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The University of Austin (UATX) welcomed its first cohort of students this fall, and instead of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the private liberal arts university is touting freedom of speech, open debates and merit-based admissions.

“They talk about safe spaces. We want to create an environment that’s safe for ideas to be explored and where there’s not risks to the student for taking positions as they explore,” UATX Vice President Michael Shires told Fox News Digital. 

The university, which is currently unaccredited, was founded in 2021 by a group of academics and public figures, including former New York Times reporter Bari Weiss, who were concerned about the decline of free speech across college campuses.

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UATX accepts students based on merit, not DEI initiatives. (iStock | University of Austin)

While its inaugural students are not eligible for federal financial aid, the university has had significant support from private donors, including billionaire Bill Ackman and activist Harlan Crow, allowing it to offer free tuition to its first cohort. 

“As we look ahead, obviously this is a time when people are trying to figure out how to foster free speech on campus,” Shires said. “Oct. 7 was a critical juncture in the last year and a half that really showed some of the holes in the environment we’re in.”

While the university was founded prior to Donald Trump’s re-election, Shires said the “Trump administration is an exciting time for us to build an institution in an environment where there’s value on open discourse and dialogue.” 

Trump has signaled he would also roll back DEI and “woke” policies within federal agencies, including dismantling the Department of Education, signaling a potential for more schools to adopt UATX’s model. He has also said he would sue and tax “excessively large private universities” who implement “woke” policies.

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The threat of what constitutes hate speech has been a major concern for many public universities in recent years – leading to the rise of what critics call censorship and cancel culture – but Shires said defining the term depends “what are the value systems you’re applying to those.” 

“And you know, for us, that’s our goal, is to create an environment where there’s civil discourse and where, basically, respect for the other person, and you’re debating and maybe even disagreeing on ideas,” he said.

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(Dzmitry Dzemidovich/File)

UATX employs the Chatham House Rule to encourage open classroom discussions. Under the rule, students can share ideas or information they hear in class but cannot attribute them to specific individuals.

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At institutions like Harvard, only 3% of faculty identify as conservative, while more than 75% identify as liberal, undergirding the ideological gap that UATX founders aim to address.

According to Shires, while the school has an admissions constitution that accepts students based on a variety of merit measures, he said UATX’s “students are all over the place, ideologically, politically, philosophically.”

“We are an institute, so we don’t believe the institution should have a position or an orthodoxy or an ideology,” he said.

Over the last four years, several universities have faced legal challenges concerning their DEI policies, including the California Community College system, Northwestern University Law School, Stanford University and Fordham University. In March, the University of Florida announced its plan to eliminate the chief diversity officer position and DEI staff, earmarking the funds to be spent elsewhere in the university.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is convening training for Republican congressional staffers aimed at preparing them to smoothly steer segments of key parts of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda next year through Congress – specifically by mastering a crucial procedural tool known as budget reconciliation. 

Republicans are expected to use budget reconciliation to pass much of Trump’s tax and economic policies because it is not subject to the legislative filibuster and its 60-vote threshold. This means Republicans will be able to move it along with their Senate majority alone. 

On Nov. 18, Lee hosted the first of several trainings with the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) that featured presenters such as EPIC’s Director of Budget Policy Matthew Dickerson, Executive Vice President Brittany Madni and President and CEO Paul Winfree.

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Sen. Mike Lee, left, and the GOP steering committee are holding trainings for GOP staff ahead of reconciliation. (Reuters)

A GOP senate aide told Fox News Digital that the trainings for staffers are meant to familiarize them with the budget reconciliation process, which they noted can be complicated. 

In order for provisions to be included in reconciliation, they must meet the Senate rules governing the process. In order to be done through reconciliation, policies must be budgetary in nature, usually having to do with spending or the debt limit, for example. 

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Sen. Mike Lee and the GOP steering committee are holding trainings for GOP staff ahead of budget reconciliation so that they can quickly move President-elect Donald Trump’s policies through. (Getty Images)

In the past, Republicans have criticized their Democratic counterparts for stretching the interpretation of what can be included in reconciliation in order to pass their policies without 60 votes. However, the GOP has also signaled that they may look to find a way to include other conservative policies in the procedure now that they will have control of Congress. 

The GOP will have a 53-seat majority in the Senate in 2025 and 2026. They will be able to pass some policies through the reconciliation process, namely an extension to expiring parts of Trump’s signature Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from 2017. 

However, if Republicans are unable to fit other policy priorities into the budget reconciliation because they don’t meet the requirements for inclusion, they will need to attempt to get some Democrats on board in order to beat the legislative filibuster for normal bills. 

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Sen. Mike Lee is chairman of the steering committee. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

The first training was attended by 116 Republican congressional staffers representing more than 70 offices on Capitol Hill, per the Senate Republican Steering Committee. There will be additional events with different groups co-hosting as well. 

The aide explained that Lee and the committee wanted to make sure staff were prepared to take on reconciliation and pass Trump’s policies as fast as possible. 

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President-elect Donald Trump is expected to extend his hallmark tax cuts from his first term. ( Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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This effort by Lee and the committee is also to make sure that the resulting budget reconciliation process represents a wide swath of congressional Republicans and not just leadership. By equipping staff with the knowledge and understanding they need about it, priorities of Republicans across the board can be considered and their input acknowledged. 

Experts expect President-elect Donald Trump to take aim at federal agencies and Biden-era regulations after campaigning on deregulation of the administrative state. 

“The first thing is that on day one of [Trump’s] presidency, we’ll see a lot of executive orders, which will order agencies to review the administration regulations to determine whether they should be retained, amended or repealed,” Robert Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at George Washington University Law School, told Fox News Digital. 

Mark Chenoweth, president of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, particularly pointed to Biden-era regulations, saying they could be on the chopping block once Trump takes office, telling Fox News Digital, “the Biden administration did a lot of things that lacked statutory authority completely.”

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Chenoweth noted that the Biden administration has already been the target of lawsuits over its regulations and said that if Trump were to take those regulations on, “I think they’ll enjoy a lot of success.”

Trump has already been vocal about his intentions of cutting back on federal agency power and slashing the flow of federal dollars. The president-elect has also announced he has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

The entity will act as an advisory panel, not a government agency, and will be aimed at suggesting ways to dismantle government bureaucracy and restructure federal agencies in order to save costs and improve efficiency, according to Trump’s transition team.

Experts expect President-elect Donald Trump, right, to take aim at federal agencies and legislation after campaigning on deregulation of the administrative state. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Regarding DOGE, Glicksman stated the Trump administration will “certainly take seriously” DOGE’s guidance on “cutting back on regulations, streamlining executive agencies, possibly even eliminating some agencies.” 

Both Chenoweth and Glicksman said they can foresee labor regulations becoming a target come January. Glicksman said climate change and environmental regulations could also come under fire.

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“In the labor area, because [the Biden administration has] been so radical, they really reached well beyond what the statutory authority that was given to NLRB or the Department of Labor with a lot of what they’ve done. So that’s one area that I could foresee,” Chenoweth said. 

President-elect Donald Trump announced Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy, right, would be leading the Department of Government Efficiency on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Getty Images)

Likewise, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Chevron doctrine in June of this year in its Loper Bright decision. The doctrine previously gave deference to an agency’s interpretation of a federal regulation. In its holding, the Supreme Court effectively scaled back administrative power in holding that “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.”

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Chenoweth, whose organization litigated on the matter, applauded the Loper Bright ruling, saying it “goes back to empowering Congress rather than the administrative agencies.”

“For the last 40 years, the administrative state has been burgeoning because of this ability to, kind of, write law and create law itself when there’s a gap or ambiguity in the statute,” Chenoweth said. “Now, they’re not going to able to do that so much. And so it’s going to throw it back to Congress if we need to have reform in an area or new legislation.”

Glicksman, however, said Loper Bright could “boomerang” on the Trump administration instead. 

“Had Chevron remained in effect, it would be Trump administration initiatives that would get the benefit of Chevron deference, but that’s no longer the case,” Glicksman said. “And so it’s possible that courts will look more rigorously or apply greater scrutiny to Trump administration initiatives in administrative law issues in administrative ones than they would have done had Loper Bright not been decided.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Chevron doctrine in June of this year in its Loper Bright decision. (Getty Images)

Glicksman said he can foresee such legal challenges unfolding specifically in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which notably tends to lean conservative in its rulings. Likewise, Glicksman predicts Democrat-led challenges to appear in the Ninth and D.C. Circuits. 

