late Thursday. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Cao, who came to the U.S. in 1975 after his family escaped Vietnam shortly before the fall of Saigon, most recently ran for U.S. Senate in Virginia against Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine during the 2024 election, losing to the incumbent senator. He was endorsed by Trump during the race.

He retired from the Navy as a captain after 25 years in Special Operations. While Cao served in combat roles, he also worked at the Pentagon and was assigned to balancing the Navy’s $140 billion budget.

“Hung is the embodiment of the American Dream. As a refugee to our Great Nation, Hung worked tirelessly to make proud the Country that gave his family a home. He went to our amazing United States Naval Academy, and later earned his Master’s Degree in Physics. Hung served in combat as a Special Operations Officer for twenty five years. With Hung’s experience both in combat, and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done. Congratulations to Hung, and his wonderful family!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Cao thanked the president for selecting him in a post on X and said “let’s get to work.”

Hung Cao ran for U.S. Senate in Virginia against Democrat incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine during the 2024 race. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

VAN JONES PRAISES TRUMP FOR ‘VERY GOOD’ CHOICE WITH NEW PARDON CZAR PICK 

Dabbar, who worked in Trump’s Department of Energy during his first term, served in the Navy as a submarine officer and spent years after his military career working in the energy sector as a managing director at J.P. Morgan.

Trump said Dabbar will work with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to “bring back American Leadership in Global Commerce, Trade, and Technology.”

“Paul served as my Under Secretary of Energy for Science, where he lead the National Labs that started as the Manhattan Project, helping to drive semiconductors, AI, quantum, Energy Dominance, and our War-fighting capabilities,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, in part.

Paul Dabbar served during the first Trump administration as the under secretary of energy for science. (Department of Energy)

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The president still has to announce his picks for hundreds of smaller positions, but has nearly rounded out his Cabinet. Of the 22 nominations made that require Senate confirmation, 19 have been confirmed as of Thursday.

Illinois taxpayers paid out $1.6 billion for healthcare programs for illegal immigrants since 2020, well above the spending projections estimated by Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration, per a new state audit released this week at the request of GOP legislators. 

The audit also found that, in many cases, state money was spent on people who were actually U.S. citizens or otherwise eligible for federal programs.

“This audit shows that the governor, that the program was rampant in overspending. It spent well in excess of 200% more than what was estimated in budgets and in appropriations,” state Senate Republican leader John Curran told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“And it also showed that the governor was unable to manage this program,” he said. “Thousands of people were allowed to sign up for free healthcare for years on the state taxpayer dime that should not have been eligible under the parameters laid out for this program, and the governor failed to even seek federal reimbursement when eligible on certain services for years, leaving federal dollars on the table.”

ILLINOIS TO CUT STATE-FUNDED HEALTHCARE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, GREEN CARD HOLDERS AFTER SOARING COSTS

A new audit shows $1.6 billion in Illinois taxpayer funds went to healthcare programs for illegal immigrants under the Pritzker administration. Shown here are Gov. JB Pritzker, left, and state Senate Republican leader John Curran. (Getty Images | Fox News Digital)

Illinois Auditor General Frank J. Mautino flagged more than 6,000 people listed as “undocumented” in the programs but who had Social Security numbers, and some of those individuals may actually be legal permanent residents who are eligible for Medicaid, meaning the state could get federal funding for them. The state reviewed 94 cases and found that 19 should have been classified as legal residents instead of noncitizens.

There were also nearly 700 people in the senior health program who were under 65. A review confirmed that many of the errors were due to incorrect birth dates, which were corrected later.

Nearly 400 enrollees appeared to have been in the country for more than five years and should have qualified for Medicaid, the audit also found. The state acknowledged that some of those people were enrolled incorrectly, which cost the state federal matching funds. The report recommended that the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services seek federal reimbursement for the lost funds.

