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Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a post on X, accusing the Biden-era official of “mismanagement.”

He leveled the criticism when responding to a post in which Buttigieg wrote, “The flying public needs answers. How many FAA personnel were just fired? What positions? And why?” 

Duffy responded, blasting Buttigieg.

“Mayor Pete failed for four years to address the air traffic controller shortage and upgrade our outdated, World War II-era air traffic control system. In less than four weeks, we have already begun the process and are engaging the smartest minds in the entire world,” Duffy declared.

SEAN DUFFY TELLS HILLARY CLINTON TO ‘SIT THIS ONE OUT’ AFTER SHE CHIMES IN ON HIS DOGE ANNOUNCEMENT

Left: Sean Duffy, U.S, Secretary of Transportation, during a swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. Right: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks to reporters after a groundbreaking ceremony for the Long Bridge Project at the Long Bridge Aquatic Center on Oct. 15, 2024 in Arlington, Va. (Left: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Right: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Prior to serving in the Biden administration, Buttigieg served as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

“Here’s the truth: the FAA alone has a staggering 45,000 employees. Less than 400 were let go, and they were all probationary, meaning they had been hired less than a year ago. Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go,” Duffy continued.

He accused Buttigieg of utilizing the Department of Transportation “as a slush fund for the green new scam and environmental justice nonsense,” and claimed “that over 90% of the workforce under his leadership were working from home – including him. The building was empty!”

PETE BUTTIGIEG BLASTS TRUMP AFTER PRESIDENT EXCORIATES HIM DURING PRESS BRIEFING

“When we finally get a full accounting of his mismanagement, I look forward to hearing from him,” he declared.

Buttigieg fired back, “At least one of the claims here (concerning telework rates) is demonstrably false, so forgive us for seeking more specifics on the rest. Is the Secretary claiming, and will he show, that none of the hundreds of FAA personnel he just fired were important to safety?”

In a post on Sunday, Duffy had indicated that individuals from SpaceX were slated to visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Monday.

DUFFY BRINGS UP CLINTON WHILE NOTING SPACEX WORKERS WILL VISIT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM COMMAND CENTER

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg looks on prior to the Playoff First Round game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on Dec. 20, 2024 in South Bend, Ind. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images))

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“The safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter. SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer,” Elon Musk replied.

State-level lawmakers are introducing a wave of bills aimed at advancing priorities championed by new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” platform, in some cases citing the new administration’s support for these causes as the catalyst for their efforts. 

Arizona, Kansas and Utah are examples of states doing this. The move is aimed at prohibiting junk food like candy and soda from school lunches and other federally funded food assistance programs, something Kennedy has expressed support for in the past. Others have included efforts to rid these programs of ultra-processed foods, certain additives and dyes.

“It took Bobby to get into the position that he is in now for something to happen,” Arizona state Rep. Leo Biasiucci said during a press conference this month during which he introduced HB 2164. The bill seeks to ban several food dyes and other additives from school lunch programs in the state. “I can’t thank him enough for being the microphone … at the high level, to finally put a spotlight on this.”

TRUMP’S ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ COMMISSION TO TARGET AUTISM, CHRONIC DISEASES

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the opportunity to rewrite federal dietary guidelines that are up for renewal. (Getty | iStock)

Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Idaho, similarly touted the new administration as a reason why he thought his new bill to remove candy and soda from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would be successful. The bill, HB 109, would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to seek a federal waiver to remove these items from SNAP. When asked by a fellow state lawmaker why he thought such a waiver to get rid of these foods would be successful, Redman cited a Trump administration that would be friendly to him.

“I think that the chances are higher now with the new administration,” Redman said. 

Wyoming, Kansas, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming have introduced similar bills aimed at reforming SNAP and school lunches.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is sworn in as secretary of health and human services by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Feb. 13, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In addition to dietary-related legislation, several states have also taken steps to amend their vaccine rules. During Kennedy’s confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, he was routinely grilled about his past skepticism towards vaccines. The new HHS secretary iterated to lawmakers at the time that he was not anti-vaccine, but rather “pro-safety.”

Roughly a dozen states, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Texas have introduced a variety of changes.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO BLOCK FEDERAL MONEY FOR SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES WITH COVID VACCINE MANDATES 

Some of the new bills targeting state vaccine rules include protections for immunization exemptions, efforts to bolster vaccine transparency, revised requirements related to the administration of vaccines and efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable for harmful side effects. Others prohibit any future COVID-19 vaccine mandates related to education, work or travel, with some providing an exception if state legislatures are able to pass a new bill requiring vaccinations for certain public health emergencies. 

A doctor holds a vial of the coronavirus vaccine, which was mandated at many levels amid the pandemic. (iStock)

Meanwhile, bills expelling fluoride from public water systems are also being introduced at the state level, another change Kennedy has promoted in the past. 

While states like Arkansas, Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota and others have taken steps to introduce legislation preventing fluoride from being added to public water systems, other states, like Kentucky and Nebraska, are considering bills that would make fluoride optional.

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At the federal level, the Senate’s Make America Healthy Again Caucus, which was formed to back the policies of Kennedy’s agenda, is reportedly readying a “package of bills” aimed at improving nutrition and the nation’s agriculture sector, according to Politico.

“The MAHA Caucus is ready to get to work with Robert F. Kennedy Jr,” the group’s official X account stated on Friday after Kennedy’s confirmation by the Senate.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is positioning himself as a “constructive force for the conservative agenda” during President Donald Trump’s second term as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge him. 

“Well, for me, it’s always principles first. It’s not personal,” Pence said in an interview with the Associated Press. 

Despite publicly falling out with Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Pence said he would support the new Trump administration on issues he agreed with, but would challenge others. 

Pence’s political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Trump’s newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

DOGE MUST ‘DEFUND’ PLANNED PARENTHOOD, MIKE PENCE’S WATCHDOG GROUP URGES MUSK

Former Vice President Mike Pence during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The former vice president said he and those who work for him received “a lot of quiet encouragement” in opposing Kennedy. Pence described finding it necessary to speak out on finding the “nomination of an abortion rights supporter to be secretary of HHS to be a dramatic departure from 50 years of strong pro-life leadership at HHS under Republican administrations.” 

Asked why Republicans might be reluctant to oppose Trump publicly, Pence said, “I never speculate on motives. You know, I’m not new to town. I’ve waged lonely battles before.”

“But you know, you have to be willing to step out and lead,” the former vice president said. “My hope is that when the next issue of life comes up, that people will have been encouraged, emboldened to know that they’re not alone.”

Regarding RFK Jr.’s nomination, Advancing American Freedom President Tim Chapman told Fox News Digital that the group believed “it would be an abdication of duty and responsibility if nobody said anything about the life issue in particular, let alone some of the other concerns.” 

“I think it’s more likely now that he’s better on life than if we had not engaged in the issue at all,” Chapman said. “Part of being constructive is weighing in and sending a market signal when the administration or Republican leadership might try to go in a direction that’s not tethered to conservative principles. And so you’re not always going to win all those fights. And in fact, we don’t even view it as our job to win all those fights. We view it as our job to start the conversation.” 

In the second Trump term, Chapman argued, “there is a far stronger echo chamber on the outside that is currently encouraging and sometimes, you know, doing more than encouraging Republicans and outside groups to stay in line with the administration.” He said it’s “creating an atmosphere where some people who may disagree with a nominee or with a policy decision are choosing to bide their time and not make that disagreement public.” 

“Time will tell whether that environment remains permanent and time will also tell whether that echo chamber serves the president well or ends up not serving him well. For various reasons, we don’t feel the pressure from that echo chamber to stay silent if we disagree,” Chapman told Fox News Digital. “We’ll do our best to constructively, you know, make our points. And when we disagree, try to pull the administration towards our view on policy. But then, you know, when we agree, be totally there running beside them and trying to help them push their priorities over the finish line.” 

