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Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., announced plans to run for Florida governor next year during an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” Tuesday night.

The next Florida gubernatorial election is slated for Nov. 3, 2026. Speaking to host Sean Hannity, Donalds said he came to the decision to run “after a lot of prayer [and] a lot of thoughts with my family and my friends.”

“Sean, we have a wonderful state,” Donalds said. “I got to Florida when I was 17 years old, off of a Greyhound bus with just a trunk full of clothes. And over the rest of my time in Florida, I built a family, I built a career. … I was able to serve four years in a state legislature, four years in Congress.

“And I think now is the time to now take the mantle and lead our state into the future.”

RON DESANTIS: FLORIDA WAS DOGE BEFORE IT WAS COOL

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said he plans to run for governor. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Florida Republican said he is the only candidate in the race so far and commended Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his service to the state.

“We have a great governor. Ron DeSantis has done a tremendous job for our state,” Donalds said. “But now the job is to keep the best state in the country as the best state in the country. And so that’s going to be the mission at hand. And I’m excited to announce my candidacy with you tonight.”

Donalds was endorsed by President Donald Trump, who recently wrote that his fellow Sunshine State resident “would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida.”

“I am hearing that Highly Respected Congressman Byron Donalds is considering running for Governor of Florida, a State that I love, and WON BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024,” a Trump social media post said. 

“[S]hould he decide to run, [Donalds] will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!”

KAMALA HARRIS TAKES VEILED JABS AT TRUMP, ELON MUSK IN 1ST MAJOR SPEECH SINCE ELECTION DEFEAT

President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor.  (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

DeSantis, however, has not signaled support for Donalds. On Monday, DeSantis told reporters he wants Florida congressmen to be “focused on enacting [Trump’s] agenda.”

“They haven’t done very much yet,” DeSantis said. “They’re not putting his executive orders into place. We’ll see what they do on the spending, but we have such a narrow majority that to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that’s advisable at all.”

DeSantis’ comments came amid rumors that his wife, Casey, might run for governor. The Florida governor dodged a reporter’s question about his wife’s plans at a press conference Monday.

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Rumors have swirled that Casey DeSantis, the current first lady of Florida, might run for governor. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

“People ask me all the time about our wonderful first lady, who has done a fantastic job as first lady of Florida,” DeSantis responded. “I will tell you this. You’re talking about somebody like her. I won by the biggest margin that any Republican has ever won a governor’s race here in Florida. She would do better than me.” 

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

DOGE leader Elon Musk suggested the United States has a “TYRANNY of the JUDICIARY” following a series of court rulings that have paused or blocked some of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, while also saying corrupt judges should be impeached and removed. 

In a post on X, Musk lamented judicial rulings that have blocked some of the Trump executive orders, many that have included slashing wasteful government spending and deporting illegal immigrants. 

“If ANY judge ANYWHERE can block EVERY Presidential order EVERYWHERE, we do NOT have democracy, we have TYRANNY of the JUDICIARY,” Musk wrote. 

‘IF YOU DON’T ANSWER…YOU’RE FIRED’: TRUMP STANDS BEHIND MUSK’S DOGE PRODUCTIVITY EMAIL 

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 11. (Alex Brandon/AP)

The post came hours after a federal judge blocked raids by immigration authorities targeting certain places of worship and another gave the Trump administration two days to resume hundreds of millions of dollars in payments for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) projects across the globe.

On Monday, a federal judge also blocked Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing personal records at the Department of Education (ED) as part of their cost-cutting sweep.

In response to Musk’s post, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said: “Corrupt judges should be impeached. And removed. Pass it on if you agree.”

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS ICE RAIDS AT CERTAIN PLACES OF WORSHIP, DEFYING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

President Donald Trump speaks as Elon Musk, joined by his son X Æ A-Xii, listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“It’s the only way,” replied Musk. 

He cited the ousting of rivals to El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Parliamentary leaders in that country recently sacked supreme court judges and an attorney general. 

“The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges,” said Musk. “No one is above the law, including judges. That is what it took to fix El Salvador. Same applies to America.”

“Unfortunately, as President Bukele eloquently articulates, there is no other option,” he added. “We must impeach to save democracy.”

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Bukele replied, saying that “if you don’t impeach the corrupt judges, you CANNOT fix the country.”

“They will form a cartel, (a judicial dictatorship) and block all reforms, protecting the systemic corruption that put them in their seats,” he added. 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem is warning illegal immigrants in the U.S. that they should leave the country now or face serious consequences, including losing the opportunity to enjoy freedom and live the American dream.

Noem appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Tuesday night to discuss her latest initiative, announcing an illegal alien registry that requires fingerprinting.

The secretary said DHS will enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was enacted in 1952 and created several tools to track illegal aliens and compel them to voluntarily leave the U.S.

DHS said the tools include criminal penalties for migrants who choose not to leave the U.S., fail to register with the federal government and get fingerprinted, and fail to notify the federal government of changes to their address.

NOEM SENDS MESSAGE TO THOSE CONSIDERING ENTERING US ILLEGALLY: ‘DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT’

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem warned illegal immigrants to either self-deport, register with the federal government or face serious consequences, putting their chance for American freedom at risk. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Illegal immigrants who fail to depart the U.S. will be charged with a crime resulting in a “significant penalty,” DHS said.

But migrants who fail to register with the federal government could be fined, imprisoned or both.

“For decades, this law has been ignored – not anymore,” DHS said.

DHS SECRETARY NOEM APPEARS TO ACCUSE ‘CORRUPT’ FBI OF LEAKING LA ICE RAIDS

More than 100 migrants attempt to enter the U.S. illegally by rushing the southern border into Texas, March 21, 2024. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

Noem and DHS hope to convince illegal immigrants that self-deportation is a safer path, not just for them, but also for law enforcement officials.

“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for those in our country illegally: leave now. If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. “The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws—we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce. We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans.”

The DHS encourages immigrants in the U.S. illegally to visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, where there are instructions on how to register with the federal government.

NOEM ENDS BIDEN-ERA USE OF CONTROVERSIAL APP TO ALLOW MIGRANTS TO BOARD FLIGHTS, EXCEPT TO SELF-DEPORT

Migrants attempt to enter the U.S. illegally by rushing the southern border into Texas, March 21, 2024. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

Noem’s push comes more than a week after she sent a stern warning on behalf of President Donald Trump, to those planning on entering the U.S. illegally.

“Let me deliver a message from President Trump to the world. If you are considering entering America illegally, don’t even think about it,” she said. “Let me be clear. If you come to our country, and you break our laws, we will hunt you down. Criminals are not welcome in the United States. For too long, weak leadership has left our borders wide open, flooding our communities with drugs, human trafficking, and violent criminals. Well, those days are over.”

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Noem was the fourth member of the Trump administration to gain approval from the Senate, and is leading the department at a time when securing the border and tackling illegal immigration are top priorities for the new administration.

The administration has taken a number of actions to secure the border, including deploying the military, restarting wall construction and ending Biden-era parole programs.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order directing the departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to make healthcare prices transparent.

The order directs the departments to “rapidly implement and enforce” the Trump healthcare price transparency regulations, which he claims were slowed by the Biden administration.