ILLINOIS HEALTH CARE PROGRAM FOR NONCITIZENS, INCLUDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, BALLOONS TO $1.1B 

ICE agents arrest illegal immigrants during a workforce operation raid. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

The auditor’s report, which Curran dubbed “gross mismanagement” in a press conference, was released just one week after Pritzker suggested cutting funding for a program that offers Medicaid-like coverage to illegal immigrants under 65 or legal immigrants without a green card. The proposed reduction, expected to save $330 million, was a key part of Pritzker’s strategy to address a more than $3 billion budget shortfall.

“The governor was papering over this large spending with tax increases over the last several years, as well as COVID relief funds being spent on this rather than actually trying to rein in spending in the state of Illinois,” Curran said. “Now that federal dollars have tapered off, we have a large budget deficit in Illinois this year and the governor is now being forced to try to end the program for all working adults.”

“We cannot afford this,” Curran continued. “The state of Illinois, state taxpayers, should not be burdened with providing free healthcare, especially for [the] working-age population. People that should be out and working in paying taxes and getting healthcare in the marketplace, just like every other Illinois state taxpayer is doing, so we want to bring the program to an end.”

As of December, 41,505 individuals were enrolled in the two programs, part of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program, which Pritzker has proposed cutting starting July 1.

TRUMP ADMIN TURNS TABLES ON POLICY ‘EXPLOITED’ BY BIDEN DHS TO SHIELD MORE HAITIANS FROM DEPORTATIONS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel are shown during a raid in Chicago. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Despite Pritzker’s plan to cut funding for healthcare programs, he said during a Wednesday press conference that he supports some kind of universal health coverage: “The broader context is people need to get health care.” 

He added, “It’s some evidence, anyway, that there are an awful lot of people out there that need coverage who aren’t getting it or who will do anything to get it, and I think that’s a sad state of affairs in our society.”

Curran said “Pritzker, from day 1, is taking an adversarial approach to President Donald Trump and his administration, and that has really put Illinois and really the city of Chicago in focus.”

“What we would like to see is a more cooperative tone,” he said.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants in Chicago, which is deemed a sanctuary city, have been detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement since Trump took office.

Both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson bucked Trump’s mass deportation move, vowing in January to protect residents regardless of their immigration status. 

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Pritzker’s office did not respond to a request for comment by the publication deadline.

FIRST ON FOX: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said former President Joe Biden’s administration was aware of “very sexually explicit, highly inappropriate and unprofessional chatter” happening on internal agency messaging boards across national intelligence entities for years, but they allowed it to go on. 

“I’ve had whistleblowers come forward just in the last few days who work in the [National Security Agency] and who said, ‘Hey, we saw this, and we reported it through official channels under the Biden administration,’” she told Fox News Digital in an interview at the White House on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting.  

“And essentially they were told this is no issue, step aside,” Gabbard said. 

BIPARTISAN DUO LOOKS TO FEND OFF FOOD SUPPLY CYBER THREATS AS GLOBAL TENSIONS PERSIST

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the Biden administration was alerted to the explicit chatrooms but decided against taking any action.  (Getty Images)

It all comes back to “the Biden administration’s obsession with” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), according to the new Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

The chatrooms “were set up because of DEI policies,” she said. 

Gabbard said the discussions had been going on for two years. 

SCOOP: INSIDE ELON MUSK’S MEETING WITH THE SENATE DOGE CAUCUS

Gabbard was one of several women Trump Cabinet members at the meeting.  (Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Biden and former DNI Avril Haines but did not immediately receive comment. 

“They were shut down immediately after President Trump issued his executive order shutting down the DEI across the federal government,” she noted. 

After discovering the chats, Gabbard directed the agencies under her to terminate those involved, which she said amounted to over 100 people. She further directed their security clearances to be revoked. 

TOP INTEL REPUBLICAN TOM COTTON SEEKING RE-ELECTION TO SENATE IN 2026

The National Security Agency is investigating accusations intel community officials “abused” an internal agency messaging board for the gay community, under the guise of DEI, to discuss their sexual fetishes and experiences with artificial genitalia. (Getty Images)

The employees who were part of the chats “violated the trust that the American people placed in them to work in these highly sensitive jobs that are directly related to national security,” she explained. 