Advancing American Freedom is now lobbying against Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick for labor secretary, accusing her of being pro-union. While Pence’s group plans to spend the coming months pushing to increase military spending, shrink the deficit, and make permanent the Trump 2017 tax cuts, as well as trying to convince Trump to stop implementing tariffs on allies, the former vice president and those who work for him insist they won’t take on the “Never Trump” mantle. 

Pence has been delivering speeches urging Trump to stand with long-standing foreign allies and lobbying members of Congress, while his aides write letters and opinion columns. Advancing American Freedom says they intend to praise the administration when they agree with it, while raising concerns when they don’t, advocating for longtime conservative principles that they believe have taken a back seat to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand of populism. 

“We’re calling balls and strikes here,” Pence told the AP. “I think that the way we want to approach this is with integrity to principle. And I’m very encouraged. I think the Trump administration is off to a great start… I’m very pleased about the president undoing Biden’s border policies and putting back into place the policies that we had negotiated and established that secured the border.”

Pence said he believes “some of the prominent voices in the party have embraced a more populist thinking” but that “the overwhelming majority of people that ever vote Republican think any differently than they thought during our administration when we hewed to a conservative agenda or the years before or since.” To support his opinion, the former vice president recalled an interaction he had with a farmer at a campaign stop in Iowa in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel. 

President-elect Donald Trump greets former Vice President Mike Pence at the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Despite the farmer saying he agreed with “absolutely everything” that Pence stumped about regarding “strong American support for Israel, strong American leadership in the world, continued support for Ukraine in their fight and limited government and bringing about reforms to put our fiscal house in order and right to life,” the former vice president recalled how the farmer said he could not vote for him in 2024 and that “I got to be for Trump this time.” 

“And he goes, ‘But I’ll see you in four years. You’re going to be a great president someday,'” said Pence, who briefly pursued the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. “I said, ‘Would you mind telling me, you know, why?’ And he said words I never forgot, which was in effect: He lamented Biden’s failed record. And I saw that he was drawn to the need for a rematch. And then he said, ‘Plus, if they can do that to a former president, they can do that to me.’ And the ‘lawfare’ stuff went into higher relief.” 

MIKE PENCE, OTHER FORMER TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS FEATURED IN HARRIS CAMPAIGN AD SLAMMING TRUMP AS ‘DANGEROUS’

“So I didn’t see in this last election a Republican Party that was embracing big government or a vision to pull back from America’s commitments on the world stage or marginalizing the right to life,” Pence told the AP. “I didn’t see that traveling all over the country and I still don’t see it. I think there were other factors that gave the former president a decided advantage in the election. He’d earned it. He’d won it. And then he won it in the fall. But I don’t think the party’s changed.”

In his interview with Fox News Digital, Chapman agreed. “I think he’s seen firsthand, and all of us have who’ve traveled the country, when you look at Republican voters and what they believe just on the issues, there’s not a lot of change going on in the party,” Chapman said. “The average Republican voter still feels very strongly about limited government, feels very strongly about traditional values and about pushing back against the left’s, you know, progressive attack on traditional values and feels very strong about a strong national defense. Like these are baseline concepts for conservative voters that have not changed in any way, shape or form.” 

“Many of the reasons that they wanted Trump back were because of how successful the first Trump administration was on those issues,” he continued. “The policy set has not changed… there was a reaction to the left’s out of control lawfare and out of control cancel culture and that Trump was seen as the object of that. And so there was a very, very natural and very frankly, commendable instinct from the American people and Republican voters to say, you know what? We’re going to stick it to him. We’re not taking this anymore.

Pence told the AP that he went to Trump’s inauguration last month and “was very moved in the outpouring of kind words and expressions of appreciation from former colleagues, including many members of the new administration who I encountered in hallways.” When he saw Trump’s new secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Pence said he gave him a hug and “told him how proud I was of him.” 

“We had praised him from here when he was selected,” Pence told the AP. “I must have seen or interacted with about half the incoming Cabinet.”

At the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, Pence said he had a “very cordial exchange” with Trump. When Trump was coming down the front row of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Pence recalled him saying, “Hi, Mike.” Pence said he extended his hand to Trump and said, “Congratulations, Mr. President,” and “I could see his countenance softened. And he said, ‘Thanks.’” Pence said he also congratulated first lady Melania Trump. 

Al Gore, Mike Pence and Karen Pence sit behind Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. and Laura Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald and Melania Trump at the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“You know, the people that know me know it’s not personal,” Pence told the AP. “I’ve long since forgiven the president for any differences that we had at the end of our administration. We still have those differences as the president still holds the view that, to my knowledge, that I had some authority that I did not have under the Constitution or laws of the country. But from my heart, I’ve prayed often for the president.”

The AP also asked Pence about the viral moment at the funeral in which his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, refused to acknowledge President-elect Trump or shake Melania Trump’s hand.

“My wife loves her husband. And I love my wife and I have great respect for her. And so – but I’ve been really moved at how many people around the country have thanked us both for that day,” Pence said. “But again, you know, I want to emphasize, we’re eyes forward here. You know, I’d always thought the president was going to come around on the position he took on Jan. 6.” 

In his book, Pence said, he describes how he and Trump “actually parted on very amicable terms, very good terms,” but in the spring, when Trump “returned to the rhetoric about how I could have done something that neither the Constitution nor the law would ever permit any vice president to do, then I just decided it was important to go our separate ways.” 

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“But hope springs eternal,” Pence said. “And we want to be a constructive force for the conservative agenda. I think that’s good for the administration. It’s good for the Congress. More importantly, it’s good for America.”

Chapman reiterated to Fox News Digital that Pence’s work during Trump’s second term was not personal in nature, pointing to Pence back when he served in Congress “was often a lone voice, you know, agitating against Republican leadership for a course correction to a more conservative vision for governing.” 

“What you’re seeing him do now is almost a return to form,” Chapman said. “So I definitely think there’s nothing personal there.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As President Donald Trump steps up border security and deportation efforts, agents with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are finding themselves under alarmingly sophisticated threats to their safety, an expert tells Fox News Digital.

“The cartels are losing business. The encounters at the border are the lowest they’ve been in decades, and the cartels are not just going to give up that business quietly,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital. 

The comments come after it was reported over the weekend that CBP agents will no longer wear body cameras during field operations, a response to a post on Reddit that claimed it could help people track agents wearing the cameras with an application called BLE Radar, which uses Bluetooth to scan for such devices within a 100-yard radius.

BORDER PATROL AGENTS TO STOP WEARING BODY CAMERAS AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA POST REVEALS ‘SECURITY RISK’

This split shows President Trump and Border Patrol. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images and Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“Pending completion of investigation and risk mitigation, all Agents will stand down the use of their BWCs [body worn cameras] until further notice. Additional guidance and information will be disseminated as it is received,” a directive over the weekend announced.

While the tracking of agents was presented as a way to help immigrants find soft spots on the border, it also opened up agents to threats to their safety, including from improvised explosive devices.

Cartels could also make use of the tracking information to threaten the lives of agents, Ries noted.

“It is possible that they could use the cameras… the low-level frequency interception to track the agents, harm the agents, and attack the agents,” Ries said.

Ries also noted that the cameras played an important role in protecting field agents from false claims of abuse, providing key evidence they now won’t have after encounters with migrants.

DAILY AVERAGE OF KNOWN GOTAWAYS AT SOUTHERN BORDER PLUMMETS, DOWN 93% FROM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HIGHS

An ICE agent monitors hundreds of asylum seekers being processed upon entering the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on June 6, 2023, in New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

“I anticipate the number of claims of abuse are about to jump to exploit this lack of camera use,” Ries said.

