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Attorneys and legal experts railed against New York Judge Juan Merchan sentencing President-elect Donald Trump in the NY v. Trump case just days ahead of his inauguration as president, saying the case will be remembered as “one of the worst” cases in history. 

“I’ll tell you how it strikes me, when you look at cases throughout history, not just in the United States, but really all over the world, this will be remembered as one of the worst. This will be remembered as an absolute injustice from the beginning,” Fox News host Mark Levin said on Fox News after the sentencing. 

Merchan sentenced Trump on Friday morning to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no punishment such as fines or jail time.

“This is the end of the politicalization of the justice system,” said Fox News contributor Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney whom Trump named this week as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice in his upcoming administration. 

DONALD TRUMP SENTENCED WITH NO PENALTY IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL, AS JUDGE WISHES HIM ‘GODSPEED’ IN 2ND TERM

Trump was sentenced on Friday morning.

“Trump’s victory in the election basically, in my opinion, neutered this case. And the attempt to stain President Trump, to tarnish him with the scarlet felon, is going to be reversed just a matter of time. And I’m telling you this with 35 years of experience, this case should have never had been tried. It was done for one reason, to stop President Trump from becoming the 47th president. I want to be very clear, it failed.”

Terrell added in his comments to Fox Digital that he is “salivating to get to the Department of Justice,” where he will be “very involved in pursuing justice” surrounding the NY case and others brought against Trump. 

“I’m going to be involved in stopping anti-semitism and to stop going after Catholic families, parents who go to a school board meeting, and the misuse, the abuse of using the legal system for political gain. So, I’m going be involved in any investigation, and I hope I’m working there 24/7 to uncover all this nonsense,” he said, noting that documents and correspondence surrounding the Trump cases will be “exposed.” 

Merchan highlighted Friday ahead of sentencing that the court system handled Trump’s case as it handles every other criminal case. 

“After careful analysis, this court determined the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan said Friday. “At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts.” 

Merchan added, “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”

REPUBLICANS BLAST ‘JOKE’ SENTENCING OF TRUMP 10 DAYS BEFORE SWEARING IN

Fox News contributor and lawyer Trey Gowdy underscored on Friday that if Trump’s case was handled the same as any other in New York, it shows “there are a lot of bad trials going on” in the state. 

“Court time is precious. It is a precious resource. To waste this time on a case, where even the prosecution agrees you should not spend a minute. So if Juan Merchan says this case was not handled any differently, that just tells me there are lots of bad trials going on in New York,” Gowdy said. 

Legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley compared Merchan’s remark that Trump’s case was similar to any other in New York to Mary Shelley’s “Dr. Frankenstein.” 

“Merchan appears to be making the case in his own defense and insisted that this case is no different from any other case in New York. It is a case being made long after the jury has left the courthouse. This is like Dr. Frankenstein telling his creature that he is just like any other man. Stitching together this case from a dead misdemeanor and declined federal charges is anything but ordinary,” Turley said on X. 

Trump addressed the court ahead of sentencing that the case was a “great embarrassment to the state of New York,” while highlighting that voters “decisively” re-elected him to the White House in November. 

Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn added on Friday that as she walked into the courtroom, she noticed widespread support for Trump on the streets. 

“The only protesters, per se, who were here were Trump supporters. And even as I’m standing here right now, I’m looking into a square and I’m looking at people holding Trump flags, I’m looking at a person who has a sign that says, ‘Enough is enough. We voted. We don’t want this lawfare anymore.'” 

During Trump’s trial in the spring of last year, no cameras were permitted in the courtroom. For the sentencing, however, Merchan agreed to allow audio, which Urbahn found odd. 

“It is noteworthy that during the trial, there was no audio. There were no cameras, but for this particular sentencing, Judge Merchan agreed to have audio. I can’t help but think if it’s because he wants the world to hear his voice sentence Donald Trump because we were not able to have that before,” she said on Fox News. 

Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for Jan. 10 earlier this month, and was swiftly met with repeated attempts to delay and block the sentencing. Merchan said ahead of the sentencing that he would likely not “impose any sentence of incarceration” on Trump, and instead hand down an “unconditional discharge.” 

Trump’s legal team filed an appeal to block sentencing from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. However, the court rejected his request. Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it “immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising questions of Presidential immunity, including in this Court if necessary.” 

Trump in court (Fox News)

“The Court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this stay application,” Trump’s filing requested. 

TRUMP TO BE SENTENCED IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL

FILE – Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The Supreme Court denied the request. Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that they would have granted Trump’s petition to postpone sentencing, while the order suggested Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson to deny Trump’s request. 

TRUMP FILES MOTION TO STAY ‘UNLAWFUL SENTENCING’ IN NEW YORK CASE

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) (AP Photo)

Trump has vowed to appeal the conviction, arguing that evidence in the case implicated his duties as president during his first term after the Supreme Court’s ruling in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts. 

TRUMP FILES EMERGENCY PETITION TO SUPREME COURT TO PREVENT SENTENCING IN NY V. TRUMP

“I will be appealing this case, and am confident that JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL. The pathetic, dying remnants of the Witch Hunts against me will not distract us as we unite and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after the Supreme Court’s order on Thursday. 

Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks to speak to the press at the end of the day during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 7, 2024 in New York City. 

“Every Legal Scholar stated, unequivocally, that this is a case that should never have been brought. There was no case against me. In other words, I am innocent of all of the Judge’s made up, fake charges. This was nothing other than Weaponization of our Justice System against a Political Opponent. It’s called Lawfare, and nothing like this has ever happened in the United States of America, and it should never be allowed to happen again. To this day, this highly political and corrupt Judge has put a gag order on me, which takes away my First Amendment right to speak about very important aspects of the case,” his post added. 

​​Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

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Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November. 

Fox News’s Brooke Singman and David Spunt contributed to this report.

The Biden administration on Friday announced the extension of deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals from a slew of countries, just weeks before the incoming Trump administration is expected to launch a historic deportation operation.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it is extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Venezuela, Sudan and Ukraine for an additional 18 months beyond their current expirations.

TPS grants protection from deportation and work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. DHS cited environmental disasters in El Salvador, including storms and heavy rainfall, that it said resulted in a “substantial, but temporary” disruption of living conditions. It also cited the political and economic crises in Venezuela, political instability in Sudan and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine with Russia.

DEMS URGE BIDEN TO EXTEND CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRANT PROGRAM; TRUMP SAYS HE’LL CUT IT

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks at a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

The moves do not redesignate countries for the status, meaning only those currently protected by TPS are eligible for an extension and no new applications can be received. Venezuela’s extension will apply to approximately 600,000 nationals; El Salvador’s will apply to 232,000; Ukraine’s will apply to approximately 103,000; and Sudan will affect about 1,900 nationals. Venezuela’s extension will run until October 2026, and El Salvador’s will run until September 2026, with both having been scheduled to end in the spring of 2025.

The moves, particularly for El Salvador and Venezuela, could complicate efforts by the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants from those countries. Venezuelan nationals have been a particular focus, given the rise of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, while El Salvador is where the MS-13 gang originated.

The agency noted that individuals for TPS are vetted and are barred from TPS eligibility if they have a felony conviction or multiple misdemeanors.

The Biden administration has faced a number of calls from Senate Democrats and immigration activists to extend TPS ahead of the incoming Trump administration, which has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and drastically ramp up deportations.

‘LEGAL AUTHORITY’: SENATE DEMS DEMAND BIDEN EXTEND PROTECTIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AHEAD OF TRUMP ADMIN

“We write now because the window to secure and finalize your administration’s policies is closing rapidly. We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the President-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families,” Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Biden in a letter this month.

The first Trump administration moved to cut down on the number of countries designated for TPS, but the Biden administration has used it broadly, designating or redesignating a number of countries, including Venezuela, Afghanistan and Haiti. There are currently 17 countries designated for TPS.

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Former President Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, on Aug. 22, 2024. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Both President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have indicated they want to cut back on TPS once in office, specifically for Haiti.