As for DEI, Gabbard said, “We’re just scratching the surface here” regarding how much money, time and resources have been spent on DEI in intelligence agencies. 

According to the director, “getting rid of the DEI center that was stood up under the Biden administration, we immediately saved taxpayers almost $20 million.”

TULSI GABBARD GIVES EXCLUSIVE GLIMPSE OF TRUMP’S FIRST CABINET MEETING

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

An additional $3 to 4 million was saved by nixing the various DEI conferences that employees would travel to, she added. 

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Gabbard joined billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisor Elon Musk, Trump and other confirmed and unconfirmed Cabinet picks on Wednesday during a meeting she described as energetic. 

Gabbard explained that many of the Cabinet officials are friends with one another and that they’ve all been inspired by Trump and Musk’s quick and aggressive work with DOGE. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has been pressing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the release of classified records related to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, was disappointed after it was revealed not all the documents would be released Thursday.

“I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today… A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein’s phonebook,” Luna wrote Thursday in a post on X. “THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!”

AG PAM BONDI SAYS SOME EPSTEIN FILES COMING THURSDAY: ‘IT’S PRETTY SICK’

The federal lawmaker was referring to a story run by the New York Post, which noted that a source who had reviewed the files ahead of their release claimed they consisted of more than 100 pages of Epstein’s address book.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month calling on agencies to create plans to release and distribute top-secret documents, including those pertaining to Epstein, and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King.

Luna, who is leading the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, sent letters to the DOJ on Feb. 11 and Feb. 19, requesting the release of the documents.

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO DECLASSIFY FILES ON JFK, RFK AND MLK ASSASSINATIONS

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., on Thursday blasted the Department of Justice for not releasing more Jeffrey Epstein files. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Having not heard back for about two days, Luna said she had faced silence from the DOJ.

“On Feb 11 & Feb 19, House Oversight sent a letter to the DOJ asking for status on releasing the Epstein files as well as JFK etc.,” Luna wrote Monday in a post on X. “The DOJ has not responded. Reaching out on X because we can’t seem to get a response from the AG. @AGPamBondi what is the status of the documents? These documents were ordered to be declassified.”

Two days later, she heard back from the DOJ, which thanked her for the two letters in which she requested briefings and any documents in the department’s possession relating to the classified investigations.

The DOJ also acknowledged Luna’s request for written confirmation of the date and location of the release of those records.

ANNA PAULINA LUNA TO LEAD TASK FORCE ON DECLASSIFICATION OF JFK ASSASSINATION RECORDS, EPSTEIN CLIENT LIST

The Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

“The Department remains committed to meeting its legal recordkeeping obligations as it pursues that mission,” the DOJ wrote. “We are reviewing your requests and look forward to engaging further to accommodate your oversight and legislative needs.”

The same day, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on “Jesse Watters Primetime” that Epstein documents would be released Thursday.

But after not being able to release the trove of documents as announced, Bondi sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, accusing the federal investigators in New York of withholding thousands of pages of Epstein documents she vowed previously to make public.

EPSTEIN FILES: PAM BONDI SENDS FIERY NOTE TO KASH PATEL ACCUSING FBI OF WITHHOLDING DOCS

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. (Reuters)

Bondi said she had requested the full Epstein case file before Patel was confirmed as the head of the FBI and received about 200 pages of files — far fewer than the number of pages released last year in a civil lawsuit connected to Ghislaine Maxwell, the trafficker’s former lover and convicted accomplice.

Bondi said the FBI had never disclosed the existence of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein, and she demanded they be turned over by Friday morning.

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“By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained,” Bondi wrote. “There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access.”

Luna did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and David Spunt contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump was asked several times on Thursday about comments he made last week, when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” though he oftentimes either ignored the question or could not remember making the statement.