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“I think you’ll see blue states led by California challenging those regulations, starting off probably in the Ninth Circuit and the D.C. Circuit, which are more friendly to agency authority than the Fifth Circuit and some other circuits. So you’ll see a skewing of litigation,” Glicksman said. 

Chenoweth stated that because so many Biden-era regulations “are so lacking in authority,” the circuit in which the lawsuit is started may very well not make much of a difference. 

The White House turkey pardoning ceremony, a long-held Thanksgiving tradition formalized 77 years ago, traces its origins back decades further.

Since the 1800s, it has been customary for the sitting president to be gifted a turkey as a festive gesture, with several presidents hinting that the bird would be featured on their holiday menu.

However, in recent decades, sitting presidents launched a new tradition of “pardoning” the bird, essentially sparing its life and ensuring it will spend the remainder of its time on a farm.

The turkey is brought to Washington, D.C., during the week of Thanksgiving, gets a room at the five-star Willard Hotel and is eventually “pardoned” by the president. However, the history of exactly when the pardon began “gets tricky,” as described by the Obama White House archives.

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President George H.W. Bush participates in the presentation and pardoning of the National Thanksgiving Turkey in the Rose Garden of the White House. (HUM Images)

According to the George Bush national archives, former President Lincoln spared the life of the Thanksgiving turkey upon request from his son, Tad Lincoln. 

The White House turkey was again spared in 1947, when former President Truman began an annual tradition of the animal being gifted by the National Turkey Federation. 

However, the Truman Library and Museum said they have “found no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs, or other contemporary records in our holdings which refer to Truman pardoning a turkey that he received as a gift in 1947, or at any other time during his presidency.” 

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In 1963, former President Kennedy also decided to spare the life of that year’s Thanksgiving turkey, saying “we’ll just let this one grow.” 

First lady Melania Trump looks on as President Trump gives the National Thanksgiving Turkey “Corn” a presidential pardon during the traditional event in the Rose Garden of the White House on Nov. 24, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla)

Former President Reagan did it informally during the ceremony in 1987. Reagan was asked by reporters about potentially pardoning individuals from the Iran-Contra affair, but he pointed at the turkey and said he would “pardon him” instead.

However, it wasn’t until 1989 when former President George H. W. Bush officially presented the turkey with a presidential “pardon,” an annual tradition that has been honored in the decades since.

“Let me assure you and this fine Tom Turkey that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s granted a presidential pardon as of right now and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here,” Bush said in 1989.

Since Bush, every president has participated in the turkey pardoning ceremony as part of the White House Thanksgiving week celebration.

President Biden has been pardoning two turkeys for the last three years. He participated in the 77th annual turkey pardon on Monday, the last one of his presidency, sparing “Peach” and “Blossom” in the Rose Garden on the South Lawn of the White House.

President Obama pardons a turkey named “Courage” at the North Portico of the White House on Nov. 25, 2009. (Alex Wong)

“This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington. It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during the season,” Biden said during the ceremony. “It’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful that today my wife, Jill, and I will travel to Staten Island, New York, for a ‘friendsgiving’ with members of the Coast Guard and their families to demonstrate our gratitude for their service and sacrifice, like my son.”

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Some critics, such as animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, have called the tradition “little more than a photo op.”

However, presidents and spectators have enjoyed the ceremony as a fun event for the holidays.

It’s spat out like a dirty word.

Donald Trump – take a deep breath – is hiring loyalists.

The president-elect – can you imagine?? – is nominating people he knows will support him. He’s used plenty of curse words, but nothing said by the media is more disdainful than loyalists.

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Now stop and think: Doesn’t every president hire loyalists? 

Didn’t Joe Biden surround himself with folks who had been with him for decades? Ron Klain, Steve Richetti and Tom Donilon created a protective bubble around the president. But few, if any, prognosticators dismissed them as loyalists.

Why? The press generally approved of Biden’s picks, including Tony Blinken; the non-communicative Lloyd Austin (who didn’t tell the boss about his cancer surgery), and the equally non-communicative Janet Yellen. The only person who stood out for great TV skills was Pete Buttigieg, the former presidential candidate and outgoing Transportation secretary.

President-elect Trump has picked former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Department of Justice. (Getty Images)

It’s hardly a recent development. George Washington took a team-of-rivals approach, naming Thomas Jefferson secretary of state and Alexander Hamilton as treasury secretary. So did Abraham Lincoln, with Salmon Chase as treasury secretary and William Seward as secretary of war.

But if Trump picks people he expects to support him, the knee-jerk media reaction is that they’re dangerous to the country and will run roughshod over the rule of law.

Trump didn’t make much use of his Cabinet in his first term and I doubt he will this time, except for a handful of top positions. Besides, he runs the show. Any Cabinet member who strays off the reservation can get fired, “Apprentice”-style. Serving at the pleasure of the president and all that.

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For what it’s worth, Trump wound up with an ideologically balanced Cabinet. The first wave – from Marco Rubio as secretary of state to a spate of current and former members of Congress – is generally impressive.

But then there was the fiasco over Matt Gaetz, now charging hundreds of dollars for Cameo videos, and such controversial nominees as Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard. And also Dr. Oz. Not to mention animosity toward pro-union Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as labor secretary.

It’s quite obvious that the president-elect likes people he’s seen on TV, and he watches a lot of Fox News.

Jen Psaki speaks onstage during “Jen Psaki in Conversation with Lawrence O’Donnell – Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World” in New York City. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

But consider: Jen Psaki and Symone Sanders-Townsend were both CNN contributors when they joined the Biden campaign and then held top jobs in the White House. Now they’re hosting or co-hosting shows on MSNBC. Nobody bats an eye because they’re viewed as good guys joining the right team.

From Fox, Trump has picked Army combat veteran Hegseth; ex-Congressman Sean Duffy, a FOX Business co-host, and two frequent medical commentators. 

What’s fascinating is the way many in the media have turned on Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and career prosecutor who possesses the experience Gaetz lacked. 

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Sure, Bondi has said plenty of partisan things over the years, such as “prosecuting the prosecutors,” then quickly adding, “the bad ones.” She was part of Trump’s first impeachment legal team and then ran the legal arm of a pro-Trump PAC.

Bondi was passed over in the first Trump term because she accepted a $25,000 campaign donation from Trump’s foundation while her office was conducting a probe of Trump University (itself a mess). 

“Fox & Friends Weekend” host Pete Hegseth hosts the 2022 Patriot Awards from Hollywood, Fla. (Fox Nation/Bryan Many)

In 2013, Bondi accepted a $25,000 campaign donation from Trump’s foundation at the same time her office was conducting a fraud investigation into Trump University. 

“Her acceptance of the donation coincided with her decision not to bring fraud charges against Trump University,” says MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade. No evidence of a quid pro quo emerged. And a Florida ethics panel cleared her of any wrongdoing. But that’s old news now.

“Bondi has shown a taste for vengeance herself — at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Bondi embraced chants of ‘lock her up,’” McQuade says. “Even joking about jailing a political opponent is an insult to the rule of law.”   

But wait – didn’t Barack Obama’s AG, Eric Holder, describe himself as the president’s “wingman”? There’s clearly a different standard for Democrats. 

Rachel Maddow producer Steve Benen says Bondi “falsely accused then-special counsel Robert Mueller of leading a ‘corrupt’ investigation that was “worse than Watergate.’” 

On the other hand, Dave Aronberg, now state’s attorney for Palm Beach County, lost his race to challenge Bondi as AG, but she hired him anyway as drug czar. “She’s someone who believes in the rule of law..I do not believe she will be Matt Gaetz 2.0. She is not going to burn it all down.”

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I suppose it comes down to a question of trust. The pro-Kamala media refuse to give many Trump nominees the benefit of the doubt. Bondi has criticized the weaponization of the DOJ. You might even call her a loyalist. 

But she will be the new attorney general, and that will be the ultimate test.

President-elect Trump is expected by many of his supporters to preside over an energy “boom” in the United States by slashing Biden administration regulations, and one industry expert told Fox News Digital that she is encouraged by Trump’s energy sector cabinet nominees while outlining specific moves she hopes to see over the next four years.

