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New York City Mayor Eric Adams revealed on Tuesday that he is open to meeting with incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan to develop solutions to take on illegal immigrant criminals — and dismissed criticism from the left, telling critics to “cancel me.”

Adams was asked at a press conference about whether he will meet with Homan, who was picked by President-elect Trump to lead the mass deportation operation he intends to launch after he is sworn into office.

Adams stressed the city’s openness to immigrants and emphasized the work being done on helping migrants apply for Temporary Protected Status and work authorization, as well as services including case management for migrants. He said it has now seen a 21-week decrease in migrant arrivals. 

TRUMP BORDER CZAR HOMAN SAYS HE’LL MEET WITH NYC MAYOR ADAMS TO ADDRESS MIGRANT CRISIS: LETS ‘GET THIS DONE’ 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is open to meeting with incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan to develop solutions to take on illegal immigrant criminals. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

“But we cannot ignore, ignore the fact that the American people have communicated to us, loudly and clearly. We have a broken system. They want to fix, and we need to fix our immigration system,” he said.

He said he has reached out to Homan and said he would like to speak to him: “I’m not going to be warring with this administration, I’m going to be working with this administration. President Trump is the president-elect. And whomever he chooses to run his agencies. I’m looking forward to sitting down and see how do we better New York,” he said.

Tom Homan, former acting director of US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, US, on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. ( Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I would like to speak with our border czar, and find out what his plans are. Where our common grounds are, we can work together. And I strongly believe, my history is sitting down with those across the aisle, with different ways of thinking, and sit down and share my ideas,” he said. “I believe I have some ideas that could deal with this issue, and we can reach what the American people have been saying to us — secure our borders, address the people who are committing violent acts in our country and make sure that… our citizens are going to be safe.”

In another part of the press conference, he said that those who are in the country illegally who are otherwise law-abiding “should not be rounded up in the middle of the night.”

But he said that it was different for criminal illegal immigrants.

NYC ENDS TAXPAYER-FUNDED PREPAID DEBIT CARD PROGRAM FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“Those are the people I am talking about. And I would love to sit down with the border czar and hear his thoughts on how are we going to address those who are harming our citizens.”

As to his critics from the left on the issue, Adams pointed to past remarks by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, who he said had called for the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants, and brushed off what he said was “cancel culture.”

“Well, cancel me, because I’m going to protect the people of this city, and if you come into this country, in this city, and think you’re going to harm innocent New Yorkers and innocent migrants and asylum seekers, this is not the mayor you want to be in a city under,” he said.

Adams has been sounding the alarm about the impact that the border crisis has had on New York City, including the billions that it has cost the city. He has repeatedly called for additional support from the federal government. He said on Tuesday that the city has so far seen $6.4 billion spent on the migrant crisis.

‘TRUE!!’: TRUMP CONFIRMS SUPPORT FOR MAJOR STEP IN MASS DEPORTATION PUSH TO ‘REVERSE THE BIDEN INVASION’

President Elect Donald Trump, left, and his incoming “border czar” Tom Homan, right. (Getty)

While New York City is a sanctuary city — meaning local police are not allowed to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests to hand over illegal immigrants after they are released from custody — Adams has increasingly backed away from that stance.

He has called for changes that allow those suspected of major crimes to be turned over to ICE, something that is not currently allowed under the sanctuary policies.

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Homan, meanwhile, has also been open to a meeting with Adams.

“I’m willing to meet with him, and I’m willing to meet with anybody to help make their communities safer,” Homan said Monday on “America’s Newsroom” after being contacted by the Adams administration. 

“Prioritization out of the gate is public safety threats. Work with us on that. It makes your community safer. It keeps my officers safe. It keeps the community safe. Let’s work together and get this done.” 

Fox News’ Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

California’s unemployment insurance (UI) financing system is facing big deficits, requiring a full “redesign,” according to a new report from the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO).

The system, meant to be self-sufficient, has fallen short of covering annual benefit costs, resulting in a projected $2 billion annual deficit over the next five years and an outstanding $20 billion federal loan balance.

“This outlook is unprecedented: although the state has, in the past, failed to build robust reserves during periods of economic growth, it has never before run persistent deficits during one of these periods,” the LAO report, titled “Fixing Unemployment Insurance” and published Tuesday, stated. 

NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO ‘TRUMP PROOF’ CALIFORNIA

California Gov. Gavin Newsom pauses during a news conference after touring Barron Park Elementary School on March 2, 2021 in Palo Alto, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Independent analysts project that annual shortfalls will increase California’s federal loan, costing taxpayers around $1 billion in interest each year. The system, which is funded by employer payments to the UI Trust Fund, hasn’t been updated since 1984 and “cannot keep up with inflation or provide the intended wage replacement of half of workers’ wages,” according to the report.

The current employer tax structure discourages eligible unemployed workers from claiming benefits, while the state’s low taxable wage base hampers hiring of lower-wage workers, analysts found.

One suggestion researchers wrote to fix the gap is to increase the amount of wages taxed for unemployment benefits, raising it from $7,000 per worker to $46,800. Supporters of this change say it would bring in more money to fund the program. The report also recommends reworking how businesses are taxed for unemployment benefits to make the system simpler and encourage more hiring.

PROPOSITION 36 OVERWHELMINGLY PASSES IN CALIFORNIA, REVERSING SOME SOROS-BACKED SOFT-ON-CRIME POLICIES

California’s LAO found deficits in the state’s UI system. (iStock)

To deal with the massive federal loan, the report suggests splitting the cost between employers and the state government, so that businesses aren’t stuck with all the debt.

“These are significant problems in isolation, let alone in combination,” analysts wrote. “The significant changes proposed in this report are an honest reflection of these problems. However, whether or not the Legislature takes action, employers will soon pay more in UI taxes than they do today due to escalating charges under federal law.”

California Gov. Newsom speaks in San Francisco on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. He is expected to disclose his plan to deal with California’s massive deficit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chi, File)

Gareth Lacy, a spokesperson for the California Employment Development Department, which administers the state’s unemployment insurance program, called it “a thoughtful report” and noted officials “are reviewing it carefully.”

“We agree the issue stretches back for decades and the pandemic compounded it,” Lacy told Fox News Digital in a statement.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s UI system was hit hard with an overwhelming number of unemployment claims, resulting in the state borrowing roughly $20 billion from the federal government to cover insurance benefits, which the state still owes. 

“Not only will the state’s tax system fall short of repaying that loan, the balance is set to grow due to the ongoing gap between contributions and benefits,” the report noted. “This will become a near-permanent feature of the state’s UI program and a major ongoing cost for state taxpayers.”

A Democratic lawmaker is moving to force a vote on releasing the results of the House Ethics Committee’s report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., introduced legislation on Tuesday afternoon aimed at mandating a House-wide vote on whether to make the Gaetz report public. 

He introduced it as a “privileged resolution,” a mechanism that forces House leaders to consider it within two legislative days – putting the deadline on Thursday.

HACKER OBTAINS HOUSE ETHICS TESTIMONY ON MATT GAETZ AS TRUMP MAKES CALLS FOR AG NOMINEE

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz has been the subject of a multi-year investigation by the House Ethics Committee. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

The House Ethics Committee’s multi-year investigation into Gaetz, involving allegations of sex with a minor and illicit drug use, came to an abrupt halt last month after he resigned from Congress hours after President-elect Donald Trump tapped him to be his attorney general.

Gaetz dropped out of consideration amid quiet but steady GOP opposition, but the committee nevertheless lost jurisdiction over the probe when Gaetz left the House of Representatives.

His resignation came just before the committee was expected to meet to consider releasing the report.

Gaetz has consistently denied any accusations of wrongdoing.

An earlier federal investigation into the allegations ended without charges against Gaetz.

GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR?

Rep. Sean Casten is aiming to force a vote on the committee’s report (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

It’s highly unusual for the House Ethics Committee, a panel normally shrouded in secrecy, to release reports on lawmakers who have left office. It’s a detail House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., raised when telling reporters last month that he was against releasing the report.

But it’s not unheard of, as Casten pointed out on Tuesday.

“The Committee on Ethics has, on many occasions, released its reports on former members,” Casten said in a statement. “Resigning from Congress should not allow Members to avoid accountability for allegations as serious as those faced by Matt Gaetz. Withholding this report from the American people would impede the dignity and integrity of the legislative proceedings of the House.”

Casten introduced a similar resolution last month, but his office said it was allowed to expire by House GOP leaders over the Thanksgiving break. 

The new resolution will likely not be sidelined so easily, with the House expected in session from now until Friday. 

Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the Ethics Committee, hinted that the vote on releasing it fell along party lines last month. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The last day to consider the resolution will be Thursday, the same day the Ethics Committee will meet after previously failing to come to an agreement on releasing the Gaetz report.

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Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., the top Democrat on the panel, hinted that the vote to do so fell along party lines.

“I’d say that a vote was taken. As many of you know, this committee is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, five Dems, five Republicans, which means that in order to affirmatively move something forward, somebody has to cross party lines and vote with the other side – which happens a lot, by the way, and we often vote unanimously,” Wild told reporters after the last meeting. “That did not happen in today’s vote.”

A Democratic U.S. congressman on Monday said it appears that certain people are “above the law” after President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, despite repeatedly saying he would not give his son a pass.

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., responded to Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter on social media, blasting the president’s own words from earlier this year that “no one is above the law.”

“Let’s just say the quiet part out loud, certain Americans are indeed above the law and influence is always for sale,” Phillips wrote on X. “It’s time for the exhausted majority to condemn and confront legalized corruption.”