Trump met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday, when the two leaders addressed peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

The president told reporters he has had back-to-back “very successful” calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as with Zelenskyy, with hopes of bringing the war between Ukraine and Russia to an end.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress, and I think it’s moving along pretty rapidly,” Trump said. “[Friday], the progress toward peace will continue when President Zelenskyy visits the White House. He’ll be here tomorrow in the early part of the day, and we’ll be signing a historic agreement that will make the United States a major partner in developing Ukraine’s minerals and rare earths, oils and gases.”

TRUMP SAYS DEAL WITH UKRAINE FOR US ACCESS TO ITS RARE EARTH MINERALS IS ‘PRETTY CLOSE’

Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower on Sept. 27, 2024, in New York City. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The president and Zelenskyy will meet at the White House around 11 a.m. Friday, and Trump said the rare earth minerals agreement will provide the basis for a sustainable future between the two countries.

With Zelenskyy’s visit quickly approaching, reporters asked Trump on Thursday if he had plans to apologize to the Ukrainian president for calling him a dictator.

Earlier this month, Trump blasted Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections” after the U.S. left Ukraine out of its initial peace talks with Russia.

TRUMP TEASES MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY AMID US’ ‘SERIOUS DISCUSSIONS’ WITH PUTIN TO END RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, left, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. “In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.”

When Trump greeted Starmer at the White House on Thursday, one reporter asked the two leaders about having common ground, with Trump describing Zelenskyy as a dictator and Starmer describing Putin as a dictator.

After dodging the question, another reporter asked Trump if he still believed Zelenskyy was a dictator.

TRUMP CALLS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY A ‘DICTATOR WITHOUT ELECTIONS’ AS RIFT WIDENS

President Donald Trump shakes hands with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday. (Carl Court/Pool via AP)

“Did I say that?” Trump asked. “I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”

After the two leaders met in the Oval Office, they faced reporters once again, and a reporter asked Trump if he would take the opportunity to apologize to Zelenskyy for calling him a dictator while praising Putin, who is a dictator.

Rather than address calling Zelenskyy a dictator, Trump spoke about the upcoming meeting with the Ukrainian president, saying, “I think we’re going to have a very good meeting tomorrow. … We’re going to get along really well.”

While Ukraine and Russia were a big topic during Trump and Starmer’s meeting, so were tariffs. One reporter asked Trump if Starmer had persuaded him not to impose tariffs on the U.K.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is greeted by President Donald Trump as he arrives at the White House in Washington on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Trump said Starmer tried hard to convince him not to impose the tariffs.

“I think there’s a very good chance that, in the case of these two great friendly countries, I think we could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary,” Trump said. “We’ll see.”

While the U.S. and U.K. started with a rocky relationship in colonial days, it has flourished into one that both leaders agree is special and will remain strong.

In fact, Trump was handed a letter from King Charles through Starmer, inviting the president and first lady for a state visit.

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“It was my privilege and honor to bring a letter with me today from His Majesty the King, not only sending his best wishes but also inviting the president and the first lady to make a state visit to the United Kingdom, an unprecedented second state visit,” Starmer said, noting this has never happened before. “It’s so incredible. It will be historic, and I’m delighted that I can go back to His Majesty the King and tell him that President Trump has accepted the invitation.”

Immediately following Starmer’s announcement, Trump thanked the prime minister and offered a compliment.

“What a beautiful accent,” the president said. “I would have been president 20 years ago if I had that accent.”

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Cali., is demanding that Elon Musk and Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Charles Ezell stop sending mass emails to staffers. 

In an open letter published Thursday, Padilla said several legislative branch offices and agencies have received mass emails from hr@opm.gov despite not being subject to personnel actions by the executive branch. 

“Neither the White House nor [the Department of Government Efficiency] nor OPM have any authority or legitimate purpose to mass email legislative branch offices and agencies demanding information from employees or to threaten adverse personnel actions,” Padilla said. 

Over the weekend, the OPM sent out mass emails to federal government workers, asking them to summarize what they did over the prior week using five bullet points. They had until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to provide their responses to the inquiry. 