“I think the three cabinet picks that Trump has so far chosen to lead EPA, Interior and Energy are a vast improvement to who we have currently in those respective positions,” Gabriella Hoffman, Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy & Conservation Director, told Fox News Digital. 

“They’re going to be taking a more tactful approach to energy development. They’re not going to be keeping things in the ground. They’re going to be prioritizing reliable energy sources like coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear even, and most recently, geothermal has also taken a renewed interest by Congress, and we will probably see geothermal as well unleashed. But also there’s going to be this balance of this energy abundant mindset with promoting land stewardship, expanding hunting and fishing opportunities, expanding ocean access, and reevaluating so-called clean energy projects that promise to be greener or are believed to be green but actually might be worse for the environment and don’t produce enough reliable energy or electricity.”

Hoffman told Fox News Digital the country is going to see a “reassessment of what conservation looks like” that is “balanced out by this robust kind of development of energy here in the United States.

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

“So it’s going to be great for the economy, we believe. As a center, we believe it’s going to lead to better national security with more energy being produced here. We’re going to be less reliant on countries that produce certain energy sources less cleanly, less environmentally friendly than we do.”

In recent days, President-elect Trump has named former Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin to head the EPA, Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to head the Energy Department, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to oversee the Interior Department. 

Hoffman outlined several top line agenda items that her center hopes to see from the three departments.

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Then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Mint Hill, N.C.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

“Emphasizing reliable energy production, moving away from sources that are subsidized like solar and wind to reliable sources that don’t really need to be subsidized or that are actually very plentiful and can be extracted safely and responsibly here in the United States,” Hoffman said. 

“Another priority is to kind of clamp down on this regulatory overreach we have seen across all three agencies. We have seen them take extreme positions with devising so-called tailpipe emissions standards, all these different green energy efficiency, household appliance directives. We’ve seen them take extreme positions on policies like the America the Beautiful Plan, or the 30 by 30 plan to protect so-called 30% of waters in lands by 2030, which is a very extreme position, not rooted in conservation whatsoever. It’s a control mechanism, not a conservation tool.”

Hoffman said she anticipates a “return back to true conservation” under Trump “where you don’t see environmentalist groups suing agencies in perpetuity to block different measures of progress to go into effect.”

Trump often vowed on the campaign trail to unleash an energy boom in the United States by slashing regulations and expanding drilling in the United States and Hoffman told Fox News Digital she is optimistic that will happen.

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A Valero refinery in Benicia, California, US (David Paul Morris)

“Our center is very optimistic that there will be an energy boom,” Hoffman said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but it could be seen within a couple of months. I think realistically, once we hit the six-month mark, perhaps the year-end mark if President-elect Trump is going to be able to repeal some of the Biden-Harris directives as it relates to all the climate measures, the day one executive orders are really going to be a weight off of the administrative state’s shoulders and then all other policies that emanate from that tackling the climate crisis executive order will similarly be probably clamped down.”

Trump has for months vowed to “undo” the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ marquee climate and clean energy spending legislation that allocates $369 billion in subsidies aimed at re-shoring investments for electric vehicle manufacturing and battery production as well as new utility-scale wind and solar projects.

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Hoffman told Fox News Digital that repealing the IRA will be critical to unleashing American energy despite possible opposition from some Republicans in Congress who like certain aspects of the bill. 

“For gas prices, electricity prices to truly be lowered, you’re going to have to see that law terminated or repealed, because that is what invited a lot of the so-called energy or environmental inflation,” Hoffman said. “These higher prices at the pump, higher utility bills, higher food costs, because everything emanates from energy, transportation, food delivery, things of that sort. So that law really does have to be kind of called into question. And perhaps Trump will work with Congress to ensure that that is repealed.”

Hoffman also explained that a focus on nuclear energy will be critical over the next four years.

“It is a really safe technology, especially produced here, and we don’t want China or Russia to have an edge,” Hoffman said. 

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

President-elect Trump on Sunday jokingly asked a child at his Florida golf club if he could buy “her hair” for “millions” of dollars. 

Trump was on a golf cart when he spotted the young fan with a fashionable hairdo at his West Palm Beach club. 

Wearing his trademark “Make America Great Again” cap and a red quarter-zip sweater, Trump said hello to other golfers before complimenting the child.

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President-elect Trump greets a child at his Florida golf course. He jokingly offered the child “millions” to purchase their hair.  (Michael A Shaw via Storyful)

“Oh, I love that girl. I love that hair. I want her hair,” Trump said as he drove up to the child. “Can I buy your hair? I’ll pay you millions for that.”

The child is asked by someone: “What were you going to tell the president?”

“I voted for you,” the child is heard saying. 

Trump then invited the child to sit with him on the cart to take a photo. The incoming president’s trademark hairdo has sometimes been the subject of jokes and curiosity. 

During his first White House campaign in 2015, the then-Republican front-runner had a woman in the audience at a South Carolina rally touch his blonde locks to prove he didn’t wear a toupee. 

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Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump plays golf ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational series  tournament at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 9, 2023. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Before that, he also had Barbara Walters pull on his hair during a sit-down interview to prove he was not covering a bald spot. 

The golf course where Trump encountered the child is the same site of the second attempted assassination of the president-elect in September. 

Trump was also seen golfing with his granddaughter Kai, who has said she’s out to beat his “club championship” record, the New York Post reported.

The motorcade for President Donald Trump arrives at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

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The newspaper reported that the U.S. Secret Service has beefed up Trump’s security detail following two failed attempts on his life — the first on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are demanding that New York Attorney General Letitia James drop her civil fraud case against him, his family and his businesses “for the greater good of the country,” Fox News Digital has learned. 

“In furtherance of our conversations with your office, we write to request that you completely dismiss the above-referenced case against President Donald J. Trump, his family, and his businesses, and stipulate to vacate the Judgment and dismiss all claims with prejudice,” Trump attorney D. John Sauer wrote in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. 

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Trump was ordered to pay a $454 million civil fraud judgment in James’ lawsuit against him. 

Trump has appealed the ruling, and judges on a New York appeals court seemed open-minded and receptive to potentially reversing the judgment altogether.

Sauer, though, pointed to Trump’s “historic election victory.”

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a House Republicans Conference meeting on Capitol Hill, Nov. 13, 2024. (Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images)

“President Trump has called for our Nation’s partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country,” Sauer wrote. “This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle.” 

Sauer, who was nominated as solicitor general in the second Trump administration, called the cases against Trump to have been “a flashpoint of national partisan division.”  

“As counsel for President Trump in this appeal—and now as his nominee for Solicitor General of the United States—I have had the opportunity to experience this partisan division personally, and I strongly believe that it is necessary for the health of our Republic for the strife and lawfare to end.”

He added, “You now have the singular opportunity to help cure this division.” 

Sauer’s letter comes after a string of legal victories for Trump and his legal team, coordinated by senior legal adviser Boris Epshteyn. 

Sauer pointed to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s recent request, which was granted by federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, to dismiss his case against Trump related to the 2020 election. Smith also tossed his appeal in the classified records case on Monday after a federal judge dismissed the charges altogether in July, ruling that he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In New York v. Trump, Judge Juan Merchan granted Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule. 

“This case warrants the same treatment,” Sauer wrote. 

Sauer reminded that in James’ case “the statute of limitations bars claims and liability.” 

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Sauer also reminded that her case involves “no victims, no complaints, no misstatements, no causation, and no injuries or losses.” 

“Instead, President Trump provided clear and unambiguous disclaimers to sophisticated commercial parties who made decisions based on their own due diligence,” Sauer wrote. “Every loan and insurance payment was made in full, and either on time or early.” 

Sauer said Trump’s business partners “were delighted with these transactions” and “benefited enormously, making over $100 million in profits.” 

Sauer said the evidence “definitively demonstrates that the defendants’ counterparties were not deceived, that they performed their own due diligence and eagerly sought, and embraced, the highly profitable business transactions, and that the challenged statements did not affect the terms of any transaction.” 

“As noted above, they were paid back in full, on time or early,” he said. 

Sauer said “the chilling effect generated by this case is crushing to businesses across New York, who are being forced to flee to friendlier States where such standardless enforcement and excessive punishment are not found.”