President Biden issued a sweeping pardon for Hunter Biden on Sunday after he had repeatedly said he would not do so. The first son had been convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year. He pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September, and was convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. 

HUNTER BIDEN GUN CASE TERMINATED AFTER PARDON, BUT FEDERAL JUDGE STOPS SHORT OF FULL DISMISSAL

Phillips called out the “legalized corruption” in politics and argued that pardoning powers have been “abused” by presidents of both major political parties. (Reuters/Tom Brenner, File)

The president argued in a statement that Hunter was “singled out only because he is my son” and that there was an effort to “break Hunter” in order to “break me.”

Biden had stated on record multiple times that he would not pardon Hunter should a jury convict his son.

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Phillips, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for president, argued that perhaps both Hunter Biden and Trump may not have been charged in their respective criminal cases under different circumstances.

“Two things can be true at once: Neither Hunter Biden nor Donald Trump would have been charged with certain crimes had they not been political figures,” he wrote. “Pardoning powers have been abused by Trump and now Biden, and must be reformed.”

TAPPER SAYS BIDEN LYING ABOUT PARDONING HUNTER MAKES HIS ADMIN AND ALLIES ‘EITHER CREDULOUS OR COMPLICIT’

The pardon has been met with widespread criticism from Republicans, some Democrats and the media.

Reporters grilled White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday, asking whether Biden and his surrogates lied to the American people. Jean-Pierre responded, “One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people,” and repeatedly pointed to Biden’s own statement on the matter.

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Biden has yet to take questions from reporters on why he broke his pledge to Americans and decided to pardon the first son.  

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative think tank is outlining how the incoming Republican Congress can fundamentally overhaul the American immigration system, helping it rise “from the ashes” left by the Biden administration.

In a new paper, the Heritage Foundation provides a roadmap to Congress, suggesting it go beyond border security and overhaul the U.S. immigration system.

In the paper, author Lora Ries – director of the Heritage’s Border Security and Immigration Center – argues that there has been a dysfunctional immigration system for decades. It made legal immigration complicated and slow, while illegal immigration was rarely punished.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY IN 2025 

People line up outside a migrant re-ticketing center at St. Brigid School on East Seventh Street, Jan. 5, 2024, in Manhattan. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“In short, it is a slow, frustrating, and expensive hassle to immigrate to the U.S. lawfully. As a result, when it is faster, easier, and cheaper to migrate to America illegally, then that is what some human beings will do – and have done for decades. Others will not come to the U.S. at all to start businesses or incubate new technologies,” she says.

She argues that the Biden administration transformed the immigration system further and “erased the line between legal and illegal immigration.” She accuses the administration of abusing humanitarian parole, making asylum meaningless and unleashing an open borders agenda.

“America’s immigration system used to be broken both because of a lack of enforcement and because of its overly complicated statutory provisions. Now it is a pile of ashes,” she says.

BORDER STATE OFFERS TRUMP MASSIVE PLOT OF LAND TO AID MASS DEPORTATION OPERATION

But now, with a hawkish incoming Trump administration and a supportive Republican House and Senate about to be sworn in, Ries and Heritage outline five principles for how to proceed.

“However, from the ashes comes a great opportunity to redesign a new, simpler, fairer, and more manageable immigration system that prioritizes America first and legal immigrants second,” she says. “The principles and policies laid out in this report can play a crucial role in shaping just such a new immigration system.”

Those principles include upholding the rule of law, acknowledging that the immigration system serves the American people, ensuring the U.S. is secure, creating a system that is simple and sustainable, and eliminating incentives to break immigration laws.

A guard escorts an immigrant detainee at the Adelanto Detention Facility on Nov. 15, 2013, in California.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

As a result, under each principle comes a series of more specific recommendations for Congress to follow. In the area of legal immigration, the roadmap recommends that those who violate visa terms should have them revoked, including those supporting terrorist groups; that proof of citizenship should be required to vote; that only citizens should be counted in the census for congressional apportionment; and that the visa system must ensure that wages for Americans are not flattened.

The paper supports the abolition of the lottery system for green cards, says employers should be allowed to hire U.S. citizens over foreign nationals, and calls for assimilation as “critical for America to remain a united country.” It recommends the implementation of E-Verify, and that due process in immigration be limited. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

On border security, the paper recommends that Border Patrol should have expulsion authority during national crises, and that immigration detention is necessary to protect public safety and ensure deportations, while security should be fully resourced. It also argues that the government should not “collude” with non-governmental organizations to further illegal immigration.

More broadly, the paper calls for the simplification of the Immigration and Nationality Act to make the process less complicated and the elimination of a number of waivers and exemptions. It argues that costs and data on immigration should be made available and that in times of immense backlogs, intake of new immigrants should be paused.

Finally, it says Congress should exclude illegal immigrants from benefits such as bank accounts, and that lawmakers “should oppose all forms of amnesty and should not reward illegal behavior or violation of our immigration laws.”

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President-elect Trump has made it clear he sees immigration and border security as top priorities for his incoming administration. He has appointed former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan as the “border czar” and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

A number of Republican lawmakers won their elections in November by focusing on illegal immigration at the southern border and the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis.

President Biden enjoyed a warm welcome from a crowd of thousands as he arrived in Angola this week, as the president made good on his long awaited first visit to sub-Saharan Africa.

Biden, likely on his last overseas trip before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in the White House next month, is already being overshadowed on the world stage by his predecessor and successor.

“The Oval Office has been replaced by Mar-a-Lago,” Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump’s first term, told Fox News.

Additionally, Matt Mowers, a veteran GOP national public affairs strategist and former diplomat at the State Department during Trump’s first administration, made the case that “Joe Biden’s essentially been a lame duck” for months and that “world leaders have been shifting their gaze to the next administration.”

WHAT TRUMP TOLD CANADA’S LEADER BEHIND CLOSED DOORS 

President Biden walks from Air Force One as he arrives at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda, Angola on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 on his long-promised visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College, highlighted that “while President-elect is still weeks away from taking the oath of office, loyalties and the attention of world leaders has shifted to the incoming President and from Washington to Mar-a-lago with breathtaking speed.”

While members of the Biden White House would likely disagree with such sentiments – especially after the current administration played a large role in hammering out the cease-fire that halted fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah – it is undeniable that world leaders have already started to engage directly with the incoming president and administration.

TRUMP GETS READY TO MAKE A SPLASH ON THE WORLD STAGE

Trump will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron after the French president invited him to attend Saturday’s star-studded VIP event for the official reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire wrecked the Paris landmark.

The president-elect’s appearance will serve as Trump’s unofficial return to the global stage, and it is another reminder that he is quickly becoming the center of the world’s attention.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with then-President Trump at an arrival ceremony during a state visit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Trump will attend the re-opening celebration of the Notre Dame Cathedral this weekend, five years after a fire heavily damaged the structure. (Getty Images)

The trip to Paris comes a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hastily made an unannounced stop in Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump after the president-elect threatened a trade war with Canada and Mexico. 

Trump argued that Canada had failed to prevent large amounts of drugs and undocumented people from crossing the northern border into the U.S. and also pointed to America’s massive trade deficit with Canada.

According to reporting from Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Friday to discuss topics like the economy, illegal immigration and a proposed 25% tariff. (Justin Trudeau X)

Trump also weighed in this week in the volatile Middle East, warning in a social media post that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas does not release all the hostages held in Gaza before he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Hours later, Trump pledged to block the purchase of U.S. Steel – a top American manufacturer – by the Japanese company Nippon Steel.

“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump said on social media. “As President, I will block this deal from happening.”

Trump, who reiterated comments he made earlier this year on the presidential campaign trail, is on the same page as Biden, who has vowed that U.S. Steel will remain American-owned.

Biden’s trip to Africa is putting a spotlight on his administration’s commitment to the continent, which has increasingly been courted by massive investments from China. Biden is also highlighting America’s wide-ranging effort to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa, a continent Trump never visited during his first term in the White House.

President Biden, left, stands for national anthems with Angolan President Joao Lourenco at the presidential palace in Luanda, Angola on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

However, the president’s trip will be overshadowed by Trump’s upcoming stop in France, as the president-elect is increasingly courted by world leaders.

While the spotlight traditionally shifts from the outgoing to the incoming president, Mowers argued that “it is more pronounced this time because the difference in the Biden and Trump approach to foreign policy is so different.”

Mowers emphasized that Trump is already aiming “to shape world events” by “being bold, not timid, in the statements he’s putting out, and the world is already reacting to that kind of American strength.”

Bartlett noted that “the world is demanding leadership.” Mowers added that “world leaders that want to get something done… have to engage with Trump.”

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Lesperance, pointing to Biden’s swing through Africa, noted that lame duck presidents’ final weeks are “usually filled with celebratory moments and efforts to cement one’s legacy. Often the focus is on their role on the world stage on behalf of America and its allies.’

However, he argued that “Biden’s pronouncements on Ukraine, Gaza and the importance of climate change go largely ignored by world leaders. Instead, they focus on Trump’s picks for his foreign policy team and pronouncements about changes in U.S. foreign policy position. It’s pretty evident that while Biden attempts a victory tour, the world has turned the page.”

FIRST ON FOX: A senior GOP lawmaker is getting creative with his campaign to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee next year.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is giving fellow lawmakers chips from the Berlin Wall, according to a photo provided by a source to Fox News Digital.

An inscription accompanying the chip suggests Wilson got the pieces himself nearly 35 years ago, an indirect affirmation of his decades of foreign affairs work. “This symbolizes the collapse of totalitarian communism and the success of democratic capitalism,” the elaborate display reads.

JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’

Rep. Joe Wilson is one of four Republicans running for the House Foreign Affairs Committee gavel. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)

It said the chip was “secured by State Senator Joe Wilson on June 12, 1990, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.”

“Sen. Wilson was returning from service as a member of the U.S. Observation Delegation of the June 10, 1990, parliamentary elections in the Republic of Bulgaria, that country’s first free elections after 59 years of Nazi and Communist dictatorship,” it said.

The race for the House Foreign Affairs Committee gavel is one of the most critical happening ahead of the 119th Congress.

The role will be of particular importance in U.S. relations with the rest of the globe next year, when Republicans are set to control all the main levers of power in Washington, D.C.

REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA

A photo provided to Fox News Digital shows a chip from the Berlin Wall attached to an elaborate display. (Fox News Digital)

Wilson is running against fellow committee members Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif. The subcommittee chair for Oversight & Accountability, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is also in the race.

Wilson is chair of the panel’s subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Current Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is stepping aside in order to adhere to House Republicans’ internal conference rules that mandate a lawmaker serve no more than three terms in the top spot on a committee.

MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT

Current Chairman Michael McCaul is stepping aside in adherence with House GOP conference rules. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“It has been an honor to serve as your Chairman and leader for the last six years,” McCaul wrote to colleagues in a message obtained by Fox News Digital. “[O]ut of respect for the will of the Conference, I intend to abide by these rules and support new leadership.”

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“Serving as Chairman has truly been the most rewarding highlight of my career in Congress! I would like to thank all of you for your hard work and patriotism in confronting the major challenges we face across the Globe.”

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

EXCLUSIVE: Ohio’s Republican lieutenant governor is defending his state’s recent enactment of a “bathroom bill” preventing biological males from using female bathrooms and says it is part of a cultural shift in the country where Americans are uniting on the issue.

“It’s a sad situation that in this time in life that we actually need to pass a law that says that boys should go to boys’ bathrooms and girls should go to girls’ bathrooms,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told Fox News Digital.

“But that indeed is the case because we have colleges and some high schools where they blurred the lines. And we need to make sure that there are safe places, particularly for young women, to go to the bathroom, be in a locker room, be in a safe place,” Husted said. “And it’s truly unbelievable that we had to pass a law to guarantee that. It’s just hard to believe that there are adults in this world who think it would be OK for boys, biological boys, to be in girls’ locker rooms.”

Husted was reacting to news that Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the Protect All Students Act, dubbed the “bathroom bill,” after the state Senate passed the bill 24-7 on a party-line vote.

SPEAKER JOHNSON ANNOUNCES NEW CAPITOL BATHROOM POLICY IN RESPONSE TO CONTROVERSY OVER TRANS HOUSE MEMBER

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told Fox News Digital that Ohio’s bathroom bill is “common sense.” (Getty Images)

The bill applies to public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. It requires schools to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations “for the exclusive use” of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in both school buildings and facilities used for a school-sponsored event.

Husted told Fox News Digital the bill represents “common sense.”

“People really are just shocked that anyone thinks it’s OK that you would have a bathroom, that a biological male could go into a female bathroom and that you could have a locker room where a biological male could go into a female locker room,” Husted said. 

“It’s just common sense in most people if you go around Ohio. That’s what everybody’s going to say to you is like, how can this really be? How can a high school do this? Well, I can assure them that I know that is indeed the case because the high school that my own daughters attend has bathrooms that boys and girls are allowed to be in at the same time,” he continued. “They have non-gendered bathrooms.”

ACLU VOWS TO OPPOSE TRUMP POLICIES ON LGBT ISSUES, ABORTION AND DEPORTATIONS

A person displays trans pride flags during the NYC Pride March on June 25, 2023. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“That was something that the community fought against, that the school board then filed lawsuits so they could get variances to the building code to build bathrooms like this. And despite all of that opposition, they still went forward with it. But now we have a new law. We have a law in the state of Ohio that will protect against those kinds of things from happening.”

Ohio became the 12th state to pass an iteration of a bathroom bill and while critics like the ACLU and LGBT activist groups have voiced opposition and suggested they will challenge the law in court, Husted told Fox News Digital he is confident the bill will withstand any legal challenge.

“It’s on solid legal ground,” Husted said. “They went through the hearing process, went through the process of addressing all those questions before drafting the bill and passing it and sending it to the governor’s desk.”

“I’m 100% confident that this will stand any legal scrutiny… I want to reiterate this. It is unfortunate that we need to pass a law because the adults in the lives of these children and young women should be clearly standing up for them. They shouldn’t, we shouldn’t have to pass a law. This is common sense,” Husted continued.

Husted told Fox News Digital the bill is “about protecting the privacy of girls” and “trying to make sure that they have safe places to be” and said Americans across the United States, of both parties, are starting to unite as part of a “cultural shift” on the issue of protecting biological girls in schools and in sports. 

“There absolutely was,” Husted said about the cultural shift. “Look, that was part of the last election that was run and there were hundreds of millions of dollars across the country in the presidential and congressional races spent on that. Donald Trump or Republicans would stand for you and not ‘they/them.'”

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Gov. Mike DeWine speaks during a news conference, Dec. 29, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

“We all saw the ads. We all know that they were part of the conversation this last election, that people don’t believe that biological men should play women’s sports. They don’t believe that biological men should be in women’s locker rooms or bathrooms,” Husted said. 

“That was clearly one of the major issues that divided Democrats and Republicans. Republicans are standing up for those protections. And I believe that you’re starting to hear even Democrats say, ‘Hey, maybe we ought to rethink this. Maybe we’re a bit out of line with this,’” he concluded. “And so I hope that in blue states that they can demonstrate that they want to protect women’s sports, they want to protect women in the privacy of bathrooms, in locker rooms. And this is exactly what I hope we’ll see across the country.”

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report

Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue – who was seen in the viral, night vision photo showing the final American soldier out of Kabul, Afghanistan – was quietly confirmed by the Senate on Monday to lead U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa. 

Donahue, who headed the 82nd Airborne Division during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, was tapped by President Biden for the promotion to four-star general, but the confirmation was left out of a series of a hundred other military promotions green-lighted by the Senate before Thanksgiving recess. The delay was caused by one senator holding Donahue’s confirmation, according to Politico. 

Several outlets reported that Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., was responsible for the procedural hold. 

MAJ. GEN. CHRIS DONAHUE: WHO IS THE LAST AMERICAN SOLDIER TO HAVE LEFT AFGHANISTAN?

U.S. Army Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, steps on board a C-17 transport plane as the last U.S. service member to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan Aug. 30, 2021. (XVIII Airborne Corps/Handout via REUTERS)

Mullin has been a vocal critic of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the botched withdrawal mired by the killing of 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians during a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate. Donahue was responsible for the 82nd Airborne as it was tasked with securing the airfield at the Kabul airport during evacuations before the country fell to the Taliban. 

The senator called out Donahue, as well as other officials, in an Aug. 24, 2024, statement on the three-year anniversary of the suicide bombing attack. 

“Three years later, not one person has been held accountable for the disaster–not Gen. Milley, Gen. McKenzie, Gen. Donahue, U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan John Pommersheim, or anyone at the State Department,” Mullin said at the time. “To this day, no one has testified before Congress as to who gave this directive. No one has been held accountable for the 13 brave American heroes who died at Abbey Gate, or the countless Americans who lost their lives trying to escape Kabul.” 

President-elect Trump’s former defense secretary turned Trump critic, Mark Esper, had defended Donahue’s nomination, and urged last month for the hold to be lifted. 

U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborn Division and Polish General Wojciech Marchwica speak to journalists after a US Air Force transport plane transporting military equipment and troops arrived at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, on Feb. 6, 2022.  (JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

“Responsibility for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 rests with the White House, not the Defense Dept, and certainly not with the uniformed leaders who faithfully executed Pres Biden’s misbegotten decisions,” Esper wrote on X. 

ARMY UNIT POSTS PHOTO OF LAST US SOLDIER TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN

Trump had promised on the campaign trail to fire senior officers involved in the withdrawal, though not Donahue specifically. 

One U.S. official told NBC News last month that the Trump transition team was compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers to be potentially court-martialed over the pullout. 

A sign displaying photos and names of the 13 service members killed in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport is seen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 9, 2024.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

The Senate ultimately confirmed Donahue’s promotion to be the commander of US Army Europe-Africa by unanimous consent on Monday, as the hold was dropped. Mullin had not publicly commented about the hold. 

Donahue has headed the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, since 2022. 

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He has also been leader of the Special Operations Joint Task Force Afghanistan and served as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism.

The Senate GOP leader on Monday slammed decisions by two federal judges to reverse their announced retirements after Republican former President Trump won re-election in November.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized the pair of “partisan Democrat district judges” after they announced plans to “unretire” after “the American people voted to fire Democrats last month.” 

“Looking to history, only two judges have ever unretired after a presidential election. One Democrat in 2004 and one Republican in 2009. But now, in just a matter of weeks, Democrats have already met that all-time record. It’s hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship,” McConnell said in remarks delivered on the Senate floor.

In mid-November, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of Ohio informed President Biden of his intention to stay on the bench after Biden had failed to nominate a replacement for him.

DEMOCRATS ADVANCE 5 MORE BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEES

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., takes a question from a reporter during a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 19, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Marbley, who was appointed by President Clinton, said that because a successor had not been confirmed, “I have therefore decided to remain on active status and carry out the full duties and obligations of the office.” 