The departments will ensure hospitals and insurers disclose actual prices, not estimates, and take action to make prices comparable across hospitals and insurers, including prescription drug prices.

In addition, they will be required to update their enforcement policies to ensure hospitals and insurers are in compliance with requirements to make prices transparent.

HERE’S HOW TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON CHINA COULD IMPACT DRUG PRICING AND OTHER HEALTHCARE COSTS

President Donald Trump arrives at the White House Feb. 22 in Washington, D.C. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

“When healthcare prices are hidden, large corporate entities like hospitals and insurance companies benefit at the expense of American patients,” the White House wrote in a statement. “Price transparency will lower healthcare prices and help patients and employers get the best deal on healthcare.”

The executive order notes a number of concerns with current healthcare pricing, including that prices vary between hospitals in the same region.

“One patient in Wisconsin saved $1,095 by shopping for two tests between two hospitals located within 30 minutes of one another,” according to the statement.

The White House claims one economic analysis found Trump’s original price transparency rules, if fully implemented, could deliver savings of $80 billion for consumers, employers and insurers by 2025.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring actions that could assist in healthcare price transparency. (iStock)

‘THIS IS ABOUT FENTANYL’: TARIFFS ARE CRUCIAL TO COMBATING ‘DRUG WAR,’ TRUMP AND CABINET OFFICIALS SAY

It added that employers will lower their healthcare costs by an average of 27% on 500 common services by better shopping for care.

“They’ll be able to check them, compare them, go to different locations, so they can shop for the highest-quality care at the lowest cost,” Trump wrote in the statement. “And this is about high-quality care. You’re also looking at that. You’re looking at comparisons between talents, which is very important. And, then, you’re also looking at cost. And, in some cases, you get the best doctor for the lowest cost. That’s a good thing.”

The White House said American patients are “fed up with the status quo,” with 95% saying healthcare price transparency is an important priority. More than 50% said it should be a top priority of the government.

In his first term, Trump took historic action by mandating that hospitals and insurers make prices public.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images, File)

A lawsuit was filed against the Biden administration in 2023, alleging it did not enforce the prescription drug transparency requirements. 

“While the prior Administration failed to prioritize further implementation and enforcement of these requirements, President Trump is delivering on his promises to make the healthcare system more affordable and easier to navigate for patients,” according to the statement.

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Fox News Digital previously reported the administration’s tariffs on China will affect drug costs.

Consumers are more dependent on China for medications for anxiety and other psychiatric disorders, such as antidepressants.

Republicans are mounting pressure on the Justice Department to advance the release of classified documents and records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and other federal secrets. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January for agencies to create plans to distribute the files, as well as documents pertaining to the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

But Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who is leading the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, is pushing the Department of Justice for answers on when that will happen — and so far, says she has faced silence. 

“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 said in a post on X Monday. “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.”

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

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is leading the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Luna sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Attorney General Pam Bondi, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and White House Counsel David Warrington requesting a briefing by Thursday on plans for the release of the documents. 

The letter also requests details on when the declassified documents will become available to the task force and the public. 

Trump’s executive order instructed the Department of Justice to coordinate with Gabbard, Waltz and Warrington to establish a plan by Feb. 7 for the release of the JFK files, and to create a plan for the release of the MLK and Robert F. Kennedy files by March 9. 

Additionally, Luna is pushing the Justice Department to share details regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s client list. The American financier died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. 

Meanwhile, Bondi said Friday that Epstein’s client list was awaiting review, and that she was looking over the Kennedy and King files. 

“It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” Bondi told “America Reports” host John Roberts Friday about the Epstein files. “That’s been a directive by President Trump.”

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

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the documents are under review. (Jason C. Andrew/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Luna’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital in response to Bondi’s statements. 

Luna isn’t the only Republican lawmaker pushing for the release of these documents. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also said Monday Democrats have undercut her efforts to “crack the Epstein trafficking ring wide open,” and vowed that she would receive answers under newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel. 

“The time for transparency is now,” Blackburn said in a Monday post on X. 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also said in a Monday X post that the documents belong to the American people, and “it’s about damn time they be given access to it!” 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is among the Republicans pushing for the documents to be released to the American public.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The Office for the Director of National Intelligence also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital, but told the Associated Press that a plan has been submitted regarding the Kennedy files.

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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. However, Trump vowed on the campaign trail that he would declassify all JFK-related documents if he won the 2024 election.  

The House’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets is scheduled to hold its first public hearing on March 26. 

Fox News’ Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report. 

Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs plans to expand border security operations along the state’s four border counties, placing added focus on disrupting transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).

Hobbs signed an executive order Tuesday to establish Operation Desert Guardian, a joint task force in which the state partners with local law enforcement, sheriffs and the federal government to disrupt TCO operations in the counties of Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise.

“I’m proud to launch Operation Desert Guardian to combat the cartels, stop drug smuggling and human trafficking and secure Arizona’s border,” Hobbs said. “My administration has been in contact with the federal government and local sheriffs about the Operation, its critical objectives and our shared commitment to keeping criminals and drugs out of Arizona’s communities.”

Hobbs added that the operation’s objectives will include identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities along Arizona’s southern border, which stretches about 370 miles, while also combating border-related crimes committed by TCOs. To do so, Hobbs said, the joint task force plans to dismantle TCO supply chains and operating networks.

BORDER STATE GOVERNOR VOWS TO DEFY TRUMP’S ‘MISGUIDED’ MASS DEPORTATION PLAN

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order Tuesday establishing Operation Desert Guardian to take on Mexican cartels and help secure the border. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Operation Desert Guardian’s funding will come from a portion of the state’s Border Security Fund, which has a balance of $28 million.

The operation will also build on the efforts of Task Force SAFE (Stopping Arizona’s Fentanyl Epidemic), a joint operation between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Arizona National Guard to stop drugs from entering Arizona at ports of entry.

Since its launch in July 2024, Task Force SAFE has intercepted 19 million fentanyl pills, 6,598 pounds of illicit drugs and 237 weapons at the border.

‘LOUD AND CLEAR’: BORDER STATE’S LEGISLATURE MOVES TO BACK TRUMP’S ICE ON DEPORTATION

Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers seized more than 26 pounds of fentanyl pills at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Gila Bend in 2022.  (Arizona Department of Public Safety)

“I have worked productively with the federal government on Task Force SAFE and partnered with local law enforcement to deliver critical border security support, and I look forward to continued partnership on our shared border security priorities,” Hobbs said. “With Operation Desert Guardian, I’m confident we can take an important next step in our ongoing work to secure the border.”

After President Donald Trump was re-elected to a second term in November, Hobbs said Arizona would not be aiding the incoming administration with its “misguided” plan to launch a mass deportation operation.

She was asked by ABC News whether the Trump administration would bring a reset on the border, and she responded by focusing on current partnerships with the federal government to secure the border.

‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’: TRUMP DECLARES AMBITIOUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona (U.S. Border Patrol)

“I am very hopeful that that partnership can continue, and that the incoming administration will listen to, not only my administration, but the experts here on the ground, the people that are doing the work, about what is most needed, and what we can continue to do that will be most helpful in securing our border,” she said.