“President Trump is one of the most successful developers in the history of New York,” Sauer said. “He rebuilt the New York skyline, created thousands of jobs, rescued and rejuvenated historic Wollman Rink, developed the $3 billion West Side Railyards from 59th to 72nd Street in Manhattan, was deeply involved in developing the Jacob Javits Center, and is singularly responsible for many other successes,” Sauer wrote. “This lawsuit against him ‘vindicates no public purpose.’” 

Trump attorney D. John Sauer (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Sauer pointed to Trump’s landslide victory and his pending inauguration as the 47th president. 

He also noted remarks by past presidents, specifically on Oct. 3, 1863, during “the time of our Nation’s greatest division,” when President Lincoln issued the Thanksgiving Proclamation.

“President Lincoln called for the American people to set aside their bitter divisions so that the blessings of liberty could be ‘solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.’” Sauer wrote. “He urged all Americans to ‘fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.’” 

Sauer added, “Invoking the same spirit of unity, we request that you stipulate to the vacatur of the Judgment and dismissal of this case with prejudice.” 

TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT NEW YORK AG CASE ‘ALL THE WAY UP TO THE US SUPREME COURT,’ AS DEADLINE TO POST $454M LOOMS

Sauer’s letter comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled this year that Trump and other defendants were liable for persistent and repeated fraud, falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, conspiracy to falsify false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. 

In September 2023, before the non-jury trial began, Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization had committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

Trump was hit with an initial penalty of $355 million. That sum is quickly increasing via interest accruals of approximately $112,000 a day until paid in full, now sitting around $470 million.

Trump’s legal team said the initial requested bond was “unprecedented for a private company” and said to post it in the judgment’s full amount was a “practical impossibility.” 

An appeals court slashed Trump’s bond payment in March, and the former president paid $175 million. 

President-elect Trump arrives to speak during an Election Night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 6, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump has vowed to fight the case “all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.” 

Trump and his family denied any wrongdoing, with the former president saying his assets had been undervalued. Trump’s legal team insisted that his financial statements had disclaimers and made it clear to banks that they should conduct their own assessments.

Throughout the trial, Trump attorneys brought witnesses, including former Deutsche Bank top executives, who testified the banks sought additional business from Trump, whom they viewed as a “whale of a client.”

Trump’s defense also brought in expert witnesses, including New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, who reviewed the Trump financial statements at issue in the case and said he found no evidence of accounting fraud.

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Bartov testified last month that Trump’s financial statements did not violate accounting principles, and he suggested that anything problematic — like a huge year-to-year leap in the estimated value of his Trump Tower penthouse — was simply an error.

“My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” Bartov testified. Trump’s financial statements, he said, “were not materially misstated.”

President-elect Trump is enjoying a bump in favorability since winning a second White House term earlier this month, while figures for outgoing President Biden sank to a four-year-low, according to a new poll. 

An Emerson College poll found both men trending in opposite directions, with Trump’s favorability jumping six points to 54% after the Nov. 5 election. Biden, on the other hand, has a 36% job approval rating. 

Disapproval of Biden remains steady at 52%, the poll found. 

TRUMP APPEARED ON JOE ROGAN’S PODCAST FOR NEARLY THREE HOURS: HERE ARE THE TOP MOMENTS

President Biden meets with President-elect Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 13.  (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump’s favorability varies significantly by gender, race and age,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Trump’s strongest age cohort is among voters 40-59, with 60% viewing him favorably, compared to 48% among those over 70. Notably, his favorability has risen among younger voters, with 55% of those under 30 expressing a favorable opinion.”

Trump polled best with men at 61%, compared to 48% of women. In terms of race, 59% of White voters viewed Trump positively, compared to 53% of Hispanics and 28% of Black voters. 

The incoming president never cracked 50% approval during his first administration or post-presidency before his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Gallup, the New York Post reported. 

When asked if they were surprised by the results of the 2024 election, 46% of respondents said they were, while 54% were not. 

HARRIS CAMPAIGN CHAIR FUMES ABOUT NARRATIVE SHE WAS AFRAID TO DO INTERVIEWS: ‘COMPLETELY BULLS—‘

President-elect Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris  (Reuters/Brian Snyder/Kevin Mohatt)

“There is a sharp difference in reaction to the election results based on who voters supported: 67% of Harris voters were surprised by the results, while 71% of Trump voters were not surprised by his victory,” Kimball said. 

Looking ahead to 2028, voters were asked about a hypothetical field of candidates. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance led the field with support from 30% of respondents. He was followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 5%, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 3% and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Nikki Haley tied at 2%. 

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Harris led the field of Democrats with 37%, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 7% and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 4%.

Stanford-trained physician and economist Jay Bhattacharya has officially been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, writing: “I am thrilled to nominate Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nation’s Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives.”

Bhattacharya met this week with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH and other health agencies, and impressed the former presidential candidate with his ideas to overhaul the NIH, which oversees U.S. biomedical research, according to a report by The Washington Post.

The NIH also awards funding grants to hundreds of thousands of researchers, oversees clinical trials on its Maryland campus and supports a variety of efforts to develop drugs and therapeutics.

The nominee for the NIH director must be confirmed by the Senate, which will have a Republican majority beginning in January.

TRUMP PICKS DR. MARTY MAKARY AS FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATOR COMMISSIONER

Stanford-trained physician and economist Jay Bhattacharya is reportedly the presumptive favorite to be nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next director of the NIH. (Getty Images)

Bhattacharya has called for moving the NIH’s focus toward funding more innovative research and cutting the influence of some of its longest-serving officials.

Kennedy Jr. has played a central role in choosing top health care staff and deputies for Trump’s next administration, including Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary, who Trump selected to lead the Food and Drug Administration, and internal medicine physician and former Republican congressman from Florida Dave Weldon, who Trump chose to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the report.

FILE: Jay Bhattacharya speaks during the 2023 Forbes Healthcare Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 05, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

Bhattacharya and Makary worked together on a blueprint for a proposed commission to investigate the nation’s coronavirus response, the report noted.

Trump’s selections of Makary, Weldon and family and emergency medicine physician Janette Nesheiwat, who the president-elect nominated to serve as surgeon general, also must be confirmed by the Senate.

TRUMP APPOINTS DR. OZ TO KEY HHS POSITION IN NEW ADMINISTRATION

The nominee for the NIH director must be confirmed by the Senate, which will have a Republican majority starting in January. (Getty Images)

Bhattacharya was a prominent critic of the federal government’s COVID-19 response during the early days of the pandemic. He co-wrote an open letter in October 2020, during Trump’s first term, that called for the government to roll back pandemic shutdowns but maintain “focused protections” for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.

The suggestion was supported by Republican lawmakers and many Americans who were critical of shutdowns and wanted to return to pre-pandemic life. However, public health experts, including then-NIH Director Francis S. Collins, criticized the proposal as premature and dangerous amid the spread of COVID-19 at a time when vaccines were not yet available.

Bhattacharya has also called for rolling back the power of some of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the NIH, arguing that some career civil servants wrongly shaped national policies at the height of the pandemic and did not allow dissenting perspectives.

The nominee for NIH director is not official until President-elect Donald Trump makes the announcement. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

He, along with other critics of the agency, have criticized former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, who helped shape the nation’s coronavirus response during the Trump and Biden administrations before leaving the federal government in December 2022.

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The NIH has also been investigated by congressional lawmakers over the pandemic response, with Republicans charging that the agency’s leaders mismanaged the response to the virus and calling for the agency to be overhauled.

Current and former NIH officials, including Fauci, have defended the agency’s response, arguing that federal leaders generally did the best that they could to address the virus.

President-elect Trump announced a slew of appointments as his team prepares to transition to the White House next year. 

The incoming president announced Jamieson Greer as his pick to serve as the next U.S. trade representative. Greer previously served as chief of staff to the trade representative during Trump’s first term, Robert Lighthizer at a time when the administration implemented tariffs on China and other nations. 

Greer will have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Jamieson Greer is President-elect Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. trade representative.  (USCC)

Trump also tapped Vince Haley, who served speechwriter during his campaign, to serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Kevin A. Hassett to lead the White House National Economic Council. 

“I am proud to announce that Vince Haley, who served as Director of Policy and Speechwriting on my Winning Campaign, will lead my Domestic Policy Agenda as Director of the Domestic Policy Council,” Trump said in a statement. 