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn of North Carolina, who was appointed by President Obama, has also withdrawn plans to retire, Reuters reported.

Both Marbley and Cogburn had announced plans to take senior status before the election, which would have allowed them to take reduced caseloads until the president appoints a successor. 

McConnell said their decisions to rescind their retirements after Trump won points to “a political finger on the scale.” He urged the incoming Trump administration to “explore all available recusal options with these judges.” 

FEDERAL JUDGE IN OHIO RESCINDS RETIREMENT AFTER TRUMP VICTORY, WITH BIDEN YET TO NOMINATE A SUCCESSOR

U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley, the first Black Chief District Judge in the Southern District of Ohio’s history.  (Courtney Hergesheimer/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK)

He also warned two sitting circuit court judges, who have announced retirements and have vacancies currently pending before the senate, against making similar decisions to “unretire.” 

“Never before has a circuit judge unretired after a presidential election. It’s literally unprecedented. And to create such a precedent would fly in the face of a rare bipartisan compromise on the disposition of these vacancies,” McConnell said.

He was referring to a bipartisan agreement on judicial nominations last month that secured Trump’s ability to appoint four crucial appellate court judges after he assumes office in January.

JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR FACES PRESSURE TO RETIRE AHEAD OF TRUMP TAKING OFFICE: REPORT

Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., struck a deal with McConnell to confirm several Biden judicial nominees, leaving four circuit court vacancies for Trump to fill next year.  (AP/Getty)

Republicans agreed to halt procedural delay tactics and permit Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to vote on cloture on nine of Biden’s district court judges before Thanksgiving and vote to confirm them when they return after the holiday. In exchange, Democrats would pull four circuit court nominees who lack the votes to get confirmed, allowing Trump to fill those vacancies next year. 

However, a Democratic source familiar told Fox News Digital that only two of the circuit court vacancies are certain, and the other two may ultimately decide against taking senior judge status.

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McConnell threatened that “significant ethics complaints” would follow swiftly if any retiring judge reversed their decision to take senior status because Trump won.

“As I repeatedly warned the judiciary in other matters, if you play political games, expect political prizes. So let’s hope these judges do the right thing and enjoy their well-earned retirement and leave the politics to the political branches.” 

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

House Republicans could begin the new year grappling with a one-seat majority, a perilously slim margin for the 119th Congress as President-elect Donald Trump guns for an active first 100 days.

Last-minute GOP losses and exits in favor of the new administration mean Republicans could begin that period with precious little room for dissent, and one congressional race could decide the difference between a likely one- or two-seat majority. 

JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’

House Speaker Mike Johnson could be presiding over a one-seat majority next year. (FOX News)

In California’s 13th Congressional District, Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., is fighting for his political life against Democrat Adam Gray. 

As of Monday afternoon, Gray leads Duarte by a few hundred votes – a margin of roughly 0.1%. California state law mandates that counties certify their election results by Dec. 5.

If Democrats flip the seat, the House would have 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats heading into the New Year.

However, three Republican lawmakers’ departures are expected to whittle that down further. Now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from the 118th and 119th Congresses amid consideration to be Trump’s attorney general.

MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT

Rep. John Duarte is fighting for his political life in the last uncertain House race. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was tapped to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., was named national security adviser. 

All three lawmakers represent deep-red districts, so there is little concern their seats will fall into Democrats’ hands. 

However, with special elections to replace Gaetz and Waltz set for April 1, and Stefanik’s not yet scheduled, the GOP may spend nearly all of their first 100 days controlling Washington’s power centers with a one-seat majority in the House.

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., brushed off concerns about the prospects of holding a one- or two-seat edge in a recent television interview on FOX Business.

REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dismissed concerns over a slim majority. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

“That’s essentially what we’ve had over the last year, for better parts of the last year,” Emmer told “The Bottom Line.” 

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“I’ve got to tell you, I don’t give a darn whether it’s 222, 225, 218. As long as we have a majority, we can deliver with Donald J. Trump for the American people.”

Ultimately, there is little daylight between a one- or two-seat majority, but if the 118th Congress is any indication, the numbers set up House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with a tricky political situation.

House Republicans’ slim margins over the last two years enabled different factions of the GOP to paralyze the chamber floor at times over disagreements on government funding and other critical legislative fights.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

President Biden faced mounting criticism Monday for the “sweeping” pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, with critics citing fears that it could be used by Trump to further his views of a “politicized” Justice Department and erode the role of the judiciary as an important check on executive power.

In a statement announcing the pardon, Biden took aim at what he described as a politically motivated investigation.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” the president wrote.

That Biden used his final weeks as a lame duck president to protect his only living son from prosecution was met with less shock among legal analysts than was the sheer breadth of the pardon itself, which spans a nearly 11-year period beginning in January 2014, the year Hunter was appointed to the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and ending on Sunday, the day that the White House announced the pardon. 

While that time frame includes both the federal firearm and tax evasion convictions that Hunter was convicted of this year, experts say the scope of the pardon could go much further by extending to any actions committed for more than a decade, virtually ensuring the president’s son cannot be held accountable for any activity conducted during that period. 

In terms of both length and scope, the Hunter Biden pardon “could really could not be more sweeping, to be honest with you,” Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor and member of Congress, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The time frame included in the pardon covers “almost all federal statutes of limitations,” Gowdy said. “For the vast majority of federal crimes, this covers this time period and means that charges cannot be brought.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL, IRS WHISTLEBLOWERS SAY DON’T BUY BIDEN ‘SPIN’ ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN LEGAL SAGA

President Biden and Hunter Biden (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Critics note that Biden broke his own repeated declarations that he would not pardon Hunter earlier this year. First, after he was found guilty in June on three felony firearm charges, and then in September after he pleaded guilty to separate federal charges of tax evasion.

“I am not going to do anything,” Biden said this summer. “I will abide by the jury’s decision.”

This week, Biden did the opposite.

White House officials insist that Biden still backs his contention this summer that “no one is above the law.”

“As he said in his statement, he has deep respect for our justice system,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “And as a wide range of legal experts have pointed out, this pardon is indisputably within his authority and warranted by the facts of the case.”

“The pardon power was written in absolute terms, and a president can even, in my view, pardon himself,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote in an op-ed for Fox News Digital.

“However, what is constitutional is not necessarily ethical or right,” Turley said, adding that in his view, Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter is “one of the most disgraceful pardons even in the checkered history of presidential pardons.”

“His portrayal of his son as a victim stands in sharp contrast to the sense of immunity and power conveyed by Hunter in his dealings,” Turley said.

BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER BIDEN AHEAD OF EXIT FROM OVAL OFFICE

Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden (Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images)

Some lawmakers and legal analysts separately cited fears that the pardon could further erode public trust in the Justice Department, giving more credence to Trump’s frequent complaints that the Department of Justice is a political apparatus capable of being “weaponized” rather than a department that strives to act independently and largely without political influence.

In granting the pardon, Biden is “essentially endorsing Trump’s long-held opinion that the Department of Justice is politicized and isn’t acting impartially,” longtime GOP strategist and communicator Ryan Williams told Fox News in an interview. 

Gowdy said Biden’s pardon reflects his longtime view that the Justice Department has been too politicized in recent years and needs to be reformed, citing a swirl of investigations during recent administrations, including probes that were led by House committees, and which looked into the actions of both Biden and Trump family members.

“When I was a prosecutor, politics had nothing to do with the job,” Gowdy said. “I didn’t know the politics of a single one of my co-workers.” The focus, he said, should be shifted back not to “targeting people, but targeting fact patterns.”

“Prosecuting your political enemies, involving family members, all of this stuff is new, and all of it’s really dangerous.”

Special Counsel David Weiss, who brought both cases against Hunter Biden, has defended his actions against claims that the prosecutions were politically motivated, noting in a court filing Monday that Hunter Biden’s team had filed “eight motions to dismiss the indictment, making every conceivable argument for why it should be dismissed, all of which were determined to be meritless.”

Weiss added, “There was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case.”

PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PARDON OF SON HUNTER A POLITICAL GIFT FOR TRUMP GOING FORWARD

Hunter Biden (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Still, some have objected to the intense investigation surrounding Hunter Biden, noting that if not for his father’s presidency, he likely would not have faced charges in the gun case.

Gowdy, a former Republican House member, said he ultimately agreed with that contention.

“I prosecuted gun cases for six years,” Gowdy told Fox News Digital. “I would not have taken this case.”

“There’s a lot of really serious federal violent crime out there, and I would not have wasted the resources on the gun part of this,” Gowdy explained.

But the former South Carolina lawmaker also said that doesn’t mean he would have let Biden’s son off the hook.

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“I definitely would have gone forward on the taxes and allegations of corruption,” Gowdy said of the other allegations against Biden.

Ultimately, the Justice Department and FBI need to be “significantly reformed,” Gowdy said.

“They need to get out of the business of politics.”

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

FIRST ON FOX: A former longtime friend and business partner of Hunter Biden reveals the blueprint he would like the Trump Department of Justice to implement after President Biden announced on Sunday that he was giving his son a full pardon.

Devon Archer, who served on Ukrainian energy company Burisma’s board alongside Hunter, says he is looking ahead to the future and is optimistic about the Trump DOJ. When Fox News Digital asked Archer about the elder Biden’s pardon, he sidestepped addressing the pardon and instead called for the Trump DOJ to be “an impartial institution again.”

“I look forward to the Trump Administration restoring the Justice Department to an institution that reflects the founding principles of justice and adheres to federal laws akin to its inception on July 1, 1870,” Archer told Fox News Digital. 

