SCOOP: DOGE Caucus plans White House meeting as Elon Musk preps to step back
FIRST ON FOX: The Congressional DOGE Caucus is planning a meeting with the White House sometime next month, one of the group’s leaders confirmed to Fox News Digital. “We’re talking with the White House about our next meeting, and they may be hosting us. We’ll see what happens,” Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “We’re ready to take the reins and continue to push no matter who’s leading [the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)].” HOW A DOGE REVIEW CAN ACTUALLY IMPROVE THE PROGRAMS THAT FIGHT HIV/AIDS Bean did not give a date for the meeting but said, “The answer is always, whenever Trump wants to host.” It’s not immediately clear if President Donald Trump himself will participate, but the meeting would come as Republican lawmakers get ready to consider a roughly $9 billion list of spending cuts proposed by the White House, known as a rescissions package. It’s expected to include a host of USAID programs, one of Trump’s first targets in his campaign on government efficiency. A senior House GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital they expected that package to be delivered to Congress next week. The Congressional DOGE Caucus was founded by Bean alongside Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and House GOP Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore, R-Utah, to coordinate a legislative response to Elon Musk’s work with DOGE. Musk recently told Tesla investors that he would be stepping back from the federal role beginning next month. “Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said on a first-quarter earnings call. He added, however, “I’ll have to continue DOGE for, I think, the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back.” DOGE SLASHES ‘WASTEFUL’ ‘PROBLEM-SOLVING’ CONTRACT WORTH $50K IN LATEST ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS A spokesperson for the Congressional DOGE Caucus declined to comment when Fox News Digital reached out for more details on the tentative White House meeting. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A senior White House official did not say whether Trump would attend the meeting nor whether the rescissions package would be discussed. “The president is reviewing a wide range of tax cut proposals for inclusion in the reconciliation bill. He is most focused on tax policy that will help create more good-paying jobs in America and delivering the major tax cuts he campaigned on for working and middle-class Americans,” the official said.
Rubio passionately defends immigration actions to weed out ‘perverts and pedophiles and child rapists’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s decision to send an accused MS-13 gang member back to his native country of El Salvador — and said the U.S. is seeking other countries to do the same. “I say this unapologetically: We are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries. So we are active, not just El Salvador,” Rubio said Wednesday during a cabinet meeting at the White House. “We are working with other countries to say, ‘We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries.’” “We do that as a favor to us, and the further away from America the better so they can’t come back across the border,” Rubio said. “I’m not apologetic about it. We are doing that.” The “president was elected to keep America safe, and we get rid of a bunch of perverts and pedophiles and child rapists out of our country,” he said. WHITE HOUSE DISPLAYS LAWN SIGNS HIGHLIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME Rubio’s comments coincide with the Trump administration’s decision in March to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011, back to his home country of El Salvador. While the Trump administration said in court filings that an administrative error led to Garcia’s deportation, it has since accused Garcia of being an MS-13 member. Additionally, the Justice Department unveiled documents in April outlining domestic violence allegations that Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. Vasquez alleged in the filing that Garcia beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her. A federal court and the Supreme Court have instructed the Trump administration to coordinate on Garcia’s return to the U.S. for proper deportation hearings, but the Trump administration has said it will defer to El Salvador on whether Garcia is sent back to the U.S. or not. On Monday, the White House placed 100 posters of the “worst illegal immigrants arrested” during the first 100 days of the term on the White House lawn. The posters include the various crimes each illegal immigrant faces accusations of, ranging from rape, murder, sexual assault of a child, lewd acts in front of a child, and distribution of fentanyl and illegal guns. TRUMP SIGNS LAKEN RILEY ACT INTO LAW AS FIRST LEGISLATIVE VICTORY IN NEW ADMINISTRATION Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told reporters Monday that the Trump administration was tracking down illegal immigrants, and that efforts to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would prove futile. “Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime,” Homan said. “And so every sick person we take off the streets, especially child rapists, makes this country much safer. Every illegal alien we arrest, public safety threat, one at a time makes this country safer.”