“Vince helped lead the Speechwriting Department in my First Administration, working to convey our message to the Public,” he added. “Prior to joining my 2016 Campaign, he worked for twelve years in a variety of roles for Newt Gingrich, a man who I greatly respect.”

Haley served as policy director and campaign manager for Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign. 

Vince Haley during Trump’s podium check at the Fiserv Forum before the start of the session of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 17.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In his new role, Haley will lead Trump’s domestic agenda, the incoming president said. 

Hassett played a crucial role in helping design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. 

“He will play an important role in helping American families recover from the Inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration,” Trump said. “Together, we will renew and improve our record Tax Cuts, and ensure that we have Fair Trade with Countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past.”

Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Businessman John Phelan will serve as the next secretary of the Navy as well. 

John Phelan, co-managing partner and co-founder of MSD Capital LP. (Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision,” Trump said. “He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else.”

President Biden announced Tuesday that Israel has reached a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon that would end nearly 14 months of fighting, and while some U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle congratulated efforts to reach a stop to the conflict, others suggest this is nothing but a political football.

While speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Biden said Israel and Lebanon agreed to the deal, adding that Israel retains the right to defend itself should Hezbollah break the pact.

“Let’s be clear. Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not seek that war either. Nor did the United States,” Biden said. “Security for the people of Israel and Lebanon cannot be achieved only on the battlefield. And that’s why I directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to forge a cease-fire, to bring a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close.”

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked about a potential cease-fire deal during a press briefing on Tuesday and said the Department of Defense (DoD) was “very supportive” of the ceasefire. He also said the DoD plays an important role in working with partners in the Middle East region to prevent a wider conflict.

BIDEN ANNOUNCES CEASE-FIRE PLAN BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH ENDING 14 MONTHS OF FIGHTING

Protesters in Israel call for a cease-fire and political solution with Hezbollah near the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. (Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who serves as the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence called the agreement “a welcome development for the region.”

“This agreement to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has killed thousands of people, is a welcome development for the region and should increase pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement to end the fighting and destruction in the Gaza Strip, which has already claimed so many innocent lives,” Warner said. “I applaud diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration and other international partners over many months in helping to reach this point.”

THUNE THREATENS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WITH SANCTIONS IF IT DOESN’T DROP NETANYAHU WARRANT FOR ARREST

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., called Tuesday’s cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah “a welcome development for the region.” (Reuters)

Also weighing in on the deal was Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said he was pleased to hear the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah had been reached.

“Well done to all those involved in reaching this agreement,” he said. “I appreciate the hard work of the Biden Administration, supported by President Trump, to make this ceasefire a reality. This ceasefire will protect Israel from another October 7th and will give the people of Lebanon a break from the fighting.

“My hope is that we can soon achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and allow peaceful solutions to replace endless conflict,” he added.

ISRAEL ‘MOVING FORWARD’ ON POSSIBLE HEZBOLLAH CEASE-FIRE, OFFICIAL SAYS

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was pleased to hear a cease-fire deal had been reached between Israel and Hezbollah on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on the other hand, was not so quick to congratulate the Biden administration’s efforts in reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

He said Israeli allies accomplished enormous military successes over the past year against Hezbollah, resulting in the death of thousands of Hezbollah terrorists and eliminating the entire command of the Iranian-backed terrorist group.

“These actions have directly contributed to vital American national security interests, including directly by liquidating terrorist leaders who had the blood of hundreds of American on their hands,” Cruz said. “Indeed, the U.S.-Israel relationship is at the core of U.S. interests in the Middle East, and American policy should be to provide unequivocal military and diplomatic support to our Israeli allies to fully ensure their security.”

He then turned to the Biden administration’s tactics and timing in conjunction with President-elect Trump’s return to the White House.

TRUMP, CONGRESS LOOKING TO PUT SUFFOCATING SANCTIONS ON ‘KANGAROO’ ICC OVER NETANYAHU ARREST WARRANT

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused Obama-Biden officials of withholding weapons from Israel to pressure them into a ceasefire agreement. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“The Biden administration has spent the last four years pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel and boosting Iran, including by coercing our Israeli allies to cede maritime territory to Hezbollah,” Cruz noted. “They are now using the transition period to the Trump administration and a Republican Congress to try to lock in those efforts — and to constrain the incoming administration — by establishing what they believe to be irreversible diplomatic, legal, and military policies. However, these and similar international policies are not irreversible.”

Cruz and 10 other senators signed a letter saying the U.S. will re-evaluate its relationship with the United Nations and with Palestinians if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fulfills a pledge he made to secure the expulsion of Israel from the U.N. General Assembly.

Cruz also said he joined his colleagues in vowing to act against the International Criminal Court for undermining American and Israeli interests by issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and said everyone involved in the decision should face American sanctions.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. (Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

He then accused Obama-Biden officials for pressuring Israeli allies into accepting the ceasefire by withholding weapons necessary to defend themselves against Hezbollah, while also threatening to facilitate a binding international arms embargo through the U.N.

“Obama-Biden officials are already trying to use Israel’s acceptance of this cease-fire to ensure that Hezbollah and other Iranian terrorist groups remain intact across Lebanon, and to limit Israel’s future freedom of action and self-defense,” Cruz claimed. “Administration officials, including Secretary of State Blinken, today even downplayed Israel’s right under the cease-fire to strike terrorist groups in Lebanon when those groups pose imminent threats.

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“These constraints have been rejected by our Israeli allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that under the cease-fire Israel retains full freedom of action to counter Hezbollah if the group attacks Israel or tries to rebuild its terrorist infrastructure,” he added. “The United States should allow and assist Israel in doing so, and I am committed to working closely with the Trump administration and my colleagues in the incoming Congress to ensure they are able to do.”

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

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

Here’s what’s happening…

-Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal Trump cases cost taxpayers more than $50 million, financials show

–3 House races still uncalled 3 weeks from Election Day

-Federal judge blocks Biden labor protections for foreign farmworkers

‘Don’t Test Us’

Incoming border czar Tom Homan joined Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday at a key border area in Texas, and will serve meals to troops stationed there over Thanksgiving – praising the governor’s “unprecedented success” in securing the border, ahead of what is expected to be significant cooperation between the Trump administration and Abbott’s team next year.

Homan and Abbott served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in Eagle Pass, Texas. Homan praised Abbott for his job.

“Governor Abbott has done an amazing job. Illegal immigration in Texas is down 86%, 86% think about that. This is a model we can take across the country. We’re going to help Governor Abbott finish the job he started,” he said.

Homan was appointed “border czar” by President-elect Trump this month after Trump’s election win. A former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, Homan will be one of the most high-profile figures in terms of the mass deportation operation the incoming administration has planned….Read more

This split shows Thomas Homan and Texas troopers dealing with migrants at the southern border. (Photo by Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images and Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images))

White House

‘DEPORTER IN CHIEF’: Deportations higher under Obama than Trump…Read more

Trump Transition

‘SUIT’ING UP: Dem attorneys general prepare for legal battle with Trump, after filing hundreds of challenges last term: He ‘threatens civil rights’…Read more

RED WHITE & BLUE CARPET: Glenn Youngkin ‘personally invites’ new Trump admin to settle in Virginia over Maryland and DC…Read more

Former President Donald Trump and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin meet for the first time in June 2024. (Trump Campaign)

‘USELESS’: Tom Cotton slams ‘partisans and obstructionists’ in DOD reportedly plotting to block Trump plans…Read more

‘A LOT OF WASTE’: ‘A lot of waste’: Blackburn and Ramaswamy talk DOGE cuts…Read more

HOWARD KURTZ: Why Trump dropped Matt Gaetz…Read more

Trail Dust

‘BETRAYAL OF PARTY VALUES’: DNC union launches GoFundMe to help former staffers hit by massive layoffs after election losses…Read more

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris greet U.S. President Joe Biden as First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff look on at the end of the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.  Delegates, politicians, and Democratic party supporters are in Chicago for the convention, concluding with current Vice President Kamala Harris accepting her party’s presidential nomination. The DNC takes place from August 19-22.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Capitol Hill

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: Congress has just weeks to avoid a partial government shutdown after Thanksgiving…Read more

FILIBUSTER: Kyrsten Sinema responds to Democrats admitting filibuster will help them stop Trump agenda: ‘Schadenfreude’…Read more

LAST MINUTE: Blinken set to testify on Afghanistan withdrawal in House amid looming contempt vote…Read more

Across America 

‘GENDER COMMUNISM INDOCTRINATION’: NYC elementary school blasted for teaching ‘gender identity’ course to kindergarteners…Read more

READY FOR LIFTOFF: Federal judge sides with SpaceX after environmental group tried to stop rocket launches…Read more

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink 4-20 mission, launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 4, 2022. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images))

WHAT’S NEXT: What’s next for this popular Republican governor after he leaves office?…Read more

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

“I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places,” goes the song by crooner Billie Holiday.