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Republicans have also made moves to restrict the program in Congress. Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced a bill last year that would require Congress to approve them for 12-month terms and to make additional moves to extend them.

Tulsi Gabbard, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in his next administration, has reversed course on a controversial item after lobbying from Republican senators. 

Gabbard revealed on Friday that she believes section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) “is crucial for gathering foreign intelligence on non-U.S. persons abroad.”

She previously opposed FISA section 702 re-authorization while serving as a Democrat in the House of Representatives. 

‘DELAYING AND OBSTRUCTING’: TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN HITS BACK AS DEM CALLS FOUL ON TRUMP CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

Gabbard announced a change in her position on FISA’s section 702.  (Getty Images)

“We have a very important responsibility to strike a balance between national security to keep the American people safe, while also protecting our constitutionally protected freedoms,” she said on the House floor in 2018. “Let us make this critical choice. Vote to keep our country safe. Vote to uphold our constitutional rights that so many have fought and died to protect.”

In her statement, provided by a Trump transition spokesperson, Gabbard said, “This unique capability cannot be replicated and must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans.”

“My prior concerns about FISA were based on insufficient protections for civil liberties, particularly regarding the FBI’s misuse of warrantless search powers on American citizens. Significant FISA reforms have been enacted since my time in Congress to address these issues. If confirmed as DNI, I will uphold Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights while maintaining vital national security tools like Section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom of the American people,” she said. 

The change in Gabbard’s beliefs on the key national security issue was first reported by Punchbowl News. 

It comes after multiple Republican senators made the case to her of the importance of FISA’s section 702. 

REPUBLICANS BLAST ‘JOKE’ SENTENCING OF TRUMP 10 DAYS BEFORE SWEARING IN

Trump tapped Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told Fox News Digital in a statement: “Tulsi Gabbard has assured me in our conversations that she supports Section 702 as recently amended and that she will follow the law and support its reauthorization as DNI.”

One GOP aide shared that during his meeting with Gabbard, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., emphasized how important the authority granted by section 702 is, and how important her navigation of it would be. 

In a podcast appearance earlier this week, Lankford told the Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel that there were some issues “that people aren’t talking about” as it relates to Trump’s picks. One of them, he said, was Gabbard and her stance on section 702. 

“She has voted against what’s called 702 authority every time that she was in Congress and voted against it. Well, now she’s going to be the spokesman for 702 authority. It’s a legitimate question just to say, ‘Okay, how are you going to handle this?’” he asked. 

LAKEN RILEY ACT OVERCOMES FILIBUSTER IN SENATE AS DEMS GIVE GOP HELPING HAND

Cotton is chairman of the intelligence committee.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Lankford suggested that this is something that matters to other Republican senators. “I don’t hear anyone really coming up publicly and saying, ‘I’m adamantly opposed'” to Trump’s nominees, he explained. 

But, “What I hear is a lot of people saying, ‘Hey, I want to give a fair hearing. I want people to be able to answer questions publicly.’” 

While most GOP senators are supportive of FISA, some have been vocal critics. “Voting to reauthorize FISA 702 without a warrant requirement is difficult to defend. So are those casting such votes—especially if they purport to care about the Fourth Amendment,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X ahead of the most recent FISA re-authorization. 

Another top critic, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in 2023, “Using 702, Americans’ communications content and metadata is inevitably swept up and kept in government databases without a warrant. Law enforcement agencies then access Americans’ communications without a warrant.” 

NEW GOP SENATOR TEARS INTO DEMS ‘SEEKING TO DELAY’ PETE HEGSETH DOD CONFIRMATION

Paul has opposed section 702 over what he says are infringements of civil liberties.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

These Republicans may not be as happy about Gabbard’s change of heart. However, there isn’t any indication that it would harm their support for her as of yet. 

One Republican senate source cast doubt on Gabbard’s new stance, noting that she has been “a life-long skeptic of intelligence gathering.” They suggested it is unlikely that she has “completely changed her mind.” 

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A GOP Senate source confirmed to Fox News Digital that conservative senators are encouraged by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and his apparent desire to confirm Trump nominees on the day he is sworn into office. 

The group is eager to have all national security nominees confirmed on Trump’s first day, they added. 

Los Angeles’ municipal utility lacks a common safety procedure that may have kept water pumping to fire hydrants during an intentional power shutoff, though President Biden said the outage caused the problem.

Republicans, including President-elect Trump, have blamed Democratic officials — at least in part — for the water shortage, which has hampered efforts to fight devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County. However, Democrats have rebuked these claims, and on Thursday, Biden suggested the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) bore responsibility for shutting off power to pumps that fuel the hydrants.

“What I know from talking to the governor, there are concerns out there that there’s also been a water shortage,” Biden told reporters. “The fact is the utilities, understandably, shut off power because they are worried the lines that carried energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires. When it did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water — that’s what caused the lack of water in these hydrants.”

Biden noted that generators were being deployed following the shutdown to get power back to the pumps and ensure there is no longer a shortage of water to fight the fire.

TRUMP ACCUSES NEWSOM OF PRIORITIZING ENDANGERED FISH SPECIES OVER PROTECTING RESIDENTS FROM WILDFIRES

Firefighters roll up a hose used to fight the Eaton Fire after a hydrant ran out of water as powerful winds fueling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area forced people to evacuate in Altadena, California, on Thursday. (Reuters/Fred Greaves)

But a report from The Wall Street Journal unveiled Friday highlighted how LADWP is the only major utility company in California without an intentional shut-off protocol, known as a “Public Safety Power Shut Off” procedure. The protocol lays out plans for how to proactively shut down certain electricity lines during dangerous windstorms and limit the impact to public safety. 

“Being prepared for a power shutoff takes careful planning, which begins by designing our water systems the right way and working with local fire agencies and energy companies to ensure community safety,” California Water Service, a private utility provider in the state, explains on its website FAQ page about public safety power shutoffs.

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST-TURNED-FIREFIGHTER BATTLES CALIFORNIA BLAZES AS WILDFIRES CONTINUE TO BURN

“We go to great lengths beyond our standard procedures to ensure water service isn’t disrupted during a power shutoff,” the company added. “Cal Water has been installing permanent generators at a number of our critical stations over the years, and we are working to bring in additional, portable generators for other stations. Our crews and employees have also been trained on emergency response procedures for when these widespread shutoffs occur.”

Michael Wara, a lawyer who directs the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University and studies wildfire mitigation strategies, added in remarks to the Journal that “there is no need to make any trade-off between reliability and safety.”

Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Edward Ring, the director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, confirmed there are measures that could be taken to keep power to the pumps during an intentional shutoff. 

“They need to underground these power lines, that would be the solution, or they need to have parallel systems that go to vital services like fire hydrant pumps that are not on the same circuit as the lines that are going into households,” he said.

‘DEVASTATING’: CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT

A spokesperson for LADWP told Fox News Digital that in the absence of a public safety power shutoff protocol for Los Angeles, it has a different procedure in place to reduce fire risks while continuing vital functions. The spokesperson said that Los Angeles’s urban environment is different from the environments that other California utility companies serve. 

“LADWP worked closely with the Los Angeles Fire Department to develop this emergency protocol,” the spokesperson said. “LADWP’s plan is audited every 3 years by an independent third party and is submitted to state regulators as required.”

But, in the past, according to the Journal, LADWP has asserted it will not proactively shut off power ahead of heavy winds.

A firefighter removes a hose from a hydrant that ran out of water while fighting the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on Thursday. (Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Former Los Angeles firefighter John Knox, who spoke with Fox News on Friday, said he was “surprised” to hear that fire hydrants were running dry, adding that there are “a lot of things that need to be asked by the people to get answers from these so-called leaders.” 

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“In my career I’ve never seen us have — every once in a while you might have a dry hydrant, but we do annual testing in January where we test all the fire hydrants and that didn’t happen this year,” Knox said. “That area has a very large reservoir with four huge tanks that are supposed to be filled at all times. It’s my understanding also that they had one of them that’s been out for maintenance for a year during peak brush season. 

“There’s a lot of issues and a lot of things that need to be asked by the people to get answers from these so-called leaders.”