When it comes to cartels, Ries noted that there have been warnings sent out that cartels could use shooters on the other side of the border to target agents.

“I just saw a memo about potentially using a shooter on the Mexican side to shoot at our agents and our military, so we have to assume that’s being planned and use countermeasures against it,” Ries said.

Ries also noted that cartels have in the past effectively used drones to track CBP agents, though that threat could now be lower with the increased military presence at the border.

Aside from the threats from cartels, CBP and ICE agents also face dangers from inside the borders of the U.S., Ries noted, pointing to leaks of ICE raids as an example of something that has recently endangered agents.

 A U.S. Border Patrol agent stands on a cliff looking for migrants crossing the border wall near Sasabe, Arizona. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“That subjects ICE agents to an ambush,” Ries said. “It’s one thing for aliens to flee, so when ICE shows up there’s no one there… worse would be if aliens stay here and attack ICE agents, that is a risk.”

Such leaks of planned operations and technological vulnerabilities could continue to be a threat to the safety of agents as those opposed to Trump’s enforcement-driven agenda seek to undermine those plans, Ries said.

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Countering such threats will not only take awareness and smart tactics during operations, but also help from Congress in order to secure funding to equip agents with enough resources to combat the dangers.

“It’s technology, it’s equipment, it’s intel, and personnel… they can’t be out patrolling alone, they need to work together,” Ries said. “Congress is working, although too slowly, getting resources to CBP and ICE to continue to carry out these mass deportations. Congress needs to hurry up.”

President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan is touting the administration’s dramatic drop in illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border compared to the Biden administration.

Homan took to X to say that Border Patrol “has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border.”

“That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden,” he said. “I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984, and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low.”

HOMAN, AOC CLASH OVER WEBINAR TO HELP IMMIGRANTS’ ‘EVADE’ ICE RAIDS: ‘I THOUGHT I EDUCATED HER’ 

Border czar Tom Homan speaks to reporters at the White House, Feb. 6, 2025.  (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

“President Trump promised a secure border and he is delivering,” he said.

The Trump administration has come in with an agenda to launch a historic mass deportation campaign and to provide additional border security. Trump signed orders on day one restarting border wall construction, limiting the ability to claim asylum, declaring a national emergency and ending Biden-era parole programs.

Army Maj. Gen. Henry S. Dixon, left, talks with Marines near San Ysidro, California, Jan. 28, 2025. U.S. Northern Command is working with Homeland Security to add additional security to curtail illegal border crossings. (Department of  Defense )

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His administration has expanded expedited removal, removed limits on “sensitive places” on ICE agents, and launched raids across the country – while also suing “sanctuary” jurisdictions.

Fox News Digital reported last week that illegal immigrant arrests have soared. According to Department of Homeland Security data, obtained by Fox News Digital, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan 20 to Feb 8., compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That’s a 137% increase.

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

Arrests of aliens with criminal histories have soared by nearly 100% from 4,526 in the same period in 2024 to 8,993 under Trump this year. Arrests of fugitive aliens at-large, meanwhile, have gone up from 2,164 to 5,538 – a 156% increase. Arrests of criminal aliens in local jails have gone up 59%.

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Fox News also reported that the daily average number of known gotaways – illegal migrants who successfully entered the U.S. without apprehension – at the southern border since the beginning of February has plummeted to just 132 per day, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office.

On “America’s Newsroom,” Homan was asked when he is likely to run out of criminal illegal immigrant targets.

“We got almost 600,000 illegal aliens in the United States with a criminal conviction. So I won’t be happy till we eradicate every one of those,” he said.

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to get what it says is “maximum transparency” about the agency’s handling of criminal illegal immigrants during the Biden administration.

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing DHS for records it requested in October during the Biden administration about the release of data on noncitizens on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s non-detained docket with criminal backgrounds.

The data, released to lawmakers in September, stated that there were 425,431 convicted criminals on ICE’s non-detained docket, and an additional 222,141 with pending criminal charges.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ 

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

Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions, and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions. 

There were an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges.

At the time, the Biden DHS said the data was being misinterpreted, noting it goes back decades, and includes those who are not only free but also those who are incarcerated by federal, state or local authorities but who are not in ICE custody.

CASA requested internal communications and records from ICE and Customs and Border Protection related to the data and the release of the data, including meeting requests, call logs and communications with media outlets. It requested the documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER CONVICTIONS IN US: ICE DATA

Alejandro Mayorkas is pictured next to a sighting of a drone in New Jersey. (AP Images/Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press)

The group did not receive a response and so has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia to compel compliance from the agency.

“Through DHS’s failure to make a determination within the time period required by law, CASA has constructively exhausted its administrative remedies and seeks immediate judicial review,” the lawsuit says.

“The American people deserve maximum transparency regarding the government’s handling of all illegal aliens, but particularly about those aliens with serious criminal convictions,” CASA director James Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. 

“This lawsuit will force DHS to provide records and communications related to the release of these illegal alien criminals into communities throughout the country,” he said.

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It is unclear how DHS under the Trump administration will handle the request, given the administration’s significantly different attitude to the release of illegal immigrants. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has largely stopped the release of migrants into the U.S., in part due to President Trump’s order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. That, in turn, has meant that migrants can be removed without being offered the ability to claim asylum.

In addition, the administration has launched a mass deportation campaign and has been making significant steps to not only conduct arrests, but also to house illegal immigrants without releasing them and to increase the rate of deportations.

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Fox News Digital reported last week that the arrests of illegal immigrants have skyrocketed in the first weeks of the Trump administration compared to the same period last year under former President Biden.

The Trump administration’s potential plan to exclude European allies from negotiations to end the war in Ukraine has caused panic among the continent’s leaders but may be the only way to finally resolve the conflict, an expert tells Fox News Digital.

“Trump’s likely rationale for excluding European allies out of direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations is this. First, there’s no agreement among NATO members on the NATO membership for Ukraine. Some are for it and some are against. So it would be a waste of time to add this obstacle to the talks. Second, the Europeans don’t add anything to the talks,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst, former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital. 

“They [Europeans] are not decision-makers here. The only ‘deciders’ – using George Bush’s famous phrase – here are Putin and Trump. And even more accurately it’s Putin,” Koffler added. “He holds all the cards, given the realities on the battlefield and outside of it.”

The comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts an “emergency meeting” of European leaders Monday to discuss President Donald Trump’s potential plan to largely exclude them from negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a move that has caused anxiety on a continent that believes it has a vital stake in determining the terms of any settlement.

Despite the uncertainty for European leaders, Trump has insisted that Ukraine will be involved in any talks to end the conflict.

TRUMP ADDRESSES UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE TALKS, SAYS ZELENSKYY WILL BE INVOLVED

Macron has reportedly called a special meeting about Trump. (Getty Images/ AP Images)

“He will be involved, yes,” Trump said Sunday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Meanwhile, Politico reported Monday that Macron and Trump had a “frank” 20-minute discussion just before the meetings in Paris were held, though the details of that discussion are still unclear.

The emergency meeting is being held after a security conference over the weekend in Munich, Germany, where Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, hinted European leaders may not be allowed to take part in a deal the U.S. helps broker between Ukraine and Russia.

Asked about Europe’s potential role in resolving the conflict during the conference, Kellogg indicated such involvement “is not going to happen,” arguing he was “from the school of realism” and that adding the Europeans to the mix may only serve to add too many voices to the discussion.

“What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,” Kellogg said, adding that Trump is hoping to have a resolution to the conflict within “days and weeks.”

“You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I’m not talking six months,” he said.