“What I will unequivocally say is that, as governor, I will not tolerate efforts that are part of misguided policies that harm our communities, that threaten our communities, that terrorize our communities, and Arizona will not take part in those.”

State Republicans have a different plan, and, in January, state Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, introduced the “AZ ICE Act,” which would require sheriff’s departments and the Arizona Department of Corrections to enter into cooperative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Migrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Lukeville, Ariz., Dec. 7, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The agreements are based on 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers certain immigration functions, including identifying and detaining suspected illegal immigrants.

Petersen’s bill would also require law enforcement to comply with ICE detainers, which are requests that ICE be notified when an illegal immigrant is being released from state or local custody. “Sanctuary” jurisdictions do not comply with detainers.

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After Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20, he immediately signed a number of executive orders to tackle border security and illegal immigration.

Some local jurisdictions have pledged their support for the measures, but other officials have promised to either resist or not comply with any planned deportation operations.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

Paul Clement, a former solicitor general and previous potential Trump Supreme Court pick, was tapped by a federal judge Friday to weigh in on the motion to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

U.S. District Judge Dale Ho decided to adjourn the case against Adams until further notice, while also appointing Clement to serve as an independent party. 

Ho wrote that bringing in Clement was “appropriate” in this case, “particularly so in light of the public importance of this case, which calls for careful deliberation.”

Former assistant U.S. attorney and Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy noted to Fox News Digital that it is “unusual” for courts to entertain amicus briefs in criminal cases and “it is highly unusual to appoint an amicus to assist the court in the manner contemplated in the Adams case.”

JUDGE ADJOURNS CASE AGAINST NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, STOPS SHORT OF DISMISSING THE CHARGES

Paul Clement, a former solicitor general and previous potential Trump Supreme Court pick, was tapped by a federal judge Friday to weigh in on the motion to dismiss the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (Getty)

Clement, a seasoned appellate lawyer who has argued more than 100 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, served as solicitor general under the Bush administration from 2005-2008. He was notably on President Donald Trump’s short list of Supreme Court nominees during his first term. 

Before taking on the role of the federal government’s top appellate lawyer, Clement served as a deputy solicitor general.

Clement earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a master’s in economics from Cambridge University. 

He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was the Supreme Court editor of the Harvard Law Review. 

Following graduation, Clement clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as well as for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. 

NY GOV HOCHUL DECIDES NYC MAYOR ADAMS’ FATE; RAMPS UP OVERSIGHT OF CITY’S TOP OFFICIAL

He went into private practice after his clerkships, joining Kirkland & Ellis’ Washington, D.C., office. 

Clement also served as chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights before returning to private practice and working as a partner at King & Spalding in D.C., where he headed the firm’s appellate practice. 

Clement’s advocacy in the high court includes recently arguing Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which effectively overturned the Chevron doctrine. (Getty)

Clement is currently a distinguished lecturer in law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he initially served as an adjunct professor starting in 1998. He is also partner at Clement & Murphy in D.C.

Clement’s advocacy in the high court includes recently arguing Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which effectively overturned the Chevron doctrine. The doctrine previously gave deference to an agency’s interpretation of a federal regulation. Clement also litigated against the Obama administration, challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.  

NYC MAYOR ADAMS REFUSES TO RESIGN IN SERMON: ‘I HAVE A MISSION TO FINISH’

McCarthy said he thinks “very highly of Paul Clement, who is among the top appellate lawyers in the United States,” saying the Adams case “calls for a faithful interpretation” of federal law and “I can’t think of anyone better than Clement to give a judge impartial, solid advice on that issue.”

Ho’s decision to adjourn the case came just days after U.S. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove asked prosecutors to drop all corruption charges against the mayor.  

In the motion to dismiss, Bove said the legal proceedings against Adams were detracting from other Justice Department priorities, such as illegal immigration and violent crime. 

The charges against Adams will remain intact until Ho agrees to dismiss them. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital )

Ho appointed Clement to weigh in on the DOJ’s motion to drop the case. Among the questions posed to Clement, the court asks, “Under what circumstances, if leave is granted, dismissal should be with or without prejudice.” 

“The main point of the rule is to protect the defendant’s rights,” McCarthy said. “The judge has no authority to order DOJ to persist in prosecuting Adams, or to appoint a ‘special prosecutor,’ but Clement is an excellent lawyer and can give Judge Ho good advice on whether to accept the plea with the ‘without prejudice’ term in it.”

Parties are expected to submit briefings by early March, with oral arguments expected shortly thereafter. 

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The charges against Adams will remain intact until Ho agrees to dismiss them.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday, his first trip to the naval installation since being confirmed to his post in January. 

Hegseth, who served as a U.S. Army lieutenant at Guantánamo from 2004-05, was expected to receive briefings on all mission operations at the base, including the detention facility where illegal migrants deported from the United States are being housed before being flown to their native countries. 

“Arrived at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on the front lines of the war against America’s southern border,” the secretary wrote on X. 

He was also expected to meet with troops at the base and aboard the USS Thomas Hudner. Images posted to Hegseth’s X account show him meeting and eating with troops stationed at Gitmo. 

TRUMP ADMIN ENDS DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR MASSIVE NUMBER OF VENEZUELANS AMID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greets troops at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Hegseth arrived at the military installation on Tuesday, his first visit there since being confirmed in January. (@SecDef via X)

“These warriors are directly supporting the apprehension and deportation of dangerous illegal aliens,” he wrote. “We cannot thank them or their families enough.”

The base is best known for detaining terrorism suspects, including those behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. President Donald Trump authorized the detention of illegal immigrants at the facility shortly after taking office on Jan. 20. 

In January, Trump said he wanted to expand immigrant detention centers at Guantánamo to hold as many as 30,000 people.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ate with troops stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday. (@SecDef via X)

“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send ‘em out to Guantánamo,” Trump said at the time. 

Last week, nearly 200 Venezuelan illegal immigrants arrested in the U.S. were flown back from Guantanamo Bay after Venezuela expressed interest in accepting its citizens. 

Earlier this month, two Venezuelan flights carried 190 illegal immigrants from the U.S. to the South American nation.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks with troops at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (@SecDef via X)

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The U.S. government has alleged that Venezuelan illegal immigrants transferred to the naval base are members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang. Trump has turned the gang into the face of the alleged threat posed by immigrants living in the country illegally.

Twenty-one civil service employees resigned from the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying that they refused to help the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) trim the federal workforce, according to the Associated Press. 

The 21 staffers, including engineers, data scientists and product managers, reportedly sent a joint resignation letter stating that they are opposed to using their technical expertise to “compromise core government systems.”

“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the 21 employees said in their letter obtained by the AP. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”

DOGE adviser Katie Millier said in an X post that the employees who resigned were “full remote workers who hung Trans flags from their workplaces.” 

IRS TO SLASH NEARLY 7K EMPLOYEES STARTING THURSDAY: REPORTS

The reported resignations come as DOGE leader Elon Musk has been spearheading the Trump administration’s efforts to increase government efficiency by laying off federal employees and eliminating wasteful federal spending. 

