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MILWAUKEE, WI – Democrats are celebrating a larger-than-expected victory in a high-profile and historically expensive election in battleground Wisconsin, in the first statewide ballot box contest since President Donald Trump’s return to power in January.

Liberal-leaning Judge Susan Crawford topped conservative-leaning Judge Brad Schimel by roughly ten points – with some votes still being tabulated – to preserve the liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which is likely to rule going forward on crucial issues like congressional redistricting, voting and labor rights, and abortion.

With a massive infusion of money from Democrat-aligned and Republican-aligned groups from outside Wisconsin, which turned the race into the most expensive judicial election in the nation’s history, the contest partially transformed into a referendum on Trump’s sweeping and controversial moves during the opening months of his second tour of duty in the White House.

Also front and center in the electoral showdown was someone who, along with Trump, was not on the ballot: billionaire Elon Musk, the president’s top donor and White House adviser, who inserted himself into the race.

Elon Musk speaks during a town hall on Sunday, March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

“The people of Wisconsin squarely rejected the influence of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and billionaire special interests,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin claimed.

And the DNC, looking ahead to next year’s bigger contests in the 2026 midterm elections, called the showdown in Wisconsin a “bellwether race.”

But Republicans came out on top in Tuesday’s other marquee contests, holding control of two vacant congressional seats in twin special elections in red state Florida. The double-digit victories by the Republican candidates will give the GOP a little bit of breathing room in the House of Representatives, where the party is holding onto a very fragile majority as it aims to pass Trump’s agenda.

“The American people sent a clear message tonight: they want elected officials who will advance President Trump’s America First agenda, and their votes can’t be bought by national Democrats,” Republican National Committee chair Mike Whatley argued.

The Democrat candidates in the two special congressional elections vastly outraised their Republican counterparts – a sign that the party’s base is angry and energized – which forced GOP-aligned outside groups to pour money and resources into the races during the final stretch. And the Democrat candidates ended up losing by 15 and 14 points in districts that Trump carried by 37 and 30 points in last November’s presidential election.

Democrats quickly spotlighted how the party “overperformed” in Florida. And the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting House Democrats, touted that the results showed “that the political headwinds are firmly at our backs heading into 2026.”

But Mike Marinella, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, argued that “Democrats just lit over $20,000,000 on fire in a doomed-to-fail effort to make two deep red Florida districts competitive — and got blown out of the water in the most embarrassing way.”

Republican Randy Fine, center, meets with supporters after the special election for U.S. House District 6 was called in his favor, Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in Ormond Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack) (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

But the results in Florida, and especially Wisconsin, will likely give the Democrats a jolt, and validate their efforts to target Musk.

Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, who has taken a buzz saw to the federal government workforce as he steers Trump’s recently created Department of Government Efficiency, dished out roughly $20 million in the Wisconsin race through aligned groups in support of Schimel.

And Musk, in a controversial move, handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday evening to two Wisconsin voters who had already cast ballots in the contest and had signed a petition to stop “activist judges.”

“I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world, for justice in Wisconsin. And we won,” Crawford said in her election night victory speech.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, argued that Wisconsin voters “sent a decisive message to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE by rejecting an extreme Republican for their Supreme Court: our Democracy is not for sale.”

“Anyone who counted Democrats out was dead wrong,” he emphasized.

But Democrats have a serious brand issue right now.

The party’s favorable rating sank to all-time lows in separate national polls conducted last month by CNN and NBC News. Those numbers followed a record low for Democrats in a Quinnipiac University survey in the field in February. 

Additionally, the latest Fox News National poll, indicated that congressional Democrats’ approval rating is at 30%, near an all-time low. And Democrat activists are irate over their party’s inability to blunt President Donald Trump’s agenda.

And when it comes to normally low-turnout off-year elections and special elections, the party in power – which in the nation’s capital is clearly the Republicans – often faces political headwinds.

“We’ll get up to fight another day. But this wasn’t our day,” Schimel said in his concession speech.

Judge Brad Schimel, the conservative-leaning candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, announces to supporters that he’s conceded, at his election night gathering, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, on April 1, 2025 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

And Wisconsin GOP chair Brian Schimming noted that “coming off a successful November, we knew the April elections would be challenging.”

Republicans note that Democrats enjoyed a slew of special election victories in 2023 and 2024 before suffering serious setbacks in last November’s elections.

“Special elections are special for a reason, and not always useful canaries in the coal mines for what lies ahead,” veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Digital. “While they can be used as a barometer for energy, they are also a reflection of the individual candidates whose names are on the ballots.”

And Reed argued that “the bigger challenge for the Democrats looking ahead is the lack of a vision or governing agenda beyond reflexive and blanket opposition to the White House and their continued positioning way outside the mainstream on a slew of common sense issues.”

FIRST ON FOX: A group of parents is urging the Trump administration to “make the safety of America’s children a top priority” as the deadline to strike a deal to save TikTok looms.

“TikTok is a breeding ground for harmful content, exposing our kids to videos promoting self-harm, eating disorders, and dangerous so-called viral challenges,” Alleigh Marré, executive director of the American Parents Coalition, said in a letter sent to Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday morning. 

Marré wrote that the Chinese-owned platform, which has an April 5 deadline for an American buyer to take over the company, regularly promotes “gender and sexuality content to minors” as well as suicidal ideation.

‘NO BETTER DEALMAKER’: TRUMP REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ‘SAVE’ TIKTOK

Legislation that took effect in January 2025 forbids TikTok from app stores in the U.S. unless the company is divested from Chinese ownership. (Jonathan Raa/Sipa USA)

“This is no accident. TikTok’s design is deliberate. The Chinese-owned algorithm is being used to endanger our children. TikTok’s algorithm preys on vulnerable minds by feeding a steady stream of toxic content, and it often happens without parents realizing it,” the letter reads. “In the waning days of your negotiations I ask that you ensure this app has no connection to our country’s primary adversary. We cannot allow an adversary to have power akin to controlling all children’s television programming combined. TikTok cannot be owned, controlled, or influenced by foreign adversaries, and we must not allow those who wish to see our country fail have the power to manipulate and poison our kids.”

After an app blackout that lasted roughly 14 hours just days before his inauguration, Trump said he would “save TikTok” through negotiations with American buyers. So far, several high-profile groups are vying to purchase TikTok’s U.S. operations, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, investor Kevin O’Leary, and a consortium featuring influencer Jimmy Donaldson, known as “MrBeast,” and entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley, the founder of Employer.com.

HOSPITALS WARNED THEY MUST PROTECT CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION: HHS AGENCY MEMO

President Donald Trump opposed a TikTok ban in 2024, a reversal of his earlier support for a ban. (iStock)

Perplexity, an AI firm, has also shown interest. Oracle, TikTok’s current U.S. tech partner, is also considered a top contender. ByteDance could reportedly retain a stake in TikTok, with further investments from U.S. investors like General Atlantic and Susquehanna.

A bipartisan 2024 law gave TikTok nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services. The Supreme Court weighed in on the ban on Jan. 17, two days before the deadline, declining to strike down the law as unconstitutional.