Florida AG launches Office of Parental Rights, lending legal firepower to defend parents’ ‘God-given right’
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the creation of an Office of Parental Rights in the Sunshine State that will lend legal muscle to help parents fight for the rights they’ve been granted by God. Uthmeier pointed out during remarks on Tuesday that “it is not the role of the government to raise kids,” but that the role is parents’ “God-given right.” He said that “parents have the God-given rights to raise their kids the way they deem appropriate.” The attorney general said that there will be a “team of litigators focused on fighting” battles that parents alert them about — he noted that there will be a portal where parents can reach out. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO STOP ENFORCING NEW IMMIGRATION LAW When someone asked about the potential costs, Uthmeier noted that the efforts will also involve working with nonprofits and outside groups. He indicated that he is not seeking to rack up costs, but noted, “when it comes to fightin’ the right fights, I’ll spend every dollar we have.” A press release about the effort indicates that Uthmeier’s Office of Parental rights can help with a range of cases including, “Denial of access to school records,” “Lack of consent for biometric or personal data collection,” “Unauthorized healthcare, counseling, or mental health services,” “Interference with educational choices,” “Failure to notify parents or suspected criminal offenses,” “Coercion or encouragement to withhold information,” “Objectionable instructional or library materials,” “Violations of parental notification for health services,” “Restrictions on parental participation in school governance,” as well as “Unauthorized data sharing or surveys.” SUNSHINE STATE DEM ANNOUNCES SWITCH TO NO AFFILIATION: ‘DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN FLORIDA IS DEAD’ Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon have both cheered on the effort. “Great initiative that will ensure that Florida’s protections for the rights of parents are upheld,” the governor said in a post on X. McMahon noted in a tweet, “Parents have the right to know what’s going on in their child’s education and to make the decisions. It’s great to see a state showing how enforcing parents’ rights is a priority without the federal government micromanaging them.” DESANTIS EXCORIATES FL HOUSE LEADERSHIP AMID REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR, ACCUSING THEM OF ‘REVOLT AGAINST’ VOTERS Uthmeier thanked McMahon for her support. “It’s great to have an administration in DC that respects state sovereignty and, most importantly, the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children,” he noted in a tweet when responding to her comments.
After deadly attack in Kashmir, what’s next for India and Pakistan?
India-Pakistan tensions grow after attack on tourists in disputed region of Kashmir. Tensions are growing between India and Pakistan after an attack killed 26 people in Indian-administered Kashmir. As the exchange of accusations and gunfire continues, Kashmiris fear for what is to come. Adblock test (Why?)
Spain’s grid denies renewable energy to blame for massive blackout
REE says the outage cannot be blamed on Spain’s high share of renewable energy, cause not clear yet. Spain’s grid operator has denied that solar power was to blame for the country’s worst blackout, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces increasing pressure to explain what went wrong. Red Electrica de Espana (REE) on Wednesday said the source of the outage had been narrowed down to two separate incidents of loss of generation in substations in southwestern Spain, but stressed that it was too early to draw conclusions, as it had yet to identify their exact location. REE’s head, former Socialist minister Beatriz Corredor, told Cadena SER radio that it was wrong to blame the outage on Spain’s high share of renewable energy. “These technologies are already stable, and they have systems that allow them to operate as a conventional generation system without any safety issues,” she said, adding she was not considering resigning. Life across the Iberian Peninsula was returning to normal after a power outage halted trains, shut airports and trapped people in lifts in Spain and Portugal on Monday. Advertisement Just before the system crashed, Spain’s solar energy accounted for 53 percent of electricity production, wind for almost 11 percent and nuclear and gas for 15 percent, according to REE data. Political opponents criticised Sanchez for taking too long to explain the blackout and suggested he was covering up for failings, after his left-wing coalition government invested in expanding the renewable energy sector. “Since REE has ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack, we can only point to the malfunctioning of REE, which has state investment and therefore its leaders are appointed by the government,” Miguel Tellado, a parliamentary spokesperson for the opposition conservative People’s Party, said in an interview on RTVE. Tellado called for an independent investigation to be conducted by Spain’s parliament rather than the government probe Sanchez has announced. The prime minister has not ruled out a cyberattack, although this has been dismissed by REE. Antonio Turiel, an energy expert at the state-owned Spanish National Research Council, told Onda Vasca radio station on Tuesday that the fundamental problem was the grid’s instability. “A lot of renewable energy has been integrated without the responsive stabilisation systems that should have been in place,” he said, adding that vulnerabilities stemmed from “the unplanned and haphazard integration of a host of renewable systems”. The government had forecast private and public investment of some 52 billion euros ($59bn) through 2030 to upgrade the power grid so it can handle the surge in demand from data centres and electric vehicles. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Trump blames predecessor as US economy hit by tariff policies