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has made strides to slash the federal government workforce. (Jose Luis Magana)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the resignation letter in a statement to the Associated Press, noting that any court challenges or other protests will not affect Trump from delivering his promises.

“Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits, and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years,” Leavitt reportedly wrote. “President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers.”

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, has laid off thousands of staffers across several federal agencies. (Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket)

Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House about the letter but did not immediately hear back. 

The 21 staffers were originally onboarded into DOGE after working for the United States Digital Service, an office established under former President Barack Obama’s administration following the botched rollout of Healthcare.gov, according to the AP. The web portal was used by millions of Americans to sign up for insurance plans through the Democrat’s signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act.

The now-former staffers complained about their DOGE onboarding process after Trump took office.

“Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability,” the staffers reportedly wrote in their letter. “This process created significant security risks.”

DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES

Twenty-one federal employees resigned on Tuesday in opposition against Elon Musk slashing the size of the government. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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During the transition, 40 staffers were reportedly laid off earlier this month and the 65 remaining staffers were integrated into DOGE. Only 44 employees now remain, according to the AP.

“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers reportedly stated. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Congressional Democrats want to make sure President Donald Trump and his administration don’t attempt to impound, or choose not to spend some of the money that is allocated in a new spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on the March 14 deadline. 

They are specifically demanding assurance that Trump spends the money as Congress has appropriated, and this could take shape in a provision in the bill to stop the government from shutting down next month, four sources familiar with the discussions shared with Fox News Digital. 

The demand comes as Trump and congressional Democrats continue to feud over the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which reasserted Congress’ power of the purse and barred the executive branch from holding back any appropriated funds. 

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP WARNS MAJOR DEM AGAINST MOVE THAT COULD COST VOTERS TRILLIONS

Democrats are looking to prevent Trump’s administration from interfering with money appropriated by Congress as DOGE sparks fears. (Reuters)

However, some constitutional scholars have argued this law was unconstitutional, a philosophy that Trump and his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) chief Russell Vought share. 

The clash over impoundment could eventually prompt the courts to rule on it. 

“The administration will not accept infringement on its lawful or constitutional authorities,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“Yeah, I think we’re looking through and considering all the various possibilities at this point of how to comply with it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“And again, I remind people, we’re in this situation because the Democrats didn’t move a single appropriation bill last year across the floor, even though 11 of them had been passed by the committee. So this is a pileup that they created, and now we have to try and figure out how to manage. But we’ll sort it out and figure out how to keep the government funded,” he added.

ETHICS WATCHDOG FLAGS SENATOR HELPING MAKE MILLIONS FOR WIFE’S GREEN NONPROFIT

Thune pointed to 11 bills that were never brought to the floor last Congress. (Getty Images)

As the majority leader referenced, the government has been funded largely through stopgap spending bills in recent years, with the Democrats unwilling to bring appropriations bills to the floor when they were at the helm in the previous Congress. 

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., spoke up during the GOP conference meeting on Tuesday, telling his colleagues that Democrats were asking for too high a price in negotiations that is restraining Trump’s authority, a Republican lawmaker shared with Fox News Digital.

“We cannot just reach an agreement, pass a bill, and then stand by while President Trump rips our laws in half,” Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., said recently, her office noted. “There is a serious, bipartisan path forward for our country – but it is one where Congress works together to avoid a shutdown, stops the de facto shutdown that is already happening, and reasserts its authority to protect the funding our communities need.” 

TRUMP TAX CUT PLAN HITS TURBULENCE AHEAD OF HOUSE VOTE AS REPUBLICANS SPLIT

Cole is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. (Getty Images)

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, also previously told reporters that Democrats’ request for guarantees from the Trump administration is “certainly a major issue,” as her office referenced. 

She explained, “There’s still not agreement. We’re close, but there’s still not agreement on the topline and the allocation under that for defense and non-defense. I’ve made four different offers. The last one was a joint offer with Tom Cole, and it was a very fair offer, as were all the others.”

Democrats are in a position they haven’t been in the first several weeks of the new Congress as the two parties attempt to negotiate a spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown: They have leverage. 

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

Sen. Susan Collins (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Republicans are going to need some level of Democratic support for a spending bill in order to get it through the House and Senate. Sixty votes are needed in the Senate, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to back the bill, provided that all Republicans also support it. In the House, only a majority is needed, but full Republican support of any bill is not guaranteed. 

With that in mind, Democrats are using their position to try and rein in Trump’s actions as it relates to shaking up the federal bureaucracy and canceling spending and contracts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which billionaire Elon Musk was tapped to lead. 

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The White House, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Cole did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

EXCLUSIVE: Some House Republicans are increasingly frustrated with Elon Musk’s handling of his role in the federal government – frustrations that flared during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., raised concerns about Republican lawmakers not being on the “same page” as the White House and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), three people in the room told Fox News Digital.

And he’s not the only GOP lawmaker who feels that way.

“He wants to see better communication between DOGE, the president, and the House, because we’re getting fed to the wolves, while Elon’s just tweeting,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital.

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

Some House Republicans are privately grumbling about Elon Musk’s handling of the federal government. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital illustration)

A second GOP lawmaker said, “I’m going to echo Austin’s comments about, you know, it would be nice to have some heads up. There’s a lot of questions.”

“Words matter, right? So let’s make sure we’re putting out accurate information that’s correct,” the second lawmaker said.

Two House Republicans said Scott warned DOGE needed to “measure twice, cut once” in its audits of the federal government. 

Two others, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and another lawmaker, said Scott took issue with Musk re-posting a meme on X that referred to people on federal benefits as the “parasite class.”

“What Elon was talking about is those who are gaming the system are parasites. But Austin looks at it differently, which is fine, Austin means right. But he said his people took offense to that,” Norman said.

Scott told Fox News Digital he supported DOGE’s goals but reaffirmed his frustration.

Rep. Austin Scott raised concerns about Musk in the closed-door House GOP conference meeting. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

“DOGE’s recent requests for federal employees should have been coordinated with the agencies before they were issued. I fully support those agencies working with DOGE to improve efficiency and eliminate tax dollar waste,” Scott said in a written statement. “With that being said, referring to Americans who may need government assistance as ‘parasites’ is unacceptable in any circumstance.”

House lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday after a week in their home districts, during which more than half a dozen Republicans were confronted by constituents who were searching for more answers on DOGE. Several demonstrations were facilitated by progressive groups.

GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital all said they support the goal of cutting government waste but had issues with Musk’s methods – several raised specific issues with his directive that federal employees email five bullet points on the work they did last week.

While the email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) did not mention job status, Musk posted on X that employees who failed to comply could be terminated.

GOP LAWMAKER CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARING OVER DC PLANE CRASH

“It’s not how most normal good bosses would lay off somebody,” a third House Republican told Fox News Digital. “Some of them may be bad, but most of them are good. Treat them like Americans.”

A fourth House Republican, a member of the House DOGE Caucus, told Fox News Digital that Musk’s comments were not “helpful.”

Another person took issue with Musk’s suggestion of stimulus checks for Americans using DOGE savings.