VIVEK RAMASWAMY ARGUES DOGE HOSTILITY ROOTED IN ‘IRRATIONALITY,’ DEFENDS TRUMP, MUSK’S PURSUIT OF ‘GOLDEN AGE’

Split image of Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Elon Musk.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Padilla said these emails, received by legislative staffers, wasted “time and resources and potentially [mislead] employees into responding and sharing legislative branch information in an unauthorized manner.” 

Elon Musk is celebrating a new poll that found most voters agree there should be a government agency dedicated to efficiency and that DOGE is helping to make major spending cuts.  (Getty Images)

Padilla added that the emails were “especially concerning” since several executive branch agencies have “even warned their own employees not to respond to these messages because doing so would risk sensitive information falling into the hands of malign foreign actors.” 

Elon Musk met with members of the Senate DOGE caucus at the White House. (Getty Images)

“The fact that these mass emails are also going beyond the scope of the executive branch is yet another sign of how DOGE is operating in an uninformed, poorly executed, and chaotic manner,” Padilla said.

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The Democratic lawmaker ended his letter requesting that DOGE and OPM confirm they have taken steps “to ensure that they will cease directly any further mass email communications at legislative branch offices and agencies and their employees.” 

A judge in California blocked the Trump administration on Thursday from ordering departments and agencies to begin dismissing recently hired probationary federal workers, saying the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) lacks the power to fire employees.

The move came during a court hearing over a lawsuit from labor unions and other groups challenging OPM’s mass terminations.

In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim the mass terminations violate the Administrative Procedure Act requirements and congressional laws that deal with agency hiring and firing practices.

The judge ruled that OPM lacks the power to fire workers, including probationary employees who may have less than a year of civil service on the job.

TRUMP’S DOGE STAYS ON TRACK AFTER PAIR OF FEDERAL JUDGE RULINGS

A federal judge has ruled against federal employees who sued the Trump administration over privacy and security concerns around a government workforce email distribution system. (iStock | Sarah Yenesel via Getty Images)

Last week, a federal judge declined to stop the Trump administration from firing federal workers and conducting mass layoffs, which allowed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to remain on track with its mission of finding and slashing wasteful government spending.

In one of the cases, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper shot down a request from several labor unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), to issue a pause on the mass firings of federal workers.

NTEU and four other labor unions representing the federal employees filed a complaint on Feb. 12, challenging the firing of probationary employees and the deferred resignation program.

JUDGE ISSUES RESTRAINING ORDER AFTER TRUMP BLOCKS FEDERAL FUNDS FOR YOUTH SEX CHANGE OPERATIONS

Demonstrators rally in support of federal workers outside the Department of Health and Human Services, Feb. 14, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

Under the resignation program, federal employees were presented with a fork in the road, meaning they could either return to office or they could resign from their positions and continue to get paid through September. 

The deadline to decide was originally Feb. 6, though the date was ultimately deferred to Feb. 12, then subsequently closed that day.

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The unions moved for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the firing of probationary employees across all federal agencies and furtherance of the resignation program on Feb. 14, and the next day it was sent to Cooper’s court.

Cooper denied the request, though, saying the court lacks jurisdiction over the unions’ claims.

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

Things got awkward when Vice President JD Vance remarked on his previous comments on Britain’s free speech environment, just feet away from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during an Oval Office meeting.

Vance doubled down on his comments at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month when he said he feared that free speech was “in retreat” in Europe. 

“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said.

UK’S STARMER MEETS TRUMP AT WHITE HOUSE AMID DIVIDE BETWEEN US, EUROPE OVER UKRAINE PEACE DEAL

President Donald Trump meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center left, alongside Vice President JD Vance, right, and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, at the White House. (Carl Court/Pool via AP)

On Thursday, as Starmer met with President Donald Trump and administration officials at the White House, Vance stood by his comments. 

“I said what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the U.K. and also with some of our European allies,” he said.

“But we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British. Of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them,” Vance added. “But (it also affects) American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens. So, that is something that we’ll talk about today at lunch.”