Trump’s attorneys filed an amicus brief in the case in December, urging the Supreme Court to delay any ban until Trump took office. The court did not do so and Trump subsequently issued a 75-day delay on enforcing the ban on Inauguration Day. That delay expires at the end of Saturday.

Of a possible sale of TikTok, Trump said Sunday aboard Air Force One, “We have a lot of potential buyers.”

“There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” he told reporters. “The decision is going to be my decision. I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”

Trump’s push to save TikTok is at odds with many in his own party, who have introduced legislation in recent years seeking to ban the app over national security concerns.

SUPREME COURT APPEARS SKEPTICAL OF BLOCKING US BAN ON TIKTOK: WHAT TO KNOW

President Trump is optimistic of a sale of TikTok that would allow the platform to continue to operate in the U.S. (Getty Images)

There are roughly 170 million active American users on the social media app, the company reported.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and TikTok for comment.

Democrats have remained relatively quiet while President Donald Trump and Republicans hammer federal district judges for churning out nationwide orders halting his administration’s actions. 

But during President Joe Biden’s tenure, they decried similar wide-ranging injunctions and even sought to remedy the issue with legislation. 

In 2023, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, debuted a measure to give the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sole jurisdiction over any cases with national implications. 

HOW TRUMP-BLOCKING JUDGES MANAGED TO GET PAST SENATE JUDICIARY HAWKS

Hirono led legislation to combat the issue. (Nathan Posner)

“When parties are able to choose their judges, it creates the perception that they are able to predetermine their case’s outcome, compromising the integrity of our federal justice system,” she said in a statement at the time. 

“Activist plaintiffs should not be able to hand-pick individual judges to set nationwide policy, which is why it’s critical we address the issue of judge shopping in our federal courts. By routing cases with national implications through the D.C. District Court, which has expertise in cases challenging federal agency action, the Stop Judge Shopping Act will strengthen trust in our federal justice system and help ensure major cases are decided based on the law, not the ideological agenda of any one judge.”

The bill wouldn’t have ended nationwide injunctions as Republicans and Trump have sought, but it would give all jurisdiction on such decisions to one court, potentially reducing the probability of such orders being levied against Biden or other Democrat presidents. 

JOSH HAWLEY BELIEVES HIS BILL CAN STOP ‘RESISTANCE’ JUDGES FROM ‘PROVOKING A CRISIS’

Donald Trump, Judge James Boasberg, Amir Ali, Ana Reyes (Bloomberg via Getty Images/U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia/ SenatorDurbin via YouTube/Bill Pugliano via Getty Images)

The D.C. court is made up of 11 district judges appointed by former Presidents Biden and Barack Obama, and four were appointed by Trump. The court’s chief judge is Obama-appointee James Boasberg, who is at the center of a key battle with the Trump administration over deportation flights using the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law. 

A similar measure was proposed by then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., in addition to 37 other Democrats in 2024. The bill would have required cases involving broad injunctions to be randomly assigned in order to “promote uniformity and fairness.”

Hirono, Schumer and Whitehouse did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked if they still supported legislative action and if they backed any of the Republican bills. 

REPUBLICANS LOOK TO ABOLISH TSA IN FAVOR OF PRIVATE SECURITY AT AIRPORTS

Grassley debuted legislation to end the injunctions. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Multiple Republicans in Congress have rolled out legislation this Congress to explicitly prevent district-level courts from issuing such wide-ranging orders, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. 

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, he wrote, “The obvious solution is to limit district courts to resolving the cases only between the parties before them.”

“Under my bill, lower courts could no longer block legitimate executive action by issuing orders to nonparties to the lawsuit. The bill would also make TROs against the government immediately appealable, to make sure that prudence wins out over rash decisions handed down in the heat of a political moment,” he explained. 

SCOOP: TOP REPUBLICAN CHUCK GRASSLEY SETS PROMPT HEARING ON JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP

Democrats were previously critical in a brief to SCOTUS. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky/File)

The top judiciary Republican also pointed to past grievances Democrats have had with the practice of nationwide court orders. 

“Two-hundred forty Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin, in 2023, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief warning of the ‘perilous consequences’ resulting from a district judge’s move to block the abortion pill mifepristone,” he recalled. 

“Justice Elena Kagan has similarly expressed dismay.”

The brief was filed to plead with the high court to overrule the nationwide injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, which suspended FDA approval of mifepristone. 

“The consequences of the Fifth Circuit’s decision could extend far beyond mifepristone, for it undermines the science-based, expert-driven process that Congress designed for determining whether drugs are safe and effective,” the lawmakers wrote at the time. “By permitting the district court to disrupt FDA’s current regulation of mifepristone, the Fifth Circuit has countenanced judicial interference that erroneously substitutes the district court’s judgment for FDA’s scientific determination.

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Hirono, Schumer and Whitehouse have not been publicly critical of nationwide injunctions during the new Trump administration as district judges across the country manage to halt actions.

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the subject as Republicans push legislation to end the practice of issuing nationwide orders. 

A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating funding for legal counsel for unaccompanied migrant minors. 

Appointed by former President Joe Biden, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday that will stop the Trump administration from ending the funding while the merits of the underlying case play out. 

The Trump administration on March 21 terminated a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, which provides legal services for unaccompanied migrant children under 18 through a network of legal aid groups that subcontract with the center. Eleven subcontractor groups sued, saying that 26,000 children were at risk of losing their attorneys; Acacia is not a plaintiff.

Those groups argued that the government has an obligation under a 2008 anti-trafficking law to provide vulnerable children with legal counsel.

TRUMP AGENDA UPENDED AFTER GOP REBELLION SHUTS DOWN HOUSE FLOOR

Immigrants line up in the dining hall at a U.S. government holding center for migrant children, July 9, 2019, in Carrizo Springs, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

In her Tuesday order, Martínez-Olguín said that advocates had raised legitimate questions about whether the administration violated the 2008 law, warranting a return to the status quo while the case continues. 

“The Court additionally finds that the continued funding of legal representation for unaccompanied children promotes efficiency and fairness within the immigration system,” she wrote.

It is the third legal setback in less than a week for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, though all may prove temporary as the lawsuits advance. 

The number of border crossings along the southwest border in March was just over 7,000, according to the latest numbers from CBP. (Border image: Getty / Trump image: AP)

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 created special protections for migrant children who cannot navigate a complex immigration system on their own. Plaintiffs said some of their clients are too young to speak and others are too traumatized and do not know English.

CBP RELEASES MARCH BORDER CROSSING NUMBERS, MARKING LOWEST TO DATE EVER RECORDED

Defendants, which include the Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Refugee Resettlement, said that taxpayers have no obligation to pay the cost of direct legal aid to migrant children at a time when the government is trying to save money. 

Acacia is under a new contract with the government to provide legal orientations, including “know your rights” clinics.

This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)

The plaintiffs said they are not asking for the contract to be restored but instead want a return to the status quo – which is spending $5 billion that Congress appropriated so children have representation, Karen Tumlin with the Justice Action Center said at a court hearing Tuesday.