Those who toil in Congress certainly saw a lot of old friends in the old familiar places at the U.S. Capitol recently.

First, there was Vice President-elect and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

Vance hasn’t even been a senator for two years. Yet he’s now bound for the vice presidency at age 40. He’ll be the youngest vice president since John Breckenridge worked alongside President James Buchanan in 1857.

SPRINT TO CONFIRM TRUMP NOMINEES KICKS OFF IN JANUARY

But Vance hasn’t been spotted at the Capitol much since President-elect Trump drafted him as his running mate in July. Vance was at the Capitol in June for votes. Gone for Fourth of July. Then selected as running mate. Then nowhere near the Capitol for the August recess. Vance only dipped into the Capitol for a doctor’s appointment with the attending physician to Congress in September. Then there was the election.

Vance didn’t parachute back to Capitol Hill right away. But he did come back last week for votes – and primarily to shuttle Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominees through a series of meetings with senators. Vance facilitated sessions between senators and defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building. Other meetings were in the Strom Thurmond Room in the Senate wing of the Capitol for former Rep. and former attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

At one point, Vance also took a strange diversion to the secure suite of rooms on the House side of the Capitol used by the House Intelligence Committee. It was never clear why Vance went there, who he met with or what was discussed.

Vice President-elect JD Vance, R-Ohio, left, with embattled ex-Congressman Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., last week on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A scrum of reporters tried to track Vance’s whereabouts when he and his entourage disappeared from the Strom Thurmond Room.

But the press corps stumbled upon someone else: former Trump Chief of Staff and former Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.

“I’m just leading a tour, guys,” said Meadows when asked if he was there to talk with Vance or work on the transition. “This is just a private visit.”

OHIO CONGRESSMAN VYING TO REPLACE JD VANCE IN THE SENATE SAYS TRUMP’S AGENDA MUST BE PRIORITY ON ‘DAY ONE’

But Vance was soon back in the Strom Thurmond Room to talk with Gaetz.

Gaetz resigned from Congress after the President-elect tapped him as his first attorney general candidate. The Florida Republican abruptly resigned from the House the next day. Vance escorted Gaetz into the Senate wing of the Capitol last week for individual forums with members of the Judiciary Committee.

After his conclaves with senators, an ebullient Gaetz left the Capitol – departing via the House side.

Gaetz, left, abruptly forfeited his congressional seat as soon as he was named as President Trump’s pick to head the Department of Justice. In hindsight, this resignation appears to have been in haste. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“Senators have been giving me a lot of good advice. I’m looking forward to a hearing. Folks have been very supportive. They’ve been saying we’re going to get a fair process. So it’s a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration,” said Gaetz. “We’re going to tackle fentanyl. We’re going to ensure that we don’t have the DoJ involved in censorship any more. And make sure that we get the country back on track.”

Gaetz withdrew from consideration 18 hours later.

Gaetz announced that his nomination “was unfairly becoming a distraction.” He added that “there is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.”

GAETZ-GATE: NAVIGATING THE PRESIDENT-ELECT’S MOST BAFFLING CABINET PICK

Colleague Alexis McAdams reported that Gaetz reached the conclusion on his own.

Gaetz’s resignation letter to the House made it clear that he did “not intend” to serve in the new Congress starting in January – even though he just won re-election.

So now Gaetz is a former congressman. He won’t be Attorney General and he’s a former nominee. And he won’t be a future congressman.

Given the ex-congressman’s current career trajectory, Gaetz’s future presence on Capitol Hill will likely be limited, to say the least. (Reuters)

So, chalk down Gaetz as someone who probably won’t materialize around the Capitol often in the future.

Until he wants to. After all, former members are always allowed back into the building.

After Gaetz bowed out of the attorney general slot, I ran over to the Senate where I followed Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to the Hart Senate Office Building, and persuaded Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to chat with reporters by the Senate Carriage Entrance. Once back inside, a man stood in a first floor hallway near the Brumidi Corridors, checking his phone. No one else paid him any attention. I’m not even sure other reporters had any idea who the man was.

HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE PLANS TO DISCUSS PROBE INTO GAETZ AFTER RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS

“Glad you aren’t around here any more on a day like this?” I asked.

The man chuckled and nodded in agreement.

It was former Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram ran into former Sen. David Vitter, R-La., on Capitol Hill recently, shortly after Matt Gaetz bowed out of contention for the AG slot. Vitter seemed content with the fact that he no longer had an obligation to report there for work on days like that. (AP Photo)

But another former member also graced the Capitol that same day. Mostly to hector House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and his preparation of a report on the conduct of Gaetz.

“I said, ‘f–k it. I’ll come,’” said former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y.

And there he was.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO POTENTIALLY RELEASING THE ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT ON GAETZ

The House expelled Santos nearly a year ago, for, well, having less credibility as to who he was than Milli Vanilli.

“I’m completely, completely unrestrained from talking to you guys,” said Santos to the press corps.

Santos was looking for Guest, the author of the House Ethics Committee report which ultimately led to the expulsion of the New York Republican.

Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., was also at the Capitol in the aftermath of Gaetz’s resignation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Santos became just the sixth member ever expelled from the House. But as an expelled member, your status around the Capitol is the same as a former lawmaker who resigned, retired or lost. You are a former member. That means Santos has access to the Capitol complex. It’s a loophole that House members said they would fix after they booted Santos – but never did.

“If he runs away from me, I’ll go stand in front of his office and scream at him through his door,” said Santos of Guest.

“Have you been in touch with Gaetz at all?” asked one reporter.

FORMER REP. GEORGE SANTOS PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD, ID THEFT CASE

“No. No. He’s busy. He’s lobbying the Senate, which he should,” replied Santos.

Note this was the same day Gaetz was at the Capitol meeting with senators – but just hours before he withdrew his nomination for attorney general.

“What do you think of Trump’s other nominees so far?” asked a reporter.

Santos, who lauded the President-elect’s Cabinet picks when asked, has said he’s not been in contact with Gaetz as of late. ( Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Great. It’s fantastic. It’s transformative. It’s a proverbial wrecking ball to the swamp. And they’re dealing with an existential crisis. And they’re grappling for their lives because the American people have served them with a existential crisis and a mandate with Donald Trump,” said Santos.

“Is it fair to say you have an ax to grind as he was the one who led the charge against you?” asked a reporter of Santos about Guest.

“Do you remember that my ethics report was incomplete and that there was a footnote that said we do not recommend any kind of punishment because it’s not a complete report. And yet he still went and filed an expulsion resolution of errors full of misleading information that basically contradicted what was in the report?” retorted Santos. “So he’s full of sh-t.”

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO GAETZ’S STATUS IN THE HOUSE AND THE ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT

Reporters then pivoted to whether the House Ethics Committee should publish its report on Gaetz – even though he’s a former member.

“He’s not scared,” replied Santos. “I don’t blame him.”

“Do you plan to request a pardon?” asked another reporter.

Santos claims he doesn’t “intend,” nor is he “entertaining,” talks of a potential pardon. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

“That’s not a conversation I’ve had. I don’t intend on that conversation,” said Santos. “I am not entertaining that conversation.”

Santos also told his audience that he did “not plan on running for office again.”

Which means Santos may continue to surface at the Capitol, unabated, despite the ignominy of his expulsion.

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Vance will certainly return to the Capitol periodically as Vice President to preside over the Senate and potentially break ties. But Gaetz, Meadows, Vitter, Santos and soon, Vance, all have the same status. They’re former members. And that means they can return to the Capitol any time they want.

President-elect Trump’s transition team announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House allowing the two sides to formally begin the transition of power.