Koffler believes that Trump shares a similar realism, a dose of reality she believes has been lacking from media coverage of the war.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE ‘ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE’

“President Trump is a realist and he understands that Ukraine has lost the war. In fact, Ukraine lost the war before it started,” Koffler said. “Russia holds massive, massive combat potential advantage over Ukraine. Always has, always will. I’ve been saying it for three years. It’s a shame that the Biden administration, assisted by the mainstream media, has created a alternate reality, lying to the American people that Ukraine was winning or could win, just like they lied about so many other things.”

“But any serious and honest military intelligence analyst who is not on the payroll of the U.S.-NATO military-industrial complex or of the Zelenskyy’s regime, and who isn’t afraid to go against the media’s party line, known as the editorial line, has known from the very start how this war will end,” she added.

Trump said Ukraine President Zelenskyy would be involved in talks to end the conflict. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

But Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for the Obama administration, cautioned against excluding European allies from the discussions, arguing that a deal without their involvement is “unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict.”

“President Trump is right to seek an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and he should be applauded for his efforts. Yet by staking out a role for the United States to be the indispensable negotiator in the war, he risks creating major commitments, as this is not America’s war and we are now being inserted directly into it,” Rubin told Fox News Digital. “In analogous diplomatic situations, such as the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, we clinched a deal only after providing major commitments to both parties in the form of economic assistance and military aid, totaling well past $100 billion so far.”

While Rubin acknowledged that inclusion of European leaders would be more “complex initially,” the payoff would be to “spread the costs” of any guarantees that arise from negotiations.

EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

“And of course, because Europe is directly impacted by Russia’s belligerence, any deal that’s finalized will need their support (in addition to Ukraine’s), otherwise it’s unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict, instead turning these negotiations into just one more stalled diplomatic effort of the many that have taken place in this war since it truly began in 2014,” Rubin said.

Macron’s emergency meeting in Paris is expected to be attended by a host of European leaders, according to Politico, including Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Poland’s Donald Tusk and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

But Koffler believes Trump is the only leader in a position to handle what are sure to be difficult negotiations, where none of the world’s leaders will have any leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his address to the nation in Moscow on March 23, 2024. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump is the only U.S. leader who has the courage to acknowledge the obvious – he is not afraid of being blamed for losing the war and handing Putin victory. Which the Democrats and the neocons will almost certainly do,” Koffler said.

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“It is why Trump is offering to Putin pretty much everything Putin wanted – no NATO for Ukraine, Russia keeps the eastern portion of Ukraine and Crimea, no U.S. boots on the ground in Ukraine, and even potentially membership in G-8 – all to save whatever is left of Ukraine and Ukrainians, to entice Putin to the negotiating table,” she added. “Putin doesn’t have to stop the war. In fact, I don’t rule out the possibility that he will not accept anything Trump has to offer.”

“The negotiations will be super complicated to begin with. Putin will almost certainly be playing hard ball. And we’ve got very little leverage over Russia. Inviting Europeans would serve no purpose and would only make an already tenuous peace deal impossible to achieve.”

The acting head of the Social Security Administration (SSA) quit her job over the weekend after butting heads with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), over efforts to access certain sensitive government records, according to reports.

The Washington Post reported that three people familiar with Michelle King’s departure said on Monday that she stepped down from her position after the disagreement.

In response to King’s departure, President Donald Trump reportedly appointed Leland Dudek to lead the agency as the president’s nominee to serve as commissioner of the SSA, Frank Bisignano, is vetted by federal lawmakers.

Principal Deputy Press Secretary at the White House, Harrison Fields, said they expect Bisignano to be “swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks.”

ELON MUSK SAYS MILLIONS IN SOCIAL SECURITY DATABASE ARE BETWEEN AGES OF 100 AND 159

The logo of the US Social Security Administration is seen outside a Social Security building, November 5, 2020, in Burbank, California. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images) (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

“In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner,” Fields said without naming the replacement. “President Trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the American people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long.”

The three individuals who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, reportedly told the publication that Dudek posted positive remarks about DOGE’s efforts to seek out fraud and cut costs across federal agencies.

The SSA did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.

DEMOCRATS LOVED IDEA OF DOGE BEFORE TRUMP, WHITE HOUSE QUIPS

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Images)

Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Trump. The department was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

One of the department’s most recent targets is the SSA, which was created by the Social Security Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 and tasked with establishing a federal benefits system for older Americans.

As DOGE continues to find fraud and wasteful spending at SSA, Musk turned to X on Monday to say millions of people listed in a Social Security database are recorded as centenarians “with the death field set to FALSE!”

TREASURY DEPARTMENT RECOUPS $31 MILLION IN IMPROPER GOVERNMENT PAYMENTS TO DEAD PEOPLE

“According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk posted, adding a couple of rolling on the floor laughing emojis.

His post features a chart indicating there are more than 20 million listed with ages 100 and higher, including more than 3.9 million in the 130-139 age range, more than 3.5 million in the 140-149 range and more than 1.3 million in the 150-159 range.

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While the U.S. population count in the 2020 census was more than 331 million, the count of people ages 100 and older was more than 80,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

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

The Department of Education last week said it canceled nearly $350 million in “woke” spending, purportedly addressing the most pressing problems of education policy and practice.

The agency canceled 10 contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories (REL), totaling $336 million, after a review of the contracts uncovered “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” a news release states.

It’s not clear if the cuts were related to the Department of Government Efficiency slashing the Education Department’s activities related to DEI. 

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

The Department of Education has canceled various grants and contracts since President Donald Trump took office last month. (Getty Images)

RELs have been around for nearly 60 years, according to the Institute of Education Sciences, which administers the 10 RELs across the country, which are divided by region.

The programs “contribute to the growing body of research on how experiences within the nation’s education system differ by context and student group, thereby impacting outcomes and identifying potential solutions,” the IES website states. 

However, a review found instances where DEI initiatives were being funded, the Department of Education said. 

“For example, the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest has been advising schools in Ohio to undertake ‘equity audits’ and ‘equity conversations,’” the agency said. “The Department plans to enter into new contracts that will satisfy the statutory requirements, improve student learning, and better serve school districts, State Departments of Education, and other education stakeholders.”

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WARNS THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST REMOVE DEI POLICIES OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Also terminated were $33 million in grant funds to four Equity Assistance Centers, which supported training in DEI, critical race theory and gender identity for state and local education agencies as well as school boards, the Education Department said. 

On Monday, the department announced the termination of more than $600 million in grants to institutions and nonprofits that were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on allegedly divisive ideologies.

“Training materials included inappropriate and unnecessary topics such as Critical Race Theory; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); social justice activism; ‘anti-racism,’ and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy,” a news release states. “Additionally, many of these grants included teacher and staff recruiting strategies implicitly and explicitly based on race.”

President Donald Trump has said he wants to abolish the Department of Education, calling it a “con job” that has failed to properly educate American students. 

Elon Musk and the Department of Education (Getty Images)

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“Oh, I’d like it to be closed immediately. Look at the Department of Education. It’s a big con job,” he said last week. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil.”

“So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40,” he added. 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem sent a stern warning on behalf of President Donald Trump, to those planning on entering the U.S. illegally, saying, “Don’t even think about it.”

Noem announced Monday that she is launching a major multi-million-dollar ad campaign targeting illegal immigrants.

“Tonight, I’m announcing a nationwide and international multimillion-dollar ad campaign warning illegal aliens to leave our country NOW or face deportation with the inability to return to the US,” the DHS secretary said in a post on X. “This serves as a strong warning to criminal illegal aliens to not come to America. If they do, they will be hunted down and deported.”

Noem also shared a video of her delivering a message to illegal aliens thinking about coming to the U.S. illegally.