Jonathan Ross with the Department of Justice said the government is still funding legally required activities, such as the “know your rights” clinics, and that legal clinics can offer their services without charge.

“They’re still free to provide those services on a pro bono basis,” he said.

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Martinez-Olguin’s order takes effect Wednesday morning and will last until at least April 16. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Trump administration will surge FBI resources across the country to address unsolved violent crimes in lands inhabited by Native American tribes, including crimes related to missing persons and the murders of indigenous persons.

Under “Operation Not Forgotten,” the FBI will send 60 personnel to various parts of “Indian Country” over a six-month period where they will rotate in 90-day temporary assignments, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. 

The additional personnel will support FBI field offices in Albuquerque; Denver; Detroit; Jackson, Miss.; Minneapolis; Oklahoma City; Phoenix; Portland, Oreg.; Seattle; and Salt Lake City. 

TRIBES BLAST SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR ‘S CLAIM THAT LEADERS ARE BENEFITTING FROM DRUG CARTELS 

The announcement came a day after the FBI field office in Albuquerque said a man admitted to killing an Indigenous artist following a November 2021 argument. DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo, a talented artist and the daughter of Native American artists Geraldine Tso, a Navajo artist, and David Gary Suazo, a Taos Pueblo painter, was killed by her boyfriend, Santiago Martinez, the FBI said. 

DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo, holding her artwork. Suazo was murdered by her boyfriend in November 2021, the FBI said.  (Justice Department)

“Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are unacceptably high,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with U.S. Attorneys and Tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, the Department of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities deserve.”

The FBI will work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Tribal law enforcement agencies, authorities said. 

“The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Crisis is impacting tribal communities across the country. We appreciate the partnership of the Department of Justice and the FBI in addressing these crimes,” Scott Davis, the senior advisor to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, while exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, told Fox News Digital. “The BIA MMU will work alongside the FBI to analyze and solve missing, murdered and human trafficking cases involving American Indians and Alaska Natives.”

“This announcement reinforces our commitment to Indian Country and our dedication to collaborating with federal, state, and tribal agencies to ensure justice for American Indian and Alaska Native victims while holding offenders accountable,” he added. 

Crime continues to persist in Native American communities, the Justice Department said. 

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

Beginning in fiscal year 2025, the FBI’s Indian Country program had around 4,300 open investigations, including more than 900 death investigations, 1,000 for child abuse and more than 500 for domestic violence and sexual abuse. 

In a statement, FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency will “manhunt violent criminals on all lands.”

A Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer. The agency will team with the FBI to address thousands of violent crime cases on Native American lands.  (Bureau of Indian Affairs)

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In 2019, Trump signed an executive order during his first term establishing the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. The order was aimed at addressing the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people, particularly women and girls. 

Tuesday’s announcement will be the third iteration of Operation Not Forgotten, which has provided investigative support to over 500 cases in the past two years. The operations resulted in the recovery of 10 child victims, 52 arrests, and 25 indictments or judicial complaints.

Democrats across the country celebrated after the liberal-leaning candidate won a high-profile election on Tuesday for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, protecting the liberal majority on the bench.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford defeated conservative-leaning Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general who currently serves as a state circuit court judge in Waukesha County. Schimel was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and the president’s billionaire senior advisor, Elon Musk, spent millions of dollars to oppose Crawford’s candidacy.

After a massive infusion of money from Democrat-aligned and Republican-aligned groups from outside Wisconsin, which turned the race into the most expensive judicial election in the nation’s history, the election partially transformed into a referendum on Trump’s action during the early months of his second term in the White House.

Following Crawford’s victory, Democrats said voters in Wisconsin, a battleground state, sent a clear message to reject Trump, Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency — which is led by Musk — as well as the Republican Party’s agenda.

LIBERAL WINS FIRST MAJOR 2025 STATEWIDE BATTLEGROUND ELECTION IN RACE TURNED INTO TRUMP-MUSK REFERENDUM

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford defeated Trump-endorsed Brad Schimel for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wrote: “Wisconsinites proved we will not be bought — not by the richest or most powerful people in the world or anyone else.”

Musk had handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday evening to two Wisconsin voters who had already cast ballots in the contest and had signed a petition to stop “activist judges.” Wisconsin’s Democrat state attorney general sued to block the payments, but the state Supreme Court refused to weigh in.

“This election was about the resilience of the Wisconsin and American values that define and unite us,” Wisconsin’s governor said in a statement. “This election was about doing what’s best for our kids, protecting constitutional checks and balances, reaffirming our faith in the courts and the judiciary, and defending against attacks on the basic rights, freedoms, and institutions we hold dear.”

“For anyone who mistakenly believes actions and decisions in Washington are neither seen nor heard here in Wisconsin or states across our country, the people of Wisconsin responded tonight,” he added.

Sen. Tammy Balwin, D-Wisc., said Wisconsin voters “showed tonight that their votes are not for sale!”

WISCONSIN VOTERS DECIDE TO ENSHRINE VOTER ID LAW IN STATE CONSTITUTION: ‘BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS’

Elon Musk had handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday evening to two voters who had cast ballots and signed a petition to stop “activist judges.” (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

“Judge Crawford is a common sense judge who has always been guided by the same basic values she learned growing up in Chippewa Falls,” Baldwin said on X. “She believes in doing the right thing, she has fought to protect our rights and freedoms, and she will be a fair and impartial Justice on the WI State Supreme Court!”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that “[a]nyone who counted Democrats out was dead wrong.”

“Wisconsin voters tonight sent a decisive message to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE by rejecting an extreme Republican for their Supreme Court: our Democracy is not for sale,” he said in a statement. “Democrats are in the fight to keep our country.”

“Elon Musk spent millions in a failed scheme to buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X. “Voters decisively rejected Donald Trump, Musk and the rapidly deteriorating Republican brand. Back up off the American people.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote on X: “Congratulations to Wisconsin’s newest Supreme Court Justice, Susan Crawford! The voters spoke loud and clear: Wisconsin is not for sale.”

Brad Schimel was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Elon Musk spent millions of dollars against his opponent’s candidacy. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

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“Wisconsin beat the billionaire,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said on X, referring to Musk.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Crawford’s victory was an “amazing win for Wisconsin and the entire country.”

Wisconsin’s high court is likely to rule on crucial issues like congressional redistricting, voting and labor rights and abortion.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

The National Security Council (NSC) has clarified reporting about National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and his staffers using personal Gmail accounts for government communications.

A report published by the Washington Post on Tuesday claimed that one of Waltz’s senior aides used Gmail “for highly technical conversations with colleagues at other government agencies involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems relating to an ongoing conflict,” according to the piece.

“While the NSC official used his Gmail account, his interagency colleagues used government-issued accounts, headers from the email correspondence show,” the Post reported.

The piece comes a week after Waltz took responsibility for one of his staffers accidentally adding The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a sensitive Signal chat with other officials, including Vice President JD Vance.

TRUMP ADMIN REVIEWING BILLIONS IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, GRANTS FOR HARVARD AMID ANTISEMITISM ALLEGATIONS

The National Security Council (NSC) has provided clarification on reports about Michael Waltz and his staff using personal Gmail accounts for sensitive government communications. (Getty Images)

NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes told Fox News on Tuesday that the Post report was an attempt “to distract the American people from President Trump’s successful national security agenda that’s protecting our nation.”