“I think it’s childish,” that person said. “Now we want to take the money for waste, fraud, and abuse that was collected by the federal government and give everyone $5,000…or we could just pay off the national debt, or we could use that for the next round of appropriations we have to pay for here in Congress.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski publicly criticized Musk’s handling of federal workers. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Others were public with their frustration, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who posted on X, “Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it.”

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said it was up to the executive branch to deal with its personnel.

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“Reductions in force are up to the executive branch agencies and the executive branch, which is run by President Trump. So if President Trump wants to make cuts to the executive branch agencies, that’s his prerogative,” Rutherford said.

And the vast majority of Republicans are still backing Musk, at least publicly.

“I would say that I think the vast majority, the American people, understand and applaud and appreciate the DOGE effort, the goal to scale down the size and scope of government,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press briefing on Tuesday. “The reason we’re excited about what Elon Musk and the team at DOGE are doing, the end result of that is going to be achieving the goal that we’ve always had, and that is to make government more efficient.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House’s DOGE spokesperson for comment.

Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week, a White House official told Fox News Digital. 

“Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity,” a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken.” 

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk announced Saturday that federal employees would receive an email directing them to list their accomplishments from the week prior, with the DOGE leader adding later that day that the assignment should take less than five minutes to accomplish. 

Employees had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to send the list or risk losing their employment, according to emails regarding Musk’s directive that were sent by the Office of Personnel Management.

TRUMP OFFICIALS LIST 5 WEEKLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AHEAD OF MUSK MIDNIGHT DEADLINE

Elon Musk announced that federal employees had to report their accomplishments for the prior work week or risk losing employment. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X Saturday. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” 

“To be clear, the bar is very low here,” Musk wrote. “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write.” 

Musk added to X on Monday evening that, “subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

FLASHBACK: MUSK USED HIS ‘WHAT DID YOU GET DONE THIS WEEK’ DIRECTIVE BEFORE GUTTING TWITTER

“The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” he wrote in a separate post. “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” 

Individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management productivity email, a White House official said. (Jon Elswick/The Associated Press)

A handful of federal departments that deal with sensitive and classified information told staffers to ignore the order to list their accomplishments, which President Donald Trump said on Monday was a “friendly” rejection due to the sensitive materials some government employees handle on a regular basis. 

FBI Director Kash Patel, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security were among the agencies and departments that informed staff to not respond to the email. 

President Donald Trump lauded the directive, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren’t actually carrying out tasks. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

“That was done in a friendly manner,” Trump said Monday while speaking with the media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. “Only things such as, perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things. Or the FBI, where they’re working on confidential things. And they don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week.”

MUSK’S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: ‘MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE’

Other Trump officials, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, publicly reported their accomplishments for the previous work week on social media or in comments to Fox News Digital. 

Following the deadline, Musk posted a meme on X showing Greek mythology warrior Achilles and an arrow piercing his heel. A caption over the Greek figure reads, “Largest most entrenched bureaucracy on earth,” while a caption over the arrow reads, “What did you get done last week?”  

Trump lauded the directive Monday, arguing that it will expose government employees who aren’t actually carrying out tasks.

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“There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said Monday from the White House. “We’re trying to find out if people are working. And so we’re sending a letter to people. Please tell us what you did last week. If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.” 

In an ad promoting herself as a tough on crime judge, and her opponent as “too extreme,” the Democrat-aligned candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race touted the endorsement of a local sheriff who has a long history of promoting sanctuary immigration policies and opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“Take it from a sheriff,” Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a recent 15-second ad, paid for by candidate Susan Crawford, criticizing the Republican-aligned candidate Brad Schimel of being too “extreme” for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and for “letting rapists walk free” in a claim involving a backlog of rape kits being processed that Schimel has pushed back on. 

Barrett has faced his own share of criticism for policies labeled soft on crime, specifically on illegal immigrant crime, where his office has a history of refusing to cooperate with ICE.

Earlier this year, Barrett withdrew his county from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program that ICE uses to locate criminal illegal immigrants in jail, which earned him praise from the ACLU. 

TOM HOMAN TELLS MIGRANT TERROR GROUPS TRUMP WILL ‘WIPE YOU OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH’

Susan Crawford’s ad featured two sheriffs who have publicly opposed ICE. (Getty)

“At this point, we will no longer be taking part in the SCAAP grant program, and it is due to the recent change in administration and our understanding, listening, and hearing our community here in Dane County,” Barrett told Channel 3000 at the time. 

Barrett has also pledged that his department will “not be proactively involved in any sort of round-ups, any sort of immigration enforcement.”

ICE listed Dane County as a jurisdiction that was “non-cooperative” in a June 2024 report, as Barrett’s office released individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants out on bail after committing crimes that were in some cases violent. 

In 2024, two Republican congressmen in Wisconsin released a statement demanding answers from Barrett on Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a suspected member of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, having a warrant for his arrest in Dane County when he was then arrested for allegedly sexually and physically assaulting a woman and her child.

BRETT FAVRE HAS 1-WORD RESPONSE TO WISCONSIN GOV’S PROPOSAL THAT WOULD REPLACE WORD ‘MOTHER’ IN STATE LAW

Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel are facing off in a pivotal Supreme Court race that will have significant political consequences. (AP)

“Sanctuary policies undermine both the rule of law and the safety of American communities,” Matt O’Brien, director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, told Fox News Digital. “To begin with, states, counties, and municipalities cannot simply ignore any federal laws they dislike. But that’s exactly what sanctuary jurisdictions are doing.”

“Secondly, law enforcement officials who are tough on crime and serious about protecting their communities seize every available opportunity to neutralize threats to public safety. Police chiefs and sheriffs in sanctuary jurisdictions actually do the exact opposite. They shield foreign criminals from federal immigration enforcement. And, in so doing, they encourage criminals to take up residence in the very communities they are responsible for protecting. Simply put, it is impossible to be a sanctuary police chief or sheriff and be tough on crime – because the very essence of being a sanctuary jurisdiction is giving preferential treatment to illegal alien bad guys.”

Another sheriff featured in the ad, former Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney, has also publicly pushed back against ICE raids. 

Schimel, who has been endorsed by over 80 Wisconsin sheriffs and previously served as the state’s attorney general, will face Crawford in an election on April 1 for a 10-year term on the state’s supreme court to replace retiring Judge Ann Walsh Bradley. 

Although the Supreme Court seats are considered nonpartisan, Crawford, currently a circuit court judge, has earned the endorsement of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which received $1 million from George Soros in January before then sending $2 million to Crawford and various liberal activist groups. 

Schimel, currently a Waukesha County judge, has the backing of the Wisconsin GOP, several top Republican donors, including Chicago Cubs co-owner Joe Ricketts and Elon Musk’s Building America’s Future PAC. 

MUSK’S DEMAND THAT FED EMPLOYEES LIST THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ROILS WORKFORCE: ‘MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE’

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on Feb. 20, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. ( (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

The race is expected to have significant implications on the future of Wisconsin politics given that the court’s current 4-3 liberal majority would essentially be set in stone through 2028 or, if Schimel were to win, become a conservative-leaning court with Justice Brian Hagedorn serving as a key swing vote. 