“The DOJ needs to be an impartial institution again rather than being driven by personal or political agendas as witnessed in recent years,” he continued.

TRUMP PREVIOUSLY PREDICTED BIDEN WOULD PARDON SON HUNTER

President Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday (Fox News)

Archer has faced his own legal troubles related to his criminal conviction for his alleged role in defrauding a Native American tribe. A federal judge sentenced Archer to prison in 2018 for allegedly defrauding the tribe by fraudulently issuing $60 million in tribal bonds after he was convicted by a jury. 

However, his conviction was thrown out in late 2018 by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan because she was “left with an unwavering concern that Archer is innocent of the crimes charged,” according to Reuters.

Archer’s conviction would then be reinstated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals a month before the 2020 election and he received a one-year and one-day prison sentence in February 2022.

Devon Archer, left, and Hunter Biden, right (Fox News)

Despite the sentence, Archer’s lawyer, Matthew Schwartz, has maintained his innocence and said they intended to file a series of appeals, which has delayed Archer serving his sentence.

“Mr. Archer is obviously disappointed with today’s sentence, and intends to appeal. It is unfortunate that the judge, who has previously expressed concern that Mr. Archer is innocent of the crimes charged and reiterated that belief today, felt that she was constrained not to act on her independent assessment of the evidence,” Schwartz said in February 2022.

President Biden announced on Sunday that he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, after the first son was convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year.

The announcement was made by the White House on Sunday night. The pardon applies to offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024. This decade-long window covers Hunter’s Burisma tenure, among several other shady foreign business dealings.

“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden wrote in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

‘IT’S A SETBACK’: DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BIDEN OVER HUNTER PARDON

Hunter Biden (L), son of US President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen, leave court after his guilty plea in his trial on tax evasion in Los Angeles, California, on September 5, 2024. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Hunter Biden’s pardon has incensed Republicans who have alleged for years that Hunter Biden’s business dealings while his father was vice president were not legitimate. 

Archer spoke before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee last year and detailed the business connections between Joe and Hunter Biden. 

Archer said Biden was put on the phone to sell “the brand,” according to a transcript of the hearing. These phone calls included a dinner in Paris with a French energy company and in China with Jonathan Li of BHR Partners, a state-backed private equity firm.

Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer testified at a closed-door hearing in 2023 (Fox News)

Archer also testified that there was value in adding Hunter Biden to Burisma’s board as “the brand,” a source previously told Fox News Digital. The argument was that then-Vice President Joe Biden brought the most value. Archer also stated that Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, would have gone under if not for “the brand.”

The president, his 2020 campaign staff and top White House aides previously claimed at least 20 times that Biden “never discussed” his son Hunter’s business dealings with him, which Archer’s testimony directly contradicted. 

Democrats have maintained that Hunter Biden did nothing wrong with his businesses and the president defended his son in his Sunday statement.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 31: Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden. ((Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images))

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“Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form,” Biden said. “Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”

Biden also referenced his son’s battle with addiction and blamed “raw politics” for the unraveling of Hunter’s plea deal.

“There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,” the 82-year-old father wrote. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden’s statement concluded.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report

There is no other way to put it: Joe Biden lied. Over and over.

After repeatedly promising, pledging, vowing not to pardon his son Hunter, the President of the United States did exactly that.

The move amounted to a devastating vote of no confidence in his own Justice Department, matching Donald Trump’s own denunciations of that very department.

PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER, SPARING HIM POSSIBLE PRISON SENTENCE

Trump, who also pardoned several political allies during his first term, was quick to react on Truth Social:

“Does the pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”

And prominent Republicans are calling Biden a liar, with ample justification.

Both President Biden and President-elect Trump railed against the Justice Department following the former’s pardon of his son, Hunter – albeit for markedly different reasons. (Reuters/Getty/AP Images)

I think most people assumed that a father wouldn’t let his son go to jail. And if the president had explained it in those terms, he might have garnered some public sympathy. But he did not.

You know how the president often talks about “my word as a Biden”? I mistakenly assumed that he wouldn’t promise again and again not to pardon his son or commute his sentence if he had thought there was any possibility he would get Hunter off the legal hook. 

But what is anyone going to do? He leaves office next month, his political career is over and the story will quickly fade.

MEDIA ADMITS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS TOO ‘WOKE’ AFTER KAMALA HARRIS’ 2024 LOSS

Biden sounded very much like Trump as he accused the DOJ, which he had long defended, of treating his son unfairly – swinging the political door wide open for the president-elect to retaliate against Justice, in part by naming longtime confidant Kash Patel to run the FBI.

Biden said his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” and he blamed  political pressure on the special counsel named in the case.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been 5-1/2 years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

Many were mistaken in their assumption that the President wouldn’t pardon his son – however, with just under two months left of his term, and, presumably, his political career, Biden really has nothing to lose in doing so. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

But that bolsters the Trump argument that he too was singled out for selective prosecution by the DOJ – and will be in a position to do something about it.

Hunter put out his own statement after the Sunday pardon: “I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”

The feeble attempts by some in the media and in Democratic politics to defend Biden are just sad, because they only tell half the story.

Let’s say Hunter Biden was in fact singled out for prosecution, that the case would have been routinely disposed of if his last name was Jones. (Hunter had already been convicted in one case and pleaded guilty in another to tax and gun-related charges.)

But as Hunter admitted in one email, it was his last name, when his father was vice president, that enabled him to land all those buckraking contracts from around the world. It’s why the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma hired him, why he was able to get money from China. 

TRUMP HIT FOR HIRING LOYALISTS LIKE PAM BONDI: DOESN’T EVERY PRESIDENT DO THAT?

Hunter had no expertise in any of these areas. What he had was a connection to a powerful father.

The pardon is so sweeping that it covers everything Hunter may have done from Jan. 1, 2004 through Sunday – which could be a way of his father protecting himself as well.

Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters on several occasions that Biden would not pardon Hunter.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly assured reporters that President Biden wouldn’t pardon Hunter. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Hunter Biden on Sunday night released a statement noting his recovery from addiction and his sobriety:

“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”

Mark Halperin argues that Biden put his son in jeopardy by running for president, knowing the full range of Hunter’s addiction problems – and lied about Hunter not getting money from China and not helping his business clients (even if he just made small talk at a couple of group meetings).

TRUMP NOMINATES KASH PATEL TO SERVE AS FBI DIRECTOR: ‘ADVOCATE FOR TRUTH’

Meanwhile, Trump’s choice of Kash Patel for the FBI (who would replace his own appointee, Chris Wray, who replaced the fired Jim Comey) has sparked a media backlash.

One thing no one can argue is that Patel lacks experience. He has been chief of staff at the Pentagon and a deputy assistant to the president. In fact, he was a national security prosecutor in the Obama Justice Department, before Trump got into politics.

But on Steve Bannon’s podcast last year, Patel said: “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly.” 

The president-elect is facing a media firestorm of his own after he named Kash Patel the new FBI director over the weekend. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Patel has also said that on day one he’d shut down the FBI headquarters in Washington – ironically named for J. Edgar Hoover – and turn it into a museum on the “deep state.” Its 7,000 employees would be dispersed around the country.

One thing Biden never did was put any family members on the government payroll, as Trump did in naming Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, to top White House positions in the first term.

Now Trump is continuing that tradition by naming Charles Kushner, Jared’s father, as ambassador to France.

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The elder Kushner had already served a couple of years in prison for a scheme that involved hiring a prostitute and sending the tape to his sister. But at least he had paid his dues when Trump later pardoned him, sparking Jared’s interest in prison reform.

Trump also picked Massad Boulos – the father of Tiffany Trump’s husband – as White House adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs. All in the family.

One thing the press does is refer to Trump nominees as “loyalists,” as if that’s a dirty word. Sunday’s Washington Post had a headline describing “loyalist Kash Patel.”

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But while Biden named an inner circle of aides who had been with him as long as four decades, they were not dismissed as loyalists. That’s because the media agree that these were the good guys. And who can forget former AG Eric Holder describing himself as Barack Obama’s “wingman.”

The Hunter pardon has set in motion a potential cycle of both presidents using the DOJ and FBI for purely partisan ends, and Joe Biden bears full responsibility for that.

The Biden administration announced a big decision to block new mining in a key region producing nearly half of the nation’s coal over climate change concerns, but it could be short-lived as President-elect Trump prepares to make U.S. energy dominance a key focus of his incoming administration.

Biden’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently approved an amendment to the Resource Management Plan (RMP) to ban new federal coal leases and make “48.12 billion short tons of coal unavailable for leasing consideration in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a proxy for climate change,” according to Todd D. Yeager, BLM Buffalo field manager.

The decision will block any new federal mining leases in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, the country’s largest coal producing region, by 2041. This region produces about 40% of the nation’s coal. BLM, however, will allow for existing coal leases to still be developed.

In a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the decision, Trump’s transition team reinforced the idea of the president-elect’s campaign promise to bolster American-made energy.

FEDERAL JUDGE SIDES WITH SPACEX AFTER ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP TIED TO STOP ROCKET LAUNCHES

President-elect Trump promised on the campaign trail to make ensuring U.S. energy dominance a top priority during his second term. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Families have suffered under the past four years’ war on American energy, which prompted the worst inflation crisis in a generation. Voters re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, including lowering energy costs for consumers,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, said in a statement. 

FEDERAL COURT UPENDS DECADES OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

Leavitt added that when Trump takes office, he “will make America energy dominant again, protect our energy jobs, and bring down the cost of living for working families.”