“Let me reiterate, NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email and cc’d government accounts for anything since January 20th to ensure compliance with records retention, and he has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform,” Hughes said.

Hughes said that he could not verify the Post’s report about the senior NSC official because the journalist “refused to share any part of the document reported.”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CHOP DOWN MAGNOLIA TREE PURPORTEDLY PLANTED BY ANDREW JACKSON: ‘MUST COME TO AN END’

U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stand, as President Donald Trump meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Feb. 24. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

“Any correspondence containing classified material must only be sent through secure channels and all NSC staff are informed of this,” the official said. “It is also made clear to NSC personnel that any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance.”

Speaking to a room full of reporters last week, President Donald Trump said he believes Waltz is “doing his best,” and did not fault him for the Signal leak.

“I don’t think he should apologize,” the president said. “I think he’s doing his best. It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect.”

National Security advisor Mike Waltz speaks as he sits with President Donald Trump during an Ambassador Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 25, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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“And, probably, he won’t be using it again, at least not in the very near future,” Trump continued.

The City of Milwaukee is running out of ballots due to “historic turnout” on Tuesday night, as Badger State residents stand in line at polling places to decide whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court will lean conservative or liberal.

FOX 6 Milwaukee reporter Jason Calvi reported the developments on Tuesday night. At least seven polling sites have run out of ballots, per the Milwaukee Elections Commission. 

The sites are expecting more ballots soon, though the polls closed at 8 p.m. Milwaukee officials also noted that Wisconsin residents in line by 8 p.m. are still eligible to vote.

“We are working diligently to replenish ballots,” the Milwaukee Elections Commission wrote on Facebook.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CHOP DOWN MAGNOLIA TREE PURPORTEDLY PLANTED BY ANDREW JACKSON: ‘MUST COME TO AN END’

Voters mark their ballots while voting at Waters Edge event venue in the state’s Supreme Court election, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court currently has a 4-3 liberal majority. 

The court race has attracted attention across the country, as both Democrat and Republican-aligned groups from outside Wisconsin have dedicated money and resources to swaying the race. It’s been interpreted as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second administration so far. 

Notably, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hosted an America PAC town hall in Green Bay on Sunday night, where he handed two $1 million dollar checks to two voters who signed a petition against “activist judges.”

TRUMP ADMIN REVIEWING BILLIONS IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, GRANTS FOR HARVARD AMID ANTISEMITISM ALLEGATIONS

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling location during the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.  (Abra Richardson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul unsuccessfully asked for an emergency injunction to stop Musk from handing out the checks, but the state’s highest court declined to hear Kaul’s arguments. 

“The reason for the checks is that, it’s really just to get attention,” Musk said while holding a gigantic check. “It’s like, we need to get attention… somewhat inevitably, when I do this… it causes the legacy media to, like, kind of lose their minds.”

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Voters mark their ballots while voting at Centennial Hall at the Milwaukee Central Library on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Musk’s attorneys maintained that the payments are “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate.”

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

Filmmaker Oliver Stone urged legislators in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to reopen the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and reassess everything from the crime scene to the courtroom, including the rifle and bullets used, fingerprints and the autopsy.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order since returning to the Oval Office in January to release the long-concealed materials about the assassination of Kennedy and records on the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The 80,000 pages of JFK files were released March 18, giving experts and conspiracy theorists a trove of material to prove or disprove how Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas, Nov. 22, 1963.

In his opening statements Tuesday, Stone, whose 1991 film “JFK” examined the investigation into Kennedy’s assassination, raised an issue with the CIA’s handling of files he requested to see regarding the assassination.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES HE WILL RELEASE 80,000 JFK ASSASSINATION FILES ON TUESDAY, GOING TO BE ‘VERY INTERESTING’

Filmmaker Oliver Stone called on U.S. legislators to reopen the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Senate Video Feed)

“Although mandated by law from the Central Intelligence Agency, which operated and still operates as a taxpayer-funded intelligence agency that arrogantly considered itself outside our laws,” Stone said, “they say things like, ‘We will get back to you on that,’ and they never do.

“Nothing of importance has been revealed by the CIA in all these years,” he continued, adding other records show illegal criminal activities in every facet of U.S. foreign policy in nearly every country on Earth. “Just to begin, Cuba, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, South America, the Middle East. We could write a whole separate history of our country from the viewpoint of the countries, yet we do not know and are not allowed to know anything about the CIA’s true history of the United States, which is almost, I believe, the real story.”

He then called for the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, chaired by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., to reopen the investigation into Kennedy’s assassination, picking up what the Warren Commission failed to do.

WEEKS AFTER EPSTEIN FILE FALLOUT, A NEW DEADLINE LOOMS IN THE RELEASE OF THE RFK AND MLK FILES

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, in downtown Dallas while traveling in a convertible.  (Getty Images)

The Warren Commission, after an investigation, found no evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald or Oswald’s assassin, Jack Ruby, were part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign, to kill the president. It said at the time that one bullet that struck Kennedy passed through him and struck Texas Gov. John Connally, hitting his back, thigh, chest and wrist.

Critics of the commission’s findings call it the “magic bullet theory.”

“I ask the committee to reopen what the Warren Commission failed miserably to complete,” Stone said. “I ask you in good faith, outside all political considerations, to reinvestigate the assassination of this President Kennedy, from the scene of the crime to the courtroom … which never happened, but which means the chain of custody on the rifle, the bullets, the fingerprints, the autopsy that defies belief, and that if it were a murder, we’d have given to the poorest man dying in a gutter. 

“Let us reinvestigate the fingerprints of intelligence all over Lee Harvey Oswald, from 1959 to 1960 – his violent death in 1963 — and, most importantly, this CIA, whose muddy footprints are all over this case, a true interrogation.”

FBI UNCOVERS THOUSANDS OF UNDISCLOSED RECORDS CONNECTED TO JFK’S ASSASSINATION

President John F. Kennedy (Getty)

Stone spoke about Deputy CIA Director James Angleton, who, before he died, talked about Allen Dulles, Richard Helms and others he referred to as the “Grand Masters.”

“He did say, ‘If you were in a room with them, you were in a room full of people that you had to believe would deservedly end up in hell. I guess I will see them soon,’” Stone said. “This is our democracy. This is our presidency. It belongs to us. Treat us with respect.”

Stone said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter in January that Trump deserved “praise” for the order to release the JFK assassination files.

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Despite pleas to open the investigation, the FBI notes on its website that after conducting some 25,000 interviews and running down tens of thousands of investigative leads, “the FBI found that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.”

Oswald was killed shortly after the Kennedy assassination.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

PAWAUKEE, Wis. — The liberal-leaning candidate won a high-profile and historically expensive election in Wisconsin on Tuesday, protecting progressive majority control of the battleground state’s Supreme Court, which is likely to rule on crucial issues like congressional redistricting, voting and labor rights, and abortion.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general who currently serves as a state circuit court judge in Waukesha County. Schimel, the conservative-aligned candidate in the race, was endorsed by President Donald Trump.