President-elect Trump announced his latest picks to join the growing number of Cabinet choices as his Jan. 20th inauguration nears. 

Trump, in a Friday evening announcement, said that Bill Briggs would serve as the next Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. If confirmed, Briggs will serve alongside Trump’s pick for SBA Administrator, Kelly Loeffler.

“Bill is a successful businessman who served in my First Term as the Acting Associate Administrator in the Office of Capital Access at SBA,” he said. “During his tenure, Bill helped oversee our Historic Paycheck Protection Program that saved many of our Small Businesses, and millions of jobs.”

TRUMP NAMES LATEST WHITE HOUSE STAFF PICKS AS JAN. 20 INAUGURATION APPROACHES

Republican Presidential candidate, former U.S. president, Donald Trump, left, poses for photos with Republican Vice Presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, (R-OH), before making remarks to a crowd during an event on August 21, 2024 in Asheboro, North Carolina at the North Carolina Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame.  (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

The president-elect also announced Ed Russo as his pick for the Environmental Advisory Task Force.

“I am pleased to announce that Ed Russo, an Environmental Expert, will lead our Environmental Advisory Task Force, which will advise my Administration on initiatives to create great jobs and protect our natural resources, by following my policy of CLEAN AIR and CLEAN WATER,” he said. “Together, we will achieve American Energy DOMINANCE, rebuild our Economy, and DRILL, BABY, DRILL.”

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The nominations come as Trump continues to round out picks for his Cabinet as Jan. 20 nears.

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate will soon begin holding hearings for Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

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Republicans will control the Senate with 53 seats to the Democrats’ 47 once Senator-elect Jim Justice of West Virginia is sworn in later in January and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appoints a senator to fill Vice President-elect Vance’s seat. 

FIRST ON FOX: Newly sworn-in Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, in his first letter as a member of the Senate, sent a blistering inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security demanding answers on the extension of deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals from a slew of countries.

“I write to express my sincere concerns regarding the extensions of the designations of El Salvador, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Sudan for Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”),” Moreno wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday. “These 18-month extensions allow these noncitizens to remain in the United States through the Fall of 2026, when the designations were set to expire.”

“These decisions were shamefully made by an outgoing administration ten days before President Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office. One would think that after handedly losing the 2024 Presidential Election when voters overwhelmingly rejected the Biden-Harris Administration’s open-border policy, that you would finally understand American citizens’ mandate. And yet, you continue to completely disregard the will of the majority of voters, by unilaterally deciding to allow nearly 1 million noncitizens who entered our country without original authorization to remain in the United States.”

DHS announced on Friday it is extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Venezuela, Sudan and Ukraine for an additional 18 months beyond their current expirations.

RED STATE AGS WELCOME TRUMP CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AFTER FOUR YEARS BATTLING BIDEN

Senator Bernie Moreno, left, and President Joe Biden, right (Getty)

TPS grants protection from deportation and work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. DHS cited environmental disasters in El Salvador, including storms and heavy rainfall, that it said resulted in a “substantial, but temporary” disruption of living conditions. It also cited the political and economic crises in Venezuela, political instability in Sudan and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine with Russia.

In his letter to Secretary Mayorkas, Moreno criticized the government’s rationale for the move.

“I am also deeply disgusted by your attempts to justify these decisions,” Moreno wrote. “For example, according to your Department, the extension of the TPS status of 234,000 noncitizens is due to “geological and weather events” in El Salvador. However, a quick review of the current weather in San Salvador, El Salvador currently shows that it is “mostly sunny” and 81 degrees Fahrenheit.”

NEW REPORT REVEALS MASSIVE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BENEFITING FROM BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN’S ‘QUIET AMNESTY’

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on the department’s budget request on Capitol Hill on April 18, 2024  (Getty Images)

The moves do not redesignate countries for the status, meaning only those currently protected by TPS are eligible for an extension and no new applications can be received. Venezuela’s extension will apply to approximately 600,000 nationals; El Salvador’s will apply to 232,000; Ukraine’s will apply to approximately 103,000; and Sudan will affect about 1,900 nationals. Venezuela’s extension will run until October 2026, and El Salvador’s will run until September 2026, with both having been scheduled to end in the spring of 2025.

The moves, particularly for El Salvador and Venezuela, could complicate efforts by the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants from those countries. Venezuelan nationals have been a particular focus, given the rise of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, while El Salvador is where the MS-13 gang originated.

Moreno’s letter asked Mayorkas to provide answers to a series of questions, some of them related to the concerns about MS-13. 

“What is the current number of MS-13 members known to be in the United States?” Moreno asked. ” What is the current number of TdA members known to be in the United States? How many of the noncitizens suspected of being associated with MS-13 and/or TdA have remained in this country through a TPS designation?”

The letter also asks for sourcing and data related to the “geological and weather events” cited by the government as well as information about the vetting process for these individuals and answers about how the government is ensuring that these migrants will not commit crimes in the United States. 

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“DHS responds to Congressional inquiries directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

The department added that a series of earthquakes in El Salvador that caused a disruption in living conditions played a role in the extension for foreign nationals from that country. The department added that it has implemented “enhanced screening measures” to identify gang members.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. 

The first Trump administration moved to cut down on the number of countries designated for TPS, but the Biden administration has used it broadly, designating or redesignating a number of countries, including Venezuela, Afghanistan and Haiti. There are currently 17 countries designated for TPS.

Both President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have indicated they want to cut back on TPS once in office, specifically for Haiti.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report

EXCLUSIVE: A wife desperate to bring her husband home from 2½ years of wrongful detainment in Afghanistan has flown to Mar-a-Lago in Florida to implore President-elect Trump to take up her case. 

Ryan Corbett was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan in August 2022 just as the U.S. was pulling out of the country, and Anna Corbett says she has been trying to get a meeting with the Biden administration ever since. 

This week, Anna saw a glimmer of hope when reports broke that the Biden administration has been negotiating with the Taliban to swap three U.S. citizens being held in Afghanistan in exchange for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner alleged to have been a close associate of Usama bin Laden. 

But that deal has seemingly stalled. A senior Taliban official told The Guardian the Taliban would rather wait to negotiate with the incoming Trump administration, shattering the hopes of the Corbett family. 

2 AMERICANS ARRESTED IN VENEZUELA ON EVE OF MADURO INAUGURATION OVER ‘TERRORISM’ CLAIMS

“I am absolutely desperate to fight for my family,” Anna Corbett told Fox News Digital Friday during a layover on her last-minute flight to Mar-a-Lago. 

She isn’t sure whether the last-ditch attempt will work. The Trump team has not yet set up a meeting. 

The Corbett family before Ryan Corbett’s 2022 detainment in Afghanistan.  (Anna Corbett )

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if I got a meeting in one day, when, for 883 days, I tried to get a meeting with President Biden, and he didn’t have the time?” she said. 

Trump told Fox News’ Peter Doocy he would consider a prisoner swap but seemed skeptical. 

“I haven’t looked at it,” Trump said Thursday. “I have not been in favor of the trade, but I’ll be taking a look tomorrow. We’ll announce something tomorrow.” 

The talks, which have been ongoing since at least July 2024, involve exchanging suspected senior al Qaeda aide Muhammad Rahim al Afghani for U.S. citizens Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann  and Mahmoud Habibi, who were detained in Afghanistan in 2022.

The Corbett family has traveled to Washington, D.C., dozens of times for meetings with officials about bringing Ryan Corbett home.  (Anna Corbett)

Some Republicans in Congress privately voiced national security concerns over returning Rahim to the Taliban and questioned whether the negotiations had resulted in a bad deal. 

“Ryan is an amazing person, and he has done nothing wrong, and our family desperately needs him,” Anna Corbett said, imploring the U.S. government to accept the deal. “He’s a patriot. He was just trying to help the Afghan people, and this is a decision that the president needs to make. And we are just desperate for Ryan to come home alive as soon as possible.”

Glezmann and Ryan Corbett have been declared by the State Department as wrongfully detained, and the Taliban denies holding Habibi. 