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

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

“Under President Trump, we are defending American families and restoring their safety. If you try to enter illegally, you will be caught, you will be removed and you will never return,” Noem added. “Follow the law and you’ll find opportunity. If you break it, you’ll find consequences. Strong borders mean a stronger America. President Trump is making America safe again.”

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

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

LARGEST LAPD UNION SLAMS ANTI-TRUMP PROTEST DIRECTIVES, SAYS ARRESTS ‘SHOULD BE A NO-BRAINER’ IN ALTERCATIONS

Then-Gov Kristi Noem helps construct border fencing on May 16, 2024 (Fox News Digital )

Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been launching deportation operations throughout the country to fulfill Trump’s promise of a “historic” operation.

At her confirmation hearing, Noem pointed to other parts of the DHS mission, including cybersecurity, disaster relief and counterterrorism. However, she emphasized that border security is a “top priority.”

BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN SENDS MESSAGE TO FAR-LEFT OFFICIALS PUSHING BACK AGAINST MASS DEPORTATIONS: ‘GAME ON’

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, left, and White House border czar Tom Homan speak with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

As governor, she pledged in 2021 not to take any more migrants from the Biden administration and also deployed the National Guard to the border in Texas. She also had experience with disaster response, working with federal officials to tackle floods that hit the state in June.

At her hearing, Noem was also asked about how she would work with border czar Tom Homan, who has been tapped to lead the deportation effort and secure the border.

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Noem responded by saying that she and Homan “work very well together and talk and communicate all the time. And we’ll be working together on a daily basis when we’re in our positions under the new administration. And I would say there’s no authority being planned to be taken away from the department or myself if I’m in the role.”

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

“Profanity is the parlance of the fool.” — President Teddy Roosevelt 

“Be on time. Never criticize a teammate. Never use profanity.” — UCLA 10-time NCAA Basketball Champion Head Coach John Wooden 

“I’ve been accused of vulgarity. I say that’s bulls—.” – Filmmaker Mel Brooks 

Do members of Congress curse?

GOP REP WHO RETURNED TO CONGRESS AFTER EIGHT-YEAR BREAK CREDITS TRUMP WITH UNIFYING PARTY

The House of representatives. (Chip Somodevilla)

Of course. 

Democrats aren’t fussing about President Trump and Elon Musk. 

They’re cussing about President Trump and Elon Musk. 

It’s customary for members of Congress to express their views on the president of the United States. 

They may request a concrete step on domestic policy. A healthcare issue. Suggest an approach on dealing with China or the Middle East. Maybe an initiative to improve the economy, bolster jobs or increase productivity.

But congressional Democrats have very specific ideas about President Trump — and what should happen to him. And in some cases, Musk.

COMER, LEE ROLL OUT BICAMERAL BILL TO FAST-TACK TRUMP’S GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION PLANS THROUGH CONGRESS

“F— Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., at a Capitol Hill rally for the union which represents many federal employees.

Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., spoke about working as a construction worker and electrician for the International Brotherhood of Electoral Workers in Atlantic City. 

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) listens during a hearing called “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos” before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Michael A. McCoy)

“We had a guy called Donald Trump. We fought with him for ten years,” said Norcross. “I’m from Jersey. So we speak a little differently. I say f— Trump!” 

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., is a freshman and a pulmonologist. 

“I don’t swear in public very well,” conceded Dexter. 

But the congresswoman proved she could cuss like a sailor. 

“We have to f— Trump!” fulminated Dexter. 

It’s unclear what rubric Dexter relied on to judge if she swore “very well” or failed in her lexical mission. But just six weeks into her first term in Congress, Dexter had cussed out the president of the United States. It’s a feat her predecessor, former Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., never matched in his nearly three decades in Congress. 

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., speaks during a news conference with the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the Capitol Visitor Center to oppose Elon Musk gaining access to the Treasury Department’s federal payment system, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Cheese and crackers! 

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., took a slightly different approach. She didn’t issue a verbal disposition to the president. She issued a slightly sanitized call to action.

“It’s time to push back on the bullies. Are you guys ready to fight? Let’s effing go!” yelled Sachez at the protest with federal employees. 

Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., did not direct his obscenities at the president. Instead, Boyle was more general in his characterization about what has gone down during the first month of the Trump administration.

“I’m from the home of the Super Bowl champion Eagles,” bragged Boyle. “The great Super Bowl run was actually a welcome distraction for me and all of us in Philly from the sort of bulls— that’s been going on.” 

Fly Eagles, fly. 

But for the record, Boyle did not give the president the bird. 

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., parroted Boyle’s profanity. 

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., arrives for a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus at the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.  (Getty Images)

“Bulls—. Bulls—. That is why we’re here to fight them,” said Frost, focusing on Musk. “We can’t allow this unelected billionaire to come in and to eviscerate the things we fought so hard to get right. This isn’t about protecting the system.” 

Son of a biscuit eater! 

I don’t know where you went to school, but where I grew up in rural Ohio, a teacher might threaten to wash out a student’s mouth with soap if they used salty language. Hey. It was the 1970s. It’s unclear if there’s a remedy to pasteurize the vulgar language now directed toward the president from congressional Democrats.

But apparently to the Democrats, desperate times call for #*&@?+&! measures. 

In fact, if Democrats kept a “swear jar,” it’s possible their regular contributions could offset some of the proposed cuts by DOGE. 

Major League Baseball players returned to the diamond for an abbreviated season in the summer of 2020 — cut short by the pandemic. With no fans cheering and the games unfolding inside cavernous, empty stadiums, field microphones truly picked up the “sounds of the game.” The experience put an entirely new spin on “color commentary.”

Turns out there were more than just foul balls in the national pastime. 

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington.  (Alex Brandon)

So for Democrats, perhaps cursing is the new vernacular. It may be helpful to let off steam. The language may rile up the base. It may even pep up a crowd of government workers who fear for their jobs under DOGE. Does it make a difference in the policy? Probably not. Does it persuade the president? No. Does it capture the attention of those aligned with President Trump — whom Democrats need to bring into their fray? Doubtful.

YOU’RE HIRED! HERE’S WHO PASSED CONGRESS’ TRUMP CABINET TEST AND HOW STORMY THEIR HEARINGS WERE

Democrats may think some of that’s balderdash. 

“We have to start liberating politicians to speak to the truth,” said former Democratic presidential candidate and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., on Fox. 

Phillips just left Congress last month. Democrats are certainly speaking. It’s just unclear if their cussing boosts the message. 

Or, is the swearing the message. It might underscore just how frustrated Democrats are with what President Trump is doing — to say nothing of the fact that he’s in office for a second term. 

The language replicates what Democrats did in 2017 during Mr. Trump’s first term. 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., leaves the Senate Democrats lunch in the Mansfield Room in the Capitol on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. ( Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )

“We should go the f— home,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., eight years ago if Democrats weren’t tangibly helping people. 

Granted, President Trump’s expletives shifted the political linguistic paradigm when he first campaigned in 2015 and 2016. A 2019 New York Times article referred to Mr. Trump as the “profanity President.” Part of the president’s political appeal was that he spoke “everyday” language. That resonated with large swaths of voters who wanted answers to their problems and were fatigued by sterilized bromides.

Clean language was usually the default of public officials until recent years. Now everyone seems to have a case of political potty mouth. 

But politicians have long relied on expletives. 

Former President Biden was captured on mics in a stage whisper when he leaned in to tell President Obama that passing Obamacare was “a big f—ing deal” in 2010.

A CNN reporter was accused of promoting President Joe Biden’s campaign merch on X Wednesday. (Kevin Lamarque)

Then-Vice President Dick Cheney told former Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to “go f— yourself” when he visited the Capitol in 2004.