“In November, Wisconsin voters chose common sense above a far-left agenda. Now, Dangerous Democrat Susan Crawford, wants to be a liberal activist from the bench of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Crawford and Democrats are already plotting to redraw Congressional seats to attack President Trump’s America First Agenda,” Wisconsin GOP Executive Director Andrew Iverson told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“While Brad Schimel has a record of protecting Wisconsin’s most vulnerable, Crawford has a record of coddling criminals and has attached herself at the hip with anti-ICE and defund-police Democrats. On April 1, Wisconsin voters will flock to the ballot box to vote for Schimel — to save Wisconsin and save America.”

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Brad Schimel during a 2018 campaign rally at Weldall Manufacturing Inc. in Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Schimel campaign spokesperson Jacob Fischer said, “Susan Crawford is backed by George Soros, and she’s not trying to hide it.”

“If Crawford wins, she would continue to force-feed us her dangerous, Soros-backed agenda. We must stop her from destroying Wisconsin.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to both Barrett and Crawford for comment but did not receive a response. 

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are getting an update on the Trump administration’s probe of billionaire George Soros’ influence on local radio, a source familiar with planning told Fox News Digital.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), the 175-strong caucus led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, is hosting Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr at its annual closed-door lunch on Wednesday.

The source familiar with the planning said Carr is expected to brief GOP lawmakers on the FCC’s investigation into Soros, including an investment firm he’s linked to purchasing over 200 Audacy radio stations nationwide.

Carr and Republicans are also expected to more widely discuss strategies for pushing back against media deemed to be biased against the GOP.

KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

The FCC, under former President Joe Biden, fast-tracked a deal that helped George Soros’ investment firm get 40% of Audacy’s debt. (Getty Images/AP)

The RSC is the largest grouping of lawmakers within the House GOP and traditionally acts as an informal think tank for the conference.

It has also been a conduit for several top Trump administration officials to Capitol Hill so far this year.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller addressed the RSC on immigration and President Donald Trump’s plan for executive action last month. Earlier in February, the group heard from Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, leads the Republican Study Committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

An investment firm linked to Soros, a left-wing businessman who has sunk billions of dollars into liberal causes, became the largest stakeholder in radio giant Audacy at the tail end of the Biden administration late last year.

The Soros Investment Fund acquired roughly 40% of Audacy’s debts after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Republican lawmakers blasted the deal, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., both of whom called for intense scrutiny.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr will address the RSC on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Carr signaled he wanted to set his sights on Soros late last year during an interview on “Mornings with Maria.”

“There’s a petition for reconsideration pending at the FCC right now. And I want to take a very hard look at that,” he said in late November.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC and Audacy for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Rep. Darrell Issa has introduced a bill aimed at preventing federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions with the sole purpose of derailing a president’s political agenda, which Issa says has been the case since President Donald Trump was sworn in. 

The legislation, known as the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA), amends Chapter 85 of title 28, United 5 States Code by adding a “Limitation on authority to provide injunctive relief.”

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no United States district court shall issue any order providing for injunctive relief, except in the case of such an order that is applicable only to limit the actions of a party to the case before such district court with respect to the party seeking injunctive relief from such district court,” the legislation states. 

Dozens of activist and legal groups, elected officials, local jurisdictions and individuals have launched more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration since Jan. 20 in response to his more than 60 executive orders, as well as executive proclamations and memos, Fox News Digital reported earlier this month.

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

Rep. Darrell Issa. (iStock/Fox News Media)

Issa says NORRA would limit the scope of nationwide injunctions by preventing federal judges from issuing injunctions that extend beyond parties directly involved in a case, while also ensuring that any injunction restricts only the specific parties requesting relief, regardless of whether the injunction involves outright enforcement of actions or policy actions. 

“The founders could never have envisioned judges and part of the legislative branch teaming up to tie down the executive and disempower the people,” Issa told Fox News Digital, adding that the current judge-shopping climate in the United States amounts to “judicial tyranny” and a “weaponization of courts.”

Issa’s office told Fox News Digital they are optimistic that this is a bill that will pass through Congress with Republican support and be signed by President Trump, adding that the bill has “maximum momentum.”

DEMS LIKELY TO ‘WASTE MILLIONS’ ON DELUGE OF LAWSUITS BUT COULD COST TRUMP PRECIOUS TIME: EXPERT

“Nowhere in our Constitution is a single federal judge given absolute power over the President or the people of the United States,” Issa posted on X last week. 

Issa’s bill comes as the Trump administration has publicly pushed back against the flurry of injunctions from courts across the country. 

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President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“Many outlets in this room have been fear mongering the American people into believing there is a constitutional crisis taking place here at the White House,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing last week. “I’ve been hearing those words a lot lately, but in fact, the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court judges in liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump’s basic executive authority.”

“We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than honest arbiters of the law and they have issued at least 12 injunctions against this administration in the past 14 days, often without citing any evidence or grounds for their lawsuits,” she continued. “This is part of a larger concerted effort by Democrat activists, and nothing more than the continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump.”

House Republicans’ mammoth budget resolution survived its final hurdle late Monday night before heading for a chamber-wide vote.

The legislation passed the House Rules Committee on a party-line vote in a measure combining several bills that are expected to get a full House vote this week.

House GOP leaders aim to have it pass on Tuesday evening, Fox News Digital was told, but various concerns about spending cut levels could put that goal out of reach. Under the current margins, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only lose one Republican vote to pass a bill without Democrats. 

KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

House Speaker Mike Johnson, inset right, is shepherding President Donald Trump’s agenda through Congress via reconciliation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images/Fox News Channel)

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., announced over the weekend that she is against the current text, while several other fiscal hawks suggested their support is still up in the air.

Two other conservatives, Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., signaled they would oppose the resolution as well.

Some Republicans are worried about potentially damaging cuts to Medicaid and other federal benefit programs that their constituents rely on. Johnson met with some of those potential holdouts on Monday night for what he called a “very productive conversation.”

The speaker sounded optimistic when leaving the Capitol late on Monday, telling reporters, “We’re on track. We got the resolution through rules, and we’re expecting to vote tomorrow evening.”

The bill aims to increase spending on border security, the judiciary and defense by roughly $300 billion, while seeking at least $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts elsewhere.

As written, the bill also provides $4.5 trillion to extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, which expire at the end of this year.

An amendment negotiated by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and conservatives on his panel would also force lawmakers to make $2 trillion in cuts, or else risk the $4.5 trillion for Trump’s tax cuts getting reduced by the difference. 

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington saw the bill advance through his panel last week. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.)

That agreement alarmed Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee, like Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.

“I don’t think that is doable without affecting beneficiaries, and I’ve expressed that concern to leadership and in talking to some of my colleagues,” Malliotakis told Fox News Digital last week.

Johnson met with Malliotakis and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a House GOP group, on Monday night to discuss their concerns about spending cuts in the bill. The New York Republican was more optimistic when leaving the meeting late on Monday night, telling reporters that GOP leaders had eased her concerns.

“I’d say now I’ve shifted from undecided to lean yes,” Malliotakis told reporters. “This is moving in the right direction.”

GOP lawmakers are working to pass a broad swath of Trump policies – from investments in defense and border security to eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages – via the budget reconciliation process. 