Anna Corbett said she last spoke to her husband Christmas Day for about 15 minutes. 

ITALIAN JOURNALIST CECILIA SALA FREED FROM DETENTION IN IRAN

“He was obviously trying hard to be in good spirits for Christmas for the kids and I,” she said. “But it was a difficult call, obviously, because this has been going on so long.

“He asked me where things were at, if there was progress. And there really was nothing that I could share with him.”

Anna Corbett at the airport on her way to Mar-a-Lago in Florida Friday.  (Anna Corbett)

In 2024, two released American detainees revealed Ryan Corbett was severely malnourished, was experiencing blackouts and fainting and was being held in a basement cell with almost no sunlight or exercise. 

Anna Corbett said that since then her husband has gained some weight but still experiences constant headaches and ringing in his ears. 

Ryan Corbett was abducted Aug. 10, 2022, after returning to Afghanistan, where he and his family had been living during the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there a year before. 

He arrived in Afghanistan on a valid 12-month visa to pay and train staff as part of a business venture he led aimed at promoting Afghanistan’s private sector through consulting services and lending.

Despite the detentions, the U.S. remains the largest financial supporter of Afghanistan, having offered the nation around $3 billion since the 2021 withdrawal. 

The Taliban have long sought the release of Rahim, who has been held at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba since 2008 because the Pentagon believes he was a close associate of bin Laden. 

In November 2023, the Guantánamo Bay prison review board cited Rahim’s work for senior al Qaeda members and his participation in attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan as reasons to keep him in custody.

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Biden has long been intent on closing the Guantánamo Bay prison. On Monday, he announced the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees, including two former bodyguards of bin Laden, from Guantanamo to Oman, which has agreed to help resettle them. 

Fox News’ Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

As the Venezuelan political crisis reaches a breaking point, members of the Venezuelan opposition party are warning there will be an increase in Tren de Aragua gang violence with deadly consequences for the U.S. if socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro remains in power. 

Despite widespread belief among Venezuelans and much of the international community that Maduro lost the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, he was sworn into his third six-year term on Friday. 

But with opposition leader María Corina Machado calling on Venezuelan citizens to join her on the streets to demand González be installed as the rightful president of Venezuela, the stage is now set for a confrontation with the Maduro regime. 

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Machado, whose supporters said she was temporarily kidnapped by authorities and then released after a rally on Thursday, warned that if Maduro is not stopped there will be millions of Venezuelan migrants fleeing the country into the U.S.

TREN DE ARAGUA ARE IDEOLOGICAL TERRORISTS DISGUISED AS A STREET GANG WARNS FORMER MILITARY OFFICER

“If Maduro remains, prepare yourself because we will see three, four or five million Venezuelans crossing the border,” she said.

On the other hand, Machado told Fox News Digital: “I want you to know how important it is also for the safety of the American people.”

“We also are desperate to solve the migration problem in our region,” she said. “We want those Venezuelans to come back in billions and voluntarily. And that will happen when they’ll see there’s a future in their country.” 

Meanwhile, José Gustavo Arocha, a former high-ranking Venezuelan military official who fled persecution by the Maduro regime, told Fox News Digital that gang violence in the U.S. by the Maduro-aligned criminal group Tren de Aragua will get worse if he remains president. 

Tren de Aragua — also known by its acronym “TdA” — is Spanish for “Train from Aragua.” It is a brutal international gang that victimizes Venezuelan migrants and Americans alike and has unleashed a spate of violence in recent months, including kidnapping, torture, robbery and taking over entire apartment buildings. 

2 AMERICANS ARRESTED IN VENEZUELA ON EVE OF MADURO INAUGURATION OVER ‘TERRORISM’ CLAIMS

Supporters of Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado hold their pictures during a campaign rally in Maracaibo, Zulia state, Venezuela, on July 23, 2024. (Raul Arboldea/AFP via Getty Images)

Arocha, who is now a senior fellow for the U.S.-based Center for a Secure Free Society, told Fox News Digital that “if Maduro remains in power, he will likely use the Tren de Aragua as a tool for coercion and asymmetric tactics to achieve his objectives.”

“Migration, weaponized with elements of the Tren de Aragua, will serve as leverage to seek the easing of economic sanctions and to gain legitimacy from the United States,” he said. “Repression, economic collapse and chaos in Venezuela will continue to be cornerstones of Maduro’s state policy. As a result, migrants who are deported will likely return, as in recent years they have established logistical routes that enable them to navigate clandestine pathways along the southern border.”

Alberto Ray, a security and risk strategist who helps handle security for Machado, told Fox News Digital that the situation in Venezuela is “extremely explosive.” He said that “more Maduro is more Tren de Aragua in the U.S.”

‘GOING TO BE PAINFUL’: VENEZUELAN EXPERT SOUNDS ALARM ABOUT WHAT’S NEXT IF SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES CONTINUE

These images from a CBP intelligence bulletin show tattoos and identifiers for Tren de Aragua (TdA). Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected TdA members. (ICE)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

While Ray noted that most Venezuelan migrants are honest, hardworking people, he said that Maduro has been “weaponizing” migration to sow chaos and discord in the U.S. He said it is “inevitable” that TdA presence in the U.S. will grow if the Maduro regime continues.

“These are very few fractions of Venezuelans that were introduced inside those migration processes designed by the regime… but you don’t need too many to destabilize, create chaos, to install organized crime processes inside the U.S.,” said Ray. “What is going to happen if Maduro stays in power is that more illegal and weaponized migration is going to keep going out of Venezuela and that increases the probability of Tren de Aragua and other gangs to migrate and be around the region, including the U.S.”

On the other hand, Ray said that if Maduro is stopped, “we will see Venezuelans returning to Venezuela because many of them didn’t want to leave.”

VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA IS A ‘NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT,’ WARNS RETIRED ICE SPECIAL AGENT

President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference after testifying before the electoral chamber at the main headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 2, 2024. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

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While he said that both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration have been very supportive, Ray urged the U.S. to take a strong stance against Maduro not only for the sake of the Venezuelans but for Americans as well. He urged the U.S. government to shed light on what is happening in Venezuela and to strictly enforce already-existing sanctions against Maduro and several members of his government.

He said that “the next 72 hours are going to be critical.”

“Maduro has nobody supporting him but some factions inside the armed forces, and he’s counting on those factions to support him and make him president,” Ray explained, adding, “There are not two sides here. There is a huge Venezuelan side that is democratic, and they are looking and trying to get back democracy. And there is a tiny group that is in power that is desperately fighting to keep their privileges and to keep their position in power.” 

Aides for Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are starting to interview staffers with the federal government for the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a new report. 

Representatives for DOGE have had conversations with staffers from more than a dozen federal agencies — including the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, The Washington Post reported Friday. 

Musk and Ramaswamy are leading DOGE, a blue-ribbon committee separate from the federal government that seeks to address issues concerning government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. They are expected to suggest executive actions for the Trump administration and partner with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to initiate reforms. 

Altogether, the committee aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal government budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce. 

AMERICA’S NEWEST GOVERNOR TAKES PAGE FROM TRUMP WITH DOGE-LIKE COMMISSION

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

However, Musk recently cast doubt on the likelihood of eliminating $2 trillion from the federal budget and said there was a better chance at cutting $1 trillion. 

“I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s like the best-case outcome,” Musk said during tech trade show CES on Wednesday in Las Vegas, the Post reported. “But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion].”

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have voiced support for working with DOGE, and Reps. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., and Pete Sessions, R-Texas, announced the creation of the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus last year. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING 

“Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wakeup call for all Americans,” House DOGE Caucus Co-Chair Bean said in a statement in November. “We must take action to avoid diving headfirst off the cliff of fiscal ruin. I’m thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will be no easy task — they will need partners.”

Likewise, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is slated to oversee the Senate DOGE Caucus.

“The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block,” Ernst said in a November statement. 

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks with reporters following the Senate Republicans weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 2024. (Reuters/Bonnie Cash)

Currently, DOGE boasts a staff of approximately 50 people who are working from SpaceX’s offices in Washington, D.C., and it is aiming to roughly double that number when President-elect Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20, according to the Post. 