The Powder River Basin lease ban, which covers parts of southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, includes making more than 1.7 million acres unavailable for coal leasing within the Miles City Field Office planning area.

The BLM memo claimed that the “U.S. energy market is moving away from coal to lower priced natural gas and renewable energy sources.” But the affected state representatives say the region is a vital natural energy resource.

Private and public lands in the Tongue River and Powder River area of northern Wyoming near the Montana border. (William Campbell/Getty Images)

The decision was widely criticized by Montana and Wyoming elected officials, including Sen. Steve Daines, R–Mont., who said he would be introducing legislation in an attempt to reverse the decision.

“At every turn, the Biden administration has launched attack after attack on made-in-Montana energy, and the people of Montana and the rest of the country rebuked the administration for it at the ballot box,” Daines said in a statement following the decision. “… Eastern Montana is rich in coal and mining operations and the jobs and coal produced in the Powder River Basin help support our national security, bolster our energy grid and create high-paying jobs.”

“Once again, the Biden-Harris administration is ignoring states and crippling our energy supply,” Gov. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., said in a statement. “While Montana supports an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy, the White House is picking winners and losers on the president’s way out the door. Simply put, this rule will destroy coal jobs and defund public education in Montana. It’s a disaster.”

A natural gas drilling rig on federal land in the Powder River basin. (William F. Campbell/Getty Images)

“After the American people issued a stunning rebuke to President Biden, he continues to punish Wyoming communities,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said in a statement. “I will work with President Trump and his team to reverse this and other midnight regulations.”

The BLM memo said the administration is blocking coal leasing to support Biden’s target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, suggesting that “the U.S. energy market is moving away from coal to lower priced natural gas and renewable energy sources.”

Earth Justice, an environmental justice group, also claimed the mining bans stemmed from an evolving approach to energy production.

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“Coal has powered our nation for many decades, but technology, economics and markets are changing radically. BLM’s announcement recognizes that coal’s era is ending, and it’s time to focus on supporting our communities through the transition away from coal, investing in workers, and moving to heal our lands, waters and climate as we enter a bright clean energy future,” Paula Antoine, Western Organization of Resource Councils board chair, said in an Earth Justice press release after Biden announced his initial plans in May.

President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, late Sunday evening, sparing him from being sentenced in a pair of separate court cases in which he was found guilty of illegally purchasing a gun and failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes — convictions the president claimed were politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.”

A review of Hunter Biden’s yearslong legal saga, however, shows another story, and those involved in the prosecutions are making sure that side of the story is told in the aftermath of the president’s decision. 

“There was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case,” special prosecutor David Weiss said in a court filing following the pardoning. 

Two IRS whistleblowers who sounded the alarm on Hunter Biden’s tax issues also slammed the decision to pardon Hunter Biden, saying, “No amount of lies or spin can hide the simple truth that the Justice Department nearly let the President’s son off the hook for multiple felonies.”

“President Biden has the power to put his thumb on the scales of justice for his son, but at least he had to do it with a pardon explicitly for all the world to see rather than his political appointees doing it secretly behind the scenes. Either way it is a sad day for law abiding taxpayers to witness this special privilege for the powerful,” IRS whistleblowers Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joe Ziegler said in a statement Sunday evening. 

2 TIMES BIDEN SAID HE WOULD NOT PARDON SON HUNTER BIDEN 

President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden hug on stage at the conclusion of the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 19, 2024. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

“No amount of lies or spin can hide the simple truth that the Justice Department nearly let the President’s son off the hook for multiple felonies. We did our duty, told the truth, and followed the law. Anyone reading the President’s excuses now should remember that Hunter Biden admitted to his tax crimes in federal court, that Hunter Biden’s attorneys have targeted us for our lawful whistleblower disclosures, and that we are suing one of those attorneys for smearing us with false accusations,” they continued, referring to their $20 million defamation lawsuit against Hunter Biden’s high-profile attorney Abbe Lowell in September for claiming the IRS investigators illegally leaked Hunter Biden’s private tax information.

The guilty plea, guilty verdict and the president’s pardoning caps off a yearslong legal saga for the first son and his family, with the cases stretching back to 2018 and notably featured the IRS whistleblowers who sounded the alarm on Hunter Biden’s tax issues. 

Hunter Biden was found guilty in the gun case in June, with a jury of his peers determining he made a false statement in the purchase of a gun, made a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

He has a well-documented history of drug abuse, which was most notably documented in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which walked readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he referred to himself as a “crack daddy” to drug dealers, and anecdotes revolving around drug deals, such as a Washington, D.C., crack dealer Biden nicknamed “Bicycles.”

In the tax case, Hunter faced another trial regarding three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. As jury selection was about to kick off in Los Angeles federal court in September, Hunter entered a surprise guilty plea. 

TRUMP PREVIOUSLY PREDICTED BIDEN WOULD PARDON SON HUNTER

President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Washington.  (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER BIDEN AHEAD OF EXIT FROM OVAL OFFICE

The tax case investigation originally kicked off in 2018, when the U.S. attorney in Delaware opened a probe into Hunter Biden’s finances. The first son initially notified the public that he was under investigation one month after his dad won the presidential election over President-elect Donald Trump in 2020. 

​​”I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” Hunter Biden said in a statement released in December of 2020. “I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers.”

After President Biden took control of the Oval Office, his administration retained David Weiss, a Trump-appointed Republican charged with overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden in his capacity as U.S. attorney for Delaware. The Biden administration had gutted all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys under the Trump administration, except for two individuals: Weiss, and Special Counsel John Durham, who investigated the origins of the Russia probe surrounding the 2016 election. 

KJP SAYS PRESIDENT BIDEN STILL HAS NO PLANS TO PARDON HUNTER BIDEN FOR TAX FRAUD, GUN CHARGES

Last year, Hunter Biden was in the midst of hashing out a plea agreement to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, as well as a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The plea agreement unraveled in Delaware court, however, and heightened his legal woes. 

Weeks later, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel, broadening the scope of the investigation into Hunter Biden. With the plea deal officially at an impasse, Weiss subsequently charged Hunter Biden in September of last year for the gun charges, and brought forth the nine tax-related charges against Hunter Biden in December of 2023 in California court. 

U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss. (Fox News screenshot)

“The appointment of Mr. Weiss reinforces for the American people the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” Garland said in the announcement of Weiss as special prosecutor. “I am confident that Mr. Weiss will carry out his responsibility in an evenhanded and urgent manner and in accordance with the highest traditions of this department.”

Simultaneous to the investigations into Hunter Biden’s tax dealings and gun purchase scrutiny, IRS whistleblowers sounded the alarm that they gathered evidence Hunter Biden had allegedly committed “felony and misdemeanor tax charges.” The whistleblowers were identified as IRS Special Agent Joseph Ziegler and his supervisor Gary Shapley. 

HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN GUN TRIAL

The whistleblowers told Congress last year that prosecutorial decisions made throughout the federal investigation into the president’s son were allegedly impacted by politics, claiming the Justice Department and IRS handled its probe of Hunter Biden’s finances with kid gloves. 

Ziegler said he felt the investigation into Hunter Biden was “handcuffed” and that the DOJ and Weiss slow-walked the investigation, while underscoring that he is a Democrat and worked to remove any personal political bias. 

IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, left, and Joseph Ziegler, an IRS Agent with the criminal investigations division, take their seats at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing with IRS whistleblowers, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

“I’m a Democrat. In the last presidential election, I actually did not vote,” Ziegler told CBS News last year. “I thought it would be irresponsible of me to do so because I didn’t wanna show bias one way or the other.”

The whistleblowers said the tax discrepancies stretched back to 2014 and related to Hunter Biden’s employment with Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas firm. Fox Digital first reported in 2020 that Hunter Biden did not report “approximately $400,000” in income he collected from his position on the board of Burisma Holdings when he joined in 2014. 

Weiss’ charges against Hunter Biden ultimately only focused on his failure to pay taxes between 2016 and 2020. However, the president’s pardon of his son shields him from prosecution for offenses between 2014 and 2024. 

After the whistleblowers’ attorney sent a letter to lawmakers in April of last year indicating they wished to “make a protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress” over claims the Biden admin was allegedly mishandling the matter, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed the FBI to turn over materials related to a “criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.”

JOE BIDEN MET WITH AT LEAST 14 OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES WHILE VICE PRESIDENT

Comer did ultimately receive documents related to President Biden’s alleged “criminal scheme,” known as the FD-1023 document, but slammed the materials as essentially useless as they were reportedly overwhelmingly redacted. 

Meanwhile, the House Ways and Means Committee interviewed the IRS whistleblowers and released transcripts of their interviews last year showing claims the Biden administration slow-walked the investigation and claiming the DOJ refused to appoint Weiss special counsel status. The DOJ denied the claims. 

Shapley claimed the agency obtained a message from WhatsApp dated July 30, 2017, from Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao, CEO of Harvest Fund Management, where the president’s son allegedly threatened his business associate by leveraging his father’s political clout.

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs a House Oversight Committee meeting at Capitol Hill on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee is meeting today as it considers citing him for Contempt of Congress.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” Hunter Biden allegedly wrote. The message was sent after Biden’s term as vice president under the Obama administration, and before he was elected president in 2020.  

“And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction,” the message continues. “I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”

HUNTER BIDEN FACES NEW INDICTMENT IN CALIFORNIA

The White House has repeatedly denied the president had any business dealings with his son. 

As the investigations and whistleblower claims mounted, House Republicans opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden, with the House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee and House Ways and Means Committee releasing a lengthy report in August that Biden engaged in “impeachable conduct” and “defrauded the United States to enrich his family.” 