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

The mechanism allows the party in control of both houses of Congress to pass a tax and budget bill without help from the opposing party. To do so, it lowers the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, where the House already sits.

The Senate advanced a narrower version of the plan last week, which does not include Trump’s tax cut priorities. Because the president favors all the issues being wrapped up into one bill, however, it has been relegated to a de facto backup plan if the House fails to pass its plan on a reasonable timeline.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is waiting with a backup plan if the House fails. (Getty Images)

The House Rules Committee is the final gatekeeper for most pieces of legislation before a chamber-wide vote. 

The committee will normally debate a set of bills, not necessarily related ones, before setting terms for amendments and debate and advancing those terms out of committee as a single “rules package.”

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House lawmakers will then vote on the rules package before the final reconciliation framework.

Once this bill passes the House, the relevant committees will get to work filling the framework out with detailed policy priorities, which will then be returned as a final bill that will need to face House passage again.

Johnson said at the Americans for Prosperity event on Monday that he wants that to happen sometime in April.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that state authorities working with the Department of Homeland Security are conducting an immigration and law enforcement operation in Colony Ridge, a huge development known for attracting masses of illegal immigrants.

“Colony Ridge is being targeted today,” Abbott, a Republican, announced on X on Monday.

Colony Ridge, which is less than an hour’s drive from Texas’ biggest city, Houston, is a housing development that advertises in Spanish for quality land for low down payments. There are believed to be thousands of illegal immigrants living in the community, which also reportedly has significant cartel activity and very little police presence.

DEM AND GOP GOVERNORS URGE TRUMP TO ‘LET THE STATES PLAY A ROLE’ IN IMMIGRATION DECISIONS

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that “Colony Ridge is being targeted today.” (Brandon Bell/Getty Images | ICE)

The governor said Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers and special agents were cooperating with Homeland Security Investigations in an operation in Colony Ridge this morning, “targeting criminals & illegal immigrants.”

Abbott said he has been working on this operation with President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, “for months.”

In response to concerns that his post would endanger law enforcement’s operation in Colony Ridge, Abbott said the operation began hours before his post and that “long before my post anyone in the area would’ve known about the operation.”

A spokesperson for DHS, however, declined to comment on the operation, citing the need to preserve secrecy about the details of the operations and concerns for the safety of the agents involved.

ALLEGED FENTANYL-SMUGGLING IMMIGRANTS LEAD POLICE ON DANGEROUS CORNFIELD CHASE

ICE takes illegal immigrant Jorge Carvajal Castrejon, 36, into custody in Houston on Jan. 28, 2025. (ICE)

Local outlet ABC13 reported that officials at the nearby Liberty County Sheriff’s Office further confirmed that DPS and ICE operations were underway.

Another outlet called The Vindicator reported that at least one local man, Roberto Alfaro, 24, saw “undercover” agents he believed to be from ICE “forcefully” arresting a Mexican national outside his house.

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Alfaro told The Vindicator he had never seen anything like the operation underway in Colony Ridge before and that it “feels scary.” He mentioned his concern that his mother and father would be deported back to Honduras and El Salvador. He also said he and some others were “chasing” ICE so “we could go behind them and warn others.”

TRUMP FREEZES APPLICATIONS FOR BIDEN-ERA MIGRANT PROGRAMS AMID FRAUD, NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

Tom Homan (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump administration has unleashed a slew of immigration enforcement actions since taking office last month, one of the most notable being a string of ICE raids in cities across the country.

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Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, Homan announced that in Trump’s first month in the Oval Office, ICE arrested 21,000 illegal aliens.

“I’m happy with the numbers,” he said. “But I’m not going to be satisfied until every criminal alien gang member, every criminal alien, every Tren de Aragua [gang member] is eradicated from this country and [we’ve] sent their a– to Gitmo, where they belong.”

Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde, who earlier this month announced he was drafting articles of impeachment against a Rhode Island judge overseeing one of President Donald Trump’s legal challenges, condemned judges who continue to bar Trump’s agenda from being implemented. 

Clyde is working in conjunction with Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., who is also preparing impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer. The Georgia Republican said the real victims of judicial pushback against Trump’s policies are the American people. 

“You’re not just hurting the president,” Clyde told Fox News Digital. “You’re hurting the American people because they’re the ones who elected him, and they’re the ones who want him to do this – to exercise these specific authorities. And these judges are really denying the American people their rights.”

IMPEACHMENT THREAT HITS JUDGE WHO BLOCKED TRUMP FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde condemned judges who continue to bar Trump’s agenda from being implemented. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Clyde threatened to file articles of impeachment against District Judge John McConnell who, at the time, filed a motion ordering the Trump administration to comply with a previous restraining order. The order temporarily blocked the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans. 

McConnell has since come under fire from Trump supporters and conservatives who have accused him of being a liberal activist after a 2021 video of him saying courts must “stand and enforce the rule of law, that is, against arbitrary and capricious actions by what could be a tyrant or could be whatnot” resurfaced online.  

“You have to take a moment and realize that this, you know, middle-class, White, male, privileged person needs to understand the human being that comes before us that may be a woman, may be Black, may be transgender, may be poor, may be rich, may be – whatever,” McConnell said in the video, according to WPRI.

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Clyde acknowledged that judges have their own opinions and “they’re certainly entitled to them, but they’re not overt and political in mentioning them,” saying “they don’t want to be seen as potentially having a conflict of interest.”

“And I think that’s very, very much the case when it comes to both Judge Engelmayer and Judge McConnell,” the lawmaker said. 

Judge McConnell has come under fire from Trump supporters and conservatives who have accused him of being a liberal activist. (Getty)

Since taking office in January, activist and legal groups, along with elected officials, local jurisdictions and individuals, have launched more than 70 lawsuits against the administration. The legal challenges cover Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to slash unnecessary government spending, and Trump’s removal of various federal employees. 

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With regard to the specific suits over DOGE’s actions, Clyde told Fox News Digital he expects the president to “prevail on the merits of his case.”

“I think the president will certainly prevail on the merits of his case. He has the authority under Article II of the Constitution,” Clyde said. “But yet for the entire time of the restraining order, the judge will have prevented this duly elected authority from being exercised by the president. And also, they will have prevented the American people from dealing with waste, fraud and abuse in their government.”

Clyde is working with Rep. Eli Crane, who is also preparing impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer. (Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)

Clyde said he hopes other members of Congress join his and Crane’s efforts to continue holding judges accountable, saying those barring Trump’s agenda from being implemented “need to understand that they’re not going to get away with it.”

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“They can’t just stop the president from doing what the Constitution gives him the authority to do, and the people have given him the authority to do,” Clyde said. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Diana Stancy contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s White House is warning that a key Democrat’s move to end the president’s energy national emergency would kill hundreds of jobs and cost $3.6 trillion in higher prices and lost energy output. 

“Tim Kaine wants to impoverish Americans. President Donald Trump’s executive order brings America into the future and unleashes prosperity. Senator [Tim] Kaine wants to cost the economy trillions and risk losing nearly a million jobs,” said deputy press secretary Anna Kelly in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. 

The White House’s statement is in response to Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., filing a joint resolution to end Trump’s energy national emergency and teeing up a vote on the Senate floor this week.