In 2000, President George W. Bush spotted the late New York Times political reporter Adam Clymer in the crowd while campaigning in Naperville, Illnois. The future president observed to Cheney that Clymer was a “major league a–hole.”

So for now, Democrats are trying to calibrate their response to President Trump. 

“We can’t always be at a 10,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. “We’re going to have to find degrees of outrage here.”

Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida, during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024.  (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)

That’s the elusive recipe for Democrats. President Trump, Musk and congressional Republicans give Democrats a lot to work with. But they have yet to make a significant impact in their opposition.

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As Phillips suggests, Democrats must figure this out. 

Otherwise, they’re f—ed.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) on Monday called on Mayor Eric Adams to prove he can still govern the city amid calls for his resignation after the Justice Department dropped bribery charges against him and four deputy mayors submitted their intent to resign. 

In a letter to Adams, Lander said the potential resignations of the deputy mayors could “create an unprecedented leadership vacuum at the highest levels of City government and wreak havoc on the City’s ability to deliver essential services to New Yorkers.”

“Given the gravity of this situation and the chaos it has unleashed among New Yorkers, I formally request that your office promptly develop and present a detailed contingency plan outlining how you intend to manage the City of New York during this period of leadership transition,” he wrote. 

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS DEMOCRAT

New York City Mayor Eric Adams departs Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City on Friday, November 1, 2024. Adams’ lawyers are seeking to have a bribery charge, one of the five federal corruption charges that have been filed against the mayor, dropped. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital )

“Specifically, please provide immediate confirmation of your plan for appointing interim Deputy Mayors and key managerial staff, along with an anticipated timeline for stabilizing the administration, no later than Friday, February 21, 2025,” Lander added. 

If Adams fails to provide a plan, Lander said he would seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee. Fox News Digital has reached out to Adams’ office. 

In a letter last week to Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon said Adams was being granted special treatment by the Trump administration after receiving a memo drafted by Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directing the case against the mayor to be dropped.

Rather than carry out the directive, Sassoon and several others resigned instead. Adams was charged last year with bribery, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS PROMISES TO REOPEN ICE OFFICE ON RIKERS ISLAND AFTER MEETING WITH TRUMP BORDER CZAR

Former U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon pictured in an undated official portrait. (Reuters)

Critics say Adams has cozied up to the Trump administration, and offered to cooperate on Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown in an effort to get a pardon. 

“These resignations come in the wake of deeply concerning actions by the U.S. Justice Department, asking the U.S. District Court to drop the indictments against you, so long as you comply with the White House on matters of immigration and criminal justice policy, which call into question your ability to continue to comply with your duties to New Yorkers under the City Charter,” Lander wrote in his letter. 

On Sunday, Adams told churchgoers in Queens that he is refusing to resign. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has rebuffed calls for him to resign after the Justice Department dropped a bribery case against him.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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“I have a mission to finish, the mission that God put me on many years ago,” Adams said, adding that “God has fortified me.”

Adams told “Fox & Friends” in an interview on Friday that he plans to run for re-election as a Democrat.

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments which was oftentimes left blank.

“The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process),” DOGE wrote in a post on X. “In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.”

The agency thanked the U.S. Treasury for their work in identifying the optional field.

WHAT HAS DOGE CUT SO FAR?

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and is also referred to as the “account.”

All financial transactions made by the federal government are classified by TAS when reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The discovery was announced on the same day DOGE appeared to have populated the DOGE.gov Savings page, which, as of Monday evening, said the total estimated savings since the establishment of the department total about $55 billion.

DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS

President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk address attempts to portray a rivalry between the pair on a ‘Hannity’ exclusive, airing Tuesday, February 18. (Fox News)

The savings are a combination of “fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.”

“We are working to upload all of this data in a digestible and fully transparent manner with clear assumptions, consistent with applicable rules and regulations,” DOGE wrote on the site, adding that the data will be updated twice per week until eventually becoming real-time.

Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Donald Trump.

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

The Congressional DOGE Caucus now has over 100 members, Fox News Digital was told (House of Representatives/Getty)

The department was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

The group has faced criticism over its access to federal systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment system, as well as moves to cancel federal contracts and make cuts at various agencies.

Attorneys general from 14 states are suing to block DOGE from accessing federal data, arguing Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach.

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The newly formed cost-cutting agency scored a win on Friday when a federal judge in Washington declined a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Fox News Digital’s Hillary Vaugh and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Democrat-appointed Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox is echoing Mayor Michelle Wu’s pledged resistance to the Trump administration’s deportations, saying on a local news station on Sunday that “we don’t enforce” civil immigration detainers filed by ICE.

While speaking on a segment of WCVB’s “On the Record” show, Cox, who was appointed as police commissioner by Wu in 2022, said that in line with state and city laws, Boston police officers “don’t have authority to enforce federal immigration law.”

Pressed on whether this policy conflicts with federal immigration law, Cox said that “the Boston Police Department has pretty defined rules and we abide by the law here in the state.”

“We just don’t do that,” he said. “We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It’s defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works.”

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

Trump Border Czar Tom Homan across from Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox.

Both the Boston “Trust Act,” passed in 2014, and a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling known as Lunn vs. Commonwealth both limit law enforcement entities in the city and state from cooperating with ICE “detainer” requests to hold illegal immigrants for potential deportation.

Speaking on the same show shortly after the presidential election, Wu said: “Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that. But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact.”

ICE has said that such policies endanger local communities by forcing the agency to track down illegals and to make often high-risk arrests in public spaces.

ICE ARRESTS ‘PREDATOR’ MIGRANT CONVICTED OF SECRETLY RECORDING OTHERS IN BATHROOM

ICE Boston arrests Salvadoran national, on January 30th, 2025 charged with sexually assaulting a Massachusetts resident.  (ICE Boston)

Despite this, and repeated criticisms by the Trump administration and border czar Tom Homan, Cox insisted that his department “abides by Boston law and Massachusetts law,” saying: “We don’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration law.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“From our perspective and what we tell anyone who comes to visit our city, lives in our city, is that we don’t care about your immigration status, but what we do care about is: Are you a victim of crime in our city or are you a victimizer, right? We will hold you accountable for that, and that doesn’t matter what your immigration status is,” he said.

Asked what he would say to Massachusetts residents who are concerned that the Boston Police Department’s policy does not protect them, the commissioner tripled down, saying: “We just don’t have the authority to enforce federal law.” He also went on to say that “what people don’t understand is that there is a difference between criminal warrants and civil detainers” and that “if it’s a warrant involved, we will absolutely enforce it.”

TRANS MIGRANT FINDING SANCTUARY IN NYC ACCUSED OF RAPING 14-YEAR-OLD

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at a news conference regarding immigration enforcement at the Justice Department, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Ben Curtis/AP)

Homan, meanwhile, has warned jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement authorities, telling them: “Don’t cross that line.” On her first day in office, Trump’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a 60-day pause on federal funding to migrant “sanctuary cities.”

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In response to the possibility of Boston having its federal funding cut or removed, Cox said, “We could not be as safe as we are without the help of the federal government. They are partners with us, so I don’t know why that would be undone. But when it comes to financing and income flows into our city, I can only control what we can control, whether it’s the city council, through a budget process every year, or however, the way people talk about funding the police department.”

The Fox News Politics newsletter for Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Trump chooses team of four to negotiate end of the Russia-Ukraine war

–Elon Musk says there are millions in the Social Security database between the ages of 100 and 159

-Iran says Israel and US ‘can’t do a damn thing’ to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions

Clinton Clash Continues

SpaceX workers will visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted in a Sunday post on X, in which he also mentioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with whom he recently engaged in a social media spat.

“America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Duffy declared, noting that he’d welcome assistance from American developers or businesses.