Hunter Biden, center, and his attorneys Abbe Lowell, right, and Kevin Morris, left, arrive for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee markup titled “Resolution Recommending That The House Of Representatives Find Robert Hunter Biden In Contempt Of Congress,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Republicans said there was “overwhelming evidence” that Biden participated in a “conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family” to the tune of more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014.

The inquiry has fizzled in recent months, as the presidential election took center stage on the national level. 

President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, step off Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Biden declared in his statement Sunday evening that the prosecution of Hunter was a “miscarriage of justice,” apparently bolstering his reasoning for the pardon after he said at least twice he would not pardon his son. 

“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” Biden said in his statement announcing the pardon. 

“It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases,” he continued. 

“I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.” 

Similar to his dad, Hunter Biden released a statement Sunday arguing the investigations and prosecutions were politically motivated.  

​​”I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” Hunter Biden said in a statement to Fox News. “Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Weiss’s office for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Greg Wehner, and Charles Creitz contributed to this report. 

So you want to know about “recess appointments”?

Well, recess is over and class is in session. 

Let’s start with four main sections in the Constitution: 

“[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States” – Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution

PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR: HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ SMALL MAJORITY COULD MAKE ATTENDANCE A PRIORITY 

Former President Trump waves during a campaign rally at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Oct. 21, 2024, in Greenville, North Carolina.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.” – Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution

“Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.” – Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution

And then there is this particularly thermonuclear passage:

“[The President} may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.” – Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution

Let’s work through the mechanics of each one.

It’s tradition for a president to nominate various persons for his Cabinet, other administration positions and the judiciary. However, the Senate must confirm those figures through a roll call vote on the floor. The confirmation process usually entails formal visits with senators, background checks on nominees by the FBI or the committees of jurisdiction, hearings with the nominee and other witnesses who either support or oppose the nominee, a committee vote to discharge the nomination to the floor, debate on the floor and a final confirmation vote. This is the Senate’s “Advice and Consent” exercise. It’s a responsibility most senators take very seriously. Many passionately guard those prerogatives.

‘IT’S A SETBACK’: DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BIDEN OVER HUNTER PARDON

Donald Trump watches a video screen at a campaign rally at the Salem Civic Center, in Salem, Virginia, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

For instance, incoming President Trump nominated former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for attorney general. Gaetz met with several Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. But Gaetz’s selection never got to the vetting phase or even a hearing. It was clear to Gaetz – and most senators – that the nominee wasn’t confirmable by the Senate. Confirmation of Gaetz would have represented the “consent” provision of the Constitution. However, the abrupt withdrawal of the nominee – after all of the Senate’s closed-door muttering – certainly reflected “advice.”

After Gaetz, expect lots of consternation in the coming weeks about the viability of Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy and FBI Director pick Kash Patel.

This is where the concept of “recess appointments” could come in. If the Senate fails to confirm some of Trump’s nominees, there are suggestions that Trump might try to circumvent the Senate and temporarily install these persons in those roles on an “acting” basis.

This is the application of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. It allows the president to “fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate.”

A “recess appointment” may only serve in the role until the end of a given, two-year Congress. The Founders crafted the concept of a recess appointment so the government could have a stand-in for a period if a given office suddenly became vacant due to death or resignation. Congress was often out of session for months at a time in the early days of the republic. Transportation was tough. It was a challenge to quickly confirm replacements if the Senate wasn’t meeting. So the Founders created the fail-safe of “recess appointments.” That way, the government wasn’t hamstrung waiting on the Senate to eventually reconvene and confirm someone to an important government post.

But how would a recess appointment work in the current environment? And could a president just bypass the Senate and install someone if Congress wasn’t meeting? In theory, yes. And it’s possible that a president could do so if a nomination is stalled or someone is unconfirmed.

THOMAS MASSIE, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR VOCALLY OPPOSE TRUMP’S DEA NOMINEE

Trump has yet to say who he prefers to lead the GOP conference. (Reuters)

However, the brutal truth is that recess appointments are becoming rare. Both Trump and President Biden had precisely zero recess appointments. President Obama had 32. The last recess appointment was Richard Griffin Jr. to the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 4, 2012. He was part of four recess appointments by Obama on that day. Griffin and two others were placed at the NLRB. Obama also slotted Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

By contrast, President George W. Bush had 171 recess appointments. President Bill Clinton scored 139. 

The lynchpin to the entire enterprise is whether there is in fact an appropriate “recess” of the Congress. Only under such a recess would the Senate reside in the proper parliamentary posture to allow for the potential of a recess appointment. It’s been years now since both the House and Senate have technically abandoned Washington for more than three days. That’s to guard against the chance of a recess appointment. The House and Senate used to frequently approve what’s called an “adjournment resolution.” That granted both the House and Senate leave from Capitol Hill for extended periods – such as over the holidays, Thanksgiving, Easter and Passover, Independence Day and the “August recess.” But those are infrequent. 

This fall, both the House and Senate were “out” for part of September, all of October and a chunk of November. However, both bodies convened abbreviated sessions every three days. Each one lasted just a few seconds. That’s de rigueur in Washington because the House and Senate can’t approve an adjournment resolution. The House and Senate just don’t snap their fingers and they’re out. Like everything on Capitol Hill, both bodies must vote to adjourn. Democrats control the Senate. So it might not be a problem approving an adjournment resolution there. But the GOP controls the House. House Republicans would never green light an adjournment resolution, presenting the potential for Biden to make a recess appointment. So each body now meets for just a few seconds every three days to forestall recess appointments.

This phenomenon reflects the power of Article I, Section 5, as neither body “shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.”

During his time in office, Obama believed the House and Senate were truly “in recess” – despite convening every three days. Frustrated at the pace of his nominations, the White House concluded that the three-day operation wasn’t sufficient for the House and Senate to conclude they were “out.” Hence the appointment of Griffin and others during a 2012 window between sessions.

TRUMP TAPS DAUGHTER TIFFANY’S FATHER-IN-LAW MASSAD BOULOS AS SENIOR ADVISERS ON ARAB AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre on Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia. ( Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

But in 2014, the Supreme Court found that the Obama administration overstepped its bounds with the recess appointment. In NLRB v. Canning, the high court found that if the Senate says it’s out, it’s out. In other words, the executive branch of government has no authority interpreting actions of the legislative branch of government.

Moreover, Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution allows each body of Congress to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” That said, for the first time in U.S. history, the Supreme Court established a length of time the House and Senate must be out for there to be a “recess” and the possibility of a “recess appointment.” In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided that recess appointments are permissible if the House and Senate are out for a period of at least 10 days. 

So let’s say the Senate is struggling to confirm some of the incoming president’s most-controversial nominees. Could Trump ask the House and Senate to call it quits for 10 days so he could slide a troubled nominee into place? In theory, yes. But parliamentarily, what would it take for the House and Senate to both be out of session in order to strategically create a political crevasse wide enough for a recess appointment?

It’s about the math. 

In the new year, Republicans will control the House with perhaps as few as 217 seats. One race in California still doesn’t have a winner. The new Congress starts with one vacancy. The Senate will be 53-47 in favor of the GOP. Republicans really can’t lose any votes toward adopting an adjournment resolution. Senate Republicans can lose up to three of their own – and have Vice President JD Vance break the tie on an adjournment resolution. But four votes? They’re out of luck.

Here’s the challenging part: 

It’s far from certain that both the House and Senate could ever muster the votes to approve an adjournment resolution for the sole purpose of engineering a recess appointment – or even a batch of them. Some House Republicans might balk. But the bigger issue could be Senate Republicans. Many senators simply won’t forgo their responsibilities to provide advice and consent. They guard those traditions closely. Plus, they worry about establishing what some would view as a terrible precedent to allow a president to install their nominees, no matter how embattled they may be. After all, Senate Republicans would rue the day they vote to adjourn in favor of installing one of Trump’s nominees – lest “President Newsom” or “President Whitmer” try the same thing in 2029.

 TRUMP NOMINATES CHARTLES KUSHNER TO SERVE AS US AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: ‘STRONG ADVOCATE’

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (iStock)

In NLRB v. Canning, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia even argued against the concept of recess appointments in the modern Senate. In today’s world, the Senate can reconvene quickly to consider nominees.

“The only remaining practical use for the recess appointment power is the ignoble one of enabling presidents to circumvent the Senate’s role in the appointment process, which is precisely what happened here,” said Scalia.

And even if the House and Senate approved an adjournment resolution of more than 10 days, exactly when would the recess fall? Congressional Republicans promise a robust agenda in 2025. When the House and Senate are out, they are out. That means nothing on the floor in both bodies for at least a week-and-a-half. No legislation on tax cuts. Nothing dealing with the debt ceiling or cutting spending. Forget about immigration policy.

So the political postulate of a recess appointment is fascinating. But it’s altogether something different in practice.

This brings us to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution. This is the “thermonuclear passage” I referred to earlier. The Constitution states that “on extraordinary Occasions” the President may “convene both Houses, or either of them, and in the case of Disagreement between them with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.”

U.S. presidents have never exercised this authority to “adjourn” Congress. No one knows what constitutes “extraordinary Occasions.” And, a lay reading of Article II, Section 3 suggests there must be a discrepancy between the House and Senate over adjourning – for the purposes of a recess appointment. In other words, the House may be able to approve the adjournment resolution – and the Senate may not or vice versa.