A representative for Ramaswamy declined to provide comment to Fox News Digital.

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DOGE appears to be the source of inspiration for other similar initiatives at the state level. For example, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of swing state New Hampshire on Thursday announced the creation of the Commission on Government Efficiency, known as COGE.

“COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state,” Ayotte said in her inaugural address. 

Democratic lawmakers were noticeably silent following the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump despite previously commenting on the cases against him, as Washington prepares for a Republican trifecta in Congress.

Trump was sentenced on Friday after being found guilty on 34 charges related to falsifying business records in May.

The incoming president was sentenced to unconditional discharge, which means that he will not receive any jail time, fine or probation time. The sentence also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction. 

After Trump was found guilty in criminal court in May, Democratic members of Congress put out a flurry of reactions on social media but appeared mum after the sentencing on Friday, which comes just days before he will be sworn into office on Jan. 20. 

TRUMP SAYS HE RESPECTS SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO DENY HIS REQUEST TO STOP SENTENCING, VOWS TO APPEAL

Trump was sentenced on Friday. (Fox News)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in May, wrote in a post on X, fomerly Twitter, that “the jury has spoken and carefully rendered a decision. Responsible leadership requires the verdict to be respected,” while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said that “nobody is above the law.”

However, Democrats appeared less reactive to Friday’s sentencing, which left Trump free of any penalty.

One Democratic congresswoman put out a statement following the unconditional discharge sentence, claiming that “our system of justice is not just.”

Rep. Jasmine Crockett claimed there is a “two-tiered system of justice in this country.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

“There is a two-tiered system of justice in this country, and Donald Trump lives on the tier where he gets to walk into the White House without spending a single day in jail or being put on probation after being convicted of 34 felonies. On the other tier are the clients I represented as a public defender in Texas, like the seventeen-year-old boy who was held on felony probation for taking some candy from his school’s concession stand,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said in a post on X. 

REPUBLICANS BLAST ‘JOKE’ SENTENCING OF TRUMP 10 DAYS BEFORE SWEARING IN

“The scales are not equal,” she added.

On the flip side, Republicans were very vocal following the sentencing. 

“I have no respect for the process being used in New York. I find the judge and prosecutor’s motives to be dripping with politics,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement. “This is a sad day for America.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 31, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  (Kent Nishimura)

Trump, ahead of the sentencing, said that he would appeal the decision.

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Trump filed an emergency petition to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in an effort to prevent his Jan. 10 sentencing, but the high court ultimately denied his emergency petition to block his sentencing.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is accusing Democrats of “delaying and obstructing” top energy nominees for President-elect Trump’s incoming administration. 

“Senate Democrats are once again showing that delaying and obstructing the incoming Trump administration are their top priorities,” Lee told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement.

“Both Gov. Doug Burgum and Chris Wright’s paperwork has been submitted to the Office of Government Ethics from their respective agencies. The confirmation process is moving forward as it should, and good progress has been made to ensure these nominees are thoroughly vetted and ready to serve. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee has followed every rule in noticing their confirmation hearings.

REPUBLICANS BLAST ‘JOKE’ SENTENCING OF TRUMP 10 DAYS BEFORE SWEARING-IN

Mike Lee claimed his Democratic counterpart is trying to delay Trump’s nominee confirmation hearings. (Reuters)

“This is the same party that, in 2009, went ahead with hearings for President Obama’s nominees under near identical circumstances. While Democrats drag their feet, Republicans are moving forward and doing the work the American people expect us to do. It’s time for Senate Democrats to meet the moment with the seriousness it demands.”

The Utah Republican was responding to claims from his Democratic counterpart on the committee, ranking member Martin Heinrich, who suggested that his scheduling of confirmation hearings for CEO and founder of Liberty Energy Chris Wright, Trump’s pick for secretary of energy, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice for secretary of the interior, breached protocol. 

LAKEN RILEY ACT OVERCOMES FILIBUSTER IN SENATE AS DEMS GIVE GOP HELPING HAND

This week, Heinrich responded to “a breach of decades-long Senate protocol and precedent” when he said Lee set Burgum’s hearing without the consent of the committee’s minority. 

“I am extremely disappointed that Chairman Lee has scheduled the first Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing over my objection and before basic information has been given to the committee. This is a breach of protocol and precedent, established over decades by chairs of both parties,” Heinrich said in a statement Wednesday after Burgum’s confirmation hearing was officially set by Lee for Jan. 14. 

Trump tapped Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

He issued a second statement Thursday in response to Wright’s Jan. 15 confirmation hearing being officially scheduled. 

“I am extremely disappointed that Chairman Lee has noticed a second nomination hearing without having received information from nominees required by law and in adherence to committee rules, including a completed FBI background check and financial report,” the senator said. 

Heinrich said, “The documents that the Energy and Natural Resources Democrats do not have are not just paperwork. These are the documents, disclosures and (an) ethics agreement that are required by our committee rules and the law.”

But, according to Lee, who assumed the role of chairman after Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., was elected to serve as Senate majority whip, his actions are in line with precedent in the committee. 

NEW GOP SENATOR TEARS INTO DEMS ‘SEEKING TO DELAY’ PETE HEGSETH DOD CONFIRMATION

Lee is the new Energy Committee chairman. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

He further maintained that he is “in full compliance” with all rules when it comes to setting up confirmation hearings for Trump’s picks for key energy roles. 

While Heinrich accused Lee of going against precedent, a similar scenario played out in 2009 in former President Obama’s administration. Steven Chu and Ken Salazar, the former secretaries of Energy and the Interior, respectively, had their confirmation hearings announced by former energy Chairman Jeff Bingaman before all documents were received. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for committee Democrats said these are the only instances of this timeline of events “despite dozens and dozens of nominees being considered by the committee.

TRUMP DETAILS STRATEGY TO GET NECESSARY VOTES WITH ONE-BILL APPROACH TO BORDER, TAXES

In 2009, some Obama nominations operated on a similar timeline.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Further, unlike the hearings Chairman Lee has noticed, the committee did receive Dr. Chu and Mr. Salazar’s disclosures only one day after the notice was issued. Days have passed since Chairman Lee noticed these hearings. But the committee has yet to receive the required documents and has no assurance that it will receive them by the time the hearings occur.” 

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Lee’s take on the criticisms from Heinrich was that Democrats “want to conflate notice with requirements that apply generally to nominations.”

“Rest assured, Republicans will continue to comply with all the committee rules,” he said. 

A reporter went head-to-head with the Democratic speaker of the California assembly about whether lawmakers should be focused on earmarking legal funds to “Trump-proof” the Golden State while wildfires in the Los Angeles region are still ablaze.

“Is now the right time to have a special legislative session on allocating money to fight Trump in a way that you could already do without a special legislative session?” California correspondent Ashley Zavala asked Speaker Robert Rivas on Thursday. 

“I’m here to address … these wildfires,” Rivas responded. “This is a historic, historic wildfire. This is, this is a historic event. These wildfires, as I mentioned, are going to be, quite possibly, some of the worst wildfires and disasters in the state and national history.”

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

Reporter questions Democrat California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (Credit KCRA 3) (KCRA 3)

Zavala fired back, saying “while this wildfire is happening, and while people are trying to understand what’s going on and are worried about disaster relief, worried about the ability to get homeowners insurance, your chamber gaveled into a special legislative session to prepare for Donald Trump in a way that you are already able to do without a special legislative session. So again, is now the right time for that?”

Again, Rivas pivoted his answer to focusing on wildfire recovery, but did not directly answer Zavala’s inquiry.

“So certainly our focus right now, as Speaker, Ashley, at this moment, my colleagues and I, we are acting with great urgency, great urgency, to ensure that we’re providing much needed relief to Angelenos, to ensure that we understand what it’s going to take for that for this region to recover and and to support those that have been most impacted by this disaster,” Rivas said. “And you know it’s … the response from our first responders has been unprecedented, and they’re doing all that they can to control and contain, again, these multiple fires and doing whatever they can to ensure that they’re keeping people safe now, and again in anticipation and in preparation for recovery, and as a state, we will, as a legislature we will do everything we can to support that recovery.”