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The White House is slamming Sen. Tim Kaine for forcing a vote to end his national emergency on energy. (Reuters)

Ending the energy emergency would lead to the loss of 869,800 jobs, according to a White House document obtained by Fox News Digital. 

The White House emphasized that ending the emergency would usher back in the Biden administration’s policies. The document stressed that under those policies, during Biden’s first two years, families spent an additional average of $10,000 in energy costs, citing a study published by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. 

The document cited that estimates of liquefied natural gas growth in the new administration were projected to bring in half a million jobs annually and boost U.S. GDP by $1.3 trillion through 2040, per a study by S&P Global in December. 

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President-elect Trump has vowed to unleash American energy. (Getty Images)

“The Trump Administration is living in a fantasy land,” Kaine and Heinrich told Fox News Digital in a joint statement. “Energy demand is high and only getting higher, which is why it’s great that America is producing more energy than at any other point in our history. Decreasing the supply of American-made energy when demand is high is the quickest way to raise prices—and that’s exactly what President Trump’s sham energy emergency will do. By tampering with the market to favor some forms of energy over others and making it easier for fossil fuel companies to take Americans’ private property, Trump’s emergency declaration will benefit Big Oil, but leave American consumers with fewer choices and higher bills.”

“At the same time, Trump’s decision to illegally halt investments appropriated by Congress in energy projects that are creating jobs in communities across the country is costing Americans valuable, good-paying jobs,” they added. 

The two Democrats unveiled their privileged legislation against Trump’s order earlier this month.

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Kaine, shown, and Heinrich introduced a resolution to force a vote. (Getty Images)

“Senate Democrats are yet again attempting to block President Trump’s efforts to secure cheaper, more reliable energy—just when America needs it most,” Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Their message to families is clear: pay more, expect less. Luckily, President Trump is committed to unleashing American energy and rescuing the country from the energy crisis that they have perpetuated. Senate Republicans won’t let Democrats delay and obstruct any longer and will ensure the President has the tools necessary to deliver the results the American people expect.”

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Heinrich is the Energy Committee’s ranking member. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Kaine and Heinrich’s introduction of the resolution will force a vote on the Senate floor, which is expected to occur on Wednesday. 

The measure is likely to fail, with Republicans vocally supportive of Trump’s energy agenda. The GOP has a 53-seat majority in the upper chamber.

Among the critics who posted on X Sunday after my Fox News show was one who made an argument that surprised me.

Don’t pay attention to what President Trump says, this person wrote. Pay attention to what he does.

Now that’s a novel idea. What the President of the United States says is unimportant and should be ignored. I doubt that this person applied the same standard to President Joe Biden.

And yet there’s an interesting thought exercise here. Trump says a lot of things, especially since he talks to journalists at length virtually every day. Not everything rises to the same level of seriousness. I say this as someone who has interviewed him many times over the years, including our sitdown two weeks before the election.

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Sometimes the president says things just to rile up the press. Sometimes he says things that aren’t true, or are exaggerations or taken out of context.

But more often he says the quiet part out loud, signaling what he plans to do or insulting those with whom he disagrees, the kind of stuff that reporters used to have to attribute to unnamed aides, and he does it in front of the cameras.

At the top of the list right now would be Ukraine. Donald Trump is a smart guy, he knows that Russia invaded its much smaller sovereign neighbor with the aim of wiping it off the map and putting it under Moscow’s control. But he has chosen to blame Ukraine for starting the war, and to insult Volodomyr Zelenskyy as a dictator when everyone knows that label perfectly describes Vladimir Putin.

President Trump is known for rhetoric that’s simply all over the place – and some of what he says carries far more weight than the rest. It’s just a matter of determining what is what. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

The most charitable interpretation is that Trump believes the only way to end the war is through an alliance with Putin for a settlement that could then be sold to Ukraine. (The United States voted with Russia yesterday against a U.N. resolution condemning the invasion.) 

Of course, Trump has cozied up to Putin for a long time. During their Helsinki summit in the first term, the president accepted Putin’s denial that the Kremlin had hacked into Democratic emails, despite the evidence gathered by his own intelligence agencies.

Trump has repeated again and again that Zelenskyy bears responsibility for the war that just marked its three-year anniversary. Is this aimed at the American public or at Moscow or Kyiv (to put pressure on Ukraine)?  

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Journalists keep asking Trump aides and Republican supporters if they agree with the president’s blame-Ukraine approach, and many have simply tried to deflect the question.

In my “Media Buzz” interview with Jason Miller, the longtime Trump confidante and senior adviser to the Trump transition team, he deftly avoided contradicting the president.

“What President Trump has done,” he said, “is he has forced the sides to the table to actually stop the killing and come up with a peace deal. For the last several years. Joe Biden has sat there completely incompetent, doing nothing but fueling and funding more killing and more death.” 

When I tried again, Miller said of his boss that “his legacy really will be as a peacemaker.”

I came back a third time, quoting conservative radio host Mark Levin as saying, “This is sick. Ukraine didn’t start this war. What were they supposed to do? Roll over and play dead? They’re just trying to survive.” 

And I asked: “Why is President Trump blaming Zelenskyy for the beginning of the war?”

Trump seems to be taking a “blame Ukraine” approach when it comes to the country’s invasion by Russia. However, there lies an important question: is there a strategy behind it, or is he just sounding off? (Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance/Curtis Means/Daily Mail/Bloomberg)

“Well, Zelenskyy has a lot of blame. I think that would go to this as well. But again, you want to look into the past, I want to look into the future, what we do to save lives.” 

Jason Miller was doing his job. A similar scenario played out on the other Sunday shows.

On “Fox News Sunday,” my colleague Shannon Bream asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth whether it was fair to say that Russia was unprovoked when it attacked Ukraine. He replied that it was “fair to say it’s a very complicated situation.”

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Stressing that Trump wants to end the war, Hegseth said: “‘You’re good, you’re bad; you’re a dictator, you’re not a dictator; you invaded, you didn’t.’ It’s not useful. It’s not productive.”

Another part of my Sunday interview also shed light on Trump’s use of language.

The president had told reporters: “I think we should govern the District of Columbia, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful.” 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked Sunday whether it was fair to say Russia was unprovoked when it attacked Ukraine, telling Fox News’ Shannon Bream it was a “complicated situation.” (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The District has enjoyed home rule for 50 years, although Congress retains the power to overturn its laws. The capital, like most cities, grapples with crime, poverty and other urban ills.

I asked point blank: Is the president ready to end home rule in D.C.?

Miller said Mayor Muriel Bowser is largely doing a good job, adding: “I think part of the reason why President Trump won is because he said he was going to clean up our cities to make them safe. Of course he’s going to put pressure on the District of Columbia.”

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So Trump’s words in this instance had a different meaning, as a warning signal to the District.

Oh, I also wondered why Trump keeps referring to Canada as the 51st state when that’s not going to happen.

“The president’s having a little bit of fun with it. But he’s also making some very serious points.”

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My online detractor was wrong. It’s important to pay attention to the president’s words, especially for the media, which have a tendency to overreact to some of his language. The challenge is deciphering when he’s dead serious, when he’s sending signals, and when he’s just trolling.