In theory, President-elect Trump could try this gambit to adjourn Congress. But this is new constitutional turf. Yes. A recess appointment like Cordray or Griffin may find themselves in the job. But the Trump administration would inevitably find itself in front of the Supreme Court about the validity of those appointments. Just like the Obama administration.

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So recess appointments are theoretically possible. But in reality, they are very hard to put into place.

And for our purposes, it’s time for a recess.

Class dismissed. 

The mayor of Maryland’s second-largest city caused a firestorm after announcing his plan seeking the establishment of a taxpayer-funded “legal advocacy fund” to defend immigrants “who may be harmed by policies from the new (Trump) administration.”

Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor, a Democrat, hearkened back to his ancestors’ arrival from Ireland in saying President-elect Donald Trump’s “first term is prologue” on how he will treat immigrants in announcing an appropriation request to “ensure [immigrants] have the legal support they need to stand strong and remain in this community they have chosen to call home.”

“In many regards, this election did not go as I had hoped,” said O’Connor, whose city of 86,000 sits halfway between Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

“As many residents know, our city council recently made a decision to provide voting rights to any resident that calls Frederick home, regardless of citizenship status. We will continue to make progress on implementation as it’s our responsibility and not take any step that would seek to create division, target vulnerable populations or undermine the trust that we have worked hard to build in our community,” O’Connor added.

MS-13 GANG MEMBER SUSPECTED OF MARYLAND MURDER ALLOWED TO ATTEND HIGH SCHOOL

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee criticized the move, saying O’Connor’s “pledge to protect illegal aliens is particularly appalling.” He highlighted the case of Walter Javier Martinez, an MS-13 gang member who was sentenced to 70 years for the rape, strangulation and murder of Kayla Hamilton, a young, autistic woman in nearby Harford County. Martinez, who was 17 at the time, had been released to a “sponsor” in Frederick before committing the crime. He pleaded guilty to Hamilton’s murder in August. 

Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said public officials at all levels of government have a responsibility to protect their citizens:

“I am confident the incoming Trump administration will disabuse these state and local leaders of the notion they are above federal immigration law.” 

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins told Fox News Digital that O’Connor’s plan is “totally inappropriate.”

“I think he’s going to anger the taxpayers. And aside from that, I think it’s unfair to the taxpayer,” Jenkins said in a Monday interview.

He added there are enough private or non-profit advocacy groups that would front legal fees and such for migrants facing federal action.

Jenkins, whose department is responsible for enforcing laws outside Frederick city proper, predicts the move will invite increased criminal activity to the area under the “false perception” they’ll be protected.

“He’s not going to let the Frederick Police Department cooperate with ICE.”

Jenkins praised incoming “border czar” Tom Homan, adding the ICE veteran doesn’t need Frederick city’s blessing to conduct federal operations.

He noted that local and county agencies don’t have jurisdiction to enforce immigration law, but reiterated he is fully supportive of Trump’s and Homan’s general policy plans.

“I am 100% supportive from the standpoint I want to do everything I can to keep my county safe, our citizens safe, reduce crime, remove a criminal element, and let’s clean this country up.”

In his remarks reported last week, O’Connor cited Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech, in which she said, “Now is the time we must be organized, energized and engaged.” He said Frederick would add focusing on upholding the city’s values to her sentiment.

MARYLAND GOVERNOR DEFENDS $190K TRUMP-CENTRIC CONSULTANT CONTRACT AS PRESIDENT-ELECT MOVES IN NEXT DOOR

Fox News Digital reached out to O’Connor for further comment. Frederick notably hosts both the presidential Camp David retreat in the nearby Catoctin Mountains and the U.S. biological defense headquarters at Fort Detrick.

In his public remarks, O’Connor denied he was making a political message, but instead a “patriotic one.”

“While we cannot predict every policy or action this administration may take. We have seen enough to know our path forward here in Frederick is clear. We will be steadfast in ensuring that our city continues to be a place where everyone feels safe, respected and protected.”

O’Connor added that the Frederick Police Department — separate from Jenkins’ agency — is “committed to ensuring all residents feel safe in reporting crime and know that they will not be questioned about their immigration status.”

“We refuse to aid and abet outside agencies attempting to detain, deport or remove any residents from our community,” the mayor said.

Asked for first-hand comment, the FPD said it is committed to building trust and maintaining open lines of communication with all members of our diverse community.”

“For years, we have focused solely on enforcing traffic and criminal laws, not immigration laws… Immigration enforcement is the responsibility of federal agencies, not the Frederick Police Department.”

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In their statement sent to Fox News Digital, the department said it does not inquire about immigration status from residents who need help or are reporting a crime, and it wants everyone in Frederick to feel safe in their interactions with police.

In Anne Arundel County, which includes the capital Annapolis, Democratic County Executive Steuart Pittman suggested similar defenses to O’Connor’s for immigrants facing deportation. FOXBaltimore reported Pittman said Anne Arundel will provide services to families of a deported breadwinner.

In Annapolis itself, Gov. Wes Moore told Fox News Digital the U.S. immigration system is broken and that Congress must fix it.

“Federal leaders need to set aside politics and work to ensure that our border is secure and that we have a fair and humane immigration system,” he said, adding he comes from a family of immigrants and is “deeply connected to the immigrant story and contributions” of their communities.

Moore addressed “speculation” about how Trump will address immigration policy:

“As governor, I have an obligation to protect Marylanders, including members of our immigrant communities. I take that obligation seriously and will wait to see what actions the new administration takes.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to potential Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., and a listed contact for Democratic Rep.-elect April McClain-Delaney, who will represent Frederick in the new term.

Attorneys for first son Hunter Biden filed a motion with the court arguing that the grand jury indictment against President Biden’s son be dismissed completely, though the special counsel assigned to the case says the dismissal should be denied.

President Biden pardoned his son Hunter late Sunday evening, sparing him from being sentenced in a pair of separate court cases in which he was found guilty of illegally purchasing a gun and failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes — convictions the president claimed were politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.”

On Monday, Special Counsel David Weiss of the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to the judge who presided over the gun case, Judge Maryellen Noreika, seeking to deny the motion to dismiss Hunter’s indictment.

“The Government does not challenge that the defendant has been the recipient of an act of mercy,” Weiss said in the filing. “That does not mean the grand jury’s decision to charge him, based on a finding of probable cause, should be wiped away because the defendant falsely claimed that the charges were the result of some improper motive or selective prosecution.

SPECIAL COUNSEL, IRS WHISTLEBLOWERS SAY DON’T BUY BIDEN ‘SPIN’ ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN LEGAL SAGA

President Biden and son Hunter Biden step out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 29, 2024. Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.  (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“No court has agreed with the defendant on these baseless claims, and his request to dismiss the indictment finds no support in the law,” the special counsel added before requesting the dismissal of the indictment be denied.

In response to the request, Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Winston & Strawn LLP, argued that the majority of courts support a dismissal.

“The Special Counsel paradoxically claims that Mr. Biden’s notice is ‘without any legal support’ in suggesting that his pardon means that the Court should dismiss the indictment, at the same time, the Special Counsel acknowledges that ‘the majority of courts, when faced with such a decision, have chosen to dismiss an indictment,’” the defense team wrote. “The Special Counsel’s admission that this is the practice of the ‘majority of courts’ certainly provides legal support to Mr. Biden’s claim that dismissal is warranted.”

JOE BIDEN MET WITH AT LEAST 14 OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES WHILE VICE PRESIDENT

Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, follows his attorney Abbe Lowell on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 10, 2024.  (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Hunter Biden was found guilty in the gun case in June, with a jury of his peers determining he made a false statement in the purchase of a gun, made a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

He has a well-documented history of drug abuse, which was most notably documented in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which walked readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he referred to himself as a “crack daddy” to drug dealers, and anecdotes revolving around drug deals, such as a Washington, D.C., crack dealer Hunter Biden nicknamed “Bicycles.”

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In the tax case, Hunter faced another trial regarding three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. As jury selection was about to kick off in Los Angeles federal court in September, Hunter entered a surprise guilty plea.

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

President-elect Trump will travel to Paris this weekend to attend the re-opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire damaged the 12th-century structure. 

Trump announced the Dec. 7 visit on social media. 

“It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago,” he wrote on Truth Social. “President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so.”

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL TO REOPEN, BRACES FOR INFLUX OF TOURISTS AFTER DEVASTATING FIRE 

Trump said he will attend the reopening celebration of the Notre Dame Cathedral this weekend, five years after a fire heavily damaged the structure.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It will be a very special day for all!” he added. 

The invite-only ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday are expected to attract about 50 heads of state and governments. Aides to Trump were in talks with French President Macron’s office regarding the visit, sources confirmed to Fox News. 

Nearly $1 billion was raised to rebuild the iconic site after a catastrophic fire swept across the landmark in April 2019. Around $148 million of that sum remains. 

The blaze caused the collapse of the cathedral’s roof and part of its exterior while destroying the interior.

HUMAN REMAINS AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL MAY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AFTER MORE THAN 450 YEARS 

Notre Dame suffered a devastating fire in April 2019. (Pierre Suu/Getty Images)

At the time of the blaze, Trump encouraged France to use “flying water tankers” to put out a raging fire. 

“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” he wrote. “Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”

The cathedral was visited by more than 12 million people every year before the fire, according to the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris’ site.

French President Emmanuel Macron toured the site ahead of its reopening to the public on Dec. 8, describing the experience as “overwhelming,” 

The nave of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen on Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris, France.  (AP/Stephane de Sakutin)

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An estimated 15 million annual visitors are expected to book time-allocated slots upon the reopening, according to the cathedral’s website.