“After completing the selection process of his incoming Cabinet, President-elect Trump is entering the next phase of his administration’s transition by executing a Memorandum of Understanding with President Joe Biden’s White House,” Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, announced in a press release.

“This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power.”

The press release went on to explain that the transition “will not utilize taxpayer funding for costs related to the transition” in order to be “consistent with President Trump’s commitment to save taxpayers’ hard-earned money.”

HARRIS CAMPAIGN CHAIR FUMES ABOUT NARRATIVE SHE WAS AFRAID TO DO INTERVIEWS: ‘COMPLETELY BULLS—‘

President Biden and President-elect Trump shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The press release added that the transition will “operate as a self-sufficient organization” in a “streamlined” manner and that “security and information protections” are already built in so that “additional government bureaucratic oversight” will not be required. 

The transition team also said an “existing” ethics plan is in place that will be posted to the website of the General Services Administration. 

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S FEDERAL TRUMP CASES COST TAXPAYERS MORE THAN $50 MILLION, FINANCIALS SHOW

Former President Trump brings Susie Wiles to the podium at an election night watch party on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“The Transition landing teams will quickly integrate directly into federal agencies and departments with access to documents and policy sharing,” the press release stated. “Per the agreement, the Transition will disclose the landing team members to the Biden Administration.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

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President Biden delivers a speech at Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (Getty Images)

Trump has been facing heat from his Democratic critics in recent weeks for not agreeing to the memorandum sooner. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to the GSA last week slamming the president-elect.

Signing the documents means the government can now provide security clearances and briefings to incoming administration officials and the FBI can screen Trump’s picks for the Cabinet and other key posts. The agreements also provide “office space, IT equipment, office supplies, fleet vehicles, mail management, and payment of compensation and other expenses,” according to the GSA. 

That process is designed to uncover personal problems, criminal histories and other potential red flags that would raise questions about a nominee’s suitability for key jobs. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report

Texas officials took another step Tuesday morning toward fulfilling their promise of continuing construction of the southern border wall, after purchasing a 1,400-acre ranch along the Rio Grande in a critical region identified by officials as a hotspot for human trafficking, as well as weapons and drug smuggling.

“It is my promise to all Texans that as land commissioner, I will do everything in my power to stop the pain and suffering that has been happening on this property,” Dawn Buckingham said during a press conference with other officials Tuesday. “The previous owner would not allow law enforcement on this ranch.”

Officials will construct another mile of the wall in the coming weeks, Buckingham said, as the first panel was installed Tuesday while the family of Jocelyn Nungaray, killed by suspected illegal immigrants, looked on.

BATTLEGROUND STATE RANCHER ‘OUTRAGED’ BY BIDEN STOPPING WALL CONSTRUCTION AS MIGRANTS POUR INTO US

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and a ranch on the Rio Grande. (Texas General Land Office | Fox News Digital)

“Every day, it’s a struggle. Every day it’s hard. Some days are easier than others, but it never takes away the fact that she’s not here anymore due to the pain of people who were let in this country to do what they did to her,” Alexis – mother of Jocelyn – said during the news conference. 

Gov. Greg Abbott announced in 2021 funding for a state project to continue construction of a wall after the Biden administration abruptly ended the Trump-era project. Abbott has also built a floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. His administration has linked the barriers, and a broader effort by the state, to a drop in apprehensions.

Buckingham said she has offered President-elect Trump and incoming border czar Tom Homan use of the 1,400-acre property “to construct a facility for the processing, detention and coordination efforts of what will be the largest deportation of violent criminals in our nation’s history.”

Homan and Abbott greeted and served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in Eagle Pass, Texas, also on Tuesday.

‘SHUT IT DOWN’: RED STATE MAKES MASSIVE LAND BUY TO RAMP UP BORDER WALL EFFORTS AMID MIGRANT SURGE

Drone footage of a ranch in Starr County. (Texas General Land Office)

Rep. Chip Roy, also in attendance, urged his fellow Republicans to pass stricter immigration policies once Trump takes office in January.

“No excuses,” he said. 

“Americans are dying. That is why President Trump was swept into office. That is why Republicans were given the trifecta in Washington,” Roy added.

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Migrants at the southern border and President-elect Trump (Getty Images)

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

A federal judge sided with SpaceX after an environmental group sought to stop its rocket launches just months before the company’s CEO is slated to work closely with the incoming Trump administration.

During static fire tests and launches, SpaceX uses a “deluge system” that applies water to the rocket engine exhaust to absorb heat and prevent explosions during takeoff.

SpaceX has said the system uses “clean, potable (drinking) water” for the tests, but a Texas-based environmental group claims the process poses a risk to the environment.

In an October lawsuit, Save RGV, a nonprofit based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, claimed SpaceX was violating the Clean Water Act by releasing wastewater from the launches at Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, roughly 25 miles east of the city of Brownsville. 

FEDERAL COURT UPENDS DECADES OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Oct. 14, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (John Raoux)

The group requested a restraining order be put in place to block SpaceX from using the deluge system, which would put a hold on rocket launches.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, after the suit was filed, the aeronautics company said an environmental review had already been conducted that cleared the system from any environmental hazards.

TRUMP PLANNING TO LIFT BIDEN’S LNG PAUSE, INCREASE OIL DRILLLING DURING 1ST DAYS IN OFFICE: REPORT

“The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) conducted a technical review of Starship’s water-cooled flame deflector, which uses potable (drinking) water and determined that its use does not pose risk to the environment,” SpaceX said in an Oct. 10 post. “Save RGV acknowledged that they are aware of these straightforward facts and still filed an unwarranted and frivolous lawsuit.”

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

In a new ruling, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera denied the restraining order request, saying that halting the rocket launches could have various negative implications, including for NASA.

“Being unable to launch would create various consequences for not only Defendant, but also the public at large. It would significantly delay and possibly destroy Defendant’s contracts with NASA to further the Artemis Program and Human Landing System Program — worth billions of dollars,” Olvera wrote.

The judge also ruled that SpaceX has not been harming the environment, citing environmental reviews that have already been conducted on the launch system.

“At the beginning of the Starship-Super Heavy Launch System’s development, it became evident that a deluge water system was necessary to protect the launch site and surrounding areas during launches,” the judge wrote. “A deluge water system sprays large quantities of potable water at the base of the spacecrafts during launch to prevent fires and reduce dispersal of dust and debris.”

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of two lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Sept. 28, 2024, at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The decision comes just two months before Musk is expected to work closely with President-elect Trump’s administration.

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Musk is planning to work with Trump and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency to cut government spending.  

The Redwood City Council in California voted 4-3 in favor of calling for staff to draft an ordinance for consideration that would restrict the city from cooperating with immigration authorities.

“Council voted 4 to 3 to direct staff to place an ordinance restricting the use of city resources to cooperate with ICE on a future agenda in the first quarter of 2025. Thank you, RWC!” council member Chris Sturken said in a Facebook post.

The vote came ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration — Trump pledged that as president he will initiate the “largest mass deportation” in American history.

MIGRANT MURDERS PUT AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ON EDGE AS OVER 1.4 MILLION AVOID DEPORTATION WITH SHADY TACTICS 

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 2024 (ALLISON ROBBERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“The outcome of the national and state election has brought up feelings of uncertainty and anxiety for many of us. I assure you that as your representative I will do everything in my power to make Redwood City a safer and more inclusive community for all,” Sturken said in a Facebook post earlier this month.

During discussion of his proposal on Monday, Sturken argued in favor of passing an ordinance to ensure that no city resources may be utilized to cooperate with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, unless required under law.

Sturken said that the “ordinance would codify our existing non-cooperation policy with ICE and expand it across the whole city.”

INCOMING BORDER CZAR HOMAN TO JOIN TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT AT KEY BORDER POINT, SERVE MEALS TO TROOPS

Redwood City Council voted 4-3 in favor of calling for staff to draft an ordinance for consideration that would restrict the city from cooperating with ICE. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Redwood City’s website indicates that “the Redwood City Police Department does not actively participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, which are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“This means that police officers do not conduct sweeps looking for suspected undocumented persons, and we serve all members of the public regardless of immigration status,” the site also states.