“Tomorrow, members of @elonmusk’s SpaceX team will be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in VA to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.”

He then brought up Clinton… Read more

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy mentioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with whom he recently engaged in a social media spat, in an X post discussing SpaceX workers’ upcoming visit to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. (Left: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Right: Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images)

White House 

‘JIM CROW 2.0’: Biden DOJ’s lingering ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Georgia election lawsuit should be ‘immediately dismissed’: expert… Read more

YOU’RE FIRED: Trump admin aims for a fatal blow to the independence of ‘Deep State’ agencies… Read more

FAB FOUR: Meet the team Trump picked to negotiate ending the Russia-Ukraine war… Read more

President Donald Trump chose a team of four to lead negotiations with Russia and Ukraine on ending the war between them. (Getty Images)

Capitol Hill

TO THE STREETS: Academic unions plan demonstrations outside HHS building, at med schools, to protest Trump research cuts… Read more

‘TDS’ BACKLASH: California Democratic congressman faces social media backlash for post tying Trump to Georgia small plane crash… Read more

‘VAMPIRES’: Elon Musk says millions in Social Security database are between ages of 100 and 159… Read more

Elon Musk made a post on X featuring a chart indicating there are more than 20 million recipients listed in a Social Security database aged 100 and higher. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: DOGE puts DEI on chopping block with termination of over $370M in education department grants… Read more

Across America

SHOCKING MOVE: VA Dems spurn antisemitism expert from GMU board… Read more

SECESSION!: Effort in ‘red’ swath of Oregon to join Idaho gets new life, as political secession has had mixed results… Read more

‘STEPPING UP,’ NOT DOWN: NYC Mayor Adams refuses to resign in sermon: ‘I have a mission to finish’… Read more

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told Fox News that he plans to run for re-election as a Democrat. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

‘RADICAL AND LAWLESS’: Department of Education probing some Virginia school districts over gender identity policies… Read more

DEI BOYCOTT: NAACP urges Black consumers to steer buying power away from companies that have ditched DEI… Read more

READY FOR LAUNCH: Vivek Ramaswamy to launch Ohio gubernatorial campaign one week from today… Read more

World Stage

FIRST ON FOX: GOP leaders rally to revoke China’s ‘most favored nation’ status after 20-year run… Read more

‘DESERVE TO BE RECOUPED’: Zelenskyy not yet signing US economic agreement ‘short-sighted,’ White House official says… Read more

‘COLLAPSE HAMAS’: Israeli military experts weigh in on Trump’s ‘all hell’ threat to Hamas and what it could look like… Read more

‘READY FOR NEGOTIATIONS’: Putin sending foreign minister to Saudi Arabia for talks with Trump officials… Read more

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dispatched a group of senior officials to Saudi Arabia for meetings with the U.S. about a potential peace deal for Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Monday. (Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via REUTERS/Leah Millis/Alina Smutko)

‘SENDS A WRONG SIGNAL’: China outraged after Trump state department deletes key phrase on Taiwan relations… Read more

‘DM ME’: Illegal-smuggling coyotes now advertising at Canada border amid Trump migrant crackdown: report… Read more

IRAN GOES NUCLEAR: Iran warns Israel and US ‘can’t do a damn thing’ to thwart Tehran nuclear ambitions as tensions escalate… Read more

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

EXCLUSIVE: In commemoration of Presidents Day, a top DOGE senator is seeking to claw back $400 million sitting in a “slush fund” set up to help presidential candidates that hasn’t borne fruit since Y2K.

Through the Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act, Sen. Joni Ernst said she hopes to defund an account she calls “welfare for politicians.”

“This Presidents Day I am fighting for the integrity of the office because the last thing we need to spend tax dollars on is more political attack ads,” said Ernst, R-Iowa.

“There is no better way to pay down the $36 trillion debt than by defunding welfare for politicians. Washington should be working to benefit all Americans instead of itself.”

DRAIN THE SWAMP ACT SEEKS TO MOVE DC BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CRAZYTOWN, DOGE LEADER SAYS

Ernst, the chair of the DOGE caucus in the upper chamber, remarked the fund has not been successfully utilized in decades.

The last winning presidential candidate to pull from the fund was Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000, and later in 2004.

Since then, a handful of unsuccessful candidates have utilized it, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Green Party candidate Jill Stein; both in the 2024 cycle.

Pence’s campaign reportedly received more than $1 million from the fund amid his GOP primary bid, while Stein utilized $380,000.

The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also received $84.1 million from the fund in 2008. An FEC release from that time said nominees of major parties are entitled to $20 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment back to 1974. 

Defunding the account was first floated as one of several proposals in a DOGE-centric November letter from Ernst to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Stein told Fox News Digital the candidates’ fund was “raided” of $375 million, and that Democrats too have tried to moot the effectiveness of the fund by trying to put public funding “out of reach of grassroots candidates” through their H.R.-1 (the For the People Act) during the Biden era.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS ISSUES THAT SPURRED DOGE’S GENESIS CAME FULL CIRCLE WITH TRUMP FIXES

Sen. Joni Ernst (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A checkbox on the IRS’ 1099 tax form asks filers whether they would like to pay $3 into the fund, which Stein said showed it is different than other public monies.

“It’s outrageous,” Stein said, calling the effort to end the fund “part of a bipartisan, anti-democratic effort to stifle competition in presidential elections – specifically by denying voters the option to support publicly financed candidates who refuse the legalized bribery of big corporate contributions.”

Stein added that a majority of voters have called for presidential candidates outside the two major parties, citing a Gallup survey showing they “do such a poor job” of representing Americans.

“Publicly funded campaigns are the antidote to the massive legalized corruption that puts more money in the hands of billionaires than ever… the American people abhor the corporate buyout of our elections,” Stein said.

“As life becomes increasingly unlivable for everyday Americans, while billionaire wealth skyrockets, the demand to end the sale of our democracy will be unstoppable, through simple reforms including publicly funded elections, inclusive debates, ranked choice voting, ending obstructive ballot access laws and voter suppression, and more.”

“Eliminating public funding denies voters the option to support candidates who refuse pay-to-play politics.”

A source familiar said FEC rules also allow candidates to continue seeking public funds for campaign debt.

IRS Code 9006, with footnotes dating the fund to at least the 1970s, allows for eligible candidates to be paid out of the fund “upon receipt of a certification from the [Federal Election] Commission.”

“Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the control of such candidates.”

In 2014, the portion of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund allocated to assist political parties with their conventions was redirected to pediatric cancer research through an act of Congress.

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Then-Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., drafted a bill later signed by President Barack Obama that diverted such funds to an NIH research initiative.

Then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., gave the measure a major leadership push after he heard the case of a young Leesburg girl afflicted with the disease and decided to name the legislation the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act in her name.

Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Pence for comment.

A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff who was a supporter of President Donald Trump in last year’s election on Monday launched a campaign for California governor.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy at an event Monday in Riverside, California, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“As Californians we want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living …and leaders who will do something about it,” Bianco said in his address, according to prepared excerpts.

He emphasized that “we want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government. We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.”

TOP TRUMP OFFICIAL TEASES CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL BID IF FORMER VP HARRIS RUNS

Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Bianco, a vocal critic of Newsom and other state Democratic leaders when it comes to the issues of crime and punishment, was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections. The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes.

“I am running for Governor because our beautiful state – which I absolutely love – is heading down the wrong track and has been for years. Everyone knows it, except those sitting in the Sacramento echo chamber. For decades the party in complete control of our state government has tried the same failed ideas and implemented the same failed policies,” Bianco argued, as he took aim at Newsom and the Democratic majorities in the state legislature.

Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. He’s been openly flirting with a 2026 gubernatorial run since at least last spring.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana., center, listens to Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County, Calif., speak during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol to recognize law enforcement as part of Police Week on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in heavily blue California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.