‘DEVASTATING’: CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT

Shortly after President-Elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a special legislative session to bolster the state’s legal fund in the case of attacks from the Trump administration. Trump hit back at Newsom after the announcement, saying “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Between 2017 and 2021, California’s Department of Justice led 122 lawsuits against Trump administration policies, spending $42 million on litigation. Newsom’s office said in one case, the federal government was ordered to reimburse California nearly $60 million in public safety grants.

While California filed over 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, President-elect Donald Trump lobbed only four major lawsuits against the state. In 2018, Trump’s DOJ filed a lawsuit over three California sanctuary state laws that restricted cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. That same year, Trump sued California for its state-level net neutrality law.

PACIFIC PALISADES INFERNO FORCES THOUSANDS TO FLEE CALIFORNIA HOMES; GOV. NEWSOM DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY 

The wind whips embers while a firefighter battles the fire in the Angeles National Forest near Mt. Wilson as the wildfires burn in the Los Angeles area, during the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, Jan. 9, 2025.  (REUTERS/Ringo Chiu)

In 2019, Trump also filed a lawsuit against California’s vehicle emissions standards, attempting to revoke California’s ability to set its own emissions rules. The Trump administration also sued California over its controversial independent contractor law, AB 5, in 2020. 

California, a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, abortion procedures and transgender transition treatments for children, could be targeted by the Trump administration, especially considering Trump’s mass deportation plan of illegal immigrants. 

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Newsom said previously the Golden State “is a tent pole of the country … protecting and investing in rights and freedoms for all people” and that officials “will work with the incoming administration and we want President Trump to succeed in serving all Americans.” 

“But when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action,” Newsom said. “And that is exactly what this special session is about – setting this state up for success, regardless of who is in the White House.”

EXCLUSIVE: The nation’s Republican governors are making clear their “overwhelming support” for President-elect Trump’s planned “Department of Government Efficiency,” better known by its acronym DOGE.

In a letter to Congressional leaders that was shared first with Fox News on Friday, the governors said they fully support DOGE and emphasized the importance of balancing the federal budget.

“As chief executives for our states, we know a thing or two about streamlining government, removing unnecessary bureaucracy, and bringing efficient, result-driven solutions to state government.  We stand by President Trump as he works to do the same with the federal government,” the governors said.

AMERICA’S NEWEST GOVERNOR TAKES PAGE FROM TRUMP BY SETTING UP DOGE-LIKE COMMISSION

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Co-Chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill with his son on December 05, 2024 in Washington, DC. Musk and his Co-Chair, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy met with lawmakers today about DOGE, a planned presidential advisory commission with the goal of cutting government spending and increasing efficiency in the federal workforce. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)  (Anna Moneymaker)

Days after his presidential election victory in November, Trump tapped Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, and former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to steer DOGE.

The House of Representatives has set up an oversight subcommittee and the Senate has formed a DOGE caucus to work with Musk and Ramaswamy.

QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT DOGE ARE ANSWERED HERE

The governors highlighted that “our states are successful because we live within our means. We balance our budgets, lower taxes, leverage surpluses, pay down debt, improve the efficiency of state governments, and create an environment where our constituents can build a prosperous future for themselves, their family, and their community.”

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are leading the effort to cut government inefficiency. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

And they emphasized that “it is past time for Washington to live within its means too. We support President Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and agree with their assertion that the federal government needs to be cut down to size. We stand ready to help.” 

Led by the Republican Governors Association (RGA) policy chair Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, the letter was also signed by RGA chair Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia and 24 other GOP governors.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago,  on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla., as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lousiana Gov. Jeff Landry, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

They are Govs. Kay Ivey of Alabama, Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Sarah Sanders of Arkansas, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Brad Little of Idaho, Eric Holcomb of Indiana, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Mike Parson of Missouri, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Jim Pillen of Nebraska, Joe Lombardo of Nevada, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Greg Abbott of Texas, Spencer Cox of Utah, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Jim Justice of West Virginia, and Mark Gordon of Wyoming.

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The only one of the 27 Republican governors who didn’t sign the letter was Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont. While a longstanding member of the RGA, Scott has a history of not attaching his name to many of their letters.

The letter was sent the day after many of the GOP governors dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

President-elect Donald Trump’s winter White House is hosting a parade of House Republicans this weekend, all of whom are hoping that getting the incoming commander in chief’s ear will help an ideologically diverse group of lawmakers get on the same page on a massive conservative policy overhaul.

It is also likely to be another test of Trump’s power over Congressional Republicans and whether his influence will be enough to overcome longstanding fractures on fiscal policy.

“The president is hosting multiple factions, right? It’s not just any one. The goal is to level-set the understanding of what we can accomplish,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “Nobody disagrees, in broad brushstrokes, on the large goals. But there are very specific issues that are going to create concerns for folks. And we’ve got to work through them.”

On Friday, Trump is hosting members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, several of whom voted against a government funding bill the president-elect explicitly backed last month.

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

House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, and other House Republicans will be speaking with President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend after he summoned multiple groups for a series of meetings. (Getty/AP)

He is also due to meet with senior Republicans and House committee chairs, as well as GOP lawmakers from blue states.

It comes amid disagreements between Congressional Republicans on the path forward for the budget reconciliation process. The mechanism generally has allowed one party in control of the government to advance their own agenda through one massive bill.

More specifically, reconciliation lowers the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to just a simple majority, putting it on par with the House of Representatives.

REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE

Reconciliation only allows for budgetary and other fiscal measures to be passed. However, both parties have traditionally tried to stretch those parameters to advance as much of their agendas as possible. GOP leaders have signaled they want to use reconciliation to deal with border security, energy policy, defense and to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

However, there is broad disagreement on whether to split those goals in half. Proponents of the two-track approach believe that passing an initial bill on border and energy policies will allow Republicans to score an early victory there while taking more time on tax policy.

The meetings will be at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. (Getty Images)

However, those who advocate for just one bill argue that two reconciliation bills have not been passed in decades, given the heavy political capital needed for even one. They’ve warned that the strategy could put Trump’s tax cuts in danger of expiring.

The House GOP conference is also at odds on other details, such as whether to use reconciliation to raise the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions – a move favored by blue state Republicans who represent the suburbs of New York City and Los Angeles, but which rural representatives are against.

“I think it’s gonna be a good discussion. I think this is a great opportunity for us to discuss not just SALT…This was just about, you know, blue state Republicans coming with our priorities,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.

The Big Apple’s new congestion tax, tax reductions for seniors living off social security, and using the tax code to bring pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the U.S. were all agenda items Malliotakis named.

“I have much broader agenda items than just SALT, but SALT is critically important for the New York members in particular,” she said.

House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., suggested the border would be at the forefront of his mind for his group’s Trump meeting.

“The main thing is, how do we move forward? It’s going to cost some money to secure our border. It’s going to cost some money to hire more agents. But at the same time, we’ve got to cut spending where we can,” Moore told Fox News Digital.

“We need to be on the same sheet of music and I think we’ll have an opportunity for Trump to hear from us, but as well for us to hear from him.”

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., a staunch Trump ally who said he would also be at Mar-a-Lago this weekend, dismissed concerns about differences on issues like SALT.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis is one of the blue state Republicans meeting with President-elect Donald Trump. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“I think the dialogue is important to have. At the end of the day, we need to deliver for the American people. And so while people feel differently on various issues, it’s important to have that dialogue to figure out how we can put this thing together,” he said.

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Trump himself has not publicly declared the specifics of what he would want to pass via reconciliation. He has said he favors a one-bill approach, but would also be open to two.

Malliotakis and other Republicans on the tax-focused House Ways & Means Committee favor one bill.

However, a member of the House Freedom Caucus doubted that would happen.

“I think we’ll talk big-picture stuff as far as reconciliation. I’m of the mindset it’ll likely be two bills, not one. But I think that’ll happen organically, you don’t have to force it,” they said.