TOM HOMAN RESPONDS TO DENVER MAYOR: ‘HE’S WILLING TO GO TO JAIL, I’M WILLING TO PUT HIM IN JAIL’

A law enforcement officer walks past the ICE logo ahead of a press conference on May 11, 2017, at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Trump has tapped former acting ICE Director Tom Homan to serve as border czar.

FIRST ON FOX: Facing the threat of a contempt of Congress vote, Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally agreed to testify in front of the 118th Congress’ House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) on the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal after being sought to do so for months, according to a spokesperson for the committee’s GOP majority. 

President Biden’s Secretary of State is set to appear for a public hearing on Dec. 11, an HFAC majority spokesperson told Fox News Digital. His testimony will take place over three years after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Blinken did testify directly after the withdrawal in front of the Democrat-controlled HFAC in September 2021. 

Blinken has previously refused to comply with the GOP-led committee’s subpoena for testimony in 2024 on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

His initial testimony to the Democrat-controlled committee was not sufficient for Republican HFAC Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

CONGRESS HAS JUST WEEKS TO AVOID A PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFTER THANKSGIVING

Antony Blinken agreed to testify in front of the GOP-controlled House under threat of a contempt vote. (Reuters/Getty Images)

In the recent Blinken contempt report, McCaul noted the 2021 “appearance was prior to an investigation being launched by the Committee, meaning this Committee had yet to conduct any transcribed interviews or document discovery. As a result, the Committee did not have the benefit of its investigative findings to probe Secretary Blinken’s testimony, which contained misleading accounts of the withdrawal and NEO under his leadership.”

“After months of good faith efforts that were too often met with stonewalling from the State Department, I’m proud to have secured Secretary Blinken’s appearance before my committee. I trust his testimony will provide some long-overdue accountability and transparency for the American people, our Afghan allies, and our Gold Star families,” said McCaul in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“It’s unfortunate the secretary agreed to appear only after my committee advanced contempt proceedings against him. While I wish he had not delayed this crucial appearance until the end of his tenure as head of the State Department, I look forward to hearing his testimony and asking poignant questions to help House Republicans and the next administration ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Blinken’s decision to finally testify came as a floor vote to hold him in contempt of Congress drew closer, with the House Rules Committee expected to soon begin setting terms for a vote on the resolution. 

SENATE GOP MOTIVATED TO RAPIDLY CONFIRM TRUMP NOMINATIONS AHEAD OF PARTY TRIFECTA IN WASHINGTON

Gold Medals sit on display ahead of a ceremony honoring the 13 American service members who died in the suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Sept. 10, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Per the committee spokesperson, McCaul began seeking Blinken’s testimony in May. McCaul’s investigation into the withdrawal has spanned three years, but when Republicans were in the minority during the 117th Congress, he had limited oversight capabilities. 

During a general hearing on American diplomacy with Blinken in May, McCaul first asked for the secretary to testify in September when the committee’s report on its investigation on the Afghanistan withdrawal was set to be released. 

Blinken would not commit to do so, telling the chairman, “Well, we can have our teams talk about that Mr. Chairman. Thank you.”

‘CONVEYOR BELT OF RADICALS’: GOP SLAMMED OVER SENATE ABSENCES THAT HELPED BIDEN SCORE MORE JUDGES IN LAME DUCK

McCaul sent Blinken a subpoena to appear to discuss the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

The committee spokesperson told Fox News Digital that, in the months following, Blinken was afforded repeated accommodations and received various warnings, but the Department of State (DOS) refused to name a date he would be willing to appear in September. He sought instead for his two deputies to testify, despite the fact that neither of them had been with the department during the withdrawal. 

The committee ultimately decided to issue a subpoena for Blinken’s testimony in early September. The chairman then moved the date that he was subpoenaed to testify upon learning that Blinken was abroad, in order to ensure his attendance. 

But on September 24, Blinken did not report to Congress to testify. 

Following his absence, the HFAC voted to recommend that Blinken be held in contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena. The vote was 26 to 25, along party lines. 

The committee spokesperson detailed the lengths to which the Republican majority went to work with Blinken to avoid using its subpoena power. According to them, the committee reminded the DOS of the report just before September, when McCaul sought to have Blinken testify. However, the department and Blinken still refused to pick a date during the month. 

DSCC HOPEFUL GILLIBRAND SAYS DEMS SHOULD HAVE PUT IMMIGRATION FIX ON TABLE ‘2 YEARS AGO’

Blinken initially defied the subpoena. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz/Pool/File Photo)

On Nov. 7, HFAC majority staff met with leadership from the DOS and informed them about the report recommending Blinken be held in contempt advancing out of the committee. They further relayed that if he still refuses to provide dates to testify in front of the committee that the contempt resolution was prepared to head to the House floor for a vote. 

By Nov. 14, the contempt proceedings were noticed for consideration in the rules committee, which is one of the last steps before a House vote can occur. On this same day, the DOS made its first date offering to the committee. The department offered either Dec. 17 or 18, according to the committee spokesperson, but the two dates were in the last week of the session when many representatives will already be gone. 

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On Nov. 15, the committee countered the DOS with an offer of Dec. 10 or 11. The department ultimately chose the 11th and Blinken accepted, per the committee spokesperson. 

The DOS did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will release a video ad Tuesday inviting the countless new workers and officials in the second Trump administration to settle in his state, versus the District of Columbia and neighboring Maryland.

Youngkin, who made education policy a pillar of his 2021 campaign against ex-Gov. Terence McAuliffe amid several school controversies in Northern Virginia, said the commonwealth has better schools than its neighbors.

Youngkin cited a CNBC study ranking Virginia first in the U.S. in education, and first in the nation overall for business – displacing its neighbor in 2023, first-place North Carolina.

“To the new members of President Trump’s administration moving to the area, I want to personally invite you to make Virginia your home,” Youngkin said.

DOJ ONCE OK’D KAINE-ERA LAW AT CENTER OF YOUNGKIN VOTE CULLING ORDER FEDS NOW SUING TO BLOCK

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, right, and President-elect Donald Trump meet ahead of the 2024 election. (Trump campaign)

“Virginia is right across the Potomac. We offer a great quality of life, safe communities, award-winning schools where parents matter, and lower taxes than D.C. or Maryland.”

Maryland was listed 31st in best-for-business, and the District of Columbia was unranked, according to the study.

The ad flashed through several scenes in the Old Dominion, from the capital, Richmond, to the King Street Trolley slinking through Old Town Alexandria. 

“It’s why so many people choose Virginia as the best place to live, work and raise a family,” Youngkin said.

Youngkin has called education the “bedrock of attaining the American dream,” and the CNBC study credited both Youngkin and the Democratic state legislative majority for compromising on $2.5 billion in new K-12 funding and 3% raises for teachers.

When asked about Virginia being pitched as a new home for the new administration, Trump transition team spokesman Brian Hughes said Youngkin’s performance speaks for itself as its own advertisement.

CLIMATE PROTESTERS INTERRUPT YOUNGKIN’S 9/11 SPEECH

Alexandria, Virginia, once part of Washington, D.C., until it retroceded to Virginia in the 1840s, sits across the Potomac River from the White House. (Getty)

“With the amazing job Governor Youngkin has done bringing common sense, low taxes, and high quality of life to his state, it’s no wonder that he has a compelling case to make to people who are exploring next steps in the region.” Hughes said.

Youngkin was swept into office in 2021 after a major political upset of McAuliffe – as Republicans had been out of power in Richmond for about a decade.

The last Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, reappeared on the political scene during President-elect Donald Trump’s various legal trials, as he, too, had been subject to prosecution by now-special counsel Jack Smith.

In McDonnell’s case, the once-rumored 2012 running-mate candidate’s political future imploded during his own corruption litigation, but the Supreme Court later unanimously threw out Smith’s conviction. Now-Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, ultimately chose then-Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. to run with him that cycle.

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Richmond, Virginia, and the Virginia State Capitol. (Getty)

With Virginia being the rare state that does not allow its governor to run for consecutive terms, Youngkin’s deputy, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, has launched a 2025 gubernatorial campaign she said seeks to build on the Youngkin-Sears record.

The prominent Democrat in the upcoming contest thus far is Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who gave up her seat in launching her bid. Spanberger will be replaced in Congress by Rep-elect Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, D-Va., – the twin brother of Trump impeachment witness Col. Alexander Vindman.