VANCE EVISCERATES ‘SOVIET’-STYLE EUROPEAN CENSORSHIP IN ADDRESS TO MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE

Trump shakes hands with Starmer at the White House. (Carl Court/Pool via AP)

Starmer, seated just a few feet away next to Trump, quickly chimed in. 

“We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom, and it will last for a very, very long time,” the Labour Party politician said.

“Certainly, we wouldn’t want to reach across, and [regulate] U.S. citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right,” he told Vance. “But in relation to free speech in the U.K., I’m really proud of that — our history there.”

In Munich, Vance cited the case of a British army veteran who was convicted of breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic where he silently prayed outside. 

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He decried the enforcement of buffer zones, alleging that the Scottish government had warned people against private prayer within their own homes.

Andrea Lucas, the Trump administration’s acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), blasted The Washington Post and reporter Jeff Stein for spreading “fake news” about DOGE cutting 90% of the EEOC’s workforce.

Lucas explained that Stein, the chief economics reporter at The Washington Post, mixed up federal agencies that have nothing to do with each other.

The Post reported that “an office within the Labor Department that enforces equal employment opportunity laws” is planning on reducing its workforce by 90%. The article went on to state that the Department of Labor plans to cut its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) from more than 50 offices and nearly 500 employees to four offices and 50 employees.

Stein also posted on X that, among the “major changes” planned by Elon Musk’s DOGE, the Labor Department was eying “gutting EEOC office by *90%*.”

‘OVERWHELMINGLY POPULAR’: ELON MUSK TOUTS AMERICANS’ DOGE SUPPORT

President Donald Trump speaks after being sworn in at his inauguration in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty; EEOC )

After Lucas called out the error on X, Stein posted another message in which he said, “To clarify, the office I refer to above is an office within the Labor Department that enforces workers’ civil rights laws.”

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Lucas said the Post’s reporting “undermines” the EEOC’s ability to enforce the law by misleading the public.

“We pushed back with corrections … and WaPo [Washington Post] retweeted being like, ‘Oh, I was talking about the OFCCP,’ which is in fact what he should have been doing if he bothered to get us back straight,” she said. “But the main message is that reporting is misleading.

“The Department of Labor may be contemplating significant cuts to OFCCP. I don’t know. We’re totally separate from OFCCP.”

SCOOP: INSIDE ELON MUSK’S MEETING WITH THE SENATE DOGE CAUCUS

The Washington Post’s building in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Lucas said any potential cuts by DOGE to the Labor Department and the OFCCP are “entirely distinct from the work that the EEOC does,” which she explained is to “enforce Title VII, which explicitly creates the EEOC and gives us a specific mission to combat discrimination.”

Lucas said the EEOC is “fully operational and continues to be laser-focused on combating discrimination,” which she said includes discrimination on behalf of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) interests.

Lucas said the EEOC is “fully comply[ing] with the president’s executive orders calling for evenhanded civil rights enforcement.”

After four years of the Biden administration using federal agencies to advance DEI, Lucas directed the EEOC to issue a warning to U.S. employers that the commission would be prioritizing the enforcement of legal and financial consequences for “anti-American bias” against workers during hiring.

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

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House Feb. 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“Discriminatory employers should be aware the EEOC is not asleep,” she said. “This kind of fake news really can muddy the water and make it unclear to workers that this government watchdog remains active and ready to defend them against unlawful discrimination, including DEI-related discrimination.”

On DOGE, Lucas said, “I fully support the president’s mission and DOGE’s mission to ensure government efficiency.”

HEGSETH DISMISSES ‘PURGING’ NARRATIVE AMID TRUMP’S PENTAGON SHAKEUP: ‘TIME FOR FRESH BLOOD’

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seal hangs inside a hearing room at the headquarters in Washington, D.C., Feb. 18, 2020. (Andrew Harrer/Getty Images)

But she remains confident the EEOC is here to stay.