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge Friday after being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation. 

The president-elect attended his sentencing virtually, after fighting to block the process all the way up to the United States Supreme Court this week. Trump sat beside his defense attorney Todd Blanche. 

TRUMP FILES MOTION TO STAY ‘UNLAWFUL SENTENCING’ IN NEW YORK CASE

Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, and instead sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, meaning there is no punishment imposed–no jail time, fines or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction. 

“After careful analysis, this court determined only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan said Friday. “At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts.” 

Trump in court on Jan. 10, 2025 (Fox News)

Merchan added: “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”

Before Judge Juan Merchan announced the sentence, Trump called the case a “tremendous setback for the American court system.” 

“This is a great embarrassment to the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that the people saw the trial firsthand, and voted “decisively” to elect him as president. 

Trump said the Justice Department was “very involved,” and stressed that a case like this against a former president, candidate, and now president-elect has “never happened in our country before.” 

“And I would just like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly. And I thank you very much,” Trump said Friday. 

Merchan set Jan. 10 — just ten days before he is set to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. 

From left to right: Judge Juan Merchan, former President Donald Trump, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Images)

Merchan, upon scheduling the sentencing last week, said that he was not likely to “impose any sentence of incarceration,” but rather a sentence of an “unconditional discharge.” 

During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Merchan said he took the “unusual step” of informing Trump of his sentence prior to the proceeding. 

“The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make,” Merchan said, noting the court “must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.”

Merchan reflected on the case, saying that “never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances.” The judge said it was an “extraordinary case” with media interest and heightened security, but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself “was not any more unique or extraordinary” than any other case.

Trump in court on Jan. 10, 2025 (Fox News)

After the sentencing hearing was complete, Trump took to his Truth Social platform. 

“The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE,” Trump posted. 

Trump said “that result alone proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED.” 

“The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History,” Trump continued. “As the American People have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference.” 

Trump added: “Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” 

Trump filed an appeal to block sentencing from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. That court rejected his request. 

Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it “immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York.” 

The high court denied the request, saying “the application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is denied for, inter alia, the following reasons.” 

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

TRUMP SAYS HE RESPECTS SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO DENY HIS REQUEST TO STOP SENTENCING, VOWS TO APPEAL

“First, the alleged evidentiary violations at President-Elect Trump’s state-court trial can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal,” the order states,” the Supreme Court’s order, filed Thursday night, stated. “Second, the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing.” 

The order also noted that “Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, and Justice Kavanaugh would grant the application.” 

United States Supreme Court poses for their official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on Oct. 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump needed five votes in order to have his request granted. The note on the order suggests Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Katanji Brown Jackson. 

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Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20. 

Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of “lawfare” promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out a reporter on Thursday for the lack of blame being placed on California leaders for the devastating wildfires, pointing out that it’s in stark contrast to how Republican leaders are often treated in the wake of disasters.

DeSantis, and all other Republican governors, had just wrapped up a dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday evening when the heated exchange with a reporter took place.

The reporter appeared to be asking another governor if it was appropriate for Trump to criticize Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom as deadly wildfires rage throughout the state.

NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP’S CLAIMS ‘PURE FICTION’ AFTER PRESIDENT-ELECT POINTS FINGER OVER CALIFORNIA FIRE TRAGEDY

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked for balance in how some media cover Republican and Democrat leaders when natural disasters take place in their states, pointing out a difference in where blame is placed. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The question prompted DeSantis to step forward and ask, “Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives any time these things happen?”

“Now, you’re not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D. If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would go try … you would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there,” he continued.

Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the home he ran from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)

DESANTIS HALTS RIVALRY WITH NEWSOM, OFFERS AID TO BESIEGED BLUE STATE GOVERNOR

The Florida governor, who has managed multiple disasters during his tenure, said he has often been criticized for things that were out of his control and has been blamed for incidents before the facts came out, referencing the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse.

“I think your track record of politicizing these things is very, very bad,” DeSantis said.

He said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass would be treated much differently for her trip to Ghana while fires were high risk if she were a Republican.

“You should have been there preparing and doing that, and yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed [toward her],” DeSantis said. “I’d like to see some balance on how this is done. You can criticize the president-elect, but you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I have not seen that.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass toured the downtown business district of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood as the Palisades Fire continued to burn on Jan. 8. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

ADAM CAROLLA RIPS CALIFORNIA LEADERS FOR RUNNING STATE ‘INTO THE GROUND’ AS FIRES RAGE: ‘LUNATIC NUTJOBS’

Bass returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday, and didn’t have much to say to the residents of her city outside of news conferences. While waiting to deplane, she gave the cold shoulder to Sky News reporter David Blevins, who was asking her if she had anything to say about the devastating fires.

“No apology to them? Do you think you should have been visiting Ghana while this was unfolding back home?” Blevins asked as Bass continued to look at the ground.

“Madam mayor, let me ask you just again, have you anything to say to the citizens today as you return?” he said.

A 2021 tweet by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass where she criticized Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for leaving his state during a deadly freeze came back to haunt her this week as she was in Ghana while wildfires broke out in Los Angeles County, despite there being a high-risk warning before she left. (AP Photo/Nic Coury/X)

As multiple wildfires rage on in Los Angeles County, California residents have been criticizing both Newsom and Bass for past decisions related to fire-prevention efforts, including Bass’ decision to cut the LAFD budget by $17 million.

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The wildfires have claimed at least 10 lives since they broke out on Tuesday, scorching more than 35,800 acres total and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.

The wildfires in California have left at least 10 people dead and destroyed more than 10,000 structures.  (Tanner Charles Schaaf)

Firefighters were still struggling to contain the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire – the two largest of the group – as they sit at 6% contained and 0% contained, respectively, on Thursday evening, according to data by CAL FIRE.

President-elect Trump is expected to be sentenced Friday after being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation. 

The president-elect is expected to attend his sentencing virtually, after fighting to block the process all the way up to the United States Supreme Court this week. 

Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for Jan. 10—just ten days before he is set to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. 

TRUMP FILES MOTION TO STAY ‘UNLAWFUL SENTENCING’ IN NEW YORK CASE

Merchan, though, said he will not sentence the president-elect to prison. 

From left to right: Judge Juan Merchan, former President Donald Trump, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Images)

Merchan wrote in his decision that he is not likely to “impose any sentence of incarceration,” but rather a sentence of an “unconditional discharge,” which means there would be no punishment imposed. 

Trump filed an appeal to block sentencing from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. That court rejected his request. 

Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it “immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising questions of Presidential immunity, including in this Court if necessary.” 

“The Court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this stay application,” Trump’s filing requested. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at Daniel Penny’s trial following a lunch break at the Manhattan Supreme Criminal Court building in New York City on Monday, December 2, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

TRUMP FILES EMERGENCY PETITION TO SUPREME COURT TO PREVENT SENTENCING IN NY V. TRUMP

Trump’s attorneys also argued that New York prosecutors erroneously admitted extensive evidence relating to official presidential acts during trial, ignoring the high court’s ruling on presidential immunity. 

The Supreme Court denied Trump’s emergency petition to block his sentencing from taking place on Friday, Jan. 10.

The Supreme Court, earlier this year, ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution related to official presidential acts. 

But New York prosecutors argued that the high court “lacks jurisdiction” over the case. 

Trump has previously explained a strategic component to his one-bill reconciliation approach. (Getty Images)

They also argued that the evidence they presented in the trial last year concerned “unofficial conduct that is not subject to any immunity.” 

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Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty to those charges. After a six-week-long, unprecedented trial for a former president and presidential candidate, a New York jury found the now-president-elect guilty on all counts. 

Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of “lawfare” promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November. 

FIRST ON FOX: Twenty Republican attorneys general are prepared to bolster President-elect Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, according to a joint statement led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach shared with Fox News Digital. 

“The Biden Administration took dozens of executive actions that weakened border controls and sanctioned illegal immigration from around the world,” the letter states. 