With a massive infusion of money from Democrat-aligned and Republican-aligned groups from outside Wisconsin, which turned the race into the most expensive judicial election in the nation’s history, the contest partially transformed into a referendum on Trump’s sweeping and controversial moves during the opening months of his second tour of duty in the White House.

Also front and center in the electoral showdown was someone who, along with Trump, was not on the ballot: billionaire Elon Musk, the president’s top donor and White House adviser.

REPUBLICANS SWEEEP SPECIAL ELECTIONS IN FLORIDA, TO HOLD ONTO TWO GOP-HELD CONGRESSIONAL SEATS

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford waves during her election night party after winning the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf) (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

“I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world, for justice in Wisconsin. And we won,” Crawford said in her victory speech, in her home base of Madison, Wisconsin.

And pushing back against her critics, Crawford said “my promise to Wisconsin is clear. I will be a fair, impartial, and commonsense justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

Schimel conceded minutes after the Associated Press called the race, telling supporters in suburban Milwuakee that he had spoke to Crawford and that “the numbers aren’t going to turn around and we’re not going to pull this off.”

“We’ll get up to fight another day. But this wasn’t our day,” he added.

Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, who has taken a buzz saw to the federal government workforce as he steers Trump’s recently created Department of Government Efficiency, dished out roughly $20 million in the Wisconsin race through aligned groups in support of Schimel.

And Musk, in a controversial move, handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday evening to two Wisconsin voters who had already cast ballots in the contest and had signed a petition to stop “activist judges.”

WHY ELON MUSK HANDED OUT MILLION DOLLAR CHECKS IN WISCONSIN 

Wisconsin’s Democrat state attorney general sued to block the payments, but the state Supreme Court refused to weigh in.

Elon Musk speaks during a town hall on Sunday, March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Calling the election a “super big deal,” Musk said it was critical to the Trump agenda.

“I think this will be important for the future of civilization,” he said. “It’s that significant.”

Musk wasn’t the only mega-donor on the right playing in the Wisconsin showdown.

Shipping magnates Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who are among the biggest conservative contributors in the nation, also provided millions in support of Schimel and the Wisconsin GOP.

“If you told me six months ago this was what was going to happen, I would not have believed it. But yeah … some parts of this are way beyond my control anymore,” Schimel said in a Fox News Digital interview during a bus tour stop Monday just outside Green Bay.

Schimel, who launched his bid 16 months ago, added that “other people can treat this how they want. If they think they want to make it a referendum on the president or Elon Musk, so be it.”

“This is a referendum on Wisconsin,” he said. “Can we restore objectivity to the Wisconsin Supreme Court?”

BIG-MONEY WI HIGH COURT RACE WILL HAVE NATIONAL EFFECTS, AS REDISTRICTING, UNIONS, TRANS ISSUES AT STAKE

Schimel also leaned in to the endorsement from Trump. A TV ad running in the closing stretch of the race spotlighted that voting for Schimel would protect Trump’s agenda. The candidate also wore a “Make America Great Again” hat at some campaign stops during the final weekend ahead of the election.

Judge Brad Schimel, the conservative-leaning candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, speaks to Republican activists in Bellevue, Wis., on March 31, 2025. (Fox News – Paul Steihhauser)

Schimel spotlighted his final blitz to reach out to voters.

“We are doing six to eight rallies every single day in cities across the state,” he said. “People are turning out in huge numbers, and we’ve got other surrogates going out around the state where we’re not, doing the exact same thing. It’s absolutely about getting those voters out.”

And Schimel also got a boost from the conservative powerhouse organization Americans for Prosperity. The group said its grassroots army has connected with nearly 600,000 voters in Wisconsin since last November’s election.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office on March 31, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Trump, who narrowly carried Wisconsin in both of his White House victories, said the state is important because its Supreme Court can settle disputes over election outcomes.

“Wisconsin’s a big state politically, and the Supreme Court has a lot to do with elections in Wisconsin,” the president said Monday at the White House. “Winning Wisconsin’s a big deal, so, therefore, the Supreme Court choice … it’s a big race.” 

Schimel’s camp and other conservatives repeatedly argued that a continuation of the liberal majority on Wisconsin’s high court could lead to unfavorable congressional redistricting in the state, which could spell doom for two Republican lawmakers: Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, chair of the House Administration Committee.

TRUMP, OBAMA, WEIGH IN ON HIGH COURT SHOWDOWN IN KEY BATTLEGROUND

Asked about the conservatives shining a spotlight on potential congressional redistricting, Crawford told reporters on Monday that “it’s just not appropriate for me as a judge to express a view on that, especially on an issue that someday could come before the Wisconsin Supreme Court again. That’s why I don’t speak to the issue.”

Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal-leaning candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, speaks at a rally in Madison, Wis., on March 31, 2025. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Tuesday’s election was the first statewide contest held since Trump returned to the White House, and it was an opportunity for plenty of voters to vent against the president and his policies.

Crawford enjoyed a surge in fundraising, thanks in part to an energized base eager to resist Trump and Republicans.

“People are really motivated and want to make sure that we protect the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Crawford said in a Fox News Digital interview after a rally in Madison on the eve of the election.

BATTLEGROUND STATE SHOWDOWN: DEMOCRATS TARGET ELON MUSK

Crawford argued that voters “don’t want to see some outsider, some billionaire, come in and try to buy a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which is what Elon Musk is trying to do.”

At her rally, Crawford said “this election is going to determine all of our fundamental rights and freedoms.”

But Crawford also benefited from outside money, with roughly $2 million infused into the race by left-leaning financier George Soros, long a boogeyman of the right. Billionaire progressive Gov. JB Pritzker of neighboring Illinois has also spent big bucks in the race to support Crawford.

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford participate in a debate in Milwaukee on March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

“I have gotten some generous contributions, and we’ve raised a lot of money in this race,” she told Fox News. “But just to put that in perspective, in the last two months, Elon Musk has spent more than we have raised over the 10 months of this entire campaign, so his spending dwarfs that of any individual in any state supreme court ever and certainly one in Wisconsin.”

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Crawford and Schimel were battling to succeed liberal-leaning justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who has served on Wisconsin’s highest court for nearly three decades. Liberal-aligned justices held a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court heading into Tuesday’s election.

The showdown drew some top surrogates to Wisconsin, including progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and MAGA star Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son.

The Democratic National Committee, in a statement following Crawford’s victory, took aim at Musk.

“Make no mistake: Americans don’t want Elon Musk running their federal government and they don’t want him buying their local elections,” the DNC argued.

Wisconsin will enshrine the state’s voter ID law in the state constitution after voters approved the proposal on Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the vote at 9:48 p.m. EST.

Wisconsin already requires that voters have photo ID in order to participate at the polls, but the measure now elevates that law to a constitutional amendment. 

VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SUPPORT PHOTO ID REQUIREMENT TO VOTE, NEW POLL SAYS

Wisconsin already required photo ID to vote, but now the law will be enshrined into the state constitution. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump celebrated the law being added to the state constitution on Truth Social after the vote was called Tuesday night.