“We’re working really hard to make sure that we have the most productive workforce possible, and we’re looking to make the agency a really evenhanded and efficient workforce,” Lucas said. “But I’m confident that we have an important role to play because our jurisdiction and mission are directly related to the civil rights executive orders. 

“So, we’re a law enforcement agency, and we’re here to execute on those and enforce the law.”

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The Washington Post did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by time of publication.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday his plan to “supercharge” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s air traffic controllers after numerous fatal plane crashes over the last two months.

The FAA will be “streamlining” its eight-step hiring process into a five-step process, with hopes it will accelerate the time to hire for “critical positions,” according to Duffy, who shared the announcement in a post on X.

The protocol change will shave more than four months off the old process, he said.

In addition, the agency will be “raising starting salaries by nearly 30%” for those in training as an incentive to apply.

TORONTO PLANE CRASH TIMELINE: DELTA FLIGHT FROM MINNEAPOLIS FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND

President Donald Trump listens as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

“We want the best and brightest to get expedited entry into the academy,” Duffy wrote in the post. “This administration is committed to solving the air traffic control shortage that has existed for too long.”

The FAA imposes a mandatory retirement age of 55 for air traffic controllers, contributing to a high turnover rate, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to “supercharge” the FAA with a streamlined hiring process for air traffic controllers. (Getty Images)

Duffy noted the FAA’s training academy also slowed during COVID-19, with small class sizes delaying the process.

While more than 50,000 people work at the FAA, President Donald Trump announced recent cuts that will trim 300 non-critical workers from the force.

Duffy’s new policy comes after numerous aviation disasters in the U.S. over the past few months, including the midair collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter with a commercial passenger plane in Washington, D.C., which claimed the lives of all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.

Just days after the D.C. crash, which was the country’s deadliest aviation mishap in more than 20 years, a medevac plane plummeted into a Philadelphia street, killing all six on board and one person on the ground.

FORMER FAA ADMINISTRATOR IS ‘NOT CONCERNED AT ALL’ ABOUT AIR TRAVEL SAFETY AFTER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FIRES HUNDREDS OF FAA WORKERS

Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after crashing with an Army Black Hawk helicopter Jan. 29. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

More disasters followed, with an Alaska crash killing 10 and an Arizona crash killing one.

In neighboring Canada, 21 people were injured when a Delta plane erupted in flames after overturning during a crash landing at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Feb. 17.

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Still, the DOT continues to push the message that “flying remains the safest way to travel.”

Duffy said he is “committed to restoring the FAA’s mission to safety” and hopes “more great candidates” will join the agency.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered Trump administration officials involved with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to testify in a legal dispute that seeks to block DOGE’s access to sensitive government databases.

U.S. District Judge John Bates said officials from the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other agencies linked to the Elon Musk-led DOGE will sit for questioning under oath by lawyers for labor unions and other groups suing to block DOGE’s efforts to trim the federal bureaucracy. 

The groups claim some DOGE officials and allies have already been granted access to sensitive databases and that privacy concerns of federal workers are being ignored.

HERE ARE THE AGENCIES THAT FOLLOWED MUSK’S DOGE PRODUCTIVITY EMAIL VERDICT — AND THE ONES THAT DIDN’T 

President Donald Trump speaks as Elon Musk listens in the Oval Office at the White House. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Bates had earlier refused to block DOGE access entirely. 

Bates limited the depositions to eight hours, but no specific timeline was announced. Names of those who will be asked to testify were not revealed.

HOUSE DOGE HEARING ERUPTS OVER DEMOCRAT DEEMING TRUMP ‘GRIFTER IN CHIEF,’ REFERRING TO ‘PRESIDENT MUSK’

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center Feb. 20 in Oxon Hill, Md.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“It would be strange to permit defendants to submit evidence that addresses critical factual issues and proceed to rule on a preliminary injunction motion without permitting plaintiffs to explore those factual issues through very limited discovery,” the judge wrote.

Bates’ order also permits a limited set of written questions to be submitted to the agencies targeted by the lawsuit. 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.