“Republican attorneys general fought back by taking the Biden Administration to court for ending successful Trump Administration immigration policies and replacing them with new policies that violated the law and encouraged illegal immigration. The Republican attorneys general prevailed in virtually every one of these laws.”

REPUBLICAN AGS DOUBLE DOWN ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION LAWSUITS AS PRESIDENT PREPARES TO LEAVE OFFICE

Kansas AG Kris Kobach led a joint statement supporting President-elect Trump’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration. (Getty Images)

The AGs say they’re ready to restore Trump’s “America First” policies from Trump’s first administration, particularly his “Remain in Mexico policy” and mass deportations.

“As we point out in this letter, the Remain in Mexico policy is something that’s found in federal statute, and it’s been in federal statute since 1996. President Trump was the first president who actually implemented that policy set by Congress,” Kobach told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“President Trump has all the statutory tools he needs,” he added. “They are already in the federal code, and that’s what we’re saying too. As lawyers who have been trying to stop the Biden administration from violating the law, we are saying, ‘President Trump, you have our support, and you have a wide open runway ahead of you to renew the enforcement of our federal immigration laws.’”

BIDEN MOVING TO BAN OIL AND GAS LEASES FOR 20 YEARS IN NEVADA REGION, JUST WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP INAUGURATION

President-elect Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The attorneys general are also anticipating Trump will “fully rescind the unlawful DACA programs,” as he promised during his first term. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, introduced in 2012 by the Obama administration, permits illegal immigrants brought to the country as children — often referred to as “Dreamers” — to temporarily remain in the country.

In addition to Kobach, attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and Tennessee signed the statement.

Republican attorneys general across the U.S. have been at the forefront of filing lawsuits against the Biden administration over the last four years. This month, Texas AG Ken Paxton filed his 103rd lawsuit against the outgoing administration over its energy efficiency standards for housing.  

GROWING CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT IN CANADA IS FIGHTING BACK AGAINST ‘CALIFORNIA ON STEROIDS,’ SAYS STRATEGIST

U.S. Border Patrol vehicles take away groups of vulnerable immigrants, including unaccompanied minors who had crossed over from Mexico, in May 2023 in El Paso, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The Republicans have secured several legal wins. In 2021, a coalition led by then-Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry obtained a preliminary injunction against the administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land. In May 2024, Paxton achieved a significant win in a lawsuit alleging unlawful censorship by the administration, with a federal judge denying the government’s motion to dismiss and ordering expedited discovery. 

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And a federal judge recently vacated the administration’s Title IX rule, which had expanded protections against discrimination based on gender identity, after challenges from Republican-led states. 

“I think what the 20 or so attorneys general signing this statement is about what the law is and what the law requires,” Kobach said. “And … we are very grateful and expect that President Trump will return us to a country where the law is enforced and the strictures that Congress has put in place are observed.”

Vice President-elect JD Vance resigned his U.S. Senate seat as he and President-elect Donald Trump prepare to take office.

Vance, who has served in the Senate since early 2023, resigned around two years into his six-year Senate term.

“I hereby resign my office as a United States Senator from the State of Ohio, effective January 10, 2025,” Vance said in the resignation letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine that is circulating online.

VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT VANCE UNDERWENT MINOR SURGERY AFTER SENATE SWEARING IN

Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“As I prepare to assume my duties as Vice President of the United States, I would like to express that it has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the people of Ohio in the Senate over the past two years,” Vance added.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, noted in a post on X that he “will really miss having” Vance as a Senate colleague.

“Over the last two years, he’s become a dear friend and trusted ally,” Lee noted. “But the Senate’s loss is also the Senate’s gain, as he is about to become the president of the Senate—a job that belongs to the vice president.”

OHIO NATIVE JD VANCE, TEXAS’ TED CRUZ MAKE WAGER FOR BUCKEYES-LONGHORNS COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL

Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Findlay Toyota Center on Oct. 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Vance reciprocated, noting that the “Feeling is mutual!”

Trump and Vance, who trounced the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential election, will take office later this month on Jan. 20.

“To the people of Ohio, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for the privilege of representing you in the United States Senate. When I was elected to this office, I promised to never forget where I came from, and I’ve made sure to live by that promise every single day,” Vance said in a statement about his Senate resignation.

TRUMP SPEAKS TO THE PRESS DURING MEETING WITH GOP GOVERNORS

Trump poses with Vance before making remarks to a crowd during an event on Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. at the North Carolina Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame.  (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

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“The American people have granted President Trump an undeniable mandate to put America first, both at home and abroad. Over the next four years, I will do all that I can to help President Trump enact his agenda. Together, we will make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before,” he added.

President-elect Trump set off a fiery debate over whether Democrats should be to blame for California’s wildfires after he accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of caring more about protecting an endangered fish species than protecting the state’s residents from wildfires. 

The president-elect has long railed against Democrats in California for limiting the availability of water for Californians that comes from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in the northern part of the state. He stumped on the issue during his 2016 campaign and, during his first term, Trump sought to divert more water away from a delta where the two rivers meet that is home to an endangered fish species known as smelt.

But Newsom and his administration challenged this in court, arguing opinions suggesting that the water diversion would not impact the fish were wrong. Newsom also previously opposed efforts to construct a pipeline meant to divert water south. He has overseen programs in his state that annually release hundreds of billions of gallons of stormwater buildup into the Sacramento-San Jaoquin River Delta to benefit the smelt habitat — rather than redirecting the water south for use by people in the central and southern parts of the state.

BERNIE SANDERS TAKES HEAT FOR BLAMING CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES ON CLIMATE CHANGE: ‘GLOBAL WARMING ATE MY HOMEWORK’

Images of delta smelt kept alive in a hatchery at the UC Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Lab in Byron, California. (Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Trump set off a firestorm on Wednesday when he called out Newsom on his Truth Social platform for wanting “to protect an essentially worthless fish” over protecting the water needs of Californians. The comments are not new, however. In the run-up to the November election, Trump made the claim during an October interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.

“I was in [California] farm country with some of the congressmen,” he told Rogan. “We’re driving up a highway and I say, ‘How come all this land is so barren?’ It’s farmland and it looked terrible. It was just brown and bad. I said, ‘But there’s always that little corner that’s so green and beautiful.’ They said, ‘We have no water.’ I said, ‘Do you have a drought?’ ‘No, we don’t have a drought.’ I said, ‘Why don’t you have no water?’ Because the water isn’t allowed to flow down. And in order to protect a tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water gets poured.”

The dried and cracked soil in an irrigation ditch next to a cornfield on a farm in Central California. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

California’s devastating wildfires have killed at least five people and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. The Palisades Fire alone has burned through more than 17,000 acres of land, which is larger than the island of Manhattan. The damage so far has been estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars. 

The president-elect’s claims have been paired with reports that firefighters are running out of water as they battle the blaze, prompting the state to mobilize resources to replenish empty supplies. 

CAUSE OF RAGING LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES STILL UNDETERMINED AS MAYOR KAREN BASS DEFENDS HER LEADERSHIP

“There’s no water in the Palisades. There’s no water coming out of the fire hydrants. This is an absolute mismanagement by the city. Not the firefighters’ fault, but the city’s,” Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer who unsuccessfully ran against Karen Bass for mayor in 2022, told Fox News.  

A California firefighter battles a raging wildfire. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The governor’s press office said in response to Trump’s accusations that he was completely wrong, arguing the president-elect “is conflating two entirely unrelated things: the conveyance of water to Southern California and supply from local storage.”

“Broadly speaking, there is no water shortage in Southern California right now, despite Trump’s claims that he would open some imaginary spigot,” Newsom’s office added. “[The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] said that because of the high water demand, pump stations at lower elevations did not have enough pressure refill tanks at higher elevations, and the ongoing fire hampered the ability of crews to access the pumps. To supplement, they used water tenders to supply water — a common tactic in wildland firefighting.”

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Firefighters in California made progress towards slowing the spread of the fire on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. Crews reportedly were able to eliminate a fire that broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening and by Thursday had lifted the area’s evacuation order. Still, the fires continue to burn and most are only partially contained as of Thursday afternoon, according to reports.