“VOTER I.D. JUST APPROVED IN WISCONSIN ELECTION. Democrats fought hard against this, presumably so they can CHEAT. This is a BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS, MAYBE THE BIGGEST WIN OF THE NIGHT. IT SHOULD ALLOW US TO WIN WISCONSIN, LIKE I JUST DID IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, FOR MANY YEARS TO COME!” the president wrote.

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Nine states, including Wisconsin, require that voters present photo ID, though Wisconsin’s requirements are the strictest, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are laws in 36 states requiring or requesting that voters show some sort of identification, the NCSL said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Elon Musk visited Central Intelligence Agency headquarters on Tuesday to discuss his government efficiency program. 

The visit was the first for Musk since the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is charged with rooting out wasteful federal spending and shrinking the government. 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe who invited Musk, posted a photo of him and the tech billionaire at the spy agency headquarters. 

ATLANTIC REPORTER PUBLISHES MORE TEXTS ABOUT ATTACK ON HOUTHI TARGETS 

Elon Musk and CIA Director John Ratcliffe pictured at CIA headquarters on Tuesday. Musk visited the spy agency to discuss his government efficiency program.  (John Ratcliffe /X )

“Had a great visit and meeting with @ElonMusk to discuss his ideas and progress so far in making our government more efficient!” Radcliffe wrote. “I look forward to working with Elon and his team to ensure that CIA remains the premier intelligence Agency in the world.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the CIA. 

In the first months of the Trump administration, Musk and DOGE have attempted to slash government spending, including offering buyouts to and laying off workers en masse.

TRUMP TEAM’S SIGNAL CHAT LEAK SPARKS DEBATE OVER SECURE COMMUNICATIONS 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Elon Musk (John Ratcliffe / X)

Musk met with NSA chief Gen. Timothy Haugh last week to discuss the Trump administration’s priorities, Politico reported. 

Earlier this month, the CIA fired some probationary employees and recent hires, according to the New York Times.

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However, on Monday a federal judge in Virginia blocked the Trump administration’s move to fire more than a dozen intelligence agency employees who worked on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Republican Jimmy Patronis, the former Florida chief financial officer under Gov. Ron DeSantis, fended off his Democrat opponent and successfully won the race to succeed former Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida’s special election on Tuesday. 

President Donald Trump notably carried the district by 37 points in the 2024 election. 

The 1st Congressional District special election, in addition to the one in the 6th District to replace U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, are being viewed by some as early referendums for Trump’s second term. 

HAWLEY OFFICIALLY A YES ON DR. OZ AFTER SECURING COMMITMENTS ON TRANSGENDER, ABORTION ISSUES

A special election was held to determine the successor to Matt Gaetz’s Florida House seat. (AP | Reuters)

Trump voiced his support for Patronis on Tuesday morning, urging people to vote. 

“Jimmy Patronis, Chief Financial Officer and Fire Marshall for the Great State of Florida, is running an incredible Campaign for Congress in Florida’s 1st Congressional District!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

“A fourth generation Floridian from the beautiful Panhandle, and owner of an iconic seafood restaurant, Jimmy has been a wonderful friend to me, and to MAGA. As your next Congressman, Jimmy will fight hard alongside of me to Grow our Economy, Cut Taxes, Secure our Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Brave Military/Vets, Restore American Energy DOMINANCE, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”

‘BLINDSIDED’: HOW STEFANIK’S TRUMP NOMINATION AS UN AMBASSADOR IMPLODED

Patronis was Florida CFO. (Tiffany Tompkins/Bradenton Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“Florida, Election Day is TODAY. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR JIMMY PATRONIS. Jimmy has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!,” Trump added.

The Republicans had an advantage in Patronis’ race, but Valimont managed to significantly outraise her opponent, which flashed some warning signs. 

HOW TRUMP-BLOCKING JUDGES MANAGED TO GET PAST SENATE JUDICIARY HAWKS

Florida had two special elections on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

Her fundraising topped the Republican’s by a nearly five-to-one margin. 

Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives last year after Trump revealed his plan to nominate him to be attorney general. However, it became clear that the controversial House Republican had an uphill battle to get support from GOP senators. 

JOSH HAWLEY BELIEVES HIS BILL CAN STOP ‘RESISTANCE’ JUDGES FROM ‘PROVOKING A CRISIS’

Gaetz resigned in November 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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Just days after Trump’s announcement, and after a number of meetings in the Senate, Gaetz officially withdrew from consideration. 

Pam Bondi was then nominated by Trump for the role and ultimately confirmed as attorney general.

Trump-endorsed Republican state Sen. Randy Fine emerged victorious in one-of-two special elections in the Sunshine State on Tuesday night.

Fine will be taking over former Congressman Mike Waltz’s seat in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, after Waltz vacated the seat to become President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor. Fine outlasted Democrat Josh Weil, a public school employee and political newcomer who raised nearly 10 times more than Fine.

Florida’s sixth district, located on the Sunshine State’s Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of Saint Augustine and inland to the outskirts of Ocala, was carried overwhelmingly by former GOP congressman Waltz in 2024. President Trump also won the 6th Congressional District in 2024 by a significant margin – 30 points.

SCOOP: TRUMP ALLY DONALDS SHOWCASES CAMPAIGN CASH SURGE SINCE ANNOUNCING FLORIDA GOVERNOR RUN

Republican state Sen. Randy Fine took on Democrat Josh Weil, a public school employee and political newcomer, during one-of-two special elections in Florida Tuesday night.  (Getty/AP)

The Republican’s victory came in the closest election for Florida’s sixth district since 2018, when former Congressman Waltz beat out his Democrat opponent by13 points. Each subsequent election, Waltz won at least 60% of the vote.

Tuesday’s unusually close race, widely seen as a referendum on President Trump’s first few months in office, carries implications for the broader battle for power in Congress.   

There were fears that a loss in both, or either, of Florida’s Tuesday special elections would deal a significant blow to the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which has dwindled since Trump plucked numerous Republican House members, such as Waltz, to join his cabinet.

CORY BOOKER STAFFER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY CARRYING PISTOL WITHOUT LICENSE AT CAPITOL

Amid these concerns, GOP New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations was pulled.

Trump-endorsed Randy Fine won Tuesday night’s special election in Florida’s 6th Congressional District. (Getty Images)

Democrat educator and political outsider Josh Weil lost to Republican state Sen. Randy Fine in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, considered a GOP stronghold.  (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Weil’s ability to drum up a campaign war chest worth nearly $10 million, dwarfed Fine’s which held a little under $1 million. However, in the final week before Tuesday’s election, outside Republican-aligned groups doled out around $1 million for advertising in an attempt to help boost Fine.

Tuesday’s victory notches one more seat in the House for Republicans, expanding their slim five-vote majority by one more.

Following Tuesday’s victory President Trump took to social media to congratulate Fine and Fine thanked the President for his support.

Lee Zeldin, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on Tuesday said she plans to visit the California-Mexico border to address issues pertaining to the “disgusting Mexican sewage” flowing into the United States. 