President asks for ‘patience’ as businesses react negatively to Trump’s aggressive efforts to upend global trade. United States President Donald Trump blames former president Joe Biden for the decline of key economic indicators during his first months as president, amid widespread disruptions caused by Trump’s tariff policies. The US economy contracted by 0.3 percent during the first quarter of the year, the first such drop in three years. During the last three months of 2024, the economy grew by 2.4 percent. “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” Trump said in a post on his website Truth Social. “Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!” Since taking office, Trump’s efforts to upend the global trade system through a series of aggressive import duties have caused turmoil in financial markets amid fears of an escalating trade war and uncertainty surrounding the tariff policies. Advertisement The first quarter saw an uptick in imports, as US businesses seek to get out ahead of higher costs that could accompany future tariffs. Inflation, however, continues to ease. In March, consumer prices were 2.3 percent higher than they were a year earlier, compared with 2.5 percent in February. In a press release from the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt mirrored Trump’s claims that Biden was to blame for any turbulence while also stating that the Wednesday economic report showed “strong economic momentum”. “It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth, but the underlying numbers tell the real story of the strong momentum President Trump is delivering,” Leavitt said. Many economic analysts blame Trump’s chaotic approach to tariffs for the US’s flagging indicators. Since taking office, the S&P 500 has shrunk by about 7.3 percent. “If the blowout on trade was the result of firms pre-buying imported inputs to beat the tariffs, the decay in the trade balance will reverse in second quarter,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told the news agency Reuters. “That will generate some GDP growth. However, corrosive uncertainty and higher taxes, tariffs are a tax on imports, will drag GDP growth back into the red by the end of this year.” In recent weeks, the White House has suggested that it could draw down tariffs with key US trading partners such as China, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stating last week that current rates were not “sustainable”. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Delhi: Massive fire breaks out at Dilli Haat, operations underway
In an unfortunate incident, fire broke out in Dilli Haat. According to news agency ANI, Fire tenders are present at the spot with firefighting operations underway.
India shuts its airspace for Pakistan flights days after Pahalgam terror attack
India shuts its airspace for Pakistan flights days after Pahalgam terror attack.
WH says ‘no dispute’ deported suspected gang member had MS-13 tattoos despite photos to the contrary
President Donald Trump defended the deportation of illegal alien and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia during a fiery interview with ABC, pointing to a photo he shared on social media clearly showing the notorious gang’s name tattooed across Abrego Garcia’s knuckles. Other recent photos of the illegal alien, however, do not appear to show the tattoo, Fox News Digital found. “Ask any law or immigration enforcement official who’s been on the ground about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s tattoos: they’re MS-13,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital Wednesday when asked about other photos appearing not to show “MS13” tattooed on Abrego Garcia’s hand. “An ICE investigation, a local police investigation, and the government of El Salvador have all determined that he is a wife-beating MS-13 terrorist illegal alien who should never have been in the United States. There is no dispute about these facts.” Trump joined ABC News for an interview in the Oval Office that aired on Trump’s 100th day back in the White House, where he defended that Abrego Garcia had “MS13” scrawled across his hand. “On his knuckles he had MS-13,” Trump told ABC in an interview that aired Tuesday, referring to Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador’s notorious high-security prison CECOT in March, before he was moved to another detention center in the country earlier in April. “He had some tattoos that were interpreted that way,” ABC’s Terry Moran replied. “M-S-1-3 — It says M-S-one-three,” Trump continued in the interview. VIOLENT MS-13 GANGBANGERS GETTING ‘DESPERATE’; DHS OFFICIAL CREDITS EARLY TRUMP ACTION “That was Photoshop,” Moran responded while attempting to change the topic of conversation. Trump shared a photo to his social media accounts April 18 showing a man’s hand with “MS-13” tattooed across his knuckles above other tattoos, such as a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross and a depiction of a human skull. Trump continued that Moran was doing “such a disservice” by claiming a photo clearly showing “MS-13” tattooed across the hand was “Photoshopped,” arguing Moran was spreading “fake news.” FEDERAL JUDGE ALLEGES ‘WILLFUL AND BAD FAITH REFUSAL’ TO COMPLY IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION CASE “Fair enough, he did have tattoos that can be interpreted that way,” Moran added during the interview. “I’m not an expert on them.” Fox News Digital examined two separate photos of Abrego Garcia shared with the media in recent weeks that do not appear to show the MS-13 tattoo. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who struck an agreement with the Trump administration to accept thousands of violent gang members illegally living in the U.S. and house them in a high-security prison in the country, shared a photo of Abrego Garcia after his arrival to El Salvador in March that does not appear to show “MS13” tattooed across his hand. 4 MORE DEMS TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RETURN TO US “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador,” Bukele posted to X April 17, accompanied by photos of Abrego Garcia shaking hands with Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who visited El Salvador in April to protest the Trump administration’s deportation of the man. The photo shows other tattoos across Abrego Garcia’s knuckles — including the marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross and human skull tattoos — but does not appear to show “MS13” like in the photo shared by Trump. Another photo shared by CASA, an immigration activist group, earlier in April showed a separate photo of Abrego Garcia with his young son that also did not appear to show the tattoo. Fox News Digital reached out to CASA for additional details and comment on the matter, but did not immediately receive a reply Wednesday morning. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Abrego Gacria’s attorney for comment on the photos and reported MS-13 tattoo, but did not immediately receive replies. Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally from his home country in El Salvador in 2011 and was issued a deportation order in 2019, Fox News Digital previously reported. Trump administration officials acknowledged in court in March that his March 15 deportation had been an administrative error, but have since defended the deportation and argued that El Salvador could release him if the nation chose to do so. DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN AND SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor/human trafficking, according to a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report previously obtained by Fox News. The report also stated that “official law enforcement investigations” revealed that Abrego Garcia was a member of the notorious gang MS-13, which Trump has designated as a terror organization. Abrego Garcia was pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Dec. 1, 2022, after he spotted the car speeding and not remaining in its lane, according to the Homeland Security Investigations report. The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he began driving three days prior from Houston to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis to “perform construction work,” Fox Digital previously reported. The report states that the trooper suspected the group was involved with a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle. MARYLAND GOVERNOR SAYS HE WON’T TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR FOR ABREGO GARCIA New documents further revealed that Abrego Garcia was driving a black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that he said belonged to his “boss.” The Suburban was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as belonging to Hernandez Reyes, who pleaded guilty to human smuggling after being caught in Mississippi in a car with passengers from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, Fox Digital previously reported. The Homeland Security Investigations report also notes that in October 2019, the Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit identified Abrego Garcia as a member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS WAS PULLED OVER
Graham mocks Democrats as Trump DEA nominee confirms MS-13 gang tattoos
During the confirmation hearing for Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) nominee Terrance Cole, Sen. Lindsey Graham produced a photo of deported alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia and asked Cole to essentially translate the man’s controversial tattoos. “Are you familiar with MS-13? Briefly, what are they?” Graham asked. “They’re a terrorist organization,” Cole replied. “[They’re involved in] extortion, kidnapping, drugs, intimidation, money laundering…” ‘MARYLAND MAN’ KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA EXPOSED IN POLICE RECORDS AS ‘VIOLENT’ REPEAT WIFE BEATER Graham then asked whether MS-13 members have “membership cards” or anything similar for the public to identify them, given disputes about what Garcia’s knuckle tattoos really mean. “Not necessarily the membership cards, but they are well recognized based on tattoos and different [things],” Cole said. Producing a photo of the tattoos, Graham asked Cole to translate each of them in the fashion of a Rebus puzzle. “Based on your time and experience and expertise in the DEA, what does that photo or those markings suggest to you?” he asked. ‘NOT A MARYLAND MAN’: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL “Well, they suggest that he’s an MS-13 member – that those are his markings. That’s his brand.” When asked what the leaf on his first knuckle stood for, Cole said it was marijuana, which starts with “M.” The second finger was a “smiley face,” he said, which starts with “S,” followed by the number “1” and what “looks like a backwards 3, from here.” “So based on your time as a DEA agent in the field, particularly in Mexico, these tattoos are consistent with MS-13 associations,” Graham asked. “Yes sir, that’s correct,” Cole replied. To dispel further criticism, Graham went on to ask if there might be any other organizations that would use that series of symbols. Cole responded in the negative. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was asked by the outlet “The Bulwark” about Democrats’ recent trips to El Salvador to meet with Garcia. Democratic aides later told the outlet that Jeffries had reportedly discouraged any more visits. The controversy over Garcia’s tattoos also boiled over during a recent interview between ABC News’ Terry Moran and President Donald Trump. “Wait a minute, he had ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles,” Trump said, before Moran countered that there were “some tattoos that were interpreted that way.”