There has been plenty of speculation since former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election defeat last November to Trump regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028.

MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREEDICTS FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WOULD CLEAR GUBERNATORIAL FIELD

Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president.

Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C.  (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded.

Among the more than half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.

Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.

Former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor.

And one of Trump’s top aides is floating a potential bid for California governor if Harris also runs.

Ric Grenell, U.S. envoy for special missions in President Trump’s second administration, speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump loyalist who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president’s second administration, told reporters late last week, “If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot.”

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Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, considered a run for California governor during the 2021 recall election that Newsom eventually ended up easily winning, but he ultimately decided against launching a campaign.

In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi Arabian officials Monday ahead of planned talks in the country between United States diplomats and their Russian counterparts meant to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war. 

Rubio was joined by U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman at his palace in the capital city of Riyadh. Rubio also met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud earlier Monday after traveling to Riyadh from Israel during his first trip to the Middle East as secretary of state.

Talks are scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and Russia. Ukrainian officials are notably expected to be absent from the negotiating table. 

Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE ‘ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Feb. 17, 2025.  (EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov set off for the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV.  

Addressing reporters in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov said he looked forward to putting an “absolutely abnormal period” of estrangement between the U.S. and Russia behind them, according to the Washington Post. 

“We want to listen to our partners,” Lavrov reportedly said. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire range of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents.” 

Bruce said the meeting is aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud receives Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Saudi Foreign Ministry headquarters in Riyadh on Feb. 17, 2025.  (EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“I think the goal, obviously, for everyone is to determine if this is something that can move forward,” she told reporters traveling with Rubio in Riyadh, according to the Associated Press.

Bruce said that even though Ukraine would not be at the table for Tuesday’s talks, actual peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine’s involvement. 

Tuesday’s talks are expected to lay the groundwork for the summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said he spoke to Putin on the phone last week and they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. Trump phoned Zelenskyy afterward to inform him about their conversation.

Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy “will be involved” but did not elaborate. 

ZELENSKYY NOT YET SIGNING US ECONOMIC AGREEMENT ‘SHORT-SIGHTED,’ WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL SAYS

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is convening an emergency meeting between the main European powers in Paris on Monday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Speaking on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Witkoff said he and Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president,” and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.”

Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia. 

The Ukrainian president said Monday his country had not been invited to the upcoming talks and won’t accept the outcome if Kyiv doesn’t take part. The U.S.-Russia talks would “yield no results,” given the absence of any Ukrainian officials, Zelenskyy said on a conference call with journalists from the United Arab Emirates, according to the AP. Zelenskyy said he would travel to Turkey on Monday and to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip was unrelated to the U.S.-Russia talks.

Rubio meets with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Feb. 17, 2025. On a separate couch are Waltz and U.S. charge d’affaires Alison Dilworth. Witkoff, not pictured, was on another couch in the room.  (EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Waltz rejected the notion that European allies are not being consulted on negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, noting how Rubio, Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spent last week in Europe meeting with allies. Bessent, in particular, traveled to Kyiv, while Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. 

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Waltz said one of the key tenants in negotiating a peace deal would be ensuring “a permanent end to the war,” describing how the conflict has devolved “into a World War I-style meat grinder of human beings.” He said long-term military security guarantees have to be European-led, criticizing how a third of NATO countries are not contributing what they agreed upon a decade ago. 

As for the billions in U.S. aid sent to Ukraine during the Biden administration, Waltz said the American people “deserve to be recouped, deserve to have some type of payback for the billions they have invested in this war.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A federal judge has ruled against federal employees who sued the Trump administration over privacy and security concerns around a government workforce email distribution system.

The new computer server was used to send deferred resignation “Fork in the Road” emails to more than 2 million federal employees, offering them to leave their government jobs and get paid through September, or risk being laid off.

DC-based federal Judge Randolph Moss denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have blocked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from continuing to use the email address HR@opm.gov and is known as the “Government-Wide Email System.”

The lawsuit claimed that in the rush to adopt this new system, OPM violated security safeguards for federal workers, known as a Privacy Impact Statement (PIA).

But in denying emergency legal relief, the judge said, “Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating that their .gov email addresses (which reveal their names and, possibly, their places of employment) are at imminent risk of exposure outside the United States government— much less that this risk is a result of OPM’s failure to conduct an adequate PIA. Rather, their arguments ‘rel[y] on a highly attenuated chain of possibilities.’”

According to the lawsuit, soon after Trump took office, federal employees received emails from the email address HR@opm.gov that indicated the agency was running tests for a new “distribution and response list.”

“The goal of these tests is to confirm that an email can be sent and replied to by all government employees,” one of the emails said, according to the lawsuit. Workers were asked to acknowledge receipt of the messages.

The case will continue on the merits in the courts, but for now the new communications system will remain in place, pending any appeal.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The NAACP is calling on Black consumers to direct their nearly $2 trillion in buying power toward companies that have kept their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

In a “Black Consumer Advisory” memo released Saturday, the NAACP said that Black consumers have purchasing power exceeding $1.8 trillion annually. The memo included a “Call To Action” for these consumers to begin steering that power away from specific companies that have begun cutting back on DEI-related positions, programs, investments and hiring practices. According to the group, such rollbacks “reinforce historical barriers to progress under the guise of protecting ‘meritocracy,’” which they said was “a concept often used to justify exclusion.” 

Some of the companies the group is urging Black consumers to steer clear of are listed on its website and include Walmart, Meta and McDonald’s. Others were reportedly referenced in a separate buying guide provided exclusively to The Associated Press, which listed Lowe’s, Amazon, Tractor Supply and Target as others to avoid. 

Delta Air Lines, Apple and Ben & Jerry’s are some of the companies the NAACP listed on its website as having “recommitted to DEI.” Meanwhile, e.l.f. Cosmetics, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Costco are other companies the NAACP is suggesting are wise for consumers to support because they have kept strong to their DEI commitments, according to The Associated Press.    

WALMART FACING BACKLASH OVER DEI POLICY REVERSAL AS SHAREHOLDERS AND DEM OFFICIALS URGE THEM TO RECONSIDER

The effort to steer consumers away from these companies comes amid pressure from the Trump administration and GOP officials to peel back DEI commitments in both the public and private sectors. In addition to an executive order from President Donald Trump calling for an end to “Illegal DEI and DEIA policies,” which he says violate currently established civil rights law, newly appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a memo earlier this month to all Justice Department employees, indicating the agency would be investigating, eliminating and penalizing DEI preferences, mandates, policies and programs occurring in the private sector and at educational institutions.

Missouri filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging Starbucks’ DEI policies. (Fox News Digital)

Recently, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr ordered an investigation into Comcast’s DEI practices, while the state of Missouri filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging Starbucks’ DEI policies, as well. 

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

“The NAACP recognizes that the rollback of DEI initiatives is a direct attack on Black economic progress, civil rights, and the principles of equity and fairness,” the Saturday consumer advisory memo stated. “These actions are part of a broader effort to reverse gains made in civil rights and social justice. We urge Black consumers to remain vigilant, informed, and intentional in their economic decisions, using their collective power to demand accountability from corporations and institutions.”

The consumer guidance provided by the NAACP will reportedly be amended as companies make changes to their DEI commitments, according to The Associated Press, and the group is currently in discussions with executives at companies that have reversed their DEI pledges. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the NAACP for comment and to receive a full list of companies it was urging Black consumers to steer cleer of but did not receive a response by publication time. 

“We have the power to choose where we spend our money,” NAACP CEO and President Derrick Johnson said in a statement posted on X. “I am confident that this framework will support our community as we make difficult decisions on where to spend our hard-earned money.”