Zeldin will assess the toxic waste and sewage runoff from the Tijuana River, which has resulted in beach closures in San Diego County.

‘I’ll be visiting the California-Mexico border in the coming weeks where disgusting Mexican sewage is harming our precious environment in the United States,” Zeldin wrote on X. “Permanent solutions must be urgently implemented by Mexico to end decades of their filthy sewage flowing into the U.S. 

TRUMP STILL NEEDS CONGRESS’ HELP WITH PLAN TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Sewage-fouled runoff from the Tijuana River has prompted authorities call for a solution to fix the issue.  (Reuters/Mike Blake)

Fox News Digital has reached out to the EPA. 

The issue of untreated sewage flowing from Tijuana, Mexico, into San Diego’s beaches was exacerbated earlier this year, when, in January, the Hollister Wastewater Pump Station, which transfers sewage from Tijuana to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, malfunctioned and spilled approximately 30,000 gallons of sewage into the river.

EPA chief Lee Zeldin plans a visit to San Diego County over concerns that Mexican officials are not doing enough to address sewage in the Tijuana River that pollutes beaches on the U.S. side of the border.  (Getty Images)

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who has raised the issue in the past, said he looks forward to Zeldin’s visit. 

In an X post last month, Desmond called it “one of the biggest environmental and public health crises.”

U.S. Navy SEAL candidates participate in “surf immersion” during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Center in Coronado, Calif., on May 4, 2020.  (MC1 Anthony Walker/U.S. Navy via AP, File))

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“This isn’t just a nuisance — it’s a danger. Our Navy SEALs train just north of this toxic mess,” Desmond wrote. “Local families are exposed to contaminated water. Tourism suffers. And, yet, the State of California continues to look the other way. Many politicians have made promises — but delivered nothing. That ends now.”

He said Mexico has failed to fix the problem and the U.S. has failed to hold the Mexican government accountable. 

Cars line up at the San Ysidro crossing port to cross from Tijuana in Mexico to San Diego in the US on April 4, 2019. – US President Donald Trump’s is expected to visit a section of the border fence in Calexico during his tour to California on Friday.   (GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2018, a broken sewage pipe in Mexico resulted in millions of gallons of sewage spilling into the Tijuana River, and eventually, the Pacific Ocean. Around 12 miles of beach from the border northward had to be closed at the time. 

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report. 

Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed on Tuesday during a lengthy hearing on what the GOP calls “activist judges” blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittees on the Constitution and on courts held the joint hearing in preparation for a House-wide vote on legislation that would limit district judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions. That bill is currently stalled, however, after an unrelated fight on proxy voting paralyzed the House floor.

During the hearing, Democrats repeatedly tried to press Republicans on the issue of judicial impeachments — something pushed by conservatives but that House GOP leaders have shown little appetite for pursuing.

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?

Left: U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) attends the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Right: US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2025.  (Getty Images)

“Some guy I’ve never heard of, he, might be in Congress, introduced an impeachment resolution, and he’s not here,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said of an impeachment resolution targeting U.S. district Judge James Boasberg by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas.

“He hasn’t been here for at least the last hour, and every witness here is in agreement that we really shouldn’t be impeaching judges. I haven’t heard a single colleague on the other side say we should be impeaching judges.”

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who was co-chairing the hearing alongside Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, asked Swalwell to yield his time — but the California Democrat refused.

“I don’t think they have anything to talk about with the bills, since they offered a similar bill, and even the solicitor general, as late as October of last year in the Biden administration, wanted exactly what we’re moving out of committee today,” Issa told Fox News Digital about Democrats’ ploy.

 U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tx., speaks to the media after the House of Representatives failed to pass a government funding bill at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 19, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., compared conservatives’ push to impeach judges to House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry efforts into former President Joe Biden — which ultimately did not end in any such proceedings.

“I guess we’re taking a page out of [House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s] playbook, we’re just doing fake impeachments,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital.

But Roy, who co-led the hearing with Issa, told Fox News Digital it was about “trying to make clear that you’ve got a handful of judges acting, clearly politically, to stop the administration from acting.”

“It’s pretty clear that my Democratic colleagues prefer to defend the right of an MS-13 gang member, clearly here illegally, from being deported,” Roy said.

‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg has been hit with an impeachment resolution. (Getty)

But Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., another member of the committee, said at least one goal was to “raise the profile of the issue.”

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“Maybe the more headlines a hearing like this gets, it clearly sets it on the plate of Chief Justice Roberts, right, to take action and try to get control of the courts again,” he said.

It’s not immediately clear when Issa’s bill will get a vote, after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced House floor activity was canceled for the rest of this week.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-HHS downsizing begins amid RFK Jr. ‘Make America Healthy Again’ push: ‘Win-win for taxpayers’

–Trump agenda upended after GOP rebellion shuts down House floor

-GOP firebrand dares Dems to condemn attacks on Elon Musk’s Tesla

Statewide election test 

Voters in two states are casting general election ballots for the first time since November, when they sent President Donald Trump back to the White House.

Wisconsin will choose a new justice on the state Supreme Court, which has a 4-3 liberal-leaning majority. Florida is holding special elections in two deep-red districts last held by Reps. Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz.

At stake: court decisions over abortion, unions and voting rights in Wisconsin, and the size of the Republican majority in the U.S. House…Read more

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford are seen before a televised debate Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

White House

TRUMP CARD: Trump-backed bills targeting activist judges, non-citizens voting head for House-wide votes

‘JUDICIAL COUP D’ETAT’: Wave of court orders blocking Trump’s agenda are a ‘judicial coup d’etat,’ Gingrich says

BAN DRAGS ON: Trump’s transgender military ban dealt legal blow after appeals court ruling

‘ELEMENT OF SURPRISE’: Trump pick for Joint Chiefs chair tells Senate ‘element of surprise’ should be guarded amid Signal chat leak

‘CLAWED BACK’: Trump Labor Department secures eye-popping sum to return to taxpayers amid DOGE push

The Labor Department is returning over $1 billion in funds to taxpayers (Getty Images)

BOASBERG AND ME: Trump allies scrutinize Judge Boasberg’s DC connections as high-stakes legal battles escalate

‘FALL GUY’: Trump commutes prison sentence of Hunter Biden’s ‘fall guy’ Jason Galanis

World Stage

RED MUTINY: Anna Paulina Luna forces House leadership’s hand on proxy voting as GOP war escalates

Capitol Hill

BOOKER STAFFER BOOKED: Cory Booker staffer arrested for allegedly carrying pistol without license at Capitol

CONTEMPT: Judge Boasberg impeachment push gains support despite House GOP leaders’ resistance

Rep. Brandon Gill has filed an impeachment resolution against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (Getty Images)

Across America 

APRIL FOOLS: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis pokes fun at Trump with official ‘South Park’ portrait in April Fools post

BY THE NUMBERS: Election Day in Wisconsin, Florida: What to watch as conservatives face a statewide electoral test

‘PAID PUPPET’: Conservative economist funded by left wing orgs quietly leading anti-DOGE charge

‘STOLE 400,000 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS’: Musk says Social Security scammer who allegedly ripped off 400k Americans facing imminent arrest

‘DISTURBING CASE’: Massachusetts judge charges ICE agent with contempt of court

An U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Back of ICE officer Rabanales-Pretzantzin is originally from Guatemala and entered the United States at the border in El Paso, Texas, according to Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

OFF THE HOOK: Second COVID nursing home death’s case against Cuomo tossed

SUPREME POWER: SCOTUS rulings this term could strengthen religious rights protections, expert says

‘BETTER WAY’: Blue state sheriff vows to ‘eliminate’ major tax if elected governor: ‘We will work immediately’

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

An accused MS-13 leader will remain in federal custody after a judge found probable cause to support the government’s case against him.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter of the Eastern District of Virginia made the ruling Tuesday during a detention hearing for Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, a 24-year-old Salvadoran national arrested last week in suburban Virginia.

The FBI announced Santos’s arrest on March 27 in Woodbridge, just south of Washington, D.C. He has been charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

TOP MS-13 LEADER ARRESTED IN VIRGINIA

Alleged top leader of MS-13 was arrested in Virginia on Thursday, March 27, 2025. (The Ingraham Angle)

Santos’ hearing comes shortly after court documents revealed the Trump administration had sent a Salvadoran man with protected legal status to El Salvador by mistake. 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was removed from Maryland when the administration sent three planeloads of Salvadoran and Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s “Terrorism Confinement Center” on March 15 for alleged gang affiliations.

Vice President JD Vance referenced the court documents in a social media post in response to critics, writing, “you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.” 

MASSACHUSETTS JUDGE CHARGES ICE AGENT WITH CONTEMPT OF COURT

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove were all present during Santos’ arrest at a nearby tactical operations center.  (POOL)

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove were all present during Santos’ arrest at a nearby tactical operations center. 

“They executed a clean, safe operation, and the bad guy’s in custody. And thanks to the FBI, we got one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning. Virginia and the country is a lot safer today,” Bondi told Fox News after the fact. 

Authorities found a 9mm handgun, three additional firearms, ammunition and two suppressors in Villatoro’s bedroom, according to court documents.

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President Donald Trump applauded the leadership on the operation, writing on social media, “Great job by Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, Tom HOMAN, and Kristi N, on the capture of MS13 leader – A big deal!”

Patel echoed Trump’s sentiment, saying, “This is what can happen when you put good cops in good places to take on bad guys. And America should be watching this. And we are proud to be here standing with these brave warriors.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Santos’ attorney for comment. 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates. 

Fox News’ David Spunt, Jake Gibson, and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

A normally sleepy procedural vote ended in drama for the House of Representatives after a rebellion by Republicans against their own party forced planned chamber proceedings for the week to grind to a halt.

It puts the future in question for two key bills backed by the Trump administration that were slated to get a vote this week.

A mechanism known as a “rule vote,” which traditionally falls along party lines and is not an expression of support or opposition to specific legislation, failed on Tuesday when nine Republicans joined Democrats in an extraordinary rebuke of GOP leaders.

Speaker Mike Johnson is battling a GOP mutiny that has temporarily stalled President Trump’s agenda in Congress. (Getty Images)

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It comes amid a weekslong battle over the ability to vote remotely for new parents in Congress.

It’s an embarrassing setback for House Republican leadership, who put on a full court press for bills that would have limited district judges’ ability to levy nationwide injunctions and would have mandated proof of citizenship to register to vote, respectively.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., has been leading a bipartisan push for legislation that would allow new parents in the House to vote remotely for 12 weeks surrounding their child’s birth.

She attempted to force the bill onto the floor via a mechanism called a “discharge petition,” which would effectively end-run leaders to hold a House-wide vote on legislation, provided the petition gets support from a simple majority of the House.

Lawmakers rarely, if ever, lead discharge petitions against their own party. But Luna’s was poised for success with support from Democrats and some fellow Republicans. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House GOP leaders attempted to block it, however, by inserting language in an unrelated “rules” package on Monday night that would have effectively prevented Luna’s bill from getting a vote.

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That sparked a backlash among Republicans who either supported Luna’s efforts or opposed leaders’ attempts to change previously agreed-upon House rules – and in most cases, a combination of both.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the House Rules Committee told Fox News Digital that some Republicans on that panel were frustrated at being kept in the dark by House leaders until the final moments before their committee vote on Tuesday morning. All Republicans on the committee voted for the rule, however.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., supported Luna’s effort. (Alex Wong)

Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., Greg Steube, R-Fla., Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., were among those who voted to kill the rule.

Democrats broke out into applause after the legislation failed.

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It’s not immediately clear what House GOP leaders will do next – they could call an emergency session of the House Rules Committee to consider modified language that does not target discharge petitions.

One House Republican, however, suggested lawmakers could be sent home for the week. 

“Lots of torn up feelings. Might be better to press pause for a couple of days,” that GOP lawmaker said.

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced on Monday that her department will return over $1 billion in unused COVID-era funding back to the taxpayer amid the Trump administration’s push for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

In a press release, the Labor Department said $1.4 billion of unspent COVID funding will be “returned to taxpayers through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s General Fund” and added that “action” is “being taken to recover the remaining $2.9 billion.”

 “The roughly $4.3 billion was intended for states to use for temporary unemployment insurance during the pandemic,” the press release states. “Instead, several states continued spending millions of dollars despite no longer meeting necessary requirements, which was uncovered in a 2023 audit conducted by the department’s Office of Inspector General.”

The department explained in the press release that the funding originated from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in March 2020 and that the program was meant to provide expanded unemployment insurance for Americans who were not able to work during the pandemic.

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The Labor Department is returning over $1 billion in funds to taxpayers. (Getty Images)

The program was closed in 2021, the department said, but the 2023 audit “found four states were allowed to access the funding ‘despite not meeting program requirements,’ totaling over $100 million in spending.”

“There’s no reason leftover COVID unemployment funds should still be collecting dust,” DeRemer told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I promised to look out for Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars, and we are delivering at the Department of Labor.”

“Any money still sitting around for pandemic-era unemployment funds is a clear misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Chavez-DeRemer said in the press release, adding that she is “rooting out waste to ensure American Workers always come First.”

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Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Feb. 19, 2025. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said in a statement, “It’s unacceptable that billions of dollars went unchecked in a program that ended several years ago.

“In a huge win for the American taxpayer, we’ve clawed back these unused funds and will keep working to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”

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The announcement comes after DeRemer said in her first memo to the department after taking over last month that she plans to comply with Trump’s executive orders and work with DOGE to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.

“Under the leadership of President Trump, our focus remains on promoting job creation, enhancing workforce development, and ensuring safe working conditions, wages, and pensions so that every American has the opportunity to succeed,” DeRemer said to employees in the memo. “I challenge each of you to actively engage with your teams to identify innovative solutions that can help us achieve our goals.” 

Chavez-DeRemer said that the Labor Department must align with the priorities of the Trump administration and “must focus on practicing fiscal responsibility, reducing unnecessary spending, and optimizing our resources to ensure that taxpayer dollars are utilized effectively.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report